Description
A follow up to the author’s book “Developing Effective Engineering Leadership” (IET 2002), Maintaining Effective Engineering Leadership explores a framework of skills and process as a means of maintaining leadership development.
The author argues that engineering leadership is the result of the development of four fundamental concepts: personal managerial skills, self-leadership skills, operational leadership skills, and organisational leadership skills. Therefore, for an engineer to progress into a leadership role they must possess and apply these skills in order to become a capable manager and leader.
Each of these concepts is explored in turn with examples taken from the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003 to show the importance of these processes and skills and highlight what can potentially happen when they are ignored.
The book also introduces the Capability Maturity Model which provides organisations with appropriate processes and knowledge guidelines to ensure effective leadership to avoid such disasters.
Topics covered include;
• A good process gone bad – setting the stage with the Columbia disaster
• The importance of process
• Leadership is guiding a process oriented organisation
• Maintaining vigilance for product and the need for change
• The financial impact on process and operations
• How do we change – what do we need to do?
• Individual capability
• Recommendations for process and capability in today’s industries
About the author
Ray Morrison has a distinguished career working in the aerospace industry and engineering education. He is the recipient of the EPDA National Fellowship and has been an active member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Society for Manufacturing Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education.
Book readership
Maintaining Effective Engineering Leadership is essential reading for engineers with a management focus who aim to improve their personal leadership skills. This book will also appeal to advanced undergraduate and graduate students of engineering and management courses.
Book contents
1 A good process gone bad: setting the stage with the Columbia disaster
- Effective use of process: the name of the game, this occurs
in more than just the space race and the Shuttle Program - The Columbia Report: a short review
- What do we think went wrong and what can be done about it?
2 The importance of processes
- A brief history of process engineering
- Applying the principles of process engineering
- Stop ‘fixing’ that broken process for the umpteenth time
- Business process re-engineering only works when applied and supported
- Taking the time to plan and fix processes
- Are there stakeholders in each action plan for the processes?
- Developing a management plan
- Process is more than following ISO-9000 or similar management plans
3 Leadership is guiding a process-oriented organisation
- The fundamental flaw of ‘heroes’
- The evolution from hero-based to team-based
- Leadership in a capability maturity model
- Programme and project management fundamentals
- The importance of dealing with the culture
- Seven characteristics of organisational culture
- Establishing effective administrative networks
- The importance of developing a system for followership and membership
- The importance of teamwork in a process environment
- Wrap up on leadership in process organisations
4 Maintaining product vigilance and the need for change
- Learning to manage change as a way of life
- Developing an acceptance for change with adaptation and consideration
- Creating an entrepreneurial environment
- Company history and the need for change
- Lean management as a means for change and improvement
5 The financial impact on process and operations
- Being accountable for process finances
- Direct versus indirect costing and accounting
- Concern for stockholder return versus stakeholder investment and return
- The negatives of top management salaries and bonuses
6 How do we change – what do we need to do?
- The first step
- The second step
- The third step
- The fourth step
- The fifth step
- The sixth step
- The seventh step
- The eighth step
- The ninth step
- The tenth step
7 Individual capability
- Repeatability: the key process for leaders and their employees
- Repeatability: focus on project and programme management
8 Recommendations for process and capability in today’s industries
- Recommendation 1
- Recommendation 2
- Recommendation 3
- Recommendation 4
- In conclusion