Internal Assignment Applicable for APRIL 2018 Examination
Essentials of HRM
1. Poshak Ltd. is an apparel company where after Sid joined as an AVP-HR and understood that workforce was not happy with their job profile as they were finding it too routine and monotonous. It has also been noted that the work productivity was decreasing and the employee attrition was increasing. It was implicit that the organisation needed to go for job designing. Suggest all the approaches to Sid for job designing which would prove beneficial for Poshak Ltd.
2. MiniBurgs is a fast food outlet which is now expanding its operation throughout Mumbai. Since it was initially a small joint which kept on growing and now is becoming a chain therefore undergoing a lots of changes. MiniBurgs can only respond better to these changes when the employees are also willing to accept and adapt to the same. The HR team is emphasising that since the business is expanding the workforce must develop their KSA (Knowledge, skill and competencies) regularly for combating any kind of change in the external or internal environment. It was also discussed that there is a need for HRD in Miniburgs. Discuss that why Miniburgs has a need for HRD.
3. Yes bank did something different for its Induction program rather than going by the old conventional methods. The new employees in Yes Bank were greeted with its drum beating session which acted as a stress buster and then it was followed by other various fun activities aimed at experiential learning, instead of the old way of inducting employees which merely focused on PPTs as well speech on organisational culture, etiquettes and opportunities. The employees really appreciated this novel way of induction. As per this case answer the following questions:
a. Yes Bank could have directly asked the employees to report at work, but why induction was needed? Discuss it from organization’s perspective.
b. The employees seemed to have really like the induction, so why it is important from their (employees) perspective? Discuss
Corporate Social Responsibility
Caselet :
Biobeauty Ltd‘s idea of responsible business is to use only natural ingredients sourced from all over the country, it believes that this will help protect the planet and the people depending on it. It is especially recognised for not testing its products on animals, other brand values are support community, defend human rights and activate self esteem. Last year it donated Rs. 50 lac to support various human rights and women empowerment organization across India.
According to its annual report of 2015-16 it now needs to comply with section 135 of the Companies Act 2013 and spend 2 % of its net profit on CSR. Hence this year Biobeauty will have to spend Rs 10 crore on CSR as per the mandate.
Biobeauty is deeply entrenched in working with the community through its supply chain as it sources majority of its raw material through self help groups (SHG) run and managed by women from rural and tribal areas. It has partnered with multiple NGO’s to help organize these rural/tribal women set up SHG’s and co-operative societies for growing and trading in herbs / flowers/ fruits / berries etc for which it is the captive buyer.
Q1. As CSR Manager you have been asked to come up with three new initiatives/projects from those listed under schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013 that the company can spend its CSR budget on. Design and develop a business plan around these 3 areas that you have selected covering the objectives (impacts expected), goals (target set), target stakeholder, geographical area where it will be implemented, time frame. Please be very specific and relevant to the company and section 135 requirements.
Q2. The CEO at Biobeauty Ltd wants your opinion on whether to partner with an NGO or should Biobeauty work directly with the target stakeholders for the 3 new CSR initiatives /projects selected by you. Prepare a document of approx 1000 words for your CEO giving the advantages and disadvantages for Biobeauty in both the scenarios.
Q3A. Companies Act 2013 requires Biobeauty Ltd to disclose its CSR Policy on its website as well as Annual Report of the company. Based on what you know so far about Biobeauty, frame a relevant and suitable CSR Policy, what is the key purpose of the policy and what are the CSR focus areas of Biobeauty Ltd.
Q3B. As part of CSR Team you have been asked to write a report of approx 500 words, which will be published on the company’s website under “CSR at Biobeauty”, detailing the 3 new CSR initiatives/projects that Biobeauty has implemented in 2016-17. You must use the ones you shortlisted in Ans1.
Financial Accounting & Analysis
1. The following trial balance has been extracted from the books of XYZ Ltd as on 31st March 2017.
Particulars Debit (Rs.) Credit (Rs.)
Share Capital 1000000
Plant and Machinery 1600000
Sales 3540000
Purchases 1200000
Returns 20000 15000
Opening Stock 600000
Discount 7000 16000
Bank Charges 1500
Sundry Debtors 900000
Sundry Creditors 500000
Salaries 136000
9% Debentures 400000
Manufacturing Wages 200000
Carriage Inwards 15000
Carriage Outwards 24000
Debenture Interest 18000
Bad Debts Provision 10500
Rent, Rates and Taxes 200000
Advertisement 40000
Cash in hand 18000
Cash at bank 120000
10% Investment 300000
Goodwill 300000
Interest on Investment 30000
Factory Expenses 12000
General Reserve 100000
Last year profit 250000
Furniture 150000
5861500 5861500
The following additional information is available:
Depreciation on Furniture, Plant and Machinery to be provided at 10% per annum
Write off Rs. 10000 as bad debts and make a provision for doubtful debts at 5% on sundry debtors
Closing stock was Rs. 700000
a. Mention the formula to calculate gross profit and net profit
b. Prepare the profit and loss account for the year ended 31st march 2017 and Balance sheet as on that date.
c. Comment on the position of financial statements as on date prepared by you. (10 Marks)
2. A company acquired the following assets three years ago:
Asset Cost (Rs.) Scrap Value (Rs.) Useful Life (Years) Depreciation Policy
Equipment 5000000 500000 5 Straight Line Method
Building 8000000 1000000 30 Straight Line Method
After using the assets for three years, the company decided to change its Depreciation policy as follows:
The useful life of the equipment was revised upwards to 8 years, keeping its residual value at Rs. 500000.
The useful life of the building was revised upwards to 40 years, keeping its residual value at Rs. 1000000.
These changes have been implemented from the fourth year onwards.
a. You are required to analyze the impact of such changes in depreciation policy on the financial statements of firms, and write a detailed note on the same..
b. How do you think future profits of this company will be impacted because of these changes?
c. Are any disclosures regarding these required to be made? (10 Marks)
3. Both A Ltd. and B Ltd. operate wholesale electronic stores throughout India. The financial statements of each business for the year ended as on 31st March, 2017 are as follows:
Balance Sheet as on 31st march, 2017 (Rs. in millions)
A Ltd. B Ltd.
Assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment (Cost less depreciation)
Land and buildings 360.0 510.0
Furniture 87.0 91.2
Current assets
Inventories 592.0 403.0
Trade Receivables 176.4 321.9
Cash at Bank 84.6 91.6
Total assets 1,300.0 1,417.7
Equity and Liabilities
Share Capital of Rs.10 320.0 250.0
Retained Earnings 367.6 624.6
Non-current liabilities
Long term, borrowings 190.0 250.0
Current liabilities
Trade Payables 406.4 275.7
Provision for Taxation 16.0 17.4
Total equity and liabilities 1,300.0 1,417.7
Statement of Profit and Loss for the year ended as on 31st march, 2017 (Rs. in millions)
A Ltd. B Ltd.
Revenue 1,478.1 1,790.4
Cost of Sales (1,018.3) (1,214.9)
Gross Profit 459.8 575.5
Operating expenses (308.5) (408.6)
Operating profit 151.3 166.9
Interest (19.4) (27.5)
Profit before tax 131.9 139.4
Taxation (32.0) (34.8)
Profit for the year 99.9 104.6
All purchases and sales were made on credit. A Ltd. and B Ltd. have declared a dividend of Rs. 135 million and Rs. 95 million in respect of the year. The market prices of a share of A Ltd. and B Ltd. are Rs. 6.50 and Rs. 8.20 respectively.
a. Both the companies have approached a particular bank for seeking long term loans. Critically evaluate which of the two companies will get the loan at better terms and conditions. (5 Marks)
b. As a potential investor looking for good investment opportunities in this sector, which of the two companies do you find more attractive?
Financial Institutions and Markets
Q1. Ms. Vijaya, after completing her graduation, has recently joined a bank. With a steady income now and good growth prospects for her career, she intends to save regularly and increase the amount of savings gradually over the years. Her colleagues in the bank have advised her investing in Mutual Funds (MFs), as a suitable option for her. However, Ms. Vijaya is not at all familiar with MFs and has some queries such as:
a) What are mutual funds and why should she be investing through mutual fund?
b) What are the various types of mutual funds? Prepare a detailed answer for her queries.
Q2. Mr. Sudhindra Kumar, aged 60, has been an investor in stock market for the last 35 years. When he initially started investing in late 1980s, he used to take positions in the stock markets after studying the annual reports of the company. He used to scan financial newspaper everyday to spot a scrip for buying or selling. He used to generate better returns on his investments than his other colleagues who would solely rely on the trends in stock prices to choose the stock. However, by the end of late 1990s, Mr. Sudhindra realized that he is not able to spot as many investment opportunities through his existing methods. He observed that her junior colleague, Ms. Rama was generating better returns than him. Ms. Rama also shared with Mr. Sudhindra that she picks up stocks based on the recommendation of his stock-broker friend. His recommendations have been a hit as he is very well connected to many corporates, financial intermediaries and other brokers. He seems to get to know about the corporate and market developments ahead of the many investors. Mr. Sudhindra requested Ms. Rama to share such invest tips with him as well in future. Using these tips judiciously along with his old methods of investing, he continued to generate handsome returns on his investment. After various stock-market scams, in the early and mid 2000s, various regulations were brought in place by SEBI to curb manipulation of stock prices and bring more transparency of information, especially for the small investors. As a result, the flow of reliable and worthy investment tips through Ms. Rama dried up and once again. Today, Mr. Sudhindra finds that his older methods of investing are not as effective as they used to be in past, in identifying an investment-worthy stock. All the information related to any stock is almost instantaneously and simultaneously available to the whole market, with the help of technology. Hence, opportunities to beat the market in generating returns have become far lesser than in past. Based on the above information, what are your observations regarding the market efficiency of Indian market since 1980s? Put your commentary/conclusions with your rationale for the same.
Q.3 DEF Limited is an Indian company, engaged in export oriented trading of various manufactured items. The company buys products manufactured in India and sells its products primarily in US. The company pays to its vendors/sellers in Indian rupee and it receives payment in USD after 90 days of dispatching its products. Also, the company borrows money in Indian Rupee for working capital purposes. The cost of borrowing for the company is around 14%-15%. The company aims to reduce its borrowing cost and is exploring options for the same.
a) How can DEF limited manage/mitigate the forex risks?
b) What kind of Swaps instruments DEF Limited can use to manage the forex related risks and reduce borrowing costs?
Business Economics
1. Suppose the demand equation for computers by Teetan Ltd for the year 2017 is given by Qd= 1200-P and the supply equation is given by Qs= 120+3P. Find equilibrium price and analyse what would be the excess demand or supply if price changes to Rs 400 and Rs 120.
2. Assume that at the price of 75, the demand for the product is 250 units. If the price of the product increases to 90, the demand decreases to 150 units. Calculate and analyse the difference in the value of price elasticity using Arc Elasticity Method and Percentage Method.
3. Alpha Ltd was planning to start production next year. Different departments of the company were working together to forecast the demand of the product in the market.
a) If you are manager of the company mention the steps and the factors that would be relevant
for forecasting the demand of rice in the market.
b) The price of rice and its demand (in kg) produced by Alpha Ltd in 2018 is given in the table. Fit a linear regression line and estimate and analyse the demand for rice when price is Rs 50 per kg.
Price(Rs/kg) 17 20 24 28 32
Demand(Kg) 80 75 65 60 54
Business Communication and Etiquette
Q 1) Share your most memorable interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions in the recent past at your workplace. Which principles govern interpersonal communication?
Q 2) As a customer relationship executive, it is your responsibility to convey the refusal of loan request to your loyal customer via a letter. What steps will you take while drafting the reply to ensure the customer continues to trust your services?
Q 3) You are the lead flight attendant on your aircraft. Your prime responsibility is to guide your crew to provide the best hospitality to the passengers so they prefer travelling with your airlines.
a) During greeting the passengers on board, two things are most important eye contact and body language. What guidance will you provide to your crew on these important non-verbal behaviors?
b) If your team encounters an irate customer travelling alone with a baby who has been delayed by 7 hours owing to flight cancellation, how will you communicate so that the customer feels comfortable?
Business Law
1. Explain which type of contract does an Insurance falls under. Also, please explain the features of such contract along with rights of an Insurer and Insured vis-à-vis the type of contract entered.
2. Competition law is a specific law which was passed in 2002 and called as “The Competition Act”. It aims at promoting sustainable competition between the various market parties and protect the interests of customers. It also ensures that the freedom to carry out a trade by each party in the market is maintained. It avoids any player from carrying out any activities which have an “adverse appreciable effect on the competition”. Under this law, the Competition Commission of India has been established which is aimed at preventing those activities that have an adverse effect on competition in India. Please describe atleast 2 cases in which Competition Commission of India has prevented adverse effect on competition in India. (For each case please present an introduction, facts and the order passed in the case) (10 Marks)
3. Amar had gone to buy Crockery from a Mall. He impulsively selected the crockery from the display area and proceeded to the billing counter. The crockery was from the stock clearance sale and therefore there was no guarantee or warranty on the goods. He paid the amount and left the Mall. Upon exiting the mall he realized that the crockery selected by him suffered from some defects. He went back to the shop and asked to replace the goods, the shopkeeper refused stating that there was no guarantee or warranty and hence was not liable to replace or give any refund. Please advise Amar
a. Can Amar insist on his claim to replace the goods. Please give reasons for your answer and explain the underlying legal principle. (Please provide an introduction, to your answer along with reasoning and underlying principle)
b. Assuming, “if Amar had not selected the goods but had informed the shopkeeper about his requirement and based on such requirement Amar was provided with crockery”. Would such assumption have any affect to claim of Amar. (Please provide an introduction, to your answer along with reasoning)
Business Statistics
1. The following results were obtained from medical records about age (x) and systolic blood pressure (y) of a group of 10 women: The mean and variance of x are 53 and 121 respectively and mean and variance of y are 142 and 169 respectively. Σ(x-X)(y-Y)=1210. (X is the mean of x and Y is mean of y). Find the regression equation of systolic blood pressure on age of a women. Also estimate systolic blood pressure of a women whose age is 55.While solving this example, explain the relevant terms used in details. (10 Marks)
2. A sarcastic graduate student from Waterloo was testing the American media at the Salt Lake City Olympics about Canadian history and geography. Reporters were given a 10- item multiple-choice questionnaire to complete. Each question had four possible answers. Unfortunately, one reporter wanted to return to the bar for the rest of the morning, so he simply guessed on all of the questions and then handed in the questionnaire. What is the probability that he will score at least 6 out of 10 in this questionnaire? State clearly the assumptions you need to make to solve this question. Also, write a note on the relevant probability distribution you used to solve this example. (10 Marks)
3. In order to compare the batting performances in Test Cricket of Indian legends, in a meeting of administrators it was proposed that instead of using arithmetic mean of runs scored in all the innings played, Median score be used as an average to represent the performance. But one member, who happened to be a statistician, objected to the proposal saying that by doing so we are favouring the players like Sachin Tendulkar.
a) Give your opinion with appropriate justification. (5 Marks)
b) If it is further decided to compare the performance based on consistency in performance, which statistical measures would you recommend? Substantiate your answer with appropriate justification.
Management Theory and Practice
1. Jeff Weiner (CEO- LinkedIn) is known for his open and compassionate leadership style. He spends quite some time coaching his executives and encourages them to put the customer first and think like an owner. Explain with examples, what type of leader is Jeff Weiner and what kind of leadership style (with reference to leadership styles mentioned in your text book) does he practice?
2. ‘The New You’ manufactures garments and is currently engaged in jeans, shirts, trousers, swimwear for men and school uniforms for boys. They have product based organization structure in place. However, it is prohibiting the company to achieve its company-wide goals as each unit operates on its own. The organization intends sharing equipments and experts across products to achieve higher utilization rate. Design an organization structure for ‘The New You’ and list benefits of the proposed structure. (10 Marks)
3. Joe was heading the Human Resources Department at Lifelong Insurance Pvt. Ltd. Joe was an experienced HR professional with a track record of successfully managing Human Resources and reducing labor attrition. He recently happened to attend a session on employee motivation where various theories of motivation were discussed. He was highly impressed with the simplicity of the Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory and Herzberg’s motivation model. He decided to implement the same at the workplace for employees of Lifelong Insurance. He convinced the CEO of the company to incorporate the factors of recognition, advancement, growth for employees. The CEO supported Joe and various plans for employee recognition, advancement, etc were rolled out. The plans received a mixed response. Some found them as a cheap substitute to salary hikes while the back-office staff enjoyed the processes but failed to recognize its impact on work. The field executives said that their job was already challenging and commission on insurance sales acted as a motivator to them. After about a couple of months of implementing these programs, Joe was highly disappointed to notice that the programs did not have the impact as desired. Joe faced severe criticism from the top management of the company.
a. What according to you were the reasons of failure of the strategy adopted by Joe? Discuss with reference to Maslow and Herzberg’s theories. (5 Marks)
b. To what extent do you think is money a motivator?
Information Systems for Managers
Q.1) A leading global organization GEMS dealing in production field has spread its business all over the world and deal in production of automobile parts at a large scale. Due to market fluctuations and change in customers’ needs and preferences it has become difficult for the organization to manage their operations efficiently. As a result, the products were not delivered on time. There is a need of implementing a robust business process to reduce overhead and move ahead of the competitors. Hence, the organization decided to implement an ERP system for the same. Discuss any five benefits of implementing ERP system in the organization so that it can be benefitted and also the different phases of ERP implementation. (10 Marks)
Q.2) Pizza Express is a food chain which has just started its various restaurants all over India which offers various types of pizzas. In order to maintain high rate of consistency and defined standards, the company needs to have an excellent supply chain management. Discuss how maintaining a high standard of supply chain management in the Pizza Express organization will keep stronghold in the country. Also, explain the various steps of supply chain process which can be implemented by the organization. (10 Marks)
Q.3) ‘The Coffee’ a leading brand in the field of brand of Coffee sells various varieties of coffees. The company maintained its quality and standards by following and implementing different quality standards in the organization. But few months ago, the security of the organization went on stake due to virus attack by intruders.
3 a). You as Head of the Company will follow which steps for incident handling in the organization.
3.b) Explain the disaster recovery and business continuity planning mechanisms which will help the ‘ The Coffee’ organization to bring back its normal operation.
Organisational Behaviour
1. Sana and Reema joined a quick serve restaurant chain at the head office in the marketing department. Both of them were very happy with the compensation and designation offered to them. Since Sana and Reema joined in the same month so they bonded well together, during one of the conversation Sana got to know that Reema was getting paid 25% more than her. This revelation had caused a conflict between them as it had really saddened Sana which was observable by her hostile behaviour towards Reema. Sana never missed a chance to make Reema feel miserable. Sana Started comparing the fact that both of them had the same qualification and work experience and still she (Sana) was getting paid less than her peer. The situation had worsened so much that they both stopped communicating with each other. You are the HR manager who has observed all this and now you have to come up with techniques with the help of which this conflict can be resolved. Discuss any 4 (four) techniques of conflict resolution and management. Also, conclude the answer by discussing how organisations can avoid/minimise such conflicts. (10 Marks)
2. Karan and Sanjay work as Project Lead for two different teams. It has been noticed that Karan is very helpful and empathetic towards his team and supports them in every possible manner. The team in turn is very close knit and can really works hard to accomplish the objectives. They also give Karan full support whenever required by going out of their way. Whereas Sanjay just wants to get the work done by being a tight fisted man. He reprimands his team members in front of outsiders. He only instructs his team and is never in execution front. Sanjay's team is really petrified of him and always is under fear. Team's motivation is very low and everyone is searching for opportunity to move out of Sanjay's team. Compare the leadership style of Karan and Sanjay. Conclude by discussing that in a workplace which style of leadership is better suited. (10 Marks)
3. Rajat and Suresh have got their yearly targets and both of them are working hard to surpass each other as by the year end the one who achieves the maximum is going to be awarded in the sales conference with a cash prize of Rs. 50000 which would be given by the CEO of the company. They both are doing their best to win this contest for Rajat, the prime factor is money as he has recently got married and his expenses have increased. Whereas, Suresh comes from a very affluent family and for him getting recognized in front of PAN India team and by the CEO is the driving force. Here, we can see that both Rajat and Suresh had different motives.
a. Based on the above scenario discuss the different types of motives which regulate the behaviour of individuals. (5 Marks)
b. With the help of Maslow need hierarchy theory discuss why Rajat, Suresh and even every individual has different motive?
Marketing Management
1. Construct the 4P’s of Marketing Mix for Starbucks Coffee chain in India alongwith the 3 extended P’s for Services. ( 10 Marks)
2. You are the Chief Marketing Officer for Apple India. Conduct a macro external environmental analysis on 8 factors & suggest whether India is an attractive market for higher range of iphone devices such as iPhone 8, iPhone 8plus & iPhoneX? (10 Marks)
3. You are an Italian shoe making firm by the name of “Scarpa” & your target audience is primarily middle class in Europe. You wish to enter the Indian market looking at India’s vast middle class segment which is your intended target market.
a. Which one of the following pricing strategies would you wish to pursue in India? Explain the reasons behind choosing this pricing strategy (5 Marks)
Full Cost pricing
Psychological pricing
Premium pricing
b. Given that Scarpa is a new entrant into India, describe atleast 6 innovative sales promotions campaign aimed at Indian consumers (5 Marks)
Manpower Planning, Recruitment and Selection
1. Gone are the days when State and National Employment Exchanges, newspapers like ‘The Employment News’, the ‘Classified ‘columns in the newspapers were largely used as the sources of recruitment. Though they still largely dominate recruitments for certain type of jobs and industries; there has been a global shift towards recruitment using social media. Presence on sites like LinkedIn, being a part of various trade specific groups on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms is on a rise exponentially. What according to you is the role of Social Media in recruitment? (Focus on points of reach, costs, time frame, etc.) (10 Marks)
2. Differentiate between Career and Succession Planning. Discuss the state of succession planning in Indian companies with special reference to Infosys (since 2002- Mr. Murthy stepped down to 2017- Vishal Sikka’s exit) (10 Marks)
3. ‘Fly Bird’ manufactures and sells denims for men, women and kids. It is more than a century old company and has 500+ exclusive stores in the country. It has been observed for the past six months that for the stores located in Mumbai, the productivity levels of the front-line staff have gone down which has slashed the profit figures. Further probing into the matter revealed that there has been a new training manager for the Mumbai region. There have been a lot of new recruits due to rapid expansion, who haven’t undergone any training, the existing staff is overworked, and the store managers are struggling between responsibilities of contributing to opening of new stores, supervising existing staff and giving OJT for new recruits.
a. According to you how could training contribute to solving of the issue mentioned above?
b. If you were the training manager, what kind of trainings would you plan for the new recruits? Make reference to Organizational, Task and Person Analysis while giving solutions.
Strategic Financial Management
1. A company is evaluating a proposal to replace a machine costing Rs. 800000 and having a written down value of Rs. 400000. The machine has a remaining economic life of 5 years after which it will have no salvage value. However, if sold today, it will fetch an amount equal to its book value. The new machine is expected to cost Rs. 1400000. It is also expected to have a life of 5 years with a scrap value of Rs. 400000. Owing to its technological superiority, the new machine is expected to contribute additional annual benefit (before depreciation and tax) of Rs. 400000. The company’s opportunity cost of capital is 10%. The tax rate applicable to the firm is 30%. The company follows Straight Line Method of Depreciation for its machines. Should the company replace the old machine with the new one? (10 Marks)
2. The country’s leading oil company is planning to set up a Greenfield project to carry out exploration work in a recently identified prospective site. Keeping the high risks associated with this project in mind, funding the project is turning out to be tricky issue for the company. You, being a subject specialist, have been approached by the company to assist it in project funding. Identify the possible sources of fund for this Greenfield project. Also, guide the company through the various stages involved in the project financing. (10 Marks)
3. A) A company is considering an investment of Rs. 500 million in a project. Expected earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) are Rs. 150 million per year. The operational risks associated with the project are fairly low, and EBIT is expected to remain steady during the project tenure. The company can raise equity, 14% preference shares, 10% debentures, or any combination thereof. Face value of equity shares is Rs. 100. Tax rate is 30%. The company is exploring the following four financing options:
Issue equity capital at par value
Raise 50% by equity share capital and 50% by preference capital
Raise 50% by equity share capital, 25% by preference capital, and 25% by debenture
Raise 25% by equity share capital, 25% by preference capital, and 50% by debenture
Identify the best financing option for the company.
3. B) Which of the above four options will be the best, if the expected EBIT is only Rs. 60 million per year, everything else remaining the same?
Consumer Behavior
Q1. What do you understand by consumer involvement. How would you classify the following purchase decision in terms of high or low involvement decisions? Explain the reason for your classification in each case.
Gel Pen
An Birthday Greeting Card to wife
Restaurant selection
Car
Selection of school for your child
Stationery for everyday use.
Q2. A well-known International fitness company is planning to set up a nationwide fitness centers in India. Describe how this international company can use psychographics to plan its segmentation and promotion strategy. Using VALS II typology, suggest which segments should the company target and why?
Q3 What type of information search behaviour would you expect in the first time purchase of the following products and why?
a Ice Cream
Skin whitening Cream
Lap top
A study table
3b. What are the implications of the above information search behavior for marketers of these products? Explain.
Corporate Finance
1: Calculate the degree of operating leverage and degree of financial leverage for the following firms:
Firms
A
B
Sales (Rs.)
Variable cost p.u
Fixed cost (Rs.)
Output (units)
Interest
3,60,000
20
72,000
6,000
40,000
7,50,000
150
1,40,000
1,500
80,000
Q2. A Project costs Rs 60,000 and is expected to generate cash inflows as:
Year
Cash inflows(Rs)
1
10000
2
12000
3
15000
4
18000
5
20000
6
22000
Calculate the Net Present Value of the project if the cost of capital is 10%.
Q3. Solve the following:
a) A company earns 5 per share. The cost of capital is 10%, the rate of return on investment is 14% and the dividend payout ratio is 25%. Calculate the value of each share by using Walter’s Model.
b) XYZ Limited has a paid-up share capital of Rs. 10 lakhs of Rs. 10 each. The company has a dividend payout rate of 10%. Annual growth rate is expected to be 4%. The capitalisation rate is 20%. Calculate the value of the share of XYZ based on Gordon’s Model.
International Business
Q1. A Mumbai based manufacturer of textile products is negotiating an export contract with a new prospective customer based in Mexico. He is concerned that international trade presents a spectrum of risk, involving differences in regulatory and legal environment, cultural differences, etc. More specifically, he is unsure of how he would receive the payment and the associated risks involved. As a specialist in the subject, you are required to guide him and help him resolve his dilemma regarding choice of payment instrument.
Q2. A newly appointed General Manager of a domestically strong FMCG company feels that the next big growth thrust can only come from venturing into new international markets. Despite a strong domestic presence, the company is yet to foray into international markets. The CEO of the company, however, is not too convinced about the benefits of such a move, and is not too clear about the ways to enter an international market. Discuss and conclude whether entering international markets will be helpful? If yes, discuss the different ways for the company to enter international markets.
Q3A) A globally renowned MNC, headquartered in the US and specializing in Children’s toys, has recently forayed into India. However, it has very soon realized that its marketing campaigns and product lines, which have been so successful in other parts of the world, are not working in India. Sales have stagnated and the company is finding it difficult to establish a significant presence in India. It has recently appointed you as General Manager to look into these issues and take the company forward. Could cultural intricacies in the Indian market be a reason behind this?
B) Suggest ways through which the company can turn around its fortunes in the Indian market.
Organisational Theory and Design
Q1. Areva is a big invertor and transformer manufacturer with more than 1200 employees .The Company is facing a big challenge of organizational effectiveness mainly due to fast changing market. The company appointed you as a consultant to overcome these challenges, the company is ready to do modifications without losing its existing employees. Provide an appropriate solution to the company.
Q2. Ms Nandita an MBA graduate from Stanford University joins her father’s company after coming back to India. It is a small organization which depends on Ms Mohan Kapoor’s (Nandita’s Father and Owner) and his team having three very senior people who joined the organization since inception. Now Nandita is having big expansion plan for the company but what she is missing in executing her expansion plan is culture. Explain why culture is very important, and what are the factors required for the formation of organizational culture.
Q3. Mr. Nandan, a Sr. Manager in an IT company at Bangalore, is very clear that he wants only males, that too from Bangalore and nearby places, in his team. He said that we generally have to work late nights; hence managing female staff for late night work is difficult and people from Bangalore have better communication skills. But slowly he observed that his team is losing creativity, motivation and design thinking. Same gender in the same vicinity has a very limited scope of thinking out of the box. You are also a Sr. Manager in the same company with a diverse team having more fun and doing great on employee engagement and the team is performing extraordinarily. Your Boss wants you to convince Mr Nandan to go in for a diverse team.
Answer the following:
a) Identify various barriers in creating diverse workforce. ?
b) Give points how you will convince Mr Nandan in favour of Diversity
Taxation - Direct and Indirect
Q1. Dr Kabra is planning to visit Singapore to attend a round table conference on Neurological diseases. The conference is for 25 days. He wants to plan his tour in such a manner that his residential status for the relevant previous year remains unaffected. Discuss the charging section which governs the residential status of an Individual? Further, what conditions he has to satisfy in order to remain as Ordinary resident of India for the applicable assessment year.
Q2. From Income Tax Preview, what factors every Company needs to consider while disbursement of Salary to its Employees? In case of general CTC structure, on which types of allowances management needs to consider tax imposition? Explain the same in light of provisions applicable to the allowances which are fully taxable. What if, an Individual receives salary from more than one employer during the same previous year, how the same will be assessed at the year end? Provide sufficient reasoning for your answer.
Q3a) Apart from Normal Salary, House Rent, Income from Business / Profession and capital gain, what could be other differential sources of Income for an Individual from Income Tax Act point. of view. Conclude the same with relevant examples.
b) Mr. Pratik – a Corporate Employee lives in New Delhi and earns a basic salary of Rs. 30,000 per month. The HRA component of his salary is Rs. 15,000 but the actual rent paid by him is Rs. 10,000. How much exemption can he get? What steps Company Management will undertake for calculation of this HRA exemption amount?
Performance Management System
1. Define mentoring and discuss the mentoring programmes of at least two companies with benefits accrued. (10 Marks)
2. ‘24x7’is a hypermarket chain introduced in the city. It has launched four stores and has been in operation for almost a year now. The HR manager intends setting up a reward system for the employees. Chalk out a detailed plan of action for the same. (10 Marks)
3. DKMG is a CA firm having 15 branches in different parts of the country. In the home office there are more than 45 employees. This company has a performance rating under which the employees are rated quarterly by a committee of executives. Linear rating scales are used for conducting the appraisal. The qualities considered are responsibility, initiative, interest in work, leadership potential, co-operative attitude and community service. After the performance is evaluated, the ratings are discussed with the concerned employees by their immediate boss who counsels them. The ratings are used to influence promotions and salary adjustments of the employees. Recently few employees of the company called on the firm’s owner to express their dissatisfaction with the ratings they had received. Because their ratings were comparatively low, they had been denied annual increments in salary. Approximately, two thirds of all the employees received such increments. The aggrieved employees argued that their ratings did not accurately represent their qualifications or performance. They insisted that “community service” was not actually a part of their job and that what they do off the job is none of the company’s business. The employees threatened to stop work. The threat caused concern to the management. This particular experience convinced the management that ratings may represent a serious hazard to satisfactory relationship with employees. Even the owner finds that performance appraisal is a dangerous source of friction and its hazards outweigh its values; so it should be discontinued altogether.
Questions:
a. How far do you agree with the management that performance appraisal should be discontinued? (5 Marks)
b. If you were the HR manager, how would you tackle the situation?
Services Marketing
1. BodyPluz is planning to introduce a new service of gyms focusing on the kids segment. It is planning to launch its first ever gym in Mumbai. Based on this scenario, prepare a Service Marketing Mix Plan for BodyPluz (10 Marks)
2. Consider the following scenario: Mr. Rajesh is planning to introduce a travel company. He wants an appropriate Segmentation Plan to be designed for the same. As a Service Consultant, suggest Mr. Rajesh for an appropriate Segmentation Plan. (10 Marks)
3. Read the following Case & solve the questions given:
The passengers were through with their final security check and were boarding the aircraft. The Lotus Airlines personnel were awaiting the arrival of a V.I.P. to clear the take off. Finally the V.I.P. arrived half an hour late and went directly for the security check. During the check the security personnel came across weapon with live cartilages. He was requested not to carry the weapon on flight. However the V.I.P. refused to part with the weapon for personal security. When he was asked for license, he said he was not carrying it. The security personnel refused to give permission to the V.I.P. to board the aircraft. This led to heated argument and in rage the V.I.P. threw one of the security staff across the floor. This further delayed the flight. The passengers were very restless since they were in the aircraft last 1 ½ hours. To top it up they were not allowed to leave the aircraft for security purpose.
Questions:
a. In this case, where do the service gaps exist and how would you close the gaps? (5 Marks)
b. Elaborate the importance of ‘People’ in airline service. (5 Marks)
International Marketing
Q1. Yoghurt Lab, a US Based Frozen Yoghurt chain, is planning its foray in India in 2018. It is confused about how to enter India since it would be an absolutely new market for them. Can you guide them with the options available and suggest the best alternative to them? (10 Marks)
Q2.Chikamanglu, the owner of multiple banana and coconut plantations down south in Kerala plans to export these high quality products. But he is unaware about the entire export process and is seeking your support as a consultant. Can you please guide him about the process and documents required for the same? (10 Marks)
Q3. Read the below given Case Study and answer the questions below?
Dunkin Donuts brand is owned by Dunkin Brands Group which is a well known pioneering brand of quick service restaurants. It has more than 18000 points of distribution in the world with presence in more than 60 countries (Dunkin Donuts, 2014). The company is headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts. The company reported a sale of $9.3 billion in the year 2013. The company operates on a 100 percent franchised model and there are nearly 11000 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in 33 countries (Dunkin Donuts, 2014). The company has an established leadership in coffee segment for more than 60 years and sells more than 1.8 billion cups of coffee all over the world. The brand has a high level of customer loyalty and is a socially responsible brand. India is an attractive expanding economy for global fast food chains such as Dunkin Donuts and offers the company with a large customer base.
Dunkin Donuts was launched in India in the year 2012 on the basis of the classic donuts model to serve breakfast to customers 7 am onwards. The brand quickly realized that Indians do not like doughnuts and are unlikely to buy doughnuts in bulk (Rana, 2014). The concept of doughnuts is new in India and Indians are more likely to consume burgers or pizza than doughnuts in the current fast food market scenario. The brand had to quickly customize its menu in India to include burgers like competitor McDonald’s and had to advertise in its marketing campaign that the brand offered much more than Bavarian Cream and coffee in its menu. This article shall highlight the issues faced by Dunkin Donuts brand in India and its offerings for the Indian customers and how the brand was repositioned to suit the Indian customers.
Dunkin Donuts began offering American Doughnuts for breakfast in India with its stores opening at 8 am with the aim of offering breakfast to Indians. The brand offered doughnuts that were priced high in accordance with the American culture of having a light breakfast.
How Dunkin Donuts failed to understand consumer preferences?
The company was treated no more than a pastry shop initially on its launch in India in the year 2012 where people would visit to consume Doughnuts as a dessert. The company was initially launched as an AM brand that offered breakfast menu to customers. Dunkin Donuts had initially failed to understand the consumer preferences in India for a fast food restaurant that offered full meals rather than light doughnuts for a breakfast. After looking at poor response from customers with respect to doughnuts, the company decided to rebrand itself as a PM brand that offered much more than doughnuts and coffee.
Dunkin’ Donuts less than impressive performance so far
Dunkin Donuts has been successful in adapting its donought menu to suit Indian preferences by offering India centric doughnuts in its menu that are a hit among the Indian customers. Since its launch in the year 2012, Dunkin Donuts has been successful in expanding its reach to 38 locations in India (Spiegel, 2014). The restaurant faced rejection initially as a breakfast menu restaurant that offered only American doughnuts at 7 am. The company failed in India due to its inability to understand the Indian culture and the concept of healthy and complete breakfast in India with family members. The restaurant has now customized its food menu to offer burgers and cheese sandwiches that are popular among the Indian consumers. In view of successful fast food chains such as McDonald’s and KFC well established in India, Dunkin Doughnuts has also expanded its menu to lure Indian customers. However, it remains a challenge for the company to expand its operations and menu items to increase its market share in the Indian fast food industry.
a. What has Dunkin Donuts done wrong in India? (5 Marks)
b. What steps should the company take in order to recover? (5 Marks)
Integrated Marketing Communications
1) You are about to launch a product (you can select a product of your choice) in India. Using the customer-controlled market concept how will you ensure the success of that product? (10 Marks)
2) You have been assigned a role to market a deodorant by a well known company. How will you use and improve your personal selling skills to increase the market share of this brand? (10 Marks)
3) Case Study
Its not Tesla that scares Europe in electric-car race.
Electric car production in the European Union got a spur on Wednesday as EU regulators acted to close a technological gap with China by seeking stricter emission curbs on manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The European commission, the EU’s regulatory arm, proposed a 30 percent reduction in car discharges of carbon dioxide by 2030 compared with 2021 levels, as part of a steeped-up ight against global warming. The plan which will progressive tighten existing CO2 limits, features incentives or automakers to shift to electric vehicles.
There’s a component of trying to facilitate the development of a powerful car-manufacturing industry of electric vehicles. Miguel Arias Canete, EU climate and energy commissioner, said in an interview in his Brussels office.
There will be a race for developing lean-energy vehicles. We are seeing that the others are taking a global lead. Europe is gearing up for a technological revolution in road transport that would push the traditional internal combustion engine from showrooms into museums in a bid to retain leadership in the worldwide market of passenger cars.
The combustion is taking advantage of the landmark climate-protection agreement reached by almost 200 countries in Paris in late 2015 to get a grip on the European road-transportation pollution, which has bucked a general trend of falling EU discharges of greenhouse gases including CO2 that are blamed for climate change. Under the Paris accord, the EU aims to slash such pollution at least 40 percent by 2030.
As China expands its electric-vehicle prowess with the blunt policy of quotas, Europe is counting on a more nuanced approach that would force carmakers to choose between making the combustion engine cleaner or abandoning it in favour of electric vehicles.
The production of Tesla cars in 2016 was around 80,000 cars, Canate said. The big problem is China which has mandatory target of 10 percent in 2019, 12 percent in 2020 and 7.5 million vehicles per year in the future. The Chinese market already boasts 400 types of electric vehicles, whereas Europe has six, according to Canate. India meanwhile aims for all new passenger cars sold by 2030 to be electric. There is a huge gap between European Union, which invented the car, and developing countries, Canete said.
a. If India develops the Electric car and by 2030 all cars sold will be electric which media do you think is suitable to advertise from the Integrated marketing communication perspective? How would you plan to launch the car? (5 Marks)
b. What do you think the future of this industry will be? How can one leverage and grow the market share of electric vehicles? (5 Marks)
Business Ethics: Governance & Risk
1. Fashion Styles Ltd is a garment manufacturing and exporting company based out of Mumbai, India. They are suppliers to an International Brand in Europe. As Head of Supply Chain, Anup is responsible for selection and appointment of third party manufacturer in some of the product category. With recent media explosion about use of migrant worker in garment supply chain he wants to sit with his Human Resources Head, Amrita to review all the relevant compliances, voluntary code / standards they adhere to before appointing new supplier for the next financial year. Anup has given you the responsibility to prepare a document consisting of all the relevant points/topics that he needs to review and discuss with Amrita. So what all topics / points should be included and what should he discuss about each of those topics/points? (10 Marks)
2. Do you think pollution is customer responsibility as well? Why do you think so? Who are the other stakeholders around this issue and how are they contributing to the escalating problem? Analyse atleast three ethical dilemmas faced by companies while trying to reduce their pollution levels. (10 Marks)
3. A.) Andrew, a customer executive from Southeast Asia will visit your HQ facility and meet with your executive team. Your independent Southeast Asian agent requests that you reimburse the customer executive for his expenses, including expenses that could violate your company's policies. The agent will reimburse you. How do you proceed? Explain the thought process behind your decision. (5 Marks)
B.) Our company prides itself on hiring minorities. One African candidate fully fits the job requirements for the open position. However, we are concerned that our customers will not understand his limited command of the English language. What should be done in these circumstances? As the person to whom he will report what steps will you take and why? (5 Marks)
B2B Marketing
Q.1 Crompton Greaves Ltd is the leader in Indian Domestic market for electric motors, which conform to Indian & International Standards. The company faces a severe competition from small scale motor manufacturer as well as large global players like Siemens & ABB. What suggestions you would like to give to the company to maintain its leadership position in this product category?
Q.2 Sam Chem Corporation is into the business of House Keeping products & equipments. Develop an effective communication programme for the company.
Q.3 Read the following Case & solve the questions given:
Mahindra Parikh, Senior Manager-Commercial, India Textiles Ltd., felt doubtful on bringing down the delivery time from 60 days to 45 days, demanded by some international buyers of garments. The company's manufacturing unit at Bangalore produced garments like shirts, trousers, for domestic as well as international customers, including Walmart, i.e. Penny, and Gap. The production process included various operations like dyeing of yarn, weaving, and processing.
The production was organized on three shift basis. The company had outsourced some of the operations like processing because it did not have facility to do the processing, although it had adequate space.
Mahindra asked the market research manager to get the information about the competitor’s delivery time for the garments. The market research manager informed him that only four out of about 100 garment (or apparel) manufacturing units were in a position to fulfill the important purchasing objectives of 45 days delivery time and consistent product quality. Mahindra applied a lot of pressure on the existing processing firms to bring down the delivery time. However, he did not receive any positive commitments from them. Mahindra felt that it was very important to satisfy the delivery and quality objectives of the garment buying firms, in order to achieve the company's sales and profitability goals.
Questions:
a. If you were Mahindra Parikh, what would you do? (5 Marks)
b. ‘The company had outsourced some of the operations like processing because it did not have facility to do the processing, although it had adequate space’. Do you agree with this decision? Justify ( 5 Marks)
Capital Market and Portfolio Management
Q.1 Mr. Mahendra Kumar would like to invest in mutual funds. He has been suggested by his friend to choose a fund from any of the three mutual funds, as given in the table below. Mr. Mahendra learns that he can use Sharpe’s ratio, Treynor’s ratio and Jensen’s Alpha to measure the performance of a mutual fund. Help Mr. Mahendra to rank the three funds on each of the measures.
Fund A Fund B Fund C
Portfolio Return 12% 15% 18%
Standard Deviation 0.15 0.25 0.4
Beta of the portfolio 0.6 0.8 1.4
Return from the market 12%
Risk free rate of return 6%
Q.2 Mr. Virendra Kumar invests Rs. 10,000 in a stock that gives him dividend of Rs. 100, Rs. 200 and Rs. 300 at the end of the first, second and third year respectively. He sells his holdings at Rs. 13,500 at the end of the third year. How much returns did he earn, as per Money weighted rate of return method? Further, instructions- students can directly calculate the IRR either using in-built formula in MS Excel or create calculations of Present Values (PVs) in MS Excel. Find sum of PVs and set the sum to zero by changing the value of the discounting rate. (you may use Goal Seek function of MS Excel to accurately calculate the IRR). The rate at which the sum is zero is IRR. (10 Marks)
Q.3 Mr. Dhirendra Kumar is a 24 years old professional, working as a programmer for the largest software company in India. He has earned his bachelor degree of engineering in Computer Science from IIT Mumbai and has been working for the company for last three years. He belongs to Pathankot and his parents live there. For last three years, he has been staying in Bengaluru along with his other colleagues in a rented accommodation. He plans to get married not before the age of 28 and would like to have his own house before he gets married. His father is working currently at Pathankot and is due to retire in another ten years. He plans to convince to his parents to shift to Bengaluru from Pathankot to stay with him post his father’s retirement. Mr. Dhirendra is the star performer of his company. He currently enjoys a package of Rs. 18 lakhs per annum. After accounting for his expenditure, he has been able to save close to Rs. 30 lakhs over the last three years. Till date he has been putting his savings in either Fixed deposits (FDs) of his bank or some of the tax savings instruments such as Public Provident Fund etc. However, now he would like to see his investments grow much faster so that he can meet his marriage related expenditure four years later and also make the down payment for his new house before marriage. He has been getting various investment advices from different people telling him where to put his money. His parents are advising him to buy some gold every year and put rest of the money in FD. His boss tells him to buy the house right away, even though it could be smaller than he would need later. According to his boss, value of his small house would appreciate in four years and that the sale proceeds would partially fund the new purchase. Some of his friends have told him that investing in high safety corporate bonds will give him better returns than putting money in PPF. Amongst all this, he is getting the constant feed through newspapers of Sensex and Nifty scaling new heights every other day and a few one-off stories of rags to riches. Mr. Dhirendra is thoroughly confused between the choices and he now approaches a professional (you) to advice him on the right investment strategy. Some questions that you need to answer for Mr. Dhirendra:
a) Where should he put his money, in gold, in FD, in PPF, in real estate, in corporate bonds or in stocks? Or do you have some other strategy in mind? Provide your answer with the rationale.
b) Should he invest in any of these assets directly or should he choose the mutual fund route or create a portfolio of mutual funds? How will choosing the mutual fund route (single mutual fund or a portfolio of mutual funds) will prove beneficial to Mr. Dhirendra? Explain your recommendation with reasons for the same.
Industrial Relations & Labour Laws
1. The working hours of each of the manufacturing unit differ depending upon the availability of resources in that particular area. The management decides on the working hours, the facilities provided to the employees, the wages etc. However, at no point of the decision making is the suggestion of the workers taken. Infact, any grievances by the employees on the decision given by the management is also not appreciated. The trade union met the management and informed them that if such a behavior continued the employees would go a strike. The management replied saying that it would be physically difficult to travel to all the units before implementing a decision and an economical loss to the company also. Analyze the case and find a suitable suggestion (10 Marks)
2. Nitin had been working in an industry for the past 10 years. He has been efficient in his work and also been appreciated by his seniors and employers. In the month of November 2017, he was given a promotion. Next month he was transferred to a new unit in a rural area. Nitin refused the transfer stating that he would be getting married within 2 months. The management felt offended and removed his promotion. When Nitin questioned the decision, the management did not give a satisfactory answer, he approached the trade union. The other workers also sympathized with Nitin and joined his dispute. The management told the trade union that if it raises this dispute it shall deduct the wages of the employees. This created a strain in the relation between the employers and the employees. Analyze the case and suggest the various ways in which the dispute can be settled (10 Marks)
3. Yash was working in a factory. While working a part of machinery fell on his head. He was rushed to the hospital, but was declared dead. The employer said that it was the neglect of the employee, and refused to pay any compensation to the dependents of Yash. One of the employees in the factory informed the Commissioner about the accident
a. Advise the dependents on the compensation payable to the employee under the Employees Compensation act. (5 Marks)
b. Advise the dependents on the procedure followed by the Commissioner in case of fatal accidents.
Internal Assignment Applicable for December 2017 Examination
Global Retailing
1. As a Retail Marketing Consultant to Danone Dairy Corporation, you are expected to prepare a report explaining all major issues that a firm planning to enter any overseas market needs to consider.
2. Mr. Shah of Digiworks, USA is looking to develop and operate a local Online Food – ordering App, like foodpanda.com and swiggy.com to work upon ?
3. E-Commerce portals like Amazon.in are now offering Grocery Shopping as a Category too, which increases their operations, but also expands their consumer base.
a. How will information technology benefit the consumers but also be risky for them?
b. What are the advantages of information technology that Amazon.in can use to improve its operations?
Course: Strategic HRM
Q 1. A reputed car manufacturer in India in its recent past had faced a Labor Unrest. Of the many issues that the workers demanded included the renegotiation of the 3-year wage settlement, withdrawal of the new automated sorter and stacker for the warehouse, regularizing the employment of 1500 contract and casual labor employed in the factory and reinstatement of the 23 workers who were fired recently on various grounds of misconduct. Given the details in the preceding paragraph, discuss the strategic issues related with the case and detail the various approach that the management can take to ensure smooth daily business. (10 Marks)
Q 2. “Retails” a giant Brick and Mortar retail company is currently experiencing a major challenge at the market place from a giant multinational e-commerce company. The Top Management leadership, as part of its Business level strategy to increase revenue and footfall has taken a cost optimization approach. You are the Head of HR, discuss your options and plans for arriving at a Business Level Strategy and its implementation. (10 Marks)
Q 3. Trail Logistics is a growing SCM company. The Business is such that not just the movement of goods, but the customer experience is of paramount importance. a. As part of the employee motivation career development initiative was to be leveraged to infuse motivation. Discuss the approach. (5 Marks)
b. Discuss the strategic issues of Success Planning (5 Marks)
World Class Operations
Q.1. Explain in brief what are various the types of benchmarking. Discuss the concept of benchmarking with reference to a benchmark product/s or company in the automobile industry.
Why do you think that it is the benchmark in the industry? (10 Marks)
Q.2. Discuss in brief the various technique to achieve World Class Operations. Also discuss how can the concepts of Kaizen, Use of I.T., Optimum product mix, etc be applicable and implemented in an Educational institute for the institute to be World class. Discuss with an example if any possible. (10 Marks)
Q.3. Indian Railways is a name synonymous to an operational activity at a large scale. Give your views on the following aspects of Indian railways
a) There have been several instances & reports of problems faced by customers during booking of tickets through its online portal. What should Indian railways do to make this system world class?
b) Discuss the concept of DMAIC with reference to any one aspect (Food served/ hospitaly/safety, etc) of Indian Railway.
Decision Analysis & Modeling
1. Even though there are many auto rickshaw manufactures, two companies Bajaj and M&M, control the market in Maharashtra. If both the companies make similar design changes in their auto rickshaws in a year, their market shares will remain unchanged. Similarly if neither of them goes for any changes, then also their market shares will remain constant. But if incase one company goes for a design change and other doesn’t then the market shares are going to change, the payoff matrix for increase or decrease in market share under different possible scenarios is given below:
Bajaj
M&M
No changes
Small changes
Major changes
No changes
0
-4
-10
Small changes
3
0
5
Major changes
8
1
0
Find the value of the game. What changes should M&M consider if this information is only available to it? (10 Marks)
2. Using suitable examples discuss the difference between simple linear regression and logistic regression. (10 Marks)
3. To assemble a “Drone”, Mukesh has laid out the seven major activities involved. The activities are labeled as A through G in the following table, which also shows their various completion times (in Hrs) and immediate predecessor of each activity.
ACTIVITY
MOST OPTIMISTIC TIME
MOST LIKELY TIME
MOST PESSIMISTIC TIME
IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR
A
1
2
3
-
B
2
3
4
-
C
4
5
6
A
D
8
9
10
B
E
2
5
8
C,D
F
4
5
6
D
G
1
2
3
E,F
a. Determine the expected time and variance for each activity. (5 Marks)
b. Determine the critical path for the project. What is the probability of completing the project in less than 25 hours?
Advanced Supply Chain Management
1. For most organizations, the main target of supply chain management is to realize and neutralize the uncertainties in their supply chains. Discuss what you mean by “uncertainty in a supply chain”. Select any organization of your choice, study and explain in detail how they are dealing with supply chain uncertainties. Also, discuss what you infer from the study. (10 Marks)
2. What are the various aggregate planning strategies followed by organizations. Select any manufacturing organization and discuss its aggregate planning strategy. (10 Marks)
3. Because of global competition, demand is no longer certain for any business. The overall environment today is dynamic, firms are increasingly realizing that understanding demand, planning demand and linking supply with demand pays. At the same time, if the supply chain forecast is wrong, the consequences will be felt throughout the entire supply chain. This is why forecasting has assumed a significant importance, and more and more supply chain managers are looking to forecasting to reduce operational costs. Despite significant developments in the area of supply chain forecasting as well as IT, most organizations do a poor job of incorporating demand uncertainty into their production planning processes. Most often this is blamed on forecasting without realizing the importance of selecting the appropriate forecasting technique. Forecasting methods works efficiently when business driven variability are traced and then factored into forecast. Finally, it should be remembered that forecasting is an integrated exercise in which all levels of the supply chain are involved and are willing to share information which helps in increasing demand visibility within organizations as well increase the performance of forecast. Source: Rakesh Singh, “Demand forecasting in a supply chain”, Business Standard, August 18, 2014
a. Explain the meaning of demand forecasting and discuss its role in supply chain management.
b. Using suitable examples discuss the difference between qualitative and quantitative methods for forecasting. In your opinion which one is the better method for forecasting?
Course: B2B Marketing
Q.1. SVC is a leading brand in the B2B category in the air freshening business in the hotel industry in Mumbai. As a Marketing Manager, suggest a suitable CRM strategy with the objective of stimulating the association with the customers. (10 Marks)
Q.2. A B2B Company in the business of marketing & selling LCD projectors to corporate, wants to enter in to selling their projectors to educational institutes. Suggest a suitable pricing strategy (10 Marks)
Q.3 Read the following Case & solve the questions given:
VK Industries has ventured into manufacturing of bearings required in automobile industry. It is planning to approach automobile companies for the bearings required as a component in the manufacturing in the automobile sector. As a Marketing Manager of VK enterprise, you are required to:
a. Suggest a suitable Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning Strategy for the bearings (5 Marks)
b. As a new entrant, suggest suitable Strategies to create reasonable awareness for VK industries. (5 Marks)
Course: Integrated Marketing Communications
1. How will you use the sales technique in the form of short term effort to increase the sales in your cake shop? (10 Marks)
2. What form of trade shows do you suggest for a tile company and how should they go about differentiating themselves from the competitors? (10 Marks)
3. Case Study
Renaults Kwid skids on volume
The French car, one of the most successful small cars in recent years and the growth engine for French carmaker Famous in France, appears to be losing speed, at least in volumes. The numbers sold by the company (to dealers) hit an eight-month low at 6,924 units in January after peaking to 10,719 units in August 2016. Volumes have been less than 8,800 for three consecutive months since November.
Launched in September 2015, the unconventional sports utility vehicle-styled entry segment aggressively priced car shot to success, attracting thousands of buyers instantly. A consequent waiting period, running into several months, prompted the company to ramp up production. Eyeing more market share, The French car maker also decided to expand its sales and service network.
Seen as a challenger to the Japanese entry-level vehicle Which is the basic car (the most sold car in the country), The French car started figuring among the top 10 most sold domestic passenger vehicles since June last year. However, the rank slipped from fifth in June to ninth in December and it did not figure in the list last month when 6,924 units were sold.
The French car maker, however, says that their car numbers are growing according to plan. “In India Q4 sales are impacted by seasonal trends wherein sales tend to dry. The same can be seen in the mini segment. We have communicated our targets or their car between 8,000 to 10,000 units per month and we are on track with this” said a spokesperson.
The cars early success is evident from 50,000 bookings within only about a month of launch. The company announced in March 2016 that bookings hit another milestone of 100,000 units. Yet another milestone of 150,000 booking was made public in July 2016. When the French car maker expanded this basic car range with the launch of 1-litre engine in August last year. It said cumulative bookings of this car stood at 165,000 vehicles. However, there has been no further update on booking numbers. The spokesperson did not answer the specific query on cumulative bookings till date. The French car maker announced last week it had sold 130,000 of this car since the launch but did not talk about bookings.
Volumes sold by the company hit and eight-month low of 6,900 in January. After hitting a high of 10,000 units around August-September, the number looks under pressure since November. Pace of new bookings are also subdued unlike in the initial few months. The company last announced in July 2016 bookings has hit 150,000 units. There was no update since then. The basic Japanese entry car made by the Japanese company in India which is most sold small car, has seen gradual pick up of volumes and 22,000 units were sold in January.
The spokesperson did not give any reason for the decline in January volumes but said while the mini car industry grew 15.1 per cent in January 2017, for the French car, the growth was 15.7 per cent. “So clearly, we are above the industry trend.” The company said February volumes were good and it was confident of retaining the volume levels hit in Q1 of calendar year 2016.
The small car market, dominated by Japanese car, has seen another entrant, Entry car from Indian manufacturer. The Indian car manufactures by the well known Indian conglomerate clocks an average monthly volume of 4,600 units. An analyst said that some impact on the French car might have come from the entry of that new car from Indian manufacturer (launched in April last year). “Both the French car and the Indian car appeal to the same set of buyers.” He said.
The French car begins at price of Rs. 2.65 lakh while the Indian car entry level model comes for Rs. 3.24 lakh.
3.24 lakh.
Data
Jun-16
Jul-16
Aug-16
Sep-16
Oct-16
Nov-16
Dec-16
Jan-17
French car
9549
9879
10719
10558
9801
7847
8797
6924
Japanese car
15750
19844
20919
27750
18854
23320
17351
22998
a. Looking at the stastics in the chart how will you plan to boost up the sales of the “French car” in the competition that is coming from Japanese and Indian car manufacturer? What is your strategy to retain and grow your market share? (5 Marks)
b. What kind of sales promotion activities would you do to increase the sales of the “French Car”? What should The French car manufacturer do to differentiate their car from their competitors?
Total Quality Management
1. Choosing the right supplier involves much more than just the unit price of the product. The choice will depend on a wide range of other factors. Propose supplier selection criteria you will adopt if you were the purchase head. (10 Marks)
2. Today achieving profit is most important objective of the organizations and quality management is the most effective approach to achieve this objective. In your opinion what approaches should an organization adopt to achieve this. Explain your answer briefly with examples. (10 Marks)
3. Case Study
M/s ABC wants to implement Total Quality Management for a competitive advantage. Quality gurus, have all stressed the importance of employee involvement for quality, therefore, the management start with total quality awareness program across the organization covering all employees.
a. a. Explain why you would agree with them. (5 Marks)
b. Explain with examples how industries have implemented total employee involvement for quality. (5 Marks)
Course: Supply Chain Management
1. UrbanStairs, an online furniture retailer is planning to set up distribution centres pan India. As an SCM consultant, offer advice on how to design the distribution network to deliver products to the customers in a timely manner. (10 Marks)
2. While designing a supply chain, various strategic, tactical and operational level decisions need to be made. Supply chains need to be designed in such a way that they can respond immediately to any fluctuations that take place. Supply chain must be designed in such a way that the performance and costs remain unaffected despite various fluctuations. Elaborate on the strategic supply chain decisions a Retail Store selling Electronics and Computer Accessories needs to take. (10 Marks)
3. Netherlands-headquartered furniture retailer IKEA will invest 908 million ringgit ($212.10 million) to set up one of its largest regional distribution and supply chain centres in Malaysia, the Southeast Asian country said. The supply chain centre will manage an inventory worth 6.6 billion ringgit annually, catering to IKEA's growth in the ASEAN region, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said in a statement on Tuesday. The new 100,000 square metre warehouse will supply to 12 existing retail stores in the region. IKEA plans to grow its number of stores in ASEAN to 20 by 2026. Malaysia is a significant market for IKEA, with retail stores in the country being among IKEA's most visited globally. "The establishment (of the warehouse) also adds momentum towards making Malaysia a regional distribution hub and preferred logistics gateway to Asia as outlined in the National Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan and National E-Commerce Strategic Roadmap," Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed said. Malaysia has been encouraging large local conglomerates and multi-national companies to use the country as a gateway to the region through various initiatives, including the principal hub scheme that allows companies to centralise their global activities such as procurement and distribution.
The web of companies that make up IKEA has recently focused ownership of retail operations, which also include shopping centres and food retail, on IKEA Group. Supply chain management and design has transferred to brand owner and franchisor Inter IKEA. Source: http://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/home-and-decor/furniture-and-decor/ikea-to-invest-212-mln-to-build-regional-supply-centre-in-malaysia-govt/60185153
a. What are some of the challenges faced by IKEA in managing its global Supply Chain. (5 Marks)
b. How do you suggest IKEA can use Information Technology to support its Supply Chain operations in Malaysia? (5 marks)
Retail Banking
Q.1. With reference to any one public sector bank and one private bank, discuss the top five banking products offered to Retail Banking customers (10 Marks)
Q.2. Recently there has been an advent of alternative banking channels being available at several locations. Give you views on whether these new distribution channels of banking are a boon for customers or are they too many unnecessary distribution of channels. (10 Marks)
Q.3. Banking is one of the major service sectors in India. Customer satisfaction has been on the major performance evaluation parameters for the banks. Give your views on the following with reference to customer service given by banks
a) Between public sector banks or private banks, who do you think is better in providing better customer service and why? What should the other type of bank do to better themselves on customer service? (5 Marks)
b) Nowadays almost all banking operations are being offered through mobile based applications. Do you think this is easily preferable by customers, or is it too much dependence on technology? Give your reasons. (5 Marks)
Organisation Culture
Q.1) ABC Ltd has hired you as a consultant to advice on certain issues. You have observed following problems in the company.
Unequal distribution of power
Centralized structure is followed
High importance to individual achievement
Division of roles between genders
Higher degree of intolerance towards uncertainty
Short term orientation
You used a specific model of organization to make above observations. Which model of organization culture is likely to give above findings? Explain the model in detail.
Q.2) XYZ Ltd has hired you as a consultant for the purpose of assisting the company in creating the culture of an organization. Suggest a process for the same.
Q.3 a) After studying the problem of FC Company, you came to know that there is a need to create ethical organizational culture. Which practices would you suggest to create the same? (5 Marks)
Q.3 b) Due to rapid change in the environment, Opaque Company, IT firm, is finding it difficult to survive. Cultural issues are rampant in the organization. You are asked to advice on making a change in organizational culture. Which steps will you recommend?
Performance Management System
1. Is 360 degree Feedback method of performance appraisal an impartial way of seeking performance feedback? If yes, why or if No, why? (10 Marks)
2. State any 4 performance appraisal bias and as HR what steps will you take to ensure that these bias are neutralized (10 Marks)
3. MED Pharma is a newly established pharmaceutical company with a sales force of 500 employees. You are newly appointed as the business HR and your first task is to develop a performance management system for the organisation.
a. How will a performance management system impact various stakeholders in the organisation?
b. What are the factors that you will consider while developing the performance management system for the sales force
Financial Analysis and Management
1. From the following details prepare and mention the relevance of comparative income statement.
2016 2017
Sales 150,000 175,000
Cost of Goods Sold -90,000 -105,000
60,000 70,000
Indirect Expenses -30000 -45000
30,000 25,000
Provision for tax -8000 -12000
Net Profit 22,000 13,000
2. Following information is pertaining to Alpha Ltd. Estimate Net Working Capital.
Calculate Net Working Capital and interpret the result. (10 Marks)
Raw Material Cost per unit 300
Direct Labor Cost per unit 100
Overheads (excluding depreciation) Cost per unit 200
Total Cost 600
Selling Price per unit 900
Output (Production) per annum 50000 units
Raw material in stock Average 4 weeks
Work in Progress(assuming 50% completion stage with Average 2 weeks
100% material consumption)
Finished goods in stock Average 4 weeks
Credit Allowed by suppliers Average 4 weeks
Credit Allowed to Debtors Average 8 weeks
Cash at bank is expected to be 75,000
Assume 52 weeks in year and even production throughout a year. Assume all sales as credit sales.
3. The Balance Sheet is as follows:
Balance Sheet
Liabilities Amount Assets Amount
Equity Share Capital 100,000 Fixed Assets 1,75,000
12% Debentures 84,000 Current Assets 75,000
Reserves 16,000
Current Liabilities 50,000
250,000 2,50,000
Net Sales during the year is Rs 5, 00,000. Calculate and interpret the result of:
(a) Total Capital Turnover Ratio (5 Marks)
(b) Working Capital Turnover Ratio
Manpower Planning, Recruitment and Selection
Q.1. Mr. Shreejeet Pradhan, the HR of Jumbo Times, recently attended a conference on “Crucial quantifiable methods of supply forecasting in Manpower Planning”. You as an intern working with Shreejeet, has been delegated a project to research on, “The various quantifiable methods of supply forecasting” to help Shreejeet gather more information and take an informed decision. (10 Marks)
Q.2. ABC Manpower a reputed Multinational Company adopts “Geocentric approach”. However, the organization is not satisfied with this approach. As an External Management Consultant for ABC Manpower suggest the various approaches to staffing with its merits and demerits. (10 Marks)
Q.3 Answer the following questions based on the Case study mentioned below:
Case study: Sarika and Sheetal were MBA’s from the prestigious NMIMS .They both joined ABC Pvt. Ltd in the same year. Sarika being MBA in HR joined the HR department while Sheetal joined the Finance department. Over the years both Sheetal and Sarika remained friends and worked well as colleagues. Sarika was well known employee among the staff. While Sheetal remained to be a reserved employee but took up key positions in Finance department. Sarika was friendly to help employees while Sarika was outgoing. Sheetal would also wonder how Sarika can be so famous and well known and loved by all whereas not many knew Sheetal apart from the people from her own department. Sheetal now took an extreme step of putting down her papers. Their manager Mr. Shah was worried when he heard the news. He first contacted Sarika as they were best friends and batchmates. Sarika didn’t even know what drove Sheetal to such harsh steps. Mr. Shah took the matter in his hands and confronted Sheetal in an informal talk in the canteen. Sheetal opened up and discussed how she felt left out and humiliated as Sarika was the popular one even though they both had equal qualification, experience and also had pursued course from the same institute. Even the canteen waiters acknowledged Sarika’s presence offering a quick service when she was with Sheetal. But when Sheetal came alone to canteen no one paid attention to her nor was she given any respect or importance. This hurt Sheetal and led her to resign.
a)What do you this is the real reason for such a misunderstanding.
b) What steps can you as an HR to convince Sheetal to stay?
Compensation & Benefits
1. Should an employee’s pay package be entirely linked to performance? If yes, why? If No, Why?
2. You are the ‘’Compensation Lead’’ of ABC Ltd., a BPO centre for an airline, having 500 employees. The majority of these employees are Gen Y or millennial. The management wants to use indirect compensation as a strategy to retain their employees. What would be your recommendation?
3. Foodomania Ltd. Started operations in 2014. In 3 years they have established their brand and are a profitable organization. They have a sales force of 80 sales employees and 25 Management employees. They want to increase the sales force to 300 employees and Management team to 50 employees. You have been appointed to device a new compensation structure to meet the growing employee strength. What are the points you will consider when
a. Devising a compensation strategy for Top Management
b. Devising compensation strategy for Sales Force
Industrial Relations and Labour Laws
1. Ramesh Bhatia was working in an industry employing around 500 employees. He joined the industry in the year 2012. The worker were made to work for more than 9 hours in a day. The canteen facility was not good. It offered only tea and snacks. Complaints were made to the management requesting them to change the menu and also to provide better and nutritious meal. The management changed the canteen in-charge.The canteen started offering meals and also a variety of other items. However, the prices were increased and the workers could not afford them.Ramesh and his co-workers complained to the management. The management kept on delaying the issue. Ramesh came up with an idea to form a trade union. Collective bargaining could be an effective tool in dealing with the issues faced by theworkers. Accordingly, a trade union was formed in the year 2013 and Ramesh was made the President. The trade union was functioning smoothly and most of the problems faced by the employees were dealt effectively. In the year 2014, a new director Mr. Mahesh Kumar was appointed at the management level. When the trade union brought a complaint before him, he refused to entertain them stating that the trade union was unregistered and he would infact file a complaint of criminal conspiracy against them.
Ramesh and the other members want to register their trade union. What is the current status of the trade union and what are the steps to be followed in the present scenario for the registration of the trade union?
2. Sheekha is working in a manufacturing unit. The unit has employed 50 people on the manufacturing process and is registered as a factory. Sheekha was given wages of Rs. 7,500/- on a monthly basis. The wages were paid on the 5th of each month. Besides the wages she was given bonus of Rs. 2,000/- every year during Diwali festival. In the month of October 2017, she received only Rs. 3,000/- as wages. Also her Diwali bonus was not paid to her. Upon inquiring, the HR manager told her that her wages were deducted. The explanation that was given that in the previous month she had come late for 5 days. Also she had been negligent with the machinery she used and the repairing cost to be borne by the company was Rs. 500/-, and therefore Rs. 2,000/- was further deducted from her wages. Sheekha claimed for the bonus, but the manager stated that the bonus was not included as wages and so she could not demand them.
Analyze the case and what are the different authorised reasons for which Sheekha’s wages could be deducted.
3. Arjun is a member of a trade union in an industry. The objectives of the trade union is to protect the members and provide them with the necessary facilities. The trade union had been demanding protective glasses for the workers doing welding work as a safety measure. The management did not provide them and asked the workers instead to be careful while doing the wielding work. One day, while Arjun was doing a welding work a spark went in his eye. He was given first aid and then rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, he lost his eye. Some of the members approached the management and asked them to pay the medical expenses, compensation to Arjun and the required safety measures to the workers. The management refused to take responsibility and instead put the blame on Arjun saying that he was careless while doing his work. The workers were agitated and decided to protest against the behavior of the management by going on a strike.
a. Advise the workers on the different ways they can protest through strike.
b. Advise the management on how they can prevent industrial disputes.
Export Import Procedures and Documentation
1. You are working as an export clearance officer in an organization. You are advised to do export clearance of one consignment of 20’container to Germany. Your company has a contract with one CFS for export. This is Ex works and there is no need for inspection certificate, certificate of origin, etc. It is a simple export. How will you handle this independently? Give step by step process of your operation.
2. Your company imported one consignment on FOB origin basis. Your customs broker is asking for freight certificate and insurance certificate to calculate the CIF value. You do not have both and want to clear this urgently. How will you arrive at the CIF value? Will there be any loss of duty in this method?
3. You observe that your customs broker is not giving good services due to which your company is facing losses. You have been asked to select a good and reliable customs broker urgently.
a. How will you process selection of customs broker?
b. What are the criteria to select a customs broker?
India’s Foreign Trade
1 What does foreign trade refer to and why is it important for any country to participate in foreign trade. State which guiding factor and reform measures can the Government of India leverage to further boost the international trade prospects of India’s agriculture sector.
2 Essence of international trade lies in comparative difference rather than absolute difference in cost. State the rationale, assumptions, limitations and advantages of this doctrine in International Business. How does this lead towards international specialization?
3 Explain the three rules for any organization to decide on its choice of entry strategy in International markets.
a. An International food company wishes to enter India to start their operations.
b. Suggest the choice of entry strategy and which of the three rules they should follow.
Brand Management
Q1. Maruti has finally gained tremendous success in the luxury Sedan segment after the launch of a separate brand Nexa. Owing to this Hyundai, the other major player in the small car segment is feeling the jitters. It feels that it too should follow the same strategy as it is more known for small cars and except the Verna, all its other luxury sedans have failed. Some analysts are even against the idea. Can you guide them on the same?
Q2. Flipkart after receiving the latest funding from Soft Bank, now wants to extend its brand in other areas as well. The first new segment it wants to target is the car buying and selling segment. It wants to come out with an extension called Flipkarz by end of 2017. Analyst are skeptical about the same. Is it a good decision? What steps should Flipkart follow to make it a success?
Q3. Analyze the below given Case study and answer the questions below:
Snapchat is both a messaging platform and a social network. It can't be used from the regular we and exists only as a mobile app on your iPhone or Android smartphone. Users can “chat” with their friends by sending them photos, short videos up to 10 seconds long. You can sort of think of it to be like texting with pictures or videos. Text chats and video calls are two other features that were added more recently to the app. One of the most unique things about Snapchat is the ephemeral components of all the content that gets shared on it. Photos and videos essentially disappear a few seconds after they've been viewed by their recipients. Average revenue per user was 90 cents in the first quarter, Snap said, up from 32 cents the same quarter a year earlier but below the $1.05 per user in the fourth quarter of 2016.Snap's net loss widened to $2.21 billion, or $2.31 per share, in the first quarter, from $104.6 million, or 14 cents per share, due to stock-based compensation related to the IPO.
Facebook once failed to buy Snapchat; ever since, it's tried to copy it, mostly without success. Until now. Facebook's Instagram Stories, a clear Snapchat clone, has more daily users than Snapchat itself - and parent company Snap Inc. should be very worried. Snap's latest earnings report isn't helping either. On Thursday, the company said user growth for the April-June period was a paltry 4 percent from the previous quarter. Snap's stock, already down 44 percent since its initial public offering in May, declined 14 percent, to $11.90, in extended trading after the results came out. That's less than half of the $24.48 closing price on its first trading day. While the doom doesn't spell imminent death, it's a sign that Snapchat could be relegated to the side-lines as a niche app for young people - or worse, a passing fad - rather than a major competitor for digital ad dollars like Facebook and yes, even the struggling Twitter.
BY THE NUMBERS
Instagram recently disclosed that Stories, which lets people share videos and snapshots in a continuous 24-hour loop, has amassed 250 million daily users in the year since it launched. Snapchat, in comparison, had 173 million in the second quarter - and that's all of Snapchat, not just its version of Stories. Instagram in its entirety, meanwhile, had more than 400 million daily users as of February 2017, the last official count.
TO GROW OR NOT TO GROW
Facebook sends notifications for all sorts of things, such as a friend doing a live video or another friend posting something after an extended absence. Another might be on a new item for sale in the service's "marketplace" section. These notifications - which primarily appear in the Facebook app but can also be pushed to the phone's home screen - can conceivably keep people returning day after day. While Snapchat sends fewer notifications, it encourages daily use through Snap streak, which calls out streaks in which two friends send each other snaps at least once for more than three consecutive days. But it isn't working too well, as daily use hasn't grown much.
RIVALS UPON RIVALS
Rivals don't always succeed. Facebook recently shut down Life stage, which lets those 21 and under share photos, selfies and videos with classmates. Life stage was aimed at high schoolers - a big chunk of Snapchat's audience. Before that, Facebook killed Slingshot, another Snapchat clone for sending disappearing messages. In turn, that followed the demise of Poke, which also let people send photos and videos. All that followed Snapchat's decision to rebuff Facebook's $3 billion offer for the service in 2013.But Facebook and others kept trying and trying, until Facebook succeeded with Instagram Stories. Easy to use and piggybacking on Instagram's existing popularity, Stories expanded Snapchat's idea to a broader range of users. While Snapchat's audience is mostly teens and young people, on Instagram, anyone might send a "story." Other messaging apps are looking to clone Snapchat, too. Google is reportedly working on Stamp, which The Wall Street Journal compared to Snapchat's Discover feature for letting people find photo and video-heavy news items. While Google isn't commenting on Stamp, published reports say the company is in talks with the likes of Vox Media and Time Inc. to create such content.
a. What according to you is wrong with Snapchat?
b. What strategies can it undertake to revive?
Commercial Banking System and Role of RBI
1. XYZ is the leading commercial bank in India. Due to various factors it is facing many challenges in the recent scenario. Discuss the areas on which banks need to focus for their sustenance.
2. As a risk control manager, highlight the risk prevention policies and measures against the Risk control/mitigation process in banks.
3. Assume you are ABC bank. In recent days Non-Performing Asset is giving a deleterious impact on the return on asset. As a bank, discuss- a. The factors contributing to high level of NPAs in the Indian Banks. b. The measures you will take to overcome this alarming issue.
HR Audit
1. Assume you to be HR Manager of Merwick Lynda Automobile Ltd. In order to develop and retain your employees and yield benefits for the organization, explain the HR practices you will follow.
2. You have been hired as an HR Auditor to identify the key functional areas that have an effect on the HR policies and procedures that are practiced in the organization. Prepare the draft.
3. Walter D’Souza, HR Manager at Xylo Inc. was charged with discrimination in hiring, pay and appraisal practices. Many departments were planning to file suits against Walter, for his unethical, judgmental and bias behavior. The Company wanted to know if its HR practices in the areas of selection and promotion are at risk and wondered if there were unseen flaws that could make Walter free from charges. To address its concerns, the company appointed you to conduct a HR process audit.
a) You have to evaluate recruitment and selection process.
b) Identify the gaps in performance appraisal system.
Marketing Research
1. Define sampling. Discuss in brief the various sampling methods employed by Research firms to conduct any Research/survey with reference to a survey conducted to study the feasibility to open a new restaurant in a residential area of metro city.
2. With reference to a Clothing & apparel company define and discuss the various avenues of the company has for conducting and advertising research campaign to market its products. Give your views on the relevance as concluding remarks.
3. A corporate catering services in north India, would like to its catering services in South Mumbai. If you have been hired to carry out marketing research activities for the organization, give your views/suggestions/report for the following:
a) Design a brief questionnaire for the research. Discuss the importance of the questionnaire in a research process.
b) How would you collect primary & secondary data and give the relevance of the same.
Services marketing
1. As a Marketing Manager of an upcoming private sector bank, you are required to plan the 7 P’s of Services marketing.
2. Prepare a questionnaire for imagica focus on customers perception on the services offered & the quality of service offered.
3. Read the following case & solve the questions given:
Crossword is one of the most well know retail book- store in the country. It has around 40,000 titles at any given point of time. In order to enhance customer experience it focuses on physical evidence & innovative promotional activities like:
The store conducts activities like ‘Pictionary’ contents % annual fair with santaclaus aimed at making the place reader friendly
It offers coffee & people can browse through boos with playing soothingly in the background
Books & shelves are placed & arranged in a manner to suit customer needs comfort & preferences.
Crossword is constantly striving to introduce something new & innovative in order to encourage the customers to frequent the store more often.
Questions
a) Explain the importance of physical evidence to enhance the service experience & give your suggestions for the same.
b) What are the promotional tools that can be used by crossword to increase its customer base?
Capital Market and Portfolio Management
Q.1 Following information regarding the holding period of the stock A, is available. Based
on the data provided in the Table 1 below, calculate and mention the following
i. Return on Investment (ROI) and its Formulae
ii. Steps to calculate ROI
iii. Net Returns from investment (in Rs) Table 1
Stock A Event Date Value (In Rs.) Stock Purchased 31 March 2012 750.60 Dividend received 31 March 2013 9.00 Dividend received 31 March 2014 9.50 Dividend received 31 March 2015 10.00 Dividend received 31 March 2016 10.50 Dividend received 31 March 2017 11.00 Stock Sold 31 March 2017 1320.90
Q.2 Mr. Ravindra Kumar chooses to invest total amount of Rs. 1,00,000/- in equal proportion in both Stock A and B (data given in Table 2). The correlation coefficient between the stock A and stock B is 0.4. Demonstrate that he has taken a better investment decision as compared to decision of investing all the amount only in stock A and stock B. Hint: You have to demonstrate the impact of diversification on the portfolio returns and variance in case of two assets
Table 2 Stock A Stock B Probability Return Probability Return 5% -20% 10% -25% 20% 0% 20% 0% 25% 10% 25% 20%
30% 20% 20% 30% 20% 25% 25% 40%
Q.3 Mr. Rajendra Kumar has been a investing in the stock market purely based on tips received from his stock-broker friend, Mr. Ramesh Chandra, and has been generating decent returns till now. Given the low size of his investible surplus, he has not been able to take advantage of all the tips that he received given by Mr. Ramesh, say during a year. As a result his investment has been restricted to investing mostly in a single company through a particular year. So much so that sometimes he has stayed invested in a single scrip even for more than two years. While his returns may have been sometimes good and sometimes great but he has not been overly worried about their levels or adequacy, as he has never lost any money at overall investment level. Actually the yearly returns from his stock market investments have always been higher than the bank fixed deposit returns, where he parks most of his savings. Hence, in nutshell, for him the investment strategy seems to be working for him and he is happy. Thus he never saw any reason to change his investment pattern or strategy. Moreover he continues to significantly rely on the tips received through Mr. Ramesh. Because of Mr. Ramesh’s good track record in suggesting good scrips for investment and the trust Mr. Rajendra has in Ramesh’s integrity, he has never acted on any of the tip related to investments received from any other person.
Last week Mr. Ramesh told him that he plans to retire from his stock broking business. He planned to handover the business over the next six months, to his partner and relocate with his wife, permanently to US to stay with his son and his family. He added that while Mr. Rajendra can continue to avail of the broking services through the broking firm to be run by his partner, he will not be able to provide the good and timely tips that Mr. Rajendra has been solely relying on for investing his money. He also suggested Mr. Rajendra to invest through mutual funds.
Mr. Rajendra got worried and told Mr. Ramesh that he is not convinced that why he should be investing through a mutual fund. Moreover, even if he agrees to invest through the same, how would he ever choose the one that he should give his money to invest, as there are so many of them with each one claiming their performance to be better than the other?
Understanding Mr. Rajendra’s predicament and anxiety, Mr. Ramesh gave reference of one of his professional contact (You), working as a fund manager, in a reputed mutual fund company. He asked Mr. Rajendra to meet you and seek answers to his questions related to mutual funds. Mr. Rajendra has contacted you and sought time to meet with you and discuss the following:
a) Why should Mr. Rajendra be investing through mutual fund?
b) On what basis he should choose a mutual fund amongst others? What are the various performance measures used for a mutual fund?
Describe in detail your answers to Mr. Rajendra’s queries
Cost and Management Accounting
1. Ashish had joined the labour control and payment system of Navneet Ltd. He was asked by his manager to prepare a report on the various activities involved in the cost accounting for the labour. Provide various inputs that he has to keep in mind while preparing the report.
2. ABC Ltd uses the LIFO method for recording inventory. The details of the company are as follows:
Jul-14 Particulars
1 Opening balance 400 liters @ ₹28.00 per litre
4 Purchased 300 liters @ ₹27 per litre
7 Issued 200 litres
10 Issued 300 litres
22 Purchased 490 liters @ ₹25.00 per litre
25 Issued 300 litres
Prepare a stores ledger account using the LIFO method and explain the relevance of this method.
3. To make 15 Kg. of a product, the standard materials required are as follows:
Materials Amount Price
A 10 kg @ 8
B 3 Kg. @ 10
C 2 Kg. @ 12
During the month of July, 1,500 Kg. of the product was produced. The actual materials consumed were as follows:
Materials Amount Price
A 900 kg @ 7
B 400 Kg. @ 8
C 200 Kg. @ 10
Calculate and interpret whether the variance is favourable or unfavourable:
a. Material Cost Variance ( 5 Marks)
b. Material Price Variance
Marketing of Financial Services
Q 1) Explain the concept of Online Marketing of financial services. How is it changing the way financial services are sold in India?
Q2) A study has shown that Insurance agents in India have an incentive to recommend more expensive and less suitable products to consumers. Suggest a roadmap for the Insurance industry where there would be a win-win for both agents and the consumers.
Q 3) You are a Financial Planner. Your client Ashwin Aswani aged 40 years, married with 1 child requires your help to make some financial decisions. (You can make any assumptions to further build up your case.)
a) Ashwin wants to buy a Pure Risk Life Insurance cover. He is confused whether he should buy a ULIP, Endowment or a Term Plan. Recommend the product best suited for him giving valid reasons. b) Ashwin wants to purchase a holiday home by liquidating his retirement savings fund and taking a home loan for the next 10 to 15 years. Ashwin wants your opinion whether this is an appropriate strategy for a Retirement Plan.
Strategic Cost Management
1. XYZ is considering a Project with an initial investment of Rs.100,000. Three probable cash flow scenarios with their probabilities of occurrence are as under:
Annual Cash Flow (Rs.) 20,000 30,000 40,000
Probability 0.1 0.7 0.2
Project life is 5 years with expected return of 20%. The expected terminal values associated with each of above probabilities are Rs.0, Rs.20,000 & Rs.30,000.
Find the probable NPV.
2. An M&A expert has been hired to explain to the management of a sick company the symptoms that are normally seen before a company qualifies for being referred to as a BFIR candidate. You being a freshly appointed Management Trainee are required to present a small write up, briefly explaining those early symptoms.
3. a) From the following particulars, calculate: Material Cost Variance & Material Price Variance
Quantity of materials purchased 3000 units
Value of materials purchased Rs.9000
Standard quantity of materials required per tonne of output 30 units
Standard rate of material Rs.2.5 per unit
Opening stock of materials nil
Closing stock of materials 500 units
Output during the period 80 tonnes
3. b) Calculate Labour Yield Variance from the following data:
Standard Output 500 units
Actual Output 450 units
Standard Time 1000 hrs
Standard Rate Rs.20 per hour
Customer Relationship Management
Q1. With Jio now entering even the mobile handset space, Nokia, the latest re-entrant is a bit worried. It feels that it needs to tighten its laces well in advance before Jio goes for Intensive sales and marketing. It feels that CRM is the best way forward and plan to utilize the benefits of the same but don’t know how to implement the same. Can you please guide them on the same as there is no scope of error? (10 Marks)
Q2. Samsung Mobiles off late post the Note Series fiasco is facing troubled times. The sales have dropped and customer complaints are on the rise. They are not able to handle customer issues and are slowly losing out to competition. Can you help them find a way out of this problem? (10 Marks)
Q3. Read and Analyze the below given case and answer the questions at the end of it This is the first time in the history of industry that the spending on customer relationship management tools is going to outdo enterprise resource planning tools. Analysts say that the spending on CRM will be $36.5 billion next year, $1.5 billion more than ERP. One would wonder why the sails of CRM took so long to capture glory. One would also wonder why corporations have taken so long to make this happen. In the digital world traditional CRM does not cut it, and that’s the reason why over the last five years CRM has clearly sailed with wind. For the first time, corporate houses feel insights can increase their sales in the long run. This is just a phenomenon in the West. Just when you thought consumer suffering had ended, Indian consumers will continue to suffer because corporate and government alike have ignored CRM services. No wonder Indian services are the worst the world over. Indian automobile, telco and banking services are yet to understand the power of the data that they have mustered over the last decade. These companies are so sales driven that they almost forget the events after the sale. They think a post sales call makes the cut in the digital era. Even government services do not invest in CRM and therefore they have no way of telling whether the quality of life for a citizen has gone up. They love citizen apathy and in this digital age consumers still suffer from the lack of data when it comes to government services. Our CRM is in the hands of politicians and companies that worry about the next election or the next sale. According to the United Nations, India ranks 118 in the happiness index. Although the happiness index has other indicators such as social capital and freedom of life, it also indicates that Indians suffer quietly as all services do not match up to improve the quality of life of its people
The opportunity
CRM is no longer about subjecting people to satisfaction calls and sending home coupons to be redeemed in the weekend. The customer has truly moved digital in developed markets and in India the story is no different in at least major cities. In the consumer world, the narrative with corporate is about understanding the customer from the moment he browses on product or catalogue. It is about taking this experience and matching it with the customer behaviour in the offline world. For example, if a brand wants to know why its product sold well on “Amazon” or “Flipkart”, then it must also work out the metrics to understand how people walked in to its offline stores and explored other products. They can then use this data to match it to work out their supply chain strategy and by doing so they can even streamline the entire manufacturing process. These consumer goods companies and retailers also must take the loyalty and rewards programmes to a whole new experience.
The business to business companies (like manufacturers) invest in CRM to understand their dealers, their component manufacturers, and their sales teams. ERP tools captured processes and schedules. But it never offered components to understand the entire customer ecosystem. Data were always there, but corporations focussed on delivery cycles based on sales data rather than understanding the nuances beyond these sales. Unfortunately, CRM is passé in India – barring a few companies like Amazon India and Flipkart – and it will be sometime before it becomes important. Until then let us suffer silently like we always have.
a. What according to you is the reason behind the sorry state of affairs of CRM in India? (5 Marks)
b. What steps should be taken to improve the same? (5 Marks)
Logistics Management
Q.1. Green manufacturing is a term that was coined to reflect novel manufacturing concepts that utilize various green strategies based on objectives and principles. What are the steps you would incorporate in logistic planning to initiate green manufacturing in your organization? (10 Marks)
Q.2. Briefly discuss the global issues associated with physical distribution and transportation logistics. Cite some examples of best practices in today’s industry that is making efficiency improvements in its physical distribution. (10 Marks)
Q.3 An automobile manufacturer uses 10,000 headlight assemblies a month in the production of SUVs. Daily production of the vehicle is reasonably stable throughout the year. The cost of each headlight assembly is Rs150.00. The company's incremental order (acquisition) cost is Rs40.00 per order. Its incremental inventory carrying cost is 33% of the average inventory value per year.
a. What should be the ordering lot size to keep the total inventory cost minimum? (5 Marks) b. What will be the total inventory cost if the manufacturer uses economical ordering quantity to order each time? (5 Marks)
International Marketing
1. Enlist key reasons why you feel that some domestically well established Indian companies have gone International. Explain the complexity of International Management with reference to strategic disposition of any firm of your choice. (10 Marks)
2. Describe the Concept Orientation options for international markets. Can international firms be segmented on this basis. Which option would you choose for MNC firm and Global firm and why. (10 Marks)
3. It is said that the importance of International marketing today is shaped by the dynamic interplay of several driving and restraining forces.
a. Identify and justify driving forces (5 Marks)
b. Identify and justify the restraining forces, stating your comments and making your suggesting for each. (5 Marks)
International Logistics and Supply Chain Management
1. Suggest the taxonomy for a three-dimensional classification for global supply chain. Identify the issues that affect the operations and strategy of a global logistics firm say DHL or TNT and recommend ways to handle such issues. (10 Marks)
2. As a General Manager – Supply Chain Management of a leading domestic garment manufacturing firm, you have proposed the option of exploring international procurement for the first ever time for your company. Suggest the various components of your proposal. (10 Marks)
3. Based on your recommendation, the Board of the garment company has decided to go ahead and place trial order with an international supplier whom you have recommended.
a. Enlist the constituents of the import / export sales contract (5 Marks)
b. Suggest a warehousing management plan (5 Marks)
Custom Shipping and Insurance
1. You have joined a company as an Imports Executive (Operations) in Mumbai. You have been sent to the sea port to do the customs clearance of an imported consignment. The consignment is on CIF basis. What would be your sequence of operations to clear this. (10 Marks)
2. Your company proposes to import one Live Horse . You have been asked to check the foreign trade policy for its importability and the customs duty. You need to give the following details to the management: a. Which chapter this Live Horse is classified in the customs? b. Is it freely importable? If not what is the category of this import and how to import? c. What is the rate of customs duty only. (10 Marks)
3. One consignment in a 20 feet container was imported to Mumbai in July in FOB terms. The freight and insurance is to be borne by your company. After customs clearance, your customs broker transferred the consignment from the container to a truck to transfer to your factory. The entire consignment got wet in transit due to heavy rain.
a. How will you claim the insurance for this damage and what type of insurance policy will cover this type of damages ? (5 Marks)
b. What precautions should have been taken to avoid such damages? (5 Marks)
Enterprise Resource Planning
1. Jayashri Enterprises is a manufacturing firm involved in production and selling of PVC cables. It is located at outskirts of Mumbai, India. It has got one manufacturing plant and is looking for opening a new plant soon. Jayashri Enterprises has been using Tally as an accounting package and MS-Excel for recording other information. Introduction of GST has triggered the discussion regarding ERP implementation in its recently concluded Board meeting. The MD of the firm has heard about ERP but not sure about ERP functionality. She has also heard that ERP solutions are too expensive but nowadays open source ERP software are also available, which can be implemented at much lower cost. She has invited you to explain what ERP is and how it would be useful for her firm. What advice would you give her? (10 Marks)
2. You are consultant to Jagat Facility Management Services. This firm has over 100 clients and more than 2000 employees. You have implemented the ERP software for this company. Explain the methodology that you have adopted for this firm. Also share the lessons learned. (10 Marks)
3. “It is simply ridiculous! The pricing is too much!” This was the reaction, which Ms Phatima Bidarkar received when she shared her consulting fees. “Why we should pay so much for consulting services when the ERP software comes for free?” A question followed the initial reaction. Ms Phatima Bidarkar started her career as SAP functional consultant with a large manufacturing enterprise, which had implemented SAP ERP. While working on fine-tuning the ERP implementation, she also learnt how it is important to do proper Business Process Reengineering (BPR) to get maximum advantage of ERP implementation. After working for five years there, she started her consulting company where she emphasized the need for BPR before and even after ERP implementation. She got her initial business from the customers and suppliers of her former employer as her employer served as a great reference for her work. Since most of these firms were small businesses, she started offering her services for implementing open source ERP software called ERPNext. Recently Ms Phatima Bidarkar started to do cold calling for getting new customers. That is when she started getting resistance for pricing of her consulting services. Since she used to offer BPR services in addition to ERP functional consulting services, she couldn’t reduce her prices. But she was equally worried that she may need to abandon the SME market segment if she sticks to her pricing.
a. Should Ms Phatima Bidarkar reduce her consulting fees? If yes then explain how and if not then explain why not. (5 Marks)
b. Is BPR needed for SMEs before implementing ERP? If yes then explain why and if not then explain why not.
Financial Institutions and Markets
Q1. Mr. Rajiv Kumar, after completing his MBA from a prestigious management institute, has joined the treasury department of a leading Indian bank in Mumbai. He is assigned to the team responsible for managing the day-to-day liquidity of the bank. Explain in detail the various options available to Mr. Rajiv to manage the liquidity of the bank. (10 Marks)
Q2. Mr. Kripa Shankar wants to invest and trade in stock market. However he is completely unfamiliar how to go about it. He approaches you, a wealth advisor in the bank Mr. Kripa Shankar has his savings account, to seek guidance on:
i) various modes through which he can participate in the stock market
ii) category of instruments that he can invest in
iii) the basic formalities that he would need to complete (basic pre-requisites), in order to participate in the stock market.
Provide answer in detail to his queries mentioned in point (i), (ii) and (iii) above.
Q.3 ABC Corp. Limited is engaged in manufacturing garments in India since 1950. The company has been catering to the Indian market till now. As part of the company’s growth strategy, the company would like to extend the markets for its products to other countries. However, the company’s promoters lack awareness and expertise in understanding and managing the fluctuations related to foreign currency. Mr. Jiwan Kumar, the CFO of the company, has been asked to make a presentation to the board specifying the following:
a. Key economic parameters/developments that influence the movements in foreign currency.
b. Options available with ABC Corp. to manage/mitigate the forex risks
Strategic Financial Management
Q.1. Mr. Das is a CFO of ABC Ltd. The Company proposes to establish overseas subsidiaries in European countries to expand its business. However before any final decision, Mr. Das has to make detailed report on following points (a) Tax implication exchange gain & loss and capital investment (b) Incentive available for export business (c) Other important tax related matters Prepare brief note on the above three (3) points. (10 Marks)
Q.2. Action Investor LLP, is a Private Equity (PE) firm with 46% stake in OPS Ltd. Along with the stake, the PE firm also has a board seat and veto power on major financial decision of the Company. The performance of OPS Ltd is far below expectation over past two years & the PE firm believes that there is need to look at various restructuring steps. What are different types of restructuring that PE firm can propose in board meeting? (10 Marks)
Q.3 a) SFL Ltd. is considering launching of new product to supplement its existing range of product. As per the projection done by the finance team, there will be initial capital investment of Rs. 70 lakhs in current year. After that the first year will need capital infusion of Rs. 1 Crs. Below are the after tax cash inflow projection; Year 2: Rs. 25 lakhs Year 3: Rs. 30 lakhs Year 4: Rs. 35 lakhs From 5th year onwards the cash inflow will be Rs. 40 lakhs through out till end of 10th year. The Company expects the new product shelf life to be of 10 years.
Assuming 15% discount rate what will be the NPV of this new project . Based on your NPV calculation, whether launching of this new product line is acceptable or not? (5 Marks)
Q.3. b) MNP Ltd has recorded earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of Rs. 50 Crs for FY17. The Company has outstanding debt of Rs. 10 Crs and pays 10% interest on its debt. Applicable tax rate for the Company is 30%. What is the valuation of MNP Ltd if the expected return on its equity shares is at 18%?
International Finance
1. NIFTY of NSE touch 10,000 in August 2017, which external factors are responsible for this level? What are the different forms of investment by foreign investors in Indian market? (10 Marks)
2. There is a tension between North Korea and USA, both the countries are in state of war. What will be the impacts of this event on foreign treasury of INDIA?
3. MUMBAI: In what could be a sign of things to come with gushing liquidity coupled with rising optimism about policy reforms in the country after the Rajya Sabha approval for bringing in the Goods & Services Act, the Reserve Bank of India intervened to temper the Indian's Rupee's appreciation versus the US dollar, said three currency dealers. Expectations are rising that global investors starved of returns from fixed income investments may raise their investments into the highest yielding emerging market as government's actions provides them the comfort of prudent economic policies. "Depending on the global risk sentiment we could see fund flows into India continuing in the coming months," said Brijen Puri, managing director, head of markets, JP Morgan (India). "It would be an opportunity for the RBI to shore up our dollar reserves, which could be used to moderate volatility in future" On Thursday, some state-owned banks were buying dollars in early trades on behalf of the central bank, when the rupee opened stronger by 15 paisa to the greenback. Later, it pared gains to close at 66.92, up 0.10 per cent from 66.99 on Wednesday. The rupee is now expected to trade in the range of 66.50-67.50 per dollar versus 67-68, seen a few weeks ago, dealers said. The implementation of GST from next fiscal, though could be inflationary in the short term, may add to the gross domestic product by as much as 2 percentage point. That coupled with better tax compliance and higher rates on services could bolster the government's finances. The perennial fear of government's fiscal being dodgy could also end. "Unanimous decision to amend the constitution to pave way for introduction of GST is a big positive and will renew optimism among foreign investors," MS Gopikrishnan, head of FX, rates and credit trading at Standard Chartered Bank. "While the rupee market had largely priced in the amendment, higher inflows from overseas investors should help the rupee to appreciate." Source: Business World
Q3. A. One Tax One Nation – GST introduced by government in July 2017, explain its impact on the currency Indian currency value. What are the advantages and disadvantages of GST to exporter?
Q3. B. How GST will help India to increase foreign capital? Why it is said in paragraph “GST could be inflationary in short term”? How inflow of FOREX will increase due to GST? (5 Marks)
Project Management
1. What are the various methods for selecting a project? Assume that you are the Managing Director of a manufacturing company that is currently challenged by low-cost competition. Come up with a list of criteria by which you would select and prioritize projects for your company. (10 Marks)
2. Who are stakeholders in a project? Describe the responsibilities of each of the following: Directors of a project, project manager, consultants and steering committee with referenceto any “metro rail project” in India. (10 Marks)
3. Assume that you are the project manager for an “Indian railways new railway line” project and the project is in the finishing stage. But, it is apparent that one of the project’s deliverables will not be completed before the project is wrapped up. a. Explain what options do you have as the project manager for the uncompleted deliverable? (5 Marks)
b. Discuss how you can use P-D-C-A cycle to control and correct the project gap.
Ethics, Governance & Risk
1. Alok, a former employee of ABC Ltd has taken the proprietary customer list of the company to his new company, XYZ Ltd. According to you what are the moral issues involved here for both ABC Ltd as well as XYZ Ltd. What are the options available to his immediate boss at XYZ Ltd when Alok offers this list. (10 Marks)
2. In this era of resources availability crisis can ethical consumerism influence/change business? Do you think ethical consumption is a moral choice? Evaluate your answer using any one ethical theory
3. Ayesha is a successful Vice President, Finance since last 3 years of a mid size FMCG company recognized as a highly motivated, committed and capable executive across the organization. When the CEO of the company meets with an accident and is paralyzed the Company Board chooses to elevate Ayesha’s Junior, Nikhil, Vice President Marketing, just one year old in the company, as the next CEO. The organization is now largely divided into 2 factions, each favoring either Ayesha or Nikhil. You are the Head of Human Resources thinking of addressing this issue of gender discrimination.
a. According to you, which 5 factors influence the attitude of an individual towards gender bias? How can this attitude be changed/ overcome? (5 Marks)
b. Analyze and evaluate any three internal processes and systems that you think would have prevented this situation from happening. (5 Marks)
Introduction to Management
Q. 1 Mr. Gopura owns a medium sized steel company. He has been managing very well. His performance appraisals are conducted through MBO method. He has staff working with him for years and seem to be very satisfied. However, since he is handling a lot of responsibilities all alone being a proprietor and cannot look into everyday things as much he would like to. Lot of his time goes into administrative responsibilities hence he decided to plan for Long Range Planning. Help Mr. Gopura to work out proper steps towards LRP.
Q. 2 Disha plastics is a small sized firm run by a small family. Mr. Gokhale and his son Saurabh are running the firm as partners. As management members of the company, both of them are very satisfied with the progress and also keep their employees satisfied and happy. The satisfaction of their employees is evident from their performances. However, Saurabh thinks, that the staff needs to be more accountable and more independent into taking decisions. So he decides to apply MBO technique on the managerial staff as a trial. In light of this case, please list down process of MBO in detail. (10 Marks)
Q. 3 Inamdar Marbles is into exports of marble sheets and related products. The company has 350 employees spread over 4 locations. While the company is in the phase of expansion, they are planning to mobilise some staff across locations along with new recruitment. For the same reason, they have to go through the process of job analysis in order to work on the effective fitment for positions. Based on this case, answer the following questions.
a. What is the purpose of job analysis apart from fitment of the candidates? Explain in detail.
b. Explain the concepts of Job description and Job specifications in relation with job analysis.
Financial Accounting
Q1. The following is the Trial Balance as on 31st March 2017 prepared by GSA Ltd. (Rs. in crores)
Particulars Debit ( ) Credit ( )
Capital 6,000
Drawings 1,000
Cash on hand 50
Cash at bank 1,250
Sales 10,000
Purchases 4,000
Loan taken on mortgage 1,000
Patents 500
Land & building 3,000
Creditors 500
Advertisement 5,000
Debtors 1,800
Rates & taxes 40
Insurance 150
Carriage inwards 260
Carriage outwards 250
Legal expenses 200
Total 17,500 17,500
However the auditors of GSA Ltd. did not approve of this trial balance. You are required to rectify and prepare the new trial balance. Justify your answer as to which errors can be detected through the trial balance.
Q2. Classify the following into revenue, capital and deferred revenue expenditure and interpret your results: (10 Marks)
1. Amortisation of Patents
2. Goodwill of another business acquired
3. Underwriting commission paid in a public issue of company’s shares
4. Loss on sale of Plant and Machinery
5. Cost of market research of a new product
6. Purchase of second-hand laptops for office use
Q3. Following are the balance sheets of Suzuki Ltd. & Honda Ltd. as on 31st March 2017 together with the additional information for the year ended on that date:
Liabilities
Suzuki Ltd.
Honda Ltd.
Assets
Suzuki Ltd.
Honda Ltd.
Equity Share
Capital
20,00,000
30,50,000
Goodwill
300,000
400,000
Reserves
50,500
60,000
Furniture
3,20,000
2,40,000
Profit & Loss
A/c
12,250
1,02,200
Plant &
Machinery
659,000
7,29,000
9% Debentures
3,50,000
2,50,000
Office premises
10,27,000
19,00,000
Bank overdraft
11,250
14,800
Stock
66,000
93,000
Sundry Creditors
36,000
58,000
Debtors
85,000
1,75,000
Provision for tax
20,000
15,000
Miscellaneous
expenses
23,000
13,000
24,80,000
35,50,000
24,80,000
35,50,000
Additional Information (Extract of Profit & Loss A/c)
Particulars Suzuki Ltd. Honda Ltd.
Sales for the year 8,40,000 10,50,000
Stock on 31st March 2016 60,000 1,07,000
Gross Profit 2,10,000 2,50,000
Administrative expenses 55,000 65,000
Selling expenses 23,000 58,000
Net profit (after tax) 85,000 87,000
Market price of Suzuki Ltd. Rs. 23 per share and Honda Rs. 28 per share. Dividend paid by Suzuki Ltd. 9.5% p.a. and Honda is 9.8% p.a.
A) Compute any three relevant ratios and comment upon the solvency and financial stability of the two companies. (5 Marks)
B) Which company would you recommend for investment? (Support your answers with the computation of any three relevant ratios). (5 Marks)
Human Resource Management
Q 1. Assume that you have joined in as an HR Manager for CELLULAR IT, a 7 year old computer software development company. In a highly competitive market and with social media interactions at its peak, explain the factors which would affect the hiring process, highlight the same with regards to the changes that are being driven in the job market due to the increase of social networking. Also suggest a plan to tackle these. (10 Marks)
Q 2. ARJAI Containers is an Indian MNC involved in the transport of large size cargo across the globe via road and sea routes. This company plans to set up new branch offices at Dubai and Singapore. As the Head of HR, what should be your role in the expansion plan of the company? List out the objectives of planning to your subordinates explaining why HR plays an important role at this stage. Give directives for an effective HR Planning process. (10 Marks)
Q 3. ‘Flora Travels’ is a travel and tours operator. Karan has been promoted from Assistant Manager HR to Manager Training and Development. He is required to analyze if the current training process is effective or not. He is also required to suggest alternative training processes to the management of ‘Flora Travels’.
a. Explain how Karan needs to proceed in order to identify the training requirement of the company personnel.
b. With reference to the role that Karan will now be playing, discuss the statement t –Karan is a ‘catalyst’ or a ‘change agent’ in the organisation? (5 Marks)
International Business
1. What do you understand by business ethics in International business. How can a firm maintain a balance and display international business ethics practices of highest order without compromising on profit maximization.
2. Can you classify Dell Vostro1740 laptop as a global product? What is the concept of a global product ? What are the different product strategies organizations can use and which strategy would you choose, say as marketing in charge at Dell.
3. A) Can a firm trade in every and all types of goods, products and services in international markets? Explain the concept of Export Restrictions. What is the difference between prohibited goods and restricted goods.
3. B) What are the common export/import documents required for those goods, products and services which are freely tradable. Why are these documents required in the first place? What are four ways to obtain export license ?
Operations Management
1. What is the need of a good facility layout planning? Select any automotive company of your choice, and do a detailed study of its facility layout.
2. Discuss the transportation methods for solving physical distribution and transportation problems. Solve the following Transportation Problem and find the total transportation Cost.
Plants / Warehouses W1 W2 W3 Supply
P1 33 26 24 550
P2 21 28 31 350
P3 25 24 29 600
Demand 400 600 500
3. In October 2005, Walmart announced plans to transform itself into one of the greenest corporations in the world. Then-CEO Lee Scott called sustainability “essential to our future success as a retailer.” The company has been especially vocal about shrinking its environmental footprint in China, its manufacturing hub. (Source: Andy Kroll, Are Walmart’s Chinese Factories as Bad as Apple’s? Mother Jones, March/April2012 issue)
a. Discuss the major environmental aspects of production and its impact.
b. What is environment protection act and how is it related to sustainability.
Organizational Theory, Structure and Design
Q 1. A large IT company is currently going through a leadership crisis. The CEO has just resigned and the dispute between the board and the CEO has left the top management team rudderless and divided. You have been appointed as the interim CEO and are tasked with getting the top leadership team in the company back on focused on the company objectives. Analyze the political environment (make reasonable assumptions) and discuss the Power Structure that would be prevalent in the company and discuss your way forward.
Q 2. Rivigo is a young start up that is establishing itself in the surface transport business. The main USP is that they promise and have successfully delivered 97% “On Time” performance and 95% “Zero Damage to Goods” to the customer. They are now looking to scale up the business and you have been made in charge of the same. Analyze the different structures that are available to you and recommend a suitable organization structure given the business requirement
Q 3. Work culture and Diversity is a critical to the new age business. Discuss the following in the context of new age business like ecommerce business or a FM radio business.
a. Discuss how will you assess the current work culture in the company
b. Discuss the approaches to Managing Diversity
Taxation_Direct_and_Indirect
Question 1
Mr. Chattur, is a citizen of Germany came to India as a tourist in the previous year 2016-17 and stayed in India for a period of 162 days. He liked the south east part of the country and decided to explore all the tourist places there so he stayed in India throughout the year 2015-16. However, in the year 2013-14, 2014-15 he visited India in two International Conferences and his period of stay was 26 days and 18 days respectively. Discuss in the light of the various applicable provisions of Income Tax Act- His residential status for AY2017-18 and the necessity to determine his residential status.
Question 2
Mr. Thakkar aged 38 years furnishes the following details with regard to his options exercised for tax planning purpose for the year ending as on 31.03.2017 a) Has taken Life insurance policy as on 30.4.2016 from Bajaj Alliance for a capital sum assured Rs.2.5 lacs, premium paid for the same Rs75000 b) Contribution made by a bearer cheque towards Public Provident Fund account of his father Rs20000 c) Paid Rs85000 to a friend towards housing loan on a property taken, the property is situated at Ratlam. d) Subscription to units of mutual fund referred under section 10(23D) for Rs130000. e) Contribution made towards Public Provident Fund account of his spouse Rs90000. He wants to know about the gross total amount which he can claim as deduction while computing his total income. Are there any provisions available under the Indian Income Tax Act for the same?If yes, then discuss how the relevant provision will be helpful, give adequate reasons supporting the answer and also calculate the amount eligible for deduction under section 80 C.
Question 3 The Assessing officer in the decided case (GE Energy Parts Inc vs. ADIT, ITAT Delhi) examined the taxability of income of GE Overseas under the Act as well as the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. He did not accept the contention of the assessee that the sale consideration was not taxable in India as the title in respect of the equipment’s was transferred outside India and the payments were also received outside India. He held that a lot of activities relating to marketing and sales took place in India. Further, the negotiations of prices also took place in India. These facts, in the opinion of the AO, were clear indicators of the GE India securing orders for GE Overseas. He further found that GE Overseas, by remotely sitting in foreign countries, could not make any sales, without the active involvement of GE India. This was held to be a business connection of GE Overseas in India in terms of section 9 of the Act. The AO, therefore, held that all the profits did not accrue or arise to the assessee in the foreign soil, but part of such profits arising in India, corresponding to the activities carried out in India, was chargeable to tax under the Act. Such income accruing or arising was held to be liable to tax as per the provisions of section 5(2) of the Act. Simply put, the AO has made out a case that the GE overseas entities were having business connection under the Act as well as permanent establishment under the DTAA in India in all the years under consideration.
(link: http://itatonline.org/archives/ge-energy-parts-inc-vs-adit-itat-delhi-permanent-establishment-entire-law-explained-on-whether-the-deputation-of-personnel-by-a-foreign-company-to-assist-the-indian-subsidiaries-in-negotiations-mark/)
a) In the context of above mentioned cases, discuss what can be the objectives and importance of framing rules with respect to taxation of a business concern which operates in more than one nation from taxation perspective?
b) Elaborate, why the assessing officer is of the contention to treat GE India as a permanent establishment in the given case?
Corporate Finance
Question 1
Lakme India is planning to launch a new product as “Lakme fair Skin Natural Mousse – Hydrating”. The company is planning to import machinery costing Rs100 lacs from Japan. The expected life of the machinery will be 10 years. The selling price per unit will be Rs 1250 and variable cost per unit will be Rs850. Further the company will have to pay Rs25lacs as fixed cost per annum. The fixed cost includes Rs10 lacs as depreciation. The company expects to sale 150000 units of the produced per year. Tax rate applicable is 50 %. The management of the company wants to know the cash flow associated with the equipment, as the CEO of the company emphasis that it is necessary to evaluate capital budgeting decisions. Do you agree? Give reasons supporting your answer and determine the cash flow generated (that is profit after tax+ depreciation) by the equipment.
Question 2
If you want to run your business smoothly, you should be capable enough to manage the working capital requirements of the business in an efficient manner. “Several companies like Dabur, Dell computers, Cadbury India realized the need of maintain an adequate level of working capital. Further they also have to identify the different types of working capital needed in their business at different points of time”. This is the statement of CEO of M-Mart Ltd who is interviewing you for the position of finance manager. Do you agree with the statement of the CEO? Give reasons and conclude the same in an effective manner.
Question 3
Miss Kavvya is a successful entrepreneur of GEMS Pharma Ltd. The entrepreneur is looking to launch a new sunscreen cream in the market at a selling price of Rs275 per unit. The fixed cost determined for producing the product is Rs55700. The variable cost of producing the product is Rs165 per unit. Miss Kavvya wants to perform the cost volume profit analysis.
a) Discuss and explain the relevant tool, formula of CVP analysis applicable in the above mentioned case and how the cost will be broken down for performing such analysis.
b) If the sales are 800 units then what will be the profit generated by the business? What would be your advice, if the fixed cost is Rs95000 instead of Rs55700?
Management Theory and Practice
Q 1. A large e-commerce company has recently broken off talks for a potential sale. The company has had infusion of fresh funds through a sale. Encouraged by the development; the company is now looking to restructure themselves. You are required to discuss various approaches to Organization Structure and suggest an appropriate approach with reasoning. (10 Marks)
Q 2. As the Manager HR in the company currently in a downturn, you realize that managers took bolder decisions when things were better. You are required to study the decision making pattern and suggest to the management an approach that could facilitate effective decision making at tough times like these. (10 Marks)
Q 3. As the Chief Mentor and Coach of the company you are required to mentor and coach the High performers of the company as part of their success plan.
a. Explain the difference between a manager and a leader. Explain with examples the different types of leaderships (minimum 2 styles) (5 Marks)
b. Explain any one of the Traditional motivational models and give them examples to discuss. (5 Marks)
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? (10 Marks)
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. (10 Marks)
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? (5 Marks)
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? (5 Marks)
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. (10 marks)
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. (10 marks)
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. (5 marks)
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. (5 marks)
Business Economics
1. Calculate the following:
Quantity
Total Fixed
Cost
Total Variable
Cost
Total
Cost
Average
Cost
Marginal
Cost
25
10
18
?
?
?
26
10
20
?
?
?
27
10
21
?
?
?
Analyse the changes in the calculated costs as quantity produced increases. (10 Marks)
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. (10 Marks)
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. (5 Marks)
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. (5 Marks)
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. (10 Marks)
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. (10 Marks)
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? (5 Marks)
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? (5 Marks)
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? (10 Marks)
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 (10 Marks)
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 (5 Marks)
b) Introduce the value system of your generation. Discuss the rest of the generations and their values? (5 Marks)
Course: 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 organisation (10 Marks)
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? (10 Marks)
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? (5 Marks)
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. (5 Marks)
Course: 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. (10 Marks)
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. (10 Marks)
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 (5 Marks)
b) How would you analyze competitor’s assumptions?
Course: 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 (10 Marks)
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.
Sales Management
1. The famous herbal company in India known for its herbal food supplements, decided to get into more specific segment of metabolic disorder viz Diabetes, they formulated herbal food supplement for Diabetic patients. As a sales director of the company how will you work on your geographical spread and what is your plan of action to reach to your target audience.
2. A well-established and famous fast food Company from Bangalore who are already well known in Indian market for their ready to cook Indian food items and masala. Now as a strategy, to expand their business they enter into ready to serve Indian breakfast food like Upma, Poha etc. in 3 minutes. According to you, does this product directly compete with famous brand of noodle, where they do talk about 3 minutes noodle or they are creating a new segment for themselves, discuss in detail.
3. One of the largest consumer electronic company in India well anchored in the urban market, realized that they have almost reached saturation in their growth in urban markets, as a strategy to trigger sales growth, they have decided to enter rural market:
a. Do you think the decision of the company was right or it is a disaster to enter rural market to trigger sales growth; give your point of view with logical reasoning?
b. As a head of Sales what will be your strategy as far as sales force deployment without affecting current coverage of urban market and without going for new recruitment for new rural market coverage.
Marketing Strategy
Q1. Shubiksha, started out as the cheapest supermarket cum superstore in town but today it has become an irrelevant brand. Lot of efforts are on to revive the same. Can you suggest some strategies for the same?
Q2. Hindustan Times has started charging for its weekend magazine Brunch as it feels it is not able to reap the benefits by giving it free of cost. This is in stark contrast to Times of India which gives at least one newspaper free with its daily paper. Can you compare these strategies? (10 Marks)
Q3. Hotstar is owned by Novi Digital Entertainment Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Star India which was launched in January 2015. But star officially launched the domain and the mobile app in February 2015, just before the ICC cricket world cup 2015. It has expanded its offering with 35,000 hours of content, spread across 8 languages from the entertainment, movie and sports channels.
Objectives of Launching Hotstar:
In India, the internet speed is a problem. So, the initial aim for the developers to make the platform to operate even at as low as 50kbps. So, great video experience on any bandwidth – even on 2G! It was developed such a way so the application can run on as many as 7,000 operating systems any screen sizes.
According to a survey, more than 78% of the 152 million Indian internet users are mobile and the average spending on mobile internet is Rs. 235 per month. So, surely Star has seen some potential in Hotstar to be a game changer. STAR INDIA is expecting that the platform will contribute around 20-25% to the overall revenue for the company in the next 4 years.
Approach/ Strategy Adopted:
In case of watching videos, everybody prefers YouTube, but in case of latest movies and television shows YouTube cannot satisfy users’ expectations. And here comes the Hotstar app. The Daily Soaps are not the only thing that you can watch on this app, it even lets you stream live telecast of nearly every international sport on your Phone that has been broadcasted on any of the Star Sports channel. With 10 million downloads in the 40 days since its launch, Star India’s mobile application Hotstar is undoubtedly the hottest digital media product today.
There are about 20,000 advertisers on television for this newly launched platform across all TV channels. Whereas there are 500,000 advertisers on digital marketing platforms. Digital media is expected to grow at 37% in 2015, compared with an average rate of 35% over the last two years, so star India will open a large scale of advertising in this country. It approaches to a larger and valuable target audience, the younger generation and those in the 25-and-above age bracket, wanting to consume content on the go.
Moreover, Hotstar has done brilliant job when it comes to optimizing the search engines. More than 12% of their visitors come from search engines like Google, Bing, MSN and Yahoo. The investment on this platform by Star stands around Rs 1,200 crore over five years.
Top Features of Hotstar:
1. You can share any content on Hotstar with your friends on Facebook & Twitter.
2. You can watch movies which are available in the library for free.
3. A lot of popular old shows like The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Khichdi & Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai are available with all episodes.
4. TV Channels (shows from which are available) include Asia net, Channel V, Life OK, MAA, Star Jalsha, Star Plus, Star Pravah, Star Utsav, Star Vijay, Star World & Suvarna.
5. You can add that video to your playlist and watch them later.
6. You can even download many shows to watch them offline.
Accomplishments:
It was launched on 1st of February and became the fastest to cross one million download marks in six days. It outdid apps like Facebook (10 months), Instagram (2.5 months) and Twitter (one year), the app has managed to achieve an average TSV (time spent per viewer) of 24 minutes a day.
According to ALEXA, Hotstar is now ranked 123 among all websites in India, and the global rank is 1997, which is improving day by day. It is the most reached online sports platform according to the Tele Web Audience Measurement system.
a. What strategies seem working for Hotstar?
b. What strategies should competitors apply to compete with Hotstar?
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’. (5 Marks)
b) Design the appropriate market entry strategies for ‘Soft & Sweet’. (5 Marks)
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. (10 Marks)
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 liabilities
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.
Consumer Behaviour
1. You must have seen several advertisements of various brands of tooth paste in TV and Print Media, while some of these brands having endorsement of Dentist, or by Indian Dental Association (IDA). Discuss the ethical aspect of the endorsement by IDA or by a Dentist and secondly discuss how will this endorsement by IDA or by a Dentist impact the decision making process of customers to buy particular brand of toothpaste. (10 Marks)
2. Top Indian MNC pharmaceutical company as their strategy to expand their business base, they decided to enter Middle Eastern countries; looking in to their specific culture in these countries, how far this culture will act as a business barrier for the pharmaceutical products. (10 Marks)
3. Once upon a time Nokia was top cell phone brand in India it was known for its best quality, however the brand lost its ground in the Indian market completely;
a. What are the major possible reasons why Nokia lost the market grip suddenly and how they could have avoided this situation? Discuss the same. (5 Marks)
b. Assume that they want to re-enter Indian market once again, in that scenarios what are your top recommendations for Re-Entry to Indian market, Product Positioning, Pricing and Distribution.
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 privileges of unpaid seller when the property in goods is transferred to the buyer. (10 Marks)
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. (10 Marks)
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’. (5 Marks)
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?
INTERNAL ASSIGNMENT APPLICABLE FOR SEPTEMBER 2017 EXAMINATION
B2B MARKETING
Q.1 Design a suitable Supply & Value Chain for any organization in the B2B category of your own choice with valid justification.
Q.2 Prepare a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Plan for any organization in B2B category of your own choice.
Q.3 Read the following Case & solve the questions given:
ABC is a leading brand of furniture in B2C segment having presence in various cities in India. ABC now plans to introduce in B2B category by launching a product line in the office furniture category. It intends to sell both Indian as well as imported furniture so as to cater to the different needs & wants of the target audience. It intends to target corporate but is not clear how to go about marketing & selling it to corporates (B2B) as ABC was always involved in selling home furniture (B2C).
Questions:
a) Suggest positioning strategies to be adopted by ABC for their new product line in B2B Category.
b) Suggest a suitable sales promotion strategy for ABC’s new product line of office furniture.
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
1. Mr. Karan plans to start a new chain of coffee shops named after popular TV show “Kofee with Karan” across India. All the stores will have Bollywood theme in it. Every store will be dedicated to one actor so that the customers should try to get in all the stores. There will be selfie booth in all stores. The company plans to give competition to Café Coffee Day, Barista, Starbucks, etc. The company hires you as a Marketing Communication head and ask you prepare a 7P’s of Marketing Mix for the store.
2. The “Koffee with Karan” is the new Bollywood concept store and wants to aggressively get the market share. The company plans to use sales promotion techniques to get the customer to the store. You have been asked to decide at least five sales promotion technique for the “Koffee with Karan” Outlets.
3. Answer the following:
a) The store “Koffee with Karan” wants to make its presence felt in Online Marketing. You have been asked to suggest five online activities that you will do for the outlet.
b) The store “Koffee with Karan” plans to open five stores in the International Market. You have been asked to prepare the list of challenges that the company will face in the International Market.
INTERNATIONAL HR PRACTICES
Q.1) You are an HR Manager of a leading Information Technology firm from India serving the international clients. You have an ongoing project in UK wherein it is found that 20% of expatriates from India are underperforming. You are asked to give explanation for the same. Give possible reasons for the failure of Expatriates.
Q.2) Your Company is into automobile sector manufacturing two-wheelers in Indonesia. Recently, the Indonesian Government brought changes in its FDI policy which forced the automobile company to send 40 % of its Indian workers working in Indonesia back to India. The company does not have a formal repatriation process in place. You are asked to put a formal repatriation process in place.
Q.3) ABC Ltd is an MNC from India specializing into Biotechnology sector. After its successful operations in European market, it is planning to expand in North America and Asia. Currently, it has an employee strength of 1000. It is planning to start units in above regions with an initial employee base of 100. At this juncture, identifying different HRM issues in these areas becomes essential. In this light, answer following two questions.
a) Which HRM issues in North America are relevant to your company?
b) Which HRM issues in Asia are relevant to your company?
E-COMMERCE AND CYBER LAWS
Q1. With the boom of E-commerce, there has been huge explosion of payment systems to cater the E-Commerce ecosystem. What do you understand by electronic payment systems? List out two payment systems along with the risks involved in each these payment systems. Provide examples to support your answer. Do consumers easily adopt online payment systems?
Q2. B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) are two different lines of business ecosystem. Elaborate with five examples each on how B2B is different from B2C.
Q3. “Ransomware” is the most recent cybercrime attack that has gripped the world. Over the last few days, the global ransomware attack WannaCry infected computers running on older versions of Microsoft operating systems like XP, locking access to files.
a. What are the different types of cyber-attacks? Describe two instances where such large scale cyber-attacks have taken place and have caused mayhem and destruction.
b. Elaborate on the steps being taken by governmental agencies to control these cyberattacks.
Global Retailing
1. Entry Strategy in Global Retail Market differ from Country to Country and from Market to Market. If you are an Executive Director of a Global Company which produces Formal Leather Shoes- how will your retailing strategy differ in Countries like Nigeria, Germany and Dubai? You have to explain your answer looking into these specific markets, market segmentation and specific target audience.
2. It is estimated that global retail ecommerce will reach US$ 4 Trillion by 2020, recently many new global retailers have shown tremendous growth within last 3-4 years. What is your opinion of about the growth factor of e-commerce in recent time? Secondly if your company also decide to launch their products, of electronic equipment’s, thru e-commerce, what challenges will you face while competing in the market? Why do you think that it is important to be a part of ecommerce if you have to survive and grow in Global Retailing?
3. The growth of Global Retail industry will remain around 15% till 2021 mainly driven by Asia Pacific Sector including India. Keeping in mind the Indian Consumer-critically evaluate this growth on the following two parameters with suitable examples.
a. Customer looking for convenience and buying online.
b. Consumer being more quality and price conscious and ready to go for best bargain/offer.
Manpower Planning, Recruitment & Selection
Question 1: Kiara has joined Manpower Ltd. as Management trainee in HR department. This is her first job as she freshly graduates from a business school. She has all her theoretical concepts in place which she has learnt but is not able to implement the same when it comes to its application in a business scenario. Mitali, her mentor observes the same and requests the management to send Kiara for on the job training. Discuss any two on the job training method which would prove beneficial for Kiara?
Question 2: Akshara works in Illuminati Ltd as Asst. Manager in marketing department. Off late the work pressure has increased tremendously which has stressed Akshara and can be observed in her behaviour. It’s not only single case of Akshara but the entire workforce of Illuminati Ltd seems to be stressed which is observable through high absenteeism and turnover. The top management wants to make the workforce happy and satisfied by giving them better quality of work life. Discuss the components of quality of work life which would help Akshara and her likes to maintain a good work life balance?
Question 3: Ajit graduated as Software Engineer from a reputed university. He got placed in a top E-commerce company through his campus placement. Within six months of corporate experience he resigned from his services and prepared a blueprint for his own start-up. He explained to his friend Aditi that he could not work under someone’s orders and wanted to explore his own capabilities? He wanted to see his own business grow.
3 a) What is Ajit’s career anchor in the above scenario? Explain.
3 b) If Ajit wanted to continue working with this organisation and achieve more and more targets or goals then what would have been his career anchor? Discuss.
Compensation and Benefits
Q.1) Your Company, a technology start-up in the area of telecommunication services, has decided to formulate compensation strategies. Before penning down the strategies, the HR Manager considers it necessary to identify factors that influence the compensation strategies. You, as an employee of HR Department, are assigned this task of identifying these factors.
Q.2) Your Company is diversifying into online retail business and HR Department is busy dealing with compensation challenges. HR Department has decided to conduct the Wage Survey in order to determine the compensation system for the organization. You are given the task of suggesting the type of survey suitable for your organization. In this light, identify different types of wage surveys and recommend a type for your organization.
Q.3) ABC Ltd is a newly incorporated company in financial services sector. They are a company providing consultancy to other companies in the area of financial planning for the employees in that respective organization. They are into their third year of operations and have a strength of 75 employees and their target market is Mumbai region with no sector specific segmentation. You are working as an HR Manager in ABC Ltd and you are supposed to solve following problems:
a) ABC Ltd is yet to provide to its employees legally required benefits. As an HR Manager, you are supposed to list the legally required benefits for employees in ABC Ltd.
b) Company is also considering the option of providing fringe benefits to its employees. You are supposed to suggest the fringe benefits that your company can provide to its employees.
Performance Management System
Q1) Radha is a First Time Manager and has recently joined Aakash Industries which is a motor manufacturing company. In her earlier company there was no performance management process. Radha is not entirely sure of the relevance of Performance Management and its need. Assume you are coaching Radha. How will you convince her on the need for Performance Management and on the objectives of the same.
Q2) Shyam is the HR Manager of Nashikant Technologies. The company employees over 500 software professionals. Employees have to constantly collaborate and work across different geographies. There are sometimes constant friction between employees. Shyam is thinking of setting up a coaching and mentoring program. How should Shyam go about setting up a coaching and mentoring program?
Q 3) Big Bag Industries is in the retail business focusing primarily on apparels (men, women and children) The company has been in existence since 2012. The company is in the process of exploring introduction of the Balanced Score Card. Vasanti, the HR Head at Big Bag Industries is leading this exercise.
a) How should Vasanti go about the process of building a Balanced Score Card?
b) Explain to Vasanti the purpose of the Balanced Score Card
Industrial Relations and Labour Laws
1. PQR is a sugar manufacturing factory situated at a remote village in Ahmednagar. The factory buys sugarcane for the nearby villagers and sells the sugar manufactured, to the wholesalers at Pune. Male, female and children from the nearby villages are employed to work in the factory. Since the factory is situated at a remote area the basic health, safety and welfare provisions that should be provided to the employees are not available. The female employees were made to work overtime. The children had to work on and near dangerous machines. The employees were not paid overtime wages and were also not given the requisite holidays. Last month a group from an NGO visited the factory and after analyzing the condition suggested that the employees form a trade union under the provision of the Trade Unions Act. Analyze the situation and relate it with the different functions of a trade union.
2. A company permitted the employees to take 75 holidays in a year. Due to financial problems the management decided to cut down the holidays to 60 per year. The employees were unhappy with the decision and approached the Trade Union. The employees got together and decided to raise the issue with the management. Since all the employees were against the decision, the management was compelled to reach to a bargaining situation. At the end it was decided that the employees will be given holidays for 60 days only. But to compensate for the cancelled holidays, the management will pay each employee wages for 20 days in the month of December. What were the different functions taken that led to a successful collective bargaining?
3. Mrs. Payal is an employee, with a software company. She is employed as a system administrator. Along with her, two more colleagues David and Manisha are employed in the company at the same position. Mrs. Payal goes on a maternity leave for a period of 12 weeks. Before going on leave she had completed her assignments and no work was pending. During her leave, David and Manisha coped with the work and therefore the manager did not feel the need to appoint a temporary employee in Payal's place. Also in her absence the business did fairly well and there was no instance which required her presence. Now, Payal is completing her 12 weeks of maternity leave and is about to return to work. But the manager now feels that the office can cope without her and not hiring her back will also save company’s some money.
a) What would be your advice to the manager?
b) What remedies does Payal have?
Strategic HRM
1. IT companies are yet again facing uncertainty over global crises. This time it is driven by protectionist policies of countries who are their major customers. While the industry had built additional capacities in anticipation of growth from various geographies, the changed circumstances have forced them to re-look at their Business strategy. Your company, as part of their strategy to deal with this change has decided to rely more on technologies that facilitate remote operations and Artificial Intelligence there by reducing the need to travel. This means that new skill sets will be required. However, keeping in mind the business uncertainty it was decided that a strategic Downsizing shall be undertaken. You are made responsible and are required to complete the activity in the next 3 months. The management needs you to make a presentation detailing the plan and the thought behind.
2. Spice Jet is currently experiencing a major turnaround in its fortunes, largely due to the Top Management leadership. As part of its strategy to increase revenue per passenger in its international flights, it has taken a cost leadership approach. You are the head of HR, discuss your options and plans for integrating the HR strategy with corporate strategy.
3. Trinity Restaurants is a growing chain of fine dining restaurants. The Business is such that not just the food quality, but the customer experience is of paramount importance.
a. You realized that there needs to be more structured training on various subjects for the employees. How will you justify the time, effort and cost to the management to get them to agree to your plan.
b. Discuss the strategic issues of,
i. Skills Development
ii. Employee Turnover &
iii. Safe Working Culture. On industrial relations.
Organisation Culture
Question 1: Princess Apparels is an organisation where ethics represents the honest and developmental codes of conduct that every employee associated with them must oblige. Here the ethical culture aids to deter negligence, dishonesty and deception. Ethical culture has helped Princess Apparels to grow in a very organic and holistic way. The organisation puts emphasis on the employees to abide by the norms of conduct and even reward them. Discuss the practices which Princess apparels must be following to create ethical organisation culture?
Question 2: Developing an innovative culture has become a necessary element for the survival of any organisation, in order to have a competitive advantage one must nurture innovativeness. Consider any organisation of your choice which you think has a very innovative culture. Discuss the characteristics of an organisation with innovative culture specially focusing on the organisation which you have taken into consideration.
Question 3: Gaurav has recently joined a Multi-National Organisation as the Chief Human Resource Officer. It is observed by Gaurav that all the department in the organisation operate in silos. He also noticed that the culture of the organisation is such that interdepartmental communication is very less and only need based. He wants to bring some change in the prevailing culture which will help the departments to become close knitted.
A). How can Gaurav bring such kind of change in the organisation?
B). As we all know that communication is a key to success in personal and professional life, in the above case what role can it (communication) play to bring a change in the organisation?
Employee Development and Talent Management
1. Demonetarization in India surged demand for manpower especially in Banks. Public sector banks made use of their former employees to overcome this crisis. Which Internal Assignment Applicable for September 2017 Examination other techniques of internal acquisition could banks come up with to ensure smooth supply of manpower and help build conducive work environment?
2. P & T a joint venture between Patson & Toney 2007 was founded as a big name in Chips provided to phones, tablets and other such devices. Despite the overall industry growing at 30% P&T was stuck at just 10%. The top management tried hard to understand why. They finally groped in external consultants called as AB Brothers to bring out the reasons and find solution. AB Brothers found that some needed flexible timings work from home options, some needed gym while others were looking for sabbaticals so that they could cater to their family and get back fresh to work. The given suggestions were worked upon. Employees were seen to be happy and employees stayed with the organisation for long. The organisation culture improved. Do you think such initiatives are just a cost to the company and do not materialise in much benefits for the organisation. Justify your answer based on the case.
3. Aeroline, a no-frills air carrier wanted to revamp its staff uniform. They asked their internal employees to give in their names to work towards this. Of the many who offered to rope in management zeroed down on 45 employees. This team met twice a month and worked for more than 18 months to bring out a uniform which was not only cost effective, could be washed by machine and customised to the flight usage for all staff. The management was very pleased with the outcome. Not only did the uniform boost the morale of employees but also brought out what was the true spirit of the employees. This definitely worked much better than hiring someone from Outside.
a) What do you think could be real reason for the management of Aerolines to ask employees to work on their uniforms?
b) Think about other ways in which employees could be motivated in the organisation like Aeroline.
HR Audit
Q.1. XYZ Training Ltd. was established in 2009. It is observed that after every employee after working in the organization for 8-10 months either start taking sick leaves or are absent without giving any relevant reason and in a span of a year they leave the organization. The management is surprised and are trying to find out the reason behind such turnover. Help the management in conducting relevant audit to find out the actual reasons for absenteeism.
Q.2. Shri. Mishra, is an owner of 'Cacophony'- An Ecotel Hotel at Patna. He believes that 'Training makes people perfect'. However, he observed that his staff even after getting trained for a month, is not able to perform as per set standards. He is confused and needs your help in finding the root cause. Guide him for conducting the relevant audit.
Q.3. Mr. Nandan is a Sr. Manager - Accounts with Car Tex Ltd. Very often, Mr. Nandan used to stay back after working hours for completing the work. On 24th March, Mr. Nandan was in the office till 3 a.m., since it was year ending. Unfortunately, he was attacked by robbers on that night and was left with broken leg. In the morning it was found that Rs.2 lakhs were robbed by the robbers. Mr. Nandan had filed a claim for compensation which the management denied as this tragedy took place after working hours. Answer the following:
a) According to you, Mr. Nandan or the management is right? Give reasons.
b) How would you conduct an audit of the compensation measures of the company.
MARKETING RESEARCH
Q.1. A questionnaire is a very important tool for any Survey process. Assuming a research process to take customer opinions on the launch of a "New Restaurant", What are the features/characteristics to be kept in mind to design a good questionnaire? How can any Researcher cope up with a scenario of a respondent unwilling to respond to a particular set of questions? (10 Marks)
Q.2. It is very difficult to understand and evaluate the consumer preferences (Attitude) for any Market Research process. Keeping this difficulty in mind, discuss the various Attitude Measuring techniques that would be used during a Marketing Research process undertaken by a leading Clothing Brand (assume a brand) to measure and evaluate consumer attitudes while shopping for clothes for the entire family. (10 Marks)
Q.3. An MNC, an already established name in the global scenario, is planning to launch 2 new models of its mobile phone brand in India. The organization needs suggestion the following
a. Suggest a few New product development techniques and ways to Test Market its product in a few cities (5 Marks)
b. The organization also wants to evaluate the use of Social Media and E-commerce sites to market its products. Give your suggestions for the same. (5 Marks)
ORGANISATIONAL THEORY, STRUCTURE AND DESIGN
1. Ajay is working in Halotrics Ltd. He is very innovative and always challenges opinions of others. For that reason he has been a part of lots of conflict at his workplace. As it is said that conflict is a necessary evil in an organisation. Ajay has been counselled by his friend Karan that he should not get involved in so many conflicts to which he (Ajay) answered that an organisation will become boring monotonous if every employee is working in a very harmonious way where no one ever gets into an argument. Such organisation would not even thrive well because there would not be any creativity. Karan agrees to it but he also explains Ajay that as every coin has its flip side so does conflict. If the conflict crosses the threshold and hampers the daily routine of the workplace activities then it is alarming. It has to be controlled and managed. Ajay then contemplates over it and agrees to what Karan explained. Discuss the different conflict management techniques. Also, give your view point on conflict control and management. (10 Marks)
2. An industry is a set of organisations delivering similar products or services. Before entering any market the organisations must analyse the industry in which they will operate. Choose any organisation from FMCG industry and perform an industry analysis by adopting Porter’s Five Forces model. (10 Marks)
3. Khadi Cloak Ltd. is an organisation which gradually grew from a humble family owned business. With the hard work and dedication it has reached to the total capacity of 600 employees. It has been noticed that the organisation is not able to function effortlessly as there is no effective structure. Since the organisation grew manifolds it kept hiring more employees but then none of them have a role clarity. The biggest problem for Khadi Cloak Ltd. right now is that it does not have a proper hierarchical system
a. Discuss the organisational structure which according to you will best suit an organisation like Khali Cloak Ltd. (5 Marks)
b. What would be the different elements of organisational structure which Khadi cloak should consider?
TREASURY MANAGEMENT IN BANKING
Q1: Sneha had just completed her MBA and was placed in a bank. She was appointed to manage the foreign exchange department. Her manager had asked to prepare a short report on various exposures she would be facing while handling foreign exchange transactions. Help her to prepare the report keeping in mind key exposures. (10 Marks)
Q2: ABC Ltd had recently made fresh recruitments for the position of Treasurer and Controller. If you are their reporting manager, prepare a report of their job responsibilities, keeping in mind they have completed their post graduation in Finance. (10 Marks)
Q3: The manager of a bank wants to analyse the post effects of increasing the interest rate from 6% to 7% on the value of assets and liabilities. The current asset value of the bank is 250 lacs and the current liability value is 240 lacs. Average duration of assets is 4.2 and average duration of liabilities is 1.1. Calculate the change in the value of:
a) Assets (5 Marks)
b) Liabilities (5 Marks)
INTERNATIONAL FINANCE
1. The present price of USD is 64 times of INR, why the rate of USD is so high? What are the methods of calculating the rates?
2. Mr. Kamat is the head of Finance Department in QZ Export, Company exported goods $ 1,50,000 to US base Company XM Ltd. On 2nd March 2017. XM Ltd promised to pay on 4th June 2017. What are the different types of Risk in above transaction? And how Mr. Kamat can minimize it? (10 Marks)
3. The major purpose behind ‘Make in India’ initiative is job creation and skill enhancement in all the major sectors of the economy. In September 2014, the government increased the foreign investment upper limit with an aim to promote India as an important investment destination and a global hub for manufacturing, design and innovation. In 2013, India was ranked 15th in terms of FDI inflow, it rose up to 9th position in 2014, and in 2015 India overtook the U.S and China as the top destination for foreign direct investment. The success in FDI for India in such a short span is worth applauding. Looking at the statistics, FDI during October 2014 and May 2016 grew 46 per cent from $42.31 to $61.58 billion after the launch of ‘Make in India’ campaign. Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Unites States accounts for major share of FDI inflows in India.The government of India is taking various measures like opening FDI in various sectors of the economy and improving ease of doing business. Agriculture, Civil Aviation, Courier Service, Defense, Education, Pharma, Railway, Telecom, Tourism, Food products are some sectors under the ‘Make in India’ initiative where 100 per cent FDI is permitted. Sectors that attract maximum FDI include services, trading, automobile, and power. The state-wise analysis shows Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh together attracted more than 70% of total FDI. The government has approved more than 259 proposals for setting up special economic zones relating to IT sector. Source: Business World
Q3. A. How Make in India and Foreign Direct Investment are related? What are the reasons behind increase in FDI in India? (5 Marks)
Q3. B. Why some political parties are against FDI? What will the negative impact of FDI on future of India? (5 Marks)
World Class Operations
Q1: The Mumbai Dabbawalas have achieved Six Sigma Quality in Customer Service Excellence. What do you understand by Six Sigma Quality in Customer Service Excellence? Briefly explain the features of Six Sigma Quality in Customer Service Excellence. (10 Marks)
Q2: "TPM is a maintenance philosophy aimed at eliminating production losses due to equipment status." As an operations Manager, how can you implement TPM in your firm? (10 Marks)
Q3a: "To achieve world class standards in operations, an increasing number of firms are adopting the best tools and practices with the aim of maximizing production, reducing costs, eliminating waste and delivering quality products." How far do you agree with this statement? Give a suitable example in support of your answer by selecting a firm from the Indian automobile industry. (5 Marks)
Q3b: Select a firm of your choice from the Indian fast moving consumer durables industry and briefly explain how the firm has successfully implemented the principles of World Class Manufacturing. (5 Marks)
Project management
1. Recently you have been appointed as an external Project Management Consultant for the Mumbai Monorail Phase 2 implementation which has been delayed several times & has missed deadlines. What are the key areas that you will focus around to bring the project back on track & launch it successfully? (10 Marks)
2. You have recently taken over as CEO of a rival firm of L&T namely X&Y. Your organization is as large as L&T & is involved in several engineering & infrastructure projects both in India & abroad. The Project Structure of your organization is that of a Functional type. Would you suggest to go ahead by proposing to change the Functional Structure to that of a Matrix One? Justify with reasons whether you will proceed ahead with this change or you will refrain from making this change. (10 Marks)
3. You are the Plant Head of an automotive plant headquartered in Gurgaon & have been recently tasked with identifying a 2nd plant location for expansion of your plant.
a. What steps or factors will you undertake/consider whilst choosing a new plant location in India? (5 Marks)
b. What steps will you undertake to assess the economic viability of this expansion project of your automotive plant?
Services marketing
Q.1 Patanjali is in the process of setting up restaurant chain. Suggest suitable Elements of Physical Evidence during the launch of restaurants.
Q.2 Prepare a Service Blue print with a diagram for any brand in the banking industry
Q.3 Read the following Case & solve the questions given:
‘Strides’ is a leading shoe store in South Mumbai. The products are slightly high priced & in addition to the up market clientele, they also have a huge customer base of middle income group who are attracted to the products because of their superior quality & durability. The products range from office going & party wear to casual foot ware for both men & women. The store also has an entire section for kids. Excellent service & quality products has made ‘Strides’ one of the most reputed shoe store in the locality. The management of the store has been planning to venture into an allied business of a ‘Shoe Laundry’ but is doubtful about its success in the market where the concept is relatively new. Repairing of shoes is basically done at the local corner cobbler & in such a situation ‘Shoe Laundry’ will be a concept that would have to be explained to the people. The service would include professional cleaning, washing, airing & repairing of shoes. The management wants to hire an outside agency to find the feasibility of such a venture. They would also like to find the profile of the consumers who will try out for such a service.
You are the director of the market research firm that has been selected to undertake the study.
Questions:
1) In your opinion, what strategy should Strides adopt? Should it go for ‘Shoe Laundry’ or expand ‘Strides’?
2) What should be the strategy, if ‘Strides’ wants to expand?
Brand Management
Case Study:
1. A company has launched a new cola drink “Fresh Cola” in the Indian Market. The main feature of Fresh cola is that it has the least amount of calories in it. The company is facing a tough competition from Pepsi and Coke. The company hires you as a brand strategist and ask you to find out various positioning strategies and recommend the best positioning for the Brand “Fresh Cola”.
2. Brand Ambassador plays an important role in creation of a Brand. Company has asked you to suggest five brand ambassadors for “Fresh Cola”. Introduce the importance of Brand Ambassador and your selection of five Brand ambassador for “Fresh Cola” with reason.
3. A) Every company tries to take advantage of Brand Extension. Assume “Fresh cola” becomes a top brand in the Indian Market. You have been asked to identify and explain various types of extension and suggest one extension that would go well with the Brand “Fresh Cola”.
3. B) Assume you are planning to buy a new mobile for yourself. You are now confused with the problem of plenty of choices. Explain the various stages of Consumer decision making process that you will undergo to purchase the mobile of your choice.
Business Ethics : Governance & Risk
1. The New Companies Act of 2013 introduced conditional CSR spend of 2 percent – a first of its kind mandate globally. You have been retained as a CSR consultant by Acumen Logistics Services, a company providing cold storage & transport services. Which according to you will be the two or three appropriate CSR initiatives for them from schedule VII and what will be your recommendation/plan on how they should implement them? (10 Marks)
2. In the parking lots of Bangalore, it is a common sight to see provisions made to recharge the car batteries of Reva, the electric car. The way it works is quietly making sense to the customers. Elaborate on the ethical and sustainable dimensions of manufacturing and marketing such a product in a country like India (10 Marks)
3. Are you aware that you are being tracked and watched while you are surfing the net. The advertisers observe your surfing behavior and accordingly target their ads at you. You end up exposing your supposed needs unawares as someone is stealing data about your online surfing patterns. This kind of tracking and placing ads in the surfer’s path is known as contextual targeting.
a. What is the inherent moral issue here? Why is it an issue? What does law say about it. (5 Marks)
b. Marketer’s say prohibition of tracking takes away the marketer’s legitimate right to study consumer behavior. Which side do you agree with and what are your reasons for doing so?
Cost and Management Accounting Question
1 You are the CEO of Patta Noodles Ltd and want to appoint Mr. Milind as management accountant so there can be adequate coordination between accounts, finance and management functions. Please brief him about his responsibilities and the necessary qualities which he should reflect as a management accountant so as to enable him to sincerely perform the job.
Question 2 Nokia recently launched N3310 model. The company is quite optimistic to continue with producing NOKIA 3310 in the near future. The management of the company prudently takes all decisions and they are analyzing their decision to continue to manufacture the product. As an accountant discusses the necessary factors the management should analyze in order to continue or to shut down any production operation. .
Question 3 a) Calculate total earning as per Emerson’s plan- • Standard output in 5 hours = 30 units • Actual output in 5 hours = 27 units • Actual rate paid for each hour = Rs 50 per hour b) Calculate the earnings and bonus as per Rowan’s plan • Standard time allocated to complete job = 10 hours • Wage rate per hour = Rs 50 • Actual time taken to complete the job = 8 hours
Corporate Finance Question
1 TATA Steels is looking forward for entering into a joint venture with United States Steel Corporation in USA. The company is planning to access funds from the international market. Discuss • Meaning of the overseas sources of finance • Why the company wants to raise fund from international market? • Methods which can be employed by the company to raise fund from the international market. • Is it advisable that company should go for Sourcing equity globally?
Question 2 LIMBDI Ltd started a chain of hotels with “profit maximization” as the basic financial objective and TEBDI Ltd started with a portfolio management company with the basic objective as “wealth maximization”. In light of the relevant concepts of financial management give your opinion on “which company will surely survive in long run” and why?
Question 3 Kabra Motors is considering a proposal to install new machine. The initial capital outflow will be 15 lacs. The expected cost of capital is 12 %. The expected cash inflows from the operations will be as under –
YEAR
CASH INFLOWS
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
5
a) Calculate the NPV of the proposal. And give your opinion whether to accept or reject the proposal.
b) Calculate the profitability index and give your opinion whether to accept or reject the proposal.
Consumer Behavior
1. Kellogg launched cornflakes as a breakfast food in Indian market, they were not able to penetrate the Indian market effectively, explain what could be the main reason for not able to penetrate Indian breakfast segment effectively, and they made certain changes in product positioning, what are the changes incorporated by them.
2. One of the European company engaged in the manufacture of highly specialized artificial nose (Electronic Smell Sensor), which has varied application in various industries, however they are planning to find out the market opportunity for their product in the food segment in India. Prepare a detailed questionnaire keeping in mind food Industry in mind (Example – Fast food chains to identify quality of the food etc.).
3. An International company that is very well-known for Perfume brands in both the categories of men and women. The company has their own manufacturing unit and marketing team. a. Discuss the market entry strategy from the point of Indian culture. b. Make steps you will consider pre-launch- explain each step logically.
Capital Market and Portfolio Management
1. Mr. Shabd Kumar has to make a choice of investment between the two stocks, namely A and B. The possible returns with the associated probabilities of their occurrence for both stock A and B have been provided in the Table given below. Based on the data provided in Table which stock he should choose to invest in?
STOCK A
STOCK B
PROBABILITY
RETURN
PROBABILITY
RETURN
10%
-10%
35%
15%
15%
0%
25%
10%
20%
5%
20%
20%
25%
25%
10%
-10%
30%
15%
10%
25%
2. Mr. Saran Kumar, aged 35, is employed with Mumbai University as a Lecturer in the English Department. He is the sole earning member of his family. He stays in a joint family with his parents, his wife and two children aged 5 years and 2 years. He has been deploying his savings in primarily in bank fixed deposits and other tax savings instruments such as Public Provident Fund (PPF) etc. However, he is not sure that whether his savings would be adequate to meet future financial needs of his family or not. His friends have been suggesting him to invest in stock market and have been giving him tips also for specific stocks. Mr. Saran is reluctant to follow his friends’ advice as his uncle had lost significant amount of money in the stock market around 10 years back. Not only his uncle had to sell off his house and his wife’s jewelry to compensate for the loss incurred but the whole family had also faced loss of reputation with relatives and friends. Torn between the choice of losing money in the stock market or ending up with insufficient savings to meet his future needs and exigencies, he decides to seek professional help to solve his problem. He approaches his bank manager for his advice. The bank manager directs him to you for further discussions. You are employed in the Wealth Management Department of the bank. The department’ role is to advise the bank’s client and offer tailor -made solutions with respect to the client’s investment needs. Discuss how should I go about investing my savings? Is there a way that I make enough money without losing may savings? If yes, how? Provide your rationale for the same.
3. Historical price of Stock A and the closing level of a Market Index is provided in the Table given below.
AS ON DECEMBER 31
PRICE OF STOCK A
CLOSING LEVEL OF THE MARKET INDEX
2000
23
1264
2001
22
1059
2002
40
1094
2003
114
1880
2004
128
2081
2005
139
2837
2006
113
3966
2007
199
6139
2008
106
2959
2009
153
5201
2010
171
6135
2011
127
4624
2012
135
5905
2013
107
6304
2014
166
8283
2015
214
7946
2016
325
8186
a) Calculate Beta of the stock A.
b) The Table given below gives the expected market index values for 31 December 2017 and the associated probabilities of occurrence for the same.
PROBABILITY
CLOSING LEVEL OF THE MARKET INDEX
10%
7500
15%
8000
20%
8500
25%
10000
30%
9000
Customer Relationship Management
Q1. With the advent of Jio in the market, the telecom industry has gone for a complete shake up. In trying to match up to the rising competition and falling margins, companies have been left with no breathing space. In this entire mess, Vodafone is facing a problem of a different kind, i.e. rising customer complaints. With the price war and the ever increasing employee turnover rate, it is unable to satisfy its customers. Can you guide them with steps to improve the situation? (10 Marks)
Q2. Haldirams, the country’s biggest QSR brand has recently felt the need to implement CRM seeing the ever increasing competition and in order to preserve its market share. But being a homegrown traditional company it does not understand the factors it needs to keep in mind for its successful implementation and also the potholes it needs to avoid. Can you as a consultant guide them on the same? (10 Marks)
Q3. Read and Analyze the below given case and answer the questions at the end of it Customer-centricity simply speaking means bringing customers at the centre of the enterprise and aligning strategies, decisions and actions to deepen this relationship with them over a period of time. Aligning strategies, decision and actions includes products, distribution, behaviour, business models, talent acquisition and so.
Deepening relationship is about increasing share of wallet and doing repeat business with the company. This holds true whether you are a MSME, SME or large corporate. However, a journey of customer-centricity is easier said than done. For MSME owners, to understand this journey, we must first put in place the foundational elements called the AUDI of customer-centricity: Align Understand, Define and Inventorise.
A = Align for commitment
Alignment commences with the CEO and top management coming together and deciding to bring customer-centricity from the periphery of an enterprise to being a strategic-choice for achieving the company's vision.
U = Understand the Customer Value Proposition
Do you know your customer value proposition? It is not just about the physical attributes or the specifications or what is before your eyes. It is the finer details that connect a product with the customers. A customer value proposition should clarify the benefits that consumers can expect from a product.
D = Define what is the Service Intent
One thing that organizations often struggle with is lack of clarity on what the customer should experience while using the product. Service intent is a short definition of what customers would experience while interacting with the organization across touch-points. It is a statement that stipulates what experience would be delivered to customers.
I = Inventorise initiatives that matter
Once the leadership alignment is in place and there is clarity on customer value proposition and the service intent, the top management in participation with employees should come up with a laundry list of initiatives that would need to be deployed.
1. Do you think this concept of AUDI stands relevant in the SME sector? Explain with the help of an example? (5 Marks)
2. SME’s in India do not understand CRM and how can it guide them in building loyalty. Can you guide them on the same?
International Marketing
1. EPRG Framework is considered as one of the most established Strategies in International Marketing. If you are heading a Multiproduct company in South American Market-what strategy will be adopted by you and why? Elaborate your answer with 2 suitable product examples.
2. Exchange Rate fluctuation of currencies is one of the biggest challenge in International Marketing? As an Export Head what strategy would you adopt to counter it and secondly which will be the best way to grow in such volatile markets? You can take any product/market of your choice to explain your viewpoint.
3. As a new Export Manager your company got a huge order of Basmati Rice from Middle East to be delivered in 11 months. What measures will you take regarding the basmati rice order for:
A. Export Quality Control and Export Incentives.
B. Different documentation and approval required.
International Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Q1) How can you relate value creation and demand synchronizing to Supply Chain Management. Relate this to challenges faced by an auto ancillary company (which supplies precision engine parts to a car manufacturer on JIT basis) in framing and executing their overall supply chain objectives. (10 Marks)
Q2) Explain how you will apply the concept of vendor management, asset management and lean supply chain management to a food franchisee company. (10 Marks)
Q3) JSRK Omni is an Indian company which manufactures mobile hand sets. They procure some parts of the handset from Taiwan.
a. State and give examples of the different primary and secondary value chain activities of this firm. (5 Marks)
b. Enlist four inter related ways how your global supply chain management plan can contribute to value addition.
International Business
Q1) Enlist at least five strategic advantages of International trade and explain how has Apple Inc. leveraged each of these to become one of the world’s leading global company. What are some of the disadvantages of international trade they would have faced in reaching this position.
Q2) What are the forces that drive globalization. What do you understand by disadvantages of globalisation and what are the options available to the government of a particular country which is signatory to WTO and supports Laissez Faire approach, in containing these challenges.
Q3) Michael Porters diamond theory of national advantage states that the success of an organisation in international markets depends on the features of the home country.
a) State the various determinants of the theory and also state who plays the role of a catalyst in unifying and integrating the determinants together.
b) Apply the theory to the Indian software industry, giving your recommendations.
International Banking and Foreign Exchange Management
Q1. Xlone Ltd is an Indian company planning to raise capital from US market. If you are the head of finance department of the Xlone Ltd suggest them various ways to do so? If company doesn’t want to list in US stock market, than how company can generate fund in USD? What are the Challenges for the same?
Q2. 1991 is the year of transformation for economy of India; LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization) policy opened the door for many foreign companies in Indian Market. In context to LPG there were many amendments in foreign exchange act. Please explain the same and compare that with the law before LPG.
Q3. FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank is adding half a trillion euros ($579 billion) in stimulus to the eurozone economy as it hopes to support growth as Europe heads into what could be a tumultuous election year. The chief monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro said Thursday it would keep injecting money into the economy through its bond-buying program until at least December, past the previous end date of March. It will reduce the amount of bonds it buys after March to 60 billion euros ($64 billion) a month from 80 billion euros. That effectively adds at least 540 billion euros in stimulus to the existing 1.74 billion ($1.87 trillion) effort. That's slightly more than expected by analysts, who on average thought the ECB would extend for only six months at the same current rate. SOURCE: Economic Times
a. Why the European Central Bank is injecting the money in the Economy?
b. How monetary policy and Export Policy are related? What is the role of Balance of Payment to improve the employment in the nation?
Insurance & Risk Management
Q.1) Mr.ABC is a 25 year old working professional & is interested in exploring an annuity plan that can take care of his pre-tax money which he can also disclose to the IT dept whilst filing his IT return. As an Insurance advisor, which type of annuity plan would you suggest to him & why? Name some of the existing annuity plans being provided by service providers in India. Also chart out an investment based annuity plan for Mr.ABC.
Q.2) India has one of the lowest Insurance penetration rates in the world. Given this fact, if you were to take over as the CEO of a brand new private sector Insurance company by the name of “WeCare Insurance” that has commenced operations, elaborate on the strategy & steps that you would undertake to help increase Insurance penetration & also of your firm’s Insurance product suite namely between ANY TWO of the following provided options i) Health Insurance, ii) Life Insurance, iii) Property: Home Insurance & iv) Motor Vehicle Insurance?
Q.3) “Boilers India Ltd”, a well established company into the manufacturing of Boilers & Boiler related equipment located at Pune had covered their commercial property under Commercial Property Insurance coverage during the year 2010. During 2016, owing to an electrical disturbance, there was a major fire within the plant premise leading to a near total damage of all their 3 Boiler equipment machinery.
A) As an adjuster of the Insurance Company, you are tasked with providing the full claim amount as refund for fire damage caused by electrical disturbance towards the value of the 3 Boiler equipment machinery damaged. Explain your process to assess & verify the claim amount?
B) As an adjuster for the Insurance Company, would you pay the entire refund as claimed by Boilers India Ltd? Justify with reasons depending upon whether your response is affirmative or negative.
India’s Foreign trade
1. ABC Limited was doing well in the local market and was planning to expand its business in the foreign market as well but was worried about how will they collect the payment from the importers located in other countries. Is it possible for the company not to face credit risk in the foreign market, if yes, how? Explain using examples.
2. A chemical company was planning to enter into strategic alliance with another chemical company for growth. Elaborate the reasons for the company to engage in strategic alliance.
3. Alpha Ltd was in the business of manufacturing ayurvedic products and was performing well in the Indian Market. The company had broad range of products currently selling in the market. Looking at the growing demand of ayurvedic products in the foreign market as well, the company was planning to export its goods to other countries as well. If you are the manager of the company, prepare a report highlighting:
a) Reasons that would motivate the company for entering foreign market.
b) Benefits that would be available to Alpha Ltd as exporters.
Financial Institutions and Market
1. XYZ Ltd. is a Govt. recognized export house with annual turnover of Rs 2200 Crores Mr Pathak is Vice President- Finance of the Company. The company follows policy of no hedging of the US$ exposure. What all risks that Mr. Pathak has to enlists in his presentation to the management in a floating exchange rate scenario?
2. PSL Bank Ltd. is a private sector bank. The treasury division has an immediate need to arrange Rs. 100 Crores to finance its one of the top corporate client. However the requirement is for very short period of around 7 days. So what sources are available for Mr. Das to raise the required fund, who heads the treasury divisions of the Bank?
3. A) LMH Ltd. Has floated an Investment Company. You are appointed as the CEO to spearhead the investment in secondary market. So to initiate these investments, explain the mechanism that you will follow.
3. B) JFK Ltd. is listed Company on the exchange and the share price is quoted at Rs. 340 as of today, the Company reported EPS of Rs. 25.00 for FY 2017. In the recently concluded board meeting, the Company announced stock split and accordingly, the face value has been reduced to Rs5.00 from Rs. 10.00. The outstanding shares of the Company are 30,00,000. Calculate the number of outstanding shares of the Company post stock split and adjusted share price of the Company post stock split. Also calculate the PE ratio of the Company post stock Split.
Export Import Procedures and Documentation
1. You have received an export order to Dubai. The importer wants Certificate of origin from you along with the consignment. What is Certificate of origin and how will you obtain this from your location. Explain the complete procedure based on your experience.
2. You have received an order for exporting second hand machinery to West Germany. You need to provide Chartered Engineer’s certificate to the Indian Customs for Export clearance. Please explain the following in detail: a. Who will issue Chartered Engineer’s certificate b. Whether this can be arranged by importer or exporter? c. What are the details to be provided in the Chartered Engineer’s certificate? d. How will you locate a chartered engineer to do this job? e. What is the action plan of Chartered Engineer before issuing such a certificate?
3. You have imported one consignment of Activated Carbon from Japan. Your clearing agent is asking for customs chapter classification number for this product. Please explain the following:
a. What is the chapter number for this item and from which book you will obtain this information? Which government website provides this information?
b. What is the rate of customs duty and the total percentage of duty for this product? Give breakup of the duty structure?
Decision Analysis and Modeling
1. Observe any government department or service process that consumes limited resources and/or has multiple restricts, and explain what are artificial variables and why do we need them? Also using suitable example discuss how artificial variables differ from slack and surplus variables? (10 Marks)
2. Obtain an initial basic feasible solution to the following transportation problem using the Vogel’s Approximation Method. (10 Marks)
WAREHOUSE
STORES
AVAILABILITY
I
II
III
IV
A
7
3
5
5
34
B
5
5
7
6
15
C
8
6
6
5
12
D
6
1
6
4
19
DEMAND
21
25
17
17
80
3. A processor of frozen fruits has to decide which crop to cultivate in which geographical area. There are two strategies available: to plant apples and to plant pomegranates. There are three possibilities of weather: perfect weather, variable weather, and bad weather. The probability of perfect weather is 0.25, that of variable weather is 0.50 and that of bad weather is 0.25. The outputs of the two crops, measured in dollars, under the different conditions, are known. The utility of the firm is to be measured by the dollar amounts as shown in the following payoff table.
ACTIONS
EVENTS
PERFECT WEATHER
VARIABLE WEATHER
BAD WEATHER
CULTIVATE APPLES
40000
30000
20000
CULTIVATE POMEGRANATES
70000
20000
0
a) Prepare the expected payoff table (5 Marks)
b) What action should the processor select?
Customs Shipping and Insurance
1. Your company has imported one consignment and your customs broker has opted for second check to clear the consignment. However during customs examination, customs has found some excess items which have not been mentioned in the invoice. Explain the customs action on this and how will you handle this situation.
2. You have imported one consignment of 250 cases under CIF terms. During examination your customs broker observed a shortage of 28 cases and stopped the clearance. What is your action plan to clear this consignment and how will you claim the insurance for the shortages.
3. You are a customs broker. One company approaches you to use your services to export one huge consignment of 2000 boxes of same dimension by SEA. The company requests you to suggest the safe and cheaper freight for this export:
a. What will you suggest…. Export as break bulk or through containers and explain the reasons for your recommendation?
b. How will you assess the requirement of number of containers if exported through containers? How will you check the cheapest freight for this consignment?
Logistics Management
1. Being a Logistics Manager, you have been asked to give a suggestion whether to manage a stores in house or to outsource the entire stores (warehouse) operations. Suggest a best option with cost benefit details. (10 Marks)
2. You are working with a distributor of pharmaceutical products. One of your clients (manufacturer) has been dumping stock to your warehouse to show sales. Due to space constraint in the warehouse your company asks you to prepare a report of nonmoving items of last 6 months based on ABC analysis. The client has dumped 925 items. Average Stock value is Rs. 4 crores/month and sales value is Rs. 1 crore per month. Prepare a report based on ABC analysis and inform the total number of nonmoving items lying in the warehouse. Explain the complete process of the analysis to get the non-moving items. (10 Marks)
3. You are heading a Distribution company which distributes consumer items to the wholesalers. The orders are placed whole day by 80 wholesalers. The wholesalers are located in the vicinity of 60 – 80 kms from your warehouse. Orders placed by 3.00 p.m. should be delivered on the same day and the orders placed after 3.00 p.m. should be delivered by next day 12 noon. Apart from this there are urgent orders which should be delivered in 3 to 4 hours on the same day of orders. Your management wants you to suggest the following:
a. If we use our own transportation system what are the benefits and drawbacks. (5 Marks)
b. If we outsource the transportation systems what are the benefits and drawbacks. What is your recommendation to the organization on this?
Supply Chain Management
1. Write your views on the critical success factors behind a push / pull system of any Manufacturing / FMCG Organisation of your choice. Explain in detail the process steps with an example of a product AND/OR Product lines.
2. You are the Country Head of IKEA & have been granted permission by Government of India to set up operations in India. Detail out some of the Strategic Supply Chain Decisions that you would undertake? (10 Marks)
3. You have recently taken over as Head-Supply Chain for an Automotive company in Western India by the name of “India Motors”. It has been brought to your attention that IT initiatives being deployed in the company have been very basic in nature.
A) What steps would you take to introduce IT related systems framework enabling a complete overhaul of their existing systems from a SCM perspective? (5 Marks)
B) What IT solutions would you propose to help increase the efficiency of supply chain ? (5 Marks)
Strategic Management
Q1. M/s Divine Soul is into traditional Indian wear which sells multiple brands. The popular brand for male is “Raja” and for the females is “Rani”. The company sells traditional wear for children popularly known as “Shaayad”. The company has 120 outlets in India. The competition in this industry has been constantly growing. The profit margins are going down. The company has been profitable since the day of inception but there has been no growth. The company has remain stable from many years as the directors believe that the stability is the best strategy. The company adds you into the board as a strategy director and asks your view on Stability Strategy. You have been asked to prepare the pros and cons of Stability strategy for M/s Divine Soul. (10 Marks)
Q2. Assume that the directors of M/s Divine Soul agree with your view on the challenges of Stability Strategy. The director asks you to suggest one corporate level strategy for the organization that will help them achieve growth for the organization. (10 Marks)
Q3. From the case above answer the following question:
a. Explain the strategic Management process that needs to be followed for M/s Divine Soul. (5 Marks)
b. Prepare a Porters Five competitive forces for M/s Divine Soul.
Strategic Cost Management
1. A closely held successful start-up venture has recently converted itself into a publicly listed company post a successful IPO and handed over the management in the hands of young professional managers. These teams of managers are a bit inexperienced in strategic business decisions. They have heard that Pears and Robinson have in their paper discussed the various dimensions of strategic issues. Discuss how these dimensions of strategic issues will be relevant in current scenario.
2. The Cost Accounting department and the Engineering department of a large EPC company have been at loggerheads off late. Their main contention has been the concept of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) & Total Quality Management (TQM). The Engineering team feels that they are both the same with old wine in new bottle, whereas the Cost Accounting department opines otherwise. You are a newly appointed intern in the Cost Accounting department having freshly qualified as CMA. You are expected to resolve this conflict by providing your note discussing the similarities & differences between the two.
3. a) An input of 100 kgs. of materials yields to a standard output of 10,000 units. Standard price per kg of material is Rs.20. Actual quantity of material issued & used by production department is 10,000 kgs. Actual price per kg of material is Rs.21. Actual output 900,000 units. Compute Direct Material Cost variance, Material Price variance & Material Usage variance.
3. b) Number of employees is 200. Standard wage rate per employee is Rs.40 per day and standard daily output per employee is 100 units. Total number of days worked is 50 days (Idle time paid for and included above is half day for each employee). Actual wage rate per day is Rs.45. Compute Direct Labour Cost variance, Direct Labour Rate variance & Idle Time variance.
Sales Management
1. New Indian consumer goods company would like to enter Indian market, you being their Sales Director what are the steps you will initiate, explain each step with one example.
2. One of the Indian Pharma company you have recently joined them as their Head of Sales and Marketing of pharmaceutical generics, you will notice that, the company is not able to sustain sales as per their annual sales budget, due to several low price generics manufacturing companies which was affecting their top-line and bottomline. Work out how will you take care this situation and work out a effective strategy to improve the revenue generation and expand the market at the same achieve topline and bottom-line as per the sales budget.
3. Indian Industrial chemical manufacturing company well established in West zone covering 4 states, now they would like to expand their market geographically in the South zone covering 5 states:
a. Work out sales team deployment in each state, and explain basis of your deployment and how will you carry out recruitment.
b. What is the basis you will choose the specific state for your market expansion programme.
Operations Management
1. Pick a company that you are familiar with and describe its operations strategy and how it relates to winning customers. Describe the specific activities used by the company that support the strategy.
2. A manufacturer expects to produce 3, 00, 000 widgets during the current year, to supply a demand that is uniform throughout the year. The set up cost for each production run of widgets is Rs. 124 and the variable cost of producing each widget is Rs. 4. The cost of carrying one widget in inventory is Rs. 25 per year. After a batch of widgets is produced and placed in inventory, it is sold at a uniform rate and inventory is exhausted when the next batch of widgets is completed. Determine the optimum quantity of widgets to be produced in each run in order to minimize the total production and inventory carrying costs. (10 Marks)
3. Suppose a regional medical warehouse is to be established to serve several hospitals throughout the country. The supplies originate at S1 and S2 and are destined for hospitals at H1 through H4. Refer to the following data:
POINT i
LOCATION
ANNUAL VOLUME, CWT
RATE-$/CWT/MILE
Xi
Yi
S1
SEATTLE
8000
0.02
0.6
7.3
S2
ATLANTA
10000
0.02
8.6
3
H1
LOS ANGELES
5000
0.05
2
3
H2
DALLAS
3000
0.05
5.5
2.4
H3
CHICAGO
4000
0.05
7.9
5.5
H4
NEW YORK
6000
0.05
10.6
5.2
a) Briefly explain the principles of Center of Gravity Method for location decisions (5 Marks) b) For the above problem, determine the optimum location for the regional medical warehouse using the COG Model.
Marketing Strategy
Q1. MyDentist a nationwide chain of Dentists has been going through a bad phase of late. In order to get back on track, it has rebranded itself as “Sabka Dentist”. Do you think this strategy will help it regain its market? What other steps should be taken by them?
Q2. “Rumors”, the 3rd largest brand in India in the Furnishing Fabrics segment is planning to undergo a change. Known for its high end range of Fabrics, for the first time the brand is planning to come out with a low priced range of fabrics as a part of its latest collection to be launched next month. Market is skeptical that this strategy is a wrong move and might backfire. What are your thoughts about the same? How should Rumors go about it?
Q3. The country’s largest oral care company, Colgate-Palmolive, will need to ramp up its herbal portfolio in the next few quarters. It reported a three per cent decline in volume growth for the March quarter 2017. While in line with estimates and lower than the 12 per cent decline in volume growth reported for the December 2016 quarter, this does not bode well for the company.The trend, says analyst for fast-moving consumer goods appears to be in favour of companies pushing herbal oral care products. “Patanjali has been growing its share in oral care, where it said it had achieved market share of 14-15 per cent in toothpastes. Dabur has seen a share gain of one per cent (110 basis points) for the March quarter, indicating there is traction for its products, which are based on Ayurveda. Colgate, on the other hand, saw market share fall sequentially from 55.6 per cent in the December quarter to 55.1 per cent in the March one. Cibaca Vedshakti, herbal toothpaste it launched in August 2016, would not be the last thing in its natural’s portfolio. So far, Vedshakti has been doing well. Soon, there will be other natural products from Colgate as they continue to innovate in the category. Colgate has been working on its natural portfolio for nearly two years. It first responded to the herbal revolution, kicked off by Patanjali, in June-July of 2015 when it launched Active Salt Neem toothpaste, its first indigenously developed one and followed it with launching variants containing clove oil and charcoal respectively. The year 2016 saw the company launch its second indigenously developed toothpaste in Cibaca Vedshakti, with additional ones supporting its clove oil portfolio (sensitive clove toothpaste). But, for all the effort in the herbal category, the overall toothpaste share for Colgate has declined 220 basis points in the past year and three months.
a. What strategies should be followed by Colgate in order to protect its market share?
b. What strategies should be followed by Patanjali in order to dent Colgate’s market share more?
Marketing of Financial Services
Q 1) Design a Digital Marketing campaign for a Financial Services company of your choice.
Q 2) Develop a Public Relations campaign for IRDA to create awareness about Life Insurance sector and to educate policyholders about their rights.
Q 3) Ashwin Advani, aged 32 years, working with an IT company, has approached you for preparing his Financial Plan. He earns salary of Rs. 15 lakh per annum. His wife Kiran, aged 30 years, is a homemaker. They have one son Kabir, aged 3 years. (You can make any assumptions to further build up your case.)
a. Ashwin has expressed his desire to retire by the age of 55. Design a retirement plan for him.
b. Ashwin and Kiran want to start investing for Kabirs higher education and marriage. Develop an investment strategy to help them achieve their goals.
Marketing Management
Case
“Ayurvedic India” is a new company started by two young entrepreneurs Mr. Dharam and Mr. Raj. “Ayurvedic India” deals with traditional Indian Ayurveda medicines. The company has already opened 10 stores across two cities namely Delhi and Mumbai in India and it has a plan to open at least 50 more stores in less than a year time. All the stores will have an Ayurvedic Doctor to provide free medical assistance. The company is known for its brands “Dant Rakshak” which is toothpaste, “Kesh Rakshak” which is hair oil, “Chehra” which is a cosmetic cream, “Tez Chyawanprash” which is nutritive jam that helps in boosting immunity. The stores have a huge space both for the patient treatment and a dedicated space for the retail counter. The company plans to give competition to the market leaders i.e. Patanjali and Dabur.
Q1. The company hires you as a Marketing Manager and asks you to prepare the Segmentation and Targeting for “Ayurvedic India”. (10 Marks)
Q2. “Ayurvedic India” deals with the concept of treatment of patients and then selling them the medicine. You have been asked to prepare the 7P’s of Marketing Mix for “Ayurvedic India”. (10 Marks)
Q3. Answer on the basis of the case above:
a. Prepare the positioning strategy for “Ayurvedic India”. (5 Marks)
b. Prepare a list of five celebrities who can act as a Brand Ambassador for “Ayurvedic India” Explain the selection of celebrities with reason.
Taxation Direct & Indirect
1. Mr. Bhaalla started with a grocery shop. You being the tax consultant to Mr. haalla advise him on how the income from the grocery will be assessed under the Income tax Act and the principles to be considered while computing the taxable income?
2. You want to remit 1000 dollars as a payment of interest to Mr. Albert. Your tax consultant advises that such payment can be done if relevant procedures and guidelines for making such payment outside India are followed. Discuss the same in the light of the different provisions of Income Tax Act.
3. Mr. Rajat owns two houses. The details with respect to let out property is as under Standard rent Rs 81000 Fair rent Rs 92500 Municipal valuation Rs 95000 Actual rent received is Rs 7000 per month Municipal tax @ 15 % of Municipal valuation Light and water charges Rs 1000 per month Repairs: Rs 12000 per annum Compute a. Gross annual value of the house property. b. Income taxable under the head Income from house property.
Course: Management Theory and Practice
Internal Assignment Applicable for September 2017 Examination
Q 1. On account of the protectionist stands taken by some major countries the Global consulting Business of the IT giant IND Solutions is hurt. The entire business strategy for the consulting business is being realigned. As a HR Specialist, you are required to share the Organization structure and propose a new (organization structure). (10 Marks)
Q 2. You are the HR Manager in an organisation handling a regional profile and are aspirational and would want to be the Chief People Officer. In the corporate world the completion is stiff and you need to have a good professional image. Differences of opinions are common and needs to be handled carefully. How do you plan to handle conflicts effectively, discuss your thoughts. (10 Marks)
Q 3. As the Chief Learning officer of the company. You are currently training the fresh batch of Management Trainees.
a. Explain with examples the different types of leaderships (min 5) and what situation these leadership styles can be used effectively to get results (5 Marks)
b. Maslow’s theory on Hierarchy of Needs can be effectively used to understand human behavior. Explain it to the Management Trainees with a simple example.
Course: Information System for Managers
1. A public sector bank is currently striving to differentiate itself from the competition to private sector bank in the same region. The customers at the public sector bank complain about the employees who are not informed about each customer's needs, preferences, and interaction history. The bank has been unable to cultivate more profitable relationships with the customers’ which has impacted its growth. Their inability to proactively identify risk – elevating customer behaviour has attributed to further losses. As the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the public sector bank, elaborate on your understanding of customer relationship management and its importance. How you would acquire, retain and create lasting relationships with the customers? How would creating these relationships help your bank? (10 Marks)
2. The Healthcare industry is inundated with massive volumes of data generated each minute. With the adoption of electronic health records, mobile health apps and wearable technologies this is poised to increase dramatically over the next few years. This comprises of data being generated by patients in different forms such as the patient report’s generated by the diagnostic labs, the data in the form of vital stats generated by the wearable devices and body patches, data from medical insurance companies, to name a few. Explain data mining and its importance in the healthcare industry. With the help of a suitable example elaborate how patient data can be used for preventive healthcare. Would you recommend the use of Data mining in healthcare? (10 Marks)
3. a. As the Indian city of Chennai went under floodwaters following heavy rains, it became clear that the effects of a lack of planning can be devastating for small companies. Reports suggest, as many as 40 to 60 percent of small businesses never recover after being hit by natural disasters. Some companies looked on helplessly as systems went down. They found themselves drowning in a flood of complaints from enraged customers’ as the water level rose on Chennai streets. Many enterprises believe that they can survive any disaster if they put in place a robust physical infrastructure and technical expertise. But floods in Chennai confirmed that technology companies need to do more to escape the ill-effects of natural disasters. Organizations wanted to make sure that their data centers don’t shut down, and continue to function as usual. However this was in vain. Explain BCP and its importance. What factors play an important role in the successful implementation of a BCP? In your opinion, should small businesses invest in BCP? (5 Marks)
3. b. What are ERP systems and mention five benefits of using them. With the help of an example of any company with a failed ERP implementation, highlight the main reasons companies experience failures in implementing ERP systems. What were the lessons learnt to avoid the same mistakes in future?
Course: Corporate Social Responsibility
Case Study:
M/s Sun Shine is in the manufacturing of best quality ISO certified Solar Panels. The company is known for the durable solar panels having best features. The government provides subsidy to the customers buying solar panels under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in the country. The company has been doing well consistently over the period of years. The awareness for usage of Solar as a source of energy is increasing day by day. The company sells solar panels at the lowest possible price. The company’s vision is to light every house in the rural India.
Q1. The company wants to sell Solar Panels in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as a part of “Go Global” Initiative. Explain the benefits and demerits of Globalization for M/s Sun Shine (10 Marks)
Q2. The company plans to do CSR activity in rural India and hires you as a consultant to advice the organization for at least five CSR activities. Which one activity among the suggested five activities you would select for M/s Sun Shine. Explain the same with reason. (10 Marks)
Q3. From the case above:
a) Assume you plan to implement one of the CSR activity, explain the process that you would follow for its implementation in the organization. (5 Marks)
b) Explain any three voluntary codes in CSR that you would apply for the organization. Explain the benefits of the same for M/s Sun Shine.
Course: Business Economics
1. State how the ordinal utility approach to consumer behaviour is different from the cardinal utility approach by Marshall. In the context of indifference curve (IC) technique using ordinal utility approach, explain whether following two statements are true. - “IC slopes downwards because if the quantity of one product is reduced, the quantity of other product must also be decreased” and “Slope of indifference curve indicates the rate at which individuals are ready to substitute one commodity by the other”. Substantiate your view on each of the statements separately (10 Marks).
2. With the help of the concept of production function, explain the difference between Law of Variable Proportions and Law of Returns to Scale. Elaborate your answer by citing real world examples. (10 Marks)
3. a) Discuss product differentiation as an important feature of Monopolistically Competitive market. Explain the statement “Price flexibility under monopolistic competition depends on the degree of product differentiation”, by referring to the case of any FMCG industry. (5 Marks)
3. b) PepsiCo has been a leader in soft drink industry. But over years, it has diversified in various snack foods. Over half of its current profits come from non-soft drink products. What, in your opinion, is the economic principle behind it?
Course: Business Communication & Etiquette
Q 1) The sales professionals of your organization are impatient and unwilling to listen to their clients. What is the importance of listening? How can you help them develop listening as a behavior? What is the one advice that you would like to give them to improve their trait.
Q 2) As a manager of a growing organization, it is your responsibility to set a high benchmark for ethical communication for your team members. Elaborate on ethical communication and its importance. What key areas would you focus on to ensure the same?
Q 3) The sales team of Zenith Global has a proven track record of success with customers when it comes to giving a presentation or participating in meetings. Despite this the conversions of prospects into customers has been surprisingly low. On deeper analysis it was found that the team struggled with their written communication. Every meeting / sales presentation needs to be followed up with a sales letter to clinch the deal.
a) What should the team bear in mind while writing letters to clients they have interacted with in the past and who have shown interest in their offerings?
b) What approach would work best to convert a neutral customer who is not aware about your products or offerings?
Course: Organisational Behaviour
Internal Assignment Applicable for September 2017 Examination
1. Why do we do what we do? Motivation is the word which explains why one individual is absorbed about a particular objective or action plan while the other one would be totally disoriented about it? Alia and Aarti are colleagues working in a software firm. Alia comes from a very affluent family and is she is very much involved in the workplace politics whereas Aarti comes from a very humble background and works really hard to achieve her aspirations. Aarti is always involved in her work and shrugs off any kind of political agenda. Discuss the given scenario of Alia and Aarti with the help of McClelland Needs Theory? Explain why both the colleagues so differently oriented? (10 Marks)
2. Karan and Sanjay are Team leaders of team A and B respectively. Karan is very open to feedback and does not let his perception rule his decision. He takes action based on facts and figures whereas Sanjay get carried away with his perception. Team A is very happy and motivated team which is clearly visible by their performance and just the reverse goes for team B. Sanjay takes aid from a self-help book where he reads about the managerial implications of perception. When he does a self-analysis he understood that all this while he was working totally under the influence of his perception. Sanjay decides to take a plunge and modify his behaviour. Discuss any three managerial implications of perception and what could have made Sanjay change his way of behaving? Discuss (10 Marks)
3. Deepak, Mohsin, Kiara and Kashyap have recently joined Infinity Infotech. In the first few days of Induction they are all made to form a group which will work on a project given by the management. Initially it went good for some time but after fifteen days rift could be seen between the group members. The management gave them a timeline for the completion of the project. They appointed Kiara as their leader and followed the norms set by the group. Within the given time frame by the management they completed the project and got appreciated for the same. After the completion of this project these four group members were again assigned a new group.
a. Explain the process for formation of a group in Infinity Infotech. (5 Marks)
b. List down all the theories of group formation (all the theories need not to be discussed). Discuss the theory which you will the most apt in case of Infinity Infotech
Course: Essentials of HRM
1. Kaya & Kaya is a skincare product manufacturing company. The company has been in the market from past 10 years and it’s been noted that because of the change in size, growth, work assignments, job duties and responsibilities the existing jobs have changed and new jobs have been established. You have been hired as a consultant to help determine the various ways of establishing job analysis. Discuss the different method of job analysis which could be used in this company. Conclude by choosing the best method of job analysis for Kaya & Kaya.
2. Assessment centres were first used in early 1940s in United Kingdom for solving discipline and behavioural issues of war officers and selecting the right candidate. Now, assessment centres have become a must tool for most of the organisations .Critically analyse this statement as well as discuss that in which two areas of HRM assessment centres can be used? Conclude by gauging the importance of assessment centres.
3. Sanjana joined a media company Showtimes Ltd. as Public Relationship officer. On the very day of her joining the office she is assigned a lot of tasks, which made her feel very nervous and confused. Since it’s the first day of her work Sanjana has lots of query but does not have any coach/ mentor/buddy who she can look up to for any help. For every single query she has to approach the HR who every time assigns a different person to guide her. This continues for every single day. Within a month of joining Sanjana is contemplating to resign from her services. It was then noted by the HR that the employee turnover in their organisation is very high especially within the few months of joining. It also came up that the main reason behind this was lack of Induction to employees
a. What could HR have done when Sanjana kept on approaching them for every single query she encountered during her first month in Showtimes Ltd?
b. You have been hired by Showbiz ltd. as a consultant to come up with induction strategy as it has been proved that if not inducted properly the attrition rates can be very high. Discuss the merits of Induction in general as well as for Showbiz Ltd which you need to present in front of the management.
Course: Marketing Management
Case
“Ayurvedic India” is a new company started by two young entrepreneurs Mr. Dharam and Mr. Raj. “Ayurvedic India” deals with traditional Indian Ayurveda medicines. The company has already opened 10 stores across two cities namely Delhi and Mumbai in India and it has a plan to open at least 50 more stores in less than a year time. All the stores will have an Ayurvedic Doctor to provide free medical assistance. The company is known for its brands “Dant Rakshak” which is toothpaste, “Kesh Rakshak” which is hair oil, “Chehra” which is a cosmetic cream, “Tez Chyawanprash” which is nutritive jam that helps in boosting immunity. The stores have a huge space both for the patient treatment and a dedicated space for the retail counter. The company plans to give competition to the market leaders i.e. Patanjali and Dabur.
Q1. The company hires you as a Marketing Manager and asks you to prepare the Segmentation and Targeting for “Ayurvedic India”.
Q2. “Ayurvedic India” deals with the concept of treatment of patients and then selling them the medicine. You have been asked to prepare the 7P’s of Marketing Mix for “Ayurvedic India”.
Q3. Answer on the basis of the case above:
a. Prepare the positioning strategy for “Ayurvedic India”.
b. Prepare a list of five celebrities who can act as a Brand Ambassador for “Ayurvedic India” Explain the selection of celebrities with reason.
Course: Strategic Management
Q1. M/s Divine Soul is into traditional Indian wear which sells multiple brands. The popular brand for male is “Raja” and for the females is “Rani”. The company sells traditional wear for children popularly known as “Shaayad”. The company has 120 outlets in India. The competition in this industry has been constantly growing. The profit margins are going down. The company has been profitable since the day of inception but there has been no growth. The company has remain stable from many years as the directors believe that the stability is the best strategy. The company adds you into the board as a strategy director and asks your view on Stability Strategy. You have been asked to prepare the pros and cons of Stability strategy for M/s Divine Soul.
Q2. Assume that the directors of M/s Divine Soul agree with your view on the challenges of Stability Strategy. The director asks you to suggest one corporate level strategy for the organization that will help them achieve growth for the organization.
Q3. From the case above answer the following question:
a. Explain the strategic Management process that needs to be followed for M/s Divine Soul.
b. Prepare a Porters Five competitive forces for M/s Divine Soul.
Essentials of HRM
1. Poshak Ltd. is an apparel company where after Sid joined as an AVP-HR and understood that workforce was not happy with their job profile as they were finding it too routine and monotonous. It has also been noted that the work productivity was decreasing and the employee attrition was increasing. It was implicit that the organisation needed to go for job designing. Suggest all the approaches to Sid for job designing which would prove beneficial for Poshak Ltd.
2. MiniBurgs is a fast food outlet which is now expanding its operation throughout Mumbai. Since it was initially a small joint which kept on growing and now is becoming a chain therefore undergoing a lots of changes. MiniBurgs can only respond better to these changes when the employees are also willing to accept and adapt to the same. The HR team is emphasising that since the business is expanding the workforce must develop their KSA (Knowledge, skill and competencies) regularly for combating any kind of change in the external or internal environment. It was also discussed that there is a need for HRD in Miniburgs. Discuss that why Miniburgs has a need for HRD.
3. Yes bank did something different for its Induction program rather than going by the old conventional methods. The new employees in Yes Bank were greeted with its drum beating session which acted as a stress buster and then it was followed by other various fun activities aimed at experiential learning, instead of the old way of inducting employees which merely focused on PPTs as well speech on organisational culture, etiquettes and opportunities. The employees really appreciated this novel way of induction. As per this case answer the following questions:
a. Yes Bank could have directly asked the employees to report at work, but why induction was needed? Discuss it from organization’s perspective.
b. The employees seemed to have really like the induction, so why it is important from their (employees) perspective? Discuss
Corporate Social Responsibility
Caselet :
Biobeauty Ltd‘s idea of responsible business is to use only natural ingredients sourced from all over the country, it believes that this will help protect the planet and the people depending on it. It is especially recognised for not testing its products on animals, other brand values are support community, defend human rights and activate self esteem. Last year it donated Rs. 50 lac to support various human rights and women empowerment organization across India.
According to its annual report of 2015-16 it now needs to comply with section 135 of the Companies Act 2013 and spend 2 % of its net profit on CSR. Hence this year Biobeauty will have to spend Rs 10 crore on CSR as per the mandate.
Biobeauty is deeply entrenched in working with the community through its supply chain as it sources majority of its raw material through self help groups (SHG) run and managed by women from rural and tribal areas. It has partnered with multiple NGO’s to help organize these rural/tribal women set up SHG’s and co-operative societies for growing and trading in herbs / flowers/ fruits / berries etc for which it is the captive buyer.
Q1. As CSR Manager you have been asked to come up with three new initiatives/projects from those listed under schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013 that the company can spend its CSR budget on. Design and develop a business plan around these 3 areas that you have selected covering the objectives (impacts expected), goals (target set), target stakeholder, geographical area where it will be implemented, time frame. Please be very specific and relevant to the company and section 135 requirements.
Q2. The CEO at Biobeauty Ltd wants your opinion on whether to partner with an NGO or should Biobeauty work directly with the target stakeholders for the 3 new CSR initiatives /projects selected by you. Prepare a document of approx 1000 words for your CEO giving the advantages and disadvantages for Biobeauty in both the scenarios.
Q3A. Companies Act 2013 requires Biobeauty Ltd to disclose its CSR Policy on its website as well as Annual Report of the company. Based on what you know so far about Biobeauty, frame a relevant and suitable CSR Policy, what is the key purpose of the policy and what are the CSR focus areas of Biobeauty Ltd.
Q3B. As part of CSR Team you have been asked to write a report of approx 500 words, which will be published on the company’s website under “CSR at Biobeauty”, detailing the 3 new CSR initiatives/projects that Biobeauty has implemented in 2016-17. You must use the ones you shortlisted in Ans1.
Financial Accounting & Analysis
1. The following trial balance has been extracted from the books of XYZ Ltd as on 31st March 2017.
Particulars Debit (Rs.) Credit (Rs.)
Share Capital 1000000
Plant and Machinery 1600000
Sales 3540000
Purchases 1200000
Returns 20000 15000
Opening Stock 600000
Discount 7000 16000
Bank Charges 1500
Sundry Debtors 900000
Sundry Creditors 500000
Salaries 136000
9% Debentures 400000
Manufacturing Wages 200000
Carriage Inwards 15000
Carriage Outwards 24000
Debenture Interest 18000
Bad Debts Provision 10500
Rent, Rates and Taxes 200000
Advertisement 40000
Cash in hand 18000
Cash at bank 120000
10% Investment 300000
Goodwill 300000
Interest on Investment 30000
Factory Expenses 12000
General Reserve 100000
Last year profit 250000
Furniture 150000
5861500 5861500
The following additional information is available:
Depreciation on Furniture, Plant and Machinery to be provided at 10% per annum
Write off Rs. 10000 as bad debts and make a provision for doubtful debts at 5% on sundry debtors
Closing stock was Rs. 700000
a. Mention the formula to calculate gross profit and net profit
b. Prepare the profit and loss account for the year ended 31st march 2017 and Balance sheet as on that date.
c. Comment on the position of financial statements as on date prepared by you. (10 Marks)
2. A company acquired the following assets three years ago:
Asset Cost (Rs.) Scrap Value (Rs.) Useful Life (Years) Depreciation Policy
Equipment 5000000 500000 5 Straight Line Method
Building 8000000 1000000 30 Straight Line Method
After using the assets for three years, the company decided to change its Depreciation policy as follows:
The useful life of the equipment was revised upwards to 8 years, keeping its residual value at Rs. 500000.
The useful life of the building was revised upwards to 40 years, keeping its residual value at Rs. 1000000.
These changes have been implemented from the fourth year onwards.
a. You are required to analyze the impact of such changes in depreciation policy on the financial statements of firms, and write a detailed note on the same..
b. How do you think future profits of this company will be impacted because of these changes?
c. Are any disclosures regarding these required to be made? (10 Marks)
3. Both A Ltd. and B Ltd. operate wholesale electronic stores throughout India. The financial statements of each business for the year ended as on 31st March, 2017 are as follows:
Balance Sheet as on 31st march, 2017 (Rs. in millions)
A Ltd. B Ltd.
Assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment (Cost less depreciation)
Land and buildings 360.0 510.0
Furniture 87.0 91.2
Current assets
Inventories 592.0 403.0
Trade Receivables 176.4 321.9
Cash at Bank 84.6 91.6
Total assets 1,300.0 1,417.7
Equity and Liabilities
Share Capital of Rs.10 320.0 250.0
Retained Earnings 367.6 624.6
Non-current liabilities
Long term, borrowings 190.0 250.0
Current liabilities
Trade Payables 406.4 275.7
Provision for Taxation 16.0 17.4
Total equity and liabilities 1,300.0 1,417.7
Statement of Profit and Loss for the year ended as on 31st march, 2017 (Rs. in millions)
A Ltd. B Ltd.
Revenue 1,478.1 1,790.4
Cost of Sales (1,018.3) (1,214.9)
Gross Profit 459.8 575.5
Operating expenses (308.5) (408.6)
Operating profit 151.3 166.9
Interest (19.4) (27.5)
Profit before tax 131.9 139.4
Taxation (32.0) (34.8)
Profit for the year 99.9 104.6
All purchases and sales were made on credit. A Ltd. and B Ltd. have declared a dividend of Rs. 135 million and Rs. 95 million in respect of the year. The market prices of a share of A Ltd. and B Ltd. are Rs. 6.50 and Rs. 8.20 respectively.
a. Both the companies have approached a particular bank for seeking long term loans. Critically evaluate which of the two companies will get the loan at better terms and conditions. (5 Marks)
b. As a potential investor looking for good investment opportunities in this sector, which of the two companies do you find more attractive?
Financial Institutions and Markets
Q1. Ms. Vijaya, after completing her graduation, has recently joined a bank. With a steady income now and good growth prospects for her career, she intends to save regularly and increase the amount of savings gradually over the years. Her colleagues in the bank have advised her investing in Mutual Funds (MFs), as a suitable option for her. However, Ms. Vijaya is not at all familiar with MFs and has some queries such as:
a) What are mutual funds and why should she be investing through mutual fund?
b) What are the various types of mutual funds? Prepare a detailed answer for her queries.
Q2. Mr. Sudhindra Kumar, aged 60, has been an investor in stock market for the last 35 years. When he initially started investing in late 1980s, he used to take positions in the stock markets after studying the annual reports of the company. He used to scan financial newspaper everyday to spot a scrip for buying or selling. He used to generate better returns on his investments than his other colleagues who would solely rely on the trends in stock prices to choose the stock. However, by the end of late 1990s, Mr. Sudhindra realized that he is not able to spot as many investment opportunities through his existing methods. He observed that her junior colleague, Ms. Rama was generating better returns than him. Ms. Rama also shared with Mr. Sudhindra that she picks up stocks based on the recommendation of his stock-broker friend. His recommendations have been a hit as he is very well connected to many corporates, financial intermediaries and other brokers. He seems to get to know about the corporate and market developments ahead of the many investors. Mr. Sudhindra requested Ms. Rama to share such invest tips with him as well in future. Using these tips judiciously along with his old methods of investing, he continued to generate handsome returns on his investment. After various stock-market scams, in the early and mid 2000s, various regulations were brought in place by SEBI to curb manipulation of stock prices and bring more transparency of information, especially for the small investors. As a result, the flow of reliable and worthy investment tips through Ms. Rama dried up and once again. Today, Mr. Sudhindra finds that his older methods of investing are not as effective as they used to be in past, in identifying an investment-worthy stock. All the information related to any stock is almost instantaneously and simultaneously available to the whole market, with the help of technology. Hence, opportunities to beat the market in generating returns have become far lesser than in past. Based on the above information, what are your observations regarding the market efficiency of Indian market since 1980s? Put your commentary/conclusions with your rationale for the same.
Q.3 DEF Limited is an Indian company, engaged in export oriented trading of various manufactured items. The company buys products manufactured in India and sells its products primarily in US. The company pays to its vendors/sellers in Indian rupee and it receives payment in USD after 90 days of dispatching its products. Also, the company borrows money in Indian Rupee for working capital purposes. The cost of borrowing for the company is around 14%-15%. The company aims to reduce its borrowing cost and is exploring options for the same.
a) How can DEF limited manage/mitigate the forex risks?
b) What kind of Swaps instruments DEF Limited can use to manage the forex related risks and reduce borrowing costs?
Business Economics
1. Suppose the demand equation for computers by Teetan Ltd for the year 2017 is given by Qd= 1200-P and the supply equation is given by Qs= 120+3P. Find equilibrium price and analyse what would be the excess demand or supply if price changes to Rs 400 and Rs 120.
2. Assume that at the price of 75, the demand for the product is 250 units. If the price of the product increases to 90, the demand decreases to 150 units. Calculate and analyse the difference in the value of price elasticity using Arc Elasticity Method and Percentage Method.
3. Alpha Ltd was planning to start production next year. Different departments of the company were working together to forecast the demand of the product in the market.
a) If you are manager of the company mention the steps and the factors that would be relevant
for forecasting the demand of rice in the market.
b) The price of rice and its demand (in kg) produced by Alpha Ltd in 2018 is given in the table. Fit a linear regression line and estimate and analyse the demand for rice when price is Rs 50 per kg.
Price(Rs/kg) 17 20 24 28 32
Demand(Kg) 80 75 65 60 54
Business Communication and Etiquette
Q 1) Share your most memorable interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions in the recent past at your workplace. Which principles govern interpersonal communication?
Q 2) As a customer relationship executive, it is your responsibility to convey the refusal of loan request to your loyal customer via a letter. What steps will you take while drafting the reply to ensure the customer continues to trust your services?
Q 3) You are the lead flight attendant on your aircraft. Your prime responsibility is to guide your crew to provide the best hospitality to the passengers so they prefer travelling with your airlines.
a) During greeting the passengers on board, two things are most important eye contact and body language. What guidance will you provide to your crew on these important non-verbal behaviors?
b) If your team encounters an irate customer travelling alone with a baby who has been delayed by 7 hours owing to flight cancellation, how will you communicate so that the customer feels comfortable?
Business Law
1. Explain which type of contract does an Insurance falls under. Also, please explain the features of such contract along with rights of an Insurer and Insured vis-à-vis the type of contract entered.
2. Competition law is a specific law which was passed in 2002 and called as “The Competition Act”. It aims at promoting sustainable competition between the various market parties and protect the interests of customers. It also ensures that the freedom to carry out a trade by each party in the market is maintained. It avoids any player from carrying out any activities which have an “adverse appreciable effect on the competition”. Under this law, the Competition Commission of India has been established which is aimed at preventing those activities that have an adverse effect on competition in India. Please describe atleast 2 cases in which Competition Commission of India has prevented adverse effect on competition in India. (For each case please present an introduction, facts and the order passed in the case) (10 Marks)
3. Amar had gone to buy Crockery from a Mall. He impulsively selected the crockery from the display area and proceeded to the billing counter. The crockery was from the stock clearance sale and therefore there was no guarantee or warranty on the goods. He paid the amount and left the Mall. Upon exiting the mall he realized that the crockery selected by him suffered from some defects. He went back to the shop and asked to replace the goods, the shopkeeper refused stating that there was no guarantee or warranty and hence was not liable to replace or give any refund. Please advise Amar
a. Can Amar insist on his claim to replace the goods. Please give reasons for your answer and explain the underlying legal principle. (Please provide an introduction, to your answer along with reasoning and underlying principle)
b. Assuming, “if Amar had not selected the goods but had informed the shopkeeper about his requirement and based on such requirement Amar was provided with crockery”. Would such assumption have any affect to claim of Amar. (Please provide an introduction, to your answer along with reasoning)
Business Statistics
1. The following results were obtained from medical records about age (x) and systolic blood pressure (y) of a group of 10 women: The mean and variance of x are 53 and 121 respectively and mean and variance of y are 142 and 169 respectively. Σ(x-X)(y-Y)=1210. (X is the mean of x and Y is mean of y). Find the regression equation of systolic blood pressure on age of a women. Also estimate systolic blood pressure of a women whose age is 55.While solving this example, explain the relevant terms used in details. (10 Marks)
2. A sarcastic graduate student from Waterloo was testing the American media at the Salt Lake City Olympics about Canadian history and geography. Reporters were given a 10- item multiple-choice questionnaire to complete. Each question had four possible answers. Unfortunately, one reporter wanted to return to the bar for the rest of the morning, so he simply guessed on all of the questions and then handed in the questionnaire. What is the probability that he will score at least 6 out of 10 in this questionnaire? State clearly the assumptions you need to make to solve this question. Also, write a note on the relevant probability distribution you used to solve this example. (10 Marks)
3. In order to compare the batting performances in Test Cricket of Indian legends, in a meeting of administrators it was proposed that instead of using arithmetic mean of runs scored in all the innings played, Median score be used as an average to represent the performance. But one member, who happened to be a statistician, objected to the proposal saying that by doing so we are favouring the players like Sachin Tendulkar.
a) Give your opinion with appropriate justification. (5 Marks)
b) If it is further decided to compare the performance based on consistency in performance, which statistical measures would you recommend? Substantiate your answer with appropriate justification.
Management Theory and Practice
1. Jeff Weiner (CEO- LinkedIn) is known for his open and compassionate leadership style. He spends quite some time coaching his executives and encourages them to put the customer first and think like an owner. Explain with examples, what type of leader is Jeff Weiner and what kind of leadership style (with reference to leadership styles mentioned in your text book) does he practice?
2. ‘The New You’ manufactures garments and is currently engaged in jeans, shirts, trousers, swimwear for men and school uniforms for boys. They have product based organization structure in place. However, it is prohibiting the company to achieve its company-wide goals as each unit operates on its own. The organization intends sharing equipments and experts across products to achieve higher utilization rate. Design an organization structure for ‘The New You’ and list benefits of the proposed structure. (10 Marks)
3. Joe was heading the Human Resources Department at Lifelong Insurance Pvt. Ltd. Joe was an experienced HR professional with a track record of successfully managing Human Resources and reducing labor attrition. He recently happened to attend a session on employee motivation where various theories of motivation were discussed. He was highly impressed with the simplicity of the Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory and Herzberg’s motivation model. He decided to implement the same at the workplace for employees of Lifelong Insurance. He convinced the CEO of the company to incorporate the factors of recognition, advancement, growth for employees. The CEO supported Joe and various plans for employee recognition, advancement, etc were rolled out. The plans received a mixed response. Some found them as a cheap substitute to salary hikes while the back-office staff enjoyed the processes but failed to recognize its impact on work. The field executives said that their job was already challenging and commission on insurance sales acted as a motivator to them. After about a couple of months of implementing these programs, Joe was highly disappointed to notice that the programs did not have the impact as desired. Joe faced severe criticism from the top management of the company.
a. What according to you were the reasons of failure of the strategy adopted by Joe? Discuss with reference to Maslow and Herzberg’s theories. (5 Marks)
b. To what extent do you think is money a motivator?
Information Systems for Managers
Q.1) A leading global organization GEMS dealing in production field has spread its business all over the world and deal in production of automobile parts at a large scale. Due to market fluctuations and change in customers’ needs and preferences it has become difficult for the organization to manage their operations efficiently. As a result, the products were not delivered on time. There is a need of implementing a robust business process to reduce overhead and move ahead of the competitors. Hence, the organization decided to implement an ERP system for the same. Discuss any five benefits of implementing ERP system in the organization so that it can be benefitted and also the different phases of ERP implementation. (10 Marks)
Q.2) Pizza Express is a food chain which has just started its various restaurants all over India which offers various types of pizzas. In order to maintain high rate of consistency and defined standards, the company needs to have an excellent supply chain management. Discuss how maintaining a high standard of supply chain management in the Pizza Express organization will keep stronghold in the country. Also, explain the various steps of supply chain process which can be implemented by the organization. (10 Marks)
Q.3) ‘The Coffee’ a leading brand in the field of brand of Coffee sells various varieties of coffees. The company maintained its quality and standards by following and implementing different quality standards in the organization. But few months ago, the security of the organization went on stake due to virus attack by intruders.
3 a). You as Head of the Company will follow which steps for incident handling in the organization.
3.b) Explain the disaster recovery and business continuity planning mechanisms which will help the ‘ The Coffee’ organization to bring back its normal operation.
Organisational Behaviour
1. Sana and Reema joined a quick serve restaurant chain at the head office in the marketing department. Both of them were very happy with the compensation and designation offered to them. Since Sana and Reema joined in the same month so they bonded well together, during one of the conversation Sana got to know that Reema was getting paid 25% more than her. This revelation had caused a conflict between them as it had really saddened Sana which was observable by her hostile behaviour towards Reema. Sana never missed a chance to make Reema feel miserable. Sana Started comparing the fact that both of them had the same qualification and work experience and still she (Sana) was getting paid less than her peer. The situation had worsened so much that they both stopped communicating with each other. You are the HR manager who has observed all this and now you have to come up with techniques with the help of which this conflict can be resolved. Discuss any 4 (four) techniques of conflict resolution and management. Also, conclude the answer by discussing how organisations can avoid/minimise such conflicts. (10 Marks)
2. Karan and Sanjay work as Project Lead for two different teams. It has been noticed that Karan is very helpful and empathetic towards his team and supports them in every possible manner. The team in turn is very close knit and can really works hard to accomplish the objectives. They also give Karan full support whenever required by going out of their way. Whereas Sanjay just wants to get the work done by being a tight fisted man. He reprimands his team members in front of outsiders. He only instructs his team and is never in execution front. Sanjay's team is really petrified of him and always is under fear. Team's motivation is very low and everyone is searching for opportunity to move out of Sanjay's team. Compare the leadership style of Karan and Sanjay. Conclude by discussing that in a workplace which style of leadership is better suited. (10 Marks)
3. Rajat and Suresh have got their yearly targets and both of them are working hard to surpass each other as by the year end the one who achieves the maximum is going to be awarded in the sales conference with a cash prize of Rs. 50000 which would be given by the CEO of the company. They both are doing their best to win this contest for Rajat, the prime factor is money as he has recently got married and his expenses have increased. Whereas, Suresh comes from a very affluent family and for him getting recognized in front of PAN India team and by the CEO is the driving force. Here, we can see that both Rajat and Suresh had different motives.
a. Based on the above scenario discuss the different types of motives which regulate the behaviour of individuals. (5 Marks)
b. With the help of Maslow need hierarchy theory discuss why Rajat, Suresh and even every individual has different motive?
Marketing Management
1. Construct the 4P’s of Marketing Mix for Starbucks Coffee chain in India alongwith the 3 extended P’s for Services. ( 10 Marks)
2. You are the Chief Marketing Officer for Apple India. Conduct a macro external environmental analysis on 8 factors & suggest whether India is an attractive market for higher range of iphone devices such as iPhone 8, iPhone 8plus & iPhoneX? (10 Marks)
3. You are an Italian shoe making firm by the name of “Scarpa” & your target audience is primarily middle class in Europe. You wish to enter the Indian market looking at India’s vast middle class segment which is your intended target market.
a. Which one of the following pricing strategies would you wish to pursue in India? Explain the reasons behind choosing this pricing strategy (5 Marks)
Full Cost pricing
Psychological pricing
Premium pricing
b. Given that Scarpa is a new entrant into India, describe atleast 6 innovative sales promotions campaign aimed at Indian consumers (5 Marks)
Manpower Planning, Recruitment and Selection
1. Gone are the days when State and National Employment Exchanges, newspapers like ‘The Employment News’, the ‘Classified ‘columns in the newspapers were largely used as the sources of recruitment. Though they still largely dominate recruitments for certain type of jobs and industries; there has been a global shift towards recruitment using social media. Presence on sites like LinkedIn, being a part of various trade specific groups on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms is on a rise exponentially. What according to you is the role of Social Media in recruitment? (Focus on points of reach, costs, time frame, etc.) (10 Marks)
2. Differentiate between Career and Succession Planning. Discuss the state of succession planning in Indian companies with special reference to Infosys (since 2002- Mr. Murthy stepped down to 2017- Vishal Sikka’s exit) (10 Marks)
3. ‘Fly Bird’ manufactures and sells denims for men, women and kids. It is more than a century old company and has 500+ exclusive stores in the country. It has been observed for the past six months that for the stores located in Mumbai, the productivity levels of the front-line staff have gone down which has slashed the profit figures. Further probing into the matter revealed that there has been a new training manager for the Mumbai region. There have been a lot of new recruits due to rapid expansion, who haven’t undergone any training, the existing staff is overworked, and the store managers are struggling between responsibilities of contributing to opening of new stores, supervising existing staff and giving OJT for new recruits.
a. According to you how could training contribute to solving of the issue mentioned above?
b. If you were the training manager, what kind of trainings would you plan for the new recruits? Make reference to Organizational, Task and Person Analysis while giving solutions.
Strategic Financial Management
1. A company is evaluating a proposal to replace a machine costing Rs. 800000 and having a written down value of Rs. 400000. The machine has a remaining economic life of 5 years after which it will have no salvage value. However, if sold today, it will fetch an amount equal to its book value. The new machine is expected to cost Rs. 1400000. It is also expected to have a life of 5 years with a scrap value of Rs. 400000. Owing to its technological superiority, the new machine is expected to contribute additional annual benefit (before depreciation and tax) of Rs. 400000. The company’s opportunity cost of capital is 10%. The tax rate applicable to the firm is 30%. The company follows Straight Line Method of Depreciation for its machines. Should the company replace the old machine with the new one? (10 Marks)
2. The country’s leading oil company is planning to set up a Greenfield project to carry out exploration work in a recently identified prospective site. Keeping the high risks associated with this project in mind, funding the project is turning out to be tricky issue for the company. You, being a subject specialist, have been approached by the company to assist it in project funding. Identify the possible sources of fund for this Greenfield project. Also, guide the company through the various stages involved in the project financing. (10 Marks)
3. A) A company is considering an investment of Rs. 500 million in a project. Expected earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) are Rs. 150 million per year. The operational risks associated with the project are fairly low, and EBIT is expected to remain steady during the project tenure. The company can raise equity, 14% preference shares, 10% debentures, or any combination thereof. Face value of equity shares is Rs. 100. Tax rate is 30%. The company is exploring the following four financing options:
Issue equity capital at par value
Raise 50% by equity share capital and 50% by preference capital
Raise 50% by equity share capital, 25% by preference capital, and 25% by debenture
Raise 25% by equity share capital, 25% by preference capital, and 50% by debenture
Identify the best financing option for the company.
3. B) Which of the above four options will be the best, if the expected EBIT is only Rs. 60 million per year, everything else remaining the same?
Performance Management System
1. Define mentoring and discuss the mentoring programmes of at least two companies with benefits accrued. (10 Marks)
2. ‘24x7’is a hypermarket chain introduced in the city. It has launched four stores and has been in operation for almost a year now. The HR manager intends setting up a reward system for the employees. Chalk out a detailed plan of action for the same. (10 Marks)
3. DKMG is a CA firm having 15 branches in different parts of the country. In the home office there are more than 45 employees. This company has a performance rating under which the employees are rated quarterly by a committee of executives. Linear rating scales are used for conducting the appraisal. The qualities considered are responsibility, initiative, interest in work, leadership potential, co-operative attitude and community service. After the performance is evaluated, the ratings are discussed with the concerned employees by their immediate boss who counsels them. The ratings are used to influence promotions and salary adjustments of the employees. Recently few employees of the company called on the firm’s owner to express their dissatisfaction with the ratings they had received. Because their ratings were comparatively low, they had been denied annual increments in salary. Approximately, two thirds of all the employees received such increments. The aggrieved employees argued that their ratings did not accurately represent their qualifications or performance. They insisted that “community service” was not actually a part of their job and that what they do off the job is none of the company’s business. The employees threatened to stop work. The threat caused concern to the management. This particular experience convinced the management that ratings may represent a serious hazard to satisfactory relationship with employees. Even the owner finds that performance appraisal is a dangerous source of friction and its hazards outweigh its values; so it should be discontinued altogether.
Questions:
a. How far do you agree with the management that performance appraisal should be discontinued? (5 Marks)
b. If you were the HR manager, how would you tackle the situation?
Capital Market and Portfolio Management
Q.1 Mr. Mahendra Kumar would like to invest in mutual funds. He has been suggested by his friend to choose a fund from any of the three mutual funds, as given in the table below. Mr. Mahendra learns that he can use Sharpe’s ratio, Treynor’s ratio and Jensen’s Alpha to measure the performance of a mutual fund. Help Mr. Mahendra to rank the three funds on each of the measures.
Fund A Fund B Fund C
Portfolio Return 12% 15% 18%
Standard Deviation 0.15 0.25 0.4
Beta of the portfolio 0.6 0.8 1.4
Return from the market 12%
Risk free rate of return 6%
Q.2 Mr. Virendra Kumar invests Rs. 10,000 in a stock that gives him dividend of Rs. 100, Rs. 200 and Rs. 300 at the end of the first, second and third year respectively. He sells his holdings at Rs. 13,500 at the end of the third year. How much returns did he earn, as per Money weighted rate of return method? Further, instructions- students can directly calculate the IRR either using in-built formula in MS Excel or create calculations of Present Values (PVs) in MS Excel. Find sum of PVs and set the sum to zero by changing the value of the discounting rate. (you may use Goal Seek function of MS Excel to accurately calculate the IRR). The rate at which the sum is zero is IRR. (10 Marks)
Q.3 Mr. Dhirendra Kumar is a 24 years old professional, working as a programmer for the largest software company in India. He has earned his bachelor degree of engineering in Computer Science from IIT Mumbai and has been working for the company for last three years. He belongs to Pathankot and his parents live there. For last three years, he has been staying in Bengaluru along with his other colleagues in a rented accommodation. He plans to get married not before the age of 28 and would like to have his own house before he gets married. His father is working currently at Pathankot and is due to retire in another ten years. He plans to convince to his parents to shift to Bengaluru from Pathankot to stay with him post his father’s retirement. Mr. Dhirendra is the star performer of his company. He currently enjoys a package of Rs. 18 lakhs per annum. After accounting for his expenditure, he has been able to save close to Rs. 30 lakhs over the last three years. Till date he has been putting his savings in either Fixed deposits (FDs) of his bank or some of the tax savings instruments such as Public Provident Fund etc. However, now he would like to see his investments grow much faster so that he can meet his marriage related expenditure four years later and also make the down payment for his new house before marriage. He has been getting various investment advices from different people telling him where to put his money. His parents are advising him to buy some gold every year and put rest of the money in FD. His boss tells him to buy the house right away, even though it could be smaller than he would need later. According to his boss, value of his small house would appreciate in four years and that the sale proceeds would partially fund the new purchase. Some of his friends have told him that investing in high safety corporate bonds will give him better returns than putting money in PPF. Amongst all this, he is getting the constant feed through newspapers of Sensex and Nifty scaling new heights every other day and a few one-off stories of rags to riches. Mr. Dhirendra is thoroughly confused between the choices and he now approaches a professional (you) to advice him on the right investment strategy. Some questions that you need to answer for Mr. Dhirendra:
a) Where should he put his money, in gold, in FD, in PPF, in real estate, in corporate bonds or in stocks? Or do you have some other strategy in mind? Provide your answer with the rationale.
b) Should he invest in any of these assets directly or should he choose the mutual fund route or create a portfolio of mutual funds? How will choosing the mutual fund route (single mutual fund or a portfolio of mutual funds) will prove beneficial to Mr. Dhirendra? Explain your recommendation with reasons for the same.
Industrial Relations & Labour Laws
1. The working hours of each of the manufacturing unit differ depending upon the availability of resources in that particular area. The management decides on the working hours, the facilities provided to the employees, the wages etc. However, at no point of the decision making is the suggestion of the workers taken. Infact, any grievances by the employees on the decision given by the management is also not appreciated. The trade union met the management and informed them that if such a behavior continued the employees would go a strike. The management replied saying that it would be physically difficult to travel to all the units before implementing a decision and an economical loss to the company also. Analyze the case and find a suitable suggestion (10 Marks)
2. Nitin had been working in an industry for the past 10 years. He has been efficient in his work and also been appreciated by his seniors and employers. In the month of November 2017, he was given a promotion. Next month he was transferred to a new unit in a rural area. Nitin refused the transfer stating that he would be getting married within 2 months. The management felt offended and removed his promotion. When Nitin questioned the decision, the management did not give a satisfactory answer, he approached the trade union. The other workers also sympathized with Nitin and joined his dispute. The management told the trade union that if it raises this dispute it shall deduct the wages of the employees. This created a strain in the relation between the employers and the employees. Analyze the case and suggest the various ways in which the dispute can be settled (10 Marks)
3. Yash was working in a factory. While working a part of machinery fell on his head. He was rushed to the hospital, but was declared dead. The employer said that it was the neglect of the employee, and refused to pay any compensation to the dependents of Yash. One of the employees in the factory informed the Commissioner about the accident
a. Advise the dependents on the compensation payable to the employee under the Employees Compensation act. (5 Marks)
b. Advise the dependents on the procedure followed by the Commissioner in case of fatal accidents.
Course: Financial Accounting
1. CISCO ltd provided Rs30 lacs for inventory obsolescence in 1998-99. In the subsequent year, it was determined that 50 % of such stocks are usable. The owner of the company being Mr. Giri, wants adjust the same through prior period adjustment account, as the provision was made in the earlier years. Give your opinion whether the contention of the owner is correct or not. (10 Marks)
2. Ramnik manufacturing company purchased on 1st April 2013, machinery for Rs.500000. After having used it for three years it was sold for Rs. 50000 as on 31st August, 2016. Depreciation is provided every year at the rate of 15% per annum on the straight line method. Books are closed as on 31st March every year.
a. Find out the profit or loss on sale of machinery. (5 Marks)
b. How the same will be reflected in the books of accounts as on 31/08/16 (5 Marks)
3. Mr. Anikeet is confused about how to reflect the following in the books of accounts- The trial balance shows selling and distribution expenses paid Rs 50000.Additionally. the selling and distribution expenses to be paid for the month of March 2016 Rs 10000 Credit side of Trial Balance (31.3.2015) shows commission received Rs.80000. However, Commission accrued but not yet received Rs.20000. As an accountant of the company,
a. Pass the necessary adjustment entries for the following. Give reasons to support your working (5 Marks).
b. Discuss, how such adjustments will be reflected in final accounts?
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