8 Common and In-Demand MBA Concentrations

Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs generally focus on fundamental business concepts, or the broadly accepted manner of thinking about and approaching business. Throughout your MBA program, you can expect to learn how those concepts show up and interact with one another across business sects.

With an MBA concentration, also called a specialization or major, you'll further practice applying those business fundamentals to your chosen area of focus. Some common examples of concentrations include management, operations, finance, and business strategy.

In this article, we'll go over the benefits of choosing a specialization, take a closer look at some common MBA concentrations, and offer guidance around selecting a focus area that aligns with your career goals.

Do MBA concentrations matter?

MBA concentrations typically aren't career-binding, meaning if you specialize in marketing, you don't have to work in marketing, and your MBA program may not require students choose a specialization at all. However, there are some benefits to having a concentration on your business school transcript. An MBA concentration can:

• Demonstrate deeper knowledge in your subject area, showing a more advanced skill set and tool kit in your chosen field.

• Signal heightened dedication to your chosen field and advanced preparation for leadership positions.

• Verify successful application of business fundamentals, suggesting your capabilities to further apply those guiding principles across other areas of business.

Common MBA concentrations

Each educational institution offers its own selection of MBA concentrations. According to The Princeton Review, the five most common MBA concentrations are [1]:

1. Strategy

2. Corporate finance

3. Operations

4. Entrepreneurship

5. Management

Meanwhile, The Princeton Review names the following specializations as the most in-demand [2]:

1. General management

2. International management

3. Strategy

4. Consulting

5. Finance leadership

6. Entrepreneurship

7. Marketing

8. Operations management

9. IT or technology management

You'll notice some overlap across these two lists. Let's take a closer look at what these concentrations entail.

Strategy

A strategy concentration focuses on business planning and execution in a dynamic global landscape. In this specialization, you can anticipate deepening your understanding of how various business sects relate to one another and using business analytics in order to encourage desirable business decisions.

This concentration may be closely related to a consulting concentration, as strategy can be core to a consultant's work. However, many companies hire internal business strategists and rely on their strategic management to determine and guide company success.

Finance

Students with an MBA finance concentration develop the core skills of statistics, analytics, and accounting for use in financial planning. With this concentration, expect to advance your financial literacy using models and tools that enable you to conduct risk management assessments and guide an organization's financial decisions. Ultimately, you'll prepare to set companies up for profitability.

There are several related and niche finance concentrations, such as international finance, corporate finance, and entrepreneurial finance.

Operations

With an operations concentration, you can practice skills around maximizing efficiency and productivity within a business setting. In operations management, you can expect to streamline processes within day-to-day and large-scale operations.

Working in operations often means working in fields that are heavy on production, such as retail, manufacturing, and consumer goods. Some similar or related concentrations may be supply chain management, project management, or product management.

Entrepreneurship

An entrepreneurship concentration focuses on innovation and new businesses. This specialization can feature coursework in business development and funding, as well as broad business needs like management and leadership. This can be a helpful option for anyone interested in starting a business or working at a start-up.

A related concentration may be social entrepreneurship, which tends to add a socially constructive lens to growing a business.

Management

With a management concentration, you can sharpen your leadership skills and practice analyzing, developing, and implementing internal processes and strategic business plans.

Management skills are necessary across all industries. So, while this is a specialized MBA concentration, it can also be a very versatile one. Some programs offer further customization of this concentration, such as international management or health care management.

Consulting

A consultant works with a company to analyze data and fine-tune corporate strategies and management practices. Because a consultant analyzes the business practices of the client from an outside perspective, core skills required include quantitative and analytical skills and business and commercial awareness.

In practice, many consultants choose to narrow their focus. For example, they may work in a particular industry, such as education or health care. Or they may work within a certain function, such as management consulting, human resources consulting, or strategy consulting.

Marketing

With a marketing concentration, you'll practice strategizing around how to reach customers, predict consumer behavior, run advertising campaigns, and increase public awareness. You may experience some overlap with topics related to sales, advertising, and public relations, as these business areas tend to exist within a tight ecosystem.

In this specialization, you may find further focus areas include digital marketing, marketing analytics, and marketing management.

IT and technology

Information technology (IT) and general technology concentrations have gained popularity as information systems have become increasingly important to business operations. These concentrations tend to introduce technical skills around data management into general business processes, and can be a helpful starting point for someone hoping to eventually advance into a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or Chief Information Officer (CIO) position.

Tips for choosing an MBA concentration

Choosing an MBA concentration is a way to gain leadership and management skills outside of your core courses. Because your concentration can tailor your degree program to a specific career path, it's worth approaching this decision strategically.

Consider the following factors as you make your decision:

Research your options. 

Think about where you’d like to work—your dream job or dream company—and then research what that company requires of applicants. Take note of what these and similar employers are looking for in potential candidates. You may find that they prefer certain specifications or qualifications. This look to the future can direct your focus as you consider your course of study.

Recognize your strengths. 

While learning new skills can be beneficial, your strengths are an asset. Consider subjects you're good at, tasks you find engaging, or personality traits that come naturally to you. Find a concentration that can help you capitalize on those. For instance, if math has always come easily to you, you might find it easy to transition into a financial MBA concentration.

Know your goals.

Knowing what you’re looking for will help you determine what concentration to pursue. For example, if a high salary is your primary goal, you’ll likely want to consider a job in one of the common MBA industries that are among the highest paying. These include consulting, financial services, and technology, which all see an average base salary over $125,000, according to US News & World Report [3].

Of course, a large paycheck isn’t the top motivating factor for everyone. If you’d like variety in your work, you could enjoy consulting across industries. On the other hand, if you want a creative role, you may like marketing. Choose a course of study that will align with your long-term goals.

Consider industry outlook. 

MBAs are generally considered a valuable degree. According to a 2022 report from the Graduate Management Admission Council, 94 percent of US-based recruiters surveyed expected to hire MBA graduates in 2022, and 97 percent expected their hiring demand for business school graduates to increase or remain stable over the next five years [4].

However, as you embark upon your career path, it can also be a good idea to look at the job outlook in your desired industry. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics is a good resource for analyzing career statistics and job outlook projections.

Keep exploring

Now that you understand the differences between some of the popular MBA concentrations, you’re better able to decide if you want to advance your knowledge in a specific field as you earn your MBA. Explore business master's degrees on Coursera. The iMBA from the University of Illinois offers a range of specializations, including financial management, business analytics, strategic leadership and management, and more. Start learning today to decide whether the iMBA is right for you.