Deciding Area of Specialization
for MBA
Page - 1
This is the second most important
question that any MBA (or PGDM, PGDBM, PGPM, etc... etc.) aspirant would need to
have an answer to before starting this eventful journey. Believe me, Destination
of this journey would completely depend upon this single very
important answer. (Forgive me for not touching upon the first most important
question which is - Which B-school to opt for? The same has been discussed
innumerable times on various forums.)
The reason I thought I should
touch upon this topic is because I myself had this dilemma about choosing the
stream of specialization when I started out, and today, when I look back at the
kind of raw, half-cooked information I had used to decide my stream, I really
pity and feel sorry for myself. There was so much of misconception about the
various streams. May be I had not done much of research or didn't have the right
kind of network to give me a clear-cut idea, but when I landed at S. P. Jain, I
found quite a few others were in the same bandwagon.
So this is for all those
aspirants who have decided to do MBA but need some more information to decide
upon their stream.
1. Streams have got nothing
to do with under-graduation background. Never decide your stream based
upon your educational background. One big misconception people have is MBA in
Finance suits those with Commerce background. It is not so. Yes, if one has
commerce background, it helps in some concepts. But largely, people with
Engineering background do equally well if not better. In fact, most I-banks or
consultancy companies prefer people with MBA (Finance) and Engineering
background. The reason is that engineering subjects stress more upon logical and
analytical thinking and practical approach to solve problems. Also, most of the
class toppers in Finance stream (not just my institute but as per my contacts in
IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Lucknow) have been engineers. Now it is a separate matter
altogether that the proportion of engineers as compared to non-engineers in any
batch at a B-school is more.
2. Marketing Management is
not about boardroom marketing strategy planning. Yes, please get real.
The career for a Marketing Management graduate starts with Sales. Hardcore
Sales. And if FMCG sales looks too glamorous from outside, lets get some basics
right. FMCG sales realistically would mean going to smallest towns in India in
scorching heat, or flooding rains, or shivering cold in old, about-to-breakdown
buses or overloaded jeeps, and selling products from shop to shop.
