answer the questions given below them. Certain words/phrases have been printed
in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
For years I
kept a phrenology bust in my office. My colleagues had various reactions to it:
some were amused; some were perplexed
or even embarrassed. But it reminded us of the perils of junk science, proof
that a little learning is a dangerous thing. Phrenology, the “science” of
attributing one’s personality to cranial features, arose in the nineteenth
century, at the dawn of the field of psychology. At that time, the notion of
personality entered the popular mind and physiological foundations for
personality, if not rigorously documented, seemed plausible. More than a century later, the field of psychobiology is
booming, and phrenology has no place in it. The wheels of scientific study
grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. Discredited by the absence of
rigorous theory or empirical evidence, phrenology was tossed into the dustbin.
A lot of learning overcame the initial error caused by a little learning.
Every field has its equivalent to
phrenology. Business is no exception. Business practitioners are pragmatists,
prone to assume that what works is what works. Where markets function smoothly
and there is open competition among ideas, pragmatism serves pretty well. But
like phrenologists in an earlier day, pragmatists are occasionally seized by
ideas that seem plausible and help to explain events in a limited arena but are
backed by no evidence, sound logic, or general efficacy. Such ideas can do more
harm than good. In my writing, I have criticized some of the modern-day
phrenologies: conglomerate diversification, bigger is better, the merger of
equals, and momentum management. The worst phrenologies of the twentieth
century, Marxism and Nazism, taught us the evil consequence of failing to
challenge humbug and to do so quickly.
But ideas mill about because of a
little learning. Thomas Jefferson argued that the antidote to a little leaning
is a lot of learning: “Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and
oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.”
The key to Jefferson’s antidote is the liberality of one’s learning, the
sampling of diverse ideas and facts. About 50 years ago, A. Whitney Griswold,
president of Yale University, wrote, “The only sure weapon against bad ideas is
better ideas. The source of better ideas is wisdom. The surest path to wisdom
is a liberal education.”
With alarm I note the educational
trend toward narrow vocationalism, even in business schools. Business
phrenologies breed in the back alleys of the field. Where thinking can get
warped – The poster child here is Enron’s aggressive use of special purpose
entities. Though the practitioner needs to be his or her own best teacher,
business schools and institutes can help one get a lot of learning. At its
best, the M.B.A. has stood for liberal training across the business specialties
and for a graduate who can smell humbug and not be afraid to say so. Learning
based on uncritical, rote memorization is no preparation for a career of action
and risk taking but is exactly what your local phrenologist depends on.
Instead, the learning that matter, requires testing and debate. That’s why
discussion based education is so important: it exercises skills of analysis and
argument. And it is why penetrating research is crucial. The humanistic
tradition of transparent documentation, hypothesis testing, replication of
experiments, and debate is the antidote to a little learning. And it is the
source of ideas from academics that improve business practice, such as business
ethics, linear programming, conjoint analysis, and theory of option pricing.
Do
we need schools to help us learn? The internet has sprouted many degree
programs. Aren’t these just as good as the program based in physical places? I
do not think so, for at least two reasons. First, learning is deeper and richer
when it occurs in a group. As T.S. Eliot said. “There is no life that is not
lived in community.” Learning on the Internet remains a solitary experience. I
doubt that the chat room can replace in-person peer coaching, challenge, and
debate. Second, learning is better with a teacher. Raw ingredients and a good
kitchen aren’t enough to make a great meal. Economist Paul Romer has argued
that a good cooking requires the human elements of creativity and leadership.
So it is with learning: the teacher’s creativity organizes the resources and
leads the students to insight.
Disillusionment
about the mission of business learning creates a downward spiral of poor
engagement between practitioners and business schools. It’s a race to the
bottom: practitioners ask less and less and the schools oblige. For instance,
executives seem to want fewer days in training and less nuance, discussion and
recollection. Corporate recruiters are demanding narrowly trained M.B.A.s
exactly when we need liberally trained professionals. At the heart of each of
the 22 business scandals that erupted between 1998 and 2002 lay a bad idea
cradled by narrow, self-serving professionalism. The slump in corporate and
individual philanthropy will chill the business learning that occurs through
research, especially the challenging, provocative new work. Many schools, in
turn, humbled by their financial problems and the business scandals, have hunkered down into a customer-service mentality, focusing on marketing and
league tales. Rapid imitation, and toning down the mission of social criticism,
testing and argument. Put this all together and it’s like a picture by Brueghel
or Hogarth, in which people are leaving undone the things that ought to be done
and doing the other.
Yes,
I remain cautiously optimistic. The interface between business practice and the
academy is a market of ideas. As Joseph Schumpeter wrote 62 years ago, free
markets will self-correct, led by entrepreneurs, agents of charge who find
their opportunities whatever they see room for improvement. Dissatisfaction
with the race to the bottom will eventually spur agents of change – both
scholars and thoughtful practitioners – to offer a better model for business
learning.
Q1. Author
compares phrenology with present day management education in business schools
because
(a)
management education prepares the students to take decisions on the basis of
cranial features.
(b)
both phrenology and management education prepares students to become
pragmatists.
(c)
management education is not preparing the students in the area of critically
analyzing the modern-day business phrenologies.
(d)
wheels of scientific study grind slowly and over a period of time phrenology
has transitioned into management science.
(e)
None of the above
Q2. Which
of the following statement is false in the context of the passage?
(a)
Author argues that little learning can lead to situation like that of Enron
where aggressive use of special purpose entities resulted in mismanagement of
the organization.
(b)
Pragmatists are occasionally seized by ideas, e.g., conglomerate diversification,
bigger is better, the merger of equals, etc., that seem plausible but are not
backed by evidence, or logic.
(c)
Ideas of Joseph Schumpeter are not applicable as they were not based on
rigorous research.
(d)
Learning is better with a teacher as it requires active involvement of teacher
for organizing the resources and leading the students to develop insights.
(e)
All of the above
Q3. Self-serving
professionalism, as used in the passage, refers to
(a)
professionalism for serving the cause of management
(b)
professionalism of selfish people
(c)
professionalism that excludes stakeholders
(d)
Both (b) and (c)
(e)
None of the above
Q4. If
the author of this passage becomes director of a business school then he is
likely to do which of the following?
(a)
Invite practitioners from industry for guest lectures
(b)
Stop summer internship for M.B.A. students
(c)
Discontinue short term management education programmes
(d)
both (a) and (c)
(e)
All of the above
Q5. Author
believes that business learning is required more than ever in present times
because
(a)
corporate recruiters are demanding narrowly trained business graduates
(M.B.A.).
(b)
business schools can teach modern-day business phrenlogies.
(c)
slump in corporate and individual philanthropy, which has a negative impact on
the financial conditions of business school, need to be corrected with the help
of business education.
(d)
business learning and penetrating research can provide ideas for improving
business practices.
(e)
None of the above
Q6. According
to the author, business education should have
(a)
high spread and low depth so as to create more generalists than specialists
(b)
greater focus on requirements of corporate recruiters
(c)
learning based on principles of falsification
(d)
no role in today’s world as practitioner needs to be his or her own teacher
(e)
All of the above
Q7. Which of the following will NOT be
an apt title of this passage?
(a)
Pathology of Management Education
(b)
Management Education at Crossroads
(c)
End of Executive MBA Education
(d)
Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing
(e)
All of the above
Q8. Which
of the following words is the most nearest to the word ‘plausible’ used in the passage?
(a) adapt
(b) conform
(c) attune
(d) credible
(e) negotiate
Q9. Which
of the following words is the most farthest to the word ‘perplexed’ used in the passage?
(a)
regulate
(b) adjudicate
(c) composed
(d) hinder
(e) dissuade
Q10. Which
of the following words is the most nearest to the word ‘hunkered down’ used in the passage?
(a)
consent
(b) rectify
(c) opposition
(d) align
(e) dispose
Directions (11-15): Given below are seven
sentences which may or may not be in sequence it is then followed by few questions. Rearrange the sentences
and then answer the questions carefully.
(A) A quick look at everyday Indian politics
and the debates in the press and elsewhere shows that the spirit of Gandhi is
no more fully present in his native country.
(B)
It is practically impossible to live in India and not to see or hear references
to Gandhi.
(C)
Gandhi is by far the most recognisable Indian put on currency notes.
(D)
But this does not mean necessarily that Gandhi is well read and understood by
all Indians.
(E)
He is also honoured all over the country with statues erected in the middle of
town squares and his pictures posted on the walls of business offices and
shops, even restaurants.
(F)
For Gandhi, recognition is the mechanism by which our democratic existence, as
self-transformative beings, is generated.
Q11.
Which one of the following does not belong to the theme of the paragraph after
rearrangement (not a part of the coherent paragraph formed after the
rearrangement)?
(a)
A
(b)
B
(c)
D
(d)
F
(e)
E
Q12.
Which one of the following sentences can replace sentence (C) after
rearrangement (excluding the correct option of Q96.)?
(a)
Indians widely describe him as the father of the nation.
(b)
Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was nominated five
times between 1937 and 1948.
(c)
India, with its rapid economic modernisation and urbanisation, has rejected
Gandhi’s economics
(d)
A 5 hour, 9 minutes long biographical documentary film Mahatma: Life of Gandhi,
1869–1948, made by Vithalbhai Jhaveri
(e)
His vision of a village-dominated economy was shunted aside during his lifetime
as rural romanticism
Q13.
Which one of the following statement comes next after the rearrangement?
(a)
This statement of Gandhi has a particular relevance to the cultural situation
in our globalised world.
(b) Though his name is pronounced by all
politicians and managers but when it comes to his teachings Gandhi is
considered an old-fashioned figure with his preference for an austere, simple
lifestyle.
(c)
In other words, this capacity to engage constructively with conflicting values
is an essential component of practical wisdom and empathic pluralism of
Gandhian non-violence.
(d)
the Gandhian non-violent approach to plurality is a way of bridging differences
and developing inter cultural awareness and understanding among individuals and
nations.
(e)
Gandhi’s image also appears on paper currency of all denominations issued by
Reserve Bank of India, except for the one rupee note.
Q14.
Which one of the following is the last sentence after rearrangement?
(a)
A
(b)
F
(c)
E
(d)
D
(e)
B
Q15.
Which one of the following is the fourth sentence after rearrangement?
(a)
A
(b)
F
(c)
E
(d)
D
(e)
B
SOLUTIONS:
S1. Ans. (c)
Sol. Refer the fourth paragraph of the passage “Learning based on uncritical, rote memorization is no preparation for a career of action and risk taking but is exactly what your local phrenologist depends on.”
S2. Ans. (b)
Sol. Refer the second paragraph of the passage. The examples of the ideas quoted in the option are, in fact, what the author has called modern- day phrenologies.
Sol. Referring to the second last paragraph of the passage we can infer that Self-serving professionalism refers to professionalism for serving the cause of management.
S4. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer the fourth paragraph of the passage. The author would rather emphasize the practical aspects of education like ‘hypothesis testing’; ‘replication of experiments’, ‘debate’.
S5. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer the last paragraph of the passage. His motto is to bring about an improvement in business practices.
S6. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer the fourth sentence of the fourth paragraph “Though the practitioner needs to be his or her own best teacher, business schools and institutes can help one get a lot of learning.”
S7. Ans. (c)
Sol. ‘End of Executive MBA Education’ will not be an apt title of this passage. The author does not wish an end, but adjustments.
S8. Ans.
(d)
Sol. Plausible means seeming reasonable or
probable. Hence it has similar meaning as ‘credible’.
S9. Ans.
(c)
Sol. Perplexed means completely baffled,
very puzzled, which is opposite to the meaning as ‘composed’.
S10. Ans.
(c)
Sol. Hunkered down means hold resolutely or
stubbornly to a policy, opinion, etc., when confronted by criticism,
opposition, or unfavorable circumstances.
S11.
Ans.(d)
Sol.
Statement (F) does not belong to the theme of the paragraph. The whole
paragraph is about the achievements and honours of Gandhi except statement (F)
which is describing about his views on building a democratic nation through
recognition.
S12.
Ans. (a)
Sol. Statement (C) is describing about the
importance of Gandhi in the eyes of Indians. Therefore, from the given options
only statement (a) is describing the similar characteristic of Gandhi, as he is
referred the father of the nation. Other statements do not show the importance
of Gandhi and thus, are eliminated.
S13.
Ans. (b)
Sol.
Option (b) is the correct choice. The correct sequence of the paragraph is
BCEDA. The last sentence of the paragraph is stating about the current
political scenario and Gandhi’s political policies in the country. Option (b)
is continuing the last statement and further elaborating about the political
practices of the country.
S14.
Ans.(a)
Sol.
The sequence of the paragraph is BCEDA.
S15.
Ans. (d)
Sol.
The sequence of the paragraph is BCEDA. The conjunction ‘but’ is used to
indicate a contrast between the current and the previous statement. In the
beginning statements (B) (C) (E) are describing about the honours given to
Gandhi. Thus, the next statement has to be statement (D) expressing a contrast
from the earlier statements. Therefore, option (d) is the correct choice.
English Language Notes for Competitive E...
