For many years now, Finance has ruled the roost as the sexiest career alternative for MBAs in India. As far as my conscious memory permits me to remember, it was the insane $2,25,000 salary offered by Lehman Brothers to an IIM A graduate back in 2001 that had become the talk of the country. Before investment banking took off, however, finance was seen as a staid, boring alternative - primary to do with capital budgeting, accounting, loan appraisals etc (I don't mean to demean anyone working in these fields; Just that they were not seen as glamorous career areas). Financial Markets & M & A were the new kids on the block, the sureshot ticket to an Audi and a Spanish Condo before you turned 30.
Sadly, the model has now gone bust. The 2008-09 Global Economic Crisis and its aftershocks are transforming the Financial Services industry. The Financial Services space is shrinking globally, while in India it never really took off anyway (and is unlikely to take off in a big way now, given the enormous backlash worldwide against the financialization of economies, though definitely small incremental steps will continue given India's huge scope for expansion)
That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that there are no longer opportunities for Indian MBAs. Two recent developments make me optimistic that Sales & Marketing roles will return in a big way. All that is needed is the mental flexibility to be willing to enter them.
The first development is the de-regulation of the Savings Rates for Indian Banks by the RBI. I think we will see tremendous activity once the full implications of this far-reaching move are realized. Banks will need to compete for deposits, competer for funds from Consumers. Smarter Sales & Marketing will have a definite role to play here. It will require out of the box thinking and some pioneering approaches, because for decades Indian banks are just not used to such competition - with one fixed rate, there was no market! The smartest will survive. Consequently this space can through up many opportunities for MBAs.
The second development is the opening up of the retail sector to FDI. Yes, its very tightly controlled and restricted, but for what is worth, a start has been made. The scope for organized retail in India is simply enormous. Most foreign companies that aim to enter will find it easier to work with local Indian talent than with expatriates, because retailing has high specificities to geography. Even in the heydays of 2006-07 we used to see a lot of noise about retailing in India, but back then the regulatory conditions werent sufficient for the sector to take off. They could be now.
Both these sectors will offer tremendous opportunities, across a wide range of areas within Sales & Marketing. Marketing Research & Analytics, for example, will explode. Banks & Retailers will come up with newer products to retain customers. Branding will be important. SCM & Operational aspects will be important.
As they say "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; It is the one that is able to best adapt and adjust to the changing environment" Current & prospective MBAs would do well to remember this.
Sadly, the model has now gone bust. The 2008-09 Global Economic Crisis and its aftershocks are transforming the Financial Services industry. The Financial Services space is shrinking globally, while in India it never really took off anyway (and is unlikely to take off in a big way now, given the enormous backlash worldwide against the financialization of economies, though definitely small incremental steps will continue given India's huge scope for expansion)
That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that there are no longer opportunities for Indian MBAs. Two recent developments make me optimistic that Sales & Marketing roles will return in a big way. All that is needed is the mental flexibility to be willing to enter them.
The first development is the de-regulation of the Savings Rates for Indian Banks by the RBI. I think we will see tremendous activity once the full implications of this far-reaching move are realized. Banks will need to compete for deposits, competer for funds from Consumers. Smarter Sales & Marketing will have a definite role to play here. It will require out of the box thinking and some pioneering approaches, because for decades Indian banks are just not used to such competition - with one fixed rate, there was no market! The smartest will survive. Consequently this space can through up many opportunities for MBAs.
The second development is the opening up of the retail sector to FDI. Yes, its very tightly controlled and restricted, but for what is worth, a start has been made. The scope for organized retail in India is simply enormous. Most foreign companies that aim to enter will find it easier to work with local Indian talent than with expatriates, because retailing has high specificities to geography. Even in the heydays of 2006-07 we used to see a lot of noise about retailing in India, but back then the regulatory conditions werent sufficient for the sector to take off. They could be now.
Both these sectors will offer tremendous opportunities, across a wide range of areas within Sales & Marketing. Marketing Research & Analytics, for example, will explode. Banks & Retailers will come up with newer products to retain customers. Branding will be important. SCM & Operational aspects will be important.
As they say "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; It is the one that is able to best adapt and adjust to the changing environment" Current & prospective MBAs would do well to remember this.
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