The School of Rural Management is a premier institute offering MBA-RM and Ph.D. programs in India. The school focuses on building managers who matter for society.
Rooted in the Jesuit spirit of Magis (the drive to excel), this school traces its origins to the founding vision of Xavier Institute of Management. The three decades have not been about training better managers, but about building managers who are better for the world.
Our graduates have reflected that purpose by serving a variety of institutional forms – be it corporations, banks, developmental institutions, cooperatives and leading NGOs; many contribute as entrepreneurs. Our alumni have proved that inclusive growth is an achievable goal. Such efforts have been central to the larger economy in general and rural India in particular. Even during the Covid pandemic, when every other sector contracted, it was the rural economy that held.
Dr. Pradeep Mishra
Acting Dean (Academics)
School of Rural Management
Our faculty members, drawn from leading institutions in India and abroad, bring both scholarly depth and a commitment to research that adds value to practice. Most of our professors have spent significant time in industry and development organizations before joining academia. They specialize in, among others, Rural and Inclusive Marketing, Rural Finance and Banking and Rural Development. The recent developments like applications of AI/ML and E-commerce have been integrated into the curriculum.
Be it agricultural transformation, business strategy or policy dialogue, these domains demand managers to be grounded in field. Our learning approach recognizes this complexity and follows holistic learning ranging from village immersions to classroom simulations and case analysis. Our students live this process of learning with direct engagement with communities and close association with industry. Notable is the Rural Living and Learning Experience (RLLE) that includes 45-days village stay as part of MBA-RM program.
School of Rural Management, one of the premier institutions of country offering master’s in business administration in Rural Management (MBA-RM) has a glorious history of more than 25 years of imparting value-based education with the objective of inclusive business and sustainable development.
While following the Jesuit philosophy of ‘Magis’ we believe that real India resides in villages, and it is possible to grow and bring equitable development through need-based management education. Since its inception in 1995 in Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), our flagship program (MBA-RM) has been nurturing professional managers who have proven their mettle / worth in the field of business and rural development. Our school has a dedicated Doctoral (PhD) program which focus mainly on action and field-based research.
Our school has a dedicated Doctoral (PhD) program which focus mainly on action and field-based research. Our innovative and practice-oriented curriculum includes rigorous field-based courses and real exposure of diverse rural milieus of country.
For our faculty research have been the core of their professional development. Their scholarly works have been published in International Journals of repute and are being used as the reference materials in teaching and trainings of corporate and development professionals.
We have strong mutual relationship with industries and internationally acclaimed development organization. It has helped us not only in outstanding placement of our graduates but also in continuous review and improvement of our courses.
The programs and courses offered by School of Rural Management are designed discerning the inspirations and needs of the rural producers and consumers and the various organizations working in the rural space. The teaching and learning canvas is woven by the threads of academic disciplines that provide insights into the fast changing rural ecosystem, growing business opportunities and the managerial and leadership capabilities required to plan, implement and manage business enterprises and organisations at all levels. School of Rural Management ensures that students of MBA-RM are sufficiently exposed to experience the powers and challenges of the rural communities in India. The 45 days long Rural Living and Learning Experience (RLLE), the course specific rural exposures and the organisational attachments in the form of Summer Internships are the hallmarks of MBA programme and make the Rural Management Degree a unique one.
Our MBA-RM has been recognised as the 2nd oldest Rural Management Program in the country. It is also ranked 2nd in India and ranked 15th in the category of Agribusiness / Food Industry Management by the Eduniversal Best Masters Ranking 2019. RM program is known for its 100 percent placements since its inception.
School of Rural Management is a School with a difference actively engaged in the transformation of rural India in the spirit of Magis.