A mba may2015

Mumbai | Volume XII | Issue 10

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MBA calling: Tests apart from CAT

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SOUMYADEEP

AASHISH CHILLAR

NEHA MANGLIK

UTTAM KUMAR

HARSHVEER JAIN

VIBHU GUPTA

in CAT’14are IMS Students

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Aditya Prakash IengarEditor

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All roads lead to Rome.

Literally translated, this proverb tells you that whatever road you take, it’ll read to Rome.

This issue of Advanc’edge MBA is all about entrance tests that are NOT the CAT. There are several major entrance tests that lead to a B-school admission — CET, XAT, SNAP, NMAT, et al. In the cover story, you will find out all about these tests — test pattern, structure, duration, question types, etc. So if your focus doesn’t extend beyond the CAT, you should take a hard re-look, since all these tests will take you to that MBA you’re aiming for, and the success you’re chasing.

Like I said, all roads lead to Rome.

One of the many things that you will require along the way to becoming a successful manager — and subsequently a business leader — is sound, current knowledge of what is happening around you. This, coupled with the right skill set required for your role, will help you reach that success. It’s almost like a smartphone, as one of our guest authors points out. Just like you update your apps and download new apps, you keep adding skills to yourself, and you keep honing and refining them as you progress in your career.

As always, I shall point out that you need to be aware of what’s happening in the business world, since the majority of the business schools you’re trying to get into gauge you on how much you know. To that end, keep yourself updated by staying tuned to the Corporate World section of the magazine, wherein you will find analyses of the most recent happenings in the world of business and economics.

Much of your success will depend on how quickly you can think on your feet. For instance, when the Nepal earthquake hit, people knew exactly what to do — run outside, or take shelter under arches or in basements. But this is a known fact. What happens at a far smaller level, when you’re faced with a problem and you have to take a business decision in a very short time, and there are no hard and fast rules to point you in the right direction? You have to assess all connected issues, evaluate them neutrally and arrive at the correct conclusion. Your preparation for these entrance tests will inculcate in you this ability to think on your feet, as well as a lot more. So remember, everything you’re learning now is going to stay with you long after you’ve got your MBA.

Study hard, and pay attention.

Cover Story06 | MBA calling: Tests apart from CAT

Countdown15 | Top Ten corporate shockers of the world

Success Street21 | How your smartphone is actually your career

Corporate World23 | Indian banks and their declining competitiveness

26 | How big is the Analytics opportunity?

29 | Euro exit in sight for beleaguered Greece?

Must Reads32 | First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest ManagersDoDifferently

LosingMyVirginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business MyWay

The Foundation series

Study Hour33 | Test Q&As

34 | Word Dose: About constructionism

35 | Globescan

38 | SuDoKu

Disclaimer : The views expressed in the articles by contributors and others are not necessarily those of the Publishers, unless specifically stated therein. While no effort is spared in ensuring the accuracy of the information published herein, readers are advised to reconfirm the current facts before acting upon any such information. The Publishers regret their inability to accept responsibility for any inadvertent errors of commission or omission in this issue. Readers are recommended to make appropriate inquiries before incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in this publication. The publishers do not vouch for any claims made by the advertisers of any products or services. The Publisher, Printers or Editor shall not be held liable for any consequences in the event of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any form or means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without prior permission from the publisher.

Payment to be made by crossed Demand Draft/Cheque drawn in favor of “IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd.” For subscriptions and related enquiries write to: Advanc’edge MBA, IMS Publications, A division of IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd., E Block, 6th Floor, NCL Bandra Premises, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (E), Mumbai - 400 051.For more queries e-mail: [email protected]

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CONTENTS

MAY 2015

Advanc’edge MBA May 2015

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The Advanc’edge Team

No matter which B-school you are aiming for, a great entrance test score is a requirement for them all. But the MBA is more than the CAT. Here, we have provided exam patterns

for the other entrance tests that lead to the MBA.

M

MBA calling: Tests apart from CAT

anagement entrance tests in India are primarily elimination

tests. The top institutes decide on a cut-off for the written test, just high enough to cull out

around 8,000 aspirants, and from among them, the institutes select around 3,000 students.

The Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). It is a national level test and its scores are accepted by institutes across India for admission to their individual management programmes.

Exam patternThe CMAT is an objective type multiple-choice test comprising a total of 100 questions to be answered in three hours. There are no descriptive questions in the test. Every correct answer carries four marks, with one mark deducted for

every wrong answer. There is no sectional time limit. There will be four sections in the test:a) Quantitative Techniques and

Data Interpretation b) Logical Reasoningc) Language Comprehension d) General Awareness

Section I – Quantitative TechniquesThis section can be rated on a scale of easy to moderate difficulty, with some questions requiring careful consideration. This section also requires the test taker to have a grasp of almost all areas of Mathematics. The exam held in February 2015 (as in previous years) had single questions and not set-based ones, in the section.

The questions here are on topics like ratios, mixtures, work,

CMAT



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averages, discounts, basic statistics, simple and compound interest, remainders, surds, cyclicity, coordinate geometry, permutations and combinations, probability, Venn diagrams, AP and GP, equations and inequalities.

Section II – Logical ReasoningThe difficulty of this section again usually ranges from easy to moderate. You can’t leave out any topics in Logical Reasoning during preparation. What is most important is to keep track of the time while answering the questions. Unlike some other tests, you can flag a few questions and move on to other questions so that you can come back to these later on.

Usually the topics covered are arrangements, coding, family tree, puzzles, groups and conditionalities, series, clocks, directions, calendars, etc.

Section III – Language ComprehensionThis section is usually one of the easier ones. Developing a regular reading habit will significantly better your scores in this section. In verbal reasoning, it is critical to learn the approach to solve the

different question types.The section generally comprises

4-5 reading comprehension passages (about 300 words) with 3 questions on each passage, the questions being on the main idea of the passage, the tone of the author, etc. .In Feb 2015, the surprise element was that there were 6 questions that followed a passage of about 600 words.

In verbal reasoning, one can also expect questions on analogies, odd man out, jumbled sentences, etc.

Section IV – General AwarenessThe GA section is believed to be the decider section amongst the test takers. This section can be rated on a scale of easy to moderate, with more questions falling on the easier side. If you read newspapers regularly, you will be able to answer 8 to 10 questions easily.

Reading newspapers and keeping track of the latest happenings is also important. Familiarity with important facts generally covered in General Knowledge books is vital. There is less emphasis on figures and data, which are generally difficult to remember. The questions are spread across all areas: science,

history, geography, literature, Indian culture, sports, business and economics.

What is a good score?One needs to score above 99.8 percentile to be able to get into institutes like JBIMS, Allianz Business School, GIM Goa, Kj Somaiya, Wellingkar in Mumbai and IMI Delhi

Institutes accepting CMATMore than 4,000 B-schools recognised by the AICTE are expected to accept the CMAT. The top institutes among them include JBIMS, GIM Goa, SIMS Mumbai, KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research Mumbai, We School Mumbai, SIES College of Management Studies Mumbai, etc.

CMAT eligibility A recognised Bachelor’s degree of minimum 3 years’ duration with at least 50 per cent marks (45 per cent in case of candidates belonging to reserved category) at the qualifying examination.

Exam datesThe exam windows are for about 4 days in February and September.

The Maharashtra Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) conducts MH-CET (Common Entrance Test) for admissions to MBA / MMS (Masters of Management Studies) programmes affiliated to the state university.

MH-CET is also accepted by various PGDM programs offered by autonomous colleges in Maharashtra.

The test went online, for the first time in 2014. In 2015, it was conducted in various cities across Maharashtra and 12 cities outside Maharashtra. Outside Maharashtra students could apply to All India seats in MBA / MMS colleges through MH-CET as well as few other national tests such as CAT, XAT, CMAT, Feb MAT and ATMA. The state accepted CMAT scores in 2013 but switched back to CET in 2014.

Exam patternThe test consists of 200 multiple choice questions arranged in random order that assess different areas. Duration of the test is 150 minutes (2 ½ hrs). There is no negative marking for incorrect answers. Therefore, it is imperative that the students attempt all the questions and intelligently guess the answers to unsolved questions. Every correct answer fetches 1

MH-MBA/MMS-CET

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mark, making it a total of 200 marks for 200 Questions. A score of around 160 will get you into the best college under MH-CET.

Area wise distribution of questions over the last several years is as follows:

All four slots of CET-2015 had a surprise for the students. CET-2015 was considerably easier than the CET exam offered any time in recent past. There were only four options per question, as opposed to five in the past.

Visual reasoningVisual reasoning questions are unique to CET. Approximately 25- 30 questions are usually asked in the CET. If a student is preparing for other entrance tests, which is generally the case, they need to prepare for this question type separately. There were around 25 questions on Visual Reasoning in CET-2015. The questions were dominated by series completion questions. Most of the questions had about 4 figures in each block, with a few questions also having up to 6 figures. Questions on paper folding were also reported in one slot. The majority of questions were straightforward and requiring for option elimination.

Logical reasoningLogical Reasoning questions in

CET-2015 took the students by surprise. There were around 45 questions on LR in the four slots. The questions were dominated by alphanumeric series and linear arrangement. Questions on directions and coding-decoding

were also included. However, the usual sets on matrix arrangement and sequential output did not appear in any of the slots. One slot contained a question set on selection criteria. There were standalone questions on Circular Arrangement but no set on circular arrangement in any of the slots of CET-2015.

Quantitative AbilityQuantitative questions are generally easier in difficulty level. Previously, the CET exam used to have around 20-25 questions on QA. However, the number of questions on QA in the different slots of MH- CET-2015 was around 40-45. In all the slots, QA questions were dominated by Arithmetic (Averages, Ratio-Proportion, Time and Work, Time-Speed-Distance). In one slot, there were two questions each on determinants and Stocks and Debentures that have traditionally not been tested in the CET. In two slots, there were also questions on functions, maxima-minima, remainder theorem and trigonometry, which

have also previously not been tested in the CET. Some slots also had questions on probability and Permutation and Combination (mainly Fundamental Principle of Counting). The majority of the questions in QA were straightforward and involved simple calculations.

Data InterpretationThere were around 10-15 questions on DI in the four slots of CET-2015. In one slot, there were two sets having 4-5 questions while in one other slot, there were three sets having five questions each. DI sets were based on tables, line graphs and bar graphs. In one slot, a set on pie chart was also asked. All the questions in DI were straightforward and involved simple calculations. There was no question on Data Sufficiency in any of the slots.

Data sufficiencyData sufficiency questions test you on your Quant and LR Concepts. However, this year there was no question on Data Sufficiency in any of the slots.

Verbal Ability, Verbal Reasoning & Reading ComprehensionThe number and type of English questions (VA+VR+RC) in the four slots covered a wide range. The number of English questions ranged from 62 to 80. There were only 5 RC questions in two of the slots, but 18 in the other two. The first slot had a particular emphasis on grammar questions, which was not seen in the other slots. Certain new constructs were introduced in the later slots, such as ‘Necessary part of the word’, but were not found in the first slot. Still it is possible to draw some general observations regarding the English questions in this year’s CET

Sr.No. Area Number of Questions

2015 2014 2012 2011 2010 2009 20081 Quantitative Ability 45 20 25 22 15 15 252 Data Interpretation 15 20 15 20 20 25 203 Data Sufficiency 0 10 7 5 5 10 54 Logical Reasoning 45 58 58 48 54 53 515 Visual Reasoning 25 27 30 25 30 30 30

6Verbal Ability & Verbal Reasoning 15 55 55 48 61 52 54

7Reading Comprehension 55 10 10 32 15 15 15

TOTAL 200 200 200 200 200 200 200



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across all the slots. The emphasis on VR was significantly down compared to the past and there were fewer hard-core reasoning questions this year. The number of VA and VR questions used to be roughly the same in the past, but this year, there were far more VA questions. There were a number of vocabulary-based questions, though the level of vocabulary tested was not high – indeed, some of the words were extremely simple. Other very simple constructs such as Spelling errors also made their appearance. On the whole, the English questions were quite easy, and anyone who had done even a moderate amount of preparation would have had little trouble tackling them in any of the slots. The only exceptions were the few new question types, such as the Parts of speech questions in the first slot, which required knowledge of technical grammatical terminology. Some of the English questions also required some general knowledge to answer correctly.

Cut-offThe actual cut-offs for CET 2014 are as follows:

What is a good score?For a percentile of 99.9 and above, one will need to target a score of 160+ or more. This score is required to get into JBIMS, the best B-school under CET.

Institutes accepting CETMH-CET is primarily for the B-schools affiliated to the state university. In addition, PGDM programs in autonomous institutes also accept admissions through CET. The top MBA / MMS institutes are JBIMS, SIMSREE, KJ Somaiya Institute of

Management Studies and Research Mumbai, PUMBA Pune, Welingkar Institute of Management Mumbai,

SIES College of Management Studies Mumbai, etc.

CET eligibility A recognised Bachelor’s degree of minimum 3 years’ duration with at least 50 per cent marks (45 per cent in case of candidates belonging to reserved category) at the qualifying examination.

Exam datesThe CET is usually conducted only in the month of Feb / March. Once a year.

B-schools TotalSeats

Seat (Open Category)

CET cut off(Open Category)

SIMSREE – MMS 120 38 124

SIMSREE – PGDM 60 25 122

K. J. Somaiya 120 17 119

Welingkar 120 24 116

PUMBA, Pune 180 58 115

The actual cut-offs of CET 2015 are yet to come out.

The XLRI Admission Test, or the XAT, is conducted by the XLRI institute. It is a national level test and its scores are accepted by the Xavier member institutes across India for admission to their individual management programmes, as well as several other institutes.

Exam patternThe format of the XAT is usually pen-paper based, unlike almost all other management entrance exams. XAT 2015 consisted of 2 Parts, Part 1 consisted of 3 sections having 33, 28 and 23 questions respectively (total 84 questions) to be attempted in 140

minutes . The sections here included:a) Quantitative Abilityb) Verbal & Logical Abilityc) Decision Making

Part 2 contained 30 GK questions and one essay-writing exercise, to be attempted in 40 minutes.

XAT

Part I Section Number of Questions Duration

A. Decision Making 23

140 minsB. Verbal and Logical Ability 28

C. Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation 33

Part II General Knowledge 30

40 minsEssay & General Awareness

Negative Marking: 1/4th of the marks allotted for every question

Number of options: 5

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Part I – Multiple choice Section A – Quantitative Ability &Data InterpretationThe level of difficulty in this section usually varies from moderate to difficult. Questions across topics like number properties, ratio proportions, mixtures, interest, geometry, algebra, equations and inequalities, modern mathematics and data interpretation are asked.

Section B – Verbal & Logical AbilityThe reading comprehension in this section can range from moderate to difficult. It is important to understand the crux of the passage to answer the questions that follow

In the other parts of the section, there are grammar based and vocabulary based questions such as - Fill in the blanks, identify the correct sentence, commonly confused words, idioms and odd one out, as well as jumbled paragraphs. There are critical reasoning questions, including syllogisms.

Section C – Decision MakingThis is always the most distinguishing element of the XAT. There are entire case studies to read through before attempting the questions. The difficulty level here too ranges from moderate to difficult.

Part IIGeneral AwarenessQuestions in this section are from business, economics and politics related to the business environment.

Essay writing Test takers are asked to write an essay, based on a given statement. The candidates have to either support or negate the statement using relevant arguments.

Cut-off and selectionOverall, one needs to score 94%tile for the general management programme and 90%tile for the HRM programme at XLRI for the next round of GD/PI. Apart from the Xavier institutes, the others that accept XAT scores have their individual cut-offs.

EligibilityThe candidate must be a graduate from a recognised university or a deemed university. Candidates appearing for the final year of bachelor’s degree and awaiting results can also apply.

Accepted institutesAdmission is given on the basis of the XAT to all postgraduate programmes at the Xavier institutes. Apart from these, other important institutes that accept XAT scores are SPJIMR, Loyola Institutes of Business Administration, Birla Institute of Management Technology, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA), Gitam Institute of Management, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research and VIT Business School, among others.

Exam datesThe XAT is usually held on the first Sunday of January.

SNAPThe Symbiosis National Aptitude (SNAP) Test is a common and mandatory written entrance test conducted by the Symbiosis International University for admission to its postgraduate programmes.

Exam patternThe SNAP test is an objective type multiple-choice test comprising a total of 150 questions that have to be solved in 120 minutes. There are no descriptive questions in the test, and each question has four answer options. Each incorrect answer has 25 per cent negative marking. There are four sections in the test:

a) General English – 40 questions (1 mark per question)

b) Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency – 40 questions (1 mark per question)

c) General Awareness – 40 questions (1 mark per question)

d) Analytical & Logical Reasoning – 30 questions (2 marks per question)

Section I – General English (Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability)Although the difficulty level in this section usually varies from easy to medium, scoring full in

grammar is never easy. There is a Reading Comprehension passage with related questions, usually of medium difficulty. The section also has the usual vocabulary and usage based questions, with the occasional slight variation in question pattern. Other questions in this section include Fill in the blanks (Jumbled Sentences), Antonyms and Synonyms, Spot the Error, Parts of Speech, Odd One Out, etc.

Section II – Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation & Data SufficiencyThe overall difficulty level of this



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section is easy to medium. There is also the possibility of a particular area of Mathematics like Arithmetic or Algebra dominating most of the questions in this section. The questions in this section are on Arithmetic, Geometry, Modern Maths (Probability, Log, Permutation and Combination) and Pie Chart and Bar Graph-based Data Interpretation.

Section III – General Awareness (General Knowledge, Current Affairs, Business Scenario)This section contains a healthy mix of questions from various areas (politics, government, awards and personalities, sports, literature, etc…) .Quite a few questions in this section are based on current affairs and economics. Topics like Share Swap, Carbon Credits and teaser loans are likely.

Section IV – Analytical and Logical ReasoningThis section is usually a challenging one, and takes time to solve. There are Syllogisms questions, where one has to identify all the statements that were logically consistent from a set of 8 statements, Critical Reasoning

questions, Analogy questions and Logical Reasoning questions. The overall difficulty level of this section can be expected to be medium to difficult.

Questions in this section are generally on Sets based on directions, cubes, arrangements and input-output, Family Tree, Syllogisms, Analogies and Number Trees.

Cut-off and selectionThe SNAP score out of 180 is scaled down to 40 marks. The scores received in GE (out of 20), PI (out of 20) and for attributes as defined by respective institutes (also out of 20) are combined with the SNAP test score to get a final score out of 100. The candidates get selected, based ib these parameters.

If students can attempt the SNAP test as per the following table, they stand a good chance of being selected:

EligibilityGraduates in any discipline from any statutory university with minimum 50% marks (45% for SC/ST candidates) for all the MBA programmes, except the ones which require graduates with specific subject specialisations.

Accepted institutesAdmissions are given, on the basis of the SNAP test, to all postgraduate programmes of Symbiosis International University.

Exam datesThe SNAP Test is held in December.

Section No of questions

Good Attempts

Good Scores

General English 40 28-30 22-24

Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation and Sufficiency 40 32-34 26-28

General Awareness 40 24-26 18-20

Analytical and Logical Reasoning 30 22-24 38-40

Total 180 106-114 104 - 112

NMATNarsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies conducts its own entrance test, called the NMIMS Management Aptitude Test or NMAT for admission to its two-year full-time programmes MBA, MBA-Banking, MBA-Capital Market, MBA-HR and MBA-Pharmaceutical Management at the Mumbai campus and PGDM at Bengaluru and Hyderabad campuses. A candidate can

attempt the NMAT 3 times but there should be a 15 day gap between two successive attempts.

Exam patternThe NMAT is an objective type multiple-choice test comprising a total of 120 questions that have to be solved in 120 minutes. There are no descriptive questions in the test. Candidates

can choose the order of sections according to their preference. Each of the three sections have individual section timings and candidates are supposed to answer and review the questions of a particular section within its allotted time. There is no negative marking in the test

There are three sections in the test:

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Section I – Language SkillsThis is usually the easiest of the three sections, which contains a Reading Comprehension, having questions like Fill In The Blanks, etc. In general, this section is a boon to students who aren’t very proficient in English, as it relatively easy compared to the English section of the CAT.

The only area where students weak in English might face a problem is the Word Analogies section (i.e., opposite and similar words). This section also has Antonyms and Synonyms, Mark The Error and Jumbled Paragraph type questions.

Section II – Quantitative Skills This section contains a mix of easy and moderate level questions, with areas covering Mathematics, Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency. It is possible for a candidate to spot the sitters in this section and answer them straight off, instead of wading through the entire list of questions and getting stuck on the moderate to difficult questions. However, the biggest challenge in this section is to complete as many questions possible in the stipulated time.

The Data Interpretation section can get slightly tricky, with a couple of questions proving to be calculation intensive.

Section III – Logical ReasoningThis section is probably the trickiest, considering the fact that the number of questions actually exceeds the time allotted to the section. The section covers all topics like Coding, Arrangments, Groups and Conditionalities, Statement

Assumption, Conclusion-based Syllogisms, etc. It can be assumed that this section might have the least number of sitters, and therefore, the smart move would be to not try and locate these, as most of the questions would require time to identify, sort and answer.

CutoffAlthough not declared by the institute yet, the cutoffs are usually as follows (using previous NMAT data)

This means that overall, a student should manage to attempt around 98-108 questions (this is taking into consideration that he/she can resort to guess work for the remaining since there is no negative marking). Getting

somewhere around 75 questions correct should definitely ensure that a test-taker gets a call for the GD-PI round.

EligibilityThe candidate must be a graduate with 50% marks or equivalent CGPA in first attempt with preference given to candidates having two or more years of post-qualification work experience for all the full-time programmes. Candidates appearing for the final year of bachelor’s degree and are awaiting results can also apply, subject to clearing the final examination in first attempt with 50% aggregate marks.

Accepted institutesOn the basis of the NMAT, admissions will be given to the NMIMS Schools of Business Management at the Mumbai

campus and the PDGM course at the Bengaluru and Hyderabad campuses.

Exam datesThe exam window is between October and December.

Section Number of Questions Time in Minutes

Language Skills 32 22

Quantitative Skills 48 60

Logical Reasoning 40 38

Total 120 120

Section Questions Time (min) Attempts Correct

QS 48 60 40-44 30-33

LR 40 38 30-34 22-25

LS 32 22 28-30 20-22

Total 98 -108 72-80



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IIFT Test The IIFT Entrance Exam is conducted by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade for the admission of students into the MBA (IB) Degree courses that are being offered at the campuses of Delhi and Kolkata.

Exam patternIn 2014, The IIFT entrance test, a multiple choice objective type written test comprised 118 questions which had to be solved in 120 minutes. 1/3rd of marks allotted per question were deducted for incorrect answers. Overall, the IIFT exam in 2014 was tougher than the 2013 exam, with the QA-DI and LR sections being a lot tougher. Unlike the previous year, QA and DI were combined in one section while LR was a separate section. Comparatively higher weightage was given to LR (1 mark per question vis-à-vis 0.75 marks per question last year).

Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation(35 questions 1 mark per question): The Quantitative Aptitude section contained a mix of questions from various topics and various levels of difficulties. Overall, the level of difficulty of the questions in QA was higher than last year’s. About 8 to 10 questions in QA were easy to moderate in terms of difficulty. There were 3 DI sets and all of them were fairly calculation-intensive and time-consuming.There were a number of questions on Arithmetic and some standard questions in Modern Mathematics (such as the question on probability, sequences-series and set theory) and Geometry (the ladder problem) which should have been attempted.

Ideally one should have

attempted about 18-20 questions in the section in 45-50 minutes.

Logical Reasoning (20 questions- 1 mark per question):The Logical Reasoning section consisted of sets on selection criteria, sequential output, matrix arrangement, syllogisms and other verbal reasoning. One set on matrix arrangement was extremely difficult and should have been avoided. The 4 verbal reasoning questions (statement-assumption, course of action and syllogisms) were very easy and should have been attempted.

Ideally one should have attempted about 12 questions in 20-25 minutes.

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension(17 questions RC -1 mark per question and 20 questions VA -0.5 marks per question): Though each RC question carried a mark this time, as opposed to .75 marks last time, the overall level of difficulty of RC was much tougher than last time! Though the questions were not very inferential, they were time-consuming. Two of the passages were 2.5 pages long and most of the questions required searching for four pieces of information throughout the passage. As English on the whole carried 32 marks, it made sense to spend about 35 minutes to attempt the doable questions. Out of the 20 VA questions, at least 13 questions should have been attempted (with 90% accuracy). The word creation questions could have been left out if this is not something you are used to. For a serious aspirant, the vocabulary questions should not

have been challenging at all but as most students do not learn much vocabulary, we would expect them to have a low accuracy in this area or leave out a few questions. The sentence jumble questions were a bit confusing. The VA questions should have taken you less than 20 minutes. In RC, the two shorter passages should have been attempted. The correct approach would have been to look at and solve the questions while reading the passage. These questions would not take more than 15 minutes to solve. Target accuracy in RC should also be 90% as 6 of the 7 questions were direct and 5 of these were very easy.

General Knowledge(26 questions 0.5 marks per question):For the first time in a long time, the GK section of IIFT was very simple. Most questions were based on current important events which had made headlines. Hardly 4 questions could be classified as being difficult. One could have gone through all these questions and attempted the ones they were confident of (at least 10) in less than10 minutes.

Cut-offThe cut-off for IIFT Delhi is generally 43-52. Last year, the cut-off for the general category candidates was 49.75.

Accepting institutesThe institutes accepting this test are Indian Institute Of Foreign Trade, Delhi and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata

Exam DateThis exam is usually conducted on the last Sunday of November.

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TISSTata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai conducts its own entrance test for admission to its two-year full-time MA programme in Human Resources Management and Labour Relations (HRM & LR) at its Mumbai campus.

EligibilityThe candidate must be a graduate with 50% marks or equivalent CGPA in first attempt. Candidates appearing for the final year of bachelor’s degree and are awaiting results can also apply subject to clearing the final examination in first attempt with 50% aggregate marks.

Exam Pattern:The structure of the TISS-NET in 2015 was the same as the previous years. The test was online and was divided into 3 sections - General Awareness (30 questions), Mathematical and Logical Reasoning (35 questions) and English (30 questions). There were 95 questions for 100 marks. There was no negative marking. The overall difficulty level of the exam was almost the same as that of last year.

The analysis of each of the sections (based on some students’ reports) is as given below

Section I: General AwarenessThis section comprised 30 questions, each carrying 1 mark. Out of the 30 questions, there were only 2 questions based on current affairs. There were around 11 questions on international static affairs and 19 related to national ones. About 11 questions were easy, 7 were medium and 12 difficult.A score of 15+ would be a good benchmark. Attempting all GA questions would not have taken more than 15¬20 minutes.

Section II: Mathematical and Logical ReasoningLike last year, a lot of questions were based on modern math and arithmetic. The questions on arithmetic were by and large easy and should have all been attempted. There were no questions based on word problems or BODMAS. One question on mensuration was bit tricky. There were 5 LR questions and all of them were based on number series. All the

questions were very easy. Though most of the questions were sitters, students not comfortable with mathematics would have found a few of the questions on modern math and geometry slightly tricky and therefore these have been classified as having a ‘medium’ level of difficulty. It would have been better for such students to select the right questions in a judicious manner.

Section III: EnglishThis section comprised 30 questions, out of which the 5 reading comprehension questions carried 2 marks each. There were 5 analogies, 5 single fill in the blanks, 5 double fill in the blanks, 5 questions on choosing the inappropriate word for the context and 5 jumbled paragraphs. Out of the 5 reading comprehension questions, 4 were of a medium level as at least two options were quite close. 1 question was very easy. The passage was about 600 words long and dealt with ‘women emancipation’. Most of the questions in this section were of an easy to moderate level.

A good score for this section would be 28+. A serious aspirant would be able to tackle all questions within 30¬-35 minutes.

The overall cut off for general category students for next round of selection for the MA-HRM programme was 74

Exam datesThe exam is held in December / January. A

Section Subject Area No. of Questions Marks

Section I General Awareness 30 30

Section II Mathematical & Logical Reasoning 35 35

Section III English 30 35


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TOP TEN CORPORATE TOP TEN CORPORATE

OF THE WORLDOF THE WORLD

Back in 2001, Enron Energy CEOs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling led one of the most

egregious cases of corporate deception in American history. As leaders of the company,

the pair borrowed a lot of money, incurred a lot of bad debt and drove the company into

bankruptcy. They also hid all of this through creative accounting practices that artificially

inflated the company's share price. Skilling shed $47 million of his own company's stock

before the share price could fall.Perhaps worst of all, Skilling and Lay encouraged

investors and employees to continue pumping money into the company even as they knew

about the company's imminent demise. In all, Enron stockholders lost about $25 billion.

Many of these were Enron employees who lost their retirement savings.This is what is

considered corporate malfeasance, the act of a corporation or corporate executive

committing a crime (or at least a morally reprehensible, but legal act). Here are a few more

examples of corporate malfeasance.

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History:

What came next:

The American oil company Halliburton has been a major point of

scrutiny since the Iraq War, when it moved into the government contract

business. This move sent up red flags in a number of quarters, since the

administration of President George W. Bush awarded the contracts. Bush's

vice president, Dick Cheney, had served as CEO of Halliburton until he

became Bush's running mate in 2000; Cheney was awarded a $34 million

payout when he left his position for the White House.

The company received billions from government contracts for services it

provided to the military in Iraq. A 2005 study found that Halliburton

overcharged the government for these services. Accusations of perhaps the

most cynical malfeasance came from the same study.

Halliburton employees revealed the company's policy of delivering spoiled

and out-of-date food to US troops stationed in Iraq. In some cases, the food

was spoiled enough that it would be refused at camp. In this case, said

Halliburton delivery drivers, the food would be taken to the next camp until it

was accepted.

In 2004, the value of Halliburton's contract to supply US

troops in Iraq increased to $7.2 billion.

Halliburton's spoiled foodfor soldiers

Swiss pharmaceutical maker Roche made it to this list because of a

statement made by one of its executives regarding the company's HIV drug

Fuzeon. Typically, drugs, especially life-saving ones, are sold around the

world on a sliding scale, with developing countries paying less than

industrialised nations, which pay the highest prices. Roche bucked this

trend with its global price for Fuzeon. When South Korea's Ministry of

Health, Welfare and Family Affairs valued a year's supply of Fuzeon at

$18,000, essentially setting the limit Roche could charge for the drug within

the country's borders, Roche refused to sell the drug there any longer and

withdrew treatment for South Korea's HIV patients, despite the fact that the

company still would have realised a profit from sales, even at the $18,000

price limit.

When the decision was challenged, the head of Roche's

Korea division reportedly said, "We are not in the business to save lives, but

to make money. Saving lives is not our business."

History:

What came next:

Pharmaceutical maker Roche:“Saving lives is not our business”

History:

What came next:

By the end of the 1940s, the American-owned United Fruit

Company controlled 42 per cent of the land in Guatemala and wasn't using

much of it.

In the early 1950s, democratically elected Guatemalan president Jacobo

Arbenz carried out a land reform package that included the forced purchase

of idle land owned by the United Fruit Company and redistributing it to

indigenous farmers. The company approached Allen Dulles, the former

president of United Fruit in the 1930s who had become the director of the

CIA, and offered to use their fruit transportation network to smuggle arms

into the country to spark a rebel movement.

Dulles, framing land redistribution as a patently communist act and a sign

that Guatemala was courting the Soviets as patrons, sanctioned a CIA-

backed overthrow of Arbenz, led by Guatemalan army officer Carlos Castillo

Armas. The US agreed to supply aircraft for the rebel army to bomb

Guatemala City, set up propaganda outlets in Latin America, bribed Arbenz's

military commanders into surrendering and pressured the American media

not to report on the story.

In 1954, Arbenz resigned and was replaced by Castillo

Armas, who outlawed political parties and shut down opposition media

outlets. In 1960, a 36-year-long civil war began in Guatemala.

United Fruit's overthrow of theGuatemalan government

History:

What came next:

The debate over US health care reform that raged in 2010 shed a

spotlight on health insurance companies, and not all of them stood up to

public scrutiny.

One notable example is WellPoint, one of the US's biggest insurers, which

turned out to have created an algorithm that flagged the accounts of women

who were diagnosed with breast cancer. Called recission, or the policy of

finding ways to cancel contracts, this common cost-saving measure had

never before been so egregiously abused by an insurance company. Under

WellPoint's policy, a breast cancer diagnosis meant a woman's policy was

flagged for investigation. It would be searched for any type of error,

including clerical errors, which would then be used to revoke the patient's

insurance coverage.

A federal investigation of a number of women whose

policies had been discontinued for various reasons shortly after they were

diagnosed uncovered the abuse. Health and Human Services secretary

Kathleen Sebilius quickly wrote a letter taking the company to task for the

practice, which was technically legal. In a response to Sebilius' letter, the

company denied the accusation.

WellPoint's breast canceralgorithm



17

History:

What came next:

The American oil company Halliburton has been a major point of

scrutiny since the Iraq War, when it moved into the government contract

business. This move sent up red flags in a number of quarters, since the

administration of President George W. Bush awarded the contracts. Bush's

vice president, Dick Cheney, had served as CEO of Halliburton until he

became Bush's running mate in 2000; Cheney was awarded a $34 million

payout when he left his position for the White House.

The company received billions from government contracts for services it

provided to the military in Iraq. A 2005 study found that Halliburton

overcharged the government for these services. Accusations of perhaps the

most cynical malfeasance came from the same study.

Halliburton employees revealed the company's policy of delivering spoiled

and out-of-date food to US troops stationed in Iraq. In some cases, the food

was spoiled enough that it would be refused at camp. In this case, said

Halliburton delivery drivers, the food would be taken to the next camp until it

was accepted.

In 2004, the value of Halliburton's contract to supply US

troops in Iraq increased to $7.2 billion.

Halliburton's spoiled foodfor soldiers

Swiss pharmaceutical maker Roche made it to this list because of a

statement made by one of its executives regarding the company's HIV drug

Fuzeon. Typically, drugs, especially life-saving ones, are sold around the

world on a sliding scale, with developing countries paying less than

industrialised nations, which pay the highest prices. Roche bucked this

trend with its global price for Fuzeon. When South Korea's Ministry of

Health, Welfare and Family Affairs valued a year's supply of Fuzeon at

$18,000, essentially setting the limit Roche could charge for the drug within

the country's borders, Roche refused to sell the drug there any longer and

withdrew treatment for South Korea's HIV patients, despite the fact that the

company still would have realised a profit from sales, even at the $18,000

price limit.

When the decision was challenged, the head of Roche's

Korea division reportedly said, "We are not in the business to save lives, but

to make money. Saving lives is not our business."

History:

What came next:

Pharmaceutical maker Roche:“Saving lives is not our business”

History:

What came next:

By the end of the 1940s, the American-owned United Fruit

Company controlled 42 per cent of the land in Guatemala and wasn't using

much of it.

In the early 1950s, democratically elected Guatemalan president Jacobo

Arbenz carried out a land reform package that included the forced purchase

of idle land owned by the United Fruit Company and redistributing it to

indigenous farmers. The company approached Allen Dulles, the former

president of United Fruit in the 1930s who had become the director of the

CIA, and offered to use their fruit transportation network to smuggle arms

into the country to spark a rebel movement.

Dulles, framing land redistribution as a patently communist act and a sign

that Guatemala was courting the Soviets as patrons, sanctioned a CIA-

backed overthrow of Arbenz, led by Guatemalan army officer Carlos Castillo

Armas. The US agreed to supply aircraft for the rebel army to bomb

Guatemala City, set up propaganda outlets in Latin America, bribed Arbenz's

military commanders into surrendering and pressured the American media

not to report on the story.

In 1954, Arbenz resigned and was replaced by Castillo

Armas, who outlawed political parties and shut down opposition media

outlets. In 1960, a 36-year-long civil war began in Guatemala.

United Fruit's overthrow of theGuatemalan government

History:

What came next:

The debate over US health care reform that raged in 2010 shed a

spotlight on health insurance companies, and not all of them stood up to

public scrutiny.

One notable example is WellPoint, one of the US's biggest insurers, which

turned out to have created an algorithm that flagged the accounts of women

who were diagnosed with breast cancer. Called recission, or the policy of

finding ways to cancel contracts, this common cost-saving measure had

never before been so egregiously abused by an insurance company. Under

WellPoint's policy, a breast cancer diagnosis meant a woman's policy was

flagged for investigation. It would be searched for any type of error,

including clerical errors, which would then be used to revoke the patient's

insurance coverage.

A federal investigation of a number of women whose

policies had been discontinued for various reasons shortly after they were

diagnosed uncovered the abuse. Health and Human Services secretary

Kathleen Sebilius quickly wrote a letter taking the company to task for the

practice, which was technically legal. In a response to Sebilius' letter, the

company denied the accusation.

WellPoint's breast canceralgorithm

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History:

What came next:

Under traditional circumstances, investment banks assemble

pools of funds that it believes will grow over time. One type of fund in

particular has a 50 per cent chance of success: the credit default obligation,

essentially a bet on whether an investment will succeed or fail. In 2007, the

big investment to bet on were mortgage-backed securities; since they'd

shown nothing but high rates of return, investors were willing to bet on their

success.

So investment banking house Goldman Sachs created Abacus 2007-ACI, a

fund of mortgages it sold to investors. What Goldman didn't tell Abacus

fund investors was that the mortgages they were betting would succeed had

been handpicked by a favourite Goldman investor to actually lose. The

favoured investor, John Paulson, was allowed to compile the mortgage-

backed securities that he thought would lose so he could bet against them. It

was up to Goldman to sell the fund to investors who would bet on them.

Paulson won the bet, making $1 billon from the fund.

Goldman Sachs sells investorsits doomed-to-fail fund

History:

What came next:

In 1914, Henry Ford decided to put “Jesus Christ in [his] factory”

by introducing ethical standards to his employees in Dearborn, Michigan. He organised the Sociological Department, a group of 50 employees tasked with interviewing employees, their families, neighbours and friends to determine if workers were using their wages ethically and morally, while resisting temptations like alcohol, gambling and tobacco. Those who didn't meet his standards weren't eligible for raises and promotions.While the Sociological Department served largely as a moral spying arm of the company, it is also credited with helping workers with illness, debt and other quandaries unrelated to work. Much less ambiguous is the nature of the Service Department, a security and intelligence division. At a time when unionisation was gathering strength as a practice, the Service Department spied on labour groups and employees, breaking up meetings and assemblies, and even roughing up workers and union representatives. In 1932, at the Ford plant in Dearborn, Service Department members worked in concert with local police to break up an unemployment protest using machine guns; four unarmed workers were killed.

Five years later, the “Battle of the Overpass” took place, where Service Department employees beat up union organisers allowed at the plant to distribute leaflets.

Visits from Ford Motor Company'ssociological and service departments

History:

What came next:

In 2004, it came out that not all Wal-Mart’s 1 million employees

were legal residents of the United States and that many of the most

vulnerable of the company’s employees were being mistreated by the

corporation.

Between 1998 and 2003, more than 350 undocumented workers were

arrested during their shifts at Wal-Mart stores; officials caught 250 of them

in a single-night, 21-state dragnet.

In a lawsuit filed by workers, the company was charged with forcing janitors

to work seven-day-weeks for pay as low as $325 a week. The night shift

janitorial staff was particularly mistreated in stores across the U.S. In 2004,

The New York Times documented a “lock-in” policy that required that

cleaning staff be locked in the store — without an exit — to prevent

shrinkage and cigarette breaks.

The company maintained that a manager with a key was

always on hand, but this proved false in some cases. One worker who broke

a foot had to wait four hours for a manager to arrive and unlock the door so

that he could leave to receive medical treatment; another worker had a

similar experience, having to wait until the morning shift arrived to go to the

hospital after cutting her hand with box cutters.

Wal-Mart janitor lock-ins

History:

What came next:

They're not in contact with the authorities and therefore can't tell anybody what's going on, so bulldozing the protected land of a remote Amazon tribe might seem like something a corporation can get away with.Such was the case with Brazilian beef company Yaguarete Pora S.A. In 2009, they were found to have bulldozed thousands of hectares of protected Amazon forest land in Paraguay that belongs to the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode people. The Totobiegosode is one of the few remaining uncontacted tribes -- and through international agreement are entitled to its ancestral land. Yaguarete Pora S.A. bulldozed the forest to create more grazing land for its beef cattle.In addition to trampling on the rights of protected indigenous people, Yaguarete also broke the law by bulldozing the land without a proper licence. The Paraguayan government revoked the company's licence to operate in the country after it had been caught illegally bulldozing another tract of protected land.

After news of Yaguarete's rights violation spread, the company made an attempt to spin the crime by announcing it would set up a reserve of land for the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode; the company plans to leave alone 16,784 hectares (41,474 acres) of the 78,549 hectares (194,098 acres) of the Totobiegosode land it's illegally bulldozing.

Yaguarete Pora S.A. bulldozingprotected Amazon tribe's land



19

History:

What came next:

Under traditional circumstances, investment banks assemble

pools of funds that it believes will grow over time. One type of fund in

particular has a 50 per cent chance of success: the credit default obligation,

essentially a bet on whether an investment will succeed or fail. In 2007, the

big investment to bet on were mortgage-backed securities; since they'd

shown nothing but high rates of return, investors were willing to bet on their

success.

So investment banking house Goldman Sachs created Abacus 2007-ACI, a

fund of mortgages it sold to investors. What Goldman didn't tell Abacus

fund investors was that the mortgages they were betting would succeed had

been handpicked by a favourite Goldman investor to actually lose. The

favoured investor, John Paulson, was allowed to compile the mortgage-

backed securities that he thought would lose so he could bet against them. It

was up to Goldman to sell the fund to investors who would bet on them.

Paulson won the bet, making $1 billon from the fund.

Goldman Sachs sells investorsits doomed-to-fail fund

History:

What came next:

In 1914, Henry Ford decided to put “Jesus Christ in [his] factory”

by introducing ethical standards to his employees in Dearborn, Michigan. He organised the Sociological Department, a group of 50 employees tasked with interviewing employees, their families, neighbours and friends to determine if workers were using their wages ethically and morally, while resisting temptations like alcohol, gambling and tobacco. Those who didn't meet his standards weren't eligible for raises and promotions.While the Sociological Department served largely as a moral spying arm of the company, it is also credited with helping workers with illness, debt and other quandaries unrelated to work. Much less ambiguous is the nature of the Service Department, a security and intelligence division. At a time when unionisation was gathering strength as a practice, the Service Department spied on labour groups and employees, breaking up meetings and assemblies, and even roughing up workers and union representatives. In 1932, at the Ford plant in Dearborn, Service Department members worked in concert with local police to break up an unemployment protest using machine guns; four unarmed workers were killed.

Five years later, the “Battle of the Overpass” took place, where Service Department employees beat up union organisers allowed at the plant to distribute leaflets.

Visits from Ford Motor Company'ssociological and service departments

History:

What came next:

In 2004, it came out that not all Wal-Mart’s 1 million employees

were legal residents of the United States and that many of the most

vulnerable of the company’s employees were being mistreated by the

corporation.

Between 1998 and 2003, more than 350 undocumented workers were

arrested during their shifts at Wal-Mart stores; officials caught 250 of them

in a single-night, 21-state dragnet.

In a lawsuit filed by workers, the company was charged with forcing janitors

to work seven-day-weeks for pay as low as $325 a week. The night shift

janitorial staff was particularly mistreated in stores across the U.S. In 2004,

The New York Times documented a “lock-in” policy that required that

cleaning staff be locked in the store — without an exit — to prevent

shrinkage and cigarette breaks.

The company maintained that a manager with a key was

always on hand, but this proved false in some cases. One worker who broke

a foot had to wait four hours for a manager to arrive and unlock the door so

that he could leave to receive medical treatment; another worker had a

similar experience, having to wait until the morning shift arrived to go to the

hospital after cutting her hand with box cutters.

Wal-Mart janitor lock-ins

History:

What came next:

They're not in contact with the authorities and therefore can't tell anybody what's going on, so bulldozing the protected land of a remote Amazon tribe might seem like something a corporation can get away with.Such was the case with Brazilian beef company Yaguarete Pora S.A. In 2009, they were found to have bulldozed thousands of hectares of protected Amazon forest land in Paraguay that belongs to the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode people. The Totobiegosode is one of the few remaining uncontacted tribes -- and through international agreement are entitled to its ancestral land. Yaguarete Pora S.A. bulldozed the forest to create more grazing land for its beef cattle.In addition to trampling on the rights of protected indigenous people, Yaguarete also broke the law by bulldozing the land without a proper licence. The Paraguayan government revoked the company's licence to operate in the country after it had been caught illegally bulldozing another tract of protected land.

After news of Yaguarete's rights violation spread, the company made an attempt to spin the crime by announcing it would set up a reserve of land for the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode; the company plans to leave alone 16,784 hectares (41,474 acres) of the 78,549 hectares (194,098 acres) of the Totobiegosode land it's illegally bulldozing.

Yaguarete Pora S.A. bulldozingprotected Amazon tribe's land

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History:

What came next:

While most American companies withdrew trade with Germany during World War II, a few, Coca-Cola, Ford and IBM among them, chose to ignore trade restrictions imposed by the federal government and continued doing business with the Third Reich.IBM founder Thomas Watson had long been known to have allowed his company to sell early punch card computers to Nazi Germany. Indeed, in 1937, Watson received the highest honour the country could bestow upon non-Germans, the Grand Cross of the German Eagle. The company's German subsidiary, Dehomag, leased the IBM Hollerith punch card machines to the ruling Nazi party before and during the war.In the months leading up to World War II, citizens were catalogued using these cards; eventually, these catalogues were used to identify individuals based on their race, religion and sexual preference. These selections became the basis for the annihilation of millions of people during the Holocaust. Eventually, IBM computers came to be used in death camps like Auschwitz to systematically track the arrival, detention and death of Jews, Roma and other groups.

IBM admits that the company's computers were used to carry out the logistics of the Holocaust, but denies awareness of this use at the time.

IBM's tech support for theHolocaust

History:

What came next:

On December 3, 1984, a gas leak at the Union Carbide pesticide

plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and created a poison cloud that drifted

toward the city as the residents slept. Within days of the leak, 8,000 of the

city's inhabitants died. In total, another 25,000 residents have succumbed

from the effects of the gas leak. It is widely viewed as the worst industrial

accident in human history.

After the disaster, the company simply closed the plant and left it

abandoned, where it continues to pollute the surrounding area and

endanger the health of residents. Massive birth defects, chronic illness and

disabilities have all been linked to contamination from the plant. Although

investigations into the disaster squarely implicate Union Carbide as

negligent in preventing the leak, the company settled with the Indian

government for $475 million, while the original suit sought $3 billion.

In 2001, Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide, but

maintained the latter company's refusal to clean up the site. In 2004, social

satirists The Yes Men posed as Dow representatives and were interviewed

on the BBC, where they announced Dow would pay $12 billion in

compensation to the city's victims. The value of Dow's shares fell by $4

billion in 23 minutes.

Union Carbide’s Bhopal tragedy

Source: HowStuffWorks


www.advancedge.comsuccess street

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Dr Anand Wadadekar

Most of us use smartphones today, which make our lives easier through useful apps and functionalities. If you think about it, how a smartphone functions

mirrors our careers perfectly!

I

How your smartphone is actually your career

was updating one of my apps in my phone the other day, and it struck

me that there is actually a very close similarity between a phone and a career!

Think about it. Today, all of us have smartphones, and in fact, even those who don’t want one! But have you ever thought why these are actually called “smart” phones?

Smart means ready and made for the present and future. Smart has to do with the latest trends and technology. Smartness, for a phone today, is all about not belonging to the old days where we’d use a phone only to make calls and send text messages.

In many ways, the day to day events of your smartphone is actually quite like your own career. Let’s find out how.

Operating system = education qualification Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, etc are the various operating systems on which smartphones run today. Each OS is different from the other in terms of interface, functionality, speed, processing, etc. Without the IS, a smartphone cannot function.

This OS of a smartphone is similar to the educational qualification base of a candidate.Without a proper educational qualification, a candidate cannot be called “skilled” or “qualified” for a particular task.

Just as it is necessary to choose an apt combination of educational qualifications for a successful career, it is important to select an apt and solid OS

for smart phone to help you functions efficiently.

Downloading apps = acquiring information, knowledge, skillsA smartphone can be realistically called smart when it is loaded with required, useful apps. Without apps, a smartphone will be hardly any different from other phones doing the

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functions of calling and texting. We spend time downloading

apps that we feel are important and useful in our work or life (and some for entertainment too!). This downloading is very important, since it enhances the value of the smartphone. Since there are thousands of apps available in the market, we need to be selective while choosing them, since not all apps are required by us. In fact, a lot of smartphone users uninstall some apps they have downloaded after some time (days, weeks or months), since these apps lie idle and all they do is eat up the phone’s memory.

Apps are the same as the information, knowledge and skills a candidate has. As we progress with our education, we download information, knowledge and skills. This download is important to build a solid foundation of theory and practical knowledge and enhance one’s career.

Adding/deleting apps = learning/unlearning skillsWe often download apps and then delete them later, either because we don’t use them often, or there’s a better app available, or even because they make the phone run slow. Sometimes, we find out that an app would make our lives easier, so we download it later, after buying the phone.

As we progress in our education and reach a point where we decide to specialise in a particular field, we realise that not everything that we had studied is required and then we feel the need to “uninstall” the information, knowledge and skills we don’t require anymore. This is called “unlearning”, similar to deleting apps. Similarly, we often

find out that we might need to learn some new skills that we don’t have or hadn’t acquired previously. This is skill learning, similar to adding new apps. This learning and unlearning is an ongoing process — both to make our phones smart and to build our careers. One can become successful in one’s career, only when they know how to learn and unlearn and to stay relevant and smart.

Often, downloading too many apps makes the smartphone run slow, and at times, even become unresponsive. In such cases, the phone loses its smart value and ceases to perform as fast and

smooth it used to. In the same way, we shouldn’t keep adding any qualifications and skill we feel like. An over-skilled or over-qualified state is certainly not good, since the market rejects such candidates more often than not.

Updating apps = refining, upgrading skillsNo smartphone will remain smart for long if it keeps functioning on an old OS or old versions of its apps. Updates, for both the OS and the apps, make the phone run more smoothly. These updates remove bugs in the app,

e n h a n c e

performance and sometimes introduce new features and support.

This is the same as refining and u p g r a d i n g your acquired i n f o r m a t i o n ,

knowledge and skills. Information

and skills become obsolete over the years, and change along with the business dynamics and environment, therefore they need to be enhanced, upgraded and refined. This should be an ongoing, never-ending process. In today’s dynamic business world, remaining updated with relevant information,

knowledge and skills has become the most important thing. If you’re not, the industry rejects you and you become redundant.

Today, students and candidates need to be very cautious about their skills and knowledge and ensure that they are relevant to the industry. If they can, they will always be able to perform better and more smartly, thereby guaranteeing success in their career.

The author is the founder director & CEO of Discovering Careers India

APPS ARE LIKE INFORMATION,

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS. WE NEED TO DOWNLOAD THEM

TO GO AHEAD.


www.advancedge.comcorporate world

23

he International monetary fund (IMF) has recently released a report

highlighting the cracks in the Indian banking system that need to be addressed as a priority. According to the IMF’s report, Indian banks have one of the lowest capacities in the world to absorb losses, in the event of an economic crisis striking.

Every nation in the world today is exposed to a great deal of economic uncertainty. External volatility stemming from the geopolitical situation, global liquidity crunch, fluctuating commodity prices and the deteriorating sovereign health of countries and economic blocks and their cascading impact on the global economy are all sources of uncertainty that have a large impact on the economic health of nations.

Countries need strong, robust and healthy banking systems that will help them proactively tide over such external economic challenges if they strike. Pulling economically distressed countries out of a predicament is possible only if they have a strong banking system! Weak and uncompetitive banks in Eurozone countries like Italy, Cyprus and Portugal are classic examples.

Public sector banksNearly 75 per cent of the Indian banking activity is dominated by public sector banks (PSBs). Although these private sector banks are considered marginally healthier, the lack of competitiveness with the public sector banks is taking a toll on India’s overall banking system.

Capitalisation is an important criterion in the banking industry; commercial banks primarily thrive on raising deposits from the public and using such funds to provide

loans to its customers. Banks that maintain a comfortable spread, such that it will be able to meet their obligations and liabilities from their assets in case of distress, are said to be well capitalised. Such banks would have adequately made loan-loss provisions so that all possible defaults from its customers are well anticipated and covered.

The prevailing problemGiven the pace at which banks are growing, the uncertainties prevailing in the markets and the risks they are exposed to, Indian banks are expected to maintain a larger spread between their assets and liabilities. However, this is not happening, as the Government of India, which is the largest shareholder in all the PSBs, has been unable to infuse the necessary funds to maintain such capitalisation. Over the next five years, Indian banks need close to `8 lakh crore in order to be well capitalised. However, the government is neither infusing nor supporting banks to raise this necessary capital. It has recently indicated that it will infuse around `7,000 crore in 2014-15 and around `8,000 crore in 2015-16 — a mere drop in the ocean.

The finance ministry has asked the banks to see if they can raise


Indian banks and theirdeclining competitiveness

Being the fastest growing major economy in the world, India needs to be prepared for all eventualities of economic upheaval. Such preparedness is piggybacked on a strong banking

system. However, India is sorely lacking in this regard.

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INDIA INC: AT A GLANCE

funds from the market, but banks complain that this is not possible when the government is reluctant to inject further capital! This vicious circle is deeply impacting India’s preparedness for adverse economic events. With such a major issue being left open, the government is seriously campaigning for more investments to flow into the country and enhance industrial activity through its Make in India campaign. These are no doubt absolute essentials for India’s economic growth, but they again need a strong banking system to flourish first!

Non-performing assetsThe health of the banking system is directly proportional to the health of its borrowers. It is therefore worrying that more than a third of Indian companies that have borrowed from banks have a very high “debt to equity” ratio — the highest in the Asia Pacific region.

This means that these companies have already stretched themselves by taking on high levels of loan from banks; if there is a decrease in demand or a recession, these companies will be at great risk of defaulting, exerting pressure on the

banks that are in a weak financial position.

The country is yet to recover from the adverse effects of the 2008 global subprime crisis and the slowdown in the Indian economy

that followed. Interest rates have remained high, discouraging investments. Demand has also remained weak across sectors in the economy. Infrastructure and manufacturing sectors have attracted very low investment, and

more importantly, have been lying low; investments made till date too have not yet started generating returns. Nor are there any signs of a recovery in the coming months.

With all of this, corporate earnings have remained under pressure, and the ability of these companies to honour loan interest and principal repayment commitments as and when such dues fall is now questionable. Loan recovery has hence become a challenge for the banks and

the non-performing assets (bank’s customers who may not be able to pay back the interest and loan capital) have also been on the rise. Over the last nine months, PSBs have reported a 20 per cent increase

Tata Steel sells Mozambique assetsTata Steel has announced that it will sell its 35 per cent stake in the Mozambique coal mine. The objective of acquiring the captive mine was to draw coal for its Indian and European operations out of this African coal mine as steel production is coal intensive, especially in the blast furnace technology in manufacturing steel.

This stake had earlier been purchased by Tata Steel together with a consortium of steel makers, which include the Indian government-controlled Steel Authority of India. However, there had been operational issues with the mine, where Tata Steel had been unable to evacuate this coal for its plants as it had earlier envisaged. Tata steel will be absorbing losses on account of this acquisition; its steel business per se is also yet to recover completely from the aftermath of the 2008 subprime crisis and the global economic slowdown that followed. Its margins continued to fall as there was continued pressure on global steel prices.

Nintendo on smartphonesJapanese video game maker Nintendo has announced that it will be partnering with DeNA, a mobile game developer in Tokyo, to bring out new game apps based on existing Nintendo characters, such as Mario Brothers, for mobile devices. This is a significant development, as Nintendo has been resisting making its games available on smartphone and tablets, focusing instead on selling its own handheld devices and consoles. This decision of Nintendo reiterates the growth in smartphones and mobiles, as well as the younger generation’s growing appetite for gaming.

The mobile availability of the games will be through a membership model and it is expected that the members will be able to play the new games on mobile devices as well as PC and Nintendo systems, such as the 3DS and Wii U. Microsoft is expected to be reacting to such an announcement soon, and it will be interesting to see how Xbox responds to Nintendo’s competitive move.

THE INDIAN BANKING SYSTEM’S

BIGGEST CHALLENGE LIES IN ITS

STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT.

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in their non-performing assets, which translates to around `8 lakh crore, i.e., close to 5 per cent of the total loans of Indian banks is now “non-performing”. This is around four times the figure in the Chinese banking industry! However, analysts believe that even this figure — 5 per cent — is grossly understated.

Another reason for the strain on the banking industry is the lack of a strong corporate debt market that companies can access, i.e., a strong alternative to the banking system debt. In developed economies, companies freely access corporate bond markets along with equity and bank loans. This not only comes at a much cheaper cost to the companies, but also exerts far lesser pressure on the bank’s finances.

Independence and governance in PSU banksThe biggest challenge for the Indian banking system lies in its structure and management. Governance and independence of the PSB management is a serious issue. Analysts claim that a complete overhaul of the PSB structure is immediately required. Currently, PSBs are directly owned by the government, with a nominee

director from the finance ministry sitting on the board of the PSB. Since the senior executive management of the PSB is appointed by the finance ministry, they are extremely loyal to the finance ministry; this can compromise their independence, and hence their professional decisions may not be in the best interests of the bank and its minority shareholders. Interference from the government and political circles

has, on certain occasions, pushed banks to lend to unviable projects far exceeding allowable limits, eventually eroding shareholder value.

The P.J. Nayak committee recently highlighted the fact that the boards of PSBs are unable to think strategically and are not spending adequate time to discuss strategic issues, but instead spending time

on routine and operational issues. Hence, structural changes in the form of strong, independent and professional boards are an immediate requirement. Moreover, the government’s direct ownership needs to give way to an intermediate professionally owned legal structure that is capable of exerting an independent and strong oversight on the management of the bank. More importantly, the government should

not merely dilute its ownership in terms of shareholding, but should dilute control and allow strategic investors to take management control and professionally run the banks in line with international best practices.

Now or neverThe IMF report has confirmed the prevailing opinion that now is the right time and opportunity

for the country to mend its banking system, especially when crude oil prices are low and there is a much better leeway available to make hard decisions that can adversely impact budgetary deficits. More importantly, with India now having become the fastest growing major economy in the world, it is now or never for the banking system to be strengthened. A

INDIA INC: AT A GLANCENet neutralityThere is a serious, rising debate on the issue of net neutrality. India’s competition commission is also looking into possible abuse of dominance by telecom companies and Internet service providers (ISPs). The question of net neutrality has gained prominence as some ISPs are abusing their dominant and monopoly position to take undue advantage at the cost of customers.

Are all the players providing and maintaining equal access to Internet in the midst of certain service providers offering free access to certain mobile apps and websites? Is there a collusion and cartelisation between the telecom operators and ISPs through extending preferential treatment to select mobile applications and websites, with an objective to kill competition? These are the key questions that need to be addressed.

The principle of net neutrality implies equal treatment to be accorded to all Internet traffic, without discrimination or priority for any person, entity or company. The implications of such an action would be to weed out other players entering the market and reduce the number of ISPs, which is detrimental to the interest of the consumers. Recent developments, where Reliance Communications and Uninor tied up with players like Facebook, Whatsapp and Wikipedia to offer free usage to consumers, are being seen as going against the net neutrality concept.

INDIAN BANKS NEED CLOSE TO

`8 LAKH CRORE IN ORDER TO BE WELL

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Even as businesses increase investments in analytics of raw data, there is little awareness about what Analytics actually is, and how lucrative a future this field holds for any specialist.

A glimpse of the use — and future — of Analytics and Business Intelligence.

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How big is the Analytics opportunity?

oday, the success of corporations, both for-profit and others, depends

more and more on their ability to understand the customer and deliver exactly what he is looking for. Understanding the customers is not as easy as it seems, as what most of them want is latent, which they are unable to express in terms that can be understood.

What complicates this more is that companies need to figure out such latent needs, build capabilities and deliver a value proposition to the customer that is superior to the competition, and more importantly, ahead of the competition. In order to always be ahead of the curve, corporations need to become customer-centric and continue to stay so, as the customers’ wants, needs and preferences also keep changing! Analytics and Business Intelligence help companies gain such understanding and help them make the right investment decisions.

Analytics and Big DataAnalytics and business intelligence also provide insights into the “cost drivers” of a firm’s business and direct the management’s efforts to focus on cost issues that are extremely relevant for maintaining the organisation’s profitability. Analytics and business intelligence thus come handy for corporations, provided they are able to process the huge volumes of customer and competitor data that is floating around in the system. This is where Analytics is related to Big Data. Mining meaningful trends from large volumes of data, which generally seem raw and unconnected to each other, forms the basis of analytics.

The term Big Data refers to any data set that is so large in size and unique in terms of variety, speed or dynamism and complexity, that traditional computer systems and software are unable to process them. Housing the large volumes of data and information in a central

repository is the key; the evolution of cloud-

based computing hence gains i m p o r t a n c e , as Big Data is more

c o n v e n i e n t l y handled by

specialised third

parties who maintain large storage infrastructure.

What the future holdsWhat’s the future for analytics, business intelligence, Big Data and associated statistical tools? Enormous is the word! Any business, big or small, cannot ignore Big Data and analytics; the magnitude of investment and the timing of such investment could vary, but investment per se cannot be ignored. Recently, research firm Gartner indicated that close to 75 per cent of the businesses they surveyed confirmed that they had already invested, or were planning to invest in the next 24 months, and this number is increasing with every passing day. According to IDC, the worldwide business analytics market was worth $37.7 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow to around $59.2 billion in 2018.

Internet of Things Especially with concepts like Internet of Things (IoT), which is about creating a global network of physical objects including machines that have electronics, software and sensors, gaining momentum and companies like IBM, GE and Google pledging huge investments, the future of analytics is extremely promising. GE recently tied up with Komatsu, the



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sophisticated mathematical models based on Big Data on customers, demand supply scenarios and competitors, through a dynamic auction-type yield management system that ensures maximum capacity utilisation at the highest possible price.

Analytics in the insurance industryInsurance companies now gather more information on their subscribers, their family history, their habits and status of their health, to analyse the risk associated with different segments of subscribers and predict possible claims based

on behavioural and demographic profiles of the subscribers. Medical insurance companies are precisely able to predict their exposures and plan their financials well ahead based on such valuable knowledge that emanates from analysing raw data. Analytics also greatly helps in detection of fraudulent claims, and timely action by the company to minimise its losses.

Analytics in logistics Logistics companies like UPS, which deploy rigorous industrial engineering practices and method studies, now depend on analytics to understand customer

INDIA INC: AT A GLANCEHeinz-Kraft M&A coming soonWarren Buffet is back in action! The Warren Buffet-owned Heinz Foods is taking over Kraft Foods — two of the biggest names in packaged foods are merging to create one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies. The deal is expected to be valued at close to

$50 billion, and is a result of the poor performance of the US-packaged food industry, where consumer tastes are drastically changing and the companies are unable to match such trends. The combined entity is expected to be called the Kraft Heinz Co., which will have a turnover of close to $30 billion per annum with some of the most popular brands the world has known, and will include Oscar Mayer meats, Maxwell House coffee, Jell-O, and Planters nuts, along with the namesake Kraft cheese products and Heinz ketchup and condiments.

As markets mature, companies strive to become larger through acquisitions and mergers, thereby reducing unit costs and gaining competitive advantage, by spreading costs across larger units of output.

Is iCar next on the Apple pipeline?Apple Inc is working on the creation of an Apple-branded electric car, but it is not sure if this will eventually hit the market. Apple invests in a number of research initiatives, a very few of which will eventually reach fruition. However, this news has to be taken seriously on two counts — first, most of the technology majors are now entering the automotive space, and among them are Google with its driverless cars, Uber and Tesla Motors. Secondly, Apple has recently unveiled CarPlay, which lets drivers access contacts on their iPhones, make calls or listen to voicemails without taking their hands off the steering wheel.

Apple has also reported to have recruited the head of Mercedes-Benz’s senior member to work on the automation opportunities. Reliable sources claim Apple has already assembled a sizable team to work on this project. This is a step forward for Apple in the same direction it has followed — constantly striving to extend its iOs capabilities into newer areas that include automobiles, wearable, healthcare monitors and home devices.

heavy transportation and industrial equipment manufacturer, to jointly provide Big Data analysis services for mining companies using IoT technology. GE is a leader in the field of IoT and already uses the technology to monitor a network of equipment including aircraft engines, generators, gas turbines and boilers.

IoT generates Big Data out of information exchanges among manufacturers, operators, other machines and connected devices, and this data is processed and analyzed by sophisticated analytic tools to provide real time knowledge that help businesses make key decisions. IBM, for example, recently pledged $3 billion towards IoT.

Analytics and Big Data – the benefitsAlthough the idea sounds big and happening, how exactly do firms benefit from investing in analytics and Big Data? Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, for example, pore over petabytes (1 PB = 1 million GB) of data, marketing analysts analyse data relating to customers and competitors in existing markets to understand the competitiveness of their current products, extension in products that will be successful and ideas for launching altogether new products. With meaningful trends having been identified, supply chain analysts combine data relating to suppliers who would best suit the company’s product portfolio strategy and how value can be created and maximised for the company.

Industry examples – Airlines and hotelsHotels and airlines, for example, are dealing with perishable commodities, i.e., the hotel rooms and airline seats are perishable in nature if not sold in time. The pricing of the rooms and seats is ascertained through

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satisfaction levels and proactively intervene to ensure minimising customer attrition by enhancing his experience before he decides to move to the competition. Such predictive analytics is now going a long way in proactive engagement with selective unsatisfied customers to enhance customer retention and improve market share and firm-level profitability. With the e-commerce industry ballooning and more customers shopping on the Internet, understanding customer preferences and positioning the right product for them, at the right time, is achieved through deploying analytics.

Analytics in the banking industryBanking companies are using intelligence gained from data to serve customers better, cross-sell products, and provide a seamless experience across different banking channels like telephone, face-to-face, ATM and e-banking services. Big data and the cloud also help the banks to drastically reduce data processing cost by more than 20 per cent through cloud-based data storage and retrieval services.

Analytics for income taxIncome tax authorities have started making extensive use of analytics to identify tax evaders. Linking and digitising bank accounts, credit cards, PAN cards and mobile connections has made large data sets relating to the tax payers available to the I-T department. It is easy to spot high income individuals who are spending in the economy, but failing to file realistic income tax returns.

Analytics in cinemaIn the theatrical distribution of movies, using specialised tools and software, distributors of movies can gauge the interest of the target audience ahead of its release by uncovering trends from the large social media exchanges that take place before the movie premiers. Not only can the success or failure of

the movie be predicted, the analysis can also provide guidance in terms of various financial parameters that could determine the extent of success of such movies.

Need for Analytics specialistsCompanies have come to realise that Analytics is not merely about technology adoption, but something far beyond that; it is about an advanced analytical skills set that is required. Analytics specialists are already in demand and a structured business analytics course will help gain such an expertise. An ideal course will span a year and include an in-depth study of analytical tools and techniques, usage of tools like SAS and R, and application areas like financial analytics, healthcare, supply chain telecom web and social media analytics. A

Alibaba seriousness on IndiaRecently Jack Ma, the promoter of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India. This shows the seriousness of Alibaba’s intentions to enter the Indian market in a big way. The company’s interest in India includes online retailing, business-to-

business e-tailing, logistics, payments services and other related businesses. Alibaba seems to be interested in acquiring existing Indian companies and start-ups in these spaces. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, which worked with Alibaba Group for its $25-billion New York Stock Exchange-listing, were reportedly working with the company in India too.

It is also widely believed that Alibaba could possibly acquire a significant stake in Micromax, the growing low-end Indian smartphone manufacturer. Alibaba was also recently involved in close negotiations with Snapdeal for a substantial acquisition, which failed due to differences in valuations by both the parties.

Facebook’s network equipment forayFacebook is entering the network equipment manufacturing space, a current stronghold of companies like Cisco. This is considered a backward vertical integration for Facebook, whose website has 1.4 billion users and such network equipment and switches handle the bulk of traffic;

these are major hardware components that are currently purchased from third party suppliers. It is surprising as to why Facebook is allocating resources outside its core business of social media connectivity and focusing on non-core hardware manufacturing that may not be promising for scaling up. Earlier, Facebook had invested close to $17 billion on Whatsapp and is struggling to see how it can monetise such a huge investment.

Some of the top Business Analytics courses offered in Indian institutes

Indian School of Business – Certified Program in Business AnalyticsGreat Lakes Institute of Management – Post Graduate Program in Business AnalyticsPraxis Business School, Kolkata – Post Graduate Program in Business AnalyticsIIM Lucknow – Certificate Program in Business AnalyticsIIM Bangalore – Business Analytics and Intelligence



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reece is once again on the brink of defaulting to the international community!

Over the last four years, the country has been bailed out twice by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurozone members to whom it largely owes these debts. Its total debt to the international community is pegged at a staggering $350 billion, which is due to most of the large global banks, European financial institutions and national governments.

Recent backgroundNothing concrete has happened over the last four years, and Greece has not taken many robust measures that could help the country tide over the bankruptcy. Early this year, international creditors temporarily extended the bailout program until June, and offered Greece one more opportunity to implement economic reform and demonstrate its seriousness to the international community. It has been a hand to mouth situation for Greece, and not much has changed. Now, its debt crisis has reached a crisis point, and its exit from the Eurozone is being contemplated!

In terms of magnitude, Greece is the 50th largest economy in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of close to $200 billion, and it accounts for a mere 2 per cent of the 19-member Eurozone’s gross national income. However, its exit from the Eurozone could play havoc to the global financial markets. Moreover, banks across the world will be forced to take a hit in terms of Greek losses, and even the future of the Eurozone from the perspective of other weak countries like Italy, Portugal and Spain will be concerning.

The ultimatumTo state the problem in simple terms, the debt clock is ticking.

Greece has to make an immediate payment of $0.8 billion to the IMF by mid-May. An additional $11 billion will be due to the ECB during June and July. Greece’s cash is fast running out and none of its lenders are in the mood to extend further debt or waive the existing debt. The international community had given adequate time for Greece to enforce austerity measures, cut expenses and move its economy to a more manageable situation, but none of that has happened. Instead, Greece has been trying to negotiate with the international community to waive, downsize and restructure its debt.

All such negotiations now seem to have reached the boiling point, and a firm decision needs to be taken. Either Greece falls in line and gets a credible austerity plan, acceptable to the international community and approved by its parliament, or it exits the Eurozone, which could

be a painful decision to both Greece as well as to the global economy.

Political and democratic challengeIs Greece doing anything serious at all? The country’s financial

Greece’s exit from the Eurozone is now a distinct possibility


Euro exit in sight for beleaguered Greece?Despite pressure from the international community, Greece has refused to

implement austerity measure to bring its economy back on track. This brings Greece closer to a very real exit from the Eurozone.

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30 situation is precarious — it has dipped into its emergency reserves and state funds and is estimated to have around $2.5 billion to tide over. However, instead of tackling the problem head on and implementing austerity measures, Greece seems to be focusing on stimulus schemes that are generally implemented to revive economic growth.

Why is the Greek government not seriously pursuing the given mandate in a time of such acute crisis? The present government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, was elected to power in January with the promise that it would not allow the austerity measures to be implemented. So the question is how serious or effective he and his government will be in implementing the austerity plans.

The austerity measures consist of hard decisions like cutting

wages and pensions, adding new taxes or selling state assets, all of which have been vehemently opposed by the Greek public. In spite of repeated requests from the IMF, the ECB, the US President and Eurozone members, all of whom are furious, Greece has still not changed its generous pension system. It has actually increased pension payments to lower income workers.

ECB’s hard stanceThe ECB is hardening its stand against Greece, with its president Mario Draghi now talking seriously about the eventuality of a Greek exit from the Eurozone. Draghi is confident that although Greece will be the first country to exit, the ECB has enough instruments to deal with the situation, if needed.

Responding to such a statement from the ECB, Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has taken a very aggressive stand and has cautioned that if Greece exited the Eurozone, there will be an inevitable contagion effect and such a thought, he said, is like playing with fire! Varoufakis strongly believes that simply amputating Greece from the Eurozone will not mean that the rest of the Eurozone wil survive, but instead, the very idea that individual members might be asked to leave will bring in an uncertainty to the entire Eurozone community and will raise speculations about its very survival.

Other EU members like France and Germany did not buy into the Greek sentiment and believed that the Eurozone can still survive without Greece. However, everyone agrees that such an eventuality could drastically impact Greece and its people.

Greece still hoping for bailout?The unhappiness of the international community is due to the fact that Prime Minister Tsipras has a very strong mandate and still enjoys a very high level of trust in his country but is not ready to take bold decisions and move the country on the right path, which would be in the best interest of Greece and its people. Instead, he is trying to negotiate for one more round of extension! Experts feel Greece still believes that there will always be a last minute bailout, as letting it exit the Eurozone will certainly hurt existing members. Greece might b e taking inspiration from the bailout of Cyprus in 2013. Cyprus was shut out of international markets for almost two years and finally bailed out, but in the process, shutting down the country’s second largest bank resulted in scores of depositors losing their capital.

The question now is whether there can be a solution to this complex problem in the next 30 days. The answer? Absolutely not! The international community too knows this well. All they are looking for is a credible austerity plan that will give them the confidence that Greece and its people are ready to take cuts and sincerely move towards making their economy stronger and more competitive. If that happens, there will be a debt restructure, failing which Greece may have to be shown the door. For now, everyone is waiting and watching to see if the country’s leaders rise above politics and chart the right path for the country and its people. A

ECB President Mario Draghi has taken a hard stance against Greece

The onus is on Greek Prime Minsiter Alexis Tsipras to implement austerity measures

Dr Suresh Srinivasan is a Chartered Accountant, has an MBA (Bradford UK) and a Doctorate in Strategy. He is a Professor of Strategy in Great Lakes Institute of Management and a management consultant.



31

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must reads

Noted science fiction author Isaac Asmiov is particularly remembered for his Foundation trilogy, which was named, and still holds the

coveted one-time Hugo Award of, “The Best All-Time Series”.

The trilogy revolves around a decaying Galactic Empire. Hari Seldon, mathematician, predicts its

downfall using psychohistory, a branch of social mathematics that can predict the future of billions of lives using statistical methods. Usually, 30,000 years of chaos, destruction and uncivilised barbarianism pass before a new Empire is founded. Using psychohistory, Seldon sets in motion a chain of events that reduces that 30,000 to a single 1,000, by establishing

the Foundation. The trilogy follows the lives of several leaders over the next few hundred years, as the Seldon Plan slowly struggles to come to fruition.

While many call it pure science fiction, Asimov’s Foundation series is hardly that. It eschews traditional technology and gadgetry, and instead focuses on philosophy, war, love, and the behaviour of Man. Certainly a must read for any sci-fi addict, the Foundation series will appeal to everyone.

The greatest managers seem to have little in common, employing vastly different styles of management and focus on different goals. Yet

despite their differences, great managers share one common trait: They do not hesitate to break virtually every rule held sacred by conventional managers.According to this book, they consistently disregard every golden rule of management and, yes, they even play favourites. This book has broken quite a few dearly held notions of management gurus.

Authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman have set forward a new philosophy for managers based on 80,000 interviews. The book is replete with diagrams, interview

excerpts and case studies, and the conclusion challenges basic beliefs of management. It should be on every manager’s bookshelf.

Although we know of Richard Branson as entrepreneur, the man and brain behind the Virgin brand, we also know of the adventurer in

him, as he crossed oceans in a hot air balloon, and the philanthropist who was knighted by the Queen of Great Britain. But his autobiography, interestingly titled Losing My Virginity, certainly arrests attention. The 500-odd pages contain the entrepreneur’s entire journey from rags to riches, and how he rose from a boy of eight, who was dyslexic and horrible at mathematics and sciences,

to a man who commanded a multibillion dollar empire. It shows how he built Virgin the music, then Virgin the airline, all in his inimitable, often flamboyantly unique style.

In the book, Sir Richard says the secrets of his success is simply due to thinking big and taking calculated risks, being less stressed than others by uncertainty, trying to prove people wrong, and having the simple belief that “you can do it”. Losing My Virginity will certainly prove invaluable to the aspiring entrepreneur and is a fantastic read for everyone.

Since you’re planning on doing your MBA, you need to be well read, and not just on current affairs. In this section, we offer you some choices of books that will broaden your perspective, and you will

find that you will never be at a loss in a discussion!

First, Break All the Rules: What

the World’s Greatest Managers Do

Differently

Author: Marcus Buckingham, Curt

CoffmanPublisher: Simon & Schuster (2005)

Price: ` 293

Genre: Business and management

Losing My Virginity: How I’ve

Survived, Had Fun, and Made a

Fortune Doing Business My Way

Author: Richard Branson

Publisher: Random House (2010)

Price: ` 330Genre: Business, autobiography

The Foundation series

Author: Isaac Asimov

Publisher: VariedPrice: Individual book prices

Genre: Science fiction, philosophy

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VerbalDIRECTIONS for question 1: The following question has a paragraph with one italicized word that does not make sense. Choose the most appropriate replacement for that word.

1. The late planetary scientist and author Carl Sagan loved to describe humanity as ‘starstuff pondering the stars’, but he didn’t factor in hatred and disgust as possible conclusions. The Sun was glaring today; I found myself glaring back. Amanifally, of course; otherwise it would have blinded me just for looking at it.

(1) Metaphorically (2) Euphemistically (3) Paradoxically (4) Ironically

From the second part of the last sentence, we can infer that the author was not actually glaring at the sun, i.e., he was doing so only in the figurative sense. Only ‘metaphorically’ conveys this meaning. Euphemistically’ (meaning ‘inoffensively’), ‘paradoxically’ (meaning ‘seemingly contradictorily’) and ‘ironically’ (meaning ‘incongruously’ or ‘sarcastically’) don’t fit at all in this context. Hence, [1].

2. PRINCIPLE (1) The principle behind the machine’s operation is quite simple. (2) They have agreed to our offer in principle, but the details still need to be worked out. (3) As a matter of principle, she always makes it a point to arrive for all her appointments on time. (4) The principle cities of the country need to be well connected by road and rail.

‘Principle’ means an accepted rule. This fits the first three usages. The correct term in [4] should be ‘principal’ which means ‘main or important’. Hence, [4].

DIRECTIONS for question 2: The word at the top of the four options is used in four different ways. Choose the option in which the usage of the word is INCORRECT or INAPPROPRIATE.

Verbal - (Para-Jumble)Directions: The sentences given below, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Choose the most logical order of the sentences, from among the given choices, to construct a coherent paragraph.

A. In the 1400s the Spanish chess theoretician Lucena recommended placing the board such that the light shines in the opponent’s eyes. B. At the top echelons of chess, jockeying for advantage before the game begins is a time-honoured tradition.C. For the past two months, supporters of Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, the two best chess players in the world, have been engaged in a Lucena-style campaign to convince the chess community. D. “Also”, Lucena advised, “try to play your adversary when he has just eaten and drunk freely”.E. The culmination of these pre-game manoeuvres was to have come this week, with each grand master taking on a different computer chess program. (1) BADEC (2) BADCE (3) CEBAD (4) CADBE

AD is a link, as both sentences state the advice given by Lucena. The word “Also” at the beginning of statement D makes it clear that the sequence should be AD. Statement B describes how jockeying is a time honoured tradition while statement A states a specific example of the same. So B, A and D should come together in that order. Grand master in E refers to Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, the two best chess players in the world, mentioned in C. Therefore CE is another link. As Lucena is being introduced in A and the Lucena-style campaign is being talked about in C, BAD should appear before CE. Also, as there is no further information about the grand masters taking on different computer chess programs, E is best suited as the last sentence. Thus, the correct sequence is BADCE. Hence, (2).

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WOR

D DOS

E

M AT C H T H E W O R D S W I T H T H E I R M E A N I N G S

About constructionism

a. strict adherence to a text, especially that of the scriptures

b. intention or purpose

c. a style or movement in which assorted mechanical objects are combined into abstract mobile structural forms

d. the principle or belief that the original intent of an author should be adhered to in later interpretations of a work

e. an action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end

f. unwilling to change or compromise

g. suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of (something) as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief

h. a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else

i. the state of being held in low esteem by the public

j. persons or things serving as a typical example or appropriate model

k. hold out or put forward (something) to someone for acceptance

l. reduced in quality; inferior

m. in a literal manner or sense; exactly

n. limited in extent, amount, or scope; limited in range and unwilling or unable to appreciate alternative views

Some of the judges held up by politicians as exemplars of strict constructionism are in fact opposed to the concept. Antonin Scalia, a Justice of the Supreme Court,

has said he is “not a strict constructionist and no one ought to be”. He has called strict constructionism “a degraded form of textualism that brings the whole philosophy into disrepute”.

Scalia’s main objection, and the objection of many legal scholars, is that strict constructionism treats the Constitution too literally, as if no attempt should be made to understand the

intent of the framers. In this respect, strict constructionism is the antithesis of originalism, the legal philosophy that says that the interpretation of laws should involve an effort to

understand what the authors intended them to mean.The concept of strict constructionism is not new. Thomas Jefferson used it in arguing

against the establishment of a national bank. Since the Constitution says nothing aboutsuch an institution, Jefferson postulated that Congress had no authority to establish one.

In recent times, politicians have used a similar tactic to argue against government funding of healthcare. Since there is nothing in the Constitution about healthcare, they say, the

government has no authority to interfere with it. Such narrow readings of the Constitution treat it as a dead, inflexible document. This approach might proffer some short-term political

advantage, but in the long run, it risks turning the Constitution into an irrelevant piece of paper that has no meaning or usefulness in modern life.

1. Exemplars - (eg-zem-plahr) (n)

2. Constructionism – (kuhn-struhk-shuhn-izm) (n)

3. Degraded – (dih-grey-did) (adj)

4. Textualism – (teks-choo-uh-liz-uh m) (n)

5. Disrepute – (dis-re-pyoot) (n)

6. Literally – (lit-er-uh-lee) (adv)

7. Intent – (in-tent) (n)

8. Antithesis – (an-tith-uh-sis) (n)

9. Originalism – (oh-rij-in-uhl-izm) (n)

10. Postulated – (pos-chuh-leyt-ed) (v)

11. Tactic – (tak-tik) (n)

12. Narrow – (nar-oh) (adj)

13. Inflexible – (in-flek-suh-buh l) (adj)

14. Proffer – (prof-er) (v)

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A quiz to boost your General Knowledge

1. Which of the following countries recently agreed to hold the first ever join military exercise with Pakistan, aimed at enhancing the two countries’ defence cooperation?

a. France b. Russia c. Israel d. Japan

2. The Hannover fair is the world’s largest industrial fair held every year. This year, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fair. In which country is the Hannover fair held?

a. Germany b. Canada c. USA d. Japan

3. Which of the following space agencies designed the bed rest research to study the effect of prolonged exposure to micro-gravity on astronauts?

a. ISRO b. NASA c. ESA d. SpaceX 4. Which of the following countries

has topped the World Bank list on global remittances, accounting for as much as 12 per cent of global remittances?

a. India b. Russia c. Philippines d. China

5. Which of the following is India’s first solar powered sporting venue?

a. Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

b. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi

c. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

d. Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmadabad

6. Name the Nobel laureate who passed away recently, who was known for works like Peeling The Onion, The Tin Drum, etc.

a. Bernard Schlink b. Hermann Hesse c. Gerhard Richter d. Günter Grass

7. US President has chosen which of the following business leaders for the “Champions of Change” award for incorporating a support structure for working families of his company?

a. Ratan Tata b. Satya Nadella c. Azim Premji d. Anand Mahindra

8. Who among the following has won Time Magazine’s Reader’s Poll for 2015?

a. Vladimir Putin b. Narendra Modi c. Lady Gaga d. Rihanna

9. Purely from the point of view of the number of subscribers, which of the following companies is the top telecom operator in the world?

a. Vodafone b. AT&T c. China Mobile d. Verizon

10. Which of the following cricketers has been named the Leading Cricketer in the world by the 2015 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack?

a. Virat Kohli b. Kumara Sangakkara

c. A.B. de Villiers d. Chris Gayle

11. The Indian Union Cabinet has approved lowering of the age of juveniles from 18 to which of the following for heinous crimes?

a. 15 b. 14 c. 17 d. 16

12. Online restaurant guide Zomato has recently acquired a US-based online table reservation platform, its ninth acquisition in the past nine months. Name this firm.

a. NexTable b. YourTable c. BookYourTable d. TableReserve

13. India has signed an agreement with France to buy 36 of which of the following aircraft?

a. Rafale b. Jupiter-I c. Mig-19 d. Renovu-II

14. Ramman is a religious festival in which of the following Indian states?

a. Kochi b. Uttarakhand c. Jammu & Kashmir d. Madhya Pradesh

15. Director Bidyut Chakraborty, whose films include Anurag, Dwar and Rag Birag, which was his first film and which earned him a National Award, passed away recently. He was a film director in which language?

a. Bengali b. Odiya c. Assamese d. Marathi

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16. Japan’s magnetic levitation (Maglev) train recently crossed a new world record in speed in a test run near Mount Fuji. What speed did the train clock?

a. 581 kmph b. 565 kmph c. 603 kmph d. 620 kmph

17. Which of the following banks launched India’s first contactless debit and credit cards that use near field communication (NFC) technology, by which payments can be made just by waving the card near merchant terminals instead of swiping?

a. HDFC Bank b. ICICI Bank c. Bank of Baroda d. Axis Bank

18. Apurvi Chandela, who has qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is associated with which of the following sports?

a. Tennis b. Badminton c. Boxing d. Shooting

19. Which of the following bodies publishes the annual Global Networked Readiness Index, which measures how countries exploit the opportunities offered by information and communication technology?

a. World Economic Forum b. Word Trade Organisation c. International Monetary

Fund d. International Information

and Communication Technology Group

20. According to the World Bank, what is the upper limit of gross national income per capita for low income economies?

a. US$1,350 b. US$1,548 c. US$950 d. US$1,045

21. According to a United Nations report, India was the 5th largest generator of e-waste in 2014. Which of the following countries generated the maximum amount of e-waste?

a. China b. Germany c. US d. Japan

22. The Torah is the holy book of which of the following faiths?

a. Judaism b. Jew c. Islam d. Protestantism

23. Who among the following was recently unanimously elected the general secretary of CPI(M)?

a. Prakash Karat b. Biman Bose c. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya d. Sitaram Yechury

24. Meenakshi Madan Rai recently became the first woman to be appointed judge at which of the following high courts?

a. Sikkim high court b. Arunachal Pradesh c. Mizoram d. Nagaland

25. Which of the following countries won the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah hockey cup?

a. India b. New Zealand c. Australia d. Malaysia

26. The Indian government recently launched the National Air Quality Index for real time monitoring of the quality of air in major urban centres and enhancing public awareness. How many pollutants are measured under this index?

a. Eight b. Fifteen c. Thirteen d. Four

27. Which of the following cities has been declared the National Earth Hour Capital?

a. Mumbai b. Hyderabad c. Thane d. Jamshedpur

28. Who among the following has been appointed the new Chief Election Commissioner of India?

a. Sayed Nazim b. Nasir Hussain c. H.S. Brahma d. Nasim Zaidi

29. Which of the following agencies regulates mutual funds in India?

a. RBI b. SEBI c. Finance Ministry d. National Trade Forum

30. Which of the following is the world’s largest urban area in terms of both size and population?

a. Mumbai b. Beijing c. Pearl River Delta d. Tokyo

31. Which of the following bodies recently launched the Group of Friends Against Terrorism?

a. SAARC b. BRICS c. European Union d. United Nations

32. Azadpur Mandi is Asia’s largest wholesale market for fruits and vegetables. In which of the following cities is it located?

a. Delhi b. Dubai c. Faridabad d. Karachi

33. The South Western African People Organisation (SWAPO) is a major political party of which of the following countries?

a. Kenya b. Cuba c. Namibia d. Angola

34. Which of the following countries awarded the highest number of death sentences to convicts in 2014?

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38 How to PlayFill in the grid so that every horizontal row, every vertical column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1-9, without repeating the numbers in the same row, column or box. You can’t change the digits already given in the grid. Every puzzle has one solution.Hint: Don’t fill in numbers at random. While filling a particular square, write numbers 1-9 on a pad and start eliminating those numbers that already appear in the same row, column or 3x3 box.

SuDoKu

For more similar puzzles, visit:www.sudoku.com

ANSWERS

GLOBESCAN

1. b 2. a 3. b 4. a 5. c 6. d

7. b 8. a 9. c 10. b 11. d 12.a

13. a 14. b 15. c 16. c 17. b 18. d

19. a 20.d 21. c 22. b 23. d 24. a

25. b 26. a 27. c 28.d 29. b 30. c

31.d 32. a 33. c 34. d 35. a 36. a

37. c 38. d 39. c 40. a

WORD DOSE1. j 2. c 3. l 4. a 5. i

6. m 7. b 8. h 9. d 10. g

11. e 12. n 13. f 14.k

a. Iraq b. Saudi Arabia c. Egypt d. Nigeria

35. The Queensbury rules are associated with which of the following sports?

a. Boxing b. Badminton c. Polo d. Squash

36. When is the International Day of Forests celebrated?

a. March 21 b. March 22 c. March 23 d. March 24

37. India’s first International Financial Service Centre was recently commissioned, which will now allow Indian to compete against global financial hubs like Singapore and Dubai to attract foreign investors. Where is this IFSC located?

a. Mumbai b. Delhi c. Ahmedabad d. Baroda

38. According to the Reserve Bank of India, which of the following banks has the highest number of non-performing assets among PSU banks?

a. State Bank of India b. Bank of Maharashtra c. Bank of Baroda d. Central Bank of India

39. Which of the following countries ranks the highest in the world in the 2015 FM Global Business Resilience Index?

a. Switzerland b. Saudi Arabia c. Norway d. Netherlands

40. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the “Give It Up” campaign, urging citizens

to voluntary give up which of the following?

a. LPG subsidy

b. Tobacco productsc. Plastic bag used. Diesel

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