Business management and business administration are both demanding and rewarding professions, each in their own way. Making a decision between the two will ultimately boil down to what you want to focus on and how you want your workday to look like.
Read on to find out what these two business branches offer and what sets them apart from each other.
What Is Business Administration?
A Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, also known as BBA, is a degree program that helps you understand many aspects of business operations. It includes a wide array of courses that equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to know how a business, organization, or industry works.
What you can expect to learn from such a program is an in-depth study of business theory and practical knowledge. Apart from what you get to learn from the courses, you also have a chance for networking and learning from experts in the industry during your studies. Meeting the right people while studying business can be of great help later on in your career. For instance, BAU offers the Global Alumni network of graduates from over 100 countries.
With business administration, you’ll study business and pick a certain area that you want to specialize in.
Business administration career pathways
A business administration degree can open many doors for you in various industries and settings. You can choose any kind of specific type of business or a department and if you choose to specialize in your area of interest to get an advantage in your job hunt.
Some career paths that you can follow after studying business administration include:
- business consultant,
- market research analyst,
- financial analyst, etc.
What Is Business Management?
Business management means managing the organization and coordination of business activities. Unlike business administration, business management tends to focus more on hands-on experience and preparing students to organize and manage a workplace.
To be a good manager you will need to have both soft and technical skills. Since as a manager your job will include looking over the business and making decisions, completing a business administration program is essential.
The goal of management is to bring people together and work towards achieving the desired objective by using the resources available in the most efficient way.
Business management career pathways
A degree in business management can give you many opportunities and job options to choose from. Your duties will mainly include organizing, planning, staffing, directing, leading, and many other managerial tasks.
Some of the career paths you can follow are:
- business manager
- project manager,
- sales manager, etc.
Business Administration vs Business Management: The Differences
Although the differences between the two are fairly subtle, they do have their own distinct skillsets, daily tasks, and agendas. The main difference between these two is that a business management degree focuses more on planning and organizing a business, whereas a business administration degree has its focus on a more specialized area of business.
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Meanwhile, the core subjects for both are almost identical, the additional courses a student chooses to take vary. Generally speaking, a student who studies business management is most likely to follow additional courses that help them learn how to manage projects and people. However, a student that’s studying business administration will choose a specific business area to specialize in.
To sum it up, the main difference between the two is what career path you want to follow after. Both of these degrees will open doors for a variety of jobs, but if you’re sure about what exactly you want, a business administration degree could be right for you.
Business Administration vs Business Management: The Similarities
Both business administration and business management will teach you how to organize and manage a business. During your studies, you will learn how to plan business activities, run and organize departments, organize employees, etc.
As mentioned before, the core subjects remain the same for both degrees. Although business administration and business management are not the same, they both offer a broad understanding of how businesses work.
Business administration and business management have many similarities. However, they each offer their own perks and it’s up to you to decide which career path you want to follow and what your main focus is. If you decide that you’re gravitating towards business administration, you should consider following your interest with our Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration program.
Whichever degree you choose, you’ll have many options career-wise, and you will learn how to help a business run smoothly.
