Areas of Study
In place of majors, the Katz School offers areas of study in accounting, business analytics, finance, management of information systems, marketing, organizational behavior, supply chain / operations management, and doctoral studies. Students can customize their MBA to suit their career goals by choosing from electives in these fields.
Students who are pursuing a dual-degree MBA/MS program will complete BOTH the MBA Core Curriculum and the Core Curriculum of the Master of Science degree that they are pursuing.
Areas of Study
MBA students may choose electives from specific areas of study to demonstrate competence in a functional area, or combine electives from multiple areas of study to customize their degree. A description of each of the areas of study follows:
Business Analytics
The study of business analytics prepares students for data management and business intelligence roles that provide new insights and support strategic decision-making. Methodologies to perform descriptive, predictive and prescriptive statistical analysis, data mining, and data visualization result in data-driven decision-making are learned through course and real-world projects for an integrated learning experience.
Students pursuing the MBA with Business Analytics must meet these additional academic requirements for the MBA core curriculum:
- Minimum grades of B+ (3.25) in BQOM 2401 (Statistical Analysis: Uncertainty, Prediction, and Quality Improvement)
- Minimum grad of B (3.0) in BQOM 2421 (Decision Technologies in Manufacturing and Operations Management)
Finance
The study of finance is designed to prepare students for managerial careers in corporate finance, investment analysis, financial consulting, and financial institutions. The coursework presents an integrated treatment of the economic foundations of finance, and the functions of capital markets and financial institutions. The courses provide a thorough understanding of how capital and financial markets operate, and how to manage corporate assets and financial claims in the marketplace.
Management of Information Systems
An MBA with a focus in information systems prepares students to lead and manage technology projects and organizations to increase operational efficiency, support enterprise integration and growth, and enable innovation. Though course and project work related to the specification, evaluation, and management of technology-enabled business initiatives, students prepare for careers as leaders in a diverse variety of today’s organizations that rely heavily on information technology for success.
Marketing
This area of study is designed to prepare students for careers in marketing management or marketing analytics. Marketing is a critical decision area in both for-profit and non-profit industries such as healthcare, government, and education. Studies include marketing strategy, new product development, marketing research, pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, brand management, and global marketing.
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
Organizational behavior and human resources management focuses on understanding human behavior at work and developing effective management strategies for maximizing the human capital within organizations. This program examines current issues such as employee involvement, high-performance work systems, and the use of teams within organizations.
Strengths of this area are its interdisciplinary nature that relies on a solid grounding in the behavioral sciences, applied statistics, and economics.
Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Decision Sciences
The “operations” function of a firm deals with the effective production and distribution of goods and services, and thus forms an integral part of supply chain management activity in industries as diverse as banking, financial services, software, telecommunications, electronics, and automobiles. An MBA with a focus in operations prepares students for a line job in such industries as well as for a career in management consulting.
Strategy
Organizations of all sizes and degrees of complexity depend on the planning and implementation skills of their general managers for the attainment of their objectives. The strategic planning and policy field is concerned with the development of frameworks and processes for analyzing and responding to strategic problems and opportunities confronting corporate-level executives and managers of business units. Students are encouraged to pair Strategy with a second area of study in order to demonstrate a strategic functional area of expertise.
Taking electives at other Professional Schools at Pitt
Students may also choose to take elective courses at other professional schools at the University, including the School of Law, the Swanson School of Engineering, the School of Social Work, the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and the School of Computing & Information.
Students enrolled in a joint-degree MBA program complete all requirements of both degrees, including the MBA core curriculum.
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