MBA - The Golden Ticket to Product Management?

Posted by srisaiCh on January 6th, 2020

 Sundar Pichai who pursued an MBA at Wharton is one such example who worked as a product manager at Google, to become CEO in 10 years. So, is an MBA the golden ticket to be a product manager? Read on to find out.

Role of a product manager

The product manager is essentially the mini-CEO of the product. They decide the vision & strategy for the design, marketing & execution of a product while leading a diverse team of engineers, designers, marketers, etc in delivering the right product to the market. They define the product roadmap, including features and requirements, and they articulate the business rationale behind it. All the essential responsibilities of a Product Manager include:

Understanding the audience

Build an understanding of the market and the competitors

Build a strategy and tie it to the business model

Leading the Product design phase

Building the product

Strategising to launch the product to the market

Monitoring the analytics for the product

MBA, the pathway to product management? hold on...

Although an MBA for product management might not be necessary for everyone, it can certainly be seen as an asset for individuals hoping to gain a competitive advantage. But it is wise to say that MBA programs cater to students for investment banking, consulting, marketing, and business operations. Product management is a new wave of trend that's captured the minds of students studying in Top Colleges In Ghatkesar. 

Many business schools aren’t really producing product managers every year for companies to start hiring product managers. Best Colleges In Ghatkesar offering MBA are mostly still attracting top consulting firms, investment banks and top-tier corporations for recruitment. Big tech companies every now and then do recruit MBA graduates for product manager roles but the ratio is dwarfed by the investment banks and consulting firms. 

Who needs an MBA for a dream job as a product manager?

If you're someone like Stephanie Curran you might want to consider product management. Stephanie Curran used to work as a senior equity analyst at Bloomberg LP and wanted to transition. She opted for a full-time MBA program and is now a senior product manager at Amazon Marketplace. So for someone who wants to flex their skills in the career and industry they are already in but have no technical background, it might be necessary. Another such example is Promeet Mansata, a former product manager with Walmart Labs. He says- 'while an MBA may not be entirely necessary, the credential can sharply increase your chances of not only landing a Product manager job but also of doing the job well.'

MBA being offered at most MBA Colleges In Medchal provides students with a large toolkit of skills, the ability to look at things with a different set of lenses and identify problems, connections into so many companies. If you are an MBA pursuing student aiming to be a product manager, you need to brace yourself for many requests you can possibly imagine from customers and different parts of the business. You need to make tradeoffs when the resources are limited. So, while pursuing an MBA, focus on negotiation classes that'll help give you in the long run. Marketing classes are also essential for product managers to understand pricing psychology, customer research insights and ROI analysis. Apart from finance, accounting, operations, that a student learns in an MBA, collaboration is the key role they'll learn to become a successful product manager. Students need to know that not many companies are going to approach the best MBA colleges in Hyderabad to recruit product managers. So they need to be prepared to hustle for themselves. Traditionally, product management organizations hire more experienced candidates from engineering or marketing backgrounds. So, consider joining Top Colleges In Hyderabad offering MBA with strong alumni & industry networks. As more and more companies realise the benefits of assigning Product Managers with responsibilities for their products, the role will become more important over the coming years.

If you are someone willing to build a varied skill set, strong analytical competence and great communication skills, MBA can help you transition as a Product Manager which opens lots of opportunities for career advancement. Since you will be the one who knows the product very well and is connected to every department, you might even one day be promoted to be the CEO just like Sundar Pichai!