BCBusiness

PAUL JOSEPH MARCH 2016 BCBUSINESS 37 A few years into her career as a software engineer, Vivienne Wang began to wonder if she was on the right path. After obtain- ing a master's degree in software engineering from McMaster University, Wang landed jobs at tech heavy- weights GE and IBM. But the work, while promising, was limited in scope. "You don't get to see the whole strategic pic- ture; they never talk to you about why you're doing what you're doing," says the 29-year-old Toronto native. Wang knew an MBA would help her move into a leadership role within the tech sector, but not any program would do. After applying, and being accepted, to the University of Toronto and University of California at Irvine, she settled on UBC's Sauder School of Business and became part of the first cohort in its innovation and entrepre- neurship MBA, launched in 2012. Wang credits the program— with its emphasis on creativity, change management and new product development—with equipping her with the skills to land her current job as innovation practice lead at SAP. While Vancouver's status as a burgeoning tech hub was once characterized by a prevalence of scrappy startups, the increas- ing presence of employers such as SAP, Microsoft and home- grown Hootsuite has created a demand for leaders who, like Wang, have an entrepreneurial bent but need to manage a grow- ing operation. And local MBA programs are having to adapt to that dual need. While UBC's introduction of career track streams in 2012 wasn't specifically geared toward the tech sector, says Paul Cubbon, leader of Sauder's innovation and entrepreneurship group, all three MBA streams—finance; product and ser- vice management; and innovation and entrepreneurship—address the fact that technology is a pervasive force through- out the economy. Indeed, tech-based companies became the top employers of Sauder's MBA grads for the first time in 2015, accounting for nearly 20 per cent of graduates. Course work for the MBA focuses on developing the ability to work lean, fail fast and test assumptions, with the tech- nology entrepreneurship class (part of the innovation stream) operating like an incubator; open to MBA students as well as engineering and applied science students, the course cre- ates multidisciplinary teams that develop business plans and culminates in a Dragon's Den-style pitching contest. As far as Cubbon is concerned, the program is less about creating the next Steve Jobs than it is about filling the growing need for "intra- praneurs"—his term for entrepreneurial-minded change agents now in demand at established organizations. "The training we give people—sure you could be an entrepreneur, you could be a hero founder, but very likely you'll go work for an early stage company and they value the same skill set," he says. "More and Technically Speaking VANCOUVER HAS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING TECH HUBS IN NORTH AMERICA—AND LOCAL MBA PROGRAMS ARE ADAPTING TO HELP TRAIN THE INDUSTRY LEADERS OF TOMORROW b y J e s s i c a B a r r e t t TODAY'S TECHFORCE Student Vivienne Wang and Paul Cubbon, leader of Sauder's innovation and entrepreneurship group 2016 MBA guide WHILE VANCOUVER'S STATUS AS A BURGEONING TECH HUB WAS ONCE CHARACTERIZED BY A PREVALENCE OF SCRAPPY STARTUPS, THE INCREASING PRESENCE OF EMPLOYERS SUCH AS SAP, MICROSOFT AND HOMEGROWN HOOTSUITE HAS CREATED A DEMAND FOR LEADERS ○ ○ ○ ○

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