So, What is a Strategy MBA and Where Can You Find One?
For those who don’t have a natural knack for strategic thinking, the ability to analyze effectively and make logical decisions can often seem like the kind of skill that just can’t be taught. Luckily, most business schools disagree.
Not only is strategic thinking a skill that can be studied and improved, but an advanced education in this field can lead to a wide array of careers, often incredibly lucrative ones. After all, the ability to make strategic decisions can lead to success in all aspects of business and across numerous industries- that might be why those who earn MBAs in Strategic Management are entrepreneurs, COOs, Department Supervisors, Business Analysts, and are found at any number of high-level management positions.
Whether you are born with the skill or not, pursuing a Strategy MBA is the perfect way to set yourself up for a versatile career in strategic management.
What is a Strategic Manager?
In an ever-changing and often tumultuous business world, an organization’s strategic planner can be a crucial part of their growth and continued success. A career in strategic management or planning will involve keeping an organization on course through the collection, analysis, and organization of information pertinent to the company’s profitability. This may include tracking industry trends, keeping an eye on external business competition or threats, identifying opportunities and creating action plans for a company based on strategic problem solving.
Strategy jobs typically deal in the “big picture” of the company, and are a key part of both shaping and supporting a company’s overall vision and values. The role is a desirable one within a company, as it provides direct access to senior managers and frequently leads to higher level leadership positions.
Strategy jobs require a candidate to use skills from a variety of disciplines, such as finance and marketing. Since these positions are often highly competitive and require candidates to demonstrate a high level of business acumen, earning an advanced degree in strategy is one of the best ways to prove you have the unique combination of skills and drive required for this often demanding—but incredibly rewarding—career.
What Is a Strategy MBA?
Given the breadth of skills required to be a successful Strategic Manager for a company, it’s easy to see why one would want an advanced degree in the field. An MBA specialization in Strategic Management is designed to provide students with a deep grounding within the logic of competitive advantage, focusing on both a broad understanding of business competition as well as a more nuanced training in analysis and decision making.
Offered at some of the top business schools throughout the globe, a Strategy MBA will help set future business leaders on course for careers in strategy consulting, general management, entrepreneurship, and a number of other careers that require the careful skills of analysis and problem solving gained with this degree.
Why Should I Get a Strategy MBA?
With the unique skill set required for a higher-level role in Strategic Management, earning an MBA with a specialization or major in Strategy can be crucial to proving your skill to potential employers. Regardless of your ultimate career goal, the “big picture” type of training offered by a Strategy MBA can be seen as shorthand for a person with the drive and acumen necessary to make crucial business decisions. And graduates with Strategy MBAs don’t always take jobs as Strategic Planners—they are CEOs, entrepreneurs, and other high-level leaders within their organizations.
Those who do earn Strategy MBAs are also often the highest earners among their MBA-holding peers. According to Payscale, Senior Strategy Manager positions can earn salaries of up to $119,000 per year, a large portion of which comes from bonuses, and occasionally, profit sharing. Graduates of Strategy MBA programs are employed at some of the world’s top companies, such as Deloitte, Amazon, and the Intel Corporation.
Where Can You Get a Strategy MBA?
With an increasing demand throughout the years for qualified and experienced strategy planners, a wide variety of business schools—including some of the top ranked MBA programs in the country—have begun to offer MBA specializations in the field of strategy management/planning.
Below are just a few of the MBA programs throughout the United States offering an MBA in Strategy or Strategic Management.
Temple University Fox School of Business
The Fox School of Business at Temple allows MBA students to focus their degree in Strategic Management, or earn a dual degree that combines an MBA with a Master in Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship (IME). The Department of Strategic Management (SGM) at Fox allows students to approach business strategy from four different angles- entrepreneurship, management, consulting, and international business. All for disciplines help prepare students to be leaders within the strategic management field through hands-on instruction, internship opportunities, networking events, travel abroad experiences, and more.
New York University Stern School of Business
The Stern School of Business at NYU allows MBA students to specialize their degree in Strategy, which will help provide a strong business foundation for the business leaders of tomorrow. The degree will help prepare students for a wide variety of fields, including careers in strategic planning, risk management, and management consulting. Courses in strategic management at Stern include: Competitive strategy in the marketplace, corporate governance, strategic design, strategic talent management, and more.
University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business
The world-renowned Wharton School at UPenn also offers students the opportunity to earn an MBA in Strategic Management, a major which aims to provide a “deep grounding in the basic logic of competitive advantage premised on a careful analytical treatment of the distinct qualities of positions of individual firms and an understanding of broader competitive dynamics.” Some of the courses offered as part of this major at Wharton include: Deals: the Economic Structure of Transacting and Contracting, Strategic Implementation, Multinational Business Strategy, Competitive Strategy and Industrial Structure, and more
The 5 Important Things You’ll Need to Know When Getting an MBA
If you’ve gone through the rigamarole of an MBA application, chances are you’re feeling a bit taxed (no pun intended). Don’t slow down now! Sometimes when you have your life and education under the microscope it’s helpful to get a gentle reminder from a reliable source—like us—of what you hoped to get out of the degree in the first place. Here are a few tips that might help calibrate your b-school compass:
Practice On The Field
Cliff Oxford, founder of the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs, wrote in the New York Times that certain traditional MBA programs are “like having athletes studying game film but never practicing on the field.” This is why many schools encourage students to apply for internships during enrollment or summer semesters. These opportunities can be competitive—especially if you have your mind set on a large company—but don’t let that deter you.
There are many ways to stay connected with the global marketplace, where you will be employed in only two years. For starters, keep applying and remain alert to positions that may have a greater potential for longevity. Interviews that don’t lead to an internship are still essential experiences. If your chosen program doesn’t have adequate outlets for students to engage with employers, ask for them.
Let A Mentor Set The Pace
Mentorships reinforce the idea that there’s no substitute for experience. For students too intimidated to reach out to a professor, consider that mentorships may be the most rewarding part of their job.
Many schools offer a mentorship program built into the curriculum. Large schools like the University of Oregon and the University of Miami pair students with local professionals to “meet regularly throughout the academic year to discuss everything from study habits to career choices.” Schools have reported that these connections are pivotal for students in achieving their ideal positions and cultivating life-long relationships in the field.
Mentorship is also a staple of the career path designed for students at powerhouse business schools like the Yale School of Management, which recently revamped its WE@Yale program.
Change Your Perspective
When under pressure, remember to give yourself a break. Exercise and meditation are steadfast options, but use your imagination. Jerry Seinfeld reportedly displayed images from the Hubble Space Telescope on the walls of his writing room to calm his nerves. ”I don’t find being insignificant depressing. I find it uplifting.”
Completing your MBA is a personal exploration above all else. Don’t forget your true entrepreneurial spirit while finding your footing. After all, changing ones career is the second most common reason, according to students, that they pursue an MBA in a first place.
Experiment With Electives
Special projects and electives are a chance to step out of your comfort zone. These courses are updated on a yearly basis, meaning that they cover cutting-edge topics that can open up new worlds and help you garner skills that separate you from the rest.
For example, the Stern Signature Project at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights recently led students to create a business plan “focused on sustainable employment and profit” for a private Kenyan social enterprise.
The NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights launched in 2013, focusing on various issues like manufacturing, sustainability, and much more.
Get To Know Your Pack
A drive to succeed doesn’t mean that you have to be the lone wolf on Wall Street. Every MBA program has students who come from unique backgrounds, cultures, and histories. These are your future colleagues. They’re also hidden mentors who may be your most valuable supporters.
Many schools, like the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, actively acclimate their students together with unique Olympic-like events, helping bridge the various cultural gaps of the incoming students. Not only are these events fun, unless you hate being outside or sack races, but they are potentially powerful networking events for you and your peers.
Stanford Reigns Supreme on New Financial Times Global Ranking
INSEAD hoped to top the Financial Times MBA rankings for the third year in a row, but it wasn’t to be. The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) gets top bragging rights this year, returning to the number-one spot it has held only once before, in 2012. INSEAD was knocked to number two, followed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, which held steady at number three. London Business School (LBS) reclaimed some ground this year—coming in fourth—after a rare fall last year out of the top five. Harvard Business School (HBS), meanwhile, ranked fifth, its lowest showing since 2008.
Rounding out the top 10 this year were the University of Chicago Booth School of Business at sixth (up from ninth last year); Columbia Business School at seventh (unchanged from 2017); China’s CEIBS at eighth (up from 11th); MIT Sloan School of Management at ninth (up from 13th); and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business at 10th, (also up from 13th).
Perhaps the greatest victors of this year’s FT rankings were two-year MBA programs, which occupied nine out of the top 10 spots. More two-year programs moved up or maintained their position this year than moved down (31 compared to 21). In contrast, more one-year programs lost ground than gained this year (14 up, 21 down).
“It’s great to see the continued strength of the two-year MBA format in this year’s FT rankings, a format that allows for a truly transformational and immersive experience,” said Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond. “LBS’s move back into the top five isn’t surprising in light of the program’s continued strength in job placements, new facilities, curriculum redesign, and location at the heart of business and innovation in Europe (even as Brexit looms),” he continued. “While HBS’s position is inconsistent with Clear Admit’s Decision Wire-based data on applicant preferences, it’s the increasing gap in the FT ranking between Stanford and HBS that seems noteworthy.”
As always, the bearing a given ranking should have on your own choice of schools depends on how closely the methodology used to arrive at that ranking aligns with what you deem most important. So just how does the FT compile its list each year?
Understanding the FT Ranking Methodology
The FT ranking is based on surveys of alumni three years out from graduation, school data, and research rank. Alumni responses inform eight criteria—including average income three years after graduation and salary increase compared with pre-MBA salary. Together, these eight criteria account for 59 percent of the overall ranking. School data inform another 11 criteria—including various measures of diversity such as percentages of female and international faculty, students, and board members. Together these criteria make up another 31 percent of the ranking. The remaining 10 percent of the ranking is based on research rank, calculated according to the number of articles by full-time faculty in 50 internationally recognized journals, weighted relative to faculty size.
Record-Breaking Salaries Put Stanford GSB on Top
Stanford, which ranked second last year, managed to unseat INSEAD this year thanks in part to the record-breaking salaries reported by its alumni. The average Stanford alumnus salary three years after graduation was $214,742, up $20,000 over last year’s figures and the highest recorded since the inaugural FT ranking in 1999. Stanford grads’ average salary also represented a 114-percent gain on their pre-MBA salaries, also the highest increase among ranked schools. That a significant proportion of Stanford grads head into highly lucrative hedge fund positions helped it outdistance its rivals in this regard.
Stanford also far outdistanced its U.S. rivals in terms of the international exposure it affords its students. More than 25 percent of the latest graduating cohort did an internship abroad—compared to an average of 4 percent at ranked U.S. schools. Overall, though, Stanford ranked 32nd for international course exposure, down 14 places from last year. But in other measures of diversity, Stanford made gains, including its international faculty (41 percent), international board (25 percent), and international students (41 percent). In this last figure, too, Stanford set itself apart from its U.S. rivals, the majority of which have recruited fewer international students. Although the average proportion for ranked institutions is down by only one percentage point to 38 percent, the FT noted.
Research Scores Hold HBS, LBS Back
Both HBS and LBS saw their average salaries three years out increase by approximately $14,000—to $192,133 and $167,897 respectively. That climb helped LBS return to the top five this year, but sharp drops in each schools’ research ranks worked against them. Harvard’s research rank plummeted from third to 16th—contributing to its fall to fifth in the overall ranking. “This year’s research rank is based on articles published in 50 academic and practitioner journals by full-time faculty since January 2015, but several Harvard faculty last appeared in these publications in 2014, too long ago to count,” the FT noted. LBS, for its part, dropped from 12th to 27th in research rank.
Rice Business, Olin, Georgetown McDonough, Cornell Johnson See Big Gains
Just as two-year MBA programs fared well with regard to their one-year rivals this year, a select group of individual schools saw big gains this year over last. Rice University’s Jones School of Business jumped 19 places this year, from 64th to 45th. This surge can be attributed primarily to strong salary growth. Average salary grew from $130,189 to $139,189, contributing to a 118-percent increase over pre-MBA salary (up from 97 percent last year).
Washington University’s Olin Business School rose 18 spots, from 68th to 50th. The St. Louis school saw significant gains in average salary ($122,709) and increase over pre-MBA salary (107 percent). Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business jumped 10 spots, from 40th to 30th, thanks also in part to increased average salary, as well as improved research rank (up 10 spots to 17th) and various diversity measures. And Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management also moved 10 spots up in the ranks, from 27th to 17th, due in great part to a significant increase in its research rank, up 13 places to fourth overall.
Spain’s Schools Slip Out of Top 10
In less celebratory news, two of Spain’s top-tier business schools slid out of the FT’s upper-most ranks. IESE slipped from 10th to 11th. Though its graduates’ average salary increased year over year, the increase was slight. Moreover, it slipped seven spots in terms of percentage increase over pre-MBA salary. Research rank, too, fell by five spots over the previous year.
IE Business School, meanwhile, fell out of the ranking altogether—from eighth last year. This is because it couldn’t gather a representative sample of the school’s alumni to take part in the FT’s survey.
As always, those of us here at Clear Admit encourage prospective applicants to use a school’s performance in these and other rankings as just one of many measurements to determine the MBA program that will best fit your individual needs.
You can view the complete Financial Times 2018 Global MBA Rankings here.
This article has been edited and republished with admissions from our sister site, Clear Admit.
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