MBA in operations -

MBA in operations

MBA in operations or Operations management is a term used synonymously by CAT aspirants as well as various B schools, but what is operations management? MBA in operations is a post-graduate program designed to train B school students to handle/ manage all activities in a firm about operations which include planning, supervision, execution, and production activities of the goods and services of a firm. MBA in operations, if taken up by a CAT aspirant helps management students utilize inputs and outputs of a company productively and profitably. MBA in operations has 2 major fields, supply chain management, and logistics, as these are the backbone of operations management of any business firm to operate as they involve all the development activities of a firm before a product or a service is ready to be marketed. MBA in operations is a highly specialized field, focusing on operations management.

Colleges are known for MBA in Operations

These are the top colleges for MBA in operations management which accept CAT score

Name of College	Fees (INR)	Website
XLRI, Jamshedpur	24 L	www.xlri.ac.in
IIM, Calcutta	22.5 L	www.iimcal.ac.in
IIM, Bangalore	23 L	www.iimb.ac.in
IIM, Lucknow	13 L	www.iiml.ac.in
NITIE, Mumbai	12.5 L	www.nitie.edu
SIOM, Nashik	13.6 L	www.siom.in
SIMSOM, IIT, Mumbai	9 L	www.som.iitb.ac.in
SP Jain Institute of Management and research, Mumbai	18 L	www.spjimr.org
VGSOM, IIT, Kharagpur	8.2 L	www.som.iitkgp.ac.in
DMS, IIT, Delhi	10 L	DMS.iitd.ac.in
DOMS, IIT, Madras	8 L	doms.iitm.ac.in
Fore School of Management, New Delhi	16 L	www.fsm.ac.in
Goa Institute of Management, Goa	17 L	www.gim.ac.in
ISB, Hyderabad	37 L	www.isb.edu

CAT B schools with specialization in Operations Management

There are many B schools in India, which are good for Operations Management, however, if a CAT aspirant wants to go for an MBA in Operations Management, here are some B schools in India to look at:

Name Of College	Specialization Name
IIM Bangalore	Production and Operations Management
IIM Calcutta	Operations Management
SPJIMR, Mumbai	Operations and Supply Chain Management
ISB Hyderabad	Manufacturing and operations management
NITIE Mumbai	Operations Management, Supply Chain Management
DOMS, IIT, Madras	Operations
DMS, IIT Delhi	Operations Management
VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur	Service Operations Management
SIOM, Nashik	Operation Management

Placements for MBA in Operations Management

MBA campus placements are one of the major aspects a CAT aspirant should consider before selecting a B school in India. Here is a list for CAT aspirants to look at the average packages offered by some of the MBA colleges known for an MBA in Operations Management.

Name of College	Highest Salary of 2020 (per annum) (INR)	Average Salary 2020 (per annum) (INR)	Average Salary 2019 (per annum) (INR)	Average Salary 2018 (per annum) (INR)
XLRI Jamshedpur	50.1 L	24.35 L	22.37 L	20.17 L
IIM Bangalore	53 L	26.20 L	24.52 L	22.77 L
IIM Calcutta	45.5 L	29 L	27.9 L	26 L
SPJIMR Mumbai	46.5 L	26.40 L	23 L	22.23 L
SIOM, Nashik	17.17 L	11.57 L	19.5 L	10.6 L

As we can observe from the top 4 colleges for MBA in Operations Management, the average package has been increasing year after year indicating that operations management is a field that will always stay in demand when it comes to the choice of B school graduates and CAT aspirants. Overall, out of each college 80% of the MBA students were placed out of which many were from Operations Management, Supply Chain, and Logistics. The top recruiters offering operations management roles in the MBA campus placements were:

Bain and Company
Accenture
KPMG
Aditya Birla Group
Johnson & Johnson

Profiles for Operations Management

Some of the noteworthy profiles that were offered by the top recruiters at the MBA campus placements were:

Procurement/ Purchasing: As the word suggests this domain of Operations Management includes carrying out all activities concerning the purchase and the acquisition of all the material that is required for the working of the firm. An MBA graduate in operations management has the role of carrying out all the procurement and purchasing activities with the best negotiations and the best quality material received in the hands of the company
Plant Manager: As many firms have their operations related activities in a plant such as FMCG/pharmaceuticals, it is important to make sure that the plant s being handled well. For this type of role, an MBA graduate with the right skill set is needed who can maintain a liaison at handling manpower as well as all the operations management activities to carry out efficient working of a plant
Logistics/ Distribution Manager: Key role is to maintain the supply chain and make sure there is coordination between suppliers and distributors to ensure operations like the supply of materials and distribution are achieved at the right time
Supply Chain Manager: Includes maintaining the supply and monitoring of all activities such as monitoring, assessing, and maintaining the supply chain for operations management. This is one of the most preferred roles in an organization by graduates of an MBA in operations management

Courses studied in Operations Management

Operations management as a course has the following subjects that set in the foundations of a good manager in operations Management:

Operations Research: Includes case studies about research and development in operations management as a subject and teaches MBA students how to go about authoring their ways of carrying out operations management
Business Statistics: Common to all MBA cohorts, but necessary for MBA in Operations Management as it teaches the calculation and evaluation of parameters, and helps a manager keeping track of all activities
Supply Chain Management: Includes a study of various elements of the supply chain and how to maintain and manage a supply chain of an organization. Has case studies and projects which help MBA students understand supply chain management better
Materials Management: Encompasses all managerial activities related to managing and handling of the raw material of an organization. Helps students plan and execute operations management in a disciplined manner
Project Management: An advanced subject which includes handing off big projects and case studies that help students learn project management from real-time industry examples.
Financial Accounting and Management: The most important part, more appropriately the finance of operations, accounting helps in understanding the funds, profits, and losses that go into handling a project, purchasing/procurement, etc

`Good to have qualities` to get into colleges offering MBA in Operations Management

For a CAT aspirant who has received a call letter by the premier institutes known for an MBA in Operations Management, at the time of interviews, the colleges are looking for skills like perseverance, determination, stress management mainly because operations management is a hectic and tedious task. Majorly students having a Bachelors in Engineering (B.Tech) are easily picked up by employers when it comes to MBA campus placements for MBA in Operations Management, however lately a paradigm shift has been seen as BBA students with a Work Experience of 1-2 years are taken by companies, the college conversion and the placements for MBA in Operations Management, for freshers, are dominated by engineers.

If we take the statistics of SIOM (Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management, the majority of the candidates who get selected are from different branches of Engineering and on an average have a work experience of 1-1.5 years.

Profiles that are selected for MBA in Operations Management

Based on the placement reports of various B schools which specialize in MBA in Operations Management, following are the work ex profiles that get selected for MBA in Operations and are most likely to bag a good package and a good role during college placements

Manufacturing
Consultancy
IT

FMCG
BFS

These profiles are known to help students in operations at later stages of their career as their knowledge from their work experience helps the company.

Online courses to increase chances of selection in Operations Management

These are some of the online courses that give certification and increase knowledge of a candidate in the field of Operations Management, thereby increasing their chances of selection:

Operations Management: Analysis and Improvement Methods: This course is available on Coursera and is offered by University of Illinois
Operations: Knowledge for Action: This course is available on Coursera and is offered by Wharton, University of Pennsylvania
Introduction to Operations Management: : This course is available on Coursera and is offered by Wharton, University of Pennsylvania