An Assessment of Desired "Business Knowledge Attributes" for Engineering Technology Graduates

Journal of Engineering Technology, Fall 2006 by Fisher, Kenneth J, Lobaugh, Michael, Parente, Diane H

Abstract

This paper describes a study conducted to identify business knowledge and skills needed by entry-level engineering technology graduates and for those having three to five years of experience. A listing of 93 business skills is systematically prioritized based upon a survey conducted with alumni and industrial leaders. Skills of highest priority were logically grouped showing project management, communications and teamwork, quality practices, and business ethics and legal issues to be competency areas needed by entry-level graduates. Finance and accounting, and management and organizational behavior are additional competency areas expected after three to five years. Efforts to incorporate study findings into engineering technology program outcomes at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College are described and include the adoption of a specially designed course in project management, an elective offering in product realization, and the development of select business minors.

I. Introduction

Analysis of employer survey data obtained during assessment of program objectives revealed a need to improve the understanding of "business practices" among undergraduates placed by the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology (SEET). However, the survey's design did not allow a quantification of the specific business skills that should be addressed within the educational outcomes of the school's engineering technology curriculum. To address this issue, a study was initiated to explicitly identify the business skills needed, to determine how well graduates perform, and to quantify the competency gaps (importance versus performance) that existed. Findings were then used to guide the development of undergraduate engineering technology program outcomes in an effort to elose the gaps.

II. Research Goals

Faculty from SEET and the School of Business teamed to conduct the study, supported by a GE Foundation grant. Research efforts included a literature search, the design of a concentrated business skills survey to be administered to alumni and employers, and the analysis of survey results. The study was formulated to achieve the following goals:

* Goal #1 -Identify the business knowledge and skills needed by entry-level undergraduate engineering technology graduates.

* Goal #2-Ascertain how the needs change within three to five years of entry.

* Goal #3-Identify perceived competency gaps that exist between need and performance, and define the educational outcomes providing gap-closing measures.

* Goal #4-Propose curriculum to achieve the educational outcomes, including whether proposed changes should be required or optional.

This paper focuses on the achievements made against the first three goals and briefly describes ongoing activities addressing the fourth.

III. Review of Relevant Literature

A review of the engineering literature reveals research directed at the identification and inclusion of contemporary business concepts and/or the development of technology-based entrepreneurship within the undergraduate engineering curriculum.13 There is general consensus within the literature that evolving practices such as concurrent engineering and design for manufacture within industry have resulted in the need for more broadly trained employees with cross-functional competencies. Surveys of various industries have identified numerous competency gaps within these "professional skills" for students graduating from traditional science-based engineering and engincering technology programs, Included among these skills is a need for more business or management exposure. In an NSF-funded assessment of non-technical competency gaps conducted by Meier, et al.,9 the greatest areas of competency gaps were found to be in leadership, communications ,and business management skills. This paper represents much of the current thinking to identify the needs for curricular change in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) programs.

Within the engineering professional societies, a SME survey determined the greatest non-technical gaps to be in business knowledge skills, project management, and communications.11 Likewise in a study on product realization, the ASME found that communications, teaming, professional ethics, project management, and leadership were essential.1 Finally, the ASCE at the I99S Civil Engineering Education Conference (CEEC 9S) proposed educational initiatives for communications, project management, teamwork, and leadership skills development.12

Similar findings appear in the research generated abroad. In 1991. the Institution of Engineers, Australia (IEAust) mandated ten percent of course content be in management studies and viewed an emphasis on management education in undergraduate studies to be critical. In their assessment of the perceived importance of management skills, the five most critical in decreasing rank order were communications skills, project management, supervision and leadership, economic evaluation of projects, and operations and quality management.10