Top MBA Programs with Specialization in Product Management

MBA in product management from top b-schools

In this modern era, organizations are hunting for skilled individuals who have expertise in specific business functions. To keep up with the trends of the market and cater to the growing demand for specific skills and knowledge base, B-schools have introduced unique and innovative specializations. Product Management is one such a new age specialization which is gaining a lot of interest from corporate companies as well as MBA aspirants.

Product Management specialization focuses on the lifecycle of a product. This specialization dives deep into the product right from the stage of its ideation and competitive analysis up till the marketing and distribution. Candidates passed out with this specialization would be skilled to work with various industries such as manufacturing, food processing, IT etc.

NYU Stern

Though all the graduates of NYU Stern pass out of the university with a degree in general management, the MBA program there allows the students to take up a maximum of 3 specializations. Product management is one of the popular specializations offered at NYU. This specialization includes the following courses:

  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Pricing strategy
  • Product development
  • Digital Marketing
  • Brand strategy

NYU Stren provides ample exposure and diverse opportunities for the students to launch a great career in product management area.

Carnegie Mellon University

The Tepper School of Business which operates under Carnegie Mellon University also offers three different types of Product Management courses to its Master’s in Business Administration students.

New Product Management: This specialization helps students get familiarize with the process of introducing new products to the market, developing product strategies, planning marketing strategies for the product and reviewing the feedback for new products.

Management of Innovation and Product Development: This specialization emphasizes on strategizing and implementing innovative products. Towards the end of this course, students’ innovation is encouraged through a corporate-sponsored project. This course holds a track record of 15 patent applications applied by the corporate sponsors for the innovative products of the students.

Product and Brand Management:  This course engages the students with a variety of class activities like case studies, lectures, coursework, and brainstorming sessions to make them ready for the real product management world. Apart from this, students also can participate in role plays where they get to be professional in product management verticals ranging from VP Marketing to Product Assistant.

Harvard Business School

It is a very well-known fact that Harvard Business School offers some of the best and most unique specializations to its MBA students. The popular FIELD (Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development) course has product management as a part of it.

FIELD is specially designed for candidates with no work experience in product management, it helps them kick-start a career in this area through a project-based course. Students get an opportunity to work on their projects which could be their own product ideas or implementation of the business school’s IT staff ideas. These projects are conducted under a mentor with a group of 2 or 3 peers.

Haas School of Business

This business school of the University of California offers a course on Managing the New Product Development Process. This course employs diverse methods of instruction like student research, guest lectures, case studies, and applied projects to teach all aspects of product management.

UCLA Anderson

This college offers two courses in this arena namely, brand management and product management. Brand management course closely deals with developing strategies for brands and other branding related aspects. Product Management would deal with different aspects of the lifecycle of a product.

University of Texas

Similar to UCLA, the University of Texas also offers product management and brand management courses. These courses cover the following subjects:

  • Strategic marketing
  • Market analysis
  • Brand management
  • Consumer behaviour and strategy.
  • Product development
  • Corporate Governance.
  • Marketing communications.

Additionally, this university hosts The Centre for Customer Insight and Marketing Solutions, which is a great platform to network with faculty members, industry experts and other students.

Northwestern University

Northwestern University – Kellogg School also offers many courses in the area of product management. Following are few of the courses candidates interested in product management could take up:

  • Digital marketing analytics.
  • Customer analytics
  • Technology for analytics.

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The above were some of the top schools for product management. It is a course that is highly in demand in most of the industries. Hence, pursuing a course in one of these top universities will boost the career prospects of any candidate.

Best of luck!

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