TEAM IGNICION

WAT-PI
IIM LUCKNOW

KIT
2026
DEAR
ASPIRANTS
Congratulations!

IIM Lucknow family extends a hearty congratulations to all of

you for making it this far in the selection process.
To help you prepare for the next leg of your journey and enter
the gates of HelL, Team Ignicion at IIM Lucknow presents to you
the WAT-PI KIT 2026. This document contains domain-specific
information and past interview experiences that can help you
ace the final round of the admission process.

Reach out to us at -

Email: ignicion@[Link]

Instagram: [Link]

Facebook: [Link]

We wish you all the very best for your interviews and future
endeavors!

Regards,
Team Ignicion
IIM Lucknow
 CONTENTS
INTERVIEW BASICS
2 How to plan for the Interview
5 HR Questions
8 Interview Tips

DOMAIN PREPARATION
10 Consulting

20 Marketing

31 Economics

40 Finance

56 HR
63 Entrepreneurship
71 Operations

91 Product Management & Analytics

102 Agribusiness Management

107 Sustainable Management

112 General (including Current Affairs)

124
126 PAST EXPERIENCES
197 Past WAT Topics

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 HOW TO PLAN
FOR THE
INTERVIEW?

Page | 2
 HOW DO YOU STRATEGISE AND PLAN FOR YOUR INTERVIEW?
Firstly, you need to understand what a Personal Interview is all about.

What is more important than your CAT preparation? Your interview. An institute forms an opinion
about you as a person through a personal [Link] CAT was all about your IQ, PI is all about
testing your Emotional Intelligence. It is a channel for the institute to get to know you better as a
person and also to judge if you fit into their institute. Thus, knowing yourself is the most important
part of your preparation.

The panel does not expect you to know all the answers. They are more interested in clarity of
thought with regard to what you have accomplished so far.

The focus of your interview can range from specific questions about academics or job to broader
questions about your life, personality and hobbies. Do your homework well. You should have a
well thought and practiced answer for questions that are commonly asked in any interview.

PILLARS OF INTERVIEW PREPARATION

Personality Based Questions

These questions are asked to understand if you are a good fit in the institute and if your
views and personality matches the institute’s culture. These are general questions about
one’s personality and hence it is not acceptable if you cannot answer these questions.
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to answering personality-based
questions. It is more about understanding your clarity of thoughts. What is important is to
have a consistency through all your answers and thus it is advisable to be honest with
your answers.
It is important to know yourself to answer questions like strengths and weaknesses, long-
term and short-term goals, Why MBA, etc. Avoid answering ‘I don’t have any weaknesses’
as it shows lack of self-awareness. Thus, introspection is the key to answering these
questions.
While answering questions about your personality, try supplementing it with an example
or a short incident that justifies a particular trait.

Academics
Academics is something you cannot let go off even if you have been working. You are still
supposed to remember important details from your graduation. As for freshers, this is one
area that your interview will largely be based on. You need not study everything all over
again. The panel also does not expect you to study 4 years in 4 weeks all over again. What
they expect to know is if you have understood the concepts from graduation well. Hence,
ensure that you are thorough with the basics of what you have studied so far. Also, it is
important to understand the practicality of the subjects you have studied so far.
Tip: Prepare for your favourite subject in depth; Have an explanation ready for why it is
your favourite subject.

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 Work-Experience
For candidates with work experience, majority of your interview will revolve around what
your role is at work. Work profile, the assignments you have worked on and also a little
history and recent developments in your organisation will form major portion of the
questioning in this bucket. You also need to prepare well for examples showcasing your
leadership skills at work as well as team work.
Prepare well on the industry and the current market scenario of the industry you are
employed in. An in-depth information of your employer, processes, businesses, structure,
financial figures is important along with the knowledge of your competitors and their
strategies.
Also, highlight any work achievements, how you accomplished it, what it taught you, etc.

Extra-Curriculars
Any institute wants a well-rounded individual. Extra-curriculars show how balanced an
individual is. Show the interviewer that you are interested in things apart from your
academics and work.
Talk about positions of responsibilities held by you and major learnings, challenges,
teamwork and leadership opportunities.
When talking about your hobbies, try to show how you have consistently tried to be better
at your hobby. The interviewer will expect in-depth of knowledge about your hobby.
Let’s evaluate a scenario, say your hobby is swimming. The interviewer will expect you to
know the dimensions of an Olympic swimming pool, the volume of water in it, the
number of lanes in the pool, the number and names of events in the Olympics, top
international and national players.
Build your answers about your hobby keeping this in mind.

General Awareness
Static GK - Any institute wants a candidate who is aware. You are expected to have
knowledge about politics, civics, history and geography. Don’t be surprised if the
interviewer asks you the number of seats in Lok Sabha.
Current affairs - This is the most feared area of most candidates. Try to read as much as
you can. Making summaries of notes is also very important. We have compiled a list of
important current affairs over the past few months. (This is not an exhaustive list; with
current affairs it never is!)

Abstract
Be prepared for anything, this pillar is for absolutely anything.
The interviewer can ask you to solve a puzzle, give you real life situations or test your
analytical skills by giving you a guesstimate.
You will need to think quickly so be fresh and attentive.

So now that you know about the pillars, create a story linking all the pillars. Keep updating this is
as you give more interviews. Reflect about your life, your goals and your passion as much as you
can to create unique answers.

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 HR
QUESTIONS

Page | 5
 Personal Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
Tell me something that is not on your CV.
Introduce yourself in 30 seconds.
Which one word would describe you the best?
Use three adjectives to describe yourself.
How would your friends describe you?
What are your short-term/long-term goals?
What do success and failure mean to you?
Tell me about an accomplishment that you are proud of.
Tell me about a time when you made a mistake and what you learned from it.
What has been your biggest failure? How did you deal with it?
What is your biggest regret in your life?
How would you rate yourself on a scale of 1-10?
How do you deal with criticism and sarcasm?
What are the three most important events of your life?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What is your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it?
What is the most difficult decision you made in your life?
State 3 of your strengths and your weaknesses. Why do you think XYZ (particular
characteristic) is a strength/weakness? How have you handled it in the past? If not faced?
Why should we select you, given that thousands of similar applicants are like you?
Give us three reasons not to select you.
Mention a few aspects you bring to the table if selected.
Do you think Hard work or smart work is more important?
What are your hobbies?
What is your passion and why?
Who is your role model (both family and non-family)? Why?
What motivates you?
What makes you uncomfortable?
What values did you learn through your extracurricular activities?
Did you hold a significant position of responsibility at your college? What did it teach you?
How important do you feel social responsibility is nowadays?
After MBA, job or Entrepreneurship?
If you are planning for a startup, then why MBA? What values do you think you will gain over
the two years?

Questions on Institute & Courses

Why MBA?
Why IIM Lucknow?
Why do you want to join this institute? What, according to you, makes this institute unique?

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 Tell me five things that made you choose the institute
Why do you want to join the ABM/SM course?
What are your experiences in the domain of Agriculture/Sustainability?
As someone from the Agriculture/Sustainability domain, don't you think the ABM/SM
Programme would suit you better than the PGP Programme?
What will you choose between PGP and ABM?
What are the differences between PGP and PGP-ABM Course?
What other calls do you have? Would you still choose our institute over X if you converted to X
institute?
Why would you choose Institute X over us?
Should more IIMs be opened in the country or not? Will it cause brand dilution?

Questions on MBA
What are your reasons for joining an MBA program this year?
Don't you think it will be better to do an MBA after 2-3 years of work-ex? Why?
Why should we choose you (Fresher) over someone with work-ex?
Which discipline (domain) of MBA are you interested in?
Why do you want to do marketing/finance/consulting/operations/HR?
Cite examples of why you think you might be a good fit for that discipline.

Situation based questions

Tell us about an incident where you stood against your superiors.
Describe a situation where you had a conflict with your colleagues.
Tell me about when you had trouble at work while working on a project.
Tell me about a time when you displayed leadership skills.
Describe a situation where you messed up.
Do you consider yourself a team player?
How will you handle a scenario (based on your weakness) in future?
What are the qualities of a Leader? What is the difference between a Leader and a Manager?
What experience would you want to go back and change in your life?
What is the major setback that you have faced so far in your life? What did you learn from it?
Give an example where you have displayed commendable leadership skills.
Are you a team player? Give an instance.
How do you handle pressure? Give an instance.

Work-ex Questions
By the time you join IIM L (if you get selected), you will have around X months of work
experience. Why do you want to switch at this point in your career?
What are the advantages a manager with a technical background can provide?
Mention a few values you can bring to the batch from your work experience.
Did you ever face any ethical dilemma while you were working? How did you deal with it?

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 INTERVIEW
TIPS

Page | 8
 Always prepare some good questions to ask the interviewer. These should not be about how
your interview went or placement statistics. Instead, focus on the learning opportunities,
electives available, research possibilities if you are interested etc. Treat it as an opportunity to
show your interest and knowledge about the course to the interviewer.

Any interview is a conversation, so be as natural as possible. Be confident, smile a bit, speak

with conviction and do not come across as wooden or boring. Don’t be arrogant or
overconfident, it will negate all the good things you do.

The faculty is interviewing hundreds of candidates. You need to build on your story and
differentiate yourself from them and give the interviewers a reason to pick you.

Go through the website of IIM Lucknow and try to get an overview of the course structure
and general information about the institute.

Have a good knowledge about the state/city you hail from and Lucknow, especially the
current affairs.

Everything you say should be backed up what you say with good relevant examples. Your
story should be complete and cohesive.

Do not go to the interview with a fixed mindset. Your interview may be nothing like what we
have described above. It is always important for you to keep a cool head and think clearly.
Your attitude and poise in the interview are as important, if not more, than what you know or
do not know.

Get a good sleep before your interview. BEING CALM DURING THE INTERVIEW IS OF UTMOST
IMPORTANCE.

Know your CV like the back of your hand.

Keep your composure; sometimes interviewers might try to rattle you up by asking
uncomfortable questions just to test your mettle.

If you don’t know the answer, try taking an educated guess or say you don’t know/remember.
Do not try to beat around the bush. Ex) Sir, honestly, I have never heard of this term but when
I get back, I will definitely make sure I read about it.

Keep a track of the time and don’t make good morning/good afternoon greeting mistakes. It
reflects your presence of mind.

Page | 9
 CONSULTING

CONSULTING AND STRATEGY CLUB

YouTube: [Link]
q83R9MiXbuChoqGqGpIWQ
LinkedIn: [Link]
iim-lucknow-a0345664

Page | 10
 Describe the roles and responsibilities and a project you were working on at that time in the
firm.
Have you ever tackled any situation where you had limited resources and you had to manage
with it? How?
What adversity do you think you'll face the most while pursuing your MBA?
Tell me three things that you learned from your job.
What is the motivation behind your startup?
Tell us about your family business, the industry, and your contribution. How will an MBA help
to scale it further?
What are the reasons for you leaving the job?
Why switch from the X sector to business management?
As you are already working at X position, what would you gain from joining IIM Lucknow?

Additional questions
As freshers, why should we consider you over someone with work-ex?
You have X years of gap in your resume? What did you do during that time? What did you
learn during that time?
Why should we consider someone with X years of gap over others?
Why do you have low marks in School/College? What did you do?
We do not believe that extracurricular involvement is an enough reason to justify your low
grades. What do you have to say? Then, can you keep up with the IIM environment where you
have many things to do?
What is your contingency plan if you are not selected for this interview?
If given a chance, what would you do differently in this interview?
Tell me five unique things about your hometown.
What do you know about the political conditions of your hometown? What are the famous
things (food, clothes, monuments, etc) of your village/ city/ state and Lucknow? Last book you
read, details about it- author, last line by the protagonist, other books by the same author? Do
you have any questions for us?

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 CONSULTING - AN INTRODUCTION

Consulting is the branch of management that deals in providing expertise to businesses and
organizations to solve typical problems related to domains such as growth, strategy,
operational excellence, etc. Consulting means “engaged in the business of giving expert
advice to people working in a specific field.” In other words, a consultant is somebody who
gives advice to a specific group of people. The true meaning of consulting is helping
people solve problems and move from their current state to their desired state.
There are three main reasons people decide to bring in outside advice:
They are simply unable to figure it out or get to their desired state on their own.
They have a general idea, but they want to get there faster.
They want to save time and effort by following an efficient, proven system.
The three main categories of consulting:
Management Consulting: It is what most people think of when someone says “consulting.”
This field is dominated by large firms like McKinsey & Co., Bain & Co., and Boston
Consulting Group, which are hired to help enterprise businesses improve strategy and
operations or manage significant business events like mergers and acquisitions. Corporate
Consulting: Category of corporate consulting covers a massive spectrum of job
descriptions and focuses. This is a catch-all category that includes in-house consulting
services, implementation teams, B2B consulting businesses, and a host of other things.
Independent Consulting: Done by professionals who have developed expertise in an area,
they choose to build and run their own business around that knowledge rather than
continuing as an employee.

Consulting as a Career: You will develop business acumen over a multitude of industries by
solving the most pressing and complex problems faced by companies. The learning curve is
very steep since you work with the best of the best and interact with top management very
often. It helps build a structured thought process and superior analytic mindset. (Prepare a
why consulting answer based on your goals.)

Consulting firms: McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Co, Kearney, Mastercard
Advisors, KPMG, EY, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

What is Strategy:
Strategy is a set of goal-directed actions a firm takes to gain and sustain superior performance
relative to competitors. A good strategy consists of 3 elements:
A diagnosis of the competitive challenge
A guiding policy to address the competitive challenge
A set of coherent actions to implement the firm’s guiding policy.

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 What is competitive advantage?
Competitive advantage is always relative, not absolute. To assess competitive advantage, we
compare firm performance to a benchmark — that is, either the performance of other firms
in the same industry or an industry average.
A firm that achieves superior performance relative to other competitors in the same industry
or the industry average has a competitive advantage.
Strategy is about creating superior value, while containing the cost to create it. Managers
achieve this combination of value and cost through strategic positioning. That is, they stake
out a unique position within an industry that allows the firm to provide value to customers,
while controlling costs. The greater the difference between value creation and cost, the
greater the firm’s economic contribution and the more likely it will gain competitive
advantage.
Sustainable competitive advantage: A firm that is able to outperform its competitors or
the industry average over a prolonged period of time.
Competitive disadvantage: Under performance relative to other competitors in the same
industry or the industry average.
Competitive parity: Situation when two or more firms perform at the same level.

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 PESTEL Framework: The PESTEL model groups the factors in the firm’s general environment
into six segments and provides a way to scan, monitor, and evaluate the important external
factors and trends.
Political: Focus on how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy by
analyzing government policies, political stability or instability in overseas markets, foreign
trade policies, tax policies, labour laws, environmental laws, trade restrictions and so on.
Economic: Economic factors in a firm’s external environment are largely
macroeconomic, affecting economy-wide phenomena. Managers need to consider how
the following five macroeconomic factors can affect firm strategy:
Social: Also known as socio-cultural factors, are the areas that involve the shared belief
and attitudes of the population. These factors include – population growth, age
distribution, health consciousness, career attitudes and so on. These factors are of
particular interest as they have a direct effect on how marketers understand customers
and what drives them.

Technological: We all know how fast the technological landscape changes and how this
impacts the way we market our products. Technological factors affect marketing and the
management thereof in three distinct ways:
New ways of producing goods and services
New ways of distributing goods and services
New ways of communicating with target markets

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 Legal: These factors have both external and internal sides. There are certain laws that affect
the business environment in a certain country while there are certain policies that
companies maintain for themselves. Legal analysis takes into account both of these angles
and then charts out the strategies in light of these legislation. For example, consumer laws,
safety standards, labor laws, etc.
Environmental: These factors include all those that influence or are determined by the
surrounding environment. Factors of a business environmental analysis include but are not
limited to climate, weather, geographical location, global changes in climate, environmental
offsets, etc.

Industry Structure and Firm Strategy: The Five Forces Model

Used for industry analysis. It is used to check the lucrativeness and the general trend in the
industry. This is to help managers understand the profit potential of different industries and
how they can position their respective firms to gain and sustain competitive advantage.
Porter’s model identifies five key competitive forces that managers need to consider when
analyzing the industry environment and formulating competitive strategy:
Threat of entry: The threat of new entrants to the market determines the sustainability of
estimated market share. It is evaluated in terms of market entry barriers which may be in
the form of high fixed cost, product differentiation etc.
Power of suppliers: A competitive market with limited suppliers brings with its high
level of bargaining power of suppliers.
Power of buyers: Multiple products of same category gives the buyers an advantage in
bargaining, thus high bargaining power of buyers exists in multi-brand products. Five
forces analysis helps organizations to understand the factors affecting profitability in a
specific industry and can help to inform decisions relating to: whether to enter a specific
industry; whether to increase capacity in a specific industry; and developing competitive
strategies
Threat of substitutes: There is always a threat of substitute products replacing the
existing product(s) of a firm. Substitutes could lead to obsolescence.
Rivalry among existing competitors: Existing rivalry between firms can take a firm’s
profits to zero and may lead to shut down (ex. During price wars). In a competitive
environment, firm’s decision is highly influenced by what the competitors do.

SWOT Analysis:
This enables to evaluate a firm’s current situation and future prospects by simultaneously
considering internal and external factors. The SWOT analysis encourages managers to
scan the internal and external environments, looking for any relevant factors that might
affect the firm’s current or future competitive advantage. The focus is on internal and
external factors that can affect—in a positive or negative way—the firm’s ability to gain
and sustain a competitive advantage.

Page | 15
 To facilitate a SWOT analysis, managers use a set of strategic questions that link the firm’s
internal environment to its external environment to derive strategic implications.

Strategy requires you to make trade-offs in competing - to choose what not to do. Strategy
also requires creating a “fit” among company activities. Fit has to do with the ways a
company’s activities interact and reinforce one another. The activities of the company
should not seem to contradict with one another. The strategic management process helps
company leaders assess their company's present situation, chalk out strategies, deploy
them and analyses the effectiveness of the implemented strategies. The strategic
management process involves analysing cross- functional business decisions prior to
implementing them.

BCG Matrix
The quadrant matrix developed by Boston Consulting Group in the early 1960s is used to plan
market strategies. Growth rate is determined by reference to market research, or it can be
estimated.

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 Ansoff matrix One of the most useful tools for strategic planning is the Ansoff Matrix. It is an
analytical tool that helps business leaders identify the most effective strategies for responding to
changes in the market and achieving their goals. The Ansoff Matrix identifies four different types
of strategies: Market Penetration, Product Development, Market Development and
Diversification.
Market Penetration: This strategy focuses on increasing sales of existing products to existing
customers. Companies can do this by improving the product, increasing advertising or
promotional activities, or offering discounts or loyalty programs. Product Development: This
strategy involves creating new products or services to meet customer needs. Companies
often use this strategy when they want to expand the range of products they offer or to
differentiate their products from those of their competitors. Market Development: This
strategy involves expanding the customer base by targeting new markets. Companies can
do this by entering new geographical areas, launching new distribution channels, or
targeting different demographic groups. Diversification: This strategy involves entering new
product and market areas. Companies can do this by acquiring other companies or
launching new products or services. Diversification is often considered a high-risk strategy,
as it involves investing in unfamiliar markets and products.

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 BCG Matrix
The quadrant matrix developed by Boston Consulting Group in the early 1960s is used to plan
market strategies. Growth rate is determined by reference to market research, or it can be
estimated. “Competitive position” includes an assessment of the firm’s overall market
penetration and profitability compared to the other players in that market. Products are then
positioned in the four cells as shown in the figure.

Cash Cows: Large Market Share in a mature industry. Requires little investment.
Star: Larger Market Share in growing industry. Requires investment to maintain the lead.
Question Marks: Small Market Share in a growing market. Requires focus and resources.
Dogs: Small Market Share in a mature industry. Little prospect for gain.

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Page | 19
 MARKETING

PRiSM: The Marketing Cell

Facebook:[Link]
Instagram:
[Link]
LinkedIn:
[Link]
know/

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 SALES V/S MARKETING

MARKETING:
Marketing is the process of identifying customers and "creating, communicating, delivering, and
exchanging" goods and services for the satisfaction and retention of those customers. – AMA

SALES:
Sales is the act of persuading customers to purchase the company's product or service – Philip
Kotler

MARKETING OVER THE YEARS

Production Orientation ERA (1800s-1920s) This era highlighted a tunneled focus on mass
production. Companies thought that customers are willing to pay for products that are cheap
and readily available. Thus, business efforts were primarily geared toward increasing the quantity
rather than the quality of the output. Manufacturers followed the principle of mass production to
lower costs and more sales. When it comes to marketing, businesses focused their efforts on
promoting low prices and beating their competitors.

Sales Orientation ERA (1920s-1940s)

As more companies join the field, the sales tactics become even more competitive. Generally,
mass-produced products were already the norm. Back then, companies cared more about sales

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 volume rather than customer satisfaction. This ushered an idea that consumers will want to buy
a company’s products if they are enticed through eye-catching sales promotions. The Sales
Orientation was an era when companies heavily rely on marketing promotions to sell products
that companies made.

Marketing Orientation ERA (1940s-1970s)

It was around the 1940s when industries realized that focusing only on their business needs often
leaves customers unsatisfied. At this stage, businesses’ marketing tactics include identifying what
customers need and effectively customizing activities that address these needs.
Hence, the marketing concept was born. It revolves around the idea that reaching the business
goals relies on understanding the needs of target customers first. Additionally, it concerns
providing them with the desired satisfaction than its competitors.

Societal Orientation (1970s-Present)

In this era, a marketing theory called societal marketing came into existence. It’s a concept that
emphasizes an organization’s responsibility to develop strategies that positively impact the
consumers’ well-being and the environment. It stemmed from a conflict of interest between
satisfying the customers’ short-term needs with society’s long-term welfare. During this phase,
companies shifted their goals to provide a better-quality lifestyle while ensuring that the
environment is not polluted. They don’t just create high-quality products; they were
environmentally friendly, too.

Digital marketing (1990s-Present)

Digital marketing opened the doors of opportunities for better traffic and exposure for products
or services. From the early 90s to today, almost half of the world’s population is online.
Businesses’ have since then moved on to digital platforms to effectively reach their target
market.

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS OF MARKETING:

STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning)

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 This involves dividing the market into segments. This can be based upon various
Segmentation criteria upon which we can classify groups of people who can buy the product. E.g.,
Market for cars can be classified income wise, i.e., a group of people who can afford a
1 lakh car, some people can afford a 5-lakh car and some 20 lakhs and so on.
This involves deciding which group of the market we are targeting, i.e., for whom are
Targeting
we creating this product/service?
This involves positioning the product/service based on the target market. So, with
Positioning the positioning per a target segment, the product will attract that set of customers.

MARKETING MIX

7Ps OF MARKETING:
Product — This signifies the product or the service the company is bringing to the market, its
key features, its USP’s (Unique Selling propositions).
Place — 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.
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.
Promotion — This involves the strategy with which the company will attract customers and
promote its product in various media (print, TV, social).
People — The ‘people’ element of the 7Ps involves anyone directly, or indirectly, involved in
the business-side of the enterprise. People who are involved in selling a product or service,
designing it, managing teams, representing customers etc.
Process — This includes the delivery of your service in front of the customer. It basically talks
about the ‘ease of doing business’ and repeatedly delivering the same standard of service.
Physical Evidence — Physical evidence often takes two forms: evidence that a service or
purchase took place and proof or confirmation of the existence of your brand. Physical
evidence brings a brand to the forefront of the game, and set it apart from your competitors
by showing you as professional, authentic and informed.

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 IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGIES:
B2C marketing B2B marketing Brand extension
Digital and Social Media Marketing Product Line Extension
Guerrilla Marketing Brand Image Top of the mind awareness
Brand Personality Brand Loyalty Consumer Purchase Journey
Brand Equity Brand Revitalization Surrogate Advertising
Brand Recall Ambush Marketing
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
Ansoff Matrix
Moment marketing
Influencer marketing

DIGITAL MARKETING

The term digital marketing refers to the use of digital channels to market products and services
in order to reach consumers. This type of marketing involves the use of websites, mobile devices,
social media, search engines, and other similar channels. Digital marketing became popular
with the advent of the internet in the 1990s.

Digital marketing involves some of the same principles as traditional marketing and is often
considered a new way for companies to approach consumers and understand their behaviour.
Companies often combine traditional and digital marketing techniques in their strategies. But it
comes with its own set of challenges, including implicit bias. This form of marketing is different
from internet marketing, which is exclusively done on websites.

The following are eight of the most common avenues that companies can take to boost their
marketing efforts. Keep in mind that some companies may use multiple channels in their efforts.

Website Marketing: A website is the centrepiece of all digital marketing activities. A website
should represent a brand, product, and service in a clear and memorable way.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Pay-per-click advertising enables marketers to reach Internet users

on a number of digital platforms through paid ads. The most popular platforms are Google Ads
and Facebook Ads.

Content Marketing: The goal of content marketing is to reach potential customers through the
use of content. The tools of content marketing include blogs, eBooks, online courses,
infographics, podcasts, and webinars.

Email Marketing: Email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing channels.
Many people confuse email marketing with spam email messages, but that’s not what email
marketing is all about. This type of marketing allows companies to get in touch with potential
customers and anyone interested in their brands.

Social Media Marketing: The primary goal of a social media marketing campaign is brand
awareness and establishing social trust. As you go deeper into social media marketing, you can
use it to get leads or even as a direct marketing or sales channel. Promoted posts and tweets are
two examples of social media marketing.

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 Affiliate Marketing: With affiliate marketing, influencers promote other people’s products and
get a commission every time a sale is made or a lead is introduced. Many well-known
companies like Amazon have affiliate programs that pay out millions of dollars per month to
websites that sell their products.

Video Marketing: There are several video marketing platforms, including Facebook Videos,
Instagram, and even TikTok to use to run a video marketing campaign. Companies find the most
success with video by integrating it with SEO, content marketing, and broader social media
marketing campaigns.

SMS Messaging: Companies and non-profit organizations also use SMS or text messages to send
information about their latest promotions or give opportunities to willing customers.

BCG MATRIX

The growth share matrix was built on the logic that market leadership results in sustainable
superior returns. Ultimately, the market leader obtains a self-reinforcing cost advantage that
competitors find difficult to replicate. These high growth rates then signal which markets have the
most growth potential. The matrix reveals two factors that companies should consider when
deciding where to invest— company competitiveness, and market attractiveness—with relative
market share and growth rate as the underlying drivers of these factors.

Each of the four quadrants represents a specific combination of relative market share, and
growth:
Low Growth, High Share. Companies should milk these “cash cows” for cash to reinvest.
High Growth, High Share. Companies should significantly invest in these “stars” as they have
high future potential.
High Growth, Low Share. Companies should invest in or discard these “question marks,”
depending on their chances of becoming stars.
Low Share, Low Growth. Companies should liquidate, divest, or reposition these “pets.”

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 PUSH VS PULL MARKET:
Content Marketing Distribution: Pull vs Push

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE:

Page | 26
 ANSOFF MATRIX

Ansoff Matrix is a model useful for companies looking for expansion. The Ansoff Matrix provides a
route for the expansion using product and market as parameters.

If the company chooses to move ahead with the same product portfolio within the same market,
it is seen to take the route of Market Penetration. In such a situation, the role of extensive
promotional strategies and product rebranding becomes critical.

The route of Product development is taken when the company wants to launch new product
categories into the existing market.

Similarly, when the company chooses to expand into newer markets with the same product
portfolio, it is taking the route of Market Development.

When the company chooses to introduce new products in new markets, it is called
Diversification and this, of all options is the riskiest and the costliest one.

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 PORTER'S FIVE FORCES MODEL

Porter's Five Forces is a model that identifies and analyses five competitive forces that shape
every industry and helps determine an industry's weaknesses and strengths. Five Forces
analysis is frequently used to identify an industry's structure to determine corporate strategy.

Porter's model can be applied to any segment of the economy to understand the level of
competition within the industry and enhance a company's long-term profitability. The Five
Forces model is named after Harvard Business School professor, Michael E. Porter.

Porter's 5 forces are:

[Link] in the industry
[Link] of new entrants into the industry
[Link] of suppliers
[Link] of customers
[Link] of substitute products

1. Competition in the Industry: The first of the Five Forces refers to the number of competitors
and their ability to undercut a company. The larger the number of competitors, along with the
number of equivalent products and services they offer, the lesser the power of a company.

Page | 28
 2. Potential of New Entrants Into an Industry: A company's power is also affected by the force
of new entrants into its market. The less time and money it costs for a competitor to enter a
company's market and be an effective competitor, the more an established company's position
could be significantly weakened.

3. Power of Suppliers: The next factor in the Porter model addresses how easily suppliers can
drive up the cost of inputs. It is affected by the number of suppliers of key inputs of a good or
service, how unique these inputs are, and how much it would cost a company to switch to
another supplier. The fewer suppliers to an industry, the more a company would depend on a
supplier.

4. Power of Customers: The ability that customers have to drive prices lower or their level of
power is one of the Five Forces. It is affected by how many buyers or customers a company has,
how significant each customer is, and how much it would cost a company to find new
customers or markets for its output.

5. Threat of Substitutes: The last of the Five Forces focuses on substitutes. Substitute goods or
services that can be used in place of a company's products or services pose a threat. Companies
that produce goods or services for which there are no close substitutes will have more power to
increase prices and lock in favourable terms. When close substitutes are available, customers will
have the option to forgo buying a company's product, and a company's power can be weakened.

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 SOME BASIC QUESTIONS ON MARKETING

What is marketing?
What is Sales?
What is the difference between marketing and sales?
What is the difference between a consumer and a customer?
What is a brand?
Define STP?
Name your favourite brand and its positioning
What are the 4 Ps of Marketing? Give an example of the 4 Ps.
What are the 7 Ps of Marketing?
What is Porter's 5 Forces? What is Porter's 5 Forces used for?
What is Holistic Marketing?
What is SEO? How does SEO work?
What is digital marketing?
How do you measure the performance of digital marketing?
What is the Product life cycle?
What was the impact of COVID-19 on marketing?
What are some emerging trends in Marketing?
What is the importance of marketing?
Give examples of how some brands reacted to COVID-19?
Do you think COVID-19 has changed marketing forever?
What is the difference between a product and a service?
What is the difference between B2B and B2C?
What is the marketing strategy of your company?
What is your favourite advertisement and why?
What is the difference between social media marketing and digital marketing?
What is traditional marketing?
What are ATL, BTL and TTL forms of promotional strategies?
What is point of sales advertising?
How do you define impulse purchasing?
How has COVID changed the advertising/marketing landscape for the country?*
Give examples of companies which have changed their advertising and promotional
campaigns with respect to the COVID situation in the nation?
Why is it necessary for a company to have a marketing department?
What do you know about Digital Marketing? (lead generation, click per thousands,
impressions, engagement etc.)
What are a few types of pricing strategies used by companies for their products?
Some advertising controversies you can talk about in the recent times?
Talk about your favourite advertisement
You are the marketing head of an XYZ company, How would you market a famous product of
the company?
Why do you think you are a good fit for the role of marketing?
Sales or Marketing?

Page | 30
 ECONOMICS

PUBLIC POLICY CLUB

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Page | 31
 Economics
Economics is the social science that deals with the prioritization of options available by
individuals, society, and government for using scarce resources to meet the various needs of life.

"Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between given ends
and scarce means which have alternative uses"- Former LSE Professor Lionel Robbins

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

Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics is another branch of economics that deals with the aggregate behaviour of the
economy (regional, national or global) in terms of performance parameters such as inflation,
GDP, national income, price levels etc.

Types of markets:
Perfect Competition – Perfect competition is a market structure where there are numerous
producers of a homogenous product. No individual seller can control the market price in a
perfect competition. There are no entry and exit barriers. Example of a perfect competition in
India: exact perfect competition is not feasible but agricultural markets are a close example.

Monopoly – A monopoly is a market situation in which there is only 1 producer for a

particular commodity. There is no competition and no substitute goods in the market in a
monopoly. Hence the producer is free to set prices according to his will. Example of
monopoly in India: Indian Railways (However if privatisation of railways is done, then it would
no longer remain a monopoly).

Oligopoly - Oligopoly is a market structure where there are a few number of firms producing
similar or homogeneous products. The selling behaviour of one firm influences the selling
behaviour of other firms. Examples of Oligopoly in India: Automobile market, steel,
aluminium firms.

Monopolistic competition - This is a market structure in which there are many sellers of
differentiated products. The firms offer products or services that are similar (but not perfect)
substitutes. As a result, the sellers have some power to influence the price of their own
product, but not the price of other products. Restaurants, hair salons, household items, and
clothing are examples of industries with monopolistic competition.

Types of economies:
Capitalist Economy: It is the economy where the decisions about what to produce, how
much to produce and the price at which to sell is solely taken by the market or the private
enterprises in the system, and the state has no economic role. This concept originated in the
famous work of Adam Smith - The Wealth of Nations (1776).

Page | 32
 State Economy: It is the economy where the state solely takes the decision w.r.t production,
distribution, supply and price.
Mixed Economy: It is the economy where the state controls some elements, and the market
regulates the rest. In another way, it can be said that it is the combination of the capitalist
economy and the state economy.

The Game of Demand and Supply:

Demand: Demand of a commodity is the quantity of that commodity which the consumer
wishes to buy at a given price from the market. The law of demand states that as the price of
a commodity increases, the quantity demanded by the consumer decreases.

Supply: Supply of a commodity is the quantity of that commodity which the producer wants
to sell at a given price in the market. The law of supply states that as the price of a
commodity increases, the quantity supplied by the producer also increases.

Demand curve: The demand curve is the graphical representation of the relationship
between the quantity of goods that consumers are willing to buy at each price. Influencing
factors: Income, price of other goods, tastes and preferences.

Supply curve: Relationship between the quantity of a good that producers are willing to sell
and the price of the good.

Market equilibrium:

The quantity that producers are willing to sell depends not only on the price they receive but
also on their production costs, including wages, interest charges, and the costs of raw materials.

Aggregate demand is the total demand for goods and services in an economy.
Aggregate supply is the total supply of goods and services in an economy.

Money
Is anything that can perform the following functions that can serve as a medium of exchange, as
a store of value, as a unit of account and a standard of deferred payment.

Page | 33
 National income and related terms:
National Income: The income of the Nation can be calculated in four ways: GDP, GNP, NDP,
and NNP, which is also a subject in ‘National Income Accounting’.
GDP: Gross Domestic Product is the value of all the final goods and services produced within
the boundary of the nation during the period of one year. It is the summation of national
private consumption, gross investment, government spending and trade balance.
GNP: Gross national product is the value of all final goods and services produced within the
boundary of a nation by its nationals during an accounting period, including net factor income
from abroad. It includes income that our citizens earn abroad and excludes income that
foreigners earn here. GNP indicates both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the
economy.
NDP: Net Domestic Product (NDP) is the GDP minus the depreciation of the goods and
services produced.
NNP: Net National Product (NNP) is the GNP minus the depreciation of the economy.

Price fluctuations and terms:

Inflation: Inflation is the quantitative measure of an increase in the general price level of
goods & services, which results in a decrease in the purchasing power per unit of a currency.
Deflation: In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and
services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0%.
Stagflation: Stagflation is the situation of an economy when inflation & unemployment both
are at higher levels, which is opposite to the conventional situation. The conventional belief is
that a trade-off exists between inflation and the unemployment rate according to Phillips
Curve.
GDP Deflator: It is the measure of price behavior. It is the ratio of GDP at the current price
and GDP at a constant price.
Recession: Is a period during which aggregate output declines. Two consecutive quarters of
decrease in output signal a recession.
Depression: A prolonged and deep recession becomes a depression.

Methods to Measure GDP: There are three methods to measure the GDP which are as follows:

Expenditure Method: The expenditure technique also known as the Income Disposal
approach is the most popular and commonly used of the three. It computes the expenditure
of several components such as domestic consumers, private enterprises, and the government.
The total of which is the GDP.

Y = C + I + G + NX
C: Domestic Consumption of goods and services
I: Private Investment in capital goods
G: Government Expenditure
NX: Net Exports = Exports of Goods & Services – Imports of Goods

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 Income Method: The income technique is used to calculate national income, which entails
aggregating the pre-tax earnings of people and enterprises in the economy. In a given
accounting year, it includes income from workers, rent from buildings and land, interest on
capital, profits, and so on. The income method depicts how national money is allocated
across the major earning groups in the economy.

GDP = Total National Income + Sales Taxes + Depreciation + Net Foreign Factor Income

Value-Added Method: The value-added method, also known as the product approach, is
based on the product's net value added at each stage of manufacturing. The economy is
often organised into numerous industry sectors in terms of product technology, such as
fishing, agriculture, and transportation. The whole output of the economy's enterprises is
added together to calculate national income.

GDP of various Economies (As per World Economic Outlook for 2026 by IMF, October 2025)
1. United States USD 31.82 Trillion
2. China USD 20.65 Trillion
3. Germany USD 5.33 Trillion
4. India USD 4.51 Trillion
5 Japan USD 4.46 Trillion

Per Capita Income Ranking of Various Economies (As per World Economic Outlook,
for 2026 by IMF, October 2025)
1 – Monaco 11 – United States, 25 – United Kingdom 91 – Russia
24 – Germany 98 – China, 164 – India 33 – France

Types of policies:

Fiscal Policy: The policy in which the nation’s economy is regulated and monitored by the
government’s adjustment in spending and taxation.
Monetary Policy: The policy in which price stability and money supply and inflation rate
regulation are taken by the central bank of a country to achieve the macroeconomic
objectives.
Growth Policies: These are government policies that focus on stimulating aggregate supply
instead of aggregate demand.

Relationship between inflation and unemployment:

There exists an inverse relationship between the

unemployment rate and the inflation rate in
an economy. As the rate of unemployment
increases, the rate of inflation in the economy
decreases and vice versa. This relation is given by
the Phillips Curve.

Page | 35
 Ratios and rates:
Cash Reserve Ratio: Cash Reserve Ratio is the mandatory percentage of share a bank has to
keep with the Reserve Bank of India in liquid cash to combat the inflation and keep the
liquidity in check
Statutory Liquidity Ratio: Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the share of a bank’s deposits kept with
RBI in the form of Liquid assets to ensure bank’s solvency and money flow in the economy.
Bank Rate: Based on the monetary policies, commercial banks can borrow loans from banks
from the central bank. The interest rate charged by the RBI on these types of loans and
advances to the banks is known as bank rate.
Repo Rate: Repo rate is the interest rate at which RBI lends money to the banks for short
term. With the help of Repo Rate, RBI can regulate the inflation and liquidity of the economy
of the country.
Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse Repo Rate is the rate at which commercial banks give loans to
the RBI. Reverse Repo Rate helps to regulate the money supply in the economy.
Marginal Standing Facility Rate: The rate at which the scheduled banks can borrow funds
overnight from RBI against government securities.

Budget terms:
Fiscal Deficit: The fiscal deficit is the difference between the total revenue and total
expenditure of the government. When a government’s total expenditure exceeds total
revenue, excluding any external borrowings it is termed as fiscal deficit
Surcharge: This is an additional tax or charge which is levied on a tax. It is calculated on
payable tax, not on income generated.
Revenue deficit: When the government’s net income is less than the projected net income,
a revenue deficit occurs. It is a key indicator to determine whether the government is
overspending from its regular income.
Capital expenditure: It is the fund used for development, buying or acquiring fixed assets
that may incur gains in the long run.
Revenue expenditure: This is the expenditure that does not result in the creation of any
fixed assets. Subsidies and interest payments come under the revenue expenditure.
Direct Taxes: The tax amount levied directly on individual or organization’s income or
property by the imposing body. It is based on the principle of ability-to-pay, which means the
entity with more resources have to pay more amount of tax. Examples of Direct Taxes is
income tax, wealth tax, property tax, corporate tax etc.
Indirect Taxes: It is the tax collected by an intermediary and paid to the government by
passing the tax burden on the consumer buying that good or service. It is the tax imposed on
the goods and services instead on a person or organization’s income, earning or property.
Examples of Indirect tax: Value Added Tax, Custom Duty, Service Tax.
Good and Service Tax: It is a destination based indirect tax that is imposed on the value
addition at each stage till final sale to the consumer. It has replaced many indirect taxes in
India. The Goods and Services are divided into five tax slabs for the collection of the tax: 0%,
5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.

Page | 36
 Transfer payments: Payments made by the government to people who do not supply
goods, services, or labour in exchange for these payments.

Exchange rate:
The price of one country’s currency in relation to another country’s currency.
Floating (or flexible) exchange rate: when two countries agree to let international market
forces of supply and demand determine their exchange rate. It fluctuates depending on
exports and imports of a country.
Fixed exchange rate: When two countries agree to keep their exchange, rates fixed through
use of monetary policy.

Other Important terms:

Consumer Price Index (CPI): The Consumer Price Index measures the overall change in
consumer prices over time using a representative basket of goods and services. The CPI is the
most extensively used measure of inflation, with policymakers, financial markets, businesses,
and consumers carefully following it.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI): A wholesale price index (WPI) is a metric that reflects the
overall change in producer prices over time. It is an inflation indicator based on the prices of
goods before they reach consumers.
Fixed Costs: Fixed Costs are the costs incurred by a company irrespective of the number of
products produced. The company will have to pay the building rent, salaries to its employees,
interest payments, etc., irrespective of the output.
Variable Costs: Costs that vary depending on the number of products produced (output) by
the company are called Variable costs. For example, the manufacturing costs of a shoe-
making company would vary based on its production units.
Elasticity: It is the percentage change in a variable resulting from one percentage increase in
another variable. The percentage change in demand for a one per cent change in price is
called the price elasticity of demand.
Economies of Scale: When more units of a good or service can be produced on a larger
scale, yet with (on average) fewer input costs, economies of scale are said to be achieved.
Economist Adam Smith identified the division of labour and specialization as the two key
means to achieving a larger return on production.
Diseconomies of Scale: Diseconomies of scale occur when a corporation or business grows
to the point where its costs per unit increase. It occurs when a firm's economies of scale
no·longer function. With this theory, rather than continuously decreasing costs and growing
output, a firm's costs rise when output rises.
Learning Curve: The learning curve illustrates how long it takes to gain new skills or
knowledge. The slope of the learning curve in business shows the rate at which learning new
abilities results in cost savings for a corporation. A learning curve is typically represented by a
percentage that indicates the rate of improvement.
Complementary Goods: An economic good which is usually used along with another good.
Ex: Tea – milk/sugar, Pen – ink/paper, etc.
Supplementary Goods: An economic good which is used in place of another good. Ex: Tea –
coffee/cold drinks, Pen – pencil/ crayon/ brush, etc.

Page | 37
 Consumer: An individual who acquires an economic good for direct use or consumption and
not for resale or use in the production of some other economic good. Ex: A person buying a
motorcycle for his personal use.
Customer: An individual who purchases an economic good on behalf of the consumer. A
customer may be different from a consumer. Ex: Government purchasing oil from OPEC for
consumption by the people.
Giffen Good / Inferior Good: A non-luxury product for which demand increases as the price
increases and vice versa, thus defying standards laws of demand and supply. Examples of
Giffen goods can include bread, rice, and wheat.
Veblen Goods: A Veblen good is a good for which demand increases as the price increases,
because of its exclusive nature and appeal as a status symbol. A Veblen good has an upward-
sloping demand curve, which runs counter to the typical downward-sloping curve. However, a
Veblen good is generally a high-quality, coveted product, in contrast to a Giffen good, which is
an inferior product that does not have easily available substitutes.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS -
Microeconomics
What is elasticity of demand, elasticity of supply, cross-price elasticity?
Difference between Income and Substitution effect?
What are the exceptions to the law of demand?
Difference between inferior and Giffen goods?
Factors affecting demand and factors affecting the supply of a product?
What is consumer surplus, producer surplus and total surplus?
What are the characteristics of Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition and
Oligopoly? Examples of all of them.
What is the law of diminishing marginal utility?
What is the law of diminishing returns?
What is Slutsky Equation?
What is the difference between Hicksian and Slutsky decomposition?
What is the difference between Hicksian and Marshallian demand functions?
What is an Indifference curve and its properties?
What is Marginal Rate of Substitution? How does it affect the shape of indifference curve?
What is an Isoquant?
What is a Budget Line? How IC and Budget Line help in finding equilibrium?
What is the theory of revealed preferences?
How do firms take their production decisions?
What are different returns to scale?
What is the shape of Total Cost curve, average cost curve, Marginal cost curve, total fixed cost,
total variable cost?
What is the relationship between average cost, marginal cost & average variable cost?
What is the break-even point for a firm? What are sunk costs?
What is the long run competitive equilibrium for firms?
What is game theory? What are different game theories strategies?
What is Nash Equilibrium?
What is the difference between Cournot Model, Bertrand Model & Stackelberg Model?

Page | 38
 What is the deadweight loss? In which market structure deadweight loss is minimum?
What is price discrimination? What are the different types of price discrimination?
What are public goods and their characteristics?
How does asymmetric information and externalities affect the market?
What is the difference between shifting the demand curve and movement along the
demand curve?
What is perfectly elastic and perfectly inelastic demand?
What are price ceilings and price floors? Give real life examples?

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS - Macroeconomics

Which is better GDP or GNP? 3 methods to calculate GDP? Real vs Nominal Interest rate?
What is the difference between Keynesian theory and classical theory?
What is the shape of aggregate supply curve in short run and long run?
What is disposable Income? How do you calculate it from national income?
What is CPI and WPI? What is India’s current CPI and WPI?
Difference between cyclical, structural, classical & frictional unemployment?
Why GDP is not a good measure? What all it does not include?
What is MPC and what is autonomous consumption?
What is secular stagnation? What is life cycle hypothesis?
How changes in the real interest rate affects consumption?
What is the problem of twin deficit? Is India facing the same problem?
How can we overcome it? What is fiscal deficit? How it is different from Trade Deficit?
What are the uses of money? What is quantity theory of money?
What are the different methods of measuring money supply? What is IS curve? What is LM
Curve? What is crowding out?
What is liquidity trap and what is classical case?
How to derive AD curve from ISLM framework?
What is the slope and position of IS and LM curve?
What is BoP account? What all it include?
Why current account + capital account balance is always 0? What is J curve?
What is the impossible trinity?

Page | 39
 FINANCE

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP IN FINANCE (SIGFi)

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iim-lucknow/
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Page | 40
 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Why Finance?
What is the difference between Finance and Accounting?
What are the different branches of Finance?
What are the contents of an Annual Report of a company?
What are key numbers or information you look for in an Annual Report?
What key financial ratios do you consider in comparing two companies?
Describe the broad categories of accounting ratios used in financial analysis.
What is the difference between NPV & IRR?
Which is better & why? (F)
What is : (i) WACC, (ii) Beta, (iii) CAPM Model What is the Discounted cash flow model?
Can you explain the same briefly?
How would you value a bond?
How can we measure risk?
Explain what a yield curve is. What do you mean by an inverted yield curve?
Can you explain a few multiples used in relative valuation?
What is LBO?
How is it different from an MBO? Give hypothetical examples for each Differentiate an IPO and
FPO What is the underwriting of shares?
What is an over subscription? What is PE Ratio? How is it useful?
What is the purpose of Cash Flow Statements? What are the key metrics you consider in
comparing two stocks of a given industry?
Why do you use those metrics? What is a money market? How is it different from the stock
market? What are the highlights of this year’s budget?
Do you think India is on track to become a USD 5 trillion economy? What are the
impediments/ challenges? What is the budgeted fiscal deficit (in percentage terms) for the
year 2022-23?
How is the same being funded? Explain the crisis in India’s banking and shadow banking
(NBFC) sectors. What is currently happening with the Indian economy? Do you think the
current slowdown is cyclical or structural? Justify.
Why do you think the stock market has been rising even though the economy is slowing
down? Can you explain the modus-operandi of any recent scam in India? Name some
unicorns(start-ups) in India. What do you think is their USP? Explain the sub-prime crisis of
2008. What was the trigger?

Page | 41
 What is Finance? Finance is a branch of economics that studies the management of funds
(money and like assets). Through financial analysis, decisions and corrective actions can be taken
regarding the collection and use of those funds so as to optimize their use toward the objectives
of an organization (states, companies and businesses) or individual. Finance also encompasses
the oversight, creation, and study of money, banking, credit, investments, assets, and liabilities
that make up financial systems.

What is Accounting?
Accounting is the systematic and comprehensive recording of financial transactions pertaining
to a business, as well as the process of summarizing, analyzing and reporting these transactions.

What Are Financial Statements?

Financial statements are written records that convey the business activities and the financial
performance of a company. Financial statements are often audited by government agencies,
accountants, firms, etc. to ensure accuracy and for tax, financing, or investing purposes. Financial
statements include:
Balance sheet
Income statement
Cash flow statement

Using Financial Statement Information

Investors and financial analysts rely on financial data to analyze the performance of a
company and make predictions about the future direction of the company's stock price. One
of the most important resources of reliable and audited financial data is the annual report,
which contains the firm's financial statements.
The financial statements are used by investors, market analysts, and creditors to evaluate a
company's financial health and earnings potential. The three major financial statement
reports are the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows.

Understanding Balance Sheets

The balance sheet provides an overview of a company's assets, liabilities, and stockholders'
equity as a snapshot in time. The date at the top of the balance sheet tells you when the
snapshot was taken, which is generally the end of the fiscal year.
The Balance Sheet Formula -- {Assets} = {Liabilities} + {Owner's Equity}
The balance sheet total will be calculated already, but here's how you identify them.
Locate total assets on the balance sheet for the period.
Total all liabilities, which should be a separate listing on the balance sheet. It may not
include contingent liabilities.
Locate total shareholder's equity and add the number to total liabilities.
Total assets should equal the total of liabilities and total equity.
The balance sheet identifies how assets are funded, either with liabilities, such as debt, or
with stockholders' equity, such as retained earnings and additional paid-in capital. Assets are
listed on the balance sheet in order of liquidity.

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 Liabilities are listed in the order in which they will be paid. Short-term or current liabilities are
expected to be paid within a year, while long-term or non-current liabilities are debts
expected to be paid in over one year.

ITEMS INCLUDED IN THE BALANCE SHEET

Assets
Cash and cash equivalents are liquid assets, which may include Treasury bills and certificates
of deposit.
Accounts receivables are the amount of money owed to the company by its customers for
the sale of its product and service.
Inventory

Liabilities
Debt including long-term debt
Wages payable
Dividends payable

Shareholders' Equity
Shareholders' equity is a company's total assets minus its total liabilities. Shareholders' equity
represents the amount of money that would be returned to shareholders if all of the assets
were liquidated and all of the company's debt was paid off. Retained earnings are part of
shareholders' equity and are the amount of net earnings that were not paid to shareholders
as dividends.

Understanding Income Statements Unlike the balance sheet, the income statement covers a
range of time, which is a year for
annual financial statements and a quarter for quarterly financial statements. The income
statement provides an overview of revenues, expenses, net income and earnings per share. It
usually provides two to three years of data for comparison.
Income Statement Formula and Calculation
{Net Income} = {Revenue - Expenses}
How to calculate?
Total all revenue or sales for the period.
Total all expenses and costs of operating the business.
Subtract total expenses from revenue to achieve net income or the profit for the period.

Data from Income Statements

An income statement is one of the three important financial statements used for reporting a
company's financial performance over a specific accounting period. Also known as the profit
and loss statement or the statement of revenue and expense, the income statement
primarily focuses on a company’s revenues and expenses during a particular period.

Page | 43
 Once expenses are subtracted from revenues, the statement produces a company's profit
figure called net income.

Types of Revenue
Operating revenue is the revenue earned by selling a company's products or services. The
operating revenue for an auto manufacturer would be realized through the production and
sale of autos. Operating revenue is generated from the core business activities of a company.
Non-operating revenue is the income earned from non-core business activities and falls
outside the primary function of the business. Some non-operating revenue examples include:
Interest earned on cash in the bank
Rental income from a property
Income from strategic partnerships like royalty receipts
Income from an advertisement display located on the company's property
Other income is the revenue earned from other activities. Other income could include gains
from the sale of long-term assets such as land, vehicles, or a subsidiary.

Types of Expenses
Primary expenses are incurred during the process of earning revenue from the primary
activity of the business. Expenses include the cost of goods sold(COGS), selling, general and
administrative expenses (SG&A), depreciation or amortization, and research and
development (R&D). Typical expenses include employee wages, sales commissions, and
utilities such as electricity and transportation.
Expenses that are linked to secondary activities include interest paid on loans or debt. Losses
from the sale of an asset are also recorded as expenses.
The main purpose of the income statement is to convey details of profitability and the
financial results of business activities. However, it can be very effective in showing whether
sales or revenue is increasing when compared over multiple periods. Investors can also see
how well a company's management is controlling expenses to determine whether a
company's efforts in reducing the cost of sales might boost profits over time.

The Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement measures how well a company generates cash to pay its debt
obligations, fund its operating expenses, and fund investments. The cash flow statement
complements the balance sheet and income statement.
The CFS allows investors to understand how a company's operations are running, where its
money is coming from, and how money is being spent. The CFS also provides insight as to
whether a company is on a solid financial footing.
There is no formula, per se, for calculating a cash flow statement. Instead, it contains three
sections that report cash flow for the various activities for which a company uses its cash.
Those three components of the CFS are listed below.
Operating Activities: The operating activities include any sources and uses of cash from
running the business and selling its products or services. Cash from operations includes
any changes made in cash, accounts receivable, depreciation, inventory, and accounts

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 payable. These transactions also include wages, income tax payments, interest payments,
rent, and cash receipts from the sale of a product or service.
Investing Activities: Investing activities include any sources and uses of cash from a
company's investments into the long-term future of the company. A purchase or sale of
an asset, loans made to vendors or received from customers or any payments related to a
merger or acquisition is included in this category. Also, purchases of fixed assets such as
property, plant, and equipment (PPE) are included in this section. In short, changes in
equipment, assets, or investments relate to cash from investing.
Financing Activities: Cash from financing activities include the sources of cash from
investors or banks, as well as the uses of cash paid to shareholders. Financing activities
include debt issuance, equity issuance, stock repurchases, loans, dividends paid, and
repayments of debt.
Financial Statement Limitations: Although financial statements provide a wealth of
information on a company, they do have limitations. The statements are open to
interpretation, and as a result, investors often draw vastly different conclusions about a
company's financial performance.

Key Financial Ratios : Liquidity Ratios, Solvency Ratios, Profitability Ratios, Activity Ratios

I. Activity Ratios
Activity ratios measure how efficiently the firm is managing its assets.
Receivables Turnover Ratio

It is considered desirable to have a receivables turnover figure close to the industry norm.

Days of Sales Outstanding

These are the average number of days it takes for the company’s customers to pay their bills.
It is considered desirable to have a collection period close to the industry norm. A collection
period that is too high might mean that customers are too slow in paying their bills, which
also indicates that too much capital is tied up in assets. On the contrary, a collection period
that is too low might indicate that the firm’s credit policy is too rigorous, which might also
result in hampered sales.

Inventory Turnover Ratio

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 This ratio also known as stock turnover ratio establishes the relationship between the cost of
goods sold during the year and average inventory held during the year. It is a measure of a
firm’s efficiency with respect to its processing and inventory management.

Days of Inventory on Hand

As is the case with accounts receivable, it is considered desirable to have days of inventory on
hand close to the industry norm. A high processing period means that too much capital is
tied up in inventory and could also result in obsolete inventory. A low processing period
indicates that the firm has inadequate stock on hand, which could impact sales.

Payables Turnover Ratio

A measure of the use of trade credit by the firm.

Days of Payables

Total Assets Turnover Ratio

This ratio tells us the effectiveness of firm’s use of its total assets to create revenue.

The ratio varies as per industries. It is desirable to have the total asset turnover ratio close to
the industry norm. Low asset turnover ratios might mean that the company has too much
capital tied up in its asset base. A turnover ratio that is too high might imply that the firm has
too few assets for potential sales, or that the asset base is outdated.

Fixed Asset Turnover

This ratio is specific to the utilization of fixed assets. It is desirable to have a fixed asset
turnover ratio close to the industry norm. Low fixed asset turnover might mean that the
company has too much capital tied up in its asset base or is using the assets inefficiently.
A turnover ratio that is too high might imply that the firm has obsolete equipment.

Working Capital Turnover Ratio

This ratio helps us understand how effectively a company is using its working capital.
Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities. This ratio gives us information about
the utilization of working capital in terms revenue value.

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 II. Liquidity Ratios
Liquidity ratios help determine the firm’s ability to pay its short-term liabilities.

Current Ratio

Current Assets = Inventories + Sundry Debtors + Cash and cash equivalents +

Receivables/Accruals + Loans & Advances + Disposable Investments + Any other current assets

Current Liabilities = Creditors for goods & services + Short term Loans + Bank Overdraft + Cash
Credit + Outstanding Expenses + Provision for Taxation + Proposed Dividend + Unclaimed
Dividend + Any other current liabilities

The higher the current ratio, the more likely is the company will be able to pay its short-term
bills. A current ratio of less than one means that the company has negative working capital
and is probably facing a liquidity crisis.

Quick Ratio

Quick Assets= Current Assets- Inventories – Prepaid Expenses

This is a more stringent measure of liquidity. The higher the quick ratio, the more likely it is
that the company will be able to pay its short-term bills.

Cash ratio

This is the most conservative liquidity measure

The higher the cash ratio, the more likely it is that the company will be able to pay its short-
term bills.

Cash Conversion Cycle

The cash conversion cycle is the length of time it takes to turn the firm’s cash investment in
inventory to turn back into cash. The cash conversion cycle is computed from days sales
outstanding, days of inventory on hand, and number of days of payables:

High cash conversion cycles are considered undesirable. A conversion cycle that is too high
implies that the company has excessive capital investment blocked in the sales process.

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 III. Solvency Ratios Solvency ratios measure a firm’s financial leverage and ability to meet its
long-term obligations. Solvency ratios include various debt ratios that are based on the balance
sheet and coverage ratios that are based on the income statement.

Debt to Equity Ratio

A measure of the firm’s use of fixed-cost financing sources. Increases and decreases in this
ratio suggest a greater or lesser reliance on debt as a source of financing.
A high debt to equities ratio here means less protection for creditors, a low ratio, indicates a
wider safety cushion since creditors feel the owners’ funds can absorb possible losses of
income and capital.

Debt to EBITDA Ratio

Another ratio that reflects a firm’s ability to meet debt obligations is debt-to-EBITDA ratio:

Fixed Charge Ratio

This ratio determines the company’s ability to meet its obligations.

Fixed charge coverage is more meaningful measure for companies that lease a large portion
of their assets, e.g. airlines.

IV. Profitability Ratios

Profitability ratios measure the overall performance of the firm relative to revenues, assets, equity,
and capital.

Net Profit Margin

It is a matter of concern if this ratio is too low.

Gross Profit Margin

Operating Profit Margin

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 Return on Assets Ratio

Return on assets (ROA) is an indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total
assets. ROA is best used when comparing similar companies or by comparing a company to
its own previous performance.

Return on equity

The return on equity is the ratio of net income to average total equity. Return on equity
(ROE) measures a corporation's profitability in relation to stockholders’ equity. Whether an
ROE is considered satisfactory will depend on what is normal for the industry or company
peers. A good rule of thumb is to target an ROE that is equal to or just above the average for
the peer group.

DUPONT ANALYSIS The return on common equity is often more thoroughly analyzed using the
DuPont Decomposition. The DuPont analysis is an approach that can be used to analyze return
on equity (ROE). It breaks down ROE into a function of different ratios. There are two variants of
the DuPont system: The original three-part approach and the extended five-part system. For the
original approach, start with ROE defined as:

We can expand this further:

The first term is still the profit margin, the second term is now asset turnover, and the third term
is a financial leverage ratio.
Expanding further:

Thefirsttermintheabove5-part DuPont equation, net profit margin, has been decomposed

into three terms:

iscalled the tax burden and is equal to (1 - tax rate),

is called the interest burden,

is called the EBIT margin.

We get:

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 What are the career options within finance domain? The study of finance is relevant to a wide
range of occupations. Finance professionals enjoy a high rate of employment in leadership
positions at all levels of financial management for careers in business, industry, government, and
public or private corporations. Finance majors typically embark on careers in investment banking,
asset management, consulting, capital market research, corporate finance, risk management,
banking, or financial planning, across industries.

The Basics of Stock Market

Market Capitalization (Market Cap): It is the total market value of the shares outstanding of
a publicly traded company; it is equal to the share price times the number of shares
outstanding.

NIFTY: The S&P CNX Nifty (also known as NSE Nifty or NSE-50 or 'Nifty') is a stock index in
India. Nifty consists of 50 stocks. The constituents of the index change periodically,
depending on liquidity, availability of floating stock, turnover and volume of transactions.

SENSEX: Sensex, otherwise known as the S&PBSE Sensex index, is the benchmark index of
the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)in India. Sensex is composed of 30 of the largest and most
actively- traded stocks on the BSE, providing an accurate gauge of India's economy. Initially
compiled in 1986,the Sensex is the oldest stock index in India. Analysts and investors use the
Sensex to observe the overall growth, development of particular industries, and booms and
bursts of the Indian economy.

Types of Investors:
Personal investors- Business owners often rely on family, friends or close acquaintances to
invest in their companies, particularly in the beginning. However, there is a limit to how
many of these individuals can invest in start-ups because of legal limitations.
Angel investors- Angel investors are usually high net worth individuals with a net worth of
more than $1 million. They are found across all industries and are useful for entrepreneurs
who are beyond the seed stages of financing but are not yet ready to seek out venture
capital.
Venture capitalists- Venture capitalists are used only after a business begins to show a
significant amount of revenue. These investors are notable, as they usually invest a
substantial amount of money (often around $10 million). They gain most of their returns
through “carried interest,” or a percentage received as compensation from the profits of a
hedge fund or private equity.

Government Security (G-Sec): A Government Security (G-Sec) is a tradable instrument

issued by the Central Government or State Governments. It acknowledges the Government’s
debt obligation. Such securities are short term (usually called treasury bills, with original
maturities of less than one year) or long term (usually called Government bonds or dated
securities with an original maturity of one year or more). In India, the Central Government
issues both, treasury bills and bonds or dated securities while the State Governments issue
only bonds or dated securities, which are called the State Development Loans (SDLs). G-Secs
carry practically no risk of default and, hence, are called risk-free instruments.

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Page | 51
 Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM): A model used to calculate the discount rate of a
company’s cash flows.
Commercial paper: Short-term corporate debt, typically maturing in nine months or less.
Commodities: Assets (usually agricultural products or metals)that are generally
interchangeable with one another and therefore share a common price. For example, corn,
wheat, and rubber generally trade at one price on commodity markets worldwide.
Convertible preferred stock: A relatively uncommon type of equity issued by a company,
convertible preferred stock is often issued when it cannot successfully sell either straight
common stock or straight debt. Preferred stock pays a dividend, similar to how a bond pays
coupon payments, but ultimately converts to common stock after a period of time. It is
essentially a mix of debt and equity, and most often used as a means for a risky company to
obtain capital when neither debt nor equity works.
Convertible bonds: Bonds that can be converted into a specified number of shares of stock.
Cost of Goods Sold: The direct costs of producing merchandise. Includes costs of labour,
equipment, and materials to create the finished product, for example.
Coupon payments: The payments of interest that the bond issuer makes to the bond holder.
Credit ratings: The ratings given to bonds by credit agencies. These ratings indicate the risk
of default.
Currency appreciation: When a currency’s value is rising relative to other currencies.
Currency depreciation: When a currency’s value is falling relative to other currencies.
Currency devaluation: When a currency weakens under fixed exchange rates.
Currency revaluation: When a currency strengthens under fixed exchange rates.
Default premium: The difference between the promised yields on a corporate bond and the
yield on an otherwise identical government bond.
Default risk: The risk that the company issuing a bond may go bankrupt and “default” on its
loans.
Derivatives: An asset whose value is derived from the price of another asset. Examples
include call options, put options, futures, and interest-rate swaps.
Dilutive merger: A merger in which the acquiring company’s earnings per share decrease.
Discount rate: A rate that measures the risk of an investment. It can be understood as the
expected return from a project of a certain amount of risk.
Discounted Cash Flow analysis (DCF): A method of valuation that takes the net present
value of the free cash flows of a company.
Dividend: A payment by a company to shareholders of its stock, usually as a way to distribute
some or all of the profits to shareholders.
EBIT: Earnings Before Interest and Taxes
EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization
Enterprise Value: Levered value of the company, the equity value plus market value of debt.
Equity: In short, stock. Equity means ownership in a company that is usually represented by
stock.
Fixed income: Bonds and other securities that earn a fixed rate of return. Bonds are typically
issued by governments, corporations and municipalities.
Float: The number of shares available for trade in the market times the price. Generally
speaking, the bigger the float, the greater the stock’s liquidity.

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 Floating rate: An interest rate that is benchmarked to other, allowing the interest rate to
change as market conditions change.
Forward contract: A contract that calls for future delivery of an asset at an agreed-upon price.
Forward exchange rate: The price at which currencies can be bought/sold for future delivery.
Forward rate (for bond): The agreed-upon interest rates for a bond to be issued in the future.
Futures contract: A contract that calls for the delivery of an asset or its cash value at a
specified delivery or maturity date for an agreed upon price. A future is a type of forward
contract that is liquid, standardized, traded on an exchange, and whose prices are settled at
the end of each trading day.
Goodwill: An account that includes intangible assets a company may have. E.g. brand image.
Hedge: To balance a position in the market in order to reduce risk. Hedges work like
insurance: a small position pays off large amounts with a slight move in the market.
High-yield bonds (a.k.a. junk bonds): Bonds with poor credit ratings that pay a relatively
high rate of interest.
Holding Period Return: The income earned over a period as a percentage of the bond price
at the start of the period.
Initial Public Offering (IPO): The dream of every entrepreneur, the IPO is the first time a
company issues stock to the public.
Investment grade bonds: Bonds with high credit ratings that pay relatively low interest rates.
Leveraged Buyout (LBO): The buyout of a company with borrowed money, often using that
company’s own assets as collateral.
Money market securities: This term is generally used to represent the market or securities
maturing within one year. These include short-term CDs, Repurchase Agreements,
Commercial Paper (low-risk corporate issues), among others. These are low risk, short-term
securities that have yields similar to Treasuries.
Mortgage-backed bonds: Bonds collateralized by a pool of mortgages. Interest and
principal payments are based on the individual homeowners making their mortgage
payments. The more diverse the pool of mortgages backing the bond, the less risky they are.
Multiples method: A method of valuing a company that involves taking a multiple of an
indicator such as price-to-earnings, EBITDA, or revenues.
Net present value (NPV): The present value of a series of cashflows generated by an
investment, minus the initial investment. NPV is calculated because of the important
concept that money today is worth more than the same money tomorrow.
Par value: The total amount a bond issuer will commit to pay back when the bond expires.
P/E ratio: The price to earnings ratio. This is the ratio of a company’s stock price to its
earnings- per-share. The higher the P/E ratio, the more “expensive” a stock is (and also the
faster investors believe the company will grow). Stocks in fast growing industries tend to have
higher P/E ratios.
Put option: An option that gives the holder the right to sell an asset for a specified price on
or before a specified expiration date.
Selling, General & Administrative Expense (SG&A): Costs not directly involved in the
production of revenues. SG&A is subtracted from Gross Profit to get EBIT.
Swap: A type of derivative, a swap is an exchange of future cash flows. Popular swaps include
foreign exchange swaps and interest rate swaps.

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 Spot exchange rate: The price of currencies for immediate delivery.
Tender offers: A method by which a hostile acquirer renders an offer to the shareholders of a
company in an attempt to gather a controlling interest in the company. Generally, the
potential acquirer will offer to buy stock from shareholders at a much higher value than the
market value.
Underwrite: The function performed by investment banks when they help companies issue
securities to investors. Technically, the investment bank buys the securities from the
company and immediately resells the securities to investors for a slightly higher price,
making money on the spread.
Yield to call: The yield of a bond calculated up to the period when the bond is called(paid off
by the bond issuer).
Yield: The annual return on investment. A high-yield bond, for example, pays a high rate of
interest.
Yield to maturity: The measure of the average rate of return that will be earned on a bond if
it is bought now and held to maturity.
Zero coupon bonds: A bond that offers no coupon or interest payments to the bond holder.

SOME CURRENT AFFAIRS TOPICS:

Time-independent topics:
Recent IPOs: Focus on analyzing IPOs
RBI’s monetary stance: Its impact on the economy & the financial markets
Recent Indian Unicorn Start-ups
Recent Indian & Global M&A deals
Recent events and volatility in the Indian stock markets
Key government policies: Budget, PLI schemes
Key updates of the sector in which the candidate has work/internship experience

Recent affairs:
ControllingInflation withRisingRates
Global Recession 2023-24
Tech Lay-offs
Economic Impact of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Economic Updates from Major Economies
Sustainable Finance Trends
Geopolitical Risk Factors
Corporate Credit Market Trends
Consumer Confidence Trends
China’s Economic Strategies

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 FINANCE FACT SHEET

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 HUMAN
RESOURCES

HUMAN ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING IN

CORPORATE SOCIETY
Facebook: [Link]
Instagram: [Link]

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 Human Resource Management (HRM) The practice of managing people in order to achieve
better performance is called human resource management. The effective management of people
in an organization in a way that helps their business gain a competitive advantage is a part of
HRM. It is designed to maximize employee performance.

Basic Concepts of HRM

Recruitment and Selection The most visible element of HR is recruitment and selection.
Selecting the best candidates to work for the company is a key responsibility. When a job is
created or an existing job opens up the request for new hires usually starts. HR receives the job
description and starts the recruitment of candidates. Different selection instruments like
interviews, assessments, reference checks, and other recruitment methods are put to use. Pre-
selection tools may also be used by HR.

Performance Management
Performance management is about helping people to perform better at their jobs. Employees
normally have a defined set of responsibilities. Performance management enables employees to
get feedback on their performance. The entire exercise revolves around reaching better
performance. Some examples of performance management are formal one-on-one
performance reviews or 360- degree feedback instruments. Organizations, normally, work with
an annual performance management cycle. This involves planning, reviewing, monitoring, and
rewarding employee performance.

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 Learning and Development Learning and development can be really helpful in advancing the
organization towards its long term goals. It helps employees improve their performance. Many
organizations have defined budgets for learning and development efforts The 9- Box grid is an
excellent framework that connects performance management with learning and development
activities.

Succession Planning The process of planning contingencies in case key employees leave the
company is called succession planning. This is often based on learning and development efforts
and performance ratings. A talent pool of candidates, who are qualified and ready to fill positions
in case of a person leaves, is created. Good people management is about building and nurturing
this pipeline.

Compensation and Benefits

The key to retaining and motivating employees is fair compensation. There are two types of
compensation - primary and secondary. Directly paid money is the primary composition. All non-
monetary rewards comprise secondary benefits.

Human Resource Information System (HRIS)

HRIS supports all the above-mentioned concepts. For recruitment and selection, an applicant
tracking system (ATS) is used to keep track of applicants and hires. A performance management
system is used to keep track of individual goals and put in performance ratings for performance
management. For learning and development, a learning management system(LMS) is used for
the distribution of content internally. A payroll system is often used for compensation. It is
important to note that a significant digital element works in HR.

HR Data and Analytics

HR Metrics or HR KPIs help to keep track of critical data. They specify how a company is doing
on a given measurement and is known as HR reporting. More data-driven decisions can be made
by HR through data analytics.

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 Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory In order to better understand what motivates human beings,
Maslow proposed that human needs can be organized into a hierarchy. This hierarchy ranges
from more concrete needs such as food and water to abstract concepts such as self-fulfillment.
According to Maslow, when a lower need is met, the next need on the hierarchy becomes our
focus of attention.

Five main levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are:

Physiological Needs: They are the most essential things a person needs to survive. They
include the need for shelter, water, food, warmth, rest, and health.
Safety Needs: Safety, or security needs, relate to a person’s need to feel safe and secure in
their life and surroundings. This refers to the need for job security, stable income, and savings.
Love and Belonging Needs: This level of the hierarchy outlines the need for friendship,
intimacy, family, and love.
Esteem Needs: Maslow broke up esteem needs into two categories: the need for respect
from others and the need for respect from oneself. Respect from others relates to achieving
fame, prestige, and recognition. Respect from oneself relates to dignity, confidence,
competence, independence, and freedom.
Self-Actualization Needs: Self-actualization relates to the realization of an individual’s full
potential. At this level, people strive to become the best that they possibly can be.

Big Five Model of Personality Personality is an easy concept to grasp for most of us. It’s what
makes you “you”. It encompasses all the traits, characteristics, and quirks that set you apart from
everyone else. Human resources professionals often use the Big Five personality dimensions to
help place employees.

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 The Big Five traits are -
Openness: Openness includes traits like being insightful and imaginative and having a wide
variety of interests.

Conscientiousness: People that have a high degree of conscientiousness are reliable and
prompt. Traits include being organized, methodic, and thorough.

Extroversion: Extraverts get their energy from interacting with others, while introverts get
their energy from within themselves. Extraversion includes the traits of energetic, talkative,
and assertive.

Agreeableness: These individuals are friendly, cooperative, and compassionate. People with
low agreeableness may be more distant

Neuroticism: Neuroticism is also sometimes called Emotional Stability. This dimension

relates to one’s emotional stability and degree of negative emotions.

Attitude: “My personality is who I am and my attitude is who you are.” Our behavior towards
an individual, group or people surrounding us changes but our personality is rigid, it does not
change.

Emotional intelligence: The intelligence that we acquire on interacting with individuals and
adapt accordingly in a conversation with the individual is termed as emotional intelligence.
For ex, within two conversations with Ravi, I came to know about Ravi’s reluctance to talk
about this family, hence I do not talk about this family anymore in our conversations. This
adaptation is due to emotional intelligence.

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 Expectancy theory Explains how individuals make decisions to act based on their perceptions of
the likelihood of their efforts leading to a desired outcome. This theory was developed by Victor
Vroom in the 1960s and is widely used in organizational psychology and management.

The Expectancy Theory consists of three key components:

Expectancy (E): This is the belief that putting in effort will lead to successful performance. It's
the perception that if you work hard and perform well, you will achieve your desired
outcome. This component is often influenced by factors such as skills, knowledge, and
experience.
Instrumentality (I): This is the belief that successful performance will be rewarded. It's the
perception that if you achieve your goals and perform well, you will receive a reward or
outcome that you value. Rewards can include promotions, salary increases, recognition, or
other positive outcomes.
Valence (V): This refers to the value or desirability an individual places on the expected
outcome. It's a measure of how much a person wants a particular reward. Different
individuals may have different valences for the same outcome.

Motivation (M) = E × I × V

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory

Herzberg’s Motivation Theory model, or Two Factor Theory, argues that there are two factors that
an organization can adjust to influence motivation in the workplace. These factors are:

Motivators: Which can encourage employees to work harder.

Hygiene factors: These won’t encourage employees to work harder but they will cause them
to become unmotivated if they are not present.

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 Organizational Life Cycle Greiner's growth model, uses five key concepts: the age of the
organization, the size of the organization, the stage of evolution, the stage of revolution and the
growth rate of the industry to display how organizations overcome growth crises and the need for
organisational evolution.

Kotter’s 8 step Model of Change Kotter describes an eight stage model of successful change in
which he seeks to support managers to lead change and to understand how people accept,
engage with and maintain successful organisational change.

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 ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ENTREPRENEURSHIP CELL
LinkedIn: [Link]/in/ecelliiml
Facebook: [Link]
Instagram: [Link]

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 What is Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is the ability and readiness to follow a passion along with any uncertainties to
make a difference by developing, organizing and running a business enterprise.

Why Entrepreneurship?
Willingness and determination to deal with risks to start a new business
Satisfaction of generating employment and contributing to the society
High learning through live experiences

Entrepreneurship is one of the resources economists categorize as integral to production, the

other three being land/natural resources, labour and capital. An entrepreneur combines the first
three of these to manufacture goods or provide services. They typically create a business plan,
hire labour, acquire resources & financing, provide leadership and management for the business.
Entrepreneurs commonly face many obstacles when building their companies. The three that
many of them cite as the most challenging are as follows:
Overcoming bureaucracy
Hiring talent
Obtaining financing

Key steps that most successful entrepreneurs have followed:

Ensure Financial Stability
Build a Diverse Skill Set
Consume Content Across Multiple Channels
Identify a Problem to Solve
Solve That Problem
Passion to Action
Getting Your Hands Dirty
Knowing When to Change Course
Shrewd Money Management

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 Lean start-up formats are charts that use only a handful of elements to describe your company’s
value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. They’re useful for visualizing trade-offs
and fundamental facts about your company. There are many versions of lean start-up templates,
but among the oldest & most well-known is the Business Model Canvas, developed by Alex
Osterwalder.

Nine components of the Business Model Canvas version are:

Key partnerships: Note the other businesses or services you’ll work with to run your business.
Think about suppliers, manufacturers, subcontractors and similar strategic partners.
Key activities: List the ways your business will gain a competitive advantage. Highlight
things like selling direct to consumers, or using technology to tap into the sharing economy.
Key resources: List any resource you’ll leverage to create value for your customer. Your most
important assets could include staff, capital, or intellectual property. Don’t forget to leverage
business resources that might be available to women, veterans, Native Americans, and
HUBZone businesses.
Value proposition: Make a clear and compelling statement about the unique value your
company brings to the market.
Customer relationships: Describe how customers will interact with your business. Is it
automated or personal? In person or online? Think through the customer experience from
start to finish.
Customer segments: Be specific when you name your target market. Your business won’t
be for everybody, so it’s important to have a clear sense of who your business will serve.
Channels: List the most important ways you’ll talk to your customers. Most businesses use a
mix of channels and optimize them over time.
Cost structure: Will your company focus on reducing cost or maximizing value? Define your
strategy, then list the most significant costs you’ll face pursuing it.
Revenue streams: Explain how your company will actually make money. Some examples
are direct sales, memberships fees, and selling advertising space. If your company has
multiple revenue streams, list them all.

Questions That Delve into External Factors:

Does my entrepreneurial venture meet local regulations and laws? If not feasible locally, can I
and should I relocate to another region?
How long does it take to get the necessary license or permissions from concerned
authorities? Can I survive that long?
Do I have a plan about getting the necessary resources and skilled employees, and have I
made cost considerations for the same?
Tentative timelines for bringing the first prototype to market or for services to be operational?
Who are my primary customers?
Who are the funding sources I may need to approach to make this big? Is my venture good
enough to convince potential stakeholders?
What technical infrastructure do I need?
Once the business is established, will I have sufficient funds to get resources and take it to the
next level? Will other big firms copy my model and kill my operation?

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 Topics for Interview Preparation:
B-plans
Angel Investors
Venture Capitalists
Startup India
StartinUp
Unicorns
Bootstrapping
Budget 2023 on startups
Types of funding (Proof of concept, Seed, First & Second round, Development Capital)
Business lifecycle stage
Sources of Funding
Customer Acquisition Costs
DAU/MAU
Retention Rate

Questions related to starting a Venture:

What idea of business do you have? Explain your B-Plan (Business Plan)?
Why do you think your idea is a viable idea? What is the problem that you are trying to solve?
How does it differ from the competition?
Marketing Perspectives Terms: USP, Target Market, Break-Even Point, Customer Acquisition
Cost
Who is your major target customer and how do you identify them?
Who are your major competitors?
What is your business model?
What is the difference between the Venture Capitalist and Angel Investor?
Pitch your idea to me assuming I am a potential investor.
How will you price your product?
How will you manage your margins?

Generic Questions:
What is a Startup?
What are the different types of funding?
What are your future plans?
Different ways of idea generation
What inspires you to start your own venture?
What is your stand on job situation in India?
What are the different qualities an entrepreneur should have? What qualities do you have?
How will you ensure the team formed is strong enough?
How do you think startups can contribute in $5 Trillion economy?
Famous startups name & its founder.
Role of incubation centers?
What has been the Impact of covid on startups?

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 Indian startup ecosystem and the number of new unicorns coming up
What are Disruptive startups?
What’s your Opinion on High valuations of startups?
What’s your opinion on more and more Startups getting listed on stock exchanges?
Any recent news about unicorns?
Emerging trends in the startup ecosystem?
What is your opinion on failing IPOs
National Startup Day?

FEW PROMINENT VCS:

Sequoia Capital: American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital initially invested in well-
known companies including Apple, Google, Dropbox, and WhatsApp. In 2006, they created a
subsidiary called Sequoia Capital India, which focuses on funding high-growth start-up
businesses. They have large stakes in Justdial, Byju's, Freecharge, Practo, and CarDekho

Accel Partners: Accel Partners is one of the oldest venture capital firms mostly invests in
internet technology start-ups. They invested in Facebook, Myntra, Flipkart, BookMyShow.

Nexus Venture Partners: US based VC firm Nexus have invested in Unacademy, Zomato,
Rapido, OLX. Few other VC firms are Tiger Global Managements, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures
etc.

FEW GOVERNMENT SCHEMES WHICH ARE INHERENT TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA:

Startup India Seed Fund Scheme

Startup India Initiative
Venture Capital Assistance Scheme
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna
Atal Innovation Mission
The Standup India Scheme
‘herSTART’ platform

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 SOME OF THE TERMS RELATED TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP: .Bootstrap: The term
"bootstrapping" is used in business to describe the process of launching and expanding a
company using only readily accessible resources, such as personal finances, home computers,
and garage space. You must maximize your resources to finish the mission.

Series Funding:
Series A funding is an investment in a privately held start-up firm once it has demonstrated
success in developing its business strategy and the capacity to grow and produce income. It
frequently refers to the first round of venture capital that a company raises after seed and
angel investors. A start-up with potential but not enough capital can use Series A financing to
expand its operations by employing, purchasing inventory and equipment, and pursuing
other long-term ambitions.
In exchange for their investment and the risk they are taking, Series A financiers often receive
a majority or controlling interest in the start-up company.

Venture Capitalist:
A venture capitalist (VC) is a private equity investor who puts money into growing firms in
exchange for a stake in the company. This might include funding for new enterprises or assisting
small businesses that wish to expand but do not have access to the stock market. Jim Breyer, an
early investor of Facebook, and Peter Fenton, an early investor of Twitter, are two of the most
well-known investors in venture capital.

Angel Investors:
High-net-worth individuals who support small companies or entrepreneurs financially are
referred to as angel investors (also known as private investors, seed investors, or angel funders).
These individuals often do so in exchange for ownership stock in the startup or entrepreneur's
business. Angel investors' assistance for companies encourages creativity, which leads to a rise in
the economy. These risky investments often make up no more than 10% of an angel investor's
overall portfolio.

Start-up:
A start-up is a new business that is just getting started. Start-ups are formed by one or more
business owners who want to deliver a good or service for which they believe there is a market.
Since these companies often have high launch costs and low revenue, they look for funding from
a variety of sources, including venture capitalists.

Unicorn:
A unicorn is a start-up business that has a valuation of $1 billion or more. The venture capital
industry commonly uses it. Because unicorns are so rare, inventiveness is required. Due to their
vast scale, unicorn investors are usually private investors or venture capitalists, which excludes
retail investors from their investments.

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 Promoters: A promoter is a person or group that aids in funding a certain financial endeavour.
Promoters frequently highlight penny stocks, a market where making misleading claims and
exaggerating a company's or its prospects has been typical. Promoters can also be journalists that
write favorable reviews or articles about a business in exchange for payment, which can influence
evaluations. Promoters are not required to hold a license or meet any specific requirements.

Idea:
Broken down, a business idea is a reason for setting up a firm. It controls all aspect of the
business, including what goods and services are provided and how these goods are sold. This
concept need not be original, but it must have the ability to seize a portion of the intended
market. Or, to put it another way, it must provide something unique from competing businesses,
or else their credentials and head start will make it nearly impossible for you to compete.

Technical Feasibility:
Technical feasibility is the process of formally determining whether it is technologically viable to
produce a good or service. Planning and preparing for each stage of the operation is crucial
before introducing a new offering or starting a client project. By examining the process,
including the tools, technology, materials, labour, and logistics, technical feasibility assists in
determining the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

Viability:
Business viability refers to a situation in which a business is surviving. The ability to survive
depends on one's financial situation and productivity. A firm is viable if it either generates
enough profit to pay the owner back while also fulfilling its obligations to business creditors, or if
it has access to enough capital to last during a period when it is not producing any profit.

Crowdfunding:
Crowdfunding is a way to raise money to support projects and businesses. Fundraisers can use
online platforms to collect money from a large number of people. Crowdfunding is most
commonly used by start-ups and growing businesses to get alternative cash. It is a novel method
of raising funds for brand-new projects, enterprises, or ideas.

Networking:
One of the most crucial talents for business owners is networking. Building and maintaining
connections and relationships with others is the goal of networking. Your social and professional
personal networks that you build up through time might be a priceless asset. One of the
essential components for the launch of a firm may ultimately be obtained through a connection
formed at a social gathering for entrepreneurs.

Accelerator:
Business accelerators provide assistance to early-stage and start-up companies through
financing, short-term guidance, and training. A Business Accelerator’s long-term goals are to
help the businesses it supports to grow and become profitable quickly and make a return on its
investment (ROI).

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 Incubator: An organisation that offers a variety of business support tools and services, including
physical space, capital, coaching, common services, and networking connections, accelerates the
growth and success of entrepreneurial businesses.

Clientele:
The clientele is the target market that an entrepreneur puts all of his energy into serving. They
are the ones who determine if a particular company will succeed or fail in the market. The
clientele's demands are what keep the entrepreneur busy and help him organise numerous
business ventures.

FEW LINKS FOR REFERENCE:

1. [Link]
2. [Link]
3. [Link]
[Link]
4. [Link]
to-mark-cuban/337115
5. [Link]
entrepreneurship/?sh=35c15a5b6adc
6. [Link]
7. [Link]
bounced-back
8. [Link]
nts'_Perspective

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 OPERATIONS

OPERATIONS INTEREST GROUP

Instagram: [Link]
Facebook: [Link]
LinkedIn: [Link]
iiml/about/

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 INTRODUCTION

Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and controlling

the process of production and redesigning business operations in the production of goods or
services. It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that firms need
to deliver the goods and services their clients want. The goal of operations management is to
maximize efficiency of goods production and services that effectively fulfil customer needs. OM
includes strategic, tactical, and operational decisions.

Strategic decisions include determining the size and location of manufacturing plants,
deciding the structure of service or telecommunications networks, and designing technology
supply chains.
Tactical decisions include plant layout and structure, project management methods, and
equipment selection and replacement.
Operational decisions include production scheduling and control, inventory management,
quality control and inspection, traffic and materials handling, and equipment maintenance
policies.

Definitions
Product Design — The process of deciding on the unique and specific features of a product.
Process Selection —An excellent product design is worthless if a process for its creation
cannot be developed.
Process Control - Process control is the ability to monitor and adjust a process to give a
desired output. It is used in industry to maintain quality and improve performance.
Efficiency - Efficiency is the ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time
in doing something or in producing a desired result.
Effectiveness - Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to
produce desired output.
Quality management — The process used to ensure the quality of a product, including
measuring quality and identifying quality issues.
Total quality management (TQM) — A philosophy that seeks to improve qualityby
eliminating the causes of product defects and by making quality standards, the responsibility
of every individual in the organization.
Reengineering — The process of redesigning a company’s processes to increase its
production efficiency, improve quality, and reduce costs.
Lean Manufacturing - Lean manufacturing is a production process based on an ideology of
maximizing productivity while simultaneously minimizing waste within a manufacturing
operation. Derived from Toyota’s 1930 operating model called the “Toyota Way”.
Project Management - Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to
achieve all project goals within the given time, money, personnel, and other implementation
constraints.

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 Key Concepts: Product and Supply Chain Compatibility Products can be classified on the basis of
demand patterns into two broad categories: functional products and innovative products.
Functional products typically have longer product lifecycles, lower contribution margins,
predictable demand patterns, and higher lead times, whereas innovative products are short-lived,
and have very high contribution margins, irregular (unpredictable) demand patterns, and short
lead times. Therefore, the ideal supply chain strategy of the company should be devised
considering the product characteristics. After determining if the product lies closer to functional or
innovative ends in the spectrum, the company can choose between physically efficient and
market-responsive supply chains. Efficient supply chains are designed to minimize transportation,
production, and storage costs, whereas responsive supply chains are fast, flexible, and designed to
manage demand uncertainty.

Ethical Sourcing of Sustainable Materials Increasing consumer awareness and conscious purchase
decisions have triggered the long-term transformation of the industries, with brands inculcating
sustainability in all aspects of the business – from procurement to returns. ESG policies coupled
with Trade 2.0 & demand driven sourcing is driving the change in the procurement of sustainable
materials. The need of the hour has shifted to developing an agile sustainable model that
addresses environmental and social concerns without compromising on speed or scale. Bringing
transparency to the POS, including supplier details, work conditions, and carbon and water
footprints of the products being purchased, not only improves the company’s brand image but
also adds to its social capital.

With possible significant scale-up in volumes and quantity of sustainable RM being used,
companies now strive to establish strategic partnerships with their suppliers. Many have designed

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 specific community outreach programs, including women’s empowerment programs and
capability-building programs. At the same time, to incorporate transparency into their
procurement process, firms have established stringent audit and remediation policies, which aim
to improve workers’ overall well-being, protect human rights and reduce environmental impact.
These remedial programs evaluate the suppliers and incentivize improvements, including moving
sourcing to green-rated factories or factories complying with the highest ILO standards.

Metrics and Performance Indicators

[Link] Order Rate: The perfect order rate measures the success of a firm's ability to deliver
orders incident-free, which ultimately helps them iron out issues such as inaccuracies,
damages, delays, and inventory losses. The higher the perfect order rate, the better, because
this KPI has a direct impact on customer retention and loyalty levels.
[Link] Sales Outstanding (DSO): The days sales outstanding (DSO) KPI measures how swiftly
you are able to collect or generate revenue from your customers. Essentially, a low, or healthy,
DSO number means that it takes a business fewer days to collect its accounts receivable. A
higher DSO level demonstrates that a company is selling its product to customers on credit
and taking longer to collect revenue in a tangible sense, which can stunt cash flow and
minimize profits in the grand scheme of things.
[Link] Turnover: One of the most superbly helpful supply chain KPI available today
focuses on logistics KPIs and helps a business understand the number of times its entire
inventory has been sold over a certain time frame: an incredible indicator of efficient
production planning, process strategy, fulfillment abilities, and marketing and sales
management.
[Link] to Sales Ratio: The inventory to sales ratio is critical to track since inventory is one
of the most important instruments in the supply chain. This metric measures the amount of
inventory for sale in comparison to the actual quantity that is sold, expressed as a ratio. It will
help the firm to adjust their stock in order to ensure high margins and is an estimate of how
well the company is dealing with unexpected situations.

Few other indicators include: Delivered On Time & In Full, Freight Cost per Unit, Fill Rate, Inventory
Velocity, Delivery Time and On Time Shipping.

Operations and Supply Chain

Operations Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and

controlling the process of production and redesigning business operations in the production of
goods or services.

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 Quality Concepts Lean Manufacturing Lean is a strategy for remaining competitive by identifying
and eliminating wasteful steps in products and processes. This management philosophy found its
beginnings in the Toyota Production System (TPS) and was later identified as "lean" only in the 1990s.
TPS is renowned for its focus on the reduction of the original Toyota seven waste to improve overall
customer value. The following practices are used in this strategy -

Improvement of equipment reliability

Quality at the source
Continuous flow production
The basic goal is to get more done with less by minimizing inventory at all stages of production,
shortening cycle times from raw materials to finished goods, and eliminating the following 7
wastes, often remembered by the acronym TIMWOOD.

Figure 1 - Sources of Waste

Transportation - This waste refers to any unnecessary transportation, such as that commonly
associated with the transit of materials or parts. Transportation is not a value-add activity as it
does not help transform the product into the customer requirement and can add further
problems through delays, damage or items being lost.
Inventory - Any parts or materials that are not immediately required are considered waste –
Inventory is one of the seven wastes that is most easy to spot in that it is easy to physically see
around the business. Inventory is waste as it ties up resources to manage it for example storage
space, personnel, capital outlay and processing.
Motion - An effective working environment can help reduce motion for a given process. This
may entail providing tools and equipment at point of use or making material handling processes
more efficient. A common tool used to analyze motion is the spaghetti diagram which can be
very effective at highlighting issues.

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 Waiting Time - Several causes can result in waiting, where the equipment is not in use, thus
reducing the utilization and the effective capacity of the process.
Over processing - Over processing is typified by carrying out more work on a product than is
required – this might be using more precision tools than are required through to, in the example
of office activity, bureaucratic approval systems for documents requiring multiple signatories or
reviews. Removing over processing requires careful consideration to ascertain the actual
requirement and ensuring that the process is engineered to meet this without any further
burden.
Overproduction - Producing more of something than is required by the customer is waste –
close attention to batch sizes and change over times can be imperative in not over producing.
The impact of overproducing can be considerable – not only is extra-material consumed but
extra processing and storage requirements add to the problem causing another of the seven
wastes – inventory.
Defects - Getting it wrong results in waste – whether that is manufacturing faulty parts that
require rework or at worst being scrapped or documents that are incorrectly completed which
can result in confusion or mistakes. Defects have a very real impact on the bottom line of your
business and can be one of the key contributors to inefficiency.

Skill - There is often another form of waste that is discussed with these 7 traditional wastes –
Utilized Talent. Human ingenuity is truly spectacular, but often those with the decision-making
authority do not have sufficient low-level knowledge to choose the best course of action.
Empowering the line workers to laborers to take critical decisions is a central principle in several
lean techniques to tackle wastes generated.

Takt Time
Takt time is a borrowing of the Japanese word takuto taimu, which in turn was borrowed from the
German word Taktzeit, meaning 'cycle time'. Takt time is the average unit production time needed
to meet customer demand.
For example, if the customer wants to buy 10 units per week, the average time to build a unit must
be 4 hours (or less) if the units are built during a 40-hour work week. Industrial manufacturing lines
must have production cycle times at least as short as the takt time so that production can meet the
customer demand.
Kaizen

Figure 2 - "Kaizen" Meaning

The Japanese word "Kaizen" means improvement, improvements without spending much money,
involving everyone from managers to workers, and using much common sense. The Japanese way
encourages small improvements day after day, continuously. The key aspect of Kaizen is that it is
an on-going, never-ending improvement process. It's a soft and gradual method opposed to more
usual western habits to scrap everything and start with new (breakthrough).

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 Kanban

Figure 3 - Kanban Board in Project Management

It is one of the many methods through which JIT is achieved. It is a scheduling system for lean and
just-in-time (JIT) production that helps determine what to produce, when to produce it, and how
much to produce. The system takes its name from the cards that track production within a factory.
Kanban is also known as the Toyota nameplate system in the automotive industry. In an industrial
setting, Constant Work in Progress (CONWIP) is a push pull production method using cards to
track production to ensure fewer inventory. This is like the Kanban board used in Project
Management.
Six Sigma

Figure 4 - Error level in process

Six-Sigma is a business management strategy, originally developed by Motorola that today enjoys
wide-spread application in many sectors of industry. Six Sigma seeks to identify and remove the
causes of defects and errors in manufacturing and/or service delivery and business processes. It
uses a set of management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a dedicated
infrastructure of people within the organization who are experts in these methods. Six-Sigma
aims to deliver Breakthrough Performance Improvement from current levels in business and
customer relevant operational and performance measures.

Six Sigma defines 2 key methodologies – DMAIC and DMADV.

DMAIC is used to improve an existing business process.
DMADV is used to create new product or process designs.

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 Six-Sigma believes that –
Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (i.e., reduce process
variation) are of vital importance to business success.
Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured, analyzed,
improved and controlled.
Achieving sustained performance and quality improvement requires commitment from the
entire organization, particularly from top-level management.

Features that differentiate Six Sigma apart from previous quality improvement initiatives include –
A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any Six Sigma
project.
An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support.
A special organization infrastructure of "Champions," "Master Black Belts," "Black Belts”, “Green
Belts” etc. to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach.

Six Sigma defines 2 key methodologies – DMAIC and DMADV.

DMAIC is used to improve an existing business process.
DMADV is used to create new product or process designs.

5S

Figure 5 - 5S

The 5S quality tool is derived from five Japanese terms beginning with the letter "S" used to create a
workplace suited for visual control and lean production. The pillars of 5S are simple to learn and
important to implement -

Seiri - To separate needed tools, parts, and instructions from unneeded materials and to remove
the unneeded ones.
Seiton - To neatly arrange and identify parts and tools for ease of use.
Seiso - To conduct a clean-up campaign.
Seiketsu - To conduct seiri, seiton, and seiso daily to maintain a workplace in perfect condition.
Shitsuke - To form the habit of always following the first four S’s

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 Benefits to be derived from implementing a lean 5S program include -
Improved safety
Higher equipment availability
Lower defect rates
Reduced costs
Increased production agility and flexibility
Improved employee morale
Better asset utilization
Enhanced enterprise image to customers, suppliers, employees, and management

Supply Chain
Supply chain is sourcing and moving both the raw materials and the finished product. Operations
management is the part in the middle where the product is created from the raw materials. Supply
chain is how you get the raw materials from the suppliers (upstream) and how you get the finished
products to the customers (downstream)

Figure 6 - Simple Supply Chain (Product Flow)

Key Concepts

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in
sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Importantly, it also
includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers,
intermediaries, third party service providers, and customers. In essence, supply chain management
integrates supply and demand management within and across companies.

Logistics
The time-related positioning of resources to meet user requirements.

Consignment
This most often refers to the act of placing your goods in the care of a third-party warehouse owner
(known as the consignee) who maintains them for a fee. In addition to storing the goods, the
consignee may sell or ship them to customers on your behalf for a fee. A consignment could also
refer to a batch of goods destined for or delivered to someone.

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 Inventory
A term used to describe all the goods and materials held by an organization for future sale or use a
list of items held in stock.

FIFO
First in, first out is a method of cost tracking where items are valued and sold in the order they were
purchased.

LIFO
Last in, first out is a method of cost lot tracking where your most recent purchases are sold first. It
works exactly opposite to FIFO.

Landed Cost
The total cost of ownership of an item. This includes the cost price, shipping charges, custom duties,
taxes, and any other charges that were borne by the buyer.

Bill of Materials
A listing of components, parts, and other items needed to manufacture a product, showing the
quantity of each required to produce each end item.

Demand Driven Supply Chains

This is where a supply system is in direct response to a single point of demand. All the components
across a supply chain are synchronized to meet the demand that it is trying to fulfil.

Transit Time
The time taken to move goods physically between different locations in a supply chain or laterally to
another facility.

Turnaround Time (TAT)

The total time taken to repair a component at the repair location, including waiting time but
excluding transit time.

Reverse Logistics

Figure 7 - Reverse Logistics

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 The requirement to plan the flow of surplus or unwanted material or equipment back through the
supply chain after meeting customer demand. In the case of ecommerce, this refers to the returns
that customers make. Reverse Logistics is a very important yet often forgotten component of
ecommerce and can determine its success or failure. This is really inefficient, and firms are
continuously trying to reduce their reverse logistics costs. This could also include material returned
for recycling – like Keventers returning empty milkshake bottles to their bottle maker for recycling.

7QC tools:
The 7 QC tools are very vital in quality management and problem-solving.

1. Cause-and-Effect Diagram (Fishbone/Ishikawa)

A diagram to identify, explore, and display possible causes of a problem.
Purpose: Helps identify the root causes.
Example: Analysis of reasons for machine breakdowns.

Figure 8 - Fishbone Diagram

2. Check Sheets
A structured, prepared form for collecting and analyzing data.
Purpose: Helps track the frequency of problems or defects.
Example: Tracking the number of defects occurring at different
times during production.
Figure 9 - Checksheet
3. Control Chart
It is a graph, which monitors the process variation over time.
Purpose: It helps to know if the process is in control.
Application: Tracking of performance of the production line.

Figure 10 - Control chart

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 [Link] Chart
A bar graph that displays the frequency or impact of problems in a descending order.
Purpose: Identifies the most critical factors in a dataset, 80/20 rule.
Example: Analysis of customer complaints to identify most common issues.

Pareto Rule: "80% of the outcomes result from 20% of the causes."

Figure 11 - Pareto Chart

[Link]
A flowchart is a diagram that visually represents the sequence of steps in a process. It uses symbols
to depict actions, decisions, inputs, and outputs to analyze processes.
Purpose: Processes visualization for understanding and analysis
Example: The steps mapping of the manufacturing process.

[Link] Diagram
It is a graph showing two variables and their relationship with each other.
Purpose: It finds out the correlation or the trend.
Application: How temperature affects the product.

Figure 12 - Scatter Diagram

[Link]
A graphical representation of data distribution.
Purpose: It indicates the frequency of data points in intervals.
Application: Variation in the dimensions of products.

The 7 QC tools are not just techniques, but they are the mindset that organizations adapt to
enhance efficiency, reduce defects/wastes and exceed customer expectations.

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 Modern Techniques in OM and SCM

ECom Supply Chains

The fulfillment and delivery of customer orders are completed by a variety of moving parts that are
all included in the e-commerce supply chain.

The logistical procedures that make up the e-commerce supply chain include the acquisition of raw
materials, production of completed goods, warehousing, fulfillment, inventory control, and last-mile
delivery. A typical e-commerce supply chain also manages inventory tracking, supply and demand,
and various distribution schedules. Ecommerce supply chain management's main objective is to
make sure that every order is filled with high-quality goods and consistent product selections.

Operating a successful product-based brand depends on each stage of the ecommerce supply chain
(with an exemplary service level). Generally speaking, this kind of supply chain can be divided into six
distinct segments: supply and demand; warehousing; inventory tracking; order entry; order
management; and distribution, delivery, and returns.

Warehouse Management Systems

A warehouse management system (WMS) consists of software and processes that allow
organizations to control and administer warehouse operations from the time goods or materials
enter a warehouse (inbound Processes include receiving inventory, processing, QA checks, and
putaway) until they move out (outbound processes include order-inventory mapping, picking,
packing and shipping). A WMS is often used alongside or integrated with other related systems,
including ERP, transportation management systems (TMS) and inventory management systems.
Warehouse management systems began as systems that were run on an organization's on-premises
servers. This model has been changing, and cloud-based WMSes are more common now.

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 Green Supply Chain From product design to manufacturing to logistics management to product
recovery, an organization’s supply chain has a major environmental impact. However, it is not
enough for a Green Supply Chain strategy to simply attempt to mitigate these effects. To be
accepted and successful, it has to be seen to drive value creation through the organization. The wider
goal may be CO2 reduction but for the organization the real benefits are measured in terms of better
utilization of assets, less waste production, faster times to market, greater Product innovation and
increased profitability.

"Direct interaction with supply chain partners can enable a company to reduce total inventory
levels, decrease product obsolescence, lower transaction costs, react more quickly to changes
in the market, and respond more promptly to customer requests.”

Benefits of a Green Supply Chain Now, discussing the top line benefits. Of course, we have to
comply with all the environmental regulations and legislation. For any international organization,
with breadth and pace of new regulation it can be daunting in itself. But that's a given. It's something
we have to do if we want to continue business. The issue is to create a flexible and adaptable supply
chain that can react quickly and with a minimum of effort as the regulatory landscape changes. Next
there's the importance of green credentials for customers and employees. Especially in the retail and
automotive industries, consumers have become much more proactive in including green criteria
within their product selection process. Greening all parts of an organization will help drive the value
in its brand – and the supply chain has its role to play in that. But, if we're to be honest, only the
enlightened few of company boards are going to OK a major supply chain program based on top line
benefits. There has to be a positive impact of the bottom line.

Transportation Management Systems

A transportation management system, or “TMS,” is a platform that’s designed to streamline the
shipping process. It is a subset of supply chain management concerning transportation solutions. A
TMS allows shippers to automate the processes they have in place and receive valuable insights to
save time and reduce spend on future shipments.

Distribution companies, e-commerce organizations and anyone else that moves freight on a regular
basis realizes there are many moving parts to the shipping process, both literally and figuratively.
From quoting to delivery, those shipping freight are almost always looking for ways to optimize
spend and improve processes. Thanks to transportation management systems (TMS), shippers have
a solution on their side to do just that.

Benefits of TMS
Technological capabilities - With a transportation management system, you as the shipper will
have the technology you need to make routing decisions based on quotes, transit time and
carrier mix. This centralized location for quoting will eliminate unnecessary stress and time spent
during the booking process.

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 Simplify processes - A TMS can help to simplify the carrier selection process by allowing you to
evaluate the merchandise being sent and matching it with a carrier in the network. By
managing this entire process in one place, you will be able to revisit past shipments and quickly
match similar loads to the appropriate carriers.
Track freight - With a TMS, you can track freight that’s on the road and even receive alerts to
any transit exceptions or unforeseen delays from one location. It’s impossible to control human
error or Mother Nature, however, a TMS will let you see when delays are occurring and why.
Business insights - Robust transportation management systems will offer you in-depth insights
and reporting capabilities. For example, let’s say you oversee the shipping process for 20 locations
that each send five shipments out a week. That’s 100 shipping invoices to create and shipments
to evaluate each week. With a TMS, information will all be stored in one location and custom
reports can be created to analyse things like the discrepancies between rates and final invoices.

Ref.: [Link]

Hyper Automation
Hyper-automation is the concept of automating everything in an organization that can be
automated. Organizations that adopt hyper-automation aim to streamline processes across their
business using artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), and other technologies
to run without human intervention.

Robot Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic process automation (RPA), also known as software robotics, uses automation technologies
to mimic back-office tasks of human workers, such as extracting data, filling in forms, moving files,
et cetera. It combines APIs and user interface (UI) interactions to integrate and perform repetitive
tasks between enterprise and productivity applications. By deploying scripts which emulate human
processes, RPA tools complete autonomous execution of various activities and transactions across
unrelated software systems.

HYPER AUTOMATION SUPPLY CHAIN

The pandemic has greatly affected the ability to receive materials in a timely fashion, and low
staffing levels have resulted in process delay, creating logistical challenge at best.
Using RPA, inventory stock checks can occur 24x7, ensuring that a current view of inventory levels
and product availability is accessible at all times. In addition to inventory checks, RPA can be used
for procurement, pricing, billing, quote request, follow-up and data input, and system maintenance
and repair. Removing the dependency on manual intervention for repetitive processes, hyper-
automation can increase speed, efficiency and accuracy.
Ref.: [Link]

Blockchain
Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and
tracking assets in a business network. An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or
intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be
tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved.

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 Benefits of Blockchain

Operations often waste effort on duplicate record keeping and third-party validations. Record-
keeping systems can be vulnerable to fraud and cyberattacks. Limited transparency can slow data
verification. And with the arrival of IoT, transaction volumes have exploded. All of this slows business,
drains the bottom line — and means we need a better way.

Greater trust - With blockchain, as a member of a members-only network, you can rest assured
that you are receiving accurate and timely data, and that your confidential blockchain records
will be shared only with network members to whom you have specifically granted access.
Greater security - Recordkeeping systems can be vulnerable to fraud and cyberattacks.
Consensus on data accuracy is required from all network members, and all validated
transactions are immutable because they are recorded permanently. No one, not even a system
administrator, can delete a transaction.
More efficiencies - Operations often waste effort on duplicate record keeping and third-party
validations. With the arrival of IoT, transaction volumes have exploded. Limited transparency can
slow data verification. With a distributed ledger that is shared among members of a network,
time-wasting record reconciliations are eliminated. And to speed transactions, a set of rules —
called a smart contract — can be stored on the blockchain and executed automatically.

Ref.: [Link]

Automated Guided Vehicles and Autonomous Mobile Robots

An automatic guided vehicle system (AGVS) consists of one or more computer-controlled, wheel-
based load carriers (normally battery powered) that runs on the plant or warehouse floor (or if
outdoors on a paved area) without the need for an onboard operator or driver.

Ref.: [Link]

An autonomous mobile robot (AMR) is any robot that can understand and move through its
environment without being overseen directly by an operator. Typically, this is achieved through an
array of sophisticated on-board sensors, computers, and maps, which allow AMRs to understand
and interpret their environment in order to function as a form of asynchronous transportation.

In a warehouse setting, these sophisticated technologies partner with the warehouse execution
software (WES) in order to grant AMRs increased flexibility to create their own routes between
locations within a warehouse or facility, identifying and avoiding obstacles and rerouting themselves
when necessary. The end result is a robot that is much better able to deal with the dynamic
environment offered by most order fulfillment operations.

Commonly used AGV/AMRs include

[Link] (Automatic Storage and Retrieval Systems)
2. Autobaggers
3. Skypods

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 Industry 4.0 Industry 4.0 is revolutionizing the way companies manufacture, improve and distribute
their products. Manufacturers are integrating new technologies, including Internet of Things (IoT),
cloud computing and analytics, and AI and machine learning into their production facilities and
throughout their operations.

Technologies driving Industry 4.0

Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a key component of smart factories. Machines on the factory floor are
equipped with sensors that feature an IP address that allows the machines to connect with other
web-enabled devices. This mechanization and connectivity make it possible for large amounts of
valuable data to be collected, analyzed and exchanged.

Cloud computing
Cloud computing is a cornerstone of any Industry 4.0 strategy. Full realization of smart
manufacturing demands connectivity and integration of engineering, supply chain, production,
sales and distribution, and service. Cloud helps make that possible. In addition, the typically large
amount of data being stored and analyzed can be processed more efficiently and cost-effectively
with cloud. Cloud computing can also reduce startup costs for small- and medium-sized
manufacturers who can right-size their needs and scale as their business grows.

AI and machine learning

AI and machine learning allow manufacturing companies to take full advantage of the volume of
information generated not just on the factory floor, but across their business units, and even from
partners and third-party sources. AI and machine learning can create insights providing visibility,
predictability and automation of operations and business processes. For instance: Industrial
machines are prone to breaking down during the production process. Using data collected from
these assets can help businesses perform predictive maintenance based on machine learning
algorithms, resulting in more uptime and higher efficiency.

Edge computing
The demands of real-time production operations mean that some data analysis must be done at
the “edge”—that is, where the data is created. This minimizes latency time from when data is
produced to when a response is required. For instance, the detection of a safety or quality issue may
require near-real-time action with the equipment. The time needed to send data to the enterprise
cloud and then back to the factory floor may be too lengthy and depends on the reliability of the
network. Using edge computing also means that data stays near its source, reducing security risks.

Cybersecurity
Manufacturing companies have not always considered the importance of cybersecurity or cyber-
physical systems. However, the same connectivity of operational equipment in the factory or field
(OT) that enables more efficient manufacturing processes also exposes new entry paths for
malicious attacks and malware. When undergoing a digital transformation to Industry 4.0, it is
essential to consider a cybersecurity approach that encompasses IT and OT equipment.

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 Digital twin The digital transformation offered by Industry 4.0 has allowed manufacturers to create
digital twins that are virtual replicas of processes, production lines, factories and supply chains. A
digital twin is created by pulling data from IoT sensors, devices, PLCs and other objects connected to
the internet. Manufacturers can use digital twins to help increase productivity, improve workflows
and design new products. By simulating a production process, for example, manufacturers can test
changes to the process to find ways to minimize downtime or improve capacity. Ref.:
[Link]

Modern-Day Logistics (Emergence of 4PL and 5PL)

First Party Logistics: First Party Logistics are companies, which do their own logistics activities.

Second Party Logistics: Second party logistics people provide their own assets such as truck
owners, warehouse operators etc.

Third Party Logistics: Third party Logistics Provider (3PL) performs logistics services on behalf of
another company. 3PLs provide the management skills along with the physical assets, labor, and
systems technology to provide professional logistics services, relieving companies of the
responsibility of performing these services themselves. 3PL's typically can provide transportation,
warehousing, pool distribution, management consulting, logistics optimization, freight forwarding,
transportation management, rate negotiations, cost evaluations, and contract management
services.

Fourth Party Logistics: 4 PLs see the process and what is required for the process to succeed. A
4PL is a supply chain manager & enabler who assemblies and manages resources, build capabilities
and technology with those of complimentary service providers. They act as the first point for
delivering unique and comprehensive supply chain solutions. 4PL leverages combined capabilities
of management consulting and 3PLs. They act as an integrator assembling the resources,
capabilities, and technology of their own organization and other organizations to design, build and
run comprehensive supply chain solutions. 4 PL is an emerging trend, and it is a complex model and
offers greater benefits in terms of economies of scale.

Fifth Party Logistics: A 5PL supplier typically goes beyond specific supply chains and focuses on
larger supply networks. A 5PL will handle all aspects of supply chain management for a client by
organizing, planning, and implementing their logistical needs. Because of their emphasis on supply
networks, they will manage every supply chain within a firm. The majority of 5PLs focus on big data
and use technology to increase productivity, making them more valuable to e-commerce
enterprises than brick and mortar businesses. Robotics, blockchain, AI, and Bluetooth beacons are
further technologies that 5PLs may try to leverage.

Page | 88
 Ref.: [Link]
service-providers/

Elastic logistics

Elastic logistics refers to a model of conducting business that is flexible and agile enough to upscale
or downscale according to the demands of the market. This allows supply chain operations to
expand or shrink in almost real-time, based on predicted happenings in the market.

Elastic logistics uses automation processes in picking and packing, forcing warehousing and logistics
further towards supply-led decision-making. This endless expansion and contraction of warehouse
operations based on supply allows for more reliable financial control. Elastic logistics allows
companies to operate supply chains more efficiently in the face of fluctuations, and provides for
scalable upscaling and downscaling depending on seasonal activity and other changes. The interplay
between supply and demand has tipped largely in favor of demand.

Ref.: [Link]

Key Government Initiatives:

ONDC: Currently, digital markets are closed and platform-centric wherein buyers and sellers need to
be on the same platform to carry out a transaction. The current model of e-commerce stifles
innovation, creates significant barriers to entry for new players, and creates a gap between online
demand and the local retail ecosystem. As a result participation in e-commerce is well below its
potential and has a tremendous opportunity to grow manifold. ONDC, on the other hand, does not
require that buyer and seller must use the same platform/application to do a business transaction.
Instead, it is a network-centric model where, so long as platforms/applications are connected to this
open network, buyers and sellers can transact irrespective of the platforms/applications they use. Its
like the “UPI of e-commerce”.

Features-
An open network
Eliminates the need for a central intermediary
An enabler for e-commerce expansion
An enabler for broad-based innovation
Market and Community-led initiative

NLP: As we know, a well-functioning logistics sector forms the backbone of domestic and
international trade in any country. It connects all vital industries and ensures a smooth supply chain
of goods and services. A logistics sector requires efficient transportation systems, inventory
management (warehousing), quick & easy flow of data, and reliable customer service.

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 Main features of the National Logistics Policy 2022: The policy aims to bring down the logistics cost
from 13-14% of the GDP to around 8% of GDP in the next five years. The Indian government will create
a roadmap to reduce the country’s dependence on road transport for cargo movement. It will explore
more options like railways, shipping, and air transport. The govt also plans to establish logistics
parks/hubs strategically across the country. The govt will focus on digital transformation in the
logistics sector and bring it in line with global standards. The new policy has four features: Integration
of Digital System (IDS), Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), Ease of Logistics (ELOG), and
System Improvement Group (SIG).

Under the IDS, data from the road transport, railways, customs, aviation, and commerce
departments will be integrated into a single platform.
A ULIP will bring all the digital services related to the transportation sector into a single portal.
Industry associations can use ELOGs to reach out to the government and resolve issues.
Thus, all key entities involved in the Indian logistics sector can track real-time movements, access
documents digitally, reduce costs, and save valuable time. NLP aims to remove all obstacles and
inconsistencies in the logistics sector by re-engineering current processes. The government’s
vision is to develop a technologically enabled, cost-efficient, sustainable, and trusted logistics
ecosystem for accelerated growth. The fall in logistics costs would improve the competitiveness of
Indian goods in domestic and export markets.

Other Interesting Articles

1. Operations industry weekly news

2. Current Challenges for Operations Management
3. Five ways to optimize the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain
4. Supply chain industry weekly news
5. COVID-19: Managing supply chain risk and disruption
6. Supply Chain Challenges and Optimization in times of Disruption
7. Coronavirus: A lesson in supply chain risk management
8. 10 Vaccine Distribution Questions for Supply Chain Leaders
9. Distraction or Disruption? Autonomous trucks gain ground in US Logistics
10. Using blockchain to drive supply chain transparency
11. Blockchain in Logistics
12. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) trends and to-do list for scaling across the enterprise
13. The Digital Transformation of Logistics – Threat and Opportunity
14. Digital Twins in Logistics
15. Conquering Complexity in Supply Chains with Digital Twins
[Link]://[Link]/oig_iiml/ Follow OIG for recent news

Page | 90
 PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT
& ANALYTICS
THE BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY INTEREST GROUP
Instagram: [Link]
Facebook: [Link]
LinkedIn: [Link]

Page | 91
 What is Product Management?

To put it simply, a product manager is like a mini-CEO where instead of driving the entire company,
he/she is responsible for managing a product from creation to successful adoption. Elaborating
further, the product manager is responsible for the strategy, roadmap, and feature definition for that
product or product line. Taking the idea to execution and constantly re-iterating it to build products
that customers love. Customer centricity is the core that drives product management.

Why Product Management?

Product managers act as an intersection of business, technology, and user experience (UI/UX) teams
and acts as a binding force amongst all of them. It is the responsibility of a PM to ensure a shared
vision among all the business units that he/she is interacting with. Most importantly, product
managers define what success is for each product, outline the product strategy, and illustrate how it
will impact both the customer and the goals of the company they work for.

Responsibilities of a Product Manager:

There are a few core responsibilities common to most product management roles inside both
established enterprise companies and at startups. Most often a product manager is responsible for
understanding customer requirements, defining and prioritizing them, and working with the
engineering team to build them. Setting strategy and defining the roadmap is often considered to
be inbound work and bringing the product to market is often considered to be "outbound."

Product Strategy and Definition (Inbound)

Strategy and vision
Customer interviews
Defining features and requirements
Building roadmaps
Release management
Go-to-resource for engineering
Sales and support training

Product Marketing and Go-to-Market (Outbound)

Competitive differentiation
Positioning and messaging
Naming and branding
Customer communication
Product launches
Press and analyst relations

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 Key Trends in Product Management in the COVID Context

1. Some app industries are seeing a surge in user engagement — some as high as a 177% average
increase in daily active users (DAUs).
2. For struggling industries, app launches are down as much as 60-80%.
3. Some app verticals are seeing prolonged spikes in engagement (Content& Media), while others
are experiencing temporary peaks before returning to normal (Grocery)

Grocery Apps: Boosted by Covid convenience, facing affordability challenges in recession. Metrics
like AOV and churn will reveal price sensitivity. Chat GPT might personalize recommendations and
create budget-friendly meal plans. User behavior leans towards value brands and meal planning.

Content and Media Apps: Pandemic escapism, but ad revenue might falter in economic
downturn. Metrics like subscriber growth and ad impressions will be key. Chat GPT could
personalize recommendations and curate content, but misinformation concerns exist. User
behavior seeks free content, shorter formats, and interactive experiences.

Gaming Apps: Initial boom due to lockdowns, but budget cuts and subscription cancellations
during recession are possible. Metrics like active players and average revenue per user (ARPU) will be
crucial. Chat GPT could personalize gameplay and create dynamic storylines, but balancing AI and
human creativity is crucial. User behavior shifts towards shorter, mobile-friendly games and esports
viewership.

Education Apps: Increased online learning adoption, but affordability and job market uncertainties
might pose challenges. Metrics like course enrollment and completion rates will be crucial. Chat
GPT could personalize learning paths and automate content creation, but ethical concerns about AI
bias and teacher replacement need addressing. User behavior demands flexible learning formats,
micro-credentials, and career-oriented skill development.

Medical and Medicine Delivery Apps: Telehealth rose amidst Covid, but affordability and
insurance coverage issues might affect access in recession. Metrics like appointment bookings and
prescription fulfillment rates will be key. Chat GPT could offer symptom checks and medication
interaction analysis, but accuracy and ethical limitations need consideration. User behavior prefers
telehealth options, on-demand medication delivery, and cost-effective healthcare solutions.

Health and Fitness Apps: Home workouts gain traction due to Covid, but gym memberships and
equipment sales might decline in recession. Metrics like app downloads and in-app subscription
rates will be telling. AI could personalize workout plans and offer motivational feedback, but
overreliance on AI and data privacy concerns need consideration. User behavior favors free or
inexpensive workout apps, mental health and stress management focus, and wearable device
integration for personalized tracking.

Page | 93
 Suggested readings to appreciate Product Management:

Books:
Design of Everyday Things
Well Designed

Blogs/Articles:

Interview Tips
[Link]

Product Management Frameworks:

The 3-Step Startup Marketing Framework We Created to Grow KISSmetrics
([Link]
8 essential metrics for measuring product-led growth
([Link]
4 Steps to Defining GREAT Metrics for ANY Product
([Link] game-framework-5e3dce1be8ac)
The FANG Playbook
([Link]
Aggregator Theory
([Link]

Design in Product Management

Articulating Your Product Design Principles
([Link]
Don Norman's Principles of Interaction Design
([Link]
Wireframes Aren’t Just for Designers
([Link]

Page | 94
 What is Analytics? Analytics is the science of analyzing raw data to derive actionable insights and
conclusions. The techniques and processes may involve complex algorithms and machine learning
concepts. Data Analytics plays a pivotal role in helping businesses identify patterns, customer trends
and accordingly take decisions.

Different Types of Analytics

Page | 95
 1. Discovery:
Objective is to understand the business domainand know the available resources (people, time,
technology, data)
Developing initial hypothesis to test with the data
2. Data preparation:
Understanding the data in detail
Performing ETL: Extract→ Transform → Load
Data visualization to understand nuances, trends and overview of the data
3. Model Planning:
Understand relationships between different variables and select the most appropriate and
relevant variables
Determining causal relationships between input and output, if it exists
Shortlisting possible techniques that can be employed: Classification, Clustering, etc.

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 4. Model Selection:
Develop and fit models on training data and evaluate on test data
Determine if the model is robust enough to be scaled to a larger dataset
5. Communicate results:
Comparing the outcomes with the defined criteria for success and failure
Checking if the results of the model are statistically significant
6. Operationalize:
Deploying the model to production environment
Monitoring of ongoing model deployment

Further reading: You can also check the below link to get more interview question of data analyst:
[Link]

Artificial Intelligence vs Machine Learning vs Deep Learning – Know the difference

Artificial Intelligence Succinctly put, AI is the ability of computer program to function like a human.
AI includes algorithms that imitate the intelligence exhibited by humans and can solve problems in
ways that are considered “smart”. E.g., Amazon’s accurate AI that provides one of the most accurate
of predictions.

Machine Learning
Machine Learning is considered as a subset of AI. This comprises of algorithms that parse data,
“learn” from it and can apply what the algorithms have learned to make informed decisions. The
machines can learn from the data with the help of statistical techniques E.g., Email filtering, fraud
detection and dynamic pricing.

Deep Learning
Further subset of Machine Learning is Deep Learning. The objective of these techniques is to achieve
a goal or an artificial intelligence power that teaches computers to task and ability to understand
anything. The algorithms permit software to train itself to perform tasks, like speech and image
recognition. E.g., Application of Deep Learning to differentiate between dialects, autonomous
vehicles using deep learning to identify pedestrian

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 “How vast can Machine Learning really be? I mean isn’t it just a few algori…. Oh okay…My bad”

Page | 98
 Latest Technology Trends:

AI and Machine Learning:

The AI is expected to grow be $190 billion industry with global spending on cognitive and AI systems
reaching over $57 billion in 2022. Though many conventional may be scrapped due to the
involvement of AI, several new kinds of jobs would open in development, programming, testing,
support and maintenance, to name a few. AI offers some of the highest paid salaries from $100,000
per year to around $150,000. On similar lines, ML is also on rapid rise leading to increase in skilled and
technical professionals. It is believed that ML and automation will lead to more than 8% jobs in USA
by 2025, including robot monitoring professionals, data scientists, automation specialists, content
curators, etc. Following are the hot job posts concerning this domain in the market:

AI Research Scientist
AI Engineer
Machine Learning Engineer
AI Architect

Automation:
Many times, it is also referred to as robot process automation (RPA) which is basically referred to as
the use of software to automate business processes which are repetitive in nature. McKinsey finds
that less than 5% of occupations can be totally automated, but about 60% can be partially
automated (article). Though RPA has the potential to threaten the livelihood of around 9% of global
workforce, is also creating new jobs while altering existing jobs.

Quantum Computing:
Normal computers in their core deal with the binary 0 and 1. But what if they could achieve a state
of let’s say ½ or 1/4. This can help in optimizing power and increase the computational capabilities
exponentially by using the quantum concepts of superposition and quantum entanglement.
Tech giants such as Google, AWS, Microsoft, etc are already involved in making innovations in this
field. As per Statista, the revenue due to global computing marketing is expected to cross $2.5 bn by
2029.

Internet of Things (IoT):

You may have not realized this but there is a very high change you have used product based on IoT,
even your mobile phone uses this. Most of the handheld electronic “things” today use Wi-Fi for
connectivity to Internet and to each other, thus the name – Internet of Things.
Car doors can be unlocked remotely, switch on A/C of our home before reaching there, track fitness
on cell phone or your Fitbit devices. The IoT can enable better safety, efficiency and decision making
for businesses as data is collected and analyzed. It can enable predictive maintenance, speed up
medical care, improve customer service, and offer benefits we haven’t even imagined yet.
It is expected that by the end of this decade, there will be more than 50Bn IoT devices in active use
across the globe. Corollary, the spending on IoT is expected to reach $1.1 Tn in 2022. This will lead to
the creation of massive web of interconnected devices covering different domains of usage
simultaneously.

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 5G – 5th Generation Internet:
Talking specifically in Indian context, the recent digital revolution has already catapulted the country
in a new direction. But what if someone told you that it’s just the beginning and the real game is
about to begin. That’s what 5G promises us. For quite some time, 3G and 4G had enabled us to
browse internet remotely on hand with ease, increasing bandwidth to stream Netflix, Spotify,
Youtube etc. 5G would take this experience to the next level by making services using AR and VR
easy to use, alongside cloud-based gaming services like Google Stadia, NVidia GeForce Now and
much more. Almost all the telecom giants are working to create 5G applications and by 2025, 40% of
the world would have 5G access.

Augmented and Virtual Reality

The next step in reality-based simulations is AR and VR. Though their current usage has been largely
restricted to gaming, it has also been used to train navy, air force, astronauts etc by simulating real
circumstances. Usually working in tandem with some of the other emerging technologies we’ve
mentioned in this list, AR and VR have enormous potential in training, entertainment, education,
marketing, and even rehabilitation after an injury.
You would be surprised to know that 14 million AR and VR devices were sold in 2019. The global AR
and VR market is expected to grow to $210 billion by 2022, only creating more opportunities in the
trending technology, and welcoming more professionals ready for this game-changing field.

Blockchain
You may have heard about this in case of crypto currencies, but that’s just one application of
blockchain technology. Formally defined, blockchain is a distributed database where data is shared
among different nodes of a network. The data can be stored in a decentralized fashion alongside
ensuring security of transactions without the involvement of any third-party application.
As the name suggest, data is stored in groups (or blocks) which together are connected via network
like a chain. When the storage capacity of a block gets over, a new block is created and previous
block is connected to the new one, thus continuing the chain.
Though blockchain has wide range of applications such as conduction elections, transaction
management, etc, it has its own downsides and vulnerabilities. First, blockchain required huge
amount of electrical can computational power which may be out of bound from most of the
general populous now. Therefore, feasibility becomes an issue. Secondly, blockchain enthusiasts
boasts the impracticality of a single person controlling majority of the blocks due to huge
investment that would be required to do so. However, the same might not be applicable for a
government, or a tech giant. It would be easier for them, to do a 51% attack where they would gain
access to the data of just more than half the blocks and thus controlling which data is correct &
which is wrong.

Big Data
Big Data refers to extremely large and complex sets of data that traditional data processing
applications are inadequate to deal with. It encompasses various types of data, including structured,
semi-structured, and unstructured data, and is characterized by three main dimensions, often
referred to as the "3 Vs": Volume, Velocity and Variety.

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 Volume: Big Data involves vast amounts of data. This could be data of unprecedented size, such
as petabytes or exabytes of information.
Velocity: Big Data is generated at high speed. The rate at which data is produced, processed,
and made available for analysis is a critical factor. Near-real-time data processing is often
necessary to derive meaningful insights.
Variety: Big Data comes in various formats. It includes structured data (like databases and
spreadsheets), semi-structured data (like XML files and JSON), and unstructured data (like text,
images, and videos).

In addition to the original 3 Vs, the concept of big data has been extended to include three more Vs,
known as the "6 Vs of Big Data." These additional Vs are:

Veracity: Refers to the quality and reliability of the data. Big data sources may include data that
is uncertain, incomplete, or contains errors. Ensuring the veracity of the data is crucial for making
reliable business decisions.
Value: The ultimate goal of big data is to extract value and insights from the massive amount of
data being generated. The value is derived through analytics, pattern recognition, and other data
processing techniques that lead to informed decision-making.
Variability: Describes the inconsistency in the data flow. Big data sources can be inconsistent in
terms of the format and structure of the data. Handling this variability requires flexible data
processing and analytics tools.

Databases Vs. Data repository Vs. Data lakes

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 AGRIBUSINESS
MANAGEMENT
IGFAB
Facebook: [Link]
LinkedIn: [Link]
Instagram:
[Link]

Page | 102
 ABOUT AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT Agribusiness Management is the application of business
skills from areas such as marketing, operations, finance, economics, and management to the
agricultural, food processing and related industries. The core concepts of management remain
the same, but the perspective is from the point of view of food and agriculture. Agriculture, as a
sector, provides a wide variety of challenges. The dependence on land fertility, climate, lack of
agricultural infrastructure, and access to capital are but just a few of the challenges that this
industry faces during the production stage. In the post-production stage, most of the challenges
are due to the perishability of the products. The low shelf life of agricultural products coupled with
specific conditions required to store and transport goods pose unique challenges and can pose
significant challenges in supply chain management. Therefore, companies in the food and
agribusiness sector must efficiently manage the entire process from acquiring raw materials to
delivering final products to consumers. As a professional in Agribusiness, one must possess in-
depth knowledge of the sector and a strong grasp of fundamental management principles to
effectively handle the agribusiness value chain.

PGP-ABM Program at IIM Lucknow

Agribusiness Management extends beyond mere agricultural knowledge. It's a specialized
management program focused on effectively running businesses within agriculture,
livestock, food processing, and related sectors. Technical expertise in agriculture isn't a
mandatory requirement for enrolling in the Post Graduate Program in Agribusiness
Management (PGP- ABM) at IIM Lucknow.
The curriculum includes a foundational course in agriculture, which acquaints students
with essential agricultural concepts. This means that even individuals without a
background in agriculture, but who have an interest in the Agri-based industry can find
this program valuable for gaining the necessary insights and skills.
During the first year, both PGP and PGP-ABM students study the same courses together
along with 3 courses exclusively for ABM students. The core courses provide students an
overview of various aspects of management (operations, finance, strategy etc.), while the
agribusiness foundation courses cover the basics of Agribusiness Management. Then in
the second year, ABM students have core courses and electives that are exclusively related
to agribusiness management.
While the program is centered on Agribusiness, previous batches have exhibited a diverse
mix of students in terms of their academic backgrounds and professional experiences. In
addition to those from the field of Agriculture, the program includes individuals from
science, engineering, and humanities disciplines, who bring a range of work experiences
from various sectors.
The placement process at IIML is common to both PGP and PGP-ABM students. The
majority of recruiters do not distinguish between PGP and PGP-ABM graduates,
suggesting that most job opportunities and roles available to PGP students are also
accessible to those in PGP- ABM. Additionally, the average salary package offered to PGP-
ABM students is comparable to that of the PGP program.
You will get immense opportunities in the fields of pharma, fertilizers, FMCG & other Agri-
based products or services in case you are inclined towards the field.

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 The summer internship opportunities for students in the ABM program are equivalent to
those offered to students in the PGP. ABM students have successfully secured positions in
consulting, general management, operations, and marketing with reputed companies. Both
PGP and PGP-ABM students have equal opportunities in co-curricular and extra- curricular
activities on the campus. All the clubs, committees and academic interest groups are open to
ABM students. There is even a committee, IGFAB (Interest Group in Food and Agribusiness),
which especially deals with the activities related to agri-business.

Interview tips:
The fundamental question asked in all ABM-specific interviews is about your interest in the
agribusiness sector.
Apart from the technical knowledge regarding the graduation stream, a basic knowledge of
the agriculture sector is desired. It would benefit you to be abreast with the current news and
trends in the agriculture sector in India and the rest of the world.
Be aware and know thoroughly about current affairs and agribusiness-related news, as well
as agricultural contribution in India with respect to all aspects like GDP, exports, imports, etc.
Be aware of any special day on the date of your interview. (say Environment Day, Republic
Day).

Important topics:
Organic farming, GM crops and BT crops, food and organisms; Organizations like FSSAI, FCI,
APEDA, NABARD, FAO etc. Related ministries (MoFPI, Ministry of Agriculture and farmer’s welfare
etc.), Agricultural policies, Subsidies, MSPs etc, Business models of companies like Swiggy etc.

PI Questions
Introduction: The answer to this question can make or break the interview. Prepare this
question well to take an edge. You can include education, career goals, hobbies etc. Try to
create a flow linking any major incidents in your life to your education and career goals.
Why MBA?
Why ABM?
PGP or ABM? Why?
Why not continue in the same field as you had in your under-graduation?
Were any projects undertaken during work? (Work experience-based question)
How would your work experience relate to an MBA in Agribusiness?
What contribution can you make to the agribusiness sector?
What do you think is the current status of agribusiness in India?
What are the major exports and imports of agricultural products?
What was your favorite subject in undergraduate? What subjects did you study in your
undergraduate studies?
Why ABM after your field of graduation?
What expectations do you have from this course?
What other calls do you have? Why are you interested in IIM Lucknow?

Page | 104
 Name some companies working in the food and agribusiness sector.
Current affairs-based question and your opinion on the same.
Why do you prefer ABM over your other calls?
Do you know why agri-business management got this name or what is the difference?
between agriculture and agri-business management?
What is agribusiness?
Which Indian firms are in agribusiness?
Questions about the companies that you have filled in the application form for PGP ABM?
Why would you like to work for these companies?
Questions related to agriculture like types of soil, crops etc.
What is a crop? Examples of Kharif and Rabi crops.
What is the difference between manure and fertilizer?
What is a Fertilizer subsidy?
What is a fodder crop? Examples
What are GM food and crops? (BT cotton, BT soybean and BT brinjal in particular)
Questions on ICAR, APMC, and Commodity trading
What is NCDEX?
As a consultant, suggest 5 emerging areas to invest in biotechnology.
What are the problems in the agriculture sector?
What is Urea? Is it organic or inorganic? Describe its structure.
How does the agriculture sector contribute to climate change?
India's GDP, rural population, Panchayati system etc.
Which revolutions do you know, like the green and yellow revolutions? (Examples Blue, white
etc.) Explain.
Questions on M.S. Swaminathan’s Green revolution
Questions on Farm Mechanization and Green House Impact
Question on Nobel Prize in agriculture- Wolf prize.
What is horticulture, floriculture, olericulture, monoculture, crop rotation, multiple cropping,
FAO headquarters, crop diversity, contract farming etc.?
Questions on Products of companies like Pepsi, Coca Cola, Marico etc.
Biggest achievement and failure of your life. What did you learn from that experience?
What are Transgenic Crops? Explain
What are the major agricultural problems in Bihar?
Tell us about the Agricultural Budget
What did you do in your Rural Agriculture Work Experience?
What are the challenges in India's agriculture sector?
What are your views on the Locust attack?
Why is the productivity in India low?
Which microfinancing units provide loans to farmers?
What kind of loans are provided?
Which are the famous crops in your area?
What are some of the characteristics looked for in wheat from a breeding perspective?
Is there any problem with the cold storage chain for wheat in India?
What is the difference between cash and subsistence crops?
In which business does Monsanto operate? What kind of seeds do they deal with? Any
specific terms?

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 What are BT crops, and what are the issues related to them? What are the Three Farm Laws?
What are your views on them? What are the Farm Laws repeal bill? What do you know about
Precision agriculture?
Are you aware of the use of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in agriculture?
How are they being utilized to enhance production? Expect some questions about
government schemes and agricultural practices in your own state.
Develop an opinion about the effectiveness and any improvements that you can think of. of
about the schemes/practices. Name some Unicorn startups in the agribusiness space in India.
What are the challenges that Indian agribusiness startups are currently facing?
What is the impact of the pandemic on the supply/demand and prices of Agri-products in
India?
What is the relationship between age and the price of rice, and why is it so? How do you
market software specially designed for farmers, considering the literacy rate of Indian
farmers?
What are the major issues faced by the farmers in India, What measures can be taken to
rectify those problems? What are the major issues faced by the fishers in India, What
measures can be taken to rectify those problems?

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 SUSTAINABLE
MANAGEMENT

LinkedIn: [Link]
Instagram: [Link]
Facebook: [Link]

Page | 107
 ABOUT SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT Businesses are being driven by sustainability and
inclusive development. Various national, multinational, and international organizations are
adopting policies and programmes focusing on accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). To ensure better compliance with the corporate governance norms, the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made it mandatory for the top 1,000 listed companies (by
market capitalization) to prepare annual Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR).
The BRSR must cover the activities of the companies related to the environment and stakeholder
relationships. The BRSR reporting requirements are expected to bring in greater transparency
through the disclosure of material ESG-related information to enable market participants to
identify and assess sustainability- related risks and opportunities. To run a business sustainably,
legitimately and successfully, there is a need for bright minds with knowledge and skills of
management and a positive attitude towards social and environmental issues. PGP-SM provides
unique blend of core management courses like Finance, Marketing, HR, Operations, Strategy,
Statistics, IT and sustainability-related courses.

PGP SM at IIM Lucknow

It is a two-year full-time residential programme being conducted by IIM Lucknow at its Noida
campus. The programme helps students develop an ethos of the environment and social
responsibility of businesses and equip them with holistic thinking and skills. The well-
designed curriculum focuses on developing the capability to recognize the inter-
connectedness of the economic performance of business with social and environmental
systems. Students would also be able to produce policy-relevant results.
Postgraduate Programme in Sustainable Management (PGP-SM) has been designed to
enable the students to:
[Link] societal development from multiple perspectives
[Link] knowledge and skills in functional areas of business management
[Link] participate in the growing worldwide debate on the purposes and responsibilities of
business
[Link] informed, self-aware and socially and environmentally responsible individuals,
contributing to social change
[Link] the status quo and suggest new and innovative opportunities for businesses to
grow without compromising social and environmental responsibilities.

The curriculum of PGP-SM is rigorous and is designed to equip students with the multiple facets
of management such as Operations, Strategy, Finance, Ethics, Economics, Decision Sciences,
Human Resources, Communications and Marketing with a thorough understanding of Business
Sustainability & Public Policy in the hindsight.

The curriculum is broadly divided into 3 content themes:

General management related concepts
Sustainability - including Environmental as well as Social aspects
Decision making and analytical ability related concepts

Page | 108
 Unique Features of the PGPSM Program

Integrated Project: The Integrated Project (IP), running in the corporate space throughout the
second year, provides an opportunity for the students to implement the skills and techniques
developed during academic interaction. It spans over nine months of three terms in the second
year. It carries 1.5 credits. The student needs to work with any company on real-time projects. It is
intended to allow integrating theory and practice. Students have done IP in various companies
like NTPC, EY, Invest India, Flipkart, RTI International, GAIL, ITC, HCL, to name a few. List of few
Projects undertaken by the students of 2020-22 batch

Stakeholder engagement, Materiality Assessment, GHG Accounting, ESG reporting, and BRSR
reporting for clients across multiple sectors; Cost-Benefit analysis for alternate fuel to reduce
GHG emissions.
Circular Economy solutions (CES) preventing the marine litter in ecosystems. Net Zero
Modelling.
ESG Framework for MSME Lending, International benchmarking of CICs.
Assessing BALCO's CDP Climate Change Feasibility Study and Sustainability Standards and
auditing SLRM Centre Waste Management practices.
Circular Economy solutions (CES) preventing the marine litter in ecosystems.
Managing a renewable energy project by devising a project forecast plan and reducing
operational risks.
Green Finance Landscape Analysis and Service Offering Development: India.
Unlocking Carbon Revenue for the Organization through Carbon Trading.
CDP data transformation and analysis for business sustainability. SBTI FLAG emissions, Energy
Transition Plan & NetZero Roadmap, TCFD Report and Scenario- analysis, CCUS Technology
providers.
From Waste to Wealth: Achieving Circularity, Business Resiliency, and Workplace Excellence.
Decarbonisation strategy and implementation roadmap for global tourism industry client.
Climate risk modelling.
Carbon credits analysis and DJSI gap analysis.

Leadership Talk Series:

Leadership Talk Series (LTS) is a lecture cum interaction held with various industry experts to
facilitate corporate linkage with the institute and the learning of students. Leaders from the
energy sector, HR, development sector, start-ups and consulting domains have visited the
institute and interacted with PGP-SM students. LTS is designed to be a complementary
educational platform to the classroom pedagogy as speakers talk about ground challenges
and industry insights by bringing in their own experiences. The institute's location in Noida
allows LTS to attract speakers from all over the NCR region. Some of the companies that have
been associated with LTS are ABG, Shell, Schneider Electric, JSW, Nielsen, Fortum, Future
Group and Hero MotoCorp.

Page | 109
 Leadership Talk Series:

Leadership Talk Series (LTS) is a lecture cum interaction held with various industry experts to
facilitate corporate linkage with the institute and the learning of students. Leaders from the
energy sector, HR, development sector, start-ups and consulting domains have visited the
institute and interacted with PGP-SM students. LTS is designed to be a complementary
educational platform to the classroom pedagogy as speakers talk about ground challenges
and industry insights by bringing in their own experiences. The institute's location in Noida
allows LTS to attract speakers from all over the NCR region. Some of the companies that have
been associated with LTS are Schneider Electric, Bayer, Havells India, Arthur D Little India,
Zomato and Hero MotoCorp.

International Immersion:

It is a two week visit to universities and industries abroad to observe the best municipal and
corporate practices in the field of sustainability. Interaction with industry leaders and
academia are organised for exchange of ideas.

Campus and Hostel:

PGP-SM is offered at Noida Campus of IIM-L. Noida campus was chosen for this programme,
considering its proximity to Delhi NCR and Corporate Offices. The campus is spread over 20
acres and has an academic block, library, executive hostel and centre and faculty block. Also,
the campus has a badminton court, tennis court, football ground, volleyball court and a
basketball court. Facilities are available for indoor games (Table Tennis, Carrom, Pool, Chess).
The hostel has a fully functional gym.
Various committees are Placement, Disha (Placement assistance), Leadership Talk Series,
Alumni, Events, Student Affairs & Interest clubs, Media and Sports. Clubs are operations,
marketing, consulting, finance, product management, project management, IT, public policy,
NC orators, culture and sustainability.
Sanrakshan is the landmark annual event organised by the students of the program, which is
the leading Business Sustainability Conclave under the aegis of the Centre for Business
Sustainability. Industry leaders working in sustainable management are invited to the
conclave to facilitate industry-academia interaction. Our students also formulate and host
competitions on sustainable management concepts and emerging issues in the relevant
domain which were appreciated by students & participants from colleges across the nation.
Events like Manfest-Varchasva: The annual sports and business-cultural festival, Aarohan,
Pravaah - the corporate sports tournament, Parakram - The Intra college sports tournament
etc., add to the vigour at the campus and beyond.

Page | 110
 PI Questions
Tell me something about yourself?
What are the projects handled in the past? What are the responsibilities you face
What are the sustainability practices in IT?
What are the initiatives followed in your company?
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Why SM?
Why you think you have to do something for others?
What differentiates humans and animals?
Why do you want to leave your job and join this course?
What do you understand about commerce? What work did you do in Sustainability?
What is your rationale to choose this course? Which other calls do you have?
What do you know about SDGs? What is COP26?
Your understanding of India's stand in the Glasgow Summit 2021.
Facts about the place of residence Reasons not to join PGPSM.
What is commerce? What is E-commerce?
What is the Difference between Ecommerce and Commerce?
Give an Example of an SM System? You are SSGB, what is the methodology?
What are some recent developments in the Sustainability Area?
What was your role in CSR in the earlier organisation.
Do you think companies that provide products/services with social/environmental impact
should be forced to do CSR?
How is sustainability different from CSR?
So you are saying you will work in a consulting firm that works with the government on public
policy? Does such a job profile exist?
Tell us a few companies which work in that domain.
Why don't you do a government job then? Why not PGP from any other institute? What is the
triple bottom line?
Do you know any indexes related to sustainability?
What do you understand from the shared economy? What is the circular economy? Do you
think policies/laws play a role in driving sustainability?
Why not ABM? Why do developed countries set up recycling plants in developing countries?
Do you think it is right?
Why do developing countries allow the same?
What is Paris Agreement?
What is the scope for you to use creativity & innovation in PGPSM?
Do you think google steals data? ·
What are India’s NDCs?

Page | 111
 GENERAL

Page | 112
 The idea behind this section is to show you that the interview day can be very unpredictable. We
have picked some tricky questions which caught students off guard on D-Day. Hope this gives
insights on what sort of questions can be asked. After going through this section spend some
time reflecting about the questions that can be asked to you based on your
hobbies/education/work experience and interests.

HOBBY RELATED

Instruments/Music:
Explain the Drum Setup for Def Leppard's drummer? In depth questions on drumming.
Questions on various instruments like tabla, djembe.
Some famous instrumentalists and why do I like them?
Why is SAREGAMAPA called SAREGAMAPA and not something else?
What do you do in the band?
Why don’t you want to become a full-time musician?
Name your 3 favourite guitarists and state why they are so?
Who is Pancham da?

Sports:
Few questions related to running in depth.
Football- favourite team and why? some questions on leagues, players and formations.
Tell me some qualities about Sachin which you learnt from his career.
What is the weight of the cricket ball?
What is the difference between Kookaburra ball and SG balls?
What is reverse swing?
Explain cricket ball swing in engineering terms.
What is the maximum number of runs a batsman can make in an ODI innings?
What is castling in Chess?
Chess Grand Masters and different openings in the Chess?

Cooking/Food:
Even though quality of milk is better in North than in West Bengal, why is WB famous for
sweets?
Cuisine of your home state?
Chefs you follow? Your inspiration?

Art/Reading/Writing:
Different style of painting and mediums?
Questions on HP Novels? Questions on your favourite/recently read book.
Questions on genres - Why Sci-Fi? Do you think current generation looks at Sci Fi as means of
escapism from reality?
Tehcnical questions about blogging, content creation and reach?

Page | 113
 QUANTS/ STATISTICS
Explain probability density function, bell curve with some examples. (I scored less in quants
subjects during my undergrad).
Exhaustive questioning from correlation, regression and probability with problems given to be
solved on the spot
Define random variable. Typical question on examples.
Poisson distribution, normal distribution and binomial distribution.
Gave examples and asked which type of distribution will they follow.
Regression and its use in Duckworth Lewis rule in cricket.
Graph of mod(x)
What is sampling error?
Does it change with sample size?
Can you give an optimal sample size?
Draw the curve depicting relation between sampling error and sample size
What is meant by standard deviation?
Algebraic equations and derivations, Mathematical puzzles
Monty Hall Problem
Integration of some functions and their graphs
Differentiation, Global and Local Maxima and Minima
Statistical terms and real applications in a start-up?
Rank of matrices
Base conversion of Number system
Assumptions of linear regression model

STATIC GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

Cabinet ministers and their designations
Governors/Chief minister of different states.
Subprime crisis
How many seats are there in Lok and Rajya Sabha?
What is meant by e-commerce and m- commerce?
Number of states and union territories? Recently formed states/UTs?

ENGINEERING
Do you think there is lack of entry-level jobs for engineering graduates in the respective fields?
Specify some measurement instruments in electronics (done BE in EEE).
Mention some statistical measures while analysing data on population of a state over a
decade (had mentioned my favourite subject as Maths).
Questions related to Civil Engineering - How would I see if a project is feasible?
Which all calls do you have?
Asked some questions about AC machines and transformers. How step-up and step-down
transformers work.
Why does a petrol engine need a spark plug while diesel engines don’t? And which type of
engine needs more maintenance and why?

Page | 114
 Tell me all the three laws of thermodynamics.
Why don't you want to pursue a highly lucrative job in oil exploration/refinery? (Chemical
engineering background) What equipment can be used to check and control pollution?
What are the bottom products of a distillation column used for refining crude oil?
Difference between SI and CI engines, between external and internal combustion engines, new
traits in engines, role of starter and igniter, spark plug?
Draw layout of a car. Capacity of centrifugal pump. India's position in semi-conductors?
How India could improve the position against China.
Software Development process for communication app like zoom/g-meet.

ACCOUNTS AND FINANCE

What is a Balance Sheet?

Difference between asset and liabilities
Trial balance sheet, accounting (by writing)
What is IRR, the difference between CPM and PERT
What is the difference between Cost, Value and Price?
So, you graduated in finance, tell us why banks take the book value and other market
take the market value as price when calculating the P/E ratio?
Tell me something about crypto-currency.
How is the price of Bitcoin determined?
How will supply affect the demand for sea side villas?
What are your views about GST as a whole?
Buyback of shares
What is the rate of discount for calculating NPV?
Which are the only 2 fixed expenses in income statement?

ECONOMICS
How to measure income inequality?
What is Game theory?
What are the assumptions and exception of law of demand?
What should government do to save retailers from ecommerce?
Monetary Policy? Fiscal Policy?
What is fiscal deficit?

OPERATIONS
Upstream and downstream operations
What is Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing and what is the basic difference in PERT and CPM
methods of time study?
What is Six Sigma?
CPM and PERT analysis.
Agile methodologies

Page | 115
 AUTOMOBILE
·Since you are from Automotive industry, please tell me what is differential and its function
and what type of differential is used in Trains?
Is the MD of Mahindra an MBA?
Do you think it is appropriate to run vehicles on electricity in a country where most villages are
not having power supply in houses?

IT
What is internet of things? And how is cloud used in it?
Why does the world need IT managers?
How can you use IT in other fields?
Subject specific questions - what is a system? What is testing(white box and black box)? What
is modelling and how is it different from simulation?

MISCELLANEOUS
Do you think there's anything wrong with our education system?
Is there a need to pay more attention towards it?
Okay tell me one example of something which is unethical but legal, and one which is
illegal but ethical?
You have taken part in a math Olympiad, here take solve this math puzzle.
Do you feel you are at a disadvantage because you are the last person we are interviewing
today?
Why is Ola Cabs still getting funding, although in losses?
What is the Power Transmission loss in Andhra Pradesh?
There are a lot of slums near the Mumbai airport, because of which, the capacity is limited.
How would you relocate those people?
So, you have an Army background. How has that been as a differentiator?
Don't you think that Defence people are a bit attached to themselves, as they prefer
Defence Hospitals over Civil Hospitals, for example?
Why do Keralites go to middle-east while Punjabis and Delhiites go to Canada and
Europe?
How does money transferred to India from middle east affect the exchange rate?
How is a company formed?
What is the average height of Indian males and females?
Women are good/bad managers: Comment.
What are AI, AR, and VR?
How can it be implemented in the travel industry?
If you go to a venture capitalist, how will you convince them about your business plan?
Do you think believing is right? Terrorists believe in stuff. Do you think they're right?
What do you know about the agriculture sector in India? Can it be better?
Sales is an acquired skill. You believe you have it? Sell this glass filled with toffees to us.
Name the seven chakras of the body and where they are located.
How has social media affected our lives? One liner for a beer glass at a gift shop.

Page | 116
 Who will you support in a India-Pakistan cricket match and why?
Types of personalities, what type of person are you?
How can you make 0+0=2?
Who are the Bharat Ratna awardee singers of India?
Calculate the no of planes flying above the interview center, right now
Explain how the masculine and feminine aspects of a culture embody themselves in different
ideologies.
Why alcohol is subsidized for army men?
Various drug policies in India.
Electric vehicle future in India and its effect on HPCL?
Five reasons why females make better managers? Five reasons why they do not?
Opinion on lateral entry in bureaucracy.

Page | 117
 CURRENT AFFAIRS

We ask you to regularly read newspaper (The Hindu is recommended) for current affairs till
your interview date.

Russia-Ukraine War Intensifies Pressure on Energy and Infrastructure

Continued large-scale strikes and counter‑strikes have sustained damage to energy
infrastructure and civilian assets, keeping security and reconstruction risks elevated across
Eastern Europe. The conflict continues to affect global energy markets, defence supply chains,
and long-term rebuilding requirements.
Source: [Link]
attack-ukraine-zelenskiy-2026-01-18/

Israel-Gaza Conflict Keeps West Asia Geopolitical Risk Elevated

Repeated breakdowns in ceasefire negotiations have prolonged instability in the region, raising
concerns over humanitarian conditions and regional spillover effects. The situation remains
critical for global oil sentiment, shipping routes, and diplomatic engagement in West Asia.
Source: [Link]
ceasefire-talks-collapse-2025-08-04/

Red Sea Attacks Disrupt Global Shipping Routes

Security incidents in the Red Sea have forced shipping lines to reroute vessels, leading to longer
transit times and higher freight and insurance costs. These disruptions continue to impact global
supply chains and trade flows between Asia and Europe. Source:
[Link]
houthi-ship-attacks-2025-07-10/

World Bank Flags Prolonged Phase of Weak Global Growth

The World Bank has warned that the global economy is entering its weakest growth phase in
decades, driven by trade fragmentation, high debt, and subdued investment. Slower global
growth poses challenges for emerging markets through capital flows, exports, and currency
stability. Source: [Link]
0050012025/original/[Link]

WTO Warns of Sharp Slowdown in Global Trade Expansion

The World Trade Organization revised its outlook, highlighting weaker merchandise trade
growth amid rising tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty. The report underscores increasing trade
front‑loading and disruptions to established supply chains. Source:
[Link]

Page | 118
 IMF Highlights Policy Divergence Across Major Economies
The IMF notes that while inflation is easing globally, differences in monetary policy paths across
advanced and emerging economies remain pronounced. Such divergence affects exchange
rates, capital flows, and borrowing costs worldwide. Source:
[Link]
2025

Tata Technologies Acquires Germany’s ES‑Tec Group

Tata Technologies completed the acquisition of ES‑Tec Group to enhance capabilities in electric,
autonomous, and next‑generation mobility engineering. The deal strengthens Tata Technologies’
footprint in European automotive engineering services. Source:
[Link]
germany-strengthening-its-global-capabilities-in-next-gen-mobility-solutions/

India Strengthens Strategic Partnership with Germany

India and Germany reaffirmed cooperation in energy transition, advanced manufacturing, and
technology-led sustainable growth. The partnership aligns with India’s clean energy goals and
Europe’s industrial transition priorities.
Source: [Link]

India Expands Engagement with Central Asian Nations

India and Central Asian countries agreed to deepen collaboration in connectivity, trade, and
development partnerships through structured dialogue. The engagement enhances India’s
access to energy resources and regional trade corridors. Source:[Link]
[Link]?
dtl%2F39643%2FJoint_Statement_of_4th_IndiaCentral_Asia_Dialogue_June_06_2025=

Reliance Retail Acquires Kelvinator to Expand Consumer Durables Portfolio

Reliance Retail announced the acquisition of the Kelvinator brand, strengthening its presence in
refrigerators, washing machines, and home appliances. The move supports Reliance’s strategy of
scaling private labels and domestic manufacturing. Source:
[Link]
07/18072025_MR_Reliance_Retail_Acquires_Kelvinator.pdf

India and Singapore Deepen Cooperation in Digital and Green Shipping

India and Singapore announced expanded cooperation covering digital trade facilitation and the
development of a green and digital shipping corridor. The initiative supports cleaner maritime
logistics and stronger bilateral trade connectivity. Source: [Link]
centre/details/singapore-and-india-formalise-collaboration-on-green-and-digital-shipping-
corridor

Page | 119
 Delhivery Consolidates Logistics Market Through Ecom Express Acquisition
Regulatory approval cleared Delhivery’s acquisition of Ecom Express, enabling scale expansion in
India’s fast‑growing e‑commerce logistics sector. The deal reflects consolidation trends driven by
cost efficiency and network density. Source: [Link]
business/cci-clears-delhiverys-rs-1400-cr-acquisition-of-ecom-express-99-4-stake-to-give-firm-
control-boost-scale-in-e-commerce-logistics/articleshow/[Link]

India Releases Draft Rules to Operationalise Data Protection Law

The draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules outline compliance obligations, consent
mechanisms, and responsibilities for data fiduciaries. The framework marks a major step in
strengthening data governance and user privacy in India. Source:
[Link]

Government Curtails Misleading ‘10‑Minute Delivery’ Claims

Authorities have directed quick‑commerce platforms to avoid unrealistic delivery promises that
may compromise consumer transparency and worker safety. The move reflects increasing
regulatory scrutiny of digital consumer platforms. Source:
[Link]
sector-over-10-minute-delivery-claim-2026-01-13/

Page | 120
 US-India Trade Tensions

[Link]

2026-01-07/

BJP Electoral Wins

[Link]
that-remained-the-same-this-year/articleshow/[Link]

Vaishno Devi Landslide and Disasters

[Link]
that-remained-the-same-this-year/articleshow/[Link]

Economic Surge
[Link]
that-remained-the-same-this-year/articleshow/[Link]

Gaza Conflict Escalation

[Link]
that-remained-the-same-this-year/articleshow/[Link]

Israel Strikes Qatar

[Link]

Global Climate Crises

[Link]

China-India Visa Resumption

[Link]

Air India Crash

[Link]

india-crash-events-that-made-headlines-in-indi/

Indigo Airlines Crisis

[Link]
to-delhi-blast-indigo-crisis-and-more-1503529/

Page | 121
 Delhi Bomb Blast
[Link]
to-delhi-blast-indigo-crisis-and-more-1503529/

Russia Ukraine Escalation

[Link]

US Greenland Bid
[Link]
global-news-events-that-shaped-a-turbulent-20

AI Paris Summit

[Link]

Global Gold Surge

[Link]

Malaria Elimination Push

[Link]
dec-26-2025-maoist-leader-paka-hanumanthu-s/

Vaishno Devi Landslide

[Link]

operation-sindoor-tracing-india-s-major-events-2025-12-22-2025-12-22-100231

Manipur Arm Seizure

[Link]

Cambodia-Thailand Border War

[Link]

Trump Tariff Liberation Day

[Link]
global-news-events-that-shaped-a-turbulent-20

Page | 122
 India passport ranking slips
[Link]
visa-on-arrival-considered-visa-free-125011300280_1.html

At over Rs 26,000 crore, equity mutual funds see record SIP .

[Link]
utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

G7 Summit Canada

[Link]

General Guidleines
Learn About Your State
Familiarize yourself with the history and famous places of the state where you reside and work, as
interview questions may cover these topics.
Stay Updated on the Budget
If your interview is scheduled after February, ensure you understand the key highlights of the
Union Budget presented that month.
Know Key Facts About India
Memorize the number of states in India and their capitals.
Specifically, focus on the capitals of the Seven Sister States.
Be aware of the major cabinet ministers in the Central Government.
Elections
Read about elections (e.g., Delhi Elections) and their results.
Analyze the impact of government “freebies” distributed during campaigns and their
implications for the economy.
Research Your Industry/Company
Gain insights into your industry and the company you work for.
Stay updated on relevant news that could affect the sector's performance (e.g., the FMCG
sector’s performance trends if you work in that domain).
Monitor the Stock Market
Acquire a basic understanding of current stock market trends and overall performance.
Stay Updated
Consistently read newspapers and follow credible news sources to stay informed about current
affairs and industry updates.

Page | 123
 PAST
EXPERIENCES

Page | 124
 ENGINEER + FRESHER

Interview Experience 1

Graduation college IIT, Patna

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work experience (months) NA

Work experience Domain/industry NA

Home state Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions
[Link] yourself
[Link] MBA?
3. What were you doing since graduation? (Due to a gap year)
[Link] do you understand by management?
[Link] do you check if a six digit number is prime?
[Link] is the probability that the 3 members present in this room have
birthdays on different days of the week?
[Link] you follow current affairs? What do you know about the waqf bill?

Interview Experience 2

Graduation College NIT Tricy

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation EEE

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Chattisgarh

Page | 125
 Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

[Link] me something that is not in your CV.
[Link] your eyes. Now tell us what is at the back of the window.
[Link] did you transition from research to MBA?
[Link] work did you do in your internship with Arizona State University?
[Link] are the type of things traded in electricity market?
[Link] are your hobbies?

Interview Experience 3

Graduation College Vellore Institute of Technology

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Computer Science

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

[Link] is not for freshers. Why are you doing it?

[Link] feel you are lazy and did not want a job. Hence you have chosen MBA.
What do you think?
[Link] us about your family business.
[Link] is the difference in chemical properties of water when it is hot and
cold?
5. What are inflation and deflation? Which is more important?

Page | 126
 Interview Experience 4

Graduation College IIT Madras

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself.

2. Why do you want to join MBA as an IIT student?
3. What are your interests in Mechanical engineering?
[Link] us about your projects in undergraduation.
[Link] are the top industrialists who have shaped India and why?
[Link] were few more questions on mechanical engineering concepts.

Interview Experience 5

Graduation College NIT, Rourkela

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Mettalurgy and Materials Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Odisha

Page | 127
 Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself.

2. Why do you want to join MBA?
3. Why have you emphasized so much on leadership
on your statement of purpose
[Link] leadership necessary for a good manager?
[Link] Hitler a good leader?
[Link] will you choose out of PGP, ABM and SM?

Interview Experience 6

Graduation College College of Engineering (GBPUAT)

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Agricultural Technology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttarkhand

Interview Questions

[Link] you an agricultural scientist?

[Link] did you do after graduation (gap year)?
[Link] did you not go abroad for higher studies?
[Link] is your family background?
[Link] reform does Indian Agriculture need?
[Link] you an introvery or an extrovert?

Page | 128
 Interview Experience 7

Graduation College IIT, Delhi

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Civil Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Delhi

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself.

[Link] MBA.
[Link] did you choose Civil in your undergraduation?
[Link] us about 5 civil engineering marvels according to you.
[Link] are the subjects you have done in your [Link]?
[Link] would you structurally analyse the building we are on?
[Link] was your LRDI percentile?
[Link] are your other calls?

Interview Experience 8

Graduation College IIT Guwahati

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Biotechnology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Assam

Page | 129
 Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself,

[Link] us about your academic projects.
3. How do genes mutate?
[Link] are vaccines designed?
[Link] are externalities in economics?
[Link] are you stuttering while answering?

Interview Experience 9

Graduation College NIT, Andhra Pradesh

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Computer Science
Graduation Specialisation

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself

[Link] did you not sit for placements in college?
[Link] is cloud computing?
[Link] you know about quantum physics?
[Link] the triangle related to cloud computing?
[Link] me a recent business news that you have read.
[Link] you think the rupee value will decrease?
[Link] is d/dx(log x)?
9. What is d/dx(1/x)?
[Link] MBA domain do you want to choose and why?

Page | 130
 Interview Experience 10

Graduation College NIT, Trichy

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Production Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months)

NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself

[Link] us about your internship.
[Link] was your final year project?
[Link] MBA?
[Link] are some of the agricultural schemes launched by the government?
[Link] is production engineering about?
[Link] do you find maxima and minima?
[Link] newspaper do you read? Where did The Hindu originate from?
[Link] are the wives of Lord Ganesh?

Interview Experience 11

Graduation College NIT, Allahabad

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Industrial Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Page | 131
 Interview Questions
[Link] me about yourself,
[Link] me about some developments in industrial engineering
[Link] some alumni of IIML.
[Link] you have a girlfriend? Where would you keep this aspect of your life in
comparison to career and education?
[Link] you read the Mahabharata and Ramayana? Which characters do you
resonate with?

Interview Experience 12

Graduation College Central University of Haryana

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Computer science

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself

[Link] do you know about cryptocurrency and bitcoin (Internship related)?
[Link] are cryptocurrencies mined?
[Link] is the legality of crypto in India?
[Link] cryptocurrency give power to the common man?
[Link] is your family background?

Page | 132
 Interview Experience 13

Graduation College IIT Indore

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Metallurgy and Material Science

Graduation Specialisation
Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months)

NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

West Bengal
Home State

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself

[Link] us about your play station competitions.
[Link] when are you playing cricket? What are the competitions you have
participated?
[Link] questions on metallurgy topics
[Link] MBA?

Interview Experience 14

Graduation College Jadavpur Univeristy

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State West Bengal

Page | 133
 Interview Questions
[Link] me about yourself,
[Link] are your political opinions on West Bengal?
[Link] are the impacts of the geopolitical tensions in Russia and Ukraine in
India?
[Link] are the famous alumni of Jadavpur University?
[Link] willing are you to move to North India away from home?
[Link] the famous trilogy of Satyajit Ray.

Interview Experience 15

Graduation College Visveswaraya NIT

Graduation Degree B.E/[Link]

Metallurgy and Materials

Graduation Specialisation
Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Telengana

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself

[Link] did you have a gap year?
[Link] you were the officer at Mahakumbh during the stampede, what would you
have done differently?
[Link] me about your internship.
[Link] did your interest in Math and physics originate from?

Page | 134
 Commerce + FRESHER
Interview Experience 1

Graduation College SRCC, Delhi University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation ACCOUNTANCY AND FINANCE

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions
1. TMAY
2. How many people were there in your WAT. How many females
3. Did you have any interaction with anyone from your batch about their
interview experience
4. What is depreciation and types of it
5. What is Intangible Asset
6. Why are you not pursuing CA further

Interview Experience 2

Graduation College NM College, Mumbai

Graduation Degree BMS

Graduation Specialisation MARKETING

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Page | 135
 Interview Questions

1. TMAY
2. Do you know what word SUDOKU means
3. Between sketching and painting, which do you enjoy more
4. How good are you at math? Don’t worry we won’t ask you any math Qn
5. Any case study from rural marketing that stood out to you for its social
impact?
6. But Coca-Cola failed in India despite such marketing initiatives. What do
you think went wrong?
7. How were your other Interviews
8. What were the questions that stumped you?

Interview Experience 3

Graduation College IIM Ranchi

Graduation Degree BBA

Graduation Specialisation Commerce

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Maharashtra

Page | 136
 Interview Questions

1. Tell us about yourself

2. How do you calculate value of Intangible Assets
3. How do we calculate Cost of Capital
4. What is the difference between Basic EPS and Diluted EPS
5. What is the IPM program, and what are the placement statistics for
IPM students at IIM Ranchi
6. Why pursue an MBA from IIM Lucknow when you already have a
secured seat at IIM Ranchi

Interview Experience 4

Graduation College Daulat Ram College, DU

Graduation Degree Eco Hons.

Graduation Specialisation Economics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Haryana

Interview Questions

1. Introduce yourself
2. Where did you learn yoga, and what specific types do you practice
3. How did you learn about IIM Lucknow, and what qualities do you possess that make
you a strong fit for our community
4. What do you do in your spare time to maintain a healthy work-life balance while
working at a fast-paced oil and gas distribution firm
5. You mentioned your family business. What suggestions would you offer to improve
it? Please elaborate on 3 key ideas
6. How can a student like you contribute to the Class Democratic Process (CDP)
7. What specific yoga learnings from your practice have you applied to maintain cardio
fitness and mental balance
8. Other calls

Page | 137
 Interview Experience 5

Graduation College SXC Kolkata

Graduation Degree Economics/[Link]

Graduation Specialisation Economics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions

1. Meaning of your name

2. You live in a joint family. How are the finances managed, and how do you
navigate the lack of privacy or potential interference in such a large
household
3. What is unique about the socio-economic fabric of Kolkata that makes the
joint family system still so prevalent there
4. Why do you say that Economics is the 'mother of all domains' for subjects
like Marketing and Finance
5. What was the data-driven impact or the 'bottom line' result of your research
in internship
6. In your Data Analytics coursework, what were the core modules you
studied? Let's talk about Regression
7. Explain the fundamental difference between Correlation and Regression.
Give me example
8. In Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, we minimize the sum of squared
residuals. Why do we use squares instead of absolute values
9. Can you draw the graph of f(x) = |x|?

Page | 138
 Interview Experience 6

Graduation College SSCBS, Delhi University

Graduation Degree BBA

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. Why Income tax slabs reduced

2. Won’t that decrease revenues of GoI
3. Is the government favoring the rich with tax cuts while penalizing the
poor through GST
4. How did you secure your first Product Manager (PM) role without prior
Interview Experience 7
work experience
5. What specific areas should Eastern states focus on to improve
business
Graduation opportunities
College
6. Since graduating in 2024, where have you been working
7. How can you determine if a startup is performing well
8. What is the core concept behind Portfolio Management
9. How would you allocate funds in your personal portfolio and hedge
against equity risk

Page | 139
 Interview Experience 7

Graduation College SDJIC (VNSGU)

Graduation Degree BBA

Graduation Specialisation Commerce

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. Who was Veer Narmad

2. How would you define Standard Deviation and Variance to someone
without a mathematical background
3. What fundamentally differentiates standard deviation from variance?
Which retains the original data's units, and why does this matter in
Interview
analysisExperience 7
4. Consider two stocks:
Stock
Graduation A: Priced at ₹100, moves by ₹10.
College
Stock B: Priced at ₹20, moves by ₹10. In terms of percentage
volatility and risk, which stock would be considered riskier?
Please explain the reasoning behind your answer.
5. What is difference between Manager and Leader
6. How do you evaluate the growth trajectory of a company? Which specific
financial and operational metrics
7. What were the primary macroeconomic drivers behind the recent
downturn in the stock market
8. How are current U.S. trade policies, crude oil prices & trade wars
influencing global market

Page | 140
 Interview Experience 8

Graduation
GraduationCollege
College SRCC, Delhi University

Graduation
GraduationDegree
Degree Economics

Graduation
GraduationSpecialisation
Specialisation Economics

Professional
ProfessionalQualification
Qualification NA

Work
WorkExperience
Experience(in
(inmonths)
months) 0

Work
WorkExperience
ExperienceDomain/Industry
Domain/Industry NA

Home
HomeState
State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. What is a monopsony, and how does it differ from a monopoly

2. Your involvement in your family’s small kirana and dairy business
3. How Blinkit and Zepto affected the operations & revenue of your family business?
4. Why do major dairy brands like Amul or Mother Dairy not deliver milk directly to a
campus, relying instead on intermediaries or local shops
Interview Experience 7

Interview Experience 9
Graduation College

Graduation College IIM Rohtak

Graduation Degree BBA

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Maharashtra

Page | 141
 Interview Questions

1. TMAY
2. What is the reasoning behind not continuing at IIM Rohtak
Graduation
GraduationCollege
College
3. If no other offers materialize, would you remain at your current institution
4. Which specific subfield of finance interests you most
Graduation
GraduationDegree
Degree
5. How many nationalized banks are currently operating in India
6. What are the primary differences between private and public sector banks
7. Why do private banks typically offer lower interest rates on deposits
8. What specific style or type of painting do you practice
9. Which grades of pencils do you prefer for your work
10. Given that "lead" (graphite) in pencils is often perceived as harmful, why do you
think its useExperience
Interview continues 7

Interview Experience 10
Graduation College
9 (2025)

Graduation College
Graduation College Savitri Bai Phule, Pune University

Graduation Degree BBA

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Can you explain your gap year and your work on the e-commerce website
2. What is the current revenue of your business
3. If you are already running a successful business, why do you need an MBA
4. How do you distinguish "strategizing" from simple planning, or is it just jargon
5. What Savitribai Phule is primarily known for
6. Other calls
7. How would you describe your IIM Ahmedabad interview experience

Page | 142
 Commerce + Work Experience

Interview Experience 1

Graduation College SSCBS, Delhi University

Graduation Degree BMS

Graduation Specialisation Commerce

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 39

Work Experience Domain/Industry Financial Services

Home State Delhi

Interview Questions

1. Walk me through your background

2. Detail your work at the KPO supporting M&A and PE clients
3. Explain your end-to-end process for executing a client project from scratch.
4. Distinguish b/w Venture Capital (VC), Private Equity (PE), and general funding
5. Discuss recent M&A trends in an industry of your choice
6. Explain how you would apply relative valuation to companies in that sector
7. Discuss your favorite book and its impact on you

Page | 143
 Interview Experience 2

Graduation College NMIMS

Graduation Degree BBA

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification CFA L2

Work Experience (in months) 30

Work Experience Domain/Industry Financial Services

Home State Delhi

Interview Questions

1. Describe your job, firm, and industry

2. Why MBA after BBA
3. What is Linear Regression & provide practical applications
4. Explain depreciation, its types, and why WDV is used over SLM
5. Evaluate the importance of advertising
6. Which business leader do you admire
7. What are your hobbies

Interview Experience 3

Graduation College SRCC, Delhi University

Graduation Degree BCom Hons.

Graduation Specialisation Commerce

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 19

Work Experience Domain/Industry Consulting

Home State Delhi

Page | 144
 Interview Questions

1. TMAY
2. Why did you pursue CA Inter
3. Why an MBA after working in consulting at Accenture
4. What projects did you handle there
5. How did your education relate to and support your consulting role?

Interview Experience 4

Graduation College SXC, Kolkata

Graduation Degree BCom

Graduation Specialisation Commerce

Professional Qualification CA, CFA L2

Work Experience (in months) 36

Work Experience Domain/Industry Audit & Assurance

Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. Since you are a CA, are you unhappy with your current job
2. What are your long-term goals
3. Given both your parents are CAs, do you work in your family firm
4. What would you do differently in the current Budget
5. Are "Viksit Bharat" measures achievable or just a political gimmick
6. How is the government achieving these measures
7. If someone at IIM Lucknow asks you to help with tax avoidance, will you
8. Does your perspective on ethics change based on the amount of money
involved (e.g., ₹5 vs. ₹50,000)
9. What are some key measures of risk
10. What is Beta & CAPM

Page | 145
 Interview Experience 5

Graduation College Bombay Stock Exchange

Graduation Degree BMS

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 12

Work Experience Domain/Industry Financial Services

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. What is your work experience outside of your academic background
2. What specific portion of your salary is allocated to HRA?
3. Where do you reside, and how far is your home from the nearest railway
station?
4. What is the current market price and square footage of your hous
5. What is the most famous flower associated with the Netherlands
6. Who is the current Speaker of the Lok Sabha
7. Explain the difference between a Call and a Put option
8. Types of Capital Market
9. Bond vs Debenture
10. How do you calculate the value of a bond?
11. Define a "spin-off" company and provide a real-world example
12. What do you call it when two companies work together
13. Is the partnership between Tata and Starbucks a joint venture or an
acquisition
14. Is the deal between Jio Financial and BlackRock an acquisition or a joint
venture
15. Explain the difference between correlation and covariance
16. Write down the formula for Standard Deviation.
17. When calculating per capita income, should you use the mean or the
median? Justify your choice

Page | 146
 Interview Experience 6

Graduation College NMIMS

Graduation Degree BSC Finance

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification CFA

Work Experience (in months) 34

Work Experience Domain/Industry Financial Services

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions

1. Could you elaborate on your work experience

2. Can you provide details about your cricket start-up
3. What are your strengths and weaknesses
4. What are the latest tariffs imposed by Trump
5. How do these tariffs impact the Indian economy
6. What are the most recent changes in Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS)
7. What interests you about pickle ball
8. Who is currently the best pickle ball player in the world
9. Who won the most recent pickle ball championship

Page | 147
 Interview Experience 7

Graduation College Hindu College, DU

Graduation Degree BCom Hons.

Graduation Specialisation Accountancy and Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 24

Work Experience Domain/Industry Investment Banking

Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Explain the word Hindu & how it was derived
2. Tell us about the bond market structure in India and who regulates it
3. Do we have a secondary market for bond market
4. Fiscal Deficit & Target
5. Explain about labour laws - acts, details and years of the law
6. GDP of India and changes in budget

Interview Experience 8

Graduation College Christ University, Bengaluru

Graduation Degree BCom

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification CA

Work Experience (in months) 35

Work Experience Domain/Industry Consulting

Home State Tamilnadu

Page | 148
 Interview Questions
1. Why MBA after CA
2. What were your primary responsibilities in M&A consulting
3. Which specific KPIs or methods do you use to evaluate a company during
due diligence
4. What are two major drawbacks or limitations of the due diligence process in
M&As?
5. Which sectors of the Indian economy do you see booming in the next five
years, and why
6. Why has Chennai become such a massive hub for Chess Grand masters
7. Who is India’s top-rated player, and what are the current ratings for Gukesh
and Praggnanandhaa
8. What are your thoughts on R. Ashwin as a player, and what do you envision
for his life after retirement
9. How exactly do you judge the "quality of the cohort" before joining

Interview Experience 9

Graduation College SRCC, DU

Graduation Degree BCom

Graduation Specialisation Accountancy and Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 36

Work Experience Domain/Industry Consulting

Home State Delhi

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself

2. What topics have you prepared for this interview
3. Provide a brief overview of significant events in Indian history
4. What are the key contributions or facts regarding Emperor Akbar
5. What are your future plans regarding social work
6. How do you plan to develop initiatives to curb smoking and drinking behavior

Page | 149
 Interview Experience 10

Graduation College Hindu College, DU

Graduation Degree BCom

Graduation Specialisation Accountancy & Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 23

Work Experience Domain/Industry Consulting

Home State Delhi

Interview Questions

1. TMAY
2. Detail the index or specific topics you studied in your Introductory Microeconomics
elective
3. Define "Returns to Scale
4. Is your primary academic background in Economics
5. What were your key learning from your Business Maths course
6. Explain the concept of "de-dollarization”
7. Why are various countries currently opting for de-dollarization
8. How has the war in Ukraine accelerated or impacted this trend
9. What unique value or perspective will you add to this institute
10. An industry currently facing significant challenges and explain why
11. What specific advice would you give to a client operating in the semiconductor
industry

Page | 150
 Interview Experience 11

Graduation College Lady Sri Ram College, DU

Graduation Degree BCom

Graduation Specialisation Accountancy & Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 18

Work Experience Domain/Industry Consulting

Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. How did you prepare for this interview
2. What are the core accounting principles followed in the U.S. (US GAAP)
3. What is the term for an economy experiencing high prices alongside low growth
4. Which methods can businesses use to ensure environmentally conscious
operations
5. If a company dumps toxic waste but offsets it by buying carbon credits, is that
ethically justifiable
6. Do you know any Motivational Model?
Interview Experience 12
Interview Experience 12
Graduation College

Graduation College SRCC, DU

Graduation Degree

Graduation Degree BCom Hons.

Graduation Specialisation

Graduation Specialisation Accountancy & Finance

Professional Qualification

Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (in months)

Work Experience (in months) 24

Work Experience Domain/Industry

Work Experience Domain/Industry Consulting

Home State

Page |Home
146State Maharashtra

Page | 151
 Interview Questions

1. Why MBA
2. Dream Company
3. How does an MBA help you pivot into consulting
4. Strengths & Weaknesses
5. Discuss your experience winning case competitions and your primary learnings
from them

Interview Experience 13

Graduation College HR College, Mumbai University

Graduation Degree BMS

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 24

Work Experience Domain/Industry Investment Banking

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions

1. Walk us through your profile and background

2. Identify your core strengths and areas of weakness
3. Why pursue an MBA while currently working in Investment Banking
4. Define and explain CVaR
5. Explain the DuPont Analysis framework.
6. Explain linear regression and its application in finance
7. Beta and explain how it measures systematic risk
8. Correlation and explain the specific differences between correlation, beta, and
regression.

Page | 152
 Interview Experience 14

Graduation College Lady Sri Ram College, DU

Graduation Degree BA Hons.

Graduation Specialisation Economics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 31

Work Experience Domain/Industry Research & Consulting

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. How did you handle negotiations with food vendors for your college fest
2. What was your specific strategy for bargaining with vendors to set up stalls
3. Since you mentioned cooking for stress relief, what dishes do you typically
prepare
4. Where is the headquarters of Wordle located

Interview Experience 15

Graduation College Lady Shri Ram College, DU

Graduation Degree BCom

Graduation Specialisation Accountancy and Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 31

Work Experience Domain/Industry Finance/Aviation

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Page | 153
 Interview Questions

[Link] does you father do? What business? Explain why not his business
[Link] other calls do you?
[Link] a very specific audit and stats question (regression)
[Link] much salary would you expect post MBA, what is a better determinant
mean or median for salary performance metric
[Link] related questions about monthly forecasting process
[Link] about whether I invest and where do I invest? Are they giving good
returns?
[Link] a current news and books you read? Was interrupted on the news and
was asked about books - I mentioned mythology - asked in detail about my
learnings

Page | 154
 ENGINEER + WORKEX

Interview Experience 1

Graduation College NIT Nagpur

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation EEE

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 12

Work Experience Domain/Industry Finance/ Fintech

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions

[Link] us about yourself..Why MBA?

[Link] is the history of the Gaza conflict?
[Link] is your understanding of the DPDP Act?
[Link] you led a team in your workex? What did you do differently than your
manager?
[Link] are your hobbies?
[Link] you are a trek leader, how will you address a person who is quitting midway?

Page | 155
 Interview Experience 2
Interview Experience 3
Graduation College RV College of Engineering

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 36

Work Experience Domain/Industry FMCG

Home State Karnataka

Interview Questions
[Link] me about yourself.
[Link] are a scientist workign in R&D, why do you want to leave that and get into this
dirty world of more money?
[Link] does your work revolve around?
[Link] are your thoughts on chemicals being used on a daily basis in
food/laundry/shampoo, toothpaste is safe etc. (given recent Everest Masala news)
[Link] MBA?
[Link] you read any book recently?
[Link] are your other calls?

Interview Experience
Interview Experience 33 (2025)

Graduation College Aligarh Muslim University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineer

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 44

Work Experience Domain/Industry Infrastructure

Home State Rajasthan

Page | 156
 [Link] me about yourself.
[Link] you only follow or even play chess?
[Link] is resonance?
[Link] is natural frequency?
[Link] there any sustainability department in your company?
[Link] is the hiring process done for your role in the company?
[Link] you choose SM or PGP?
[Link] do you want to get into product management?
[Link] some popular digital products
[Link] there is a park with a big tree and no branches, how would you climb it?

Interview Experience 4

Graduation College MNIT Jaipur

Graduation Degree [Link]

Interview Experience 5
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineer

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 44

Work Experience Domain/Industry Infrastructure

Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself.

[Link] do you not want to do Executive MBA?
[Link] clubs you were part of in college time
[Link] is the Arcelor Mittal India plant?
[Link] is color coated steel?
[Link] is color coated steel made?

Page | 157
 Interview Experience 5

Graduation College UPES

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Petroleum Engineer

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 36

Work Experience Domain/Industry Oil and gas

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
[Link] me about yourself
[Link] are the different types of drill cone bits? Is the drilling direction
only vertical?
[Link] there any crisis because of horizontal drilling?
4. Checked graduation marksheets and picked up an elective
'Introduction to Economic Theories' and asked what was learned in it?
[Link] the supply demand graph
[Link] us one business news.
[Link] sports do you play?

Interview Experience 6

Graduation College College of Engineering, Trivandrum

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Computer science

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 12

Work Experience Domain/Industry Fintech

Home State Kerala

Page | 158
 [Link] me about yourself.
[Link] looks like you have done a course on The constitution of India.
Could you talk about the 5 important words mentioned in the
preamble?
[Link] have also done a course on blockchain, explain what it is.
[Link] is the difference between RNN and CNN?
[Link] not pursue an MBA from universities abroad?
6. Do you follow geopolitics, talk about 3 latest news.
[Link] all calls do you have and rank them?

Interview Experience 7

Graduation College NIT Trichy

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Computer Science

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 24

Work Experience Domain/Industry Banking

Home State Andhra Pradesh

[Link] me about yourself.

[Link] was your role in your company?
[Link] do you evaluate a customer for credit risk?
[Link] are subordinate bonds?
[Link] BASEL rules.
6. Tell us about your three favourite subjects in undergraduation.
[Link] us about different types of learning in Machine Learning.
[Link] are your other calls?

Page | 159
 Interview Experience 8

Graduation College IIT BHU

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Mining Engineer

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 71

Work Experience Domain/Industry Steel

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
[Link] me about yourself.
[Link] MBA and why not Executive MBA?
[Link] is your family background?
[Link] are the impacts of tariffs on India?
[Link] is the implication of China’s steel dumping in India?
[Link] you have any conflict with your manager and how did you resolve it?
[Link] is your leadership style?
[Link] your job role.
[Link] are your other calls?

Interview Experience 9

Graduation College Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for

Women

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Computer Science

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 44

Work Experience Domain/Industry IT

Home State Delhi

Page | 160
 [Link] me about yourself
[Link] MBA when you are earning well?
[Link] is it being a woman in tech/corporate?
[Link] about your Workex.
[Link] what is AI like I am 5 years old.
[Link] AI take our jobs?
[Link] are your other calls?

Interview Experience 10

Interview Experience 12
Graduation College IIT BHU

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 36

Work Experience Domain/Industry Management consulting

Home State Gujarat

Interview Questions

1. Are you a management consultant or IT consultant?

[Link] you already are into consulting at a firm like Accenture where you could
transition in a few years to strategy role, why would you want to do an MBA considering
the time and cost involved?
[Link] 3 things would transform businesses over the next 10 years?
[Link] has mechanical engineering curriculum evolved in the last 10 years?
[Link] you heard of Industry 4.0?
[Link] is IoT?
[Link] is the difference between a fossil fuel run car and an EV?
[Link] knocking observed in 4 stroke or a 2 stroke engine?

Page | 161
 Interview Experience 11

Graduation College IIT Madras

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Civil Engineering

Professional Qualification CFA L2

Work Experience (in months) 36

Work Experience Domain/Industry Investment Management

Home State Telengana

Interview Questions

1. Introduce yourself
2. Tell us a few things you learnt in civil engineering
[Link] your role in the company.
[Link] is carbon transition related work that you did important?
[Link] are the pros and cons of climate investing? Why is it not picking up?
[Link] out steps one should consider for India’s transition to green grid?
[Link] did Maratha empire ultimately fail?
[Link] mba given that you are already in finance?
[Link] should we choose you and not somebody else?
[Link] is p/b ratio and what does it mean if it's low ?

Interview Experience 12

Graduation College IIT Kanpur

Graduation Degree [Link]

Interview Experience 15
Graduation Specialisation Electrical Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 34

Work Experience Domain/Industry IT

Home State Telengana

Page | 162
 Interview Questions
[Link] MBA?
[Link] did you not get any calls from ABC?
[Link] you have prepared for finance,tell me one recent news from the finance
field.
[Link] are German bond yields going up?
5. Do you know the recent developments in Indusind bank?
[Link] is the use of Fibonacci series in finance?
[Link] is a random process?
[Link] me about the Waqf law.

Interview Experience 13

Graduation College Pune University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Information Technology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 35

Work Experience Domain/Industry

1. So you are from NIT Trichy. Why did IT
you take metallurgy?

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself.

2. What does your father do? How did you fund your MBA?
[Link] you read about Russia vs Ukraine war, if yes then what is the
population of Ukraine ?
4.50 million is how much in crores?
[Link] is your job role and responsibilities?
[Link] do you want to do MBA?
7. If a client comes to you and he want's to set up operations then which
type of internet service you would recommend between satellite internet
or cable based internet ?
[Link] do you think about elon musk? What is your opinion about his
political stance ?
[Link] other calls do you have ?

Page | 163
 Interview Experience 14

Graduation College NIFTEM

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Food Technology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 31

Work Experience Domain/Industry FMCG

Home State Haryana

Interview Questions
[Link] yourself
[Link] do you do at PepsiCo ?
[Link] do you want to do MBA? You are at a good MNC.
[Link] live in Hyderabad, what differences you noticed between Hyderabad and
your native place?
[Link] were your subjects in UG?
[Link] area you would like to work in after your MBA?
[Link]’t you think you are too late for MBA and if you get in you will see lot of
young people around you?
[Link] you visited the website or seen the curriculum of the program?
[Link] other calls do you have? What would be your preference?

Page | 164
 Interview Experience 15

Graduation College Rajiv Gandhi University of

Knowledge Technologies

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation ECE

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 28

Work Experience Domain/Industry IT

Home State Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions

[Link] yourself.
[Link] have you mentioned you have secured the 100th percentile in class X?
[Link] your work in TCS.
[Link] is meant by T+1 settlement cycle?
[Link] you heard about T0 and what are the advantages and disadvantages of T0
implementation ?
[Link] is market volatility and how T0 has an impact on it?
[Link] are sorting algorithms ?
[Link] is hypothesis testing?
[Link] Naive Bayes Theorem

Page | 165
 SM

Interview Experience 1

Graduation College National Institute of Technology Hamirpur

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Electronics & Telecommunication

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 44

Work Experience Domain/Industry Information Technology

Home State Himachal Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. TMAY
2. What specific roles and responsibilities have defined your career so far
3. What are your primary interests and hobbies
4. What concrete steps or actions are you currently taking to progress in
those hobbies
5. How does a focus on sustainability fit into your long-term career objectives
6. What specific impact do you hope to make through your participation in
this program

Interview Experience 2

Graduation College Bharti Vidyapeeth deemed Uni, New Law College

Graduation Degree Law

Graduation Specialisation Law

Professional Qualification LLB

Work Experience (in months) 48

Work Experience Domain/Industry Legal

Home State Punjab

Page | 166
 Interview Questions
[Link] specific community or cultural group do you identify with
[Link] has your background within your community shaped your personal
identity
[Link] significant milestones or accomplishments have you achieved in your
life so far
[Link] religious or spiritual texts have you studied or read in their entirety

Interview Experience 3

Graduation College SSCBS, DU

Graduation Degree BBA

Graduation Specialisation Commerce

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 50

Work Experience Domain/Industry Finance

Home State Delhi

[Link] would you summarize your personal and professional journey thus far
[Link] factors contributed to the disparity in your academic performance during your 12th
grade and undergraduate studies
[Link] unique human attribute do you possess that ensures you cannot be replaced by AI
[Link] were your primary objectives and achievements during your digital marketing
tenure

Interview Experience 4

Graduation College Thapar University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Electronics Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 49

Work Experience Domain/Industry Consulting

Home State Punjab

Page | 167
 Interview Questions
[Link] do you account for your academic inconsistency and lower scores
during graduation
[Link] specific challenges did you face while building your startup from the
ground up
[Link] that you have offers from top-tier IIMs, why are you specifically
prioritizing the SM program
[Link] does the SM program’s practical exposure align with your long-term
goals better than other prestigious brands
[Link] what ways has your past academic performance shaped your current
approach to professional seriousness
[Link] were the most critical lessons you learned regarding execution and
resilience through your entrepreneurial journey?

Interview Experience 5

Graduation College Hansraj College, DU

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation Computer & Science Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 39

Work Experience Domain/Industry Prod Man

Home State Rajasthan

[Link] do you use Normal Distribution to identify outliers in corporate carbon

emission data
[Link] you explain Regression Analysis and how it predicts the relationship
between R&D spend and sustainability outcomes
[Link] is the p-value, and how would you use it to validate the success of a new
green initiative

Interview Experience 6

Graduation College NIT Warangal

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 34

Work Experience Domain/Industry Oil & Gas

Page | 168
 Home State Andra Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. What are the primary environmental or social challenges currently facing your
hometown
2. How has the industrial or economic landscape of [City where you worked] changed
in the last five years
3. If you were the municipal commissioner of your city, which 'Smart City' initiative
would you prioritize to improve sustainability
4. Why are global crude oil prices fluctuating, and how does this impact India's fiscal
deficit
5. Can you name three SDGs and explain their direct relevance to India's 2030 targets
6. How do you reconcile the recent 15% decline in oil prices with India’s long-term
commitment to the Viksit Bharat 2047 sustainability goals
7. According to the latest NITI Aayog report, which Indian states are leading the SDG
Index, and what can your home state learn from them

Interview Experience 7

Graduation College Mumbai University

Graduation Degree B. Tech

Graduation Specialisation IT

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 58

Work Experience Domain/Industry Information Technology

Home State Maharashtra

[Link]
[Link] specific internal strengths and external threats did you identify in
your personal SWOT analysis
[Link] does an MBA specifically bridge the gap between your current skill set
and your long-term career goals
[Link] your years of work experience, why are you opting for a full-time
program instead of an Executive MBA

Page | 169
 AGRI & ALLIED

Interview Experience 1

Graduation College Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU

Graduation Degree [Link].

Graduation Specialisation Agriculture

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Tell about the statistics that you have studied in undergrad.
3. Supplementary questions from Statistics.
4. They asked about the previous candidate on that panel.
5. Asked to compare and justify who is better
6. What did you do during the gap years?
7. Why MBA-ABM?

Interview Experience 2

Graduation College MPKV, Rahuri

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Agriculture

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 10

Work Experience Domain/Industry Manufacturing

Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself in brief
2. You did a degree in agriculture, how come you are pursuing your job in a
different sector?
3. Your thoughts on organic farming?
4. Can you give one good facility, if present, that will make organic farming a
preferable option among farmers?

Page | 170
 5. Last time I bought a fruit from the organic produce segment but found a
maggot in it. Can you explain that thing?
6. If you got the option to choose between IIM A FABM and IIM L ABM,
which course will you pursue?

Interview Experience 3

Graduation College Himchal Pradesh Agricultural University

Graduation Degree [Link] (Hons.)

Graduation Specialisation Agriculture

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Himachal Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself.
2. What is your favourite subject?
3. Asked to tell any other subject
4. Which disease occurs more often in plants?
5. Life cycle of fungi.
6. Diseases of tobacco and potato, probability of getting a disease.
7. What is the marginal law of utility?
8. What is translation and transcription?
9. What does the law of segregation mean?

Interview Experience 4

Graduation College Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

Graduation Degree MS

Graduation Specialisation Biology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions

Page | 171
 1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why MBA in ABM?
3. What other calls do you have?
4. What did you tell about potatoes?
5. Tell us about your business idea; how would you carry out?
6. If you get a call for ABM, and another for a general MBA, what would you
do?

Interview Experience 5

Graduation College MPKV, Rahuri

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Agriculture

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 23

Work Experience Domain/Industry Agri Input

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
2. What was your role in your company?
3. What are the consequences of selling fertilizers online?
4. Number of farmers in Maharashtra.
5. Contribution of agriculture to nation's GDP.
6. Have you visited sugarcane factory?
7. Tell us the by-products?
8. How is liquor made?
9. Should Maharashtra be made a dry state?
10. Should farmers produce liquor?

Interview Experience 6

Graduation College MPKV, Rahuri

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Agricultural Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Maharashtra

Page | 172
 Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why MBA ?
3. Asked me about the problems faced by Indian farmers.
4. What are the newly proposed bills in the budget for farmers ?
5. Asked about mean, mode, median, and standard deviation.
6. How does the power train of a tractor works?
7. How does a differential works?
8. What gears are used in a differential?
9. Who's the vice president of India ?

Interview Experience 7

Graduation College Ramakrishna Bajaj College of Agriculture

Graduation Degree [Link] (Hons.)

Graduation Specialisation Agriculture

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Why MBA?
3. Solve the cubic equation
4. Tell us about the orange cultivation in Nagpur.
5. Follow-up questions around MSP and farmers' protest
6. How can we solve this problem?

Interview Experience 8

Graduation College [Link] (Hons.) Agriculture/ SRMIST Chennai

Graduation Degree [Link] (Hons.)

Graduation Specialisation Agriculture

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Tamil Nadu

Page | 173
 Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Why MBA-ABM?
3. Have you visited North India before?
4. What are the reasons for fog in Delhi?
5. Why do Punjab farmers burn their fields after harvest?
6. If someone asks you to recommend a good fertilizer, what will you
recommend? Why?

Interview Experience 9

Graduation College Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Agricultural Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself

2. Since you have a good All India Rank in the ICAR exam, why not [Link]?
3. Being an agricultural engineer, don’t you feel you should stay in the same
field?
4. Tell me three companies you would like to join after ABM.
5. Which is your favourite subject?
6. Which engines are used in tractors? Two-stroke or four-stroke?
7. What is a famous place near your hometown?
8. Do you know about characters from the Ramayan? Which one do you
like?
9. What about the Mahabharata?
10. Rate the Union Budget out of 10 and justify.

Page | 174
 Interview Experience 10

Graduation College College Of Agriculture

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation AGRICULTURE

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State BIHAR

Interview Questions

[Link] questions related to probability,

[Link] the preference for IIM-L over IIM-A in the context of ABM
[Link] the decision not to opt for UPSC despite being from Bihar.

Interview Experience 11

Graduation College Khallikote Autonomous College, Berhampur

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation Zoology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Odisha

Page | 175
177
 Interview Questions

1. Introduce yourself briefly?

2. Why ABM?
3. What are the global sustainability goals?
4. What are mean mode and median and their difference?
5. Which is better in your opinion, mean or median?
6. Any questions for us?

Interview Experience 12

Graduation College Faculty of Commerce, Banaras University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation MARKETING

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 12

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

[Link] are you doing right now? (gap year).

[Link] is STP? (Marketing was mentioned in previous answer)
[Link] of a straight line.
[Link] questions on statistics
5. They asked me for the name of the writers whose book I studied during my
UG.
[Link] ABM?
[Link] on farm law.
[Link] of the three laws that farmers wanted to repeal during their protest
[Link] is MSP? (Mentioned somewhere in my previous answer)
[Link] does the government implement MSP?
[Link]
Home State based question where I had to choose between the farmers and
my company.

Page | 176
177
 Interview Experience 13

Graduation
Manipal University Jaipur
College

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation BIOTECHNOLOGY

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 0

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions

1. Why do you have a gap?

2. Did you have a job offer?
3. Why not go for it?
4. You have written a lot about sustainability in your form, when why did you
not apply for SM?
5. Why ABM?
6. What do you think are the problems that farmers face?
7. What is an APMC?
8. Do you think there should be MSP?
9. There is a lot of talk about millets in this budget, what is your opinion on
that?
10. What do you grow on your farm?
11. Where does India import palm oil from?
12. You have mentioned that ITC is your dream company but it deals with
tobacco, dont you have any issues with that?
13. Any questions for us?

Page | 177
 Interview Experience 14

Graduation College Navsari Agricultural University

Graduation Degree [Link] (Hons)

Graduation Specialisation Agriculture

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Kerela

Interview Questions

1. Introduce yourself
2. What is horticulture, we haven’t heard of it.
3. Why do you want to switch the field?
4. Tell us about your family.
5. So you have a sister, let us imagine that she is a software engineer and
you are a horticulturist. You want to convince her to switch her field to
horticulture. You have 5 mins.
6. You have written about helping people with mental health disorder. Why
PTSD in particular?
7. Three things that you would tell parents regarding children suffering
from PTSD.
8. Don’t you think mental health disorders should be treated by doctor
9. Few subject related questions

Interview Experience 15

Graduation College GBPUAT

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Agricultural Engineering

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttarakhand

Interview Questions

Page | 178
 1. Tell us about yourself.
2. What do Agricultural engineers do?
3. Tell me some post harvest maintainance techniques
4. How are apples preserved?
5. Why Silos are cylindrical and not other shapes(square, rectangular)?
6. Other calls.
7. Your preference.
8. Your interests.
9. How does a ball swing?
10. Tell this in aerodynamics terms.

Interview Experience 16

Graduation College Hindu College, DU

Graduation Degree MSC

Graduation Specialisation Biology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home state Delhi

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself

2. Why MBA
3. [Link] is organic farming
4. Do you know about the Sri Lanka economic crisis?
Home State
5. What is MSP? Do you support it?
6. Give 5 reasons why MSP shouldn't be there.
7. Explain covid with respect to the immunological response that the body
gives.

Page | 179
 OTHERS

Interview Experience 1

Graduation College Andhra Medical College Visakhapatnam

Graduation Degree MBBS

Graduation Specialisation Medicine

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 36

Work Experience Domain/Industry Medical Consultation

Home State Telangana

Interview Questions

[Link] did you finish MBBS?

2. What have you been doing since then?
3. What brought you into this line of work? Why not join a private hospital?
4. Why not join a government hospital?
5. Why pediatrics and geriatric patients in particular?
6. Why switch to MBA, why not continue with medicine?
7. Why MBA then, why not Healthcare management?
8. What specialization would you pick in MBA?
9. What career path do you want to go into after MBA?
10. What do you do outside of medicine? What are your hobbies?
[Link] books or audiobooks you have recently read?
12. What other calls do you have?
13. What is your order of preference then? Which colleges do you prefer the
most?
14. What will you add to your batch or cohort? What is unique about you?

Interview Experience 2

Graduation College Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Delhi University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Mathematics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Page | 180
 Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why did you choose mathematical science?
3. You have studied Operational Research in your undergrad. So what is it?
4. What is the use of Linear programming?
5. We can do all this with a computer, so what's the need?
6. Tell me pratical application of Maths
7. How would you calculate the height of a tower?
8. Why mba and not [Link] Maths?

Interview Experience 3

Graduation College SSCBS, Delhi University

Graduation Degree BA Honours

Graduation Specialisation Political Science

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions

1. Introduction
2. Why MBA?
3. Example of corporates sector and social impact intersection
4. What other calls do you have?
5. History of Kolkata biryani
6. Significance of Lucknow
7. Connect food history with the overall history
8. Why Hindu College?
9. Explain russia Ukraine war using international relations theories
10. Square root of 1.001, using a specific formula for this

Page | 181
 Interview Experience 4

Graduation College University of Calcutta

Graduation Degree [Link] Hons.

Graduation Specialisation Physics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 8

Work Experience Domain/Industry Fitness

Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions

1. What are you here for?

2. Where did you work before this?
3. Your roles and responsibilities over there?
4. How is Cultfit making money, since I have read their financial statements
and they seem to be in a loss from a long time?
5. So you want to create a career in marketing?
6. Who is your favourite CMO?
7. Do you know the moat of BoAt?
8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Interview Experience 5

Graduation College IIM Indore

Graduation Degree IPM

Graduation Specialisation Management

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Mumbai

Interview Questions

1. Small talk about IPM

2. Other calls?
3. Type 1 Type 2 error
4. What is the power of a test?
5. What is a stronger decision, rejecting null or failing to reject null?

Page | 182
 6. What are you learning now?
7. What was your social internship?
8. What is a negative externality caused by your company?
9. Indian stock market - why is it down? short term or long term?
10. If you convert I and L, what will you choose?

Interview Experience 6

Graduation College IIM Indore

Graduation Degree IPM

Graduation Specialisation Management

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Gujarat

Interview Questions

1. Where do you come from, and what is your favorite food item that is
unique to that place?
2. How do you make Locho?
3. Difference between making Locho and Dhokla?
4. What are your favorite subjects?
5. What is R^2, and how does it differ from adjusted R^2?
6. What is the formula for variance, Covariance, and the Correlation
coefficient?
7. Why do we use a square in the formula of variance and not the absolute
value of the power of 1?
8. Meaning of standard deviation.
9. What are Natural numbers?
10. What is Z?
11. Explain to me the concept of negative numbers. I do not want theories.
Tell me where they are useful and how they are useful.
12. Why do you want to leave IIM Indore? Why go through the trouble of
giving CAT when you are already in an IIM?
13. Compare the course outline of PGP at IIM Lucknow and PGP at IIM Indore.
14. Why MBA?
15. Did you learn coding?
16. How do computers understand the negative sign? Are negative numbers
the same for computers as they are to us?

Page | 183
 Interview Experience 7

Graduation College Naltional Law University, Jodhpur

Graduation Degree BBA Hons.

Graduation Specialisation Business Law

Professional Qualification CFA L1

Work Experience (in months) 25

Work Experience Domain/Industry Corporate Lawyer

Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions

1. TMAY
2. What venture are you running?
3. Why did you take a paycut from 1st job?
4. Technical questions on the Indian Takeover Code (law background)
5. How does a merger happen as per the law?
6. What diligence would you do for a company as per state laws?
7. Questions for us?

Interview Experience 8

Graduation College Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute

Graduation Degree MBBS

Graduation Specialisation Medicine

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Karnataka

Interview Questions

1. Tell us about yourself

2. But we don’t see exactly why you want to do an MBA?
3. But doctors usually struggle with maths. So how will you manage?

Page | 184
 Interview Experience 9

Graduation College IIM Indore

Graduation Degree IPM

Graduation Specialisation Management

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Gujarat

Interview Questions

1. Introduction
2. Questions on family. Any siblings?
3. Who is smarter, you or your brother?
4. What subjects do you like?
5. Which economics?
6. Questions on GDP? Nominal vs real? Why is India sad at 6.2% but Japan
happy at 1.5%?
7. Hypothesis testing, type 1&2 error
8. What is a false positive?
9. Oligopoly- 3 models: Cournot, Bertrand, and Stackelberg
10. Game theory what did you learn?
11. Philosophy what did you learn? Tell me all schools of thought?
12. Why not get work ex?
13. What calls do you have?

Interview Experience 10

Graduation College IIM Indore

Graduation Degree IPM

Graduation Specialisation Management

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Haryana

Interview Questions

Page | 185
 1. Start with an introduction
2. Why do you want to leave IIM Indore?
3. Explain Diminshing Law of Marginal Utility
4. You have mentioned bird watching as a hobby. What is the difference
between a parrot and a parakeet?
5. Which campus out of the IIMs has the largest population of migratory
birds?

Interview Experience 11

Graduation College Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University

Graduation Degree Bachelor of Law

Graduation Specialisation LLB

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why MBA?
3. Why not go for litigation?
4. Why not go for PCS-J preparation?
5. What is the meaning of 'gift' under inheritance law?
6. Which other calls do you have? Would you prefer IIM Lucknow over them?

Interview Experience 12

Graduation College IIM Indore

Graduation Degree IPM

Graduation Specialisation Management

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions

Page | 186
 1. How can economics help you in marketing?
2. Sociology & Psychology, what do you like better?
3. Two learnings from psychology
4. What all do you know about game theory?
5. What other calls?
6. What do you know about the Gupta dynasty?

Interview Experience 13

Graduation College Delhi University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Computer Science

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. Introduction
2. Name some Indian Game development companies?
3. Tell me about your family. Do you have siblings?
4. What is your father's occupation?
5. M: So you have done your bachelor's in Computer Science from DU. So,
how is your maths knowledge?
6. What subjects have you studied in your undergrad? What was your
favorite?
7. What are the different types of AI models? Also, give some examples of
each?
8. How does a CNN work?

Interview Experience 14

Graduation College IISER, Kolkata

Graduation Degree BS-MS

Graduation Specialisation Physics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State West Bengal

Page | 187
 Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why did you also apply for MBA-ABM?
3. Why not pursue a PhD instead?
4. I mentioned that I want to solve real-world problems and I’m not
comfortable with the long duration and deep specialization required for a
PhD.
5. PhD in Management also gives opportunities to work in the industry. Why
not that?
6. What did you do in your Master’s thesis?
7. How did you become interested in an MBA?
8. What is inflation? How many types of inflation are there?
9. What happens when inflation rises?
10. Why is inflation currently rising in India?
11. What did you write in your SOP for MBA-ABM?

Interview Experience 15

Graduation College Hindu College, Delhi University

Graduation Degree [Link] Hons.

Graduation Specialisation Mathematics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Delhi

Interview Questions

1. Talk about yourself for a minute or two.

2. Where should I question you from?
3. What is the formula for the pmf of the Poisson distribution?
4. What is the range of x in Poisson?
5. Mean and variance of the Binomial distribution.
6. Any distribution in which the variance is greater than the mean?
7. Tell me how predictive analytics models are used.
8. An example of where we use these models?
9. What is prescriptive analytics?
10. What do you think about quick commerce?
11. Any example where AI is used in business processes.

Page | 188
 Interview Experience 16

Graduation College St. Stephen’s, Delhi University

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Mathematics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

[Link] me about yourself

2. Tell me about your mother and father's native place
3. Tell 1 river that flows through your father's native place
4. Tell the rivers that flow through your hometown
5. Why have you written about cooking? How to differentiate food?
6. Meaning of your name
7. Give one application of a differential equation in real life
8. What's a Poisson distribution? Draw a graph
9. What's a normal distribution? Draw a graph
10. What are type I and II errors? Which is more dangerous?
[Link] is linear regression? Write the formula
12. What is hypothesis testing?
13. What is 6 Sigma? Why is it called so?
14. Problems in DU. How are other colleges in DU different from St.
Stephen's?
15. Think of this problem as a management problem and suggest a solution.

Interview Experience 17

Graduation College Ramjas College, DU

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Physics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 16

Work Experience Domain/Industry Supply Chain

Home State Haryana

Page | 189
 Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself

2. Why jump from Physics Hons to MBA
3. Asked technical questions on physics related to EM waves, electricity, and
magnetism, and application-based questions
4. How will you add value to the cohort?
5. Which domain do you want to enter after your MBA?
6. What are your hobbies?
7. Explained sports as my hobbies
8. What are the different strokes/styles in swimming?
9. Name the first person to cross the English Channel

Interview Experience 18

Graduation College IISER, Kolkata

Graduation Degree MS

Graduation Specialisation Biology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home state Orrisa

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why did you apply for the ABM?
3. Tell us something about GMOs?
4. Are GMOs good for us?
5. Do companies release all the research-related data for a synthesized
GMO?
6. Why do you have so many C's and D's in your college marksheet?
7. Do you know the two things Gregor Mendel is famous for?
8. Tell us about your research paper.
9. What are the applications of your research?
10. Since you have a really good research career, then why do you want to
pursue an MBA?
11. Do you know what covariance and correlation are?
12. Have you heard of regression?
13. What do you think are the qualities of a manager?
Home
14. TellState
us something you know about finance or operations.
15. Didn't you have a mentor from IIM-L for the interviews?

Page | 190
 Interview Experience 19

Graduation College Hindu College, DU

Graduation Degree BSc Hons

Graduation Specialisation Physics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 36

Work Experience Domain/Industry Film Production

Home state Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why MBA?
3. Which domain you'll target?
4. Questions on shifts from biotech to Physics to UPSC to startup and Film
5. Why did you leave UPSC after just 3 attempts?
6. Asked about Herbert Spencer and his work in sociology?
7. Views on India's affirmative action policy
8. Told me to ask anything I would like.

Interview Experience 20

Graduation College NLU, Lucknow

Graduation Degree BA

Graduation Specialisation LLB

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home state Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. Why MBA after Law?

2. Asked about Hazratganj’s economy.
3. Asked about UCC.
4. What is Psychoanalysis?
5. Who is Sigmund Freud?
6. How can psychology be used in MBA?
7. Domain of interest

Page | 191
 Interview Experience 21

Graduation College LSR DU

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation Statistics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home state Assam

Interview Questions

1. Name one IPS officer from Assam

2. Why not UPSC?
3. What do you bring to the table?
4. What is IID? Give one example
5. How will the act of swimming help you in your journey to MBA?
6. Which distribution does Sudoku follow?

Interview Experience 22

Graduation College Scottish Church College

Graduation Degree [Link]

Graduation Specialisation Computer Science

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 15

Work Experience Domain/Industry IT

Home state Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Tell me about your job responsibility
3. Why did you leave your job? Did you not like your job?
4. Why MBA?
5. Tell me about your family.
6. Who is your role model and why?
7. What is LLM?
8. Do you think AI can replace jobs?

Page | 192
 Interview Experience 23

Graduation College Lady Sri Ram College, DU

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation Statistics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 33

Work Experience Domain/Industry Consulting

Home state Pune

Interview Questions

1. TMAY
2. Definition and 3-4 types of parametric and non-parametric tests
3. What do you want to do post-MBA?
4. What is the type of work you aim for and name a few companies in the
domain?
5. Name a female entrepreneur you admire and why?
6. What is the business model of Nykaa?

Interview Experience 24

Graduation College Miranda House, DU

Graduation Degree [Link] Hons

Graduation Specialisation Economics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home state Haryana

Interview Questions

1. Difference between economics and economics honours

2. Favourite subject in undergrad
3. Define hypothesis testing
4. Type 1 and Type 2 errors and case studies on them
5. Errors in the multiple linear model
6. Six principles of Aristotle
7. More questions on philosophy

Page | 193
 Interview Experience 25

Graduation College IIT Kanpur

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation Earth Sciences

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 33

Work Experience Domain/Industry Banking

Home state Maharashtra

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself?

2. Why MBA?
3. Asked for details about my work
4. Difference between NEFT, IMPS, and RTGS?
5. When Was CBDC Launched? What is the purpose of it?

Interview Experience 26

Graduation College St. Stephens College, DU

Graduation Degree [Link] Hons

Graduation Specialisation Economics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home state Delhi

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why did you choose to study Economics even though you didn’t have
Economics as a subject in +2?
3. Name three Hindi poets.
4. Name any one Hindi prose writer. (I said Premchand)
5. Name three stories written by Premchand.
6. How does the Kumbh Mela impact the GDP of Uttar Pradesh?
7. 7. What is your favourite subject in Economics? Talk about your favourite
topic.

Page | 194
 Interview Experience 27

Graduation College Madras Christian College

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation Statistics

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home state Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why MBA?
3. What is correlation?
4. How is it different from regression?

Interview Experience 28

Graduation College NMIMS

Graduation Degree BSC

Graduation Specialisation Finance

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) 23

Work Experience Domain/Industry Finance

Home state Mumbai

Interview Questions

1. Do you know what the information ratio is? Latest info about information
ratio
2. Best mutual funds in different category
3. How many shareholders (min and max) are in a private and public
company?
4. Is a public company the same as a listed company?
5. How is public different from listed?
6. Difference between a private and a public company
7. Is it compulsory for private companies to share their financial statements
publicly?

Page | 195
 8. Where can you buy shares of a private company?
9. Most famous fund houses for smart beta strategies
10. Talk about your hobbies
11. Have you read Mahabharata? Which character do you resonate with?

Interview Experience 29

Graduation College Banaras Hindu University

Graduation Degree Bachelor of Arts(Hons)

Graduation Specialisation Psychology

Professional Qualification NA

Work Experience (in months) NA

Work Experience Domain/Industry NA

Home state Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Why MBA and not MA in psychology?
3. Psychology theory of emotions
4. Human developement important theory
5. Freud human development theory
6. Erikson development theory
7. What is attribution?
8. Economics micro and macro
8. Price and cross elasticity
9. Draw graph of cross elasticity
10. Calculate cross elasticity
11. How to calculate from graph?

Page | 196
 PAST WAT
TOPICS

Page | 197
 Chess in India is growing
Student protests and strikes in top institutions, raising voice or disciplinary
misconduct
Are global corporations a threat to Indian democracy?
How can we promote sports in higher education institutions?
Is the habit of reading dying?
Should spirituality and physical education be made mandatory as part of MBA
curriculum
Should India invest in making it's own LLM models
Technology as a convenience and data privacy: An oxymoron!
Variation in the quality of Indian UG: Challenges and Path Forward
Quick Commerce - Boom or Bane?
How should managers work with GenZ?
Indian Entrepreneurship landscape, what is lacking?
Whether India should invest heavily on luxurious trains?
Agriculture sector in India
Does India needs more IIMs?
Declining contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP; What next?
Should India Inc adopt a 4 day work week or a 90 hour work week?
Cricket in India as a religion
Digital Activism : Amplifying misinformation or protecting democracy?
Should there be a cap on Systematic Investment Plan(SIP)?
Diversity in board room leads to better decision making
Social cohesion and National Prosperity
Overconsumption: An obvious fallout for business practices
Is classroom learning better or learning through experience?
Food with extra salt and sugar should be taxed more.
Freebie politics who gains? Masses or politicians?
One Nation One Election - Why should you oppose it and why hsould you not?
Ethics vs profits
Standardized examinations for higher education entrance: pros and cons
Knowledge is more important than creativity
Impact of technology on human relations
Jobless growth in India: A mystery

Page | 198
 Main goal of management is to increase profits of an organisation
Blockchain / AI / Social Media – boon or bane
Luck favours the brave
India’s diversity is a hindrance to its growth
Should the government regulate social media?
Does taxation on rich really help the poor?
Why BRICS matters and India’s strategic role in the multilateral
grouping
The changing landscape of management education is a bane for the
IIMs
Traditional shops vs Quick Commerce
Future of Cryptocurrency
Technology is making us less humane
Impact of digital banking on the unbanked
Future of AI – Co-Intelligence
Should secondary education be mandatory in India?
Is AI going to replace humans?
Freebies and its impact
Impact of Russia–Ukraine war on the global economy
How to eradicate corruption in India?
Is hydrogen energy the only source of green energy?
Global health care threats beyond the pandemic
Is India a Hindu nation?
Industry reorganization through self-disruption
Make in India
Is it right to give additional opportunities to underprivileged sections of
society in employment after providing the same in education?
Should agriculture subsidies be continued in India?
Women empowerment: Need for affirmative action
Markets are a great equaliser
Geopolitics – Are we on the verge of World War 3?
Women in C-suite leadership

Page | 199
 Fin ally,

You have come this far through your

sheer effort and determination
“What lies behind you and what lies
ahead matter far less than what
lies within you.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Just believe in yourself and give
your best, because

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

With regards,
TEAM IGNICION

Rishav | Srishti | Siddesh | Keshav |

Deepansh | Ashwin | Naman | Shinjali |
Sakshi | Praveen

Page | 200