MBA vs Mass Communication

In the rush of the increasing performance pressures on the youth of the nation who are sitting on the edge by the time they are about to graduate, an oft-repeated notion is “I want to do a Master of Business Administration or Mass Communication.” Many a time, they have insufficient knowledge regarding the courses, their content and nuances. The choice of a career path remains the single most important decision of an individual’s life since that will govern his way of life thereon. As such, for an aspirant, it is imperative that the individual knows about both the fields and does not confuse one with the other.

In the rush of the increasing performance pressures on the youth of the nation who are sitting on the edge by the time they are about to graduate, an oft-repeated notion is “I want to do an MBA or Mass Communication.” Many times, they have insufficient knowledge regarding the courses, their content and nuances. The choice of a career path remains the single most important decision of an individual’s life since that will govern his way of life thereon. As such, for an aspirant, it is imperative that the individual knows about both the fields and does not confuse one with the other.

M.B.A: The Master of Business Administration (MBA or M.B.A.) is a master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out scientific approaches to management. The core courses in the MBA program are designed to introduce students to the various areas of business such as accounting, finance, marketing, human resources, operations management, etc. Students in MBA programs have the option of taking general business courses throughout the program or can select an area of concentration and focus approximately one-fourth of their studies in this subject.

Accreditation bodies exist specifically for MBA programs to ensure consistency and quality of graduate business education. Business schools in many countries offer MBA programs tailored to full-time, part-time, executive, and distance learning students, with specialized concentrations.

Some students are heard saying: ‘I want to do an MBA in Mass Communication.’ This itself is an oxymoron, a misnomer. Schools grant the MBA degree, not MBA in pharmacy, or MBA in finance, or MBA in Marketing. The MBA is a broad degree that prepares students for high-level management positions. MBA students study accounting, finance, marketing, statistics, management, economics, strategy, policy, leadership, and similar courses. The MBA is not like an MS that concentrates in one field and prepares students for staff positions. MBA programs offer concentrations in various fields, but this amounts only to 2 elective fields of specialization with 3-4 courses in each, in the second year. Over the past two decades, thousands of MBA B-schools have burgeoned and lakhs of students graduate from various institutes with an MBA degree in their hands and a hope of a successful future in their hearts.

Mass Communication is the academic study of how individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time. It is usually understood to relate to newspaper and magazine publishing, radio, television and film, as these are used both for disseminating news and for advertising. Mass communication helps provide information, interpret it, create social awareness, and educate the masses. Mass communication research includes most of the communication media institutions and processes such as diffusion of information, and media effects such as persuasion or manipulation of public opinion. Several universities have remodelled their departments into schools or colleges of mass communication or "journalism and mass communication". In addition to studying practical skills of journalism, public relations or advertising, they offer programs in "mass communication" or "mass communication research." The latter is often the title given to doctoral studies in such schools, so if frontline media is not your calling, then there is a lot of strategizing and summarizing you can do with the research and number games. Today, mass comm is an immense and prestigious industry. In India, mass communication industry has undergone a complete transformation in the recent years. The scope of mass comm is expanding today to include integrated marketing communication (Integrated MarCom) with the detailed and intensive study of marketing, branding and various communication tools. They include PR, Advertising, Media Planning, Buying, Events, Entertainment Management and Journalism which has been an integral part of Mass Comm since its earliest days. Presently, Mass communication industry invites several young and enthusiastic people for making a fruitful career in various streams of mass communication. There are wonderful job opportunities for talented people along with good remuneration, promotion and growth. Innumerable advertising agencies offer exciting job opportunities in Client Servicing, Account Planning, Media Planning, Media Buying, Copywriting, Creative, Ad films, PR Planning and strategy. Traditionally accepted–journalism offers options in various news channels in Hindi, English and regional. When the decision maker student stands at the crossroads of MBA vs Mass Communication, he has to do some serious soul searching and decide on his own calling at the end of the day and thereafter begin to zero in on the degree he wishes to obtain and the Institute he wishes to go to. Once that road is decided, and then begins the journey of a lifetime!!

By Prof. Ramola Kumar Dean, The Delhi School of Communication
Prof. Kumar’s Profile: Prof. Ramola Kumar started her career at The Institute of Management Studies, Bikaner as the Head of Department in the year 1984. She moved in October 1985 to The Institute of Management Technology, (IMT) Ghaziabad as Professor, Marketing with additional responsibilities as Academic Coordinator-- for 4 yrs. In 1989, she shifted to IMT Delhi centre as Chairperson, Evening Programme. She headed the centre for 6 years and for a span of 5 years during the same period, she was the Marketing Course Coordinator at The Times School of Marketing. Presently, Prof. Ramola Kumar is the Dean, The Delhi School of Communication wherein she was instrumental in helping conceive and launch the programme in the year 1995. The Delhi School of Communication is one of the premier institutes in the country in mass media studies and integrated communications. Her areas of specialization include Marketing, Brand Management and communications. Prof. Kumar has been educated in the United States of America, Canada and India. She pursued her MBA from the University of Ottawa, Canada and was ranked 4th in the management programme.

Dean, Delhi School of Communication

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