Abstract :
Many people believe that to reach the pinnacle in the cut and thrust world of top level management you need to be an accountant or at least have an in-depth knowledge of accountancy practices. Engineers tend to remain engineers or, if they do progress into the management sphere, become technical managers, marketing managers but very rarely managing directors and/or chief executives. Fortunately for the vast majority of ambitious engineers in the world today, however, these beliefs are entirely false, as research has proven. A variety of skills are needed, including flexibility, persistence and a natural tendency to volunteer for things, particularly those that no one else wants to do. In this paper the views of several engineering managers are discussed in the areas of sideways career moves, management education, standard management practice and real world management.
