MBA Career Paths | Questrom School of Business

Create a curriculum for the degree you want. Whether it’s building on your existing talents or exploring a new business area, MBA career pathways allows you to mix and match electives to reach your individual career goals. Travel your own path! Here are the options:

AcademicsCareer Pathways

digital technology

Business Analytics

Digital Product Management

Internal & External Technical Consulting

business analytics

Follow this Pathway if you want to work in the data analytics domain and focus on machine learning, data mining, programming, and data driven decision making. 

Suggested Electives:
Foundational Managerial Classes (no programming):
IS 811 Responsible AI for Business Analytics
IS 823 Analytics for Managers (does not count for MSDT credit)
IS 841 Advanced Analytics for Managers: Data Mining

Foundational Technical Classes (programming-based):
IS 737 Decision Making with Data
IS 834 Business Analytics in Practice Plus Introductory Programming (Equivalent to IS 833 taken solely by MSDT students). Teaches programming at the level of QM 875 and its application to analytics in the same course. This class (or QM 875) is recommended but not required prior to the following classes:
IS 843 Big Data Analytics for Business
MK 842 Machine Learning for Business Analytics

Other Electives to Consider:
Skills:
QM 870 R Bootcamp 
QM 877 Intro to Python Bootcamp
QM 878 Deep Learning with Python Bootcamp
QM 880 Business Analytics: Spreadsheet Optimization and Simulation 

Applications:
MK 852 Data-Driven Marketing Decisions 
MK 876 Digital Marketing Analytics 

Digital Product Management

This Pathway is for you if you’re interested in working in product management, focusing on innovation strategy and the design, development, and introduction of new and existing digital products.  

Internal & External Technical Consulting

Choose this Pathway to learn to become a technical consultant, focused on innovation, intellectual property, and linking business and technology strategies. 

AcademicsCareer Pathways

Finance

Corporate Finance

Commercial & Investment Banking

Financial Analyst & Asset Management

Finance in Startup Ventures

Starting Your Own Business or Social Venture

Corporate Innovation

International Entrepreneurship

Managing an Entrepreneurial Organization

Financing Ventures

corporate finance

This Pathway is for you if you’re interested in working in finance with focus on financial considerations relating to corporate growth, accounting practices, and risk management decision making. Typical jobs in this area include finance associate, financial analyst, director of finance, treasury analyst, director of financial planning and analysis, senior accountant, corporate auditor, development officer, or risk manager.

commercial and investment banking

This Pathway is for students who want to focus on domestic and international investment analysis and strategy. Typical jobs in this area include relationship banker, financial planner, loan officer, trust officer, investment banking associate, M&A associate, buy side analyst, equity or fixed income researcher, director of investor relations, or capital markets sales associate.

financial analyst & Asset management

This is the right Pathway if you’re interested in focusing on domestic investment strategy and innovative financial technology. Typical jobs in this area include senior analyst, financial analyst, equity and/or fixed income researcher, asset manager, investment operations manager, corporate actions associate, and financial consultant.

Finance in startup ventures

Choose this Pathway if you want to work in the fast-paced startup world, with a focus on capital raising, finance investment strategies and tools relating to forecasting and managing needs of startups. Typical jobs in this area include VC associate, director of finance, senior acquisitions analyst, investor relations associate, director of financial planning & analysis, private equity analyst, deal execution associate, startup controller, and portfolio manager.

Other Electives to Consider:
SI 814 Intellectual Property Strategies
BE 834 Macroeconomics in the Global Environment
SI 845 Technology Strategy
FE 850 Private Equity: Leveraged Buyouts

Other Electives to Consider (depending on industry of interest):
HM 710 Health Service Delivery: Strategies, Solutions and Execution
HM 717 Drugs, Devices, and Diagnostics: New Challenges, Strategies, and Execution
HM 801 Bench-to-Bedside: Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace
IS 854 Digital Strategy for Emerging Business Leaders
QM 880 Business Analytics: Spreadsheet Optimization and Simulation

Starting your own business or social venture

Many successful companies are started by MBAs—Zoom, Rent the Runway, and Peloton, to name a few. Many Questrom MBAs have formed companies, such as Healthy Gamer, Evertrue, and All in Energy (nonprofit). In this Pathway, you’ll learn the skills of ideation, validation, financial modeling, and pitching that will be crucial to your success as an entrepreneur. In several of these classes, you can work on your own business idea as the class project.

Other Electives to Consider:
IS 827 Platform Strategy and Design
MK 856 Consumer Insights
OM 854 Operations Analysis and Innovation
OM 865 Idea Lab
OM 880 Product Design and Development
SI 814 Intellectual Property Strategies
SI 839 Design Thinking and Innovation
SI 845 Technology Strategy
SI 871 Strategies for Bringing Technology to Market
IS 815 FinTech Revolution: Disruptive Technologies, Blockchain and Future of Finance
IS 855 Digital Transformation: Immersive Interactions and Insights at Silicon Valley
HM 717 Drugs, Devices, and Diagnostics: New Challenges, Strategies, and Execution
HM 801 Bench-to-Bedside: Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace

Extra-Curriculars:
G.51
VCIC
Catalyst
Innovation Pathway (BUild Lab)

corporate innovation

Today’s companies know they must innovate or die. This explains why Corporate Innovation Groups are on the rise in many companies. Choose this Pathway if you want to become an innovator in this field. You’ll learn to manage the cultivation, design, development, and commercialization of new ideas. To be innovative, any new idea must resolve the innovation paradox—introducing enough novelty to appeal to new markets while retaining enough familiarity to tap into existing behaviors. Managers and leaders create the conditions for innovation at the individual, team and organizational levels, and are successful through their knowledge of opportunity recognition, business analytics, idea interdependence, and intellectual property.

Suggested Electives:
SI 860 Managing Corporate Innovation
SI 855 Entrepreneurship

Extra-Curriculars:
G.51
VCIC
Catalyst
Link Day (Nonprofit and Social Ventures)

International entrepreneurship

Follow this Pathway to become an international entrepreneur. Whether a new venture is a small startup in a predominantly domestic market or a larger operation involving multi-national corporations, an understanding of global financial policies, cultures, and interdependencies is critical for the creation of a compelling business plan and the cultivation of strategic alliances. Building a business model that considers foreign opportunities and volatility relating to supply chain, essential partnerships, and the differences of global markets, will inform potential investors about the feasibility of a product and the scalability of its structure and can be the key to unlocking crucial funding.

Other Electives to Consider:
SI 868 International Consulting Project
FE 827 International Financial Management
FE 838 Emerging Markets: Finance and Investment Strategies
SR 801 Social Impact: Business, Society, and the Natural Environment

Extra-Curriculars:
Catalyst
Link Day (Nonprofit and Social Ventures)

Managing an entrepreneurial organization

You may not want to start your own venture, but instead join an existing early-stage venture or social venture. In this Pathway, you’ll address issues relating to human resource management, funding sources, revenue models, rapid culture change and addressing the multiple challenges caused by rapid growth.

Other Electives to Consider:
MO 848 The Leadership Challenge
MO 853 Negotiations
MO 844 Managing Organizational Change
IS 827 Platform Strategy and Design
SR 801 Social Impact: Business, Society, and the Natural Environment

Extra-Curriculars:
Catalyst
Link Day (Nonprofit and Social Ventures)

Financing ventures

The creation of new growth-oriented businesses relies heavily on venture capital and corporate venture capital funding. This Pathway prepares you to handle fundraising, investing (deal structure, terms, due diligence, governance) and gaining liquidity. Partners are responsible for identifying investment objectives and finding suitable opportunities in line with their investment thesis.

Other Electives to Consider:
FE 850 Private Equity: Leveraged Buyouts
FE 823 Investments
MO 853 Negotiations
SI 855 Entrepreneurship

Extra-Curriculars:
G.51
VCIC

Energy and Sustainability

Perhaps no area of innovation and entrepreneurship is more exciting than “cleantech”: the development of new technologies, business models and products/services that advance environmental sustainability. Given that the many observers consider climate change to be the most urgent environmental sustainability issue facing humanity, innovation and entrepreneurship in the energy sector is especially vital to reduce global carbon emissions.

Suggested Electives:

Other Electives to Consider:

Extra-Curriculars:
G.51
VCIC

AcademicsCareer Pathways

Leadership &
Organizational Transformation

Human Resources Management

Leading Change & Organizational Transformation Consulting

human resources management

Select this Pathway to learn to deal with the recruitment, development, motivation, and retention of a workforce to enable the achievement of an organization’s mission and strategy. This requires a mastery of leadership principles and a deep understanding of behavioral economics, cultural differences, and conflict resolution.

Suggested Electives:
MO 838 People Strategies to Drive Performance
MO 844 Managing Organizational Change

Other Electives to Consider:
MO 848 The Leadership Challenge
MO 853 Negotiations
MO 856 Mediation and Conflict Resolution
SI 839 Design Thinking and Innovation
SI 859 Strategy Implementation
BE 845 Improving Your Decisions
MO 830 Competing in Business Networks
MO 835 Leading Sustainable Enterprises*
SR 841 Fundamentals of Nonprofit Management*
HM 703 Health Sector Issues and Opportunities*

* These courses are recommended for students interested in a career within Not-For-Profit, Government, or Mission-Driven Organizations.

Leading change & organizational transformation Consulting

In this Pathway, you’ll learn how to help organizations be more effective and agile by mastering an understanding of change management, behavioral science, and a high level of analytic and interpersonal skills. A consultant in this field must possess the skills necessary to structure an effective organization, to assess and manage interpersonal and team dynamics, performance, development, and reward systems, and provide mentoring and coaching at multiple levels of a company.

AcademicsCareer Pathways

marketing

Brand/Product Management (Business-to-Business)

Brand/Product Management (Business-to-Consumer)

Business Development

Category Management

Customer Data Analytics

Customer Insights

Demand Generation & Digital Marketing

Brand/product management (business-to-business)

Follow this Pathway to learn to market to businesses, organizations, and government, which is fundamentally different from marketing to consumers for a myriad of reasons related to customers (e.g., larger customers, more complex decision-making units, the need for relationship building between suppliers and customers, etc.) and related to the role of marketing within the firm (e.g., greater level of customization of the offerings; need for closer interaction and alignment among marketing and manufacturing/R&D/product development, customer service, etc.).

Marketing jobs in B2B companies include product/brand management, account management, sales, business development, and partner relationship management. Product/brand management typically involves identifying strategic market opportunities, assessing the competitive landscape, coordinating across the cross-functional product/brand team, and working closely with R&D, engineering, design, manufacturing, sales, analytics, market research, regulatory, and finance to develop and execute the product/brand plan. Account management typically involves supporting product and services sales, researching technology trends, identifying opportunities for sales and services, and designing customer-facing dashboards to provide transparency and facilitate renewal conversations. Sales management typically involves developing demand generation events, utilizing strong financial selling skills using ROI models, crafting data-driven executive communication, and building trusted relationships with clients and business partners.

Brand/product management (business-to-Consumer)

A company’s brand can be the greatest asset it has, and management of that asset is critical. To do so requires a 360 view of the brand and all customer touchpoints, and the ability to work with all functional areas to manage the brand in a consistent way. Follow this Pathway if you want to become a brand manager with a deep understanding of the current perception of a brand, and the ability to use marketing strategies, data analytics, and consumer psychology to mold that image to align with the customer and meet an organization’s goals.

Business development

In this Pathway you’ll learn to grow a company’s profits through attracting new customers, expanding the relationship, and increasing sales with customers to increase the company’s market share, thus creating long-term value for the firm. In B2B firms this can mean developing partnerships with collaborators or new customers. In B2C companies it means developing and managing new customer relationships but typically focusing on customer and market segments rather than individual customers.

customer data analytics

Customer analytics leverages the explosion of consumer data to improve marketing. Choose this Pathway to learn critical analytical skills for the evidence-based future of business. Specifically, customer analytics measures the return on marketing activities, evaluates customer profitability, and predicts future business success. Organizations are increasingly relying on machine learning and data mining to inform craft marketing, strategies and tactics to create real impact.

category management

Choose this Pathway if you’re interested in becoming part of a category management team. You’ll learn to serve as the external and internal ambassador of product categories, mobilizing and coaching suppliers on how to grow their business on our sites, and leveraging internal partners to execute the strategic vision to win in the online home space.

These professionals are problem-solving, entrepreneurial types looking to help shape the strategy and profitability for specific verticals. This position is generally available in retail organizations – online or omni-channel. As a category manager, you’ll work with external partners, suppliers, and internal cross-functional teams to advance your category’s business agenda and drive strategic business decisions. Category managers have ownership of key supplier relationships and make a direct impact on the category and bottom line. You’ll be expected to define overarching goals and strategy for your category, problem-solve, articulate and execute against tactical plans, and manage key business metrics. Category managers must be able to expertly negotiate internally and externally, while also being effective project managers.

Customer Insights

Consumer Insights and market research are core to any marketing organization – B2B, B2C or B2B2C – healthcare and social impact included. Marketers need to be able to integrate primary research with data analysis to uncover consumer insights and then apply this to new product development or any other aspect of creating new markets. Test and learn, iterate, repeat are also core to this profession and make this person valuable to the organization.Marketing jobs in B2B companies include product/brand management, account management, sales, business development, and partner relationship management. Product/brand management typically involves identifying strategic market opportunities, assessing the competitive landscape, coordinating across the cross-functional product/brand team, and working closely with R&D, engineering, design, manufacturing, sales, analytics, market research, regulatory, and finance to develop and execute the product/brand plan. Account management typically involves supporting product and services sales, researching technology trends, identifying opportunities for sales and services, and designing customer-facing dashboards to provide transparency and facilitate renewal conversations. Sales management typically involves developing demand generation events, utilizing strong financial selling skills using ROI models, crafting data-driven executive communication, and building trusted relationships with clients and business partners.

Suggested Electives:
MK852 Data Driven Marketing Decisions
MK856 Consumer Insights

Other Electives to Consider:
K854 Branding
MK878 Customer Analytics
MK876 Digital Marketing Analytics
OM880 Product Design and Development
SI839 Design Thinking and Innovation
SI859 Strategy Implementation

Demand Generation and Digital Marketing

Demand generation and digital marketing combines both content creation and analytics. Demand Gen’s responsibility is to drive digital prospects from the top through the sale and even loyalty post sale. B2B, B2C and B2B2C companies all have this job. This is one of the biggest growth areas in communications and digital marketing, so this pathway is relevant to the future.
Marketing jobs in B2B companies include product/brand management, account management, sales, business development, and partner relationship management. Product/brand management typically involves identifying strategic market opportunities, assessing the competitive landscape, coordinating across the cross-functional product/brand team, and working closely with R&D, engineering, design, manufacturing, sales, analytics, market research, regulatory, and finance to develop and execute the product/brand plan. Account management typically involves supporting product and services sales, researching technology trends, identifying opportunities for sales and services, and designing customer-facing dashboards to provide transparency and facilitate renewal conversations. Sales management typically involves developing demand generation events, utilizing strong financial selling skills using ROI models, crafting data-driven executive communication, and building trusted relationships with clients and business partners.

Suggested Electives:
MK845 Engaging Consumers in a Digital World
MK876 Digital Marketing Analytics

Other Electives to Consider:
MK835 ECommerce Strategy
MK852 Data Driven Marketing Decisions
MK854 Branding
MK856 Consumer Insights
SI839 Design Thinking and Innovation
SI859 Strategy Implementation

AcademicsCareer Pathways

operations & Technology management

Supply Chain & Logistics

Digital Product Analytics

Services/Healthcare

Supply CHain & Logistics

In this Pathway, you’ll master effective modeling skills, production planning, inventory optimization, and scheduling logistics. An understanding of global markets is critical when choosing strategic partnerships, and when balancing the risks and benefits of expanding into new markets. An appreciation for clean technologies in supply chain decision-making has become increasingly important as greater transparency in business practices and shifting public opinion pressure companies to adopt environmentally sustainable solutions.

Digital product analytics

Managers in the field of digital product analytics use data mining techniques and machine learning algorithms to analyze sales-related data and forecast demand for existing and new products. In this Pathway, you’ll develop a thorough knowledge of the peculiarities unique to platform businesses and technology-intensive industries and be able to interact with many players including designers, engineers, manufacturers, and marketing specialists.

Services/healthcare

Follow this Pathway if your goal is the management of the service-oriented industry. This job requires the ability to identify, analyze, and improve existing business practices through streamlining and cost reduction strategies, using data analytics and methods such as Lean Six Sigma to eliminate wasteful practices and optimize profitability, while maintaining quality and service objectives. Improving the accessibility of patient data and the efficiency of patient care in the healthcare industry is an area of expansive growth as soaring healthcare costs have increasingly led companies to adopt value-based business models.

AcademicsCareer Pathways

strategy

Product Management

Business Development

Management Consulting

product management

Choose this Pathway to learn to become a product manager, dealing with the planning, forecasting, development, production, and/or marketing of a product at all stages of the lifecycle. Companies may define the role to be predominantly product/service development or product/service marketing focused. A product manager can be thought of as the “general manager” of product/service whose role spans many activities from strategic to tactical and varies based on the organizational structure of the company.

Other Electives to Consider:
SI 830 Corporate Strategies for Growth
SI 814 Intellectual Property Strategies
SI 845 Technology Strategy
SI 839 Design Thinking and Innovation
IS 827 Platform Strategy and Design
MK 853 Global Strategic Marketing
SI 842 Real Estate Development
SI 849 Corporate Sustainability Strategy
SI 852 Starting New Ventures
SI 855 Entrepreneurship
SI 871 Strategies for Bringing Technology to Market
HM 710 Health Service Delivery: Strategies, Solutions and Execution
HM 717 Drugs, Devices, and Diagnostics: New Challenges, Strategies, and Execution
HM 801 Bench-to-Bedside: Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace
HM 817 Advances in Digital Health
HM 833 Health Sector Marketing
HM 848 Driving Health Sector Innovation

business development

Business development is a general term that means many different things to many different industries. Choose this Pathway to become a business developer, who will most likely deal with the analysis and preparation for execution of potential strategic growth opportunities at the senior management or board of directors levels. Business developers collaborate with and integrate the knowledge and feedback from the organization’s functional groups, e.g., R&D/Eng, Mfg, Ops, Mktg, Sales , and Finance to inform the development of a strategic plan and implementation roadmap for the organization.

In technology-related industries, business development is fairly mature and much more specific, referring to setting up and managing strategic relationships and alliances with other, third-party companies. Thus, business development focuses on the implementation of the strategic business plan through equity financing, acquisition/divestiture of technologies, products, and companies, plus the establishment of strategic partnerships where appropriate.

management consulting

Management consulting is a very broad field. If you follow this Pathway, you’ll generally focus on learning to help organizations improve their performance, operating primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and the development of plans for improvement. Organizations engage the services of management consultants for a number of reasons including gaining objective external advice, access to the consultants’ specialized expertise, and the capacity to execute specific short–term projects. Specific services offered can range from providing organizational change management assistance, personnel development/coaching to process analysis, technology implementation, strategy development, and merger/acquisition advisory services. In small boutique management consulting firms, the services are often focused on specific areas of expertise or specific vertical industries, while larger firms offer a portfolio of services to a broad array of industries.

Other Electives to Consider*:
SI 814 Intellectual Property Strategies
SI 839 Design Thinking and Innovation
SI 845 Technology Strategy
SI 871 Strategies for Bringing Technology to Market
HM 710 Health Service Delivery: Strategies, Solutions and Execution
HM 717 Drugs, Devices, and Diagnostics: New Challenges, Strategies, and Execution
HM 801 Bench-to-Bedside: Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace
HM 817 Advances in Digital Health
IS 827 Platform Strategy and Design
IS 828 Managing Information Security
IS 841 Advanced Analytics for Managers: Data Mining
IS 854 Digital Strategy for Emerging Business Leaders
OM 840 Managing and Improving Quality: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification
OM 854 Operations Analysis and Innovation
OM 855 Project Management
QM 880 Business Analytics: Spreadsheet Optimization and Simulation

*Other Electives You Might Consider listed in Strategy Career Pathways are dependent upon the particular industry of interest to the student.

Career Pathways

digital technology

business analytics

Digital Product Management

Internal & External Technical Consulting

Finance

corporate finance

commercial and investment banking

financial analyst & Asset management

Finance in startup ventures

Starting your own business or social venture

corporate innovation

International entrepreneurship

Managing an entrepreneurial organization

Financing ventures

Energy and Sustainability

Leadership &Organizational Transformation

human resources management

Leading change & organizational transformation Consulting

marketing

Brand/product management (business-to-business)

Brand/product management (business-to-Consumer)

Business development

customer data analytics

category management

Customer Insights

Demand Generation and Digital Marketing

operations & Technology management

Supply CHain & Logistics

Digital product analytics

Services/healthcare

strategy

product management

business development

management consulting

Leadership &
Organizational Transformation