The Erdman Center for Operations and Technology Management teaches students to master complex and integrated business problems by providing them with a systems perspective that focuses on customer satisfaction. MBA students in the Erdman Center are typically looking for positions as consultants, analysts, project leaders and business developers.

MBA students in the Center for Strategic Human Resource Management understand that managing people is critical to organizations success but that aligning people within an organizational strategy can be challenging. MBA students in Strategic Human Resource Management puts an emphasis on quantifying the impact of human resource decisions on business performance.

Students in The Center for Brand and Product Management use marketing techniques to increase the perceived value to the customer and are often accountable for their brand’s overall profit and loss. Brand managers typically work for major companies focused on consumer packaged goods. The Center for Brand and Product Management in the Wisconsin MBA is the nation’s first university based center.

Founded in 1969, The Bolz Center for Arts Administration is one of the oldest business degree programs in arts and cultural management. The Bolz Center supports and advances arts and cultural managers’ education and training through the multidisciplinary MBA program and ongoing research and alumni development. Arts organizations must learn to survive as businesses in order to thrive as art.

Critical analysis of corporate financial problems is the heart of The Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking. MBA students in the Nicholas Center work on corporate finance engagements for a variety of companies: public and private, mature and start-up, financial and non-financial. The Nicholas Center is the only truly applied corporate finance MBA program in the country.

The Hawk Center for Applied Securities Analysis offers students the educational experience of learning the business through the hands-on, independent management of real portfolios. Including earnings and additional gifts, the three fixed-income portfolios ASAP students manage total over $50 million. The Hawk Center is a pioneer of student-managed investment programs and a CFA Program Partner.

Companies today face a variety of risks – legal liabilities, natural disasters and credit meltdowns to name only a few. The Center for Risk Management and Insurance ensures that its MBA students are skilled at evaluating these risks and developing the strategic use of risk measures. The curriculum integrates finance, accounting, data analysis, enterprise risk management, risk financing techniques and sustainability implications.

There is no better foundation to marketing action than marketing research. The A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research uses research methodologies to answer the questions of why. Why do consumers purchase what they do, when they do, and for what price and what marketing techniques can be used to change or influence this behavior? Market researchers use observation methods and analytical tools to discover consumer insights to have maximum impact on business.

The Grainger Center for Supply Management has a uniquely cross-functional curriculum that integrates business process views of supply chains—including marketing, sourcing, logistics, operations, and customer service. MBA students in the Grainger Center learn how to reach across functions within their own organizations and beyond – to suppliers, channel partners and customers.

A deep understanding of urban economic principles as they relate to finance, investment and development are the foundations of The James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. MBA students in the Graaskamp Center are also offered the opportunity to participate in the Applied Real Estate Investment Track (AREIT), which provides students with the chance to manage a $1 million portfolio in their second year.