| Updated On - Jul 1, 2024
XAT Decision Making section judges candidates’ analytical thinking and their approach to complex problems. The questions are based on data arrangement, inference & judgement, ethical dilemmas, business decision making, situational decision making, etc. Around 22-30 questions will be asked from this section.The questions from this section will be clubbed with QADI and VALR in part 1 of the paper. There will be no sectional time limit to attempt the section. For all 3 sections of part 1, a total of 175 minutes will be given. Each question will carry 1 mark. 0.25 marks will be deducted for each wrong attempt. There is a provision of sectional cut off in XAT exam.
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What You Need to Know About XAT Decision Making 2025?
XAT Decision Making 2025 pattern and syllabus is same as the previous year. Being aware of all the important details of DM section is extremely crucial for preparation, as it will assist in devising a clear strategy for preparation. Here is the detailed information on decision Making pattern and marking scheme for your reference:
- The total duration of exam will be 210 minutes
- The Decision Making Section must be solved in no more than 35 minutes to ensure proper time availability for other sections.
- It will have a total of 22 questions.
- There will be a negative marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer in Making section.
| Decision Making (DM) | |
|---|---|
| Particulars | Details |
| Mode | Computer Based Test |
| Duration | 30-35 minutes |
| Nature of Questions | Objective (MCQs) |
| Number of Questions | 22 |
| Total Marks | 22 |
| Marks Awarded for Correct Answer | +1 for every correct answer |
| Negative Marking | -0.25 for every wrong answer |
| Medium | English |
| Considered for Percentile Calculation | Yes |
Let's Check Out the Exam Pattern
Knowing the sectional time limit for each of the sections will help you determine how to attempt the paper efficiently. Here is the sectional division of the questions and the time limit for each section of XAT 2025:
| Parts | Section Name | Max. Questions | Time Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | Verbal and Logical Ability | 26 | 175 minutes |
| Decision Making | 22 | ||
| Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | 27 | ||
| Part 2 | Mock Keyboard Test | - | 5 minutes |
| Part 3 | General Knowledge | 25 | 30 minutes |
| Essay | 1 (out of 3 options) | ||
| Total | - | 105 | 210 minutes |
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XAT Decision Making (DM) Syllabus 2025: At a Glance
The Decision Making (DM) section is not included in most of the MBA entrance exams and thus many candidates may find it difficult to prepare. However, it can be prepared easily if candidates have knowledge of the syllabus, pattern, and the types of questions asked in previous years’ XAT exam. Salient features of Decision Making Syllabus for XAT 2025 are mentioned below:
- The Syllabus for Decision Making section consists of data sets followed by 2-3 questions involving decision-making in a situation, data arrangement tests, etc.
- It comprises 22 MCQs of moderate difficulty. Mostly Set-based questions on Business Decision Making and Ethical Dilemmas are asked
- Answering 16 – 17 questions is usually considered a good attempt.
Types of Questions Asked in Decision Making
There are 3 types of questions that can be asked in Decision Making section. These are:
- Single Question Prompts: These are similar to critical reasoning questions. A short paragraph is followed by a single question. The number of such questions has decreased in the past few years. Last year also, there were no such questions.
- 2-3 Question Prompts: These types of questions comprise a moderate length paragraph/ caselet followed by 2-3 questions. This set of questions is the most prominent and last year, there were 7 prompts with 3 questions each.
- 4-5 Question Prompts: These are similar to reading comprehension questions. A lengthy caselet is followed by 4-5 questions. These caselets present multiple viewpoints of various stakeholders and hence require more concentration.
Important Topics for Decision Making
| Decision Making Important Topics | |
|---|---|
| Ethical Dilemma | Business Decisions |
| Inference, Assumptions, and Judgement | Analytical Reasoning |
| Situational Choices | Conditions and Grouping Test |
| Data Arrangement Test | Data Comprehension |
| Caselets | Decision Making in a situation |
Don’t Miss Important Terms Related to Decision Making
Candidates must familiarize themselves with the following terms related to DM section:
- Premise: A previous statement from which another is inferred, or an underlying assumption.
- Assumption: Something which is taken to be true.
- Fact: A piece of information that has been verified and correct.
- Proposition: A statement expressing judgment or an opinion or is offered for consideration.
- Inference: A conclusion made on the basis of evidence and facts.
- Inductive: Employing mathematical reasoning to draw an inference.
- Deductive: Something that can be proved by deriving conclusions using reason.
- Reason: A cause, or explanation, or justification for an action or an event.
- Conclusion: Results are drawn from the summarization of several premises given in the question.
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List of Important Decision Making Books
The decision making paper tests the candidate's decision making ability in a limited time period. This is one of the most unique aspects of XAT exam as most other management exams like CAT, CMAT, NMAT, etc do not have this section. Since this exam is highly competitive, candidates should use the right books and resources to prepare for the exam. Here are some book recommendations for Decision Making:
| Name of Book | Publisher/Author |
|---|---|
| Jabbing the XAT (with solved papers) | RK Jha |
| Target XAT (Past papers and mock tests) | Disha Publications |
| Analytical and Logical Reasoning | Arihant Publications |
| XAT Supplement | Career Launcher |
| Wiley's ExamXpert Solved Papers and Practice Tests for XAT | Ashu Jain, M K Jain |
| Study Package for CAT & other MBA Entrance Exams with 10 Mock Tests 3rd Edition | Multiple Authors |
| MBA Study Guide (XAT|IIFT|NMAT|SNAP|CMAT) | Gautam Puri |
| XAT Simplified (Past Papers + 5 Mock Tests + General Awareness) | Disha Experts |
Check Section-wise Preparation Books
Previous Year Exam Analysis for Decision Making: Difficulty Level & Good Attempts
As there is no fixed syllabus for this particulur section, going through the questions asked in previous year papers is the best way to prepare for the decision making section.Decision Making Paper Analysis for 2022 is given below:
- All questions were objective-type MCQs. Each question had 5 options out of which only one was correct.
- There were a total of 21 questions- 7 sets with 3 questions each.
- Attempting 16-17 questions was considered good for DM section.
- Overall, the questions were of easy-moderate difficulty level and did not require too much analysis.
A detailed analysis of the decision making section for 2022 session stating the important topics, difficulty level, and the number of good attempts is given below:
| DM Passage Topics | Number of Questions | Difficulty Level | Good Attempts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dosa | 3 | Moderate | 2-3 |
| Doctor SUV | 3 | Easy-Moderate | 2-3 |
| FURCSA | 3 | Moderate | 1-2 |
| A2Z Engineering | 3 | Easy-Moderate | 2-3 |
| Future Leaders School | 3 | Easy-Moderate | 2-3 |
| Assignment Submission | 3 | Moderate | 1-2 |
| Passage 7 | 3 | Moderate | 1-2 |
| Total | 21 | Easy-Moderate | 17-18 |
Check detailed Previous Year Exam Analysis
XAT Decision Making Section Analysis for past years (2021-2015)
An analysis of the number and types of questions asked in XAT Decision Making section from 2021 to 2015 is given below:
| Year | XAT Decision Making Section Analysis |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 sets with 3 MCQs each on Business Decision Making and 3 sets with 3 MCQs each on Ethical Dilemmas |
| 2020 | Questions of moderate level with no singlets made this section easy. Mathematical or analytical reasoning questions were missing and 16 - 17 would be a good attempt. |
| 2019 | 18 questions were of moderate difficulty level. 3 questions were similar to that of the previous year. |
| 2018 | The mathematical part was on the easier side and the non-mathematical part consisted of 8 sets with 2 - 3 questions from each with a medium level of difficulty. |
| 2017 | The non-mathematical part consisted of mostly lengthy questions of medium-level difficulty. The mathematical part was of medium-difficult level. |
| 2016 | XAT Decision Making section had a similar difficulty level as 2017. Reading and interpretation passages were however smaller. |
| 2015 | Questions from the DM section were hard and difficult to solve. |
Preparation Tips to Solve XAT DM Questions 2025
In order to excel in XAT 2025 exam, candidates need to score well in the decision making section. Hence an appropriate strategy is essential to attempt XAT Decision Making questions.
Here are some tips for preparing for and solving Decision Making section :
- Solve Previous Year Question Papers to get an understanding of the type and difficulty level of questions.
- It is always advisable to opt for the most ethical choice while answering decision making questions.
- Decisions which are harmful to others or provide a short-term solution are highly likely to be incorrect.
- You will often find an option in which the individual does not take any action or make a decision, thereby keeping the situation as it originally was. Such options must be eliminated as they defeat the very purpose of decision making.
- While solving mock papers, if you come across a problem you could not solve, try to understand why the incorrect options were not the solution to the problem. Doing this will help you eliminate incorrect options faster.
- If you are confused between two or more options, choose the one that would provide maximum benefit while causing minimum damage at the same time.
- Avoid making personal decisions or options that you might favor over idealistic options. Think from the point of view of the characters. Do not let political, social, or economical views influence your answer.
- Never opt for extreme decisions which might result in affecting one or more people negatively, as these decisions show only poor management skills.
- Always make decisions based on logic and reason rather than emotions. Decisions based on emotions reflect poorly on your ability to provide a just solution.
Must Read: Preparation Strategy & Plan
Mistakes To Avoid While Attempting DM Section
- Not Reading the Given Options Carefully: Reading all the given options is mandatory to arrive at the most suitable answer. There might be questions where the options could be confusing, hence it is necessary to read all the given options carefully and try eliminating the wrong answers.
- Spending Excess Time on One Question: Never spend more than 90 seconds on any particular question. If you are unable to grasp the need of the question, you better leave it and save time for the other questions.
- Misinterpreting the Question: It is very likely in XAT DM section to end up misinterpreting the question due to too many propositions for a given situation. Further, if a candidate misreads the question and skips certain important terms like critically analyze, not a conclusive decision, most appropriate, weakens the argument, etc., would end up marking the wrong answers.
- Rushing Through the Data Set: Candidates are advised not to rush through the data given in the questions. Read the given data carefully and then analyze the demand of the question before jumping to definite conclusions. Missing out on even a single word/ phrase can lead to incorrect decisions.
Decision Making Mock Test 2025
XAT Mock Test will be available by XLRI on the official website i.e. xatonline.in. The mock test is as per the updated paper pattern and will comprise 22 questions from DM, 28 questions from QADI, 26 questions from VALR, 25 from GK, and 1 essay. Registered candidates can access the mock by logging in on the website using their XAT id and password.
The benefits of taking Mock Test include:
- The mock tests will assist in getting a clear understanding of the difficulty level and type of questions, marking scheme, etc.
- Mock test will help in revision and in identifying the topics that need more study and practice.
- Taking the mock test will help in improving time management and online test-taking skills.
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XAT Decision Making 2025 FAQs
Ques. What is considered a good attempt in XAT Decision Making section?
Ans. While it varies every year depending on the difficulty of the paper and other sections, generally a good attempt in XAT Decision Making is 15-17 questions with 95% accuracy.
Ques. Is Decision Making tough in XAT?
Ans. XAT Decision Making questions are usually easy to moderate. XAT Decision Making questions do not require any theoretical or mathematical knowledge to solve. They are based on behavioral and managerial decision making which require critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The questions provide various outcomes or solutions to the given situation and you just have to pick the most appropriate option.
Ques. What are the tricks to solve XAT Decision Making questions?
Ans. Solving XAT DM questions involves choosing the best solution to a given problem or finding the best alternative to a situation. Given below are the tricks to solve XAT DM questions correctly:
- Every question has multiple stakeholders. Identify all of them and analyze the questions from each stakeholder’s point of interest. Options with one-sided viewpoints should be ignored.
- Options that benefit the majority should be chosen.
- Don’t choose options based on personal opinions or bias.
- Options that provide unethical or unrealistic solutions should be outrightly rejected.
Ques. Are XAT previous year question papers enough for XAT Decision Making preparation?
Ans. XAT previous year question papers are the best source to prepare for the decision making section as there are no specific topics to study. What matters in XAT DM preparation is practicing as many sample question papers, previous year papers, and mock tests. One should solve at least 2-3 Decision Making question papers every day.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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