UVA Master’s in Management of Information Technology - Retrospective (Part 5 of 6)
This is part 5 of my retrospective on the UVA Master’s in Management of Information Technology program I graduated from in May 2010. See part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 for context.
Mod 4
Mod 4 is by far the most difficult, intense, and valuable experience in the MS MIT program. Prepare for emotional ups and downs. One day you will have everything lined up with your company and course work then the next day your group has to scramble because a project deliverable was not acceptable.
Besides the Mod 4 Capstone Project where you work with a company, you will study corporate strategy, managerial accounting and finance, marketing, and behavioral event interviewing. After completing Mod 4, you will be able to hold your own against any top MBA student in corporate strategy discussions. We learned Michael Porter’s Five Forces and similar corporate strategy subject material. We read and discussed Harvard Business Review case studies for context. All of the material was grounded in technology subject matter. I felt the focused subject matter approach worked very well because we analyzed case studies that we had experience dealing with.
Accounting and finance was also beneficial. I never studied accounting or finance before the MS MIT program. Learning finance was difficult but I now have working knowledge of calculating discounted cash flows, net present value, weighted average cost of capital, and related concepts. Reading balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flows is important when working with publicly traded companies because you can fully understand and appreciate the business challenges they face.
I found the Behavioral Event Interviewing (BEI) class very beneficial. Every time I go into an interview and get asked BEI questions, I know how to structure my answers so they are appropriate. Studying BEI boosted my interview confidence because I know more about what the interviewer is looking for.
It’s easy to get lost in the Mod 4 class work because there is so much of it. But the capstone project is ultimately the biggest part of the grade. There are two major presentations in addition to written reports:
- Your company and its industry analysis. Tell a compelling story for what your company does, what aspects it does better and worse than rivals, why it is better or worse, and where the company’s strategy is taking it. This presentation takes place in late February or early March.
- Your revenue-generating IT initiative for your company. Quickly review your company’s strategy then dive into your IT initiative, why it is critical to achieving the company’s strategy, how the initiative will be implemented, and the financials around implementation and execution. This presentation occurs the second to last day of the program.
After the final presentation, the group returns on the last day to defend its work to the professors. Prepare to answer questions that time did not allow for after the presentation the previous day.
Advice for Mod 4:
- Focus on the story to your capstone project. It’s easy to get lost in industry data analysis. You must tell a compelling story to create a truly great IT initiative for the company you are working with.
- If you’ve never studied corporate strategy before, learn the fundamentals of Michael Porter’s Five Forces and industry analysis then run with it on the capstone project. There is too much information to learn so you need to get the basics and move on because time is precious in Mod 4.
- Grab drinks once your group successfully defends its capstone project, you’ll need it!
My advice for adjusting to life after graduation, analysis of the MS MIT program’s value and conclusions are found in part 6.
