Business School Questions

Will a business school degree really help you get ahead?

In short, yes, a degree from an online business school can help you get ahead in a wide range of different careers. However, it is important to choose your courses with care. Ask yourself what type of career you are most interested in after completion of your schooling and be sure to choose electives that will help you meet your career goals.

When it comes to business school degrees, some of the most important things you will learn are not necessarily directly related to the course curriculum. Students learn practical skills that are useful in a wide variety of professions, including problem-solving, interpersonal skills, organization, and management.

Many people choose to enter business-related fields without a degree that is directly relevant to the career they end up pursuing. Others have a clear goal from the beginning and choose a business-oriented degree that they know will provide them with the skills and education they need for their desired career. Both of these approaches can work for different types of people.

The online business curriculum is important too. Business students learn aspects of economics, finance, marketing, law, management, human resources, information technology, and even sociology and psychology from their online classes. In addition, students learn how to solve both concrete and abstract problems and to deal with people as well as with numbers and systems. For all of these reasons, a business school degree can be useful for people in a wide variety of occupations.

What are the top five business school degrees?

The most recent figures from the National Center for Education Statistics show that business degrees are the most popular four year degrees in America. Of the 1,439,264 bachelor's degrees awarded in 2004-2005, 311,574 were awarded for business majors. Almost 22% of four year degrees are awarded to business students, and these degrees are most often awarded in the following five major subjects.

Business Administration: BBA students learn about accounting, business ethics and law, economics, and finance. They can specialize in areas such as hospitality management, human resources, and management.

Management: A bachelor’s degree in management includes work in office organization, business communication, personnel management, principles of business law, marketing, finance, and accounting.

Leadership: A bachelor’s degree in leadership focuses on interpersonal skills in management and business settings. Students who complete a Bachelor's degree in leadership learn about the responsibilities and duties of business managers and leaders, in addition to basic business principles.

Project Management: Project Management students learn about all the different elements involved in managing short-term plans and goals, such as resource management and budgeting, as well as basic business principles.

Information Systems Management: A bachelor’s degree in information systems management prepares students for a role in planning the different ways in which companies organize information. This role is becoming increasingly important as more companies rely on computerized information systems.

Graduate Degrees: The most popular online graduate degree is the master of business administration (MBA), with the master of management and master of leadership coming in at second and third place respectively. With growth in the business sector expected to increase at an above-average rate over the next eight to ten years, graduates who obtain an MBA or another graduate business degree can successfully compete for extremely well-paid positions.

What are the most important skills for effective business majors and professionals?

Many graduates with degrees in business say that the most important skills they learn during their college years are not necessarily directly related to their course of study. A major in business includes classes on accounting, business law, marketing, and a variety of other topics.

Communication Skills

Written and verbal communication skills are absolutely essential for anyone working in the business world. Succeeding in business requires that you know how to get your thoughts and ideas across to other people, whether verbally at a meeting, or on paper via a report or e-mail. Learning how to be a convincing communicator is also an essential skill. Sometimes it is not enough to impart your opinion to others. You have to be able to make them agree with it.

Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are closely related to communication skills, with a twist. Learning about interpersonal skills does, of course, involve learning how to communicate effectively. It also includes a range of other skills, such as learning how to work effectively in a team, how to lead and motivate people, and how to resolve disputes.

Networking

Effective networking requires a combination of communication and interpersonal skills, and networking is just one more reason why those two skill sets are all-important in the business world. The old saying, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” definitely applies here.

Problem Detection and Problem Solving

Solving problems in a rational, well thought out way is an essential skill. In business school you will learn how to spot problems before they become major issues and to deal with them without panicking or losing control.

Organization and Time Management

Communication skills and people skills will not help in the slightest if you do not know how to effectively organize your time and prioritize your work load. While seemingly an easy task, running a business is complicated and overwhelming. To succeed, you have to be constantly prepared. Business school will enable you to do this.

Is human resources the same as organizational leadership?

Human Resources, or organizational leadership? They sound like somewhat similar concepts, and it can be difficult to decide between the two when picking a major MBA degrees. The key to making the correct decision lies in understanding the structure of the two different degrees and in deciding what type of career you plan to focus on once you have completed your MBA degree program. Students of both of these MBA degree programs will learn how to develop their interpersonal skills, leadership skills, and communication skills, but each degree will focus on different aspects of these subjects.

Students who complete an MBA in human resources will learn about specialized topics such as planning, recruitment, labor relations, mediation, conflict resolution, and downsizing. Completing this degree is excellent preparation for a career as a human resource manager, employee relations specialist, or recruiter.

Organizational Leadership also focuses on interpersonal skills in business and management settings, but in an entirely different way. Students who go to school for organizational leadership acquire some of the crucial skills needed to successfully run a business, and learn about topics such as the responsibilities of leaders, how organizational changes affect businesses, and leadership strategies. Completing an MBA degree in organizational leadership is a good start for people who are interested in running their own business or pursuing a career in business management.

In general, a degree in organizational leadership is perhaps more suited to someone who is interested in managing a business, while a degree in human resources is more suitable for someone who is interested in organizing its staff.

I'm interested in an MBA. Do I need a specific type of bachelor's degree to apply to a graduate program?

The master’s in business administration attracts people from a wide range of disciplines, and is not limited solely to people who have gained a bachelor’s degree in a business-related subject.

In fact, you do not need a specific type of bachelor’s degree to apply for an MBA. In many business schools, a bachelor’s degree in any subject is sufficient as long as you have a certain amount of relevant business experience, or are prepared to complete some undergraduate business courses before applying for an MBA. The fact that there are several different ways to qualify for applying to an MBA program is just one reason why this is such a popular graduate degree, as many other post-graduate courses require a bachelor’s degree in a specific subject.

While many business schools have no requirement for a specific bachelor’s degree, most business schools do have certain requirements for MBA applicants. All business schools will require that applicants complete a B.A. in some study. Others require that applicants have completed a business degree in undergraduate study. Additional requirements may include any or all of the following:

• Official transcripts from previous undergraduate and graduate course work.
• A GPA over a certain level (for example, some schools may require a GPA of 3.0 or higher).
• A current resume and references that verify a candidate’s work experience. These references should indicate that the candidate has sufficient life and work experience to succeed in an MBA program.
• Completion of a graduate admission test (GRE).
• Completion of certain undergraduate courses.
• International students will be required to undergo either a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination or an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination and submit their score report to the appropriate party.

What are the benefits of receiving a management degree or specialty management degree (applied management, contract management, project management, small business management, supply chain management, technology management) in today’s economic climate?

As companies strive to compete in a global market and keep up with the latest technology, they look for intelligent managers who are knowledgeable of current business practices and who can effectively organize the company's workforce and resources. Businesses want leaders with strong communication skills who succeed at analyzing and solving problems and thinking critically.

A business management degree can provide those required skills and earning this degree, either on an undergraduate or graduate level, can greatly increase your job opportunities and salary potential. Such programs teach students about the most up-to-date business practices and show them how to lead and organize employees and manage projects. The study of business management provides a broad education in business management practices and can be pursued on its own or combined with a more specialized study. Management degrees often are combined with studies in business administration, which focus more on the practical application of business school concepts.

Whereas business management degrees have been a popular choice in the past few years, specialty management degrees such as applied management, contract management, project management, small business management, supply chain management, and technology management are emerging fields. More and more students combine their management studies with a specialization, depending on their area of interest. If you will be joining a specialized field after graduation, pursuing a specialty management school program along side of a management degree will give you an advantage over other players in your industry.

What should I consider when leaving work to get an MBA?

No two business schools offer the same curriculum, but most expose students to a common body of knowledge in basic accounting, economics, finance, human resources, organization design, marketing, operations, policy, and quantitative methods and statistics.

To help narrow the field of schools you are considering, think about the career, lifestyle, financial issues, and curriculum that are important to you. The following are issues to consider when choosing a program type.

First off, your personal financial circumstances may help to determine what kind of program you choose. Determine whether you will need to maintain full-time employment and whether you need to get financial aid or scholarship. In a lot of cases, the company you work for might sponsor your education. See if this is the case with your employer.

In order to determine what type of program suits your work style and goals, you should start by asking yourself whether you plan to stay with your current employer after you earn your degree. You should also determine whether you need an MBA to develop a specialty in the real world. Finally and perhaps most importantly, you should consider the factors that will affect your everyday life, such as balancing work and a social life, whether you want to study in your home country or abroad, and how your decisions will affect your family.

Is technology management an emerging business field?

In today’s increasingly competitive business environment which is often characterized by shortened product life cycles, global competition, increased market segmentation, and re-structured industry value chains, there is a critical need for men and women with a passion for technology who understand business models and can contribute to the successes of an organization.

Technology management can be defined as the set of activities associated with bringing high technology products to the marketplace. There is no such thing as low-tech industry anymore. If you are planning a career in any industry, you need a good grounding in how technology management differs from traditional methods. Technology management focuses on the operational and organizational issues associated with managing new product development and commercialization.

Technology management is not only an emerging business field but also a promising graduate study program. It helps prepare graduate students to enter the technology business world with knowledge of balance sheets, income statements, discounted cash flows, new product development processes, and marketing high technology products with high technology techniques. In addition, technology management is a diverse field that covers topics such as international trade policy and the effect a high technology industry with new design issues, technologies, and business strategies has on new and established firms.

Should I take time off from my job to pursue a degree or try to pursue my degree at night?

The decision to take time off from work to get a degree is a highly personal one. There is no universal answer and the best choice differs from person to person. While trying to decide on whether to pursue your degree while working at the same time or not, it is important to consider your career, social and domestic lifestyle and most importantly, financial issues.

Your financial circumstances might lead to the easiest decision. Determine whether you need financial aid or a scholarship or whether you can afford to not maintain full-time employment. If you do need financial support, it might be a better idea to pursue your degree at night. Before you do this though, see whether your company will sponsor your education, as this is becoming more common among employers.

Another important question to ask yourself is if after you receive your degree, you would want to stay with your current employer or if you would want to move on to another company. Also, decide whether you can handle a full-time workload and a full-time course load at the same time. If this is going to be too stressful for you, you might want to take some time off to pursue your degree. Keep in mind that your decisions will also affect your family, especially if you have someone financially dependant on you. Therefore, it might be a good idea to sit down with those closest to you and discuss options with everybody.

I want to start my own business, what type of business degree should I get?

If you are seriously interested in starting your own business, you may have already looked into getting a bachelor’s degree in business. However, when starting a new company, it is often difficult to know exactly what skills you will need to be successful and business degrees come with a wide range of choices, including but not limited to accounting, business administration, economics, marketing, and management. Choosing the best degree for you, therefore, is a matter of thinking about your current weaknesses and choosing a degree structure that provides you with the essential knowledge and skills that you might be lacking.

Bear in mind, however, that many of the essential skills you are going to need as an entrepreneur and business owner are skills that you will learn in the process of starting your business. With that in mind, there are two degrees that will teach you essentials that you are guaranteed to need to know when starting any company.

The first is a bachelor’s degree in accounting. This degree not only teaches you business accounting, but also provides you with essential tax and legal information that anyone planning to start his or her own business should know. Supplement your accounting degree with elective courses in any other subjects you feel you could use some further information in, key examples being marketing and finance.

If you feel, however, that your background in accounting is sufficient, consider a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship. This type of degree may be useful to you depending on what type of business you plan to run and what make up your personal business goals. If your goals include large-scale business expansion and a substantial staff of employees, you may find this degree very useful.

Am I being held back by my lack of degree?

It is very easy to look at the undeniable success of men like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Michael Dell and take note of the fact that none of these men have college degrees. At the end of the day though, these men are the exception. Few people truly succeed in business without some sort of degree.

If you are finding that you have hit a plateau in your career and you are not working to your full potential it could very well be the lack of a college degree that is holding you back. Of course this is not true in all cases, but if you are skilled in all other areas, obtaining proof of that qualification could be the key to career advancement.