Winds of change are blowing across MBA colleges in India, as most of them are gradually trying to alter the selection procedures for their MBA programmes. This change in the admission procedures of various B-schools has basically seen the group discussion (GD) dying a slow death. Once considered to be an essential part of the admission procedure, the GD is now being replaced by other selection practices. What do these new changes include, which B-schools are the harbingers of this change and most importantly, why has the GD taken a back-seat?
 

The trend started in 2010 with some of the older Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) introducing a “written ability test” (WAT) in addition to the practice of conducting group discussions (GD) & personal interviews (PI) for the candidates who had qualified the CAT (common aptitude test). The six new IIMs (IIM Raipur, IIM Rohtak, IIM Ranchi, IIM Udaipur, IIM Tiruchirappalli and IIM Kashipur) followed suit and went a step ahead by doing away with the group discussion (GD) altogether and replacing it with the Written Ability Test (WAT). IIM Kozhikode too, in 2011, replaced the GD round with an essay writing test as part of a “three stage admission process”. (Refer to PDF file attached for IIM-K’s “three stage admission process” for the 2012-14 academic session)

Then there is  Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Mumbai, one of India’s leading schools of business management and consistently ranked among the top 10 B-schools in the country, that has decided to replace the group discussion with a “case-study” as part of the post-NMAT selection process for the academic session 2013-14. The personal interview (PI), however, still remains an integral part of the admission process in most of these B-schools.


Written Ability Test (WAT)/ Essay Writing

So what exactly does this written test that has edged the GD out in a lot of B-schools, entail? In a Written Ability Test (WAT) or essay writing, the candidates would be given a topic (similar to the topics given in a group discussion) to write on, in a limited period of time. The time limit varies for every college. IIM Bangalore gives 30 minutes to write the essay, while IIM Lucknow gives 15 minutes and the time for writing the essay is as little as 10 minutes in IIM Ahmedabad.


Case Study

The other alternative to the GD is the “case-study”. From this year onward, management schools like NMIMS would give the candidates the same piece information in the form of a “case” which they have to analyse. Any prior knowledge of the topic, therefore, doesn't matter (unlike a GD where your knowledge would be tested).


All these changes have led to the same question: is this the end of the GD (Group Discussion) in MBA admissions process at various B-schools? Is the group discussion an obsolete and outdated method of selecting (or should we say eliminating) aspiring MBA candidates? Are the rules of the game changing? Are the skills of a candidate brought out in a group discussion being outweighed by the skills being judged through a written test/ case study?


According to Dr. Rajan Saxena, the Vice Chancellor of NMIMS, the objective of replacing the Group Discussion with a Case-Study in the selection procedure for its MBA programs for the academic year 2013-14 is to assess the following skills in the students:

• Analytical skills
• Problem solving skills
• Group decision making skills
• Comfort with numbers
• Leadership and communication skills

Does it imply then, that a group discussion somehow fails to test these skills? Or maybe this move just intends to provide an equal platform for every candidate to display their communication skills – despite differing personality traits. Kunal Kumar, a student of IIM Kozhikode (2012-14) who was selected through the “three stage admission process” validates this. Kunal is of the opinion that a written test, unlike a group discussion, gives the candidate an opportunity to express himself freely without being influenced or interrupted. “It allows the panellist to test a candidate's knowledge level and how he articulates it, without his voice getting drowned in the din of a GD. In a GD you might have the best point but might not get the opportunity to express it well because of few people who are dominating the GD”, says Kunal.

Dr. MJ Xavier, Director, IIM Ranchi believes that there is no perfect system to select the best students for the programs in premier management institutions. “Ideally we should have a written test, a psychometric assessment, a GD, an interview, observing the candidates’ behaviour over a period of time and a host of other assessment tools. But this would take at least a week per student. Since the applicants are too large we use fewer methods of assessment. Whatever method we use is a compromise only. Now that the coaching centres have taught the students to shout in group discussions, it (the GD) has become less relevant compared to the written-test.”

What most MBA aspirants & MBA colleges now feel is that since coaching institutes are churning out students with tailor-made & often identical answers and since the reticent candidates (with good or better ideas) often get overshadowed by candidates with more limelight-grabbing abilities (and sometimes less knowledge), this overhaul in the MBA selection procedure is rather justified, if not long overdue.

Nishatha Abraham Bijeesh

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