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. 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. Half-way 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.

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, along with Systems Engineering, are arguably the core competencies for 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 his new responsibilities as the Senior Manager of Marketing Integration. His course electives included:

• Introduction to Networking and Telecommunications
  
• Software Engineering
  
• Technology Entrepreneurship
  
• R&D Management
  
• Models and Tools for Marketing Tactics and Strategy
  
• Negotiations
  
• Real Options Analysis
  
• Strategic Management of Intellectual Property

Even in his first year, Boeing received 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. From the core course in Marketing, I had better insights about quantifying the benefits of proposed features in client proposals."

EMTM team projects develop the ability to lead and contribute effectively in diverse team situations. "My current role at Boeing requires more 'one to one' collaboration, versus the 'one to many' chain of command that characterized my time in the Navy. 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."

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