by: Rebekka Nagel
“So… what is IEM?” If there is one question every ESTIEMer who has been around for a while is tired of hearing, it’s surely this one! I don’t want to dwell on it any longer than needed but when we talk about why ESTIEMers are predestined to be great leaders, it is worth to first say a few words about one thing we all have
in common — our course of studies!
In 2017, the participants of the IEM Education Forum in Aveiro defined the role of an IEMer as someone who challenges the status quo and creates value by facilitating diversity into synergy. Someone who questions the way things are done, someone who understands both, engineers and managers and thus leads the venture to reach its aspired goal. IEMers can be found across all kinds of industries and company divisions but one thing most have in common is being responsible for intersecting tasks. [1]In this role, IEMers are predestined to take leadership responsibility. In 2014 a study of the German Industrial Engineering [2]Association, VWI, found that over 40% of German IEM professionals hold leading positions in companies, most of them being top-management executives.[3] So the more interesting question to ask is “Which competences does an IEMer need to become a great leader, maybe even an executive?”
IEM education aims to prepare
its students to be the successful
managers of tomorrow.”
-Christian Mustata (EPIEM)
Competences executives need and where to find them
Competences are cognitive abilities and related attitudes to solve problems in specific situations.[4] ESTIEM events aim to complement university education by offering opportunities to develop competences that are required
for successful IEMers. These can be divided into four subcategories.
Professional Competence
The ability to connect, deepen, critically evaluate and apply knowledge in a specific context.[5] This includes all knowledge areas executives should have a basic understanding of. They are expected to have a technical understanding of their respective field of responsibility as well as basic management knowledge. Knowledge of foreign languages and cultures as well as communication technology is not to be neglected either.[6] Besides being
able to practice their English, ESTIEM provides IEM students with an opportunity to gain professional competencies. By attending an Academic Days event for example, IEM students gain insights into a specific field the host university excels at and thus are able to broaden their horizons.
Methodic Competence
The knowledge skills and abilities that enable an individual to accomplish tasks and solve problems by choosing, planning and applying reasonable solution strategies.[7] This includes competences that characterise our way of thinking and course of action. Most importantly, executives are required to think analytically and to have a holistic and systematic problem-solving approach.[8] Since 1994 the T.I.M.E.S. case study competition offers IEM students from all over Europe a great opportunity to test their methodical
skills. The right problem-solving approach and exceptional analytical skills are crucial to successfully solve the cases with limited time given.
Social Competence
The knowledge, skills and abilities that enable an individual to act appropriately in relation to other people. This includes all interpersonal skills.[9] The ability to lead and work in a team is considered crucial for successful
executives.[10] They need to be able to facilitate working sessions and communicate ideas, strategies and decisions effectively. One of the places to develop your interpersonal skills in ESTIEM is called BrainTrainer. It offers ESTIEMers an opportunity to develop their soft skills and get ahead of
their peers.
Self-Competence
Self-competence refers to the personality of an individual. It’s the ability and willingness to act independently and responsibly, to reflect one’s and others’ actions and develop one’s own ability to act.[11] To successfully lead
an organisation, executives need to be able to constantly develop their own leadership capabilities, thus knowing and understanding yourself is crucial.[12] ESTIEM’s Summer Academy is an event where IEM students increase their self-awareness. No surprise, many ESTIEMers describe it as “the event that changed my life”.
How can IEM students develop these competences with ESTIEM?
If you ask an alumni where they have learned the most in ESTIEM, chances are you get to hear an interesting story about how they organised an insane ESTIEM event and which faux pas’ happened on the way. Apparently, attending events is not the only way ESTIEM helps developing IEM
students. 150 ESTIEM events per year not only provide a learning experience for the 2,000 ESTIEMers attending but create opportunities for hundreds of organisers who put their leadership skills into practice. Besides locally
organised events, Coordination Meetings (CoMs) make a great example for opportunities to practice your skills. CoMs gather centrally active ESTIEMers from different Local Groups and countries to discuss strategic matters.
While aiming to improve the quality of events, active ESTIEMers learn how to structure a working session, how to facilitate discussions and most importantly, to work together as a team.
In 2017 we conducted a survey among over 300 ESTIEMers, asking how they expect ESTIEM to prepare them for their career. One out of two ESTIEMers named organising ESTIEM events as an opportunity to put into practice what
they learned at university, closely followed by the insights into companies and industries ESTIEMers can gain while attending events. Clearly, neither way of developing IEM students should be neglected.
How can ESTIEM maximise these impacts?
Those who know me well will know my answer to this question: Trainers!
Trainers play an important role, both in providing great learning experiences during events and in guiding ESTIEMers in developing their leadership competences. Especially social and self-competences, the ‘fluffy skills’ are
mostly neglected by university education. [14] Unlike an electrical engineering class, you can not gather 200 students in a presentation skills lecture and expect them to walk out, able to give mind-blowing TED Talks. Developing soft skills and self-awareness requires a personal teaching approach and real-life situations to put the learning into practice. It requires a trainer. Due to the fast people turnover in student organisations (the average ESTIEMers stays active less than three years), a good Knowledge management System is the key to the development of the organisation. Trainers pass
on best practices to the next generation. Events like the LR Forum or PR-CR School share the lessons learned from the past. By sharing knowledge and offering guidance in its application, the Trainers Community enables ESTIEMers to fulfill their tasks more effectively and successfully and fosters their learning by guiding them in their reflection on the process. This makes ESTIEMs Training System one of its most important capacities. After my four years of activeness, having participated in over 70 ESTIEM events, I am still impressed of the impact ESTIEM can have on IEM students. If I learned one thing on the way, it is that passion and ambition can get you anywhere. All competences you need, you can develop, and ESTIEM is a great place for you to do so.
So, do I believe ESTIEMers have what it takes to successfully run a
company? Definitely yes, and anything else they strive for.
Credit: 54th issue of ESTIEM Magazine (2018)
You can now read the whole 54th issue on the ISSUU Platform!
References:
[1]Mustata, Christian: Integral IEM as a possible trend in IEM education in Bucharest. In: ESTIEM Magazine (2014), Nr. 2, S. 22–23.
[2]Baumgarten, Helmut; Hildebrand, Wolf-Christian; Hirschhausen, Christian von; Schmager, Burkhard: Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen in Ausbildung und Praxis. 14., vollst. überarb. und erw. Aufl. Berlin: Univ.-Verl. der TU, 2015. — ISBN 9783798327634 [3]Baumgarten, Helmut; Hildebrand, Wolf-Christian;
Hirschhausen, Christian von; Schmager, Burkhard: Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen in Ausbildung und Praxis. 14.,
vollst. überarb. und erw. Aufl. Berlin: Univ.-Verl. der TU,
2015. — ISBN 9783798327634
[4]Schmauder, Martin: Studieren an der Universität : Was ist das und wie geht das? In: SPECK, Peter; BRAUNER, Detlef Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berufsziel Ingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieur
: Berufszugang — Tätigkeitsbereiche — Perspektiven. Sternenfels : Verl. Wissenschaft & Praxis, 2014. — ISBN 9783896736505, S. 107–112
[5]Schmauder, Martin: Studieren an der Universität : Was ist das und wie geht das? In: SPECK, Peter; BRAUNER, Detlef Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berufsziel Ingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieur : Berufszugang — Tätigkeitsbereiche — Perspektiven. Sternenfels : Verl. Wissenschaft & Praxis, 2014. — ISBN
9783896736505, S. 107–112
[6]Baumgarten, Helmut; Hildebrand, Wolf-Christian; Hirschhausen, Christian von; Schmager, Burkhard: Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen in Ausbildung und Praxis. 14., vollst. überarb. und erw. Aufl. Berlin: Univ.-Verl. der TU, 2015. — ISBN 9783798327634
[7]Schmauder, Martin: Studieren an der Universität : Was ist das und wie geht das? In: SPECK, Peter; BRAUNER, Detlef Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berufsziel Ingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieur : Berufszugang — Tätigkeitsbereiche — Perspektiven. Sternenfels : Verl. Wissenschaft & Praxis, 2014. — ISBN
[8]Baumgarten, Helmut; Hildebrand, Wolf-Christian; Hirschhausen, Christian von; Schmager, Burkhard: Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen in Ausbildung und Praxis. 14., vollst. überarb. und erw. Aufl. Berlin: Univ.-Verl. der TU, 2015. — ISBN 9783798327634
[9]Schmauder, Martin: Studieren an der Universität : Was ist das und wie geht das? In: SPECK, Peter; BRAUNER, Detlef Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berufsziel Ingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieur: Berufszugang — Tätigkeitsbereiche — Perspektiven. Sternenfels : Verl. Wissenschaft & Praxis, 2014. — ISBN
[10]Schmauder, Martin: Studieren an der Universität : Was ist das und wie geht das? In: SPECK, Peter; BRAUNER, Detlef Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berufsziel Ingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieur : Berufszugang — Tätigkeitsbereiche
- Perspektiven. Sternenfels : Verl. Wissenschaft & Praxis, 2014. — ISBN 9783896736505, S. 107–112
[11]GNAHS, Dieter: Der Deutsche Qualifikationsrahmen: Entwicklungsstand, Diskussionspunkte und Perspektiven URL: http://www.die. — aktualisierungsdatum: 2010–08- 02 — Abrufdatum:16.03.18
[12]Frick, Gerold: Weiterqualifizierung für zukünftige Executives, Bd. 1. In: SPECK, Peter; BRAUNER, Detlef Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berufsziel Ingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieur : Berufszugang — Tätigkeitsbereiche — Perspektiven. Sternenfels : Verl. Wissenschaft & Praxis, 2014. — ISBN
9783896736505, S. 171–175
[13]Frick, Gerold: Weiterqualifizierung für zukünftige Executives, Bd. 1. In: SPECK, Peter; BRAUNER, Detlef Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berufsziel Ingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieur: Berufszugang — Tätigkeitsbereiche — Perspektiven. Sternenfels : Verl. Wissenschaft & Praxis, 2014. — ISBN
9783896736505, S. 171–175
[14]Baumgarten, Helmut; Hildebrand, Wolf-Christian; Hirschhausen, Christian von; Schmager, Burkhard: Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen in Ausbildung und Praxis. 14., vollst. überarb. und erw. Aufl. Berlin: Univ.-Verl. der TU, 2015. — ISBN 9783798327634 [15]Frick, Gerold: Weiterqualifizierung für zukünftige Executives, Bd. 1. In: SPECK, Peter; BRAUNER, Detlef Jürgen (Hrsg.): Berufsziel Ingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieur
: Berufszugang — Tätigkeitsbereiche — Perspektiven. Sternenfels : Verl. Wissenschaft & Praxis, 2014. — ISBN 9783896736505, S. 171–175
