(CNN) -- The traditional one-size-fits-all MBA degree could soon be consigned to the dustbin of history as business schools look for ways to boost flagging enrolment numbers.
Keen to ensure their academic offerings stand out in a competitive market, growing numbers of schools are redesigning their degrees around specialist areas.
Rather than the conventional structure which focuses on generic business fundamentals, these new MBA degrees contain content tailored to specific industry segments.
The schools believe specialist MBAs will appeal to students who have a clear idea of the direction they want their careers to take. Whether it's manufacturing, finance, tourism or the arts, it's increasingly likely they'll be able to find an MBA to match.
For years, MBA participants have been able to mould their degrees through careful selection of elective subjects covering the areas of most interest to them. However the bulk of the course has remained a standard block of core material.
The new specialist degrees, however, have been designed from the ground up to be directly relevant to a particular business sector or industry.
One high-profile example is the MBA offerings at the University of Wisconsin's Madison School of Business. Students entering the school's course can choose from one of 14 different areas of specialisation. Areas range from arts administration and marketing research to supply chain management and real estate.
School dean, Michael Knetter, says the school has made a conscious effort to appeal to students who have a clear career objective.
"By making the choice to serve that specific segment of the market, we can serve them better than anyone else," he says.
The State University of New Jersey's Rutgers Business School has also been busy, carving out a niche by offering an MBA course specialising in pharmaceutical management.
Working with a range of companies that includes Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Roche, the business school has designed its MBA course to provide the specific skills required in this rapidly evolving and highly competitive industry.
"The goal is to have graduates who can hit the ground running as quickly as possible, and require as little extra training by the employer," says school dean Howard Tuckman.
He says the school uses a board of external business advisers to constantly give feedback on the MBA course curriculum. This monitoring, he says, is vital if MBAs are going to remain relevant in the business world of tomorrow.
While such specialist degrees are currently only offered by smaller, second-tier business schools, the larger players are watching their success with interest. If these schools manage to grow their proportion of the overall market, it's likely the big names will follow suit.
Meanwhile the Richard Ivey School of Business has also announced a revamp of its MBA course structure, incorporating what it calls "cross-enterprise leadership".
Rather than approaching study by considering individual disciplines such as finance, marketing and accounting, the course uses a series of modules which draw information from multiple disciplines.
The modules cover areas such as cross-enterprise management skills, competing in a global environment and developing leadership skills.
Ivey dean Carol Stephenson says the school recognised that the old-model MBA was not working as well as it could to produce graduates with the skills required by the modern business world.
"When we looked out at the business school landscape, we realized that the traditional model did not really deliver any more," she told CNN. "So we decided to turn it inside out -- to start with the goal of producing cross-enterprise leaders and to build from there."
Stephenson says rival schools are watching the changes with interest and she expects others to begin offering similar course structures in the not-too-distant future.
Keen to ensure their academic offerings stand out in a competitive market, growing numbers of schools are redesigning their degrees around specialist areas.
Rather than the conventional structure which focuses on generic business fundamentals, these new MBA degrees contain content tailored to specific industry segments.
The schools believe specialist MBAs will appeal to students who have a clear idea of the direction they want their careers to take. Whether it's manufacturing, finance, tourism or the arts, it's increasingly likely they'll be able to find an MBA to match.
For years, MBA participants have been able to mould their degrees through careful selection of elective subjects covering the areas of most interest to them. However the bulk of the course has remained a standard block of core material.
The new specialist degrees, however, have been designed from the ground up to be directly relevant to a particular business sector or industry.
One high-profile example is the MBA offerings at the University of Wisconsin's Madison School of Business. Students entering the school's course can choose from one of 14 different areas of specialisation. Areas range from arts administration and marketing research to supply chain management and real estate.
School dean, Michael Knetter, says the school has made a conscious effort to appeal to students who have a clear career objective.
"By making the choice to serve that specific segment of the market, we can serve them better than anyone else," he says.
The State University of New Jersey's Rutgers Business School has also been busy, carving out a niche by offering an MBA course specialising in pharmaceutical management.
Working with a range of companies that includes Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Roche, the business school has designed its MBA course to provide the specific skills required in this rapidly evolving and highly competitive industry.
"The goal is to have graduates who can hit the ground running as quickly as possible, and require as little extra training by the employer," says school dean Howard Tuckman.
He says the school uses a board of external business advisers to constantly give feedback on the MBA course curriculum. This monitoring, he says, is vital if MBAs are going to remain relevant in the business world of tomorrow.
While such specialist degrees are currently only offered by smaller, second-tier business schools, the larger players are watching their success with interest. If these schools manage to grow their proportion of the overall market, it's likely the big names will follow suit.
Meanwhile the Richard Ivey School of Business has also announced a revamp of its MBA course structure, incorporating what it calls "cross-enterprise leadership".
Rather than approaching study by considering individual disciplines such as finance, marketing and accounting, the course uses a series of modules which draw information from multiple disciplines.
The modules cover areas such as cross-enterprise management skills, competing in a global environment and developing leadership skills.
Ivey dean Carol Stephenson says the school recognised that the old-model MBA was not working as well as it could to produce graduates with the skills required by the modern business world.
"When we looked out at the business school landscape, we realized that the traditional model did not really deliver any more," she told CNN. "So we decided to turn it inside out -- to start with the goal of producing cross-enterprise leaders and to build from there."
Stephenson says rival schools are watching the changes with interest and she expects others to begin offering similar course structures in the not-too-distant future.
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