Knowledge networking: developing the skills and attitudes

Modern business practices have seen significant changes to organisational structures and behaviours as a result of widely introduced philosophies including globalisation, down-sizing, re-engineering, and teamwork, especially with multidisciplinary structures. The effectiveness of these teams is based on the team members developing communication and interpersonal skills and positive attitudes to team interaction and success. Traditional engineering courses have focused on developing knowledge and understanding of technical issues in a single discipline, but have ignored development of broader competencies and positive attitudes essential to any professional. With total concentration on individual assessment, traditional education has actively discouraged team work. The purpose of this paper will be to examine the development of multidisciplinary, networking skills in senior undergraduates in product development teams. A Monash University project involving Industrial Engineering, Industrial Design, Accounting and Marketing students will be used as a case study which has been evaluated by industry feedback and perceptions of students and feedback from graduates.