It has been increasingly seen that just as a graduation course ends, students look to enhance their skills through a suitable postgraduate program. More often than not, it happens to be a management course. Many see it as a gateway to diverse opportunities, some see it is an opportunity to network with diverse minds while some just follow others in the race. So let’s find out as to why MBA is pursued on such a large scale.
Entry into MNCs: Many multinational firms and blue-chip organizations choose to recruit candidates from MBA b-schools. Hence the program is considered to be an entry road to some of the branded corporates.
Networking: Interaction with industry experts, qualified professors, diverse and talented students at a common platform is what MBA program provides in terms of networking opportunities. Such an opportunity goes a long way in establishing strong bonds and professional networks for candidates that can further propel their careers.
Higher salaries: Many candidates see the MBA certification as one that will enable them to command higher salaries and rightly so, a lot of post-MBA jobs offer packages in the range of 18-30 lakhs per annum in India.
Domain switch: MBA helps facilitates transitions across domains. Commonly seen a lot of IT professionals choose to do an MBA to switch their career path and their domain expertise to the management arena.
Entrepreneurship: MBA programs provide theoretical knowledge to learn business concepts and a practical environment to nurture entrepreneurial skills. Team building activities in the form of group projects, assignments and opportunities for event management and startup ventures are other reasons that attract potential candidates. Some premiere B-schools even have entrepreneurship cells and startup incubation centers.
Qualification degree: A postgraduate degree in MBA is sometimes required to ascend the hierarchy in many organizations. Candidates are eligible to manage and lead teams once they have an MBA qualification. Also, in many organizations, MBA candidates tend to rise up the hierarchy at a faster rate as compared to non-MBA graduates.
Diverse opportunities: A management graduate acquires diverse skill sets in a B-school MBA program. He can be vital in assessing the revenue options for an organization, reducing costs or even increasing the supply chain efficiency of organizations.
Brand Perception: A lot of MNCs have MBA graduates as their CXOs. Hence a lot of students see this as criteria to go up the ladder.
Personality Development: MBA gives a great opportunity to shape soft skills through class presentations, case discussions and numerous other activities conducted by clubs and committees in a B-school.
Specialization: MBA programs provide opportunities to specialize in diverse areas like Marketing, Strategy, Finance, Operations, Systems, HR enabling candidates to advance in their choice of careers.
Creative thinking: A lot of candidates see the MBA programs as one that shapes new perspectives and inculcates the ability to think out of the box. Further interacting with students from diverse backgrounds facilitates quality discussions with varied perspectives.
Here is an
article that covers a survey conducted by InsideIIM to find out the reasons why graduates opt for an MBA program and what are the parameters they consider to select a B-school.
If you have come across this, I presume you are planning your B-school journey and hence the below brief on the various domains might be helpful to decide the area of specialization and why MBA in each of these domains :
MBA in Finance -
MBA in Finance will help you learn the concepts related to accounting, financial statements, valuation, estimating return on investment and other tools that will help you analyze the financials of organizations. If you are a candidate who likes numbers and are inquisitive enough to understand the rationale behind the financials, Finance is bound to interest you.
MBA in HR -
MBA in HR helps in developing skills in managing the workforce in organizations. Strategies for employee training, skill development, recruitment, compensation management, and organizational development are taught in an MBA in HR program.
MBA in Marketing -
MBA in Marketing is about understanding and analyzing customer behavior, promotional and branding strategies. If you are someone with a creative bent of mind and likes analyzing brand and product strategy of firms, then Marketing is for you.
MBA in Operations -
MBA in Operations will help you manage operations, supply chain, distribution, logistics and will enable you to drive production. It provides opportunities to improve productivity, quality of products and services offered, resource optimization, and even reduction of costs across the supply chain.
MBA in Strategy -
MBA in Strategy will help you analyze internal resources, external competitive environment of firms. It will equip you to devise strategies for revenue enhancement, cost reduction, business optimization, product launch and increase market share. It also focuses on the implementation of these strategies in a practical context.
MBA in Systems -
MBA in Systems or IT has been gaining a lot of importance since the rise of many startups and the emergence of newer technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Blockchain. A lot of organizations need managers who can understand technologies and incorporate them into the firm’s practices and processes to improve their efficiency.