UPSC Mains MANAGEMENT-PAPER-II 2021

The mean annual income of workers in a company is ₹ 5,000 with a standard deviation of ₹ 1,200. It is suspected that local workers have higher than the average income. A sample of 144 local workers is drawn and their sample mean income is found to be ₹5,500. Can it be said that local workers have significantly higher income than the total population ? (Use a = 0.05)

What Supply Chain Management (SCM) strategies were adopted by leading e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Flipkart during the lockdown period caused by the Corona Pandemic ?

How can information system bring competitive advantage to business organisations by supporting managerial decision-making?

An engineering firm has determined that for a particular part, the cost of purchase is ₹ 350 per order and ₹ 22 per part. Its inventory carrying cost is 15% of the average inventory. The firm currently purchases ₹ 2,20,000 worth of this part every year. (i) Determine the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ). (ii) What is the optimum number of days supply per optimum order?

What is Fisher's ideal index? Why is it called ideal ? Describe the steps involved in the computation of Fisher's ideal index number.

A’ can hit a target 4 times in 5 shots, ‘B' 3 times in 4 shots and 'C' twice in 3 shots. Calculate the probability : (A) ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ all may hit the target. (B) ‘B’ and ‘C’ may hit the target, but ‘A’ may not hit it. (C) ‘C’ and ‘A’ may hit the target, but ‘B’ may not hit it.

A decision problem has been expressed in the following payoff table : States of Nature Alternatives A1 A2 A3 E1 190 186 182 E2 164 162 166 E3 142 144 174 Which alternative will be selected if the following criterion is used ? (A) Maximax criterion (B) Maximin criterion (C) Hurwicz's criterion (Assume degree of optimism is 0.7)

Decision Support System (DSS) and Management Information System (MIS) are very helpful for managers in taking decisions." Comment and support your answer.

How can DSS be differentiated from MIS?

What are the components of DSS?

What are the similarities and dissimilarities between data-driven and document-driven DSS?

A firm is considering replacement of an equipment, whose first cost is ₹ 4,000 and the scrap value is negligible at the end of any year. Based on experience, it was found that the maintenance cost is zero during the first year and it is ₹ 1,000 for the second year. It increases by ₹300 every year thereafter. (i) When should the equipment be replaced if the interest rate is 0% (zero percent)? (ii) When should the equipment be replaced if the interest rate is 12%?

“Inventory Control is a rational process in which decision-making is often done irrationally." Explain.

What is e-business architecture ? Which technological innovations have had a major impact on it ?

Describe the four pillars of e-governance and the various types of interactions performed in e-governance.

Discuss the Indian Government's efforts and actions towards implementing e-governance.

Solve the following Linear Programming Problem by Graphical Method: Minimize cost : C = 5x1 + 6x2 subject to : X1 + x2 = 1000 X1 ≤ 300 X2 ≥ 150 X1, X2 ≥ 0

A certain drug is claimed to be effective in curing cold. In an experiment on 500 persons suffering from cold, half of them were given the drug and the other half were given the sugar pills. Patients' reactions to the treatment are recorded in the following table: Treatment Helped Harmed No Effect Drug 150 30 70 Sugar pills 130 40 80 Total 280 70 150 On the basis of the above data, can it be concluded that there is a significant difference in the effect of drug and sugar pills ?

Apply the concept of “Decay Curve of New Product Ideas" to an innovative product like ‘e-Bike'.

A manufacturing company always uses a sample size of 10. Data for the past 10 samples are as follows : Number of Defective Units Total Units Sampled 150 1,000 The system is believed to be operating under normal conditions. (A) Construct a control chart with control limits such that measurements for 95% of the units under normal conditions would fall within the control limits. (B) Suppose the number of units defective in the next 5 samples are: 3, 4, 2, 0 and 7. Demonstrate graphically whether the process is under control or not.

How does the balancing line reduce the cost of idleness ? Describe the steps involved in solving a line balancing problem.

W.E. Deming said, "85% of poor quality can be attributed to management". Discuss this statement in the context of World Class Manufacturing Systems.

What role is played by Green belts, Black belts and Master Black belts for managing ‘Six-Sigma' quality in a Software Development Company?

For a project, the following information is given : Activity Node Expected Activity Completion Time A 1-2 11 B 2-3 10 C 2-4 8 D 2-5 5 E 3-6 6 F 4-6 9 G 5-7 2 H 6-7 7 I 7-8 12 J 7-9 5 (A) Draw the network diagram. (B) Find the critical path.

What is the rationale behind liberalization strategies adopted by the New Industrial Policy ?

“The term ‘globalisation’ assumes increasing importance in today's techno-economic parlance.” Explain this statement in the context of the Indian economy.

Discuss the various initiatives undertaken by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to promote both national and international trade.

Describe the four cultural predispositions that MNCs are likely to adopt towards managing employees in global context.

How does Hofstede's model on cultural dimensions equip international managers with an understanding of cultures across countries?

Identify the linkages between primary and secondary activities of Porter's value-chain model.

How is value-chain analysis conducted ? Explain with the help of an example.

“Strategy follows structure, structure supports strategy.” Critically analyse this statement.