Transferring ideas from engineering to the social sciences

Shifting socioeconomic forces have led many engineers to focus their professional attention on Societal and managerial problems, as opposed to those for which they were trained. Many of theories one carries as an engineer appear to be quite applicable to socioeconomic problems, but as several case histories show, there are subtle conditions which may prevent a direct transfer of ideas. Some guidelines for improving one's chances of successfully bringing his knowledge to bear on socioeconomic problems are suggested.