
What would you cover in a CS class for MBAs? - phrogdriver
https://github.com/phrogdriver/TuckPM
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cscharenberg
I just finished an EMBA which is a slightly different target: people with 6+
years of experience aiming at upper management, so was more high-level than
many MBA programs. My classmates varied from 28-50 across large and small
companies in all industries. So our course name was "Information Technology as
a Strategic Tool" so a different focus than "Technology Product Management".

Main Topics from our class:

    
    
      1. Technology & Business and IT Fundamentals
      2. Technology Planning, IT Governance and Enterprise Architecture
      3. Technology Selection and Implementation
      4. Managing Information Technology Risk
      5. Technology & The Customer
    

Part of the description:

This course emphasizes technology as a business enabler and stresses the
importance of aligning technology initiatives with daily operations, strategic
planning processes, and with the organization’s vision, mission, culture and
short and long-term objectives.

We initially covered the building blocks of IT systems to know the concept of
database, UI, distributed versus centralized systems, and such things. But
then we used case studies and a group project to get into successful and
unsuccessful projects to implement and upgrade systems. Events like the Target
data breach were excellent fodder. The list of case studies could be useful as
well, but again they are focused on IT for a company rather than managing a
product.

I'd be happy to share the syllabus and some other materials with you if you
email me. I don't feel comfortable publicly posting it all without my
professor's consent.

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golgappi
Aside from actual CS knowledge, I think it would benefit MBA students that do
not have a background in CS to know how software development and deadlines
usually work. Would be nice if you manager understands that building a bug
free software requires time, and inflexible deadlines is certainly not an
option to motivate a software programmer.

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phrogdriver
We have similar courses covering strategy, but I would much appreciate the
syllabus to compare and see which cases you used. You can DM me your email on
twitter @adamgengler if you don't want to post it publicly. Thanks!

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phrogdriver
Any suggestions from the HN community would be much appreciated!

