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INTERNAL ASSIGNMENT APPLICABLE FOR JUNE 2020 EXAMINATION

 

Business: Ethics, Governance & Risk

1. Read up on the ICICI Bank-Videocon Loan Case from credible public sources (website, newspaper, magazines) and answer the following questions. (Kindly mention only the facts and not speculations or rumors). You can refer to chapter 9 & 10 to understand the scope of the questions.

Explain the TWO ethical issues or concern in the ICICI Bank case and the negative impacts of these issues on the bank? (10 Marks)

2. In 2015 India’s food regulator had banned Maggi Noodles (of Nestle India) after tests showed that it contained excessive lead and for alleged mislabelling over flavour enhancer MSG. The product returned to stores after a court lifted the restriction. Nestlé has since then removed the claim “No added MSG.” You can refer to chapter 4 and answer the following question.

According to you, which all internal departments worked together to overcome the allegation and relaunch the same product in a way that it would earn the trust of its key consumers and stakeholders? What contributions were made by each of these departments while work together for this common business objective? (10 Marks)

3. a. As an employee if you become a whistle blower, are you being disloyal towards your

employer? Yes or No? What is/are the ethical reason/s for becoming a whistle blower? (5 Marks)

3. b. Explain any two reasons to showcase that study and understanding of ethics makes

for a better manager, good business and happy society?

 

Financial Institutions and Markets

1. “Primary Market helps to facilitate capital growth by enabling individuals to convert savings into investments. Describe in details the techniques that companies uses to raise the fresh capital from the primary market (10 Marks)

2. Explain why insurance sectors are considered as financial intermediary. Discuss any four types of insurance plans that are available in the market. (10 Marks)

3. Ms. Goyal, after completing her graduation, recently joined a bank. With a steady income 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. Goyal is not at all familiar with MFs. Advise Ms.Goyal with the below queries:

a. Explain brief on Mutual Funds and its features. (5 Marks)

b. Enumerate any four types of Mutual Fund to Ms.Goyal.

 

B2B Marketing

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? (10 Marks)

2. An automobile component OEM manufacturing alternators has appointed your advertising agency to design the promotional strategy for their product. You are required to prepare a marketing communication campaign & select appropriate media vehicle for the same keeping in mind the target audience. (10 Marks)

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 corporates but is not clear how to go about marketing & selling it to corporates (B2B) as ABC was always involved in selling home furniture (B2C).

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.

 

Compensation & Benefits

1. WONDERWORLD Enterprises is a leading automobile company in India manufacturing two wheelers. Company has expanded its operations in Asia by setting up a unit in Indonesia. A team of 50 employees is sent on deputation to handle the Indonesian project. You are an HR Manager of WONDERWORLD and you are entrusted with the responsibility of designing the compensation for these 50 employees. Which approach to compensation management will you adopt? (10 Marks)

2. REGENCY Group is a leading business conglomerate in India. The group is planning to diversify into construction sector and as an HR Manager you are asked to conduct a compensation survey in construction sector in India so that important compensation decisions can be made. Suggest a step by step process for conducting this compensation survey. (10 Marks)

3. You are hired as an HR consultant by ABC Ltd, a newly set up IT Company, to design a new compensation system. In this background, answer the following:

a. It is important to identify all the stakeholders before designing a new compensation system. Identify the stakeholders of compensation for ABC Ltd. (5 Marks)

b. Discuss the types of compensation that will be a part of compensation system of ABC Ltd.

 

Enterprise Resource Planning

1. Imagine you are a Business Analyst collecting requirements from a Chief Marketing officer of an auto portal company which helps its users with car research. What are the different parameters and touch points of a customer you will suggest starting from a customer’s journey to hit the portal to the final booking? What kind of different analysis from MIS can you create and present to help the CMO to take better decisions and to obtain better conversions of leads? (10 Marks)

2. Select any one Business/Industry sector/domain and write 5 critical business processes of that sector, apply principles of business process engineering in any one of those 5 critical processes and propose an alternative. (10 Marks)

3. Imagine you are the Project Manager for an ERP Implementation of the HR Module in any organization with an employee strength of 400 working in 3 different countries. Now answer below questions: a. List 5 important and critical parameters you will be considering for the successful implementation. (5 Marks)

b. What are the different steps and stages you will be following for such implementation so that you meet the deadlines?

 

Customer Relationship Management

1. Outline a communication plan with an aim to translate the relationship policy into contact moments for customers in your line of business. (10 Marks)

2. The increase in the quantity of data and the decrease in the available analysis time have led to a growing need for an inductive method which will assist in finding useful relationships between (selected) data. Elaborate any 2 such methods that you use at your workplace. (10 Marks)

3. You are a call centre manager with a decade of experience. In the last 10 years you have seen customer relationship management evolve in the call centre industry. Scenario is more competitive and requires out of the box thinking to sustain and succeed.

a. Do you prefer working with specialist or generalist call centre agents? What parameters help you arrive at a decision? (5 Marks)

b. As per your understanding and experience, rate the elements of a call centre in order of importance? Justify your rating with examples

 

Digital Payments

1. Demonetization has changed the attitude of people towards the digital payments. Digital Payments are very popular among the youth, but still the ratio of the population who regularly use the digital payments is very less. To increase the inclination of the people towards adopting the digital payments, Govt. of India has decided to introduce another round of demonetization. The currencies of denomination Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 will be withdrawn from circulation and the new rule says that any payment above Rs. 200 will need to be done through digital medium. Your parents and grandparents have never used digital payments. Explain to them what are different digital payment options available to them and how to use it. (10 Marks)

2. The second round of demonetization has created a lot of chaos, and as and when more and more people are adopting it, the frauds are also increasing and discouraging people from using it. Again, your parents and grandparents are confused about the above aspects and concerned about the security of the transactions they do using digital payment systems. Explain to them the security threats associated with digital payments and provide them guidelines to remain careful while using digital payment systems. (10 Marks)

3. Mr. Sagra is a businessperson and understands technology very well. He envisions that the future of digital payments is bitcoins. However, he doesn’t have any experience of trading in bitcoins. He consulted you as an expert in crypto currencies and requests you to provide your valuable services on

a. How to buy and store bitcoins. (5 Marks)

b. To understand different features of block chain. (5 Marks)

 

Corporate Finance

1. Alpha Ltd is expecting an annual earnings before interest and tax of ₹ 1.5 Lakhs. The company has 10% debentures of ₹ 4 lakhs and cost of Equity capital is 12%. Calculate the total value of the firm and the overall cost of capital of the firm according to Net Income Approach. Also comment what will happen to the value of the firm and the overall cost of capital if debt is increased in the capital structure. (10 Marks)

2. The Capital structure of ABC Ltd, is as under:

Equity share capital

₹ 100 Lacs

10% Debentures

₹ 50 Lacs

 The sales for the year 2019 are 1.5 Lac units@ ₹ 40per unit

 Also, the variable cost per unit is 20 % of sales revenue

 ₹ 12 Lacs is the fixed operating cost.

 Assume Income tax rate as 40 %

Calculate Operating, Financial and Combined Leverage of the firm and interpret the result. (10 Marks)

3. Neha would retire 30 years from today and she would need ₹ 6,00,000 per year after her retirement, with the first retirement funds withdrawn one year from the day she retires. Assume a return of 7% per annum on her retirement funds and if her planning is for 25 years after retirement, Calculate:

a. How much lumpsum she should deposit in her account today so that she has enough funds for retirement? (5 Marks)

b. How much she should deposit each year so that she has enough funds for retirement?

 

Commercial Banking System & Role of RBI

1. Rohan is appointed as a control manager in a reputed bank. As a manager he needs to prepare the presentation highlighting the Risk control/mitigation process in banks. Help Rohan in preparing the presentation. (10 Marks)

2. We have witnessed via media the massive fraud of Rs. 11,400 crores at Punjab National Bank which landed them in a huge controversy. Analyze the case and give a short presentation on what went wrong from PNB’s side and what precautions PNB would have taken while granting Letter of credit to its customer. (10 Marks)

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

(5 Marks)

b. The measures you will take to overcome this alarming issue.

 

Cost & Management Accounting

1. Given the slowdown in the auto sector, Fast Automobile company, a car manufacturing company wants to go in for an overhaul of its operations. The Management wants to review the cost of all its product lines i.e. types of cars it has in various segments and the way they value their closing stock given the inventory pile up, to take some strategic decisions.

The Management accountant is asked to prepare a summary of costs to enable the top team to decide which product to manufacture, discontinue some segments etc. What are the various types of ways the Management accountant can classify the costs by Management decisions. Describe any 5. Also, discuss the different ways in which the company can value its closing stock?

(10 Marks)

2. Traditional Managerial accounting was all about managing costs whereas Management

accounting has undergone a sea change, given the change in the overall Global

environment. Discuss and describe in relation to the following -

 Growth of E-Commerce and e-business. Share atleast 2 practical examples.

 Focus on cross-functional Groups

 Total Quality management concept

How these impacted global management accounting practices

(10 Marks)

3. Fancy Bag company purchases Ladies Bags from a wholesaler @ Rs 1100/- per piece.

They add accessories and packaging and sell each bag for Rs 1800/- per piece. They incur certain fixed expenses.

The company wants to understand how many pieces they must sell in order to be profitable.

They seek the help of a Management accountant to:

a. Ascertain Contribution per piece and as a % of Sales Price (5 Marks)

b. Prepare the Profit / Loss account for sale of 200 pieces 300 pieces

Details provided:

Purchase Cost 1100 per pc

Sale 1800 per pc

Expenses Per Month

Rent 50000

Staff Salary 75000

Commission per pc 100

 

Integrated Marketing Communication

1. You are a baker and have set up your own Bakery. You have the resources and enough space to fulfill orders in New Mumbai. Describe how would you promote your brand to maximize the no. of orders per day? (10 Marks)

2. You are the brand manager of a hygiene soap which protects you from germs. You have

launched a campaign to build awareness on the importance of washing hands. For this the

brand has tied up with an NGO to create awareness across the country especially in smaller

towns. How will you leverage this association to build positive equity for your brand?

(10 Marks)

3. Case Study

ICICI ropes in Shahrukh khan as their Global Brand Ambassador

You are Brand Manager at ICICI – Retail Banking and have tied up with Shahrukh Khan

as the Brand ambassador.

a. Think of an interesting active integration of ICICI in the next Shahrukh film. (5 Marks)

b. How would you leverage Shahrukh to promote your brand?

 

Marketing Research

1. As a researcher, you need to study how many kirana stores in Mumbai sell Lizol brand and range of products (Surface cleaner, Bathroom power cleaner & Kitchen power cleaner.) Which non-probabilistic sampling method would you use to complete your research? Also state the reasons behind choosing that method. Also explain as to how you will proceed ahead with choosing the areas / localities in Mumbai to conduct your research along with timelines. (10 Marks)

2. You are the Head of a Market Research Organisation. Your client has recently introduced “iD Traditional Filter Coffee Decoction”. Your client wants to understand how customers are reacting to their recently launched Filter Coffee Decoction. Draft a Questionnaire containing not more than 20 questions that would succinctly address the query posed by the client. (10 Marks)

3. You have been recently appointed as a “New Product Development” Head for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes which operates across pan India. You have been asked to develop 2 new innovative products as part of their Menu.

a. Explain the process in detail to arrive at the creation of your 2 new products (5 Marks)

b. Is there a need to conduct Test Marketing post creation of the 2 innovative products? If Yes or No, please state your reasons to support your answer. (5 Marks)

 

Industrial Relations & Labour Laws

1. Bali has joined Martek Metals in personnel department. His primary KRA is employee engagement, so he wants to start some sustainable initiatives rather than only celebratory events like birthday parties or picnics. He wants to suggest some activities towards workers’ participation in the next management meetings and wants to make presentations with specifics. Let us list down and elaborate on various forms of workers’ participation for Bali (10 Marks)

2. Mr. Natekar is a veteran teacher in Labour legislation. He holds long years of experience in the field of labour law. He has been invited to deliver a seminar at an international business school. The class is a mix of Indian and Foreign students hoping to pursue their careers in ‘Management in Law’. Mr. Natekar decides to cover the topic of ILO to suit the crowd. He decides to cover the ‘Topics of interest for ILO’. What points must he include in the information about above topic. Please elaborate your answer well. (10 Marks)

3. Kamal Kumar is a labour officer with Kamte automobiles. The company is currently facing a set back due to a strike at one of their manufacturing plants. Kamal Kumar suggests collective bargaining for resolving the issue. Please answer following questions in light of this case.

a. The company arranges for a press conference to announce their decision of collective bargaining and Kamal Kumar needs to educate the press about 5 phases of collective bargaining. Please elaborate the points for Kamal Kumar (5 Marks)

b. Kamal Kumar also meets the union leaders and talks to them about the bargaining power to boost their energies and gain readiness from them to participate readily. He mentions three points which would increase the bargaining power of the workers. Which three points must he have mentioned?

 

Managing Business Process Outsourcing

1. With the help of an example explain the lifecycle methodology for Business Process Outsourcing. (10 Marks)

2. With the help of an organization that outsource it business processes, explain the benefits of Business Process Outsourcing and what are some of the risk/challenges faced in Business Process Outsourcing? (10 Marks)

3. The rise of what is known as business-process outsourcing (BPO) in the Philippines has been nothing short of phenomenal. The very first calls were taken in 1997; today the sector employs 638,000 people and enjoys revenues of $11 billion, about 5% of the country's GDP. Last year the Philippines even overtook India, long the biggest call-center operator in the world, in “voice-related services”. The country now employs about 400,000 people at call centers, India only 350,000. The main reason for the success of the Philippine call centres is that workers speak English with a neutral accent and are familiar with American idioms—which is exactly what their American customers want. Of these, many have taken to complaining bitterly about Indian accents (which no amount of “voice neutralization” coaching seems to have overcome). As a result, the Indian firms themselves have been helping to move jobs to the Philippines by setting up call centres in Manila and other parts of the country. Infosys and Wipro, as well as scores of other Indian firms, now have substantial operations there. And they aren't drawn to Manila by cheap labour. Wages in the Philippines are slightly higher than in India since the Filipino accent

commands a premium. It also helps that the country has a big pool of well-educated workers. The million or so Filipinos who graduate every year have few other options to choose from, besides emigrating. And working in a call centre is considered a middle-class job (new recruits start at $470 a month). The big question is whether the Philippine BPO industry, having conquered the call-center market, can now move up the value chain. To keep growing rapidly—and profitably—it needs to capture some of the more sophisticated back-office jobs, such as those processing insurance claims and conducting due diligence. In these businesses, called knowledge-process outsourcing and legal-process outsourcing, India still rules

supreme. (Source: The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/21557350)

Based on the article, answer the following questions:

a. Compare and contrast the BPO industry in India as well as the Philippines and summarize the findings in terms of future of BPO in both the countries. (5 Marks)

b. Looking at the scenario, it’s clear that other countries like China and Philippines have great potential to beat India in the BPO industry. What can India do to maintain its leadership for the same?

 

New Product Development and Managing Innovation

1. Hyundai has launched its battery car in the market and others companies like MG hector is following the innovation in Indian market. What type of innovation (Radical or incremental) you will consider in a shift from the petrol/diesel car to battery car? Give reasons to support your answer. (10 Marks)

2. Explain the role of house of quality in quality function deployment. What are the benefits of implementation of house of quality? How it conducts the competitive assessment?

(10 Marks)

3. a. Samsung and Motorola have widely launched and done the branding of folding phone. The mobile manufacturer Apple wants to take the decision on new product development using ‘technology S curve’. How the curve helps apple to build a new product? (5 Marks) 3. b. How can the competitor analysis be done in the case described in part (a)?

Lean Six Sigma

1. For the below shown VSM, the monthly demand is 3900 pieces with 30 working days per month. Daily work time is 8 hours excluding the break time. Calculate the TAKT time, Effective Cycle Time and process cycle efficiency.

2. In this Six Sigma case study, number of billing errors in a telecom company is high due to various reasons. Billing being one of the most critical activities in any business needs extra attention. There are approx. 4.5 % errors, out of which approx. 2.5% reaches to the customer. Reduce the billing errors to less than 1 %, to ensure that customer gets correct bill to his satisfaction. Please create a project charter for the above-mentioned business problem. (10 Marks)

3. a. A product designer wants to determine the average amount of time it takes to assemble a toy. A sample study data of 16 times toy assembly showed an average assembly time of 14.64 minutes, with a standard deviation of 5.82 minutes. Assuming sample data is normally distributed, provide a 95% & 99% confidence interval for the mean assembly time (Z0.95 = 1.645). What would happen to confidence interval, in case #samples selected for the study are increased.

(5 Marks)

3. b. A process has inventory breakdown as follows (RM = 200 pieces, WIP = 80 pieces, FG = 400 pieces) with an average customer demand per day of 80 FG pieces (1 Piece of RM inventory is required to make 1 piece of WIP and 1 piece of WIP piece is required to make 1 piece of FG). The total Value-Added Time for the process is 970 seconds. Calculate the Process Cycle Efficiency (PCE).

 

Logistics Management

1. Many multinationals are now committing to sustainable development growth (SDG) due to the recent global climate change and global warming. Discuss with relevant examples how Green Manufacturing can be incorporated in logistic planning. (10 Marks)

2. What are your recommendations for a successful channel strategy decision that may help your organization be highly competitive and maximize its profit? Give examples. (10 Marks)

3. A consumer product distributer has a chain of retail outlets. The warehouse and its stores upkeep are dependent highly on the fluctuating consumer requirement. Only for 20 to 30 % of the time the full warehouse space is fully utilized (during peak demand). Most of the other time utilization around the year is less than 70%.

a. According to you, what warehouse strategy should be adopted to improve its warehouse utilization? (5 Marks)

b. Briefly summarize the economic benefits of warehouse.

 

Marketing of Financial Services

1. Explain the concept of Online Marketing of financial services. How is it changing the way financial products and services are sold in India? (10 Marks)

2. One week ago you bought a ULIP policy from a private Life Insurance company. On receiving the policy copy, you realize that the Life Insurance policy was mis-sold. Would it be possible for you to return the policy? What strategy would you follow to settle the matter with the insurance company? (10 Marks)

3. You are a Financial Planner. Your client Ashwin Aswani aged 37 years, married with 1 child requires your help to make few 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 or a Term Plan. Recommend the product best suited for him giving valid reasons. (5 Marks)

b. Ashwin wants to purchase a holiday home by liquidating his retirement savings 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.

 

IT Security and Risk Management

1. There has been a recent online breach of system security in a Government organization. As a system administrator with the organization you have been tasked with implementing information security and assessment process within organization. Please enumerate the process you are going to follow to offer robust information security to both the users and management. (10 Marks)

2. Staving off critical threats in the current cyber security landscape is a tall order for organizations of any size. When a security breach happens, questions will be raised: Did the shortage of skilled cyber security personnel play a part? Was it down to pure negligence? It would be impossible to say for sure. However, what we do know is that a general lack of capabilities in detection and response is putting organizations across the globe at risk. This can show up in an organization not being able to detect malicious activities fast enough, thereby allowing threat actors to incur significant damage, or not having enough granular information to stamp out such activities from its environment. What are the steps or techniques that an assessor should adopt to ensure successful implementation while formulating a report on the information security assessment process? (10 Marks)

3. As the coronavirus spreads, colleges are scrambling to respond to potential health-care crises, campus closures, and other issues that are arising and evolving on a daily basis. A major challenge: How can institutions continue to offer instruction if they decide to close or cancel in-person classes? A growing number are moving classes online as a short-term solution. Universities wants to implement an access control system for its physical and virtual network. Once the access control is implemented, the university is looking towards a regular monitoring framework for its network so that its network is protected towards malicious attacks. As an IT head for the university. Please suggest:

a. An integrated access control framework for the university so that the access to system, physical and virtual resources can be controlled. (5 Marks)

b. A monitoring framework for the university so that its network is monitored and its knowledge assets and Intellectual property sensitive information can be secured.

 

Manpower Planning, Recruitment and Selection

1. To estimate the existing workforce, briefly explain any 2 qualitative and quantitative methods that you use at your workplace. (10 Marks)

2. Describe the model that analyses an organization’s competitive strengths. Apply it to any industry of your choice and illustrate with an example. (10 Marks)

3. You are to conduct a training for recently promoted managers who will be managing teams for the first time in their careers. Managers need to be oriented on performance management with extreme caution to avoid employee dissatisfaction which may lead to attrition.

a. What would you suggest the managers do so that the employees realize their performance level and work on their improvement areas? How will it help the employees? (5 Marks)

b. Explain the 4 methods to encourage good performance of employees.

 

Consumer Behavior

1. 1. GSK Horlicks is an iconic health drink for kids. Over the years, the brand has introduced several variants of Horlicks. What is segmentation and targeting? Identify the type of segmentation done for each of the following: (10 Marks)

 Horlicks Chocolate for fussy children who like fun flavors

 Mother’s Horlicks for pregnant women and lactating mothers  Junior Horlicks for newborns and infants  Horlicks Lite for calorie-conscious adults

2. What are the steps in the consumer decision-making journey? Describe your decision-making journey for the following products: (10 Marks)

a. Sugar

b. Men’s aftershave lotion

c. Smartphone

3. a. Explain the different adopter categories in the Innovation adoption process, taking the

example of any innovative product of your choice. (5 Marks)

3. b. What are membership groups and symbolic groups? Discuss 1 membership group and 1 symbolic group from your life. (5 Marks)

 

International Business

1. In the US-China Trade war, what are the trade control measures taken by both the countries. How are the US & Chinese companies getting affected? (10 Marks)

2. Discuss the effects of regional integration in terms of trade creation and trade diversion. Prepare a list of Regional Trade Agreements of India (10 Marks)

3. Read the passage and answer the questions mentioned below the passage.

Coronavirus has put a spotlight on the economic decoupling of China and some developed countries. With factories shuttered and consumption stalled, multinational companies have been forced to shift production elsewhere. Apple has warned investors that its revenues will take a hit as a result of the outbreak. A gradual decoupling of global economies has been under way for a few years. The South Korean electronics group Samsung, for example, has been closing Chinese plants and opening others in Vietnam. Mexico has benefited from some US corporations moving their supply chains closer to home. But decoupling will undoubtedly speed up as Beijing’s opacity in handling the coronavirus epidemic highlights the risks of doing business in China. There are marked similarities between the virus and decoupling itself. There is what you see on the surface (masks and panic or supply chain shifts and profit warnings) and then there is what you can’t know: how many victims the outbreak will claim or what the world will look like economically and politically in five to 10 years, as globalization dissolves and divides deepen. Still, it is the job of a columnist to go out on a limb, so let me make a few predictions about what may lurk around the corner if the decoupling continues. An increased risk of violence in Taiwan, the inability of Europe to defend its own liberal democratic values, and a world in which smart devices can no longer speak to each other across borders are distinct possibilities. And all of these things could fundamentally reshape the global economy and geopolitics. The most pressing issue in the short term is Taiwan, whose firms make most of the world’s semiconductors. The majority are produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, a contract chipmaker that supplies US companies, including Apple, and a number of Chinese firms. Semiconductors are a key

area in which the Chinese are not yet technologically self-sufficient. In hardware (from

routers to switches to handsets), areas of software and high-tech services, the Chinese

have already largely decoupled from the US. Consider the success of homegrown firms

such as the smartphone maker Xiaomi. Or the telecoms group Huawei’s efforts to build

bespoke Chinese operating systems. Or the fact that many of the most innovative new

mobile apps are developed in China.

But semiconductors require huge amounts of capital investment and research effort. It

could be a decade before China can fully develop its own industry. In the meantime, it

will be dependent on Taiwan, which not only supplies US companies, but where support

for democracy is growing. This begs the question of whether, or perhaps when, Taiwan’s

semiconductor industry might become a political hot potato, as both China and the US

try to build their own independent high-tech sectors.

It is hard to imagine that Taiwan will be able to operate in both orbits indefinitely. As

one telecoms analyst put it to me recently, “What’s happened in Hong Kong is fascinating

and disturbing in part because it raises the question, what happens if the same thing occurs

in Taiwan?” Imagine a world in which cross-border banking, online shopping and data

sharing becomes bifurcated between two systems. That is a reality we may be heading

towards. Apple and other tech companies would certainly take a valuation hit in such a

future. But so would many others in industries beyond technology. As with coronavirus,

the effects of decoupling will be both unpredictable and exponential.

(accessed from https://www.ft.com/ on 27th February,2020)

a. Do you think that globalization is under threat? Are transnational firms going to become

extinct? Give your comments with reference to the passage. (5 Marks)

b. With your knowledge of International Business, explain how different political systems

across nations may create risks for the conduct of business. (5 Marks)

 

Organisational Theory, Structure and Design

1. Surya Enterprises is in the business of setting up Solar Power plants, which converts energy from the sun into electricity using Solar Panels. This is a young company that has been in existence for 4 years and has a seen rapid growth from being a 25 people start-up to a 1000 people strong company. The company’s founders have laid a special emphasis on sustainable and ethical business practices, (including abiding by labour laws) and due to this, as well as being in green energy space, the company is well regarded by everyone in the industry. However, this sector is highly cost sensitive and the company faces stiff competition from other local vendors who operate on lesser margins by adopting less ethical practices. Another factor affecting margins, is that 70% of the cost of the project is the cost of the Solar Panel itself. These panels are imported from China and thus the profitability is closely linked to the cost at which the panels are procured. With the Indian government coming down heavily against dumping by Chinese companies, as well as a surge in demand for panels in China, the cost of solar panels has increased. The government is encouraging the spread of solar energy based plants through special schemes to encourage the generation of clean energy. However, new plants that are coming up, the system of allocation is through open bidding and goes to the lowest tariff offered, and the tariff has been going down steeply. This has further impacted the profitability of these ventures. On the positive side, technology is changing rapidly and discovery of cheaper and better materials is making the panels smaller and cheaper. Given the above scenario, the company is now planning to evaluate whether the business is sustainable or not. Surya enterprises has hired you to do an organisational analysis using the PESTLE method

Q. Define the elements of PESTLE and using the information given in the case above, wherever possible list out the various aspects of the PESTLE relevant to the case. (10 Marks)

2. Pradeep Foods was started by Pradeep Panigrahi, to provide wholesome and reasonably

priced food options to young professionals working in business parks. The primary goal

of Pradeep Foods was to deliver piping hot food, prepared with minimal quantities of

oil and spices, using only fresh seasonal produce. The company started its operations in

Mumbai and very quickly moved to all the major cities in India. Initially, when each

branch was being set up, Pradeep would stay there for 2-3 months to start the office and

train the teams. He would personally supervise the menu, and based on customer

feedback tweak the menu to satisfy his customers. The food services were well

appreciated and their customer base grew at an exponential rate. Pradeep bumped into

you in a conference and shared his concern that his organisation is becoming too big to

manage. He is has heard of a functional structure and a divisional style structure and

asks you to recommend which structure is better in his case.

Q. Detail out what a divisional structure and functional structure are, listing out benefits

and disadvantages of each as per the case given above. (10 Marks)

3. Kapoor & Co is a family run business, which has been in existence for many years. The

MD, Mr. Kapoor, knew each and every employee in his company and ran the company

like his extended family. He was personally involved in every performance and

increment discussion and would take the final decision for each employee. The

employees were quite happy in this set-up. After a few decades, Mr. Kapoor decided to

retire from the company and put in place a professional management team to run the

company. The new management team has been hired from other companies and has

been given a free hand to run the company. The first step they took was to put in place a

structured performance appraisal process, to assess and evaluate the employees. The

employees became very agitated at the introduction of the new process and the

feedback reached Mr. Kapoor.

You are the CEO of this company and Mr. Kapoor wants to meet you to understand

what is happening. You see that this is a classic case of the company following

Greiner’s Life Cycle model.

a. Describe the 5 stages of Greiner’s Life Cycle model giving the context from the case

(5 Marks)

b. Describe the need for change management as well as the approach you intend to follow

using Lewins 3 step model (5 Marks)

 

Operations and Supply Chain Strategies

1. A beverage company based in United Kingdom is selling smoothies from pure raw fruit ingredients. It is been for a long time in UK with its revenues growing from $ 50 mn to $ 500 mn. It has decided to enter into Indian market. The company has plan to procure material from various geographies of potential suppliers. Suggest an entry strategy, procurement planning and operations excellence. (10 Marks)

2. A successful startup in India is into the customized bed solutions with focus on health to correct lifestyle disorders in travelling. It wants to expand its footprint PAN India by setting up its operations. Design a strategic approach to different aspects of the business it needs to follow for an effective logistics and supply chain strategies keeping in creating demand and servicing the market. (10 Marks)

3. The company ZINKO industries Ltd is a major B2B player and is a family managed in the Mumbai and want to expand its chemical business. The company is wanting to move into the B2C business and need to have the business plan with key focus on operations and supply chain strategies for chemical business. The company wants to produce pack sizes ranging from, 500 ml, 1 liter and 5 liter packs for the B2C market. The company wanted to have product differentiation to scale up its operations.

a. Describe what kind of operations and supply chain strategies the company need to follow and market entry, expansion and development strategies. (5 Marks)

b. What are the strategies that will help the company to achieve business success and growth excellence? (5 Marks)

 

Organisation Culture

1. As a Leader of Global Services ltd, Sanjana aspires to create a strong organizational culture. How can she contribute to culture building of the company? What specific steps can she take to create a learning culture at global services? (10 Marks)

2. The revenues at B R logistics have been dwindling off late. Clients have been

complaining of laxities on the part of the employees. The top management recognizes the

need to bring about a profound culture change to bring in agility and customer centricity

in the company. They want the HR to equip themselves with the right strategy to meet

these needs. Why do companies experience a need for cultural change? What process of

Organizational culture change will HR follow at B R Logistics? (10 Marks)

3. a. Alex has been chosen to set up the India business for Glenmorgan ltd, a US based

Financial service company. Alex needs to keep in mind the cross-cultural factors that can

impact the employee management practices in India. Keeping the Hofstede’s Crosscultural

model in mind, which are the factors that Alex will have to be aware of?

(5 Marks)

3. b. Start Cruiser, is a dynamic tourism company, aspiring in making their mark in Space

tourism. They want a culture that upholds innovation. What are the ways in which they

can create an innovative culture? (5 Marks)

 

Performance Management System

1. Rakesh Kumar is working at Jayesh Industries as Manager in the Operations Department. Akshay Shroff works in Rakesh’s team as ‘’Executive – Operations’’. Akshay joined the company since 2 years. Though he works hard, he is not effective in meeting project timelines and often has errors in his work. It is appraisal time and Rakesh has to give performance feedback to Akshay. He does not want to demotivate Akshay yet he needs to give him the negative feedback. How should Rakesh handle the process of negative feedback. (10 Marks)

2. Aarti Desai has joined as an HR Manager at Highmart which is a food chain across cities in India. Aarti has interacted with young employees across the company and all of them have expressed the need for the company to launch a Mentoring Program. The company has high attrition and new recruits could benefit from such a program. How should Aarti go about the process of introducing the Mentoring Program. Do also give an interesting brand name to the Mentoring program. (10 Marks)

3. Sidharth is the HR Manager at NewZone which is a furniture company. The company has 2000 employees and is growing rapidly. Sidharth would like to introduce the 360-degree feedback process.

a. Design a 360 degree form (5 Marks)

b. What are the pitfalls in 360-degree feedback that Sidharth should take care to avoid?

(5 Marks)

 

Procurement Management

1. What is the relevance of Vendor Managed Inventory in supply chain management? Discuss the various features of VMI. Elucidate the various aspects involved in successful implementation of VMI in special reference to retail sector. (10 Marks)

2. Discuss the pricing strategies in case of an E-procurement platform. Discuss the relevance of online auctions in the E-procurement ecosystem. (10 Marks)

3. a. Consider yourself as a local tyre manufacturing firm entering into the import of the tyres. What sort of questions will you come across in the thought process in terms of costs related to the import? (5 Marks)

3. b. Enumerate the steps for developing transportation related strategies. (5 Marks)

 

Project Management

1. Your organization is looking for procuring project management software. You are asked to prepare a file note describing how this software will help your organization. You are required to list at least three project management software tools with details such as salient features, cost, etc. You are also asked to recommend a specific software tool with proper justification. Please introduce your organization before sharing your file note. (10 Marks)

2. You are celebrating the successful completion of a project. During the party, the Vice President of Projects in your organization pulled you aside and asked you the secret of the success of the project. You shared few points, which seemed to have impressed her. Next day, you got an email from her to submit a brief report describing the key factors that led to successful completion of your project. The report is also expected to provide top two recommendations to other project managers. Please introduce your organization before sharing your brief report. (10 Marks)

 

3. “No! I have worked on this concept for so long and I don’t want some bean counters coming and telling me to stop working on it” Natasha was very upset since the Head of Accounting & Finance department have told her boss to immediately stop the work as his department didn’t find the proposed project financially viable.

“Don’t get emotional!” Jaywant started talking to Natasha. Being a good friend, Jaywant wanted to help her. “First of all, tell me how the NPV and IRR figures looked for your proposed project.” “I am not sure,” Natasha was candid. “I didn’t do those calculations since I was busy with other parts of the project proposal.”

“That’s a great mistake, I must say. You must do these calculations and then get them verified by our Accounting & Finance department. I can help but I would suggest you take help of Manish. He is not only expert is this type of analysis but he also respects your engineering abilities and will surely like to find the way out to save your proposed project” Jaywant’s words helped Natasha to get out of her chair as she moved to her phone for calling Manish.

a. How will Manish explain the concept of NPV to Natasha? (5 Marks)

b. How will Manish explain the concept of IRR to Natasha? (5 Marks)

 

Research Methodology

1. Explain what is meant by independent variables and moderating variables. Identify any three independent variables and any three moderating variables from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model as shown below. What is dependent variable? Identify the one from this model.

2. Explain the types of scale that are used in the following survey questionnaire:

1. Gender (male/female)

2. Age (no. of years)

3. Annual income in Rs. Lac

4. On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely will you recommend our services to your friends?

How will you measure the central tendency for gender and age?

(10 Marks)

3. “We must quickly work out how to reduce the cost of our production process. Without

reducing the cost of production process by at least 20%, we can’t turn profitable. It’s an

important and urgent exercise!” Mr Godbole, newly joined CEO of Acme Chemicals tried

to emphasize the urgency and importance of the proposed exercise to his senior

colleagues.

“Yes, I will immediately form a task force consisting of internal subject matter experts

and produce a report within a couple of weeks”, Mr Mehra, Head of Production quickly responded. “I have a differing thought,” interrupted Mr Iyer, Head of Sales. “We should

invite an external consultancy firm for this work”. “Why? Why do we need external guys

when we have the expertise internally?” Mr Mehra was clearly upset with the proposal

of Mr Iyer.

a. What arguments will Mr Iyer will put forth? (5 Marks)

b. What arguments will Mr Mehra will put forth? (5 Marks)

 

Retail Banking

1. Mr. Raj has recently graduated and got placed in a private sector bank and is unaware of the banking sector and its operations. Being his reporting manager you need to brief him with the Principles of lending and need to explain him in details about the same.

(10 Marks)

2. Retail banking is the most visible face of banking for the general public and have baskets of products for meeting customer’s ever ending demand. Express your opinion on how Retail banking can be used as a risk diversification tool.

(10 Marks)

3. “With increased competition and entry of new players, the banking landscape has made a sea change in the recent years. Sales team forms an integral part in banks and helps in enhancing customer satisfaction”

a. Share your opinion on the growing importance of sales team in banks and their contribution for attaining customer satisfaction (5 Marks)

b. Enumerate direct sales and the advantages of Direct sales in banking sector

(5 Marks)

 

Service Operations Management

1. What are the factors which are considered important by an organisation while evaluating Quality in Service Operations? Elaborate your answer with an example of an Educational Institute (10 Marks)

2. Discuss the concept of Front Office & Back Office in Service Operations. Explain which services are categorized in these two types w.r.t. a Restaurant setup (10 Marks)

3. The Healthcare setup is a good example wherein the businesses involve service operations with utmost customer satisfaction. The ‘sold products’ are evaluated by the customers and rated highly based on the ‘service’ that the seller provides. With reference to the Healthcare setup discuss the following aspects of service operations

a. Discuss the elements that need to be planned in a Service Framework. (5 Marks) b. What are the challenges faced by the Service Managers who manage these service operations? (5 Marks)

 

Services Marketing

1. The recent epidemic of Coronavirus has really affected the world very badly. One of the sectors worst affected are Travel & Tourism. SOTC India has seen a severe fall in business in the last few months and does not see light at the end of the tunnel anytime soon. If the situation continues this way, it may lead to them shutting down many of their branches and laying of many employees. The sluggish Indian economy is not helping their case too. You are hired as a consultant by them to suggest possible solutions and strategies in order to combat this problem? Keep in mind IIHS and the service marketing mix. (10 Marks)

2. The recent judgement by the Supreme Court with regards to AGR has forced Vodafone Idea to pay a huge amount as fine before the deadline. This hurts the already bleeding company even more. Post the entry of Jio, the telecom market has gone through a complete turmoil with the low rates and growing taxation burden. The situation has turned so bad that Vodafone wants to quit the Indian Market. The recent price increase has not helped improve the situation a lot. Can you as a student of Service Marketing analyze the problem at hand and provide possible solutions and revenue streams or methods to contain losses? Use the SERVQUAL Model to analyze the same? Also use the concept of Customer Loyalty to your advantage? (10 Marks)

3. The recent decision by the Indian Government to divide the State of Jammu & Kashmir into Union Territories and open it for investors of the world has been met with a lot of cheer by the Industry. Kashmir sure has a lot to offer but it also brings with it, its shares of problems. Use the Service Branding Model, Service Communication Model and Moment of Truth to your advantage?

a. You are a part of the planning team organizing a summit to invite investors from the service sector to tap Kashmir’s potential. Can you suggest strategies in order to woo the investors? (5 Marks)

b. Can you also enlist the hurdles that will come by and suggest possible solutions for the same? (5 Marks)

 

Supply Chain Management

1. Vashi pharmaceuticals, Inc., handles a variety of health products. A weight reduction product costs the company $2.95 per unit. The annual holding cost rate is 20 percent. Using an EOQ model, they determined that an order quantity of 300 units should be used. The lead time to receive an order is one week, and the demand is normally distributed with a mean of 150 units per week and a standard deviation of 40 units per week. The ordering cost per order is determined as $50. Calculate cycle stock and safety stock point if the firm is willing to tolerate a 1% chance (Z0.99 = 2.32) of a stockout during an order cycle. Also calculate the total cost of inventory. (10 Marks)

2. An auto parts supplier sells branded batteries to the auto mechanics. The annual demand is approximately 3,600 batteries. The supplier pays $28 for each battery and estimates that the annual holding cost is 25% of the battery’s value. It costs approximately $20 to place an order (ordering cost). The supplier currently orders 300 batteries per month.

a. Determine the ordering, holding, and total inventory costs for the current order quantity.

b. Determine the economic order quantity (EOQ).

c. How many orders should be placed per year using the EOQ?

d. Determine the ordering, holding, and total inventory costs for the EOQ.

(10 Marks)

3. a. Calculate Forecasting error (MAD, MSE, RMSE and MAPE) for the data given below

Period 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Forecast 10 15 10 15 25 15 20 25

Demand 15 15 20 15 10 20 20 30

(5 Marks)

3. b. Please provide a brief overview of S&Op process, inputs, outputs and key metrics. (5 Marks)

 

Taxation- Direct and Indirect

1. Ms. Ankita completed her MBA from DAVV, Indore. She joined an enterprise as an Accounts Manager at a CTC of Rs 650000. She invested Rs 150000 in PPF and paid mediclaim for herself Rs 15000 using cash as a mode of payment. Discuss and compute her tax liability assuming she is residential individual for the Assessment year 2019-20 (10 Marks)

2. Ms. Urrjja is running successfully the business of supplying &selling woolens on the digital platform. She is keen to understand how business expenses are allowed under the Indian Income Tax Act 1961. However, these days she is more concerned about whether there is any provision under the Act which allows claiming deductions in relation to residuary expenses. As a knowledgeable person in taxation, how will you address the worry of Ms. Urrjja. Is there any provision under the IT Act which allows to claim deductions of residual expenses? If yes, how can she avail the benefit of the said provision for her business? (10 Marks)

3. Mr. Mohan, aged 65 years, derives Rs 7.5 lacs as salary from Amiir PanWala & Company for the year ended 31.03.2019. He supplies the following information to the accounts department of the employer. (Applicable Assessment year 2019-20)

Particulars Amount Loss from one of the Self - occupied property Rs 200000 Loss from let out house property Rs 360000 Interest from Flexi Fixed Deposits Rs 150000

a. Explain and examine the applicability of TDS provision (5 Marks) b. Compute total tax liability and monthly deduction for TDS (5 Marks)

Total Quality Management

1. Explain your understanding (Process perspective) & give appropriate examples to explain: Acceptance Sampling, Double sampling & sequential acceptance sampling?

(10 Marks)

2. How “Strategic Performance Measurement” process helps management in an organization to take their organization in success path? (10 Marks)

3. a. In a hotel, the complaint management team noted down the different types of complaints received from its guests. The concerned department head asked the team lead to analyze the data & suggest which area to be addressed. Assuming you are in the lead position. Which probable reasons should you suggest to address first?

Probable Reason Frequency of occurrence

Food Quality

16

Delay in room Service

12

Room cleaning

32

Staff Attitude

5

Delay registration

42

Room interiors

2

Air Conditioning

9

Mini Bar

2

TV not working

5

Desired Channels are not subscribed

12

Room Smelling

8

(5 Marks)

3. b. You are asked to estimate UCL & LCL as per the below scenario.

As Quality control expert, you are required to measure the volume of the juice in a 250 ml packet.

You have taken 10 samples & 4 observations in each sample. The Standard deviation given as 0.145 ounce.

 

World Class Operations

1. What are the sources of environmental pollution? Explain with a suitable case (10 Marks)

2. QFD is believed to be beneficial for implementing world class standards in operations. Do you believe this? If yes justify your answer with examples. (10 Marks)

3. a. You are the operations manager of the big manufacturing unit. You have been asked by the Chief Operating Officer of the firm to prepare a white paper on Benchmarking for the firm. In this regard explain the different types of Benchmarking. (5 Marks)

3. b. You are the operations manager of the big manufacturing unit. You have been asked by the Chief Operating Officer of the firm to prepare a white paper on Benchmarking for the firm. In this regard explain the process of Benchmarking. (5 Marks)

 

Marketing Management

Mr. Amish has written a self-help book “Happy Happy” which can be read by people from all walks of life. The book revolves around a core idea of being happy in all stages of life. The publisher doesn’t have any distribution network of its own. Mr. Amish delivers session in many management schools on the topic “Happiness”. He is very popular among students and corporate. He also delivers session as a key note speaker in many management conclaves and seminars. Mr. Amish has no online and social media presence. He doesn’t write blogs or articles. Mr. Amish is a good author but has no idea about marketing and distribution of books. He hires you as a Marketing consultant for overall marketing and distribution of books.

1. What are the distribution channels that you will use to distribute the product across Indian market? Explain the same with reason. (10 Marks)

2. Suggest the Geographic, Demographic and behavioural segmentation for the book “Happy Happy” (10 Marks)

3. a. Explain five online social media platform through which you will promote the book. (5 Marks)

3. b. Explain the buyer decision making process for purchasing a self-help book. (5 Marks)

 

Financial Accounting & Analysis

1. Ms. Sandipa is the accounts executive for a company called SS Enterprises. Her job description requires her to supervise the process of recording of the transactions of business and to ensure that all accounting assumptions are taken care of. However, her junior executive is confused about the concepts of the accounting period assumption and the Separate entity assumption.

Elaborate how Sandipa can explain the concepts to her junior with the help of suitable example. (10 Marks)

2. Marry Kom is planning to invest in the share market. She has a profile of risk seeker investor but she believes that before investing it’s important to understand market ratios effectively. Discuss any five market ratios with their importance that Marry Kom should look into before undertaking any investment decision (10 Marks)

3. The following information is available in relation to Britannia Baby Company. The Company has profit before taxes of Rs 50 lacs. a. Classify and give reasons for the cash flows falling under the operating activities (5 Marks) b. Classify and give reasons for the cash flows falling under the investing activities (5 Marks)

Particulars Amount Rs in (Lacs) 1. Tangible assets purchased during the year 75 2. Depreciation charged on these tangible assets for the year @ 10% ? 3. Stock sold for the year 95 4. Loan given to Big Boy Company 150 5. Interest received from Big Boy company for the said loan @11.5% ? 6. Shares purchased of a company called as Arvind Mills 10 7. Dividend Received from Arvind Mills 1 8. Taxes paid for the year @ 30% ?

 

Business Statistics

Match No.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Player A

8

42

56

68

91

123

12

46

57

137

5

80

14

10

19

Player B

38

44

46

59

57

61

48

42

51

39

58

41

55

45

68

1. For the given data set representing the runs scored by two players in last 15 matches, conduct the following analysis:

i. Which average you will use to summarize the performance of the player? Find average runs scored for both of the players. Also give reasons for the choice of the average?

ii. If selection is possible on the basis of consistency, which player would you choose in the team? Perform the required statistics and justify the selection.

iii. Check whether there exists any relationship among the runs scored by two players using Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation and interpret the same. (10 Marks)

2. On the basis of the following data, the marketing manager wants to predict the sales volume for the locality on the basis of # households, number of cars and marketing expense Sl.No. Sales Volume #Households number of cars marketing expense 1 15727 161 3 180 2 9328 99 1 150 3 13681 135 2 175 4 12379 120 2 165 5 15351 164 3 178 6 24174 221 5 220 7 20154 179 4 205 8 20671 204 5 210 9 22978 214 5 128 10 13522 101 1 176 11 22471 231 5 226 12 19529 206 4 296 13 24216 248 3 240 14 11521 107 2 168 15 197.82 205 3 100

i. Draw three scatter plots of sales volume with each of the three variables and comment on their correlation.

ii. Regress the sales volume on #household, number of cars and marketing expense. Calculate R square and interpret the same.

iii. Determine which variable is/are significant variable/s. Is there any insignificant variable? If yes, regress again, by dropping the variable. Will dropping that variable increases the adjusted R square?

(10 Marks)

3. a. The height of the students in a certain class is following normal distribution with mean height as 165 cm and standard deviation of 25 cm. There are 60 students in that class. Determine

i. The number of students whose height is more than 158 cm.

ii. The number of students whose height is lying between 155 and 172 cm. (5 Marks)

3. b. Find the lowest height among the tallest 5 student in a class. (5 Marks)

 

Cloud Computing

1. Acme University has set up a committee to decide whether it should use cloud solution for the automation of Training & Placement function. You are invited as a subject matter expert on this committee. You are expected to specifically provide the recommendations for the most appropriate cloud deployment model and cloud service model. Your recommendation must be supported by proper justification. (10 Marks)

2. Though all other partners of Acme Legal Associates seemed to be happy with the heavy discount proposed by the IT vendor for its SaaS solution, its one partner got concerned about signing up five-year agreement to get this discount. Not only the agreement is long term but is devoid of any SLAs. She has invited you to talk to all partners together about pros and cons of signing such long-term contract with a SaaS solution without much due diligence. What would you say in your formal presentation to them? (10 Marks)

3. “More than anything else, I would be worried about the data security”, Mr Kausik started articulating his concerns after hearing the presentation of BetaTech. “I understand this is not our customer data as we will be collecting information from general public. But they will be sharing their personal details because they are sharing it with us. Our brand stands for trust and unless we are 100% sure that this data will not be seen or used by anyone other than us, we can’t go ahead with this solution.” Mr Kausik ended his statement while reaching out for a glass of water.

Mr Kausik was listening to the BetaTech’s proposal to organize an online competition on personal finance awareness. The proposal described how BetaTech will not only develop the IT solution but will entirely host the solution on cloud and will be made available to Mr Kausik’s company as a SaaS. It deliberated cost savings but refrained from describing how data will be handled and secured in the SaaS solution.

a. What kind of issues Mr Kausik would see through the proposal presented by BetaTech? (5 Marks)

b. How BetaTech can address the concerns raised by Mr Kausik? (5 Marks)

 

e-Business

Read the below carefully and then answer all questions.

After the success saga of E-business ventures like Amazon, Walmart and Alibaba, Reliance retail has also contemplated to join the bandwagon and has decided to start with B2C market segments for all its brand under Reliance Retail. But at the same time, they are well aware of the failure stories and risk associated with moving from Brick and Mortar to E-Business. You are hired as a consultant. Please prepare detailed reports for the following. 1. Identify the risks associated with moving to E-Business. Do the SWOT analysis. Suggest E-Business strategies for Reliance retail. (10 Marks)

2. Suggest technology infrastructure required for E-Business. Keep in mind that the infrastructure should be scalable when Reliance retail plans to become an international player after few years. While designing framework for tech infrastructure, also assess the security threats and ways to mitigate those risks. (10 Marks)

3. a. Plan strategies for implementation of e-CRM along with the metrics to measure the success of those strategies. (5 Marks)

3. b. Do you suggest to implement e-SCM or to continue with the traditional SCM for Reliance retail? Mention supportive arguments for your suggestions. (5 Marks)

 

Emerging Technologies: IoT, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

1. Urban performance currently depends not only on a city's endowment of hard infrastructure (physical capital), but also, and increasingly so, on the availability and quality of knowledge communication and social infrastructure (human and social capital). The latter form of capital is decisive for urban competitiveness. Against this background, the concept of the “smart city” has recently been introduced as a strategic device to encompass modern urban production factors in a common framework and, in particular, to highlight the importance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the last 20 years for enhancing the competitive profile of a city. The demand for smart cities has increased in recent years. In order to meet the demand of a smart city project in a country like India, with the help of any smart city project in India explain what are some of the key elements for such smart cities and also mention their importance. (10 Marks)

Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10630732.2011.601117

2. You have been assigned as a part of a committee in the city to identify where IoT can be used to promote areas in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. In your opinion, what are those areas where IoT can be used in this sector? (10 Marks)

3. Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging form of experience in which the Real World (RW) is enhanced by computer-generated content tied to specific locations and/or activities. Over the last several years, AR applications have become portable and widely available on mobile devices. AR is becoming visible in our audio-visual media (e.g., news, entertainment, sports) and is beginning to enter other aspects of our lives (e.g., e-commerce, travel, and marketing, education) in tangible and exciting ways. Facilitating ubiquitous learning, AR will give learners instant access to location specific information compiled and provided by numerous sources. Educators around the globe today have realized that AR/VR are big breakthroughs when it comes to learning — for a method as well as outcomes. AR has great potential in democratizing the educational process and making it a personalized learning experience for

learners of all stripes. Simply put, augmented reality or AR is a multi-sensory interactive experience that involves real-world elements in a virtual environment. It is known to offer perceptually-enriched experiences to users by using real-world elements and adding a layer of information or visual aid on top of it in a natural manner. The most common examples of AR technology is seen in animated emojis these days on smartphones such as Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxy series and more. In the industrial context, AR applications can help with on-the-go learning for maintenance and troubleshooting, systems maintenance work and other computer-aided learning and training. The primary reasons why AR is believed to be the future of learning and education include better learning retention, personalised learning experiences, increased possibilities of experimentation, reduced reliance on learning by rote, empowering educators and learners, encouraging active learning. Classrooms in the future will not look like they do today. AR will see a prominent push in the next 3 to 5 years in India, and most schools will have dedicated tools. Higher education will see faster adoption for AR tools, given that the technology is already present in such institutions.

(Source: https://inc42.com/features/what-is-the-future-of-edtech-and-learning-in-india-from-an-ar-vr-lens/)

a. What is AR and explain its benefits in the education sector? (5 Marks)

b. Give an example of educational startups that provide AR solutions to educational institutes. What are the certain challenges in adopting AR by educational institutes?

(5 Marks)

 

Fundamentals of Big Data & Business Analytics

1. The healthcare industry is inundated with massive volumes of data generated each minute. With the adoption of electronic health, mobile health and wearable technologies, this is poised to increase dramatically over the next few years. This comprises of data being generated by patients in the form of reports generated by the diagnostic labs, the wearable devices an individual wear that constantly monitor his vital stats, body patches, data from medical insurance companies to name a few. Would this data be classified as Big Data? If yes, what are the characteristics of Big Data? Explain any two Big Data Techniques. (10 Marks)

2. Digital music is gaining firmer ground in India. 56 percent of digital music revenue in Asia comes from music streaming. Players like Gaana, Hungama, Saavn, Wynk etc. offer users to stream music online and save songs offline with a premium subscription. They have grabbed a significant share of the audience who have given up the traditional methods of downloading music to streaming it online. Advertisers and telecom providers have also joined the bandwagon. The primary reasons for this growing popularity can be attributed to the rise in the number of digital natives, improved internet connectivity, more localized curated song lists, personalization of content, competitive pricing, huge library, availability across different platforms, simple user interface and sharing digital music with others across social platforms. How can the music industry use analytics to predict future hits, describe current trends and recommend best offerings for customers? (10 Marks)

3. Retailers use analytics in a variety of ways. Specialty retailers use video analytics to study customer paths and behavior, helping them to design more effective store layouts. Big Box retailers invest in Wi-Fi networking and new mobile way-finding apps to help customers navigate through large stores or malls, getting them to desired products faster. Resorts and hotels are investing in mobile analytics to gather shopper information from their retail spaces. Mall operators are using the network to track social media and shopping patterns, and delivering this value-add information to tenants. Grocery and fast-moving goods retailers are utilizing video analytics for traffic and conversion analysis, and then using the same information to integrate workforce management and re-align staffing based on traffic trends. Specialty retailers are using social sentiment analytics to improve “voice of the customer” feedback to assess overall brand status and the launch of new products, services, or offers. Retailers can use analytics tools to

measure traffic, wait times, and queue lengths, proactively anticipating resource demands across the store.

For example, front-end staffing demand in grocery can be anticipated using a combination of real-time traffic counting, trip time data, and data on staff on hand. Resources are thus dynamically allocated based on real-time information, improving productivity of labor hours and improving customer satisfaction. Through presence and location-based mobility analytics, retailers pinpoint the location of opt-in shoppers when they are close to a store location. With personalized reminders or discount offers sent directly to their smartphones, consumers are more motivated to visit the store if they are nearby. Combining social and mobile analytics with loyalty information, retailers can create personalized, more relevant engagements with shoppers. For example, say that a customer enters the shoe department. Their store history shows that 60% of past purchases included a coupon. The retailer can improve the chance of another sale by sending, in real time, a special offer or communicating through Twitter about a current promotion. Such communications change the customer/store relationship from transaction-based to more value-based, creating more sustainable brand loyalty.

(Source: Beyond Big Data: How Next-Generation Shopper Analytics and the Internet of Everything Transform the Retail Business.

https://www.insight.com/content/dam/insight-web/en_US/articleimages/ whitepapers/partner-whitepapers/beyond-big-data-how-next-generationshopper-

analytics-and-the-internet-of-everything-transform-the-retail-business.pdf)

a. Give an example of how an Indian retailer has used analytics to improve customer experience within the store. (5 Marks)

b. Give an example of a how an Indian retailer has used social and mobile analytics for better customer engagement. (5 Marks)

 

IT Infrastructure Management

1. Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other big organizations have large data centers which contain many server farms. Discuss the applications of server farms in various fields of your choice. (10 Marks)

2. In today’s context of large data processing needs, programming techniques require efficient and persistent data storage options. State the benefits and explain the applications of Amazon’s data storage solution for cloud computing. (10 Marks)

3. You are the IT Project Director at Specter Global Technologies. Your role is to mentor the project managers that report into you and guide them on major implementation projects to ensure a smooth go-live and client satisfaction. One of the project managers has informed you that they need to implement server virtualization.

a. What steps will you suggest for server virtualization implementation to the project manager? (5 Marks)

b. To escape any privacy or security concern between servers, which categories can be we classify server roles into? (5 Marks)

 

IT Project Management

1. Acme Agarbatti Pvt Ltd manufactures and sells incense sticks under the brand name ‘Sugandhi Suman’. It has got 19 plants across western India. It is contemplating the implementation of an open source ERP called ERPNext. You are invited to advise the company on risk management for this project. As a first task, you will need to prepare a list of project risks. Please prepare the one with at least 12 relevant risks possible in this project. (10 Marks)

2. A software services company having a staff of 159 developers, 37 testers, 25 business analysts, 88 support engineers, and 17 project managers is looking for deployment of SEI CMMI model. You are invited to explain five levels of CMMI model to the entire staff in a town hall meeting. How will you explain CMMI model in the context of this company. (10 Marks)

3. “It seems everyone finds me available and dumps work on me. It is so frustrating! I never knew being a project manager would mean so much of work and stress!” Rajashri Gokhale was really stressed out at the cafeteria where she had met her friend from other department for a cup of coffee. “Relax, you may find it stressful but you have earned this promotion with your hard work. Now you have to work harder to grow further.” Her friend, Keshav Kumar tried to cheer up.

“I am not sure whether whatever comes to me is what I am supposed to look into. For example, today morning, Rajan asked me to provide the projected cash flow for my project. And yesterday late evening, I had to resolve the issue in my team which popped up because two of my team members had a breakup!” Rajashri had just started to tell her ordeal.

a. Is Rajashri responsible for preparing projected cash flow? Why or why not? (5 Marks)

b. Should Rajashri resolve personal problems of team members? (5 Marks)

 

International Finance

1. CQS plc is a UK company that sells goods solely within UK. CQS plc has recently tried a foreign supplier in Netherland for the first time and need to pay €250,000 to the supplier in six months’ time. You as financial manager are concerned that the cost of these supplies may rise in Pound Sterling terms and has decided to hedge the currency risk of this account payable. The following information has been provided by the

company’s bank:

Spot rate (€ per £): 1·998 ± 0·002

Six months’ forward rate (€ per £): 1·979 ± 0·004

Money market rates available to CQS plc:

Borrowing Deposit

One-year Pound Sterling interest rates: 6·1% 5·4%

One-year Euro interest rates: 4·0% 3·5%

Assuming CQS plc has no surplus cash at the present time you are required to evaluate whether a money market hedge, a forward market hedge or a lead payment should be

used to hedge the foreign account payable.

2. On 30th June 2009 when a forward contract matured for execution you are asked by an importer customer to extend the validity of the forward sale contract for US$ 10,000 for a further period of three months.

Contracted Rate US$1 = Rs.41.87

The US Dollar quoted on 30.6.2009

Spot Rs. 40.4800/Rs. 40.4900

Premium July 0.1100/0.1300

Premium August 0.2300/0.2500

Premium September 0.3500/0.3750

Calculate the cost for your customer in respect of the extension of the forward contract.

Rupee values to be rounded off to the nearest Rupee.

Margin 0.080% for Buying Rate

Margin 0.25% for Selling Rate

(10 Marks)

3. Wenden Co is a Dutch-based company which has the following expected transactions.

One month: Expected receipt of £2,40,000

One month: Expected payment of £1,40,000

Three months: Expected receipts of £3,00,000

The finance manager has collected the following information:

Spot rate (£ per €): 1.7820 ± 0.0002

One month forward rate (£ per €): 1.7829 ± 0.0003

Three months forward rate (£ per €): 1.7846 ± 0.0004

Money market rates for Wenden Co:

Borrowing Deposit

One year Euro interest rate: 4.9% 4.6%

One year Sterling interest rate: 5.4% 5.1%

Assume that it is now 1 April.

Required:

a. Calculate the expected Euro receipts in one month and in three months using the forward market. (5 Marks)

b. Calculate the expected Euro receipts in three months using a money-market hedge and recommend whether a forward market hedge or a money market hedge should be used. (5 Marks)

 

Digital marketing

1. Consider you want to launch an online furniture store- spicefry.com. What is the ASCOR framework? Explain any 2 phases of the ASCOR framework you would go through to setup spicefry.com.

 

2. The digital marketing landscape is witnessing a lot of emerging trends and technologies. Write a short note on bog data and Internet of things.

 

3. take any e-commerce of your choice.

a) Discuss the 4Ps or the marketing mix of the company.

b) Discuss the 8Ps of digital marketing mix of the company.

 

International Logistics & Supply Chain Management

1. A food and nutrition company FNC foods is having operations in Russia. The company is exploring international opportunities for which they have orders for their products in the UAE countries. Explain the strategic approach of the company for successful order execution and brand building activities with the customers internationally. (10 Marks)

2. The company is into chemical manufacturing and exploring opportunities outside India by launching its products across the most potential and growing European countries. What is the approach strategy that the company would employ for the successful identification of markets and launch? Select a country of your choice in Europe, analyze and suggest logistics and SCM strategies which can enhance the service quality with on time availability and generating good market share of the company.

(10 Marks)

3. A food company named Kakrawala Foods is in the Indian market for about past 20 years. The company had gained reputation and brand identity in the domestic market by serving various flavors targeting the youth segment. It has orders from a reseller in USA to market the products in USA. The order types differ as per seasons ranging from FCL to LCL.

a. Work out a logistics plan and routes how it must ship the products and what elements of quality aspects are to be taken care and considered while doing so like containers and packaging. (5 Marks)

b. What kind of production planning and pricing patterns it need to implement as the product is shipped to a reseller and the supply chain strategies to be followed?

(5 Marks)

 

Advanced Supply Chain Management

1. As a Supply Chain department head, you are stocking large inventory to improve customer service level. However, there is a high pressure from the management to reduce inventory cost. Explain with examples how you will plan for inventory optimization without affecting customer service. (10 Marks)

2. As a production planning head you are required to decide on a suitable aggregate plan for an export order. The demand forecasted are shown below, for next 6 periods. You have with you at present 1050 workmen and each can produce 1 unit per month (all months have same working days). The beginning inventory is zero. The production cost is $100 per unit and includes material and labor cost. If you want to increase the workforce hiring cost would be $30 per workman and to reduce the workforce the layoff cost would be $70 per workman. Inventory holding cost is $20/unit per month and backorder will incur $50/unit/month. Make Chase and Level strategy and explain with reason which strategy you will recommend.

Month

1

2

3

4

5

6

Demand

600

900

1200

2000

1400

800

(10 Marks)

3. You are doing production planning and the performance of your organization depends on the accuracy of the demand forecast you make for it.

a. Explain the six-step approach you may take to ensure that your will conduct an effective forecast. (5 Marks)

b. What error analysis will you do so as to determine the accuracy of the forecast you are making?

(5 Marks)

 

Decision Analysis & Modeling

1. Decision Analysis involves a systematic decision making process. Explain the approaches to the study of Decision Analysis and Modeling with a suitable example. (10 Marks)

2. Explain the application of simulation in business analysis. (10 Marks)

3. a. Solve the following problem: Maximize Z = 40a + 35b Subject to: 4a + 6b <= 120 8a + 6b <= 192 and a and b both are nonnegative (5 Marks)

3. b. What is the difference between the assumption of linearity and continuity in LPP? (5 Marks)

 

Sales Management

1. The management of ABC & Co. is losing sales due to superior product offerings by their competitors’

Please help the management of ABC & Co. to change their Product Policy and Product offerings you may give illustrations for the same. (10 Marks)

2. Trained Man Power is an important aspect for sales growth, how does a company recruit the right sales Personnel and trains them to meet their objectives. (10 Marks)

3. CASE STUDY - Cipla

Cipla is one of the biggest manufactures of bulk drugs and formulations.

The company has introduced several formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). It commissioned the second phase of its manufacturing operations in Goa and has entered into a research alliance for biopharmaceutical products with a Bangalore=based biotech company This makes it one of the leading Pharma companies of India

Cipla exports a wide range of APIs and formulations to over 150 countries. Cipla has entered into new arrangements with leading US generic companies for the supply of a wide range of finished dosage formulations. They have obtained approvals from USFDA, MHRA of UK, PIC of Germany and WHO, for most of their drugs. Its overall profitability was due to the optimisation of resources and implementation of rigorous cost control measure.

Cipla focuses on technological excellence and innovation to improve its performance both in domestic and international market. The company has already accepted the growing importance of strategic alliances for research, manufacture and marketing, in the changing business environment.

a. Outline the Strengths of Cipla in having a competitive edge in the International market (5 Marks)

b. Do its arrangements with US companies help in Product development? (5 Marks)

 

Marketing Strategy

1. The Finance Minister, India announced reduction in corporate tax rates in Sep-2019. Why is it important for companies in Indian Manufacturing sector, and what are 5 ways (with examples of companies) in which leading companies in the sector can benefit from the development from the point of view of Marketing Strategy? (10 Marks)

2. Customer buying behaviour plays an important role in Marketing Strategy, and is affected by four key factors/influences/characteristics. You are working as a Marketing Strategy Consultant. Help your clients by identifying and explaining the major influences on buying behaviour with reasons for application in brand communication/ promotion for the following products/companies/places: (1) Statue of Unity, (2) Netflix India. (10 Marks)

3. Ravi, a fifth generation entrepreneur, hails from a family with expertise in food and beverages industry. Ravi founded ‘XYZ F&B’ in 2020 with a vision to launch and build the first Indian billion-dollar brand in premium chocolates, and feature among top 3 international brands in the same category by 2030. Ravi has hired you as a consultant.

a. Explain various stages and their characteristics in an industry life cycle, with specific comments regarding the current stage of premium chocolates industry in India.

(5 Marks)

b. There are 5 key ways to identify competitive advantages for a brand/ differentiate from other brands, as a part of differentiation and positioning strategy; explain these with suggestions in context of ‘XYZ F&B’, and suggest a positioning strategy for ‘XYZ F&B’. (5 Marks)

 

International Marketing

1. United Kingdom recently marched out of EU after a long fought battle for BREXIT. Companies have started moving out of UK as it no longer remains the doorway to Europe. Also it has to fight high inflation, labour shortage and many other issues as an outcome. It would want to project a new Brand of United Kingdom to the world. You are a part of the team headed by the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr. Boris Johnson, designed to come up with a long term plan for the same. Can you enlist a few measures, strategies and hurdles you would face? Use PESTEL Analysis and Global Marketing Strategies to ascertain the same? (10 Marks)

2. Forever 21 recently shut down many of its operations across the world. It’s a cult brand that went through massive issues. Critics blame that most of it was to do with strategies in International Markets outside of USA and labour issues. Its recent filing of Bankruptcy could have been avoided. If I put you at the helm of affairs a Forever 21, what strategies would you have suggested or applied in order to make the drowning brand survive and what hurdles would you have faced for the same? Use help of Global Market Entry and Global Brand Development Strategies for the same? (10 Marks)

3. Post its recent launch in London and recent success in other parts of UK, Ola Cabs plan to enter USA.

a. They require your services to help them to do a formal research for the same? (5 Marks)

b. Also they would require your help to understand the Cultural and Social factors which they need to be aware about? (5 Marks)

 

Brand Management

1. In a competitive market of commodities, Ali plans to launch Organic milk in a country where people are new to the concept of organic and heavily rely on synthetic/chemical products. If Ali wants to launch this product, then how can branding help him. Define the name for the product & come up with a brand manual including all brand elements. Also design a marketing plan to push the product. (10 Marks)

2. What is Strategic Brand Management Process that the Ali’s organic milk brand should follow? Explain the 4 steps. (10 Marks)

3. Mother Dairy Fruits & Vegetables, a company with a billion-dollar (Rs 4,200-crore) turnover, has been a well-established player in NCR known for products the firm has been largest seller of milk in NCR , with 65% of the revenue being contributed by milk. Amul entered Delhi market few years back and in 2011 with in a span on 4years it defeated mother dairy in terms of market share. Amul procures fresh milk and packages it. Mother dairy adds powder milk in its products to the tune of 40%. This spoils the taste of the product. Also Amul is credited with more awareness and knowledge about its products amongst consumers. Amul is a leader in the ice cream segment of the country. Their capacity to develop products and gain market leadership helped them gain substantial share in the NCR region in the milk segment raising question marks on the brand equity of the company. Mother Dairy has been market leader in NCR for 35 years. Losing ground to Amul in 2011 in the milk segment is forcing company to rethink its strategy. They plan to increase their capacity and also expand procurement of the milk. One of the regions why

Consumer shifted to Amul has been difference in the taste of the milk. Amul milk is fresh where as a portion of Mother dairy milk is reconstituted. Mother dairy sells through its own outlets and home delivery is not possible where as Amul used channel and home delivery of the milk is possible. Mother dairy milk price has been less than the price of Amul milk, still a huge number of mother dairy loyal customers moved to Amul. Now Mother dairy is restructuring its strategy and systems to combat Amul.

a. What would you suggest to Mother Dairy for its revitalization plan (5 Marks)

b. What more challenges you foresee for the brand? (5 Marks)

 

Custom Shipping and Insurance

1. During a voyage a ship was nearing a port. However, it started tilting due to some technical issues. Captain has decided to throw some cargo from the top deck to reach the port safely. Under which clause of Marine policy, a captain of a ship throws some goods into the sea to reduce the weight of ship and save the other cargo and how this loss is compensated to the people who lost the cargo. (10 Marks)

2. A cargo ship has arrived in Mumbai Port and completed the unloading and loading process of cargo. Customs officials got a tip off that the ship was carrying some contraband goods. Customs rushed to the ship with the entire team to search the ship. The captain refused to allow them to enter as they don’t have right to do so. However Indian customs barged into the ship and broke open various rooms and confiscated the contraband goods. Under which section of the Customs Act 1962 the customs officers have the power to stop and search the conveyances? (10 Marks)

3. Your company has imported one consignment by sea. The seaport is 80 km away from your office. You are heading the import export dept and has to clear this. You have limited manpower to handle the dept.

a. What would be your proposal to the management to clear this. i.e. whether to do self clearance through your staff or outsource to a customs broker (erstwhile customs clearing agent) (5 Marks)

b. Support your decision with proper reasons (5 Marks)

 

India's Foreign Trade

1. Explain how poor bilateral relationship between two countries affect bilateral trade between the countries, take any one example from recent incidents between India and other country. (10 Marks)

2. How does Balance of Payment (BoP) is crucial in International Trade and Political relationship between the countries, explain the concept with example of India and China or India and USA. (10 Marks)

3. Well established Indian cosmetics Manufacturing and Marketing Company decided to expand their business boundaries through International business.

a. If you being head of International business of company how do you plan to make your entry in to new market overseas, explain with stepwise market entry plan. (5 Marks) b. What are the probable entry barriers you may face any new overseas market, explain how you will overcome those problems. (5 Marks)

 

Export Import Procedures and Documentation

1. You are working in Procurement dept of a trading organization who distributes medical equipments. Your company wants to procure surgical equipments from domestic market. You observe, with your experience that imported product will be cheaper with better quality, and recommend the same in a procurement meeting. Management advises you to give a justification for your recommendation. Will you please highlight the reasons for international trade and why it is better to import. Based on your write up management will take a decision. (10 Marks)

2. The present Government has merged two documents into one for importing goods into India so as to reduce the number of documents. Browse the internet and inform what are these two documents merged into one document and enlist the details of information that have to be incorporated in the merged document. (10 Marks) 3. You are negotiating with an international buyer to export your company products and the international buyer has agreed to place orders. However, your Finance dept does not want to give any credit to the importer as you do not know them personally. You have to suggest a safest mode of payment to the importer so that your company is comfortable with the transaction.

a. What are the different type of payment terms prevailing in the international market today? (5 Marks)

b. What is your option of payment term for this transaction and why? (5 Marks)

 

Treasury Management in Banking

1. Explain the various approaches to measure risks. As a treasury manager of a bank, which approach will you follow to evaluate stress events of liquidity position of your bank. (10 Marks)

2. Explain duration GAP analysis in banks. Calculate the duration Gap of the following excerpts from the balance sheet of a bank. Also calculate the impact on the equity of the bank in the different interest rates scenarios.

Balance Sheet for

Hypothetical Bank

Particulars Assets Duration

Liabilities

Duration

Current Assets 1000 7 years

Current

Liabilities 700 5 Years

Fixed Assets 300

Other Liab. 300

1300 Equity 300

1300

Scenarios for Impact analysis:

1. Interest rates increased by 1%

2. Interest rates decreased by 1%

 

3. Maruti Suzuki Ltd. has imported machinery worth 1 million USD and the invoice is payable in 90 days. Current Spot rate in the market is USD/INR 75 while 90 Days forward is quoted at USD/INR 76. The prominent economists predict the spot rate after 90 days at USD/INR 76.5. Cost of Borrowing for Maruti in India is 10% and USD Interest Rate = 2%. A 90 days Call option with exercise price of USD/INR 75 for 100,000 USD is available at premium of INR 2.

You are required to calculate impact on transaction exposure under following scenarios:

a. Company decides to use Forwards & Options for hedging (5 Marks)

b. Company decides to use Money Market hedging (5 Marks)

 

International Banking & Foreign Exchange Management

1. Mumbai Ltd. is an Indian company, they are in process of raising a US dollar loan and are negotiating rates with City Bank. The Company has been offered a fixed rate of 7% p.a with a proviso that should they opt for a floating rate, the interest rate is likely to be linked to the bench mark rate of 60 basis points over the 10 year US T Bill Rate, with interest refixation on a three monthly basis. The expectations of Mumbai Ltd. are that the dollar interest rates will fall, and are inclined to have a flexible mechanisms built into their interest rates. On enquiry they find that they could go for swap arrangement with Chennai India Ltd. who have been offered a floating rate of 120 basis points over 10 year US T Bill Rate, as against a fixed rate of 8.20%. Describe the swap on the assumption that the swap differential is shared between Mumbai Ltd. and Chennai India Ltd. in the proportion of 2: 1. (10 Marks)

2. XYZ Ltd. Is planning to import a multi-purpose machine from Japan at a cost of 3400 lakhs yen. The company can avail loan at 18% interest per annum compounded quarterly with which it can import the machine. However, there is an offer from Tokyo branch of an India based bank extending credit of 180 days at 2% per annum against opening of an irrevocable letter of credit. Other information: -

Present exchange rate Rs. 100 = 340 yen

180 days forward rate Rs. 100 = 345 yen Commission charges for letter of credit at 2% per 12 months. Advise whether the offer from the foreign branch should be accepted? (10 Marks)

3. Nitrogen Ltd, a UK company is in the process of negotiating an order amounting to €4 million with a large German retailer on 6 months credit. If successful, this will be the first time that Nitrogen Ltd has exported goods into the highly competitive German market. The following three alternatives are being considered for managing the transaction risk before the order is finalized.

i. Invoice the German firm in Sterling using the current exchange rate to calculate the invoice amount.

ii. Alternative of invoicing the German firm in € and using a forward foreign exchange

contract to hedge the transaction risk.

iii. Invoice the German first in € and use sufficient 6 months sterling future contracts (to the nearly whole number) to hedge the transaction risk. Following data is available:

Spot Rate € 1.1750 - €1.1770/£

6 months forward premium 0.55-0.60 Euro Cents

6 months future contract is currently trading at €1.1760/£

6 months future contract size is £62500

Spot rate and 6 months future rate €1.1785/£

Required:

a. Calculate to the nearest £ the receipt for Nitrogen Ltd, under each of the three proposals. (5 Marks)

b. In your opinion, which alternative would you consider to be the most appropriate and the reason thereof. (5 Marks)

 

Insurance & Risk Management

1. “An Insurance policy acts as a safeguard mechanism for an individual or organisation to reduce the effect of loss caused by various risk”. Describe the prerequisites or steps you would take for buying an insurance policy. (10 Marks)

2. Principles of Insurance forms the backbone of the entire sectors. Enumerate with examples any three such principles. (10 Marks)

3. Jatin has recently started working with a renowned MNC after passing out of a premier BSchool. A senior colleague has suggested him to take a life insurance policy. However, Jatin is not convinced with the idea of taking a life insurance policy and is unaware of the various life insurance products which are available in the market. As a friend of Jatin You need to make Jatin understand the following:

a. Explain the concept of life insurance to Mr. Jatin and highlight the importance of a having life insurance policy (5 Marks)

b. Help Jatin in explaining the various types of life insurance policies which are available in the market. (5 Marks)

 

Business Economics

1. The concept of elasticity for demand is importance for determining the prices of various factors of production. Discuss the various factors that influences the price elasticity of demand (10 Marks)

2. Complete the hypothetical table below and explain in brief, the behaviour of each type of cost. (10 Marks) Quantity Total

Fixed

Cost

Total

Variable

Cost

Total

Cost

Average

Fixed

Cost

Average

Variable

Cost

Average

Total

Costa

Marginal

Cost

0 0

1 25

2 40

3 50

4 60

5 100 80

6 110

7 150

8 300

9 500

10 900

3. Demand forecasting in an organisations plays a vital role in business organisations. It provides reasonable data for the organization's capital investment and expansion decision.

a. Keeping the above statement in consideration. Discuss the various steps involved in demand forecasting (5 Marks)

b. Discuss the various needs for demand forecasting in business organisations? (5 Marks)

 

Information Systems for Managers

1. Customers today are using different channels to engage constantly with their preferred brands. These customers are responsible for spreading electronic word-of mouth thereby influencing others. You have recently started your venture of an online grocery store. As an organization that has traditionally been dealing with customer’s offline, you realize the need to turn to using customer relationship management software to engage with your customers. What are the pros and cons of using this as a means to engage with customers effectively? Justify your standpoint. (10 Marks)

2. Green IT (green information technology) is the practice of environmentally sustainable computing. Green IT aims to minimize the negative impact of IT operations on the environment by designing, manufacturing, operating and disposing of computers and computer-related products in an environmentally-friendly manner. As a digital consultant to a mid-size organization what approaches to Green computing will you recommend to this organization? What are the benefits an organization can reap by implementing green practices? (10 Marks)

 

3. The Indian mobile market has grown significantly over the past couple of years. The gaming industry is undergoing a massive evolution because of the mobile revolution. Investments from big players such as Alibaba, Tencent, Nazara and Youzu has led to a rapid growth of gaming in India. The market value of the gaming industry in India was around 62 billion Indian rupees in 2019 and was estimated to go up to over 250 billion rupees by 2024. As the country with the largest youth population in the world, India is embracing the new generation's interests in digital sports and entertainment. Approximately 55 percent of casual gamers and 66 percent of the heavy gamers across India were seen to be below 24 years old in 2016. Of these, the heavy gamers simply preferred to use their mobile phones as gaming devices instead of the traditional desktops or even laptops.

Mobile gaming in the country is growing at a rapid rate due to development and affordability of smartphones. The market value of mobile gaming in India was estimated to reach about 405 million U.S. dollars by 2022. The number of mobile phone gamers was anticipated to be around 628 million by 2020 according to the forecast. Computer and console gaming has played a huge part in shaping up the gaming industry across the country in the last two decades.

(Source: https://www.statista.com/topics/4639/online-gaming-in-india/)

a. What are the different cyber-crimes that can be caused by playing online games? Give examples. (5 Marks)

b. How would you educate your customers to prevent them from being a victim to cybercrime while playing online games? (5 Marks)

 

Management Theory and Practice

1. M/s Landmark Construction is facing severe issues between the Management & its union on salaries and other matters. Both the parties are extremely strong & are not willing to budge from their respective stands. As an external consultant, you have been advised to identify & verify all possible conflict resolution techniques. Enlist the advantages & disadvantages of each of these techniques & suggest the best possible conflict resolution technique to solve this standoff between the management & the union. (10 Marks)

2. You have been appointed as an external consultant to M/s PoleStar & Co. It has been observed that employees are currently unsatisfied with the policies of the company & furthermore, a lot of employees have been leaving the organization. What would you do to motivate existing employees & to get hold of new talent from the marketplace. Suggest at least 5 innovative approaches towards employee motivation

(10 Marks)

3.a. Perform a SWOT analysis on IBM USA? (5 Marks)

3.b. Which type of Organizational structure does IBM follow (Functional, Divisional or Matrix?)

& enlist the advantages & disadvantages of this form? (5 Marks)

 

Organisation Behaviour

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?

2. Harvey and Louis are Team leaders of team A and B respectively. Harvey is very open to feedback and does not let his perception rule his decision. He takes action based on facts and figures whereas Louis 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. Louis 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. Louis decides to take a plunge and modify his behaviour. Discuss any three managerial implications of perception and conclude by stating that what could have made Louis change his way of behaving? (10 Marks)

3. Karan and Jacob are co-workers. They both are working in the same project but their work values are very different from each other. Karan belongs to GenX (The X Generation) and relies a lot on the team-work as well as its (team’s) progression and upliftment, whereas Jacob is from GenY (The Y Generation) or the Millennial and for him self-reliance is more important. Though they share a great personal rapport they always are found having disagreements at work.

a. Explain the reason for their disagreement? It is natural to have such disagreement, give concluding remarks for the Jacob (5 Marks)

b. Introduce the value system of your generation. Discuss the rest of the generations and their values? (5 Marks)

 

HR Audit

1. CottonCo is a manufacturing company with offices across India. They have well defined HR policies and an active HR team. They regularly conduct an Employee Satisfaction Survey to assess the level of employee motivation. Last 3 years saw the satisfaction scores go down. One key area of disconnect was found to be the compensation and benefits area. Your firm has been appointed to Audit the Compensation and Benefits provided and suggest appropriate steps. What steps will you follow to do a compensation and benefits audit of the company? (10 Marks)

2. Patel Enterprises is in the business of Electrical motors. They had recently tied-up with a Japanese company to supply motors to them. When the Chairman, Mr. Patel, visited the Japanese company factory, he was very inspired by his Japanese client’s practices. He then decided to go in for a Business excellence model, which would help the business use a structured approach to total quality and excellence, to achieve sustainable business growth. The Chairman is keen to include the HR department as part of this excellence journey and has appointed your company to help him with this. Your company has recommended the creation of a HR scorecard. To help the Chairman understand this concept, you need to share a note. Give a detailed note on what the HR Scorecard is, as well as the inputs that go into creating the scorecard and the steps to create the scorecard. (10 Marks)

3. Polestar Finance is a fin-tech company started by a seasoned entrepreneur. The company has seen rapid growth into a well-established organization. The founders have set a clear strategy and the same has been shared with all the employees. The company hired an external Human Resources consultant who then redefined the policies to keep them in line with the overall business strategy. A recent satisfaction survey showed that the employees felt that there was a big difference between the aim of the policy and the actual implementation.

The current HR team was set up at the start of the company’s operations and has efficiently managed the basic HR processes so far. However, they are now finding it difficult to handle the new processes that the consultant has put in. The CEO has hired your firm to conduct a HR audit. To present to the CEO:

a. Detail out the Levels of HR Audit you will focus on as well including the reasons for the same (5 Marks)

b. A brief note on the steps you will take to audit the company. (5 Marks)

 

Employee Development & Talent Management

1. Pure for Sure enterprises is a leading Chemical manufacturing company with a presence in more than 8 countries. Currently, they use the forced distribution method of appraisal. Prabhat, the newly appointed Head of HR has been entrusted with the task of redesigning their Performance Appraisal System. What are some of the modern methods of appraisal that Prabhat can consider? What are the benefits of Performance Appraisal system for the organization? (10 Marks)

2. Great places to work such as Google, Intuit and Apple recognize and respect the fact that their workforce comprises of dual career couples. Such couples have to deal with dual responsibilities and may find traditional workplaces stressful and less attractive. How are these organizations making their workplaces friendly for dual working couples? What are some of the advantages of Flexible working patterns (10 Marks)

3. a. You as HR head of the organization for Yummy Burgers have been asked to prepare an on-the-job training schedule of the front desk service agents. What options will you consider? (5 Marks)

3. b. As the head of Talent acquisition team, you want to outline the process of talent acquisition that the team can follow. Enumerate and explain the steps involved in an effective talent acquisition practice. (5 Marks)

 

International HR Practices

1. CANDID Systems Ltd is a leading Indian IT company based in Mumbai. The company has expanded to Africa in 2018 and now company is reviewing its HR Practices in Africa. You, as an HR Manager, are asked to look into the issue of ethics and responsibilities that employees of CANDID may face in Africa. Highlight some of the ethical dilemmas that employees may face. (10 Marks)

2. AUTOZONE Pvt Ltd is a two wheeler manufacturing company in India. It is planning to expand to Indonesia to capture its emerging market. As a manufacturing organization, there could be a problem related to employee relations. In order to face this problem better, the company has asked you to identify the key issues in international employee relations. You are an HR Manager of AUTOZONE Pvt Ltd. Identify the key issues. (10 Marks)

3. EFFIX LTD is a leading FMCG company in India and it is planning to expand its operations in South America. For this company has set up a wholly owned subsidiary in Brazil. A team of 50 employees is formed to take up this new project in Brazil in this background, answer the following:

a. What will be the components of pre-departure training program? (5 Marks)

b. On which job related factors training would be required? (5 Marks)

 

Strategic HRM

1. SONA Ltd is a mobile handset manufacturing company from India. Due to tough competition, the company is finding it difficult to survive in the market. Top management is considering downsizing of staff to reduce the increasing cost. Before doing the same, company has asked you to assess the impact of downsizing on organizational performance. You are an HR Director of the company. Assess the impact of downsizing on organizational performance. (10 Marks)

2. VICTORY Pvt Ltd is an Edutech company offering online certification programs to college students and corporate employees. The company is planning to set up a performance appraisal system to enhance the performance levels of employees. You are an HR Manager of VICTORY and company management has asked you to identify strategic issues in designing performance appraisal system. (10 Marks)

3. MARKETEX Is an upcoming digital marketing company from Mumbai. Company is going for massive expansion for which more employees need to be selected. Before going for recruitment and selection drive, the company wants you to do the following:

a. As an HR Manager, you are asked to identify strategic issues in selection. (5 Marks)

b. Which selection tests can be administered during the selection exercise? (5 Marks)

 

Business Communication

1. Give examples of the following types of Biases in a sentence: Gender bias, Racial bias, Age bias, Disability bias. How can they be avoided?

2. Amazin.in has put up billboards across the main, arterial roads of Mumbai. The billboards advertise the Mega Independence Day Sale coming up. They hope their billboards can grab the attention of drivers and pedestrians on these busy roads. List the 8-steps in the Basic Communication Model and apply the model to Amazin.in’s billboard ad. (10 Marks)

3. a. You have just finished drafting a proposal for a coveted project. You want to make sure that you haven’t overlooked anything. What are the different proofreading techniques?

you’d employ to make sure your proposal is error-free? (5 Marks)

3. b. You’ve been shortlisted for an interview at your dream company. What are the different common types of Interviews you should mentally prepare yourself for? (5 Marks)

 

Business Law

1. Explain the statement “All Contracts are Agreement but all Agreements are not Contract” and provide two (2) examples demonstrating this statement

2. Explain in details two (2) real-life instances or cases dealing with any or all “Rights of Consumer” under Consumer Protection Act, 1986. (10 Marks)

3. Jack and Jill are two individuals who have passed out from engineering college in Mumbai. Jack and Jill both have attained 18 years of age. Now both want to start a startup for robotic services. Can you advise them:

a. What are (i) the different form of business, (ii) their pros and cons and (iii) what is best suited form of business which will be applicable to their start-up? (5 Marks)

b. Assuming that Jill lost both her parents when she was 5 years old and a court appointed a guardian for her. Then would there be any challenge in opening a start-up? (5 Marks)

 

Essentials of HRM

1. “Abhushan” is a Gems and Stones company which is in a rapid expansion mode. You have newly joined in as Head of HR. You realize that organization may need some re-structuring with regards to job role and responsibility allocation. You need to explain the concept and importance of Job Analysis to the top management. Write down the concept and importance of job analysis and in conclusion mention any 2 methods in data collection process of job analysis. (10 Marks)

2. Explain why recruitment is said to be a positive process and selection a negative one. List and explain some of the recruitment methods in the digital age. (10 Marks)

3. True Wanderer is a decade old leisure and travel company. As a part of the strategic decision to achieve its vision, it decides to conduct training for its call center and other staff selling over the counter products/offers. The company does a thorough research and decides to conduct trainings on the topic of ‘customer centricity’, realizing that giving importance to customers will be the only way to sustainable business. The company hires outside trainers to conducts training based on the outline created by the L&D department of the company. Almost 700 customer care executives and first line staff members are trained and after a year the company sees no effect on sales/ revenue.

a. What do you think is the reason behind failure of the above initiative? (5 Marks)

b. Elaborate on the concept of training need analysis with reference to the above case. (5 Marks)

 

Operations Management

1. List down briefly the various inventory management techniques prevalent in the industry. Discuss how some of these techniques would be applicable to a Medical Store in effective management of their inventories, i.e medical supplies. (10 Marks)

2. In the competitive business environment, there is a lot of strategic pressure on established companies to compete with the cheaper substitutes as well as maintain quality at the same time. Also there is a recent trend amongst consumers for "first copy/ duplicates" of branded products. Why do you think that these so called "Chinese manufacturers" are able to make products cheaper than most other products available? Also how do you think can competing and maintaining quality be achievable for companies for original branded products like Cadbury, Rayban, etc to tackle the other duplicate products? (10 Marks)

3. ABC Ltd is a leading corporate in India in FMCG. After an extensive research by their Marketing department they found out they should diversify into Foods & Beverages. The top management decided to get in the manufacturing of a coconut flavoured soft drink and a coconut flavoured milk based drink. Pumping capital in the venture into the business is not a major concern for the company as they have many regular investors on hand. The company would like to have a major presence with a pan India distribution network

a. Do you think the idea of getting into the business of a coconut flavoured drinks a feasible business/ product on for a FMCG company? Give your views with reasons. (5 Marks)

b. Assuming that the business idea would have a very encouraging response, suggest a suitable plant location to set up the beverage manufacturing. Give reasons for the same. (5 Marks)

 

Strategic Management

1. Godrej & Boyce has announced plans to set up a “Smart Factory” at Khalapur, a small town surrounded by villages at Raigad district about 60 kms from Mumbai? Perform a Stakeholder analysis comprising of 3 steps & outline all the processes that you shall follow as a consultant to Godrej to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders. (10 Marks)

2. Délifrance is a bakery company that produces "French style" bakery, savoury and snacking products that wishes to enter India’s Retail market. Conduct a PESTLE analysis for Délifrance in India & suggest whether Délifrance should enter India or otherwise. (10 Marks)

3. Pertamina is an Indonesian Oil & Gas corporation that wishes to enter India & is competing against Reliance Industries Limited.

a. As a consultant you are required to recommend whether backward integration or forward integration is a superior strategy to compete against RIL in India? Which one of the alternatives would you choose to your client & why? Justify with reasons. (5 Marks)

 

Decision Science

1. Identify the type of the variable in the following table

Variable

Data Type

a

Gender

b

Education Background

c

Satisfaction

d

Motivation

e

Exchange Rate

f

Gold price

g

Preference of cars

h

Teachers Feedback

i

Grades in post-graduation

j

Marital Status

k

Quality of services

l

Age group

m

GDP

n

Interest rate

o

Twitter comments

p

Facebook pictures

2. Following data of performance scores is available of employees working with a company. You are required to perform the following:

a. Make the frequency distribution, Calculate the frequency and the Cumulative frequency

b. Calculate the mean, median, quartiles and Mode

c. Calculate the variance and the standard deviation

Table: Performance score of the employees:

TABLE BELOW

52 33 70 95 57 61 47

60 57 64 54 94 38 61

89 48 50 39 94 63 59 31

88 46 68 88 93 48 82

82 72 73 74 70 92 76

98 91 80 68 32 33 31

75 54 48 62 53 36 64

63 66 92 98 91 42 36

54

71

86

84

55

33

43

91

34

64

67

89

78

47

62

97

92

53

56

68

55

36

67

93

42

51

77

36

93

51

66

44

66

63

33

68

79

92

76

83

53

86

76

35

40

43

46

55

41

36

39

42

96

42

77

60

53

38

51

95

56

93

63

48

69

49

33

95

37

83

64

83

62

96

34

85

32

40

85

39

59

77

62

35

34

39

92

54

89

36

45

83

34

86

90

39

61

88

86

55

33

77

40

69

54

30

38

79

77

44

59

95

34

38

91

80

90

58

40

88

45

95

71

80

43

89

53

61

40

31

61

58

53

88

94

91

63

60

94

98

53

53

45

50

34

75

74

90

98

87

66

(10 Marks)

3. a. In continuation with the data of performance scores of employees in previous example, perform the following:

a. Calculate the range and interquartile range

b. Calculate the z scores

c. Calculate the skewness and Kurtosis (using excel)

d. Comment on the distribution of the data

(5 Marks)

3. b. In continuation with the data of performance scores of employees in previous example,

perform the following:

a. Make the histogram

b. Plot the box-plot diagram

c. Plot the frequency polygon

d. Plot the Ogive diagram