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Prof Dr Uday Salunkhe ,Group Director-WeSchool shares his strategy to overcome the shortage of Business Managers who understand the pulse and can provide insights about this emerging market to the companies.[/b]
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The outreach of education, rising income and aspiration levels enabled by advancement in Information & Communication Technology has developed Indian rural sector as a vibrant economic growth engine. It is this sector that holds the promise for an emerging India. Taking a cue from the Late Management Guru Dr. C. K. Prahlad who had the vision to pre-empt this phenomenon with his mantra on fortune lying at the bottom of pyramid, found the corporates rushing in to explore the newly found opportunity. It is predicted that nearly 20 lakhs of jobs /entrepreneurial opportunities will be created in India in the near future because of liberal government policies like FDI, galloping growth in food process industry and newly emerging growth in fish and meat industry. Renewed interest of corporates like IT , Banks, Telecom, Insurance, FMCG, Micro-credit organizations, healthcare etc has brought in investments into this sector which has paved way for development initiatives and projects in a big way. Multi-national companies who choose to serve these markets by meeting their demands are reaping the benefits of the changed circumstances. Corporates are increasingly working with NGOs, SHGs and local governments to create new business models to cater to rural communities. With the number of IT companies, Banks, Telecom, Insurance ,FMCG,Micro-credit organizations ,Healthcare chains trying to make inroads in the rural economy is increasing day by day ,it is but natural that a large number of well trained managers in every area ; Finance,Marketing,Operations,Logistics,IT,HR are required to lead the growth story to success. Rural Management is fast becoming of the most sought after subjects of study and research at the PG level.[/b][/b]
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WeSchool has always been ahead of curve in reinventing management education by starting innovative programs like PGDM- E-Biz, Retail, Business Design and Family Managed Business. In keeping with our tradition of launching purposeful and National growth oriented academic programs, we have launched a new course this year; it is the PGDM - Rural Management (Emerging Economies) program.[/b][/b]
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The program offered at WeSchool is focused on ‘Rural Management’ quite unlike other players in the field that offer courses with a focus on ‘Rural Development’. WeSchool’s PGDM(Rural Management) program is a two year full time AICTE approved post graduate management program which offers students not only the latest syllabus in core Management, but also on Innovation and opportunity creation in the emerging markets. The program prepares the student to work in any industry sector of his/her choice with premium knowledge about the rural sector, facilitated by on-field rural projects & research experience through rural internship.[/b][/b]
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The program offers courses ranging from Managerial Economics, Business Statistics, Rural Ethics, Rural Finance and Financing Institutions, Rural Marketing, Market research &Consumer buying behavior, Rural Development Policy and Institutions, Supply chain management, Risk Management and Innovations in the rural sector. The unique proposition in the PGDM-Rural management ( Emerging economies) program is that each subject, from any of the functional streams of Finance, Marketing, HR, operations, IT etc. is learnt first as the conventional management and then the student is challenged to appropriately apply those very principles to the context of the emerging economy of the rural sector. Thus it fosters innovative thinking in each and every student since it requires re-engineering of each of those subjects and brings out multiple perspectives within the class.[/b][/b]
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FMCG& Consumer durables, IT& ITE, Telecom, Banking& Finance, Insurance, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Automotive sector, Healthcare& Pharmaceutical,Agri- business/Agro chemicals/Agri –equipment ,Media & Entertainment ,Oil & Gas, Energy, Design and Innovation are only some of the verticals that are going to offer career opportunities for the trained manpower in this field. The Management graduate in Rural Management can work in Banks (ICICI, Yes Bank, IDBI, Mahindra Finance etc.), Insurance (ICICI LOMBARD, LIC), IT sector (TCS, IBM etc.), Telecom ( BhartiAirtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone), FMCG (HUL, Marico, P&G, ITC, Amul), Retail (Future Group, Reliance Retail, Godrej Agrovat, Bharti, RPG), MNCs( Coke, Pepsico) or Rural consultancies (ITC e-choupal), Research agencies, including the UN and its subsidiaries, Agri Business (Monsento, Syngenta etc.), NGOs, Co-Operatives. WeSchool also looks forward to entrepreneurial ventures being set up by our students in times to come.[/b][/b]
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Dr C K Prahlad, Dr Verghese Kurien, Dr M S Swaminathan and Nobel Laureate Dr Mohammed Yunus, were they not rural mangers in thought and spirit? These change leaders had the vision to transform the lives of grassroot communities and the passion with which they worked changed lives of the rural poor and gave educated urbanites a new perspective of societal growth. A well educated manager with rural insights who will seize this opportunity “now”, will certainly flourish and create value for self, corporate and society in the times to come and will grow rapidly as the rural sector swells up with growth.[/b][/b]
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My message to the Indian youth is that this is the time to show personal leadership for professional growth. You have got a golden chance to lead the emergence of the grassroot economy with your premium knowledge of the rural sector. The definition and perception of ‘Villages’ in India is bound to change globally, the point to ponder is - are you the part of this transformation? As envisaged by Padmbhushan Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, “the companies today have to follow the Mantra of Doing well by doing good”, are you sufficiently educated to help the corporate sector to achieve this twin- target?[/b][/b]
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