What can I do with a Master’s in Management?

Many professionals arrive at a point in their careers where they feel they’ve plateaued. Whether you feel you’re lacking knowledge to be able to responsibly advise on organizational changes or need new skills to take on a leadership role, an online Master in Management (MiM) degree could be a great opportunity to grow your professional potential. Learn more about the degree and its curriculum, how the MiM compares to the MBA, skills gained with an MiM and what types of careers and roles you can pursue with the degree.

A Master in Management (MiM) is a graduate-level business degree that can prepare you for advanced organizational leadership responsibilities. An MiM offers courses in topics like leadership, change management, negotiations, team building, and project management.

A management master’s degree is applicable to all industries, whether you work in hospitality, construction, healthcare or tech. It’s also versatile in that it’s a useful degree for taking the reins of the family business or trying to get up the corporate ladder faster and take on a leadership role. The MiM is a great degree to build on your foundation of knowledge about operating a business, and will make you into an adept problem-solver and an expert in managing people.

The programs might seem similar on the surface and both will likely help you advance your career but when you compare MBA and MiM degrees side-by-side you can see how they serve different purposes. To begin with, the MiM tends to be more broadly applicable to different industries and types of careers while the MBA is more relevant for professionals working in private sector, sales-focused business environments. Depending on the institution presenting the program, an MiM degree program might share some courses and faculty with MBA programs, however, at the core the degrees meet different career goals. MBA programs typically include more “business essentials” courses like accounting and marketing and have a stronger thematic focus on quantifiable business outcomes. MiMs tend to hone in on people and operations management for the purpose of bettering employee performance and organizational culture thereby improving business overall.

Some advantages of a management master’s degree are related to the admissions requirements. MiM programs often don’t require any previous work experience or GMAT/GRE scores to apply. They also don’t require that you come from a background in business, making the MiM a great option for people who work adjacent to or outside of the business world and want to step into a leadership role or those who are looking for a career change from another field.

Generally speaking, an MiM will help you establish the critical interpersonal and leadership skills necessary to run a successful organization. You might see a management master’s curriculum that includes:

Leadership skills

Master in Management students are likely to spend a significant amount of time studying methods and practices of strong leaders. Some courses will take a theoretical approach to the topic and have students define and identify leadership styles and why they’re effective. Courses such as these often cover leadership characteristics including personality traits, values, competencies, and communication and conflict handling styles. MiM courses on leadership will also encourage students to interrogate the effects they have on others as a leader and manager. A thorough MiM program will include courses that discuss employee coaching and development tactics and explore mentorship strategies so that you can help others develop new skills to progress in their careers.

Ethical business practices

Great leaders don’t just make decisions that further their department and career. The best leaders take into account the effects their decisions will make on the whole company, society and the environment. Some universities focus on ethical business practices and might have specific courses addressing those values or will have a component to many of their courses that hones in on applying your personal values to the way you work. Courses in business ethics might cover issues of discrimination and affirmative action in the workplace, whistle blowing, economic justice, environmental impact and the effects of the global economy.

Diversity and inclusion tactics

No longer considered just an “offshoot” of human resources responsibilities, businesses across the globe are investing deeper into diversity and inclusion efforts and need managers and leaders who can competently oversee these projects. Master in Management courses on this topic will likely learn from social science and dig into studies specifically in workplace environments. Students might also learn how individual, interpersonal and organizational factors influence diversity and how to deal with discrimination and stereotyping. Comprehensive management programs will also prepare students to design and evaluate processes to advance diversity and inclusion efforts.

Human resources management

Today it’s more clear than ever that one of the biggest competitive advantages you can have as a business of any size, is to be able to attract, retain, nurture and motivate the employees in your organization. An MiM will help you to learn how leadership plays a role in creating workplace culture and how it can hinder those efforts. The best management master’s programs will introduce students to advanced and cutting-edge practices for talent acquisition, organizational development, talent management, strategic workforce planning, employee engagement and more. Master’s level human resources courses might also focus on how data analytics can inform personnel decisions at a business.

Change management

Today’s most successful leaders (whether at the head of a team or the CEO of a company) need to be adaptable to all sorts of changes. Remote work and the return to office, mergers and acquisitions and policy implementation are all examples of transitions and challenges that professionals might face. To minimize the stress on employees and run things as smoothly as possible, leaders need to be capable of crisis management and confidently engage employees in the transition, whatever it may be.

These types of courses make up the foundation of a Master in Management curriculum but you can expect a variety of additional electives depending on the program you attend. Electives could include sports management, courses in managing creative teams or courses in international business.

As you’ve learned, a Master in Management is a highly-applicable graduate degree that can be used by almost any professional to further their career. Some roles that management master’s students might be interested in are listed below.

HR Manager

Median pay: $121,220 per year¹

As an HR manager you’ll act as the link between the employees of your organization and management. Design, plan, execute and evaluate efforts in recruiting and retaining staff, improving culture, managing benefits, increasing diversity and inclusion and more.

Director of Operations

$107,680 per year²

Operations managers might direct and oversee an organization’s financial and budgetary activities or manage general activities related to making products and providing services. They could also analyze financial statements, sales reports, and other performance indicators and

identify places to cut costs and to improve performance, policies, and programs.

Training and Development Manager

$115,640 per year³

Training and development managers typically supervise a staff of specialists, such as instructional designers, program developers, and instructors. Managers develop training plans and options that align with an organization’s goals and might instruct employees themselves.

Construction Manager

Median pay: $97,180 per year⁴

Construction managers are the project managers of building and construction. They manage budgets, timelines, teams and much more. For large building projects a top-level construction manager may hire other managers for different aspects of the project.

Management Analyst

Median pay: $87,660 per year⁵

“Management analyst” is a general term for someone who consults companies about maximizing efficiency and improving operations. This person might be brought in during a merger or acquisition or for helping with other aspects of change management.