Engineering managers as experimenters

The methods of administrative experimentation were introduced five years ago in a graduate course for engineering managers. By concentrating on how management research is done rather than on the theories and findings of academic researchers, it was proposed that the engineer would be better able to evaluate (and apply) the reports of others, and, in some cases, to use the methods of research in his own administrative decision making. This paper provides a brief and selective review of the experience of the 58 engineering managers who have taken the course.