Freshly minted CIOs are more likely to have MBAs, our survey finds. Some CIOs with MBA degrees see IT as a stepping stone to glory in another C-level role, according to an exclusive survey by CIO. Join the Debate Why You Should Get Your MBA Why You Don’t Need an MBA MBA map wiki Among top technology executives with MBAs, 43 percent said they see themselves moving outside IT as their careers progress, according to our poll of 936 heads of IT about their education, tenure and future plans. When you look at the entire survey sample, 15 percent of respondents said they expect to move outside of IT. Jan Bertsch, CIO of ChryslerTo be a COO or CEO were the most popular aspirations cited by these MBA-wielding IT leaders, the survey finds. An MBA makes sense for an IT leader, says Jan Bertsch, CIO of Chrysler. Bertsch got her MBA from Eastern Michigan University. “You’re managing a budget, need business experience and need to be financially astute,” she says.An Advantageous PedigreeWhile most companies don’t require new CIOs to have earned MBAs, many say the degree is desirable, says Eric Sigurdson, who leads the information officers’ practice at recruiter Russell Reynolds in New York. “I’m seeing more leaders in corporate America in general with MBAs and the same with CIOs,” says Sigurdson. About one-third of the CIOs Russell Reynolds recruits have the degree, he says. (For a sampling of Fortune 1000 CIOs with MBAs, check out our chart below.) Big-Time CIOs with MBA Degrees Source: CIO reporting Executive Company University Jean-Michel Ares Coca-Cola McGill Thaddeus Arroyo AT&T Southern Methodist Andy Baer Comcast Cornell James Dallas Medtronic Emory Bob DeRodes Home Depot Univ. of Texas Roy Dunbar MasterCard Manchester Business School Joe Eckroth Hertz Pepperdine Robert Fronberry Solo Cup Northwestern Robert Mareburger OneOK Univ. of Oklahoma David McCue Computer Sciences NYU John McDermott Xerox Yale Keith Morrow Blockbuster Dallas Baptist Tom Nealon JC Penney Univ. of Dallas Todd Nelson Ferro Saint Bonaventure Gary Reiner GE Harvard Jeffrey Stempora Erie Insurance Illinois State Todd Thompson Starwood Hotels Brigham Young Financial Sector Leads in MBAsFinancial services is the industry with the highest proportion of MBA CIOs, followed by manufacturing and education/non-profit (see chart). CIO Education* Industry 2- or 4-Year Degree Graduate Degree MBA Degree Finance/banking/accounting 81% 30% 42% Manufacturing 89% 28% 36% Education/Non-profit 78% /td> 35% 36% Wholesale/retail/distribution 91% 13% 33% Healthcare/medical 88% 36% 31% Government 95% 40% 28% * Percentages sum to more than 100 because respondents could indicate more than one degree Source: CIO research based on survey of 520 heads of ITProportionally, women CIOs appear to have about the same advanced business education as male counterparts: 37 percent of the 126 female respondents said they hold MBAs, compared to 34 percent of the 810 men. Men and women IT leaders with doctorates were equal, at 6 percent. LaVerne Council, CIO of Johnson & Johnson, the $53 billion pharmaceuticals and consumer products company, got her MBA in operations management from Illinois State University. Combined with her background as an Ernst & Young consultant, her learned business skills come into play often, she says, in dealing with vendors and working with peers. CIOs “manage relationships across the enterprise—operationally, commercially,” she says. For more on successes at Johnson & Johnson, see Using IT to Transform the Business: Three Keys to Success.Freshly-minted CIOs are more likely to have earned MBAs than CIOs on the job for four years or more. Forty percent of CIOs in their current position for less than a year hold MBAs, and for those in the job less than two years, it’s 47 percent. Just 30 percent of CIOs in place for more than 10 years have MBA degrees. Related content brandpost Sponsored by SAP Generative AI’s ‘show me the money’ moment We’re past the hype and slick gen AI sales pitches. Business leaders want results. 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