Top Niche MBA programs that give you an edge

Management education has become a vast field with the introduction of various specialization programmes in multiple industries. This is favorable for management aspirants as it not only allows everyone a share but also increases more employment opportunities.  Moreover, these programmes educate candidates in meeting the managerial needs of fields other than sales and marketing, finance, human resources, operations and IT.

Also, the general MBA programmes are slowly veering towards saturation. Thus, allowing a new breed of management degrees to rise. These MBAs focus on specializations in a particular industry or niche portfolios.

What is Niche MBA?

A Niche MBA or specialized MBA, is a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program that focuses on a specific area of the business market, while still covering the same fundamental curriculum as a traditional MBA program. Niche MBA programs have become more popular in recent years and are often associated with B-Schools, which typically have lower tuition than larger universities.

Niche MBA vs Generic MBA

With MBAs becoming more and more common, distinguishing yourself from among the rest is becoming a real challenge for business students, and has some wondering if their choice to pursue a career in business was a wise one. One solution to this predicament, has been to pursue a specialized or niche MBA instead of a generic MBA. As the generic MBA has slowly been losing its appeal, according to Education Post’s Marc Burrage (1), during the past 10 years niche MBA programs have significantly risen in demand. This is leading many prospective business students to wonder whether getting a niche MBA  might prove more worthwhile than pursuing a generic MBA.

In India, educational institutions are gradually realizing the importance of management studies in a particular field. Various new courses are in process. Lets take a look at such top niche specialties.

Healthcare Management

Healthcare Management is a two-year postgraduate management degree course that helps students understand the healthcare industry. The course helps students develop skills like data analysis, problem-solving, communication, and leadership. Graduates can work in various healthcare roles, including medical practitioner, healthcare manager, and hospital manager. The average salary for these roles is INR 5.50 LPA-10 LPA. The program emphasizes the business side of healthcare, which is becoming more important as healthcare organizations face financial pressures. The program also promotes knowledge through applied and conceptual research relevant to healthcare management. Graduates can work in health authority organizations, primary care trusts, and hospital administrations.

Rural Management

It is a well known fact that India is an agrarian (relating to land, farming or agriculture) economy. But with time’s variable characteristic, the corporate trends are influencing the rural-based sectors. With a steady rise in rural enterprise, there is a growing consciousness for quality both at product-end and consumer-end. As a result, the demand for a rural management professionals, who can work towards efficient restructuring, has gone up.

Forest Management

Woods are a source of livelihood for more than 15 million people in India. Forest management (FM) is a highly niche field that focuses on building talent to conserve natural resources and prepares students for careers leading to management responsibility in forestry. Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) offers a post graduate programme in FM.

Telecom Management

India has the second largest telecommunication network in the world. It also has one of the lowest call tariffs and third-largest internet user-base. The industry has grown over twenty times in ten years and has a revenue of US$ 34,344 million (Rs 171,719) in 2010-11, informs Imagine more. Such a big industry requires specialized managers who have the knowledge and skills in all functional areas of a Telecommunication or what is known now as Information & Communication Technology Company.

Aviation Management

The country seeing a rise in air travel. With more airports coming up and the old ones turning into a state-of-the-art, it is only wise to specialize in the sector for an edge over others. Here’s a forum that talks about the best colleges providing MBA in Aviation.

Disaster Management

We all know how an impending disaster in cyclone Phailin was averted due to efficient disaster management and how the lack of it led to the death of thousands in the Uttarakhand floods. So, there is pressing need for people trained to mitigate disaster and hence the need to train efficient managers. This program covers the management prediction, and mitigation of natural and man-made disasters. The course also teaches students how to respond to disasters, and related disciplines like supply chain management, public health, and information and communication.

Sports Management

According to a times of India articles, sports management combines work as agent along with the business and marketing aspects of the game. Their role involves business development, generating revenues/profit, planning and strategizing, promotions, client servicing and so on. This program involves development of skills to recognize business opportunities, develop strategies, forecast changes, optimize resources, and examine information with sound judgement. The program prepares students for a variety of business roles in the sports industry, including jobs for athletes and non-athletes.