New MBA bridges business-technology gap

Abstract

Summary form only given as follows. There are a number of challenges in the development of an MBA program designed to meet the needs of technology industries. These challenges include: maintaining a balance between business and technology management, integrating the various business functions in the curriculum, maintaining a global and strategic management perspective, and tailoring the program to the specific industries that the program serves. This paper describes the history, development, approach, and experience of a new MBA with specialization in Technology and Innovation Management (TIM). The program has taken more than two years to develop by interacting with a broad cross-section of targeted technology industry professional associations, executives, and prospective students. The program is designed to give students the opportunity to obtain skills in the following areas: strategic and global thinking in technology companies, entrepreneurial and new venture management, innovation and technology change, organizational leadership, managerial decision-making in an environment of rapid technology change, interpersonal communication and team leadership, information systems management, and operations management. The TIM program, in its first year of implementation, has attracted students from both technical and nontechnical academic backgrounds, and has been successful in drawing participants from a broad-base of companies and industries. For the future, the TIM program will need to adapt and change to keep pace with the needs of students and the ever changing nature of the technology industries the program serves.