There are very few jobs called 'general manager', but a general management position is one where the person is a manager in the traditional sense of someone who has to use all the general management tool kit: is not a consultant or a functional specialist (finance, operations etc). Generally functional manager move up into general management roles. Entrepreneurs and leaders are also often general managers.
So, when looking for a general management role, the question is: what sort of business unit could you successfully lead. I think most MBAs from top schools could easily lead a business is that is like an MBA study group: five or six people. People in these roles have various job titles and at Insead, for example, alumni in these roles are typically said to be 'in industry'. Insead is a school for consulting and IB, so it's not really optimal for general management.
So, you'd move into general management either
- by taking a supervisory role in an organisation, perhaps initially of a small team or
- by working in consulting or a functional role and then moving into a management/partner type position.
There are very few jobs called 'general manager', but a general management position is one where the person is a manager in the traditional sense of someone who has to use all the general management tool kit: is not a consultant or a functional specialist (finance, operations etc). Generally functional manager move up into general management roles. Entrepreneurs and leaders are also often general managers.
So, when looking for a general management role, the question is: what sort of business unit could you successfully lead. I think most MBAs from top schools could easily lead a business is that is like an MBA study group: five or six people. People in these roles have various job titles and at Insead, for example, alumni in these roles are typically said to be 'in industry'. Insead is a school for consulting and IB, so it's not really optimal for general management.
So, you'd move into general management either
- by taking a supervisory role in an organisation, perhaps initially of a small team or
- by working in consulting or a functional role and then moving into a management/partner type position.