So, what is the “LAW”? The learning Assessment Week is a unique St. Gallen MBA feature and a powerful tool for the students to critically assess their knowledge. Traditionally LAW is scheduled at the end of the core phase, middle of the programme, so that the students can be tested on their overall core discipline knowledge and their ability to apply this knowledge to real life business problems. The rules are following: the MBA candidate is given a case 24 hours before the presentation and has to prepare his/her solution to the case and get ready for a very demanding Q&A session afterwards. We heard a lot about LAW, and understood that it is a serious challenge, but we were still not worried, assuming that there is still enough time till February to prepare.
So, we were greatly surprised when we spotted “mini-LAW” in our timetable just a week ago. The MBA Team modified and built up a lighter version of LAW so we can get familiar with it. We were divided into several groups and were given slightly more time to prepare, which proved to be very wise, as the group work often consumes a lot of precious time. The remarkable thing about the task – is that the case is given from the recent business news and you are to assess (and sometimes even to argue!) the expert’s opinion on a certain issue. Core Block 1 was almost over and it became possible to combine all the knowledge we have to tackle the business case.
Our mini group got a case about recent fall of platinum price in the World’s markets. We spent long hours trying to gain better insight of the problem by taking into account recent economic tendencies and changes in the business and political environment. We had a lot of ideas and prognoses, and here we faced another challenge – all what we wanted to say and show (and believe me there was a lot) should was supposed to fit into a 10-12 minutes presentation! We did some rehearsals before the actual presentation, but presenting our solution to the actual LAW jury was indeed a challenge of a different order. We did our best, but stress and excitement had an effect and after the presentation, every team member felt that he or she could possibly have done better.
The Q&A session after the presentation deserves a separate consideration. The difficulty of questions rises with the each correct answer given (yes, exactly like in GMAT!). The session is designed to push us to the edge of our knowledge and to force us out of the comfort zone. Answering tough questions is also a skill, which could be trained and improved. And yes, that very skill is crucial for a successful interview with an employer.
What’s the idea behind LAW? Is it an academic knowledge check? Could be… Is it a test of one’s presentation skills? Of course, that is also the case. However, I believe the main idea is to train the mind to recognize certain patterns when analyzing real life business situations; to implement the appropriate management tools to unique business problems, to carry out analysis, draw out a conclusion and to succinctly formulate and deliver a solution to jury. We were surprised how challenging the latter part could be. Even the brightest idea, if not delivered properly to the auditory, might fade on the listeners’ ears. How one can improve pattern recognition and presentation skills? Training! This is the right answer to that question. And that is exactly why we are looking forward to having a mini-LAW 2 in mid-November now. Rumour has it the jury for that will be a tougher one!
Peer to peer group in the process of preparation for LAW. Photo by Berfu Güney
