The Technical Manager’s Handbook

Book excerpt: Every organization, business, and manager is unique, and each demands an individually tailored management style. Supposedly universal management strategies must be tailored to suit the specific situations that each individual faces daily in the work environment. This book provides a theoretical and practical foundation for the adaptation and tailoring of a universal management style into a specific, effective style with the power to produce the desired results. It assists the manager, or would-be manager, in the development of a management style that meets the needs of any kind of business. Each chapter begins with a case study illustrating a typical problem followed by questions and answers about the presented challenges. The chapters also contain thought provoking one-sentence suggestions that can be immediately immplemented, enabling the reader to produce results and succeed in today's rapidly-evolving economic and technological environments. This work combines the best and latest in management theory with tested practical applications, making it a useful tool for managers not only in technically-orientated industries, but in any kind of company. Based upon the author's more than 25 years of experience in management consulting, writing, lecturing, and teaching, this work is designed to help readers handle the demanding responsibilities of technical management. It features important information in dealing with international firms, contracts, TQ, ISO 9000, and CAD management. It also provides essential details on personal liability and ethics in decision making, motivating employees, leadership, and creating teams. The Technical Manager's Handbook serves as a valuable, cross-method reference for engineers, scientists, researchers, and students who are or soon will be involved in technical management operations. Managers in quality assurance, manufacturing, administration, and computer manufacturing will also benefit from this volume's accessible and applicable exploration of pertinent issues.