I was looking at the list of top 30 CEO’s in the world. What I was more interested in though, was which CEOs were new to the list . What was a common trend in these people besides an obvious innovative approach to business?
Jeff bezos (Amazon.com)- computer science & electrical engineering
Chase Carey (Direct TV) – BS Mathematics and Economics, MBA
Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase) – BA economics/psychology, MBA
Jose Sergio Gabriell (Petroleio Brasileiro) – BA economics
Howard Levine (Family Dollar) – undergraduate dropout
Art Levinson (Genentech) – BS astronomy, molecular biology/genetics
Jean-Bernard Levy (Vivendi)- telecommunications
Ma Huateng (Tencent) – BS computer science
Jim Skinner (McDonald’s) – no higher education
Rex W. Tillerson (Exxon Corporation) – B.Eng civil engineering
Rick Tsai (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company )- BA physics, engineering and material science
Miles White ( Abott Labs) – BS, MBA
Not one of these 12 CEO’s have an undergrad degree in business. In fact, only 1/4 of them had any formal business education at all, in this case, MBAs.
I am not surprised. I see the use of a business degree, especially an undergraduate one increasingly irrelevant. You major in Marketing? Okay, did they teach you SEO? Did they teach you how to leverage social media? So let me get this straight, you have not learned the most fundamental ways of marketing your company, on the medium most prevalent, the internet. I sense a disconnect between commerce in the academic world and commerce in the actual world.
A degree like one in civil engineering, physics or even astronomy usually sharpens critical thinking and analysis skills. The best problem solvers are people from fields like engineering, and when these grads come into the real world and want to build companies they apply this problem-solving mentality to solving business problems. If you study something related to the company you own ( ie: study molecular biology, CEO of pharmeceutical company), you are much more valuable than a B. Com grad. You will be an expert in your field, be more innovative, be able to understand your employees better ( by understanding which tasks need to be completed and the best way to do them) and thus be a more efficient and effective manager. The best managers are not bred from the academic field of management, but are increasingly from the sciences. This is natural as our economy has shifted to be more scientific and technological focused.
Would Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com have been able to popularize online shopping and do 19.1 billion dollars of revenue in 2008, if he had not studied computer science and electrical engineering? Was it not his studies, that gave him the tools to build Amazon.com in his garage and the foresight to see the potential of the internet in 1994. Sure, his business plan may not have included the Porter five forces analysis but, it had the main business goals and how to achieve them.
Now, I’m not saying a business degree is as good as toilet paper. However, I do feel that in this new economy, scientific knowledge and technical skills make you more marketable, and could make you a better CEO. The U.S. Department of Labor found that of the 20 fastest growing occupations projected for 2014, 15 of them require significant science or mathematics preparation . So if the United States (and Canada) want to have a competitive edge, they need to ensure the future students have these skills. If you want to be the CEO of the next Google, think twice about which skills will help you better prepare to do it.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I really like/agree with the post (even though I am a Marketing major who hopes to obtain an MBA someday). I think that your points are valid and insightful, especially concerning the disconnect between education and reality in business.
However, I think you may be comparing Apples and oranges when you delve into social media/Internet marketing after enumerating those 12 companies and their CEOs. Barring Amazon.com, none of those companies have really built strong social media presences, let alone online in general. It’ll be interesting to see how and if they do so in the future.
Further, most of these companies REQUIRE some sort of scientific or mathematical education before real business education, so it is pretty sensible to assume that their backgrounds are in sciences, or their backgrounds are more science-based than business-based. For example, how would Tsai be at the helm of TWMC without knowing some physics and engineering? How could Levy run Vivendi without telecom knowledge?
This may go back to the notion that business and entrepreneurial spirit is more innate, whereas one must have formal education in hard sciences such as physics, engineering, and computers. But no one can argue that both science and business education teaches you how to think critically; it is just the applications of this thinking that differ. So I think that, yes, the importance of an MBA may be decreasing in today’s flat world, but it really depends what type of business it is.
Overall, I am happy you have returned to blogging, and blogging about important, interesting issues. Good post.
I agree with the fact that you definitely have an advantage if you study a field directly related to what your going to pursue as a career. And your examples show that there is proof to that reasoning. But I’m a believer that you learn more about business and entrepreneurship in the real world. I think that education can give you many advantages in certain fields, and without a doubt is the starting ground of knowledge in your field, but i think that your success, is how you are able to deal with real world constraints.
Jeff Bezos would not have been able to create amazon, had he not had a successful education in the study of computer science and electrical engineering. But i dont think that his education impacted his managerial skills completely. In most cases i think that a business degree opens up options for entrepreneurship. I don’t think that the long time success of a “business man” depends mostly on education, but importantly, social skills and risk taking etc…
I guess i’ll see if im right in 10 years though… ill get back to you then. Great post.
Looking at the background of the CEO of a company is not a good indicator of whom they would hire to be their managers. This is especially true in your sample which leans heavily toward entrepreneurial companies. Ma Huateng is the founder of Tencent. Howard LeVine is the son of the founder of Family Dollar. Rick Tsai has a PhD from Cornell. He is 58 years old and graduated from the National Taiwan University when less than 10% of Taiwanese could qualify to attend university. He would have been in the top 1% of high school graduates at a time when virtually no one in Taiwan had an MBA. All of the men you cite graduated decades ago. The better question is what kind of people would they hire and promote now and in the decades to come.
Business and Management have maintained their position as preferred degrees because liberal arts degrees and science degrees by themselves generally do not lead to strong employment possibilities. While it is not clear what kind of economy President Obama and his successors will be able to build, business education is still highly marketable.
And I should add, especially in East Asia.