Almost every MBA program across the U.S. includes a core
curriculum that focuses on the major business disciplines. These
will include finance, management, accounting, marketing,
statistics, manufacturing, operations, economics, and
organizational behavior.
Core courses provide broad knowledge in one discipline. For
example, a core marketing course would cover pricing,
segmentation, communications, product line planning, and
implementation. In addition to the core curriculum, electives
provide a narrow focus that deepens an area of study. For
example, one marketing elective might be entirely devoted to
consumer behavior.
Example: The Yale School of
Management
The Yale School of Management provides a good illustration of
what a traditional program structure entails. Yale is a two-year
program devoted to training general managers. The academic year
is split into two terms.
Fall Term
 |
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Data Analysis and Statistics |
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Economic Anaylsis |
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Marketing Management |
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Financial Accounting |
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Environmental Management and Strategy |
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Valuation and Investment
|
Spring Term
|
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Decision Analysis and Game Theory |
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Operations Management I |
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Leadership |
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Corporate Finance and Options |
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Managerial Controls I or Financial Reporting
I |
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The Politics of Strategic Management or
Designing and Managing Organizations
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The second year of Yale's program is devoted to electives.
This curriculum of first-year core courses and second year
electives is probably the most common b-school structure in the
U.S. Selection of your elective will determine your concentration
— at Yale you can choose from concentrations such as finance,
strategy, marketing, leadership, operations management, public
management, and nonprofit management. Other school might include
concentrations like sports management, entertainment,
environmental MBA degrees.
