There are several types of graduate business degrees that prepare students for many types of careers. The most typical is the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, with its concentrations or areas of emphasis. There is also the Master of Science (MS) degree that allows a student to explore a business concentration in greater depth, such as in management, accounting, or finance. There is also a broader-based business degree for students interested in understanding the culture and behavior of organizations. This degree is specifically designed to teach people how to manage equipment and systems from a human and technical perspective. It is interdisciplinary in its approach, as it synthesizes knowledge from different fields, including business, social sciences, and communication. This degree is the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (Mahuron, 2013).

A versatile postgraduate degree, the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (MAOL) prepares individuals to handle the human aspect of business management in a variety of roles and settings, spanning all private, public and non-profit organizations and businesses. profit. Graduates can be employed to lead organizational change, participate in human resource management, employee recruitment and development, and help create high-performance workforces. They can be used as corporate trainers, adult educators, program developers, or instructional designers. They can be found working at institutions of higher education developing, planning and implementing college-level programs within the schools’ student services division, or providing leadership in an administrative role. It is also common for these graduates to teach college-level courses in student development, leadership, and adult basic education (Mahuron, 2013). MAOL graduates are truly equipped for higher paying positions such as Human Resources Manager, Production Supervisor, and Administrative Services Manager (Wilson, 2012).

Typical coursework for the MAOL involves leadership theories and their application, human relations, diversity within organizations, and techniques for organizational problem solving and conflict resolution (Wilson, 2012). Effective written and verbal communication skills, employee training and development, and project management courses could also be included.

The MAOL degree is considered an alternative to the popular MBA degree. While the MBA concentrates on the analytical parts of leadership, the MAOL emphasizes psychology and philosophy in relation to employee and organizational behaviors. Each of these degrees has its own approach and management techniques. MAOL programs have been shown to create higher quality leaders than MBA programs, due to their strong emphasis on organizational leadership (Wilson, 2012).

Sources

Mahuron, S. (2013). What jobs can you get with an organizational leadership degree? The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 24, 2013 from http://work.chron.com/jobs-can-organizational-leadership-degree-6405.html

Wilson, A. (2012, September 24). MSOL: Better than an MBA? Being University. Retrieved on October 24, 2013 from http://www.collegebeing.com/msol-better-than-mba/