Perceived leadership practices and organizational commitment of consulting engineers at their working place

The objectives of this study are to examine the issues confronting consulting engineers. The issues are: (a) the relationship between perceived leadership practices and consulting engineer's organizational commitment in their working place and, (b) the differences of consulting engineers’ organizational commitment based on gender, age and years of working experience. This study leverages on (a) Kouzes and Posner’s five perceived leadership practices (1987), and (b) Mowday, Porter and Steers’ organizational commitment (1979). This study was specifically addressed to 387 respondents who worked with consulting firms registered under the Association of Consulting Engineers, Malaysia (ACEM). The random sampling technique was used and a self-administered survey was performed for this research which included a set of questionnaires consisting of sections on personal information, leadership practices index (LPI) and organizational commitment (OCQ). The quantitative research method was used for data analysis. Firstly, it involved using the Spearman-rho correlation analysis to examine the relationship between the consulting engineers’ perceived leadership practices and organizational commitment at their work place. Secondly, the Kruskal Wallis test was used to investigate the differences between the consulting engineers’ organizational commitment based on age and years of experience. Thirdly, the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used to investigate the differences between the consulting engineers’ organizational commitment based on gender. The findings revealed that the five perceived leadership practices have significant relationships between perceived leadership practices and the consulting engineers’ organizational commitment at their work place. Another finding revealed that there is a significant difference between the consulting engineers’ organizational commitment based on gender, and age, and years of working experience. The findings contribute to the knowledge that consulting engineers’ organizational commitment is positively related to the engineering superior’s leadership skills of coaching, leading and guiding consulting engineers to achieve the same goa

Fit between humanitarian professionals and project requirements: hybrid group decision procedure to reduce uncertainty in decision-making

Choosing the right professional that has to meet indeterminate requirements is a critical aspect in humanitarian development and implementation projects. This paper proposes a hybrid evaluation methodology for some non-governmental organizations enabling them to select the most competent expert who can properly and adequately develop and implement humanitarian projects. This methodology accommodates various stakeholders’ perspectives in satisfying the unique requirements of humanitarian projects that are capable of handling a range of uncertain issues from both stakeholders and project requirements. The criteria weights are calculated using a two-step multi-criteria decision-making method: (1) Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process for the evaluation of the decision maker weights coupled with (2) Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to rank the alternatives which provide the ability to take into account both quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Sensitivity analysis have been developed and discussed by means of a real case of expert selection problem for a non-profit organisation. The results show that the approach allows a decrease in the uncertainty associated with decision-making, which proves that the approach provides robust solutions in terms of sensitivity analysis

Understanding community engagement from practice: a phenomenographic approach to engineering projects

IntroductionEngineering professors involved in community projects strive to enhance engagement through a combination of social sciences and engineering methodologies. Recognizing the growing importance of critical methodologies, particularly those rooted in social justice and community design, researchers have explored their impact on fostering meaningful collaborations between engineers, students, and community partners.MethodsThis study employs a phenomenographic approach to explore how a cohort of engineering professors, students, and community members conceptualize their participation in community-engaged practices.ResultsOur findings reveal a nuanced outcome space comprising five distinct ways in which individuals perceive their community engagement: as interdisciplinary endeavors, addressing community issues, engaging in co-design, and addressing systemic barriers. These conceptual frameworks elucidate a progression in the depth of engineers’ involvement with the community, underscoring the significance of systems literacy and social justice in more intricate contexts.DiscussionThese results advocate for engineers to adopt an active membership approach, emphasizing collaboration, when working on engineering projects within communities, as opposed to adopting passive roles that may undermine the impact of community engagement.ConclusionIn conclusion, a deeper understanding of the varied conceptualizations of community engagement among engineering professors, students, and community members underscores the importance of adopting proactive roles and fostering collaborative approaches in community projects

Engineering for Social Good? How Professional and Educational Experiences Inform Engineers' Solutions to Complex Problems

There have been a number of high-level calls for increased attention to contextual aspects of engineering work (including social, cultural, political, economic, environmental, and temporal considerations) as essential for ensuring the field can adequately address the complex problems of the modern world. However, the field of engineering – long grounded in a positivist tradition based on the primacy of technical considerations – has been slow to change. This qualitative study provided insight into how a persistent underemphasis on social and contextual aspects of engineering work in educational and professional settings is perpetuated, and how this underemphasis shapes the experiences of engineering undergraduate and graduate students and practitioners. Specifically, this study explored the aspects of engineering work emphasized in various local settings and the ways these informed engineers’ day-to-day practice as a potential mechanism that explains how a narrowly technical model of engineering work that largely neglects contextual considerations of engineering problems, is reproduced. In addition, the study highlighted how the aspects of engineering practice emphasized in study participants’ educational and professional settings (mis)aligned with their personal values and explored the implications of this misalignment for how these engineers viewed the field and their place within it. The study involved a two-phase design. Phase 1 was comprised of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 46 engineering students and professionals from a range of academic and personal backgrounds about their experiences in solving a complex engineering problem, included the types of factors participants attended to in solving these problems. Phase 2 included follow-up interviews with a subset of 18 participants. The second phase used a card-sort task to identify the practices participants perceived to be most and least valued in the educational and professional contexts in which they had engaged and interview questions to elicit the ways in which these emphases did and did not align with their personal values and priorities. Analyses leveraged social practice theory (from the work of Dorothy Holland, Jean Lave, and colleagues) to explore the ways meaning and practice are negotiated within local cultures and the implications for how people and their actions are recognized and rewarded within those contexts. Findings from this study highlight the following: 1) the extent to which day-to-day engineering education and work overlooked social and contextual considerations, despite these being stated institutional and national priorities in engineering and priorities of many students and practitioners in the study; 2) how the neglect of contextual aspects of engineering training and work contexts was reproduced in the practice of these engineers when solving a complex problem; and 3) how the practices emphasized within engineering contexts varyingly aligned with participants’ own values and the consequences of this (mis)alignment for their sense of their fit in the field. These findings have implications for both the ability of engineers to understand and meet the needs of a complex global society as well as for the field’s ability to attract and retain a diverse engineering workforce. Specific recommendations based on this study’s findings include the importance of integrating contextual considerations throughout the core engineering curriculum and providing faculty and instructors the training and resources necessary to do so.PHDHigher EducationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163112/1/emosy_1.pd

Community Adoption of Appropriate Technology Through Persuasive Communication Design

This dissertation examines the introduction of a new appropriate technology (AT) into a marginalized community through application of a specific behavior change communication model (BCC). For this research, the soda can solar furnace was introduced into the Hispanic community of the Westwood neighborhood in Denver using a developed BCC strategy. The population of Westwood is predominantly Hispanic and overwhelmingly poor. The majority of its residents live at or below the poverty level. As such, they were in great need of assistance in paying their heating bills in the winter months. This study was born out of both a desire to provide this marginalized community with assistance and to ensure that the support provided would not fail once the active involvement stage had ended. Moreover, the goal of this study was to determine the best way to encourage the community in assimilating the new technology into its daily life. Due to the need for assistance during cold winter months, the soda can solar furnace was selected as the appropriate technology (AT) to introduce to the community. This furnace is built with an array of aluminum cans - which are readily available as recycled material - that act as passages for air. As the air passes through, solar energy heats the air and the warmer air is then circulated into the home. This air supplements the heat provided by the home's existing heating system, resulting in lower heating bills for the user. A successful project does not end with the installation of a technology, however. In order to ensure the ongoing use and maintenance of these soda can solar furnaces beyond their initial installation, the members of the community had to be convinced of the merit and utility of these devices. That is where the BCC plan came in. Behavior change communication (BCC) is the strategic use of psychology to promote positive outcomes, based on proven theories and models of pattern change. The relationship between behavior change communication and appropriate technology selection is a key component of this research. The BCC model used in this study is strongly influenced by the Fogg (1) methodology of persuasive psychology, which relies on three pillars: motivation, accessibility and trigger. The first two pillars align with appropriate technology principles (as described in section 4.3); therefore, in this study the selection of an appropriate technology is a critical part of the BCC model formulation. This study illustrates the effectiveness of the behavioral change communication model specifically applied to a community based on a thorough community appraisal and deliberate selection of the appropriate technology. For this research, the behavioral change communication model is assessed for effectiveness through a mixed methods qualitative collection and analysis. This dissertation report describes the BCC model, the AT selection process, the various attributes of the community appraisal performed and the outcomes measured in the community. The results section illustrates the effectiveness of the BCC plan to implement the soda can solar furnace in the target community

Characterizing and Understanding the Growing Population of Socially Engaged Engineers Through Engineers Without Borders-Usa

This dissertation studies a group of engineers, who, by intentionally engaging with the social dimensions of engineering, contrasts the engineering stereotype of an antisocial male technocrat. Although US engineering leaders and scholars have advocated for a more broadly skilled, passionate, and diverse population of engineers to help solve pressing global engineering challenges, the field still struggles to recruit, train, and maintain this type of workforce. Therefore, it is important to better understand a rapidly growing group of engineers who appear to contrast the norm because these individuals hold promise for diversifying the engineering population and providing better solutions to global engineering challenges. By characterizing this relatively unstudied population--which this dissertation calls socially engaged engineers--this research can support efforts for curricular and programmatic change in engineering education and employee fit and satisfaction in engineering workplaces. The context for this study was Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA), which is one of the largest and most prominent humanitarian engineering organizations in the US. The main research question that informed this study asked, how are engineers involved and uninvolved with EWB-USA different and similar? The research used a sequential, exploratory mixed-methods approach that began with interviews and focus groups with 165 engineering students and practicing engineers across the US and continued with a nation-wide survey to four prominent US professional engineering organizations. To address the research question, similarities and differences between those involved and uninvolved with EWB-USA were analyzed across three main dimensions: personal values (including motivations, interests, and personality traits), learning experiences (including professional and technical skill sets), and career intentions (including students' expectations and practitioners' experiences). The three dimensions correspond to the three main body chapters of this dissertation. The results showed that EWB-USA members had personal values, technical skills, and both interests and experiences in engineering design and research careers in line with non-members and previous studies of engineers; however EWB-USA members also exhibited altruistic values, professional skills, and broader career interests and experiences that contrasted non-members. Although these results appear in support of socially engaged engineering activities, they also highlight warnings to the engineering field about the misalignment between this growing population of engineers and its historically technocratic and masculine culture. Without cultural changes, the engineering workforce may continue to miss out on engineers who offer diversity, passion, and experience interfacing between the social and technical dimensions of engineering which are needed to better address critical engineering challenges facing society