International computer industry executive thrives in Syracuse University’s iMBA program

International computer industry executive thrives in Syracuse University’s iMBA programSeptember 13, 2005Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

Yvonne Hyland has enjoyed a long and highly successful career in the computer industry, working in over three decades in five countries, with directorships in the United Kingdom, Norway and the United States. Now, she is fulfilling a long time goal-getting her MBA through the iMBA program in Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

“I am very honored to have been accepted to this MBA program; it is something that I have wanted to do for several years,” says Hyland.

After earning a diploma in computer and business studies from NCC Education, the educational arm of the National Computing Centre in the United Kingdom, Hyland served in various founding and leadership positions at companies including U.S.-based Cincom Systems and SAP, the world’s largest application software provider, headquartered in Germany. In 1991, Hyland co-founded the MAS group of companies, which began in Europe and expanded there and to several offices in the US. Hyland and her two co-founders grew MAS from a company of three to 1,400 within eight years, and sold it to IBM at the end of 1999. She is currently senior vice president at Technology Solutions Co., a consulting company based in Chicago.

Hyland, who is about a third of the way through her studies, chose iMBA after an alumnus of the program recommended it to her. She recently attended iMBA’s residency week in Dublin, Ireland. Residency weeks are six intense days of classes, networking, career planning, orientation and social events that kick off a new term. Undertaking the pursuit of an MBA later in her career has given Hyland a unique perspective on the experience.

“It has confirmed that many of the things I have done, and do, intuitively during my work have real academic substance,” she says. “The experience has provided me with a set of more formal tools and practices supported by research which I can apply to make more efficient use of my time.”

Hyland sites an example-a topic her class covered during the Dublin residency week: social network analysis. “By using the research, methodology and tools we discussed during the sessions in Dublin, I have already been able to formalize and document some services I provide to clients in a much more systematic and consistent way than I have been able to do until now,” says Hyland. “Until now I have used something similar which I thought I had ‘invented’ but which lacked the thoroughness and completeness of the work which I learned about as a result of attending the residency.”

Though she is enjoying the challenges of her experience with the iMBA program, Hyland offers advice to others considering it. “I really do believe that although some real-life work experience is required prior to studying for an MBA in order to get the most from it, one should not wait too long before embarking on MBA studies as the materials covered have real practical application.”

Hyland shared some of her experiences with aspiring entrepreneurs as a panelist at last spring’s Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (WISE) 2005 conference in Syracuse. She was one of four panelists in a discussion entitled “How to Build a Million Dollar Business”.

For more information on the iMBA program, contact Paula O’Callaghan at (315) 443-9216 or paula@som.syr.edu.