Engineers, Leadership and Best Practice: Some Observations

The need for innovative skills in order to enhance the competitiveness of Australian industrial firms has never been greater than it is today and yet engineers, whose major skill is innovation are not, in general, proactively applying these skills. This paper addresses this paradox through examination of the emerging role of engineers in Best Practice firms and concludes that the role of engineers is changing and that this change is accompanied with the removal of barriers to the application of engineers' innovative talents. The concepts of Strategic Manufacturing and Total Quality Management and an increasing executive focus on firm Technical Capabilities provide vehicles which assist in raising both the contribution made by engineering to firm competitiveness and status of engineering functions and engineering professionals.