BCom. vs BBA – which one is better for MBA aspirants in India

Dr. Rakesh Premi

MBA has been a dream course for many students, and has become one of the most searched post-graduation programmes. As per researches, India is the 2nd country with most degrees is management of people between 20-34 years of age.

MBA is a degree that allows students from various backgrounds to apply. Due to this diversification students with science, commerce, engineering, arts or business backgrounds can opt for it and have a diverse learning experience. But there has always been some sort of confusion among commerce students who wish to opt for MBA after a bachelor's degree. Class XII students often get dicey to choose between BCom and BBA. Here is an in-depth comparison between BCom and BBA for students who wish to pursue MBA degree in India.

BCom specialisations

BCom (Bachelor of Commerce) is an undergraduate degree that can be done after the completion of Class XI. BCom consists of subjects like Finance, economics, insurance, analytical, problem-solving skills. More than 10 lakh students enrol each year across various colleges in the country. This degree is specifically designed for commerce students and is also open for students in the science stream mainly because Mathematics is a key core for getting an admission in this field which is only found in the field of Commerce and Science. Apart from having every subject in BCom., the degree also offers specialisation in a specific subject such as BCom in Accounting and Finance, BCom. in Finance, etc. The BCom degree is a three-year degree course and students can either follow up the course by doing MCom (Masters of Commerce) or pursue fields like Chartered Accountant (CA), MBA, Company Secretary (CS), Banking & Insurance, Business Accounting & Taxation (BAT), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), Certified Financial Planner, Investment Banking, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Business Analytics and Data Analytics.

BBA specialisations

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a degree in business administration and commerce which can be done after completion of Class XI. It is an undergraduate degree that allows students to learn and understand the fundamental knowledge of business along with its practical knowledge. Every year more than 1 lakh students graduate from this course. BBA is a professional course that helps the students to enter the business career with required skills like operational, managerial and related expertise. BBA is an important degree for MBA aspirants. BBA offers specialised courses like BBA in Marketing, BBA in travel and tourism and one can become digital marketer, product manager, new technology application architect, business analyst or consultant.

 Scope of MBA

MBA specialisation offers a niche area to pursue your passion with career. There are many fields like Marketing, Finance, Human Resource, General Management, Information Technology, Operations, Entrepreneurship, Production Management etc. So, it's important to understand each specific specialisation to get a clear idea on which background fits better.

 MBA in HR

MBA in HR is a two-year degree course that focuses on human resource management, providing direction. Those having an MBA in HR are trained for field management: the employees are hired for planning human resource development strategies.  Having learnt BBA prior to MBA in HR will help the students to perform well in human resources.

MBA in Marketing

MBA in Marketing is a specialised two-year degree course for candidates that are interested in learning branding, advertising, marketing. To have a career in marketing having a degree of BBA will help the students to excel in this field. The subjects learnt in this course are Business Environment, Management Concepts, Marketing Management, etc. Marketing is one of the most require skill and is therefore popular and demanding.  

MBA in GM

MBA in General Management is one of the most popular MBA programmes and includes study of finance, marketing, accounting. This programmeme is for those individuals who wish to focus on higher level management problem and have a knack for supervising employees. Completion of BBA course prior to an MBA in General Management will help the students to build a perfect foundation in this field. It takes two years to complete this course and students can choose to opt for on campus or distant learning as well.

MBA in Finance

Having an MBA degree in Finance helps the fellow entrepreneurs and business aspirants to know a little more about the finance world. The course helps the students to forecast economic trends, choose investment portfolios and such other. Students having an MBA degree in Finance can work in fields like tax planning, international finance, insurance management, etc. The duration of this course is two years and having a bachelor’s degree is essential.  Having a B.Com. degree while pursuing MBA in finance will be beneficial.

 MBA in IT

Industries have begun with ecommerce making IT one of the important specialisations in the business world. B.Com. in Information Technology will help you as the subjects learned in the MBA course are similar to that learnt in B.Com. Students wishing to pursue MBA in IT need to have a bachelor's degree and the duration of the course is of 2 years. The skills required for this course is project management, office skills, flexibility, foresight, etc.

 Understanding each specialisation in detail has made it clear that BBA is a better choice for MBA aspirants as it proves to be true in most cases. A detailed understanding of both courses makes it easier to come to a conclusion of what fits best according to the MBA specialisation the students want to opt for, making it easier to choose the degree accordingly.

 The writer is Pro-VC , Sanskriti University

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