The following review of Business Management for Engineers was published in the journal Technical Communication in February 2019 – Volume 66, Number 1, page 107.
Business Management for Engineers: How I Overcame My Moment of Inertia and Embraced the Dark Side
Alan C. Tribble, Ph.D., with Alan F. Breitbart, MBA. 2018.
Marion, IA: Alan C. Tribble.
[ISBN 978-1-7321545-0-6. 218 pages, including index. US17.95 (softcover).]
Intense as it is, technical education fails to teach that engineering is fundamentally a utilitarian, economic activity. However advanced or intrinsically interesting technical innovation may be, its economic viability—and the justification for its existence— ultimately depends on someone rarely considered in the engineering curriculum—the customer.
Once on the job, the engineer begins to realize that “there is always a business aspect to any engineering project”; that “taking ownership” of a project requires you to “treat it like a business—even better, to treat it like your business (which it is)”; and to consider not only the “inherently cool technical details,” but also the “necessary, and equally cool, business details” (pp. xiii–xv).
The engineer needs to develop a solid understanding of business, not only because “Business and engineering go hand in hand,” but also because understanding this principle will make the engineer “more successful as an engineer” (p. xii). The most successful engineers can discuss deeply technical details with other specialists and “explain what all of that technical analysis means to the business” (p. 70).
Such engineers realize that the risks associated with the most advanced technology, though necessary and worthy of investment, must be complemented by market-driven technical incrementalism, because “you only need to be slightly better than the competition to gain a much larger market share” (p. 43). That is, sustaining the business is a prerequisite for the investment in more exciting, but riskier, disruptive technologies and products.
Tribble extensively surveys the basics of financial and cost accounting, business models, planning, forecasting, reporting requirements, intellectual property, organizational structures, legal issues, globalization, and project and program management tools such as statements of work and scheduling— essentially providing a “how-to” for the beginning engineer. Learning that a product must have a value proposition achievable only through a judicious tradeoff between time (schedule), resources (money), and features (technology), focuses the engineer’s technical efforts on achieving the greatest financial return. The engineer’s economic focus also increases his value to the company, his productivity, justifying a higher salary than newly graduated engineers with nominally the same skills.
The emphasis on defense and aerospace in Business Management for Engineers: How I Overcame My Moment of Inertia and Embraced the Dark Side is less directly relevant to purely commercial enterprises but applying the rigor and systematic approach of government work would keep many start-ups out of trouble. More thorough planning and simple evaluative metrics, consistently applied, would increase the likelihood of creating a sustainable business (pp. 179–199).
Downloads of the figures and tables are available online. Tribble himself is available for training sessions. Business Management for Engineers should be required reading for all engineers, especially entrepreneurial types, who could more successfully grow their business by using the planning and management techniques Tribble illustrates.
Donald R. Riccomini
Donald R. Riccomini is an STC member and a senior lecturer in English at Santa Clara University, where he specializes in teaching engineering and technical communications. He previously spent twenty-three years in high technology as a technical writer, engineer, and manager in semiconductors, instrumentation, and server development.