From the Detroit-SWE Newsletter, The Detroit Direction, March 1998. Part of their She Said - She Said series exploring opposing views on issues of interest to SWE members.
 
 

SHE SAID...MBA

by Laura Clarke

Thinking about entering an MBA program? Great idea! An MBA can provide you with a business background that can offer you more challenging positions and advancement throughout your career.

If you're like most engineers, you probably have a solid technical background. Companies value technical/scientific backgrounds and increasingly want to fill management positions with candidates who have technical backgrounds along with an understanding of the business environment. According to results from a Cornell University survey of 500 senior managers at Fortune 1000 companies, "more than 90 percent of executives surveyed agreed that as we continue to move toward a knowledge-based economy, it is becoming increasingly important for senior managers to have the technological background to understand the business opportunities, limitations and implications of technology decisions."

This is all good news for engineers who would like to move into management. However, the Cornell survey points out that many engineers do not have adequate managerial skills and knowledge. This could present a barrier for engineers wanting to move into management. Business training in an MBA program is a great way to overcome this. An MBA will provide you with an understanding of key business areas and corporate business culture.

Another benefit of an MBA is salary increase. On average, an individual with a Masters in Engineering will make $10,000 annually more than one with only a Bachelor's in Engineering. With an MBA, you can earn on average up to $30,000 more than the Bachelor's. Along with the potential salary increase, the MBA will add flexibility and credibility to your personal portfolio.

What's involved in an MBA program?
Basically all MBA programs have a core curriculum consisting of the major business disciplines: finance, management, accounting, marketing, manufacturing, economics and organizational behavior. Beyond this, one can usually specialize in a particular area or take a broad general management route. When considering which program to enter, consider the following criteria

If you find the standard two-year full time program too costly or time-consuming, you may want to consider a part-time program, an accelerated program, or if you are already in a management position--an executive program. For more details on MBA programs, check out the Princeton Review On-line (www.review.com/business).

"The scientist as manager may fast become the new business elite if corporations are to survive and flourish in a global marketplace driven by rapidly changing technologies." Darryl Geddes-Ithaca. N.Y., Oct.1995

SHE SAID...MS

by Alison Holmes, Region H Director

I have a somewhat unique perspective on the MS vs. MBA question. While still in school pursuing my bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, I investigated continuing on in school to get my master's degree in mechanical engineering. After some research, I was unable to find any funding to support my schooling and I was already receiving job offers. The direction was clear-pursue my master's at night school and have my employer help with the tuition. After working for a few months, I started to consider an MBA as an option instead of an MS. The culture in the company at the time seemed to lean towards a BS with an MBA as the "ticket" to success. I enrolled in an MBA program and took my first two classes. I enjoyed the classes, but they made it obvious to me that an MS was what I should be doing. I began to realize that before expanding their knowledge into the area of business, engineers need to hone their engineering and technical skills. First and foremost, unless you are switch completely out of engineering and enter the business arena, engineering will be the underlying basis of your career. As you move up in your career, you will be managing engineers and making decisions based on engineering issues. With the advances in technology, engineers graduate with a bachelor's degree with very little application experience that relates the theory to the real world. Most undergraduate classes do not even offer the laboratory experience that may be the only application opportunities while in school. A master's degree in engineering offers the opportunity to get education in more specific areas that are at the level of technology out in the working world. It is also an opportunity to begin project management and research skills while authoring a thesis. More and more, companies are looking for people to have a strong technical background and good, basic people skills, not necessarily an MBA, to move into management. Most companies have internal training or management schools that teach engineers how to move into the management arena. They teach business and management skills specific to the company and to the needs of their job requirements. In the BS/MBA combination it is very difficult for a company to offer a comprehensive list of classes for engineers to take to become more proficient in their specific concentrations.

I did return to night school and graduated with an MS in mechanical engineering. That was three years ago and I am very happy with my decision. In either case, MS or MBA, continuing on for an advanced degree is a very good thing to do.
 

SHE SAID...MBA AND MS
 

by Sarah Kirkish, Section Representative

Call me a glutton for punishment or call me market savvy, but in April, I will have both a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration degree. It's not just me who is crazy either. In a recent informal survey of my MBA classmates, over twenty-five percent have prior advanced technical degrees. Also, in my corporation it is stressed that you must have your engineering MS before you can ever be considered to start an MBA.

Originally my desire for pursuing an MBA was more personally motivated rather than professionally motivated. It was something to do to keep my in-laws from asking for grandchildren. I was also motivated by my reluctance to pursue a Ph.D. even though in my particular department I would have actually utilized it. I realize this is the exception rather than the rule in most corporations, where you can be penalized for being over-educated in a technical field, I also realize that the most popular reason for pursuing an MBA is to make a career change from engineering into something completely different such as finance or marketing. However, if you want to stay in your technical field and eventually want to pursue an engineering management position, my opinion is that you need both an MBA and an MS degree. It is important to be aware of the big picture in today's flattened business organizations. There are fewer management positions than ever so you need an MBA now to even be considered. Furthermore, if you want to be in engineering management, you need an MS degree to keep up to speed technically.

Even if you are not interested in higher management positions an MBA will help you be more effective in your current position. MBA's are not just all accounting, finance and marketing, but also include statistical analysis, manufacturing, operations management and human relations. I have benefitted from the human relations courses especially since as an engineer I find myself working more and more in teams and need the insight into human behavior that these classes give me. The MS degree has given me the technical expertise to do my job well and my MBA has made me more effective in utilizing my technical expertise by being aware of the big picture and making me a better team member. Ultimately these degrees are the stepping stones towards fulfilling my career ambitions.