Professor Sheng Zhaohan’s Sole-Authored Paper Fundamental Theory of Engineering Management: The Theoretical Representation of Constructing a Chinese Independent Knowledge System in Management Published in Management World, Volume 42, Issue 5, 2026

May 17, 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech on “building an independent knowledge system for philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics”. Recently, the academic paper Fundamental Theory of Engineering Management: The Theoretical Representation of Constructing a Chinese Independent Knowledge System in Management, independently written by Professor Sheng Zhaohan of our school, was published in Management World, Volume 42, Issue 5, 2026.

Engineering is a practical form of creation on which human beings depend for survival and social development. With the continuous enrichment of human creative practices, engineering has expanded from physical forms to semi-physical and non-physical forms, and from the civil engineering industry to various fields, including mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, medical engineering, software engineering, systems engineering, management engineering, cultural engineering, etc. It also covers general engineering and major engineering, which is the concept of “mega-engineering”. To achieve successful engineering creation, human beings need to plan and organize engineering activities, integrate and allocate engineering resources, and make the engineering creation process more orderly and effective—this is engineering management. The fundamental theory of engineering management is the outcome of fundamental and origin-oriented theoretical thinking and research on the essential attributes and internal laws of engineering management. The fundamental theory of engineering management referred to in this paper is constructed for “mega-engineering” in an integrated sense, compatible with all types of engineering across various industries. It is an important original, cutting-edge, and foundational scientific topic widely concerned and explored by engineering management academia worldwide.

Based on understanding the core connotation of constructing a Chinese independent knowledge system in management, Professor Sheng Zhaohan argues that the complex system thinking proposed by Qian Xuesen constitutes the academic foundation of the fundamental theory of engineering management, and complexity is the core of this theory. The fundamental theory of engineering management possesses both theoretical and practical significance for constructing a Chinese independent knowledge system in management, and the practice of building the fundamental theory of engineering management is also the practice of constructing a Chinese independent knowledge system in management. Professor Sheng summarizes the research by Chinese scholars on constructing the knowledge system and discourse system of the fundamental theory of engineering management, further demonstrating that the basic model and path of indigenized management research in China have shifted toward breaking “Western-centrism”, grounding in Chinese reality, solving Chinese problems, and developing original Chinese management theories. This reflects the increasingly distinct theoretical consciousness, academic responsibility of Chinese management scholars in building an independent knowledge system, and their contributions to the development of global management science.

Reference

盛昭瀚. 工程管理基础理论：建构管理学中国自主知识体系的学理表征[J], 管理世界，2026, 42(5): 59-78.

SHENG Zhaohan. Fundamental Theory of Engineering Management: The Theoretical Representation of Building a Chinese Intellectual System in Management[J]. Journal of Management World, 2026, 42(5): 59-78.

Source: http://www.mwm.net.cn/web/xq?leafId=226&docId=6115