Amid rising expectations for high-quality products that deliver a great user experience, experts in product management with deep skills are in greater demand than ever.
At Booth, you’ll get everything you need to launch a vibrant career in product management after your MBA. Through workshops and other events, many of which are hosted by the James M. Kilts Center for Marketing, you’ll learn from industry experts and grow your network. In student-run groups, you’ll get to know peers who share your interests. And you’ll build a deep base of knowledge and skills that will set you up for success in any aspect of the field.
Kenny Bourgon: Product management is a really interesting role because it sits at the center of a bunch of different teams and so you get to work with a little bit of everything.
Zach Nerenberg: You have to be fluent in a bunch of different languages: engineering, design, business strategy. It's an exciting space to be in. The number one thing, why Booth is great for PMs is like the freedom to take whatever classes you want.
Kenny Bourgon: Application Development with Professor Betina is a pretty critical class that will make you empathize with the engineers who you're going to work with day to day.
Matheus Vervloet: Platform Competition with Austan Goolsbee, amazing professor and he taught me how to apply microeconomic concepts to business and more particularly platform businesses.
Zach Nerenberg: Like within 12 months of graduating we had like some problem at Amazon that we had to solve and I was like, I know exactly the right way to think about this and it was like concepts directly from that class.
Matheus Vervloet: Then Managerial Decision Making with Anuj Shah, focusing more on behavioral science, how people make decisions. I think that's gonna be very, very useful. I would credit my recruiting success through the Booth Technology Group. They did both panels and one-on-one interview preparation, resume reviews.
Prachi Kulkarni: They also work with the Kilts Center to put together a really popular event called the PM/PMM Workshop, where they get both alumni who are in those roles to come and do case interviews with first year and second year students.
Kenny Bourgon: Actually six months later when I did start interviewing, I relied a lot on the experience that I had in that workshop.
Prachi Kulkarni: I think Kilts is really good about connecting Booth students with a lot of alumni who work in the tech industry. They put together programming that not only helps you develop certain skill sets that are required to be a product manager in the tech space, but they also help you network and build a community with people within the tech industry.
At Booth, You Own Your MBA Experience
A Booth MBA is rooted in The Chicago Approach, the educational philosophy that sets Booth apart from every other business school in the world. Grounded in the fundamental scientific disciplines at the heart of business—economics, accounting, psychology, sociology, and statistics—this transformative approach teaches all Booth students how to use theoretical frameworks to help them define problems, ask better questions, and develop evidence-based solutions.
At the same time, the MBA curriculum for Full-Time and Part-Time MBA students is the most flexible among the world’s top business schools. At Booth, the level and sequence in which you take your foundational courses is not set in stone. We give you the opportunity to customize your education to support your career interests and goals, because we know there is no singular roadmap to career success. As our students and alumni will tell you, everyone’s journey to the career they want is different.
Product management courses are woven throughout the curriculum, giving you many opportunities to apply your MBA to product management. Here are just a few.
| Course | Short Description |
| Consumer Behavior | Students learn that marketing begins and ends with the consumer, from understanding consumer needs to post-purchase satisfaction. They study consumer psychology and its implications for both business and personal reasons. |
| Marketing Strategy |
This course introduces modern marketing management techniques and the fundamentals of modern marketing practice; specifically, the four tactical Ps—price, promotion, product, and place (distribution)—through the structural lens of the three Cs—customer, competition, and company. |
| Developing New Products and Services (also offered as a Lab) |
Through company-sponsored, real-world innovation projects, students gain an in-depth understanding of current practices in new-product development, especially in the early, up-front stages of product development. The Lab version of this course provides students with an in-depth understanding of state-of-the-art practices in new product/service innovation, with an emphasis on the early up-front stages of the innovation process using Design Thinking methods. |
To see more Booth MBA courses, visit our course catalog.
MBA Concentrations at Booth You Can Consider
Our flexible curriculum gives you the freedom to focus your MBA experience on a specific area of interest. Earning an MBA concentration gives you deep knowledge in a given field and sets you up for success in your career. Concentrations are available to Full-Time, Evening, and Weekend MBA students.
Entrepreneurship
Build the practical tools and experiences you need to start your own business or embark on a career in private equity or venture capital.
Entrepreneurship
Marketing Management
Go beyond the bounds of traditional marketing practice. This concentration prepares you to act decisively and solve problems with confidence.
Marketing Management
Strategic Management
Build the skills you need to create and implement key strategies—and shape the structure and functioning of your firm.
Strategic ManagementMBA Student Groups in Product Management
Student-led groups offer a great opportunity to meet fellow students in your area of interest and explore careers in your field. Our many student organizations include several that are specifically focused on product management.
The Booth Technology Group is a social and professional network of current students and alumni who are interested in pursuing a career in technology.
From company visits and career treks to design thinking challenges and bootcamps, this group brings together Full-Time MBA students who want to learn more about careers in product management.
This group hosts industry leaders, panel discussions, and casual networking events to help you understand the functions of this role and network with experts in the field.
Join a Full-Time MBA Group
Get involved, develop new skills, and meet new people in a wide array of student-led groups.
Join a Full-Time MBA Group
Explore Part-Time MBA Student Groups
Pursue your interests and expand your network by joining a student-led group for Part-Time MBA students.
Explore Part-Time MBA Student GroupsDiscover Student Stories
Booth Technology Club Talks Workshop: PM & PMM
This post on The Booth Experience provides you with insights into this popular workshop, which brings tech industry leaders to campus to practice product-focused cases with students.
Booth Technology Club Talks Workshop: PM & PMM
Breaking into Brand Management with the Marketing Case Competition
Current student Austin Li Coon sheds some light on what it’s like to participate in the Kilts Center’s Marketing Case Competition
Breaking into Brand Management with the Marketing Case Competition
Choose Your Path to Success
Tell us about yourself, and we will show you the value of a Booth education.
Discover Alumni Outcomes
Our alumni are leveraging their MBAs in product management all over the world—heading up product marketing for LEGO, leading portfolio efforts at Comcast, and much more.
Catching Up With Ritvik Bansal, ‘20
Read about Ritvik’s MBA experience and stories relating to life after Booth as a Senior Global Product Manager at Invisalign.
Catching Up With Ritvik Bansal, ‘20
Book of Booth with Julia Goldin
The LEGO Group global chief product and marketing officer reflects on what she’s learned after years of working with innovative brands—touching on agility, authenticity, and more.
Book of Booth with Julia GoldinDig into Our Employment Reports
Many of our students launch exciting careers in product management after earning an MBA. Check our employment reports to see the pathways they’ve created.
Booth Research Centers in This Area
Our interdisciplinary research centers give you access to workshops, conferences, leading scholars, and research opportunities.
James M. Kilts Center for Marketing
The Kilts Center for Marketing advances marketing at Booth by facilitating faculty research, supporting innovation in Booth’s marketing curriculum, funding scholarships, and creating engaging programs.
James M. Kilts Center for MarketingFaculty Research in Product Management
Our faculty are award-winning scholars whose work is regularly covered in Chicago Booth Review, our influential magazine focusing on business, policy, and markets.
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