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Career

September 7, 1998


Success In Technology Is A Matter Of Degree

Top schools introduce programs fusing technology and business studies

By Jennifer Mateyaschuk

H ow do you go from being a programmer to being the chief technology officer? Or from being a business manager to performing well as CIO? Companies are looking for individuals who understand both technology and business to fill high-level positions, and university degree programs that teach technical people about business and business executives about technology can put you on the right path.

New York University has two different programs, which are typical of those being introduced by top schools around the country. One is aimed at business executives who want to become CIOs, strategic planners, or consultants. The other is for IT managers or programmers looking to move into senior-level IT positions, such as CTO.

NYU's Stern School of Business offers an MBA degree with a concentration in IS. The courses teach students how to use IT to gain or sustain a competitive business advantage. Students must complete all the core courses for the business degree in addition to taking classes that focus on knowledge discovery, knowledge management, electronic commerce, and economics of information management.

The other degree, an MS in IS with a concentration in business, is a cooperative program between the department of IS at the Stern School of Business and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences' department of computer science. It combines technical courses and general business courses.

In addition to technical training, the program is intended to give IS specialists an understanding of the managerial and business aspects of IT. Required business courses include Financial Accounting: A User Perspective; Microeconomics for Global Decision-Making; and Managing Organizational Behavior. These are meant to improve an IS person's knowledge of business decision making and financial budgeting.

Mike Uretsky, chairman of the IS department and a professor at NYU, says IT people must have an understanding of business to succeed. "When I started in this field in the 1960s, learning to make the technology work was a driving force, so people took technology courses," he says. "Today, technology is equivalent to the bloodstream. To say businessmen don't need to know technology-and vice versa -is to say a doctor doesn't have to know the bloodstream."

Howard Andersen, president and founder of the Yankee Group, agrees. "When you have a background in both IT and business, it's easier to look at the business objectives and find ways to utilize IT to fulfill those business objectives and not just develop IT programs for technology's sake," he says. "The projects also tend to be budgeted in more realistic terms, and the executive can realistically see the size of the project, the limitations, time constraints, and budget requirements."

IT Pros Get The Business
The University of Pennsylvania offers an executive engineering program with four components: technical courses, business and economics courses, a seminar series, and student interaction. The degree is designed for technology specialists who want to better understand business. Participants have come from 140 companies in 16 different industries; their employers include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Andersen Consulting, the U.S. Air Force, General Electric, and AT&T.

The courses have been specifically created to help technology-oriented students move into the business side of the organization. For example, one accounting course aims to help engineering and technical students understand, critique, and direct project evaluations. The technology entrepreneurship course requires students to write a proposal for raising venture capital to develop a variety of technological innovations.

Bankers Trust has been sending employees to the University of Pennsylvania's executive engineering program for the past two years. "It's absolutely necessary that we cross-train our executives," says Mona Lau, managing director of Bankers Trust's globalization and diversity initiative. "These programs will give employees more opportunities within the workplace to learn and grow."


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