Pre SessionAssignment 2013 15batch

8/11/2019 Pre SessionAssignment 2013 15batch

1/26

Corporate Relations and Placement

Faculty of Management Studies

University of Delhi

PRE-SESSION ASSIGNMENT

2013


2/26

Page 2of26

INSTRUCTIONS

1. The assignment is compulsory for all the students of the Batch of 2015.

2. All the questions (including all sub parts) have to be compulsorily attempted.

3. Deadline for Submission of the soft copy: Sunday, July 7th, by 23:59:59 hrs.

4. The assignment should be mailed to [email protected]

5. Deadline for hard copy spiral bound submission: Monday, July 15th, by 16:59:59

hrs.

6. Subject line and attached document must strictly be named as

Pre_Session_FirstName_LastName

7. The document must be submitted in the following format:

- Font: Times New Roman (Font Size 12 with 1.5 line spacing) except for headings

- It must have the FMS logo on the cover page.

- It must have an index page.

- Each page must have a suitable border, the FMS logo in the header and page

numbers in the footer.

- Final document should be submitted in a PDF format.

- You are not allowed to deviate more than +10% from the specified word limit.

8. All the sources referred to need to be mentioned at the end of the answer (asReferences).

9. Cut-and-paste answers would be summarily rejected and treated as incomplete. In case

plagiarism is found, the whole of the assignment submission may be scrapped.

10. Non-adherence of any of the above instructions will lead to rejection of the submitted

assignment.

11. The answers would be evaluated on the basis of:

- Content & Relevance

- Flow and clarity of thoughts

- Presentation

- Precision

12. The students are expected to read on their own in greater detail as required to

understand the concept and apply them appropriately to complete the deliverables

mentioned.

13. In case of any doubt, use your best judgment and mention it along-with your answer.

14. Performance in this assignment will have a direct bearing on your summers

placement.


3/26

Page 3of26

PART A - FINANCE

There are three basic financial statements which are used to evaluate a companys financial

position:

- Balance Sheet

- Profit & Loss Statement (P&L)

- Cash Flow Statements

For our present discussion, we will be concentrating on the first two topics only.

Balance Sheet: A company normally obtains the resources it uses to operate its business by

incurring debt, obtaining new investors, or through operating earnings. The Balance Sheet

presents the financial position of a company at a given point in time. It is comprised of three

parts:

Assets - economic resources of a company and include cash, inventory, and equipment etc

Liabilities - debts and other borrowings of the company

Equity (or Net Worth) - assets that the company owns less the debts they owe to creditors

Profit & Loss Statement: P & L Statement presents the results of the operations of the

company over a specified period of time (e.g. one year, one quarter, one month) and includes:

Revenues - source of income that normally arises from the sale of goods or services over the

period

Expenses - costs incurred to generate the revenues earned during the above period of time

Net income - revenue less its expenses

To complete a thorough examination of a company's financial statements, we need to look at

the relationship between the different elements of the balance sheet and P&L statement (known

as financial ratios).

Financial ratios are broadly classified into 3 categories:

a. Liquidity Ratios - Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, Cash Ratio

b. Solvency Ratios - Debt to Equity Ratio, Financial Leverage, Interest Coverage Ratio

c. Profitability Ratios - Return on Equity, Return on Capital Invested, Asset Turnover, Net

Profit Margin, Operating Profit Margin


4/26


5/26

Page 5of26

TIME VALUE OF MONEY

It simply means that the value of a Rupee held today is not equal to the value of a Rupee in the

future. We can compare the value of a Rupee by its purchasing power.

So if Rs 100 can buy 10 apples today, the same amount will, with high probability, not be ableto buy 10 apples a year later. In fact the value deteriorates over time and this is why banks are

willing to give you interest for parking your money with them.

By the concept of compounding, we can find the future value t years later of an amount A

today, given the annual rate of interest ras

The counter concept is that of discounting- given an amount FV that we shall receive t

years from now, we can find the equivalent present value of it as

Cash Flows- It is simply an exchange of cash for a project or organization or financial

product. It can be either money coming in (cash inflow) or going out (cash outflow). Usually a

cash flow coming attimetis denoted by CF (t).

So, to calculate the PV of a cash flow series, we shall need to do the following:

Bond is a borrowing agreement through which the borrower (or seller of a bond) issues a

document to the investor (or buyer of the bond). The arrangement obligates the borrower to

make specified payments to the bondholder on agreed-upon dates. The time duration of the

agreement is called the bond maturity period. Like stocks, bonds are also traded on bond

markets. The bond prices are decided by the economic forces of supply and demand.

Par value/ face value of a bond: This is the amount the bond issuer will pay back at the end of

the bond maturity period.

Coupon payments: The periodic payments that the bond issuer makes to the bondholder.

These are always calculated as percentages of the par value.

Illustration- Let us suppose we have Rs 100 par value bond with 10% coupon rate and 10

years to maturity. This bond will pay 9 payments of Rs 10 in the next 9 years and a payment of

Rs 110 in the terminal year.


6/26

Page 6of26

Bond price: The price the bondholder (i.e. the lender) pays the bond issuer (i.e. the borrower)

to hold the bond (to have a claim on the cash flows documented on the bond). It is the same as

present value of the bonds future cash flows discounted at the market interest rates.

Q.2

a) A bond has a par value of Rs.5000 and a coupon rate of 8.5% payable semi-annually. What is

the rupee amount of the semi-annual coupon payment?

b) Compute the value of a 10 year, Rs.100 face value zero coupon bond with a yield to maturity of

8%.

c) Read about the Greek crisis, and briefly summarise why the increasing bond yields led to the

downgrade of PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain) and how the present situation is working out in

the Indian fixed income market. (300-500 words)


7/26

Page 7of26

CAPITAL BUDGETING

Capital budgeting is the process of identifying and evaluating capital projects which include

decisions about buying a new machine, expanding business in another geographic area, setting

up a factory etc.

Independent vs mutually exclusive projects

Independent projects are unrelated to each other and allow for each project to be evaluated

based on its own profitability.

Mutually exclusive projects : only one project in a set of possible projects can be accepted and

the projects compete with each other.

Techniques used in Capital budgeting:

Some of the prominent techniques used are:

a) NPV-Net Present Value

NPV refers to the present value of the cash outflows/inflows for a given project over a

discrete period of time. Discount rate/Cost of capital is used to discount the cash flows back

to the present value.

A positive NPV is expected to increase shareholder wealth while a negative NPV is expected

to decrease it.

For independent projects, projects with positive NPV shall be accepted.

b) IRR-Internal Rate of Return

IRR refers to the discount rate that makes the present value of the expected incremental after

tax cash inflows just equal to the initial cost of the project.

Projects shall be accepted when IRR>discount rate.

c) PI-Profitability index

PI is the present value of a project`s future cash flows divided by the initial cash outlay.

Projects shall be accepted when PI> 1.


8/26

Page 8of26

Q.3

Expected Net after tax cash flows

Year Project X Project Y

0 -2000 -2000

1 1000 200

2 800 600

3 600 800

4 200 1200

Note: negative sign denotes cash outflow

Calculate the NPV, IRR and PI for the two projects and determine which of these shall be

selected when

a) X and Y are independent

b) X and Y are mutually exclusive

WACC or Weighted average cost of capital

It is calculated using weights based on the market values of each component of a firm`s capitalstructure and is used as a discount rate in capital budgeting.

After tax Cost of debt= cost of debt *(1-firm`s marginal tax rate)

Cost of equity is calculated in a no. of ways, but most popular way used is CAPM (Capital

Asset Pricing Model).

CAPM= Risk free rate + Beta (Expected value of market return - Risk free rate)

Q.4

a) Company A is planning a 50 million INR expansion. The expansion is to be financed by selling

20 mn INR in new debt and 30 mn INR in new common stock. The before tax required return on

debt is 9% and 14% for equity. Calculate the company`s marginal cost of capital if the firm is in

the 40% tax bracket.

b) Is financing by debt always cheaper? Mention instances where equity can be cheaper than debt.


9/26

Page 9of26

ECONOMICS

TheBSE Sensex fell 1.12 percent, or 213.97 points, to end at 18,827.16.The Nifty fell 1.06

percent, or 61.10 points, to end at 5,699.10, closing above the psychologically important 5,700

level. The headline inflation probably held near the RBI's comfort level of 5 percent last month,giving it room to ease policy, as commodity, food and fuel costs remained moderate, a Reuters

poll found. A tumbling rupee and pressure on the current account deficit are also likely to

prevent the central bank from lowering policy rates on Monday despite softening inflation and

decade-low economic growth, a Reuters poll showed.

Source: Reuters

Q.5

a) What is the difference between inflation and deflation? What are the different indices used to

measure inflation in India? Which regulatory bodies control inflation in India and what are the

different tools used to control it? (300-500 words)

b) What is a stock exchange? What do you understand by primary markets and secondary

markets? Who is the regulator of capital markets in India? (300-500 words)

MUMBAI: The rupee witnessed a free fall for the second straight day on Tuesday and hit a

record low of 58.98, declining nearly 3 per cent this week. This is the 6th straight week of fall

for the Indian unit.

Source: Economic Times

c) What is the effect of this fall on the key Indian Economic indicators? What can be done to stop

the fall of Indian Rupee? How do currency fluctuations affect the balance sheet of a company with

some of its revenues coming from abroad? (400-600 words)


10/26

Page 10of26

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING

Managers have the ability to choose levels of fixed and variable costs in their structures.

Fixed costs

These remain unchanged in total for a given time period, despite wide changes in the relatedlevel of total activity or volume.

Variable Costs

These costs change (in total) in proportion to changes in the related level of total activity or

volume.

Cost-Volume-Profit analysis

It measures how operating income changes with changes in output level, selling prices,

variable costs or fixed costs.

Contribution margin

It indicates how much of a company`s revenues are available to cover fixed costs.

Breakeven point

It is the quantity of output sold at which total revenues equal total costs and thus tells how

much output must be sold to avoid a loss.

Q.6

Company Z has three product lines of belts: A, B and C with contribution margins of 15, 10 and 5

Rs respectively. The president foresees sales of 1, 00,000 units in the coming period, consisting of

10,000 units of A, 50,000 units of Y and 40,000 units of Z. The company`s fixed costs for the

period are Rs. 5, 10,000.

a) What is the company`s breakeven point in units, assuming that the given sales mix is

maintained?

b) If the sales mix is maintained, what is the total contribution when 1, 00,000 units are sold?

What is the operating income?

c) What would operating income be if 10,000 units of A, 40,000 units of B and 50,000 units of

C are sold? What is the new breakeven point if these relationships persist in the next

period?


11/26

Page 11of26

PART B - CONSULTING & STRATEGY

Q.1

A Delhi based taxi driver is worried about the increasing financial burden of his family uponhimself. He is the sole breadwinner for his family. With increasing inflation and ever growing food

& education costs, he is now desperate to bring a revamp to his revenues and profits.

He himself is the owner of the taxi and operates the taxi only during the day time. His day starts at

the railway station and he works for 10 -12 hours daily. Assume the cost heads to be the same

which any normal taxi driver would incur.

The taxi driver has a spot at the railway station which is considered profitable, but he often

returns to the station empty due to a lack of people travelling towards the station. The trains

plying to and fro from the railway station bring the passengers all day long though.

Competition is also brewing up from the new CNG based taxis entering the system. They are more

cost effective operationally and are environment friendly. Switching the taxi equipment from

diesel to CNG requires high one time investment. The Delhi government is promoting this switch

to CNG by subsidizing the funds dispersal for this through public sector banks and other financial

institutions.

Suggest at least 5 ways for the taxi driver to solve his problem & to increase his revenues &

profits. You can make appropriate assumptions, but would have to state them clearly with each

suggested solution.

In the end, come up with ONE radical solution to increase his income.

Helping Aid:

Moot upon the case, and follow a structured way of thinking about the problem

Frame the exact case problem statement first, and treat it as a root to build the rest of casestructure

Dont make out of the world assumptions. Think practically about each solution from a

feasibility and implementation perspective


12/26

Page 12of26

PORTERS FIVE FORCES

The most influential analytical model for assessing the nature of competition in an industry is

Michael Porter's Five Forces Model.

According to Michael Porter, how well a company will do (i.e., how good its profit margins

and economic returns will be) in a particular industry depends on the following five factors:

Threats of new entrants:

How easy is it for firms to enter the industry? Do barriers to entry such as patents or high

switching costs exist that make it difficult or unattractive for new entrants to join the industry?

Threat of Substitutes:Do substitute products exist? Could they exist soon? This doesnt just refer to competing

products that serve the same function, but also products that consumers might buy in lieu of the

entire product class (i.e., people who buy mobile phone cameras instead of digital cameras).

Bargaining power of suppliers:

The strength or competitive advantages of the suppliers in the industry are there only a few

suppliers of a much-needed part? Does demand exceed supply at current price? Is it the case

that the strength of their business condition makes it difficult to negotiate a good price?

Bargaining power of buyers:

It is similar to the bargaining power of suppliers, but in this case, the power would rest with

the customers and how they could impact pricing strategies, etc.

Competition among existing firms:

Is competition in the industry rational (based strictly on rational business decisions) or are

there rivalries and/or personal issues that force CEOs to compete irrationally?

In general, an industry is attractive (more profitable) if barriers to entry exist to keep new

competition away, if there is little threat of substitutes, if the power of the suppliers and buyers

is weak, and if competition is rational within the industry.


13/26

Page 13of26

Q.2

a) Pick any two of the following industries and provide a Porters analysis for the same. Provide

at least three supporting points for each factor. [Max 500 words each sector]

a) FMCG

b) Banking

c) Telecommunications

d) Aviation

e) Pharmaceuticals

f) Information Technology

g) Retail

h) Oil & Gas

i) Media & Entertainmentj) Automotive

b) Provide a detailed sector analysis on one of the following sectors. Note that this sector must

not match with any of the 2 sectors selected for Porters five forces analysis.

a) FMCG

b) Banking

c) Telecommunications

d) Aviation

e) Pharmaceuticals

f) Information Technology

g) Retail

h) Oil & Gas

i) Media & Entertainment

j) Automotive

The overview must cover the following parameters:

- Size

- Historical Background in India [min 5 points]

- Trends [min 5 points]

- Latest News [min 5 points]

- Growth Drivers for the Sector [min 3 points]

- Critical Success Factors [min 3 points]

- Regulatory Frameworks [min 3 points]

- Mergers and Acquisitions in the sector [min 3 points]


14/26

Page 14of26

GUESSTIMATE

Q.3

Attempt the following questions. It is not necessary to arrive at the correct numerical answer.

However, the steps and logical assumptions you make to arrive at the answer are important.

(Make suitable assumptions and clearly state the assumptions)

a. Estimate the pool of people available for hiring to call centres during 2015-2020

b. Estimate the market value for Badminton Shuttlecock in India


15/26

Page 15of26

PART C - MARKETING

Q.1

The 4 Ps of marketing mix is an important business tool used by companies to define theirproduct/brands offering. Complete the following table:

Ps

Why should it be done? What is its importance

and what is the benefit derived from it? (100

words each)

Give unique examples from the

real world and give an

explanation (3 each)

Product

Price

Place

Promotion

Q.2

Pick any two of the following and answer the given questions:

1. ITC e-choupal

2. HUL Shakti

3. P&G Kamyab Jodi

a) Explain their model (250 words)

b) Explain the need behind such a scheme (150 words)

c) What are its advantages and disadvantages? (3 points each)


16/26

Page 16of26

MODERN TRADE & TRADITIONAL TRADE

A very simplistic definition would be that Traditional Trade comprises of all Kirana

/Confectionery Shops, Haats, and other Small Stores, while Modern Trade would comprise of

Supermarkets &Hypermarkets like Big Bazaar, Spencers etc. Companies (Fast Moving

Consumer Goods Companies or FMCGs like ITC, P&G etc.) typically employ different

strategies for both Modern & Traditional Trade.

Q.3

Visit the closest modern trade and traditional trade outlets and observe the difference between

the two. Answer the following questions based on your experience:

1. What are the different Stock keeping techniques used? What are the advantages of each?2. Are there any differences in the prices of the same goods in the two types of outlets?

a. What is the reason for this and how do you think the one with higher prices is

surviving in the market?

b. Name 3 such goods which had different prices

3. What goods did you find next to the billing counter in these outlets? What do you think is

the strategy behind keeping such goods in these places? What is the terminology used for

such goods?


17/26

Page 17of26

Q.4

Petsi, a leading manufacturer of beverages in the world is planning to launch a new product to

directly targetThumts Up, which is a Roca Rola brand. Thumts up has been doing really well in

the Indian market and has been the largest selling cola brand for the past few years.

Thumts up as a brand has positioned itself as a drink for the adventurous people, who are ready

to go an extra mile for their drink. It has used active promotions (both BTL and ATL) over the

years and has had stars like Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar as brand ambassadors.

On the basis of the information provided, help Petsi come up with the right product & launch a

new cola brand to directly compete with Thumts Up by doing an extensive market research

among the consumers. Come up with an original and an innovative idea. Use the following

information to arrive at your solution.

Primary Research

Design a questionnaire to check the feasibility, preferences and to collect more data. Go through

the Analysis and Strategy section below to design your questionnaire in a better manner.

Attach your sample questionnaire and summary of the responses collected in an excel sheet. Use

of Google Docs/similar online software is recommended for market research. (Minimum of 30

responses expected)

Guidelines for designing the questionnaire:

Your questionnaire should have a proper title, and should be accompanied by a short

summary to explain to the respondents, about your research, and what you intend to do

with the responses. It enhances trust and lends authenticity to the research.

Each question in the questionnaire should have some purpose of being asked, and must

add value to your research. Keep your research objective clearly in mind. Do not ask

questions irrelevant to the topic of your research

A good questionnaire employs a good mix of the following type of questions:

o Open Ended questions: Answering option is typically a text box where individual

enters data. To be used in cases where not much of quantitative analysis can be

done.

o Closed questions: Questions with pre-determined options are present, and direct the

respondent towards a coherent response.

o Measuring preference: A scale of 1-5 or 1-7 indicating a numerical scale.

o Dichotomous questions: Yes, No or Dont Know/Cant say options only.


18/26

Page 18of26

Analysis and Strategy

1. Segmentation:

Based on your understanding of Bases of Segmentation (Refer Link), arrive at a segmentation of

the entire younger age space. Identify at least 3 segments, and clearly mention them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_segmentation#Basis_for_segmenting_consumer_markets)

2. Targeting:

o Now that you have decided on the segments, you must check which segment is most

viable.

o Budget constraints allow you to choose only one of these segments.

o Choose a segment. Give 3 bullet points for the reason of this selection (Use the data from

your questionnaire and secondary data). You may also refer real time online data to

understand segments market size and growth rate, and look for lucrative segments.

3. Positioning:

o The key to any successful brand is to occupy a unique place in the mind of the consumer.

Example: Raymond stands for The Complete Man.

o

Think of a name for the product.o Give a tagline for the brand.

o Explain in 3 bullet points the reason for the name and tagline. Why did you decide to

position your brand in this way? Use data from questionnaire and think of the segment

you chose.

Objectives:

1. Product:

o Based on the data collected from your questionnaire, give bullet points highlighting the

characteristics of the product that would appeal most to the segment that you have

selected.

o These will include

i. Variants Also called as Line Extension. Look up, what is Line Extension and Brand

Extension, and suggest 1 Line Extension for your product.

ii. Packaging


19/26

Page 19of26

iii. Taste

iv. Benefits Specify your Product Attributes, Functional Benefits and Emotional Benefits.

Read up more on the concept of Brand Ladder, and arrive at a Brand Ladder for your

Brand.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2012/05/331_102413.html

2. Price:

o Choose a suitable price for the product that you have selected.

o Use data from questionnaire and current prevailing prices for similar products in the

market to reach a conclusion.

o Give 3 bullet points for the reason of selection of this price.

3. Place:

o Choose where you want to make your product available.

o Examples: Urban, Rural, Modern Trade, Metros only, etc.

o Make your own classification and give rationale in not more than 5-10 bullet points.

4. Promotion

o Choose different promotional strategies based on your positioning .

o Examples: Advertisements, Events, Posters etc.

o Make sure your promotional campaign is in line with your Positioning.

o Understand the difference between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL(Below The Line)

Promotional activities, and come up with at least 2 ATL and BTL Campaign ideas.

o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Below_the_line_(advertising)


20/26

Page 20of26

PART D - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & SYSTEMS

Q.1

Of late, a lot of buzz has been created around Big Data. In fact companies, across industries, areinvesting huge amount of money to leverage Big Data.

a. Detail your understanding of Big Data (300-400 words)

b. For what all purposes can Big Data be utilized for the below mentioned industries?

(minimum 4 uses per industry)

a. Retail

b. Banking

c. Insurance

d. Consumer Products

Q.2

Your company has entrusted you with the responsibility of establishing a system which will help

you to control the electronic appliances (laptop, projector etc) from your smart-phone (Android,

iOS). Detail how you would approach this project using any one of the SDLC models. You need to

mention the different activities which you would carry out at each stage of the SDLC model. (500-

600 words)


21/26

Page 21of26

CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared

pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and

services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or

service provider interaction.

Q.3

a) Our industry is going through quite a wave of innovation and it's being powered by a

phenomenon which is referred to as the cloud - Steve Ballmer CEOMicrosoft in 2010

Vs

The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion.

Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete

gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop? We'll make cloud computing

announcements. I'm not going to fight this thing. But I don't understand what we would do

differently in the light of cloud. - Larry Ellison CEO - Oracle Corporation in 2008

Which view point do you agree with and Why? Explain using examples advantages/

disadvantages of cloud computing? Why/why not may a company move to cloud? (600-800

words)

b) Detail your understanding of a world class implementation of cloud in the following sectors:

(300-500 words each)

1. Retail

2. Banking

3. Media

4. Information Technology


22/26

Page 22of26

PART E - OPERATIONS

Q.1

Everyone in the business world knows about the Mumbai Dabbawalas (MD). They have cultivated

an amazing network and a business idea that takes care of the livelihood of millions of people.

Their work has influenced entrepreneurs around the world, but if you think of it, are they as

perfect as it sounds in media?

So, now presume that an ecommerce company hires you as an operations expert during summers.

They are trying to get into the same business as Mumbai Dabbawalas. They want to start their

business from one city i.e. Gurgaon and later if opportunity exists, they will foray into other cities.

What is expected out of you is to provide them with detailed analysis of MDs supply chain and

value chain. The key deliverable is current state value stream mapping of MD business and the

wastes associated at each stage of value chain.

Note:

Following links will provide you a brief understanding about Value Stream Mapping and

Mumbai Dabbawala operations:

a) http://www.leaninstitute.in/value-stream-map

b) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_stream_mapping

c) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabbawala

d) http://www.slideshare.net/targetseo/mumbais-dabbawalas-amazing-management-

success-story-india

(This is not an exhaustive list and more research by the student might be required)

Q.2

What are the factors affecting supply chain network design in Retail Sector? Explain them briefly.

(300-500 words)


23/26

Page 23of26

Q.3

There is a consulting firm, which is doing operational excellence implementation for an

automobile client. Based on the requirements, the consulting firms have divided the job into 14

activities. Duration and Cost for all the activities were also estimated after discussions with

company management.

Sixty weeks after the start of the program, a review happened to find the status of the project. The

review committee gave the details regarding percentage of work completed for every activity at

end of 60 weeks and also gave the actual cost incurred for every activity.

Activity DurationPrecede

nce

Budgeted Cost

(Thousands Dollar)

% completion after

60 Weeks

Actual cost incurred till 60th

week (thousand dollars)

1 5 0 150 100% 185

2 7 1 175 100% 164

3 18 2 123 100% 140

4 13 3 87 100% 100

5 9 3 200 100% 160

6 12 5 75 100% 72

7 12 4 254 100% 240

8 18 5,7 63 20% 35

9 15 3 72 60% 50

10 14 6,9 101 0% 0

11 9 10 77 0% 0

12 10 10 99 0% 0

13 5 8 101 0% 0

14 11 11,12 100 0% 0


24/26

Page 24of26

The project managers from the company want to infer the data and want to know about the state

of the project.

Questions:

a) Draw the network diagram for the project.

b) What is schedule variance in percentage for the project?

c) What is the percentage cost variance for the project?

d) Based on the above two answers, what will be your suggestion to the firm, if any?


25/26

Page 25of26

PART F - HUMAN RESOURCES (HR)

Q.1

Naruti, an Indian Car Making company signed up for a joint venture with Japanese car maker

Tuzuki last year, to start car manufacturing operations in India. The manufacturing plant opened

up in Manesar (near Gurgaon), Haryana, and manufacturing started 9 months ago. You are

working as the HR Manager at the Manesar facility of the new firm Naruti Tuzuki

All the labour and operational level employees for the manufacturing operations for the company

have been recruited from India, while, the mid and top level management has been shifted from

Tuzuki facilities in Japan for better company management. However, this step has created a

cultural gap between the higher management and the workers, which has been visible in the form

of minor union protests due to unmet labour demands in the recent months.

Just nine months into the operation, and the Manesar plant has witnessed a huge labour unrest

over equal wages for permanent and contractual employees. An assistant manager from one of

the departments has been severely injured in the protest by the labour union. This has created

huge media uproar and has severely affected the brand image of the company.

How do you plan to go about the case focusing on the various stakeholders?

a) List the various steps that you would take, sequentially, with respect to this incident, andhow you would tackle the situation at hand. Address the various negative repercussions

like worker layoff, impact on future hiring of workers, impact of the incident on the

overall automobile manufacturing industry etc.

b) Discuss two major Industrial Relations Disputes which have occurred in India in last

decade and compare them on the following parameters (Not more than 150 words on

each of the following points)

- Reason for the dispute & role of stakeholders

- Impact on the company (employer and worker)

- Impact on the sector

- HR policies adopted to prevent labour unrest at workplace


26/26

Q.2

IDIDI Kombard is a general insurance company. The company caters to non life insurance like

health, accident, marine, fire, home, overseas travel, student medical insurance etc. There are

different departments with verticals to handle the various products.

There is a vertical called Health claims Mumbai that caters to Group Health Insurance which is

headed by Niall DSouza. His team comprises of Shweta Jadhav who is the customer support

manager and an outsourced employee named Siddharth Bhattacharjee who is working here since

6th June 2011 and has a salary of Rs.7033/- PM.

JOB PROFILE OF SIDDHARTH

a) Saving all the endorsement on daily basis. This included a PDF file of the policy and the

excel sheet that carries the data of the policy holder. In case there would be a discrepancy,

the same had to be sent back to the health enrolment team for rectification. For this job,

Siddharth had to come on Sundays too and hence had to sacrifice his personal life.

b) For claims rejected, take national managers approval after receiving the marketing

approval from the relationship manager to settle the same. Regular follow-up had to be

done with the TPA for their settlement and post that for the release of cheque.

c) Update online the details about the reimbursements made and cashless cases.

In addition, many times he had to tackle one of his colleagues named Shweta Jadhav. Even if the

Relationship Manager took wrong approval, Shweta used to blame Siddharth. Siddharth had

informed Niall DSouza to look into such cases however no action was taken. He was not happy

with the pay structure either vis-a-vis the effort put in by him.

Post completion of his two years in the company, he received a mail enquiring about his

expectations from the salary increment which was due. He reverted with an expectation amount

Rs.3000/-pm. But, the next month also, he didnt get a raise. So the day was not far when

Siddharth bade good bye to his company and joined BDFC Standard life insurance and that with a

substantial hike from his previous salary.

In context to the above situation, answer the following:

a) What were the main issues faced by Siddharth? Do you think Siddharth was underpaid? If

yes, then why?

b) What possible steps could have been taken by the HR to retain Siddharth?

c) Discuss some principles of compensation management.

Documents

Pre SessionAssignment 2013 15batch