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The retail industry has come up with its own equivalent to CAT.

With malls mushrooming across the country, the retail sector is facing a shortage of trained professionals. And the B-schools are racing to meet the shortfall by tying up with retail majors. The Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) in Calcutta started the trend when it entered into a partnership with Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd to provide a two-year programme in retail management. Then it was the turn of NSHM Knowledge Campus, Calcutta, to collaborate with the Retailers Association of India (RAI). Soon all the other management institutes followed suit, drawing up industry-oriented courses in partnership with retail majors. Now the retail sector has taken the next proactive step —RAI conducted the first countrywide entrance examination for postgraduate programmes in retail management on January 27, 2008.

So what sparked off the idea of the Common Admission Retail Test (CART)? Gibson G. Vedamani, CEO, RAI, says, “Retail in India is undergoing a transformation. The phenomenal growth in the organised retail sector has increased the demand for quality manpower. The test will help us induct the best talents.” RAI, which has 46 companies — such as Aditya Birla Retail, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Levi Strauss (India) — as its founder-members, another 100 core members and 60 associate members, will provide internships and placements to students who complete the retail management programme from institutes affiliated with RAI. It is hoping this leverage will lead to more B-schools accepting the CART score.

This year the CART score will, however, be used only by 15 institutes to select students for their retail management course. “CART is based on the lines of the Common Admission Test (CAT). Just like with CAT, students will have to clear a group discussion and personal interview for admission. The CART will enable students to pick their line of work right at the start,” said Krishnendu Sarkar, head (learning systems), NSHM. Just like CAT, CART has sections on quantitative aptitude, logical reasoning and verbal ability. In addition to this, there is a section on business and consumer awareness.

Though RAI is associated with reputed institutes like IIM Indore, CART hasn’t been able to generate a positive response among institutes that do not have tie-ups with RAI. “We are not going to use CART scores for admission. We will be taking in students on the basis of the applicant’s Managerial Aptitude Test (MAT) or CAT score cards,” says Garik Das, head, retail management, IISWBM.

Almost all institutes seem to have similar views. “We are affiliated to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), so we won’t subscribe to CART. We give preference to candidates with national level entrance examination (as prescribed by AICTE) score card,” says professor Deepa Dixit of Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai, which offers a one-year diploma in retail management.

Sanath Dey, executive of examinations, National Institute of Personal Management, Calcutta, also ruled out the possibility of prescribing to CART. “We won’t give preference to CART scores over those of CAT or MAT,” he says. Poonam Gupta, PR officer of Indian Retail School, straightaway says, “Haven’t heard of CART. It’s a relatively new exam and it hasn’t been decided whether the scores will be used or not.”

CART, however, has got a warm welcome from students. “The overall response was great. We have received over 900 applications just from Calcutta and Durgapur,” says Rajib Chanda, director of NSHM. This proves that those who invest lakhs of rupees in a professional course want a job guarantee — which is what RAI is giving. “Anything new has to face some resistance,” Chanda says. “Students, however, seem to have made it clear that they want value for money.”

So, the verdict is out — CART to mart is the obvious choice of students.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)