Technology Management & Professional Development Library – serie

Applying TQM to systems engineering can reduce costs while simultaneously improving product quality. This guide to proactive systems engineering shows how to develop and optimize a practical approach, while highlighting the pitfalls and potentials involved.

Shows how using quantitative measurements techniques to gauge financial and non-financial company goals can help guide R&D management performance and improve company success. The text aims to enable readers to choose financial R&D projects, create a customer satisfaction and effectiveness index, measure every component of "idea-to-customer" time, and create a "balanced scorecard" that is focused on innovation rather than implementation. Each chapter concludes with a "lessons learned" section that highlights how to put the information provided to use in R&D management practice.

This non-technical, comprehensive introduction to innovation and technology transfer shows how todays businesses need to innovate to be successful. Using a wide range of practical and international examples, the authors describe and evaluate the whole innovation process as it would affect a company or organization implementing a new product or service, from the initial identification of needs and opportunities, through the location and assessment of the technologies available, to the business and management aspects such as finance, marketing and intellectual property. This work is intended for owners and managers in engineering companies, training and technical staff in manufacturing companies and research organizations, R&D engineers, industrial liaison staff in universities and colleges, and students.

This text is for engineers looking for help in making a smooth transition to the management team. The author's 20-plus-year perspective indicates that, while most engineers will spend the majority of their careers as managers, most are dissatisfied with the transition. Much of this frustration is the result of lack of preparation and training. This book aims to provide a solid grounding in the critical attitudes and principles needed for success. In this guide, new managers are taught to take on board the attitudes and master the associated skills to excel in, and be satisfied with, the transition to management. The book explains how to communicate more effectively and improve relationships with colleagues. Professionals learn how to use their newly acquired skills to solve immediate problems. Moreover, they are shown how to apply six fundamental principles to their on-going work with engineering teams and management.

This volume goes beyond the theory of team dynamics and project management to present real world applications. The culmination of years of experience and research, the book describes practical techniques for building successful high performance project teams using actual examples from high tech companies. A concise guide for both new and experienced managers, this resource enables the reader to: select the right projects for an organization; reduce the time needed for team development and productive operation; learn motivational and retention strategies for technical project personnel; avoid project management pitfalls; and inject quality into current and future projects. The book examines the typical life cycle of team development and the general mechanics of team and project formation in today's project management setting. It scrutinizes both successes and failures in nurturing and developing a team, offering techniques and suggestions on building better teams in the future.

This text aims to provide engineers with an understanding of contemporary management concepts and their applications in a technical organization. It covers: product selection and management; engineering design and product costing; concurrent engineering; value management; configuration management; risk management; re-engineering strategies and benefits; managing creativity and innovation; information technology management; and software management. There are a large number of solved examples highlighted throughout the text. This book is intended for use by: professional engineers; technology managers; senior-level undergraduate and graduate students; and instructors of engineering / technology management.

Now, in its 3rd edition, this popular book helps more than ever to ensure that small and medium sized business operators win those prized government and private sector contracts. The book, and its companion CD-ROM, provide the management team with focused, practical assistance in achieving effective, efficient, and disciplined business development, proposal development, and knowledge management (KM) processes.