Managing the social dimension of technology

Summary form only given. As citizens have come to better understand the technology is a social force and that they are financing the technological enterprise, there have been increasing demands for improvements in the management of the social dimension of technology. The technology manager of the 21st century will need to be more aware of, and sensitive to, the social concerns about developing technology. The technology assessments of the industrial framework have been partial and limited. In the social framework one must seek to achieve a more complete evaluation. The existing decision-making processes in engineering practice are based on multiple perspective decision making, and explicitly evaluate alternatives and tradeoffs. These are powerful and appropriate tools for technology assessment that the technology manager brings to the management of the social dimension of technology. A simple expansion of the technology manager's perspective is needed. Changes in engineering management education, to bolster confidence and cultivate wise judgment, are called for.<>