As career option, management courses are the most sought after stream, but few are aware of what exactly is the meaning of the term 'management'. It's a vast field that requires proper understanding before one sets his heart upon a management course
Today, management has become an inevitable part of all sectors. It is not confined to four-walls of a factory, but is necessary every where, be in an educational institution, government, army, agriculture, club, trade-union, small business and even at home. Whatever you do in your professional life, the chances are that it will involve some 'businesses'.
Scientists, engineers, even artists, will inevitably have to understand at least the basics of business, and probably a lot more. Companies of the future will consist of groups of specialists who work together on a specific project. Many more People will be what we call today 'independent', and will have to understand more about the opportunities and constraints of business. Says Amarendra, Kumar Shrivastava, chairman, Asia-Pacific Institute of Management, “Economic cycles are getting shorter and hence new managerial skills are required to cope up with the downturn. Therefore, curriculum is being engineered to equip the new breed of managers to handle all kinds of market scenarios that include upturns in the market too.” In other words, the combination of specialist qualification and business knowledge will become vital. What is Business Education? Before embarking on a business education you need to ask yourself a basic question, 'what should a business education give me?' Most subjects that one studies are composed of theory and practical.
Indian management graduates no longer queue up for safe government jobs. They prefer and enjoy the challenges and risks of becoming entrepreneurs and global players in the emerging private sectors. A unique feature of the transition of the Indian economy has been high growth with stability. The Indian economy has proved its strength and resilience when there have been crises in other parts of the world including Asia in recent years. This seems to be good news for the role and importance of management in present scenario.
Marketing, finance, production and personnel are the four major areas in management with each having several sub-branches. Marketing management includes sales, purchase, international marketing (exports-imports), advertising, marketing strategy, materials management, consumers' behavior, market development and research. Financial Management includes all the aspects relating to finances, investments, financing decisions, portfolio management, project management, working capital management, international financial management, etc. Production management takes care of production methodology, costing, operations research and quality control etc. Personnel management deals with the most complicated aspect i.e. management. It looks after the areas of Human Resource Development (HRD), recruitment, training, management-union relations, labor and personnel policies, organization behavior, management of change and general administration. Finance Management is very popular management programme. In corporate sector the nature of financial control has changed from simple accounting to integrated control systems. This control system is based on enterprise resource planning. To manage such financial transactions a new category of job is defined, popularly known as fund managers and equity analysts. You can also work as a financial planner, where you can help individuals plan their financial futures. A good financial planner must understand investments, taxes and estate planning issues. Also, he must be a good listener.
If you think, you possess an ability to accomplish a mission task or object with a management aptitude then, MBA is perfect for you to make a career. All the qualities are basic in nature that will provide you platform to take off the flight of career in the horizon of success. Management studies are an important medium that facilitates improvement of leadership qualities and turns out excellent future managers. Management courses with specialization in different areas prepare students to face the constantly advancing corporate world and impart effective people-management skills. If you want to become a management graduate and make a mark in the management of business in the country or abroad, there are many institutes, both State - run and private, which can provide you the requisite degree. For getting admission into these management institutes, you have to appear for entrance tests. These include CAT (for IIMs), MAT (AIMA), XAT (XLRI), FMS, JMET (IITs & IISc), OPENMAT (IGNOU) and a large number of others. Of these, we are going to talk about two major admission tests CAT (Common Admission Test) and MAT (Management Aptitude Test), which can open the floodgates of op portunities in this field.
Percentile scoring expresses the rank order of the scores in percentages. The percentile level of a person's score indicates the proportion of the group that scored above and below that individual. When a score falls at the 50th percentile, for example, half scored lower, a score at the 80th percentile indicates that 20 percent scored higher and 80 percent scored lower than the person being evaluated. The aptitude test scores reflect ability. Those scores do not determine ability. The scores may suggest, but never prove your worth. It is you who has to discover your own potential without leaving any stone unturned.
The writer is a career counselor. Expressed herein are her personal views