What Are We Teaching Our Engineering Managers?
Abstract
Engineering management and management of technology programs throughout the United States of America are entrusted with educating future leaders of industry and technology. Little, if any, research has been conducted on the nature of the methods and tactics being taught. With much of the industrial base of the U.S. moving overseas, America's lead in technology becomes a potent economic and industrial force for the future. Harnessing this potent force can lead to prosperity and success for the entire nation. However, the failure to characterize the existing programs in the U.S. can lead to a failure by both industry and academia to evaluate the direction and context of future U.S. leadership in the global marketplace. The research conducted in this study used the schools of management thought as developed by Dr. Harold Koontz in his article "The Management Theory Jungle" to classify various engineering management and management of technology programs (Koontz, 1961). A modification by combining similar schools of management thought allows the six schools to be reduced to three. The three schools used in this study were Management Process/Empirical, Human Behavior/Social Systems, and Mathematical/ Decision Theory. The results of the study pointed to the heavy use of the Mathematical/ Decision Theory school of thought by most of the engineering management and management of technology programs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA361735
Entities
People
- Philip C. Hicks
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology