Many Universities have curriculum for education of engineering management! "Businesses need engineering managers to oversee projects, product design and development, operations; create strategic plans; handle budgets, costs, and financing; and interface with marketing...."

http://www.mtu.edu/business/undergraduate/engineering-management/

Economics and management is most appropriate and best payable for engineers!

yes, engineering and science students students should learn management skills. These skills can be helpful not only in excel in their career but also in managing their own business in excellent way.

It is a necessity! Without the knowledge of management and economics, there is no good engineers and even scientists who have to manage the project!

Many Universities have curriculum for education of engineering management! "Businesses need engineering managers to oversee projects, product design and development, operations; create strategic plans; handle budgets, costs, and financing; and interface with marketing...."

http://www.mtu.edu/business/undergraduate/engineering-management/

Yes. Management education helps all students, and particularly engineering disciplines. Management helps in bringing organization of activities into proper perspective.

Developing countries like Malaysia put a lot of emphasis on entrepreneurship that is linked with creation of wealth for self and nation. So, science and engineering students need to learn management and there shouldn't be resistance to this move.

http://eoaccess.eonetwork.org/malaysia/Pages/default.aspx

Younger entrepreneurs at on this link:

https://id-id.facebook.com/pages/Malaysian-Young-Entrepreneurs-Club/163162933488

Of course. Engineering descipline, especially Industrial Engineering, can be enhanced by Management courses.

I agree with all answers so far, and I would like to add that management skills developed in the course of this may also be helpful in managing engineering projects with all their sub projects in design, test, marketing, product design, and so on.

Dear Debi

I would like to differ with you on some of your arguments. MBA actually supplements engineering discipline like no other degree. A manager who do not understand the engineering discipline and methods will not be able to properly manage an industrial place not HR department. Engineers do well in CAT because in general their better preparation compared to the people that enter other disciplines. May be what you say for MBA (HR) is correct.

It will depend on what the engineering student wants for her/his career. I can understand that engineering students, who want or make IT or Operations management as their career, management is a desirable education as it helps them to learn economic rationality and management techniques for doing their job properly.

But something very peculiar is happening these days. In India, more than 90 per cent students who are admitted to MBA programs of the top management institutes are engineering students, as they somehow are able to get high CAT (like GMAT in USA) scores. Even in specializations like MBA (HRM) in my institute, we have 57 out of 60 students with engineering background. So, it would be a waste of all their engineering skills when they manage HR the whole life.

Even those who specialize in Finance or Marketing need not be engineers for getting management skills needed for excelling in their area. But somehow, others are not able to compete with them, such are the types of entrance tests.

So the question can be re-framed like this: Should management students necessarily have engineering background.

Yes, is my answer. After all application of science and engineering is for producing goods and services for the society, which needs to be managed in a rational manner, so having a sound knowledge of economic and management adds value to the degree and makes it more meaningful that teaching science/ engineering alone.

In addition to project management which is normally a core requirement of most engineering degrees, other management topics are also useful for engineering students such as innovation management, business planning and entrepreneurship. As countries try to boost their innovation capability and given the shift in entrepreneurship education away from talking about entrepreneurship to actually doing it, equipping engineering students with such skills is a great combination as they have the technical background to develop technology-based ideas that could lead to great new firms and commercialised solutions.

http://www.apjce.org/files/APJCE_15_1_1_11.pdf

I think that the faculties of engineering and science should offer courses in entrepreneurship and encourage the students to think about being leaders in their fields and make connections with other disciplines.

I agree with Abedalla faculties of engineering and information Technology need to offer courses on entrepreneurship and management.

One of the most compelling reasons why I think that the answer is yes is that, if they have not learnt some management skills, engineers are apt to be unduly exploited and used in their later professional life, and their efforts and ideas and IP are apt to be outright stolen by people with business savvy.

Scientists and engineers should acquire minimum management and business skills so that they receive a fair return from their contributions to society.

Dear Nageswara

We agree that management knowledge can help an engineering graduate; and I think some management and humanities is already taught to all engineering graduates in nearly all engineering colleges. I can understand why engineering students do better in CAT; because they are used to working hard and have better quantitative skills. But I was wondering whether graduates, with say civil engineering, can do better than an economics graduate in their role as Finance Manager or marketing manager of say a bank or an airline or a development bank or financial consulting company.

In 2005, I used to have about 60 : 40 ratio of engineering to humanities students for my HR students. I used to enjoy my classes far better then than now even as the CAT scores of the present students is higher. An economics student can perhaps take better financial decisions. I am not saying that it would be so in all situations; but each case is to be decided on its own merits. This year, for the first time our 5 students did not get a placement because their communication and conceptualization skills were not found up to the mark by recruiter companies. All are engineering graduates with 97 or higher percentile scores in CAT.

Abosolutely. An engineering project can involve a number of people of various expertise from several department. Coordination and book-keeping are essential. Without proper management, a project can run into serious trouble.

Management is a key for all fields of studies including engineering, medical science and any other discipline. I believe that including managerial skill within an engineering curriculum is an excellent idea. A good engineer should be a good manger. To be successful in your field of study you must be able to strengthen you managerial skill.

I think management is useful for all fields that related to manufacturer and research field and Engineering and science are both from these fields

Beyond doubt, science & engineering students need to learn management; otherwise there will be the prospect of being under the command of an administration that is totally ignorant of the nature & the value of their work. There is an example to clarify what I am aiming at: Chemists & chemical engineers are involved in very risky work which, at least, causes a slow negative impact on their health. A management, which has knowledge of these subjects or specialized in them, will surely give special monthly allowances to those who work in these fields even if their duty is in the R&D section. On the other hand, an ignorant management will just consider its science & engineering employees equivalent to those who work in fine arts (with due respect to those engaged in these specializations).

Management, including knowledge management skills, are important for all domains, and complement the core know-how. A person with managerial knowledge is better able to make critical decisions in projects, develops better strategizing skills in terms of resources, cost, time, sustainability etc and is better able to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

This question is similar to another: Do medical students need to learn management? Of course they do. Many (even basic) tasks need for close co-operation - well organized may save time and energy for more challenging tasks. What more current project management methodologies are group-oriented. Every emmebr of such group shiold have basic knowledge concerning project management in her/his organization. Clinical practice has own specificity: tasks are often fulfilled by interdiscilinary theraputic teams, so knowledge and experience sharing, team organization, dividing into sub-tasks, scheduling, shared responsibility, etc. are normal part of everyday practice.

Normally scientist start with a one-person-project (thesis etc.). Successful candidates normally enter a team project and that is the point when it becomes very helpful to have teamwork skill and knowledge in management. If there is any chance to get management training, take it.

Dear Debi

The actual management subjects covered is very little in major disciplines. Only in Mechancial engineering there will be a couple of courses related to management. The fact is that management is required for all engineers whether it is Civil, Electrical, Computers or other disciplines. Majority of the job functions after initial couple of years in the industrial situation requires large component of management. That is the reason why we suggest them do MBA after a few years of experience on shop floor. I always used to advise my students at IIT to go for MBA rather than MS because of its utility in industrial jobs. Even here in US the same trend is continuing. Many of our students after completing a few years in industry would try to do part time MBA to have better prospects for their promotions in the career.

As a project management professional (PMP) with four engineering degrees, I do believe that Project Management Institute (pmi.org) PMBOK and other text should at least be introduced during the undergraduate sr. design project and reinforced in first semester graduate level specialization training in engineering and technical fields that are likely to include a project or program management component. Not everyone has time or interest in obtaining a more general MBA if their work is project team-centered (though it should be encouraged!), or even the PMP certification, but reviewing the PMBOK at least will ensure a lot more students are prepared to manage risks and people more effectively to get more high-quality engineering and technology projects completed on time, and within budget and scope. Finishing with a happier team ready to work even more effectively on the next challenge would be another huge benefit.

More...

PMI's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) focused on project team leadership; it includes building skills and expertise in:

A. Project, Program, and Portfolio Management and their Relationship to Organizational Strategy

B. Project Life Cycle and External Influences on PM

(including organizational style, communications, organizational and community structure & culture, assets, enviro factors, and governance)

C. Project Management Processes: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring, Closing Projects

D. And 10 core PM functions:

1) Integration Management of the different phases and components

(including creating the Project Charter and formal Project Plan)

2) Project Scope Management,

3) Time Management,

4) Cost Management,

5) Quality Management,

6) Human Resource Management,

7) Project Communications Management,

8) Project Risk Management,

9) Project Procurement Management, and

10) Project Stakeholder Management.

Separate training is also typically provided to PMPs in both interpersonal skills and change (risk) management.

Learn about management techniques may be useful for all aspects of their lives.

Dear Nageswar: I agree with you 100 per cent. But the point that we were debating was quite different, which I had observed as an obiter dicta (means something collateral to the main issue).

The issue in effect, was if those who are admitted to management schools are engineers, will they make better managers. That is what I had posed as an obiter.

Interestingly, leading management schools in India including IIMA, IIMI and some others have started taking sectional cut off for inviting the candidates for interviews. Many candidates with 99 percentile do not even get a call for interview due to lower performance in verbal and/or analytical skills section of CAT. But somehow, I could not convince my own colleagues about the logic of sectional cut off. We give equal weight to all sections. That causes the problems; and candidates with better desired skills are not able to get in due to lower aggregate CAT percentile.

They need to learn the most basics of management, otherwise their studies will become a huge task which will not help them to identify themselves as engineers.

Dear @Demetris a good point: "They need to learn the most basics of management, otherwise their studies will become a huge task which will not help them to identify themselves as engineers."

I think because of this they should learn from experienced Engineers to be prenteuer.

Agreed with @Demetris and Prof.Abedallah basic management that not overloaded the students as they have another subject related to their field.

@Margaret it recall memory of PMBOK on my Information System Project Management on my master class.

Thanks all Prof on enriching more this question as i see WOW answer to my limited knowledge.

The best way to integrate management thinking is to add suitable applied components in each regular engineering course work.. The applied component can be in the form of management theory plus real life case studies from industries tailored to civil, electrical, electronics, mechanical and chemical engineering subjects. This can be done from the later part of second year of studies so that the students can appreciate the applications from their own core course perspectives.