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Easy Topics on Group Discussion, GD Topics with Question and Answers 2023

Group discussion is the final step in the admission process for MBA which is followed by Personal Interview (PI). There are 1000s of candidates for MBA admission. It gets difficult to judge each and every person on the basis of interview. Therefore, GD is conducted to select some candidates out of many.

Earlier, a topic was given to the 7-10 students and they were supposed to discuss on that topic for 10-15 minutes. Nowadays, most of the B-Schools are giving thumps up to case study based group discussion. 

What is Case Study based Group Discussion (CSGD)?

In this type of group discussion, a case or a situation is given to the students. Some time is given to the students to understand the case which is related to the real corporate world situation. They are supposed to evaluate the case/situation. They have to look for the problem and the main cause. Then, students are supposed to discuss their points with the group members and give their solutions.

It is the most effective way to judge the candidate’s managerial qualities:

  1. Logical and Analytical Skills
  2. Leadership Skills
  3. Interpersonal Skills
  4. Decision making skills
  5. Situation handling ability
  6. Communication skills
  7. Perspective
  8. Creative and Innovative

How to solve case studies based GD?

  1. Read and understand the case thoroughly.
  2. Do the SWOT analysis
  3. Look for the problem and the cause from where the problem had arise.
  4. Either look at the situation by stepping into their shoes or can think from the third party point of view. Analyze the problem from different dimension and then come up with 3-4 possible solutions.

Group discussion

Group discussion is conducted by Institutes to test –

  • Oratory skills
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Leadership skills.

Group Discussion is commonly called as GD. It is conducted post entrance exams. Group of eight to ten students are given a topic. You have to speak face to face while making eye contact with each other. 

As the name suggests, GD is a discussion and not a debate. Proper decorum must be maintained. You should be open all kinds of ideas. Voice should not be raised at any time. The GD panel judges your overall personality during this round.

What is Group Discussion?

GD is a platform where you are expected to discuss on an assigned topic and put forward your point of view at your turn so that a meaningful discussion takes place and group can come up with logical take away message as conclusion. 

GD Pdf

MBA entrance examinations test you only for qualitative skills hence, the other skills which are needed for the selection of a good candidate is soft skills.

During jobs in organizations, communication plays a vital role to nurture Brand and thereby satisfy customers hence, GD is conducted to assess you on above parameters because MBA institutes look in you as future successful managers.

Because of the above reasons GD is conducted as a group to test your Verbal Communication Skills, attitude, interpersonal skills, body language and top of all how do you conduct yourself in a group and besides these qualities you are also tested for your entrepreneurial traits.

Skills required for Group Discussion

The skills that are usually assessed in a Group Discussion are:

What is Case Study GD? Solved Case Studies for MBA Group Discussion

 

So, it's important to assess your current strengths in all these areas and accordingly put efforts to strengthen your weaknesses.

GDs are used to assess certain group skills that cannot be evaluated in an interview. These include reasoning ability, leadership ability, Inspiring ability, flexibility, creativity/out-of-the-box thinking, social skills, listening and articulation skills, situational handling ability, interpersonal ability to function as a team player, body language and attitude. These are the skills which are very much required to become a successful professional which in turn works as an asset for the institutes at time of campus placements.

Another important reason for institutes to keep GD as an elimination round is because of the crowd factor. At the peak time of admissions, an institute has to deal with 1000s of aspiring students. In a GD, they can analyze upto 15 aspirants in 10 minutes.

Most of the institutes use Group Discussions as the next step in the selection process after written examination. Thus, Group Discussion is an important criterion for selection and rejection of candidates. It is used during admissions and campus placements. 

GD is a great tool to gauge communication abilities of students via group activity. Usually the group members are given a topic or a situation. They get a few minutes to think and engage in a healthy discussion with fellow group members. 
 

Topics can be from a wide range of issues. They could be related to –

  • Current events
  • Business news
  • Sports
  • Politics

The wider your reading interests, the better prepared you will be prepared. A Group discussion tests how you function as a team.

Tips and Tricks for Group Discussion

Here are some tips for effective participation in a GD:

  • Assert – Be assertive.
  • Articulate – Work continuously towards articulating your ideas into meaningful sentences to make the best impact. Speak clear and crisp.
  • Emphasize – Use non-verbal communication to emphasize points.
  • Initiate – If possible, take initiative to begin the discussion.
  • Involve – Take active part throughout the GD.
  • Listen – Be an attentive listener.
  • Quality – It's not 'how much' you say, but 'what' you say that's important.
  • Speak – Try and get a chance to speak. If you don’t get a chance make your chance.
  • Structure – Structure arguments logically and justify your stand.
  • Summarize – Summarize the discussion effectively.
  • Understand – Understand the topic before attempting to contribute.
Bonus : Download Group Discussion PDF that will show you how to Tap Group discussion with Tips & Topics with answers

To prepare for a group discussion, keep track of happenings around the world. Having an all-round knowledge leaves a good impression on Panelists. Inculcate the habit of reading newspapers and magazines. Watch interesting documentaries and series on television. This gives a wider perspective on issues. 

Your intelligence, general knowledge and core competencies are measured through the aptitude test. The group activity helps judge you as a team player.

You will have to pursue the following points if you want to be successful in a group discussion. The points are as follows:

  • Make sure that you read as much news as possible. Generally, the topic is chosen from some of the current happenings. Hence you should make sure that you have a look at all of them.
  • Make sure that you speak loudly and clearly. This is one of the most important things and you could find yourself in difficulty if you do not speak loudly and clearly in a GD.
  • You should know that you are not really bounded to think in one way. You are free to think on your own and put forward some new ideas. It is good for your chances and also for the GD since new ideas will definitely make it interesting.
  • You should know what the topic is really about. If you have some confusion then you should wait for some time and let the other speak at first. When the matter is quite clear and the GD is in midst then you should start speaking with new ideas in mind.

Traits required

Traits institutes are looking for in an MBA aspirant:

Knowledge:

Knowledge about the subject can never be replaced in a GD. No matter how good you might be communicating, but if your sentences don't reflect that you are knowledge bank then it's probably not going to work out. You are required to talk in a GD but inputs that don't contain any substantial value will not help in any way. One has to keep himself updated by knowing what all is happening around the globe.

Alertness and presence of mind:

In a GD you are required to carefully listen to the other person's thoughts. You should keep an argument, example, supportive statement, or fact ready to pitch in. This shows your alertness. It also suggests that you give importance to group members views. It means you are a good listener. 

Remain calm, composed and not sound aggressive. Assertiveness always helps win brownie point.

Out of the box thinking:

Yes! This the something that can help you get further selected because this reflects that you have a different way of looking at things. You need to be creative and have to put points that might amaze the panel. Remember, while working there are times when we need to find out solutions to the problem in a better way, thinking out of the box helps you finding smart and good solutions at times

Do’s and Don’ts

  • Group strength is usually 8 to 12 members
  • When the group discussion topic is announced and if you do not get the topic properly, just request to repeat the topic. Do not show surprises.
  • Correctly saying what you want to say- speaking effectively and efficiently is very important.
  • General Principles
  • Be a good listener
  • Do not use high vocabulary
  • Never use technical language while speaking
  • Not knowing is not a problem, do not try to bluff

Things to avoid

  • Do not criticize on religion
  • Do not get personal with anyone
  • Do not criticize foreign policy of India
  • Never ever try to bluff
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Role of the Evaluator in Group Discussion

Admission selection panel evaluates GD which is usually a group of 8 - 10 MBA aspirants who vie with each other to impress upon selection panel. Most of the time the prime objective of the evaluator is having following parameters:

  • How the candidate communicates?
  • The inter personal skills of the candidates
  • How a candidate menuovers of the subject of the GD and how he concludes?
  • The leadership quality is judged
  • How the candidate adapts with cross questions during GD?

Purpose of Group Discussion

Post cut off list each institute conducts GD to evaluate MBA aspirants for the soft skills with following objectives:

  • To know the communication skills of MBA aspirants
  • To judge body language of the candidates
  • To understand top of mind personality of the candidates
  • To understand attitudinal attributes of the candidates
  • To understand attributes of positivity of the candidates
  • To understand the Entrepreneurial traits of the candidates
  • To understand the institute fit quotient of the candidate

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Are case-study based group discussion and topic group discussion different?
A. Yes, topic group discussion is about general awareness and case-study group discussion is all about how analytical thinking you have and how you deal with the situation. 

Q2. What are the current topics for CSGD?
A. This type of GD is not based on the current topics but on a case which is related to real life situation. Candidates have to understand what the case is about and they have to come up with their solutions.

Q3. From where can I get the case study samples?
A. You can visit our website for the case study samples: https://www.mbarendezvous.com/case-studies/1.html

Latest Topics for Group Discussion

CRICKET HAS SPOILED OTHER STREAMS OF
INDIAN SPORTS

Number of participants: 5

Time: 20 Mins

Rahul Reddy Started:

Good Morning everyone, it is my pleasure to be seated with you all for this exciting discussion. Let's fully participate in this and try to come up with a concrete end remark.

I think, it is not justified to think cricket as a national obsession. It is the one game through which we Indians are able to hold our heads high. We won two world cups and have been on top in tests for two odd years. Whatever it has brought is quite appreciable. 

India has been winning gold in other sports as well. Abhinav Bindra won gold in Olympics. The Indian hockey team has won 8 golds in past. All achievements are highly appreciated. But it is also a fact that it happened when TV's and internet are on full bloom. 

In 1983 when India won the world cup, television was just gaining popularity. Even then the cricket fever was high. Thus, it is more popular than any other sport. 

Every Indian wants to play cricket in streets. It is in Indian blood and no media is required for cricket. Cricket is, and will be the most popular sport in India. I hope other sports also do well.

Smriti Nigam said:

Hello everyone, I do agree with my friend here.


Even I don't think that cricket have hurt any other sports. Cricket is interesting, fuels excitement, inculcates patriotic feeling. How can it be the "SPORT'S" fault? 

I think it is just because cricket has a very interesting format. Thus, it has become so popular and loved by all. It is followed as a religion. The cricketers are worshiped as God in our country. 

The fame that cricket has given to India, cannot be ignored. As far as other sports are concerned, they have not lost their importance. Be it tennis, badminton or hockey they are still very popular. But yes, it is a fact that cricket is more popular and followed by more people.

Himanshu said:

Good Morning friends,

I don't think cricket as a national obsession is a deterrent to other sports. Cricket has got popularity because of the legends cricket has given to us – Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, etc. It is because of the achievement of these people; cricket is appreciated in India. 

Recently, Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore won silver in Olympics for shooting. Post that we won lots of medals in shooting. If we want other games to be equally appreciated, then we need legends in them too. I believe if other sports also produce great players; then they will get as much appreciation as cricket in this country.

Mayank Aggarwal said:

Hello Friends,
As the topic suggests, that cricket is detriment to other sports, I quite agree with it. It is because:

  • Cricket game is promoted by the way of advertisement. Cricket sport stars get different kinds of products to endorse. 
  • Match between India and Pakistan has a cult fan base. The way it is advertised definitely makes it detrimental to other sports. It also hampers national peace to certain extent. In newspapers, most of the sports page are filled with cricket news

So, along with cricket, the Indian media too, is playing the role of detriment to other sports of India.
Media has the highest power today in our country. If it wishes, it can change the shape of sports too.

Abin Thomas said:

Hello everyone,I don't think that cricket is a detriment to other sports. But it is the bias towards cricket. This is what is destructing other sports. Most people are unaware that India has teams in Hockey, Rugby, Soccer, Basketball, etc. It feels mortified that a nation like India does not support its athletes. 


I hope that we will recognize our athletes of all games and supports them in their respective sports.

Rahul Reddy said:

As I suggested, according to me cricket is not at all detrimental to any other sports. It is suppressed by us. I believe we are totally responsible for it. There is no comparison between two sports. Each has its own charm and significance. How can cricket suppress the other sports? 

It is just that Indian people are crazy about the cricket. So, the comparison lies not in sports but in our thinking. Few days ago, the Economic Times conducted a survey to find out who inspires the people in the field of sports and the results announced that almost -

43% people inspires with S R Tendulkar
35% people inspires with M S Dhoni
11% people inspires with S. Nehwal
04% people inspires with Vijendra Singh
04% people inspires with A. Bindra

This survey observed that a total of 78% people inspired by the cricketers, that shows the craziness of the people towards cricket.

Mayank Aggarwal said:

Well, I personally feel that obsession with cricket is a detriment to other sports. It is because of the way it is promoted. Just like a movie is hyped and all of us go to watch it. But on the same time some epic movie just gets neglected because of poor advertisement. 

Also, it is not the case that there is less talent in other sports. If other sports are unable to match up to the expectations, it is because of improper training and meagre monetary help.

Smriti Nigam said:

Well friends, I like and support cricket a lot. However, I feel that unintentionally cricket has come to a point from where it is becoming detrimental to other sports. 

How many of us watch other sports played by Indian sportsmen and sportswomen? I am sure only a handful! Why is it so? One definite reason is the hype that cricket gets through the media. People not only watch the match with shear attention but also the pre-and post-match shows. 

Another reason is the monetary investment by the Government and by business individuals. This lures the youth to pursue cricket. Lastly, I would say that the Government should take necessary measures to allow other sports to flourish.

Abin Thomas Concluded:

Now, if we conclude our discussion I would like to highlight the main points that were discussed.

First: Majority of us agreed that the Game of Cricket, in itself, is not spoiling other streams of sports but it's the audience that goes crazy for its favorite sport.

Second: Media should give as much exposure to other sports as much it does to cricket.

Third: Government and Corporate people need to fund other sports as well so that they could get better training and bring home as much popularity as cricket does.

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