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Contents

WAT PI Tips 3
HR Questions 4
Economics 8
India 12
World 21
Marketing 24
Operations 33
Finance 39
Information Technology and Analytics 44
Consulting 55
Acknowledgement 61

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WAT PI Tips

Tips for Personal interview

1. Lead the conversation towards your strengths

2. Make sure to be up to date with current affairs
3. Reflect confidence throughout the process without coming off as being arrogant
4. Maintain a positive body language
5. Be thorough with your CV
6. Structure your thoughts with clarity and answer in a logical manner
7. Be attentive throughout the interview
8. Dress appropriately for the interview
9. Sit in a properly lit environment and have a clear background
10. Check your microphone and camera well before the interview

Tips for Written Ability Test

1. Avoid using too much jargon or being verbose
2. Time management is of utmost importance
3. Avoid making grammatical and spelling errors
4. Try analysing the topic from different angles
5. Have a clear flow in your essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion

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HR Questions
About you
 Tell me about yourself.
 What is unique about you?
 What are your strengths?
 What are your weaknesses?
 Which adjectives would you use to describe yourself?
 What past accomplishment gave you the most satisfaction?

About career choices

 Why MBA?
 Why is this the right time for an MBA?
 Why do you think an MBA suits you?
 Where do you see yourself five (ten or fifteen) years from now?

Work-ex based questions

 Which is your dream company?
 What's the biggest impact you made in your work place?
 How have you dealt with criticism at work?
 How do you think your work experience will add value to your MBA degree?
 How does your job prepare you for MBA ahead?
 What are the values that you think a manager should have?

About the Institute

 What do you know about our institute?
 Why do you want to join this institute?
 What will you bring to our institute?
 What if you do not get admission into MBA?

About teamwork/leadership
 Do you enjoy working in groups? Are you a team player?

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  How did you add value to a team, in your previous institute/organisation?
 What have you done that demonstrates leadership?
 What have you done that demonstrates teamwork?
 What qualities do you feel a successful manager should have?

About the situations, you have faced

A situation where you persuaded a group of people to do something

 Explain how you overcame a major obstacle in your life.

 An incident where your work was criticised?

About ethics
 What is ethics to you? Do you think ethics can be taught?
 Do you think you are ethical?
 Give an example from your life where you did not follow what was ethically correct?
 An incident where you faced an ethical dilemma? Have you faced a conflict of interest?
 How did you resolve it?

About your philosophy

 Who is your role model?
 What motivates you? What makes you want to work hard?
 What is a success to you?
 What is a failure according to you?
 What would you like to improve about yourself?

Hobby based Questions

 What are you passionate about other than academics?
 How do you value your hobbies?
 What do you gain from your hobbies?

Recent Group Discussion Topics

 Is there a need for credit assessment agencies
 How can India capitalize on US- China trade war
 Do Aadhar policies lead to extreme policing?

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 Impact of social media on Society and Human Behavior
 How to analyze a pool of customers who have defaulted on their credit card payments. How to
classify them and what steps to take to make them pay up ASAP
 India becoming $5 trillion economy in 2024
 Startups today are overvalued
 Current situation of Indian Economy
 Metaverse and its impact on society
 Shared economy and how is it affecting other industries
 Artificial intelligence - Machines will replace Humans or not.
 Opportunities and challenges for electric vehicles in India
 Are we ready for "Fit India" movement?
 Green washing: A corporate fad or not
 Drug is not approved by FDA, but the company has first mover advantage. Should they go
about maximizing their work force?
 Consistency is sign of fools; smart people are a bundle of contradictions.
 Fintech and Traditional banking friends or foes
 Is MBA necessary for Business Management?
 Social Media: Boon or Bane.
 MBA vs Entrepreneurship
 Fraud in Online Payments
 Chatbot/AI launch for a bank
 Are women better managers
 Growing Communal Intolerance
 Technology- boon or bane
 Online vs Offline market
 AI in SCM
 Is Cloud for everyone
 Is "Make in India" a success?
 Investment in stocks vs investment in gold
 Do ethics and profitability go hand in hand
 Black and White
 Design a technology solution to improve the agricultural ecosystem in India.
 You are an automobile giant which has just launched a luxury car, where would you launch it?
US/ Europe or India/ China
 Data Privacy in the digital age
 How can traditional D2H companies keep up with the increasing popularity of OTT platforms
 My bad is different from I am Sorry

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 Do we require more entrepreneurs than managers?
 Is the current budget relevant to the Indian context? Will it be able to generate the jobs that the
country requires?
 Is cryptocurrency in India a fad or a success
 Offline retailing vs Online Retailing
 Why some companies are not able to leverage data to their benefit?
 Role of Tech in BFSI
 Is Democracy the best option we have?

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Economics

Economics
Economics is a social science concerned with the factors that determine the production, distribution,
and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of
economic agents and how economies work.

What is the Economy?

An economy is an area of the production, distribution, or trade, and consumption of goods and
services by different agents in a given geographical location. Production, exchange and consumption
of goods and services are among the basic economic activities of life. Microeconomics is the study of
economics at an individual, group or company level. Microeconomics focuses on issues that affect
individuals and companies. It also focuses on supply and demand and other forces that determine the
price levels seen in the economy. Macroeconomics, on the other hand, is the study of a national
economy as a whole. This looks at economy-wide phenomena, such as Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and how it is affected by changes in unemployment, national income, the rate of growth, and
price levels.

What is the Law of Demand?

Law of demand states that as price falls, consumers are willing to buy more of the good. Demand is
the willingness and ability of consumers to purchase a given amount of a good or service at a given
price. Supply is the willingness of sellers to offer a given quantity of a good or service. The
interaction of buyers and sellers in the market results in equilibrium. Equilibrium exists when the
highest price willingly paid by buyers is just equal to the lowest price willingly accepted by the
sellers.

What is Consumer Surplus and Demand

Surplus?
Consumer Surplus is an economic measure of consumer benefit. It occurs
when the price being paid is lower than the price the consumer was

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actually willing to pay. Producer Surplus is an economic measure of producer benefit. It is the
difference between how much the producer would be willing to accept for a good versus how much
they would get by selling it at market price.

Opportunity Cost
Economics deals with choosing one alternative among various alternatives. The choice of one
alternative implies the sacrifice of other alternatives; hence the cost of this choice will be evaluated in
terms of the sacrificed alternatives. The cost of this choice is the benefit of the next best alternative
foregone. This is called opportunity cost.

Gross Domestic Product

The monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a
specific period, though GDP is usually calculated on an annual basis. GDP is commonly used as an
indicator of the economic health of a country, as well as to gauge a country's standard of living. It
represents the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific period; you can
think of it as the size of the economy.

Normal Goods
A normal good is one whose demand increases as people's incomes or the economy rise. A normal
good is defined as having an income elasticity of demand coefficient that is positive. Whole wheat
and other organic foods are examples of normal goods.

Inferior Goods
Any goods for which demand is inversely proportional to the income are known as inferior goods.
Hamburgers, instant noodles and canned drinks are a few examples of inferior goods.

Giffen Goods
A Giffen good is a good for which demand increases as the price increases and falls when the price
decreases. It is a special case of an “inferior good” of which people buy less when their income rises.
For example, people buy more steak than hamburger when they feel richer.

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Fiscal Policy and Monetary Policy
Monetary Policy is the macroeconomic Policy laid down by the central bank. It involves the
management of the money supply and interest rate and is the demand side economic policy used by
the central bank of a country to achieve macroeconomic objectives like inflation, consumption,
growth and liquidity.
Fiscal Policy is the means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor
and influence a nation's economy.
These two policies are used in various combinations to direct a country's economic goals.

Bank Rate
Bank Rate is the rate of interest which a central bank charges on the loans and advances to a
commercial bank. Whenever a bank has a shortage of funds, they can typically borrow from the
central bank based on the monetary Policy of the country. This is typically done on a quarterly basis
to control inflation and stabilise the country’s exchange rates.

Repo Rate
Repo Rate is the rate at which the central or federal bank of a country (Reserve Bank of India in case
of India) lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds. Repo rate is used by
monetary authorities to control inflation.

Reverse Repo
Rate Reverse Repo Rate is the short-term borrowing rate at which the banks park their money with
the central or federal bank of a country (Reserve Bank of India in case of India). An increase in the
reverse repo rate means that the banks will get a higher rate of interest from RBI.

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)

Banks in India are required to hold a certain proportion of their deposits in the form of cash.
However, Banks don't hold these as cash with themselves, they deposit such cash (aka currency
chests) with Reserve Bank of India, which is considered as equivalent to holding cash with
themselves. This minimum ratio (that is the part of the total deposits to be held as cash) is stipulated
by the RBI and is known as the CRR or Cash Reserve Ratio.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)

Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the amount of money that the commercial banks must invest in certain
specified securities - predominantly central government and state government securities. The SLR,
the money goes into investment predominantly in the central government securities

Inflation
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising and,
consequently, the purchasing power of the currency is falling. Central banks attempt to limit inflation

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and avoid deflation, to keep the economy running smoothly. For example, if the inflation rate is 3%
annually, then theoretically a Red Bull costing Rs. 100 will cost Rs. 103 in a year. After inflation,
your money can't buy the same goods it could beforehand.

Indices to measure Inflation

Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of
consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care. It is calculated by taking
price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them.
Wholesale price index (WPI) is an index that measures and tracks the changes in the price of goods in
the stages before the retail level – that is, goods that are sold in bulk and traded between entities or
businesses instead of consumers.

Deficit
Fiscal Deficit occurs when a government's total expenditures exceed the revenue that it generates,
excluding money from borrowings.
Revenue Deficit occurs when realised net income is less than the projected net income. This happens
when the actual amount of revenues and/or the actual amount of expenditures do not correspond with
budgeted revenues and expenditures.
Primary Deficit is the amount by which a government’s total expenditure exceeds the total revenue,
excluding the interest payments on its debt.

FDI & FII

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) refers to the investment by foreign investors in projects in the
country. This type of investment is more involved with the management, technology transfer and
other field expertise and know-how in the project.
FII refers to Foreign Institutional Investors. These investors invest in the country indirectly by
purchasing stocks of the companies listed on the stock exchanges. The FII money inflows or outflows
are also called hot money flows.

Policy Rates and Reserve ratios

The policy rates and reserve ratios as of December 8, 2023, are as follows:

Policy Repo Rate 6.50%

Reverse Repo Rate 3.35%

Marginal Standing Facility Rate 6.75%

Bank Rate 5.15%

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 Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) 4.50%

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 18.00%

India
Economy

National Multidimensional Poverty Index (NMPI)

NMPI is an enhanced index to measure poverty compared to the traditional methods. Unlike its
predecessors, the index takes into account multiple dimensions in addition to the per capita
consumption expenditure. It is released by NITI Ayog in partnership with United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI).
The index is based on Global Multidimensional Poverty Index released by OPHI and UNDP since
2010
The index has three equally weighted dimensions including health, education, and standard of living.
These three dimensions cover 12 variables in total, including nutrition, school attendance, years of
schooling, drinking water, sanitation, housing, and bank accounts.
The NMPI report quotes rural MPI for India at 0.155 and urban MPI at 0.04. The index ranges from
values 0 to 1 and higher values are indicators of higher poverty. The state with the highest poverty
levels was identified as Bihar with 51.91% of the population as poor and Kerala was identified as the
state with the lowest poverty levels of 0.71%.
By expanding the scope from a single parameter of expenditure to a more comprehensive list of
relevant parameters, NMPI portrays a true picture of poverty in the country. It enables a molecular
level of analysis of the poverty question and helps decide on accurate policy measures to alleviate
poverty

Electronics Industry
In January 2022, while addressing the Davos conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech
mentioned the Make in India, make for the World initiative which envisages greater supply chain
integration of India with the world. The speech supplemented the ongoing efforts of the Government
of India to boost India's participation in the global value chain and develop large-scale manufacturing
capabilities in order to gain a significant share of global electronics export.
The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s (MeiTY) 1000 days vision sets a target of
$1 trillion Digital Economy for Atma Nirbhar Bharat. The implementation is done through
government handholding by setting up 200 Electronics Manufacturing Clusters with state-of-the-art
infrastructure. Other initiatives include Production Linked Incentives which makes it financially
easier and attractive for the company that wishes to invest in India.

Production Linked Incentives (PLI)

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Production Linked Incentives are the sum of government incentives that are handed out to
manufacturing units based on their performance. The quantum of incentives doled out in the form of
subsidies and other monetary benefits are directly linked to the value of goods manufactured with
these units. This forms a positive pull for the units to expand the scope of their operations. The PLI
scheme is central to the realization of the Atmanirbhar Bharat plan that aims to establish India as a
global manufacturing hub.
The scheme extends to 14 industries including mobile phones, auto components, aviation, chemicals,
textiles, etc. The government of India plans to spend Rs. 3.46 lakh crore on these 14 PLI schemes.
The scheme applies to both foreign companies setting up manufacturing centers in India and domestic
units looking for expansion.
The long-term vision of the scheme and Atmanirbhar Bharat is to promote indigenous production,
reduce dependence on a single geographical region, cut down imports and make domestic industries
globally competitive.

National Monetization Plan

Asset monetization entails unlocking the value of previously underutilized or unutilized public assets
in order to generate new cash streams. National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) is a roadmap for asset
monetization of various brownfield infrastructure earlier operated by the public sector. The objective
of NMP is trifold - to unlock the potential of public infrastructure, harness efficiencies of the private
sector, and generate income for the government. The key difference between asset monetization and
disinvestment is that the asset under contract is returned to the government after the lease period is
over. The ownership of the asset remains with the government but gets temporarily transferred to the
private entity.
Over a four-year period, FY 2022-2025, the total indicative value of NMP for Central Government
Core Assets has been projected at Rs 6.0 lakh crore. The NMP would run parallel to the Rs 100
billion National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), which plans to usher in a plethora of economic and
social infrastructure.

Scrapping of retrospective tax

A retrospective tax is one that is levied on a previous transaction or trade. It was introduced as part of
a 2012 amendment to the Finance Act that allowed for retrospective taxation on transactions
completed after 1962 involving the transfer of shares in a foreign firm with assets in India.
The rule was mired in controversies causing several tax disputes, examples being Vodafone, Cairn
India, Westglobe, etc. It reflected poorly on India as an uncertain destination in tax matters and hurt
its chances of attracting investments. It was also in contention with Bilateral Investment Treaties India
signed with the UK and Netherlands. Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 aims to reverse the
damage and improve the ease of doing business in India by withdrawing all legal cases related to the
tax dispute and refunding any amount that was paid by the companies.

National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL)

It's a specialized financial institution that purchases non-performing assets (NPAs) from banks and
financial institutions in order to help them clean up their balance sheets. This frees up banks to focus

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on their core business. The concept of NARCL was first proposed by Indian Bank Association and it
was formally announced by the government of India in budget 2021-22. NARCL is expected to mop
up bad loans worth Rs. 89000 crore by acquiring them from 22 public sector banks.
The key difference between NARCL and existing asset reconstruction companies is that NARCl has a
public sector orientation. It's supposed to infuse competition in the asset reconstruction sector and
revamp its lackluster performance of disposing of NPAs.

Vehicle scrapping policy

Vehicle scrapping refers to the process of disposing of End of Life Vehicles (ELV) by tearing them
down and recycling them. Identification of the ELV is done with respect to a terminal date defined by
the statutes of the land. The vehicle scrapping policy for India sets the terminal life of 15 years for
commercial vehicles, 20 years for personal vehicles, and 15 years for government vehicles after
which they need to be scrapped in case they fail to get a fitness certificate. While the vehicle is
deregistered after the terminal date, the policy also defines several incentives for the end-users. These
include road tax rebates, manufacturer discounts, and waving off of registration fees.
There are 51 lakh vehicles in India which are older than 20 years, 34 lakh vehicles that are more than
15 years old, and roughly 17 lakh vehicles older than 15 years, but do not have vehicle fitness
certificates. Old vehicles pollute the air 10-12 times more than newer vehicles, and they also endanger
road safety.
Through this policy measure, the government of India wants to achieve the objectives of having fuel -
efficient, greener and safer vehicles on the road. It enables faster transmission of Bharat stage
emission standards to apply on vehicles on road. At the same time, it wants to formalize the scrapping
and industry and ensure there is an adequate supply of recycled steel and electronics parts.

PM Gati Shakti mission

The Indian government recently unveiled the ambitious Gati Shakti initiative, or National Master Plan
for Multimodal Connectivity, with the goal of coordinating infrastructure design and implementation
to reduce transportation costs. The focus is on integrated planning and implementation of
infrastructure projects in the next four years to bring together 16 infrastructure-related Ministries and
break the silos that they currently operate in. The government through this synergic approach aims to
harness the common vision of multiple departments to avoid cost and time overruns and at the same
time ensure no redundant deployment of resource take place.
The initiative is implemented by creating a common umbrella platform called Gati Shakti Digital
platform through which projects can be implemented by increased coordination of different
ministries.

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PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission
The project aims to fill crucial gaps in India's public health sector by constructing additional treatment
facilities, integrating public health laboratories for prompt diagnosis, and increasing the budget and
breadth of research organizations investigating pandemics. From FY22 to FY26, the government
intends to spend 64,180 crores.

The first component is the establishment of integrated public health labs in all 730 districts. At the
state level, there are five regional and twenty metropolitan units of the national center for disease
control. An integrated health information platform will be built at the national level.

Second, at the district level, 17000+ rural and 11000+ urban health and wellness centers will be
established. Each district with a population of 5 lakh or more will have a critical care hospital block
built. 15 health emergency operations will be established at the state level. Two container-based
hospital and critical care hospital blocks will be established at 12 GOI institutions on a national scale.

Third Component: Enhancement of the current 80 virus diagnostics and research level. At the state
level, 15 new bio-safety level 3 laboratories will be established. Four new virology institutions will be
established.

Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 AND AMRUT 2.0

The Prime Minister of India has launched the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and the Atal Mission
for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0.
The Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 intends to make cities garbage-free, while the Second Phase
of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation strives to make cities water secure.

The SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 were designed to make all cities garbage-free and water-secure.
These flagship missions are a big step forward in properly addressing the challenges faced by India's
rapidly urbanizing population. It will also help to accomplish the aims of the Sustainable
Development Goals-2030. The next phase of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and AMRUT is an
important step in realizing Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's ideal of urban comfort and resolving people's
problems.

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International Relations
Bilateral economic treaties of India and FTAs
FTAs are arrangements by which countries provide preferential treatment to each other and greater ease-
of-trade by elimination of tariffs and other trade barriers
Exports in India is expected to be 35.00 USD Billion by the end of this quarter, according to Trading
Economics global macro models and analysts’ expectations. In the long-term, the India Exports is
projected to trend around 38.00 USD Billion in 2024 and 41.00 USD Billion in 2025, according to our
econometric models. Exports from India declined by 12.2 percent from a year earlier to USD 34.48 billion
in December 2022, amid weakening global demand on the back of rising interest rates and stubbornly high
inflation.
Bilateral Ties-
1. USA: The Indian economy has slowed due to factors related to the global COVID-19
pandemic. Nonetheless, bilateral U.S.-India trade in goods and services jumped from $120.6
billion in 2020 to $159.1 billion in 2021, signaling resilience in the commercial relationship
between the United States and India. The United States has remained India’s largest trading
partner, with exports of goods and services to the United States worth $102.3 billion. The
United States continues to have a trade deficit with India. Both countries stated in January
2022 that the US has authorized Indian mango and pomegranate imports. Aside from cherries,
India committed to buying pork and pig products from the US. In addition to punitive tariffs
on Indian steel, market access for medical equipment, and US dairy products, both nations
have non-tariff restrictions. Aiming to apply equalization levy or digital services tax till OECD
Pillar One comes into effect or by March 31, 2024, India and the US agreed on November 24,
2021.

2. UK: Despite the challenge posed by the Ukraine crisis, the India-UK relationship has been on an
upward trajectory, exemplified by the conclusion of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in
2021. The UK Foreign Secretary, in her recent visit, emphasized countering Russian aggression
and reducing global strategic dependence on the country by underlining the importance. The
Secretary furthered the talks on defense-related trade and deepening cyber security and defense
cooperation between the two countries. A new joint cyber security programmed is set to be
announced to protect online infrastructure in India and the UK India and the UK also plan to hold
the first Strategic Tech Dialogue, a ministerial-level summit on emerging technologies.
Additionally, the UK and India have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the maritime
domain as the UK will join India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and become a major partner on
maritime security issues in Southeast Asia. In January 2022, India and the UK managed to
conclude the first round of talks for an India–UK Free Trade Agreement.

3. Russia: The total annual bilateral trade between the two countries stood at USD 13,124.68
million in 2021-22. Russia has now become India’s seventh biggest trading partner. Of the
total USD 18,229.03, India’s imports from Russia accounted for USD 17,236.29 million,
while India’s exports to Moscow were only worth USD 992.73 million, leaving a negative

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 trade balance of USD 16,243.56 million. It is mainly due to a sudden jump in imports from
Russia, mainly oil and fertilizers, which began to surge earlier in 2022. Petroleum oil and
other fuel items accounted for 84% of India’s total imports from Russia. Fertilizers were
second, fertilizers and fuel together account for over 91% of the total imports from Russia this
year.

4. UAE: The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) got finalized recently. India-UAE CEPA was signed on 18th
February 2022, during the India-UAE Virtual Summit. The Agreement is expected to enter
into force on 1st May 2022. India will benefit from 3 fronts : Trade-in Goods - India will
benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE, especially for all labor-intensive
sectors such as Gems and Jewelry, Textiles, leather, footwear, etc.; Trade-in Services: Both
India and UAE have offered each other market access to the broad service sectors such as
‘business services’, ‘communication services’, ‘construction and related engineering services,
‘distribution services’ etc.; Trade-in Pharmaceuticals: Both sides have also agreed to a
separate Annex on Pharmaceuticals to facilitate access to Indian pharmaceuticals products,
especially automatic registration and marketing authorization in 90 days for products meeting
specified criteria.

5. Australia: The Australian Parliament approved the India-Australia Economic Cooperation

and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus. ECTA) recently. The Agreement encompasses cooperation
across the entire gamut of bilateral economic and commercial relations between the two
friendly countries, and covers areas like Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services,
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). India will benefit from preferential market access provided
by Australia on 100% of its tariff lines. Under the agreement, Indian graduates from STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) will be granted extended post-study
work visas. It is also estimated that 10 lakh jobs will be created as a result of ECTA.

6. European Union (EU): After an eight-year hiatus, India and the EU resumed FTA talks in
early 2021. Both areas hope to sign investment and geographical indication agreements
alongside FTAs. In addition to aggrotech, food safety, cold chain, food processing, fertilizers,
and aquaculture have been agreed upon. Smart water resource management and supply chain
management are newer areas of collaboration.

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Environment

NATIONAL INTERLINKING OF RIVERS AUTHORITY (NIRA)

The National Interlinking of Rivers Authority (NIRA), an independent autonomous entity for
planning, investigation, financing, and implementation of river interlinking projects in the country,
was established by the Centre in November.
NIRA would replace the present National Water Development Agency (NWDA) and serve as a
coordinating organization for all river-linking projects. It will be led by a Government of India
Secretary-rank officer. The new agency will coordinate with neighboring nations, concerned
governments, and departments, and will have authority over environmental, wildlife, and forest
clearances linked to river linking projects, as well as their legal eleme nts.
The goal of the InterLinking of Rivers (ILR) initiative is to connect the country's surplus rivers with
deficient rivers so that excess water from surplus areas can be redirected to deficient areas.
Need for Such Projects:
 Reducing Regional Inequality: India is reliant on irregular and regionally uneven monsoon
rains. The quantity of excess rain and river water that runs into the sea will be reduced if rivers
are linked.
 Irrigation for Agriculture: Interlinking has the potential to solve India's rain-fed irrigation
difficulties by transferring surplus water to deficient areas.
 Reducing Water Stress: To some extent, this can help mitigate the effects of drought and
floods.
Other advantages include hydropower generation, year-round navigation, and job creation. As
dried-up woods and farmland are replaced, there will be environmental benefits.

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National Coal Gasification Mission
The Ministry of Coal recently released a blueprint for the 'National Coal Gasification Mission,' which
aims to boost investment in the coal industry. To stimulate investment in the sector, the Ministry has
proposed a 15% methanol-to-petroleum blend target. The Ministry also proposes large tax breaks to
encourage coal gasification, which might lead to a more environmentally acceptable use of the fuel.
Such waivers, according to the blueprint, will not result in any revenue loss because they are
exclusively envisaged for incremental coal consumption for gasification. Our Prime Minister
announced last year that by 2030, Rs 20,000 crore would be spent in coal gasification projects to use
100 million tonnes of coal.

The necessity for such a program stems from the fact that the majority of India's known coal seams
are unrecoverable due to their depth, dispersion, and forest cover, and underground coal gasification
could aid in the extraction of this abundant reserve.

Coal can be gasified to produce cleaner syngas or synthesis gas, which is a fundamental component of
the chemical industry.

Syngas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide) can be turned into a variety of chemicals,
including methanol and olefins, which India now imports in large quantities.

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Syngas technology allows for the conversion of non-mineable coal/lignite into combustible gases
while the material is still in place.

Methanol is significant because domestic production of methanol from coal is considered as assisting
in import substitution and ensuring stable supply at a lower price range. Imports account for about 90
percent of the country's methanol needs. A typical gasification facility, according to experts, requires
roughly $2 billion in investment and can produce between 1 and 2 MT of methanol per year, with 5-6
MT of coal required to make 2 MT of methanol.

Stubble Burning
According to a new study, crop residue burning in October and November 2013 and 2014 led to
roughly 31% of PM 2.5 concentrations in Delhi (in the range of 15% to 47%) and around 21% in
Kanpur (in the range of 6% to 36%).

Pavan K Nagar and Mukesh Sharma of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur published a
study in the Elsevier journal on January 5.

Crop residue burning contributes to secondary particle matter, according to one of the study's key
conclusions. We discovered that as vapours and gases such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, non-
methane hydrocarbons, and non-methane volatile organic compounds flow through the Ganga basin,
photochemical reactions transform them to particulate matter. As a result, their contribution to PM 2.5
levels is significant. Normally, only primary particulate matter emissions from crop residue burning
are taken into account. The report also shows how crop residue combustion gases and particulate
matter can travel vast distances, up to Kanpur.

According to a study included in the report, agricultural residue burning emissions in India dropped
by 1.5 percent in 2015 and 3 percent in 2020 compared to 2010. In India, agricultural residue burning
takes place in April–May (Rabi crop) and October–November (other crops) (Kharif crop).

Paddy residue is burned in Punjab and Haryana around October and November, resulting in a
significant increase in air pollution levels.

20
World

Economy

NEW OIL DEAL BY OPEC

OPEC and its non-OPEC allies, known collectively as OPEC+, decided to raise its output target by
400,000 barrels per day from next month. The move had been broadly expected given U.S. pressure
to boost supply and no major new Covid restrictions.

Led by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC leader Russia, the energy alliance is in the
process of unwinding record supply cuts of roughly 10 million barrels per day. The historic
production cut was put in place in April 2020 to help the energy market after the coronavirus
pandemic cratered demand for crude.

Oil prices climbed more than 50% last year, with energy investors optimistic that the highly infectious
omicron variant may be less severe than feared. That’s despite Covid infections reaching new record
highs, with the U.S. reporting a global daily record of over 1 million infections in just 24 hours.

World oil markets are widely expected to remain prone to geopolitics in 2022, with “saber-rattling”
over the persistent Russia-Ukraine standoff and ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations likely to be
closely monitored by OPEC+.

OPEC raised its forecast for growth in 2022 production of U.S. tight oil, another term for shale, to
670,000 bpd from 600,000 bpd. The growth forecast for overall non-OPEC supply in 2022 was left
unchanged.

OPEC said it expects the world to need 28.9 million bpd from its members in 2022, unchanged from
last month and theoretically allowing further increases in output.

The global multidimensional poverty index

Across 107 developing countries, 1.3 billion people—22 percent—live in multidimensional poverty.
Children show higher rates of multidimensional poverty: half of multidimensionally poor people (644
million) are children under age 18. One in three children is poor compared with one in six adults.
About 84.3 percent of multidimensionally poor people live in Sub-Saharan Africa (558 million) and
South Asia (530 million). 67 percent of multidimensionally poor people are in middle-income
countries, where the incidence of multidimensional poverty ranges from 0 percent to 57 percent
nationally and from 0 percent to 91 percent nationally.
Every multidimensionally poor person is being left behind in a critical mass of indicators. For
example, 803 million multidimensionally poor people live in a household where someone is

21
undernourished, 476 million have an out-of-school child at home, 1.2 billion lack access to clean
cooking fuel, 687 million lack electricity and 1.03 billion have substandard housing materials.
107 million multidimensionally poor people are age 60 or older—a particularly important figure
during the COVID-19 pandemic. 65 countries reduced their global Multidimensional Poverty Index
(MPI) value significantly in absolute terms. Those countries are home to 96 percent of the population
of the 75 countries studied for poverty trends. The fastest, Sierra Leone (2013–2017), did so during
the Ebola epidemic.
Four countries halved their MPI value. India (2005/2006–2015/2016) did so nationally and among
children and had the biggest reduction in the number of multidimensionally poor people (273
million). Ten countries, including China, came close to halving their MPI value. In nearly a third of
the countries studied, either there was no reduction in multidimensional poverty for children or the
MPI value
The countries with the fastest reduction in MPI value in absolute terms were Sierra Leone,
Mauritania, and Liberia, followed by Timor-Leste, Guinea, and Rwanda. North Macedonia had the
fastest relative poverty reduction, followed by China, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Turkmenistan,
and Mongolia. Each of these countries cut its original MPI value by at least 12 percent a year.
In 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of multidimensionally poor people increased, even
though their MPI value decreased, because of population growth. How countries reduce their MPI
value varies by indicator and by subnational region. Twenty countries significantly reduced
deprivations for every indicator. Bangladesh, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Mauritania had
pro-poor reductions in subnational regions.
Multidimensional poverty trends do not match monetary poverty trends, suggesting different drivers.
Charting trends in multidimensional and monetary poverty measures and using global data and
national statistics, as Atkinson (2019) proposed, provides an overall picture of a country’s poverty
situation.
Before the pandemic 47 countries were on track to halve poverty between 2015 and 2030 if observed
trends continued. But 18 countries, including some of the poorest, were off track.

Polity

Global state of democracy

Increasing authoritarianism: The Global State of Democracy Report, 2021 finds that more countries
are moving towards authoritarianism than democracy in 2020. The Global State of Democracy Report
found that while 20 countries moved in the direction of authoritarianism, seven countries moved
towards democracy in 2020.
Globally, more than one in four people live in a backsliding democracy, a proportion that rises to
more than two in three with the addition of authoritarian or “hybrid” regimes. COVID -
19 Impact: Global State of Democracy Report 2021 said that the covid 19 pandemic has

22
prolonged this existing negative trend into a five-year stretch.
It is the longest such period since the start of the third wave of democratization in the 1970s.
The Global State of Democracy Report states that the year 2020 was the worst on record, in terms of
the number of countries affected by the deepening of autocratic tendencies. Global State of
Democracy Report 2021 found that the pandemic has had a particularly damaging effect on non-
democratic countries, further closing their already reduced civic space.
Democratic regimes using authoritarian tactics: Global State of Democracy Report 2021 found that
Democratically elected Governments, including established democracies, are increasingly adopting
authoritarian tactics.
Global State of Democracy Report 2021 says that this democratic backsliding has often enjoyed
significant popular support. It highlighted the case of Brazil and India as some of the most worrying
examples of backsliding.
The U.S included in “backsliding” democracies: The United States and three members of the
European Union [Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia] have also seen concerning democratic declines. The
US has been added to an annual list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time pointing to a
“visible deterioration”.

23
Marketing
Sales and Marketing
Sales is the process of selling, wherein the product is offered for sale to the customer at a
certain price and at a given period of time. Marketing is understanding the customers'
requirements so that whenever any new product is introduced, it sells itself.

Sales vs Marketing

Sales Marketing
Product focused Customer focused

Profit through sales volume maximization Profit through customer satisfaction

Emphasis on selling the product already Emphasis on product planning and

produced development

Go-to-Market Strategy
GTM Strategy primarily involves doing the segmentation, targeting and positioning along with
analysing the 4P’s of marketing.

Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

Segmentation is the process of profiling diverse buyer groups using different metrics like

1. Geographic
 Nation
 Region
 Population density (Urban, Suburban, Rural)

2. Demographic
 Age: Full Nest I, 1 child less than 6 yrs old, Full Nest II, youngest child under 6, Full
Nest III: all adult children
 Gender: Men, Women, others
 Life Stage: Bachelorhood, Honeymooners, Parenthood

24
 3. Psychographic
 Lifestyle: Culture oriented, sports-oriented, outdoor-oriented. Classification is done on
three parameters (AIO) - Activities, Interests and Opinions.
 Personality: Compulsive, gregarious, authoritarian, ambitious
 Behavioural: Loyalty Status: None, medium, strong, absolute
 Usage Rate: Light, Medium, Heavy
 Attitude towards Product: Enthusiastic, indifferent, negative, hostile

Targeting
It involves deciding which group of the market we are targeting, i.e., for whom are we creating
this product/service. This can be achieved by market research and deciding which target market
will give the best returns. A further step in marketing research is the consumer preferences
study. This study will help the firm determine the needs, wants and demands of the target
market, thereby assisting the firm in deciding their strategies.

Positioning
Positioning is how the above offering is absorbed in the minds of the target buyers. With
positioning according to a particular target segment, the product will attract that set of
customers.
Points of Difference (POD) Attributes that differentiate the products from others in the
category. The more the number of PODs, the better the positioning.
Points of Parity (POP) Attributes like other products in the category. Points of parity are
important because customers expect primary offerings from a category.

Marketing Mix (the 4 Ps)

The various approaches that are used have evolved, especially with the increased use of
technology. For goods, it is referred to as 4Ps, which includes product, price, place, promotion.

a) Product – A product is seen as an item that satisfies consumer needs or wants. It is a

tangible good or an intangible service. A product can add value in multiple ways for different
target consumers. This signifies the product or the service the company is bringing to the
market, its key features, and its USPs (Unique Selling Propositions).
b) Place – Place is the point where products are made available to customers. This signifies the
placement of the product/service. It includes where the product will be visible to the consumers
and where they can buy it. A business has to decide on the most cost-effective way to make

25
their products readily available to customers. This involves selecting the best channel of
distribution.
c) Price – This signifies the pricing strategy of the product. It includes at what price point the
product/service will be sold to the target segment. Pricing strategy is essential for companies
who wish to achieve success by finding the price point to maximise sales and profits.
Companies may use various pricing strategies, depending on their own unique marketing goals
and objectives such as List price, Discounts, Allowance, Payment period, and Credit terms.
d) Promotion – Promotion refers to the methods used by a business to make customers aware
of its product. This involves the strategy with which the company will attract customers and
promote its product in various media (print, TV, social). Advertising is just one of the means a
business can use to create publicity. Businesses create an overall promotional mix by putting
together a combination of the following strategies: Advertising, Sales promotions, Personal
selling, and Direct marketing.

However, for services, it is referred to as 7Ps, which includes the 4Ps of goods along with
people, process, and physical evidence.
e) People – All companies are reliant on the people who run them from front line Sales staff to
the Managing Director. Having the right people is essential because they are as much a part of
your business offering as the products/services you are offering.
f) Processes – The delivery of your service is usually done with the customer present so how
the service is delivered is once again part of what the consumer is paying for.
g) Physical Evidence - Almost all services include some physical elements even if the bulk of
what the consumer is paying for is intangible. For example, while taking a flight, luggage tags
are put by the airline service providers on the bags that passengers carry. Here even though the
service is intangible, the tags act as physical evidence to the service.

While 4 P’s model is seller-centric, 5 C’s model is consumer-centric and answers important questions
from the consumer’s perspective.

a) Customer
Customer or consumer is the king in the competitive world. In a competitive environment, the
product will not create its demand if the consumer doesn’t want it. First, you must need to
study the consumer needs and demands and then develop the product as it satisfies the needs,
wants, and demands of the desired customer or consumer demand.
b) Collaborators
Collaborators are businesses or entities that can help the company achieve its goals and
objectives. Suppliers and distributors, for example, are collaborators.
c) Competition

26
Competitive Analysis is required for any business to survive. You are competing in a market with
many other companies. Having a lot of competition can be good or bad at the same time as it would
mean you are in the right market but it will take a lot of effort and cost to compete.
Determine who competes with your company in meeting the customer’s needs. Is the competitor an
active competitor or is it a potential threat? What are their products exactly? What are their strengths
and weaknesses?
d) Company
Determine if your company is in a position to meet those customer needs. For example, whether your
company has the right product line and technical expertise. A good tool to find out your company’s
strengths and weaknesses is “SWOT” analysis.
• Strengths: innovative products, expertise and procedures
• Weaknesses: lack of knowledgeable technical support or average product quality
• Opportunities: a new international market or a market led by a weak competitor
• Threats: a new competitor or price war
e) Climate
When looking at the climate, focus on factors external to your own business that may affect how your
operate. This will include industry trends, societal trends, legal trends, and new or developing
technologies. A good tool to figure out the climate of your business is to use the “PESTLE” analysis.
PESTLE is a mnemonic which in its expanded form denotes P for Political, E for Economic, S for
Social, T for Technological, L for Legal, and E for Environmental. It gives a bird’s eye view of the
whole environment from many different angles that one wants to check and keep a track of while
contemplating a certain idea/plan.

Consumer vs Customer
The terms "consumer" and "customer" are often used interchangeably, but a consumer and customer
are not always the same entity. In essence, consumers use products while customers buy them.

For example, the Refrigerator at your home would be bought by your parents and you would have
played a small role in the decision making of the same; hence your parents are the customers' and the
whole family including you are the 'consumers'.

Let us take another interesting example of dog food. The dog owner buys dog food, but the dog
consumes it. Here the dog owner is the customer and dog is the consumer.

Understanding this customer vs consumer distinction is important to decide whom the marketing
campaigns should be targeted at.

27
Marketing Funnel
The Marketing Funnel identifies the percentage of potential target market at each stage in the
decision process, from merely aware to loyal. It describes the theoretical customer journey
from the moment of first contact with your brand to the ultimate goal of a purchase.

Source:Skyword.com

AIDA model

Source: bsscommerce.com

AIDA is an acronym used in marketing and advertising that describes a common list of events
that may occur when a consumer engages with an advertisement.

28
Product Life Cycle
The marketing & promotional activities may vary according to the different stages the product is in.
This varies as -

Source – learnmarketing.net

How to make a Marketing Plan

Step 1 – Situation Analysis
Step 2 – Target Market
Step 3 – Goal Setting
Step 4 – Distribution Plan
Step 5 – Communication Strategies
Step 6 – Budget Setting

Push & Pull Strategies

A push strategy uses the manufacturer’s sales force, trade promotion money or other means to
induce intermediaries to carry, promote, and sell the product to the end-users. This strategy is

29
appropriate when there is low brand loyalty; brand choice is made in the store, the product is an
impulse item, and the benefits are well understood. It includes activities like pricing offers,
personal selling, D2C (E-commerce).

In a pull strategy the manufacturer uses advertising, promotion, and other communication forms to
persuade consumers to demand the product from intermediaries, thus inducing the intermediaries to
order it. This strategy is appropriate when there is high brand loyalty, high involvement and the
consumers choose the brand before they go to the store. It involves activities like advertisements,
consumer promotion, PR & publicity, events & experiences

Digital Marketing
Digital marketing, also called online marketing, is the promotion of brands to connect with potential
customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication. This includes not only email,
social media, and web-based advertising, but also text and multimedia messages as a marketing
channel.

Sales leads and conversion: One of the key objectives of digital marketing must be to gather
customer information. Building a customer base across many mediums is vital to building relations
with the consumer in the long term. Analytics software such as google analytics has opened up a
whole new world of demographic targeting.

Mobile Marketing: Mobile marketing is a multi-channel online marketing technique focused at

reaching a specific audience on their smartphone, tablets, or any other related devices through
websites, Email, SMS and MMS, social media or mobile applications. I Mobile marketing can
provide customers with time and location-sensitive, personalized information that promotes goods,
services and ideas.

Digital Marketing Glossary:

Click-Thru Rate (CTR) - The percentage of people who actually click on a link (e.g., in an email
message or sponsored ad) after seeing it.

Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) - represents the ratio of the total cost of a pay-per-click (PPC)
campaign to the total number of leads or customers, often called "CPA" or "conversion cost”.

CPM - This is the "cost-per-thousand" views of an advertisement. Often, advertisers agree to pay a
certain amount for every 1,000 customers who see their ad, regardless of conversion rates or click-
thrus.

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Inbound Link - A link from another website directed to yours, also known as a "backlink." Related
marketing areas that focus on inbound links include link popularity, social media and online PR, all of
which explore ways to collect quality links from other websites

Landing Page - A stand-alone Web page that a user "lands" on, commonly after visiting a paid
search-engine listing or following a link in an email newsletter. This kind of page often is designed
with a very specific purpose (i.e. conversion goals) for visitors
SEO (search engine optimization): It is used to increase the website’s visibility across the search
engines. It is the process of developing a marketing/technical plan to ensure the effective use of
search engines as a marketing tool. Typically, it consists of two elements. On a technical side, SEO
refers to ensuring that a Web site can be appropriately indexed by the major search engines,
including keywords, content, and links. On the marketing side, SEO refers to the process of
targeting specific keywords where the site should "win" in searches
PPC (pay per click): It is better known as Paid Search. In this process, paid adverts are typically
placed to the right or above of the ‘organic’ search results. The cost will depend on the
competitiveness of the keyword you’re bidding on.

ATL & BTL Marketing

Above The Line Marketing (BTL)
● Refers to promotional activities done at a mass level
● Broad reach and largely untargeted
● Used for building brand awareness and goodwill
● Difficult to measure
● Media such as television, cinema, radio, newspapers, and billboards are used to create an
impact about the company and its product.

Below The Line Marketing (BTL)

● Targets specific groups of people with focus
● More on personal level(one-to-one)
● Also used for markets where the reach of mass media like print or television is limited
● Best for conversions and direct response
● BTL activities include distributing pamphlets, handbills, stickers, promotions, brochures
placed at the point of sale, on the roads through banners and placards. It could also involve
product demos and samplings at busy places like malls and market places or residential
complexes.

Through The Line Marketing (TTL)

● The advent of social media has blurred the ‘line’ segregating the marketing techniques

31
 ● Companies now use an integrated approach involving both ATL and BTL, and it is called
Through The Line (TTL)approach
● Allows brands to engage with a customer at multiple points
● Delivers both a broad reach and a focus on conversions

Other Generic Terms

Breakeven point return on investment, Market share, B2B, B2C, Wholesale, Retail, e-tail, Branding,
Product differentiation, Trademarks, Sample, Product line, Point of Sale, Price skimming,
Promotion, Competitive pricing, Penetration pricing, Predatory pricing, Disposable income.

32
Operations

What is Operations Management?

Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest
level of efficiency possible within an organisation. It is concerned with converting materials
and labour into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximise the profit of an
organisation. Operations management teams attempt to balance costs with revenue to achieve
the highest net operating profit possible with the available resource planning.

Competitiveness comes from doing things differently. The integration of the global economy
has forced the organisations today to deliver supplies from one place to another at the right
time with the lowest possible cost, maintaining the desired quality standards simultaneously.
The whole process involves applying mathematics, powerful software, technological
innovations and different applications of new ideas to achieve the results.

Operations and supply chain management will help you to understand the importance of the
integrity of different types of processes involved, their efficiencies, the time taken by them,
and constant monitoring of their quality. “Operations” refers to the processes used for the
transformation of resources employed by a firm into products and services desired by
customers. “Supply” on the contrary, deals with the movement of materials and services to
and from the transformation processes of the firm.

Goods vs Services
A service is an intangible process that cannot be weighed or measured, whereas good is a
tangible output of a process that has physical dimensions. This distinction has important
business implications since a service innovation, unlike a product innovation, cannot be
patented.

Services require some degree of interaction with the customer for it to be a service. The
interaction may be brief, but it must exist for the service to be complete. Where face-to-face
service is required, the service facility must be designed to handle the customer's presence.
Goods, on the other hand, are generally produced in a facility separate from the customer.
They can be made according to a production schedule that is efficient for the company.

33
With the big exception of hard technologies such as ATMs and information
technologies such as answering machines and automated Internet exchanges, services
are inherently heterogeneous—they vary from day to day and even hour by hour as a
function of the attitudes of the customer and the servers.

Services as a process are perishable and time-dependent, and unlike goods, they can't
be stored. You cannot “come back last week” for an air flight or a day on campus.

Bottleneck
In production and project management, a bottleneck is one process in a chain of
processes, such that its limited capacity reduces the capacity of the whole chain. The
result of having a bottleneck are stalls in production, supply overstock, pressure from
customers and low employee morale. There are both short and long-term bottlenecks.
Short-term bottlenecks are temporary and are not usually a significant problem. An
example of a short-term bottleneck would be a skilled employee taking a few days off.
Long-term bottlenecks occur all the time and can cumulatively significantly slow down
production. An example of a long-term bottleneck is when a machine is not efficient
enough and as a result has a long queue.

Inventory Management (IM)

It is a discipline primarily about specifying the shape and placement of stocked goods.
It is required at different locations within a facility or within many locations of a supply
network to precede the regular and planned course of production and stock of
materials. Inventory management also includes making essential connections between
the replenishment lead time of goods, asset management, carrying costs of inventory,
future inventory price forecasting, physical inventory, available space for inventory,
demand forecasting and much more. By balancing these competing requirements, a
company will discover their optimal inventory levels. This is an ongoing process, as the
firm will need to shift and adjust as it changes and expands.

SIX SIGMA
Six Sigma is a disciplined, statistical-based, data-driven approach and continuous
improvement methodology for eliminating defects in a product, process or service. It
was developed Motorola and Bill Smith in the early 1980s based on quality
management fundamentals.

34
Sigma represents the population standard deviation, which is a measure of the variation
in a data set collected about the process. If a defect is defined by specification limits
separating good from bad outcomes of a process, then a six sigma process has a process
mean (average) that is six standard deviations from the nearest specification limit. For
example, if a product must have a thickness between 10.32 and 10.38 inches to meet
customer requirements, then the process Mean should be around 10.35, with a standard
deviation less than 0.005 (10.38would be 6 standard deviations away from 10.35),
assuming a normal distribution. Six Sigma can also be thought of as a measure of
process performance, with Six Sigma being the goal, based on the defects per million.
Once the current performance of the process is measured, the goal is to continually
improve the sigma level striving towards 6-sigma. Even if the improvements do not
reach 6-sigma, the improvements made from 3-sigma to 4-sigma to 5-sigma will shall
reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Supply chain management (SCM), the management of the flow of goods and services,
involves the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and
finished goods from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Interconnected or
interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the provision of
products and services required by end customers in a supply chain. Supply-chain
management has been defined as the "design, planning, execution, control, and
monitoring of supply chain activities to create net value.

35
Logistics
It is a part of supply chain management that plans, implements and controls the
efficient, effective forward and reverses flow and storage of goods and services
between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the
customer’s requirements.

Upstream& Downstream Supply Chain

Upstream refers to the material inputs needed for production and it basically indicates
the supplier side. Downstream refers to where the products get produced and
distributed and it basically indicates goods movement to the customer side.

Reverse Supply Chain

It is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the effective and efficient
inbound flow and storage of secondary goods and related information for the purpose
of recovering the value or proper disposal. It encompasses operations involved in the
reuse of products and materials from the customer to the vendor. It is also called
Reverse Logistics.

Bullwhip Effect
It is a supply chain phenomenon forecasting how small fluctuations in demand at the retail
level can cause larger fluctuations in demand at the wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer and
raw material supplier level. It occurs when changes in customer demand cause the companies
in a supply chain to order more goods to meet the new demand.

36
Just-In-Time (JIT)
Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, also known as just-in-time production or the Toyota
Production System (TPS), is a methodology aimed primarily at reducing flow times within the
production system and response times from suppliers to customers.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

A core definition of total quality management (TQM) describes a management approach to
long–term success through customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all organisation members
participate in improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work.

KAIZEN
Kaizen is Japanese for "improvement". When used in the business sense and applied to the
workplace, Kaizen refers to activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all
employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. It also applies to processes, such as
purchasing and logistics that cross organisational boundaries into the supply chain. It has been
applied in healthcare, psychotherapy, life-coaching, government, banking, fantasy hockey, and
other industries.

Lean Manufacturing
Lean manufacturing is a methodology that focuses on minimising waste within manufacturing
systems while simultaneously maximising productivity. Wastes are seen as anything that
customers believe does not add value and are unwilling to pay for. There are 8 types of waste:
Transport, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over Production, Over Processing, Defects.

Theory of Constraints (TOC)

The theory of constraints (TOC) is a management paradigm that views any manageable system
as being limited in achieving more of its goals by a minimal number of constraints. There is
always at least one constraint, and TOC uses a focusing process to identify the constraint and
restructure the rest of the organisation around it. TOC adopts the common idiom "a chain is no
stronger than its weakest link." This means that processes, organisations, etc., are vulnerable
because the weakest person or part can always damage or break them or at least adversely
affect the outcome.

37
Basic terminologies
Task Time Time it takes to complete a specific task within a process

Cycle Time Average time between completions of successive units

Throughput time Total time spent in the process, i.e. time taken to produce 1
output
Productivity Ratio of output from the process to input given to the process. It
can be
measured for each factor of production. (i.e. land, labor, capital)
Efficiency Ratio of actual output to the theoretical output from the process

Capacity Maximum process output rate measured in output per unit of

time
Capacity Output actually achieved relative to actual capacity
Utilisation
Utilisation Ratio of the input actually used in creating the output to the
amount of input available for use
Flexibility Measure of time it takes to change the process so as to produce a
different output, or use a different set of inputs
Idle time Time when useful work is not being performed

TAKT Time Rate required to produce output in order to satisfy customer

demand
Lead time Total time taken from procurement to end-customer delivery

Buffering Storage area between stages where the output of a stage is placed
prior to being used in a downstream stage
Blocking Occurs when the activities in the stage must stop because there is
no place to deposit the item just completed
Starving Occurs when the activities in a stage must stop because there is
no work

Other Generic Terms

Six-sigma, Capacity planning, Forecasting, Location analysis, Product design, Quality
management, Scheduling, Process, Value added, System, subcontracting, Hiring and Firing,
Demand-based options, Warehousing, Economies of scale, Underutilisation.

38
Finance
What is Finance
Finance is a term describing the study and system of money, investments, and other financial
instruments. A broad category can be into three distinct categories: public finance, corporate
finance, and personal finance. There is also the recently emerging area of social finance.

Public Finance
Public finance includes tax systems, government expenditures, budget procedures, stabilisation
policy and instruments, debt issues, and other government concerns.
The government helps prevent market failure by overseeing the allocation of resources,
distribution of income, and stabilisation of the economy.
Borrowing from banks, insurance companies, and other governments and earning dividends
from its companies also help finance the government. State and local governments also receive
grants and aid from the government.

Corporate Finance
Corporate finance involves managing assets, liabilities, revenues, and debts for a business.
Businesses obtain financing through a variety of means, ranging from equity investments to
credit arrangements.
A firm might take out a loan from a bank or arrange for a line of credit. Acquiring and
managing debt properly can help a company expand and become more profitable.
Start-ups may receive capital from angel investors or venture capitalists in exchange for a
percentage of ownership. If a company thrives and goes public, it will issue shares on a stock
exchange; such initial public offerings (IPO) bring a great influx of cash into a firm.
Established companies may sell additional shares or issue corporate bonds to raise money.
Businesses may purchase dividend-paying stocks, blue-chip bonds, or interest- bearing bank
certificates of deposits (CD); they may also buy other companies in an effort to boost revenue.

Personal Finance
Personal finance defines all financial decisions and activities of an individual or household,
including budgeting, insurance, mortgage planning, savings, and retirement planning. Personal
financial planning generally involves analysing an individual's or a family's current financial
position, predicting short-term and long-term needs, and executing a plan to fulfil those needs
within individual financial constraints.
Personal finance is a very personal activity that depends largely on one's earnings, living
requirements, and individual goals and desires.
Matters of personal finance include, but are not limited to, the purchasing of financial products
for personal reasons, like credit cards; life, health, and home insurance; mortgages; and
retirement products.

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Financial Service Sector
Companies in the financial services industry are in the business of managing money. Globally,
the financial services industry leads the world in terms of earnings and equity market
capitalisation.
 Commercial banking services are the foundation of the financial services group. The
operations of a commercial bank include the safekeeping of deposits, issuance of credit
and debit cards, and the lending of money.
 An investment bank typically only works with deal makers and high-net worth clients,
not the general public. These banks underwrite deals, secure access to capital markets,
offer wealth management and tax advice, advise companies on mergers and
acquisitions, and facilitate the buying and selling of stocks and bonds.
 Hedge funds, mutual funds and investment partnerships invest money in the financial
markets and collect management fees in the process. These organisations require
custody services for trading and servicing their portfolios, as well as legal, compliance
and marketing advice. There are also software vendors that cater to the investment fun d
community by developing software applications for portfolio management, client
reporting and other back office services.
 Private equity funds, venture capital providers and angel investors supply investment
capital to companies in exchange for ownership stakes or profit participation. Venture
capital was especially important to tech firms in the 1990s. Much of what goes on
behind the scenes in the making of big deals is attributed to this group.
 Insurance is another important subsector of the financial services industry. In the United
States, an insurance agent differs from a broker. The former is a representative of the
insurance carrier, while the latter represents the insured and shops around for insurance
policies. This is also the realm of the underwriter, who assesses the risk of insuring
clients and also advises investment bankers on loan risk. Finally, reinsurers are in the
business of selling insurance to the insurers themselves to help protect them from
catastrophic losses.
 The vast financial services sector also includes accountants and tax filing services,
currency exchange and wire transfer services, and credit card machine services and
networks. It also includes debt resolution services and global payment providers such as
Visa and Mastercard, as well as exchanges that facilitate stock, derivatives and
commodity trades.

Investment Banking
Investment banking is a specific division of banking related to the creation of capital for other
companies, governments and other entities. Investment banks underwrite new debt and equity
securities for all types of corporations, aid in the sale of securities, and help to facilitate
mergers and acquisitions, reorganisations and broker trades for both institutions and private
investors. Investment banks also provide guidance to issuers regarding the issue and placement
of stock. Major investment banks include Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch, Rothschild , Goldman
Sachs, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Credit Suisse, Citibank and Lazard.

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Some investment banks specialise in particular industry sectors. Many investment banks also
have
retail operations that serve small, individual customers.

Investment Banks as Financial Intermediaries

Investment banks help corporations issue new shares of stock in an initial public offering or
follow-on offering. They also help corporations obtain debt financing by finding investors for
corporate bonds. The investment bank's role begins with pre-underwriting counselling and
continues after the distribution of securities in the form of advice. The investment bank will
also examine the company’s financial statements for accuracy and publish a prospectus that
explains the offering to investors before the securities are made available for purchase.

Investment Banks as Financial Advisors

As a financial advisor to large institutional investors, the job of an investment bank is to act as
a trusted partner that delivers strategic advice on a variety of financial matters. They
accomplish this mission by combining a thorough understanding their clients' objectives,
industry and global markets with strategic vision trained to spot and evaluate short- and long-
term opportunities and challenges facing their client.

The Research Division

The research divisions of investment banks review companies and author reports about their
prospects, often with "buy", "hold" or "sell" ratings. While research may not generate revenue
itself, the resulting knowledge is used to assist traders and sales. Investment bankers,
meanwhile, receive publicity for their clients. Research also provides investment advice to
outside clients in the hopes that these clients will take their advice and complete a trade
through the trading desk of the bank, which would generate revenue for the bank.

Retail Banks
Retail banking, also known as consumer banking, is the typical mass-market banking in which
individual customers use local branches of larger commercial banks. Services offered include
savings and checking accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit/credit cards and certificates of
deposit (CDs). In retail banking, the focus is on the individual consumer.

Internet Finance and Retail Banking

In the 21st century, a movement towards internet finance banking operations has also broadly
expanded the offerings for retail banking customers. Several online banks now provide banking
services to customers purely through internet and mobile applications. These banks offer nearly
all of the accounts and services provided by traditional banks, often with lower fees from
reduced banking branch expenses.

Retail Banking vs Business Banking

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 • Retail banking refers to the division of a bank that deals directly with retail customers.
Also known as consumer banking or personal banking, retail banking is the visible face
of banking to the general public, with bank branches located in abundance in most
major cities.
• Banks that focus purely on retail clientele are relatively few, and most retail banking is
conducted by separate divisions of banks, large and small. Customer deposits garnered
by retail banking represent a significant source of funding for most banks.
• Corporate banking, also known as business banking, refers to the aspect of banking that
deals with corporate customers. The term was initially used in the United States to
distinguish it from investment banking after the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 separated
the two activities.
• While that law was repealed in the 1990s, corporate banking and investment banking
services have been offered for many years under the same umbrella by most banks in
the United States and elsewhere. Corporate banking is a key profit centre for most
banks; however, as the biggest originator of customer loans, it is also the source of
regular write-downs for soured loans.

Corporate Banking Products and Services

The corporate banking segment of banks typically serves a diverse range of clients, ranging
from small- to mid-sized local businesses with a few million in revenues to large
conglomerates with billions in sales and offices across the country. Commercial banks offer the
following products and services to corporations and other financial institutions:

• Loans and other credit products – _this is typically the most significant business area
within corporate banking and as noted earlier, one of the most significant sources of
profit and risk for a bank
• Treasury and cash management services – _used by companies for managing their
working capital and currency conversion requirements
• Equipment lending – _commercial banks structure customised loans and leases for a
range of equipment used by companies in diverse sectors such as manufacturing,
transportation and information technology
• Commercial real estate – _services offered by banks in this area include real asset
analysis, portfolio evaluation, debt, and equity structuring.
• Trade finance – _involves letters of credit, bill collection and factoring
• Employer services – _services such as payroll and group retirement plans are typically
offered by specialised bank affiliates
• Through their investment banking arms, commercial banks also offer related services to
their corporate clients, such as asset management and securities underwriters

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Importance to the Economy
Retail and commercial banks are of critical importance to the domestic and global economies.
Retail banking brings in the customer deposits that primarily enable banks to make loans to
their retail and business customers. For their part, commercial banks make the loans that allow
businesses to grow and hire people, contributing to the expansion of the economy.
For proof of the importance of banks to the economy, one needs to look no further than the
global credit crisis of 2007-08. The crisis had its roots in the US housing bubble and the
excessive exposure of banks and financial institutions worldwide to derivatives and securities
based on US home prices.

Financial Markets
A ‘Financial Market' is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives such
as futures and options at low transaction costs. Securities include stocks and bonds, and
precious metals etc.

Different Types of Financial Markets:

• Financial Market for Stocks
• Over-the-Counter Market
• Financial Market for Bonds
• Money Market
• Derivatives Market
• Forex Market
• Spot Market
• Commodity Market
• Cryptocurrency Market

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Information Technology and Analytics
Product Management
Product Management is the role and function within an organisation responsible for a product’s
overall success. This means a product manager brings together teams from different
departments to make sure the product is successful. Such products in technology companies
could include entire solutions specific to an industry (For example a holistic ERP solution) or
products with a small specific function (for example an antivirus software or an office
productivity tool). Product managers are required to have a basic understanding of the
technology, have consumer insights, forecast growth numbers, and bring teams together to
achieve the goals, including growth.

Artificial Intelligence
One of the booming technologies of computer science is Artificial Intelligence which is ready
to create a new revolution in the world by making intelligent machines. Artificial Intelligence
is composed of two words Artificial and Intelligence, where Artificial defines "man-made,"
and intelligence defines "thinking power", hence AI means "a man-made thinking power." AI
aims to improve computer functions which are related to human knowledge, for example,
reasoning, learning, and problem-solving.
Goals of Artificial Intelligence:
1. Replicate human intelligence
2. Solve Knowledge-intensive tasks
3. An intelligent connection of perception and action
4. Creating some system which can exhibit intelligent behaviour, learn new things by
itself, demonstrate, explain, and can advise to its user.

The intelligence is intangible and is composed of:

1. Reasoning
2. Learning
3. Problem Solving
4. Perception
5. Linguistic Intelligence

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Applications of AI
Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services such as servers, storage, databases,
networking, software, analytics, intelligence, and more, over the Cloud (Internet). We can take
any required services on rent. The cloud computing services will be charged based on usage.
The cloud environment provides an easily accessible online portal that makes it handy for the
user to manage the computer, storage, network, and application resources. Some cloud service
providers are Amazon Webservices, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Google Cloud Platform,
VMWare etc.

Advantages of Cloud Computing

Types of Cloud Services

Internet of Things
Internet of Things (IoT) is the networking of physical objects that contain electronics
embedded within their architecture to communicate and sense interactions amongst each other
or concerning the external environment. IoT's most essential features include artificial
intelligence, connectivity, sensors, active engagement, and small device use.

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Advantages of IoT:
1. Improved Customer Engagement − Current analytics suffer from blind-spots and
significant flaws in accuracy; and as noted, engagement remains passive. IoT
completely transforms this to achieve richer and more effective engagement with
audiences.
2. Technology Optimisation − The same technologies and data which improve the
customer experience also improve device use, and aid in more potent improvements to
technology. IoT unlocks a world of critical functional and field data.
3. Reduced Waste − IoT makes areas of improvement clear. Current analytics give us
superficial insight, but IoT provides real-world information leading to more effective
management of resources.
4. Enhanced Data Collection − Modern data collection suffers from its limitations and its
design for passive use. IoT breaks it out of those spaces and places it exactly where
humans want to go to analyse our world. It allows an accurate picture of everything.

Disadvantages of IOT:
1. Security − IoT creates an ecosystem of constantly connected devices communicating
over networks. The system offers little control despite any security measures. This
leaves users exposed to various kinds of attackers.
2. Privacy − The sophistication of IoT provides substantial personal data in extreme detail
without the user's active participation.
3. Complexity − Some find IoT systems complicated in terms of design, deployment, and
maintenance given their use of multiple technologies and a large set of new enabling
technologies.
4. Flexibility − Many are concerned about the flexibility of an IoT system to integrate
easily with another. They worry about finding themselves with several conflicting or
locking systems.
5. Compliance − IoT, like any other technology in the realm of business, must comply
with regulations. Its complexity makes the issue of compliance seem incredibly
challenging when many consider standard software compliance a battle.

ANALYTICS
Analytics is the science of fact-based decision making. Business analytics is the scientific
process of transforming data into insight for making better decisions. Analytics-driven
companies use management information systems to perform analysis to a wide range of
business functions from marketing to human resources. Companies collect large amounts of
data from customers and suppliers. Analytics comes handy making fact-based, data-driven
decisions. There are three broad categories of analytics:
• Descriptive analytics: Use techniques that describe past performance and history. Most
commonly reported financial metrics are a product of descriptive analytics, for
example, year-over-year pricing changes, month-over-month sales growth, the number
of users, or the total revenue per subscriber. These measures all describe what has
occurred in a business during a set period.

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 • Predictive analytics: Use techniques that extract information from data to predict
future trends and identify behavioural patterns. Application of predictive analytics can
be found in credit risk assessment, fraud detection, manufacturing, healthcare, and
government operations including law enforcement. Predictive analytics statistical
techniques include data modeling, machine learning, AI, deep learning algorithms and
data mining.
• Prescriptive analytics: Use techniques that create models indicating the best decision
to make or course of action. Prescriptive analytics can simulate the probability of
various outcomes and show the probability of each, helping organisations better
understand the level of risk and uncertainty they face than relying on averages.
Prescriptive analytics uses machine learning to help businesses decide a course of
action based on a computer program’s predictions.

Big Data
Big Data is a collection of large, complex datasets, which cannot be analysed using traditional
database methods and tools. Big data analytics uses advanced analytic techniques against
extensive, diverse data sets in the form of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data
from different sources and sizes from terabytes to zettabytes.
Big data has four common characteristics:
• Variety: Different forms of structured and unstructured data from spreadsheets and
databases and email, videos, photos.
• Veracity: Data must be meaningful to the problem being analysed, data cleaning, and
implementation of processes to keep dirty data from accumulating in systems.
• Volume: Includes enormous volumes of data generated daily from massive networks
and machines.
• Velocity: The analysis of streaming data as it travels around the internet. Big Data's
various applications are seen in Artificial intelligence (AI), mobile, social and the
Internet of Things (IoT), where complex data is present in new forms and data sources.

Analysis of big data helps analysts, researchers, and business users to make better and faster
decisions using previously inaccessible or unusable data. Businesses can utilise advanced
analytics techniques such as text analytics, machine learning, predictive analytics, data mining,
statistics, and natural language processing to gain new insights from previously untapped data
sources independently or with existing enterprise data.

Robotics
Robotics is an interdisciplinary science and engineering sector dedicated to designing,
constructing, and using mechanical robots.

Uses of Robots and automation:

Manufacturing: The manufacturing industry is probably the oldest and most well-known user
of robots. These robots and co-bots (bots that work alongside humans) work to efficiently test
and assemble products, like cars and industrial equipment. It is estimated that there are more
than three million industrial robots in use right now.

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Logistics: Shipping, handling, and quality control robots are becoming a must-have for most
retailers and logistics companies. Because we now expect our packages to arrive at blazing
speeds, logistics companies employ robots in warehouses and even on the road to maximise
time efficiency. Right now, robots are taking your items off the shelves, transporting them
across the warehouse floor, and packaging them. Additionally, a rise in last-mile robots (robots
that will autonomously deliver your package to your door) ensures that you will have a face-to-
metal-face encounter with a logistics bot soon.

Home: It is not science fiction anymore. Robots can be seen all over our homes, helping with
chores, reminding us of our schedules, and even entertaining our kids. The most well-known
example of home robots is the autonomous vacuum cleaner Roomba. Additionally, robots have
now evolved to do everything from autonomously mowing grass to cleaning pools.

Travel: Is there anything more science-fiction-like than autonomous vehicles? These self-
driving cars are no longer just imagination. With a combination of data science and robotics,
self-driving vehicles are taking the world by storm. Automakers like Tesla, Ford, Waymo,
Volkswagen, and BMW are all working on the next wave of travel that will let us sit back,
relax, and enjoy the ride. Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft are also developing autonomous
rideshare vehicles that do not require humans to operate the vehicle.

Healthcare: Robots have made enormous strides in the healthcare industry. These mechanical
marvels have been used in just about every aspect of healthcare, from robot-assisted surgeries
to bots that help humans recover from injury in physical therapy. Examples of robots at work in
healthcare are Toyota’s healthcare assistants, which help people regain the ability to walk, and
“TUG,” a robot designed to autonomously stroll throughout a hospital and deliver everything
from medicines to clean linens.

Blockchain
Blockchain is a list of records called blocks that store data publicly and in chronological order.
The information is encrypted using cryptography to ensure that the privacy of the user is not
compromised and data cannot be altered.
Information on a Blockchain network is not controlled by a centralised authority, unlike
modern financial institutions. The participants of the network maintain the data, and they hold
the democratic authority to approve any transaction which can happen on a Blockchain
network. Therefore, a typical Blockchain network is a public Blockchain. To understand the
promise of blockchain-enabled cryptocurrencies let’s first understand what cryptocurrencies
are.

What is a Cryptocurrency?
A cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency that can be used to verify the transfer of assets,
control the addition of new units, and secure financial transactions using cryptography.
One of the cryptocurrencies’ most important advantages over normal (fiat) currencies is that
they are not controlled by any central authority. Without a central point of failure or a “vault,”
the funds cannot be hacked or stolen. Therefore, the transparency and distributed nature of
blockchain technology are what make cryptocurrencies (at least those that use the Blockchain)
secure.
There are close to 3,000 cryptocurrencies in the market, the following being some of the most
popular ones: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Z Cash, Dash and Ripple.

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Bitcoin and Blockchain:
Whenever a sender has made a transaction, he sends Bitcoins to a receiver by submitting the
transaction on a public Blockchain network of Bitcoin. The miners around the world do
verifications to authenticate users. There are specific participants in the Bitcoin network who
are identified as miners, and they verify the authenticity of the sender and the receiver. They
also validate whether the sender has enough Bitcoins to send to the receiver and also ensure
that the sanity of the underlying Blockchain network to the Bitcoin is not corrupt.
Once the miner has authenticated the transaction and verified all the parameters, the transaction
is added to a block, and then that block is made part of the main Blockchain. After this is done,
transactions that were associated with the block are executed. Once the transaction is complete,
the block is added, and the ledgers across all the nodes are updated, thereby allowing all the
participants to have the same copy of the information.

Features of Blockchain:
 There is a public distributed ledger, which works using a hashing encryption.
 Every block has a hash value, which is the digital signature of the block.
 All the transactions are approved and verified on the Blockchain network using a proof-
of-work consensus algorithm.
 The Blockchain network utilises the miners' resources, who are there to validate the
transactions for rewards.

Applications of Blockchain

Machine Learning
Machine learning is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the
ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly
programmed. Machine learning focuses on the development of computer programs that can
access data and use it to learn for themselves.
The process of learning begins with observations or data, such as examples, direct experience,
or instruction, in order to look for patterns in data and make better decisions in the future based
on the examples that we provide. The primary aim is to allow the computers to learn
automatically without human intervention or assistance and adjust actions accordingly.
But, using the classic algorithms of machine learning, the text is considered as a sequence of
keywords; instead, an approach based on semantic analysis mimics the human ability to
understand the meaning of a text.

Categories of Machine Learning algorithms:

Supervised machine learning algorithms can apply what has been learned in the past to new
data using labelled examples to predict future events. Starting from the analysis of a known
training dataset, the learning algorithm produces an inferred function to make predictions about
the output values. The system can provide targets for any new input after sufficient training.
The learning algorithm can also compare its output with the correct, intended output and find
errors in order to modify the model accordingly.

Unsupervised machine learning algorithms are used when the information used to train is
neither classified nor labelled. Unsupervised learning studies how systems can infer a function
to describe a hidden structure from unlabelled data. The system doesn’t figure out the right

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output, but it explores the data and can draw inferences from datasets to describe hidden
structures from unlabelled data.

Semi-supervised machine learning algorithms fall somewhere in between supervised and

unsupervised learning, since they use both labelled and unlabelled data for training – typically
a small amount of labelled data and a large amount of unlabelled data. The systems that use
this method are able to considerably improve learning accuracy. Usually, semi-supervised
learning is chosen when the acquired labelled data requires skilled and relevant resources in
order to train it / learn from it. Otherwise, acquiring unlabelled data generally doesn’t require
additional resources.

Reinforcement machine learning algorithms is a learning method that interacts with its
environment by producing actions and discovers errors or rewards. Trial and error search and
delayed reward are the most relevant characteristics of reinforcement learning. This method
allows machines and software agents to automatically determine the ideal behaviour within a
specific context in order to maximise its performance. Simple reward feedback is required for
the agent to learn which action is best; this is known as the reinforcement signal.
While machine learning generally delivers faster, more accurate results in order to identify
profitable opportunities or dangerous risks, it may also require additional time and resources to
train it properly. Combining machine learning with AI and cognitive technologies can make it
even more effective in processing large volumes of information.

Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 refers to a new phase in the Industrial Revolution that focuses heavily on
interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data. Industry 4.0, also
sometimes referred to as IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) or smart manufacturing, marries
physical production and operations with smart digital technology, machine learning, and big
data to create a more holistic and better-connected ecosystem for companies.
Industry 4.0 isn’t just about investing in new technology and tools to improve manufacturing
efficiency—it’s about revolutionising the way your entire business operates and grows.

Evolution of Industry from 1.0 to 4.0

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Key Items of IIOT:
 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
 IoT
 Big data
 Artificial intelligence (AI)
 M2M (machine-to-machine)
 Digitisation
 Smart factory
 Machine learning
 Cloud computing
 Ecosystem

Value of Industry 4.0 in Manufacturing:

Supply chain management and optimisation—Industry 4.0 solutions give businesses greater
insight, control, and data visibility across their entire supply chain.

Predictive maintenance/analytics—Industry 4.0 solutions give manufacturers the ability to

predict when potential problems are going to arise before they actually happen. Systems can
sense when problems are arising or machinery needs to be fixed, and can empower you to solve
potential issues before they become bigger problems.

Asset tracking and optimisation—Industry 4.0 solutions help manufacturers become more
efficient with assets at each stage of the supply chain, allowing them to keep a better pulse on
inventory, quality, and optimisation opportunities relating to logistics.

Augmented and Virtual Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a perfect blend of the digital world and the physical elements to
create an artificial environment. Apps which are developed using AR technology for mobile or
desktop to blend digital components into the real world.
Example: AR technology helps to display score overlays on telecasted sports games and pop
out 3D photos, text messages, and emails.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated simulation of an alternate world or reality. It is

used in 3D movies and video games. It helps to create simulations similar to the real world and
"immerse" the viewer using computers and sensory devices like headsets and gloves. Apart
from games and entertainment, virtual reality is also used for training, education, and science.

Key Differences between AR and VR:

 AR augments the real-world scene whereas VR creates completely immersive virtual
environments.
 AR is 25% virtual and 75% real while VR is 75% virtual and 25% real.
 In AR no headset is needed, on the other hand in VR, you need headset devices

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  With AR, end-users are still in touch with the real world while interacting with virtual
objects nearer to them, but by using VR technology, VR users are isolated from the real
world and immerses themselves in a completely fictional world.

Applications of AR:
 AR apps are being developed which embed text, images, videos, etc.
 Printing and advertising industries are using AR technology apps to display digital
content on top of real-world magazines.
 AR technology allows you for the development of translation apps that helps you to
interpret the text in other languages for you.
 AR is being used to develop real-time 3D Games.

Applications of VR:
 VR technology is used to build and enhance a fictional reality for the gaming world.
 VR can be used by the military for flight simulations, battlefield simulations, etc.
 VR is used as a digital training device in many sports and to help to measure a sports
person's performance and analyse their techniques.
 It is also becoming a primary method for treating post-traumatic stress.
 Using VR devices such as Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or users can be
transported into real-world and imagined environments.
 Medical students use VR to practice and procedures
 Virtual patients are used to help students to develop skills that can later be applied in
the real world.

Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella term that covers all of the various technologies that
enhance our senses, whether they’re providing additional information about the actual world or
creating totally unreal, simulated worlds for us to experience. It includes Virtual Reality (VR),
Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies.

Automation
Automation is the process of creating systems that are able to perform tasks with minimal or no
requirement for human intervention. Such tasks may include industrial processors or business
processes or any role specific tasks. Automation helps businesses in cutting costs and reducing
reliance on manual labor.
While automation does cause disruption to employment, The World Bank's World
Development Report 2019 shows evidence that the new industries and jobs in the technology
sector outweigh the economic effects of workers being displaced by automation.

Cyber Security
Cybersecurity is the protection of computer systems and networks from the theft of or damage
to their hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of
the services they provide.
The level of risk faced by different entities is a function of how sensitive their data and
electronic transactions are. With more and more people as well as services being added to the
network, cyber theft, crimes and attacks are also increasing in volume and sophistication.

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Companies should have systems for preventive and for corrective actions against the risk of
cyber-crimes and this function falls under the purview of cyber security.

Edge Computing
Edge computing refers to a system where computing is brought closer to the nodes where they
are needed on a network rather than being on a server far away from such nodes. The purpose
of such a system would be to reduce response time and the costs.
Edge computing is computing that’s done at or near the source of the data, instead of relying on
the cloud at one of a dozen data centers to do all the work. It doesn’t mean the cloud will
disappear. It means the cloud is coming to you.
For Internet devices, the network edge is where the device, or the local network containing the
device, communicates with the Internet. The edge is a bit of a fuzzy term; for example, a user’s
computer or the processor inside of an IoT camera can be considered the network edge, but the
user’s router, ISP, or local edge server are also considered the edge. The important takeaway is
that the edge of the network is geographically close to the device, unlike origin servers and
cloud servers, which can be very far from the devices they communicate with.

Metaverse
The metaverse is a massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual
worlds which can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited
number of users with an individual sense of presence, and with continuity of data.

The term “metaverse” doesn't really refer to any one specific type of technology, but rather a
broad shift in how we interact with technology. And it's entirely possible that the term itself
will eventually become just as antiquated, even as the specific technology it once described
becomes commonplace.

Broadly speaking, the technologies that make up the metaverse can include virtual reality—
characterized by persistent virtual worlds that continue to exist even when you're not playing—
as well as augmented reality that combines aspects of the digital and physical worlds.
However, it doesn't require that those spaces be exclusively accessed via VR or AR. A virtual
world, like aspects of Fortnite that can be accessed through PCs, game consoles, and even
phones, could be metaversal.

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It also translates to a digital economy, where users can create, buy, and sell goods. And, in the
more idealistic visions of the metaverse, it's interoperable, allowing you to take virtual items
like clothes or cars from one platform to another. In the real world, you can buy a shirt from the
mall and then wear it to a movie theater. Right now, most platforms have virtual identities,
avatars, and inventories that are tied to just one platform, but a metaverse might allow you to
create a persona that you can take everywhere as easily as you can copy your profile picture
from one social network to another.

Google’s HEART framework

The HEART framework is a methodology to improve the user experience (UX) of software.
The framework helps a company evaluate any aspect of its user experience according to five
user-centered metrics. These metrics, which form the acronym HEART, are:

1. Happiness
2. Engagement
3. Adoption
4. Retention
5. Task success

Rodden developed HEART to help Google’s UX design teams narrow their focus to only a few
key user metrics and to quantify those metrics so they could evaluate them objectively.

Goals: Broad objectives. For Happiness, a goal might be to “increase user satisfaction.”

Signals: Indicators that your team is making progress toward its goals. For Engagement, a sign
might be “users are spending more time per session in our software.”

Metrics: Quantifiable data points indicating success or failure. For Retention, a useful metric
might be “reduced churn.”

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Consulting

Introduction

Consulting involves giving external advice to organizations that may require special or
technical expertise or an outside perspective on their business problems, performance
improvement etc.

Key Activities
 Helping clients solve challenging business issues
 Industry and Functional expertise
 Insights and perspectives
 Mergers and acquisition strategy
 Market Entry strategy
 Improving Profitability
 Optimizing Processes

Effective Communication
(Oral&Written)

Domain
knowledge Research&
acrossOps, Fin, IT Information
Marketing, and HR

Relationship Management

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Major Players and types of consulting

• Strategic Consulting: Or management consulting. Focus on strategic topics like

corporate and organizational strategy, economic policy, government policy and
functional strategy
o Major Players: Bain & Co, BCG, McKinsey & Company
• Financial Consulting: Consultation on corporate finance, actuarial valuation, corporate
restructuring, risk management, forensic audits etc.
o Major Players: Deloitte, AT Kearney, PwC, KPMG
• IT Consulting: Implementation of ERP, advisory related to IT, data analytics, cyber
security, system integration etc.
o Major Players: Capgemini, Accenture, IBM
• HR/Benefits Consulting: Includes organizational change, Learning and development,
HR Technology, benefits and rewards, talent management
o Major Players: Mercer, Huron, AON

Strategic Frameworks

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Porter’s 5 forces
Helps us to analyse the competitive intensity of an industry and determine attractiveness of
industry
• These forces determine an industry structure and the level of competition in that
industry
• The stronger the competitive forces in the industry are, the less profitable it is.
• An industry with low barriers to enter, having few buyers and suppliers but many
substitute
• products and competitors will be seen as very competitive and thus, not so attractive
due to its low profitability.

SWOT Analysis

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PESTEL Analysis
It is a framework that strategy consultants use to scan the external micro-environment in which
the firm operates. PESTEL is an acronym for the following factors:
• Political
• Economic
• Social
• Technological
• Environmental
• Legal

Political includes:
• Government Policy
• Political Stability Corruption
• Foreign Trade policy
• Tax Policy Labour Law
• Trade

Economic includes:
• Economic Growth
• Exchange Rates
• Interest Rate Inflation Rate
• Disposable Income

Social includes:
• Population
• Age Distribution Lifestyle
• Cultural Barriers Attitude

Technological includes:
• Technology
• Level of Innovation
• Automation
• Research and Development
• Technological change

Environmental includes:
• Weather
• Climate
• Environmental Policies

Legal includes:
• Antitrust Laws
• Employment Law
• Consumer Protection Law
• Copyright and Patent Law
• Health and Safety Law

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BCG Matrix
It is a Corporate Product Portfolio analysis tool. It provides Graphic representation for an
organization to examine different businesses in its portfolio on the basis of their related market
share and industry growth rates. In facilitates a comparative analysis of business potential and
the evaluation of environment.

• Stars: Represent business units having large market share in a fast-growing industry.
They may generate cash but because of fast growing market, stars require huge
investments to maintain their lead.
• Cash Cows: Represents business units having a large market share in a mature, slow
growing industry. Cash cows require little investment and generate cash that can be
utilized for investment in other business units.
• Question marks: Represent business units having low relative market share and
located in a high growth industry. They require huge amount of cash to maintain or
gain market share.
• Dogs: Represent businesses having weak market shares in low-growth markets. They
neither generate cash nor require huge amount of cash.

Guesstimates

• What are they: Market Sizing or guesstimate is one of the most popular Question
types you will get in consulting case interview. These Questions ask you to estimate or
to smartly guess a quantitative variable relevant to case solving

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 • Example of a guesstimate Question: Number of People wearing red in New York on
a typical Monday
• What will you be evaluated on: The way you approach and solve the problem
matters much more than the final answer you come up with. Often, the interviewer
does not have a number in mind; he/she will be interested in your methodology and
level of detailing of the answer.

Ways of Solving a Guesstimate

• Top-Down approach: Questions that involve starting with an entire population (in
other words, the “top” level) and then breaking it down until you arrive at an answer.
o For example, consider the question about the number of schoolteachers in
Chicago.
o A simple way to approach it would be to start with the population of
Chicago, then estimate what percentage of the population is of student age,
and then estimate the number of students per class. Using this, you would
arrive at an estimate of the number of schoolteachers, because at any given
time there is (generally) exactly one teacher per class. To show your ability
to be creative and think outside the box, you could also attempt to account
for retired teachers and substitute teachers.
• Bottom-Up Approach: For these questions, rather than starting from the “top” with
a high-level figure such as population, the best approach is to start from the
“bottom”—some low-level statistic, such as Revenue per customer, and build your
way up to the answer.
o For example, consider the question pertaining to the monthly revenue of a
hair salon.
o In this case, we’d recommend you work out the revenue for a week and then
multiply that by four. You could start with an assumption regarding the
average price per client visit, and then estimate weekly volume by assuming
the number of chairs in the salon, the number of hours it is open per week,
and the average number of clients chair per hour. To show your ability to be
creative and think outside the box, you could also add revenue for hair salon
products sold.

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 Acknowledgement
This document has been put together by Konquest Knowledge Committee of IIM Kozhikode.
Members from the following Interest Groups have assisted in the making of this document and
we are very thankful to each one of the contributors

AbaKus
EPS
Financially Yours
HRiday
Konsult
mPower
Omega

KONQUEST KNOWLEDGE COMMITTEE - IIM KOZHIKODE

Aayush | Dinesh | Harsh | Mansi | Marufa | Naman | Riya | Shivani | Sravani | Yogini

e-mail: konquest@iimk.ac.in

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