ABSTRACT

Following extensive market research, detailed interviews with industrial leaders, and careful analysis of existing programs, the University of Minnesota MS in the Management of Technology was launched in September of 1990. This two-year program combines technology management courses with traditional MBA-type, management science courses and is aimed at fast-track technologists in need of a management perspective and business skills. The program has been very well received by engineering and science graduates and has been embraced by many of the technology-based companies in the Twin Cities Industrial Corridor.

The graduation of the 5th MOT class, in June of 1996, prompted a comprehensive study of the impact and success of the MOT program. This presentation documents the results of a detailed survey of the first 150 alumni of this program. The presentation begins with an introduction to the Minnesota MOT program, its aims, and some of its courses. Attention is then turned to the preparation of the survey instrument and the techniques used to obtain the alumni response. The remainder of the presentation is devoted to a systematic exploration of the survey results.

More than 70% of the alumni responded to the survey and the respondents were typical of the MOT student population, with 80% between the ages of 31 and 45 and more than 90% being male. More than 75% of the respondents worked for companies primarily involved in manufacturing and the core businesses represented in the population included electric and electronic equipment, defense systems, business services, transportation, and health care. Eighty five percent of the respondents were very satisfied with the program and rated the degree most highly in preparing them for critical thinking, collaboration, leadership, and communication. The alumni gave the program their highest ratings for the development of skills for their career path and for their current job. Substantiating the effectiveness of their education, shortly after graduation, 64% were employed in fields highly related to MOT, 59% held management positions, and the median salary increased by approximately $20,000, relative to their pre-MOT salary.

The results thus show that the University of Minnesota MOT program does indeed succeed in preparing its graduates for technology management responsibility and future leadership positions in technology-based companies.

INTRODUCTION

The University of Minnesota graduate program, leading to a Master of Science degree in the Management of Technology, was launched in September 1990 and is aimed at practicing engineers with a minimum of five years of technical experience. Most entering students, however, have had approximately 10 years of experience in engineering and science and over a third hold advanced engineering degrees. The students typically work for companies in the Twin Cities Technological Corridor, within 100 miles of the University's Minneapolis campus, and which span the spectrum from medical electronics to food products, from defense systems to transportation systems, and from healthcare systems to paints and coatings. The common denominator in these companies is their need for technologists with business skills and a management perspective and for technology executives with a deep understanding of technical, as well as management, issues. The program is administered by the University's Center for Development of Technological Leadership (CDTL) and relies on faculty from the Institute of Technology, the Carlson School of Business, visiting MOT Chairs, and adjuncts from local industry.

The program is conducted in the "executive" format, i.e. classes are held on campus on alternate Fridays and Saturdays for two years. In addition, three- and four-day residency sessions are held twice each year, at an off-campus location, to aid in building an "espirit de corps" and to accommodate experiential courses. In recent years, the fourth and last residency has been more extensive, lasting typically ten days and involving visits to companies and government agencies in East Asia.

In addition to the Management Science courses to be found in most MBA programs, the MOT curriculum offers technology management courses, such as: Understanding and Forecasting Technology, Managing Innovation in a Technological Environment, Pivotal Technologies for the 1990's, Manufacturing for a Competitive Advantage, and Project Management.

The MOT program has been very well received by engineering and science graduates and has been embraced by many of the technology-based companies in the Twin Cities Industrial Corridor. The graduation of the 5th MOT class and 151st MOT student, in June of 1996, prompted a comprehensive study of the impact and success of the MOT program. It was hoped that a professionally done survey could serve to 1) "take the pulse" of the Minnesota MOT program, 2) guide and inform a planned review of the curriculum and teaching format, and 3) focus future marketing efforts on those industrial sectors where MOT alumni have achieved their greatest success.

SURVEY - DEVELOPMENT AND METHODOLOGY

The MOT Alumni Steering Committee, along with the Director, Associate Director, and other CDTL staff, as well as the University's Office of Measurement Services (OMS), was responsible for identifying the relevant questions and creating the questionnaire to be used in this alumni survey. After several iterations, a four-page, scannable survey with 36 forced choice and 4 open-ended questions was devised. The questions were classified into four categories. Employment History (pre- and post-MOT), Educational Quality, Program Benefits, and Demographic Background.

The Alumni Survey was mailed to the 1992-1996 MOT graduates in the Fall of 1996. During those five years, the number of graduates varied from 25 to 36, for a total sample of 151 students. Follow-up phone calls, an email reminder, and two additional mailings, led to a response rate of 71%. Responses for any given year varied from 64% (for 1992) to 81% (for 1994). Descriptive statistics, repeated measures, T-tests and Chi-square tests described the information and were used to compare the groups before entering the program and after graduation from the MOT program. The respondents to the MOT Alumni questionnaire were similar In age distribution to the MOT alumni population. When entering the program, more than 50% were between the ages of 36 and 45, nearly 30% were between 31 and 35 years old, and approximately 12% were between the ages of 46 and 55. Fewer than 5% were under the age of 31. In recent years (Class of '95 and Class of '96) there has been a shift towards younger students, with some 43% under the age of 35 (vs. 30% for the 5-year average) and 55% over the age of 36 (vs. 67% for the 5-year average).

SURVEY RESULTS - Organizational Affiliation of Respondents

Core Business- The MOT alumni came primarily from companies whose core business was in: Electrical and Electronic products (27%), Defense Systems (21%), Business Services (15%), Transportation Equipment (8%), Instrumentation, Healthcare and Industrial Machinery (6-7% each). No dramatic changes were visible in the core businesses of the companies where alumni were employed in 1996, though Defense Systems did drop to 13% while nearly all other categories (except Transportation Equipment and Electrical and Electronic products) displayed a 2-4% increase. These changes appear to reflect shifts in the economy of Minnesota and nearby Wisconsin, rather than being unique to MOT graduates.

Functions: The vast majority of MOT students and alumni (83% and 77%, respectively) work for organizations whose primary function is Manufacturing. Following graduation, it is possible to discern a slight shift - on the margins - away from Government Services and towards Consulting (11% vs. 8%), Educational Institutions (3% vs. 1%), and other functions.

SURVEY RESULTS - Job Function of Respondents

Primary Activity - IVIOT- In a notable indicator of success for the MS/MOT program, the percent of respondents engaged primarily in Management increased from 35% of the entering students to nearly 60% of the graduates! Predictably, this growth occurred at the expense of Development (dropping from 31% to 19%), Design (decreasing from 18% to 9%), and Manufacturing (sliding from 6% to 3%).

MOT Job Content - STRONG.- As is well known, the flattening of organizational structure in American companies, during the past decade, has reduced the opportunities for promotion and increased the MOT content of many mid-level engineering positions. This latter trend was clearly visible in the results of this survey, with nearly 74% (up from 57%) of the MOT graduates expressing the view that their "job duties" were highly related or very highly related to MOT. Only 8% found no relationship between their MOT training and job duties. Thus, in addition to the 60% of the MOT alumni for whom Management was the primary job function, 14% were performing jobs with substantial Management of Technology content.

Job Satisfaction - HIGH- The results described in the two previous paragraphs translate into MOT alumni being "very happy campers." A bit more than 30% were Highly Satisfied and another 46% of the respondents were Satisfied with their job. Some 14% of the alumni were Neutral about their job satisfaction, with only 10% either Not, or Not at all, Satisfied. This is in stark contrast to the mere 8% of respondents who were Highly Satisfied with their job before enrolling in the MOT program, the 16% who were Not (or Not at all) Satisfied, and the relatively large percentage, at 37%, who were "ho-hum" (Neutral) about their job. To a first approximation, it may thus be seen that completion of the MS in MOT moved nearly a third of the respondents from the Neutral to the Highly-Satisfied category, and some 6% from the Not Satisfied to the Satisfied category.

Salaries - 33% HIGHER: Comparing the salaries (self-reported) of the respondents before and after completion of the MS in MOT it is found that the compensation of the alumni, averaged across the entire sample, was nearly $20k higher on a median salary of approximately $60k, yielding an average MOT "bounce" of 33%. A nearly identical result was found when examining separately the last two MOT classes surveyed (MOT'95 and MOT'96).

SURVEY RESULTS - Educational Quality

The educational quality of the MS in MOT program was evaluated in several different ways, including the perceived benefits of the program, as well as the alumni's evaluation of the process, components, and preparation afforded by the MOT faculty and staff. The program was found by the alumni to closely couple to their career path and current job, with a rating of 4.4 out of a possible 5 for the benefits relative to the career path and 3.9 for the current job. The graduates rated the MS in MOT most highly in preparing them for critical thinking (median of 3.99 out of a possible 5), collaboration (median of 3.91), leadership (median = 3.86), and communication (median 3.86), with creativity, information gathering, and teaching of the "content," not far behind, all at 3.4 or above.

A very large majority of the graduates evaluated the program as "just right" in the application and enrollment process (91%), level of difficulty (85%), required credits (86%), and second year experience. In particular, interactions with other MOT students (a median of 4.18 out of a possible 5), coursework (median = 3.89), and faculty (median = 3.85) were rated as highly important parts of the program. Most memorable were the class discussions, faculty/student interactions, and team/study groups.

MARKETING MS IN MOT

Along with the alumni's very high degree of satisfaction with the program (85% were satisfied to very satisfied), 87% stated that they would recommend the program to a friend. However, only 2% of the respondents thought the MS in MOT was highly recognized within the community. To help overcome the poor visibility and "brand name recognition" for this graduate degree, approximately one-third of the alumni provided suggestions on how to market this program more effectively. Many provided the names of engineering or management organizations, while others encouraged promotion through magazines (such as Newsweek and Minnesota Monthly), newspapers (such as the Wall Street Journal and the Star Tribune), various radio stations, and institutions of higher learning.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this detailed survey of MS in MOT alumni thus show that the University of Minnesota MOT program does indeed succeed in preparing its graduates for technology management responsibility and future leadership positions in technology-based companies. The results have been used to shape and focus CDTL's marketing effort for MOT and are guiding discussions on curriculum revisions, currently underway.