KQA Bizkashi Business Quiz 2014 finals

Bizkashi 2014 Finals09-MAR-2014

KQA’s Annual Business Quiz by KARTHIK SHASHIDHAR and VENKATESH SRINIVASAN

Ticker Tape ParadeWRIT TEN ROUND

10 POINTS EACH

BONUS 10 FOR GET TING ALL 6 R IGHT

1. Which Indian company?

Satyam Computers

2. This chart shows how many of this country’s currency buys one Euro.

Which country’s currency?

Ukrainian hryvnia

3. Which company, which has a NYSE ticker of BKS?

Barnes and Noble

4. Ticker of the main stock index of a particular country from the late 2000s. Which country?

Pakistan. Downward stock price movement was banned during the 2008 crisis

5. Movement of which currency against the US Dollar? (Note Y axis is logarithmic)

Zimbabwean Dollar

6. Stock price movements of three companies suspected to have been responsible for a certain disaster. Eventually, MTI was found responsible, showing the stock markets were right. This incident is used as an illustration of The Wisdom of Crowdsin the book of the same name by James Surowiecki. Which disaster, and which company is MTI?

Challenger disaster, Morton Thiokol

Clockwise18 QUESTIONS

+10 ON INFINITE BOUNCE, NO NEGATIVES

+10 ON POUNCE, NO NEGATIVES

3 STRIKES AND NO MORE POUNCES (ACROSS THE CLOCK AND ANTI -CLOCK ROUNDS)

1.

Bolivar was rejected because he was “irrelevant in Brazil, Mexico and the Southern Cone, and because his political legacy was a conservative one”. Humboldt was German, and was known for several other things. Miranda was rejected because “to English ears is simply a girl’s name”. Bochini the Independiente midfielder was considered, but rejected since it would be insulting to Brazil. Macondo, where Marquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is set, was rejected since it would be a folk-lorish caricature. The one that came closest, but got rejected was (Joachim) Nabuco, a Brazilian politician who abolished slavery in Brazil. Also considered was maracuja or the Brazilian Passion fruit. All these were rejected, however.

Who was finally selected, and what are we talking about?

Answer

BelloThe Economist’s column on South America

2.

Writing in Econlib: The Library of Economics and Liberty, David Henderson says that the so-called XYs are neither Xsnor Ys. They are not Xs, he says, because “they got money the old-fashioned way – they earned it”. They are not Ys, he says, because “…Y is a title of nobility, one granted by a king…” and the XYs “… started their business from scratch and received no special privileges. Henderson, in fact, credits these XYs for being responsible for breaking monopolies and thus helping consumers.

What is XY?

Answer

Robber Barons

3.

Like other Abrahamic religions, Judaism forbids usury, and consequently all lending. Despite this, in the Jews became moneylenders in Medieval Europe.

How did they get into this business despite their religion forbidding the practice?

Answer

The rule is “thou shalt not lend to thy brother”, implying a Jew cannot lend to a fellow Jew. Nothing prevented them from lending to the Christians (who were not their “brothers”), though, so they exploited their minority status to become moneylenders

4. In Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson credit the growth of this European city to this form of a Joint Stock Company called a “commenda”. A commenda was set up for the purpose of just one “mission”, and had two partners. The sedentary partner stayed in the city, while the traveling partner traveled. Most of the money would be put in by the sedentary partner, while the traveling partner’s job was risky.

This system allowed young men without hereditary money to get into the business by joining a commenda as a traveling partner. Usually, the sedentary partner contributed 100% of the capital, and received 75% of the profits from the mission.

In 1310, however, commenda was banned by the Great Council that governed the city, and Acemoglu and Robinson argue this led to the subsequent downfall of the city.

Which European city?

Answer

Venice

5. The driving force behind this kind of financial transaction was an instrument known as “Highly confident letter” which was “invented” by Michael Milken and his team at Drexel BurhnamLambert. Drexel would simply write a letter saying that they were “highly” confident that one of the parties to the transaction would be able to raise debt in time to fulfil the transaction.

Despite such letters having no legal status, the reputation of bankers such as Milken meant that they could get the transaction done.

Interestingly, such transactions have become legal in India for the first time since January 2014, though they are permitted only when one of the companies involved belongs to a particular category.

What transaction am I talking about, and what kind of companies is this transaction limited to in India?

Answer

Leveraged Buy Out (LBO)Distressed companies

6.

In the 1990s and earlier, the Indian film industry usually depended upon informal (and usually shady) means of financing their films.

What rule change did Sushma Swaraj, the Information and Broadcasting Minister in the NDA government, bring about in 2000, which allowed films to get rid of their dependence on informal and shady sources of capital?

It can be argued that this single rule change was responsible for the corporatization and professionalization of Indian cinema.

Answer

Cinema was granted “Industry” status.

Prior to 2000, the film “industry” was not considered to be “industry” and was starved of bank finance, leading to a reliance on informal sources of funding.

7. This sports goods store in Wigan, originally started in the early 1900s, was bought by a former footballer in 1971. This footballer turned the store into a nationwide chain with over 120 stores, and the firm went public in 1994. In 2007, the footballer sold his remaining stake in the store chain, and soon after, the store went into steep decline. There was an attempt at restructuring in 2011, but the firm fell into administration in 2012, and the brand was purchased by a rival sports goods firm.

Football fans could describe this last transaction as “one Premier League stadium buying another”.

Name both the original sports goods chain and the sports goods chain that acquired it.

Answer

JJB (JJ Bradburns)

Sports Direct

8. This Bundesliga team and this IPL team have collaborated this year thanks to a German corporation. The now Bundesliga club was playing in the amateur leagues in Germany when Dietmar Hopp, one of the co-founders of the corporation, invested in the club in 2000. The same year, the club was promoted to the German fourth division. The club continued its rapid rise through the echelons of German football in the 2000s, getting promoted to the Bundesliga in 2008, where the club has stayed ever since.

The corporation got involved with an IPL team ahead of the 2014 auctions. The corporation believed that getting involved in the auctions was a good way to showcase its big data platform. Why the IPL auctions would need “big data” expertise was lost on analysts, though, since the total number of balls bowled in international and top-level T20 competitions is of the order of 3 million!

Name the Bundesliga club, the corporation and the IPL team. No part points.

Answer

9. Based in Narimogeru in Puttur taluk of Mangalore District, this brand claims to be the third highest selling cola brand in South India. Satish Shankar of the Shankar Group, which produces this drink, once tested the water from a stream that runs through his land and found that it was pure enough to be sold as bottled water, and he started off with a bottled water business. It was after a trip to North India that he got an idea to start making what is currently his best-selling product.

The company doesn’t advertise, and relies on word-of-mouth. The product is sold exclusively in plastic bottles, unlike other local cola manufacturers who prefer glass bottles.

Which “cola” brand?

Answer

10. Following the emergence and popularity of this parody twitter account, this organization reportedly put out a memo to its employees banning conversation in a particular area of the office.

Recently the owner of the parody account outed himself, and it was found that he had never worked for this organization. Following this revelation, the organization withdrew the ban on conversation in this particular area of the office.

Some of the tweets from this parody account:

My garbage disposal eats better than 98% of the world

The lottery is just a way of taxing poor people who don't know math

Which organization, and conversation was reportedly banned in what part of its office?

Answer

11. Started in 1947, this organization lost a “landmark” to a sportsperson in 2000. Which organization is this, and which sportsperson did it lose a “landmark” to?

Answer

Oriental Junction became Anil Kumble circle

12. If you go to the “sponsorships” page of the website of this Indian company, this is what you will find.

Which Indian company?

Answer

Tata Consultancy Services

13. Famous telephone conversation. Identify both voices.

Answer

Raj Rajaratnam and Rajat Gupta

14. This organization was set up in 1966 to help sell products produced by state government organizations.

• 1967-89 sold soaps.

• 1969-2007, sold lottery tickets

• In the 1970s, distributed imported cement and exported rice

• In the 1980s, started manufacturing and selling notebooks.

• 1989-2003, distributed liquor

• In 2005, started a chit fund

• In 2013, they announced a plan to get into liquor retailing.

Which multi-faceted organization?

Answer

MSIL

15.

Newspaper report from the 1970s (Ottawa Citizen).

Which two names have been blanked out?

Answer

FA Hayek and Gunnar Myrdal

16.

In June 2013, this Indian industry body launched a unique Rs. 500 Crore venture capital fund. What is unique about this fund is that only entrepreneurs from a certain section of the Indian population is eligible for these funds.

The industry body now has over 3000 members, who are all (rupee) millionaires. The organization has the motto, “Be job givers, instead of job seekers” (sic).

Which Indian Industry trade body, which has local chapters in each state, and which was founded by Milind Kamble and Chandra Bhan Prasad, and what is unique about its venture capital fund?

Answer

17. Everton Football Club’s flagship store, through which it sells club merchandise, has the nonsensical sounding name “Everton Two”. Why this unusual name?

Answer

It is situated in a mall named “Liverpool One”. So the address of the store is “Everton Two, Liverpool One”.

18.

A mechanical engineer from IIT Madras, D Nazareth worked in the software industry in the United States before returning to India in 2000 to set up this venture. His was the first company to set up a “micro-distillery” in India.

The company has “back-end” facilities in Chittoor District in Andhra Pradesh and “front-end” facilities in Goa, and has only 20 employees. The product is sold in bottles designed by ReboniSaha.

The product, in terms of specifications, is similar to a well-known product of Mexico, but Nazareth cannot use that name to describe his product since the Mexican product is protected by GI. Instead, this product is named after a raw material.

In 2013, they introduced a new product called “Pure Cane”.

Which brand?

Answer

Desmondji, Agave Spirits

Anti-Clockwise+10 ON INFINITE BOUNCE, NO NEGATIVES

+10 ON POUNCE, NO NEGATIVES

3 STRIKES AND NO MORE POUNCES (ACROSS THE CLOCK AND ANTI -CLOCK ROUNDS)

1. Connect and complete this exhaustive list, with a biblically-referenced name

Answer

Books by Malcolm GladwellDavid and Goliath

2. What important entity in India, that is under controversy due to a government ruling, is jointly owned by these two companies? What entity (sharing an abbreviation with an Indian nuclear research facility) is proposed as a replacement on October 1 this year?

Answer

TAM Media ResearchBroadcasters Audience Research Council (BARC)

3. The font used in the film accommodates the film’s theme – a young country girl-turned-socialite trying to figure her way through the bustling life in the metro – because of the sense of class it exudes. _______’s typeface is an interesting variation of the Bodoni typeface. This typeface has been around since the 18th century and was made by Giambattista Bodoni.

It’s also interesting that _______ (the company) also uses a modified version of the Bodoni type, and must be the inspiration for the movie’s typeface; the only difference is that the company uses a combination of uppercase and small capitalization in their branding.

Which movie and company?

Answer

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Tiffany & Co.

4. Identify a city and a company, and connect

Odysseyus’ delayed return to this island is one of the centre points of the Odyssey by Homer. Today, it is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 45 square miles and a little more than 3000 inhabitants. A city in the US is named after it and has among other things, the North American seat of the current Dalai Lama.

Answer

Ithaca

SC Johnson

Cornell’s University’s graduate business school is called the SC Johnson School of Business, and is located in Ithaca

5.

• Connemara• Savoy• West End

These are three heritage hotels that were part of the X business group, which has been in India since 1863; the management of the hotels was leased out to the Y business group.In 1989, when Z (in the picture) acquired the X business group, he did not want to take over the hotels business that he knew nothing about, so the hotels continue to be run with the same arrangement. Name X, Y and Z

Answer

Spencers

Tata

RP Goenka

6.

The name of this brand is a Greek word and the scientific term _______ derived from it means beetle. The reason why is is named is probably because it has the ability to inhabit all kinds of terrestrial and water environments, the right kind of features a product like this should have. It is manufactured by the JV company whose logo you see here.

Name the brand and the company

Answer

Koleos

Renault Samsung Motors

7.

Chief Ion, Chief Noisy Ion, Chief Tech Ion, Chief Engineering Ion and Chief Product Ion – the designations of five founders of a Bangalore-based company, who all met during their stints at Rational Software/IBM. They based their key product on five things about apps that irritate most mobile users:Drain batteryEat up dataDisc SpaceSlow ResponseHanging handsetsWhich company, and why is it in the news?

Answer

Little Eye Labs

Acquired by Facebook

8.

Launched in Mumbai in 2010 by MJ Akbar, this newspaper is now published from Delhi and Chandigarh as well. It is possibly one of the few of its kind from India, and is also available in London as “India on _______”.

Now owned by the INX Network, name this newspaper and it’s London publication

Answer

The Sunday Guardian

India on Sunday

9.

This prestigious design award is presented annually at a design museum with the same name, which is located in the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site structure in Germany. They now have a museum and award in Singapore as well. The awards are in the categories of Product design / communication design and design concepts. Name the award.

Answer

Red Dot Design Award

10. A major tourist attraction in New York, which store will you find this in? Which major brand now operates this store?

Answer

FAO Schwarz; Toys R Us

Different StrokesALL WRITTEN

+15/10/5 DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF TEAMS WHO GET IT

1. Who?

Answer

Michelle Wie

2. Who?

Answer

Ariana Huffington

3. Identify the two states blanked out

Answer

Madhya PradeshHaryana

4. Authors of a best selling “business and life management” book, PC Balasubramaniam and Raja Krishnamoorthy, seen here with the subject of their book. Identify the subject or the title of the book.

Answer

RajinikanthPunchtantra

5. Identify the lady or the Indian institution she heads

Answer

Chitra RamakrishnaNational Stock Exchange

6. Brett Wilson is an entrepreneur, who is famous for being a panelist on a Canadian reality show -based on an internationally franchised format in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hopes of securing business financing. Name the show –alternatively name the NHL sports team that Brett Wilson owns

Answer

Dragon’s DenNashville Predators

7. Fill in the blank

Answer

Marwari

8. Fill in the blank with a family name

Answer

Wadia

Final CountdownLAST 8 QUESTIONS

ANTI CLOCKWISE

11.

When this movie was released in 2004, a certain red wine grew in sales all over America, because the lead character in the movie refuses to drink Merlot.

This wine, one of the noblest wine grapes, is difficult to grow and goes very well with chicken, lamb and Japanese dishes.

What red wine, that means ‘Black Pine’? Also, name the film

Answer

SidewaysPinot Noir

12. It is defined as a form of barter that involves a company selling an unused asset to another company, while at the same time agreeing to buy back the same or similar assets at about the same price. This is often used as a technique for tax evasion and/or money laundering.

It is also used to refer to the practice of individual investors buying and selling the same security in the same trading day, thereby artificially inflating trading volumes.

What two-word term, that travel agents/planners will be more familiar with?

Answer

Round Trip

13. Titan Aerospace is a company that produces solar-powered drones. These aircraft can travel in around the globe, relying on the sun for power to stay aloft for years at a time.

The company has been in the news this week (early March 2014), due to reports that company X is looking to acquire it.

Which company is looking to acquire Titan Aerospace and why? (no half points)

Answer

FacebookBroadband Internet for developing countries

14. This London building is the home of the Goldsmiths’ Company, an enterprise created to regulate the trade of goldsmiths in England.

Since 1300, this firm has been responsible for testing the quality of gold and silver articles – and, since 1975, platinum, and, since 2010, palladium where goldsmiths would officially attach a ____ - a distinctive characteristic -to certify that the material was tested and verified to be true.

Based on this activity, what was the name of the building, that is also the name of an unrelated brand in India associated with celebratory occasions/gifting?

Answer

Hallmark

The Goldsmiths used to attach a mark on the material to indicate it was officially tested; i.e. the mark of Goldsmith’s Hall

15. Which company’s webpage is this from? What is their brand of packaged water called?

Our legacy began over two decades ago. With the sole purpose of providing India with juicy and zestful thirst quenchers. Over the years, our ambitions grew. And with that, our family. Well, we love to boast about it. So please excuse us. We are one of the biggest companies in our sector with an annual turnover

of Rs.10 billion that is expected to touch Rs.30 billion. And we’re growing at a pace that surprises many, sometimes even ourselves. Today, every member of our family contributes towards our mission of ‘Refreshing India’ by seeping through to millions of hearts with a gush of fun.

Answer

Parle Agro

Bailey

16.

Bausch and Lomb sold off the luxury brand Ray Ban to Luxottica in what was viewed by both competitors and analysts in the space as a commitment to the eye care segment.

In 2010, what did the firm do to reaffirm their commitment to the eye care segment?

Answer

Added the medical symbol + to the logo

17.

• Gateway Luxury Apartments

• Andromeda Premium Apartments

• Altair Furnished Apartments

• Orion Mall & Multiplex

• Galaxy Club

• ___________Hotel

• The Brigade School

• ______________ Hospital

• World Trade Centre

Fill in the blanks and give the location

Answer

Sheraton

Columbia Asia

All co-located in the Brigade Gateway Enclave in Malleswaram, Bangalore

18. This company traces its roots back to the village of the same name near Mysore, from where the founder _______ Nagappa hailed.

They created the royal insignia for the Maharaja of Mysore, and adopted the same for their logo.

In the business since 1889, their flagship store today is on Infantry Road.

Which brand?

What is this insignia?

Answer

Ganjam Jewellers

Ganda Berunda

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