Engineers are aware that it’s essential for a company to have a solid senior management team. if they are going to be successful there. Making a determination about the quality of management is important before you accept an offer — and at a small to medium sized firm this becomes a much larger part of the weighting formula.

The problem is that evaluating the management team is difficult — and usually completely ignored by potential employees. Candidates can’t always be sure of a company by reading financial statements, and most engineers dont have the time — or inclination — to do this.

Disasters such as Enron have demonstrated the importance of discovering the qualitative aspects of a company prior to accepting an offer. There is no standard methodology for evaluating management, but there are certain factors to which you should pay close attention — before making a decision to join them.

This article applies to every technology job seeker considering a move, from the entry level engineer to technical experts and engineering managers. You should do as much research on the company as they do on you. In fact, you should do more.

Management

Solid management is the platform that any successful company is based on. Not engineering expertise, great technical products or a nice environment. Management can make or break a technology company. Technical staff is important, but it is the executive management team that ultimately makes the long term strategic decisions that will impact your career – the part you have absolutely no control over. Even companies with excellent technology have failed, due in large part to how they were managed.

The executive team of a company is directly responsible for creating value .

Management should have the business savvy to run a company in the best interest of the owners, usually shareholders. It is unrealistic to believe that management only thinks about the shareholders. Managers are individuals looking for personal gain, and to enhance their own careers. Problems arise when the interests of the managers are different from the interests of the shareholders.

The theory behind this is called agency theory . It says that conflict will occur unless the compensation of management is tied together with the interests of s hareholders.

Management must have some tangible reason to be beneficial to the shareholders and ultimately to the employees .

Stock Price Isn’t Always the Best Indicator of Quality Management