MBA CONCENTRATION
Social Policy and Management
THE SOCIAL POLICY AND MANAGEMENT concentration prepares students with a broad set of management skills to work successfully in a wide range of organizations with social missions, aware of and responsive to the social policy context in which they work.
For students who want to bring leadership skills to a variety of social issues, the Social Policy and Management concentration is ideal. Upon completion of their MBA, graduates in Social Policy and Management take on a variety of leadership roles in the non-profit, for profit, and public sectors.
Like the other concentrations, the Social Policy and Management concentration provides a solid basis in the fundamental management disciplines. Then in addition, students who concentrate in Social Policy and Management have the opportunity to design a customized concentration (see sidebar) in their particular area of social policy and/or management interest.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students in the Social Policy and Management concentration take the full spectrum of MBA core courses (50 credits), and develop a customized concentration in their particular area of social policy and/or management interest, drawing from all available management and policy electives (18 credits).
The Social Policy and Management concentration also requires successful completion of a Team Consulting Project (TCP) in which students work with managers of mission-driven organizations to respond to the challenges those organizations are facing.
Customized Concentration Examples
Nell and Carrie illustrate some of the customized concentrations in Social Policy and Management designed by our students:
- Nell Whitman (MBA '06) came to the Heller School with an interest in Operations Management and Information Systems, wanting to help organizations with a social mission to solve problems such as organizing insurance billing, accounting and client charts into an integrated electronic system. Her courses included Management of Technology, Information Systems Strategy, Linear Regression, and Social Entrepreneurship, in addition to core courses in Operations Management and Managerial Accounting. When she graduated, she first became the Director of Employment and Economic Development at Human Solutions, then became the Director of Finance and Administration at Saturday Academy.
- Carrie Klugman (MBA '05) became interested in Accounting for Organizations with a Social Mission when she was a student at the Heller School. Her courses included the Core Curriculum, a range of social policy courses, and additional advanced courses in Accounting taken through The Boston Consortium. Upon graduating, Carrie became an Auditor at Grant Thornton LLP, and subsequently accepted a position as an Associate with Bain Capital.