What do you learn in a bachelor's in business management?
By: Sarah Edwards, Edited by: Arthur McMahon
Published: March 4, 2025
Do you dream of becoming an effective business leader? Then pursuing a bachelor's in business management degree may be the right fit for you.
Discover what to expect in a bachelor's in business management program and learn about the requirements you'll have to meet to graduate.
What to expect from a business management bachelor's program
The core focus of a bachelor's program in business management is to give you the opportunity to study the management of organizations and the people who drive them. Many programs aim to equip students with the knowledge necessary to work with groups and identify and solve complex business problems.
Many business management degrees require 120 credit hours designed to be completed over eight semesters or four school years. As a result, you can expect to spend about the same on a business management degree as you would any other program of similar length and scope.
In a bachelor's in business management program, you will likely be exposed to a broad range of coursework, including finance, economics, marketing, operations, human resources, and law. You may be required to complete a final project with a group in order to graduate.
Bachelor's in business management curriculum
In a bachelor's in business management program, you'll take many business-related courses covering various aspects of modern business. A few that are likely to show up in your list of degree requirements include:
- Operations management: This course helps students understand how to plan and control the production of goods and services, focusing on topics like inventory and supply chain management, quality control, production methods, facility location and layout, project scheduling, and productivity measurement.
- Organizational behavior: This course helps students understand how people behave — what they think, feel, and do — in groups and organizations, teaching the basic principles of human behavior and how to use them to drive better individual and organizational performance.
- Strategic management: This course is all about helping students gain the knowledge to collect crucial market data and analyze the broader business and economic landscape so they can formulate, analyze, and implement a long-term business strategy.
Taking these courses can help your education be more well-rounded and help you prepare to drive success in every part of an organization.
Specializations and concentrations
What do you learn in a bachelor's in business management? Not only can you benefit from core business courses, but you can also get exposure to a wide variety of specializations and concentrations, including:
- Finance: Students can learn the core principles of financial analysis and investment strategies to help business leaders make sound financial decisions.
- Analytics: Students can learn how to collect, analyze, and visualize large datasets to identify market trends and solve complex business problems.
- Information systems: Students can gain the technical knowledge to spearhead transformative IT projects and help businesses use technology to solve issues.
The specific concentration you choose may depend on what is available at the institution you attend and your long-term career goals.
Graduation requirements for a business management bachelor's degree
Many business management bachelor's degree programs require students to maintain at least a "C" average to get credit for coursework pertaining to the major. This encourages you to work hard to retain the information you learned so you can apply it once you land a professional role.
Additionally, you may be required to complete a final senior project in which you create a long-term vision, strategy, and objectives for a company.
In some programs, this project is done in conjunction with an internship where you work alongside others on actual business problems. For other programs, you may complete this project with a hypothetical company in mind.
Explore bachelor's degrees in business management
Looking to pursue a career in business management but don't know where to start? Check out edX's bachelor's in business management programs to get the ball rolling toward your desired career today.