Article: What could you do with a Tech MBA?

Seizing a global opportunity to help transform the Ugandan economy

Jamie MacAlister, Director, School of Business & Applied Technology

 There is a global shortage of effective business managers with a sound understanding of technology. Uganda has an opportunity to develop “leapfrog” capability in this area.  CIU’s new School of Business & Applied Technology is offering an accredited MBA program with a technology focus.  The aim of the program is to prepare high potential working graduates for business leadership roles in technology, which will help to transform Uganda.

 A recent article in the UK Financial Times *, who run one of the world’s most recognised global MBA rankings, highlighted the conclusion from recent research that technology management is now one of  the most sought after skills in an MBA program.   In a survey of 1,200 business school applicants, 18 per cent rated technology management as the skill they most wanted to acquire as part of their MBA.  It was the most popular subject, alongside strategy lessons, after leadership, which was picked by 27 per cent of the respondents to the survey.

 By technology management, respondents meant the ability to lead teams of people developing new digital services for an employer, such as smartphone apps or online booking systems, according to Andrew Crisp, the study’s author. “It is not about being able to code,” he said. “People expect to be placed in positions where they must deliver IT projects on time and to budget, and they realise that without an understanding of how the technology works they will be in trouble.” Another survey has indicated that Big Data analysis was one of the skills employers found most difficult to recruit for.

 While SoBAT’s MBA contains all the basics of a regular MBA program, as accredited by the National Council for Higher Education,   its technology emphasis comes from a combination of:

 Bringing overseas visiting lecturers with technology management and innovation track records from the likes of Silicon Valley

Working with local CIU faculty who bring experience of the health technology innovation businesses that have been incubated at CIU in the last few years

Working on real business cases associated with technology companies and addressing technology issues

Offering additional optional courses, included within the MBA fee, from our ICT curriculum, such as Big Data analytics, enterprise systems, cloud computing and/or digital forensics

 Our visiting lecturers will include a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who is currently working with Samsung on Internet of Things applications,  and an entrepreneur from Spain who has developed a prize-winning application for monitoring the health of pet cats by tracking and recording their movements. Another from the UK, previously a founder member of one of the first micro-computer companies is now responsible for  developing the most advanced technology being used in driver-less vehicles.

 According to the Financial Times*,  in the Product Studio class on the Tech MBA course at Cornell Tech in New York, the 62 Tech MBA candidates work in teams to develop solutions to challenges posed by companies.  This is similar to the approach we have developed over the last 3 years at the university where ICT students are now working on real IT development solutions with technology partners, an experience that we plan to bring into the MBA classroom.

 The same Financial Times article states that tech companies are hiring MBAs in larger numbers.  Amazon, for example, said in March the number of new MBA hires was 30 per cent higher than 12 months previously. “As tech companies grow, there is increasingly a realisation that they need managers who can think holistically about how to sustain success in the long run,” says Yossi Feinberg, of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in California.  But he adds that, to stay relevant to the tech industry, MBA programs will need to further evolve. “We need to train our students in the skills they will need to be technology leaders of the future.”

 While Amazon may not currently have a significant presence in Uganda, it is only a matter of time.  Others like Google are already well invested.  CIU has partnerships with technology companies Microsoft and Laboremus who are actively seeking to recruit for technology management skills in Uganda. Another CIU “partner” needing such skills is a European private equity investment to build local cloud capacity across Sub-Saharan Africa, starting right here in Uganda.

 So what else could a Tech MBA graduate do?   Well for starters, the SoBAT policy is that students should be applying what they learn throughout the program, not wait until they graduate.  To help this process, the “live” cases that students work on include issues faced by local Ugandan businesses, for which technology is almost certainly part of the solution. One example is UMEME’s need to improve the effectiveness of marketing & distributing energy, as supply capacity doubles over the next two years, when two more Nile dams are completed.  Another issue that Inbev East Africa, and their local subsidiary, Nile Breweries, are keen to solve:  how to improve the efficiency and prosperity of local farmers supplying their barley and sorghum.  In both cases, the senior managers involved have agreed to work with students on their proposed solutions.

 What else?  CIU has a Think Tank which meets monthly to explore “Opportunities for Uganda in the Global Health Business”,  building on CIU’s heritage in health and advancement into business education.  One off-shoot from this Think Tank is a Health Promotion Company, which has a mission to “Commercialise healthcare at the Bottom of the Pyramid” defining healthcare as sickness prevention rather than treatment.  Proposed solutions include: low cost ap-based information services and diagnostics, and validated herbal solutions.   This business will need managers who understand technology – a Tech MBA will prepare them well.

Another member of the Think Tank is seeking help with commercializing and scaling a home-grown health innovation.  Another is looking for ways to provide better short-term value to its members. And generally, the Think Tank team is seeking ways to improve the effectiveness of the local entrepreneurial eco-system. All involve an understanding of both technology and commercialization, which is the heartland of the Tech MBA.

 So there is a global need for the skills associated with effective commercial leadership in technology.  That need represents an opportunity for Uganda to grow those skills at home, to address local issues which can have global impact.  That opportunity is addressed by the Tech MBA.