Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for each question.
Management education gained new academic stature within US Universities and greater respect from outside during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Some observers attribute the competitive superiority of US corporations to the quality of business education. In 1978, a management professor, Herbert A. Simon of Carnegie Mellon University, won the Nobel Prize in economics for his work in decision theory. And the popularity of business education continued to grow, since 1960, the number of master’s degrees awarded annually has grown from under 5000 to over 50,000 in the mid 1980’s as the MBA has become known as ‘the passport to the good life’.
By the 1980’s, however, US business schools faced critics who charged that learning had little relevance to real business problems. Some went so far as to blame business schools for the decline in US competitiveness.
Amidst the criticisms, four distinct arguments may be discerned. The first is that business schools must be either unnecessary or deleterious because Japan does so well without them. Underlying this argument is the idea that management ability cannot be taught, one is either born with it or must acquire it over years of practical experience. A second argument is that business schools are overly academic and theoretical.
They teach quantitative models that have little application to real world problems. Third, they give inadequate attention to shop floor issues, to production processes and to management resources. Finally, it is argued that the encourage undesirable attitudes in students, such as placing value on the short term and ‘bottom line’ targets, while neglecting longer term development criteria. In summary, some business executives complain that MBAs are incapable of handing day to day operational decisions, unable to communicate and to motivate people, and unwillingly to accept responsibility for following through on implementation plans. We shall analyze these criticisms after having reviewed experiences in other countries.
In contrast to the expansion and development of business education in the United States and more recently in Europe, Japanese business schools graduate no more than two hundred MBAs each year. The Keio Business School (KBS) was the only graduate school of management in the entire country until the mid 1970’s and it still boasts the only two year masters programme. The absence of business schools in Japan would appear in contradiction with the high priority placed upon learning by its Confucian culture. Confucian colleges taught administrative skills as early as 1630 and Japan wholeheartedly accepted Western learning following the Meiji restoration of 1868 when hundreds of students were dispatched to universities in US, Germany, England and France to learn the secrets of western technology and modernization. Moreover, the Japanese educational system is highly developed and intensely competitive and can be credited for raising the literary and mathematical abilities of the Japanese to the highest level in the world.
Until recently, Japan corporations have not been interested in using either local or foreign business schools for the development of their future executives. Their in-company training programs have sought the socialization of newcomers, the younger the better. The training is highly specific and those who receive it have neither the capacity nor the incentive to quit. The prevailing belief, says Imai, ‘is a management should be born out of experience and many years of effort and not learnt from educational institutions.’ A 1960 survey of Japanese senior executives confirmed that a majority (54%) believed that managerial capabilities can be attained only on the job and not in universities.
However, this view seems to be changing: the same survey revealed that even as early as 1960. 37% of senior executives felt that the universities should teach integrated professional management. In the 1980’s a combination of increased competitive pressures and greater multi nationalisation of Japanese business are making it difficult for many companies to rely solely upon internally trained managers. This has led to a rapid growth of local business programmes and a greater use of American MBA programmes. In 1982-83, the Japanese comprised the largest single group of foreign students at Wharton, where they not only learnt the latest techniques of financial analysis, but also developed worldwide contacts through their classmates and became Americanized, something highly useful in future negotiations. The Japanese, then do not ‘do without’ business schools, as is sometimes contended. But the process of selecting and orienting new graduates, even MBAs, into corporations is radically different than in the US. Rather than being placed in highly paying staff positions, new Japanese recruits are assigned responsibility for operational and even
menial tasks. Success is based upon Japan’s system of highly competitive recruitment and intensive incompany management development, which in turn are grounded in its tradition of universal and rigorous academic education, life-long employment and strong group identification.
The harmony among these traditional elements has made Japanese industry highly productive and given corporate leadership a long term view. It is true that this has been achieved without much attention to university business education, but extraordinary attention has been devoted to the development of managerial skills, both within the company and through participation in programmes sponsored by the Productivity Center and other similar organizations.
The author argues that the Japanese system
Show Hint
- is better than the American system.
- is highly productive and gives corporate leadership a long term view as a result of its strong traditions.
- is slowly becoming Americanized.
- succeeds without business schools, whereas the US system fails because of it.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
The growth of popularity of business schools among students was most probably due to
Show Hint
- Herbert A. Simon a management professor winning the Nobel Prize in economics.
- the gain in academic stature.
- the large number of MBA degree awarded.
- a perception that it was a ‘passport to good life.’
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
According to the passage
Show Hint
- learning, which was useful in the 1960’s and 1970’s became irrelevant in the 1980’s.
- management education faced criticisms in the 1980’s.
- business schools are insensitive to the needs of industry.
- by the 1980’s business schools contributed to the decline in US competitiveness.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
A criticism that management education did not face was that
Show Hint
- it imparted poor quantitative skills to MBAs.
- it was unnecessarily and deleterious.
- it was irrevocably irrelevant.
- it inculcated undesirable attitudes in students.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The absence of business schools in Japan
Show Hint
- is due to the prevalent belief that management ability can only be acquired over years of practical experience.
- was due to the high priority placed on learning as opposed to doing in Confucian culture.
- is hard to explain for the proponents of business education.
- contributed a great deal to their success in international trade and business.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Instead, it is acquired gradually through hands-on experience under senior mentorship.
This practical orientation is deeply rooted in Japanese values and workplace culture, where seniority and continuous observation matter more than formal education.
Hence, Japan historically lacked formal business schools because practical experience was considered superior.
The 1960’s and 1970’s can best be described as a period
Show Hint
- when quality business education contributed to the superiority of US corporations.
- when the number of MBAs rose from under 5,000 to over 50,000.
- when management education gained new academic stature and greater respect.
- when the MBA became more disreputable.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
This was a time when business schools introduced analytical frameworks, strategic thinking, and behavioral sciences into management teaching.
There was a growing belief that management could be studied like a science, which led to higher respect for business degrees.
Academic institutions invested heavily in research and business case methods, giving the MBA intellectual legitimacy.
US business schools faced criticism in the 1980’s because
Show Hint
- of the decline in Japanese competitiveness.
- many critics felt the learning had little relevance to business problems.
- people realized that management ability cannot be taught.
- MBAs were unwilling to accept responsibility for implementation on the shop floor.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Critics argued that graduates were proficient in theory but failed to demonstrate leadership or execution in practical scenarios.
This critique gained weight as American corporations began to lag behind their Japanese counterparts, which emphasized hands-on training.
Thus, MBAs were seen as out-of-touch with real industry demands.
Training programmes in Japanese corporations have
Show Hint
- been based upon Confucian culture.
- sought the socialization of newcomers.
- been targeted at people who have neither the capacity nor the incentive to quit.
- been teaching people to do menial tasks.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
The focus is on integrating newcomers into the company’s culture and making them part of a collective identity.
This socialization process teaches cooperation, long-term commitment, and company loyalty.
Such a system emphasizes harmony and consistency over individual performance alone.
The Japanese modified their views on management education because of
Show Hint
- greater exposure to US MBA programmes.
- the need to develop worldwide contacts and become Americanized.
- the outstanding success of business schools in the US during the 1960’s and 1970’s.
- a combination of increased competitive pressures and greater multi-nationalisation of Japanese business.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
However, increased competition in global markets and the need to operate across multinational settings forced a shift in this attitude.
As Japanese companies began expanding internationally, they faced the necessity to align with global standards, including Western business practices.
This pressure made them adopt formal management education and MBA-like training, influenced by both market competition and the global corporate environment.
The Japanese were initially able to do without business schools as a result of
Show Hint
- their highly developed and intensively competitive education system.
- dispatching hundreds of Western technology and modernization.
- their highly specific in-company training programmes.
- prevailing beliefs regarding educational institutions.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
As a result, students entered companies with a strong foundational education and were further shaped by rigorous in-house corporate training.
This system produced highly capable professionals without formal business school intervention.
Thus, their advanced national education system compensated for the absence of standalone business schools.
The main difference between US and Japanese corporations is
Show Hint
- that one employs MBAs, the other does not.
- that US corporations do not employ Japanese people.
- that US corporations pay more to fresh recruits.
- in the process of selecting and orienting new recruits.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
In contrast, Japanese companies place great emphasis on long orientation, internal mentoring, and slowly integrating recruits.
This difference reflects broader cultural priorities — individual performance in the US versus group harmony and long-term growth in Japan.
The author argues that
Show Hint
- Japanese do not do without business schools as is generally perceived.
- Japanese corporations do not hire MBAs because of traditions of universal and rigorous academic education, life long employment and strong group identification.
- placing MBAs in operational and menial tasks is a major factor in Japanese business success.
- US corporations should emulate the Japanese and change the way new recruits are induced.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The author emphasizes that Japan has developed mechanisms for management training that substitute for MBAs.
These include rigorous internal programs, senior mentorship, and experiential knowledge acquisition.
Hence, the argument is not that Japan ignores management education, but that it handles it differently than the US model.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
- Shown below are letters ‘e’ taken from four popular logos, arranged in a sequence. Which of the options is the correct sequence?
- UCEED - 2026
- English Language Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension
- Shown below are four options, each showing consecutive frames representing the movement of a pendulum of an old-style wall clock for an animation movie. Which is the correct option?
- UCEED - 2026
- English Language Comprehension
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- Acrucial moderating factor in how people experience comparisons is self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem are more likely to interpret upward comparison as informative rather than threatening. They are more resilient in the face of others’ success and more likely to believe they can reach their own goals. In contrast, people with low self-esteem are more prone to interpret comparison as judgment, reinforcing negative self-views and triggering feelings of inadequacy.
This dynamic creates a self-reinforcing loop. People with high self-esteem are less vulnerable to upward comparison, which intensifies those doubts. Those with a secure sense of self are more likely to use comparison as a learning tool. The same external stimulus—a colleague’s achievements, a friend’s popularity—can have radically different effects depending on internal stability.
Self-esteem also influences how people choose their comparison targets. Research has found that individuals often engage in “selective comparison,” seeking out those who confirm their existing beliefs about themselves. This can become a subtle form of self-sabotage. Someone who feels unworthy may subconsciously seek out targets that reinforce that sense, perpetuating a narrative of inferiority. One of the most promising antidotes to social comparison is temporal comparison—evaluating oneself not against others, but against one’s own past. This method has been shown to increase motivation and satisfaction, especially when individuals can see concrete progress. Temporal comparison activates the same reward circuits as social comparison but avoids the threat systems associated with social ranking. It also reinforces agency: individuals focus on what they can control and improve rather than what others control. In therapeutic and coaching settings, temporal comparison is used to help clients build self-efficacy and track growth over time.
Moreover, people who focus on self-improvement rather than social dominance are less likely to fall into cycles of envy or self-pity. They can still use others as inspiration, but they do so without attaching their self-worth to the outcome. This is not to say they never compare—but that they focus on learning, rather than judgment. The most skilful approach to comparison may lie in eliminating it, but in reframing it as feedback. When we interpret comparison as information rather than a verdict, we can ask, “What can I learn from this?” This shift turns comparison into a growth tool. Teachers mentor their students, not as rivals. Psychologists emphasize that the key variable here is mindset.
A fixed mindset sees comparison as a threat. If someone else is better, it means we are worse. A growth mindset sees comparison as a map. If someone else has reached a certain level, it means the path exists. This reframing is not just a cognitive trick. It changes the emotional tone of comparison, making it more likely to inspire than to wound. Reframing also requires emotional regulation—the ability to notice an initial pang of envy or shame without reacting impulsively. With practice, individuals can learn to pause, reflect, and reinterpret their emotional responses. Over time, this builds resilience and self-trust, allowing comparison to become a learning tool rather than a cage.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
When people who are talking don’t share the same culture, knowledge, values, and assumptions, mutual understanding can be especially difficult. Such understanding is possible through the negotiation of meaning. To negotiate meaning with someone, you have to become aware of and respect both the differences in your backgrounds and when these differences are important. You need enough diversity of cultural and personal experience to be aware that divergent world views exist and what they might be like. You also need the flexibility in world view, and a generous tolerance for mistakes, as well as a talent for finding the right metaphor to communicate the relevant parts of unshared experiences or to highlight the shared experiences while demphasizing the others. Metaphorical imagination is a crucial skill in creating rapport and in communicating the nature of unshared experience. This skill consists, in large measure, of the ability to bend your world view and adjust the way you categorize your experiences. Problems of mutual understanding are not exotic; they arise in all extended conversations where understanding is important.
When it really counts, meaning is almost never communicated according to the CONDUIT metaphor, that is, where one person transmits a fixed, clear proposition to another by means of expressions in a common language, where both parties have all the relevant common knowledge, assumptions, values, etc. When the chips are down, meaning is negotiated: you slowly figure out what you have in common, what it is safe to talk about, how you can communicate unshared experience or create a shared vision. With enough flexibility in bending your world view and with luck and charity, you may achieve some mutual understanding.
Communication theories based on the CONDUIT metaphor turn from the pathetic to the evil when they are applied indiscriminately on a large scale, say, in government surveillance or computerized files. There, what is most crucial for real understanding is almost never included, and it is assumed that the words in the file have meaning in themselves—disembodied, objective, understandable meaning. When a society lives by the CONDUITmetaphor on a large scale, misunderstanding, persecution, and much worse are the likely products.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Later, I realized that reviewing the history of nuclear physics served another purpose as well: It gave the lie to the naive belief that the physicists could have come together when nuclear fission was discovered (in Nazi Germany!) and agreed to keep the discovery a secret, thereby sparing humanity such a burden. No. Given the development of nuclear physics up to 1938, development that physicists throughout the world pursued in all innocence of any intention of finding the engine of a new weapon of mass destruction—only one of them, the remarkable Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard, took that possibility seriously—the discovery of nuclear fission was inevitable. To stop it, you would have had to stop physics. If German scientists hadn’t made the discovery when they did, French, American, Russian, Italian, or Danish scientists would have done so, almost certainly within days or weeks. They were all working at the same cutting edge, trying to understand the strange results of a simple experiment bombarding uranium with neutrons. Here was no Faustian bargain, as movie directors and other naifs still find it intellectually challenging to imagine. Here was no evil machinery that the noble scientists might hide from the problems and the generals. To the contrary, there was a high insight into how the world works, an energetic reaction, older than the earth, that science had finally devised the instruments and arrangements to coart forth. “Make it seem inevitable,” Louis Pasteur used to advise his students when they prepared to write up their discoveries. But it was. To wish that it might have been ignored or suppressed is barbarous. “Knowledge,” Niels Bohr once noted, “is itself the basis for civilization.” You cannot have the one without the other; the one depends upon the other. Nor can you have only benevolent knowledge; the scientific method doesn’t filter for benevolence. Knowledge has consequences, not always intended, not always comfortable, but always welcome. The earth revolves around the sun, not the sun around the earth. “It is a profound and necessary truth,” Robert Oppenheimer would say, “that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them.”
...Bohr proposed once that the goal of science is not universal truth. Rather, he argued, the modest but relentless goal of science is “the gradual removal of prejudices.” The discovery that the earth revolves around the sun has gradually removed the prejudice that the earth is the center of the universe. The discovery of microbes is gradually removing the prejudice that disease is a punishment from God. The discovery of evolution is gradually removing the prejudice that Homo sapiens is a separate and special creation.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Questions Asked in CAT exam
- The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
In the dynamic realm of creativity, artists often find themselves at the crossroads between drawing inspiration from diverse cultures and inadvertently crossing into the territory of cultural appropriation. Inspiration is the lifeblood of creativity, driving artists to create works that resonate across borders. In a globalized era of the modern world, artists draw from a vast array of cultural influences. When approached respectfully, inspiration becomes a bridge, fostering understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. However, the line between inspiration and cultural appropriation can be thin and easily blurred.
Cultural appropriation occurs when elements from a particular culture are borrowed without proper understanding, respect, or acknowledgment. This leads to the commodification of sacred symbols, the reinforcement of stereotypes, and the erasure of the cultural context from which these elements originated. It is essential to recognize that the impact of cultural appropriation extends beyond the realm of artistic expression, influencing societal perceptions and perpetuating power imbalances.- CAT - 2025
- Para Summary
- The number of distinct integers $n$ for which $\log_{\left(\frac14\right)}(n^2 - 7n + 11)>0$ is:
- CAT - 2025
- Linear Inequalities
- In the set of consecutive odd numbers $\{1, 3, 5, \ldots, 57\}$, there is a number $k$ such that the sum of all the elements less than $k$ is equal to the sum of all the elements greater than $k$. Then, $k$ equals?
- CAT - 2025
- Number Systems
- The number of distinct pairs of integers $(x, y)$ satisfying the inequalities $x>y \ge 3$ and $x + y<14$ is:
- CAT - 2025
- Number Systems
For any natural number $k$, let $a_k = 3^k$. The smallest natural number $m$ for which \[ (a_1)^1 \times (a_2)^2 \times \dots \times (a_{20})^{20} \;<\; a_{21} \times a_{22} \times \dots \times a_{20+m} \] is:
- CAT - 2025
- Linear Inequalities