Your complete guide to a short course in Business & Management

Everything you need to know about studying a short course in Business & Management

What is Business and Management?

Business and Management is the act of organising, planning, and directing business operations to achieve specific goals. By studying a Business Management degree, you will learn how to make decisions, oversee resources, and implement strategies to ensure an organisation runs efficiently and effectively.

Business and Management Specialisations

There are many Business and Management specialisations to explore, and some of the most popular are:

  • Human Resources: Focusing on recruitment, retention, and employee relations.
  • Marketing: Crafting strategies to promote products and brands.
  • Finance: Overseeing the financial health and strategies of an organisation.
  • Operations: Streamlining processes for efficiency.
  • Entrepreneurship: Turning ideas into viable businesses.

Both Bachelor's and Master's programmes are popular in this field, but a Master's in Business and Management often goes deeper into strategic decision-making and leadership.

What will you learn during a Business and Management programme?

Business Management equips you with tools and strategies to navigate the complex world of business. You will learn to:

  • Understand core business functions and their interrelations.
  • Develop leadership and teamwork skills.
  • Analyse case studies to learn about real-world business challenges and solutions.

Popular Business Management degree courses include:

  • Organisational Behaviour: Exploring the dynamics of teams and individuals.
  • Business Ethics: Navigating the moral intricacies of business decisions.
  • Strategic Management: Designing long-term strategies for success.
  • Financial Management: Optimising an organisation's financial resources.
  • Marketing Management: Directing products and services to their target audience.

Business Management is a good degree not just for a corporate role but also for entrepreneurial pursuits. The skills you get from Business Management courses are transferable across industries, from tech startups to global conglomerates.

Skills required for a degree in Business and Management

To excel in Business Management, you'll need strong communication, leadership, and problem-solving abilities. Analytical thinking paired with creativity is also key. Additionally, to meet the Business Management degree requirements, a knack for decision-making and an understanding of the broader business environment can be beneficial.

 

What can you do with a Business and Management degree?

A Business Management degree opens doors to a variety of careers:

  • Business Analyst: Evaluating business operations to recommend improvements.
  • Marketing Manager: Guiding promotional campaigns and brand strategies.
  • Human Resources Manager: Overseeing recruitment, training, and employee benefits.
  • Entrepreneur: Starting and growing your own business.
  • Management Consultant: Advising organisations on best practices and strategies.

Considering the many jobs you can get with a Business Management degree, it's no surprise many students pursue a career in this field. Whether you're eyeing a corporate ladder or forging your path, the career after the most common specialisation in Business Management is brimming with opportunities.

Read more

View all Short Courses in Business & Management

Interesting programmes for you

How Business & Management Subject Ranking Lists Are Created

Do you want to do a degree in Business and Management, but also do it through a top Bachelor's or Master's programme? Check out university ranking lists according to subject such as World University Rankings by Subject from Times Higher Education, QS World University Rankings by Subject from TopUniversities and Best Global Universities for Economics and Business, offered by U.S. News.

These subject specific-rankings analyse a variety of factors relevant for studies in Business and Management. Some of these factors are: published papers on Business and Management, cited research papers on Business and Management, professors' performance, the number of international students, the teaching environment, and how employable graduates from Business and Management programmes are. Data about university, programme and teachers’ reputation is usually collected through surveys.

Read more

Best Universities for Business & Management on ShortCoursesPortal

Universities Location Times Higher Education Ranking (2018) TopUniversities Ranking (2018) U.S. News & World Report Ranking (2018)
Stanford University Stanford, United States 1 6 3
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States 2 4 2
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 3 7 10
London Business School Camden Town, United Kingdom 4 2 19
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 5 8 21
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 6 1 1
University of Chicago Chicago, United States 7 17 5
Northwestern University Evanston, United States 8 14 13
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 9 5 4
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 10 10 5
Columbia University New York City, United States 11 19 8
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 12 34 20
New York University New York City, United States 13 17 7
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 14 20 41
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, United States 15 51 85
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 16 15 25
Peking University Beijing, China 17 36 52
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, United States 18 101 -
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 19 38 42
University of Mannheim Mannheim, Germany 20 51 75
Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands 21 101 18
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 22 35 17
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 23 26 28
Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands 24 29 14
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States 24 151 35
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 26 30 45
SDA Bocconi School of Management Milano, Italy 27 - -
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi Milano, Italy 27 11 27
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany 28 101 43
Tsinghua University Beijing, China 29 40 88
Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Copenhagen, Denmark 30 13 31
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 31 28 82
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 32 51 29
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States 32 51 37
Dartmouth College Hanover, United States 34 51 51
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 34 51 26
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 36 51 64
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 36 47 38
Boston University Boston, United States 38 51 54
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 39 40 90
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States 40 51 33
Pompeu Fabra University Barcelona, Spain 40 151 68
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 42 22 39
University of Zurich Zürich, Switzerland 43 201 65
Arizona State University Tempe, United States 44 101 24
University of Virginia Charlottesville, United States 45 101 83
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, United States 46 51 74
University of Bonn Bonn, Germany 47 - 98
McGill University Montréal, Canada 48 48 120
University of Maryland College Park, United States 49 51 30
University of Sussex Brighton, United Kingdom 50 - 124
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 51 51 52
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 52 39 46
University of Western Ontario London, Canada 53 51 -
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 54 101 100
University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 55 23 55
Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands 56 151 59
Boston College Newton, United States 57 101 73
Aalto University Helsinki, Finland 58 51 87
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 58 101 63
Lancaster University Lancaster, United Kingdom 60 51 71
Fudan University Shanghai, China 61 51 131
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 61 51 128
University of St. Gallen (HSG) St. Gallen, Switzerland 63 50 80
Rice University Houston, United States 64 201 -
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 65 151 40
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 66 51 58
The University of Toulouse Toulouse, France 67 - -
Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Steglitz, Germany 68 151 -
Korea University Seoul, South Korea 68 45 98
UCLouvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium 68 151 75
City, University of London London, United Kingdom 71 51 65
York University Toronto, Canada 72 101 89
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 73 151 95
Monash University Clayton, Australia 74 31 49
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 75 51 69
University of Queensland Saint Lucia, Australia 76 51 62
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria 76 201 137
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore 78 36 113
Texas A&M University College Station, United States 79 51 44
Cranfield University Cranfield, United Kingdom 80 51 -
Cranfield School of Management Bedford, United Kingdom 80 - -
Washington University in St. Louis Saint Louis, United States 81 201 105
WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar, Germany 81 151 -
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 83 40 61
TU Berlin Berlin, Germany 84 - -
Aston University Birmingham, United Kingdom 85 101 116
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Irvine, United States 85 - 146
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 87 51 117
Temple University Philadelphia, United States 87 201 118
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 89 201 -
University of Surrey Guildford, United Kingdom 90 251 -
Politecnico di Milano Milano, Italy 91 51 -
Autonomous University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 92 201 93
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 92 51 118
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, United States 94 251 -
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 95 251 48
University of Bologna Bologna, Italy 96 - 150
Georgia State University Atlanta, United States 97 201 81
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 98 - 110
University of Notre Dame South Bend, United States 98 201 103
Georgetown University Washington, D. C., United States 99 151 136
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark 101 101 107
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom 101 101 179
École Polytechnique Palaiseau, France 101 - -
ESSEC Business School Cergy, France 101 51 -
George Washington University Washington, D. C., United States 101 151 138
HSE University Moscow, Russia 101 151 -
Northeastern University Boston, United States 101 151 134
Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris, France 101 151 194
Queen's University Kingston, Canada 101 51 -
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia 101 101 152
Renmin University of China Beijing, China 101 151 121
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China 101 46 102
Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden 101 201 139
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea 101 51 -
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 101 51 94
University of Bath Bath, United Kingdom 101 51 127
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 101 201 -
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 101 251 142
University of Konstanz Konstanz, Germany 101 - -
University of Massachusetts Boston Boston, United States 101 251 -
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 101 51 72
University of Navarra Pamplona, Spain 101 27 91
University of South Carolina Columbia, United States 101 201 103
University of St Andrews St Andrews, United Kingdom 101 - -
University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, United States 101 201 86
University of York York, United Kingdom 101 - 149
Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China 101 101 146
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Madrid, Spain 126 101 114
Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) Moscow, Russia 126 251 -
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) Taipei, Taiwan 126 201 -
Royal Holloway University of London London, United Kingdom 126 - -
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies Pisa Pisa, Italy 126 - -
Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada 126 151 110
Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China 126 151 -
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel 126 - 126
University of Antwerp Antwerpen, Belgium 126 - -
University of Bergamo Bergamo, Italy 126 - -
University of East Anglia Norwich, United Kingdom 126 - 160
University of Essex Colchester, United Kingdom 126 - 159
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom 126 151 185
University of Georgia Athens, United States 126 201 123
University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom 126 151 174
University of Innsbruck Innsbruck, Austria 126 - -
University of Newcastle Newcastle, Australia 126 251 -
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom 126 101 155
University of Southern Denmark Neder Holluf, Denmark 126 201 181
University of Strathclyde Glasgow, United Kingdom 126 101 157
University of Technology Sydney Sydney, Australia 126 51 115
University of Twente (UT) Enschede, Netherlands 126 251 -
Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden 126 151 186
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 126 51 157
Aalborg University Aalborg, Denmark 151 201 -
Chalmers University of Technology Göteborg, Sweden 151 - -
Goethe University Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany 151 - 162
Iowa State University Ames, United States 151 - 183
Nanjing University Nanjing, China 151 151 -
National Chiao Tung University Hsinchu, Taiwan 151 151 -
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal 151 151 -
PSL Research University Paris, France 151 - -
Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands 151 - -
Saint-Petersburg University Saint Petersburg, Russia 151 151 -
Syracuse University Syracuse, United States 151 201 164
Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland 151 - -
Institute for European Studies - Universite Libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium 151 251 163
University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland 151 101 -
University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia 151 101 -
University of Bayreuth Bayreuth, Germany 151 - -
University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand 151 151 -
University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, United States 151 - 171
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 151 201 132
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 151 251 153
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville, United States 151 - 148
University of Utah Salt Lake City, United States 151 - -
University of Waikato Hamilton, New Zealand 151 201 -
University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada 151 251 189
Xiamen University Xiamen, China 151 - 143
Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing, China 176 - -
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano Bolzano - Bozen, Italy 176 - -
Griffith University Nathan, Australia 176 151 173
Kazan Federal University Kazan, Russia 176 - -
Kingston University London Borough of Sutton, United Kingdom 176 251 -
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon, South Korea 176 51 -
Loughborough University Loughborough, United Kingdom 176 151 190
Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education Monterrey, Mexico 176 - -
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 176 - 196
Queen Mary University of London London, United Kingdom 176 - -
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, United States 176 - -
SOAS University of London London, United Kingdom 176 - -
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, United States 176 - 154
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom 176 101 166
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada 176 201 -
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, United States 176 - -
Université Côte d'Azur Nice, France 176 - -
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) Nuremberg, Germany 176 - -
University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany 176 - -
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 176 51 -
University of South Australia Adelaide, Australia 176 151 187
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia 176 51 143
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, United States 176 151 193
INSEAD - The Business School for the World Fontainebleau, France - 3 47
London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom - 9 9
HEC Paris Jouy-en-Josas, France - 12 -
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States - 16 22
Esade Sant Cugat, Spain - 21 -
Yale University New Haven, United States - 23 11
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States - 25 12
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom - 32 31
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea - 33 112
Duke University Durham, United States - 43 16
IE - Business School Valladolid, Spain - 44 -
Tecnológico de Monterrey Monterrey, Mexico - 49 -
California Institute of Technology - Caltech Pasadena, United States - 101 -
Deakin University  Burwood, Australia - 101 133
ESCP Business School Paris, France - 101 -
Fundação Getulio Vargas Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 101 -
Hanyang University Seoul, South Korea - 101 -
Hitotsubashi University Kunitachi, Japan - 101 -
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore Bangalore, India - 101 -
Keio University Minato, Japan - 101 -
Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan - 101 -
National Autonomous University of Mexico Coyoacán, Mexico - 101 -
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States - 101 36
Oxford Brookes University Oxford, United Kingdom - 101 -
Sogang University Seoul, South Korea - 101 -
Technical University of Munich München, Germany - 101 -
University Kebangsaan Malaysia Semenyih, Malaysia - 101 -
University Sains Malaysia George Town, Malaysia - 101 -
UCL London, United Kingdom - 101 34
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada - 101 67
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile - 101 -
University of Florida Gainesville, United States - 101 121
University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand - 101 -
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil - 101 -
University of the Andes Bogotá, Colombia - 101 -
University of Washington Seattle, United States - 101 50
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States - 101 55
Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand - 101 -
Athens University of Economics and Business Athens, Greece - 151 181
Bologna Business School Bologna, Italy - 151 -
Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand - 151 -
Concordia University Montréal Montreal West, Canada - 151 -
Curtin University Perth, Australia - 151 198
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay Powai, India - 151 -
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi New Delhi, India - 151 -
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Mexico City, Mexico - 151 -
Kyung Hee University Seoul, South Korea - 151 -
Macquarie University Sydney, Australia - 151 -
National Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan - 151 -
National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan - 151 172
National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu, Taiwan - 151 -
RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany - 151 -
Complutense University of Madrid Madrid, Spain - 151 -
University of California, Davis Davis, United States - 151 97
University of California, Irvine Extension Irvine, United States - 151 -
University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, China - 151 -
University of Wollongong Wollongong, Australia - 151 -
University Paris Dauphine Paris, France - 151 -
University Putra Malaysia Kampong Baharu Balakong, Malaysia - 151 -
American University of Sharjah (AUS) Sharjah, United Arab Emirates - 201 -
American University Washington DC Washington, D. C., United States - 201 -
Brown University Providence, United States - 201 -
Brunel University London Uxbridge, United Kingdom - 201 -
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) Eindhoven, Netherlands - 201 -
Emory University Atlanta, United States - 201 -
Ewha Womans University Seoul, South Korea - 201 -
Grenoble School of Management Grenoble, France - 201 -
Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, United Kingdom - 201 -
Humboldt University Berlin Berlin, Germany - 201 -
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, United States - 201 176
Linköping University Linköping, Sweden - 201 -
LUISS University Roma, Italy - 201 -
Massey University Palmerston North, New Zealand - 201 -
McMaster University Hamilton, Canada - 201 -
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru San Isidro, Peru - 201 -
Rutgers University New Brunswick, United States - 201 79
Thammasat University Bangkok, Thailand - 201 -
National University of Colombia Bogotá, Colombia - 201 -
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano, Italy - 201 -
MARA Technological University Seremban, Malaysia - 201 -
Frankfurt University of Applied Science Frankfurt am Main, Germany - 201 -
University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain - 201 199
University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina - 201 -
University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa - 201 -
University of Cologne Köln, Germany - 201 160
University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom - 201 -
VILNIUS TECH Vilnius, Lithuania - 201 -
Auckland University of Technology Auckland, New Zealand - 251 -
Autonomous University of Madrid Alcobendas, Spain - 251 -
Beijing Normal University Beijing, China - 251 -
Bilkent University Çankaya, Turkey - 251 -
Brigham Young University Provo, United States - 251 -
Chung-Ang University Seoul, South Korea - 251 -
Corvinus University of Budapest Budapest IX. kerület, Hungary - 251 -
Dublin City University Dublin, Ireland - 251 -
Florida State University Tallahassee, United States - 251 140
Hong Kong Baptist University Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) - 251 -
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Khargapur, India - 251 -
Indian School of Business (ISB) Serilingampalle, India - 251 -
Institute of Technology Bandung Bandung, Indonesia - 251 -
Instituto Politécnico Nacional Mexico City, Mexico - 251 -
Kobe University Kobe, Japan - 251 -
La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia - 251 -
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Lahore, Pakistan - 251 -
National Central University Taoyuan City, Taiwan - 251 -
National Sun Yat Sen University Kaohsiung City, Taiwan - 251 -
NHH Norwegian School of Economics Bergen, Norway - 251 -
North Carolina State University Raleigh, United States - 251 195
Osaka University Osaka-shi, Japan - 251 -
Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch, South Africa - 251 -
Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Copenhagen, Denmark - 251 -
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Haifa, Israel - 251 -
Polytechnic University of Catalonia Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain - 251 -
University Utara Malaysia (UUM) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 251 -
University of Limerick Limerick, Ireland - 251 -
University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal - 251 167
University of Miami Coral Gables, United States - 251 -
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, United States - 251 175
University of Rochester Rochester, United States - 251 -
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa - 251 -
University of Turku Turku, Finland - 251 -
University of Valencia Valencia, Spain - 251 176
University of Victoria Victoria, Canada - 251 -
Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an, China - 251 -
BI Norwegian Business School Oslo, Norway - 51 134
IMD Business School Lausanne, Switzerland - 51 -
King's College London London, United Kingdom - 51 -
Lund University Lund, Sweden - 51 101
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile - 51 -
Princeton University Princeton, United States - 51 15
Purdue University West Lafayette, United States - 51 84
RMIT University Melbourne, Australia - 51 -
Singapore Management University Singapore, Singapore - 51 77
Stockholm School of Economics Stockholm, Sweden - 51 92
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan - 51 180
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States - 51 57
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States - 51 59
Waseda University Shinjuku, Japan - 51 -
WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) Vienna, Austria - 51 -
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States - - 23
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland - - 70
Paris School of Economics Gentilly, France - - 78
Trinity Western University Township of Langley, Canada - - 95
Vienna University of Economics Vienna, Austria - - 105
Toulouse School of Economics Toulouse, France - - 107
Charles University Prague, Czech Republic - - 109
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel - - 125
University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark - - 128
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands - - 128
Toulouse 1 Capitole University Toulouse, France - - 141
University of Gothenburg Göteborg, Sweden - - 150
University of Houston Houston, United States - - 155
George Mason University Fairfax, United States - - 165
Vanderbilt University Nashville, United States - - 167
Wageningen University and Research Wageningen, Netherlands - - 167
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States - - 170
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Shanghai, China - - 176
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, United States - - 183
University of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia - - 188
Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France - - 191
University of Kiel Kiel, Germany - - 192
Drexel University Philadelphia, United States - - 197
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, United States - - 200
Show per page: 10 | 50 | 100

Wishlist

Go to your profile page to get personalised recommendations!