Technology Leaders
As the breakneck pace of technological innovation continues to accelerate, leading companies must carefully recruit the best-trained and most-experienced individuals. The nature of the jobs filled by technology executives requires not only a firm grounding in science and technology, but also a full array of business knowledge and skills. Universities have responded by offering double Master’s programs that encompass both technology and business administration. And of course, there are many individuals who receive separate degrees in two or more disciplines. Progressive technology companies have learned that well trained and highly experienced executives can make a critical contribution to a firm’s prospects.
Companies that create computer hardware, software, and communications gear are in a competitive environment that demands them to seek out highly qualified executives. There are many examples. Take, for instance, Inder Singh at Cisco Systems, a multinational corporation that leads in the fields of communications technology and consumer electronics. Singh represents the type of expert technology companies like to recruit. His preparation for his job as Vice President for Corporate Strategy included Bachelors/Masters degrees in Engineering from Columbia University and a finance MBA from New York University. He has deep industry experience, having worked at Lehman Brothers, Prudential Securities, Lucent Technologies and ATT. This kind of background allows executives to rise through the ranks, making important contributions each step along the way.
Many technology executives take for granted that education in the field is a life-long proposition, even after obtaining advanced degrees. Universities such as Harvard and MIT regularly offer executive seminars on a wide variety of topics that are important to technology leaders, everything from business negotiations to portfolio evaluation and the latest research on microprocessor technology. Another important skill for top executives in technology companies is to be able to correctly forecast market trends and create hardware/software production environments that align to those forecasts.
Another important aspect of the job duties of technology executives is to keep abreast of competitors, both in terms of products/services and also financial performance. Important news made by company executives can move company share prices, and may even have industry-wider repercussions. Recently, when Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer was interviewed by Tickerspy, his comments were meant to counteract the general impression that Microsoft was heading for an especially weak quarter. The public face of the technology company is very important to its image, and companies encourage their best executives to have a high profile. For example, Cisco’s Singh has been regularly attending high-tech investor conferences to speak about industry trends and the future plans of Cisco Systems. Technology companies highly value executives that can represent their interests to the public — a demanding and rewarding task.