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Session 2660 Universal Leadership Education And Development for Managers and Engineers (U LEAD ME)

Hamid Khan Ball State University

Four years of undergraduate engineering education is not a panacea of success for engineers. Evidence suggests that most engineers need to learn the art of management when they have become successful as engineers but poor as managers of people, and must move on as more successful managers of technology and people. [Drucker (1991)]

But, such characteristics must be developed by programming and intervention and by tapping into the hidden (latent) potential of engineers as they work on the job. These management development programs must be effective from four desirable aspects -- (i) reaction to the intervention, (ii) knowledge gained for immediate analysis and use, (iii) demonstrated change of behavior in making decisions, and finally (iv) the impact in the job, on subordinates, and the employing organization [Kirkpatrick (1979)].

The criteria employed in the evaluation of management development program must be measurable yet defensible [Guba & Lincoln (1982)]. This is a quantitative research demonstrating the fulfillment of the professional needs of engineers with regard to their management development. The instruments used for this research have been widely accepted for professional development for effectiveness and for highlighting the correlates of importance of managerial skills, competence of managerial skills, managerial background variables, learning style inventory, and leadership style inventory. Such correlates are important for projecting engineering executives' success.

The Importance of the Study

The importance of the research lies in determining the usefulness of a professional education program for practicing managers [Grotelueschen (1986)]. The managers need development programs due to continued obsolescence of their knowledge, skills and abilities. Managers' growth is needed if they are to stay competitive in a rapidly changing technological environment [Schon (1987)]. Personal and professional development due to executive education programs must be objectively measured to uncover to what degree or level the stated objectives of the program met the needs of such managers.

It is all the more important for the international managers and engineers on global assignments because their professional competence and effectiveness depends on the use of immediately updated knowledge and skill. The international managers face obsolescence more quickly and more rapidly as the international strategy for global competitiveness changes very swiftly. Executive Development Associates study has shown that the multinational companies believe that their most important prioritiy of the millenium is the human resource development. The instruments have been designed to gather evidence regarding how well participants

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Khan, H. (1997, June), Universal Leadership Education And Development For Managers And Engineers (U Lead Me) Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6853