“Business majors” get a lot of bad press, especially when people have a stereotype in mind of a crypto enthusiast in a Patagonia jacket. However, there are many different emphases that fall under the College of Business, leading to diverse career fields where anyone can succeed, whether they own a Patagonia or not.
The next few articles in this series will focus on understanding the nuances around areas of emphasis within the business degree. At the core of these options is management, which focuses on training students to be effective business managers.
Matthew Metzger, associate professor of innovation and entrepreneurship and team lead of management, said the core of management is “taking insights from psychology, social psychology, anthropology, sociology [and] other behavioral sciences and figuring out how to use those to empower people and to enable people to enact organizational strategies.”
Metzger believes that management is applicable anywhere a group of people is working toward a common goal. “If you want to change the world, you do so through organizations,” he said.
Although personality may influence the field someone chooses to manage in, such as extroverts choosing sales, Metzger believes anyone can become an effective manager. “It’s more about their willingness to adapt to their environments and to figure out [how] to play to their strengths,” he said.
Management isn’t only relevant in for-profit fields. Managers play a crucial role in non-profits, where many managers are needed to oversee operations, volunteers, other employees and more.
Metzger stressed that emotional intelligence skills are just as important to employers as technical skills. He believes studying management can help to improve emotional intelligence.
Required classes for management include Human Resource Management for Managers, Experiences in Leadership, Organizational Development and Change, and Principles of Negotiation and Conflict Management. Metzger said it is easy to take classes from other areas of emphasis you may be interested in while completing the degree.
Management can be used in conjunction with non-business-related degrees. Metzger got his first degree in biology, where he saw the necessity of management skills in the field.
The Garage is a room in the Osborne Center similar to an excel center for business students, providing a space on campus for business students to put concepts into practice. “[It’s] a great opportunity to practice these real-world concepts of innovation, entrepreneurship and management in a relatively low-risk environment where you can start to see if this is something that appeals to you,” Metzger said.
Many areas of emphasis intersect with management but add additional requirements, such as PGA golf management, human resources management, service management, sport management and supply chain management and analytics.
For those interested in management who don’t want to commit to the area of emphasis, they can take the management minor, which only requires three classes for business majors and seven classes for non-business majors.
Graphic by Olivia Davis.