Practical Management for the Digital Age: An Introduction for Engineers, Scientists, and Related Disciplines

This eBook+ version includes the following enhancements: Pop-up explanations of key terms and concepts with little or no prior knowledge of the concepts of management or experience in professional management activities. Pop-up explanations of selected concepts help readers refresh their knowledge and better understand how environmental aspects are interwoven with management decision making, This book is an accessible and comparatively short text that can comfortably be read cover-to-cover over the course of a semester. It has been written for readers with little or no prior knowledge of the concepts of management or experience in professional management activities. It forms an academically rigorous, accurate and consistent treatment of a subject that draws on a wide field rife with competing definitions, methodological variety, conceptual fuzziness, and inconsistent naming conventions. The book places a clear emphasis of the impact of information technology on the business world, drawing on recent literature and examples. Similarly, it highlights how environmental aspects are interwoven with management decision making, addressing the second theme of great urgency in management. Features: Forms a self-contained treatment of management for those without prior knowledge of management or commerce to provide a broad foundation, and explains how management principles and methods draw on rationality-based models of human behavior. Provides an introduction to ongoing financial and legal processes in businesses. Introduces readers to business management as an ongoing activity. Presents a view of sustainability in business that encompasses the environment, society, and the economy. Discusses methods for successful project management and the evaluation of projects and cash flows resulting from projects over time. Practical Management for the Digital Age: An Introduction for Engineers, Scientists, and Related Disciplines is aimed at a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate students in a variety of fields, as well as practitioners. It is applicable to those in the fields of engineering, science, computer science, medicine, pharmacy, social sciences, and more. It helps readers to engage confidently in managerial situations later in their careers and during project work in the final parts of their degree courses. For instructors, who may not have a management background, this book offers content for a self-contained year-long course in management at the intermediate undergraduate level. In addition, it has been developed for undergraduate and postgraduate courses with accreditation requirements that include a taught element in management, such as the UK Engineering Council’s Accreditation of Higher Education (AHEP) framework.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: The context of management. Chapter 1. Towards modern management. Chapter 2. The private enterprise. Chapter 3. The economic theory of the firm. Chapter 4. The economics of digitalization and automation. Chapter 5. Technology, innovation and disruption. Chapter 6. Life cycle thinking. Part II: The activity of managing the business. Chapter 7. Business modelling. Chapter 8. New business formation. Chapter 9. Operations management. Chapter 10. Managing people. Chapter 11. Marketing. Chapter 12. Managing quality and risk. Part III: Practical management techniques. Chapter 13. Financial planning and the basics of financial accounting. Chapter 14. Financial analysis. Chapter 15. Evaluating flows of money. Chapter 16. Planning and monitoring projects.

About the Author :
Martin Baumers is Assistant Professor of Additive Manufacturing Management at the University of Nottingham. With a background in economics, Martin worked in the metals industry before becoming an academic. Martin completed his PhD at Loughborough University in 2012 on the management and operation of Additive Manufacturing technology, commonly known as 3D Printing. As an academic researcher, Martin has written over 30 research articles, appeared at more than 15 conferences and written three book chapters. At Nottingham, Martin teaches a range of management-related subjects mainly to engineering students. Martin is fascinated by the implications of digital technologies for business, especially in manufacturing. This is Martin's first book. John Dominy is an Honorary Professor in the Composites Group at the University of Nottingham. John has worked in the engineering industry since graduating from the University of Middlesex (then Middlesex Polytechnic) in 1974. John was awarded a PhD in 1980 for work at Rolls Royce on the lubrication of high-speed roller bearings. He has experience of management in very large (aerospace), medium (motor sport) and micro (specialist composites) businesses. Since 2003, John has been teaching in the Faculty of Engineering at Nottingham, mainly in the areas of Management and Engineering Design. Although now semi-retired, John takes a keen interest in teaching what he has learnt over the course of a career in engineering management to undergraduate students.