In today’s world of thriving industries, remarkable technology, and mind-blowing start-up companies, the notion of what composes a successful business is fundamentally important on many levels.
Companies of all types adhere to basic principles of business, and moreover, they rely on business leaders to implement these principles and drive teams, or the entire company itself, towards growth and success.
For those already invested in business education, a master of Business Management will provide the next level in personal and professional development that is needed to perform in the upper reaches of the business world.
MBM or MBA: What’s the Difference?:
Before diving into the ranking, it is important to make a distinction here between the Masters of Business Management (MBM) and the Masters of Business Administration (MBA). The difference here is a subtle one, but even the most subtle differences can have a large impact on your career down the road.
The most notable, and probably the most important difference, between these two degrees is that the Master of Business Management is a more focused degree than the MBA.
While the MBA delves deeply into certain skill sets and areas of business systems, the MBM focuses only on the aspects of business administration that are most relevant to leading and managing organizations. This small difference equivalates into sometimes vastly different coursework and learning outcomes, depending of course on the degree program itself.
Methodology:
- Flexibility Enhancing Components (1/2): The extent to which programs offered flexible course pacings, specialization options, and/or personalized coursework.
- Course Rigor and Quality of Education (1/2): A combination of the relative rank of online graduate business programs from US News & World Report and a measure of online student services offered.
1. Indiana University
Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business offers a wealth of Masters of Science business degrees, including an MS in Strategic Management. The School’s online learning technology features flexible coursework while adhering to strong principles of academic rigor and scholarship.
The School prides itself on innovation and creativity, and in turn strives to develop that trait in its students, so that they may usher in new developments and creations in businesses across the world. So while students are engaging the online coursework, they can be confident they are progressing through a quality program with the same principles and philosophies as comparable residential programs.
2. University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas is a large school mostly known for its robust student body and residential programs, however, the University has dedicated immense resources to developing a quality online learning infrastructure.
Today the University offers a large variety of bachelor’s and master’s level degrees in business. Among these is the Master of Science in Management Science, a 36 semester credit hour degree that focuses on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The program offers students a great deal of flexibility to choose one’s own course of study by choosing courses from the Jindal Graduate School of Management.
Many comparable programs have a set group of elective requirements, but in this program, students can choose their own electives in order to develop expertise in areas that align with personal interests or career goals. Further enhancing the specialization options, the program offers a total of 16 degree concentration options ranging from real estate, to supply chain management, to electronic commerce.
For students interested in developing leadership expertise in a particular area, this program offers incredible flexibility and truly empowers the student to tailor the degree to their specific goals. The program does require at least 2 years of time, however, making it a bit more of a commitment, which does seem like a fair trade for the sheer flexibility offered in this degree.
3. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is both progressive and innovative, offering traditional residential programs at campuses across the country and a wealth of online degree programs housed in the University’s WorldWide campus, which has received national attention and number one rankings for its online Bachelor’s degrees by U.S. News & World Report.
This prestige and acknowledgment are likely due to the University’s commitment to providing world-class educators to teach even purely online courses, which can be completed anywhere anytime. In the University’s words, this is “Online technology for the modern student.”
This technology allows students of the Master of Science in Management program to design their class schedules according to their personal schedules.
The program also employs a technology called Eagle vision, which allows students to interact in virtual classrooms, thereby eliminating a common limitation in online programs i.e. lack of peer interaction.
4. Colorado State University-Global Campus
Colorado State University (CSU) is a large state school with well-developed and highly popular residential programs. Following the boon of online learning, however, the University has since created its Global Campus, which offers online degrees at the undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels.
Among these is a Master of Science in Management, which employs an interdisciplinary curriculum in order to prepare students for successful leadership across various industries. At its core, the program aims to provide the quintessential business management degree described in the intro, that is, a degree that prepares students for management in any field.
The program is designed to accommodate even the busiest of lives and features 24/7 accessible online coursework so that students can truly choose when and how they learn. The program curriculum is designed to provide a firm foundation in the general and interdisciplinary science of management.
5. Concordia University –St Paul
Concordia University uses both online learning programs, on-campus programs, and hybrids between the two to cater to students with every kind of schedule. Among the online programs offered is the Master of Arts in Leadership and Management that is composed of 36 credit hours and 7-week courses.
The program, like most of the University’s online programs, is designed to accommodate busy adult students, who may not have the time for traditional education. The tradeoff, however, is the program requires a relatively large amount of self-motivation, direction, and dedication, as there aren’t any professors in the classroom to hold you accountable.
Though there are built-in rewards for the particularly invested students–to whom accelerated courses are available, which cut down both on cost and time requirements.
6. Northeastern University
Northeastern University has a rich history of education and was founded in 1898, and ever since has established itself on a tradition of engaging with the world.
In recent decades, this tradition has been enacted through the vitalization of robust online degree programs, supplemented by campuses across the country in Boston, Massachusetts, Silicon Valley, California Toronto, Canada, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Seattle, Washington. The University offers a Master of Science in Leadership that is steeped heavily in philosophical principles and values of leadership, which are universally valued and highly marketable.
7. University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a large state school that in recent years has received national attention for the quality of its online degree programs. Among these is the Master of Arts in Management with an emphasis on Global Business Management.
This program takes leadership to a new level and introduces principles of leadership at the global level. This unique focus is designed to enhance cross-cultural communication, adaptability, and leadership skills–making graduates of the program valuable assets to any company with worldwide operations.
The focus on global business management emphasis–while still the same at the foundation–requires a much different and much more unique curriculum than similar programs on this list.
8. Champlain College
Champlain College is a well-known name in online education and has received numerous positive reviews from such institutions as U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review. The University offers a fully online Master of Science in Executive Leadership, which can be completed in just one year.
The program emphasizes a philosophy of transformational leadership, where the leadership is centered around the energy, enthusiasm, and vision that generates positive change in those around the leaders, thus creating further positive change across entire businesses and organizations. This notion of transformational leadership is a crucial characteristic of executive leadership, as executives are not just charged with, but expected to create such positive change.
9. Liberty University
Liberty University is a pioneer of online education, and was one of the first to break into the field of distance learning, and today is the nation’s largest private, nonprofit online university. It is also unique in its strong dedication to Christianity, and implementing a Christian philosophy into its distance learning degree programs.
The University’s philosophy is that a student’s caling towards a certain profession is one of God’s hands, and that it is therefore the school’s duty to provide the best education and support possible so that the student may follow their calling.
While these beliefs are strong in the University’s foundations, the University is accepting of all viewpoints and perspectives in its students, so students from other belief systems can still expect a strong education at Liberty.
10. University of Wisconsin — Platteville
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville has a long and vibrant history dating back over 150 years and has been a leader of distance education for 35 years.
The University has demonstrated its prowess in online education and earned impressive acknowledgments from ranking institutions such as U.S. News & World Report, GetEducated.com, and more.
The University prices its programs competitively and has removed many of the application requirements of comparable programs, making it uniquely appealing for many prospective students of online education. The University also employs academic advisors to assist students from enrollment to graduation, so that students never feel isolated or confused by the online learning systems.
The University offers a Master of Science in Project Management and a separate degree in Supply Chain Management. As mentioned in the introduction, the Master’s in Business Management is a characteristically broad and generalized degree.
The degree options offered here, however, are specialized versions of the degree, narrowing the focus of coursework, so that students who have have their eyes set on these career paths can enter the field with relevant specializations.
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