Management

It is only with CAT 2010 that the examination is finally properly going online, with all the glitches most probably well taken care of after a futile first run. The doing away of the conventional paper based test does not alter the way you prepare, but it definitely requires a very high degree of online readiness. There is abundant time left to work on your speed, practice till you feel confident with all the sections, and benchmark with your peers to know where you stand. If you have already been doing all this then believe half your battle won, and if you’ve been doing all this online, you have scored over your competitors already.

Mock CATs are the best method to assess yourself and analyse your strengths and weaknesses. The usual paper-pencil based mocks have been replaced by online mock tests to give you a feel of the real examination day. Take a fair number of mock tests to get an idea of the kind of questions, and how well you handle with a 2.5 hour long online test session. Here are some more useful tips for Online CAT takers:

1. Remember not to strain yourself too much by over-doing Mock Tests. 2-3 full lenghth Mocks a week should be ideal for those in the final stages of their preparation. Some of you may feel more contented with a lesser number, or some of you may want to take as many as possible, the important thing is to work on your speed and accuracy with each. Analysing each test is of utmost importance to recognize where you’re going wrong, and which sections want revision.

2. An important piece of advice for those who are exclusively concentrating on their weak areas now. While working on them is a good idea, don’t forget to concentrate on your strengths as well, lest you end up devoting all your time only to the problem areas.

3. In the examination, begin with the section you are most relaxed with. Not only does it give you the confidence to attempt the more difficult ones, but you also don’t waste precious time working on the others.

4. Too much of only one section can lower your concentration levels and cause exhaustion. Alternate between a few questions from the Reading Comprehension and Data Analysis section so you don’t feel the pressure of either. Another reason you should not devote all your time to one section is that you may not be able to clear the cut-off for the other sections.

5. Reading newspapers and books are always a fine idea, and 1 hour a day dedicated to this will do wonders for your Reading Comprehension score. Solving puzzles, crosswords, news stories with numerical data and graphs will also help you achieve a better score in Data Analysis.

Management education has come off age. With the globalization of economy, companies are expecting aspiring managers to be more effective in dealing with business challenges. B- Schools across the world also getting prepared to deliver skills that suits the requirements of companies. We can trace number of changes in existing specializations, launch of new specializations, growing industry – academia interaction at the curriculum, teaching and practice levels. International Business Schools are in the forefront of catching up the situation. Here are some latest updates from world renowned Business Schools of Western countries and USA. Let us hope that Indian Business Schools take the inspiration from these Schools in modernizing the curriculum.

1. Harvard Business School is planning to add case studies on the sudden demise of the banking system in United States of America.

2. All the big B- Schools are responding to the Financial Crisis facing by USA and offering solutions. Booth School of Business has introduced a course in the analytics of financial crisis. This school is under the purview of University of Chicago.

3. Some B- Schools are getting prepared to make leaders who can face any business crisis effectively. Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth, US has begun a course in this direction with emphasis on core leadership.

4. Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, US, has restructured its MBA course and included topics on ethics in business. It also introduced a special module that covers investing in a turbulent stock and financial markets. Advancing more in these lines, Darden School has introduced modules on Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology to enable future managers take better and more humane decisions.

5. Did you listen a course titled “Understanding the Marketplace”. US based Villanova School of Business has introduced this course with participation from local business managers. The main purpose of this course is to show how the crisis affected businesses.

6. With emphasis on the past and present of crisis, Mc Donough School of Business, a part of Georgetown University (USA) has started a new course called “Financial Crisis, Then and Now”.

Some prestigious B- Schools in India like Symbiosis, Narsee Monjee, IBS, XLRI, IRMA also updating their curriculum and introducing new specializations to meet the requirements of modern sectors like Telecom, Healthcare and Pharma. But the overall standards and quality needs to be improved a lot in hundreds of Business Schools and Colleges.