The
MBA is widely considered to be a general management qualification, educating
MBAs in overall management skills so as to understand the function of a
business as a whole, sometimes referred to as a ‘helicopter view.’
But
within virtually all MBA programs there are what are called the ‘core
specializations’ and most business schools will feature these heavily in their
syllabus.
Not
to be confused with specialist MBAs, which students usually select through
electives according to their desired career in management, knowledge of
the core specializations is deemed essential.
Here
four experts in the core specializations from some of the world’s leading
business schools explain what goes on in their particular management domain and
why it is important for MBA success:
MBA in innovation
“Can innovation be taught or is it inherited?
Answer: both. If you have a spark, a great school can develop it. If you don’t…
never mind.
“Most
people are going to get an MBA because they want to change their careers in
some way – either going to a different company or pick a different skill set,
right? If you are going back to that same job, just getting your ticket
stamped, stay at home. An MBA program is too long, too hard, and too expensive
for just that.
“If
employers could isolate the illusive ‘innovative’ gene and bypass the whole
interview process by just having you submit a lock of your hair, they would.
But no one has yet figured that out, so companies do the next best thing - they
look for people that can combine innovation with experience to find better ways
to do things. Innovation cannot just come from delivering products or services;
it may be in logistics, in financing, in marketing. It may be in organizational
design or a better way to package.”
MBA in finance
Finance
has long been a popular specialization at MBA level, however after the recent
global economic downturn; fresh ideas and innovation in the field are required
more than ever. Professor Anant K Sundaram explains how the top MBA
programs tackle the subject.
“In
both its theories and in practice, the core ideas in finance are founded on a
set of logically cogent ideas. There are few disciplines taught in business
schools where academic research and the real world come together as remarkably
well as in finance. The ideas that underpin the field not only win Nobel prizes
regularly, but they also form the basis upon which billions of dollars change
hands every day.
“That
said, there are many questions that finance still continues to grapple with.
For example: What causes recurrent financial crises? What is the role of ‘long
tail’ risks, and how can they be better understood and analyzed? Why do we
witness apparently predictable irrational investment decision-making by
investors and managers? Why do markets and companies seem prone to herd
behaviors? How can corporate governance practices and incentives be structured
so as to produce value-creating outcomes for the long-run as opposed to the
short-run? What is the right balance between free markets and regulation in
enabling the best outcomes for society-at-large?
“Finance
education, which includes some of the top MBA programs, continues to make
exciting progress on all of these important questions.”
MBA in operations
management
Professor
Miguel Angel Heras, explains why operations management is often thought of as
the primary function to many organizations.
“Operations
management is the corporate area in charge of designing, managing and tracking
different processes. These processes are made up of interrelated, sequential
activities through which the components and actors required (raw materials,
labor, capital, information, the client, and such) are transformed into
products. The key is the value added through the process as perceived by the
customer, i.e. the end product has a greater value than the elements
pre-process.
MBA in international
management
Historically
the realm of larger organizations, an increase in the ease of communication and
international travel has enabled more SMEs to compete at an international level
over the past two decades. Markus Venzin, explains why managerial
knowledge at an international level is a plus point on any MBA’s résumé.
“Due
to an increased level of globalization, most firms are forced to operate on an
international level by seeking supplies and/or selling their products and
services abroad. This, in turn, has boosted the need for managers that are
capable of operating in a multinational context.
“Successfully
building an international firm is highly dependent on specific market contexts
as well as the resource and capability endowments of the internationalizing
company.
“Suggestions
such as ‘expand internationally or die’, ‘penetrate local markets as quickly as
you can’ or ‘avoid strategic alliances’ may seem alluring but are in most cases
misleading. This is not surprising. One size fits all strategic advice is
seldom adequate or appropriate.
“International
business is more complex than operating in just one national context because of
the increased cultural and regulatory diversity. Most multinational firms are
bigger than purely national ones. Organizational mechanisms such as
coordination and decision processes are more difficult to understand and to
handle."
Greater focus on MBA
specializations, while MBA tuition fees may rise
Discover
which business schools MBA employers value the most in 10 core MBA
specialization ratings
Further
findings in the business school deans and directors survey reveal that MBA programs
are likely to further specialize in the coming years.
As
has always been the case with business education, the areas that the deans and
directors expect to see MBA programs specialize in closely reflect the needs of
global business and society:
56%
expect more MBA specializations in sustainable management,
36%
expect more MBA specializations in emerging markets,
31%
expect more MBA specializations in health,
23%
expect more MBA specializations in finance,
21%
expect more MBA specializations in energy.
Finally,
65% of the 200 deans and directors feel that MBA program tuition fees are set
to increase over the next five years.
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