Top 5 advantages of earning a Bachelor of Business Degree

Galway Business School in Ireland offers a 3-year Bachelor of Business at level 7 of Ireland’s National Framework of Qualifications, and a 4-year Bachelor of Business (Honours) with International Business qualification at level 8.

What is a Bachelor of Business Degree?

A Bachelor of Business is either a three or four-year programme at undergraduate level which provides you with a solid theoretical and practical grounding in the most common elements of business, such as leadership and management, accounting and finance, data analysis, human relations management, entrepreneurship and global strategy.

Here we look at some of the advantages of earning a Bachelor of Business degree.

Get the inside view of an organisation

We’re all consumers products and services and you almost certainly have strong preferences as to which brands you like, whose customer service you really appreciate, and who you’ll happily keep on buying from again and again. But what does it take behind the scenes for a whole company to achieve success?

You might already have experience of working for an organisation, big or small, whether as your regular job or a part-time thing. But for many of us, we’re very much on the outside, looking in. We have little understanding, appreciation or empathy for what it takes, to deliver those products and services day in, day out; to keep you happy as a customer; or to keep you up to date with your training, to pay your wages and ensure everything runs smoothly whilst the company still makes a profit.

A bachelor of business studies gives you the deep appreciation of the many functions within a business that need to interconnect and work efficiently together for that business to be successful. And once you find out, there’s no going back, it’s a bit like being unplugged from The Matrix.

Whilst there are many types of Bachelor Degrees in business, almost all will give you a grounding in these different functions, and how they all pull together. But whilst every organisation will have departments or divisions like finance, marketing, production, human resources and distribution, the most successful ones have a clear vision, and the kind of leadership which will propel the organisation forward with shared values and beliefs.

So on the best bachelor of business courses, you’ll not only understand what everyone does, but also, you’ll look at how an organisation develops its internal culture and ways of collaborating in order to build its external brand.

Prepare your rise up through the organisation

If you’re already in the world of work, then a Bachelor of Business part time might be the best option. But why bother if you’re already working? Well it’s only too easy to get typecast in a role or function, in that if you’ve been doing the job for a while, and you’re reasonably good at it, there may be little reason in your employer’s mind to move you from that position.

Even if they do see a career path for you, it might be for a gradual plod up through the ranks, in a predictable way with only a very incremental increase in pay as you go.

The learning outcomes for a Bachelor of Business degree are likely to include not only an appreciation of how the whole organisation works, but also a set of skills you’ve developed to be able to analyse how successful the business is, its place in the wider marketplace and competitive environment, and the strategies a business could adopt to improve its sales, profitability, or market share.

With that kind of skill set and vision, with knowledge of some of the most current theories and experience of having looked at some classic business success (and failure) stories, you definitely start to see your own organisation in a different light. And that perspective you have has value to your employer. But it might have even more value to a new one!

Take a leap to somewhere new

A business degree course is both a playground for you to flex new skills and spot things you really like doing, and also a great way to appreciate how transferable your pre-existing skills might be. So with your bachelor of business, careers opportunities start to multiply.

There are almost no limits to where your business skills will come in handy, though the qualification is probably most useful where an organisation is required to make a profit from the activities it undertakes. As soon as that is the case, there is a need to:

• find an audience and a market for what you do
• be innovative in what you’re offering
• overtake or stay ahead of competitors
• hire and train the right people, and pay them the right amount
• Inspire everyone to follow a shared vision of where you’re trying to get to
• manage the costs in the business and make profit, and
• develop systems and processes to ensure you keep on doing things right

That could be in any sector from leisure and tourism, to finance and banking, to industrial manufacturing, agriculture and food production, construction, entertainment and media, shipping or transport. But it could equally be running a local convenience store, managing a beauty salon, or developing the next big social media app in your garage.

The advantage of a bachelor of business degree is that it gives you that big picture and a set of skills to ensure whatever you turn your mind to, it has the best chance of success. And because the bachelor qualification is a relevant degree in so many sectors of activity, it gives you the ultimate opportunity to jump into an industry or job that really motivates and interests you.

Set up your own thing

When it comes to studying a bachelor of business, Ireland is particularly renowned for its entrepreneurial approach and Galway is home to some of the most innovative multinational organisations such as Boston Scientific (which also has a graduate programme in Galway).

Many of the leading bachelor of business programmes will now include modules on entrepreneurship. There is something quite special about combining entrepreneurship with business studies, because traditionally, the two were not considered together. The bachelor of business was the theory-heavy academic study route, whereas entrepreneurs were typically the high-school or college drop-outs who went it alone.

Nowadays you have the best of both worlds. You can learn the lessons of thinking outside the box and walking the road less travelled, whilst also ensuring that the approaches you take are underpinned by sound business knowledge. After all, you might see the Bransons, the Sugars and the O'Learys of this world out in front and appearing in the spotlight, but they are also supported massively by teams of organisational experts. Why not have both?

Go international

When you opt for the Level 8 bachelor of business qualification at Galway Business School, the final year is all about developing a greater international perspective, and that includes looking at global strategy.

When our own twice-crowned Bachelor of Business Student of the Year, Lisiane Memlak graduated last year, she was successful in landing her very first job with world-famous international consulting firm, EY. You can read our interview with Brazilian born Lisiane in our blog.

Our Bachelor of Business is quite special in that Galway Business School and its sister organisation Galway Cultural Institute has worldwide connections. It means the programme we offer is truly international, with students attending from around the world (with excellent levels of English as well!).

If you are interested in taking your career to the international level, where you might be required to travel and work in other countries, or be part of a multinational team, there will be tremendous benefit to having an international mix of students on your course.

By sharing the experience of studying business with people from other countries and cultures, your peers will give you valuable insights into how business in Ireland might compare with other countries.

This insight and appreciation of other business cultures, not to mention your very own international business network of friends you’ve made on the degree programme, will be invaluable later in your career.

If you’d like to find out more about Galway Business School’s Bachelor of Business at level 7 and the Bachelor of Business (Honours) with International Business qualification, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.