Marketing includes Sales, Brand Management and specializations such as
Market Research & Advertising. Sales responsibilities include
achieving sales targets, mobilizing resources such as advertising
budgets and executing special schemes and promotion drives. Marketing
responsibilities include new product development, pricing, market
research and sales forecasting. Brand Management is a progressive field
where you are responsible for successful management of brands.
Aspirants
for a career in Sales and Marketing should possess creativity and
resource mobilization skills, apart from good communication and
interpersonal skills without which it's a waste of time to choose this
line. They also display high energy levels and enthusiasm. Companies
that typically recruit these live wires are in the business of selling
the following categories of goods.
Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) are products, that have a short shelf life and are instantly
consumed. The front runners in this category are companies like
Procter
& Gamble, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson,
Colgate-Palmolive, Marico, Cadbury, Nestle, Dabur, Pepsi, Godrej Soaps,
Reckitt Coleman, Gillette, Smith Kline - Glaxo.
Consumer Non-Durables (CND) are products that are inbetween FMCG and durable goods such as paints and lubricants:
Some of the most popular companies are Asian Paints, Madura Coats, Castrol, Seagram, UB Group.
Consumer
Durables (CD) are goods that are durable such as a TV set or a Washing
Machine. Companies that are popular recruiters from this category are
Blowplast, Modi Xerox, BPL US West, Philips, Godrej & Boyce, Titan
Industries, Godrej, GE, Whirlpool, Hero Honda Motors, LG...so on.
Advertising and Market Research
Leo
Burnett, LOWE India (erstwhile Lintas ), J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy
& Mather, Indian Market Research Bureau, ORG - MARG, Gallup.
Finance
...................................................................
An MBA with a Finance Specialisation learns a variety of subjects like
Corporate Finance, Costing, Budgeting, International Finance, Working
Capital Management and Investment Banking, Securities and Portfolio
management and many more of the same ilk. The job opportunities could be
in Corporate finance, Corporate Banking in banks, investment banking in
leading Financial Institutions like ICIC, Securities Analyst in
Brokerage Firms, a dealer/ broker in the buying and selling of
finanacial instruments.Most people may not be aware that operations in
the Security Market or the Stock Market is one of the biggest industries
in India or any country's economy in the world.
As a finance
specialist one is expected to be good with numbers and a keen learner
as finance interfaces with accounting, auditing, investor interest
management, taxation, etc. A combination of MBA Finance with Chartered
Accountancy is considered as the stepping-stone to a lucrative
consultancy career.
Firms that usually recruit for Finance are:
Banks
Citibank, American Express, Credit Lyonnaise, Exim Bank, HDFC, Bank of America, HSBC,
Standard Chartered Grindlays.
Consultancies
AF
Fergusson, Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group, Accenture, Boston
Consulting Group, McKinsey & Co., KPMG, Monitor, Noble & Hewitt,
Booz Allen & Hamilton.
Other Financial Companies
IFCI,
Morgan Stanley, CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, GE Capital , UTI, Lehman Brothers,
ICICI, HDFC, Saloman Brothers, Goldman Sachs ...so on.
Systems and Consultancy Management
...................................................................
Systems and Consultancy is almost synonymous with computers. Systems
activity is a support function which is responsible for
customised-development of IT solutions in all areas-from automating
attendance punching to putting daily sales and distribution data online,
to developing Enterprise Resource Planning solutions. Consulting is
provided to organizations to devise strategies for new initiatives in
IT, Marketing, HR or any other function.
In the IT Industry, the
options could be Project Management in a software development company
like Infosys and TCS or Sales and Marketing in IT companies like IBM,
Wipro, etc.
An Engineer-MBA with a sound understanding of business
concepts is seen as the best fit for the job of a project manager in
software development, but a non-engineer is no disqualification either.
For
a successful Systems and Consulting career, you have to possess good
analytical skills, be a good team-player and have an unending quest for
knowledge.
Companies that usually recruit for Systems are:
SAP, Motorola, Satyam, HCL, TCS, Infosys, I2 Technologies, Wipro Infotech, Mindtree Consulting, Price Water Coopers etc.
Operations Management
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'Operations Management is a comprehensive production-related
responsibility that includes Inventory Management, Vendor Development,
Purchase Management, and also areas which demand multidisciplinary
skills like supply chain management and ERP, enterprise resource
planning. A typical career would see one handling a few plants/vendors
initially, followed by the responsibility for an entire factory,
eventually undertaking a more strategic view like global sourcing for
materials and imports.
The skills required for any of the above
jobs are eye for detail, people management skills, ability to negotiate,
calmness in tough situations, sound technical knowledge, etc. Every
manufacturing and sales and distribution company needs operation
generals. Just to name a few….
Larsen & Toubro, GE, Godrej &
Boyce, Asian Paints, Philips, Crompton Greaves, Siemens, Mahindra &
Mahindra, Maruti Udyog,
Human Resource Management
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HRM is all about helping a company reach its goals by focusing on
people management. Two broad categories of HRM could be named as
follows:
Plant (Factory) Personnel
The Plant Personnel
function of HRD deals with maintaining healthy and positive industrial
relations. The activities here include recruitment, payrolls,
appraisals, administration, and all matters concerned with the Workers'
Union. A stint in Plant Personnel offers exposure to handling highly
sensitive issues such as discipline and union negotiation.
Top firms like ITC, HLL, Coke specifically recruit candidates for the personnel management function.
Corporate Personnel
Corporate
Personnel deals with HR activities in the corporate set-up that
includes all managerial and supervisory staff. It covers all aspects
from an employee's entry to exit, such as recruitment, attendance,
leaves, pay, appraisals, audit and exit interviews. A lot of modern HR
practices such as ESOP, 360-degree feedback and flexible timings, etc,
have been path-breaking initiatives by some bright HR manager.
You should possess good communication and inter-personal skills and present yourself as accessible, competent and charismatic.
The
best HR firms are William Mercer, Noble & Hewitt, Ernst &
Young, Accenture. Apart from these all the top firms need HR
professionals as it is one of the basic service functions in every
company.