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Group of Safety, Reliability and Maintenance > 5.5 Industrial and Occupational Safety > Publications
Mendes, J.P. (2025), Management as a system: Providing C-Suite skills to engineering undergraduates, Systems Engineering, Vol. 0, 1-13.
Many technology companies have faced setbacks as engineers ceded decision-making roles to managers. While managers often attribute these setbacks to technological change rather than to flawed organizational policies, engineering professionals advocate for the inclusion of management content in undergraduate programs. However, the traditional business school approach - sequencing loosely connected topics—often fails to engage technically inclined students. Furthermore, despite incorporating management insights, System Dynamics simulation alone is insufficient to address policy design and execution. To help bridge this knowledge gap, the systems engineering approach was used to design an undergraduate management course from first principles. The course specifications integrate modeling and hands-on lab practice through an interactive workbench. A closedform questionnaire intended to verify these specifications revealed strong student interest and engagement. The course structure frames topics from an information feedback perspective within a continuous management process. Pilot runs with students across different academic years and programs validated the course’s applicability. Finally, although the weekly assessments tied to the workbench demanded more consistent effort compared to traditional exams, a decline in overall performance was not observed. This course represents a foundational step toward incorporating policy design and execution into engineering education, though it does not yet constitute a complete program.
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