Business Communication & Etiquette
1. How has communication transformed with
the use of technology? Share any 2
technological tools you use for efficient
communication and how they have helped
you contribute more effectively in your
organization.
2. Communications audit is a snapshot of
an organization’s communication
strategies, activities and programs.
Provide your opinion on the statement by
elaborating on its process and outcome.
3. You have been invited as the Joint
Secretary of the Parents Teachers
Association to celebrate Teachers Day at
your child’s school. Since you are a
counsellor, you also have to give the key
note address for the event. Your child
studies at a reputed school which has a
legacy of 25 years. Most of the teachers
are very senior with vast experience. The
school is modern in its outlook towards
extra-curricular activities but
conventional as well when it concerns
academics At the lunch, you would have
the chance to interact with the
management, trustees and teachers. You
wish to make a great first impression
that lasts and also seem confident while
addressing such an elite audience.
a. Apart from preparing the speech, you
believe your appearance will make or
break the deal. What will you keep in
mind while choosing your dress,
accessories and make up for the event?
b. While meeting and greeting all the
dignitaries, how will you conduct
yourself when you are introducing
yourself with an objective to build
rapport with them?
Business Economics
1. Calculate the following:
Quantity Total Fixed Cost Total Variable
Cost Total Cost Average Cost Marginal
Cost
25 10 18 ? ? ?
26 10 10 ? ? ?
27 10 21 ? ? ?
Analyse the changes in the calculated
costs as quantity produced increases.
2. Assume that a consumer consumes two
commodities X and Y and makes five
combinations for the two commodities:
Combination Units of X Units of Y
A 25 3
B 20 5
C 16 10
D 13 18
E 11 28
Calculate Marginal rate of Substitution
and explain the answer.
3. a) Suppose the monthly income of an
individual increases from Rs 20,000 to Rs
35,000 which increases his demand for
clothes from 40 units to 50 units.
Calculate the income elasticity of demand
and interpret the result.
b) Quantity demanded for tea has
increased from 300 to 450 units with an
increase in the price of the coffee
powder from Rs 25 to Rs 30. Calculate the
cross elasticity of demand between tea
and coffee and explain the relationship
between the goods.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Caselet:
Roughly 20 pieces of clothing per person
are manufactured each year. Growth of the
multi-trillion-dollar apparel industry
has been fed by “fast fashion,” which
makes clothing cheaply and quickly with a
low price-tag. Fast-changing trends and
low prices have allowed people to consume
more. The average consumer is now
purchasing 60 percent more items of
clothing compared to 2000 Cotton is the
most common natural fibre used to make
clothing, accounting for about 33 percent
of all fibres found in textiles. Cotton
is also a very thirsty crop, requiring
2,700 liters of water—what one person
drinks in two-and-a-half years—to make
one cotton shirt. In areas already facing
water stress, cotton production can be
particularly damaging. In Central Asia,
for instance, the Aral Sea has nearly
disappeared because cotton farmers draw
excessively from the Amu Darya and Syr
Darya rivers. Cotton farming is also
responsible for 24 percent of
insecticides and 11 percent of pesticides
despite using about 3 percent of the
world’s arable land.
The carbon footprint of a garment largely
depends on the material. While synthetic
fibres like polyester have less impact on
water and land than grown materials like
cotton, they emit more greenhouse gasses
per kilogram.* (Source, National
Geographic & WRI)
M/s Fine Fabrics Ltd, a listed company,
manufactures cotton fabric and its
multiple blended variants as per
customer/client demands.
Customers/clients include fashion houses,
designers and large clothing
manufacturers across Asia & Europe. You
are the Head of CSR with the company.
Q1. As Head of CSR you have been asked to
come up with a detailed plan to sensitize
your employees on water as a critical
resource and also initiate setting up of
an innovation driven cell/campaign for
saving water. Design and develop a
strategic plan/roadmap involving
sensitization of 100+ employees as well
as setting up of the Water innovation
cell/campaign with SMART goals/outcomes
for M/s Fine Fabrics Ltd. Please be very
specific and relevant to the company.
Q2. Your company is committed to protect,
respect and remedy Framework of UN
Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The Head of manufacturing at M/s Fine
fabrics Ltd wants to partner with the
supply chain in generating similar Human
Rights commitments across their
businesses, which are mostly midsized. He
wants your guidance on how to convince
these vendors to buy in into this
voluntarily. Develop a business case and
a broad plan that your Head Manufacturing
can use to convince the vendor businesses
to come on board and adopt UN Principles
for Businesses & Human Rights.
Q3A. Carbon Offset is one mechanism used
to reduce the carbon footprints of a
business. Suggest to your CEO at Fine
Fabrics Ltd two concrete ways in which
Fine Fabrics can reduce its carbon
footprints, develop a convincing business
benefit argument around each of the
suggestion.
Q3B. An NGO has approached the CEO of M/s
Fine Fabrics Ltd requesting funding for a
project on cotton fabric based
Traditional Crafts making workshop for
girls & women from weaker socio economic
background. Your company falls under the
criteria of 2% spend on CSR as per
Companies Act 2013. Your CEO thinks this
project can be funded but wants you to do
the due diligence of the NGO. Prepare a
questionnaire with at least 5/five
questions that you think your company
should ask and receive answers to before
agreeing to fund the project/ partner in
the project.
Information Systems for Managers
1. PantMax Retail, through its
subsidiaries, operates approximately 1000
departmental stores pan India. These
stores hold a variety of merchandise
including adult and children apparel,
cosmetics, accessories, home furnishing
etc. The management feels in order to
increase their sales, PantMax needs to
tailor its merchandise more to the local
tastes, colors, sizes, brands which
should be according to the sales pattern
in each of the PantMax stores. For
example, the stores in Mumbai might stock
clothing in smaller sizes and brighter
colors than those in Chennai, or the
stores in Delhi may stock more makeup
shades to attract trendier shoppers. How
will information systems help PantMax
implement this new strategy? Is this a
suitable choice for the management to
implement?
2. The goal of service companies is to
develop services that attract, keep
customers satisfied, loyal and speak well
of them. They use information and
communication technology to get closer to
the customer, create long-term
relationships, and gain more knowledge
from and about the customers to serve
them better. As a major element of
business strategy, firms are embracing
CRM, because technological applications
permit precise segmentation, profiling
and targeting of customers. To deal with
competitive pressures a customer-centric
culture is required. The airline industry
is no exception to this. Give an example
of how an airline company has
successfully implemented CRM to increase
their profits and keep customers happy.
3. In June 2017, a new cyber virus spread
from Ukraine to wreak havoc around the
globe, crippling thousands of computers.
FedEx Corp, package delivery company,
said its fiscal 2018 results would be
hurt due to disruption of operations
following a cyber-attack last month. It
is still experiencing widespread service
delays following the attack. It was
unable to estimate when services at the
unit would be fully restored. It
experienced loss of revenue due to
decreased volumes, incremental costs from
contingency plans and remediation of
affected systems. Share prices of FedEx
dropped after this incident.
a) What are the different forms of system
attacks? What steps should FedEx follow
to handle a virus attack of such
magnitude?
b) What is a Business Continuity Plan
(BCP)? Should cyber security be a part of
the BCP? What lessons should FedEx learn
from this incident?
Organisational Behaviour
Question 1: Leadership is said to be a
vital quality which is becoming very rare
in the organisations. It would not be
wrong if we say that it is a progression
where an individual solicits the backing
of other entities for the completion of
mutual objectives. The leaders are the
visionaries and also act as a catalyst in
terms of influencing and inspiring
others. Based on the above statements
discuss the significance of leadership in
any organisation. Conclude by answering
that how the organisation would fare if
leadership is not right?
Question 2: Politics is said to be an
inevitable evil at any workplace, no
matter how much one tries to be away from
it, would always find to be embroiled in
it. It is a proven fact that politics
cannot be avoided at any cost but has to
be coped. It becomes imperative to be
well aware of the elements contributing
to politics at workplace. Keeping in view
the above statements introduce the
concept of workplace politics. Also, list
factors contributing to workplace
politics. Give concluding remarks on the
importance of workplace politics.
Question 3: Sanjay and Sam are co-
workers. They both are working in the
same project but their work values are
quite contrast to each other. Sanjay
belongs to GenX (The X Generation) and
relies a lot on the team-work as well as
its (team’s) upliftment, whereas Sam is
from GenY (The Y Generation) or the
Millennial and for him self-reliance is
more important. Though they share a great
personal rapport but they always find
dissonance at work.
a) Explain the reason for their
dissonance? It is natural to have such
dissonance, give concluding remarks for
the same.
b) Introduce the value system of your
generation. Discuss the rest of the
generations and their values?
Business Law
1. ‘A’ orders a phone online as Cash on
Delivery mode, but denies to accept the
product at the time of delivery. In such
a situation, discuss the eligibility
points of becoming an Unpaid Seller?
Discuss the privilegon es of unpaid
seller when the property in goods is
transferred to the buyer.
2. A booked a flat in Sunpark Apartment
at Mumbai. ‘A’ is ready to shift with his
family in the flat which he has
purchased. However, B has the possession
of that flat where he specifies that he
has purchased this flat. To avoid the
dispute and conflicts, ‘A’ files an RTI
to seek proper information. Explain the
objective as well as structures involved
in Right to information.
3. A) ‘X’ contracts with ‘Y’ to purchase
30 chairs of a particular brand called
make and type. ‘Y’ delivers 15 chairs of
that quality and 15 chairs of some other
make and quality brand. In what way we
can advice ‘X’.
3. B) ‘P’ delivers to ‘Q’, a carrier,
some explosives without informing the
same to ‘Q’. no additional care is taken
by ‘Q’ for handling such goods. In the
absence of the disclosure, the explosives
explode and cause damage to the other
goods and also injure a person. Whether
‘P’ is liable?
Business Statistics
1. The sample data from a research survey
conducted in various countries on the
amount of time 3-5 year-old children
spent alone with their fathers each day
is as follows:
Country Time with Dad (minutes)
Bangladesh 30
Bhutan 46
China 54
Nepal 50
Pakistan 46
Nigeria 42
Korea 46
Russia 42
India 50
For the above sample, determine the
following measures:
a. The mean
b. The standard deviation
c. The mode
d. The 75th percentile
Based on your calculations comment on the
father-children relationship.
2. ‘Prince’ a chaiwala at Mumbai Central
station believes that the sales of tea at
his tea shop depends upon the weather. He
has taken a sample of a week’s data.
Below you are given the results of the
sample.
Cups Sold Temperature
350 50
200 60
210 70
100 80
80 90
70 100
50 110
a. Which variable is the dependent
variable?
b. Compute the least squares estimated
line.
c. Is there a significant relationship
between the sales of coffee and
temperature?
e. Predict sales of a 95 degree day.
3. According to one of the recent study
published in an International report, the
cost of medical malpractice in the United
States is USD 55.6 billion a year, which
is approximately 2.4 percent of US annual
health-care spending. An earlier research
report published in 2011, in the New
England Journal of Medicine revealed
that, during the period 1991 to 2005, 7.4
percent of all physicians licensed in the
US had a malpractice claim. These
staggering numbers not only contribute to
the high cost of health care, but the
size of successful malpractice claims
also contributes to high premiums for
medical malpractice insurance. The table
below contains a sample of data set of
claim payments made in a year’s time and
other information about the claimant.
Amount (in USD) Age Marital Status
Insurance type Gender
2 45 Single Private Male
5 34 Married Medicare Male
3.5 29 Married Private Female
160 46 Single Workers compensation Male
4 56 Married Private Female
155 45 Single Private Female
45 44 Married Medicare Male
3 56 Single No insurance Male
20 43 Single Private Male
a. Using descriptive statistics explore
claim payment amounts, and identify
factors that appear to influence the
amount of the payment.
b. Do a correlation analysis between
‘Amount’ and ‘Age’ and interpreted the
coefficient of correlation.
Essentials of HRM
Question 1: Ajay has not been performing
well in accounts department due to the
new system on GST has been implemented in
the organisation. He is lagging behind in
the concepts of GST as well as his
communication skills are not as expected.
The accounts head of the organisation
believes in the institution of training
and wants to send Ajay for the same.
Introduce the concept of training by
commenting on the above proclamations.
Also, discuss the factors influencing the
effectiveness of training. Conclude your
answer in a brief way by focusing on the
importance of training for any
organization.
Question 2: In reference to the above
case explain various kinds of On the Job
and Off the Job training methods that can
be provided to Mr. Ajay? Also, give
concluding remarks by choosing the best
method suited in the above scenario?
Question 3: Over the years Ajay attended
many trainings as well as development
programs and really honed his skills.
Evaluating his performance over the past
few years the department has really been
proud of his achievements and he has been
identified as key successor in his
department.
a) Write down the objectives of
succession planning which Ajay’s
organisation wants to achieve?
b) Though succession planning has many
positive aspects but there are some flip
sides to it, explain what could be the
demerits of it (succession planning).
Conclude by sharing few lines on the
failure of succession planning of any
organisation.
Financial Accounting & Analysis
1. Mr. Berrybell wants to assess the
ability of an enterprise named Anyway, so
as to confirm whether the enterprise is
capable to generate sufficient cash flows
or not. Anyway submits the following
information for the year ended 31
March2017.
Particulars (Rs. In lacs)
Shares issued during the year 5
Capital assets purchased 1.5
Proceed from sale of an asset 2
Dividend declared and paid 1
Increase in debtors 1.5
Loss on sale of asset 0.2
Net income before taxes 8.8
Depreciation & Amortisation 3.8
Discuss the relevance of preparing the
cash flow statement. Indicate and comment
on the following
• Cash from operation
• Cash from investing activities
• Cash from financing activities
• Closing balance
2. You are being appointed as the
accounts executive of Jayesh Motiwala &
Company. The principal business of the
company is dealing in pearl ornaments at
its retail outlet in Jaipur. The
management is unaware about the relevance
of accounting standard applicable while
accounting for the business. Your
responsibility is to convince them to
comply with the Accounting Standards, by
giving a brief presentation on the
objectives behind complying with the
accounting standard and the benefits to
the enterprise by following the same.
3. The following is the Balance Sheet of
Caterpillar Ltd as on 31st March 2017
Equity share capital 500000 Fixed assets
695800
Preference share capital 300000 Stock
135000
Reserves & Surplus 255000 Debtors 145000
Creditors 45500 Cash & Bank 150600
Outstanding liablilites 25900
1126400 1126400
Ascertain -
a) Current ratio and liquid ratio. What
if the industry average for the same is 2
and 1 respectively.
b) Capital gearing ratio and interpret
the same.
Marketing Management
Q1. Assume that you are going to start a
restaurant targeting young customers.
What will be the various elements of
Marketing Mix with respect to the
restaurant? Elucidate.
Q2. Suppose that you are planning to buy
a new mobile phone for yourself. What
factors are likely to influence your
buying behavior while buying a mobile
phone? Explain.
Q3. In recent past, teenagers girls in
India have become highly beauty
conscious. XYZ
Limited is planning to introduce a first
of its kind beauty cream ‘Soft & Sweet’
targeting teenager girl of affluent
class. The cream would be available in
different variants as per the skin type
such as neutral skin, oily skin, rough
skin etc. The product would be sold only
from the premium cosmetic stores and
through company website across the
country. Assume that you are responsible
for designing the marketing strategies
for ‘Soft & Sweet’.
a) Design a segmentation plan for ‘Soft &
Sweet’.
b) Design the appropriate market entry
strategies for ‘Soft & Sweet’.
Strategic Management
Q.1) You are the head of a strategic
business unit under ABC Business Group.
The Unit is engaged into manufacturing of
telecommunication handsets. You are
planning to change the strategy at
business level and you have chosen
‘product differentiation’ as your
strategy. You want the board of directors
to approve your decision for which you
will have to make a strong case for
choosing this strategy. Explain how you
will convince the board of directors.
Q.2) You are the strategy consultant to
fortune 500 companies and you are asked
to conduct a training session for
executives of a leading automobile
company which is planning to expand its
business in international market. This
company is based in India. Explain how
you will convince the trainees that the
global environment is highly complex.
Q.3) You are a CEO of a XYZ Pvt Ltd, a
leading FMCG company headquartered in
Germany. Your company is planning its
expansion in Asia and you are now
involved in rigorous analysis of
competition in FMCG sector in Asia. In
this background, answer the following
questions.
a) Use Michael Porter’s Framework for
analyzing competitors.
b) How would you analyze competitor’s
assumptions?
