The Engineering-Management Synthesis: Evidence from Graduate Programs in Telecommunications

The engineering-management field has been characterized principally by examining information extracted from graduate programs with engineering- and technology-management titles. These programs reflect an aggregate of problems common to a set of unrelated technological infrastructures. This article takes a different approach and examines the engineering-management synthesis using data for master-level programs anchored on a particular technological infrastructure. Content analysis on objectives and course descriptions of 24 master-level programs in telecommunications and a three-dimensional classification schema led to the identification of six salient configurations of the engineering-management synthesis. These configurations differ in terms of the their relative emphasis between engineering and management disciplines and their breakdown into nine constituent elements. Two of the configurations identified are best suited to deal with problems specific to R&D projects that occur at the front end of the technology cycle. The four syntheses best suited to address downstream activities include those configured to manage: 1) telecommunication facilities as critical corporate resources, 2) strategy and policy issues relevant to end-user applications of telecommunication technologies, 3) operations of communication departments of large-user organizations, and 4) projects dealing with the integration of telecommunications technologies. Anchoring the analysis on a particular technological infrastructure permits researchers to link alternate configurations of the engineering-management synthesis with the specific problems that generated them. This can provide additional insights into the characteristics of the engineering-management field