Engineering management — Managing effectively in technology-based organizations

Book reviews emphasis on tangible projects such as product development rather than on morecomplex, less easily defined projects such as change management. Despite such criticism, The People Side of Project Management can be regarded as a useful addition to the project-management literature, although the hardback price may be regarded by some, particularly experienced project managers, as a little expensive when they weigh up the benefits that they are likely to gain from such a book. However, as the authors suggest, many practising project managers, senior managers and potential clients are likely to benefit from reading The People Side of Project Management, as will students of project management and others who wish to gain a flavour of the problems of managing projects in organizations. Lynn i%urloway Henley Management College UK

Engineering Management - Managing Effectively In Technology-Based Organizations H J Thamhain Wiley Inter-science USA (1992) 574 pp f76 ISBN 0 471 82801 7 This book is aimed at professionals and managers in engineering as well as students on college courses in technology and engineering management, and it should provide a valuable perspective for both sets of readers. It correctly asserts that managing teams effectively in today’s dynamic and unstructured environment requires an understanding of the interaction of organizational, technical and behavioural variables.

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Although the book purports to cover R&D, engineering, manufacturing and field services, it essentially focuses on the management of design and development. However, the approach taken, using projectmanagement tools and techniques, is equally applicable to all areas of managing technological change. The importance of competence in project-management skills for those involved in managing technology is also underlined by this treatment, since the leadership, technical and administrative skills of engineering managers identified by the author are essentially those required for project managers. Just under half of the book is devoted to the organizational and behavioural aspects of management, relating the theory to practical applications in engineering management. The topics of organization, organizational development, planning, management information systems, interfaces with marketing, motivation and leadership, team building, managing conflict and change, and career development are presented, with their theoretical principles being related directly to engineering issues, so that the theories are seen in context. Much of the material is supported by US research findings, and each chapter has an extensive and relatively upto-date bibliography to help readers who want to pursue some topics in more depth. The remainder of the book covers the application of project-management techniques to engineering, with supporting checklists and tables to summarize some of the key aspects, which should prove useful for both practitioners and students. Engineering project planning, project tools and techniques, controlling and measuring work and bid proposal development are presented in a way which clearly illustrates their key role in the management of engi-

neering projects. Exercises at the end of each chapter should reinforce key points, and they would have been even more valuable for students if model or possible answers were provided where appropriate. An appendix encourages the reader to test his/her aptitude for engineering management, compare it with that of the general (US) population, and develop an action plan to become an engineering manager. This is a rather superficial but nevertheless thoughtprovoking exercise, even for practising managers! Case studies at the end of the book provide interesting material on which to base group assignments, but they would have been even more valuable if possible solutions had been developed as for the final case. If the words ‘engineering management’ had been replaced in the text by ‘project management’, and the scope had been increased to include examples of manufacturing and other types of project, this book could have been a foundation projectmanagement text. As it is, it should nevertheless be seen as a valuable addition to project and engineering managers’ bookshelves, because of the emphasis placed on the importance of the people aspects of getting the job done. A key criterion for success is stated by the author to be a person’s desire to become a manager. If such a desire is combined with a good understanding and application of the principles and techniques covered in this book, then the reader should be well on the road to becoming an effective engineering manager. Lee R Balthazor Procurement Management Group Portsmouth Business School UK

International Journal of Project Management

1994 Volume 12 Number 2