GD: Taking on the case study

How to conduct yourself in a group discussion is known to many however it is still better to understand the workings and the changing nature of this all important selection procedure in order to ace it. A group discussion has been part of the MBA admission cycle for a very long time. However today few of the top institutes seem to have an alternate process namely the essay writing task as part of the selection in place of the GD. Majority of the management institutes in the country continue to hold the group discussion as part of the MBA admissions.

A GD usually involves an unorganised and leaderless group who are given a topic which is to be analysed, discussed and debated over. The group is expected to arrive at a consensus or find a solution in agreement. The new addition to the format is the summarising of the entire discussion, the panel may ask one or two individuals to do this task. More often than not it is the person who did not speak a lot during the discussion.

The group usually has 7-10 participants and the time duration for the GD can be any where between 20 and 50 minutes. Of this time the discussion is effectively for 15-20 minutes the rest of the time is utilised to introduce the topic and in the end to summarise. Some institutes also expect all the candidates to write the summary of the GD at the end of the process. A case study GD is usually of shorter duration.

Topics given during a GD range from current affairs, economy, social and cultural events, business, finance to sports,education, entertainment etc. The main objective of the group discussion is not the content per say but the manner and style of communication of an individual especially in a group.

There has been a growing trend of having case studies as part of the group discussion. Most of the IIMs have been employing a case study topic in their GD since few years now. Other institutes also seem to follow this trend. The reason behind this could be owing to the case study format that is employed in the classroom sessions across management institutes today which in turn is an attempt to simulate the style in which organisations function in the corporate world.

The case study topic tries to replicate areal life scenario. The case need not always be a business or human resource oriented case, it can be a simple social situation as well. The group is expected to resolve and arrive at a common or mutually accepted solution to the case. There are no limitations to the number of solutions in this case. Because in a case study there are no precise or wrong answers. What each point needs is strong justification. Do not lose an opportunity to speak as most of the case study Gd's are unmoderated and nobody from the outside is allowed to interrupt.

A case study in the classroom or as part of work would involve pages and pages of information, In the GD however the participants are given a short paragraph with the necessary information about the case to be discussed. The case given can involve an issue to be resolved, a course of action to be taken or discussion on a decision already taken.

Examples

Case 1. Dealing with a post acquisition scenario. A company X takes over a smaller company Y. The CEO of X retains a few senior management employees of Y. After a few months the employees of Y who had been retained find that their roles and responsibilities are not well defined. At the same time the senior management employees of X feel that the employees of Y are being unproductive and that X employees are overburdened with work. Both parties are unhappy. The people from company Y in the meanwhile start looking out for other job options due to the increasing uncertainty in the company.Discuss

Case 2. As the Chief minister of a coalition government, you have to resolve a violent agitation causing a law and order situation. The agitation is led by a group of farmer communities along with activists because of the state government's sanction of the farmer's land to company X for a new manufacturing plant. One of the political parties in your coalition are in support of the agitation and are therefore threatening to withdraw support. The company X has promised employment and this promises growth of industry in the state. What is the next step?