CAT 2023: What Is The Most Sought-After Branch In MBA

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow will conduct the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2023 for management aspirants on November 26, 2023. The examination is held for admission to postgraduate and fellow/doctoral programmes at the premier Indian Institutes of Management in the country. 

IIMs were set up in the country to create managers and professionals to lead the various sectors of the economy. The courses offered by the IIMs are mainly postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes. 

Courses offered by IIMs
All IIMs offer a two-year full time Postgraduate Programme in Management which is equivalent to a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

After the passage of Indian Institute of Management Act, 2017, the IIMs can now award an MBA degree. Earlier, they were only allowed to award Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). 

IIMs also offer one year executive MBA programme to experienced professionals.

The institutes offer a full-time doctoral-level programme called Fellow Programme in Management (FPM). 

Leading branches in Management
As per the Financial Placement Report 2021-23, published on the official website of IIM Lucknow, most jobs were offered in the Finance, Sales and Marketing, Consulting, Operations, IT and Product Management and General Management branches. 

Nearly 99 jobs were offered in the Finance domain at IIM Lucknow. This domain offered the maximum CTC of Rs 53 lakh to the students. The Consulting domain gave 204 jobs with highest CTC of Rs 45.3 lakh, the Sales and Marketing domain offered Rs 1 crore maximum CTC with 73 jobs in all. The Operations field gave Rs 45 lakh highest CTC with 15 jobs in all. The IT and Product Management had 104 offers to make with maximum CTC of Rs 15 lakh. The General Management domain had 61 offers to make with 65 lakh maximum CTC. 

The official website of IIM Indore, cited Himanshu Rai, director of the institutes as saying, " In the final placements held for the outgoing MBA batch of 2021-23 the Finance space witnessed 18% of the total offers, the Sales and Marketing domain saw the enthusiastic participation from leading recruiters and again offered 18 per cent of the jobs, 16% of the batch secured offers in IT, Analytics and Product Management and 19% of the batch bagged offers in General Management, HR, Leadership and Operations."

"The leading and most demanding branches of MBA or PGDM programmes can vary based on industry trends and individual career goals," notes Mahadeo Jaiswal, director, IIM Sambalpur while talking to NDTV. "The choice of specialisation depends on an individual's interests, aptitude, and the evolving demands of the job market. Each specialisation offers unique and promising career prospects. Currently, some of the prominent and sought-after specialisations include Finance, Marketing, International Management branch, IT/Systems, Operations Management branch, Entrepreneurship branch, data analytics, product management and healthcare management."

While maintaining that courses from all management schools give a general management degree, Safal Batra, Associate Professor of Strategic Management at IIM Kashipur, says, "MBA from IIMs and other top business schools is a multi-disciplinary general management programme. Students are expected to study courses from different disciplines. In they end, they get a general management degree. Having said that, the fascination for courses in Marketing, Finance, and Strategy is the highest, given the desired Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) jobs, investment banking roles and consultancy jobs require functional expertise in these areas."

Further explaining the roles of the various branches, Mr Jaiswal says, "Finance prepares students for roles in financial management and investment; Marketing branch focuses on strategic promotion and market analysis; and International Management branch addresses the challenges of global business. Likewise, individuals who are interested in organisational development and talent management may choose the Human Resources field. The IT/Systems branch focuses on equipping students with skills in technology management. The Operations Management branch specialises in supply chain and process optimisation. Lastly, the Entrepreneurship branch empowers individuals to start and manage their own businesses."