Engineers who are aspiring to management positions, and engineering managers in need of new tools and strategies to better supervise their projects and teams, may find this reading list particularly insightful. This collection of books offers practical and applicable approaches to the fields of both engineering and management. The following 10 books are listed with brief descriptions from Amazon.

1. Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy, Second Edition 2nd Edition - Masaaki Imaj

“Written by Masaaki Imai, pioneer of modern business operational excellence and founder of the Kaizen Institute, Gemba Kaizen, Second Edition is an in-depth revision of this renowned, bestselling work. The book reveals how to implement cost-effective, incremental improvements in your most critical business processes. Global case studies from a wide range of industries demonstrate how gemba kaizen has been successfully used. To thrive in today's competitive global economy, organizations need to operate more effectively and profitably than ever before. Developing problem solvers, increasing productivity, improving quality, and reducing waste are essential success factors.”

2. Engineering Project Management for the Global High-Technology Industry – Sammy G. Shina

“Engineering Project Management for the Global High-Technology Industry describes how to effectively implement a wide array of project management tools and techniques and covers comprehensive details on the entire product development lifecycle. Technology management--from research to advanced development to adoption in new products--is explained with examples of organizational structure and required timelines. This practical guide discusses key topics such as creating a business plan, performing economic analysis, leveraging internal resources and the supply chain, planning project development, controlling projects, tracking progress, managing risk, and reporting to management. Skills essential to the successful project manager, including communication, leadership, and teamwork, are also addressed. Real-world case studies from top global technology companies illustrate the concepts presented in the book.”

3. Engineering Design, Planning, and Management – Hugh Jack

“Engineering Design, Planning and Management covers engineering design methodology with an interdisciplinary approach, concise discussions, and a visual format. The book covers the product design process in the context of both established companies and entrepreneurial start-ups. Readers will discover the usefulness of the design process model through practical examples and applications from across the engineering disciplines. Author Hugh Jack takes the reader through phases ranging from risk assessment and need identification through specification and detailed design, addressing intellectual property issues as well. Recognizing that design is a process commonly performed in teams, Jack also covers project management and team dynamic topics where appropriate.”

4. The Making of an Expert Engineer – James Trevelyan

“This book sets out the principles of engineering practice, knowledge that has come to light through more than a decade of research by the author and his students studying engineers at work. Until now, this knowledge has been almost entirely unwritten, passed on invisibly from one generation of engineers to the next, what engineers refer to as “experience”. This is a book for all engineers. It distills the knowledge of many experts in one volume. The book will help engineers enjoy a more satisfying and rewarding career and provide more valuable results for their employers and clients.”

5. Engineering Management: Meeting the Global Challenges – C.M. Chang

“This book prepares engineers to fulfill their managerial responsibilities, acquire useful business perspectives, and take on the much-needed leadership roles to meet the challenges in the new millennium. Value addition, customer focus, and business perspectives are emphasized throughout. Also underlined are discussions of leadership attributes, steps to acquire these attributes, the areas engineering managers are expected to add value, the web-based tools which can be aggressively applied to develop and sustain competitive advantages, the opportunities offered by market expansion into global regions, and the preparations required for engineering managers to become global leaders.”

6. People Management: Everything You Need to Know about Managing and Leading People at Work – Chad Halvorson

“As a manager, it’s not always inherently easy to understand how to best lead and communicate with your team. You don’t become a great manager overnight—you have to work at it just like anything else you want to excel at. This book will teach you everything you need to know about becoming a better manager and leader of people.”

7. Startup Engineering Management – Piaw Na

“If you're currently an engineer and have been offered a management job at a startup, this book is for you! If you're an engineer wondering what your manager is supposed to do for you, this book is for you as well! Drawing from the author's experience as an engineer and manager, this book explains:

• When to consider doing management work
• How to put together a team
• What to consider when interacting with engineers
• How to hire top engineers for your startup
• How to pick engineering leaders
• How to define processes and a process cookbook
• When you don't need a process
• How to report to your managers
• How compensation systems and promotion systems work, and when they fail”

8. Implementing Six Sigma, Second Edition: Smarter Solutions Using Statistical Methods 2nd Edition – Forrest W. Breyfogle

“Written to aid organizations in laying the foundation for Six Sigma, this comprehensive and engaging guide provides the tools, strategies, and motivation to get all relevant players involved with improvement from upper management on down. At the heart of the book is a group of statistical tools that address FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis), QFD (Quality Functional Deployment), and DOE (Design of Experiment). Rather than offering just a brief overview, Implementing Six Sigma devotes individual chapters to all of the tools, so as to provide an in-depth analysis of each. A large selection of diagrams and clarifying exercises demonstrate how to best utilize the tools to successfully minimize defects throughout the production process. Steeped in real world application, it presents numerous examples, as well as copies of actual implementation guides used by Motorola.”

9. Engineering Documentation Control Handbook, Fourth Edition: Configuration Management and Product Lifecycle Management 4th Edition – Frank B. Watts

“In this new edition of his widely-used Handbook, Frank Watts, widely recognized for his significant contributions to engineering change control processes, provides a thoroughly practical guide to the implementation and improvement of Engineering Documentation Control (EDC), Product Lifecycle Management, and Product Configuration Management (CM). Successful and error-free implementation of EDC/CM is critical to world-class manufacturing. Huge amounts of time are wasted in most product manufacturing environments over EDC/CM issues such as interchangeability, document release and change control - resulting in faults, product release delays and overspends. The book is packed with specific methods that can be applied quickly and accurately to almost any industry and any product to control documentation, request changes to the product, implement changes and develop bills of material.”

10. Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite Them All – Jim Collins

“Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with another groundbreaking work, this time to ask: why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research, buttressed by rigorous analysis and infused with engaging stories, Collins and his colleague Morten Hansen enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous and fast-moving times.”

Kettering Online's Innovative Master's Degree in Engineering Management

Getting your engineering management degree online at Kettering University distinguishes you from others in myriad ways. The Engineering Management master’s degree provides the theory and application of technical skills as well as delivers the holistic leadership, communication and soft skills necessary to manage a high-technology, cross-disciplinary team. Better yet, it provides an opportunity to become a better you!