MEM603 Engineering Strategy

Critically review and compare the engineering strategies of two major global automotive manufacturing companies. Your research from publicly available information should include each company’s current and future-oriented research and development (R&D), technology and innovation strategies.

This assessment will provide you with an opportunity to research and learn from the experience of two major companies in the automotive industry (you will be informed if companies from other industries have been prescribed). Specifically, you will be asked to examine how the companies you select have integrated technology into their organisations through innovation, technology (including intellectual property) and R&D strategies.

Companies generally adopt a similar process in developing strategies; however, the content of each organisation’s strategies is unique, as they face different challenges and opportunities. You will thus also compare your two selected organisations and reflect on their differences. In this assessment, you will research both current engineering strategies and future-oriented strategies.

Automotive companies are already piloting and adopting new emerging technologies and methods of manufacturing. The global automotive industry is highly competitive and undergoing many technological challenges and changes. Examples of new technologies and changes include industry robots, driverless cars, electric vehicles, new methods of manufacture and advanced materials.

Ongoing innovation and the development of new technologies is the key to gaining an ongoing competitive advantage. As Giffi, Vitale, Schiller and Robinson (2020) state: ‘automotive companies will likely need to harness a variety of advanced technologies’ (p. 8) both physical and digital. The benefits are that automotive companies are ‘becoming more flexible, efficient, and responsive, and reshaping how they operate their businesses, engage customers, and deliver products and services’ (Vitale & Giffi, 2020, p. 1).

By completing this assessment, you will understand and gain insights into how engineering strategies are being developed and implemented in successful global companies to provide them with a sustainable competitive advantage today and in the future.

In this assessment, you are required to research, assess and compare the engineering strategies of two major automotive companies. The engineering strategies need to be current and future oriented. You will be provided with a list of major automotive companies from which you can choose two companies.