Tuesday 12 September 2017

DECEMBER 2017 MBA SOLVED ASSIGNMENTS

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1. How has communication transformed with the use of technology? Share any 2 technological tools you use for efficient communication and how they have helped you contribute more effectively in your organization.

2. Communications audit is a snapshot of an organization’s communication strategies, activities and programs. Provide your opinion on the statement by elaborating on its process and outcome.

3. You have been invited as the Joint Secretary of the Parents Teachers Association to celebrate Teachers Day at your child’s school. Since you are a counsellor, you also have to give the key note address for the event. Your child studies at a reputed school which has a legacy of 25 years. Most of the teachers are very senior with vast experience. The school is modern in its outlook towards extra-curricular activities but conventional as well when it concerns academics At the lunch, you would have the chance to interact with the management, trustees and teachers. You wish to make a great first impression that lasts and also seem confident while addressing such an elite audience.

a. Apart from preparing the speech, you believe your appearance will make or break the deal. What will you keep in mind while choosing your dress, accessories and make up for the event?

b. While meeting and greeting all the dignitaries, how will you conduct yourself when you are introducing yourself with an objective to build rapport with them?

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Business Economics

1. Calculate the following:
Quantity
Total Fixed Cost
Total Variable Cost
Total Cost
Average Cost
Marginal Cost
25
10
18
?
?
?
26
10
10
?
?
?
27
10
21
?
?
?

Analyse the changes in the calculated costs as quantity produced increases.

2. Assume that a consumer consumes two commodities X and Y and makes five combinations for the two commodities:
Combination
Units of X
Units of Y
A
25
3
B
20
5
C
16
10
D
13
18
E
11
28

Calculate Marginal rate of Substitution and explain the answer.

3. a) Suppose the monthly income of an individual increases from Rs 20,000 to Rs 35,000 which increases his demand for clothes from 40 units to 50 units. Calculate the income elasticity of demand and interpret the result.

b) Quantity demanded for tea has increased from 300 to 450 units with an increase in the price of the coffee powder from Rs 25 to Rs 30. Calculate the cross elasticity of demand between tea and coffee and explain the relationship between the goods.


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Corporate Social Responsibility

Caselet:
Roughly 20 pieces of clothing per person are manufactured each year. Growth of the multi-trillion-dollar apparel industry has been fed by “fast fashion,” which makes clothing cheaply and quickly with a low price-tag. Fast-changing trends and low prices have allowed people to consume more. The average consumer is now purchasing 60 percent more items of clothing compared to 2000 Cotton is the most common natural fibre used to make clothing, accounting for about 33 percent of all fibres found in textiles. Cotton is also a very thirsty crop, requiring 2,700 liters of water—what one person drinks in two-and-a-half years—to make one cotton shirt. In areas already facing water stress, cotton production can be particularly damaging. In Central Asia, for instance, the Aral Sea has nearly disappeared because cotton farmers draw excessively from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. Cotton farming is also responsible for 24 percent of insecticides and 11 percent of pesticides despite using about 3 percent of the world’s arable land.
The carbon footprint of a garment largely depends on the material. While synthetic fibres like polyester have less impact on water and land than grown materials like cotton, they emit more greenhouse gasses per kilogram.* (Source, National Geographic & WRI)
M/s Fine Fabrics Ltd, a listed company, manufactures cotton fabric and its multiple blended variants as per customer/client demands. Customers/clients include fashion houses, designers and large clothing manufacturers across Asia & Europe. You are the Head of CSR with the company.

Q1. As Head of CSR you have been asked to come up with a detailed plan to sensitize your employees on water as a critical resource and also initiate setting up of an innovation driven cell/campaign for saving water. Design and develop a strategic plan/roadmap involving sensitization of 100+ employees as well as setting up of the Water innovation cell/campaign with SMART goals/outcomes for M/s Fine Fabrics Ltd. Please be very specific and relevant to the company.

Q2. Your company is committed to protect, respect and remedy Framework of UN Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Head of manufacturing at M/s Fine fabrics Ltd wants to partner with the supply chain in generating similar Human Rights commitments across their businesses, which are mostly midsized. He wants your guidance on how to convince these vendors to buy in into this voluntarily. Develop a business case and a broad plan that your Head Manufacturing can use to convince the vendor businesses to come on board and adopt UN Principles for Businesses & Human Rights.

Q3A. Carbon Offset is one mechanism used to reduce the carbon footprints of a business. Suggest to your CEO at Fine Fabrics Ltd two concrete ways in which Fine Fabrics can reduce its carbon footprints, develop a convincing business benefit argument around each of the suggestion.

Q3B. An NGO has approached the CEO of M/s Fine Fabrics Ltd requesting funding for a project on cotton fabric based Traditional Crafts making workshop for girls & women from weaker socio economic background. Your company falls under the criteria of 2% spend on CSR as per Companies Act 2013. Your CEO thinks this project can be funded but wants you to do the due diligence of the NGO. Prepare a questionnaire with at least 5/five questions that you think your company should ask and receive answers to before agreeing to fund the project/ partner in the project.



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Information Systems for Managers

1. PantMax Retail, through its subsidiaries, operates approximately 1000 departmental stores pan India. These stores hold a variety of merchandise including adult and children apparel, cosmetics, accessories, home furnishing etc. The management feels in order to increase their sales, PantMax needs to tailor its merchandise more to the local tastes, colors, sizes, brands which should be according to the sales pattern in each of the PantMax stores. For example, the stores in Mumbai might stock clothing in smaller sizes and brighter colors than those in Chennai, or the stores in Delhi may stock more makeup shades to attract trendier shoppers. How will information systems help PantMax implement this new strategy? Is this a suitable choice for the management to implement?

2. The goal of service companies is to develop services that attract, keep customers satisfied, loyal and speak well of them. They use information and communication technology to get closer to the customer, create long-term relationships, and gain more knowledge from and about the customers to serve them better. As a major element of business strategy, firms are embracing CRM, because technological applications permit precise segmentation, profiling and targeting of customers. To deal with competitive pressures a customer-centric culture is required. The airline industry is no exception to this. Give an example of how an airline company has successfully implemented CRM to increase their profits and keep customers happy.

3. In June 2017, a new cyber virus spread from Ukraine to wreak havoc around the globe, crippling thousands of computers. FedEx Corp, package delivery company, said its fiscal 2018 results would be hurt due to disruption of operations following a cyber-attack last month. It is still experiencing widespread service delays following the attack. It was unable to estimate when services at the unit would be fully restored. It experienced loss of revenue due to decreased volumes, incremental costs from contingency plans and remediation of affected systems. Share prices of FedEx dropped after this incident.

a) What are the different forms of system attacks? What steps should FedEx follow to handle a virus attack of such magnitude?

b) What is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)? Should cyber security be a part of the BCP? What lessons should FedEx learn from this incident?

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Management Theory and Practice

Q 1. A large e-commerce company has recently broken off talks for a potential sale. The company has had infusion of fresh funds through a sale. Encouraged by the development; the company is now looking to restructure themselves. You are required to discuss various approaches to Organization Structure and suggest an appropriate approach with reasoning.

Q 2. As the Manager HR in the company currently in a downturn, you realize that managers took bolder decisions when things were better. You are required to study the decision making pattern and suggest to the management an approach that could facilitate effective decision making at tough times like these.

Q 3. As the Chief Mentor and Coach of the company you are required to mentor and coach the High performers of the company as part of their success plan.

a. Explain the difference between a manager and a leader. Explain with examples the different types of leaderships (minimum 2 styles).

b. Explain any one of the Traditional motivational models and give them examples to discuss.

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Organisational Behaviour

Question 1: Leadership is said to be a vital quality which is becoming very rare in the organisations. It would not be wrong if we say that it is a progression where an individual solicits the backing of other entities for the completion of mutual objectives. The leaders are the visionaries and also act as a catalyst in terms of influencing and inspiring others. Based on the above statements discuss the significance of leadership in any organisation. Conclude by answering that how the organisation would fare if leadership is not right?

Question 2: Politics is said to be an inevitable evil at any workplace, no matter how much one tries to be away from it, would always find to be embroiled in it. It is a proven fact that politics cannot be avoided at any cost but has to be coped. It becomes imperative to be well aware of the elements contributing to politics at workplace. Keeping in view the above statements introduce the concept of workplace politics. Also, list factors contributing to workplace politics. Give concluding remarks on the importance of workplace politics.

Question 3: Sanjay and Sam are co-workers. They both are working in the same project but their work values are quite contrast to each other. Sanjay belongs to GenX (The X Generation) and relies a lot on the team-work as well as its (team’s) upliftment, whereas Sam is from GenY (The Y Generation) or the Millennial and for him self-reliance is more important. Though they share a great personal rapport but they always find dissonance at work.

a) Explain the reason for their dissonance? It is natural to have such dissonance, give concluding remarks for the same.

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


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Business Law

1. ‘A’ orders a phone online as Cash on Delivery mode, but denies to accept the product at the time of delivery. In such a situation, discuss the eligibility points of becoming an Unpaid Seller? Discuss the privilegon es of unpaid seller when the property in goods is transferred to the buyer.

2. A booked a flat in Sunpark Apartment at Mumbai. ‘A’ is ready to shift with his family in the flat which he has purchased. However, B has the possession of that flat where he specifies that he has purchased this flat. To avoid the dispute and conflicts, ‘A’ files an RTI to seek proper information. Explain the objective as well as structures involved in Right to information.

3. A) ‘X’ contracts with ‘Y’ to purchase 30 chairs of a particular brand called make and type. ‘Y’ delivers 15 chairs of that quality and 15 chairs of some other make and quality brand. In what way we can advice ‘X’.

3. B) ‘P’ delivers to ‘Q’, a carrier, some explosives without informing the same to ‘Q’. no additional care is taken by ‘Q’ for handling such goods. In the absence of the disclosure, the explosives explode and cause damage to the other goods and also injure a person. Whether ‘P’ is liable?


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Business Statistics

1. The sample data from a research survey conducted in various countries on the amount of time 3-5 year-old children spent alone with their fathers each day is as follows:

Country
Time with Dad (minutes)
Bangladesh
30
Bhutan
46
China
54
Nepal
50
Pakistan
46
Nigeria
42
Korea
46
Russia
42
India
50

For the above sample, determine the following measures:
a. The mean
b. The standard deviation
c. The mode
d. The 75th percentile
Based on your calculations comment on the father-children relationship.

2. ‘Prince’ a chaiwala at Mumbai Central station believes that the sales of tea at his tea shop depends upon the weather. He has taken a sample of a week’s data. Below you are given the results of the sample.
Cups Sold
Temperature
350
50
200
60
210
70
100
80
80
90
70
100
50
110


a. Which variable is the dependent variable?
b. Compute the least squares estimated line.
c. Is there a significant relationship between the sales of coffee and temperature?
e. Predict sales of a 95 degree day.

3. According to one of the recent study published in an International report, the cost of medical malpractice in the United States is USD 55.6 billion a year, which is approximately 2.4 percent of US annual health-care spending. An earlier research report published in 2011, in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that, during the period 1991 to 2005, 7.4 percent of all physicians licensed in the US had a malpractice claim. These staggering numbers not only contribute to the high cost of health care, but the size of successful malpractice claims also contributes to high premiums for medical malpractice insurance. The table below contains a sample of data set of claim payments made in a year’s time and other information about the claimant.
Amount (in USD)
Age
Marital Status
Insurance type
Gender
2
45
Single
Private
Male
5
34
Married
Medicare
Male
3.5
29
Married
Private
Female
160
46
Single
Workers compensation
Male
4
56
Married
Private
Female
155
45
Single
Private
Female
45
44
Married
Medicare
Male
3
56
Single
No insurance
Male
20
43
Single
Private
Male

a. Using descriptive statistics explore claim payment amounts, and identify factors that appear to influence the amount of the payment.

b. Do a correlation analysis between ‘Amount’ and ‘Age’ and interpreted the coefficient of correlation.


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Essentials of HRM

Question 1: Ajay has not been performing well in accounts department due to the new system on GST has been implemented in the organisation. He is lagging behind in the concepts of GST as well as his communication skills are not as expected. The accounts head of the organisation believes in the institution of training and wants to send Ajay for the same. Introduce the concept of training by commenting on the above proclamations. Also, discuss the factors influencing the effectiveness of training. Conclude your answer in a brief way by focusing on the importance of training for any organization.

Question 2: In reference to the above case explain various kinds of On the Job and Off the Job training methods that can be provided to Mr. Ajay? Also, give concluding remarks by choosing the best method suited in the above scenario?

Question 3: Over the years Ajay attended many trainings as well as development programs and really honed his skills. Evaluating his performance over the past few years the department has really been proud of his achievements and he has been identified as key successor in his department.

a) Write down the objectives of succession planning which Ajay’s organisation wants to achieve?

b) Though succession planning has many positive aspects but there are some flip sides to it, explain what could be the demerits of it (succession planning). Conclude by sharing few lines on the failure of succession planning of any organisation.


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Financial Accounting & Analysis

1. Mr. Berrybell wants to assess the ability of an enterprise named Anyway, so as to confirm whether the enterprise is capable to generate sufficient cash flows or not. Anyway submits the following information for the year ended 31 March2017.
Particulars
(Rs. In lacs)
Shares issued during the year
5
Capital assets purchased
1.5
Proceed from sale of an asset
2
Dividend declared and paid
1
Increase in debtors
1.5
Loss on sale of asset
0.2
Net income before taxes
8.8
Depreciation & Amortisation
3.8

Discuss the relevance of preparing the cash flow statement. Indicate and comment on the following
·        Cash from operation
·        Cash from investing activities
·        Cash from financing activities
·        Closing balance

2. You are being appointed as the accounts executive of Jayesh Motiwala & Company. The principal business of the company is dealing in pearl ornaments at its retail outlet in Jaipur. The management is unaware about the relevance of accounting standard applicable while accounting for the business. Your responsibility is to convince them to comply with the Accounting Standards, by giving a brief presentation on the objectives behind complying with the accounting standard and the benefits to the enterprise by following the same.

3. The following is the Balance Sheet of Caterpillar Ltd as on 31st March 2017
Equity share capital
500000
Fixed assets
695800
Preference share capital
300000
Stock
135000
Reserves & Surplus
255000
Debtors
145000
Creditors
45500
Cash & Bank
150600
Outstanding liablilites
25900



1126400

1126400

Ascertain -
a) Current ratio and liquid ratio. What if the industry average for the same is 2 and 1 respectively.
b) Capital gearing ratio and interpret the same.


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Marketing Management

Q1. Assume that you are going to start a restaurant targeting young customers. What will be the various elements of Marketing Mix with respect to the restaurant? Elucidate.

Q2. Suppose that you are planning to buy a new mobile phone for yourself. What factors are likely to influence your buying behavior while buying a mobile phone? Explain.

Q3. In recent past, teenagers girls in India have become highly beauty conscious. XYZ
Limited is planning to introduce a first of its kind beauty cream ‘Soft & Sweet’ targeting teenager girl of affluent class. The cream would be available in different variants as per the skin type such as neutral skin, oily skin, rough skin etc. The product would be sold only from the premium cosmetic stores and through company website across the country. Assume that you are responsible for designing the marketing strategies for ‘Soft & Sweet’.

a) Design a segmentation plan for ‘Soft & Sweet’.

b) Design the appropriate market entry strategies for ‘Soft & Sweet’.


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Strategic Management

Q.1) You are the head of a strategic business unit under ABC Business Group. The Unit is engaged into manufacturing of telecommunication handsets. You are planning to change the strategy at business level and you have chosen ‘product differentiation’ as your strategy. You want the board of directors to approve your decision for which you will have to make a strong case for choosing this strategy. Explain how you will convince the board of directors.

Q.2) You are the strategy consultant to fortune 500 companies and you are asked to conduct a training session for executives of a leading automobile company which is planning to expand its business in international market. This company is based in India. Explain how you will convince the trainees that the global environment is highly complex.

Q.3) You are a CEO of a XYZ Pvt Ltd, a leading FMCG company headquartered in Germany. Your company is planning its expansion in Asia and you are now involved in rigorous analysis of competition in FMCG sector in Asia. In this background, answer the following questions.

a) Use Michael Porter’s Framework for analyzing competitors.

b) How would you analyze competitor’s assumptions?



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