Preparing Engineering Students for the New Business Paradigm of International Teamwork and Global Orientation

Keith Sheppard*, Peter Dominick** and Zvi Aronson**Stevens Institute of TechnologyHoboken, New Jersey, 07030Business is increasingly conducted in a global environment, not only in terms ofmarkets but also design, production and service. It is therefore essential thatengineering graduates have an orientation towards this globalization and areprepared to operate effectively within it. One manifestation of this newenvironment is the increasing need for engineers and others to collaborateinternationally on projects, whether they are within the same internationalorganization or in another relationship such as with sub-contractors or between endcustomers and suppliers. Also in this context we are increasingly seeing theexpression 24-hour engineering used as business takes advantage of time zonesaround the world to effect efficient hand off of a project between internationalteams. Significant challenges must be overcome as engineers learn to work in theinternational environment. These challenges include those associated with differingcultures and language as well as the problems associated with what has been termed“virtual teams”, which comprise physically separated individuals or groups that areconnected through various communications links and information technology tools.In this paper we explore how the industrial psychology and other literature from thebusiness world can provide insights to the challenges and possible solutions thatshould be addressed in providing engineering students with an appropriateexperience to prepare them for the new international teamwork paradigm. We thendiscuss how this information can be used in implementing an effective program forinternational student project collaboration.