Engineers as Managers/Leaders

Dr. C. M. Chang
Only to be used by instructors who adopt the text:
C. M. Chang, “Engineering Management: Challenges in the
New Millennium,” Pearson Prentice Hall (2005)
Copyright © 2005 by Dr. Carl Chang

1
 Chapter Contents
• Introduction
• Differences in Work Done be engineers and
Managers
• Career Paths of a Typical Engineer
• Factors Affecting the Promotion of Engineers
to Managers
• Factors Causing Engineers to Fail as Managers
• Leaders and Managers
• Emotional Intelligence

2
 Engineering Leadership
• Only 26% of CEO’s in the top 1000 companies
had their first degrees in Engineering (more in
foreign countries)
• Only 10% of university presidents are
engineers
• Few engineers are in Congress
• President Jimmy Carter was the only engineer,
but he did not get reelected

3
 Why So?
• Engineering mindset and attitude not
compatible with management work?
• Education preventing engineers from
becoming great leaders?
• Strengths in engineering have become
weaknesses in management?
• Differences in work done by engineers versus
that by managers?

4
CHARACTERISTICS ENGINEERS MANAGERS

Focus Technical/scientific tasks People (talents, innovation, relationships);

resources (capital, knowledge, process
know-how); projects (tasks, procedure, policy)

Decision Making Adequate technical information Fuzzy information under uncertainty (people's
Basis with great certainty behavior, customer needs, market forecasts)

Involvement Perform individual tasks Direct work of others (planning, leading,

organizing, controlling)

Work Output Quantitative, measurable Qualitative, less measurable, except

financial results, when applicable

Effectiveness Rely on technical expertise Rely on interpersonal skills to get work done
and personal dedication through people (motivation, delegation)

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CHARACTERISTICS ENGINEERS MANAGERS

Dependency Autonomous Interdependent of others

Responsibility Pursue one task at a time Pursue multiple objectives concurrently

Creativity Technology centered People centered (conflict resolution, problem

solving, political alliance, networks building)

Bottom Line "How" (operational) "What" and "Why" (strategic)

Concern Will it work technically? Will it add value (market share, financial,
core technology, customer satisfaction)?

Adopted and revised from P. Morrison, "Making Managers of Engineers," Journal of Management in
Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 4 (1986)

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Career Path of Engineers

7
Mid-level Positions
• Dual Ladder System (1)
Technical (senior engineer,
consultant, associate,
fellow) (2A)
Managerial (section
engineer, supervisor,
manager, director)
(2B) Project Management
(project engineer, project
manager, manager, director)

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 Dual Ladder

Vice President

Director Director Fellow

Manager Manager Associate

Supervisor Project Manager Consultant

Section Engineer Project Engineer Senior Engineer

Staff Engineer

Engineer

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 Mid-level Positions
• Mid-level positions are equivalent in ranking,
mid-point salary and prestige
• Technical Ladder is capped at the Corporate
Fellow level
• Managerial ladder, including Project
Management positions, leads to Executive
level positions (vice president, CTO)

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 Mid-level Technical
• Larger responsibility for programs of high
technical contents but no managerial duty
• Add value by technical contributions,
innovations, and technology applications
• Fellows are typically well-renowned both
inside and outside of the company for
technical expertise demonstrated in patents,
publications and commercial success

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 Mid-level Managerial
• Larger responsibility of managing people,
tasks, capabilities, functions and programs
• Devote increasingly less time on technology
work and more on managerial work
• Success Factors (1) Established technical
expertise, (2) Proficient in all management
functions, (3) Problem solving and conflict
resolution, (4) Strategic planning abilities

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 Remarks on Mid-level Positions
• Technical ladder positions are less quota-
limited than the corresponding positions in
managerial ladder
• Transfer from positions in technical to
managerial ladder is somewhat more easier
than the other way around

13
 Executive Level Positions

• Positions such as vice president (VP) of

Engineering and chief technology officer
(CTO) demand leadership capabilities in
creating and implementing technological
strategies to capture new business
opportunities
• Teamwork with other high level executives is
a critical success factor
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 Work Contents
• Change of work contents with engineering career
progression

First-line Mid Executive

Supervisor Manager
Technical 70% 25% 5%
Managerial 25% 50% 25%
Visionary 5% 25% 70%

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Goals for All Levels: Add Value

16
 National Science Foundation
Study (2000)

Engineers/Scientists in Management

49%
48%
Percentage (%)

47%
46%
45%
44%
43%
42%
41%
Younger than 35 to 44 45- 54 Older than 55
35
Age

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To Manage or Not to Manage - Pros

• Financial rewards
• Authority, responsibility and leadership
• Power, influence, social status and prestige
• Career advancement, achievement and
recognition
• Random circumstance

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To Manage or Not to Manage - Cons

• Long hours and hectic life (overtime, travel)

• High stress level (pressure of deadlines,
constraints of resources, political infighting,
lack of peer cooperation, trivial personnel
conflicts)
• Poor family life (not seeing family much)
• Health hazards (travel, unhealthy foods,
physical stress)

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 Success and Happiness
• Success in a management career contributes
positively to happiness, but requiring certain
sacrifices causing unhappiness - one must
select a path to optimize happiness
• Happiness factors: (1) Wealth, (2) Social
standing, (3) Professional achievements,
(4) Peer recognition, (5) Quality of family life,
(6) Health, (7) Absent of excess stress and
anxiety, (8) Power, and (9) Others

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 How to Get Promoted
• Competence in current assignments - master
current duties and responsibilities, gain
respect of co-workers and get favorable
recommendation from the boss
• Readiness and desire to become manager -
handle larger and more challenging
assignments (budget, people, impact)
• Good match with organizational needs

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 Managerial Competency

Managerial Competency

Knowledge Skills Aptitude

Political
Strong Will Strong Need Strong Capacity
to Manage for Power for Empathy
Handling Power
& Enterprise Politics
Technical

Conflict Resolution Managerial

Administrative Leadership Motivation Communications Coaching & Appraising

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 Question # 10.1
• Silverman, author of “The Art of Managing Technical
Projects,” Prentice Hall (1978), argues that our
college engineering curriculums might be a
hindrance to engineers wanting to move into
management, as they typically emphasize an orderly,
predictable and pragmatic view of the world. Judging
from the University at Buffalo’s 30-credit engineering
curriculums at the Masters degree level, do you
agree or disagree with Silverman, and why?

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 Leaders and Managers
• Managers – set goals, plan actions, secure resources,
set up structures, exercise control and getting results
(to keep organization functioning properly and create
orderly results)
• Leaders – set vision and direction, create strategies
to achieve vision, conceive actions steps to
accomplish goals, align people and form coalition,
motivate and inspire people to move forward (to
promote future-oriented changes)

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Characteristics Managers Leaders

Focus Do things the right ways Do the right things

Administration, problem solving Direction setting
Reconcile differences Creativity and innovation
Seek compromises
Maintain balance of Power

Emphasis Rationality and control Innovative Approach

Accept and maintain status quo Challenge status quo
Putting out fires Blazing new trails

Targets Goals, resources, Ideas

Structures, people

Orientation Tasks, Affairs Risk taking

Persistence Imagination
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Short-term view Long-term perspective
Success Factors Tough-mindedness Perceptual capability
Hard work
Tolerance
Goodwill
Analytical capability

Points of Inquiry How and when What and why

Preference Order, harmony Chaos, lack of structure

Aspiration Classic good soldiers Own person

Favor Routine Unstructured

Follow established procedure

Approach with Using established rules Intuitive and empathetic

People
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Personality Team-player Individualist

Relevance Necessary Essential

Thrust Blend in Stand out

Bring about compromise Lead Changes

Achieve win-win

Mentality "If it isn't broke, don't fix it" "When it isn't broke, this
maybe
the only time you can fix it."

Adapted from Abraham Zaleznik, "Managers and Leaders: Are they

Different?" Harvard Business Review (March-April 1992), and Warren
Bennis, "21st Century Leadership," Executive Excellence, Provo (May 1991).
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 Emotional Intelligence
• All leaders have a high degree of emotional
intelligence
(1) Self-awareness
(2) Self-regulation
(3) Motivation
(4) Empathy
(5) Social Skills

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 Failure Factors for Engineering
Managers
• Lack of political savvy
• Uncomfortable with ambiguous situation
• Tense personality
• Lack of risk-taking willingness
• Tendency to clinch on technology
• Lack of human relations skills
• Deficiency in management skills and perception
• Not cognitive of manager’s roles and responsibility
• Narrow interest and preparation

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Most Common Reasons for Career
Failures for Engineers

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 (A) Poor Interpersonal Skills

• This is the single biggest reason for career failures.

Every one needs to be
(1) Showing respect and sensitivity in dealing with
others,
(2) Minimizing conflicts and disagreements,
(3) Giving and taking criticisms well,
(4) Striving to build team support,
(5) Becoming emotionally stable, and
(6) Behaving professionally
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 (B) Wrong Fit
• Not fitting to the cultural norms, core values,
priority, profit motives, social/ environmental
preferences, and others of the workplace
• Hard to adapt one’s own abilities, styles,
personality and chemistry to those of co-
workers
• Solution is to move on quickly

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 (C) Not Able to Take Risks
• Staying in a position far too long for fear of
losing control of own comfortable life
• Not willing to venture out (e.g., taking on a
management position, relocation for a
promotion, new job, different industry, etc.)

33
 (D) Bad Luck

• Caught unexpectedly in an organizational

restructuring situation (mergers and
acquisition, downsizing, change of market
conditions, economic downturn, outsouring
strategies, formation of supply chain, etc.)
• Bad luck is not always avoidable
• Be ready for it by keeping oneself marketable:
Value creation attitude, skills, and records
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 (E) Self-destructive Behavior
• Examples include: work in secret, resistance to
change, being excessively aggressive, shown
non-cooperative attitude, picking fights with
people, becoming overly argumentative, being
readily excitable about trivialities, and
showing a lack of perspectives in things
• Must check own behavior often and modify

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 (F) Lack of Focus
• Try to be jack of all trades, but not good in any
thing of value
• Having no expertise to be known for is
dangerous for one’s career (examples: work
well with different people - getting things
done effectively through teams; problem-
solving – applying FMEA or root cause analysis
techniques to complex problems)

36
 (G) Workplace Biases
• Ideally, all workplaces should be free of any
biases with respect to gender, age, color,
national origin, religious beliefs and others
• In reality, some workplaces are indeed better
and more progressive than others in this
respect
• Take proactive steps to avoid getting hurt by
such possibilities

37
 Question # 10.12

• Everyone works for a boss in industry. The

boss factor is extremely important, as it
directly affects a person’s career progression.
On the other hand, every one has specific
values, basic beliefs and certain fundamental
principles, which must be honored and
upheld all the time and under any
circumstances. Are there guidelines on how
to effectively manage own boss?

38
Question # 10.14
• Some engineers and
managers are known
to have more
difficulties in
interpersonal
relations than other.
How can they
improve their
interpersonal skills?

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 Success Factors
• (A) Performance - Make sure that each and
everyone of assignment is done well - “You
are only as good as your last performance.”
• (B) Personality - How one acts and behaves is
important. One should project a mature,
positive, reasonable and flexible personality

41
 Success Factors (cont’d)
• (C) Communications Skills - Ability to
communicate is important for promotability,
particularly writing concerning readability,
correctness, appropriateness and thought
• (D) Human Relations Skills - Interact with
people to create and maintain acceptable
working relationships, avoid being labeled
“Not working well with people”

42
 Success Factors (cont’d)
• (E) Make Tough Decisions - Take prudent risks
and make the tough plays
• (F) Work Experience - Build up own work
portfolio with diversified experience and high
impact assignments
• (G) Self Control - Stay cool and be able to
withstand pressure and stress, having high
tolerance to frustration

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 Success Factors (cont’d)
• (H) Technical Skills/Ability - Capabilities need
to be kept marketable
• (I) Health and Energy Level - Take care of own
health and maintain physical vitality
• (J) Personal Appearance - To fit into the
corporate image by following the boss’s
example

44
 Career Strategy for the 21st Century
• Think, speak, act and walk like an
entrepreneur - entrepreneurial mindset
• Embrace change as an opportunity for growth,
“Eager to stay, yet ready to leave”
• Be visionaries and detail-oriented
• Know own strengths and weaknesses, be
competitive, and set high standards for self
• Build alliances and stay connected
45
 Career Strategy for the 21st
Century(cont’d)
• Avoid specialization in favor of adaptability,
cross-functionality, people skills, and a solid
customer focus, learn fast to do new things
or partner with someone who knows
• Stay professionally active and keep skills
marketable
• Maintain work/life balance - “Earn a living,
make a life”
• (Source: James F. Kacena, “New Leadership Directions,” The Journal of Business Strategy, March/April
2002)
46
 Summary and Conclusions
• “Rules of thumb” from experience are worth
knowing
• Constantly reading to reinforce one’s
conviction in the values of noted leadership
profiles
• Practicing them until the preferred behavior
becomes ones’ second nature

47
 References
• Eugene Raudsepp, “Would You Make a Good Manager?” Machine Design, p. 57
(August 8, 1985).
• Anne Roe, “Networking: New Contact Sport For Managers,” Chemical
Engineering, p. 145 (October 27, 1986).
• F. Bartolome and A. Laurent, “The Manager and Servant of Power,” Harvard
Business Review, p. 77 (November - December 1986).
• R. W. Gallant, "So You Want to be a Manager,” Chemical Engineering, p. 55
(November 9, 1987)
• Alan Chapple, “Weak Interpersonal Skills Doom Engineers to 'Managerial
Malpractice' Experts Charge,” Engineering Times, (November 1986).
• Perry Pascasella, “How Can I Keep the Boss Happy?” Industrial Week,
• p. 213 (October 13, 1975).
• Anonymous, “A Quick Way to Test Your Boss Ability,” Business Management, p.
217 (July 1966).
• Robert E. Shannon, “Engineering Management,” John Wiley & Sons (1980).

48
 Question # 10.3
• Hoffman, author of “Prescription for Transitioning Engineers Into
Managers,” Engineering Management Journal (September 1989),
believes that a management education program should have three
elements:
• (1) Behavioral – People skills (motivation, team building,
communications and delegation).
• (2) Cognitive (production, marketing, finance, control).
• (3) Environmental (markets, competition, customers, political,
social and economical environment in which the organization
operates) The first two elements
appear to be self-evident. Explain why the third element, the
environmental, is important?

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 Question # 10.4
• How is engineering management different
from management in general?

50
Question # 10.5
• How to become a
good boss? What
are things the boss
should and should
not do?

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 The Engineer of 2020

• National Academy of Engineering, Washington

D.C., <nas.edu>, Published a Phase 1 Report:
“The Engineer of 2020”
• Eleven “Attributes of Engineers of 2020”:
(1) Strong Analytical skills, (2) Practical
Ingenuity, (3) Creativity, (4) Communication,
(5) Business & Management, (6) Leadership,

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 The Engineer of 2020
(7) High ethical standards, (8) Professionalism,
(9) Dynamism,
(10) Agility, resilience, and flexibility,
(11) Life-long learning

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 The Engineer of 2020
• May be reground into 4 major categories:
(1) Leadership (high ethical standards,
professionalism, communication)
(2) Technical capabilities (strong analytical skills,
practical ingenuity, creativity)
(3) Business and Management
(4) Drive to excel (dynamism, agility, flexibility,
life-long learning)
• Indeed, these are the same attributes emphasized
here
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