My new job has me in a 75% management role (my title ends with "Manager" and this is what takes up most of my time) and 25% business role (finances, sales, etc). The job I have my sights set on is "Regional Manager" (next promotion). I'm looking for a degree that will help me to perform better in my current position so that I will be competitive (performance wise) for the next position up the ladder. In addition, I want it to prepare me for the Regional Manager position which is about 50/50 management/business. Of course, I may not be with this company forever, so would the MBA look better on a resume? The MSM seems to be more applicable to my current position, but later on I might be competing with MBA's for jobs. What do you fine scholars think?
I don't consider myself a scholar (yet). I would think MBA would be as flexible as it gets in the business world. Never thought about until I started looking at masters programs myself and the MBA's I've looked at cover it all from a management perspecitive. I was looking as public administration, public healthcare and general healthcare administration. Even though my background is in fact healthcare, I'm looking only at an MBA now because I think it has the most utility and portability. This way I could work in a hospital, insurance company, or even teach at the community college level, etc. etc. At least that's what my couple of month's research seems to indicate.
I would look at the MBA. I think it would give you a better overall picture of the business world. Every MBA curriculum has a common body of knowledge. These are the mandatory survey courses (marketing, production, accounting, finance, organizational behavior, computer science, business policy, etc.) that give you the fundamentals.
It probably doesn't matter much, but the MBA is sometimes considered the stronger degree. In my own little case, it mattered to me a lot when I was a student, but I don't think it would have affected my career to have a non-MBA-but-business-related master's. The MBA's content will give you a broader education in business, which might be more valuable.
On a contrary note. Yes the MBA is broader, but also shallower. "A mile wide and an inch deep" is the popular phrase. My own bias is that if you really want to learn something - deeply - go for a more specialized masters.
OK, thanks. I suppose the best of both worlds will be to find an MBA with a concentration in something I really want to learn more about. This is kind of where I was leaning, but I wanted a little boost towards the MBA - thanks.
