Lee Moss, EMTM’06

Leadership in a Peer-Culture Environment

Lee graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in Ocean Engineering. His service in the nuclear Navy spanned 27 years, included a three-year command of a fast-attack submarine, and culminated in a position supporting the Joint Requirements Oversight Council of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as Chief of the Full Dimensional Protection Assessment Division, where he began his exposure to and work in homeland security and missile defense. Lee left the Navy in 2003 to join Conquest, an independent firm that provided systems engineering to one of the national intelligence agencies. When Conquest was acquired by Boeing, Lee moved into its newly formed Homeland Security and Services business unit as a program manager. Halfway through his EMTM program, he was promoted to Senior Manager, Marketing Integration in Boeing's Missile Defense Business. Less than a year after graduating, he was named Director of Integrated Missile Defense Business Development. He was promoted again within another year to his current position as Director of Ballistic Missile Defense Systems Business Development.

Why EMTM?

Before he left the military, Lee had decided that he needed to broaden his background, but knew that he wanted to stay "technically focused." He concluded that there were required elements in standard MBA programs that he did not need, based on the extent of his management experience and training in the military, but knew that he wanted to get the grounding in finance, economics and marketing that he would not find in a traditional technical masters program. He also felt that many of the technology management programs had a strong IT emphasis to the exclusion of other technologies, which was not what he wanted. He found Penn's EMTM program on his own, but later learned that a significant number of Boeing managers and engineers have been through the program.

Career Impact and Benefits to Boeing

Management of complex, high-budget, large-scale programs and systems engineering are arguably the core competencies for Lee’s work at Boeing. Beyond EMTM's ten-course technology management core, Lee used his elective options to select courses that honed his program management skills at Boeing while preparing him to assume new responsibilities. His course electives included:

Introduction to Networking and Telecommunications

Software Engineering

Computational Finance

Photonics

New Product Design and Development

Supply Chain Management

Models and Tools for Marketing Tactics and Strategy

Negotiations

Real Options Analysis

Even in his first year, Boeing observed concrete benefits from the program. "As a result of my Networking and Telecommunications elective," Lee says, "I was able to steer the discussion with potential partners to ask pointed questions about their capabilities in specific emerging technologies. As a result of the core course in Marketing, I had better insights about quantifying the benefits of proposed features in client proposals."

EMTM team projects helped Lee develop the ability to lead and contribute effectively in diverse team situations. "At EMTM, I learned to exert leadership in a peer-culture environment," says Lee.  "Team projects create a tremendous sense of camaraderie. We are all in this together.”

Lee credits EMTM for paving the way to his most recent promotion. “We’re in a changing environment in the defense business, between the political landscape and customer landscape. The Boeing leadership came to the conclusion they needed somebody who could take a broad look at strategy and evaluate potential opportunities. This is the experience I got at EMTM.”

In his current role at Boeing, Lee is even more focused on turning technology development into business offerings, and he is charged with more management and strategic responsibilities, directly reporting to his division’s general manager. “The biggest challenge is the uncertainty with respect to looking ahead and staying competitive, but my work at EMTM gave me the confidence to put technology in the context of business opportunity. That’s what the program is all about.”

March 2008