Objectives:

This report aims to know:

 What is engineering management?

o Why there is a need for an engineer to study engineering management?

 The history of management

o The role of Industrial Revolution in the evolution of management thought

o The evolution of management thought.

What is Engineering Management?

As defined by ABET (Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology), engineering is a profession

in which the knowledge of mathematical and natural science gained by study, experience, and practice is applied

with judgment to develop ways to utilize, economically, the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of the

mankind.

While, management is a set of activities such as planning and decision making, organizing and control

that is directed at an organization’s resources which includes human, financial, and informational, this is with

the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient manner. (Griffin, 2015, p.4)

Now, according to Medina (1999), engineering management is an activity which combines technical

knowledge with the ability to organize and coordinate worker power, materials, machinery and money.

Some of us may think that engineering and management are two entirely different disciplines but in the

pre–historic times, management ideas already emerged with engineering principles. That is evident in some of

the historical structures which were built thousand years ago, that, surprisingly still stood today. One best

example of these is the famous Egyptian pyramids. These pyramids were built by Egyptians with a combined

knowledge on engineering and management.

Why there is a need for an engineer to study engineering management?

 Engineers are expected to do a lot of things based on their specialization and job level. A typical

engineering activities may include research, design and development, testing, manufacturing and so on. But

aside from these tasks and activities, engineers are also expected to do work with management positions that

directly deal with people. However, engineers were not trained to directly lead and deal with people, thus, in

order to do the job well, it is important for engineers to have an understanding and background of engineering

management.

Considering the market environment rapidly evolving and with competition being global, engineers that

posses the ability that apply engineering principles and skills in organizing and directing people and projects are

what most companies needed nowadays.

Reasons stated above are already enough for engineers to consider studying engineering management if

they want to be successful in the field, after all, management builds the skills needed in today’s workplace to

succeed. (Nkumbwa, 2010)

History of Management

Although the practice of management already existed since the ancient times, it is only way back 125

years ago that the systematic study of management started. Back then, management was not even a field of

study nor there are management jobs and careers.

The table below shows origins of management ideas and practice throughout history.

5000 BC SUMERIANS Record Keeping

4000-2000 BC EGYPTIANS Plan, organize, control. Written requests.

1800 BC HAMMURABI Controls and written documentation

 600 BC NEBUCHADNEZZAR Wage incentives, production control

500 BC SUN TZU Strategy

400 BC XENOPHON Management as a separate art

400 BC CYRUS Human relations and motion study

175 CATO Job descriptions

284 DIOCLETIAN Delegation of authority

900 ALFARABI Listed leadership traits

1100 GHAZALI Listed managerial traits

1418 BARBARIGO Different organizational forms/structures

1436 VENETIANS

1500 Sir Thomas More Critical of poor management and leadership

1525 MACHIAVELLI Cohesiveness, power, and leadership

It is important for today’s managers to understand and learn the history of management to have a better

understanding of the past, why it happened, where it is now and where it is going. This is to avoid doing the

same mistake again and for them to develop new ways and better solutions to the problems they are facing today

and might encounter in the future.

Role of the Industrial Revolution to the evolution of Management thought

It is during the industrial revolution and the emergence of large-scale businesses together with new

inventions, between the years 1750-1800, that brought drastic changes in the society. Along with this progress,
problems pertaining to factory’s system such as recruiting and training workers, and the increased in labor

dissatisfaction also began to appear, thus, requiring new approaches to management.

In an attempt to find solutions to solve these problems, the theory of classical management arose to find

the “one best way” to perform and manage task.

That’s safe to say, that, the rise of industrialization and emergence of large-scale businesses paved the

way for the evolution of management thought.

The Evolution of Management Thought

Like other modern disciplines, modern management thought has its foundations in the history of

management and the people who significantly contributed a lot in the development of it.

There are four major classifications of management approaches listed in the table below and their contributors.

Table 2.1 Major Classifications

Major Classifications of Management Major Contributors

Approaches

Classical Scientific Frederick W. Taylor, Frank and Lillian

Approach Management Gilbreth and Henry Gantt

Bureaucratic Max Weber

Management

Administrative Henri Fayol

Management

Behavioral Group Influences Mary Parker Follet

Approach
Hawthorne studies Elton Mayo
 Maslow’s needs Abraham Maslow

theory

Theory X and Theory Douglas McGregor

Model I vs Model II Chris Argyris

values

Quantitative Management science -

Approach
Operations -

Management

Management -

information system

Modern The Systems Theory -

Approaches
Contingency Theory -

Emerging approaches: William Ouchi

Theory Z and Quality

management

Classical approach arose during the industrial revolution when new problems began to appear pertaining to

productivity and efficiency. This approach emphasized on finding the “one best way” to get the most work

done.
Frederick W. Taylor - one of the earliest advocates of scientific management. Today, he is known as the father

of scientific management. Taylor’s scientific management philosophy aims in increasing productivity and

making work easier by scientifically studying work methods and establishing standards.

This scientific management philosophy as developed by Taylor was based on four principles. These are

the following:

i. Developed a scientific method for each element of a job which replaced the old rule-of-thumb methods.

ii. Scientific selection and training of workers

iii. Supervising employees to ensure that the prescribed methods were followed

iv. Equal division of work and between the workers and managers

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth - a married couple that are both industrial engineers, who worked together in

developing techniques and strategies to eliminate inefficiency. One of Frank Gilbreth’s contribution is the craft

of brick laying, which was the first study of motion that was designed to isolate the best possible method for

performing a job. Motion study is a science of reducing a job or task to its basic physical motion. Lillian

Gilbreth also contributed a lot in several area of works, helped shape the field of industrial psychology and

made substantive contribution to the field of personnel management. They believed that eliminating wasted

motions improves performance. (Griffin, 2015)

Henry Lawrence Gantt - in addition to creating the Gantt chart which graphically describes both expected and

completed production, Gantt also made significant contributions to management with pay-for-performance

plans and the training and development of workers.

The figure below shows an example of Gantt chart. On the x-axis, it shows time in various units and

tasks on the y-axis, visually indicating what tasks must be completed at which times in order to complete a

project.
Administrative Management focuses on the managerial principles rather that the methods of operations. One

of the major contributors to this thought were the following:

Henri Fayol believed that management was not an inborn behavior or person talent rather a skill that could be

learnt or thought. Fayol developed 14 principles of management which looked at:

1. Division of work

2. Authority and responsibility

3. Discipline

4. Unity of command

5. Unity of direction

6. Subordination of individual interest to general interest

7. Remuneration of personnel

8. Centralization

9. Scalar chain
10. Order

11. Equity

12. Stability of tenure personnel

13. Initiative

14. Esprit de Corps

These 14 principles of management developed by Fayol are universally accepted, thus, making him

universalistic. Fayol’s contribution to management theory is unique and valuable. In fact, he was the first

management thinker who contributed substantially and brought respectability to management as a discipline.

(University of Nairobi, n.d.)