MIT SDM Article - An MBA or an MIT Master’s in Engineering and Management?

I have just been covered in an article in the MIT SDM Website!

An MBA or an MIT Master’s in Engineering and Management?

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

An MBA or an MIT Master’s in Engineering and Management?

By Charles V. Atencio, SDM ‘09

Almost mid-way through my engineering consulting career, I found myself wondering whether to pursue an MBA or a Master’s in Engineering and Management.

I had gone into engineering design after graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, working mainly on infrastructure for pharmaceutical enterprises. At first, it was interesting—you have to understand the needs of the stakeholders and the business ecosystem—but after a while I realized that you never really owned your product. You designed it; you oversaw the construction, and then you turned it over to someone else. You were part of facilities and part of the operational budget, not strategic and definitely not viewed as adding value to the enterprise – which was what R&D did. And when I met with clients and asked questions such as, “How does this product contribute to your overall business strategy?” they weren’t really interested in hearing from me. Such issues were never considered part of the scope of the engineering consultant. Not content with this state of affairs, I decided to broaden my horizons.

I briefly considered pursuing an MBA, but didn’t want something so rigorously focused on profit margin. There is more to an enterprise and its organization than financial statements. To me, MBA schools are commoditized and, generally speaking, they concentrate primarily on the bottom line.

I wanted to leverage the fact that I’m an engineer and a technophile and integrate that with business. Then I found the System Design and Management (SDM) program, which allowed me to remain an engineer and still ask the big picture business questions. SDM opened new career options for me by bringing forward latent talents and now, after a year-and-a-half in the program, I can see myself working in one of two areas: product management or change management.

The System Design and Management program has also provided opportunities to further develop my leadership abilities. I have had many opportunities to help make a difference in SDM and the greater MIT community.

A good example of this was when I helped establish an SDM mentoring program for the MIT undergraduate students in the Gordon Engineering Leadership program. Leadership does not only entail “getting things done”, but also enabling others to realize their own potential. This skills of managing and leading others is crucial for SDM grads as they move forward in their careers towards executive level positions.

In terms of product management, the System Design and Management program has taught me to understand not only the needs of the engineers and researchers developing a technical product, but also the needs of those in finance and marketing. Engineers typically don’t focus on business strategy, and businesses don’t understand technical development. As an SDM graduate, I can connect the two and create a synergy between technology and business strategy in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is one way that an SDM is able to go “beyond the MBA”.

In terms of change management I could, for example, help a company with its acquisitions. Acquired assets all have their own IT systems, business processes, and organizational structures and you just can’t say, “Here’s your new platform; here’s your new organization,” and expect to get the integration and alignment you need to be successful. You need to manage the change and in order to do this you need people who understand IT systems, the organization, and the political and financial implications of changing them. MIT’s System Design and Management program has prepared me to do this.

Hiring an MBA to do either of the above could be tricky. In both situations, it’s important to hire someone who is capable of keeping up with the pace of technological change, who can interact effectively with the different cultures and agendas within an organization, and who can articulate the business case to all. If you don’t hire someone with the “big picture perspective” and the technological experience that SDM grads have, your company might miss out on a new wave of customers and end up playing catch-up, which is not a good place to be in today’s economy.

What Makes the MIT SDM Program Unique

Let me take a break from my thesis work to continue the discussion on this blog about the SDM program...

So what is SDM? What does it have to offer prospective students? What does its students and alumni have to offer employers?

In the words of Pat Hale, SDM's Program Director and former INCOSE (International Council on Systems Engineering) President: 

"SDM takes a 'total enterprise' approach that embraces a 'big-picture' view of the synergies within the entire organization, enabling students to become technologically grounded leaders." 

This is very true, but also offers too broad a perspective for many individuals from industry to truly understand.

With respect to Pat, let me propose a different approach on the issue that may be more salient to some. This has been the same perspective I have expressed in SDM Information Nights, given every 2-3 months at MIT and within the Boston area.

Almost everyone in any industry can identify with or has observed at least one of these types of comments in the "battleground" known as Corporate America from different individuals:

• "Engineers don't understand marketing!"
• "Engineers don't understand that we need to keep a budget or schedule!"
• "Marketing doesn't care if the product works!"
• "Why did upper management make that decision?"
• "Why do we need that feature in our product?"
• "How does that product or service fit into the overall company operations?"
• "Why is the company pursuing that strategy or technology or product?"
• ....and many others

Many people would suggest that simple communication would resolve these issues. While this may help, it does not address a fundamental issue. There are a variety of vastly different individuals, with very different professional backgrounds and perspectives that are often required to work together to ensure the success of an organization.

These differences of perspective lies at the heart of the challenge that many SDMers have when we describe our program to others from industry. It essentially involves in which "slot" SDM resides.

• Are you a future technical expert? Is it a technical degree, such as a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering?

• Are you a future business leader? Is it a Master in Business Administration (MBA) such as from MIT Sloan or Harvard Business School?

• Are you simply adding to your current professional education/career path? Is it a mid-career program, such as the MIT Sloan Fellows?

The true answer to these questions is that SDM lies in the nexus of all three concepts, as conceptually shown in this Venn Diagram.

SDMers mostly, but not exclusively, come from engineering backgrounds. Many have been project managers and understand the needs of different types of stakeholders in a project. There are even some SDMers who already have MBAs.

The SDM program prepares individuals to synthesize innovative holistic solutions to the challenges facing a multitude of technical organizations. Its value is grounded on the concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

SDMers gain a new perspective to a technically-focused enterprise. This type of enterprise involves the interrelationships of the following:

• Product development and the interdependency of technical systems
• The architecture of technical systems / services and how they deliver value to ALL stakeholders in a business landscape
• The overall product strategy from the perspective of the business ecosystem and how it is influenced by and in turn influences overall corporate strategy
• The development of effective leadership AND management abilities in identifying and addressing broad stakeholder needs

This insight is one of the principle reasons why many SDMers have no intention to return to the natural progression of their previous careers. They see themselves as capable of achieving so much more than what a "slotted" engineering career may offer.

SDMers graduating from the program, including myself, often took towards the following types of positions that leverage such types of skills:

• Product Management
• Strategy
• Change Management
• System Architecture
• ...and many others...

How does the SDM curriculum contribute to this development of insight and perspective?

This is an interesting question... which I will deal with after I make more headway on my thesis!

Comments, Questions, and Debate are always welcome!

Until Next Time!