IEE Management & Design Division: Chairman´s address. Management, design, motivation and relevance

The reasoning leading to the formation of the Management and Design Division can be summarised under the titles of change, complexity and competition. We are moving through a period of rapid change which not only has technological consequences, but also has a direct bearing on the realisation of internationally competitive products and the management of the whole product realisation process. It is now possible to construct extremely complex products which require the breakdown of the product realisation process into well-defined stages. This has required the introduction of new design disciplines, new methods of communication and specification, and the requirement for more formal overall management and control. Since probably the majority of Institution members are involved in these product realisation disciplines, the Institution must formally recognise their importance and provide a suitable forum for their discussion. In the title of the Address the words `motivation¿¿ and `relevance¿¿ are included specifically to indicate the attitudes which must exist in the new Division. The motivation must be based primarily on the relevance of engineering as a business operating in an internationally competitive environment. New technological concepts are essential, but are wasted unless they are incorporated into products which find world-wide acceptance. The Management and Design Division will be concerned with those activities necessary to ensure such acceptance.