If you haven’t already seen this site, take a peek at

http://businessmajors.about.com/od/programcomparison/a/mbaDegree.htm

So, it boils down to “what type of job do you want…what job title?” and that should help you narrow it down.

but there are some different ways to go about getting that specialty:

1) study it in school and have it designate the type of MBA you get

2) get higher into a company with a general MBA and get into the specialty on the job

Hope this helps. Best wishes in your endeavors.

Not all MBA programs (especially part-time ones) have these specializations because they don’t offer enough courses in each division for elective taking. In this case, you have no choice but to do a ‘general’ MBA in which basiaclly means you scramble to take whatever electives you can based upon time considerations. Be certain the program you are considering enrolling in has the classes offered. Don’t just look at a class catalog — look at the schedule of classes from the previous semester so you can witness what classes one could’ve actually have taken.

What are the strengths of an emphasis? An emphasis steers you in the right direction for a career path. If you’ve worked in marketing in the real world, for example, you might want to climb into management level so taking an MBA in marketing is a no-brainer. A general MBA is so broad it’s like a super-duper high school diploma beacuse it covers so much topics, but not enough depth in any specific one — that’s not necessarily ‘bad’ but it just leaves one a little unfocused upon graduation as the knowledge they have gained in any particular business block is really limited. An analogy at the undergrad level would be taking a bunch of 100 level courses from different departments. Okay, you are very broadly educated but really the knowledge you learned is very superficial. To an extent, that is true too of a general MBA.

Look–this is not MBA related but it’s analogous. I figured out early in my MA program that I wanted to teach in a community college (personal preference for the environment and type of work). So when I went for the PhD, I tried to make all of my coursework as relevant as I could to community college education, I networked with community college people at professional conferences, I did my dissertation on community college curricula and practices. So, in a discipline where each opening garners 80-120 applicants, I wound up with four interviews and three offers before I accepted one–and I no doubt would have gotten more offers if I’d continued with the application process at the 12 or so other colleges where I was still pending.

Likewise, the MBA itself qualifies you for business management in general, but no one nowadays wants a generalist. And, unlike college teaching where a graduate degree is required, there’s nothing that says a business must hire an MBA–the CEOs of most Fortune 500 companies don’t have that degree, for example.

So it’s a good idea to refine your career focus. You want to be management, but what type and in what sort of field? Human resources for a manufacturing firm? Marketing pro for telecommunications? Strategic efficiency director for a direct sales chain?

Once you have narrowed your focus, you can figure out if you want to do a specific concentration in your MBA studies–or do as I did and get a generalized degree but develop your own logical focus within it. That will greatly enhance your ability to market yourself when it’s time to.

(Gosh, in the time it took me to write this, Wisdomdude posted just about the same stuff but with an excellent link. Vote for his answer, it’s better than mine!)