UPSC Mains MANAGEMENT-PAPER-II 2017

A movie producer is bringing out a new movie. In order to map out his advertising campaign, he wants to determine whether the movie will appeal most to a particular age group or whether it will appeal equally to all age groups. The producer takes a random sample from persons attending the preview of the movie, and obtains the following results. Use x2 test to derive the conclusion (for 6 degrees of freedom and 5% significance level, x² critical value is 12.592):

A new company in 1000 paraffin-bulbs, with an average life of 120 days, have been installed. Their life is normally distributed with a standard deviation of 20 days. How many bulbs will expire in less than 90 days? If all the bulbs are to be replaced at a time, what interval should be allowed between group replacements so that not more than 10% should expire before replacement?

What is e-choupal different from other agri-based portals?

What technological aspects should be considered while designing such a web-based system?

What factors would be critical to the success of such a venture? Discuss their role.

A company manufactures two products 'Alpha' and 'Beta'. Each unit of Alpha requires 1 hour of machining and 2 hours of skilled labour, whereas each unit of Beta uses 2 hours of machining and 1 hour of skilled labour. For the forthcoming month, the machining capacity is limited to 720 hours and the skilled labour is limited to 780 hours. Not more than 320 units of Alpha can be sold during a month. For the maximisation of profits, determine the optimal product mix and maximum profit. Unit contribution from Alpha is 6 and from Beta is 4. Use Simplex method.

Discuss the supply chain efficiency of 'Amazon.com' with special reference to international supply chain design.

What do you mean by Type-I and Type-II errors? How are they interrelated? In which situations, you would not like to commit Type-I error? Why?

A project manager has gathered important information for a new project which is given below:

Draw the network diagram by Arrow-On-Node (AON) method. Calculate the expected time and variance for each activity.

Calculate the activity slacks and determine the critical path using the expected activity times.

What is the probability of completing the project within 23 weeks?

"ERP systems are usually based on best management practices." Comment on the practical implications of this statement.

Are you in favour of government control over price and distribution through public distribution system? Justify your answer.

In what way is the LPG era instrumental for the comprehensive growth and development of the nation?

"Multi-cultural management is a challenging task in international business." Why?

If a company starts acquiring unrelated businesses, in what ways should it change its structure and control mechanisms to manage the acquisitions?

What strategic competencies are helping Maruti Suzuki to maintain its dominant position in the Indian Automobile Industry in spite of the fiercely competitive market? Discuss.

India has corporate giants, small-scale industrial units, medium and micro enterprises. Indian regulatory bodies and funding agencies are encouraged to support all these business houses of different sizes.

Discuss the policy of the Government of India towards small-scale industries.

What would be your suggestions for the congenial growth of all these segments of business?

"Country risk analysis assumes that a country is a purposeful entity managed by a government."

Bring to light the major dimensions focussed in country risk analysis.

In what way is this analysis helpful to corporate houses?

Should 'green' environmental issues form part of the corporate strategy of a business? Discuss the pros and cons.

Ignorance of the consumer of her rights, lack of consumer movement and lack of due recognition to the consumer organisations have been some important factors which led to the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Specify the consumer rights to be protected.

What sort of consumer movement has the Act contemplated?

Discuss the role of consumer organisations in consumer protection.

How can service organisations internationalise themselves? What strategies would make them successful in their endeavour?

Given the problems associated with prescriptive strategic change, why is it important and what can be done to better manage this process?

One of the founders of Infosys Technologies Limited has made criticisms against the Board of Management for the failure in corporate governance.

What reasons has he quoted for the failure of corporate governance? Are these reasons justifiable?

Specify the standards for good corporate governance.

Indian IT companies are successful in global business.

What reasons would you focus for their success?

In what way is the Indian manufacturing hub lagging behind IT companies in satisfying global consumers?

Why is it important for strategy makers to understand the difference between tangible and intangible assets? Which one is more important in creating competitive advantage and why?