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What is MBA in Business Analytics? Is it a lucrative career option in 2023?

What is MBA in Business Analytics? Is it a lucrative career option in 2023?
A 8 min read

MBA Business Analytics or Master of Business Administration Business Analytics is generally a 2-year program. It is traditionally a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with a concentration in Business Analytics.

Business analytics is the process of collecting, combining, sorting, processing, and using statistical models and methodologies to transform data into business insights. It helps in determining which dataset is useful and how it can be leveraged to solve problems and increase productivity, efficiency, and revenue.

An MBA in Business Analytics will train you in both technical and management skills. At some of the Top MBA colleges for business analytics, students learn topics like – Data Mining, Decision Models, Visualization, data acquisition and preparation, and Customer analytics.

After completing your MBA Business Analytics degree, you can apply to jobs like business analyst, data analyst, data engineer, predictive modeler, risk management analyst etc.

MBA in Business Analytics

This article talks about why you should pursue an MBA in business analytics, its career options, and its salary outcome. We also rank the top MBA Colleges in Business analytics and highlight their unique offerings. 

Here’s the outline of the article:

Want to pursue an MBA in Business Analytics?  A 740+ GMAT score will help you to stand out and make your MBA application more competitive as compared to other applicants. We can help you by giving access to quality online content to prepare.  Signup for our Free Trial and get free access to GMAT resources.

MBA in Business Analytics 2023

According to a survey conducted by NewVantage partners, 91.9% of the firms that participated in the survey stated that their firms had delivered measurable business value from data and analytics investment, up dramatically from five years ago when only 48.4% of organizations reported seeing a measurable return. The growing optimism of data leaders is reflected in the projection that 98.2% of firms would see a return on their investments in 2023! Another report by Accenture points out the importance of Analytics in consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) and how companies should develop an enterprise-wide analytics strategy to harness the power of analytics. Thus, business analytics has been transforming how businesses function and will continue to do so in the future. With the demand for experts in this stream at an all-time high, many business schools are offering MBA concentrations in Business Analytics or Big data.

Learn about Which MBA Specialization is best for you?

Full-Form

Master of Business Administration Business Analytics

Duration

2 years

Entrance Exam

GMAT, GRE, CAT, XAT, etc

MBA Business Analytics Subjects

Decision Analysis, Predictive Modeling, Project management, marketing analytics, data science, business intelligence, and many more

MBA Business Analytics Jobs

Data Analyst, Data Scientist, Business Intelligence analyst, big data analytics, market research analyst, and many more

MBA Business Analytics Salary

$115,802

Top MBA Colleges for Business Analytics

NYU Stern, HEC Paris, Wharton School of Business, and Tepper school of business.

Pursuing your MBA at top MBA colleges can help students analyze and sort big data a make efficient decisions.

Business analytics is an umbrella term that encompasses two district fields of practices:

  1. Business Intelligence (Descriptive Analytics)
  2. Advanced analytics (Predictive Analytics)

Business Intelligence (Descriptive Analytics)

Business Intelligence (B.I.) is typically descriptive, focusing on the tools and strategies utilized to identify, acquire, and categorize raw data on past or current events. It is a process of reviewing historical data to understand how a product line or department within a business has performed over a specific time. Some of the practices under Business Intelligence include querying, reporting, and online analytical processing (OLAP).

Advanced analytics (Predictive Analytics)

It is a more recent development and involves in-depth statistical analysis, such as performing predictive analytics by applying statistical algorithms to historical data. It helps to predict how new services or product will affect sales. Some of the practices under Advanced analytics include cluster analysis, data mining, simulation algorithms.

Why MBA in Business Analytics?

Why mba in business analytics

An MBA is a highly lucrative career option in the current market, largely due to the cascading effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has increased the demand for experts in data analytics as businesses try to understand the crisis and make informed decisions. The disruption in global supply chains due to the pandemic has increased the demand for professionals in supply chain analytics so that companies can understand and optimize their supply chains. The hiring trends of the companies in the past few years, according to the 2022 corporate recruiters survey by GMAC, clearly indicate the increase in demand for professionals in data analytics: Overall, nearly 9 in 10 corporate recruiters plan to hire Master of Data Analytics graduates in 2022 (86%), up from 73 percent of the same recruiters who actually hired them in 2021.

The students in MBA business analytics learn concepts that are important for the discipline, such as predictive analysis, marketing intelligence, econometrics, data and text mining, data visualization, and more.

From marketing managers seeking data about customers to financial analysts calculating investment decisions, data has become a fundamental part of the business.

Many employers have started to recognize the importance of data and are looking for professionals who understand analytical tools and are familiar with concepts of data science.

According to the E.Y. report, one of the key drivers to implement big data analytics is to understand customers better, followed by to improve products and services and to improve the management of existing data.

Hiring Projection for MBA Graduates in Business Analytics 

In the Corporate Recruiters Survey 2022 by GMAC, 30% of the responding companies plan to hire graduates for data analytics/intelligence job functions in 2022.

Hiring intention for Master of Data Analytics graduates is highest among recruiters in the east and southeast Asia region (92%), followed by the Middle east (88%).

A McKinsey Global Institute report estimated 4 million positions in the U.S. alone, where employers require analytical skills, and pointed out a shortfall of 1.5 million data-savvy managers and analysts.

With an increasing number of employers hiring data-driven candidates and a shortfall of data-savvy managers and analysts, business schools have started offering MBA specialization in Business Analytics and are teaching the concepts of analytics in their core curriculum.

Thus, an MBA program that specializes in Business Analytics or Big Data is valuable because it allows students to understand how to sort, collect, and understand the implications of data and how to leverage it to meet strategic goals.

Want to pursue an MBA in Business Analytics?  A 740+ GMAT score will help you to stand out and make your MBA application more competitive as compared to other applicants. We can help you by giving access to quality online content to prepare.  Signup for our Free Trial and get free access to GMAT resources.

Career Options

The careers in business analytics can range from analyst-level positions to business intelligence managers, and the concept applies to various business functions such as marketing, operations, supply chain, and more. Some MBAs find jobs as analysts, while others put their skills to use in financial or consulting organizations.

In McKinsey’s survey, 58% of the respondents at top-performing companies say that their organization had deep functional expertise across data engineering, data science, data architecture, and analytical transformation.

Besides, top-performing organizations have four times as many analytics professionals and one and a half times more functional experts than other companies.

Listed below are career options available after MBA in business analytics:

  • Management Analyst/Consultant
  • Data Analyst/Scientist
  • Business Intelligence Analyst
  • Program and Marketing Manager
  • Big Data Analytics
  • Operations Research Analyst
  • Market research Analyst
  • And many more

After having an idea about what is business analytics and the career options available, you might be wondering about the skills that are required to become a business analyst.

According to the GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey 2022, more than half of the recruiters rate strategic and systems skills, decision-making processes, and interpretation skills as the most important.

The list below highlights skills that are required to pursue a career in business analytics:

  1. Communication skills
  2. Technical Skills
  3. Managerial Skills
  4. Decision-making Skills
  5. Analytical Skills
  6. Critical thinking Skills
  7. Negotiation Skills

MBA Business Analytics Salary and Employment Statistics

Glassdoor reports Data Scientist job profile is ranked number 3, for the best jobs in America 2022. The below table shows the median base salary for various career options in business analytics, according to Glassdoor:

According to Salary.com, the business analytics manager earns a yearly salary between $129,065 - $137,185, making it one of the most promising careers.

Top 10 MBA Colleges for Business Analytics

best mba business analytics colleges

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Here is the list of top MBA colleges for Business Analytics 2023:

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
  2. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
  3. Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller)
  4. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
  5. New York University (Stern)
  6. University of California, Berkeley (Haas)
  7. University of Texas--Austin (McCombs)
  8. University of Chicago (Booth)
  9. HEC Paris
  10. Imperial College Business School

*The rankings for the top MBA colleges in USA have been taken from US News- 2023 rankings for business analytics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)

GMAT Score: 730

Location: Cambridge, Greater Boston, USA 

MBA Cost per year: $ 86,400

MBA Salary: $1,65,000

Percentage of students placed in Business Analytics function: 2.4%  

Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)

GMAT Score: 702

Location: Pittsburgh 

Tuition Fees: $72,800

MBA Salary: $ 148,067

Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller)

GMAT Score: 690

Location: Atlanta, Georgia, US

Tuition Fees(per year): $40,752

MBA Base Salary: $136,819

Wharton School of Business

GMAT Score: 733

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Tuition Fees: $84,874

MBA Base Salary: $155,000

Percentage of students placed in Business Analytics function: 0.5%

NYU Stern School of Business

GMAT Score: 733

Location: New York, USA 

Tuition Fees: $82,326

MBA Salary: $175,000

Percentage of students placed in Business Analytics function: 1.40%  

University of California, Berkeley (Haas)

GMAT Score: 729

Location: Berkeley, California, USA 

Tuition Fees: $76,433

MBA Base Salary: $155,000

University of Texas-Austin (McCombs)

GMAT Score: 660 – 750

Location: Austin, Texas, USA 

Tuition Fees: $59,800

MBA Base Salary: $125,000

Percentage of students placed in Business Analytics function: 1.9%  

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University of Chicago (Booth)

GMAT Score: 729

Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA 

Tuition Fees: $77,841

MBA Bse Salary: $155,000

Percentage of students placed in Business Analytics function: 0.4%  

HEC Paris

GMAT Score: 690

Location: Paris, France

Tuition Fees: $84,750

MBA Salary: $116,504

Imperial College Business School

GMAT Score: 600+

Location: London 

Tuition Fees: £37,300

MBA Salary: £69,000

All the above-mentioned Business Schools require a good GMAT score. A 740+ GMAT score will help you to stand out and make your MBA application more competitive as compared to other applicants. We can help you by giving access to quality online content to prepare.  Signup for our Free Trial and get free access to GMAT resources.

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FAQs - MBA in Business Analytics

What jobs can I get with an MBA in Business Analytics?

Here are some of the career options available after MBA in Business Analytics:
1. Data Analyst/Scientist
2. Program and Marketing Manager
3. Market research Analyst
4. Management Analyst/Consultant
4. Big Data Analytics

Is an MBA in Business Analytics worth it?

Yes. From marketing managers seeking data about customers to financial analysts calculating investment decisions, data has become a fundamental part of the business. Many employers have started to recognize the importance of data and are looking for professionals who are familiar with concepts of data science and understand analytical tools.

Is an MBA worth it?

Yes. Getting an MBA can open the door to new and exciting opportunities. It can help you built your network, which matters a lot when it comes to the corporate world. But, an MBA is not a magic pill. There are certain factors you need to keep in mind while you calculate ROI on your investment. Here is an article that tries to answer this question by doing a cost-benefit analysis.

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