Business Manager Career Information

You aren't happening until you carry the stamp of a reputed management school. If you are ready for big money and loads of challenge in your career you have to read this…

When you say Business Management only one thing comes to mind ‘Money and lots of it’. The entry of multinationals has forced corporate to become more streamlined and professional.

Management no longer means supervising a factory or a showroom. Business Management has risen way above and created for itself not just a new definition, but varied dimensions too. Business Management can now be defined as the process of getting things done through and with people in formally organised groups.

The aim of a business manager is to maximise profitability and optimise the utility of available resources. That's the basic job of business managers. Business Managers are team leaders who need to constantly feed their subordinates with enthusiasm. Besides ensuring smooth operations in the organisation a manager's major job is also communication.

There are five core tasks that a business managers has to perform. These include planning, organising, staffing, implementing and controlling. Directing and co-ordinating with people is at the center of a manager's activity.

The areas of operations in Business Management can be broadly classified as:

Personnel/Human Resources Management: As a Business Manager you will deal with recruitment, training, placement, promotion, etc. Problems like labour, discipline, dismissals, etc. would also be your headache.

Finance Management: As a Business Manager you will budget the plans, execute them, make financial analysis and come up with profitability figures. As a Business Manager you will be responsible for the financial health of the organisation.

Production/Operations Management: As a Business Manager you will plan the nitty-gritty of the operation of the firm and control and co-ordinate the entire show. A Business Manager will look after product research, development and design; and procurement. As a Business Manager you will handle inspection, quality control, cost analysis, control, and preparation of work standards. It is business manager's responsibility to organise, co-ordinate and supervise optimum utilisation of men, money and materials.

Marketing Management: As a Business Manager you will take the goods and services to the end user, with increased emphasis on the profit factor. A Business Manager will come up with new strategies to sell your goods and services efficiently and inexpensively to the end user. Keeping up with the needs of the customer, subsequent development of products and services according to the needs, distribution and collection and analysis of customer feedback will form a part of your job profile.

Sales: It's a part of Marketing Management. This is the end of the line. It's business manager's job to get money from the customer. The job of the sales team is to achieve the sales target set by the marketing team.

Sales also deal with effective distribution of the product/service that has been developed by the marketing team. The marketing team decides as to how much volume of a product can be sold in the market.

Information Technology (IT): This is imperative in today's organisations as they are depending on Information Technology to run as a backbone of all the operations. So here, as a business manager your job will be managing information systems, i.e., the hardware, software, and various applications of IT.

The areas in Management may vary slightly, depending on the organisational setup, overlapping in some and being further subdivided in others. The increasing complexity, diversity and expansion of management activity has opened newer areas such as:

International Management: International Management deals with all areas of international trade and business including aspects like foreign collaboration, technology transfer and international management strategy.

Technology Management: Managing the policy, financing and marketing of technology is a specialised task for the Technology Manager.

Hotel/Hospital Management: Hotel / Hospital Management covers all aspects of running hospitals and hotels efficiently.

Resource and Environmental Management: Resource and Environmental Management involves resource planning and studying the effects of business and industry on the natural environment.

Rural Management: Rural Management deals with areas like rural marketing, rural behaviour, etc.

Job Opportunity

Job Prospects of a Business Manager: It's a known and well publicised fact that the scope for management graduates is a virtual goldmine. As a Business Manager you can join any industrial houses, manufacturing companies, corporations, marketing organisations, financial concerns, trading companies, banks, public sector enterprises, multinational corporations or any non-governmental organisations.

As a Business Manager you could also work for international bodies like the World Bank and the United Nations. Business Manager will be required by any organisation. AS a Business Manager can also get lucrative opportunities in consultancy organisations.

Career Prospects

Among the various branches in Management, Finance and Marketing offers the best career opportunities. Human Resource Development (HRD) is also becoming a lucrative option. Information/Technology Management is also catching on.

Besides these areas such as Corporate Finance, Financial Services, Capital Market Operations, Merchant Banking Operations, Equity Research and Analysis offer top dollars.

Fresh MBA graduates are usually recruited on-campus. As a Business Management graduate you will join in as Junior or Assistant Managers or Executives. You will be responsible for ensuring the smooth workflow and sorting out minor difficulties. At the middle managerial level you will co-ordinate and implement company policies.

With enough experience in Business management, you could grow to senior managerial levels, like Vice President or Director. Here you are expected to motivate and lead. You will have to give vision and direction to the organisation.

Some management professionals set up consultancy services covering a wide scale of activities including analysis of management practices; feasibility studies for new ventures; providing technological expertise; recruitment services; drawing up plans for operations; planning marketing strategy and so on.