How to Choose your MBA Specialization 87 rate or flag this page Tweet this By yamanote The Specializations Boom MBA programs come in all shapes and sizes, but most prospective students play it safe and plump for one of the stalwarts of finance, marketing, or management. One of the main reasons for this is that they do not fully investigate the diversity of specializations out there, and that’s a great shame because only once a student knows the full range of MBA options can they select the one that best fits their career goals. The standard specializations are: Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, IT/Systems, Operations, and Entrepreneurship, but these are rapidly being joined by more specific subjects, such as Corporate Social Responsibility, Wine Management, Football Industries, Luxury Brand Management, Hotel Management etc. The trend to such courses is accelerating, with 2,500 candidates taking them in Europe in 2007, compared with just 200 ten years ago. Are Specializations Credible? All MBAs hold certain core attributes that are valued by employers seeking to hire the managers of the future, and general MBAs teach their students to think strategically and analytically. However, if you add to this a specialization that matches with future career goals then the combination can fast track a candidate to senior management. Some people think that prospective employers are reluctant to hire people from such specialized programs because they lack credibility. After all does Hilton Hotels really need to hire an MBA in Hotel Management rather than an MBA generalist from a top school? The answer is not a simple one, and it all comes down to the credibility of the course in question. Students should be wary of small universities that are just using marketing skills to promote “hot topic” courses without having the depth to deliver a high quality course. The Two Most Important Factors in Selecting a Specialization If you decide to take the specialization route then you need to make sure that the school is well ranked for that specialization. For example, if International Management is your bag then the best schools are: 1. INSEAD 2. Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management 3. Harvard Business School 4. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 5. IE Business School Different specializations will have different rankings, so do your research – prospective employers will certainly do theirs. Another factor is the one-year versus two-year course selection. A two-year course allows the student to be generalist in year one, and move to specialist in year two. On the other hand, a one- year specialist MBA is really a branding exercise as there is not enough time to cover both standard MBA topics and the specialization within the limited term time. Example of Specialization: International Executive MBA Links for Finance MBA • ETF Analyst: “Leveraged ETFs are Toxic.” The Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) industry is fast becoming the darling of the asset management sector with investors piling in with abandon - $270bn in 2008 alone. However, many of these investors are not fully aware of the risk that they are taking as • Bond Investing Basics Why would any one bother with bonds? Stocks have consistently demonstrated that they outperform bonds over time. The reason to consider bonds is that they are a fundamentally different type of investment where the bondholder is a creditor of the comp • Internal Rate of Return for Dummies The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is one of the most commonly used financial measures in real estate investment, and one of the least well understood. This article gets to the bottom of the mystery. Example MBA Specializations Marketing MBA Specialization This specialization can help accelerate your entry and progress in some of the most competitive fields: marketing, advertising and public relations. Hospitality & Tourism MBA Specialization For those that want to work in management roles in hotels, restaurants and the tourism sector this MBA can equip you with the management techniques needed to rise to a senior position. Human Resources MBA Specialization This MBA can lead to a key role managing a company’s most important asset – its people. You will learn about best practices in hiring and training. Health Care Management MBA Specialization This is a specialization that could prepare you for management positions in health care facilities, pharmaceuticals, insurance, care facilities for the elderly, and public health agencies. It’s a growing industry, which is seeing this become an increasingly popular MBA. Communication MBA Specialization This is for students looking at jobs in media, advertising, journalism, and public relations. MBAs are not widespread in these fields in the same way that they are in finance, and they can give a real competitive edge in advancing to mid- to upper-level management positions. Entrepreneurship MBA Specialization This is a controversial one because many claim that entrepreneurship is not something that can be taught. These criticisms miss the point that this MBA is really about business administration strategies that engender the same innovation that makes entrepreneurs so successful. Links for JD MBAs • What is Strict Liability? Strict liability is an interesting concept in criminal law. In some crimes there is a guilty act (actus reus)which has an identified consequence, but the defendant did not know about, or intend for that... • Elements of a Criminal Offense Usually a person can’t be found guilty of a criminal offense unless both actus reus (guilty act) and mens rea (guilty mind) are present. We covered actus reus in a previous article, and now we will go on to... • Criminal Liability and Actus Reus Actus Reus is the term used to describe not just a criminal act itself, but all of the circumstances and consequences that make the act a crime. In this article we look at what that actually means. We coverthe fact that causation can be broken by an Concluding Thoughts Specialized MBA programs are certainly spreading, from investment management, through to arts administration, real estate, and biosciences. But are these just branding exercises for smaller schools, rather than truly useful courses that benefit students? It seems not with established schools such as Berkley, Wharton and MIT offering programs in fields as specialized as sports management and e-commerce. However, for students who take a specialized MBA not only are they accelerating their progress within that specialty, but also they are limiting their opportunity to work outside it. That can be problematic when your sector is hit by an economic downturn. Another factor is that since these programs are new they often require a lower GPA, which means that you can possibly use them to enter a better school than would otherwise be possible. vote up vote down share Print flag Was this Hub ...? • Useful (8) • Funny (1) • Awesome (2) • Beautiful (1) Comments MRdivman 15 months ago Good article. It would help MBA students a lot if the B-schools had more internship programs. These were few and far between when I got my MBA, but I remember that my rate of learning went up exponentially on the job. There's nothing like "earn while you learn". shanker lal keer 14 months ago sir, i am parsuing mba in first sam .my pg backgroung is arts.but i intersting dd mba in finance . what is must ability for finance specialization. send my id [email protected] Alice 12 months ago What are the different specialisatins in MBA? yamanote 12 months ago Alice, they are diverse and vary from university to university. Please feel free to add some information in the comments after your research. aditi 11 months ago nice article .wish it would have been more elaborate informing about skills required in various specialization. AMIT 11 months ago SEE I M YET NOT CLEAR ABOUT THE SCOPE WHICH AN MBA SPECIALISATION HOLD SO CAN U TELL ME PLZ THAT WHAT SCOPE DO VARIUS COURSES HOLD?? AND IS DER ANY SPECIALISTAION OFFERED IN PETROLEUM SECTOR TO?? POST ME TO MY MAIL ID [email protected] Siddaraj M 11 months ago Hello , Name MBA in Production Or Operation or Supply Chain Management college in Karnataka? askjanbrass 10 months ago I would think that IT specializations would be more popular, with the transitioning of more and more work to be done using networked technology. Then again, there is some potential for computer science majors to take IT positions in many businesses. Great post about MBAs, thanks for sharing! Ali 10 months ago Hallo.. My name is Ali ,I am doing MBA but totally confused about the specialisation, i have completed BBA-IT in my bachelor in india ,and now iam in my 2nd sem of MBA... pls help me for the selection. available Courses are IB-HR-Marketing,OerationFinance Praveen Kumar Srivastava 10 months ago I am praveen.i am doing MBA.My 2nd sem of MBA.but i can't decide the specilization in our collage.so plz suggest me and help me.what should be choose the specilization in MBA course.i have done BCA.my background is IT.but my collage are not provide the smoothly IT specilization.i want to ask about the IB specilization.bcz IB specilization are provide my colllage.in my collage run the specilization in HR,Finance,IB,Marketing azhar 9 months ago i m in MBA 2nd sem. i m from commerce background. i m totally confused about the specilization so please suggest me Prakash 9 months ago I am in MBA 1st Year, my UG is B.E(Computer Science). I am confused about the specialization. Available specialization in my college are HR,Finance,Marketing,Systems,Production and Operation.