Effective Management Development Must Prepare Engineers For Top Level Global Management Tasks

Large corporations are struggling for survival. The reasons vary. For some, it is the march of global competition into markets once dominated by the United States. For others , it is the impact and push toward deregulation and a freer economy. For still others it is a court decree that forces them to divest themselves of major operations, which may become rivals in the marketplace. But whatever the reason for struggling in today’s business environments, the result is the same: increased competition. Fully one-third of the organizations listed in the Fortune 500 in 1970 have ceased to exist in 1988 ( Bolt, 1989). Many others which have continued in business have done so only after surviving bankruptcies or mergers. Such a change rate is not surprising because the competitive marketplace is volatile and strategies for competition are changing at a dramatic rate. The restrictions of access to unique technology are declining as technology becomes less and less proprietary and therefore available to several competitors in the same market. A corporation can no longer rely solely on exclusive technology. Harsh realities of this new competitive environment have dictated new rules for corporate managements. Many have downsized their companies to streamline operations.