Engineers, Management and Trust

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2374963
AutoresPeter Armstrong (0009-0002-8439-0749, Industrial Relations Research Unit University of Warwick COVENTRY CV4 7AL, autor de correspondencia)
Año1987
Volumen1
Número4
Páginas421-440
Fecha de publicación1987-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017087001004002
OpenAlexW2093323835
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas22
Referencias citadas21

This paper argues that the characteristic lack of engineering representation in British senior management is partly a consequence of the prevailing conception of what management is actually about. As compared to certain other capitalist economies, British conditions have favoured such management activities as the search for longterm finance and strategic marketing over product and process improvement. This system of priorities, massively perpetuated in management writings and education, is now embedded in the British definition of what management is. Aspirants to senior positions, which necessarily involve considerable decision-making discretion, need to demonstrate their 'trustworthiness' in such terms. Insofar as the managerial credentials of professional engineering rest upon its position of authority within productive labour, they are out of key with the conception of management dominant in Britain. For many years the profession has tried to overcome this by adding 'managerial' subjects to engineering education. However, so long as management is conceived of as a distinct field of study in its own right, such a strategy can do no more than place engineers in the position of comparative amateurs competing with full-time 'specialists

Business · Discretion · Economics · Field (mathematics · Management · Political science · Position (finance · Process (computing · Product (mathematics · Public relations · Sociology · Trustworthiness · Computer Science · Engineering Education and Curriculum Development · Law · Management Theory and Practice · Organizational Learning and Leadership · Finance · Marketing