Differences Between Business Administration & Business Marketing Degrees
People who earn a degree in the business field generally specialize with a specific major or concentration, such as business management, human resources or accounting. Every college and university has its own way of organizing the business majors and students, but there are key differences between the various areas of concentration. Business administration and marketing are two such options with different career paths connected to them.
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Degree Options
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Business administration and marketing are generally both options available to students who wish to pursue a degree in business as a field. Sometimes marketing is a concentration or certificate area instead of an actual degree on its own, but that varies from university to university. These are not the only two options available to business majors; other concentrations include international business and accounting.
Overlap
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A degree in business administration is often interchangeable with a degree in business management; it is a general degree program that prepares the student for life in a leadership role in the field. According to the Marylhurst University website, "A bachelor's degree in business administration yields a core of knowledge including accounting, finance, economics, business law, ethics, marketing, organizational behavior, strategic management and management information systems." As such, a knowledge of marketing is included in a business administration degree, but the reverse is not true. Marketing majors receive some general business knowledge, but they focus on marketing alone rather than the other areas of business administration.
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Career Paths
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Business administration as a major area of focus prepares the student to fill a managerial role. Marketing students, on the other hand, prepare for a career in advertising and marketing of business services and products. At Ohio Northern University, for instance, business management/administration majors prepare for careers including administrative services, computer information systems, team leadership, financial services, human resources and supply chain and logistics. Marketing majors at the same school prepare for careers including "advertising, sales, promotion, customer service, marketing [and] research." The careers for marketing majors are more specialized and specific than those for business administration majors.
Personal Fit
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The choice between a degree in business administration and one in marketing comes down to personal fit. Some people find it useful to begin a path in business administration to get a sampling of all of the areas of the field and then choose one area to study in depth later. Other students find that the world of advertising and brand management or promotions is more attractive than a life in business management and leadership, so the option of a marketing major is more attractive.
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References
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