According to a recent survey by Accenture, 67% of the companies operating in India plan to expand into the rural markets (The Economic Times, March 19, 2013). As more and more companies from various Industry sectors are seeking growth from the Rural Space viz. Banking & Finance, Microfinance, Insurance, FMCG & consumer durables, IT & ITES, Telecom, Manufacturing, Agri-business, Healthcare, Retail, Infrastructure, Energy and the Automotive sector; they will offer immense career opportunities for the trained manpower in the field of rural management. The corporate world needs Business Managers who understand the pulse of rural sector and can provide insights about this emerging market. This has created a big demand for human resource that specializes in Rural Management. As this sunrise sector is expected to boom and hold the bulk of world’s manpower in the years to come, those who enter it now will definitely have a bright future to look forward to.

Rural regions across the world have been drawing more attention than ever before, which, in turn, has led to the rise of diverse initiatives for rural people through national, international and local agencies, along with Corporates and NGOs. Rural management has become one of the most sought-after subjects to study and research at post graduate levels.

The outreach of education, rising income and aspiration levels enabled by advancement in Information and Communication Technology has developed Indian rural sector as a vibrant economic growth engine. In order to serve this new emerging sector, a Rural Management program today should be focused on generating opportunities for sustainable growth and managing resources, ensuring the availability of urban amenities and services that would lead to empowerment of the local people/ organizations. It needs to encompass latest syllabus in core Management, Innovation and opportunity creation in the emerging markets.

Diverse range of jobs is available in the ever expanding rural sector. Some of the job titles across industry verticals include General Manager- Rural & Inclusive Banking, Program Manager, Rural Business manager, Consultant - Rural Projects, Project Manager, Relationship Manager - Rural Banking, New Business Development Manager-Farm Equipment, Product Manager, Rural technology Product Head, Brand Manager - Rural and the like.

What does it take to be a successful rural manager?

A successful rural manager will have to have a wider vision to be able to gauge the growth potential offered by this sector. The person needs to have knowledge of all functional areas of management whether it is Finance, Marketing, Operations or HR instead of only one functional area. Empathy, leadership qualities and an innovative mindset is required to be able to think out of the box, correctly identify with the problems and find ingenious solutions to the problems faced by the rural sector. Willingness to travel extensively across the rural areas is a must.

The number of students opting for careers in this sector is certainly growing but looking at the number of corporates - Banks, IT and Telecom Companies, FMCG, Retail, Micro-credit organizations, healthcare ,Infra /Energy companies, Manufacturing, Automotive ,Media And Entertainment etc. as well as Indian and foreign NGOs trying to make inroads in the rural economy, the number of skilled rural managers required for this booming sector is going to be in short supply and therefore would be highly sought-after.

-- Prof Anuja Agarwal,

Associate Dean – Rural Management, WeSchool

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