India, Oct. 7 -- Close to three lakh candidates sit for the CAT each year, with a fairly narrow picture of what follows: a high percentile, a call from an IIM or a comparable school, and a degree that opens the domestic corporate ladder. That picture holds up. It also stops short of the market these candidates will graduate into.

The companies hiring management graduates today run supply chains across several countries, serve customers in currencies they do not print, and answer regulators in more than one jurisdiction. A consumer goods manager in Mumbai coordinates with a plant in Vietnam and a marketing team in Dubai. A banking analyst prices risk that shifts with decisions made in Washington and Frankfurt. Work has become global even ...