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INTERNAL ASSIGNMENT
APPLICABLE FOR APRIL 2022 EXAMINATION
Business Economics
1. Mr. Shyam have been
appointed as a Business economics faculty in a reputed B School. Students are
inquisitive to know how this subject would help them in decision making to any
organization. Help Mr Shayam to highlight and elaborate on student’s query.
(10 Marks)
2. Complete the hypothetical
table below and explain in brief the law of variable proportions. (10 Marks)
|
Quantity |
Total Product |
Average Product |
Marginal product |
|
1 |
10 |
||
|
2 |
30 |
||
|
3 |
48 |
||
|
4 |
56 |
||
|
5 |
56 |
||
|
6 |
52 |
||
3.a. Large-scale production is
considered economical in the sense of per unit cost. Explain the statement by
describing different types of economies of scale. Give examples to substantiate
your answer (5 Marks)
3.b. Highlight the difference
between shift and the movement in the demand curve (5 Marks)
Financial
Accounting & Analysis
1. Analyse the following
transactions for Surprise Ltd. using the concept of Accounting Equation
comprising of Assets, Liabilities and Equity
1.Commenced business with cash
of ₹ 5,00,000.
2. Purchased equipment for
cash ₹ 2,00,000.
3. Purchased furniture worth
₹50,000 on credit from IndiMart.
4. Purchased raw materials for
₹25,000 against cash from XYZ Suppliers.
5. Deposited cash of ₹
1,25,000 in the current account.
6. Sold goods for ₹75,000 and
received a cheque against the same. (10 Marks)
2. Cash flow statement
complements the income statement and the balance sheet summarizing all cash
inflows and outflow transactions in the company within the given financial
year. However, there are two different methods of preparing the cash flow
statement – direct and indirect. Enlist the differences between Direct and
Indirect method of cash flow statement. (10 Marks)
3. Following information is
available for Companies Ace Ltd. and Pace Ltd.: (₹ in lacs)
|
Particulars |
Ace Ltd. |
Pace Ltd. |
|
Long term Debt |
625 |
700 |
|
Equity |
2100 |
2850 |
|
Current assets |
450 |
550 |
|
Current liabilities |
300 |
375 |
|
Net Profit |
115 |
178 |
|
Revenue (net) |
355 |
452 |
a. Compute Debt-equity ratio,
current ratio for both companies. (5 Marks)
b. If face value of equity
shares of both companies ₹10 each, calculate the Earnings per share ratio for
both companies, advising which company is recommended for investment. (5 Marks)
Information
Systems for Managers
1. You have been appointed as
IT Head of a soon to be opened bank in India by the name of “People’s bank”
which will have branches all over India. People’s bank is a private sector
bank. Highlight atleast 5 security threats that a bank may face in today’s
times and suggest 5 innovative IT security mechanisms to ensure that such
threats do not harm your bank & that your systems remain as secure as ever.
(10 Marks)
2. It is often stated that
“E-governance helps in building trust between governments and citizens”. Do you
agree with this statement? If yes, provide one detailed example of any
EGovernance project undertaken by any municipality in any part of India.
Provide features of the project & benefits. If No, then justify with
appropriate reasons (minimum 10 reasons) as to why eGovernance does not
facilitate trust. (10 Marks)
3. The city of Srinagar is the
largest city and the summer capital of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir
in India. You have been invited as an external IT consultant by Government of
India with a mandate to convert Srinagar into a “Smart City”
a. Which “Smart” city in the
world will you choose as a benchmark to emulate some of the best practices of
that city into Srinagar? Provide atleast 3 reasons with brief descriptions
behind your choice of choosing that particular city as a benchmark? (5 Marks)
b. Suggest & describe
atleast 2 innovative technology enabled services that you will introduce into
Srinagar so that it can be called as a “Smart city”? (5 Marks)
Management
Theory and Practice
1. Amar Bajaj Ltd, a company
dealing with PVC pipes has traditionally been a centralized company from
generations run by the founders. Now as the 3rd Generation steps in to take
over the reins, they feel its high time, they go decentralized as the firm has
grown leaps and bounds and become a mid-sized company today from the small
scale it started with. They have hired you as a consultant for the same. Can
you guide them about the same by making them aware of the pros and cons of both
and helping them take a decision? (10 Marks)
2. Pri Rock, a company dealing
in gems and precious stones polishing earlier only had a base in Surat. It has
now expanded its wings to Mumbai too and want to also get into other avenues of
Jewelry. They have hired you as a consultant to help them design their
organizational structure as earlier they used to follow the traditional line
structure. They would want to use the 6-box model in order to determine what
structure will suit them the best. Can you guide them on the same? (10 Marks)
3. Simon Quartz, is an age-old
company dealing in mechanical wrist watches and wall clocks. They feel that
over the years their employees have lost their motivation and their performance
standards is dipping.
a. They have hired you as a
consultant. Can you guide them about how can they use Mc Cleland’s Theory of
Needs to motivate their employees? (5 Marks)
b. Also, can you use ERG
Theory, to help guide them to motivate their employees? (5 Marks)
Marketing
Management
1. The concept of reserving an
Ola Scooter by paying ₹499 means that customer will be first in line to
purchase it when the company announces its deliveries. The company also gives
an option to cancel and get a refund anytime. Based on the statement, plan an appropriate
Segmentation, Targeting for Ola Scooter considering the profile of the Indian
consumer. (10 Marks)
2. After PUBG Mobile reentered
the Indian market in the form of Battlegrounds Mobile India, ByteDance may be
attempting something similar with TikTok. ByteDance has applied for a new
trademark having ‘TickTock’ as the wordmark with the Ministry of Commerce &
Industry. Suggest a suitable promotion mix for ‘TickTock’
(10 Marks)
3. Read the case & answer
the questions based on the case:
Britannia Marie Gold is facing
severe competition in the markets where they were leaders. Due to entry of new
players, the company has witnessed a decline in sales. The Marketing head has
called for meeting along with the Brand Management team to discuss the way out
to face the increasing competition.
a. What Line extension
strategies would you suggest to counter the competition? Justify your answer.
(5 Marks)
b. Suggest an appropriate
promotion mix for Britannia Marie Gold. (5 Marks)
Organisational
Behaviour
1. During lockdown when human
face to face interactions were reduced and social distancing was a priority lot
have people have watched videos on Youtube and learnt/tried a lot of D.I.Y.
things and processes like make-up tutorials, food recipes, home care etc, the
core foundation of watching others and doing was given as a part of which
theory, by whom and in which year. Also state the 3 core concepts of this
theory.
(10 Marks)
2. Your team members need some
change in behaviour, you discussed this with your friend John. John recommends
Law of Effects he felt it works on humans very strongly. John couldn’t remember
the theory. Could you predict which theory is John referring to, who proposed
this theory. Which four methods can be used in this theory for controlling
behaviour of employees? (10 Marks)
3. Spread across 100 countries
and its headquartered in India, Mahindra employs over 2,40,000 people. Tech
Mahindra is one of only three Indian companies to be included in the Bloomberg
2020 Gender-Equality Index. They are constantly creating a transparent policy,
valuing individual differences. For Tech Mahindra, diversity of every kind is
of importance. Be it diversity of one’s nationality or someone’s age, be it
about gender, also about thoughts, or their abilities. In fact their constant
endeavor is building a workplace that is 'intentionally' varied and diversified
in every way possible."
a. What are the lessons to be
learnt from Tech Mahindra Gender-Equality Index? (5 Marks)
b. What practices would you
recommend other Indian corporate houses to enable change of diversity and
sustain it. (5 Marks)
Business
Communication
1. A new café has been set up
in addition to new coffee machines in your organization. The new machines,
besides dispensing regular coffee also dispense Cappuccino, Latte, and clear
vegetable soup. This has made the workplace more interesting for the employees.
However, it has been observed by the management that the employees are
frequently taking the breaks and are often found relishing snacks at the new
café. This has seriously hampered the productivity of the employees. Most of
them are now not able complete the usual tasks in the stipulated time. Draft a
memo to address the situation politely, requesting the employees to restrict
the duration of coffee breaks to a maximum of 10 minutes and to limit the
number of breaks to two coffee breaks a day. (10 Marks)
2. You attitude is an
important element to be observed in business communication. Justify the
statement and rewrite the following sentences using You attitude.
a. We give an added discount
of 15% if you visit our shop before 31st October.
b. The company will not
reimburse the medical and phone bills with this month’s salary if the details
and supporting documents are not submitted before 10th of this month.
c. We will give you an extra
one-day stay in out resort if you book it for 3 days and 2 nights in the
monsoon season.
d. Avail ‘Buy 1 get 3’ offer
in the stock clearance sale at Humphrey’s
e. We are giving the facility
to pay in easy monthly installments for the latest German built home theatres
by Bosch.
f. Our team is always there to
address your issues.
g. We now have all out
products available in our newly designed online stores.
h. We have a wide network of
medical practitioners worldwide available for online consultation. (10 Marks)
3. Bennet and Bennet a leading
and trusted name in FMCG was established in the Indian markets in 1930. Since
then, it has been catering to its clients with beauty products, health and
wellness products, and baby products. The company is however experiencing a
continuous decline in the profit margins for the last 5 years. Annie Bennet,
the heir to Bennets’ Business has recently joined the family business after achieving
an MBA from one of the prestigious institutes. She has been updated with the
present condition of the business. After making a careful study she has come to
the conclusion that one of the leading factors for loss of clients is that
Bennets have not adapted themselves to the changing marketing and communication
strategies. The pervasiveness of online shopping sites have given the customers
the comfort of shopping from their homes. As a business graduate in Digital
Marketing, she immediately resorts to online marketing and communication
strategies for better visibility and branding of Bennet & Bennet. Within a
year the store shows a significant rise in profit and also has succeeded in
restoring their old customers.
a. With the fast-changing
scenario of using mobile technology for business communication how must Annie
have changed her communication strategies/techniques with her clients? (5
Marks)
b. One of the strategies used
by Annie for brand visibility and better communication with clients, is the
development of a website. What should she keep in mind in order to design a
successful website for Bennet and Bennet? (5 Marks)
Business
Law
1. Jinen Dedhia wants to start
a business and he is exploring to start a partnership firm. However, he
requires clarity on the difference between partnerships under Partnership Act,
1932 and Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 to take a decision on what
kind of partnership suits his requirement. So kindly elucidate the difference
between the partnership under the two separate laws. (10 Marks)
2. Please give two (2)
practical examples of enforcement actions against violation of Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) (10 Marks)
3. John Doe wants to draft a
contract for his client where he will provide consultancy services. Kindly help
John Doe with the following queries:
a. What are the essential
elements of contracts? (5 Marks)
b. Describe the events which
make a contract, though executed or entered into, a voidable contract? (5
Marks)
Essentials
of HRM
1. Explain what human resource
management. Briefly discuss and illustrate three important trends influencing
human resource management. (10 Marks)
2. Discuss the pros and cons
of at least four performance appraisal methods. (10 Marks)
3. Managers are proactively
improving the employee selection process with various strategies that will
ideally enhance corporate success. Some of these strategies focus on improving
the quality of the individuals who apply for work, as well as those individuals
who are actually hired into the organization. Other strategies target the
selection process itself and seek to improve the various activities involved in
proper hiring. The overriding theme of these efforts is that the
staffing/selection function is a key component of an organization’s strategy because
the process ideally provides highly motivated and qualified employees who can ultimately
impact the financial and operational well-being of a company. Hallmark Cards is
one company that emphasizes selection. It recently developed a recruiting metric
called “staffing index” that enables management to track the degree to which
newly hired employees are performing as expected on the job. A series of
evaluations are conducted over time, and scores are compared to obtain a
longitudinal perspective on the quality of the hiring decisions. United Health
Group is another organization that has improved its selection activities with proper
strategic planning and execution. The company’s vice president of recruitment services
decided to modify hiring procedures within the organization by splitting job candidates
into two basic groups. The first group of individuals was comprised of high-level
professionals who would be recruited by internal staffing specialists, while
the second group included various staff and line personnel who would be
acquired with outsourcing contacts. This “two pronged” strategy enabled the
company to save money through increased control and efficiency. These various
strategic selection approaches enable companies to improve the manner in which
employees are hired and placed within a hierarchy of jobs. Many other
strategies could be employed in different employment situations to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of selection. Overall, these efforts should
increase the degree of fit between employees and organizations and increase the
completion of strategic objectives.
a. Compare and contrast the
two selection strategies used by the organizations discussed in the case. (5
Marks)
b. What other strategies might
help organizations better utilize and manage selection activities? (5 Marks)
Operations
Management
1. Discuss the various
inventory management/control techniques prevalent in the industry. Discuss how
some of these techniques would be applicable to a retail store in the FMCG sector
for effective management of their inventories; i.e soaps, household supplies,
etc. (you can assume inventories of your choice to explain). (10 Marks)
2. List and explain in brief
the various types of plant layout concepts in operations management, highlighting
the objective, considerations of a good layout design. Give examples on where
each of these types can be employed respectively. Briefly explain a layout for
a Banking branch operations (mention the type of layout applicable). (10 Marks)
3. Assume you are a part of
the Operations team in an automobile manufacturing setup. You are also working
in coordination with other departments. Discuss the following aspects of the
operations of your organisation
a. Define Quality & list
and discuss in brief the various dimensions of quality in operations (5 Marks)
b. Discuss the concept of EOQ
in brief. Using the data below, find EOQ, and the reorder point. Annual Demand:
15,000 units; Weeks Operating: 50 weeks/year; Ordering Costs: Rs. 60/order
& Holding Costs: Rs. 7/unit/year; Lead-Time: 5 weeks & Safety Stock:
250 units (5 Marks)
Decision
Science
1. The table mentioned below
shows the “Gross Production of Energy by Two Sources in India from 2010-11 to
2015-16”.
Adopt Exponential Smoothing
Method. Consider the Alpha (α) values 0.2, 0.5, 0.7 and find out the one that
is comparatively good for the prediction.
Forecast the value for year
2016-17.
Year Coal - (Million
Tones) Lignite - (Million
Tones)
2010-11 532.7 37.73
2011-12 539.95 42.33
2012-13 556.4 46.45
2013-14 565.77 44.27
2014-15 609.18 48.27
2015-16 639.23 43.84
Source: Open Government Data
(OGD) Platform India
2. Consider the following
Decision alternative for the Raman Pahwa, he wants to invest in stocks, and
thought about two situations about tomorrow’s market condition. The figures (in
INR) in the following table exhibit profit per unit of stock-investment.
payoff table:
Favorable market Unfavorable
market
Lakshmi pvt ltd 55 26
Mehta Groups of industries 43
38
Surya 29 43
LT energy 15 51
1. Draw the decision tree
2. If we assign the following
probabilities to the states of nature, then determine the EMV decision.
P(s1) = .4 P(s2) = .1 P(s3) =
.3 P(s4) = .2
3.a. The proportion of
eligible voters in the next corporation election (in tumkur) who will vote for
the incumbent is assumed to be 55%. What is the probability that in a random
sample of 500 voters less than 49% say they will vote for the incumbent? Write
your conclusion.
3.b. The top-selling Amar tire
is rated 70,000 KMs, which means nothing. In fact, the distance the tires can
run until they wear out is a normally distributed random variable with a mean of
82,000 KMs and a standard deviation of 6,400 KMs.
What is the probability that a
tire wears out before 70,000 KMs?
What is the probability that a
tire lasts more than 100,000 KMs?
Note: You may use Z-table for
this.
Z-table link- Normal Table.xls
Strategic
Management
1. It is rumoured that a
Chinese car brand FAW Haima plans to enter India. The company will also be
launching FAW Haima 8S, a mid-size SUV in India. You are in charge of Mahindra
& Mahindra SUV division. Suggest 5 innovative ideas to source information about
your Competitor FAW Haima so that your company is better prepared to take on this
new challenge. (Please assume that Covid-19 pandemic is over). (10 Marks)
2. L1 technologies, a US based
Defence contractor wishes to enter India. Conduct a PESTLE analysis for L1
technologies in India & suggest whether L1 technologies should enter India
or otherwise. (Please assume that Covid-19 pandemic is over). (10 Marks)
3. You are the
Head-Manufacturing of Tata Steel. You are planning to set up a brand-new Manufacturing
plant at a village in rural Karnataka.
a Perform a Stakeholder
analysis & suggest which all stakeholders will be taken into confidence
& also what would be your communications approach plan to bring them into your
point of view? (Please assume that Covid-19 pandemic is over). (5 Marks)
b Highlight some of the
creative & innovative initiatives that you would undertake to convince the
stakeholders that you mean to do good for all the stakeholders. (Please assume
that Covid-19 pandemic is over). (5 Marks)
Brand
Management
1. At the onset of Internet,
many online marketers oversimplified the branding process, equating flashy or
unusual advertising with building a brand. However, such marketing efforts
rarely caught consumers’ attention or created awareness and uniqueness that the
brand represented. On the other hand, some of the strongest brands in recent
years have been born online. Amazon, Google, Facebook are notable examples.
What are the strategies online marketers have to adopt to build successful
online/digital brands like Amazon, Google, and Facebook? (10 Marks)
2. Event sponsorship provides
a different kind of communication option for marketers to build brand equity.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has signed an eight-year contract with the New
York Road Runners (NYRR) to extend its title and technology sponsorship of the
TCS New York City Marathon through 2029. TCS has also renewed its sponsorship
for the London and the Mumbai Marathon. Identify the reasons behind a
technology brand like TCS sponsoring sport events like Marathons across the
World. (10 Marks)
3.a. Marketers should choose
brand elements like logos, symbols, jingles, slogans, characters to enhance
brand awareness and facilitate formation of strong, favorable and unique brand
associations. Brand characters represent a special type of brand symbol that
can take real-life or animated character. As a brand manager, would you prefer
a real-life or animated character for your brand. Explain with an example. (5
Marks)
3.b. Marketing channels are a
set of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product
or service available for use or consumption. Explain the reasons behind Maruti
Suzuki’s retail strategy of selling brands like S-Cross, Baleno, Ciaz through its
premium retail brand called Nexa. (5 Marks)
Consumer
Behaviour
1. You are into selling of
home furnitures. Discuss how will you implement various marketing management
philosophies with relevant examples (10 Marks)
2. You are a HUL brand manager
for Sunsilk shampoos. Explain how will you use the ELM (Elaboration likelihood
model) to understand the consumer choices and preference for the said product
category (10 Marks)
3. You are into marketing of
credit cards. Explain how will you use classical conditioning, for increasing
the effect of conditioning on consumers.
a. with stimulus repetition (5
Marks)
b. with stimulus
generalization (5 Marks)
Cost
& Management Accounting
1. Department A’s manager
wishes to apportionment the indirect expenses identifiable with department A to
all the other departments of the organization. However, the managers of other
departments opine that the indirect expenses allocated to department A cannot
be apportioned to other departments. Elucidate the terms ‘allocation and apportionment’
and bring out the differences between them to department A’s manager. Also,
provide five examples of cost items to the manager that are suitable for apportionment
and their respective basis of apportionment. Identify if department A’s manager
was correct. (10 Marks)
2. Plyway manufactures and
sells wooden chairs. The chief accountant of the entity is contemplating
whether to follow marginal costing or absorption costing for preparing the
profit statement. Explain any three advantages of marginal as well absorption costing
to the chief accountant. Also, try to bring out three differences between
marginal and absorption costing to make the choice easy for the chief
accountant. If the chief accountant is preparing the profit statement for
internal, decision-making purpose, which of the two methods should she follow?
(10 Marks)
3. Framers is in the business
of trading in frozen mango pulp tins. It always maintains a more inventory than
required and hence incurs a huge amount of holding (carrying) costs. It wishes
to know the ideal quantity of inventory to be ordered that would minimize the
ordering as well as the holding costs. It provides the following information:
a. Annual requirement 30,000
packets; cost of one packet is ₹1200; ordering cost is ₹3,240 per order and
holding cost is 5 percent. Compute the economic order quantity. (5 Marks)
b. What is the total inventory
cost if the company has been ordering 2,500 packets with every order? Would the
total inventory cost be higher or lower than the EOQ? (5 Marks)
Customer
Relationship Management
1. Coral Reefs Hotel &
Resorts have been characterized by insufficient customer -oriented services. As
a Relationship Manager of the group, suggest two short term and two long term
strategies to enhance the customer focus thus improving the loyalty. (10 Marks)
2. Campaign management
solutions in CRM is an efficient way to manage marketing plans and help
effectively measure the success of the campaigns. Discuss the strategic
execution of campaign management (10 Marks)
3. EVENT MANAGEMENT AT KELLER
AND HECKMAN
Keller and Heckman are a
US-based legal firm. Seminars are a key component of Keller and Heckman’s brand
development, lead generation and client-retention strategies. The seminar team,
consisting of two full-time and one part-time employees, conducts approximately
ten events each year for a total of 350 attendees drawn from both existing and
potential clients. The seminar team was tasked with growing seminar attendance,
but was using manual systems for event planning, marketing, registration, and
payment. Some 40 per cent of event coordinator time was spent registering
attendees for events alone, and, given the team’s inability to process credit
card payments, they decided to invest in technology to support the event
calendar.
Having chosen an event
management solution, Keller and Heckman first redesigned its
event websites. Each event
website and registration page are now paired with a custom event header,
complete with the firm’s logo. The seminar team began to promote early bird and
last chance specials with customized emails, encourage attendees to share
events with them contacts, and send automated invitation reminders.
Event-specific websites provide details such as event fees and discounts, the
agenda and hotel/room block information. The event management application
enables the team to take credit card payments and make automated refunds if
necessary. This has improved the registrant and attendee experience and freed
the events team from fielding repetitive questions and manual fee processing,
so they can focus on other key event deliverables and business development.
The software application has
halved the time it takes to manage registrations, and the
application’s budget module
makes the costing process easier. The event management
functionality has resulted in
significant lifts in attendance due to the team’s ability to reach more people
and the easy registration process.
a. Discuss the operational
strategies adopted by Keller and Heckman. (5 Marks)
b. Evaluate the strategies
used by Keller and Heckman to improve the operational efficiency of the
seminars. (5 Marks)
Digital
Marketing
1. You are into selling of bed
mattreses online. Discuss the digital strategy impact factors with relevant
examples (10 Marks)
2. You are a digital marketing
manager for an event house that specializes in bachelorette parties. Write an
email for the same, that you want to send to the freshly procured email list.
(10 Marks)
3. You are into the selling of
beauty creams made out of herbs that you procure from local farmers to help
them in their living.
a. Explain how will you use
the 4P’s of a digital sales letter to attract clients (5 Marks)
b. Design a search ad for the
same (5 Marks)
International
Marketing
1. Netflix adopted an
aggressive growth strategy to establish itself as a global force in the video
streaming industry Is Netflix a global brand. Discuss its brand strategy to
appeal to the Indian audience. (10 Marks)
2. Using macroeconomic
environment analysis discuss suitable go to market strategies for Aquafresh to
deepen its presence in the Indian market. You could suggest 3 key strategies. (10
Marks)
3. Tanish a strong Indian
jewelry brand founded in 1994. The brand would like to diversify to the Gulf Region
and appeal to the millennials. The brand does have presence in Dubai but is not
performing as expected. The brand faces tough competition from Damas, Malabar
and Kalyan Jewellers.
a. How can Tanish benefit from
market research insights? (5 Marks)
b. Suggest a suitable
communication strategy to build awareness and customer base in the marketplace.
(5 Marks)
Marketing
Strategy
1. What is Value Chain
Analysis? Explain process of value chain with help of an example (10 Marks)
2. Explain following defending
market share strategy – Position defense, flank defense, preemptive defense and
mobile defense strategy (10 Marks)
3.a. Explain any one Market
Follower strategy with an example. (5 Marks)
3.b. Explain McKinsey’s 7S
Model (5 Marks)
Sales
Management
1. You are a Start-up selling
GPS connected Helmets for Bikers. You have set the business 5 years back and
current have a revenue of Rs 1 crore. You are based in Mumbai and would now
want to expand across India in FY 22-23. What will be your Sales organization
structure and types of sales person for this expansion? (10 Marks)
2. You are Head of
International Sales selling GPS connected Helmets for Bikers. You have been
asked to expand in Sri Lanka. The company has never operated in Sri Lanka. What
would be the Sales process that you will adopt for this expansion? (10 Marks)
3. There’s another one!”
Cameron Burke’s son said, pointing to a darkened streetlight across the park.
“But it’s out too!” Cameron regretted having started this game with his four year-
old. His company, Lumiscape, produced smart, connected streetlights, which had been
installed in cities throughout the United States— including Cleveland, where
they were now, visiting his parents. He and Graham had decided to squeeze in a
walk to Forest Hill Park before bedtime, and he’d challenged the boy to count
all the lights he could find. But they’d already seen three that weren’t
working properly. Even my hometown can’t get our products right, Cameron
thought as he chased Graham over to the playground. He always vowed to stop
obsessing about work when he was with his son, but it was a losing battle. Lumiscape
was six years old. Cameron had founded it with the idea of building an LED streetlight
that would use a mobile signal to notify public works departments when the bulb
needed to be replaced. He’d been an aide to the mayor of Philadelphia at the
time— his first job after graduating from Villanova— and knew well how much
time city workers spent documenting and following up on complaints about broken
lights. But Cameron also had a bigger vision: Lumiscape’s products were
designed to gather all sorts of data, including humidity, motion, and seismic
activity, and—most important— UVA, UVB, and ambient light so that they could
save electricity by dimming when appropriate. The innovative system promised to
reduce local governments’ energy consumption and maintenance costs and improve
their image with constituents. Headquartered in Philly, Lumiscape now had
customers in nearly every U.S. state and a few European countries. Cameron felt
contented about how well the system worked in some cities. But not here, he
thought. And he’d seen and heard about similar cases of misuse elsewhere. Some
localities had bought lights but failed to fully utilize the accompanying
technology, which meant they couldn’t service them properly or achieve the
hoped-for energy saving. Others had used their existing supplies of
high-pressure sodium bulbs, rather than the smart LED ones, in the new lights.
Some customers had failed to even install all the lamps they’d bought. Cameron
hadn’t realized how difficult it would be for local governments to change the
way they did business, even when they had the best of intentions. The year
before, prompted by all this, Lumiscape’s leadership had decided to pivot from a
sales model to a subscription model. Instead of selling the streetlights and
leaving the cities to manage them, the company would rent them out for a
monthly fee with installation, maintenance, and monitoring software all
included. In three sites Lumiscape had also piloted a program to add Wi-Fi
connectivity to the lights, allowing those cities to offer internet service in
public spaces. The board had unanimously approved the proposal from Cameron and
his COO, Stacy Hamiko, to shift to a subscription strategy. It would position
Lumiscape’s technology platform for growth as the smart-cities movement began
to take off. And it would give the company more control over its product and
brand and a more stable cash flow, which would translate into higher multiples
from would-be investors. “Higher!” Graham shouted. As Cameron pushed the swing,
he felt his phone buzz. Assuming that it was his wife, who was at a conference
on the West Coast, he looked at the text. It was from Stacy: “Houston’s live again. They want to buy 5,000
streetlights.” “Houston?!” he said aloud. “Texas!” Graham yelled. Cameron
smiled and said, “That’s right, bud.” Houston had been one of Lumiscape’s first
customers, six years earlier. The city manager had originally wanted 6,000
lamps but had cut the order back to 1,000 for budgetary reasons. Neil Hart,
Cameron’s head of sales, had kept in touch, hoping that the larger deal could
be resurrected at some stage. And now, according to Stacy’s text, it would be.
There was just one problem: Lumiscape didn’t sell streetlights anymore. They’re
Back Later that night, after Cameron had put Graham to bed, he called Stacy.
She explained that she’d been copied on an e‑mail to Neil from Houston’s
manager, who said that he’d finally gotten approval to buy the additional 5,000
lights. “He mentioned something about surplus in their public works budget and
some federal money they needed to spend,” she said. “It’s just horrible
timing,” Cameron said, shaking his head. “Do we know whether Neil has talked to
them about subscriptions?” “Not yet,” she said. “We all assumed the deal was
dead. They were on our list but pretty far down it, to be honest.” “Would they consider
it?” “Neil says not a chance. Even though this new pricing model would probably
be better for them— a lower procurement threshold and all—Neil thinks that if it
took the city manager this long to get approval for a purchase, there’s no way
he’ll go back and say, ‘Never mind. Could we rent instead?’” Cameron was torn.
The mental math was easy: 5,000 lights at $600 apiece meant $3 million. It
would be the largest sale to date for Lumiscape, which had taken in $30 million
in revenue the year before. But the company had committed to this new
subscription strategy, and with good reason. In fact, he and Stacy had used
Houston as one example of why selling the streetlights didn’t give customers
enough benefits or Lumiscape enough control. It had taken the city several
years to install its initial order—and it hadn’t even installed all 1,000
lights. Worse, it apparently hadn’t hired or trained anyone to use the software
tools. “I should tell you that Andrew is already talking about drawing up the
purchase agreement,” Stacy said. Cameron sighed. “Of course he is.” Andrew
Lowell, Lumiscape’s CFO, had thought it was a mistake to move exclusively to
contracts. He felt that the company’s engineers should be held responsible for
making a product that customers could use correctly and that Cameron should
push them harder before changing the model. Andrew had wanted to both sell and
rent the streetlights, preserving all sources of revenue and converting customers
to the subscription model over time if need be. Stacy and Cameron had disagreed.
Too many customers weren’t
using the lights to their full potential. The straight sales model simply
wasn’t working. And given the budgeting process in most city halls, it was far
easier to go to market with only one type of offering. Even with just two
options on the table, officials would feel obligated to run both to the ground
with all the agencies involved. “I’ll e‑mail Andrew and tell him to hold off,”
Stacy said. “Good idea. But let’s call a meeting for first thing tomorrow
morning and figure out our strategy.” “You’re going to fly back?” she asked,
concerned. “No, but I don’t think this can wait. Let’s do a video call. We
don’t want to lose Houston’s attention.” The Next Morning Cameron sat at his
parents’ kitchen table and adjusted his laptop screen so that he could see
Andrew, Neil, and Stacy sitting in the small conference room at their
Philadelphia office. “Sorry I can’t be there in person,” he said. “Is the
picture okay?” Andrew spoke up. “Yes, except for that grim look on your face,
Cam. Remember: This is good news.” “I completely agree,” Neil said. “We’ve got
their attention.” “We’ve got their business, it seems,” Andrew said. “Not so
fast,” Cameron said. “We can’t sell them 5,000 lights—not after all the work
we’ve put into the new strategy. Not with all the potential.” “Moving to
subscriptions is a long term strategy,” Andrew said. “We knew it wasn’t going
to be a clean break from the product model. Lots of cities still own their lights,
and we aren’t going to buy them back. It will take years before we can convert
our existing customers to subscriptions, so there’s no reason we can’t just
grandfather Houston in.” “He has a point,” agreed Neil. “But don’t you think it
will be confusing to talk with potential customers about the subscription
product when they know that we just sold Houston 5,000 lights?” Cameron asked.
“I think we can explain the rationale,” Neil replied. “We’ll look like we don’t
have a strategy—like we’re being opportunistic,” Stacy chimed in. “This is a
moment to test the new model. If we can convert Houston to subscriptions, we’ve
got a great story to tell, not only to other potential customers but to investors.”
“I’ve already floated the idea, and it’s not going to fly,” Neil replied. “He
said they have the $3 million to spend this year. How can we leave that money
on the table?” “Exactly,”
Andrew said. He clearly had a
strong opinion on this, as any good CFO would. But Cameron was reluctant to go
back on their strategy decision so soon. Andrew seemed to have read his mind.
“I know I promised to support your decision on the model,” he said. “But I
still don’t understand why we can’t do both. If different customers want
different things, shouldn’t we meet them where they are?” “Not if where they
are is taking a pass on the best aspects of our product once it’s in the field,”
Stacy said. “And failing to take advantage of the upgrades we’re going to continue
to offer. We have to consider the brand.” Cameron sat back and watched the
three of them continue to debate. He knew it was on him to make the call, but
he was still uncertain. Lights Out That night he went to Forest Hill Park on
his own. He needed the fresh air, and his parents were happy entertaining
Graham. He sat on a bench and looked across the park at a flickering
streetlight. He could tell from the way it was going on and off that it was
using the wrong kind of bulb. This meant that it was not only creating an
unpleasant experience (who wants to walk through a streetlight?) but also
pulling more energy from the grid. He got up to walk home and noticed that
someone had spray painted lights out on the base of one of the broken
streetlamps his son had noticed before. It was as if the universe was telling
him that Lumiscape had to take better control over its product. If cities couldn’t
maintain the lights on their own, the company could help them by bundling the software
in the subscription, installing the units, fixing broken hardware, upgrading
the lights as new features became available, and making the package affordable.
Cameron had felt sure that subscriptions were the way to go. They provided more
value to customers, relied less on them and their workers to make the product
succeed, and guaranteed more sustainable income for Lumiscape. It was a better
model and would help him raise the valuation before the company went out for
the next round of funding. But could the team really afford to say no to a $3
million bird in the hand? Was Andrew
right to suggest a hybrid
model? Or could they make this final sale and then shift their strategy once
and for all?
a. According to you, was it
appropriate for Lumiscape to change their business model for sale to
subscription model? (5 Marks)
b. Having changed the model,
should they now shift their strategy for one customer (5 Marks)
Business: Ethics, Governance & Risk
1. Identify a business
(small/medium/large/proprietary/partnership/family/listed etc) that provides
goods and/or services of any kind (FMCG, Education, Hospitality etc) that was impacted
during 2019-20 or 2020-21 (any one year) due to Covid Pandemic. Identify and list
the business challenges it faced (atleast three) in serving its customers &
consumers. Explain how the business managed its survival risk during that
period by leveraging IT/digital platforms and Work From Home strategy to
connect with and reach its customers & consumers during the period.
(Answering that the business shut down is not an option). Connect and talk to
people among your family / friends / neighborhood / your company / employer
etc.
2. In your organization, ‘Ace
Solutions’, a midsize IT services company, all the mandatory requirements for
compliance to “Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Protection, Prohibition,
Redressal) Act 2013 have been put in place. You are Head of Marketing, with 10
people reporting to you directly and indirectly. What according to you are the five
critical practices / initiatives / processes you need to genuinely implement to
ensure that you are providing a safe working environment to all your women
employees. (DO NOT copy paste the law) (10 Marks)
3a. The purchasing manager for
a large company agrees to give you (you are a sales manager in a mid-size IT
company) an order of Rs. 10 lakhs (their first), expecting that you will agree
to make a Rs. 20,000 donations to his favorite charity that is supporting a
local youth sports team being trained by his wife. How do you respond? (5
Marks)
3b. You have studied Business
Ethics in a structured manner in this program. How has it helped you in
identifying and understanding the foundational ethical issues involved in better
decision making process as a professional? Explain in your own words. (5 Marks)
Financial Institutions and Markets
1. “A Financial System acts as
an intermediary between borrowers and lenders of an economy.” In the light of
the above statement, explain the functions and structure of the Indian
Financial System. (10 Marks)
2. Rose Ltd. is a newly
established company dealing in apparels. The company is currently getting good
number of orders and hence is making good amount of business. To meet the
expenses incurred for delivering these orders, the company is in need of
short-term loans. Some financial advisors have suggested Rose Ltd. to approach
Money Markets for such short-term capital requirements. In context of the above
case, you are required to explain the Meaning, Features and Instruments traded
in the Money Markets. (10 Marks)
3.a. Pooja is a Software
Engineer by profession. She possesses good knowledge about the Financial System
and the various instruments traded in Financial Markets. She has been investing
her savings in the various IPOs but is not very confident when it comes to Secondary
Market. You are therefore required to explain to Pooja the Meaning of Secondary
Market along with the Trading Mechanism in the Secondary Market. (5 Marks)
3.b. Mr. Damodar has recently
started investing in the Financial Market as guided by one of his close
friends. Since Mr. Damodar has no detailed knowledge about the Financial
Market, he is unable to understand the reasons for fluctuations in the
Financial Market. In the light of the above case, explain the Meaning and Types
of Risks in Financial Market. (5 Marks)
International Business
1. “The growth of
Multi-National Corporations has had a major impact on the economic and social environment
of a country.” Discuss this statement with example of a Multinational
Corporation doing business in an overseas country of your choice. (10 Marks)
2. “The whole world is
increasingly behaving as a single large market having inter dependent production
where people consume similar goods.” In the light of above statement discuss
the advantages and disadvantages of Globalisation. (10 Marks)
3. Walmart in Japan and Their
Failure to Differentiate:
In 2018, Walmart brought in
more than $500 billion in sales globally out of which, 3/4 of those sales came
from the U.S. But, overseas — particularly in Japan — things are not going so
well for the American retail giant. Recent reports have shown that Walmart may
be looking to exit Japan nearly 17 years after its initial expansion into the
Japanese market. This expansion involved purchasing a minority stake in Seiyu —
a Japanese grocery store — in 2002, which then turned into a fully-owned
subsidiary in 2008. Like Walmart, Seiyu uses the “Everyday Low Prices” mantra
to market to their consumers.
In between then and now, not
much has gone right for Walmart in Japan. Aeon, the top supermarket in Japan,
owns 45% of the market share. Meanwhile, Walmart’s Seiyu sits at 12%. That may
not sound terrible, but to put it into perspective, another U.S. supermarket that
has expanded into Japan with much more success — Costco. Costco only has 26
stores in Japan, but in 2017 they brought in just over $3 billion in revenue.
Seiyu, on the other hand, has 331 locations and brought in $7.1 billion in
revenue. The low price strategy that both Walmart and Seiyu abide by is not
nearly as effective in Japan as it is in the United States.
While consumers in the U.S.
appreciate the convenience of being able to find great deals at one central
location, Japan consumers are not as concerned with this convenience, making it
less of a differentiator in the Japanese market. Michelle Grant, the Head of
Retailing at Euromonitor International, outlines this issue in a CNBC video,
titled “Why Walmart is Failing in Japan.” In the video, Grant describes how
Japanese consumers “enjoy the treasure hunt of pricing” and will go to multiple
stores while shopping in search of the best deals. Also, as this Bloomberg
Businessweek article points out, Japanese consumers often associate low prices
with cheap quality.
In addition to all of that,
Japan’s retail market was already so congested with everything from your
stereotypical supermarket to online retailers and mom-and-pop shops by the time
Walmart expanded into that region. Now, this doesn’t mean that the barriers to
entry were impenetrable. It just means that to enter that market, you need to
have a strong differentiator that was effective to the market. This was
something that Costco did well, while Seiyu failed.
Japanese consumers typically
aren’t used to shopping in bulk, so going to Costco offers them a totally new
shopping experience. Meanwhile, Seiyu was no different than any other
supermarket that Japanese consumers were already familiar with. Last, Walmart
also failed to recognize that Japanese consumers enjoy fresh, locally sourced
food — which is something Seiyu does not offer a lot of. It remains to be seen
whether Walmart will be able to turn it around or if they’ll ultimately end up
selling Seiyu. But, one thing is certain, the U.S. supermarket’s lack of
understanding their consumers in Japan has set them pretty far back.
a. What are the different
views of Japanese people that Walmart should have taken into consideration
while entering Japanese market? (5 Marks)
b. What are elements of an overseas
country’s culture which are to be understood for making entry strategy in that
market. Explain with reference to the case study above. (5 Marks
Operations and Supply Chain Strategies
1. XYZ Ltd is operating in
pharmaceutical and you are appointment as supply chain manager. As COVID 19
third wave is expected in India, there is an urgent requirement for a vaccine.
It has been observed that there is a lack of vaccine in the country. Analyze and
suggest a different level of strategies that you will implement in the firm so
that citizen of the country will get a vaccine. (10 Marks)
2. Mr. Agrawal is running an
offline electronic store and due to tough competition from E-commerce players,
Mr. Agrawal is thinking to start an online website to deliver the product.
Company must focus on cost, quality and delivery parameter while working in an
online business model. Suggest company to implement various focused operations
strategy that improves the performance of the firm. (10 Marks)
3. A pharmaceutical company is
running an offline store and also have good customer base. Company faced lots
of challenge due to online pharmaceutical players. Online medicine delivery is
a new concept in the industry, and customers are accepting this business model
slowly.
a. Explain the existing
situation of the firm considering the industry life cycle. (5 Marks)
b. Explain different
competitive advantage that helps a company to get a better market share in the
market. (5 Marks)
Organisational Theory, Structure and Design
1. ‘Flora Medicals’ is a
pharmaceutical company which had a line organisational structure. Now it wants
to change its structure to a matrix organisation. As their, HR head, which important
principles of organisational structure will you keep in mind while making this change.
Explain these principles, in the context of a pharmaceutical company. Justify whether
it is the right decision or not. (10 Marks)
2. Marzari, the CEO of Speedy
Automobile Limited, is not happy with the current departmentation system in the
organisation. Therefore, he has approached XYZ Business solutions for help.
Explain what options XYZ Business Solutions can give to Marzari for selecting
an appropriate departmentation strategy. Which option do you think is best
suited for an automobile company? (10 Marks)
3. ‘Shanghai Noodle Express’
is a popular fast food company in China. The Business head, Xu Kitang wants to
open the company’s subsidiary in India, as it is a popular destination for
Chinese cuisine. However, previous attempts of expansion have failed. Therefore,
this time they have hired an experienced Market Research Expert like you for
suggestions. Keeping the above scenario in mind,
a. Explain which aspects of
socio-cultural environment do you think should be kept in mind before venturing
into India. Give examples. (5 Marks)
b. Briefly explain the
different approaches that you would suggest for an effective external environmental
analysis of a fast food company. (5 Marks)
Project Management
1. Consider a hypothetical
project of conducting Annual Day in your university. In this context, explain
how different Project Life Cycle Models can be considered. Write examples for
each PLC Models in your answer and suggest which model will be the best
suitable for this case. (10 Marks)
2. India’s Road and Transport
Ministry has taken-up various Expressway Road Projects in the country. One of
the such project consist of following broad scope of work
a. Constructing roads
b. Constructing tunnels
c. Constructing bridges over
river
d. Constructing flyovers and
junctions
e. Constructing convenient
places (fuels stations, rest areas, etc.)
f. Developing a solution for
speed monitoring
g. Finding suitable road
material for areas in heavy flood zone
Prepare three types of project
organization structures for this case. Evaluate and suggest the best suitable
structure for the given project. (10 Marks)
3. Answer the following questions.
method to evaluate the projects based on the
given information.
I: Initial investment
C1 to C6: Cash flow at the end
of Year-1 to Year-6 respectively.
I C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
Project-01 Cashflow -20 5 5 5 5 5 5
Project-02 Cashflow -25 10 5 5 5 5 5
Project-03
Cashflow -30 10 10 5 5 5 5
Consider Discounting Rate as
8% per year. (5 Marks)
b. India’s Road and Transport
Ministry has taken-up various Expressway Road Projects in the country. One of
the such project consist of following broad scope of work
a. Constructing roads
b. Constructing tunnels
c. Constructing bridges over
river
d. Constructing flyovers and
junctions
e. Constructing convenient
places (fuels stations, rest areas, etc.)
f. Developing a solution for
speed monitoring
g. Finding suitable road
material for areas in heavy flood zone
Prepare the Work Breakdown
Structure for this project. (5 Marks)
Research Methodology
1. The central bank of a
country is exploring options to boost the economic activities post COVID. They
are thinking to change the various interest rates to motivate investments and
economic transactions. However, they are not sure whether this would yield the desired
results. The research team in the bank have come up with a set of hypotheses
and they are confident of conducting a research and finding the outcome. Answer
the following questions: What is hypothesis testing in research? Write the
steps which is followed for the same. Include details of null and alternate
hypothesis in your answer. (10 Marks)
2. While going through a
research paper in a leading journal you have came across the following model
comprising multiple variables:
Answer the following
questions:
What is meant by ‘variables’
in research? Identify and describe the following:
dependent variable,
independent variable, mediating variable and moderating variable. (10 Marks)
3. A major FMCG company
headquartered in Mumbai, is planning to diversify its product portfolio. As
part of the attempt, they have decided to launch a new product which is more of
an ayurvedic variant of one of their famous oral hygiene brands. The research and
development team have already come up with the composition and orders have been
placed for manufacturing of the units. However, the managers are still not
clear whether they should launch the product in western India first or it
should be launched nationwide at the same time. You as a research consultant
have been hired to look into the case. You have decided to use the
hypothetico-deductive method to arrive at the conclusions.
a. Identify and explain the
broad problem area. (5 Marks)
b. How would you like to
proceed further? (5 Marks)
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