MBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Nature and Scope

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Due to the pandemic, the global supply chain has been the hardest hit. This has reiterated the importance of a country being self-sufficient. However, this has also opened a plethora of opportunities in the logistics and supply chain sector. Companies are looking for professionals who can manage the supply chain efficiently. As a result, MBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management has created a lot of buzz these days.

What is MBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management?

MBA in Logistics and Supply Management usually teaches about the activities of the production process, warehouse, procurement of raw materials, transport, and networking with other organizations in the market. In other words, it deals with planning, implementing, and controlling the procedure of forward and backward flow of goods and services from one place to another. Getting an MBA in the same will provide you in-depth learnings about functions of the supply chain. It is a dynamic industry and it will help you to learn about national and international markets. There are various opportunities from product manufacturing to product delivery.

What are the Career Prospects?

The most popular jobs that are offered are:

1. Supply Chain Manager: Supply Chain manager acts as a point of communication between the company and the suppliers. His responsibilities include maintaining an optimal level of inventory, procuring raw materials in a cost-effective manner, and supervise the production process from raw material procurement to distribution.
2. Logistics Manager: Being the head of the logistics staff, one is responsible for meeting company requirements by planning and directing the distribution of raw materials and supplies within the organization.
3. Logistic Coordinator: As the name suggests, the main responsibility is to coordinate activities with different supplies, both nationally and internationally.
4. Supply Chain Analyst: The work of a supply chain analyst is to analyze the current production process thoroughly so that he can come up with more efficient solutions for increasing productivity. He has to interpret the supply chain data not only of the company but also of competitors so that after doing the gap analysis targets can be formed and implemented.
5. Supply Chain Planner: Responsibilities of a supply chain planner somewhat overlap the activities of a supply chain analyst. His job is to use the supply data and organize and plan the flow of products after mathematically analyzing the cost-benefit of every production process.
6. Shipment Manager: A shipment manager is responsible for various tasks such as packaging, verifying content for shipping, receiving packages, ordering supplies, leading and managing staff. The main responsibility is to ensure timely and accurate shipping and distribution.

Major Recruiters:

Though recruiters differ for different colleges but these are the major companies that give due emphasis on supply chain management:

• Amazon
• Walmart
• Coco Cola
• Nestle
• Cadbury
• Apple
• Google

Apart from this, if someone is interested to work in the Government sector then there are various opportunities here as well. One can look for posts in Indian Railway Traffic Service which is responsible for administering Railway Transport in the country. It is responsible for planning of freight movement, passenger transport, passenger amenities to station management and infrastructure planning. Another major sector is Indian Navy. A Logistics Officer in the Indian Navy is responsible for planning, forecasting and executing budget and inventory management of parts and other items required for ships.

Curriculum Syllabus:

MBA in logistics and supply chain management covers the following topics:

• Introduction to Logistics and Supply Chain Management
• Accounting in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
• Logistics Planning and Strategy
• Business and Supply Chain Risk Management
• Global Supply Chain and Logistics Management
• Multi-Model Transportation
• Warehouse Management
• Financial Management in Supply Chain

The biggest trend in supply chain and logistics is the advent of data analytics. Most companies are looking for professionals who possess analytical abilities. As data has become the new oil and so much information is present everywhere companies need people who can interpret the data and come up with cost effective strategies. This is one of the reasons as to why many B- schools have now stared incorporating supply chain analytics in the course curriculum.

Salary Structure:

Individuals with MBA degree in this field along with experience earn up to 17–20 lakh per annum.

A fresher can receive an annual salary of up to 6–10 lakh.

However, as people start gaining experience and skills, there is a substantial increase in the salaries of the employees.

Positions like COO (Chief Operating Officer) is considered the highest designation in this field alongside with newly emerging positions like Chief Logistics Officer.

Structure of Admission Process:

Though different colleges have different conditions and criteria, some of the basic conditions that are present in various B schools are:

• The student must be a graduate
• The student must have attained at least 45–50 % in his or her graduation.
• There should not be any backlog in any subject.
• Student must appear in any of the following entrance exams:
• CAT (Common Admission Test)
• CMAT (Common Management Admission Test)
• XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test)
• MAT (Management Aptitude Test)
• SNAP (Symbiosis National Aptitude Test)
• GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test)

However, the cut-off for each of the exams varies from college to college.

After meeting the cut off criteria the selected students will have to appear for Written Ability Test followed by Group Discussion and Personal Interview.

If a student is interested in doing MBA from abroad then he has to take exams like GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test), GRE (Graduate Record Examination), TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Test). The best countries to pursue MBA logistics and supply chain management are the US, UK, Canada, Italy, Denmark and Sweden.

So, if you are the one who is curious to know the operations of a company and want to know how the production process and supply chain works, then doing MBA in logistics and supply chain management will help you to achieve this dream by helping you to get the necessary skills required by companies.