As MBA as a career option increasingly gains popularity amongst Indian students, this articles aims to explore the various specializations that students can opt for, when pursuing an MBA. A specialization in an MBA helps equip the students with focused skills alongwith the generic business skills that come with an MBA

Management education has come a long way from developing general management skills in managers to splitting into various specialisations to cater to different sectors of the industry. All general management graduates hold certain core attributes that are valued by employers like thinking strategically and analytically. With changing economic scenario adding a specialisation that matches with future career goals will fast track a candidate’s career. The standard MBA specialisations are: Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, IT/Systems, Operations, Hospitality Management, Sports Management, Communication Management, Insurance and Risk Management, Hospital Management with many more being added.

Marketing Management

Marketing management is focused on the practical application of marketing techniques and the management of a firm’s marketing resources and activities. This specialisation can help accelerate your entry and progress in some of the most competitive fields like advertising, brand management and public relations.

Human Resources Management

Human resource management is a people centric specialisation of management and is focused on employing people, developing their resources through training and compensating their services in tune with the job and organisational requirement. 

Financial Management

Financial Management as a specialisation concerns itself with the managerial significance of financial techniques and focuses on areas including investment and portfolio management, corporate finance analysis and decision making on mergers and acquisitions as well as international financial management.

Information Technology Management

Information Technology Management is concerned with exploring and understanding systems and technology as a corporate resource which determines both the strategic and operational capabilities of the company.

Hospitality Management 

Specialisation in hospitality management focuses on managing multiple roles in hotels, restaurants and in the tourism sector and equips MBA graduate with management techniques needed to rise to a senior position in the hospitality sector.

Communication Management

Communication management is the systematic planning, implementing, monitoring, and revision of corporate communication strategies, designing internal and external communications directives, and managing the flow of information, including online communication within the organisation, between organisations and to media.

Summary: MBA specialisations are giving a kick start to the managers and helping them climb the corporate ladder faster. The basic specialisations include Financial Management, Marketing Management, Information technology/System Management, Human Resource Management. There are other specialisations that are becoming popular like Hospitality Management, Sports Management, Communication Management, Insurance and Risk Management and Hospital Management.