Engineering Management

Engineering management in the knowledge-based society

Engineering management in general

·         Definition, role and areas of the engineering management (EM). EM is interpreted as a discipline, as an approach and toolkit, as well as the placement and purpose of the subject. Layers and dimensions of the engineering environment from the perspective of an IT and electrical engineer. Why we chose a good profession, the agenda of digitalization, ICT megatrends, technological drivers (IoT, AI). Engineering management activities. Why is it worth being a leader and why not? Purpose, characteristics and components of management activity (seven caps of managers). Core business priorities for ICT managers. The components of success, the PAEI success matrix. Dimensions of management: tasks, situations and methods.

Strategic and organization management

·         Basic engineering management methods. Some basic general, proven engineering management methods: STEEP analysis, SMART objective, lateral thinking, Vogelauer’s workstyle-wheel, and so on. Why a strategy? Concepts of strategy making, layers of strategy. Examples of business segmentation, mission, vision, company strategy, etc. from the ICT sector.

·         Methods and examples of strategic planning. The process and steps of strategy planning. Situation survey: SWOT analysis methods, portfolio matrices. Definition of strategy: identification of natural and basic strategies, strategic key areas, synergy opportunities, setting up and analysis of strategy variations. Examples from the ICT sector: network modernization, digital / smart ecosystems, etc. Methods and examples of strategic management. Managing strategy implementation, aligning strategy, processes, organization, resource allocation, and culture. The strategic map, the Balanced Scorecard method, performance indicators. Examples: comparison of technology companies, smart city indicators, DESI index, etc. Success factors and pitfalls of strategic leadership.

·         Life cycle of organizations. Presentation of changing management tasks and expectations in a ten‑phase life cycle model of companies. Correlation of the composition of the management team with the quality of decisions and the efficiency of implementation, formulation of the recipe of the optimal management team. Examples. Transformation of organizations. The direction and management of organizational change, the decisive role of digitalization. Reasons, cases and methodology for large-scale transformation of companies. A detailed description of the eight‑stage transformation model, with examples, also pointing out typical errors in the transformation execution.

·         Management in practice. Organizational culture, management style. Professional management skills, professional competence. Layers of organizational culture, typical examples. Management culture and influencing factors. Management styles: practical types of classical classification and situation-oriented types. When, where, what management style is effective? The integrative / collaborative management style. Pillars of successful engineering management. The purpose and personalization of motivation, motivational tools. The manager's responsibilities in managing his/her employees. Some the management tools as advice for problem solving (e.g. making a virtue from a problem, hussar cutting). Pillars of successful management of engineering organizations, “6 D” as a summary.

·         Job search, CV, job interview. The position to be filled in the work process from the perspective of the organization and the employee. Recruitment process and methods, job description, interview types, tests, evaluation, selection criteria. Curriculum vitae and cover letter: goal, content. Job interviews in practice. HR technologies and their trends. IT systems to support the recruitment, selection, retention and development of the workforce.

·         Knowledge processes, knowledge map, knowledge systems. Mapping and managing knowledge through process organization and document management. Creating a knowledge map.

Enterprise management support systems

·         Development methodologies of enterprise management systems. General enterprise management systems. Methodologies used to develop the enterprise management system. When to use what, how to work with? From waterfall-like development methodology to Lean Startup, Design Thinking, Agile methods.

·         Information security requirements and regulatory framework. Strategic, organizational and regulatory requirements and regulatory framework for information security. How does an information security organization work? What impact can information security have on your business? Compliance and IT security legal compliance. Risk management.

·         Resource planning, multiproject management. Project definition, the concept of project success, project triangle. Overview of the project process. Some common project management tools: problem tree, goal tree, WBS, time planning techniques. Cost management, resource planning. Document products. Methodologies supporting project management (classical and agile), IT tools to help project management.

·         Complex decision problems, game theory. Solving complex engineering decision problems using decision theory methods. Possibilities of applying game theory in multiplayer decisions.

·         Process management: informatics in corporate value creation. Process analysis, planning, regulation, improvement, transformation. Process based management systems. Methods of process development. Overview of the main (sub)systems used in enterprise management, from the CRM, through data warehouse, enterprise management systems to management information systems.

·         Types and functions of sector specific enterprise management systems (like energy, banking, telco, media). The specific systems and applications used in different sectors are presented.

Innovation, product development

·         Protection of intellectual property. A comprehensive overview of the main categories of intellectual property and the protection options associated with them. Particular emphasis will be placed on industrial property protection, including patents, as well as copyright protection and software.

·         Innovation models, metrics, innovation chain. The tasks, concepts, types of innovation and the innovation chain are presented. An overview is given about the R & D & I expenditure in the EU and OECD countries, as well as their related institutions and various domestic and international research programs.

·         The process of product development, product life cycle. Presentation and comparison of the basic life cycles related to product development from the adoption of innovation, through the technology life cycle (hype cycle) to the product life cycle and the BCG matrix. Summary of the most important steps in the product development process and the selection of the target market (market segmentation).

·         International organizations, standardization. The objectives of standardization, the main international and European standardization organizations, their work, and the stakeholder organizations that support and accommodate the work. The presentation provides an insight into various industry-focused organizations.

Regulation

·         The purpose, principles (in general, and specifically in the field of infocommunications), ways and environment of regulation. The instrument system of EU regulation and their impact on the national legal system. EU regulation of the digital single market. Regulation of infocommunications in the European Union, the concept of the digital single market, the steps taken so far and the related regulatory steps. Specific sectoral regulations, as legal conditions for engineering management. Business and regulatory cultures. The importance and role of business cultures in engineering management. Develop effective communication and collaboration in business cultures.