DistPub.com Present NMIMS Solved Assignments for Dec 18

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Question 1: Climate change is the current focus of business community globally and businesses worldwide are including climate change related considerations in their strategic business decisions as well as long term plans. Choose any one current and live company, Indian or Multinational and explain how it is implementing any two climate change policies /actions to reduce their negative climate change impacts and why do they look at climate change as part of risk management?(refer to the sustainability report of the chosen company)2

Question 2: With the introduction of Companies Act 2013 for the first time CSR has been legally acknowledged. Study the section 135, CSR rules as well as Schedule VII of Companies Act 2013. According to you explain 10 benefits that will accrue to business as well as society due to this regulation.

Question 3: Child labour is a violation of human rights. India is sadly the home to the largest number of child labourers in the world. Children are engaged as household servants and are also employed by hotels, service stations, food stalls, workshops, construction sites, carpet industries, etc. They are even employed in hazardous and unhygienic forms of labour in textile, leather and cracker industries, depriving the children of their childhood, and harming their mental, emotional and physical development and well-being.

a. What according to you are five compelling reasons for the existence of child labour in India?

b. Suggest four strategies/action plan that can be adopted by business to make child labour unattractive and non viable.

Question 4: Large organizations where there are many people working closely, create unofficial and informal channels of communication. What is this kind of communication known as and what purpose does it serve in large organizations? List different types of this communication along with drawbacks if any.

Question 5: Explain the various forms that non-verbal communication takes which impacts cultural aspect of communication. How does verbal and non-verbal communication relate to each other?

Question 6: Zenstar Technologies has the task of collating feedback from its customers before the launch of its new product next fortnight. They need their customers to participate and be forthright in the opinions they present to improvise and make any last minute course corrections to garner the best response for the product launch.

a. Which computer tool for collecting information will be most suitable for the requirements of Zenstar Technologies and why?

b. Advice on how they should conduct the whole exercise of gathering feedback from their customers?

Question 7: The manager of a company was analysing the trend of the products of its company (Commodity Y) getting replaced by another substitute product available in the market which gives the same level of satisfaction to the consumers. Calculate the rate of Marginal Rate of Substitution and analyse the result.

Combination Units of Commodity Y Units of Commodity X Total Utility

a 40 10 U

b 25 14 U

c 17 19 U

d 10 27 U

e 7 38 U

Question 8: Neha has just completed her MBA and joined a startup company. The company was planning to launch a new product in the market so the management wanted to understand the different factors that can impact the demand and supply of their products in the market. Help Neha to prepare a report on the factors impacting demand and supply of products in the market.

Question 9: Alpha Ltd market share was declining due to high competition in the market so it decided to enter a new segment. It wanted to determine the relationship between change in the quantity demanded of the product due to change in the price of the product in the market. Assume that at the price of 100, the demand for the product is 400 units. If the price of the product increases to 120, the demand decreases to 250 units. Calculate the price elasticity:

a) Using Arc elasticity method

b) Using Percentage method

Question 10: Social media and data analytics are changing the scene for most industries today. It is said that social media played a key role in propelling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in 2014. It is no surprise that with the elections round the corner in 2019, parties are getting their social media warriors ready to help them combat this war in the digital space. In your opinion, can Social media be used to influence voter behaviour? Can political parties actually leverage data analytics solutions to reach out to probable voters? Justify your answer.

Question 11: Malkan Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is operating in the pharmaceutical industry with a number of drug formulations in the form of tablets, capsules, powder and syrup. These drugs are available to the patients through chemists or online pharmacies on prescriptions of registered practitioners only. Besides, the company has some over-the-counter products that are available to any person without prescriptions. The company markets its products through a network of wholesalers, who in turn have their retailer network. The company is finding it difficult to maintain the inventory of the stocks that it has at its disposal, warehousing processes and associated transactions including shipping, receiving, put-away and picking. In order to streamline its operations to achieve efficiency, the company is planning to invest in a SCM software. How would this help the company in achieving its objectives? What are the risks in implementing the same?

Question 12: You have been assigned as a project manager to deploy ERP System in a new start-up company having multi-location in India, with standalone and disparate systems. This company has manual processes, a high dependency on people for information, leading to a delay in timely decision making. The organization has embarked on a journey to implement ERP system-duly integrating all process and functions for quality transactions and availability of information.

a. Elaborate the steps you would take for effective implementation.

b. What are the critical issues that you need to address for the successful implementation of ERP?

Question 13: M/s Subodh Enterprise is failing to make profit from last five years. The company has no proper vision and direction to follow. The Directors have decided to replace the current leader who shows less concern for people as well as profit. They appoint you as a consultant to guide them on the various types of leader and suggest them one type of leader that will be suitable for this organization with reasons.

Question 14: Mr. Ajay wants to purchase new printers for the organization as the current printers are outdated and the cost per print is high. Whenever the printers stop working the service provided from the company is very poor. It takes them seven days to resolve minor issues. This is affecting the productivity of people. There are seven departments and all the departments printer need to be replaced. Explain the decision making process that Ajay should follow for purchase of best printers for the organization.

Question 15: Mr. Amit is the departmental head of Marketing and has seven employees directly reporting to him. The seven members of the team are never in consensus with each other on major important decisions. There had been heated discussion among them in various meeting scheduled by Mr. Amit. The team members are not having great rapport with Production and R and D departments Head because of lack of coordination within the team. There is total chaos and confusion in the organization. Mr. Amit is worried about the online course that he has joined and has not been able to commit himself for the course. He is not able to give time to solve the assignments, check the MCQs, and participate in the discussion forum which are a part of the course. Mr. Amit s relationship with the seniors is cordial. He doesn t like the Production Department head as the latter doesn t provide him with regular reports and delivery status.

a. Enumerate types of conflicts and identify various types of conflict in the above case?

b. What are the various ways to resolve the conflict?

Question 16: Shanaya works as a creative head in the entertainment industry, where she is often required to work for long hours. Her reporting authority Kiran is very inflexible who wants the work to be done according to her liking. Shanaya tried to talk to her on several occasions and explain her as well as other team members point of view but in vain, as Kiran would not budge. If anything is not done according to Kiran s way she reprimands Shanaya in front of her peers and subordinates. Kiran would pile Shanaya with excess work and make her work from home even during holidays. Keeping the above scenario in mind, discuss the pitfalls of leadership as demonstrated by Kiran.

Question 17: Anay works as a project lead in a pharmaceutical company. He is very famous amongst his team members because of his approach towards them. Whenever his team performs well he always rewards them. This reward comes in many forms like appreciation mail, gift voucher, and acknowledgement certificate. Because of this practice in Anay s team they are regarded as the best performers in the office. Analyse the situation and explain the elements of reinforcement used by Anay.

Question 18: Shiva and Sanjay work in an Information Technology (IT) multi-national company (MNC) in the same team as management trainees. They both got selected through campus placement. It has been six months since they joined the company. While filling up their confirmation forms Shiva came to know that Sanjay draws more remuneration than him. This had visibly upset Shiva and he started dumping all his work to Sanjay. The strained relationship between them could be sensed by their colleagues as well. Sanjay probed for this and from one of Shiva s new confidante he came to know the reason.

a. What kind of conflict was between Shiva and Sanjay? Discuss the same with suitable concepts and reasons.

b. How can the conflict be resolved or managed by Shiva. Discuss

Question 19: Mr. Hari has joined as a marketing head in a startup that deals with online sale of Groceries. The online store is named as www.baniyakidukaan.com. The store will start its operation in 4 cities namely Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Bangalore. The company faces tough competition from various online stores. The company s major focus is to make the items available at lowest possible price. You have been asked to prepare the 7P s of marketing mix for the online store.

Question 20: M/s Kids Corporation is planning to launch its own brand of Dolls across India. The doll will be named Senorita and it will be available in the price range of 600/- to 1400/- Rupees. The doll will be available in major types of profession like Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher, etc. so that it can even inspire girls to go for these careers in future. Design the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning strategy for Senorita.

Question 21: M/s Joy Corporation wants to enter into the production, marketing and distribution of Mobile Phones. The company is a market leader in Washing Machines and Refrigerators. The company wants to penetrate into the ever increasing Mobile Market. It plans to sell mid-range mobile phones where the major competitors are Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.

a. Explain various steps involved in the new product development of Joy Mobile Phones.

b. Explain various marketing strategies that Joy mobile phones should undertake during the time of launch i.e. introduction phase of Joy Mobile Phones.

Assets Expense Ratio Return 2006 3-Year Return 5-Year Return

904.8 1.51 4.6 10.7 8.1

675.9 1.28 8.5 11.9 7.3

909.7 0.80 13.1 10.4 6.3

52.2 1.50 11.6 10.3 6.4

8411.5 0.63 10.9 12.4 8.0

282.3 1.22 7.1 10.2 8.0

9870.7 0.86 12.3 15.0 7.7

424.8 1.13 12.3 11.0 6.2

15422.9 0.72 14.0 10.2 6.2

497.9 1.36 8.6 12.0 7.3

547.3 1.09 7.5 12.8 7.2

5527.1 0.41 11.2 10.2 6.5

22592.9 0.46 12.3 13.0 8.4

240.8 1.42 4.4 10.3 6.6

2403.4 0.93 8.0 10.1 4.3

233.3 1.33 6.5 9.4 5.4

71.2 0.15 15.4 6.6 5.0

506.9 1.15 11.2 9.3 4.5

221.6 1.12 13.2 8.9 4.7

434.9 1.19 14.2 12.3 7.1

7834.2 0.56 13.7 9.6 5.5

152.1 1.34 12.4 9.6 4.6

815.4 0.73 13.0 8.9 4.5

85.7 0.45 13.2 9.6 4.0

166.1 1.41 3.3 7.8 5.3

47.2 0.74 8.1 10.8 5.7

6955.2 0.87 7.8 10.7 5.8

135.4 1.25 14.6 8.2 5.8

142.0 1.18 9.2 9.7 5.6

601.8 1.00 9.7 7.9 3.8

Question 22: For the data on 31 mutual funds given above, conduct the following analysis:

i. Determine the measures of central tendency and of dispersion for the five variables.

ii. Provide the five-number summary i.e. the minimum, 1st quartile, median, 3rd quartile and maximum value for asset size.

Interpret the above results and comment on how the data is distributed.

Question 23: For the same data on mutual funds given above:

i. Is there a strong association between asset size and expense ratio?

ii. Create a scatterplot diagram depicting the association between the two variables.

iii. Using the regression equation, predict the 5-year return of a fund whose 3-year return was 8%.

Question 24: Assume there are 400 athletes in a training camp, who are required to attend the morning drill starting at 4 am. The attendance in morning drills is 70%, i.e. on an average, 280 athletes are present. Fifty new athletes are admitted in this batch.

a. What is the probability of attendance being at least 70% among the new athletes, thus ensuring the overall attendance does not fall below 70%?

b. The training coach thinks that this probability will increase, if the new batch size is 40 instead of 50 students. Is he right in assuming so?

Question 25: What is the difference between valid, void or voidable contract. Please explain the instances when a contract becomes valid, void or voidable contract.

Question 26: Please give at least two (2) real life examples on how the recent amendments in Companies Act, 2013 has brought about sweeping changes in corporate scenario of India.

Question 27: Arun and Smitha are good friends since a long time. Smitha is in need of a house loan with a bank and Arun has agreed to be a be a co-applicant cum guarantor to help Smitha secure the house loan. Smitha after taking possession of the Flat started defaulting payments of the house loan and absconded. In light of the above instance, you are called to advise the bank on the following queries:

a. What is the contract between Arun, Smitha and the bank termed as? Identify Arun, Smitha and the bank according to their roles in such contract? (5 Marks)

b. Does the bank have any right against Arun? If yes please explain in detail? If, Arun voluntarily offers to pay the loan to the Bank, what are his rights? Please explain in detail?

Question 28: Sanskruti Ltd. is an apparel manufacturing company. Lately it was observed that the absenteeism as well as the employee turnover has increased tremendously. An external consulting firm was roped to understand the entire concern. The report presented by the consulting firm specified that the workers are dissatisfied with their job roles as well as they find no career planning and progression which is affecting the overall organisational productivity. Discuss the objectives as well as merits of career planning which can be included to make the employees happy and satisfied in Sanskruti Ltd.

Question 29: Kadambari Enterprises, which is a family managed business in the area of food manufacturing (Indian Snacks) has grown over the years. The business turnover has now become 500 crore. The organisation never had a concept of performance appraisal, the employees were given raise based on their seniority and relationship with the management. Sneha the new heir of Kadambari Enterprises wants to change the entire outlook and bring in the latest Performance Management System to bring parity and justice for the employees. You have been selected as the head HR and have been asked to present the benefits of appraisal and best PMS for Kadambari Enterprise.

Question 30: Sameera is a fresh MBA graduate and has joined as a Trainee- Talent Management in Fresoc Ltd. It is her first week at work and she is all geared up for some great learning. To her disappointment she is just handed over some brochures to read. After a fortnight she is assigned some task to work on. Sameera is really confused as she does not have any job clarity and work is being assigned to her randomly. The entire month after joining Fresoc Ltd has been a very demotivating as an outcome she resigned from her services.

a. Do you think that the induction of Sameera was wrong? Justify your answer

b. What could have been an ideal situation where young talent like Sameera would have been retained?

Question 31 1 You visited Subway that s the fast food restaurant to purchase a Combo worth Rs 499. The restaurant paid for the raw material and utilities amounting Rs105 for each sale. In addition to that, the restaurant also paid for certain expenses in cash in total Rs 50 per sale.

Discuss how these financial transactions will be recorded by way of journal entry, and also, discuss the various stages of the whole accounting process.

Question 32 2 The Companies Act 1956 was the first Act which governs the various Companies registered in India. However, in the year 2013, the Act was amended holistically to bring more transparency in terms of accountability, presentation and disclosure aspects in relation to various financial information of a company. However one of your friend is of the opinion that there is only one difference between the two Act , that is , the presentation of financial statements , previously it was governed by Schedule VI and now Schedule III governs it. Now, you are assigned with the task of convincing your friend that there is a huge difference between the two Acts, by briefing him on atleast five other points of differences between the two.

Question 33 3 The following information pertains to the Income statement of Beta Ltd.

revenue generated from sales 1258000

closing stock 102500

profit on sale of securities 25540

Opening stock 50000

purchase of raw material 500000

direct expenses 150000

manufacturing expenses 67550

administrative expenses 68420

depreciation 15840

preliminary expenses written off 4700

selling and distribution expenses 45000

loss on sale of machinery 15000

interest on loan 46510

Taxes paid 25500

Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) ?

a. Redraft the information in the vertical form of Income statement and also, calculate Earnings After Taxes (EAT )

b. Calculate the gross profit ratio and operating profit ratio. Discuss, how they differ from each other?

Question 34: One of IKEA s key competitors ASDA wants to enter into India into the furniture product category. Conduct a PESTLE analysis for ASDA in India and suggest whether ASDA should enter India or otherwise.

Question 35: You have been appointed as a Strategy Consultant to the Burj Al Arab brand wanting to enter India. Which one of Porter s Generic Strategies would you choose to be operational in India and explain the reasons in detail behind your choice of strategy? Once the strategy has been chosen, explain the categories of customers you would target?

Question 36: You are the Chairman of General Motors in the US. Your Indian subsidiary GM India has been fast losing market share to Competitor brands which now account for over 90% of the market share.

a. What turnaround strategies can you suggest to arrest the decline of revenues and profitability of your company?

b. In your opinion, would it be considered appropriate to pursue a Combination Strategy? State your response with appropriate justifications and reasons.

Question 37. ABC Fashion Pvt. Ltd. is a leading apparel company in India. They want to expand and modernize their current business model and thus requires additional fund for the business.

You have been hired as a Financial consultant to ABC Fashion. As a consultant suggest the various methods as to how ABC Fashion Pvt. Ltd. can raise funds through primary or secondary market for their business. (10 Marks)

Question 38. You are a financial Advisor in a financial advisory firm. Your client apart from his existing investments, wants to diversify his portfolio in the mutual funds. Help your client to know the details about the mutual funds. Discuss the various characteristics, advantages and the disadvantages of investing in the Mutual funds. (10 Marks)

Question 39. Arun has recently got placed in a public sector bank. His manager asks him to prepare a short presentation on the following. Help Arun to prepare with his presentation.

A) Enumerate how Cash Reserve ratio (CRR) is used as a credit control tool by RBI. (5 Marks)

B) Also discuss the contribution of statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) in Lowering Countrys Inflation. (5 Marks)

Question 40. You are planning to start an online store through a company website and mobile app for selling organic, hand-made, fruit or vegetable-based cosmetic products such as face wash, face creams, scrubs, kajal, listicks, hand and body washes and lotions etc. Before launching your product range, you want to understand the online shopping behavior of consumers on webstores and mobile apps. What is the customer-related, website-related and purchase order-related information that you would collect? (10 Marks)

Question 41. India is home to a thriving fake market -- growing 20% every year -- where garments, shoes, watches, cowhide merchandise and jewellery are served as genuine products. Markets like Gandhi Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and Janpath in Delhi, AC Market Ludhiana are some of the hubs of fake merchandise. Passage of global brands, changes in inclinations from non-branded to branded, a quickly developing economy and a substantial youthful purchaser base in has made India a profoundly lucrative market. Because of broad communications and web-based social networking infiltration, the young are getting to fashion conscious. This has opened uncommon doors for the retail showcase. Market specialists say it is exceptionally hard to evaluate the extent of fake attire. The greatest concern is the clients' fascination towards pilfered items is straightforwardly corresponding to the cost of these items which are sold at least 40% less than the original.

Given this understanding, the branded apparel marketers want to conduct a consumer research to understand the consumer psyche and counter the counterfeit market. State the research objective(s) and propose a research design for this study.

(10 Marks)

Question 42. Marketers have identified a huge opportunity for organised players in the used car market. Currently, the pre-owned car market is 1.2 times the new car market in India, well below the 2.5 times that is typically found in mature markets. The organised used car sellers, which account for merely 15% of the overall pre-owned car space, have started seeing a dramatic rise in volumes. Mahindra and Mahindra's First Choice and Maruti Suzuki's True Value, are planning big time to expand their pre-owned car business. Despite a 15% market share in second-hand car sales, the organised segment is the fastest growing with a 36% spike in FY2017, while the growth for the unorganised sector remained flat in the same period. There is an opportunity in this market which needs to be tapped; but with caution.

The unorganized sector is trying to understand what are these areas that they need to work upon as they are facing stiff competition from the organized players.

You have been asked to conduct a research to identify the target customer and understand the consumer needs towards pre-owned cars vs new cars and reasons, preferences for organized vs unorganized players, reasons for preferences, the prices that they would be willing to pay, the value-added services they would want and so on.

a. Describe the profile of your target customer for a pre-owned car. Will the profile of a target customer for a pre-owned car be the same as that of a new car? Why or why not? (5 Marks)

b. For the primary data that needs to be collected towards this research, design a questionnaire covering all the research objectives,that could be used towards a quantitative questionnaire-based survey. (5 Marks)

Question 43. You are invited to work as a project management consultant on a project for construction of a commercial complex. Discuss the possible ways by which you can contribute towards success of this project. (10 Marks)

Question 44. You are involved in an exercise to evaluate capital budgeting. The proposed project has estimated initial outflow of Rs. 1 lac and outflow of Rs. 37,000, Rs. 13,000 and Rs. 63,000 for first three years respectively. Your client uses 15% discount rate for capital budgeting. What would be your recommendation on financial feasibility based on Net Present Value technique? Provide enough details for justification of your recommendation. (10 Marks)

Question 45. "I am feeling jittery. How can I estimate how much time it would take to launch our next store in Ratnagiri city? I have never worked on such project of opening new store in new city. I don't know what my boss is thinking of me? Am I a magician to produce a number from nowhere?" Sudesh went on talking on phone while Mansi kept on listening patiently.

Sudesh had joined a retail chain as a marketing executive six months back. After showing a great performance for six months on an advertising campaign, he was just put in this new project. When Sudesh's boss briefly told him about this new project, he mentioned that Sugesh should first work on time estimates. Sudesh immediately called Mansi, his cousin, who had 10+ years of experience of working as a marketing manager. After bursting out all frustration, he finally asked, "What should I do?"

"Is it the first time the company opening a store in new city?" Mansi asked her first question. "No, there are many people here who have done this before and I am told that all facts and figures about those projects are all documented well", Sudesh responded. "But I am going to do it for the first time!" Sudesh was still nervous. "You don't need to worry! There are two ways by which you can go about making time estimates. Either refer to data from past project or seek opinion of earlier project managers." Mansi started giving her advice to her cousin.

a. What advice will Mansi give to Sudesh about learning from past data? (5 Marks)

b. What advice will Mansi give to Sudesh about expert opinion? (5 Marks)

Question 46. You are planning to launch a multi-cuisine Quick-serve Restaurant which shall serve different varieties of food ranging from fast food to south Indian, Italian, north Indian, Chinese. To maintain the quick-serve spirit, the restaurant intends to create quick-serve counters with separate billing stations for each cuisine. Each of these cuisine counters shall separately take the orders, do the billing and serve the quick bite menus. Create a service blueprint for this QSR. (10 Marks)

Question 47. Discuss the role and relevance of four potential gaps within a service organization which may lead to a fifth and most serious gap - that is the customer gap.

Explain with illustrations. (10 Marks)

Question 48. Village Volvo is the 'new kid' in the town. It represents an effort by two former Volvo dealer mechanics to provide quality repair service on out-of-service Volvos at a reasonable cost. Of their 22 years of training and experience with local Volvo dealers, they have earned a reputation and a following of satisfied customers that makes such a service operation feasible to deliver. Their operation is to provide clients with 'custom car care' service that is unavailable at other dealers. They have set aside specific times each week when clients drive in for routine services such as tune-ups and oil changes. However, for diagnosis and repair of specific problems, they encourage clients to schedule appointments.

At the time of appointment, the mechanic may take a short test drive with the client to make sure that both understand the area of concern. Another source of information available to the mechanic is the 'Customer Care Vehicle Dossier' (CCVD). This is a continuing file of each vehicle that it services and this history can help the mechanic diagnose problems and also provide a convenient record on the warranty service etc. The owners are also considering the use of CCVD as a way of 'reminding' customers that routine maintenance procedures may be due.

At present, Village Volvo has no provision for 'alternate transportation' for the customers. A 'shuttle service' two or three times a day is also being considered, as the owners feel that their suburban location may deter some clients. A waiting room is also available with a television set, comfortable chairs, vending machines for tea / coffee and soft drinks, magazines and newspapers etc. This facility is almost exclusively used by clients who come during the 'drop-in' hours for quick routine jobs such as tune-ups etc.

The owner mechanics do no repairs between 7 and 8 am and 5 and 6 pm because these are 'heavy customer contact' hours. As repairs are done, the owner mechanic make note of any other problem that might need attention in the future. This is recorded in the CCVD for future use. This is also intimated to the customer, may be in the form of a 'reminder' postcard sent to them.

All small parts that have been replaced are placed in a clean box in the car. Care is taken throughout the repair process to keep the car clean and the inside is vacuumed as a courtesy before pick up. The Village Volvo owners have developed a network of other service providers who assist in recycling used parts and waste products and to whom they can refer clients for work that is not a part of Village Volvo's services such as body work, alignments, reupholstering etc. The owners are also considering the possibility of offering a mini course on weekends to teach clients what they can do to attain their 2,00,000 miles Volvo medal.

a. Discuss the appropriate customer segments that Village Volvo should target and it's positioning strategy to reach out to these target segments(5 Marks)

b. Evaluate the expanded marketing mix for Village Volvo (5 Marks)

Question 49: Miss Nihali recently joined Accenture as Head IT. Her CTC amounts to 24 lacs. There is formal procedure which every company's accounts department follows while processing the salaries payment to the employees for any financial year. You being the accounts manager of the company, discuss on the points to be taken care of while charging tax under the head income from salary for the employees. (10 Marks)

Question 50: Mr. Abhishek recently passed the MBBS exams and started practicing as a doctor. On the occasion of his birthday, he received a cash gift worth 51000 from one of his father's friend. Further, one of his patients also gifted him a plot of land, as an appreciation for his personal qualities and dedication towards his work. Discuss with suitable reasons, whether the receipts are taxable or not and if yes, then the head of income under which the receipts are taxable. (10 Marks)

Question 51: Mr. Arman has a gross total income of Rs 1350000 for the Assessment year 2018-19. He made following payments during the year

a. Compute the eligible amount of deduction under Chapter VI-A for the Assessment Year 2018-19 (5 Marks)

b. What if, in addition to this he also contributed in certain work of literacy and earned a royalty income amounting Rs15 lacs, as a lump sum consideration by authoring certain books. Compute the additional eligible amount of deduction explaining the relevant provision. (5 Marks)

Question 52. "Human rights are based on recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world". Preamble to Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to you which are the five most susceptible areas for potential human rights violations possible in context of employees within an organization? Elaborate on your answer with the help of a suitable example. (10 Marks)

Question 53. "The Geeta precepts or Dharma or spirituality based values and practices of business leaders have been shown to positively affect their stakeholder relationships as well as performance." Select a known industry leader or entrepreneur who will help you justify this statement - research and read up about them and describe one incident/episode/decision from their professional life that showcases or proves the above statement (DO NOT explain or quote small /personal conversations or incidents of your immediate boss with you. Select a public figure known to most people). (10 Marks)

Question 54. The problem in Chandrapur of Maharashtra and the surrounding area is that this area, which is a declared tiger reserve, is now in danger of being taken over by the mining industry. If the central government awards the licence to the mining industry, then twenty one coal mines will be setting up shop in this area and Chandrapur will become a coal city. The forest will turn into a desert and the wild life will disappear. Somehow we have failed to intelligently sustain and manage the resources of nature, the primary source of all supply chain.

a. Do you think environmental sustainability is an ethical principle? Elaborate on any three issues/principles involved in environmental ethics. (5 Marks)

b. How can business embed environment protection/sustainability within overall business strategy? Elaborate on any five critical ideas/processes/steps. (5 Marks)

Question 55: WISDOM Technologies, a start up in online retail business, has hired you as a Compensation Consultant and you are asked to set up the compensation structure in the organization. Which forms of compensation will be a part of your compensation structure? Explain these forms too. (10 Marks)

Question 56: ENPOWER Generation, a global Thermal Energy Company, wants to set up its operations in India. You are hired as a Consultant to provide the company with the crucial information about the components of pay structure in India. This information will help the company set up the ideal compensation in India. As a consultant, give these components to your client. (10 Marks)

Question 57: MIRAGE Ltd, a leading Textiles firm in India, has made following two important decisions recently

•Revamp of production technology by importing the latest machinery

•Revising pay structure.

In this background, answer the following questions.

a) How would you analyze the jobs after revamp of technology? (5 Marks)

b) What will be the objectives of job evaluation program to enable the revision of pay structure? . (5 Marks)

Question 58. ABC is a manufacturing facility making light bulbs. While the factory is profitable, the rising component prices are squeezing the margins. The factory employs 200 workers and has a registered Union, representing nearly 70% of the workforce. The workers in this facility have approached the Union asking them to fight for higher wages to factor in the rising prices of basic commodities. The union representatives agreed to take the issue with the management.Detail out the process that the union should follow to have their demands met.(10 Marks)

Question 59. You are the Personnel Manager in the Rabale factory of Gautam and Co. The registered workers union raised a demand for increase in wages. The management has not made any effort to meet them. Some of the union members have asked the workers to go on strike and are gathered outside the gates, shouting anti-management slogans and requesting other workers to join the strike. The striking workers have made no attempt to physically stop the other workers from entering the factory premises. The General Manager in charge of the factory has asked you to take immediately terminate the picketing workers. Is this termination action justified? What steps will you take as the Personnel Manager to handle this issue?(10 Marks)

Question 60. Company ABC is a MNC situated in Aurangabad. The factory manufactured luxury vehicles, which were sold in India and aboard. The political climate in Aurangabad had become very tense and there were minor agitations by several political parties. The main area of contention was reservations in colleges and government jobs for the local community. There was a sudden escalation in tension and a flash strike was declared in the area. Anticipating trouble, ABC shut down their factory on the day of the strike. However, vandals attacked the factory and set fire to some of the buildings and vehicles parked in the factory premises. After things settled down, the company ordered an investigation. During this, they found that the vandals were primarily their own workers, both past and current. Further investigation showed that the workers were unhappy since they had not seen any increase in their wages over the last 3 years. Any worker who protested was promptly laid off. The management regularly took on temporary workers whom they paid nearly half of

what they paid their full time workers. There were limited employment options in the area so the workers were forced to accept whatever terms the management set.

a. Has the management followed the principles of healthy industrial relations policy including being legally compliant? (5 Marks)

b. Assume that you were one of the workers working in this company. What are your views on the incidents that happened during the political agitation? How should the workers have handled the grievances? (5 Marks)

Question 61. Karen joined Illuminati Magics Ltd. an IT firm as GM -HR. After joining first observation she made was that employees did not have a role clarity. She allocated several tasks to her HR team and came to a root cause analysis that the organisation lacked Job Analysis as a result there was a lot of job and role ambiguity. You are one of the HR team member and have to recommend the three best methods for the accumulation of Job Analysis data. Conclude by emphasising the importance of Job Analysis for Illuminati Magics Ltd. (10 Marks)

Question 62. It is said that for Generation Y or millennials the quality of work life is the most important aspect. Comment on the above statement by citing example of any organisation where QWL is integral part of their culture. (10 Marks)

Question 63. Life Karma is a private insurance company which has about 900 insurance agents and 45 Unit Managers across pan India. 20 insurance agents report to one Unit Manager. The Learning and Development department wants to equip all of them with the latest sales as well as negotiation techniques.

a. As a L and D Manager you have to choose two on the job training programmes for the Insurance Agents. Conclude by stating reason for selecting these two programmes. (5 Marks)

b. Select any one off the job training programmes for the Unit Manager and also state reasons of selecting the same. (5 Marks)

Question 64. Aakash Logistics Limited is a 5 year old organization with 500 employees and a pan-India presence. The company has had average profits and is on an ambitious growth path. The Departmental Heads at Aakash Logistics Limited have often voiced that the performance management system functions in isolation and is not integrated with other HR subsystems, particularly with Recruitment and Selection and Training and Development. You are to guide the HR team with 2 examples on integration of performance management with Recruitment and Selection and Training and Development. (10 Marks)

Question 65. Nisha is the Head of HR at 'Gifting Marvels Limited', an organization which specializes in personalized and multi-faceted gifting solutions. The company is 2 years old and has greater business volumes via their electronic portal. Nisha is debating with her CEO on whether the self-appraisal process is relevant for the company. Assuming you are Nisha, how would you approach the interaction with the CEO on self-appraisals. (10 Marks)

Question 66. You are the HR Manager in your company and are planning to introduce e-performance management in your company thereby moving from paper-pencil / manual appraisal process. a) How will your convince the management on e-performance management system? (5 Marks) b) What steps will you take before introducing e-performance management? (5 Marks)

Question 67: MBC Auto Components Pvt. Ltd has hired you as a consultant to help the organization identify its culture. After your study you came to conclusion that the organization has a weak culture. Which could be the possible characteristics of MNC Auto Components in that case? (10 Marks)

Question 68: LMN Strategy Consultancy is facing a unique problem of lack of consistency in the organization as far as following a specific cultural pattern is concerned. You are invited to study and suggest the ways in which the company can sustain the culture in its organization. (10 Marks)

Question 69: VINTAGE Retail Pvt. Ltd is an online retail brand selling all the range of garments. Recently they have hired 100 new recruits in various departments of the organization. In this background answer the following

a) Explain how stories and rituals can be the ways in which these new recruits can learn the organizational culture of VINTAGE Retail Pvt. Ltd? (5 Marks)

b) Explain how material symbols and language can be the ways in which these new recruits can learn the organizational culture of VINTAGE Retail Pvt. Ltd? (5 Marks)

Question 70. Your company has exported one break bulk consignment by sea. The job was given to a customs broker Roshanlal and company. While loading liner found some improper packing of goods and Mate receipt was refused. You have been asked to sort out the issues by visiting the port urgently before the ship sails out. Also your boss does not know anything about Mate receipt. Please explain, your Head of the department, details about Mate receipt and give your way of sorting out this issue. (10 Marks)

Question 71. Your company wants to import one consignment of 500 kg urgently by air on FOB basis as the production is held up. You did not have time to get freight and insurance certificate. The consignment has landed. Your customs broker is asking for details of freight and insurance. You have asked him to clear without these certificates as the value is less and the goods are required urgently. Please explain how the customs will calculate the freight and insurance charges in absence of these details to arrive at CIF value. (10 Marks)

Question 72. You have joined a company, as Import and export manager, who deals with high volume imports and exports. The insurance coverage of both imports and exports have not been done properly and as a result the company is facing loses in insurance claims. You are advised to give the following suggestions:

a. What type of insurance coverage should be opted for covering the insurance of imports and exports? (5 Marks)

b. How the loss will be eradicated with your suggestions? (5 Marks)

Question 73. You have exported a consignment to a company Brussels International in London by air. The consignment consists of 78 boxes of electronic spare parts. The export was made on FOB basis. Now the customer informs a shortage of 7 packages and asks you to compensate the loss. As an Export Manager what would be your course of action on this claim. (10 Marks)

Question 74. Your company has imported 10 x 20'containers by sea consisting of umbrellas to sell the same to a trader. However due to a problem in payment terms, your customer has refused to take the consignment. You do not have space to store 10 containers load and also your company is not in a position to pay customs duty for the entire consignment. What would be your advice to the company to handle this tricky situation? (10 Marks)

Question 75. You have imported on consignment of 5 x 40'containers consisting of consumer items by sea on CIF basis. Your customer has delayed in sending the documents to you. As a result you have incurred detention charges for the containers. The shipping line asks you to pay the detention charges to get the delivery order. While handling this please explain

a. Who will have to bear the detention charges in this case? (5 Marks)

b. How will you take it up with the exporter who has delayed the documents?(5 Marks)

Question 76. One of the Medium size Indian pharmaceutical company, well established in India with good Sales and Marketing network, contemplating to go for International business to expand their revenue. Discuss in detail how the company should move forward systematically and discuss what kind of market barriers they will encounter and how to resolve them. (10 Marks)

Question 77. Discuss in detail Balance of Payment (BoP); what is the current scenario of India'sBoP with USA and China, and how it can be rectified? (10 Marks)

Question 78. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

a. Explain the concept of FDI and how it help the country's economic condition(5 Marks)

b. Why some countries totally ban FDI or they have restricted FDI in certain segments, what is the logical reasons for this, explain with an example. (5 Marks)

Question 79. ABC Pharmaceuticals have developed a new composition to fight an epidemic originating in Alaska. A lot of investment in terms of money, time and manpower has undergone for this development. What are the various ways through which ABC Pharmaceuticals can protect itself so that no other company can copy their product composition? (10 Marks)

Question 80. XYZ is a well-known cosmetic brand in India. With the rapid industrialization, the company wants to expand its business abroad. As a Strategic manager prepare a report for the board of members citing the various reasons for which the company should enter into an international market. (10 Marks)

Question 81. XYZ footwear is a leading Footwear company in India. They want to expand their operations into international market. You have being hired as a consultant to XYZ to draft their strategy for entering into international market.

A) What are the different strategies you will discuss in front of the board? (5 Marks)

B) Also share the various choices for XYZ footwear to enter an international market (5 Marks)

Question 82. You are an Indian Company manufacturing machine parts made of steel and exporting to US. With Donald Trump imposing Tariffs, you have decided to manufacture some of your products in North America and use this as an opportunity to expand your business in that part of the globe. You want to set up the factory either in Mexico or in Canada for this purpose. Evaluate the two location options of setting up the Plant and Business on basis of International Business and Marketing Environment parameters to come to a decision. (10 Marks)

Question 83. You are the CEO Starbucks and wish to enter India. Evaluate any 3 entry options to enter into India. Which of the market entry options would you finally choose and why? (10 Marks)

Question 84. The Tanzania Toothpaste market has strong growth and reasonable volume. The market is dominated by Colgate which has more than 65% market share and rest 35% percent are scattered within 6-7 local players. Colgate is the market leader in prices while all the other local players are about 20-25% cheaper in prices. The top three parameters of buy of Tanzanian consumers are Health, White Teeth and Freshness in that order. While Colgate positions itself on health platform, other local players are positioned on other 2. One of the biggest reason for lower market share is poor print quality on the toothpaste tubes where as Colgate gets its products from Europe where better quality printing facility on tubes is available. You are an Indian contract manufacturer for Unile ver in India and are now eyeing the Tanzania market where there is no clear number 2. You have set up a Contract manufacturing and Distribution partnership with C and C which is a local business conglomerate who apart from other businesses are also into FMCG but not into Toothpastes. You have decided to export quality printed toothpaste tubes from here for the purpose to overcome the problem faced by local manufacturers.

Suggest what would be your pricing strategy for the new brand of toothpaste that you would introduce in Tanzania market based on the information. (5 Marks)

Suggest the possible brand positioning for your Toothpaste in the Tanzania Market. (5 Marks)

Question 85. What is the need of Total productive maintenance (TPM) in a manufacturing company? Select any manufacturing company of your choice, and do a detailed study of its TPM process. (10 Marks)

Question 86: Michael Porter in 1985 in his book, "Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance" proposed three generic strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Select any Indian company and explain how it has implemented the Porter's generic strategies. (10 Marks)

Question 87: Activity-based costing (ABC) has helped many companies for decades gain a true understanding of their costs to produce and distribute products to customers. ABC provides a precise, accurate view of costs at very granular levels--namely, at the individual product, service and customer level. Successes during the 1980s in applying ABC methods to manufacturing prompted an eventual expansion of this methodology to other key components of the supply chain (e.g., distribution). Manufacturers such as Proctor and Gamble and Warner-Lambert began using ABC models to determine their overall costs to serve individual customers (e.g., Walmart), and to evaluate the costs of offering different individual services to customers (e.g., services such as vendor-managed inventory and advanced shipment notices, or ASNs). (Source: Miller, B. T. The ABCs of Activity-Based Costing for Logistics.)

a. What is ABC and how is it different from the traditional costing methods? (5 Marks)

b. Using suitable examples, explain the important factors for selecting the cost drivers in ABC. (5 Marks)

Question 88: Pyramid cements is a Cement manufacturing firm with a Pan India presence. Started by two friends in 1974, this company has a market share of around 12 % today and aspires to be one of the top 6 cement manufacturing and distribution company of India. The management has been advised that the company needs to move away from the family run nature to a greater level of professionalism. The promoters have planned to adopt fully automated systems for business operations, propose change in performance management systems and are looking at hiring fresh talent from outside. These changes have created disharmony in the existing set of employees. What kind of resistance is the management likely to face? What are the various reasons for individual employees that will lead to resistance in this case? What will be the outcome of such resistance?

Question 89: Organizations such as HUL, SAP, Microsoft and many more are committed towards encouraging diversity in the workforce. What would be some of the factors that they would consider while promoting diversity? Would you recommend that organizations should invest in creating diverse workforce? What are the benefits associated with this decision? Would companies face certain challenges while promoting diversity?

Question 90. As a consultant, you are approached by an upcoming e-tailer who is into online sale of women apparel. They want your advice on creating an effective organizational structure.

A) Explain any 4 main principles that you will follow while giving your suggestions?

B) How does departmentalization and span of management affect Organizational Structure?

Question 91: Founded in 1971 in Seattle, Washington, USA, Starbucks is a well-known international brand with presence in more than 20,000 locations. It has been over 23 years since Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in Seattle, Washington, USA. Suppose, Amazon.com is planning to acquire Starbucks, and Jeff has hired you as an advisor. Should Amazon.com acquire Starbucks? Why? (10 Marks)

Question 92: Suppose, you are working as a Brand Building and Brand Management Specialist and have been hired by a competitor of Mercedes, the popular car brand. Help your client by explaining the Marketing Strategy of Mercedes in India. (10 Marks)

Question 93: Founded in 1976, Brompton (www.brompton.com) is a well-known brand in the international folding bicycle market. Madhav, a young Indian and a first generation entrepreneur, incorporated XYZ Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2018 with a vision to build the first Indian brand to feature among top 3 international folding bicycle brands by 2025. Madhav has hired you as a consultant.

a: Explain the various points that you would consider in order to assess the attractiveness of the market for XYZ (5 Marks)

b: What will be your recommendations to Madhav regarding Marketing Strategy for XYZ? (5 Marks)

Question 94. RedPly (name changed) is a leading Indian plywood manufacturer. Along with plywood it also manufactures and markets allied products for furniture making including laminates, veneer, doors etc. though Plywood remains its largest revenue contributor. RedPly prides itself w.r.t its product quality and remains committed to providing the highest quality to its consumers. Over the years it has installed latest machines and equipment for high-class manufacturing, though it leads to escalation in production cost. RedPly's closest competitor is OrangePly (name changed), with unbranded players being the most significant competition. OrangePly competes through flexible retailer terms and smart marketing and communication strategy while unbranded players offer 30-40% lower price. Plywood retailers and carpenters are the key influencer to customer's decision. While customers (Home-owners) show a preference for RedPly, retailers try to convert them to brands offering higher retailer margins. Carpenters demand higher price for using branded plywood and assure home-owner about the quality of the ISI-marked products or unbranded products. Due to above factors RedPly is consistently losing market share and is facing price- pressures. Plywood market is dominated by the unbranded segment (~60%) with branded players (RedPly, OrangePly, others) forming the remaining. Critically analyze the RedPly's market situation to identify its business challenges. What is/are the possible outcomes if RedPly does not respond to these challenges? Suggest the strategic options available to it. What are the pro and cons of each strategic option? (10 Marks)

Question 95. Nitin bhai is feeling perturbed. His company Velvet Paints has recently acquired a Kerala based paints company Trichy Paints a year ago but he has been unable to merge the two brands till today.Velvet Paints' primarily market is in the decorative paints segment. It is known for its quality and innovative products but has limited brand appeal specially in southern market. Trichy Paints has a broader product range across Decorative as well as Wood finish segments. Kerala is Trichy paints key market though it has limited presence in other Southern markets (Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Telengana etc.). Nitin Bhai would like to do away with Trichy Paints as a brand and would only like to use the acquisition for expansion of production facility, personnel and distribution network. Multiple brands require separate marketing and advertising expenditure. Nitin Bhai has ambitious plans for Velvet Paints and plans to make substantial expenditure on the marketing and promotion to be able to take-on established large players. Being a mid-sized company, Velvel Paints has limited resources and multiple brands require separate marketing spend thus increasing the budget required. The key conflict here is regarding the Wood finish brand of Trichy Paints, Wood shine. Velvet Paints has no comparative product and Wood shine is a leader in its segment. Tampering with the brand may lead to market dilution. To resolve the conflict, Nitin Bhai hires a Hyderabad based market research firm Marquee. The market research firm held discussions with the Trichy Paints management, trade partners (retailers, distributors, wood-painters) and consumers. Below were the key findings shared by the Marquee team. Wooden furniture polish is a niche segment with Wood shine being the leading brand Wood shine has a very strong brand recall and brand connect Consumers are dependent on the wood-painters for the brand-selection and are often unaware of the product being used though customers want the best quality for their furniture with low sensitivity to price Wood-painters have limited education and have strong association of Wood shine with existing name and logo .

Question 96. Mr. Sharma has been newly appointed as a treasurer in an organization. His Manager asks him to prepare a short presentation on the various functions which are performed by his (treasury management) department. Help Mr. Sharma to prepare the presentation for the same.

Question 97. Prudent Liquidity management is essential to maintain a solvency of a bank. Thus bank's regulators such as RBI have specified certain ratio that needs to be kept by the banks. Discuss the various ratios which helps RBI in maintaining the liquidity position in a bank.

Question 98. You are the Manager in ABC National Bank Ltd. You are required to take an introductory session for the new candidates on board on the below:

a. Discuss the various kinds of risk which a banks are prone to and how these risk impacts banks.

b. Also enumerate the different methods adopted by the treasury department to measure the various types of the risk.

Question 99. ABC Co. sells 10,000 units at a price of Rs. 10 per unit. ABC's total fixed cost is Rs. 20,000, Interest expense 10,000, and variable cost is Rs. 6 per unit. Find ABC's degree of operating leverage, degree of financial leverage and find degree of total leverage.

ABC's parent company has Rs. 2.5 million is assets that are currently financed by 100% equity. Its EBIT is Rs.600,000 and its tax rate is 30%. If ABC's parent changes its capital structure to include 40% debt, what is its ROE before and after the change? Assume interest rate on debt is 10%. Comment why the ROE increases after adding debt.

Assuming all other things remain same, how will the ROE change if interest on debt is suddenly increased to 20% ? Elaborate on the same

Question 100. Kuber Company has a target capital structure of 50% debt and 50% equity, with an after tax cost of debt of 8%. Cost of retained earnings is 14%. Its profit after tax is Rs, 250,000.

Kuber is considering the following projects to invest in

Find the company's weighted average cost of capital.

If the company accepts all the projects that it could invest in just from its profit after tax and considering their IRRs, which projects should it take up? Give reason. What will be its total investment in these projects?

Taking into account its target capital structure, how much of equity portion should the company invest in these projects? If the company follows Irrelevance Approach (Modigliani and Miller) or residual dividend policy, what will be its dividend payout ratio? (10 Marks)

Question 101. Hi-Tech company's partial balance sheet for 2 years is given below

Due to a new product launch, Hi-Tech's sales grew at a faster pace in year 2018. Hi-Tech's working capital bank had been assessing its Maximum Permissible Bank Finance (MPBF) under Method 1 till 2017, but due to a credit squeeze it suddenly changed to Method 2 in year 2018.

a) What is the change in net working capital between 2018 and 2017? (5 Marks)

b) What is the change in MPBF limit assigned by the bank from year 2017 to 2018? With this change in MPBF limit, will the working capital financing from the bank increase or decrease? (5 Marks)