Opportunities in Rural Management
Rural Management is a term used to describe the kind of relations that a company or an organization establishes and maintains with the population in the rural areas.
The development of rural areas is shooting up in terms of rising total and disposable incomes, increasing consumption, buying power and as a fuse-box to balance the economic fluctuations in the country. Backed by favorable monsoons, this year the agricultural growth has surpassed the expected levels. This also means higher agricultural outputs, which are sold in the market to generate rural incomes.
When such a growth is being delivered by a society or a market classified as ‘rural’, an in-depth inquiry must be done so as to understand what can be the possible interpretations of the very word ‘rural’. Is it a set of population that are socially backward or economically handicapped? Or it comprises of villages made famous (or notorious) by Bollywood movies? A single answer to this question might be tough to be framed. Considering various definitions such as “areas comprising of less than 10000 population,” areas with limited infrastructural facilities” etc., one can only get a rough outlook of the same.
The primary issue arising now is that the rural environment is radically transforming. To define a rapidly changing environment it becomes all the more difficult. The change is happening from traditional outlook to a more modern outlook, with more of the rural population engaging in service industries and utilizing the latest technology in their daily lives. With extensive programs by the Government of India such as “Bharat Nirman”, pathways to development are very near to crowning. With national and international corporations setting up units in rural corners pan India, the ‘Bharat’ within India is adding to the world’s story.
For management graduates, rural markets act as a treasure chest. The reason being, an acute absence of efficient and effective managers to handle companies in lower tier cities and villages to facilitate business development. While companies are developing their channels to cut through the rural population to capitalize on their increasing buying power, professional human resource to aid the same is found to be in minimal numbers. Hence, this creates a wide opportunity for management graduates, business schools etc. to take up “Rural Management” as a major area of study and prospect.
Contributed by:
K. Akhil Anilkumar,
PGDM Rural Management 2013-15, WeSchool
