Careers/Disciplines in Management 

Marketing Management

Designations like Product Manager, Brand Manager, Market Research Analyst, Territory Manager and Marketing Manager are all careers for people opting for the Marketing stream in MBA studies. Marketing has traditionally remained a very strong specialisation option for students because of the elements of strategy, warfare and creativity in this field. Also whatever be the state of the market—bullish or recessionary—marketing people are never out of, or in search of, a job.

Product Management or Brand Management, depending upon whether the product is a manufactured product or a consumer packaged good require MBAs to control and co-ordinate and take responsibility for the growth and profit viability of a product. Promotional opportunities are very much there and a successful Product/Brand Manager might go up the corporate ladder to Category Manager, to even the Vice-President of Marketing or Marketing Director.

Service Marketing is a relatively new segment of the Marketing pie, and is being increasingly seen a separate category because the service side of all organisations are becoming important to retain customers. This is thus a parallel track to Product Marketing in many cases, and the main functions in service sectors like hotels and education. In the service sector, because of the relative importance of this function of marketing, the designation might be Marketing Manager, a person who oversees customer relationship, satisfaction and loyalty.

To help in all marketing tasks, is the very important function of the Market Research Manager. It is the market researcher who compiles and collated all data regarding customer demography, tastes, segmentation and database marketing operations. This job is extremely statistical in nature and requires specialists with a yen for numbers.

In the advertising world, the Account Manager rules. She performs many of the functions of the Product Manager, but on the agency side, handling company accounts and campaigns logistics.

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Finance Managent

Careers in Finance and accounting follow one of two distinct paths. An MBA in Finance can either be in Public accounting or in corporate accounting.

Public accountants provide accounting services to other businesses. Public accounting firms like the famous Arthur Andersen or KPMG are usually partnerships and engage in audits of companies and giving their expert opinions on the financial affairs of the companies. An MBA here can provide a holistic view of the company affairs and hence works with a broader function base than, say, a Chartered Accountant or a Master of Accounts (USA). Besides most audit firms also provide a host of consultancy and advisory services which an MBA is in a better position to do. The MBA degree’s broad curriculum also helps him give opinions and suggest solutions on client management, and other strategic issues.

In Corporate Accounting, an MBA is needed to manage the company’s financial resources and make sure that there is optimal use of resources. Therefore, functions like budgeting, financial planning, resource allocation etc. come under the ambit of the MBA. The designations could be that of Finance Manager, or Financial Analyst and the career path could lead all the way to Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

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 Personnel Management

 People are the most valuable asset of a company. This view is now accepted almost in all sectors and industries. MBAs in this field generally specialise in Compensation, where they decide on the packages to be given to employees if they have a knack for number crunching or in Personnel where they are in charge of Recruitment and Selection, Job Analysis, Performance Appraisals and the Grievance Redressal Cells. They may also be in charge of Employee training and development.

Some new areas in HRD are Change Management, when a company adopts new management practices or after an Acquisition or a Merger. Other specific sections are Affirmative Action Planning and Equal Employment Opportunities. These areas ensure that there is no discrimination in recruitment and that it is done only on merit basis. These areas are not very prevalent in India, except in the Public sector where Affirmative Action takes the form of Reservations for SC/ST/OBCs.

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Information Systems Management

The last few years have seen the emergence of Information Technology (IT)T/Management Information Systems (MIS) as a major function of any industry, from being just a departmental function earlier. Indeed, no part of business is untouched by Information systems because of the growth of e-commerce and telecommunications. Operations MBAs require IS in procurement roles. The marketing MBAs use market research, and segmentation to formulate strategies; Finance MBAs require IS in equity research and corporate finance and even HR MBAs require IS in Change Management consulting!

This is the reason that more and more MBAs are taking up extra credits in Information systems and IT even if they major in some other subject. For people specialising in MIS, the career path is quite rosy, if skewed in favour of engineers and technical graduates. One can join as System Analyst, and then go on to Technical Systems Manager and ultimately on to Chief Information Officer (CIO). This specialisation has turned out to be one of the most lucrative in terms of both opportunities and compensation, especially with the emergence of the dotcom craze.  Top

Manufacturing Management

In Operations Management the two basic divisions are the Manufacturing or Production Operations and the Service Operations. The basic purpose is to increase efficiency to its optimal level. Most MBAs in this line complement their Operations specializations with a lot or credits in IT and Systems. An MBA might start off as a Manufacturing Manager, Product Supervisor and go on to Technical Product Manager of the division. Further Career growth may include General Manager of a division and finally up to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a company.

In the service sector Operations include the same overall functions of Quality Assurance and Process Improvement, with focus on capacity constraints, queuing and outsourcing processes.

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Management Consulting

The MBA degree gives one the best course to get into Management Consulting.  A consultant is a person who is hired by businesses to give expert opinions on various functions with a view to make optimal usage of the company’s resources. Although a person might get into the Management consultancy firms without the benefit of an MBA, usually they leave after two years of service or so to pursue an MBA degree as that is the bast way of vertical growth in that firm. Most of the top Management Consultancy firms of the world like Arthur Andersen, KPMG, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche started off as Auditing concerns and later branched out into Management Consulting.

The types of consulting services available vary widely according to specializations in MBA done.

The areas in Consultancy for Operations/Manufacturing MBAs are Business Process Reengineering, Manufacturing Consulting, Operational Effectiveness and Strategic Consulting.

HR MBAs may get into Organisation Design or become Compensation Benefits or Change Management Consultants. IT MBAs frequently become Systems Consultants or HRIS Consultants or Database Consultants. General Management MBAs usually go into Strategic Consulting.

The growth path of an MBA in a Consultancy firm is such that they usually start by being Associates or Senior Consultants. Then they go on to Managing Consultant to Senior Manager to Associate Partner/Partner.

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General Management

General Management is mainly for people who have some speciality already, and want to increase their oeuvre. Others pursue General Management as a corollary to some other core discipline. This is because there are practically no entry-level jobs in GM.

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Enterpreneurship

Enterpreneurship is chosen by two kinds of people. One, who have family-managed businesses to handle or take over immediately after passing out from the institute, and the other kind who have ideas they want to implement in a new business after passing. The second kind is now very much in vogue, especially with the mushrooming e-commerce culture where every idea has a possibility of fruition in a flourishing business. The dot-com craze is a case in point. These ventures ate typically characterised by a large amount of risk, but with equally high returns if they succeed. Many ideas are implemented with an eye on an IPO (Initial Public Offering of stock) where they might be able to innovate and grow with the money flowing in.

Small Business Management is again either for people who have a SSI (Small-Scale Industry) Unit waiting for them to handle or those who want to start one. Also the other career option is that of Strategic Consultancy to such small businesses.