Date of Award
5-11-2020
Major
Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Bruce DeRuntz
Abstract
This study explores the question of ‘what is the most prevalent leadership style found in industry’, from an engineering student’s internship experiences. Over the course of a Mechanical Engineering student’s four years of internships, they recorded their observation to three questions: ‘What is the dominant leadership style at the Anheuser-Busch InBev Jacksonville Brewery?’, ‘What is the dominant leadership style in the broader engineering sector?’ and lastly, ‘What is the dominant leadership style entry-level engineers should know in order to be successful?’. It reflects on their personal experiences within the engineering industry and suggests an ideal leadership style which can be utilized by an entry-level engineer or a similar technical individual. The works of Bernard (2012), Paul, Robin & Falls (2015) were used to define both leadership and success to form a base for which to build substantial claims as to which techniques of leadership can lead to success for an entry-level engineer. Further, works from Scott, Daniel & Arthur (2017), Hartmann (2017), and Knight (2012) were used to build off their research on the correlations between leadership skills taught in college and the resulting success beyond the classroom. Leadership styles are ranked in order of their utilization in the industry and corresponding value to entry-level engineers. They are: Pacesetting, Authoritative, Democratic, Coaching, and Delegating. The study concludes with suggesting a correlation between knowledge in leadership and both the subjective and objective success of entry-level engineers. Ideally every engineer should be taught a multitude of techniques and it recommends that all engineers strive to learn as many leadership styles as they can whether they intend to hold a position or leadership or not.