Evolution and Development of engineering

management education in China

Dan Wang1, 2 * Yiqin Wang1
1
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, P. R. China
2
School of Economics and Management, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, 150001, P. R. China

Abstract - China has experienced great changes in economics

and construction over the last few decades. Rapid development II. EVOLUTION
of engineering projects and construction has increased the Engineering management education has experienced a
demand for engineering management talents, which in turn has long period of development in China although it only became
promoted education in this field. This paper describes the
evolution and development of engineering management
a formal specialty in the list of Disciplines and Specialties
education in China since 1940s, analyzes its present situation and promulgated by the National Ministry of Education in 1998.
proposes its future prospect with the objective of facilitating the Its focuses have varied with the requirements of the planned
perfection of the specialty and cultivation of talents. economy before 1980s and with market demands afterwards.
Engineering management education in China can be
Index Terms – Engineering management education, evolution,
dated back into the 1940s when research and education in
programs, curricula
Railway Management, Engineering Economics and Far East
Economics started in Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). In
I. INTRODUCTION early 1950’s, assisted by Russian experts, HIT pioneered in
delivering courses in Economics, Organization and Planning
Engineering management involves the overall in Mechanical Manufacturing industry and setting up
management of organizations with an orientation to specialties in the fields of Economics, Organization and
manufacturing, construction, engineering or technology [1]. Planning in Mechanical manufacturing industry. A similar
The specialty of Engineering Management has peculiar course for Power enterprises was also added to the curricula [2].
features and integrates technical aspects and overall Soon afterwards, Technical Economics courses were offered
management issues. It belongs to the discipline of in other universities by Russian engineering economists and
management science and is an important specialty of it. The Chinese engineering economists who had been studying in
objective of engineering management education is to provide Western countries. The focus during this period was on
the society with high-level talents who not only are at ease in economic analysis of projects and technical activities, such as
engineering and technology but also understand the project evaluation and feasibility study.
fundamentals of management and master managerial skills as In 1970s, Construction Management specialty was set up
well. Since the adjustment of disciplines and specialties in to meet the demand of the country for project management
1998, the specialty of engineering management has trained a people. At that time, with the objective of training talents
great number of engineering management talents for competent both in construction and economic management,
engineering construction in China. The significance of such the curriculum of the Construction Management specialty
education has gained widespread recognition. With included Architectural Engineering Design, Construction and
increasingly fiercer competition, it is necessary to explore the Production Management in construction companies. During
direction of further improvement and future development of mid-1980s and early 1990s, China has undergone great
this specialty on the basis of reviewing the evolution of this changes in construction mechanism as well as bidding and
specialty, its current situation in terms of objectives, programs tendering mechanism, and a construction market has also
and curricula. It is hoped that this research will facilitate the come into existence. Consequently, construction management
perfection of the specialty and cultivation of talents. education program added some new courses such as
This paper is categorized into five parts. Starting with the Engineering Bidding and Tendering, Contract Management,
introduction part, the evolution of engineering management Construction Project Management. The national government
specialty in China is described in Part II. In Part III, the of China has given great attention to education in engineering
present situation of engineering management education in management. In 1989, the Ministry of Construction of the
China is analyzed in three aspects of educational objectives, People’s Republic of China set up a National Educational
engineering management education programs as well as Guidance Committee for Construction Management
undergraduate curricula. Future prospect is then discussed in Engineering Discipline of P. R. China. The mission of this
Part IV. The last part is Conclusion. organization is to promote the development of this discipline

*
Corresponding author. Tel. 86-451-8641-4042. Fax. 86-451-86414024. email: danwang@hit.edu.cn

978-1-4244-2289-0/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE

and advocate education reform by keeping revising the management, whereas the focus of industrial engineering
training objective, educational plan and curriculum. management can include subsets of mechanical engineering
Also during this period, there has been a diversification in management, mining engineering management, astronautic
the focus of engineering management. In 1979, eleven engineering management, and logistics engineering
universities, including Tsinghua University, Harbin Institute management, etc.
of Technology and Xi’an Jiaotong University, etc. established
Management Engineering specialty and started recruiting III. PRESENT SITUATION
undergraduate students. Some universities have established
specialties of engineering management with different focuses Over the past few decades, engineering management
such as Material Management Engineering, Construction education in China has been developing rapidly in scale,
Engineering, Real Estate Management, International focuses, and programs. The number of universities/colleges
Engineering Management, etc. with Engineering Management Specialty has amounted to 212
Since 1963, the undergraduate specialties in universities/ by the end of 2003 [4], offering both undergraduate and
colleges have been adjusted four times, respectively in 1963, postgraduate programs. According to a survey by the Chinese
1989, 1993 and 1998. Specialties, such as Construction Academy of Engineering, the number of students enrolled in
Management Engineering, Infrastructure Construction Engineering Management Programs has a sharp increase in
Management Engineering, Management Engineering (with the last 6 years or so. Institutions offering Engineering
the focus on Construction Management Engineering), Real Management programs are mostly general universities,
Estate Management, International Construction Engineering science and technology universities/colleges, construction
Operation and Management, International Engineering colleges, mining and technology colleges, colleges of electric
Management, etc. were integrated into Engineering power, finance and economics colleges, agricultural and
Management, which formally became a specialty under the forestry colleges, etc. In most of the universities/colleges,
Discipline of Management Science and Engineering in 1998 engineering management education is undertaken by schools
[3] of management (such as Harbin Institute of Technology or
. The relationship of engineering management specialty and
management engineering discipline is illustrated in Fig. 1. schools of civil engineering (such as Tsinghua University). In
As shown in Figure 1, under the big umbrella of some universities, the previous engineering management
Management Science and Engineering, engineering specialty has developed into a department or school
management is a Level II specialty in parallel with other undertaking engineering management education with more
specialties, such as management information system, focuses (such as the Faculty of Construction Management and
systematic engineering, e-commerce, etc. Within the specialty Real Estate in Chongqing University).
of engineering management, there are many segmented
focuses including construction engineering management, A. Educational objectives
information and software engineering management, industrial According to the requirement of the Ministry of
engineering management, etc. Each focus again has more Education of China, the purpose of engineering management
defined subsets, which are usually called research directions education is to cultivate high-level managerial talents who,
in China. For instance, in the focus of construction with basic knowledge of management, economics and
engineering management, there are directions of engineering engineering technology and a good command of theories and
methods of modern management science, can effectively
manage the whole processes in international and domestic
engineering projects. Upon graduation, undergraduate
students should have acquired knowledge and capabilities as
listed below [5]:
• Mastering basic theories and methods of engineering
(and real estate) management;
• Mastering basic theories and principles of
investment economics;
• Familiarizing with the knowledge in engineering
technology;
• Familiarizing with guidelines, policies and
regulations of engineering project construction;
• Getting to know international and domestic
Fig. 1 Structure of the Management Engineering Discipline
development trends of engineering management;
Note: CEM: Construction Engineering Management • Problem solving capability by means of the
ISEM: Information and software engineering management computer;
IEM: Industrial Engineering Management • Capability in engineering project decision-making
and whole-process management;
costing, real estate investment and management, engineering
project management, and informationization of engineering
 • Mastering methodologies in searching archives and
references, capable of doing research and competent
in practice;
• Mastering business knowledge necessary in
international engineering project management and
having a high proficiency of a foreign language.
The above requirements show that the positioning of the
Engineering Management Specialty of China is in consistency
with that of construction management with the United States.

B. Engineering Management Education Programs

In China, engineering management education is offered Fig. 2 Undergraduate curricula structure
at different levels including undergraduate, postgraduate
programs and professional training programs. In the the components of the specialty subjects, both compulsory
undergraduate program, engineering management education is and elective. Take construction management focus as an
mainly focused on real estate management, project example [7], the specialty compulsory subjects usually consists
management and investment, whereas the postgraduate of real estate management, construction project management,
program is targeted at master students and PhD students as construction costing, construction economics, etc. while the
well who have been enrolled in Level I Discipline of specialty elective subjects usually include real estate and
Management Science and engineering with the research maintenance, costing management information system,
direction of Engineering Management. The postgraduate construction costing management information system and
program also includes that of Master of Engineering in Project Construction English.
Management, Industrial Engineering and Logistics Engineering management specialty requires a high level
Management and Master of Business Administration in of practical ability [8], therefore, internship is an important part
Project Management and Industrial Engineering Project in undergraduate curricula to give the student an opportunity
Management. Some universities also offer master courses in to apply what they have learnt from school into practice and
project management in collaboration with international to learn from the real world. In most universities/ colleges,
universities, e.g. the MPM program jointly offered by internship usually consists of three parts, i.e. recognition
Zhejiang Gongshang University and Université du Québec of internship, production internship and graduation internship.
Canada. Besides, some universities also provide training Recognition and production internships are scheduled during
programs open to the society. For instance, Tongji University the specialty subject study and are focused on the engineering
conducted a training program for engineering management or technology aspects, ranging from one to two weeks either
companies. It also has also hosted an “EMBA Classical before or after a long vocation (winter or summer).
Courses for Chinese Real Estates Company Presidents” [6]. Recognition internship is scheduled in Year 2 and Production
These programs at different levels have trained a large internship in Year 3. The objective of recognition internship is
number of engineering management personnel, which in turn to get students understand the working procedures,
contribute significantly to the construction and development regulations as well as how theories and principles are related
of the country. and applied in the working environment. Therefore, it is more
of a visit nature. Students of the same class are organized to
C. Undergraduate curricula go to a factory or a construction site together. Different from
The curricula for undergraduates consist of three major recognition internship, production internship requires the
parts: courses, internship and designs or dissertation (shown students to undertake a particular job in a factory or at a
in Fig. 2). Undergraduate students must take courses to get construction site so that they can become familiar with the
themselves sufficient credit points. The courses can be engineering or construction processes. It is scheduled in Year
categorized into 4 types, namely, general basic subjects, 3 when students have finished all their compulsory subjects
specialty basic subjects, specialty compulsory subjects and and most elective ones, which allows the student to apply
specialty elective subjects. All basic subjects are compulsory what they have learnt at school into practice and to get better
and the components are identical in most universities/colleges. understanding of the real world. Graduation internship,
General basic subjects include philosophy, principles and however, is more related with the management side. It is
history of science and technology development, English (or scheduled in the beginning of the second semester in Year 4
Russian, Japanese, etc.) language, etc. while specialty basic for 4 to 6 weeks. During this period, students are required to
specialty subjects consist of subjects like economics, work in a company and they are encouraged to observe the
management, accounting, law and operational research. What management issues in the company, trying to find out
distinguishes the focuses of the education and demonstrates achievements as well as problems in the company
the features of each university/college or specialty rests with management.
Design assignments are another important element in
undergraduate curricula of engineering management specialty.
The objectives of making designs are to train the student’s Establishing stable partnerships with companies can help
overall capability in engineering and management and to realize this purpose. This will provide students with a place
check how well they have mastered what they have learnt in for internship and also a place for site lectures. Meanwhile,
class. The design assignments include course design and engineers and experts from the partner companies can be
graduation design. In a course design, the students are invited to the university to give lectures periodically with
required to make a design according to the knowledge they actual cases and practical issues.
have learnt in a particular course. For instance, in the Course Educators should also bear in mind that engineering
Design of Production Operations Management, the students management education should not only give students
are asked to design a layout of equipments and machinery in a knowledge in the engineering, technology and management
particular workshop of a factory to best integrate efficiency field, but also endeavor to cultivate the student’s ability [9] in
and convenience. Students will then be assessed whether the decision making, managerial ability of motivating teams, and
layout they have designed is most convenient and time saving abilities of handling with new technologies and processes.
for workers to move, to change parts and components, etc.
The final process of engineering management education is the
V. CONCLUSION
graduation design or dissertation. It is scheduled in the eighth,
or the last, semester of the education. In the final process, Engineering management education in China still has a
design or dissertation, the students are required to utilize what long way to go in order to meet the demand from the society.
they have learnt in the last three and half years in solving Therefore it is necessary to make changes or adjustment to the
problems in the actual working place. The objective of it is to programs, curricula and teaching methodologies. International
evaluate whether the students have mastered the basic experiences will be taken into consideration and referenced.
knowledge of engineering management, whether they can In the future research, we shall explore the experiences of
apply them into the real workplace and whether they can some American and European universities in engineering
appropriately express their perspectives and think critically. management education and find out what can be adopted in
When they finish the design or dissertation, the student will the education in China.
take the oral defense presenting their work and answer
whatever questions the committee may ask.
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