Welcome to F1GMAT's #askAtulJose series. I am Atul Jose. In today's episode, I have a question from a reader who asks.
Q) Which top MBA program should I consider for a career in Operations Management? I have 4 years of experience with a leading retail company in the US.
You must evaluate business schools and MBA programs in three contexts. One is the ecosystem. Whether the school has a robust research department in Operations Management and do they have a center dedicated to hosting events across disciplines around Operations Management.
The second factor is the emphasis on Operations Management in the MBA curriculum. Some programs have Operations Management in the core itself, while the best schools will have a specialization, concentration, experiential learning, consulting projects, or at least more than 10 electives in this function.
The third but most important factor is the hiring trends. That is the percentage of the class hired into the Operation Management function. And whether the median base salary is competitive enough. In 2023, a competitive median base salary for an operations Management professional from a top Business School post-MBA is $130,000 and above, with a total median salary range of $160,000 to $180,000.
Based on these three factors, I would recommend two programs:
1) MIT Sloan Full-time MBA
Sloan's Operations Management Group is at the forefront of all leading research around Operations in the university. MBA students can choose the concentration in Operations Management, which covers a wide range of electives, including Operations Research, Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, eCommerce, Pricing, Quality Control, Inventory Control, Process Design, and Product Development. The school has institutes dedicated to each specialization, like the Lean Advancement Initiative, Operations Research Center, and MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics.
Sloan also provides a certification in Sustainability that prepares students to bring Sustainability across processes, technology, and organization through Operations.
For the 2022 Graduating Class, close to 10% chose the Operations function with a $145,000 median base salary and a $35,000 sign-on bonus.
2) Ross's Full-time MBA
Ross School of Business has Operation Management in the first-year curriculum itself. In partnership with the Tauber Institute, Ross offers a Global Operations program for those who are interested in specializing in Supply Chain Management or Manufacturing. The school also has over 24 electives around Operations and Technology with their Action Learning Projects in a wide range of niches in Operations, Procurement, AI in Business, and Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Management.
In 2022, the Operations/Logistics function offers were accepted by 9% of the class, with a median salary of $133,000 and $30,000 as a sign-on bonus.
So MIT Sloan and Ross MBA are two programs for you.
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