Though all accredited MBA programs provide similar coursework, there are also specific classes designed for each concentration. A concentration is a focus on an individual industry or area of business. Pennsylvania MBA programs offer a variety of concentrations including:
Entrepreneurship
This provides the foundation for opening your own company. Start-up companies, franchises, and inventions are all areas where a concentration in entrepreneurial skills will be useful. Well-known entrepreneurs who held their MBA’s include:
- Frank Batten – co-founder of The Weather Channel
- Phil Knight – co-founder of Nike
- Elon Musk – co-founder of Paypal
Coursework in this area will give you the confidence you need in designing a business plan for your start-up operation, understanding the workings of working capital, and analyzing the potential success of your ideas.
Healthcare Management
The field of healthcare management continues to grow as the field of medicine continues to diversify and break off into areas of specialization. The BLS predicts a 22% growth in the field of healthcare management through 2024. A concentration in this area will strengthen your ability to oversee medical facilities, entire hospital networks, and public health systems.
You also might decide to become a specialist in analyzing policy and procedure in these facilities. An MBA with a specialist concentration in the healthcare management field will give you an advantage in not only the application process but also in the salary you desire.
Business Analytics
Working in business analytics is like being a detective in the business world. You will be responsible for gathering data from all sources in your company as well as outside data and examining it. The goal for this position is to analyze past, current, and future trends, then hold that against different variables in the economy with a goal of reporting your results to management and helping develop future policy and procedure.
You will be confident in using various analytical methodologies to gather and analyze data. The data you compile and report will then be used by management to steer the future of the company.
Human Resource Management
As a human resource manager you will be expected to keep current with state and federal labor laws. In addition, you will develop training materials for new employees as well as continued training for current employees. Compensation policy, organization charts, benefits, and performance reviews are all things that you will manage for the company. Today, HR managers are typically included in executive meetings as part of the corporate structure development.
A concentration in this field will include coursework designed to prepare you for today’s human resource management career.