What is Business Administration Course? Everything you need to know

Are you someone with innate leadership qualities and business acumen? Read more to know all about a Business Administration degree and how can you utilise it to grow professionally:

What is Business Administration?

Business administration covers a wide range of topics related to business management. A business administration course prepares students for careers in marketing, education, finance, sales, and government.

Companies worldwide are always looking for qualified and talented entrepreneurs to promote their business and increase brand outreach to an extensive market. A business administration degree promises high remuneration, job satisfaction, and rapid career advancement.

In India, numerous institutes across the country offer business administration programs. Let us look into the specifics of business administration courses. 

Eligibility Criteria (UG & PG) of Business Administration

1. Undergraduate Level

Candidates must score between 50% and 60% in their 12th grade. From college to college, the pass percentile differs. General applicants must be above 22 years old, whereas reserved candidates can be 24 years old. 

The organisers prepare a cut-off list and ranks after the scores are released. Candidates who pass the test progress to the counselling round, where they are assigned colleges based on their rankings.

2. Postgraduate Level

Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent degree from an accredited university in any field. A baseline score of 50% is required for a bachelor’s degree. 

It is crucial for students to take entrance examinations such as the CAT, MAT, and CMAT. Students can enrol in colleges and universities based on their entrance exam results.

Entrance Exam for Business Administration

SET

The Symbiosis Entrance Test (SET) is an entrance examination for undergraduate degree programmes. A minimum of 50% in 12th grade (45% for SC/ST students) must partake in SET. This exam is conducted for 150 minutes long and takes place online. Candidates who pass the exam are admitted to undergraduate business administration programmes such as the BBA.

CAT

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a national entrance exam for postgraduate admission to various programmes. To take the CAT, a candidate must have a bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 50% scores. CAT is conducted once every year.

SNAP

The Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) is for candidates seeking admission to postgraduate programmes. It’s a two-hour test covering general English, reading comprehension, verbal thinking, and quantitative aptitude. Every year, 60,000 MBA aspirants take the CAT exam.

XAT

The Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is a prominent MBA entrance examination. Over 160 colleges in India offer the XAT test. It is conducted online, with 100 questions. 

MAT

For MBA admissions, the Management Aptitude Test is administered all over India. Over 600 Indian MBA institutions recognise the MAT score. This entrance exam is held four times a year, both in offline and online formats. 

Required Skillset for Business Administration

Business Administration demands advanced industry skills and professional traits. Candidates must be quick learners, able to thrive in high-pressure circumstances, and analytical thinkers. Most students pursuing business administration courses aim to bag upper management roles. 

This course introduces you to the principles of leadership, corporate ethics, and much more. You must be adept in:

1. Financial Management

Students should be able to budget and manage their money. This ensures that they can handle a company’s finances through meticulous budgeting and financial planning. In addition, financial management abilities help you anticipate cash flow and sales.

2. Negotiation and Communication

When it comes to pricing, business managers must be excellent communicators. They need to interact and communicate with team members, senior management, vendors, clients, etc., regularly. Additionally, they must possess compelling written and verbal communication abilities. 

3. Leadership

In business administration, leadership abilities are crucial. Actionable leadership helps you command a team and inspire co-workers to perform better. A leader’s role is to guide and mentor team members to accomplish short-term and long-term goals.

4. Project Planning and Management

Since business executives juggle multiple projects and responsibilities daily, they must be efficient and organised. They should be able to prioritise tasks and adhere to timelines. Plus, they must manage company resources through strategic planning. 

Diving into the future after your BCA? Explore the diverse career options after BCA that can propel you into exciting tech roles and industries.

Scope of Business Administration 

Business administration is a promising career path that you can pursue immediately after finishing high school. Students with a business administration degree have an analytical and computational mindset. They must be capable of comprehending financial, economic, and human resource principles. 

The great thing about a business administration degree is that the employment opportunities are diverse. Aspirants who have completed their bachelors in business administration usually go for an MBA. However, they might opt for entry-level jobs in banking, business consultancies, real estate management, manufacturing, advertising, marketing, business development, sales, product development, IT, telecommunications, etc. 

We have listed some of the primary career profiles that one can pursue after completing a BBA:

Human Resource Executive (HR Executive): A Human Resource Executive (HR Executive) ensures that the organisation’s strategies, methodologies, and HR programmes are implemented following professional benchmarks, state and federal administrative requirements, and regulations. An HR Executive’s primary responsibilities include planning, advising on HR strategy to C-level executives, and managing HR tasks like enrolment, remuneration, etc.

Marketing Manager: Marketing Managers work with product managers and marketing executives to brainstorm marketing strategies for product promotion. They analyse campaign performance, perform competitive research, define marketing campaign goals, and head all marketing-related activities of the firm. 

Sales Executive: Usually, Sales Executives deal with developing and implementing strategies to improve corporate sales revenue and market share.

Research and Development Manager: R&D Managers lead and manage a company’s research and development programs to meet the business’s needs. The R&D Manager’s job includes determining the scope of research projects and ensuring they are completed on time, within the set budget.

Business Administration Course Curriculum

Undergraduate business administration programmes are three-year programmes that address advanced business ethics, leadership, and decision-making concepts. Business administration is open to candidates from all educational backgrounds (science, arts, and commerce). It moulds students to become leaders and entrepreneurs. 

A BBA course is available in on-campus and online formats. Human resource management, economics, sales, information technology, computer application, finance, international business, and hospitality are a few popular specialisations available in BBA. 

Usually, the course is of three years, divided into six semesters. Students begin their journey with the basic-level topics and progress to more advanced topics in the later semesters. 

Types of Business Administration Courses 

1. Full-time BBA: This course is for three years and is subdivided into six semesters. It is the most common option for BBA aspirants. The method involves physical lectures, examinations, apprenticeships, and final job placements. There are around 4600 colleges in India offering this course. A course costs typically approximately between INR 3 to 6 lakhs

2. Part-time BBA: This course is equivalent to a conventional BBA, except all lectures are conducted on a part-time schedule. The degree is a three-year course, but the studies may be performed on evenings, weekdays or even weekend classes. This program is ideal for professional individuals who wish to graduate while they work. There are approximately 30 colleges in the country. This course costs anything between INR 50,000 to 60,000.

3. Distance/Correspondence BBA: The difference between a conventional BBA and a correspondence course is that the latter isn’t conducted on-campus. Candidates can apply for employment via mail and virtual communication. This remote BBA option is affordable, making it more suitable for candidates who cannot pursue a full-time course. In India, about 250 colleges provide distance BBA courses. The typical program fee ranges from INR 45,000 to 60,000.

4. Online BBA: The relevance of this course has increased significantly in the last few years. It is entirely conducted online in a virtual classroom model. All the lectures are offered via online meetings and recordings. Some courses also allow for one-on-one interactions with instructors, like upGrad courses. The fee structure varies according to the institution, the fee structure varies from INR 27,000 going up to INR 3,00,000.

Conclusion

Business administration is a highly lucrative career option for aspirants aiming to fast track their career growth with a professional degree. 

If you are keen to pursue business administration, opt for upGrad’s Global Doctor of Business Administration course. This 36-month long course is specially curated for Working Professionals. It comes with personal thesis support and international opportunities for research. It includes attractive networking opportunities, which could be a game-changer for your career.