Modern Masters : Pepperdine Helping Mid-Career Managers Strengthen Grasp of Technology
Thursday was the first day of class, but instead of giggling schoolchildren, these were mid-career managers hoping to gain greater understanding of and control over the technological genie that is constantly reshaping international business.
The new masters program in technology management, offered by the Pepperdine School of Business and Management, held its first class at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering in Irvine.
The inaugural class of 20 included the Far East sales manager of a computer company, an engineering manager from Rockwell International, a senior systems analyst from McDonnell Douglas Corp. and a director of research and development for Baxter Pharmaseal.
Technology as a Process
“The graduates of this program will have a much greater ability to deal with technology, not only as a product, but as a process,” James R. Wilburn, dean of the School of Business and Management, said.
Pepperdine joins a handful of business schools in the country that offer a technology management degree, which is designed to equip key managers with the skills and insight necessary to strategically control technology and compete in the international arena.
“Executives with an understanding of how technology impacts a company’s ability to compete are in short supply. They will increasingly be the people charged with changing the direction of their firms to address the new global realities,” Richard C. Kaehler, director of the program, said.
A recent study by the National Academy of Science and Engineering found that traditional management and engineering programs did not adequately deal with the management of technology, Wilburn said.
Part of the funding for the masters program will come from $6 million that the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation of Orange County recently gave to Pepperdine’s business school. At the time Beckman made his gift to Pepperdine he said, “Mrs. Beckman and I decided quite some time ago that for science to serve the human race, programs must be in place to train people to manage these new technologies.”
The Pepperdine MS degree is intended for mid-career managers with varied backgrounds, from marketing and finance to research and development.
John Fritch, 41, is one such student. For several years he has developed supply sources for Western Digital Corp.’s disk drive production operation in Asia. Fritch said he hopes that the program will give him “a broad perspective and appreciation of other diversified industries and what they are up against in the international business (environment).”
The program includes two 12-day overseas study visits to the technology centers of Europe and Asia.
The traditional distinction between domestic and international business is antiquated, Wilburn said. “All business needs to be done from an international perspective . . . what goes on overseas will eventually affect you,” he said.
The five trimesters of the program will focus on how to manage organizations in multicultural situations, managing research and product development, using technology to improve productivity, international marketing and finance, and finally technology as a strategic resource.
One part of the curriculum will be the ethics of high technology, Wilburn said. “The program will raise the question of whether we should do something just because it is technologically possible,” he said.
Classes for the mid-career degree program, which will alternate between the Pepperdine facilities in Irvine, on Michelson Drive near John Wayne Airport, and Culver City, will be held every third week, all day Friday and Saturday.
