Career Journeys
Career Journeys - General Management
Career Path: General Management
General managers need the skills to do it all, and Darden delivers those skills. Through the purposefully intense core curriculum, collaborative learning teams and sections, and breadth of opportunities in the First Year, students are prepared to take on a wide range of general management leadership roles. General managers from Darden are redefining every facet of the workplace.
The Darden MBA Powers Stellar General Management Career Outcomes
Darden’s Class of 2023 began post-MBA careers in general management at the globe's top companies and earned record starting salaries.
Leaders in General Management Recognize the Value of the Darden MBA
Hiring Companies Across Industries
Future General Managers Are Transformed in Charlottesville, Ready to Lead Anywhere
Locations for General Management Grads
Bentonville, Arkansas
Boston, Massachusetts
Charlotte, North Carolina
Chicago, Illinois
New York, New York
Richmond, Virginia
Seattle, Washington
Washington, D.C.
Meet Your General Management Career Team
Shavone Dudley
Associate Director of Employer Engagement and Recruiting
Christy Gunville
Managing Director, Full-Time MBA Program
Navigate Darden Electives and Coursework That Deliver Essential General Management Skills
In your First Year, you’ll gain an invaluable foundation in fundamental business concepts as you build lasting connections with your learning team and section.
Here, we help you navigate what comes next. After the First Year core curriculum, Darden students begin to tailor their experience by selecting from over 100 electives. Students interested in a general management career may find particular benefit from the courses listed below or via the elective guide below.
Career Elective Guides
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Financial Analysis
General managers must make sound business decisions based on insightful financial analyses with a desire to be good stewards of enterprise resources. Core to that endeavor is the need for cost control, capital allocation and performance measurement at various levels within an organization.
Course Number Course Title 8013 Strategic Corporate Governance 8170 Managerial Finance 8190 Taxation and Management Decisions 8423 Corporate Financial Strategies 8465 Management Planning and Control Systems 8470 Corporate Financing 8625 Mergers and Acquisitions -
Knowledge of the Broader Business Environment
Informed management decisions require an understanding of the broader environment in which your business operates. These courses and other GEM courses provide an understanding of the broader economic drivers of the business environment.
Course Number Course Title 8023 China in the World Economy 8174 Managing International Trade and Investments 8280 Introduction to Business Law 8325 Markets, Government, and Society 8330 Business-Government Relations 8390 India in the World Economy 8759 Economics of Money and Banking -
Managing Process and Operations
When you have profit and loss responsibility for a business unit, you are accountable for delivering results. These courses help you understand how to manage product development and innovation, crafting the value proposition for the customer, and manage operations to deliver to the customer.
Course Number Course Title 8024 Strategy Execution 8051 Digital Operations 8053 Sustainable Global Value Chains 8065 Managing Sustainability from the Inside Out 8067 Managing Innovation 8130 Prototyping and Product Development I 8170 Managerial Finance 8390 India in the World Economy 8465 Management Planning and Control Systems 8626 Global Economics of Water 8636 Digital Product Management -
Strategy
General managers must chart a path forward for their organization, leveraging technology and disruptive forces to create new ways of delivering value to stakeholders. These courses craft your strategic thinking and prepare you to lead in the digital economy.
Course Number Course Title 7994 Strategic Analysis and Consulting 8013 Strategic Corporate Governance 8033 Digital Marketing 8171 International Corporate Finance 8190 Taxation and Management Decisions 8285 Corporate Strategy 8330 Business-Government Relations 8481 Global Industry Economics 8496 Data Science in Business 8535 Growth and Business in Emerging Markets 8758 Strategy in the Digital Age 8800 Operations Strategy -
Communication
The best solutions are useless if they aren’t shared with stakeholders in compelling ways. You must ensure your message is received and embraced by other individuals, teams, clients and corporate and government entities.
Course Number Course Title 7600 Data Visualization and Analytics 7605 Strategic Communication 8125 Storytelling with Data 8320 Leadership Communication During Times of Disruption and Transformation 8395 Communicating Financial and Sustainability Performance 8930 Negotiations -
Creativity and Problem Solving
Being original is not a luxury in a globally diverse, hypercompetitive marketplace. You must be able to see — and help others see — problems as novel opportunities upon which they can capitalize. These courses help you foster creative environments and generate innovative outputs.
Course Number Course Title 7618 Effectual Entrepreneurship 8067 Managing Innovation 8130 Prototyping and Product Development I 8476 Collaboration Lab 8535 Growth and Business in Emerging Markets 8621 Project Management -
Leadership
Effective general managers are skilled leaders who leverage the talent of their people to create results. To be an effective leader, you must develop, empower and inspire your people to perform at the highest level and with the greatest degree of integrity possible.
Course Number Course Title 7619 Paths to Power 8015 Behavioral Decision Making 8019 Defining Moments 8155 Talent Management 8274 Leadership When it Really Counts 8308 Leadership Learning Lab 8400 General Managers Taking Action 8412 People, Purpose, & the Power of Relationships 8429 Managing Conflict & Leveraging Consensus 8498 Creating and Advancing Big Ideas 8500Z Character Traits and Success 8619 Leading Teams 8634 Interviewing Experiential Field-Based Elective: Identifying Top Talent 8635 Interviewing Experiential Field-Based Elective: Identifying Top Talent Part II 8706 Leadership, Diversity and Leveraging Difference 8707 Leadership Coaching
Concentrations
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Business Development and Growth
Sustainable success requires organizations to innovate and grow to maintain or increase profitability. Students in this concentration will learn the fundamentals of managing innovation, organic growth, and acquisition and integration of mergers and acquisitions.
Faculty Contact: Jeanne Liedtka
Business Development and Growth Concentration Requirements
A student will be recognized as having this concentration when they have completed 9.0 credit hours from the courses listed below.
Note: Not all courses may be offered in a given year.
Course Number Course Title Credit Hours 7500 Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship in Action (IDEA) 1.5 7603 Valuation in Financial Markets 1.5 8013 Strategic Corporate Governance 1.5 8014 Strategic Thinking 1.5 8130 Prototyping and Product Development 1 1.5 8304 Consumer Behavior 1.5 8310 Competitive Dynamics Seminar 1.5 8400 General Managers Taking Action 3 8459 Innovation and Design Experience 3 8697-8699 Darden Consulting Project (must be approved for this concentration) 1.5 -
Supply Chain Management
Obtain additional grounding in operations management concepts and develop depth of knowledge in supply chain management concepts, particularly from a general management perspective. Build strength in related cross-functional skills including sustainability, technology and digital operations.
Faculty Contact: Raul Chao
Supply Chain Management Concentration Requirements
A student will be recognized as having this concentration when they have completed 7.5 credit hours from the courses listed below.
Note: Not all courses may be offered in a given year.
Course Number Course Title Credit Hours 7608 General Management and Operational Effectiveness 1.5 8050 Digital Operations 1.5 8053 Sustainable Global Value Chains 1.5 8171 International Corporate Finance 1.5 8466 Emerging Topics in Technology & Operations Management 1.5 8621 Project Management 1.5 8697-8699 Darden Consulting Project (must be approved for this concentration) 1.5 8800 Operations Strategy 1.5 8830 Supply Chain Management 1.5 8930 Negotiations 1.5 8999 Darden Independent Study (must be approved for this concentration) 1.5
Outside of the Classroom, General Management Opportunities That Spark Inspiration and Professional Purpose
Darden’s best-in-class Career Center and wide array of student organizations and centers provide you the opportunity to learn about yourself and learn from others as you pursue your career.
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Career Preparation
Through Darden’s Career Center and Alumni Career Services, you’ll gain career guidance from the moment you enroll and for wherever your career takes you after graduation. Here’s what you can expect:
- Pre-matriculation, First Year and Second Year career education
- One-on-one, industry-specific coaching
- Darden-facilitated opportunities for networking, meeting alumni and industry leaders, and interviewing
- Resume and cover letter reviews
- Access to advanced analytics and data to craft recruiting marketing materials such as resume, LinkedIn and more
- Industry- and employer-specific database for interview prep and salary research
- Technical interview prep
- Mock interviews
- Employer case competitions
- Negotiation skill-building
- Executives-in-Residence Program
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Career Clubs and Activities
General Management and Operations Club
As the largest career-oriented organization at Darden, the Marketing and General Management Club is committed to bridging the gap between the classroom and the job market.
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Conferences and Events
Darden Marketing, General Management and Tech (MGMT) Conference
Darden's MGMT Conference provides a unique opportunity for three of the School's largest career clubs to host and engage with top employers hiring Darden talent.
Meet Darden's Experts in General Management Who Will Help Hone Your Purpose
Award-Winning Faculty
Leaders, scholars, disruptors, entrepreneurs, innovators, thinkers, and, above all, doers come together to create an unparalleled experience in business education.
Recognized as the best in the world, the Darden faculty teaches to the student's benefit while advancing the nature of business itself.
Explore Darden Faculty >
Select General Management Alumni Leaders
Here, you'll become a member of a global network that’s over 17,000 people strong. Darden’s alumni are united in their commitment to shared professional and personal excellence.
Indy Adenaw (MBA ’08)
Managing Director, Management Leadership for Tomorrow
Stuart C. Bachelder (MBA '06)
Vice President, DaVita Kidney Care
Jacqueline Grace (MBA ’10)
Senior Vice President & General Manager, Caesars Entertainment Corporation
Evan A. Inra (EMBA '08)
HR Program Leader, Amazon Web Services
Nicole Lindsay (MBA '99/JD '00)
COO, Sustainability and Center for Inclusive Growth, Mastercard
Eric M. Swanson (MBA ’08)
Director, Last Mile, Worldwide Delivery Service Partner Program, Amazon
There Are Even More Opportunities to Explore
Darden students can go from here, to anywhere. Graduates begin their post-graduation careers in a wide variety of the world’s most in-demand sectors. Explore even more career journeys.