<h2 class = 'uawtitle'>How Product Managers Benefit From An MBA Degree</h2><br />
<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>by Sophia Gerritsen</div><br /><br />
<div class='uawarticle'>If you are looking for a role where you can have a lot of influence on a new product, you should look at getting into a product manager position. Besides being interesting, it is a well-paid job. You'll be involved with market research, product definition, product development and launching the product.<br />
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This is no doubt a very pivotal role to be filled in companies that build products or services. As such, there are almost as many employment opportunities in this field as there are companies in the world.<br />
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To enhance your career in product management, you should consider pursuing an MBA (Master in Business Administration) degree. There is a wide variety of programs available that suit most needs and circumstances.<br />
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<b>What a PM needs to be good at</b> The most important skills of a pm are research, an ability to work with different types of people and understanding marketing. This will help you create a product definition, work on it with design and engineering, define its value to consumers and explain it to management.<br />
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In a normal setting, a PM may take care of the existing products through life-cycle management and makes sure one or more new and inventive products are being developed.<br />
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As you can see, a PM needs to be a jack-of-all-trades and this means learning a broad set of skills. A relatively quick way of acquiring these different skills is by getting an MBA education.<br />
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<b>Why you need an MBA</b> From marketing to managerial economics, to organizational behavior, an MBA education covers a wide range of business topics. Usually courses are taught with both theory and case studies for both theoretical and a practical skill building. This is what gives MBAs an edge in the job market.<br />
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For business-oriented careers, an MBA is as important a crowning achievement as a first class honors degree. Because of its ability to boost your career, you should choose a reputable institution.<br />
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<b>Requirements to enter an MBA program</b> The requirements for entry differ per program. Usually, you'll need a bachelor's degree or you must prove you have attained a similar level of knowledge through experience. In many programs you need at least a few years of work experience.<br />
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Case study based learning is an essential part of MBA programs and is one reason why you need work experience to join an MBA program. By sharing their real-life experiences on top of the academic theories, students can learn from each-other.<br />
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Needless to say, this is a competitive edge that many employers will look for when interviewing for the product management jobs.<br />
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<b>Product Management MBA programs</b> There is no standard for what a product management MBA program should encompass. However, it seems most of these programs put a great deal of emphasis on marketing and brand management.<br />
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Market research, consumer behavior and product positioning are all important topics for PMs and are usually covered in marketing courses. Brand management is useful because it deals with the identity of the company and that identity supports and needs to be supported by the product shipping under it's brand.<br />
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There are several highly respected schools globally, so you can choose to study nearby or make it an international adventure.<br />
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<b>MBA study options</b><br />
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<i>Full-time</i> Full-time programs are great, because you get to focus purely on studying and you get to know your fellow students very well. Though this is the quickest way of doing an MBA, it also requires a significant financial commitment. During the approximately 2 years of a full-time program, you'll have to be able to pay for the tuition costs and costs of study materials, while have little to no income.<br />
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<i>Part-time</i> People who are not willing to let go of their jobs may opt for part time classes. These may be evening classes, weekend and holidays. While it is convenient in terms of finances, it will take a considerable longer period of time to accomplish and makes it very hard to take a break for multiple years. You will be spending a lot of your free time on the MBA, so make sure that your family is ok with that. Studies typically take 4 years.<br />
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<i>Online programs</i> Over the last few years a variety of online MBA programs have sprung up. While these programs are convenient, it is harder to build a network with and learn from your fellow students. Hence these programs are primarily good for obtaining new theoretical skills.<br />
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<div class='uawlinks'>To read another opinion about the value of an MBA education in Product Management, <a href="http://www.amazines.com/article_detail.cfm/5749287?articleid=5749287">see another article here</a></div><br />
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