BRIEF HISTORY

The Department of Industrial Management Science was established in 1955 as the “Department of Industrial and Business Management” in the Taiwan Provincial College of Engineering, the forerunner of National Cheng Kung University. In 1956, the Taiwan Provincial College of Engineering was upgraded and renamed Taiwan Provincial Cheng Kung University. In the same year, the College of Business was founded. The Department of IBM was under the College of Business since then. At its initial era, the Department of IBM’s curriculum was strongly related to mechanical engineering; it could be said that the De-partment of IBM was a management department dominated by mechanical engi-neering. In order to meet educational needs, the Department of IBM formed two divisions in 1965: the Industrial Management Division and the Business Administration Division. The Industrial Management Division continued in the original direction, emphasizing mechanical engineering and quantitative management. In August 1971, Taiwan Provincial Cheng Kung University was renamed National Cheng Kung Uni-versity. In 1972, the two divisions independently became the Industrial Management Department and the Business Administration Department, both under the College of Business, which was later renamed the College of Management in 1980. In August 1974, the Industrial Management Department was renamed the Industrial Management Science Department. Because the Department requires that students should possess good knowledge of mathematics and science, it has been listed in the Natural Science Section in the Joint Entrance Examination of Universities since then.

In August 1969, a Master's degree program was setup. An evening undergraduate program was established in 1973, and was closed later in 2001. In 1991, a doctoral program was founded. In 1995, a three-year on-job training program for junior college graduates was introduced in Kaohsiung City; and it was closed later in 1997. In 2001, an on-job training master program was launched for people with a bachelor degree and currently working in industries. Students in this program will incorporate theories with practical experience in industrial management to increase their capability for decision-making. The objective of this program is to nurture top managers and executive officers for industries.

Currently, the Department is in the reforming process, aiming to integrate two disciplines—industrial management and information management—and provide a more solid curriculum for the students.