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What is Engineering Management?

William J. Lannes, III, Fellow, IEEE
AbstractThe question, what is engineering management? has certainly been addressed before in both professional articles and textbooks. However, it seems appropriate to again address this question because of the renewed interest in engineering management. This renewed interest comes in many forms, but two stand out. The first is the increasing trend to give engineering management assignments earlier and earlier in a new engineering graduates career. The second is the emphasis of engineering management skills in ABET 2000 in the undergraduate engineering program. Both of these initiatives seem to be led by industry and may be a direct result of industrys interest in engineering management skills as a competitive advantage as well as their downsizing practices, which have resulted in the more experienced engineers retiring early and their responsibilities being pushed down to the more junior engineers. If you believe, as does this author, that before you can become a good engineering manager you should first be a good engineer, then the trend of giving management assignments before engineers have had an opportunity to become well grounded in their engineering disciplines should be disturbing. This could eventually affect a companys ability to continue to play a leadership role in introducing new technologies. Hence, the question what is engineering management? is an important question. This article attempts to answer the question by addressing when engineering management skills are needed in an engineers career. Index TermsCompetitiveness, engineering careers, interpersonal skills, management, management of technology, process management systems.

I. INTRODUCTION LTHOUGH the question what is engineering management? has certainly been asked and answered before, the answers are far from uniform. If you consult standard engineering management textbooks, many provide the skills needed for engineering managers rather than a definition of engineering management. For example, Badawy talks about the skill mix needed by engineering managers, which are defined by him as technical skills, interpersonal skills, and administrative and conceptual skills [1]. In Thamhains book on engineering management, he also describes three very similar skill categories: leadership skills, technical skills, and administrative skills [2]. However, Babcock does attempt to provide an answer to that exact question What is engineering management? in his textbook and that response is quoted below in the following three paragraphs: Some writers would use a narrow definition of engineering management, confining it to the direct supervision of engineers or of engineering functions. This would include, for example, supervision of engineering research
Manuscript received February 1, 2000; revised September 1, 2000. The author is with the College of Engineering, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148-2200 USA (e-mail: wlannes@uno.edu). Publisher Item Identifier S 0018-9391(01)01636-1.

or design activities. Others would add an activity we might consider the engineering of managementthe application of quantitative methods and techniques to the practice of management (often called management science). However, these narrow definitions fail to include the general management activities engineers actually perform in modern enterprises. If engineering management is broadly defined to include the general management responsibilities engineers can grow into, one might well ask how it differs from ordinary management. I have tried to answer that elsewhere: The engineering manager is distinguished from other managers because he [or she] possesses both an ability to apply engineering principles and a skill in organizing and directing people and projects. He is uniquely qualified for two types of jobs: the management of technical functions (such as design or production) in almost any enterprise, or the management of broader functions (such as marketing or top management) in a high-technology enterprise [3]. Although this definition may not suit everyone, it certainly addresses the question adequately; so why revisit the question What is engineering management? I believe there are at least five good reasons to readdress this important question, as follows, and a related one, Why is engineering management important to engineers? 1) From the authors personal experience in downsizing and discussion with currently enrolled students, there seems to be an increasing trend to give engineering management assignments earlier and earlier in a new engineers career. This being the case, we not only have to adequately describe engineering management to them, but we need to provide them a means of acquiring these important skills. 2) Engineering management skills are best described by relating to a stage in an engineers career, usually the second stage. Yet the new ABET 2000 recently published by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology requires engineering management skills in the undergraduate curriculum (which generally precedes the first stage of an engineers career). The required skills include such things as an ability to function and communicate within multidisciplinary teams and to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context [4]. 3) Another reason for the interest in engineering management is simply that everyone is looking for a competitive advantage, including the assumption that better technologies and their rapid deployment and use can be that edge. 4) Continuing efforts to improve cycle time have also lead to concurrent engineering, integrated process and product design, and other interdisciplinary approaches to allow compa-

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nies to be the first to market as well as the best in the market. This has essentially changed engineering into a team sport, which is very different from the independent inventor status of the past. Being successful in a team environment requires more engineering management skills than technical skills. 5) The interest in quality programs has not diminished. In particular, global competition has required that companies be at least equivalent in quality according to some international standard, such as ISO 9000. The successful application of ISO standards also requires engineering management skills. Addressing these reasons offers both opportunities and challenges for the engineering management professional. The opportunity is that engineering management is clearly becoming more visible both in academia and industry, and we should seize this opportunity to stress the importance of engineering management and the management of technology to the ability of a company to continually reinvent itself and compete successfully in a rapidly changing environment. The challenge is to make certain that the differences between engineering management and the management of technology are continued to be recognized. Engineering management is integral to the work of all engineers and, hence, is linked to their career paths. Management of technology can be a final step in an engineers career and should be the goal for many of our engineers. However, it is not so clearly linked to an engineers career and is often successfully undertaken at the executive level by nonengineers. Perhaps the most important reason to reexamine the question on engineering management is that it is simply that it is a worthwhile undertaking. Particularly if we believe in such things as continuous improvement, then we should seriously revisit our definitions and concepts on a periodic basis. It is hoped that this article will serve as a catalyst for a more in-depth discussion of engineering management. II. INTEREST IN ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT In addition to the reasons given above, there is more evidence that interest in engineering management is continuing to grow. In 1994, Kocaoglu reported, using educational programs as a measure, that there has been dynamic growth in engineering management. He noted that there were ten universities offering engineering and technology management programs in 1960 and that since then, the number has been doubling roughly every eight years. The number of universities offering engineering and technology management degrees worldwide at the time of his report was 159 [5]. Our experience here in Louisiana has been similar. When we began our program here at the University of New Orleans (UNO) in 1996, there was only one other similar program in Louisiana. Now, in addition to our program, which has already begun to produce graduates, a third Louisiana university has submitted a proposal to begin another program.1 It should be noted that using the number of educational programs as a measure of the interest in engineering management is probably satisfactory because most programs are not allowed
1There have been 38 graduates in the UNO program as of the end of the Summer 2000 semester. The program consists of 75% working engineers and 25% full-time students, mostly international.

to begin without establishing a need. This was the case with our program. The first step in developing the program actual began as a result of growing industry demand for such a curriculum. Industry in our region had also begun to realize that in the increasing competitive environment in which they found themselves that it was necessary to have engineers who not only know their areas of expertise, but who also have a much broader view of their engineering enterprises. This broader, holistic view is becoming more important as total quality management, concurrent engineering, activity-based management, and similar programs are being constantly offered as providing a competitive advantage in global competition. III. CAREER PATHS IN ENGINEERING One way to think of engineering management is as a phase in an engineering career. Engineering management can be considered as the knowledge and skills required when the engineer begins to receive supervisory assignments. Hence, it may be useful to examine a typical engineering career to give us some insight into engineering management. First, however, we need to address the concept of dual career ladders occasionally found in high-tech companies. In the dual ladder case, one ladder, or career path, is considered technical and the other, normal or typical. In the technical ladder, one can generally stay in a narrow area of technical expertise (generally a core competence of the company) and still receive pay and promotions similar to the more typical path. In the typical path, the engineer generally moves from technical problem-solving to supervisory and managerial issues, and on then to business and industry issues. It is this typical path that we will use in this example, although it could be easily be argued that engineering management skills are required in both paths. Using a career path to provide insight into what is engineering management is not new. In the first three references cited, all make use of this approach. In particular, Badawys book and his excellent article on managerial competency and engineering management skills essentially does that when he develops a managerial skills mix for three levels of management [1]. The skills were previously mentioned: technical, interpersonal, and administrative and conceptual. The three management levels he describes are first level (supervisors), second level (managers), and third level (executives) [1]. I will take a similar approach but will change the names of the three phases in an engineers career to emphasize a point (and because I believe they more correctly describe these phases in an engineering career). I will also describe some of the skills needed in those phases. The new diagram is shown in Fig. 1. IV. CAREER PHASES As can be seen by Fig. 1, the career path has been divided into three phases: engineering, engineering management, and management of technology. These phases best describe the typical career path of engineers and are helpful in defining engineering management. It should be noted that although the suggested time in each phase is accurate for many engineers, it is certainly not for many. Many engineers spend more than five years in the engineering phase, and some never actually reach

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Fig. 1.

Typical engineering career path.

the last phase, management of technology. As already noted, the first phase, the engineering phase, is under considerable pressure to be shortened. A. Engineering Phase For many engineers, this is the most enjoyable phase of their career and probably accounts for the fact that many engineers are reluctant to move on to supervisory and managerial positions. In this initial phase, engineers are doing those things for which they were trained and educated. They begin to put into practical use the applied science and mathematics as well as the application of a scientific, reductionist approach to problem-solving, which is the basis of their engineering schooling. They generally apply this to a narrow field of application, such as computer circuits, control systems, or any other of a wide range of engineering specialities. This is usually accomplished in a mentoring environment and represents a phase of high growth for new engineers. No more will be said about this phase other than that it is the phase most often associated with a career in engineering. B. Engineering Management Phase This is the phase of the engineers career in which we are most interested for the purpose of this article. This is the phase that represents the transition from the reduction approach to problem-solving to the practice of management problem-solving, which generally requires knowledge that is more holistic and integrative. For many engineers, this is a difficult transition, but many have also discovered that it can also be a very rewarding experience. In this period, engineers need engineering management skills. Engineers become involved in large projects and more complex designs requiring interdisciplinary skills. In this phase, engineers discover that success will depend not only on technical expertise, but also on other factors, such as organizational and people issues. The knowledge and skills required in this phase of development are primarily such things as project management, interpersonal and communication skills, interdisciplinary skills in finance and marketing, and other organizational skills. C. Management of Technology Phase In this phase, engineers become involved in broader issues for their companies and industry. They will address such things as does the introduction of new technology give his company a

competitive advantage? Clearly, this stage requires the highest level of understanding of their businesses and their industries. This level of skills requires true executive knowledge and skills. Although the three phases have been discussed as separate stages, there is indeed overlap between the phases, and this is indicated in Fig. 1. Hence, the middle phase (engineering management phase) requires some technical skills and knowledge as well as some executive business knowledge and skills, but primarily it requires the knowledge and skills we have been defined as associated with engineering management. Hence, engineering management can be defined as the knowledge and skills required for success in the second stage of the three-step career path. These skills can generally be thought of as interdisciplinary skills with emphasis on integrative abilities rather than on the scientific reductions abilities needed in the engineering phase and the holistic business abilities needed in the management of technology phase. This means that any educational system that intends to meet the needs of engineering management should offer the types of courses that will enhance the knowledge and skills required for engineering management while still offering some electives in technical disciplines and executive-level business courses. As noted, not all engineers progress through all three stages nor do they progress at the same rate. Some would suggest that this progress is often limited by lack of opportunities or desires to become engineering managers. It is my view that the limitation is primarily because of a lack of desire; not all engineers want to manage projects and people. On the other hand, good engineering managers are always in demand; so the opportunity is there for the willing. Curriculum requirements for engineering management degree programs have been mentioned, and this probably means that one last question needs to be answered. That is, what is the difference between a Master of Science in engineering management, a Master of management of technology, and a Master of business administration? V. MSEM, MBA, OR MOT? The University of New Orleans already had a long established MBA program before the Masters program in engineering management began, and we recently received approval for a concentration in the management of technology as part of our MBA program. Hence, I have had to answer the question what is

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a Masters of engineering management? almost as often as I have had to answer what is engineering management? [6], [7]. For an excellent in-depth discussion on the differences among the MSEM, MBA, and MOT, I refer the reader to Chapter 6 of Badawys book, Developing Managerial Skills in Engineers and Scientists, and his more recent article on alternative models for educating engineers for technology management [1], [8]. Here at UNO, we differentiate among the options by telling the student that if they want to remain in their technical area of expertise but see the need to improve their managerial skills and understanding of business, then the engineering management program is the right program. On the other hand, if they want to use their engineering knowledge and experience as a stepping stone to a career in their corporate strategic planning or marketing groups, then the MBA would be more appropriate. Lastly, if they are at the stage in their career in which they will soon be making executive decisions on the use of technology in their corporations, then the Masters degree in management of technology should be considered. We believe our curriculums are designed to meet those individual needs. VI. CONCLUSIONS Engineering management can be defined in many ways. The path chosen here is to examine a typical engineers career and look at the knowledge and skills required for a successful career. In that context, engineering management can be defined as the knowledge and skills required to be successful when an engineer reaches the supervisor/manager level, and these skills are primarily integrative skills rather than the reductionist skills required in pure engineering. It is hoped by addressing the question what is engineering management? that it will cause more engineers and engineering managers to engage in a dialogue about not only the definition, but also the importance of engineering management. It is a necessary building block to a successful engineering career.

REFERENCES
[1] M. Badawy, Developing Managerial Skills in Engineers and Scientists, 2nd ed. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1995, p. 11. [2] H. J. Thamhain, Engineering Management. New York: Wiley, 1992, pp. 89. [3] D. L. Babcock, Managing Engineering and Technology, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1996, p. 14. [4] Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, ENGINEERING CRITERIA 2000, 3rd ed., Dec. 1997. [5] D. F. Kocaoglu, Technology management: Educational trends, IEEE Trans. Eng. Manage., vol. 1, Nov. 1994. [6] W. J. Lannes, Educating engineers for management, in Proc. Soc. Women Eng. Region C Conf., New Orleans, LA, Nov. 1315, 1998. , New synergy for industry and academia, in Proc. Louisiana [7] Eng. Soc., New Orleans Chapter Mtg., Metairie, LA, Nov. 1995. [8] M. Badawy, Technology management education: Alternate models, IEEE Eng. Manage. Rev., vol. 27, Summer 1999.

William J. Lannes, III (S65M66SM78F96) received the B.S.E.E. degree from Tulane University, New Orleans, LA and the M.S.E.E. degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. He has completed the Edison Electric Institute Executive Management Program. He presently serves as the Director of Engineering Management in the College of Engineering at the University of New Orleans. Prior to joining UNO, he served 22 years with Entergy Corporation, and prior to that, he spent 11 years as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps. During his career at Louisiana Power & Light Company and Entergy Services, he lead many engineering groups. He has a broad base of experience in electric power and engineering management. Mr. Lannes was the winner and lead author for the Power Engineering Society Substations Committee Prize Paper Award and was selected for the Outstanding Engineer Award for Region 3 of the IEEE. He is active in the engineering profession, having served on major national committees, such as the Edison Electric Institute Systems and Equipment Committee and the Electric Power Research Institutes Generation and Storage Division Committee. He is also a past Chairman of the New Orleans Section of the IEEE. He is a Member of the NSRP MERITECH Major Initiative Team on Facilities and Tooling. He is a Registered Engineer in the State of Louisiana.