Research Aptitude Test (RAT)  

Posted by NoeL in , , , ,

RAT is one of the two selection processes for FPM admission at IIMs. Here are the details of the RAT exam i had at IIM Lucknow.

We were given a caselet. It was about an Engineer who started his own company. This guy started the company in one corner of his house in New Delhi. The company was into manufacturing of ‘premium gift items’. In the initial days, all the products were produced under his direct supervision. He had many suppliers and mostly he was doing the final assembly at his place. Initially volumes were also less.

Slowly but steadily, his business picked up. He started getting huge orders. Then he decided to shift his company out of his garage and for that he acquired land at Gurgaon, which was cheaper than the land available at New Delhi. Most of the suppliers still remained in New Delhi, baring a few who decided to move along with him. He initially hired a few marketing guys to improve his sales. He then hired a manager to look after his Gurgaon plant.

In the initial days of Gurgaon plant, he used to visit it often but as he started more and more ventures, his direct supervision over the Gurgaon plant decreased. He passed on the full control to the manager. This manager guy then went on to introduce lot of best-in-class management practices like Performance Appraisal System, Accounting practices etc. Initial days of the plant went on smoothly and profitably.

But few months from there, the plant got itself immersed into a lot of problem. There were quality issues popping out from everywhere. Even though the order book was full, the workers never showed an enthusiasm to produce more and the plant was never able to meet the demand. Sales slowly started falling. Suppliers started complaining about credit defaults. There were hell lots of problem.

The owner was extremely worried about the condition of the plant and wanted to somehow find out the reason for this. So he asked for the help from a near by management school and the school readily accepted.

Questions:-

  • You are a part of the team from the management school investigating on the Gurgaon Plant. What are your observations and possible problems?
  • What further data collection you will do for submitting a complete report on the plant and how do you plan to acquire the additional data?

We were supposed write the answer for the above two questions in around 750words.

Time: 1hr.

My Take:-

I felt like this plant is having all sorts of problems that it can ever have. In spite of one’s background, he/she had something or the other, where he/she could put his/her mind to work.

NoeL

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008 at Saturday, May 10, 2008 and is filed under , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

15 comments

Hi,
Your blog is really interesting and informative. Could you please tell if the case study was the only part in the RAT? Or did you have other questions like CAT (Verbal, Quantitative, Reasoning etc.)?

October 30, 2008 at 6:38 PM

There was just this case study last year. Is there anything else, please let me know!!

NoeL

NB:- Since you found the blog useful, please send the link to your friends too. Also, any comments on how this Blog can be made better are welcome.

October 30, 2008 at 9:10 PM

Thanks for the prompt response. I have already shared this link with another friend, who is interested in FPM from IIMs. Till now, I have only gone through the blogs related to FPM only. Once I find others interesting, I'll share them with relevant people. You are doing a good job. Keep it up!

October 30, 2008 at 9:25 PM

Yeah Thanks :) All the best!

NoeL

October 30, 2008 at 9:38 PM

i am suresh i like to write GMAT exam and go to study MBA at IIM-B . i am B.sc[chenistry] , MCA ,MCTS course student. now i like to MBA degree. RAT is must for admission on IIM.pls reply

sureshvsnth@gmail.com

August 10, 2009 at 7:04 PM

Hi Suresh,

RAT is applicable only for FPM and not for MBA programs of IIMs. Again, as far as I know, you need to write CAT and not GMAT for getting admission in IIMs (MBA Program)

Cheers

August 10, 2009 at 7:14 PM

how will get the scholarship for MBA.

August 28, 2009 at 6:52 PM

how will get the scholarship for MBA.

August 28, 2009 at 6:53 PM

my family is very poor.i like to study in IIM.i can study only scholarship method.how will get the scholarship for MBA
i like to know about the information of 1 year executive MBA.pls tell me

August 31, 2009 at 6:17 PM

my family is very poor.i like to study in IIM.i can study only scholarship method.how will get the scholarship for MBA
i like to know about the information of 1 year executive MBA.pls tell me

August 31, 2009 at 6:17 PM

how much amount need for 1 year executive MBA in IIM

i am B.sc[chemistry],MCA.i like to join MBA. my option in MBA is 'operations'.its good option for me.pls reply

pls tell me job opportunity for operations management

August 31, 2009 at 6:35 PM

Hello Noel,
Currently I am going to apply for RAT .Will you say,how the RAT is?What are its procedures?How many sections?Only one test etc?

Please inform me...as I represent number of candidates who are applying for FPM...

Thanks & Regards

Nijaz Nizar
nijaz.n@gmail.com

November 4, 2010 at 8:24 PM

hii

November 27, 2010 at 2:37 PM

i am srujana studying PGDM final year and now interested in FPM @ iimb i didnt write any of the exams as GRE/GMAT.pls suggest me how to prepare for the RAT exam

November 27, 2010 at 2:39 PM

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I study at European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel. The opinions expressed here are my own, and neither European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel nor any other party necessarily agrees with them.