People and Organizations Department

Individual engineers and scientists are the keys to technological innovation, and their contributions depend on the ways in which their organizations are organized and managed. As we move into the Twenty-First Century. Dramatic changes are affecting the technical work force and the organizations in which engineer and scientists work.

For example, technical organizations are undergoing major transformations as they strive to become more competitive by bringing new products to market more rapidly and efficiently, by listening to their customers more closely, and by funding technical organizations more from business unit resources and less from corporate funds. Technology now comes from a variety of sources, only some of which are within the organization itself. Strategic partnerships are becoming a way of life for many companies, and technology is managed on a global basis. People are working more in teams, many of which are cross-functional, and many of which arc ''virtual" and not co-located. The composition of the technical work force is more diverse than before as fewer native-horn American males pursue technical careers and more women, minorities and especially foreign-born scientists and engineers are hired. The nature of technical careers is changing, as less emphasis is placed on company loyalty and technical staff is actively recruited by other companies. In short, a new reality confronts scientists, engineers, and their managers.

This department seeks contributions that increase our understanding of the management of scientists, engineers, technical teams, and technical organizations. Studies, which directly address the new reality, are especially welcome, but studies, which deal with traditional topics in the current contest, are sought as well. Topics include, but are not limited to these aspects of engineering management: motivation, supervision, reward and recognition systems for individuals and teams, leadership, career development, technical obsolescence, retention and turnover, organization design, technical communications, effective teams for developing new technology, virtual teams, entrepreneurship within large corporations and in new start-ups, management of interdepartmental interfaces, technical leadership in the corporation, stimulation of creativity, global management of technology, organizational culture, management of partnerships and joint ventures, management of organizational change, and organizing and managing for fast cycle time.

Papers should extend current knowledge via new empirical results or creative integration and theoretical extensions of the literature. All papers whether theoretical or empirical, should discuss implications for management practice. Quantitative and qualitative studies are both welcome: both must clearly support their conclusions through rigorous analysis. Case studies will also be considered if they deal with especially interesting situations, report results which can be generalized beyond the particular situation being studied, and clearly connect to the relevant literature.

ROBERT T. KELLER

Department Editor