IIM RANCHI

INTERVIEW
PREPARATION
KIT 2023

A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE
FOR MBA ASPIRANTS.

COMPILED BY: PRISM

DESIGNED MEDIA AND PUBLIC

AND EDITED BY: RELATIONS CELL
 CONTENTS

TOPICS Page No.

1. PI Etiquette 2
2. General PI Questions – Literary Club 3
3. Human Resource - HiRe 9
4. Marketing – Marquess 19
5. Finance - Finopsis 29
6. Information Technology - Digitalytics 34
7. Operations and General Management - Sankriya 44
8. Strategy and Consulting - Conundrum 62
9. Entrepreneurship - E-Cell 67
10. Public Policy and Economics - Polynomics 73

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 PI Etiquette
PI aims to test your clarity, knowledge, communication skills, personality traits and fitment. Below are
some tips to ace the interview round:

• Dressing etiquette is extremely important.

• Being well-groomed makes a major difference as it directly impacts your confidence.
• Demonstrate confident body language and good communication skills.
• Maintain eye contact and address all the panel members.
• Don’t get nervous, it’s not a test, but a conversation. So just relax and keep the conversation
going. The interviewers might want to know more about you.
• Basic etiquette such as seeking permission before entering the room, greeting the panellists,
politeness, eye contact with interviewers, and a gentle smile can go a long way in creating a
lasting impression.
• Listen to the questions carefully, and ask for clarifications if required.
• Don't rush into your answer. Take a few seconds to gather your thoughts and articulate.
• Maintain brevity in answers, don’t beat around the bush. Be thorough with your resume / CV.
• Prepare well for a couple of subjects from graduation that you claim to be your interest (term
projects in the case of engineering students), academic details, etc.
• For people with work experience, questions on roles and responsibilities, projects worked on,
relevant industry trends, etc. can be expected.
• You are expected to have reasonable clarity in your goals. Identify your strengths and support
them with situations demonstrating the same.
• Identify your weaknesses and reflect on how you have worked upon them
• Have enough knowledge and experience to talk about your hobbies.
• Stay calm, relaxed and confident.

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 ELLIPSIS - The Literary Club
WRITING ABILITY TEST:
Written Ability Test (WAT) plays a crucial role in the selection process of IIMs. It tests your ability to
understand and critically analyze the topic and to communicate your thoughts in a stipulated word or
time limit.
The topic for WAT can be anything from current affairs or general awareness to any abstract concepts.
Below are a few tips to ace the WAT –
• Practice is the key to success. Ensure that you practice writing a few essays. Time yourself to get used
to working efficiently in given time limits.
• While introducing the topic, it is advised to mention the importance and need for the discussion at this
point in time.
• Avoid grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Flaunt your vocabulary skills, but make sure not to
be verbose.
• Don’t beat around the bush as there will be word or space limits along with the aforementioned time
limit.
• Mentally sketch out some of the important points that you would definitely want to mention in your
submission. It is important to make use of the first 20% of the time limit (4 minutes for a 20 minutes
timeline) to frame the article in your mind.
• Correlate the points to the topic and frame the outline of your article with proper coherence and a
seamless connection between every point.
• Structure is extremely important. A well-structured essay demonstrates your clarity and understanding
of the topic. Keep the format simple: Introduction, Body & Conclusion. • In case of an "A v/s B" topic,
maintain a neutral stand and drive towards your pick through substantial analysis.
• The conclusion is the section where you consolidate all your thoughts and take a side on the topic only
if asked for.

INTRODUCTION:
This is much like the first 30 seconds of your PI. This is where the evaluator will form his first (and
often irreversible) impression of you with regards to your clarity of thought, relevance to the topic,
grammar, and sentence construction. So, it is critical to provide something unique in your introduction
to capture the full attention of the evaluator. It needs to be something that is different from most of the
other hundred copies the person would be evaluating. While using a relevant quote is often a way to
establish this, it can be risky because: There is a chance of drawing negatives if the accuracy of
reproducing the quote is compromised, which is not unlikely, given the time and performance pressure.

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It essentially is starting off with someone else's thoughts on the topic, whereas an original and distinct
thought would be more appreciated. Therefore, it is advisable to give your own thoughts in a concise
and grammatically correct form that would act as a preamble to the points that you are going to elaborate
on in the body.

BODY:
This is where the various points come in a sequential and rational manner. A very useful format is the
ILE method - idea, logic and example. Put your point across and then provide a succinct explanation and
then substantiate the same with an example. Often the example can be used as a connection to the next
point if thought through thoroughly.

CONCLUSION:
Whatever the topic, an article should ideally end on a positive note. Therefore, based on the points
provided round up the article on an optimistic note, e.g., laying the stones for a bright future in the given
scope or sphere. A good conclusion often leaves the evaluator happy and enhances the chances of getting
a good score.
In terms of paragraphs, the Introduction and the Conclusion should be one paragraph each, and the Body
can have multiple paragraphs, depending on word and space limits.

SOME HYGIENE FACTORS:

• Always adhere to word/space limits. The easiest way to lose marks is to cross the word limit. If no
word limit is given, then make sure that the font is not too dissimilar in the first and last sentences, i.e.,
there should be no visible indications of time and space constraints you might have faced.
• Utilize the first 20% of the time very wisely. This is where you will strategize. The next 80% will be
the implementation.

TOPICS FOR 2023

1. Twitter: information or misinformation.
2. India’s new education policy: how effective will it be?
3. Artificial Intelligence- is it a boon or bane for humanity?
4. Russia-Ukraine conflict and its impact on energy security.
5. Is India suitable for democracy?
6. Will public transportation take over?
7. Climate change: is it too late for us?

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8. Where to draw the line for ethics in marketing.
9. Coding for kids and its long-term impact.
10. Insurance and its future post COVID.
11. Beauty contests do little to empower women.
12. Money is the root of all evil.
13. Borderless world: myth or reality?
14. Does work from home contribute to the work-life balance?
15. Ethics and values are utopian words
16. Does dress code really matter at educational institutions?
17. Social media trials/ Attempts to provide justice outside the court of law 18. Pink is the new black
19. Journalism, Real Creativity and Reactionary Creativity
20. Politicians must have a retirement age.
21. Appearance vs. Reality
22. Mental illness is more commonplace in urban area, as compared to rural India.
23. What are the limits of imagination?
24. Are an increasing number of mobile network towers near residential areas harmful?
25. Material Society, Material Thoughts
26. Education in India v/s Education abroad
27. Youth of India- Confident or Confused?
28. Should GD be a part of campus placements?
29. Do we need more entrepreneurs than managers?
30. Does browsing at the workplace affect productivity?
31. E-commerce discounts are harmful in the long run?
32. Pros and cons of gig economy
33. Which new technology is shaping today’s world in the most powerful way?
34. Are video games an art form? / Can video games hold psychological benefits?
35. India-China border dispute: can trade trump geopolitics?
36. Are the Academy Awards still relevant for today’s diverse entertainment industry?
37. Are Millennials really killing industries?

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38. Impact of NFTs on the art market? / Does NFT hold benefits for artists?
39. Visibility of India in track and field events?
40. Are Olympics good for (India’s) Economy?
41. Should India have a one-child policy?
42. Do we really need smart cities?
43. Universal adult suffrage in modern democracies
44. Can Bangalore be the next Silicon Valley?
45. Web3: decentralized or centralized?
46. One job, one exam.
47. Are bio-weapons the new nuclear weapons?
48. Fine is a tax for doing something wrong and tax is a fine for doing something right.
49. No man is an island.
50. Are movies decaying our culture?
51. Should bitcoin be banned by the government?
52. Knowledge without character is dangerous.
53. It’s smart to be a little dumb.
54. Is India ready for Electric Vehicles?
55. Should parental leave be gender neutral?
56. How can we prevent the next pandemic?
57. Should reservation be introduced in the private sector?
58. Do video games make people violent?
59. Should Khan panchayats be empowered?
60. First impression is the last impression
61. Should investment in education be a priority for current India? 62. Gender in politics
63. Is digital detox important?
64. Net Zero
65. Is an MBA necessary for going up the corporate ladder?
66. Can money buy happiness?
67. If aliens land on earth, what should be human’s first response?

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68. Do MNCs have a duty to maintain a strong presence in their home country?
69. Should marijuana be legalized?
70. Should there be a minimum educational qualification for politicians?
71. Should the death penalty be scrapped?
72. Advertising is legalized lying?
73. Impact of blockchain technologies on politics.
74. Should cryptocurrency be legalized or not?
75. What will World War 3 be fought over?
76. Is everything fair in love and war?
77. Winning vs Playing fair - which is more important?
78. The world needs more dreamers than doers.
79. Is depression the new pandemic?
80. Is management an art or a science?
81. Fake it till you make it.
82. Abortion ban and its impact.
83. Electric vehicles: the future of mobility.

GENERAL QUESTIONS
• Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line? What was your preparation strategy? • Three
adjectives that define you as an individual. What is your biggest achievement to date and why?
• What influenced you to choose this career?
• Give an instance when you were under high pressure and how did you deal with it? • Give an instance
when you had to make a quick decision?
• Which subjects did you dislike in your college?
• Who is a Brand Ambassador?
• Which other B-schools did you apply for, and converts, if any?
• Difference between a Manager and a Leader.
• How does the Demand-Supply curve work?
• Market share of your organization.
Basic questions related to Economics and Accountancy

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• Name a few HR Managers who are heading an organization
• Name few sensors Used in Mobiles
• Question on IOS.
• How to communicate CSR activities?
• How do you sell black spectacles to a deaf man? What is your favourite movie? • 5 Women Chief
Ministers served or currently serving Indian states
• 5 Women CEOs and women HRs
• Difference between accounting and bookkeeping? What are the 3 golden rules of accounting? • What
is a real account, personal account and nominal account?
• Difference between expense and expenditure?
• What are fictitious assets? Give examples.
• What are the different types of accounting ratios? What is the time value of money? • Difference
between collateral and mortgage? Difference between primary and secondary markets? Difference
between FDI and FII?
• What are Sensex and Nifty?

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 HiRE - The Human Resource Club

OVERVIEW OF HR FUNCTIONS

PI PREPARATION GUIDE
PI Tips

• Enter the room/Join the meeting with a smile on your face and greet every panel member.
• Keep all the required documents ready so that you don’t have to rush during the interview.
• Maintain eye contact with panel members/Look into the camera while answering questions.
• Speak clearly, confidently, and to the point.
• You can take time to think before answering.
• Structure the thoughts in your mind. It is good not to rush with an unstructured response.
• Try to make it sound more like a conversation rather than an interrogation session.
• Remain calm and composed even when things don't go your way.
• Listen to question carefully and ask for clarifications, if required.
• If you don’t know the answer, it is completely fine, politely convey it to them.
• Look attentive and interested.
• General Tip: Lean forward a little as you speak and backward as you listen.
• Prepare your CV thoroughly and expect questions related to subjects of your graduation and work
experience.
• Your roles and responsibilities in the project you have worked on, along with questions related to
the concerned industry.

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• Prepare at least two subjects that you are interested in.

• Avoid mentioning anything in your CV that you cannot justify. Try to have a positive attitude during
the interview and analyze the questions from a business/ management perspective.

PI QUESTIONS
About You:

• Tell us about yourself

• Why IIM Ranchi/HRM/BA?
• Tell us something about your family and hometown.
• Tell us something about yourself which is not mentioned in your CV. How did you spend your
time/What new things did you learn during the lockdown?
• What other B-school calls have you received?
• Tell about the historical importance of places you have stayed for more than a year?
• One thing you would like to change about you in your past? Tell us about your strengths and
weaknesses. Substantiate with examples. What would you do if not MBA?
• Who is your role model? What impact have they had on you? What is your expectation from an
MBA?
• How do you think your academic background is relevant to the field of HR?
• What are the three qualities in HR which influence you?
• What is self-actualization for you?
• What was your favourite subject in graduation?
• Why should we select you?
• Given a chance to change something about your past, what would that be, and how will you do it
differently?
• Where do you see yourself five years down the line?
• Describe yourself in 3 words.

Activities & Interests:

• Apart from studies, what do you do during idle time?
• What are your hobbies? Have you represented your school/college at any state/national level events
etc.?
• Tell us about famous personalities pursuing your hobby as a profession. Your favourite movie, and
why?
• Tell us about a recent article that you have read.
• Tell us about a recent book that you have read? Names of its authors? How were audiobooks
invented?
• Name UNESCO world heritage sites in a state you travelled. What do you think are your unique
qualities or achievements / How are you different from other applicants?

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About work experience:

• Would you like to work for your previous organization if given a chance? What does your last
manager think about you?
• What is your current work role and responsibilities? Also, mention the challenges faced by you?
• Three things you liked and disliked about HR of your organization. Why do you want to leave your
organization?
• How did the IT sector/your organization cope with the pandemic? Reason for switching jobs, if the
case be?
• What are the additional skills you developed at your workplace beyond technical skills?
• Tell us about HR Policies at your workplace.
• What is the market share of your organization in the Indian market? Tell us about CSR activities
your organization is involved with? What industry is your client associated with?
• Who do you think are the major competitors of your organization? How have you handled criticism
at your workplace?
• How will your work experience help in your MBA life?
• Would you mind discussing an unpleasant experience with a manager? Briefly explain the project
on which you were working?
• Being an HR, what changes would you like to bring to your past organization?
• A situation when you failed, how did you handle it? What were your learnings from it?
Ethics/Values:

• If an aggressive person enters this room suddenly and shouts for no reason, how will you tackle the
situation?
• What personal characteristics do you intend to develop to ensure success? Where were you placed
in college, why did you leave that? Don't you think you took up a seat of someone deserving?
• On a scale of 10, grade yourself for ethical values and justify. Define success and failure.
HRM and General Awareness:

• Who is the first CDS of India?

• What is the name of the world’s biggest stadium and where is it located? Write basic algebraic
equations.
• Difference between a Manager and a Leader
• Tell me about three important current events.
• What are the 4 Labour Codes? Why do you think government took this decision?
• What is your understanding of HRM?
• What is the difference between an efficient and an effective manager? Have you gone through the
curriculum? What subjects do you expect to study, and what is your understanding of those
subjects?
• What are Central tendencies? What are the formulas of Mean, Median and Mode?
• Who is the Finance Minister of India?
• Who is the current Chairman of RBI?

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• What are all the different roles and functions of HR you aware of? What is the course interesting to
you in HR?
• What's your take on recent changes in the Labour Laws? Difference between attrition, retention,
and recruitment? How do you think AI can be used to assist HR functions?
• What is the similarity between zero and infinity?
• How are HRs helpful in the strategy-making of the organization?
• Any example of how you are good at people management? Draw a map of India and mark all the
IIMs on it.
• Who is the current Education Minister of India?
• How has COVID impacted the Education System?

WAT PREPARATION GUIDE

WAT (Written Ability Test) would be the first process on the day of the WAT PI process. Candidates
would be expected to write on a given topic within the specified time (generally 15-30 minutes) and
word limit (250-400 words). It is conducted to test the candidate's ability to think logically, make
decisions in a short time, and support his/her ideas with facts.
Few misconceptions about WAT:
High level of vocabulary is needed to ace WATs.
The purpose of a WAT is not to test only the vocabulary of candidates, though it might provide some
advantage; the idea is to check the logical thinking ability, clarity, and flow of thoughts, along with
proper use of language.)
WAT is all about using jargons or technical terms
It is suggested that jargons be used only when it connects the thought-flow and is well-fitted to the
context. The candidate must be well versed with the concepts since an interviewer may want to review
the candidate's WAT performance during the interview.
Do's

• Displaying clarity of thought and presenting it logically and seamlessly. Writing legibly.
• Reading the newspaper and staying abreast with current affairs to enhance the quality of your
essay.
• Practicing crisp writing, adhering to the time and word limit. Introducing a topic through a quote or
interesting facts to grab the attention of the reader.
• Re-checking and verifying before the final submission.
Dont's

• Making grammatical errors and overuse of ill-fitted jargons. Illegible handwriting.

• Opining significantly on any political or religious topic.
• Ignoring areas of weaknesses while practicing.

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• Being verbose and concentrating more on vocabulary than the flow and connection of ideas.
• Emoting negatively.

PROBABLE WAT TOPICS

Moonlighting
Moonlighting is the practice of undertaking two full-time jobs at the same time, a controversial act that
has become popular among employees as remote work granted them more time and freedom.
https://www.hcamag.com/asia/specialisation/employment-law/is-moonlighting a-fireable-offence-in-
india/431365
Metaverse – Internet’s New Frontier
The man responsible for often hearing or reading about metaverse in 2021 is novelist Neal Stephenson.
Stephenson coined the word metaverse in his 1992 dystopian novel 'Snow Crash' to describe a 3-
dimensional virtual world where
humans interact as 'avatars'. To know more, refer to the link provided below.
https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/hrtech/re-imagining-human resources-in-
metaverse/90659276
Employee wellbeing: A passing trend or an everlasting one?
Employees are the core of all organisations, and by now, the world of work has realised it well, and are
now focusing more on humans than processes. Having realised that technology and tools can only
support organisations engaged with employees, and are not primary objects that can create a happy
workforce, most organisations are now going all out to make sure that employee wellbeing becomes
their top most agendas. https://hrsea.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/workplace/employee
wellbeing-a-passing-trend-or-an-everlasting-one/96377509
Is Hybrid Work the way to go
Employees who work in a hybrid mode report improvement in work-life balance and mental health. As
people have breaks from their daily commute, they have more time to exercise and do things that
may improve their well-being. It also allows them to get away from the in
office routine, gain a fresh perspective, reattune their work pace and come back fresh the next day.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/09/12/why-hybrid work-is-the-way-to-
go/?sh=4d535bc6e1f7
Ways in which HR automation improve employee experience With the ever-growing focus on
employee experience scaling new heights in the post-pandemic era, HR automation can provide
HR leaders with the tools to enhance EX
https://www.peoplematters.in/article/hr-technology/hr-automation-stepping-up the-ex-game-36212

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Privatization in India: Boon or Bane
Privatization in India has become a politically sensitive issue. It was one of the key reforms in 1991
when the government opened up the Indian economy, saving it from the brink of collapse. Now this
year, the current government announced its most ambitious plan to privatize central public sector
enterprises (CPSEs) during the Union Budget Monday.
https://theprint.in/economy/privatisation-gets-mega-push-in-budget-2021- most-ambitious-plan-since-
vajpayee-era/596280/

Managing Equal Employment Opportunity

Equal employment opportunity refers to the internal codified policy, which protects employees against
discrimination in the workplace. It states that the employer will not discriminate in any part of the
employment process due to race, colour, marital status, disability, gender, country of origin, religion,
or age.
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-
and samples/toolkits/pages/managingequalemploymentopportunity.aspx#:~:text=E
xecutive%20Order%2011246%20of%201965,to%20have%20affirmative%20a ction%20plans
Is it the right time to execute paternity leave policies
Though Indian companies are increasingly waking up to the need to introduce paternity leave policies,
the question is, are they doing enough? Paternity leave is a benefit given to a male employee on
becoming a parent. This benefit is now also prevalent in government and public sector companies, which
offer up to a maximum of 15 days of leave.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/work/Time-for paternity-leave-
policies/articleshow/47954505.cms
Should we have a job reservation in the private sector
According to constitutional provisions, the public sector has reservations for jobs to ensure their
participation in different stages, from the grass-root level to the policy-making forum. But in the private
sector, no such constitutional
compulsion and the land and labor are utilized to make an entrepreneur richer with no guarantee that
the tribal who owns the ground or the Dalit whose work went into the mining process would get a share
through a job in the company. https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/should-there-be-job
reservations-in-pvt-sector-104061601005_1.html
Women empowerment
Gender equality is, first and foremost, a human right. A woman is entitled to live in dignity and freedom.
Empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty.
Empowered women contribute to whole families and communities' health and productivity
and improved prospects for the next generation.

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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/joonakkonwar/women empowerment-3-26133/
Your views on Internet access being made a fundamental right The Supreme Court has declared
internet access a fundamental right. The ruling is in sync with the United Nations recommendation that
every country should access the Internet as a fundamental right.
https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/internet-access-fundamental right-supreme-court-
makes-official-article-19-explained-1635662-2020-01-10
The Possibility of Humanity to Succumb to Artificial Intelligence As emerging algorithm-driven
artificial intelligence (AI) continues to spread, will people be better off than they are today? Digital life
is augmenting human capacities and disrupting eons-old human activities. Code-driven systems have
applied to more than half of the world’s inhabitants in ambient information and connectivity, offering
previously unimagined opportunities and unprecedented threats.
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/12/10/artificial-intelligence-and the-future-of-humans/
National Education Policy 2020 – Impact on Higher Education Sector The Union Cabinet, chaired
by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 on July
29. The new policy, which replaces the 34-year-old policy of 1986, aims to pave the way for
transformational reforms in school and higher education
systems. https://www.mbauniverse.com/group-discussion/topic/current-affairs/national education-
policy-nep-2020
Need and constraints of circular economy
Sustainable development requires disruptive changes in the way our societies and businesses are
organized. The circular economy (CE) model offers a new chance for innovation and integration
between natural ecosystems, businesses, our daily lives, and waste management. Find out below the
definition, meaning, principles, advantages, and barriers to a circular economy
model. https://youmatter.world/en/definition/definitions-circular-economy-meaning definition-
benefits-barriers/
How Industry 4.0 will Change Dynamics of MBA Education? We are currently witnessing the fourth
industrial revolution, aka Industry 4.0, where technology (artificial intelligence) is the primary driver.
Thus, the current business schools must adapt in order to match with these changes. Recent studies by
the World Economic Forum (The Future of Jobs & Skills) in 2018 and IFIM – NHRDN (Curricula 4.0
- Creating Future Managers) in 2019 indicate a gap between what is being taught and what the industry
expects / demands.
https://www.mbarendezvous.com/general-awareness/changing-dynamics-of mba-education/

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SOME MORE TOPICS:
• GDP vs. Human Development Index
• Bank merger and its impact on Indian economy
• Does the Indian education system need some revolutionary changes Cashless Economy: Is society
ready for transformation?
• How beneficial is the IIM 2017 bill for students?
• Is Globalization an Opportunity or a Threat?
• Is ‘Start-up India’ Boosting Entrepreneurship?
• Cashless Economy – Is India ready for it?
• Is E-Learning a substitute for classroom learning? Impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on the
Global economy Industrial Revolution 4.0
• Ethics and morals cannot be taught in classrooms only
Abstract Topics:
The world is full of Cactus, but we don't have to sit on it. How can you differentiate yourself among
group of people? If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall in the ditch competition is a rude yet effective
motivation.
Do Initiators fit for a Managerial job? Mistakes Are the Portals of discovery A positive attitude will
make you a winner What will you do if you are out of competition?

BASIC HR TERMINOLOGIES
Attrition
The number of employees that leave the organization for any of the following reasons: resignation,
termination, end of agreement, retirement, sickness, or death.
Base Salary
Compensation that does not include benefits, bonuses, other commissions. It is the fixed amount of
money paid for work performed.
Benchmarking
A technique using quantitative or qualitative data to make comparisons between different organizations
or different sections of the organizations.
Career Planning & Development
The deliberate process through which a person becomes aware of personal career-related attributes. It is
the lifelong series of stages that contribute to his or her career fulfilment.
Employer Branding
The image an organization presents to its employees, stakeholders, and customers.

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Employee Relations
A broad term refers to the general management and planning of activities related to developing,
maintaining, and improving employee relationships by communicating with employees, processing
grievances/disputes, etc.

Emotional Intelligence
Describes the mental ability an individual possesses, enabling him/her to be sensitive and understand
others' emotions, and manage their feelings and impulses.
Exit Interview
An interview between a member of staff of the organization that an employee is leaving to ascertain the
reasons for the employee leaving the organization. An employee's immediate superior should not carry
it out.
Employee Engagement
A measurement of employees’ involvement, satisfaction, happiness, and loyalty with their employment
(how hard they work and how long they stay with their organization).
Human Capital
Human capital is the stock of habits, knowledge, social, and personality attributes embodied in
performing labour to produce economic value. Human capital is unique and differs from any other
capital. It is needed for companies to achieve goals, develop, and remain innovative.
Industrial Relations
Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the
employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees,
labour/trade unions, employer organizations, and the state.

Job Description
A written description of a job which includes information regarding the general nature of the work to
be performed, specific responsibilities and duties, and the employee characteristics required to complete
the job.
KRA (Key Result Area)
Used to establish standards and objectives, key result areas are the chief tasks of a job identified during
the job evaluation process.

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Leadership
The process by which an individual determines direction influences a group and directs them toward a
specific goal or organizational mission.
Motivation
The reason(s) why a person works at a particular job and for a specific organization. Subject to various
theories relating to the way they do things.

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 MARQUESS- The Marketing Club

What is a Market?
A market is a collection of buyers and sellers who transact over a particular product or class of
products. When marketers talk about the term ‘market’,they usually mean the customer groups
are likely to purchase the product.
What is Marketing?
Marketing refers to activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or selling of a product or
service. Marketing includes advertising, selling, and delivering products to consumers or other
businesses.
Differentiate between:
Product and Service

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Marketing and Sales

Marketing vs. Advertising

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B2B vs. B2C

Customer vs. Consumer

A customer is a person who purchases the product or service. He/she may or may not use the
product/service. Example: A person buying milk for her family is a customer. A consumer is a person

who uses/consumes the product/service. It is not necessary for a consumer to purchase the
product/service. If some other person buys the product/service which is consumed by another person
then the other person is the consumer and the buyer is the customer. Example: A child drinking milk
purchased by her mother is a consumer. Here the mother is the customer and the child is the consumer.

What is market share?

Out of all the purchases made by customers of a product or service, the percentage that goes to a
company defines the company's market share. Inother words, if customers as a whole buy 100
soaps, 40 of which are from one company, then that company holds a 40% market share.

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Why Marketing?

The interviewer is well aware of the fact that marketing is one of the most preferred specializations but
very few have prior work experience in that field. So, basically the interviewer will judge you on the
following essentials: -
Be aware of basic frameworks like BCG matrix, Porter’s 5 forces, Ansoff Matrix and many more that
you will find attached in this material. You are also expected to be prepared with a list of your favorite
campaigns and what made them so attractive.

The Art of Storytelling

Talk about your love for storytelling, site sources like books, or specificcampaigns whose story tells
you like.

The 5 standards of leadership

As a prospective marketer, you are expected to exhibit SOLs. The interviewer tries to judge these through
how and what you answer to a particular question, case or situation. Here are the SOLs:

• Growth Mind-set – competitive leadership.

• Consumer and Customer focus – purpose-driven leadership.

• Bias for Action – action-driven leadership.

• Accountability and Responsibility – performance-driven leadership.

• Building talent and teams – people-driven leadership.

• Prior Knowledge

Sell me a water bottle

This is a standard question that can be asked to everyone. You have to make your answer stand out
through any of the following tactics:

• Ask questions and understand the background of the company/the person you have to sell to.

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 • What is it that they do, their hobbies, interests etc. So that you can make a connection between
the products you are selling and their life.

• Relate the object to a larger concept/issue/idea

• What is it that a water bottle can do in the larger scheme of things, it holds water, a resource
whose scarcity is soon going to happen. Shift the narrative toa more impactful theme.

• State what the lack of the object can do to their lives

• You can shift paths and say that the water bottle isn’t for them or that it is a revolutionary product.
Which is your favorite advertisement and why?

Pick an ad/campaign that solves/addresses a large societal wrong or issue orone that brings
change. If you have an ad that has impacted your life personally, feel free to state that and its
impact Nike has had amazing ads inthe past on breaking stereotypes around women/girls (What girls
are made of) and others called you can't stop us, for once don’t do this etc. Research and build your
own understanding of your likes and dislikes about the brand.

What is the relationship between your current job and Marketing? And how an
MBA will help you?

Try to identify the Marketing and Sales opportunities in your industry andalign your answer
to that. For example: “During my IT experience, our company emphasized on automation and we even
made plenty of modules that can be analyzed as per the client’s requirements. I always wondered what
it takes to sell this software or how B2B marketing works. My knowledge of this is very limited and I
would like to expand my horizon of knowledge becauseas a good leader, you are expected to know
each and every aspect of the business.”

Have you held any Marketing Roles in your current workplace?

The purpose of asking this question is to make sure that you have a clue about marketing initiatives at
your workplace and to analyze your approach. Many of you would have not directly worked in such a
role and that is totally fine. You can inform the panel about the same but share something
similar along thisline. It can be something as simple as pitching an innovative idea to
yoursenior, promoting your college fest, or any other personal experience that you think was related to
marketing.

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What interests you in marketing?
This question can take many forms. During a stress interview, you may be asked: “Don’t you think
other subjects are important as well?” Here you haveto diplomatically handle the situation. For
example: “Actually I think Marketing is a domain which requires you to have knowledge of all the
subjects. You cannot sell a product if you do not know about its technicalities. Furthermore, one needs
to know analytics to find insights from surveys, finance to build a projected sales report, operations
to work with sales and distribution channels, and so on. I love interacting with people and bringing
smiles to their faces and I want to be able to bring business to the firm I work for. I am passionate about
it!”

What is branding?
Branding is all about standing out by breaking through the clutter and grabbing your customer's attention.
In simple words, it is about actively shaping your brand. There's so much that goes into branding your
company mission statement, logo, and brand values, website, and so on. Always remember,products
have a limited life cycle, but brands, if managed well, last forever.

Core Marketing Frameworks/Models

4 Ps of Marketing

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4 As of Digital marketing

4 Cs of Marketing

Product Life Cycle

It describes the stages a product goes through from the time it was first launched in the market to the
time it is removed from the market. The main stages of the product life cycle are-
Introduction- You conduct market research, develop the product, launchand engage in
advertisements.
Growth- Sales are increasing at an increasing rate and the product startscapturing market
share.
Maturity: Sales are increasing but the growth rate slows down becausecompetitors start
stepping in.
Decline: Sales start declining, and the costs are more than the revenue.

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Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Market Segmentation

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 SWOT Analysis

AIDA Model
The Model describes four stages that customers has to go through beforemaking a purchase.
A-The customer gets aware of the particular product or service.
I- On learning about the product’s benefits and USP, the customer becomesinterested.
D- Favorable disposition for the brand stimulates desire.
A-The customer takes action to make the final purchase.

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The Marketing Funnel
A marketing funnel maps the customer journey and with its careful analysis, a marketing funnel lets you
know what a company must do to influence consumers at certain stages.

DIGITAL MARKETING
What do you understand by digital marketing? Why has it grownimportant over the years?
Digital marketing promotes brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms
of digital communication. It includes email, social media, web-based advertising, text and multimedia
messages as a marketing channel. Essentially, if a marketing campaign involves digital communication,
it‘s digital marketing.
What are some ways by which companies carry out digital marketing activities?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Content Creation, Social Media
Marketing (SMM), Digital Display Advertising, Retargeting and Remarketing, Mobile Marketing.
What is the purpose of digital marketing?
Digital Marketing helps you use proven strategies and techniques that attractnot necessarily more
traffic – but highly targeted traffic that delivers results. Targeting the right kind of people that gives the
right kind of results is what Digital Marketing is all about – ensuring survival for your business.
What is the difference between inbound and outbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is a marketing methodology that is designed to draw visitors and potential
customers in, rather than outwardly pushing a brand, product, or service onto prospects in the hope of
lead generation or customers.

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 FINOPSIS- The Finance Club

PARABLE OF AN MBA FINANCE

An individual who has pursued MBA in Finance has the primary motive to make sure that the business
he is employed in is making money. He is responsible for building all the requisite financial models to
ensure the following two things:
• Raising funds at the lowest available cost of capital
• Investing funds at the highest possible rate of return
• Minimise the financial risk that is the obligation of the business to pay the principal and interest
payments due in the short term
• Ensure the long-term solvency of the business
• Maximise the shareholders’ value in terms of market price of the stock of the company
• Prepare the requisite financial statements, the nature of business activities
• Ensure that the legal requirements are met
• Seek ways to reduce cost
• Help the management in making financial decisions
In this respect, an MBA in Finance is to increase the value of the organisation, the individual is
employed in.

GENERAL FINANCIAL JARGONS

Financial Statements
There are three primary financial statements prepared for any company in each financial period namely,
Cash flow statement, Income Statement and Balance Sheet. It is advisable for finance enthusiasts to learn
the primary objectives.
• Balance Sheet: To understand the financial position of the business in terms of assessing the value
of assets and liabilities
• Income Statement: To understand the financial performance of the business in terms of the revenue
generated from operations and the expenses incurred in the past financial year
• Cash flow statement: It records the cash transactions that take place in the business in terms of cash
flow from operations, cash flow from financing activities and cash flow from investing activities.

Basic Accounting Equation

The basic accounting equation is ASSETS = CAPITAL (EQUITY) + LIABILITIES

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Principles of Accounting
The following accounting principles are asked several times in the CAP interviews: -
• Business entity concept
• Money measurement concept
• Going concern concept
• Accounting period concept
• Accounting cost concept
• Duality aspect concept
• Realisation concept
• Accrual concept
• Matching concept

Methods of Depreciation
Depreciation is defined as the write down of the value of the asset during the accounting year because
of normal wear and tear or obsolescence. The prevalent methods of depreciation are as follows: -
• Written down value method (or Acceleration Method)
• Sum of Years
• Units of Production
• Straight Line Method
• Amortisation (for Goodwill)

Accounting Ratios

Liquidity ratios
Current ratio = Current assets / Current liabilities
Cash ratio = Cash and Cash equivalents / Current Liabilities

Financial leverage ratios

Debt ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets Debt to equity ratio = Total liabilities / Shareholder’s equity
Interest coverage ratio = Operating income / Interest expenses

Efficiency ratios
Asset turnover ratio = Net sales / Total assets
Days sales in inventory ratio = 365 days / Inventory turnover ratio

Profitability ratios
Gross margin ratio = Gross profit / Net sales Operating margin ratio = Operating income / Net sales
Return on equity ratio = Net income / Shareholder’s equity

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Market value ratio
Book value per share ratio = Shareholder’s equity / Total shares outstanding
Earnings per share ratio = Net earnings / Total shares outstanding
Price-earnings ratio = Share price / Earnings per share

Amortization v/s Depreciation

Amortization is the practice of spreading an intangible asset's cost over that asset's useful life. Intangible
assets are not physical assets, per se.
Depreciation is the expensing of a fixed asset over its useful life. Fixed assets are tangible assets,
meaning they are physical assets that can be touched.

Financial Management
Financial Management means planning, organizing, directing and controlling the financial
activities such as procurement and utilization of funds of the enterprise. It means applying general
management principles to financial resources of the enterprise.
It involves 4 key roles:
• Capital structure of the firm vis-à-vis debt or equity financing.
• Dividend decisions.
• Capital budgeting decisions.
• Working capital management.

The candidates are also advised to go through the following questions:

Last Year’s

• Difference between accounting and book keeping?

• What are the 3 golden rules of accounting?
• What is real account, personal account and nominal account?
• Difference between expense and expenditure?
• What are fictitious assets? Give examples.
• What are the different types of accounting ratios?
• What is time value of money?
• Difference between collateral and mortgage?
• Difference between primary and secondary market?
• Difference between FDI and FII?
• What are Sensex and Nifty?
• Different types of market tradeable securities?
• Difference between public and private companies?
• Difference between IPO and FPO?
• Difference between futures, options and swaps?
• What is hedging, speculation and arbitrage?
• Different types of policy rates (bank rate, repo, reverse repo)?

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• Difference between LAF and MSF?
• What is Efficient Market Hypothesis?
• What is NPV, IRR? Which one is preferable in situations of conflict?
• Different types of financial statements- income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement?
• Different items in balance sheet (assets and liabilities)? (which item comes under which head)
• Different types of exchange rates?
• Difference between GDP, GNP, NNP, NDP?
• What is working capital, components of working capital?
• Difference between capital and revenue expenditure?
• Difference between cash basis and accrual basis of accounting?
• Different types of tax and non-tax revenue?
• Difference types of deficits- fiscal, revenue, primary?
• What are NPAs?
• What are different types of taxes?
• What is long term capital gains taxes?
• What is quantitative easing?
• What is call money market?
• What are crypto currencies? (in Indian context also)
• What is block chain?
• Difference between mergers and acquisitions?
• What are payment banks?
• Different types of inflation rates?
• What are the nominal and real concepts in interest rates?
• What is the relationship between inflation and employment?
• What is the relationship between inflation and interest rates?
• What is stagflation?
• What are different types of elasticities?
• What is management by exception?
• What is liquidity trap?
• What is crowding out effect?
• What is capital flight?
• What is public debt?
• What is sterilization?
• What are different types of mutual funds?
• What is a bilateral investment treaty?
• What are anchor investors?
• What is viability gap funding?
• What is refinancing?
• What is debt restructuring?
• What are bilateral investment treaties?
• What are advance pricing agreements?

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• What are the different types of Alternative investment funds?

New Additions

• What are securities?

• Explain CAPM Model
• What is equity and how is it different from debt and preference shares?
• What is operating revenue?
• What is the reasoning behind paying taxes?
• How would you diversify investment?
• Briefly explain fundamental and technical analysis
• What is the significance of P/E ratio?
• What's an option contract?
• Draw payoff diagrams of following: long call, short call, long put and short put
• What financial instruments are available for retail investors?
• What is INR pair currency trading and cross currency trading?
• What do you understand by Open Interest, Market Wide Position Limit and Margin Call?

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 DIGITALIYTICS: The Analytics Club

1. What Is Data Analytics?

Data analytics is the science of analyzing raw data to make conclusions about the information, increasingly
with the aid of specialized systems and software. Data analytics technologies and techniques are widely
used in commercial industries to enable organizations to make more-informed business decisions and by
scientists and researchers to verify or disprove scientific models, theories, and hypotheses.
Data analytics initiatives can help businesses increase revenues, improve operational efficiency, optimize
marketing campaigns and customer service efforts, respond more quickly to emerging market trends and
gain a competitive edge over rivals -- all with the ultimate goal of boosting business performance.

There are 4 broad types of Analytics:

• Descriptive Analytics answers the question “What happened?”

This simple form of analytics uses basic math, such as averages and percent changes, to show what has
already happened in a business. Descriptive analytics, also called traditional business intelligence (BI), is
the first step in the analytics process, creating a jumping-off point for further investigation.

• Diagnostic Analytics answers the question “Why did something happen?”

It takes descriptive analytics a step further, using techniques such as data discovery, drill-down, and
correlations to dive deeper into data and identify the root causes of events and behaviours.

• Predictive Analytics answers the question “What is likely to happen in the future?”
This branch of advanced analytics uses findings from descriptive and diagnostic analytics – along with
sophisticated predictive modelling, machine learning, and deep learning techniques – to predict what will
happen next.

• Prescriptive Analytics answers the question “What action should we take?”

This state-of-the-art type of analytics builds on findings from descriptive, diagnostic, and predictive
analytics and uses highly advanced tools and techniques to assess the consequences of possible decisions
and determine the best course of action in a scenario.

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2. What is the difference between UI and API?
UI: (UI) is anything a user may interact with to use a digital product or service. It is the graphical layout
of an application. It consists of the buttons users click on, the text they read, the images, sliders, entry
fields, & all the rest of the items the user interacts with.

API: Application Programming Interface is a set of programming code that enables data transmission
between one software product and another. Each time you use an app like Facebook, send an instant
message or check the weather on your phone, you’re using an API.

3. What are HTTPS and www?

HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is a protocol for securing the communication
between two systems e.g., the browser and the webserver. The World Wide Web is a collection of
websites or web pages stored in web servers and connected to local computers through the internet.
These websites contain text pages, digital images, audio, videos, etc. The WWW, along with the internet,
enables the retrieval and display of text and media to your device.

4. What are coding standards?

● Limited use of global variables
● Standard headers for different modules
● Naming conventions for local variables, global variables, constants, and functions
● Indentation
● Error return values and exception handling conventions
● Avoid using an identifier for multiple purposes
● Code should be well documented
● Length of functions should not be very large

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● Try not to use the GOTO statement

5. What is the difference between AI and ML?

AI is a bigger concept to create intelligent machines that can simulate human thinking capability and
behaviour, whereas, machine learning is an application or subset of AI that allows machines to learn
from data without being programmed explicitly.

6. What is Big Data & what are the 5Vs of it?

Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that
inundates a business on a day-to-day basis. Big data can be analyzed for insights that lead to better
decisions and strategic business moves. The 5V’s of Big Data are as follows:
● Volume
● Velocity
● Variety
● Value
● Veracity

7. Why is Big Data important?

The importance of big data doesn’t revolve around how much data you have, but what you do
with it. You can take data from any source and analyze it to find answers that enable

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● cost reductions
● time reductions
● new product development and optimized offerings
● smart decision making.

When you combine big data with high-powered analytics, you can accomplish business- related tasks
such as:

● Determining root causes of failures, issues, and defects in near-real-time.

● Generating coupons at the point of sale based on the customer’s buying habits.
● Recalculating entire risk portfolios in minutes.
● Detecting fraudulent behaviour before it affects your organization.

8. How will your CS/IT degree help in MBA?

Approach - Talk about the importance of technology, data & digital transformation. Explain
how you can leverage the business knowledge that you gain through MBA & technical
The knowledge that you possess in making better decisions for the companies as they transform at a
higher rate due to technology.

9. What is Data Mining?

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Data mining is a process used by companies to turn raw data into useful information. By using software
to look for patterns in large batches of data, businesses can learn more about their customers to develop
more effective marketing strategies, increase sales and decrease costs.

10. What is cloud computing and what are its types?

Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet. These resources include tools
and applications like data storage, servers, databases, networking, & software. Rather than keeping files
on a local storage device, cloud-based storage makes it possible to store them remotely. Cloud computing
is a popular option for a number of reasons including cost savings, increased productivity, speed and
efficiency, performance, and security.

11. What is Business Analytics?

Business analytics (BA) refers to the skills, technologies, and practices for continuous iterative
exploration and investigation of past business performance to gain insight and drive business planning.
It provides support for strategic planning, delivers tactical value, and creates a competitive advantage.
Successful business analytics depends on data quality, skilled analysts who understand the technologies
and the business, and an organizational commitment to using data to gain insights that inform business
decisions.

12. What is a Database & DBMS?

A database is an organized collection of structured data or information stored electronically in a
computer system. The database management system is software that is designed to store, retrieve &
manage data in a database.

13. What is scheduling in OS?

Scheduling is the process of determining which process will own the CPU for its execution. The main
objective of the scheduler is to ensure that whenever the CPU is idle, it selects a process from the OS-
ready queue for execution.

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14. What is a DFS & BFS?

Breadth-first search traverses the graph in breadth ward motion. It visits all neighbours in the current
level before visiting the next level. Depth-first search traverses the graph in a depth ward motion
traversing through all the children of a branch before moving to the next branch.

15. What is Agile Software Development?

Agile is the ability to create and respond to change. Agile software development refers to a group of
software development methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions
evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams.

Sprint: A Sprint is a time-boxed iteration (often 3 weeks once but could be longer or shorter). This is a
repetitive process and can be looked at as one burst of development and delivery.

Backlog: Tasks that were planned but not delivered in the current sprint are pushed into backlogs that
can be taken up in the next sprint.

Sprint Planning: The purpose of sprint planning is to plan how to turn a set of product backlog stories
into an increment of the shippable product.

Scrum meeting: A small 15-minute meeting consisting of - What was done yesterday? What will be
done today? Are there any impediments?

Minimum Viable Product: The bare minimum that meets the clients’ expectations. It should include
the must-haves and not the nice-to-haves.

Other keywords: Scrum master, User story, Product owner, Scrum Retrospective.

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16. Differentiate between Waterfall and Agile model.
The waterfall approach to software development is highly sequential and can be broken down into seven
distinct phases. There is a set line of phases, each following the other, that needs to be completed one by
one, namely - Conception, Initiation & analysis, Design, Construction& coding, Testing &
Implementation.
Agile approach values adaptability & involvement. The entire process is planned in shortphases called
sprints. The main objective is to deliver an MVP as early as possible and gather further requirements,
feedback from the stakeholders to make changes in an iterative fashion.

17. What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically. No one controls it. Bitcoins aren’t
printed, like dollars or euros – they’re produced by people, and increasingly businesses, running
computers all around the world, using software that solves mathematical problems. It’s the first example
of a growing category of money known as cryptocurrency.
It can be used to buy things electronically. In that sense, it’s like conventional dollars, euros, or yen,
which are also traded digitally. However, bitcoin’s most important characteristic, and the thing that
makes it different from conventional money, is that it is decentralized. No single institution controls the
bitcoin network.

18. What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality is defined as "the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment." When
you view VR, you are viewing a completely different reality than the one in front of you. Virtual reality
may be artificial, such as an animated scene, or an actual place that has been photographed and included
in a virtual reality app. With virtual reality, you can move around and look in every direction- up, down,
sideways and behind you, as if you were physically there.

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 19. What is Blockchain?
Blockchain, sometimes referred to as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), makes the history of any
digital asset unalterable and transparent through the use of decentralization and cryptographic hashing.
A simple analogy for understanding blockchain technology is a Google Doc. When we create a document
and share it with a group of people, the document is distributed instead of copied or transferred. This
creates a decentralized distribution chain that gives everyone access to the document at the same time.
No one is locked out awaiting changes from another party, while all modifications to the doc are being
recorded in real-time, making changes completely transparent.

20. What are the different steps in Data Lifecycle?

21. What is the issue of underfitting and overfitting in machine learning? How to handle them?
When your model does not perform well on training or test data, it is underfitting. This occurs when
your model is too simplistic for your data and cannot capture the underlying trend of the data. The data
points do not fit a function well enough.

• Low variance and high skewness

• The used training dataset size is insufficient handling underfitting:
• More training data
• Increase the size or quantity of the model's parameters.
• Increase the model's complexity.

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• In order to minimise the cost function, extend the training period.

When a model is too complicated for the data it is trained on, overfitting occurs. This occurs when the
model learns from the noise and erroneous data entries in the data set. A function fits a small number of
data points too tightly. In case of overfitting, an algorithm reacts excessively to small changes in training
data

• Both volatility and bias are high

• The high size of training data Handling Overfitting:
• Cross validation is a strategy for evaluating the effectiveness of a model by training it on a subset
of input data and testing it on a subset of input data that has not been used before
• Reducing iterations and stopping early
• Pruning involves removing weight connections from a network in order to hasten inference and
minimise model storage
• Data augmentation can significantly reduce overfitting by improving and reworking on the current
data rather than providing vast amounts of new data.

22. What is the full form of NLP-NLU-NLG?

NLU Natural Language Processing NLP - Text classification, Sentiment Analysis
NLU Natural Language Understanding - Alexa, Siri
NLG Natural Language Generation - Chatbots

NLP blends statistical, machine learning, and deep learning models with computational linguistics—
rule-based modelling of human language. With the use of these technologies, computers are now able to
process human language in the form of text or audio data and fully "understand" what is being said or
written, including the speaker's or writer's intentions and sentiment.

23. Describe the process of Sentiment Analysis in brief?

The process of computationally recognising and classifying opinions from a text and deciding if the
writer has a positive, negative, or neutral attitude toward a given topic or product.
Steps:
1. Tokenization: dividing into statements or words
2. Stemming (removing suffix) & Lemmatization (similar/base word)
3. Cleaning: Remove special characters & stop-words (which don’t add any value)
4. Classifying them as positive/negative/neutral by using a trained model on bag of words

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24. Explain the practice of DevOps.

Devops combines development and operations to increase the efficiency, speed, and security of software
development and delivery compared to traditional processes.
DevOps is a culture that implements technology in order to promote collaboration between development
and operations teams to deploy code to production faster in an automated and repeatable way.
Fault tolerant, scalable systems
The goal is to increase an organization’s speed in terms of delivering applications or services

• Automation of the software development lifecycle

• Collaboration and communication
• Continuous improvement and minimization of waste
• Hyperfocus on user needs with short feedback loops

Academic Concepts for PI:

• DBMS - DML, DLL, DCL queries, Join queries, Primary key, Foreign key & Unique Key. Other basic
concepts
• Data structure & Algorithm - Basics of Queue, Stack, LinkedList, Tree traversal & Sorting algorithms, DFS
& BFS
• OS - Scheduling, Memory management, Virtualization, Threads
• OOPS concepts
• Compiler design - Phases of compiler & execution
• Basics of Agile development & Phases of different SDLC

Latest Trends to read:

● The Metaverse Explained
● What is the internet of things (IoT)?
● The Emergence of Deepfake Technology
● Increased Demand For End-To-End AI Solutions
● Where Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Can Go Wrong
● Learning Business Analytics Benefits

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 SANKRIYA: THE OPERATIONS CLUB
1. What Is Operations Management?
Operations management (OM) is the administration of business practices to create the highest level of
efficiency possible within an organization. It is concerned with converting materials and labour into goods
and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization.

Some of the functions performed by an operations manager include product design, forecasting, supply chain
management, quality control, and delivery management.

• Product Design: Product design involves creating a product that will be sold to the end consumer. It involves
generating new ideas or expanding on current ideas in a process that will lead to the production of new products.

• Forecasting: Forecasting involving making predictions of events that will occur in the future based on past data.
One of the events that the operations manager is required to predict is the consumer demand for the company’s
products.

• Supply Chain Management: Supply chain management involves managing the production process from raw
materials to the finished product. It controls everything from production, shipping, distribution, to delivery of
products. Common objective of SCM create just in time product availability without wastage.

• Delivery Management: The operations manager is in charge of delivery management. The manager ensures
that the goods are delivered to the consumer in a timely manner. They must follow up with consumers to ensure
that the goods delivered are what the consumers ordered and that they meet their functionality needs.

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In today’s digital world ever increasing amounts of data are gathered, stored, reported on, and available for further
study. You hear the word data everywhere. Data are facts about the world and are constantly reported as numbers
by an ever-increasing number of sources.

The emerging field of Business Analytics makes extensive use of:

• Data

• Statistical and quantitative analysis

• Explanatory & predictive model

Some basic terms used data analytical statistical tools.

• Variable: A characteristic of an item or individual.
• Data: The set of individual values associated with a variable.
• Statistics: The methods that help transform data into useful information for decision makers.

• Statistical methods are used to analyze and explore data to uncover unforeseen relationships.

• They are used management science methods to develop models that impact an organization’s
strategy, planning, and operations.

• Information systems use methods to collect and process data sets of all sizes, including very large
data sets that would otherwise be hard to examine efficiently.

• Human resource managers (HR) understand relationships between HR drivers, key business
outcomes, employee skills, capabilities, and motivation.

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 • Financial analysts determine why certain trends occur to predict future financial environments.

• Marketers drive loyalty programs and customer marketing decisions to drive sales.

• Supply chain managers plan and forecast based on product distribution and optimizing sales
distribution based on key.

2. Operations Performance:

Operations should focus on specific capabilities that give it a competitive edge which may be termed
competitive priorities. Four operations priorities or measures of these capabilities are:

• Cost - Efficiency of operations: If an organization is competing on price, then it is essential that it

keeps its cost base lower than the competition. Then it will either make more profit than rivals, if
price is equal, or gain market share if price is lower. Cost is also important for a strategy of providing
a product to a market niche, which competitors cannot provide.

• Time - Responsiveness to demand: The time delay or speed of operation can be measured as the
time between a customer request for a product/service and then receiving that product/service. The
advantage of speed is that it can either be used to reduce the amount of speculative activity and keep
the delivery time constant or for the same amount of speculative activity it can reduce overall delivery
lead time. Thus, in competitive terms speed can be used to both reduce costs (making to inaccurate
forecasts) and reduce delivery time (better customer service).

• Quality - Adherence to specifications: Quality covers both the quality of the product/service itself
and the quality of the process that delivers the product/service. Quality can be measured by the „cost
of quality‟ model - where costs are categorized as either the cost of achieving good quality (the cost
of quality assurance) or the cost of poor-quality products (the costs of not conforming to
specifications).

• Flexibility - Accommodating customer heterogeneity: Flexibility is needed so the organization can

adapt to changing customer needs in terms of product range and varying demand and to cope with
capacity shortfalls due to equipment breakdown or component shortage. Types of flexibility:
• Product flexibility is the ability to quickly act in response to changing customer needs with new
products/services
• Volume flexibility which is the ability to decrease or increase output in response to changes in
demand

3. What is Quality?

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 Quality is meeting the requirement, expectation and needs of the customer being free from defects,
lacks and substantial variants.

• Quality Assurance: It focuses on preventing defect. Quality Assurance ensures that the approaches,
techniques, methods and processes are designed for the projects are implemented correctly. Quality
assurance activities monitor and verify that the processes used to manage and create the deliverables
have been followed and are operative. Quality Assurance is a proactive

process and is preventive in nature. It recognizes flaws in the process. Quality Assurance has to
complete before Quality Control.
• Quality Control: Quality Control focuses on identifying defect. QC ensures that the approaches,
techniques, methods and processes are designed in the project are following correctly. QC activities
monitor and verify that the project deliverables meet the defined quality standards. Quality Control is
a reactive process and is detective in nature. It recognizes the defects.

4. Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM) has evolved over a number of years from ideas presented by quality
Gurus:

• Deming proposed an implementation plan consisting of 14-step which emphasizes continuous

improvement of the production process to achieve conformance to specification and reduce
variability. This is achieved by eliminating common causes of quality problems such as poor design
and insufficient training and special causes such as a specific machine or operator.

• Juran put forward a 10-step plan in which he emphasizes the elements of quality planning - designing
the product quality level and ensuring the process can meet this, quality control - using statistical
process control methods to ensure quality levels are kept during the production process and quality
improvement - tackling quality problems through improvement projects.

• Crosby suggested a 14-step program for the implementation of TQM. He is known for changing
perceptions of the cost of quality, when he pointed out that the costs of poor quality far outweigh the
cost of preventing poor quality, a view not traditionally accepted at the time.

The main principles of TQM are the following three statements:

• Customer defines quality and thus their needs must be met. The organization should consider quality
both from the producer and customer point of view.
• Quality is the responsibility of all employees in all parts of the organization. The responsibility for
quality should rest with the people undertaking the tasks that directly or indirectly affects the quality
of customer service.
• Continuous process of improvement culture must be developed to instill a culture which recognizes
the importance of quality to performance.

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Basic Tools of Quality Control:

Seven basic tools of quality first emphasized by Kaoru Ishikawa, a professor of engineering at Tokyo
University and the father of “quality circles.”
• Cause-and-effect diagram (also called Ishikawa or fishbone chart): Identifies many possible causes
for an effect or problem and sorts ideas into useful categories.
• Check sheet: A structured, prepared form for collecting and analyzing data; a generic tool that can
be adapted for a wide variety of purposes.
• Control charts: Graphs used to study how a process changes over time.
• Histogram: The most commonly used graph for showing frequency distributions, or how often
each different value in a set of data occurs.

• Pareto chart: Shows on a bar graph which factors are more significant.
• Scatter diagram: Graphs pairs of numerical data, one variable on each axis, to look for a
relationship.
• Flow Chart: A process flow chart is simply a tool that graphically shows the inputs, actions, and
outputs of a given system.

Cause-and-effect diagram
Cause and Effect diagram organizes and displays all the basic information related to a particular
problem in a sorted and graphical manner. Basic guidelines to construct a cause and effect diagram are:
• Develop a flow chart of the area to be improved.
• Define the problem to be solved.
• Brainstorm to find all the possible causes of problem.
• Organize the brainstorming results in rational categories.

If a Cause-and-Effect diagram doesn’t have a lot of smaller branches and twigs, it shows that the
understanding of the problem is superficial. Chances are you need the help of someone outside of your
group to aid in the understanding, perhaps someone more closely associated with the problem.

Check Sheets
Check sheets are devices which consist of lists of items and some indicator of how often each item on
the list occurs. In their simplest form, checklists are tools that make the data collection process easier
by providing prewritten descriptions of events likely to occur. A well-designed check sheet will answer
the questions posed by the investigator. Some examples of questions are the following: “Has everything
been done?” “Have all inspections been performed?” “How often does a particular problem occur?”
“Are problems more common with part X than with part Y?”

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Control Charts
The control chart is a graph used to study how a process changes over time. Data are plotted in time
order. A control chart always has a central line for the average, an upper line for the upper control limit
and a lower line for the lower control limit. These lines are determined from historical data. Variation
can be classified as common cause variation or special cause variation.
• Common cause variation is due to the natural variation of the process; that is, variation due to the way
the process was designed. An example of common cause variation is the variation that might be seen by
having several people working in the process. Each person might do things slightly differently.
• Special cause variation is variation that is due to assignable causes. An example of special cause
variation is the variation that might result if someone untrained is allowed to work in the process. Special
cause variation is variation that can be assigned a reason. The best tool to determine if the variation is
common cause or special cause is the control chart.

Pareto Charts
Pareto analysis is the process of ranking opportunities to determine which of many potential
opportunities should be pursued first. It is also known as “separating the vital few from the trivial many.”
Pareto analysis should be used at various stages in a quality improvement program to determine which
step to take next. Pareto analysis is used to answer questions as “On what type of defect should our
efforts be Concentrated?”

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 Scatter Diagrams:
A scatter diagram is a plot of one variable versus another. One variable is called the independent variable
and it is usually shown on the horizontal (bottom) axis. The other variable is called the dependent
variable and it is shown on the vertical (side) axis.

Scatter diagrams are used to evaluate cause-and effect relationships. The assumption is that the
independent variable is causing a change in the dependent variable. Scatter plots are used to answer such
questions as “Does vendor A‟s material machine better than vendor B‟s?” “Does the length of training
have anything to do with the amount of scrap an operator makes?” and so on.

5. 5S
5S is a system to reduce waste and optimize productivity through maintaining an orderly workplace and
using visual cues to achieve more consistent operational results. Implementation of this method "cleans
up" and organizes the workplace basically in its existing configuration, and it is typically the first lean
method which organizations implement.
The 5S pillars:
1. Sort (Seiri)
2. Set in Order (Seiton)

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3. Shine (Seiso)
4. Standardize (Seiketsu)
5. Sustain (Shitsuke)
These pillars provide a methodology for organizing, cleaning,
Developing, and sustaining a productive work environment. In the daily work of a company, routines
that maintain organization and orderliness are essential to a smooth and efficient flow of activities. This
lean method encourages workers to improve their working conditions and helps them to learn to reduce
waste, unplanned downtime, and in process inventory.

6. JIT and Lean Systems:

Just-In-time (JIT) is a philosophy originating from the Japanese auto maker Toyota where Taiichi Ohno
developed the Toyota Production system. The basic idea behind JIT is to produce only what you need,
when you need it. Delivering it requires a number of elements in place such as the elimination of wasteful
activities and continuous improvements.
Eliminate Waste
Waste is considered in the widest sense as any activity which does not add value to the operation. Seven
types of waste identified by Toyota are as follows:
• Over-Production – This is classified as the greatest source of waste and is an outcome of producing more than
is needed by the next process.
• Waiting Time – This is the time spent by labor or equipment waiting to add value to a product. This may be
disguised by undertaking unnecessary operations (e.g. generating work in progress (WIP) on a machine) which
are not immediately needed (i.e. the waste is converted from time to WIP).
• Transport – Unnecessary transportation of WIP is another source of waste. Layout changes can substantially
reduce transportation time.
• Process – Some operations do not add value to the product but are simply there because of poor design or
machine maintenance. Improved design or preventative maintenance should eliminate these processes.
• Inventory – Inventory of all types (e.g. pipeline, cycle) is considered as waste and should be eliminated.
• Motion – Simplification of work movement will reduce waste caused by unnecessary motion of labour and
equipment.
• Defective Goods – The total costs of poor quality can be very high and will include scrap material, wasted
labor time and time expediting orders and loss of goodwill through missed delivery dates.

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7. Value Chain Management:

Manufacturing value chain management (VCM) is the process of monitoring and managing all the
components that comprise manufacturing, including procurement, production, quality control and
distribution. It has gained prominence over the past couple of decades as business in general has gone
increasingly global and the resulting competition has caused many companies to focus on their core
competencies and outsource the rest.
The core-competency strategy was designed to help streamline operations and make them more
profitable by moving less-efficient and non-core competency tasks and operations outside the enterprise.
One unintended result, however, was the increasing diversity and complexity of external processes that
lengthened the vendor-to-customer chain. In response, methodologies to help manage, standardize and
optimize the value chain end-to-end were developed and value chain management was born.
Basic VCM includes the following:
• Integrated supply chain planning & scheduling
• Comprehensive resource management
• Cycle time responsiveness
• Supply chain-wide resource optimization
• Vendor/customer information integration

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

8. What is Supply Chain?

A supply chain is the series of activities that delivers a product or service to a customer. Activities in
the supply chain include sourcing materials and components, manufacturing products, storing

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products in warehousing facilities and distributing products to customers. The management of the supply
chain involves the coordination of the products through this process which will include the sharing of
information between interested parties such as suppliers, distributors and customers.

9. Why Supply Chain Management?

SCM is used to improve efficiency and reduce costs. SCM addresses three basic issues:

• Distribution Network Management

o Involves the management of the various production facilities and warehouses along with
distribution centres.
o Vital for organizations because all organizations tend to have numerous suppliers and distributers
along with storage facilities and the integration of all these is extremely essential.

• Distribution Channels
o This involves the various strategies employed and involves method such as cross docking, direct
shipment, pull or push strategies, third party logistics etc.
o The various distribution channels are encompassed under this method.

• Information Channels
o This involves the integration of the various systems and processes in the supply chain for sharing
valuable information
o Involves predicting demand, forecasts, inventory and transportation.

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10.What are the various elements of Supply Chain?

A simple supply chain is made up of several elements that are linked by the movement of products
alongside. The supply chain starts and ends with the customer.

• Customer: The customer starts the chain of events when they decide to purchase a product that has
been offered for sale by a company. The customer contacts the sales department of the company,
which enters the sales order for a specific quantity to be delivered on a specific date. If the product
has to be manufactured, the sales order will include a requirement that needs to be fulfilled by the
production facility.
• Planning: The requirement triggered by the customer’s sales order will be combined with other orders.
The planning department will create a production plan to produce the products to fulfil the customer’s
orders. To manufacture the products the company will then have to purchase the raw materials
needed.
• Purchasing: The purchasing department receives a list of raw materials and services required by the
production department to complete the customer’s orders. The purchasing department sends purchase
orders to selected suppliers to deliver the necessary raw materials to the manufacturing site on the
required date.
• Inventory: The raw materials are received from the suppliers, checked for quality and accuracy and
moved into the warehouse. The supplier will then send an invoice to the company for the items they
delivered. The raw materials are stored until they are required by the production department.

• Production: Based on a production plan, the raw materials are moved from inventory to the
production area. The finished products ordered by the customer are manufactured using the raw
materials purchased from suppliers. After the items have been completed and tested, they are stored
back in the warehouse prior to delivery to the customer.

• Transportation: When the finished product arrives in the warehouse, the shipping department
determines the most efficient method to ship the products so that they are delivered on or before the
date specified by the customer. When the goods are received by the customer, the company will
send an invoice for the delivered products.

11. Activities of Supply Chain Manager

Daily planning, production and scheduling of the various processes so as to improve their efficacy.
Demand planning and forecasting, coordinating the demand forecast of all customers and sharing the
forecast with all suppliers. This helps both the suppliers and the producers be aware of the exact
requirements and hence prepare accordingly, so as to minimize the inventory storage costs. Inbound
operations (transportation from suppliers) and outbound operations (transportation to customers)

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12. Fluctuations in the Supply Chain

The behavior of supply chains that are subject to demand fluctuations has been described as the
bullwhip effect and occurs when there is a lack of synchronization is supply chain members, when
even a slight change in consumer sales will ripple backwards in the form of magnified oscillations in
demand upstream. The bullwhip effect occurs because each tier in the supply chain, increases demand
by the current amount, but also assumes that demand is now at this new level, so increases demand
to cover the next week also. Thus, each member in the supply chain updates their demand forecast
with every inventory review.

There are other factors which increase variability in the supply chain. These include a time lag
between ordering materials and getting them delivered, leading to over-ordering in advance to ensure
sufficient stock are available to meet customer demand. Also, the use of order batching (when orders
are not placed until they reach a predetermined batch size) can cause a mismatch between demand
and the order quantity. Price fluctuations such as price cuts and quantity discounts also lead to more
demand variability in the supply chain as companies buy products before they need them.

13. Inventory Management:

The type of inventory management system employed is determined by the nature of the demand for
the goods and services on the organization. Demand can be classified into two categories; dependent
and independent.
• Dependent Demand
A dependent demand item has a demand which is relatively predictable because it is dependent on
other factors. Thus, a dependent demand item can be classified has having a demand that can be

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calculated as the quantity of the item needed to produce a scheduled quantity of an assembly that uses
that item.
• Independent Demand

Independent demand is when demand is not directly related to the demand for any other inventory
item. Usually, this demand comes from customers outside the company and so is not as predictable
as dependent demand. Because of the unknown future requirements of customers, forecasting is used
to predict the level of demand. A safety stock if then calculated to cover expected forecast error.
Independent demand items can be finished goods or spare parts used for after sales service.

14. Types of Inventory

Generally, inventory is classified as either raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP) or finished goods.
The location of inventory can be used to define the inventory type and its characteristics. There are
various definitions of inventory types including the following:
• Buffer/Safety: This is used to compensate for the uncertainties inherent in the timing or rate of supply and
demand between two operational stages (also termed as „Decoupling inventory‟).
• Cycle: If it is required to produce multiple products from one operation in batches, there is a need to
produce enough to keep a supply while the other batches are being produced.
• Anticipation: This includes producing to stock to anticipate a increase in demand due to seasonal factors.
Also, speculative policies such as buying in bulk to take advantage of price discounts may also increase
inventory levels.
• Pipeline/Movement: This is the inventory needed to compensate for the lack of stock while material is
being transported between stages. e.g. the time taken in distribution from the warehouse to a retail outlet.
• Seasonal: This is driven by seasonal variation in demand and constant capacity

15. Inventory Decisions

The main concern of inventory management is the trade-off between the cost of not having an item
in stock against the cost of holding and ordering the inventory. A stock-out can either be to an internal
customer in which case a loss of production output may occur, or to an external customer when a
drop-in customer service level will result. In order to achieve a balance between inventory availability
and cost the following inventory management aspects must be addressed of volume - how much to
order and timing - when to order.

16. The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) Model

The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) calculates the inventory order volume which minimises the
sum of the annual costs of holding inventory and the annual costs of ordering inventory. The model
makes a number of assumptions including:
• Stable or Constant Demand

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 • Fixed and identifiable ordering cost
• The cost of holding inventory varies in a linear fashion to the number of items held
• The item cost does not vary with the order size
• Delivery lead time does not vary No quantity discounts are available
• Annual demand exists

These assumptions have led to criticisms of the use of EOQ in practice. The assumption of one
delivery per order, and then the use of that stock over time increases inventory levels and goes against
a JIT approach. Also, annual demand will not exist for products with a life-cycle of less than a year.
However, the EOQ approach still has a role in inventory management in the right circumstances and
if its limitations are recognised.
Using the EOQ each order is assumed to be of Q units and is withdrawn at a constant rate over time
until the quantity in stock is just sufficient to satisfy the demand during the order lead time (the time
between placing an order and receiving the delivery). At this time, an order for Q units is placed with
the supplier. Assuming that the usage rate and lead time are constant the order will arrive when the
stock level is at zero, thus eliminating excess stock or stock-outs.
Inventory Usage Over Time

Objective is to minimize total costs:

TC= Purchase + Order + Holding
TRC = Order + Holding
Minimizing Costs:

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 • By minimizing the sum of setup (or ordering) and holding costs, total costs are minimized
• Optimal order size Q* will minimize total cost
• A reduction in either cost reduces the total cost
• Optimal order quantity occurs when holding cost and setup cost are equal
• Q = Number of units per order
• Q* = Optimal number of units per order (EOQ)
• D = Annual demand in units for the inventory item
• S = Setup or ordering cost for each order
• H = Holding or carrying cost per unit per year

Annual setup cost = (Number of orders placed per year) x (Setup or order cost per order)
𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑
={ } {𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟}
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟
𝐷
= { } {𝑆}
𝑄
Annual holding cost = (Average inventory level) x (Holding cost per unit per year)
𝑂𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦
={ } {𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟}
2
𝑄
= { } {𝐻}
2
And finally Purchase Cost = P x D

Hence
𝐷 𝑄
𝑇𝐶 = { } {𝑆} + { } {𝐻} + 𝑃𝐷
𝑄 2
Differentiating the above equation with respect to Q and equating to Zero, we get;
𝐷 𝑄
{ } {𝑆} = { } {𝐻}
𝑄 2
Solving for EOQ that is Q*, we get;

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17. Project management:

Project management involves the planning and organization of a company's resources to move a
specific task, event, or duty towards completion. It can involve a one-time project or an ongoing
activity, and resources managed include personnel, finances, technology, and intellectual property. It
is critical to your business success. It enables you to allocate resources, tasks, and accountability
effectively ensuring that issues such as scope, budget, and time are not compromised. When done right,
a well-balanced workflow can help your business achieve goals, increase ROI, as well as scale.
Phases of Project management:

• Closing
• Monitoring and controlling
• Execution
• Planning
• Initiation

18.Types of Project management

• Waterfall Project Management

The waterfall model comes out of the strict processes used in industries like construction and
manufacturing. It's an approach focused on creating the best possible final product, with little room for
adjustments or upgrades following the project's completion. Since today's technology makes it feasible
to adopt a more flexible methodology, other ways of developing software and other products have
become popular, but waterfall remains highly influential.

• Agile Project management

Since its inception, the Agile methodology has come a long way to become a popular approach among
a wide variety of organizations. Agile is a method of project management where projects are organized
into epics then broken down into small manageable sections via chapters and sprints. While this method
is most often associated with software development and DevOps, it has a wide range of applications
throughout the business. Many organizations implemented a form of project management in an attempt
to improve the success rate of IT projects. However, due to the rigidity of the methodologies, they often
failed, causing “paralysis by analysis”. These pressures led to the development of Agile. Delivering a
managed approach to software development without conventional procedural emphasis and
compartmentalization, Agile focuses on iterating through product requirements, encouraging
continuous improvement, and responding quickly to changing requirements from the aspect of a team
mentality rather than on an individual level.

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• Lean Project Management

Lean Project Management is the evidence that the Lean principles can find beneficial application in
many areas. Delivering value from your customer’s perspective, cutting down waste, and continuously
improving help project managers increase their project efficiency and enable them to deliver more with
less.

The birth of Lean Management can be tracked down to 1940, and in the past 80 years, it has become a
universal management tool for work process optimization.

• Scrum project management

Scrum is a framework that helps teams work together. It is heuristic and based on continuous learning
and adjustment to fluctuating factors. It acknowledges that the team doesn’t know everything at the start
of a project and will evolve through experience. This post explains the importance of scrum framework
in project management.

• Kanban project management

Kanban project management is an Agile framework used to visualize and improve workflows, reduce
waste and inefficiency, and increase team focus by limiting work in progress. First developed by Toyota
engineer Taiichi Ohno in the 1940s, Kanban comes from the Japanese word for “sign” or “visual board.”
While Kanban has its origins in lean manufacturing, the framework has been widely adopted by IT,
service delivery, project management, and operations teams across industries.

19. Operations Analytics

Operational analytics refers to the category of business analytics that focuses on measuring the existing
and real-time operations of the business. It uses data analysis and business intelligence to improve
efficiency and streamline everyday operations in real-time. With the support of data mining, artificial
intelligence and machine learning, operational analytics provides businesses better transparency thereby
helping them to make better decisions.

Different Elements of Operations Analytics

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20. Operations Analytics Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)

An operational key performance indicator (KPI) shows how well a company executes its day-to-day
work.

Often, a company tracks operational KPIs in real time. Performance on these KPIs affects the company’s
competitive position and profitability. Operational efficiency KPIs provide a way to determine if a
company is controlling costs and not wasting time, materials and labor, which is at the heart of
operational efficiency.

Some of the KPI’s across different domains are

Marketing
• CPC (Cost per click)
• CPA (cost per acquisition)

Sales
• Lead conversion ratio
• Lead to opportunity ratio

Logistics
• Delivery Time
• Transportation cost

Human resources
• Absenteeism rate
• Overtime hours

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 CONUNDRUM: THE CONSULTING CLUB

1. CAGE Distance Framework

The CAGE Distance Framework is a tool that can be used to uncover important differences between
various countries that companies should take into account when deciding on their strategy. The CAGE
framework can be extended from the country level and can be applied to the industry level in each
country. Thus, the CAGE framework can also be used to explain the competitive advantage of nations
in the context of distances.

Cultural Distance: Cultural differences matter the most when:

• Products have high linguistic content (TV programs)
• Products matter to cultural or national identity (foods)
• Product features vary in terms of size (cars) or standards (electrical equipment)
• Products carry country-specific quality associations(wines)

Administrative Distance: Government involvement is high in industries that are:

• Producers of staple goods (electricity)
• Producers of other ‘entitlements’ (drugs)
• Large employers (farming)
• Large suppliers to government (mass transportation)
• National champions (aerospace)
• Vital to national security (telecommunications)
• Exploiters of natural resources (oil, mining)
• Subject to high sunk costs (infrastructure)

Geographic Distance: Geography plays a more important role when:

• Products have a low value-to-weight or bulk ratio (cement)

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• Products are fragile or perishable (glass, fruit)
• Local supervision and operational requirements are high (services)

Economic Distance: Economic differences matter the biggest impact when:

• Nature of demand varies with income (cars)
• Economics of standardization or scale are limited (cement)
• Labor and other factor cost differences are salient (garments)
• Distribution or business systems are different (insurance)
• Companies need to be responsive and agile (home appliances)

2. Competitors Analysis

Strategic Group Mapping: We use this tool for the analysis of competitor’s position and segment with
respect to our firm.
Strategic Groups are organizations within an industry or sector with similar strategic characteristics,
following similar strategies or competing on similar basis; different from those in other strategic groups
in the same industry or sector.
Strategic groups help understand the different strategies multiple firms, within the same industry, are
adopting for pricing practices, leadership, product quality and scope, scale capabilities, go-to market and
level of technology. It is a tool for competitive analysis. Strategic groups help to define the scope of
firm`s competitors.
Example: competitive position of different automobile company

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STEP 1 – Identify Industry Competitors
The competitors you choose should be closely linked by the products/services they offer. This list of
competitors you create will be strategic groups
STEP 2 – Identify Your Two Key Variables Map the firm on a two variable grid using different strategic
dimensions. The competitive factors should be expressed in a low to high range with measurable
variables, for example variables can be technology, quality, safety features, better services, price etc.

3. Value Chain Analysis

Value Chain Model

Company’s performance can be improved by improving value-creating activities along a value chain.
Primary Activities: Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing and Sales,
and Services
Support Activities: Technology Development, Human Resources Management, Procurement, Firm
Infrastructure (General Administration)
Each of the mentioned activities should be broken down into discrete activities unique to a particular
community. Each of the categories may be vital to a competitive advantage depending on the industry.

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Examples-
• For a distributor, inbound and outbound logistics are the most crucial
• For a high-speed copier manufacturer, service represents a key source of competitive advantage.
• In chocolate manufacturing - procurement of cocoa beans represent the far most important determinant of
cost position.
• In steel, a firm’s process technology is the single greatest factor in competitive advantage

4. Growth Strategies

• Ansoff Matrix: Ansoff Matrix is a four-quadrant strategic planning tool to analyze growth alternatives in
existing/new markets with existing/new products.

The four strategies of the Ansoff Matrix are:

1. Market Penetration

In a market penetration strategy, the firm uses its products in the existing market. In other words, a
firm is aiming to increase its market share with a market penetration strategy.
The market penetration strategy can be executed in a number of ways:
• Decreasing prices to attract new customers
• Increasing promotion and distribution efforts
• Acquiring a competitor in the same marketplace
For example, telecommunication companies all cater to the same market and employ a market
penetration strategy by offering introductory prices and increasing their promotion and distribution
efforts.
2. Product Development

In a product development strategy, the firm develops a new product to cater to the existing market. The
move typically involves extensive research and development and expansion of the company’s product

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range. The product development strategy is employed when firms have a strong understanding of their
current market and are able to provide innovative solutions to meet the needs of the existing market.
This strategy, too, may be implemented in a number of ways:
Investing in R&D to develop new products to cater to the existing market
• Acquiring a competitor’s product and merging resources to create a new product that better meets the
need of the existing market
• Forming strategic partnerships with other firms to gain access to each partner’s distribution channels
or brand
For example, automotive companies are creating electric cars to meet the changing needs of their
existing market. Current market consumers in the automobile market are becoming more
environmentally conscious.
3. Market Development

In a market development strategy, the firm enters a new market with its existing product(s). In this
context, expanding into new markets may mean expanding into new geographic regions, customer
segments, etc. The market development strategy is most successful if (1) the firm owns proprietary
technology that it can leverage into new markets, (2) potential consumers in the new market are
profitable (i.e., they possess disposable income), and (3) consumer behavior in the new markets does
not deviate too far from that of consumers in the existing markets.
The market development strategy may involve one of the following approaches:
• Catering to a different customer segment
• Entering into a new domestic market (expanding regionally)
• Entering into a foreign market (expanding internationally)
For example, sporting goods companies such as Nike and Adidas recently entered the Chinese market
for expansion. The two firms are offering roughly the same products to a new demographic.
4. Diversification

In a diversification strategy, the firm enters a new market with a new product. Although such a strategy
is the riskiest, as both market and product development are required, the risk can be mitigated
somewhat through related diversification. Also, the diversification strategy may offer the greatest
potential for increased revenues, as it opens up an entirely new revenue stream for the company –
accesses consumer spending dollars in a market that the company did not previously have any access
to.

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E-Cell: THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUB
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Entrepreneurship isn't always about coming up with a novel idea. It is about determining what people's
interests have yet to be well catered to. It is not about planning and developing strategies on paper or
in your head, but about getting started by taking the first necessary step and then the steps that follow.
Even non-entrepreneurs can find creative solutions to everyday business problems with an
entrepreneurial mindset.

1. Some of the most important characteristics of a successful entrepreneur?

This question is an excellent way to demonstrate to your interviewer that you possess the skills and
traits required for success as an entrepreneur. When answering this question, it can be helpful to list
several characteristics and explain why they are important.

2. What are steps in formation of a business idea?

• What will you sell?
• What problems will you solve?
• Who is the target customer?
• Who will buy your product?
• How will you market?
• What will be the “Costs”?
• Who will be your “Competition” Who will be your “Partner/Collaborators”?
• Why will your customers prefer you?
• What are your possible Challenges?
• How will people find you?
• Are you disrupting other companies?
• When will you start?

3. What’s your take on innovation in business? Does it really lead to better profitability?
Because it allows businesses to stay ahead of their competitors, innovation is one of the most important
factors for business success. Businesses can use innovation to solve problems or create products that
customers want. It also provides them with access to new markets and growth opportunities. I believe
that innovation leads to increased profitability because it adds value to customers' lives and increases
sales."

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Funding stages

Pre-Seed Funding: Ideation.

This is the research phase of beginning a start-up. During the pre-seed stage, make sure to answer the
following questions:

• Is your idea viable?

• Has your idea been done before?
• How costly is your venture?
• What kind of business model will you use?
• How will you get started?

In many situations, much of the business funding during this phase either comes from you or friends
and family

Seed Funding: Validation.

At this point, your idea is an actual business with some customer traction. Entrepreneurs in this phase
provide company equity in return for larger amounts of cash provided by investors. Costs covered by
seed funding include:

• Product launch
• Product marketing
• New employees
• Market research on product-market-fit

Series A Funding: Early Traction

The first round after the seed stage is Series A funding. In this round, it’s important to have a plan for
developing a business model that will generate long-term profit. Oftentimes, seed start-ups have great
ideas that generate a substantial amount of enthusiastic users, but the company doesn’t know how it
will monetize the business.

Series B, C & D Funding: Scaling

Series B Funding
Series B financing is the second round of funding for a company that has met certain milestones and is
past the initial start-up stage. Companies undergoing a Series B funding round are well-established,
and their valuations tend to reflect that. Series B investors usually pay a higher share price for investing
in the company than Series A investors.

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Series C Funding
Businesses that raise a Series C funding are already quite successful. These companies look for
additional funding in order to help them develop new products, expand into new markets, or even

to acquire other companies. Series C funding is focused on scaling the company, growing as quickly
and as successfully as possible.

Series D Funding
Series D funding is the fourth stage of fundraising that a business completes after the seed stage. The
initial round of funding after the seed stage is Series A. The second is the Series B and then the third
is Series C.

Series funding enables investors to support entrepreneurs with the proper funds to carry out their
dreams, perhaps cashing out together down the line in an IPO.

4. Important Terminologies

• Start-up: refers to a company in the first stages of operations

• Entrepreneur: A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture.
• Business Incubator: Provides workspace, coaching, and support services to entrepreneurs and
early-stage businesses.
• Entrepreneur: Someone who takes on entrepreneur-like ventures within a large corporate
environment.
• Joint Venture: A legal entity created by two or more businesses joining together to conduct a
specific business enterprise with both parties sharing profits and losses. It differs from a strategic
alliance in that there is a specific legal entity created.
• Angel Investors: Individuals who back emerging entrepreneurial ventures, usually as a bridge to
get from the self-funded stage to the level of business that would both need and attract venture
capital. Funding level ranges anywhere from $50,000 to $2 million.
• Venture capitalists: A private equity investor that provides capital to companies with high growth
potential in exchange for an equity stake. This could be funding start-up ventures or supporting
small companies that wish to expand but do not have access to equities markets.
• Acquisition: Taking ownership of another business. Frequently used in conjunction with the word
merger, as in mergers and acquisitions or M&As.
• Merger: A joining together of two previously separate corporations. A true merger in the legal
sense occurs when both businesses dissolve and move their assets and liabilities into a newly
created entity.
• Outsourcing: Purchasing standard operational services from another business. Outsourced
services typically include accounting, payroll, IT, advertising, and more.

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 • Line of Credit: Similar to a business loan, except that the borrower pays interest only on the
amount actually used. Much like a credit card, the business makes periodic payments against the
outstanding balance.
• Sole Proprietorship: A business owned and operated by one person.
• Strategic Alliance: An ongoing relationship between two businesses in which they combine
efforts for a specific purpose.
• Due Diligence: The inquiry process of obtaining sufficient and accurate disclosure of all material
documents and other information which may influence the outcome of the transaction.

5. Government Schemes for Start-ups:

Top 5 Government Schemes for Start-ups And MSMEs In India:

• Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana:

PM Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, wherein Micro Units Development and Refinance
Agency Bank or MUDRA Banks provide loans at low rates to micro-finance institutions and non-
banking financial institutions, who in turn provide low-interest loans to start-ups and MSMEs. Hence,
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana is one of its kind fund of funds, devised and conceptualized to empower
Indian entrepreneurs. Loans up to Rs 10 lakh can be availed under the MUDRA scheme.

There are three categories of businesses, which can avail loans under MUDRA loan for start-ups:
o Category 1: Shishu, which is for new businesses. Loans up to Rs 50,000 can be availed.
o Category 2: Kishor, which is a mid-aged business. Loans up to Rs 5 lakh can be availed.
o Category 3: Tarun, which is an existing, experienced business. Loans up to Rs 10 lakh can be
availed.

• Start-up India Initiative:

The Prime Minister of India launched the Start-up India Initiative in the year 2016 on 16th January.
The idea is to increase wealth and employability by giving wings to entrepreneurial spirits. The
government gives tax benefits to start-ups under this scheme, and around 50,000 start-ups have been
recognized via this scheme in a period of a little more than five years, as of June 3, 2021. The
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion maintains this initiative and treats it as a long-term
project. Moreover, the overall age limit for start-ups has been increased from two years to seven years.
Plus, for biotechnology firms, the age limit is ten years from the date of incorporation. It is one of the
best government-sponsored start-up schemes for entrepreneurs as it provides several concessions.

• Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro & Small Enterprises (CGTSME):
CGTSME is one of the biggest Start-up Loan Schemes launched by the Ministry of MSME in India.
Under this Government scheme, a collateral-free loan of up to Rs 1 crore is provided to eligible start-
ups and MSMEs. The loan is dispersed via a trust named Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and

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 Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), which is powered by the Ministry of MSME and Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

• Credit Linked Capital Subsidy for Technology Upgradation (CLCSS):

Govt is clearly aware that technology is the tool that can propel Indian start-ups and MSMEs to compete
with global competitors. This is the reason for the creation of the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy for
Technology Upgradation (CLCSS) Government scheme, wherein Govt provides financial help to
MSMEs to upgrade their technology and implement state of an art technological platforms for their
business. Under CLCSS, Govt provides a 15% subsidy for investment up to Rs 1 crore for upgrading
technology for start-ups and MSMEs in India. More than 7500 products/services are covered under this
Government scheme.

• ASPIRE – A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industries and Entrepreneurship:

This scheme was introduced to set up a network of technology centres and incubation centres across
India with the objective to accelerate entrepreneurship and encourage innovations for unmet social
needs in the agro-business industry. It provides financial aid for setting up livelihood business
incubators and/or technology business incubators, by way of one-time grant of 100% (hundred percent)
cost of plant & machinery (apart from land and infrastructure) or a sum up to INR 100 (Indian rupee
hundred) lakhs, whichever is less.
In India, a large portion of the population is still dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and a
substantial number of Indians live in rural areas. As such, this scheme was launched with the purpose
of generating employment and establishing enterprises in the agriculture industry. It provides
knowledge to entrepreneurs for establishing their own businesses, to emerge as employers, and to
ensure their self-sustainability. This program intends to foster district-level economic growth from the
ground up.

6. What is the difference between a Start-up and MSME?

A start-up is typically a new company with innovative ideas and products. They are usually led by young
entrepreneurs who want to make their mark on the world. An SME, or small-to-medium enterprise, is
more established than a start-up. They have been in business for at least five years and have proven
themselves to be successful.”

7. What’s your take on innovation in business? Does it really lead to better profitability?
Innovation is one of the most important factors for success in any business because it allows companies
to stay ahead of their competition. Innovation helps businesses find new ways to solve problems or create
products that customers want. It also gives them access to new markets and opportunities for growth. I
believe that innovation leads to better profitability because it creates more value for customers and
increases sales.

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 8. What are the biggest challenges faced by start-ups today?
The biggest challenge faced by start-ups today is finding funding. Many start-ups are unable to secure
enough funding from investors or banks, which makes it difficult for them to grow their business. In my
last role as an account manager at a tech company, I helped develop a new product that was able to
attract venture capitalists. This allowed our team to hire more employees and expand our operations.

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 POLYNOMICS: THE PUBLIC POLICY &
ECONOMICS CLUB

Economics is the social science which deals with the prioritization of options available by individuals,
society and government for using the scarce resources to meet the various needs of life.

1. Microeconomics:
Microeconomics is the branch of economics that deals with decisions made by individuals to use the
resources, interactions between the individuals for utilization and distribution of the scarce resources.

2. Demand:
Demand refers to a person’s desire to purchase goods and services and the willingness to pay for the
same. It is also backed by the person’s ability to pay for the product.

3. Law of Demand:
It is one of the most fundamental concepts of economics. It states that the quantity purchased varies
inversely with the good’s own price. In other words, the higher the product’s own price, the lower the
demand for the product, other parameters held constant.
Function: Qx = f (Px; Y), Px = price of good x, Qx = quantity of good x, Y = Other Parameters (held
constant)

4. Supply:
Supply is an economic concept that refers to the willingness and ability of producers to create goods and services
to take them to market.

5. Law Of Supply:
It is an economic law that states that keeping other things constant, as the price of the product rises, the
quantity of the goods or services offered by the suppliers rises and vice versa.

6. Elasticity:
• Demand Elasticity: The elasticity of demand measures the sensitivity of the quantity demanded of a product
to the own price of the product. E(d) = (-) % Quantity% Prices
• Supply Elasticity: It is a measure used to show the responsiveness of the quantity supplied of a good or service
to the change in its prices. E(s) = % Quantity% Prices.

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 Types of Elasticity:
• Elasticity is considered inelastic when its value (Ed/s) < 1. It indicates that the proportionate change
in quantity is lesser than the proportionate change in prices.

• When the value of elasticity (Ed/s) >1, then we call it elastic demand/supply. It shows higher
responsiveness in the product concerning its prices. Elastic demand/supply means that the
proportionate change in quantity is greater than the proportionate change in the prices.
• When the value of elasticity (Ed/s) = 1, then we call it unitary elastic.

7. Type of Costs:

• Opportunity Cost: It is the cost of the following best alternative foregone.

• Marginal Opportunity Cost: It refers to the number of units of a
• Explicit Cost: It is the actual money expenditure on inputs or payments made to outsiders for hiring
their factor services.
• Implicit Cost: It is the estimated value of the inputs supplied by the owners including normal profit.
• Cost Function: It refers to the functional relationship between cost and output. It is expressed as C=
f(q).
• Total Fixed Cost (TFC) or Fixed Costs (FC) - It refers to those costs which do not vary directly
with the level of output.
• Total Variable costs (TVC) or Variable costs (VC) - It refers to those costs which vary directly
with the level of output.
• Total Cost (TC)- Total cost is the total expenditure by a firm on the factors of production required
for the production of a commodity.
• The relationship between TFC, TVC AND TC is TC = TFC + TVC
• When the proportionate change in prices is equal to the proportionate change in quantity, then it is a
case of unitary elasticity. (Ed/s = 1 in this case).
• Short Run Costs: Short-run costs are of two types
• Average Costs:
o Average Fixed Cost (AFC= TFC/Q)
o Average Variable Cost (AVC = TVC/Q)
o Average Total Cost (AC = TC/Q)
• Relationship between AC, AVC and AFC is: AC = AFC + AVC

8. Production
It refers to the transformation of inputs into outputs.

• Production Function: It is an expression of the technological relationship between physical inputs

and the output of a good.

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• Short Run and Long Run: Short-run refers to a period in which output can be changed by changing
only variable factors and long run refer to a period in which output can be changed by changing all
factors of production.

• Variable and Fixed Factors: Variable factors refer to the factors that can be changed in the short
run and fixed factors refer to the factors that cannot be changed in the short run.

• Product: Product or Output refers to the volume of goods produced by a firm or an industry during
a specified period.
• Total Product (TP): It refers to the total quantity of goods produced by a firm during a given period
with the given number of inputs.
• Average Product: It refers to the output per unit of a variable input. It can be shown as AP = Total
Product (TP) / Units of variable factors (n)

9. MACROECONOMICS

Macroeconomics is another branch of economics that deals with the aggregate behaviour of the
economy (regional, national or global) in terms of performance parameters such as inflation, GDP,
national income, price levels etc.
• Capitalist Economy: It is the economy where the decisions about what to produce, how much to
produce and the price at which to sell is solely taken by the market or the private enterprises in the
system and the state has no economic role. This concept originated in the famous work of Adam
Smith - Wealth of Nations (1776).
• State Economy: It is the economy where the decision of production, distribution, supply and price
is solely taken by the state.
• Mixed Economy: It is the economy where some elements of the economy are controlled by the
state and the rest of the elements are regulated by the market. In another way, it can be said that it
is the combination of the capitalist economy and state economy.
• GDP Deflator: The price deflator for GDP tests the price adjustments for all the goods and services
produced in an economy. The use of the GDP price deflator allows economists to compare real
economic activity levels from one year to the next
• National Income: Income of the Nation can be calculated in four ways: GDP, NDP, GNP, NNP,
which is also a subject in 'National Income Accounting'.
• NDP: Net Domestic Product (NDP) is the GDP minus the depreciation of the goods and services
produced.
• GNP (Gross National Product): Gross National Product is the summation of the GDP of a nation
and the income of the nation from outside of the nation. GNP indicates both the quantitative and
qualitative aspects of the economy.
• NNP (Net National Product): Net National Product (NNP) is the GNP minus the depreciation of
the economy. Inflation: Inflation is the quantitative measure of the increase in the general price level
of goods and services which results in the decrease of the purchasing power per unit of a currency.

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• Stagflation: Stagflation is the situation of an economy when inflation and unemployment both are
at higher levels that is opposite to the conventional situation. The conventional belief is that a trade-
off exists between inflation and the unemployment rate according to Phillips Curve.

10.Important Points:

• Direct Taxes: The tax amount levied directly on an individual or organization's income or property
by the imposing body. It is based on the principle of ability-to pay, which means the entity with
more resources has to pay more tax. Examples of Direct Taxes are income tax, wealth tax, property
tax, corporate tax etc.

• Indirect tax: It is the tax collected by an intermediary and paid to the government by passing the
tax burden on the consumer buying that good or service. It is the tax imposed on the goods and
services instead of on a person or organization's income, earnings or property. Examples of Indirect
tax: Value Added Tax, Customs Duty, Service Tax.
• Inflation: Inflation is the phenomenon of rising prices of goods and services. It can also be stated
as the decline of the purchasing power of a currency over time.
• CPI: It stands for Consumer price index. It measures the weighted average of prices of a basket of
consumer goods and services. It is a common way to assess the changes in the cost of living and is
used for identifying periods of inflation and deflation.
• WPI: It stands for wholesale price index. In contrast to CPI, it measures the changes in prices of
the basket of goods and services before the retail stage, that is it examines the basket of goods and
services at their wholesale or bulk prices.
• Deflation: It is the phenomenon of decreasing prices of goods and services or simply negative
inflation. Falling demand or reduction in production cost are the causes of deflation.
• Stagflation: It is inflation combined with stagnant economic growth. It is the period when prices
are rising along with slow economic growth and high unemployment. Hyperinflation: It is the
phenomenon of excessive rising prices. It can be described if rapidly rising inflation over a short
period is more than 50%. During hyperinflation, a currency loses its purchasing power rapidly. It
generally occurs due to a sudden increase in the money supply in the economy and can be controlled
by regulating the money supply.
• The Monetary Policy: Monetary policy is the policy laid down by the Monetary Authority of a
country. In India, monetary policy is managed by the RBI to meet the requirements of different
sectors of the economy and increase the pace of economic growth. The Central Bank has
traditionally used three tools to conduct Monetary Policy:
1. Reserve Requirements
2. Discount Rate
3. Open Market Operations
• Fiscal Policy: Fiscal policy refers to government spending and tax policies to influence economic
conditions, including aggregate demand for goods and services, employment, inflation, and
economic growth.

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• GDP: Gross Domestic Product is the Monetary Value of all the finished goods and services
produced in a country during a particular period. It can be Real and Nominal. Real GDP is an inflation-
adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced in a given year by an
economy. Real GDP makes comparing GDP of different years more meaningful because it shows
comparisons for both the quantity and value of goods and services.
• Bank Rate: The bank rate is the interest rate that the central bank charges on its loans and advances
to a commercial bank. It is a commonly utilized instrument that Central banks use to change the degree
of cash supply in the economy and fix inflationary or deflationary gaps.
• Repo Rate: The repo rate refers to the rate at which commercial banks borrow money by selling
their securities to the Central bank of our country i.e., Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to maintain
liquidity, in case of a shortage of funds or due to some statutory measures.
• Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse Repo Rate is a mechanism to absorb the liquidity in the market, thus
restricting investors' borrowing power. Reverse Repo Rate is when the RBI borrows money from banks with
excess liquidity in the market.
• CRR: The Cash Reserve ratio is the minimum portion of deposits that banks have to keep with the RBI.
The higher the CRR, the lower the banks’ deposits for lending or investing purposes.
• Loans & Borrowings: It includes all types of loans from both the private and public sectors located in
foreign countries.
• Investments: These are funds invested in corporate stocks by non-residents.
• Foreign Exchange Reserves: Foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank of a country to monitor
and control the exchange rate does impact the capital account.
• SLR: Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the minimum percentage of deposits that banks have to maintain as gold,
cash, or any other approved security. An increase in SLR restricts a bank's ability to pump money into the
economy, thereby regulating credit growth.
• Balance of Payments: The Balance of Payments (BOP) is a statement of all transactions made over a given
period of time, such as a quarter or a year, between individuals in one country and the rest of the world.
• Elements of Balance of Payments: There are three components of the balance of payment viz current
account, capital account, and financial account. The total of the current account must balance with the total of
capital and financial accounts in ideal situations.
• Current Account: The current account is used to monitor the inflow and outflow of goods and services
between countries. This account covers all the receipts and payments made concerning raw materials and
manufactured goods. It also includes receipts from engineering, tourism, transportation, business services,
stocks, and royalties from patents and copyrights. When all the goods and services are combined, together they
make up a country’s Balance of Trade (BOT).
• Capital Account: All capital transactions between the countries are monitored through the capital account.
Capital transactions include the purchase and sale of assets (non-financial) like land and properties.
• Financial Account: The flow of funds from and to foreign countries through various investments in real
estate, business ventures, foreign direct investments etc. is monitored through the financial account. This account
measures the changes in the foreign ownership of domestic assets & domestic ownership of foreign assets.
• GST: The tax came into force on 1 July 2017 via the Indian government's adoption of the One Hundred
and First Amendment to the Constitution of India. The GST (Goods and Services Tax) is an indirect tax (or sales
tax) on the production of goods and services used in India. It is a systematic, multi-stage, destination-based tax:
comprehensive since, except for a few state taxes, it has subsumed almost all the indirect taxes. Goods and
services

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are split into five tax collection slabs - 0 percent, 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent and 28 percent. the capital
account, and financial account.
• FDI (Foreign Direct Investment): A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment made into business
interests located in another country by a corporation or person in one country. In general, FDI takes place when
an investor in a foreign corporation develops foreign business operations or acquires foreign business properties.

• Foreign Institutional Investors (FII): Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are investors or investment
funds that invest in a country outside the country in which they are registered or have their headquarters. The
term foreign institutional investor is possibly most widely used in India.

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