“Engineers create products, processes, and systems that make the world a better place. However, it also takes business expertise to get these inventions into the right markets, as well as sustain their success” (Crawford, 2015, para. 1).

Kettering University Online offers a uniquely designed, holistic, MBA program with courses taught by seasoned academics and industry experts. Courses are academically rigorous and blend engineering insights, technology, effective communication skills, and business acumen to create leaders who can develop and market goods and services for a variety of industries.

In today’s highly competitive, global corporate environment, it is becoming increasingly clear that companies interested in innovating are relying on professionals who can demonstrate mastery in a variety of disparate skill sets. Many employers expect engineers to know more than what is contained within the boundaries of their technical expertise. As such, hiring managers are motivated to find talent possessing engineering experience as well as experience in finance, accounting, marketing, and management.

One of the most common ways for engineers to advance their careers is to be promoted to management. Unfortunately, sometimes the case for many companies that when an engineer is promoted to management, the company loses a good engineer and gains a bad manager. These situations happen because the knowledge gained from becoming excellent engineering does not necessarily shed enough light on the finer points of navigating one’s way through the daily obstacle courses of business management, nor does it offer practical advice about how to manage people effectively. Many engineers find themselves at a loss when promoted to a management role because they lack the language of business. Those in this situation are often forced to both learn and apply brand new skill sets while on the job which inevitably leads to loss of productivity, loss of confidence from employees, and several cases of trial and error.

Courses offered in Kettering University’s Online’s MBA program are particularly geared to those working within the industrial, manufacturing or health care fields and are designed to support the development of your skills in leadership, innovation, conflict resolution, and effective communicator. You also have the opportunity to gain an acute understanding of efficient and effective management theories, tools, and techniques.

Courses and Certificates

Kettering University Online’s MBA is ranked among the top 10 online programs in Michigan by onlinembatoday.com and is designed to expose learners to the most current academic research and innovative approaches to business. Below are some of the courses offered in the MBA program:

• Managerial Accounting
• International Business
• Financial Management
• Enterprise Information System Models
• Managing People and Organizations
• Strategic Management
• Marketing Management
• Capstone: Innovation and New Ventures

The last course in the MBA program is the Capstone. This course is unique because it provides students the opportunity to focus on creating a new organization based on an innovation in product, process, or delivery. Students place particular emphasis on developing a comprehensive business plan showcasing their understanding of the business management concepts learned throughout the program.

The MBA program is also customizable with the addition of a graduate certificate. Students can choose a graduate certificate in Global Leadership, Healthcare Management, Operations Management, or Supply Chain Management to complement their MBA.

Faculty

Kettering University's Online MBA faculty is a collection of academic and industry experts with varied backgrounds and experiences. What unites them is their belief in student-centered, experiential learning with a focus on honing technical and soft-skill sets essential for success in today’s corporate landscape. The U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings for 2018 has recently been published and Kettering University Online (KUO) is proud to announce they received a perfect score, 100/100, for the credentials and training of online faculty! This score indicates how well a school prepares qualified instructors to teach remotely. Students benefit every day from learning from these accomplished faculty members.

Careers

Those with an engineering degree, and an MBA from Kettering University Online, become viable candidates for jobs in a number of industries, promotions within a company for whom they already work, or a new position in an alternative career. The following list are examples of available careers for those with BOTH engineering degree AND an MBA:

• Engineering Operations Director
• Vice President of Engineering
• Engineering Project Leader
• Senior Project Manager
• Senior Control Engineer
• Engineering Program Manager
• Lead Project Manager 

Transferable Skills

“Engineering is a highly structured discipline that focuses on problem-solving. This analytical capability is also highly valued in the business world, but engineers often lack the business skills to leverage this capability. Engineers who are interested in management, or starting their own companies, need to be able to tackle larger and more abstract strategic problems such as project management, budgets, forecasting, cost estimation, and proposal development” (Crawford, 2015, para. 2).

Engineers work to make our daily personal and professional lives more comfortable, safer, and easier to navigate. It may seem like a disconnect for those with a degree in engineering to go back to school for an MBA, but in reality, it makes perfect sense. For example, engineers have specific skills that are easily transferable to the administration and management of a business. Curiosity, critical thinking abilities, problem identification, and problem-solving abilities, creativity, persistence, and the ability to collaborate are all skills senior leadership, regardless of industry, value.

Your Next Step!

Many professionals in the engineering field are deciding which path to take to reach their next level of professional development. The Kettering University Online MBA is a good match if you:

• Have an engineering degree and a desire to be a manager, consultant, or entrepreneur
• Are an engineer, scientist, or computer scientist wanting to add financial, management, and leadership expertise to your already established technical skill-set
• Would like to complete your degree in as few as 18 months
• Are interested in leveraging our Learn Today- Use Tomorrow philosophy which supports the ability to translate coursework directly to your personal or professional situation
• Would like to benefit from our extensive alumni network with connections to notable organizations such as General Motors, Bosch, Boeing, Fisher-Price, Whirlpool, GE, and NASA among hundreds of others

For more information connect with an experienced Professional Advisor by calling 1.855.418.0201. The Professional Advisor will be happy to answer questions you may have and guide you through the entire admissions process. Imagine, in less than two years, you can accelerate your career trajectory with an MBA from Kettering University Online! 

Source: 

Crawford, M. (2015, August). To MBA or Not to MBA. 

Retrieved from https://www.asme.org/career-education/articles/career-and-education/mba-or-not-to-mba