Effective engineering management in the next decade

Abstract

The last ten years represent a period of rapid change on a worldwide basis. Although new technology has played a major role in the creation of these changes, they have gone far beyond technology resulting in fundamental changes in how people and businesses interact. The high rate of change will continue and possibly accelerate in the coming years. This paper provides a framework for examining how engineering management can be effective in this environment. It looks at the role of engineering management, the impact of change and potential methods to manage and mitigate the impact of change. Part of the solution is a better understanding of change and the ways it affects individuals and organizations. One thing is clear, proactive programs are needed at all levels of engineering to anticipate and stay ahead whenever possible versus reactionary responses. In the field of process controls this is known as feed forward control versus feedback resulting in lower errors and better system stability, if the process is well understood.