Designing an Industrial Management Curriculum, Overcoming Obstacles

Abstract

The degrees in Industrial Management are often so called combination degrees linking business and management to engineering. They aim to bring out the best of both worlds: to combine the logical, engineering mindset with economical and managerial awareness. Including the essentials and advanced knowledge of several fields in one degree program is a clear challenge. How to choose the essential knowledge and link it in a useful way? There is also a risk that the combination degree would produce just superficial engineers who would not be able to find their place in the world of work. This fear seems to be wrong according to a survey conducted for the graduates of 1995-2002 in Industrial Management at Lappeenranta University of Technology. One of the main reasons for the top-level employment of the graduates may be the smooth slide to the world of work through the master’s thesis. The master’s thesis reflects the whole curriculum and exposes the graduate's knowledge and skills, both in the academy and the world of work.

Article history: Received (09 April 2012); Revised (01 June 2012); Accepted (03 June 2012)