"This is a symptom of the preference for the generalist over the specialist... an electrical engineer should be hired for running an electrical utility regardless of whichever cadre he/she belongs to. Similarly a doctor should be considered for running public health departments".
However, in highly technical areas, an MBA is also considered "generalist". I heard BMW trains their engineers for MBA roles and places them in customer-facing roles in the process.
Really well weighed suggestions, Rajeev:
"This is a symptom of the preference for the generalist over the specialist... an electrical engineer should be hired for running an electrical utility regardless of whichever cadre he/she belongs to. Similarly a doctor should be considered for running public health departments".
However, in highly technical areas, an MBA is also considered "generalist". I heard BMW trains their engineers for MBA roles and places them in customer-facing roles in the process.