A Perspective on Holistic Engineering Management

Today, a prosperous technology company can be disrupted and put out of business in a blink of an eye. The development of many different technologies that once took years can be done in months or weeks. There are also few examples where the engineering work is completely contained in one company or one engineering organization. Business strategies have evolved. The analysis of competitive forces in an industry has matured to include the concepts of disruptive innovation and coopetition. In an ecosystem characterized by rapid changes in technology and how it is developed, an engineering R&D organization will quickly become irrelevant if it fails to keep the pace of innovation needed to succeed. This book provides readers with a holistic approach to engineering management. We have seen that successful managers create a strong foundation of a common culture that enables learning, value creation, diversity and inclusion. They create organizations that tightly connect the core engineering functions of strategic planning, research and development and are able to comprehend and direct a broader R&D system that stretches well beyond their own organization's boundary. Doing all of this to extract the greatest value in the least amount of time is what we call holistic engineering management. The content for this book is based on over 105 years of combined experience working in a rapidly changing industry. In most chapters, practical examples and case studies of the concepts provided are given. As noted in the foreword by Pat Gelsinger (CEO, VMWare) and in comments from other technology leaders: Aart de Geus (Chairman and co-CEO, Synopsys, Inc.), Aicha Evans (CEO, Zoox, Inc.), William M Holt, (former Executive VP, GM, Intel, Corp.), and Amir Faintuch (Senior VP, GM, GlobalFoundries, Inc.), this book will be valuable for students of engineering management and current engineering managers.