XAT Decision Making Section is the most unique section compared to any other management exams. Decision Making section of XAT does not only assess candidates for their analytical skill but also tests the behavioral, administrative and statistical quotient of a candidate. Being an exclusive XAT Exam section, it is challenging for many MBA applicants who are studying for other MBA entrance exams to crack XAT Decision Making.
XAT Decision making section is divided into two parts
1. Mathematical decision-making problems. They may be viewed as collections of Data Analysis or Logical Reasoning that can be overcome using the methods used for these fields. Bear in mind that these topics are very data-intensive in general and need in-depth research. Make sure you search the issue easily and solve it only if it seems to be achievable within a reasonable time.
2. In behavioural and managerial questions you are given a scenario in which multiple courses of action exist or a single action has multiple fallouts, and you are expected to find the right path/analysis. Much of the time, the problems raise dilemmas associated with ethical/management/human resources that you are supposed to answer and overcome. Effectively, you should interpret these questions as a mixture of questions of logical thinking and reading interpretation
Decision making became a section of its own in 2012, and if you were to look at it solely from a scoring perspective, it makes a student preparing for XAT be aware of all components. It happened because none of them had a whole section on their own, Quantitative Aptitude, Data Analysis, Analytical Reasoning, and Verbal Ability. Students preparing for XAT 2022 and later can expect at least 20+ questions from this segment of various difficulty and essentially important for getting a good score and rank. XAT cutoff for DM in 2022 was 95+ for BM and 93 for HRM.
The question would usually include several authorities and parties interested in the final result of your decision/impacted by it. Consequently, the first thing you need to do to address decision-making questions is to recognize and consider all the relevant parties involved in the situation.
Choose the option through which the highest number of stakeholders participating in a scene would benefit from. The alternative that provides the most value to a significant number of individuals should be given priority after examining the multiple viewpoint view of the scenario. This could make you take the least dangerous choice of all but be confident that the correct answer is the right one.
In any special situation, do not prefer one hand. Students have a common propensity to follow a solution based on their belief system, for example, an anti-business or anti-worker approach in a management-employee dispute. Do not cause your decision to be clouded by personal views.
Ethics and integrity are essential variables that are important when solving decision-making problems. There would be a philosophical dilemma between choosing the correct answer in certain questions or situations that are posed before you as part of the Decision Making Section. In such instances, it would be automatically refused to opt for loopholes or unethical ways of solving a problem.
XAT Decision Making Questions are also used to offer drastic situations as potential solutions. Such drastic choices, however, are cleverly disguised in the form of thoughts and used during a decision-making process to arouse feelings or cause prejudices. Do not slip into the pit of those choices and accept each of such options purely based on their merits.
A rational approach and a good view of the situation are needed for these types of questions. It also involves reading through vast volumes of text and then analysing the given knowledge objectively. In conventional terminology, it is a mixture of Reading Comprehension and Analytical Reasoning, and historically, in the Decision Making section, students who are strong in these two fields appear to do better. A good way to prepare for decision making will be to look at XAT previous year papers. From XAT 2008 to XAT 2020, you can take a look at questions that will ask you to practice questions.
You need to get the best XAT planning books that will help you concentrate on real XAT pattern. XAT conducted by XLRI is considered a tougher test and hence your concentrated attention is required for its training. There are dozens of XAT Exam 2022 preparation books available on the market, so you need to pick the best XAT preparation books. There is a need to differentiate between common XAT preparation books and the better(in-depth) XAT exam preparation books.
Students who want to ace the XAT decision-making section should look through and select the right books from the following
Assumption – Something that is considered real but is not
Reason – A reason for an action or an occurrence, or excuse or justification
Proposition – A sentence that expresses or provides for consideration a decision or opinion
Premise – A prior assertion from which another is derived or an underlying theory
Inductive – Using statistical logic or characterized by general law inference
Inference – An inference reached based on proof and proof
Fact – A piece of checked and accurate facts
Deductive – Something that can be demonstrated using justification or deriving assumptions
Conclusion – Fact took from the description of a variety of events
Students often confuse XAT Decision making with logical reasoning which is not the same. They try to get maximum profit or benefit without considering the ethical parts of the exam. Students also believe there is less importance with respect to marks to this section which is not true. Students often prepare less for this section which can actually turn out to be important for ranking.
Students should practice decision making beside their XAT preparation and devote 15-20 mins in a 3-month preparation schedule to prepare well. If students are preparing for multiple entrance exams, they should prepare for XAT decision making in the last month with 1 hour a day of practice and mock tests.
Inspiring Education… Assuring Success!!
Ⓒ 2020 – All Rights Are Reserved