Editing Engineering management (section)

==Areas of practice==
Engineering management is a broad field and can cover a wide range of technical and managerial topics. An important resource is the Engineering Management Body of Knowledge (EMBoK).<ref>{{Cite book |title=Guide to the engineering management body of knowledge |last1=Shah |first1=Hiral |last2=Nowocin |first2=Walter |others=American Society of Mechanical Engineers|isbn=9780983100584|edition=4th |location=Huntsville, AL|oclc=960965705|date=October 2015 }}</ref> The topics below are representative of typical topics in the field.

=== Leadership and organization management ===
[[Leadership]] and organization management are concerned with the skills involving positive direction of technical organizations and motivation of employees. Often a manager must shape engineering policy within an organization.

=== Operations, operations research, and supply chain ===
[[Operations management]] is concerned with designing and controlling the process of production and redesigning business operations in the production of goods or services. [[Operations research]] deals with quantitative models of complex operations and uses these models to support [[decision-making]] in any sector of industry or public services. [[Supply chain management]] is the process of planning, implementing and managing the flow of goods, services and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption.<ref name="UWMGTE">[http://www.mansci.uwaterloo.ca/mgte/index.php University of Waterloo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104125708/http://www.mansci.uwaterloo.ca/mgte/index.php |date=2010-11-04 }}, Management Engineering.</ref>

=== Engineering law ===
[[Engineering law]] and the related statutes are critical to management practice and engineering.<ref>California Professional Engineers Act; Business and Professions Code; 6700 - 6799; Chapter 7</ref> Engineering legislation makes engineering a controlled activity and an engineering manager must know which statutes apply to their practice. Codes of ethics can be enshrined in law. Professional misconduct and negligence are defined in law. An engineering manager must be licensed as an engineer and may have engineers, technicians and natural scientists reporting to her or him. Understanding how licensed engineers supervise non-licensed technicians and natural scientists is critical to safe practice.<ref>Professional Engineers Ontario, Assuming Responsibility and Supervising Engineering Work Guideline, February 2018.</ref>

An engineering manager must always use engineering legislation to push back against schedule pressure or budget pressure to ensure public safety.<ref>Ontario, Regulation 941, Section 77(2)(i) and Section 72(2)(j).</ref>

=== Management of technology ===
Introducing and utilizing new technology is a major route to cost reduction and quality improvement in production engineering.<ref>''Engineering Firms: A Survey of Factors Affecting their Growth & Performance'', ISR/Google Books, 2013, 2019. E-book ISBN 9780906321553. Chapter 4, "Technological development & product innovation in engineering"; Chapter 6, "Managerial, organizational & technological aspects of the growth & performance of engineering firms: 24 company case studies".       
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The [[Technology management|management of technology]] (MOT) theme builds on the foundation of management topics in [[accounting]], [[finance]], [[economics]], [[organizational behavior]] and organizational design. Courses in this theme deal with operational and organizational issues related to managing [[innovation]] and technological change.<ref name="UWMGTE"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://gordon.tufts.edu/programs/m-s-in-engineering-management/program-structure|title=Program Structure - Gordon Institute|access-date=2015-05-26|archive-date=2013-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823180910/http://gordon.tufts.edu/programs/m-s-in-engineering-management/program-structure|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== New product development and product engineering ===
[[New product development]] (NPD) is the complete process of bringing a new product to market. [[Product engineering]] refers to the process of designing and developing a device, assembly, or system such that it be produced as an item for sale through some production manufacturing process. Product engineering usually entails activity dealing with issues of cost, producibility, quality, performance, reliability, serviceability, intended lifespan and user features. [[Project management]] techniques are used to manage the design and development progress using the [[phase-gate model]] in the product development process. [[Design for manufacturability]] (also sometimes known as design for manufacturing or DFM) is the general engineering art of designing products in such a way that they are easy to manufacture.

=== Systems engineering ===
[[Systems engineering]] is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design and manage complex systems over their life cycles.

=== Industrial engineering ===
[[Industrial engineering]] is a branch of engineering which deals with the optimization of complex processes, systems or organizations. Industrial engineers work to eliminate waste of time, money, materials, man-hours, machine time, energy and other resources that do not generate value.

=== Management science ===
[[Management science]] uses various scientific research-based principles, strategies, and analytical methods including [[mathematical modeling]], statistics and numerical algorithms to improve an organization's ability to enact rational and meaningful management decisions by arriving at optimal or near optimal solutions to complex decision problems.

===Engineering design management===
Engineering design management represents the adaptation and application of customary management practices, with the intention of achieving a productive [[engineering design process]].  Engineering design management is primarily applied in the context of engineering design teams, whereby the activities, outputs and influences of design teams are planned, guided, monitored and controlled.

===Human factors safety culture===
Critical to management success in engineering is the study of human factors and safety culture involved with highly complex tasks within organizations large and small. In complex engineering systems, human factors safety culture can be critical in preventing catastrophe and minimizing the realized hazard rate. Critical areas of safety culture are minimizing blame avoidance, minimizing power distance, an appropriate ambiguity tolerance and minimizing a culture of concealment. Increasing organizational empathy and an ability to clearly report problems up the chain of management is important to the success of any engineering program.

Managing an engineering firm is in opposition to the management of a law firm. Law firms keep secrets while engineering firms succeed when information is deiminated clearly and quickly. Engineering managers must push against a culture of concealment which may be promoted by the law department.

Managers in an engineering firm must be ready to push back against schedule and budget constraints from the executive suite. Engineering managers must use engineering law to push back against the executive suite to ensure public safety. The executive suite in an engineering organization can become consumed with financial data imperiling public safety.