XAT Decision Making Course

Decision Making for XAT 2020 – Previous Year Questions

The easiest way to crack XAT Decision Making Section is to go through XAT Decision Making previous year papers. To make it easy for students, I decided to put all the previous year papers of XAT Decision Making.

Instructions

Read the following caselet and answer the questions that follow:

Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
Vindhya, Shabnam and Amala are interning at a software organization as part of the requirement of their B-school curriculum. The organization has allotted each of them a project based on their area of specialization. In the first meeting with the HR head, they are informed of a PPO possibility (pre-placement offer, i.e., an offer to join the company after their MBA), based on their performance. All of them are eager to convert their internship into a job offer.
Each of them is assigned a mentor who evaluates the intern’s performance along with the HR head.

Question 1
In the second week of her eight-week internship, Amala realizes that the project requires inputs from subjects she studied in her third trimester. However, during the third trimester, Amala was significantly distracted by an inter-college sports meet, affecting her grasp of the subjects.
Which of the following is the MOST appropriate way forward for Amala?
A. Amala should request her mentor to allocate a different project because of her limited familiarity with the inputs required.
B. Amala should disclose to the mentor her limited understanding of the required inputs and seek his suggestions.
C. Amala should seek Shabnam's help who performed well in the third trimester.
D. Amala should realize that she may not get a PPO and so focus on networking with the experienced talent in the organization.
E. Amala, after studying the organization for a week, should design her own project and pitch it to her mentor.
Answer: B

Question 2
Vindhya's project is about understanding employee perception regarding the organization's HR policies. Against her own instinct, she is suggested by her mentor to interview only the good performers identified by his office because poor performers, he believes, usually crib against the policies.
Which of the following courses of action will BEST enable Vindhya to provide the organization with a complete picture?
A. Vindhya should completely comply with her mentor's suggestion.
B. Vindhya should ignore her mentor's directive, collect data from all, but compile reports separately for the good performers and the poor performers.
C. Vindhya should report this restraint to the HR head requesting her immediate intervention in the project.
D. Vindhya should request the HR Head to allot her another mentor without divulging the reason.
E. Vindhya should meet only those identified by her mentor, but also collect information from them as why their other colleagues are disgruntled.
Answer: E

Question 3
Shabnam, who is working on sales executives' work-life balance, has collected the following details about their frequent travels:
1. Frequent meetings help strengthen relationships with key customers.
2. Travelling has no effect on the personal lives of the sales executives as most of them are single.
3. Travel enhances the financial health of the sales executives since their fixed salaries are low.
4. Frequent travel has no significant impact on market budget, given the current high margins from sales.
5. The sales executives have the autonomy to decide the frequency of their travel. Shabnam thinks that the frequency of travel is higher than required.
Which of the following combinations of the above reasons can enable Shabnam BEST substantiate her thinking?
A. 1, 2 and 4
B. 2, 3 and 4
C. 3, 4 and 5
D. 2, 3 and 5
E. 1, 3 and 5
Answer: C

Instructions
Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
A Multinational Company (MNC) sources pristine natural spring water from Bori, a village in Satpura mountains. The unprocessed natural spring water is directly bottled by the MNC. The company brands it as 'Natural Spring Water' and sells at 50% premium vis-a-vis other brands that sell processed water.
The local panchayat, under the Panchayati Raj Act, 1992 controls the spring water usage. Hence, the company signed a 30-year contract with the panchayat for exclusive access to the spring water for business purposes. This contract contributes 50% to the panchayat's revenues besides providing 250 jobs in the panchayat. The spring also meets domestic and agricultural needs of the people of Bori and the surrounding villages.

Question 4
Chanchala owns a small parcel of farming land in Bori. She grows cannabis in some part of her land and earns a significant amount of money from it. Soon after the bottling plant was commissioned, Chanchala, instigated by a landlord with a vested interest, starts accusing the MNC of robbing her of water and impacting her livelihood. She threatens to take the MNC to court.
Which of the following options will BEST solve the MNC's problem?
A. Promise to employ Chanchala's 17-year-old son as he turns 18
B. Request the panchayat to excommunicate Chanchala for cultivating cannabis
C. Buy Chanchala's produce at a premium of 30% to the market price
D. Get the villagers employed by the MNC to persuade Chanchala not to sue
E. Compensate the monetary loss as perceived by Chanchala
Answer: D

Question 5
The MNC has spotted traces of chemicals in their fortnightly water quality analysis. The MNC realizes that this is due to the contaminated agricultural runoff, flowing into the spring from the nearby fields where farmers use pesticides and fertilizers. This requires an immediate solution. Which of the following options will BEST resolve the situation for the MNC?
A. Continue bottling the natural spring water without processing since the villagers drink it as it is
B. Since the customers trust the MNC to do what is good for them, remove the contaminants and continue to brand as 'Natural Spring Water'
C. Rebrand 'Natural Spring Water' as 'Purified Spring Water' after removing the contaminants through charcoal filtering
D. Close down the bottling plant until the problem is resolved and inform the media that customer interests override profit concerns
E. Source water from an uncontaminated natural spring 150 kms away at an addition of 50% to the total cost
Answer: E

Question 6
The MNC is concerned about chemical contamination of the natural spring water due to the agricultural runoff with pesticides and fertilizers. The MNC is looking for a sustainable solution to this contamination.
Which of the following courses of action will BEST solve the issue?
A. Negotiate with the Panchayat to gain control of the entire spring and provide alternate sources of irrigation for farming
B. Change branding from 'Natural Spring Water' to 'Processed Drinking Water'
C. Move to another state with unexploited natural springs
D. Coax the farmers in the natural spring's catchment to move to organic farming
E. Acquire all agricultural land in the natural spring's catchment and afforest them
Answer: D

Instructions
Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
The Small Shop, selling computer peripherals, is the only one of its kind in the remote village of Turturunk. Because online purchases take two weeks or more to arrive, The Small Shop is a quick stop for buying items such as pen drives and USB cables. Besides selling computer peripherals, The Small Shop also undertakes repairs of out-of-warranty products.

Question 7
The Small Shop which earlier recorded an annual increase of approximately 12% in revenues has been stagnating at 4% for the last three years, during which e-commerce sidelined brick and mortar outlets. The shop is struggling to increase profitability. In general, The Small Shop has been offering a discount on MRP to compete with e-commerce prices.
Which of the following is the BEST reason for The Small Shop NOT to reduce the current discount offered to the customers?
A. A large fading sign prominently placed behind the shop's cash counter reads 'in business and in life, always be fair'.
B. Recently customers from a nearby village have started shopping at The Small Shop for low-end peripherals, accounting for around 3% of the shop's total revenues.
C. To cover insurance costs, e-commerce has begun charging a delivery fee from last year.
D. A new resident who earlier worked in the computer hardware industry is contemplating starting a business in Turturunk.
E. Even though e-commerce offers a greater range of choices, villagers prefer buying readily available products from The Small Shop.
Answer: E

Question 8
The Small Shop wants to increase the variety of products sold, including expensive ones. However, it is averse to accumulating unsold products, specifically of the expensive kind.
Which of the following is the BEST option if The Small Shop wants to increase the variety of the products it sells?
A. The Small Shop should make an arrangement with a retailer of the nearest city. The shop can spare one of its employees once a week to procure the weekly requirements.
B. The Small Shop should focus only on low-end peripherals that currently contribute to 60% of its revenues.
C. The Small Shop should get suppliers to courier its requirements to the shop whenever needed. The suppliers require that The Small Shop orders a minimum quantity every month.
D. The Small Shop should acquire extra space at lower rentals available at a distance of three kilometres from its current location.
E. The Small Shop should focus exclusively on high-end peripherals which contribute to 10% of its revenues but 25% of its profits.
Answer: A

Question 9
An emerging brand offers a franchise to The Small Shop for repairing its products, on a condition that other brands are not to be repaired. Repairs currently account for 15% of its revenues.
Which of the following, if true, will BEST help The Small Shop to decide on the franchise?
A. The Small Shop will have to send two of its employees for a three-month training if it wishes to be a franchisee. The emerging brand will bear the training cost.
B. The upcoming brand is very new and needs franchisees desperately.
C. Revenues from repairs are expected to increase by about 3-5 percent annually.
D. No big and reputed brand has shown any interest in franchising The Small Shop.
E. For the first three years, the emerging brand has offered to pay a fixed amount equal to the revenues earned from repairs the previous year.
Answer: C

Instructions
Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
When Deepti opened the package, she was aghast. She received cotton pillow covers instead of satin pillow covers, she had ordered. Deepti ordered them for her father from a popular e-commerce website that hosted products of many sellers.
Confused, Deepti contacted the seller's office using the details given on the package. The seller's representative profusely regretted and promised to send the satin pillow covers at no extra cost. He added that Deepti need not return the cotton covers she received. Deepti happily accepted the deal.
A few days later, Deepti received another package from the seller. Unfortunately, this package also contained cotton pillow covers. Completely disillusioned with the seller's professionalism, Deepti decided to put to use these cotton pillow covers also.

Question 10
A few days later, Deepti received an email from the e-commerce website, requesting her to share feedback about the seller. Deeply frustrated with the overall online purchasing experience, she deliberately ignored it.
Later that evening, over supper, her father opined that the balcony curtains needed to be changed. He suggested that they be bought from a local shop. 'If something went wrong, we could at least yell at the seller,' he added.
Deepti stared at her laptop and began writing her feedback. What would Deepti DEFINITELY achieve by giving feedback?
A. Prove a point to her father
B. Release her frustration
C. Coerce the e-commerce website to punish the seller
D. Instigate people against the seller
E. An act of social service
Answer: B

Question 11
In the feedback column, Deepti awarded 1-star out of the maximum 5 stars to the seller and described her negative experience. Later that evening, the sales head called and pleaded with her to retract her feedback and upgrade them to 5-star, as they had already fired the employee concerned. He appealed that they were a young organization and that their sales were getting badly affected. Given the circumstances, what should be the IDEAL response?
A. She should retain the feedback but award 3-star as a consolation measure.
B. She should stick to her feedback and the stars awarded since she reported only what had taken place.
C. She should retract the feedback and award 5-star as the seller has already punished the concerned employee.
D. She should order again with the same seller and share her renewed experience.
E. She should retract the feedback and award 5-star since sales are getting affected.
Answer: B

Question 12
After a few months, the sales head enquired, 'In case you are using the cotton pillow covers and like them, kindly rate them on the e- commerce website. It will help us serve our customers better.'
Later that evening, her father remarked, 'You know, I really love these pillow covers though I am not sure why you bought so many of them'. Which of the following reasons gives Deepti the BEST rationale to ignore the sales head's request?
A. Acceding to the request will imply that she was wrong in ordering satin pillow covers in the first place.
B. If the seller truly cared about customers, they should have shipped the satin pillow covers by now.
C. Her review will lack credibility since there is no proof that she purchased the product.
D. Acceding to the request benefits just the seller while her sore experience remains.
E. Cotton pillow covers were delivered erroneously. Hence the seller does not deserve appreciation.
Answer: B

Instructions
Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
Rakesh, who hailed from Dhanbad, worked in Jamshedpur with SPCIL, a government construction company. Although HR policies concerning job security & work-life balance attracted Rakesh to SPCIL, over time he found his work monotonous with no growth opportunities. However, the proximity to Dhanbad enabled him to visit his parents at his convenience.
Recently Rakesh applied to Grow and Prosper (G&P), a multinational company engaged in construction related operations, making inroads into many Indian states. G&P interviewed Rakesh and offered him three times his current salary at SPCIL.

Question 13
While considering G&P's offer, Rakesh pondered over the following facts:
1. A recent government policy made poor performance punishable by salary reduction or dismissal.
2. The first assignment at G&P is a bridge construction project in a village near Dhanbad.
3. With his current savings, Rakesh need not depend on regular income for at least six months.
4. Though an exemplary performer, Rakesh has hardly been recognized at SPCIL.
5. Based on the annual performance review at G&P, Rakesh will either earn double the salary or get fired. Which of the following combinations of the above facts will BEST help Rakesh decide on joining G&P?
A. 5, 4, 2
B. 1, 3, 4
C. 1, 4, 5
D. 2, 4, 3
E. 4, 3, 5
Answer: A

Question 14
While mulling over the offer, Rakesh consulted Manikandan, his trusted senior at SPCIL. Manikandan, who had friends in G&P, disclosed that it preferred government employees for its projects in Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. 'Once the project is completed, G&P may not need your skills,' observed Manikandan.
Which of the following, if true, will BEST enable Rakesh to decide on the offer?
A. During the interview, G&P quizzed if Rakesh would sustain his relationship with his former colleagues at SPCIL.
B. Through social media, Rakesh discovered that Manikandan's contact, who had left SPCIL to join G&P, is no longer with G&P.
C. Senior-level employees at G&P, who began their career in similar projects, are now confined to their desk at the head office for almost a decade.
D. As G&P also planned to enter two Southern states, it has decided to recruit people from those states.
E. Manikandan stopped both of his sons from taking up private-sector jobs, given his loyalty to the government.
Answer: C

Question 15
Rakesh, in his current job, came across incidences of bribing by private sector officials. He wondered if he might have to bribe government officials while at G&P.
He reflected on his interview with G&P:
1. The interviewers were puzzled how Rakesh could manage his EMIs with his current income.
2. One interviewer was constantly probing how Rakesh managed to meet his project deadlines with little cooperation from his subordinates.
3. 'What would you do if your project has a fortnight's deadline and it takes a month to obtain a permit?,' asked another interviewer.
4. A question that intrigued Rakesh was, 'Should a pack of dacoits share their loot with one of their gang, who had killed a bystander against their motto 'Thou shalt not kill'?'
Which of the following sequences of the above statements is in the MOST appropriate DESCENDING order of bribing undertones?
A. 3, 4, 1 ,2
B. 4, 3, 2, 1
C. 4, 1, 2, 3
D. 1, 3, 2, 4
E. 3, 1, 2, 4
Answer: E

Instructions
Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
Two industrial towns, Jayanagar and Ramnagar, about 15 kms. apart, are similar in land area, population, ethnic diversity and per capita incomes.
Jagdeep Singh owns a bakery named Le Baguette in Jayanagar. He specializes in croissants, masala bread and whole wheat bread; eggless cakes are also a favorite.
Among the four bakeries in Jayanagar, Jagdeep's bakery with a market share of 30% is second only to the oldest Le Croissant bakery whose market share is 40%. Le Croissant commands a loyal customer base and does not offer eggless varieties.

Question 16
Jagdeep has decided to open a branch in Ramnagar. Which of the following facts about Ramnagar will BEST support his decision?
A. 3% of Le Baguette's current revenue comes from Ramnagar.
B. Jagdeep has managed to acquire a big space in Ramnagar at a nominal rent.
C. Before starting his own bakery, Jagdeep was supplying bread to most bakeries in Ramnagar.
D. Ramnagar is served by 4 bakeries, with the two largest bakeries having market shares of 55% and 25% respectively.
E. Le Croissant's Ramnagar branch struggles with a market share of 10%.
Answer: A

Question 17
Jagdeep wishes to open a 100% eggless branch in Ramnagar. To explore feasibility, he collected the following facts:
1. Eggless products account for 30% of Le Baguette's sales.
2. At least 20% of all bakery sales in Ramnagar is from eggless products.
3. The eggless varieties of Le Baguette contain minute traces of egg.
4. Le Baguette currently makes 3% of its revenue from Ramnagar customers and all of it comes from eggless products.
5. Le Croissant's Ramnagar branch struggles with a market share of 10%.
From the combinations below, in the DESCENDING order of effectiveness, choose the one that BEST supports Jagdeep's decision.
A. 5, 2, 1
B. 2, 1, 3
C. 2, 4, 1
D. 4, 3, 2
E. 5, 4, 1
Answer: C

Question 18
From a newspaper, Jagdeep has learnt that Americans use their own ovens to bake ready-to-bake products, sold by some bakeries. This idea is apparently catching up in Indian metros as well.
Jagdeep wants to try this out in his bakery. He has gathered the following facts:
1. US bakeries that also sell ready-to-bake products earned higher revenues compared to those that do not.
2. Around 7% of Jagdeep's regular customers own baking ovens in their homes.
3. The sale of baking ovens in India is forecast to increase by 12% every year, for the next three years.
4. 50% of Jagdeep's regular customers are fulltime working couples.
5. In Indian metros, ready-to-bake products give higher profit margins compared to finished products. Select the BEST of the following sequences of the above facts, in DESCENDING order of effectiveness, to support Jagdeep.
A. 2, 5, 1, 3, 4
B. 3, 4, 5, 1, 2
C. 1, 5, 3, 2, 4
D. 2, 3, 5, 1, 4
E. 3, 2, 1, 4, 5 Answer: D

Instructions
Read the situation below and answer the 3 associated questions:
A powerful, intelligent king Vanamali once ruled over an ancient kingdom, Vanarajya. The kingdom was known for its high mountains and sprawling plains, and ninety percent of its land was under forest cover. Trade in forest produce was the mainstay of its economy, supported by subsistence agriculture.
With the increase of population, over time the forest in the plains was cleared for agriculture. The forest in the mountains continued to supply nutrient-enriched water and abundant forest produce to the plains. As a result, agricultural yields were bountiful. The plains prospered as compared to the mountains.

Question 19
The increasing prosperity of the plains people tempted those in the mountains to divert forest land for agriculture. Vanamali was afraid that expansion of agriculture would result in deforestation of the mountains.
Which of the following is the BEST course of action for Vanamali to conserve the mountain forest?
A. Institute a mechanism that ensures plains people pay royalty, to be transferred to mountain people for maintaining forest cover
B. Declare a 'Mountain Day' when plains people meet and thank mountain people for sustaining their agriculture
C. Constitute a committee to protect the forest with powers to punish those who fell trees
D. Urge the elders of the mountains to come up with agricultural practices that ensure no erosion of forest cover
E. Levy a tax on traded agricultural produce from the plains to cross-subsidize supplies to mountain people
Answer: A

Question 20
Vanamali, afraid of further deforestation, issued a diktat against felling of trees in the mountains. In due course, thanks to the booming agriculture, the king along with plains people began to prosper. However, mountain people became relatively poor, thanks to Vanamali's diktat.
Which of the following options should mountain people choose to BEST protect their long-term interests?
A. Sell forest produce exclusively to the neighbouring kingdoms
B. Seek employment in the plains
C. Ignore Vanamali's diktat and divert forest land for agriculture
D. Charge a premium on forest produce and issue hunting permits
E. Stop the flow of rivers to the plains
Answer: D

Question 21
The village elders of the mountains had informed Vanamali about the presence of a precious metal in abundance under a large part of the forest. They pleaded with him to repeal his diktat and permit felling of trees for mining.
Vanamali knew that the precious metal would make his kingdom prosper. However, he was worried that mining would reduce the flow of nutrients, water and forest produce to the plains.
Vanamali's advisor Vanapandit presented the following action plans for his consideration:
1. Repeal the forest diktat and charge hefty royalty for mining in the mountains
2. Permit mining in the mountains and enforce rainwater harvesting in the plains
3. Permit mining in the mountains and begin afforestation in the plains
4. Continue with the forest diktat in the mountains
5. Permit limited mining in rotation but maintain the forest diktat in the rest of the mountains
Which of the following sequences of action plans, in the DESCENDING order of their ability to contribute to Vanarajya's sustainable prosperity, will be the MOST appropriate for Vanamali?
A. 5, 2, 4, 3, 1
B. 4, 5, 2, 3, 1
C. 4, 2, 5, 1, 3
D. 3, 5, 2, 1, 4
E. 5, 3, 2, 4, 1
Answer: E

XAT Decision Making Online Course @ 699 ₹/- Only

Decision Making for XAT 2019 – Previous Year Questions

The easiest way to crack XAT Decision Making Section is to go through XAT Decision Making previous year papers. To make it easy for students, I decided to put all the previous year papers of XAT Decision Making.

Instructions

Read the following caselet and answer the questions that follow:

You are a Human Resource (HR) Manager in the HR Department of Vikash Educational Charitable Trust. You organize and support recruitment and training, provide secretarial support for disciplinary investigations and keep personnel records of staff. You report to Ms. Deelipa, one of the two Senior HR Managers who reports to the HR Director.

For the post of Consultant Professor in the Trust, two internal candidates, Mr. Rana and Mr. Charan were interviewed. Mr. Charan was selected as he was considered to be academically gifted with impressive leadership skills, even though he had less experience than the other. Three days later, Mr. Rana came to your office complaining that the selection was unfair as he had more experience than Mr. Charan.

 Q.1. Which of the following is the best way to handle the issue raised by Rana?

A. Tell Mr. Rana, that you empathize with him, but the process was fair, and details of the assessment could be shared with him.

B. Tell Mr. Rana that if he is interested, he could write to the HR Director and you would act as per the directives received.

C. Offer tea to Mr. Rana and say that you can understand why he is upset. Let him have a bit of a moan and help him get it out of his system.

D. Tell Mr. Rana that the Institute finds the right person for the job, not the one who has been around the longest.

E. Warncycle. Mr. Rana that his complaint will be construed as misdemeanour and held against him in the next promotion

Answer: A

Q.2. Ms. Deelipa has asked you to conduct a Non Teaching Staff Induction Training. You are to call for a tender from various agencies with specifications that include the contents, duration, experience, budget and other relevant information. You then need to shortlist five agencies from the list of 20 and make a presentation within two days.

Review the following responses:

1. Rate all 20 agencies on a scale of 1 to 5 on information available and select the top 5.

2. Select the five lowest bids based on the price quoted.

3. Seek selection criteria from Deelipa and the HR Director and shortlist the bidders accordingly.

4. Follow the advise of a person who has completed a similar task.

Select the best of the following responses in the descending order of effectiveness?

A. 4 , 1 , 3

B. 1 , 3 , 4

C. 3 , 2 , 4

D. 1 , 2 , 3

E. 3 , 1 , 2

Answer: E

Q.3. The Vikash Trust has recently been plagued by a high turnover of teaching assistants with many looking for higher salary and better facilities. You have been asked to design and run a campaign to attract and appoint 10 teaching assistants. One of your measures of success will be the retention of the new recruits. You have 4 weeks for the interview.

 Review the following:

1. Shortlist apt candidates who reflect values of the Trust from among respondees to your wide advertisement campaign.

2. Design an ad that attracts candidates with values that matches the Trust’s, release it at an appropriate time and re-validate the candidates’ credentials at the time of shortlisting.

3. Repeat the process that was followed by the Trust last time.

4. Seek expert advice on drafting an attractive advertisement.

Select the best of the following responses in the descending order of effectiveness?

A. 4, 1, 2

B. 2, 1, 3

C. 4, 3, 1

D. 1, 2, 3

E. 2, 3, 4

Answer: B

Q.4. The new induction training program has been a roaring success. All new induction courses for the next 12 months have been tightly scheduled. This morning, you receive a call from Mr. Surya, the Head of the Trust requesting you to train eight newly recruited teaching assistants before they start their job next month. You explain that all the slots are fully booked for the next 3 months, but he insists that the new teaching assistants be trained immediately, to hopefully reduce turnover among them. You speak to Deelipa, who wants you to deal with the issue on your own.

 Review the following responses that you wish to communicate to Mr. Surya:

1. Inform him that once the schedules are drawn up, it is not possible to effect any change as the reputation of the Trust would be at stake.

2. Suggest that a new agency may be permitted to run induction sessions for these teaching assistants, as a special case.

3. Tell him that if some inductees dropout in the first month, at least some teaching assistants can be accommodated.

4. Tell him that since no space is available in the induction training sessions for three months, you, as the HR manager would conduct induction sessions for them after office hours.

Select the best of the following responses in the descending order of effectiveness.

A. 2, 1, 3, 4

B. 3 , 2 , 1 , 4

C. 3 , 2 , 4 , 1

D. 2 , 4 , 3 , 1

E. 2 , 3 , 1 , 4

Answer: D

Instructions

Read the following caselet and answer the questions that follow:

The Public Relations Department of an organization has spent only 4 crores of its allocated 16 crores on publicity. There are 2 months left in the financial year. Due to shortage of officers, the Assistant Director, Operations has been given an additional charge of publicity. Because of his other commitments, he is unable to find time to undertake tasks such as baseline study, ascertaining communication needs, testing proposed messages and media channels, deciding optimum periodicity, measuring impact, etc. He also argues spending the rest of the budget is unnecessary because their regular programs are already widely known. His boss, the Director, however, feels that only by utilizing the entire budget can a similar amount be demanded the next year. He also thinks that there is nothing like enough publicity.

Q.5. Which of these is the best course of action for the department?

A. Repeat the advertising done so far 3 times over and thus exhaust the entire amount.

B. Rely on the operational experience of the Director and the Assistant Director and start spending the optimal amount right away.

C. Surrender the budget right away so it can be utilized by other departments.

D. Hire a specialized external agency which will study the gaps and needs within a fortnight and follow it’s recommendations.

E. Request higher authorities to reallocate the remaining amount to other departments of the organization.

Answer: D

Q.6. Which of these new developments, if true, would most justify a larger utilization of the advertising budget?

A. Advertising agencies have announced a 25% reduction in rates.

B. An internal committee of the organization has made strong recommendations to improve service delivery.

C. The organization has approved a new major scheme for immediate implementation.

D. The findings of a baseline study on assessing communication needs are now available.

E. A new Assistant Director has been posted to exclusively look after publicity.

Answer: C

Instructions

Read the following caselet and answer questions that follow:

Sanchit group of Hospitals seeks to improve the success rate and patient satisfaction rate by 100% in the next year. However, the management can’t afford to send doctors for professional development outside the country nor afford purchasing more equipment. As an in-house measure, the managing board thought of having doctors with high patient satisfaction to mentor those with less. Most of the doctors found it an interference by the management, judgmental and an expression of distrust. There were, however, some isolated few who found it a novel way of learning from each other. The doctors felt the management should instead increase consultancy fees and spend more on recruiting more paramedics who could spend time with patients, rather than blame doctors and decided to call it quits. For the management, this would mean loss of patients.

Q.7. Consider the following actions:

1. Conduct a survey of all stakeholders and ascertain their needs and suggestions.

2. Build consensus among doctors and paramedics on a possible way forward.

3. Prepare an action plan that details the road map along with financial implications.

4. Design differential service packages based on the affordability of the patients.

5. Run a brainstorming session among the leading doctors of the area.

Which of the following sequence of actions is most appropriate for the hospital administration in achieving their goal?

A. 5, 4, 2

B. 1, 5, 3

C. 4, 2, 1

D. 4, 5, 2

E. 1, 2, 3

Answer: E

Q.8. Which of the following decisions is most likely to satisfy all the stakeholders?

A. Increase the income of doctors and paramedics, and the ambiance of the hospital.

B. Give 30% discount on medicines purchased from the hospital store.

C. Increase the income of doctors and the number of paramedics.

D. Raise income of doctors and reduce the waiting time of patients.

E. Allow doctors to choose patients based on income levels, thus profiting both patients and the organization.

Answer: A

Q.9. Given the current situation, which of the following is the most interactive and effective way to increase the learning among paramedics and doctors?

A. Get doctors and paramedics with high satisfaction rates document their success stories for use of others.

B. Encourage paramedics and doctors to pursue courses over MOOC platform, at their own cost, which shall be partially subsidized after successful completion.

C. Ask doctors and paramedics with high satisfaction rate to give lectures to others before start of work.

D. Implement professional development standards for staff linking it with an accountability framework.

E. Create groups of paramedics and doctors, to meet everyday and discuss their insights and experience of the day.

Answer: E

Instructions

Read the following caselet and answer the questions that follow:

Thakur Raja, a young cabinet minister, glanced through the notes of his secretary regarding the recent controversies on 'Racket', the most popular game of the country. While International Racket Association (IRA) has agreed to implement Drug Testing Code (DTC), the Racket Club which controls the entire Racket related activities had some reservations regarding the initiative. A majority of the citizens eagerly awaited their country’s participation and performance at the international competitions during the Champions Trophy. Due to the popularity of the game, 70% of the total revenue associated with the game originates from the country. Hence, the Racket Club has earned high bargaining power with the IRA and can influence decisions not aligned with its interests. Three of the most popular and senior players of the Club, including the captain, are against the imposition of DTC citing security reasons. A decision against the interests of these players might result in law and order problems throughout the country. Other players support the decision of their senior colleagues and if the Racket Club refuses, players may support the rebel Counter Racket Club, a new national level initiative. The Counter Racket Club can challenge the monopoly of the Racket Club, if it succeeds in attracting some popular players.

Raja was a great soccer player and has major reservations against racket. According to him, racket has negative influence on the country's youth and distracts them from productive work. He also considers drug testing as an essential feature of any sports and games across the world. As the new cabinet minister for Youth and Sports, he needs to take some important decisions on this contentious issue.

Q.10. If Thakur Raja wants to create a lasting impact, the most reasonable option for him is to:

A. Force the Racket Club to accept all regulations relating to drug testing.

B. Enforce drug testing while providing adequate security to all players.

C. Get popular Racket players to endorse Soccer.

D. Ban Racket as a sport, citing its negative influence on youth.

E. Align with Counter Racket Club and reinforce their initiatives.

Answer: B

Q.11. Identify the best argument for Raja to decide in favor of the IRA.

A. Raja is interested in making Racket less popular in the country.

B. Three of the top international teams are keen on implementing DTC.

C. The next World cup is scheduled to be held in a country which has made DTC mandatory.

D. Raja and the President of the Racket Club are political opponents and could use the present issue to settle their mutual scores.

E. Raja can justify his decision citing his position as a cabinet minister.

Answer: C

Q.12. According to DTC, each athlete/sportsperson needs to submit their schedule for the next three months specifying an hour each day when they can be randomly tested for drugs. DTC also ensures the confidentiality of the submitted schedule by:

i) Limiting access of player-supplied information only to two senior officers.

ii) Allowing these officers to access the schedule of only those sports persons who are randomly selected for testing.

iii) Introducing similar security features for DTC database as is the case with financial institutions.

The top three popular players realize security is the only reason for them to get a favorable decision from

Raja. Hence during discussions, they should focus on all options except:

A. Recent report includes their country to be among the top five nations vulnerable to data security breach.

B. DTC is unwilling to share details with security agencies of officers involved in background check.

C. Any leak of their private schedules may result in huge public gathering and it will make the job of security agencies very difficult.

D. Popular Racket players are on the hit list of terrorist organizations.

E. It is difficult to provide adequate security coverage in large stadiums where Racket is played.

Answer: E

Instructions

Read the following caselet and answer the questions that follow:

Mrs. Bhalla is the principal of 'Happy Public School'. While it is a private school, the trust is socially sensitive and as part of their 'Spread Happiness Policy' provides quality education to many needy students from low income neighborhood for free. She received a strange complaint from some of the affluent parents regarding their discomfort with allowing poor children to study along with their kids. They were concerned more about their manners, habits and language than about schooling. They wanted the trust to either start a separate shift for such children or remove them from the school since they are supporting them. On the other hand, the parents of the poor children complained of bullying and teasing and shared their concern regarding the mental trauma their children undergo. While Mrs. Bhalla, by no means wants to yield to the demands of the affluent parents, she also cannot ignore them since some of them have been making substantial donations to the school.

Q.13 Which of the following is most likely to get the affluent parents to accept the school's policy?

A. Accept the suggestion of affluent parents to start a separate shift for the poor students.

B. Invite professionals to conduct workshop for the poorer children so that they learn basic manners, habits and language.

C. Meet the two parent groups separately, understand their key concerns and seek solutions from both.

D. Invite the founder of the school to clarify to all parents the school's policy.

E. Share the fact, that the government instituted school ranking, places 25% weight to policies similar to the school’s.

Answer: E

Q.14. While Mrs. Bhalla understands the problems of overcrowded classrooms and classroom management, she foresees in them an opportunity to develop more sensitive and self-motivated learners.

Mrs. Bhalla is considering the following actions:

1. Take the student and teacher councils on board and seek their ideas to redress the challenge the school faces.

2. Brainstorm with teachers and students on a strategy to engage all learners in teams for meaningful learning and healthy relationships.

3. Encourage students for self-learning and teachers into more supervisory roles to ensure discipline.

4. Engage students in a process of periodic reflection so that they can get in touch with their thoughts, feelings and actions towards self and others.

5. Create achievement based student groups to encourage competition and ease classroom management.

Which of the following combination of actions would be most effective in developing sensitive and self-motivated learners?

A. 1 , 2 , 3

B. 1 , 3 , 5

C. 2 , 1 , 5

D. 5 , 4 , 3

E. 1 , 2 , 4

Answer: E

Q.15. Which of the following options will empower students the most?

A. Ensure no kid from poor income group is detained.

B. Maximise students learning achievement.

C. Help students relate learning to their real life experiences.

D. Ensure rich kids to get to know those on whom their money is spent.

E. Encourage students to ask questions that teacher find difficult to answer.

Answer: C

Instructions

Read the following caselet and answer questions that follow:

Divya grew up in a business family in Hyderabad. As a Systems engineer she travelled extensively on business deals and later settled in her in-law's place in Warangal. Once during her visit to Thailand she got to taste some roll over ice cream. Interestingly, a few weeks later, she came across an advertisement from a reputed Bangalore based Rollover Handcrafted Ice Cream Company calling for expression of interest from potential franchises.

Warangal did not have any quality ice cream parlour. The company wanted the potential franchisees to invest Rs. 20 lacs and 700 square feet space. Profits were to be shared in 3:7 ratio between the company and the franchisee. Divya was excited, but was wondering if Rs. 20 lacs was too much to invest. Further, she did not have the entire amount and was thinking of taking a loan. She enquired with the Rollover franchisees and found that a franchisee in Hyderabad had sales revenue varying between 5 and 6 lacs rupees per month with a profit margin between 25-30%. Divya decided to go ahead.

Warangal had three main areas -Kazipet, Jangaon and Warangal. All areas were linked by good roads. Kazipet was a business area where most high end retail formats were located. It was also the education hub of the city. Jangaon, on the other hand, was a growing lower middle class business area and Warangal was mostly residential.

Divya favoured Kazipet. However, she soon encountered problems. Not only was it difficult to obtain space in Kazipet but property rentals touched 30-40 rupees per square feet per month as against Jangaon and Warangal where it was 15-20 rupees per square feet per month. Divya's friend, who lived in Jangaon, told her that a few branded outlets were opening in Jangaon and it appeared to be the fastest growing market in Warangal with the highest percentage of teenagers. But, Divya was not in favour of Jangaon. She hoped to target college going crowd of Kazipet. High real estate prices in Kazipet and lower profitability estimate in Jangaon market confused Divya.

Q.16. Which of the following options, if true, would most likely interest Divya to start a franchise?

A. Doctors of the area do not consider Ice cream to be a major cause of obesity.

B. A bank is ready to give her a quick loan.

C. She can charge high prices for her ice creams without losing customers.

D. Her friend who runs a restaurant recently in Kazipet is doing good business.

E. In recent times, a couple of franchisees shut down within months of starting.

Answer: C

Q.17. Which of the following is least likely to demotivate Divya?

A. Investing a huge amount may not bring expected returns.

B. The bank would insist on loan repayment on a monthly basis.

C. The property rentals would soon go up in Kazipet.

D. Unlike Hyderabad, people in Kazipet don't seem to like Rollover ice cream.

E. Rollover franchise in Hyderabad is making huge profits.

Answer: E

Q.18. What could be the most likely reason for Divya opting for Kazipet?

A. Spiralling real-estate prices in Kazipet.

B. No branded outlets is likely to come up in Jangaon in the near future.

C. High percentage of teenagers in Kazipet attracted to Rollover ice cream.

D. High density of population in both Warangal and Jangaon.

E. She felt, college going crowd is excited about the latest in ice creams.

Answer: E

Q.19. Which is the most important decision criterion for Divya to consider in such a business situation?

A. Attracting customers through big discounts in the initial phase of business.

B. Consistent increase in the number of customers in the future.

C. Range and variety of ice-cream flavours.

D. Availability of space in premium locality.

E. Availability of loan at low interest rate.

Answer: B

Instructions

Read the following caselet and answer the questions that follow:

Due to increased competition, Electro Automobiles, the Indian subsidiary of Robert Automobile Company (RAC) reported lower sales and profits. RAC expects its new model Limo, developed especially for value conscious customers of India and China, would revive its fortunes. In order to prevent customers from buying competing products, RAC announced the launch of Limo six months ahead of schedule. Unrest in its Indian supplier resulted in delayed delivery of essential components to its main plant. Hence, Limo was launched on schedule only in China. Within a short span, Limo captured 30% of the Chinese market , which was 200% higher than expectation. Indian customers were becoming increasingly restless because they couldn’t get a Limo in India. Electro's dealers were worried, customers might switch to other cars.

Q.20. The indian subsidiary is concerned that the delay in launching the product will give undue advantage to some competitor. The organization was considering the following strategies to keep customers engaged with the company:

1. Ask the dealers to encourage their prospective customers to seek similar products from the competition, rather than wait for Limo's launch.

2. Suggest the dealers to accept booking for Limo, announcing the launch within six months of booking, while in reality plan to keep postponing launch indefinitely.

3. Run full page advertisements in the papers, every month, to keep the interest in the model from ebbing, with no mention of the launch date.

4. Import parts from outside India, and launch the product, at a 30% premium, planning a relaunch a few years later of the indianized version.

5. Go against its worldwide policy of non-interference in supplier plants, and announce a hefty bonus to the employees of the supplier with a hope to temporarily bring the plant to life.

6. Promise the supplier plant (that has some unrest) a higher margin share of about 5% compared to what was shared earlier, with an eye to stem the unrest.

Which of the following combination of responses above, will most likely keep the prospective customers engaged with the company and not jump to some competitor's product?

A. 1 , 2 , 3

B. 2 , 3 , 4

C. 3 , 2 , 5

D. 1 , 5 , 6

E. 3 , 4 , 5

Answer: E

Q.21. Mr. Murugan from Chennai experienced the comfort of Limo during his visit to China. He was willing to deposit an approximate price of Limo to buy the first available unit from Mr. Ahmed, a dealer in Chennai. Electro Automobile is yet to announce the actual price, and the process for allocation of the vehicles. Which of the following is the best option for Ahmed?

A. Collect launch. 50% of the entire amount Mr. Murugan is willing to deposit as advance and the remaining at the time of

B. Collect the entire amount Mr. Murugan is willing to deposit after clarifying that delivery and price is subject to the company policy.

C. Collect the amount and transfer it to the account of Electro Automobiles, instead of keeping it in his personal account.

D. Collect the amount from Mr. Murugan. Later when the delivery is delayed, blame it on RAC's problems.

E. Not collect the amount, but suggest to Mr. Murugan to write to Electro Automobiles.

Answer: B

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Decision Making for XAT 2018 – Previous Year Questions

The easiest way to crack XAT Decision Making Section is to go through XAT Decision Making previous year papers. To make it easy for students, I decided to put all the previous year papers of XAT Decision Making.

Answer questions 1-3 on the basis of information given in the following situation.

 Satyender heads a branch of a Micro-Finance company. The company provides small-size loans catering to rural households. As the head of the branch, he supervises three collection officers – Palani, Sayed, and Godwin. Palani was recently transferred by the company from another branch.

Sayed feared Palani’s transfer may pull down the performance of the branch, as he felt Palani was transferred due to his poor performance in the previous branch.

Q. 1. Which of the following information will most likely assuage Sayed’s fear?

1. In the past 12 years as the head of branch, Satyender has exceeded targets every time.
2. Palani has been a top performer in the organization; his performance has deteriorated only in the last three years.
3. The branch’s performance has been good for the past 10 years; Sayed has joined the organization 3 years back.
4. When Sayed joined as a fresher in this branch, others in the branch had feared that he might bring down the performance of the branch.
5. While calculating the branch’s performance, the branch head has the choice to exclude new joinee’s performance.

Three months later, Palani submitted local travel bills to Satyender for reimbursement. Satyender realized that the bill amount was 30% higher than expected.

Q. 2. Which of the following options, if true, will enable Satyender take a decision that shall set a precedent, which is least likely to be misused in the future?

(A) Palani being new to the area uses autorickshaws which are more expensive than personal motorcycles used by other collection officers.

(B) Unlike his colleagues, Palani’s house has very poor public transport connectivity.

(C) Unlike his colleagues, Palani’s sales territory has a powerful competitor.

(D) Unlike his colleagues, Palani’s customers can meet him only during weekends.

(E) Unlike his colleagues, Palani has to visit customers repeatedly as they require additional persuasion.

Satyender is allocating territories to his subordinates for the coming financial year. So far, Palani’s performance has been poor and this allocation will decide his future in the organization.

Q. 3. Which of the following information will be the least useful to Satyender in taking a fair allocation decision?

(A) Sayed’s territory has shown consistently good performance in the past three years.

(B) Sayed’s territory faces stiff competition from a well-known brand.

(C) A new territory that faces competition from two relatively unknown brands.

(D) Godwin’s territory has shown consistent results in the past three years.

(E) Godwin’s territory performance has been flat for the past two years.

Answer 1: E

Answer 2: A

Answer 3: E

Answer questions 4-6 on the basis of information given in the following situation.

 Lal & Sons, a family business, comprises three different companies in three different industries. Sudarshan Lal was heading this entire business from the inception. Two years ago, he hired three managers, one for each company and Chhaganlal Jha as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to look after the entire business. These three managers are reporting to the CEO. However, Sudarshan Lal and his family still own the entire business, though they are not involved in day to day operations.

Two years after the handing over, Sudarshan was concerned that none of the companies, except one, is profitable.

Q. 4. Which of the following information, if true, will most likely reduce Sudarshan’s concerns?

(A) A leading financial institution recently advised its investors to purchase the shares of the two loss making companies with a long term outlook.

(B) The Corporation’s performance was stagnant for three years, before Sudarshan handed it over to professionals.

(C) The best performing division belongs to an industry, which is growing in double digits.

(D) People holding senior positions have been replaced two years ago by fresh and young talent.

(E) The rate at which employees are leaving the best performing division is higher than the industry average.

Some of the senior employees who left Lal & Sons in recent past have complained to Sudarshan that the long cherished values of the organization such as respect for elders, job security etc. are being compromised.

Q. 5. Which of the following options, if true, will indicate to Sudarshan that the employees are misleading him?

(A) The replaced employees have been average performers for many years.

(B) When senior employees were assigned to lead challenging but critical positions in the organization, they resigned.

(C) The senior employees were replaced by people below them and not from outside the organization.

(D) The replaced senior employees had only 4 more years of service and were not compensated for the pre-mature termination.

(E) The number of senior employees voluntarily leaving this organization is lower than the industry average.

Chhaganlal Jha, the CEO, was certain that someone in his leadership team was leaking information to Sudarshan Lal, well before Chhaganlal communicated.

Q. 6. Given the following options, how best should Chagganlal Jha respond to this situation?

(A) Chhaganlal should request Sudarshan to kindly wait for him to communicate as informal sources may lead to misinformation.

(B) Chhaganlal should complain about this to Sudarshan and threaten to resign.

(C) Chhaganlal should request his team to continue passing information, since it brings down the communication barrier.

(D) Chhaganlal should understand that this is bound to happen and should not bother.

(E) Chhaganlal should threaten his team that one of them will be fired by the weekend if this practice of passing information doesn’t stop immediately.

Answer 4: A

Answer 5: B

Answer 6: A

Answer questions 7-9 on the basis of information given in the following situation.

 Rose is the Queen of Kingdom A and Emily is the Queen of Kingdom B; both share a common border. They also share a border with Kingdom C, a much larger kingdom, ruled by King Jonathan who has expansive ambitions. Though individually their armies were no match to his might, together their armies were more powerful than King Jonathan’s army.

Jonathan’s kingdom also bordered Kingdom K on the opposite side, making Kingdom C a buffer state between Kingdoms A, B and K. Kingdom K is ruled by King Summer Sault, who united a group of warring and belligerent tribes under his aegis. Kingdom K and Kingdom C had continuous skirmishes with each other.

Jonathan realized that he has limited arms and ammunition to fight on all the three fronts simultaneously. Therefore, he planned to double the arms and ammunition which will take a few years. When this news reached Emily and Rose they held a secret meeting to discuss the situation.

 Q. 7. Which of the following actions, by Emily and Rose, will be the best suited to delay Jonathan’s plan?

(A) Emily and Rose should send arms and ammunition to Summer Sault for the next few years.

(B) The two queens should meet Jonathan and attempt to sign a peace pact.

(C) Emily and Rose should also double their armies.

(D) Emily and Rose should attack Jonathan immediately.

(E) The two queens should ignore the news.

Jonathan aims to invade and annex Kingdom K once and for all.

Q. 8. Which of the following options will best enable him to accomplish the ambition?

(A) He should request the cooperation of Queen Rose and Queen Emily.

(B) He should sign a peace pact with Queen Rose and Queen Emily.

(C) He should try and create a rift between the two Queens.

(D) He should secretly invest in doubling his army, by reducing all other expenditure.

(E) He should attack all three kingdoms simultaneously, giving them no time to cooperate.

King Summer Sault was growing tired of the warring tribes, who slowed down the overall economic development of Kingdom K.

 Q. 9. Which of the following is the best option for King Summer Sault to focus on economic development?

(A) Align with Jonathan to eliminate one or two of the tribes and instil fear in others.

(B) Align with the two Queens to eliminate a few tribes and unify the rest.

(C) Design annual economic plans, with each plan named after a different tribe.

(D) Create a rift among the tribes and instigate a civil war.

(E) Request Jonathan to send teachers, doctors and artists to improve economic development of Kingdom K.

Answer 7: D

Answer 8: D

Answer 9: B

Answer questions 10-12 on the basis of information given in the following situation.

Ava is the CEO of Ratan Brothers, a bicycle manufacturing company. The organization is doing well financially, with a steadily increasing share price. Recently, Ava promoted Bhushan, her nephew, to the position of head of procurement after he completed five years in the organization. After the promotion, he was automatically inducted into the quality council headed by Ava.

Dev and Sons is a supplier to Ratan Brothers. It supplies “ball bearings”, an important part of any bicycle. After Bhushan took over, he switched to a new supplier citing quality deficiencies in Dev and Sons’ product. Dev and Sons responded by publicly declaring that quality was not compromised. Further, it alleged that its competitor bribed Bhushan to get the contract.

Post this public allegation, the share price of Ratan Brothers started falling.

Q. 10. Which of the following is the best option for Ava to immediately stem the falling stock prices?

(A) Fire Bhushan, blacklist Dev and Sons and inform the press.

(B) Issue a press statement that a committee has been formed to look into the matter.

(C) Issue a press statement that the company’s quality standards have increased and that anyone is welcome to scrutinize the relevant documents.

(D) Cancel the remaining order and call for a fresh tender.

(E) Do nothing, as Bhushan, as the head of procurement, has the right to decide on the supplier.

Under pressure from media and suppliers, Ava constituted a cross-functional committee of senior executives to investigate Dev and Sons’ allegation against Bhushan. The committee exonerated Bhushan. However, rumors within the organization began to spread that the decision was influenced by nepotism.

 Q. 11. Which of the following should be the best response from Ava?

(A) Do nothing, as the committee has exonerated Bhushan.

(B) Force Bhushan to resign temporarily. Make an independent enquiry, if found innocent, reinstate Bhushan.

(C) Communicate to all shareholders that these kinds of practices are very common in organizations.

(D) Sack all those employees who questioned the authority of Ava.

(E) Explain in a town hall meeting, open to all the employees, how the decision to exonerate Bhushan was taken.

A few months after the issue of Dev and Sons, a vigilance committee discovered some financial irregularities attributable to Bhushan in his earlier stint as a senior manager in marketing. The board of directors was concerned about this and demanded a response from the CEO.

Ava contemplated following responses:

1. Offer to resign from the post of CEO, since as the CEO she is ultimately responsible for everything in the organization.
2. Sack Bhushan immediately and make the reason public.
3. Have a town hall meeting with all the employees and deny any financial irregularities in the organization.
4. Communicate to the board that as the CEO, the organization’s financial health is her top priority, on which she has delivered stellar performance in the last five years.
5. Inform the board that Bhushan was promoted because his initiatives helped the company immensely.

 Q. 12. Which of the following sequence of actions is the most appropriate for Ava?

(A) 5,2,1

(B) 5,4,3

(C) 1,2,3

(D) 2,1,4

(E) 3,4,1

Answer 10: C

Answer 11: E

Answer 12: D

Answer questions 13-15 on the basis of information given in the following situation.

Q. 13. What will be the minimum time required to deliver a parcel at Kharagpur office from Jamshedpur station and come back to Jamshedpur station?

(A) 4 hours 25 minutes

(B) 5 hours 5 minutes

(C) 6 hours 35 minutes

(D) 7 hours 30 minutes

(E) None of the above

An employee, starting from Howrah station, has to deliver one parcel at Kharagpur office and another parcel at Jamshedpur office. His task starts the moment he boards the train at Howrah station, and gets completed immediately after delivering the second parcel.

 Q. 14. Which of the following trains should he board at Howrah station to minimize the time required to complete his task?

(A) T201

(B) T202

(C) T204

(D) Both Option A and Option B

(E) Both Option B and Option C

An employee, starting from Kharagpur station, has to deliver one parcel at Howrah office and another parcel at Jamshedpur office. His task starts the moment he boards the train at Kharagpur station, and gets completed immediately after delivering the second parcel.

Q. 15. Which of the following trains should he board at Kharagpur station to minimize the time required to complete the task?

(A) T102

(B) T103

(C) T202

(D) T203

(E) Both Option B and Option D

Answer 13: B

Answer 14: E

Answer 15: B

Answer questions 16-17 on the basis of information given in the following situation.

Three persons, A, B and C, lived on an island hill. A lived on the top of the island hill, B occupied the middle portion of the hill and C occupied the bottom of the hill. The top of the hill received good rainfall, the main source of water in the hill, though this portion of the hill had few trees. The middle of the hill however was lush with trees offering timber. The bottom of the hill had a good amount of stones and sand. A, B and C assessed their wealth in terms of ownership of timber, water, stones and sand available in the island hill only. During heavy rains, stones and sand from the top and middle portion of the hill rolled over to the bottom. When the rains stopped, both A and B claimed that some stones rolled down from their lands to the land occupied by C. They wanted the stones back. But C argued that rolling down of stones is a natural process.

All three approached a wise man for the settlement of the ownership dispute.

 Q. 16. Which of the following is the best option available for the wise man?

(A) Award ownership of stones to A.

(B) Permit A to build a dam so that B and C are deprived of water.

(C) Award ownership of stones to C, as stones rolled down naturally.

(D) Award equal rights to all three over all the resources.

(E) Award A, ownership of water and C, ownership of stones.

Six months later, the three realized that the solution offered by the wise man in the previous question wasn’t working to the satisfaction of all, because it did not help them find the appropriate value of resources. Therefore, they reverted to status quo ante. After one year, all three of them wanted to construct a house each, on their respective property. Three types of resources – 1.Timber, 2.water and 3.stone & sand – were required to build a house. While each had one resource in abundance none of them had all the three in sufficient quantity. They still could not come to an agreement on how to fairly value and use each other’s resources to construct the house. They again approached the wise man for advice.

The wise man studied the situation carefully and proposed the following actions:

1. The governing body of the United Federation of Islands, of which the island hill is a part, should take ownership of all the three properties and construct houses for the three.
2. Each person should own one third of each of the resources.
3. The three persons should arrive at the value of resources by trading the resources among them.

Q. 17. Which of the following is the most appropriate in the best interests of A, B and C?

(A) 1 only

(B) 2 only

(C) 3 only

(D) 1 and 2 only

(E) All of 1, 2 and 3

Answer 16: D

Answer 17: C

Answer questions 18-19 on the basis of information given in the following situation.

Ramesh, the owner of an auto-component manufacturing company in Sanand, had just returned after attending the funeral of his employee, Pankaj Kumar, who had died of cancer at the age of 35. Pankaj was a hardworking and sincere employee with impeccable performance record. Pankaj was the sole bread earner for his family with negligible savings and was survived by his wife and two school going children. His wife will get around 8 lakh rupees accrued to Pankaj as social security benefit.

A large number of employees wanted the organization to employ Pankaj’s wife on compassionate grounds so that she could support her family. Though Ramesh was sympathetic to the demand, he realized that this could set a precedence, where the organization will have to provide jobs for everyone with similar conditions in the future. In fact, only recently, Ramesh had refused a request for a job to the daughter of an employee, who had died a few months before he was to retire.

Ramesh formed a committee to look into this matter and the committee came up with the following suggestions:

1. Create a fund to take care of immediate family expenses.
2. Finance the school and college education of his children.
3. Sponsor the vocational education of his wife and subsequently help her find a job.
4. Purchase insurance for all the family members.
5. Request all employees of the organization to contribute towards the welfare of the family.

 Q. 18. Which of the following options, from the above suggestions, will be the most sustainable for Pankaj’s family?

(A) 1 and 2

(B) 2 and 3

(C) 3 and 4

(D) 4 and 5

(E) 3 and 5

Ramesh, along with senior managers, was in the process of designing a policy to deal with such issues in the future.

 Q. 19. Which of the following policy statements will be the least amenable to misuse in the future?

(A) The firm should provide one job to any of direct dependents of the deceased employee.

(B) The firm should provide one job to any dependent, if employee dies during the service.

(C) The firm should provide one job to any dependent, if the family does not have any other support and employee dies during service.

(D) The firm should provide help to the dependent family members in pursuing good education and employment.

(E) The firm shall constitute a committee, with fair representation from all stakeholders, to decide on the course of action based on specifics of the case.

Answer 18: B

Answer 19: E

Answer questions 20-21 on the basis of information given in the following situation.

Madhuri Apte, a busy professional, rents out her studio apartment located in South Mumbai. Since she stays three hours away from the studio apartment, she uses a networked digital lock to monitor the property remotely. Each customer gets a temporary and unique access code for the digital lock that enables them to enter the studio apartment for the duration of stay. The apartment’s entrance door can also be opened with physical keys and Madhuri Apte has two such keys in her possession.

Madhuri Apte has employed a cleaner who has a permanent access code to enter the apartment for cleaning every day. She is available only between 15:00 hrs and 17:00 hrs.

Madhuri Apte’s apartment caters largely to international customers. A customer typically stays for 3 days, paying an average rent of $125 per day.

While Madhuri Apte’s studio apartment gets good feedback on other aspects, many seem unhappy as they found the operation of the digital lock complicated.

 Q. 20. Which of the following options is the best for Madhuri Apte in this context?

(A) Madhuri should switch to a physical lock.

(B) Madhuri, on request, should send one of the physical keys five days ahead of customer’s arrival at an extra charge of $75.

(C) Madhuri should request the cleaner to explain the working of the digital access code to customers for an extra charge.

(D) Madhuri should do nothing as digital locks shall be the norm in the future.

(E) Madhuri should create a video manual on “how to use the digital access code” and e-mail it to the customers before their arrival.

Madhuri’s apartment received good feedback from the guests, except with respect to the operation of the digital lock. She decided to leave a spare physical key in the house for her guests. Recently some of the guests had forgotten to leave the key behind during checkout. Making a spare key will cost $500 and will take about 10 days to arrive. She was confused if she should continue leaving the spare key and was looking for a way out.

 Q. 21. Which of the following would be the best way out for her?

(A) Keep Digital lock as the only option and communicate to customers.

(B) Be present during checkout to ensure the key is returned.

(C) Request the cleaner to be present during checkout.

(D) Send polite reminders to guests before checkout date and on the day of checkout to leave the key behind.

(E) Charge security deposit of $100 which will be forfeited if the keys are not left behind.

Answer 20: E

Answer 21: E

XAT Decision Making Online Course @ 699 ₹/- Only

Decision Making for XAT 2017 – Previous Year Questions

The easiest way to crack XAT Decision Making Section is to go through XAT Decision Making previous year papers. To make it easy for students, I decided to put all the previous year papers of XAT Decision Making.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 1-2 that follow:
Vimla is the domestic help for Shreya and her neighbour Padma; both live in a posh gated community. Vimla not only cleans the house, but also cooks for both the families. Shreya treasures Vimla ever since she joined her family four years ago. Vimla joined Padma‘s household this year.

Q. 1. One evening Shreya trying to pay the pizza delivery, was surprised to find a few five hundred rupee notes missing from her purse that she was sure were there earlier. She wants to ascertain if someone has stolen the money. On reflecting, the following facts crossed her mind:-
1. In the last one year, Shreya had noticed cash missing on three occasions.
2. Shreya‘s husband also shared that a few notes were missing from his wallet, though he was not sure if they were stolen.
3. Her eldest son had been pestering Shreya for more pocket money for the last three weeks; in the last few days, he had stopped doing so.
4. In the last one year, Vimla had received six mails from her family asking for money.
5. Her eldest son‘s expenditure had gone up in the last few days.

Which of the following combinations of the above statements would DECREASE the likelihood that Vimla has stolen the money?

A. 1 and 3
B. 1 and 4
C. 1 and 5
D. 2 and 4
E. 3 and 5

If the money was stolen, then someone who had the need for money should have stolen it. Out of the options available the choices 1&4 and 2&4 will increase the probability that Vimla has stolen it and hence, B and D are wrong. Options 3&5, 1&3, and 1&5 will increase the probability that Shreya‘s son has stolen it. Out of the three options 3&5 would make the probability of stealing by son the highest, which would imply that the probability that Vimla has stolen it is the lowest. Hence, E is the right answer.

Q. 2. Padma discovered some money missing from her purse. She suspects that Vimla has stolen it. She wants to prevent the stealing from happening again and is contemplating the following actions:

1. She should let it pass, since to err is human.
2. She should confront Vimla and tell her that she knows the truth and the act is unpardonable regardless of her past service and she is thinking of terminating her services.
3. She should tell Vimla that she is aware someone has stolen money from the house but is not sure who it is.
4. She should share with Vimla that neighbours think Vimla has stolen the money though she doesn‘t, but is interested in finding out the truth.
5. She should directly ask Vimla if she stole the money, promising her no punishment if she confesses.
Arrange the following combinations of the above actions in the DECREASING order
of appropriateness.

A. 1, 5, 4
B. 2, 4, 1
C. 2, 5, 4
D. 3, 5, 4
E. 5, 2, 4

The objective is to prevent (P) further theft while being appropriate (A). Therefore, best option should be P:Yes and A:Yes
Statement 1: (P-N, A-Y) Objective of prevention is not met in 1.
Statement 2: (P-Y, A-N)
Statement 3: (P-Y, A-Y) Message delivered to Vimla is same in statement 3 and 4, but 3 is more appropriate
Statement 4: (P-Y, A-Y (somewhat)): Message delivered to Vimla is same in 3 and 4, but 3 is more appropriate, as in 4 Shreya is bringing in a third party (neighbours) when it is she who suspects.
Statement 5: (P-Y, A-Y). This is more appropriate than 4 but less appropriate than 3 since compared to 4 where Shreya is placing the blame on her neighbours, in 5 Shreya owns it up, however in 3 Shreya is discussing the incident, while in 5 she is pointing a finger at Vimla purely on suspicion.
Therefore, Option D is the correct answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the question that follows:
Q. 3. Genius Consulting is a boutique consulting firm started by Shirish, Balram, Rahmanand Xavier, four friends from a premier business school. They committed themselves to abide by two principles: a) not to indulge in anything unethical and b) share earning sequally.
Genius Consulting could not get a significant project till the following year, when they managed a big one after Rahman‘s father referred their firm to his top management. Convinced of the team‘s talent following an impressive presentation, the top management awarded them the project even though six other referred teams made presentations.
The day following the presentation, they met to decide the way forward for the organization. Which of the following choices would be the most appropriate for Genius Consulting?

A. As this project violates both their principles, Genius consulting should not take up the project.
B. Due to the violation of the first principle Genius consulting should not take up this project.
C. They should take up the project. Further, since Rahman had agreed to equal sharing, he is not entitled to finder‘s fee.
D. They should take up the project and as the referral helped them survive, Rahman should be paid finder‘s fee.
E. They should take up the project. But, in order not to violate the principles, Rahman can be paid finder‘s fee this year and an equal amount be deducted from his compensation the next year.

Since company is formed with a motto of ethics and equal compensation, it should not be disturbed. Compensation, should not change based on who gets the business because tomorrow someone else might get the business or getting business may be a role assigned to one member, while others play equally important but different role. It is not an unethical situation because the project was won on the basis of capability and not because of favour from Rahman‘s father. Hence, C becomes the best option as no one is favoured.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 28-30 that follow:
Mrs Biswas was to retire in one year after serving in the construction department of the Gujarat government for more than thirty years. After retirement, she wanted to spend her retired life along with Mr Biswas, a retired school teacher in a small town in Kerala. They had two children, both studying in Bengaluru. The Biswas‘ wished to construct a house in Kerala with their life savings.
The couple gathered information about owning a house in Kerala. They had four options:
1. Buy a fully furnished house from a big developer.
2. Buy a semi-furnished house from a big developer and furnish it.
3. Get a local unregistered contractor to construct a house and furnish it.
4. Mr Biswas with inputs from the family could supervise the construction of a house back in Kerala by employing the best material, engineers, masons and labourers.

Q. 4. Which option would ENSURE the best control of quality of construction for the Biswas?

A. The first option would ensure the best quality.
B. The second option would ensure the best quality.
C. The third option would ensure the best quality.
D. The fourth option would ensure the best quality.
E. Any of the options will equally ensure the best quality.

In options A, B and C, the house owner lacks control over the quality of construction. However, in option D the owner can monitor discrepancies on an everyday basis and take corrective actions, if required, especially given Mrs. Biswas‘ professional experience. Option D is equivalent to continuous monitoring which is superior to one time monitoring in other options. Hence, D is the best answer.

Q. 5. Which of the following additional information, IF TRUE, would improve the chances of the third option being preferred?

A. Based on the current information, with no additional information, the third is the best option.
B. Among local property holders, the contractor in the third option enjoys a good reputation.
C. Big developers are less open to changes in design.
D. Mr Biswas cannot stay back alone to supervise the construction.
E. The Biswas‘ want to select the furniture on their own.

Option C makes first and second options (in the caselet) less attractive, but does not make third option (in the caselet) as attractive as option B does. Option D makes first option (in the caselet) and second option (in the caselet) attractive but does not improve the chances of preferring the third option (in the caselet). Option E makes first option (in the caselet) less attractive and second option most attractive. Based on arguments presented in the previous question, it is clear that third option (in the caselet) was not the best. Hence, A is not the right answer.

If the builder had good reputation among the local house owners, it means that the builder has been constructing houses to the satisfaction of the local house owners which probably would mean that the builder should be able to assure good quality. Hence, B is the answer.

Q. 6. The Kerala Government recently announced a policy: In case of major quality infringement, the builder will pay a penalty of 50% of the price of the house in addition to the price of the house, to the client within a year of notice.
Rank in ASCENDING order the options that would ensure ―control of quality.

A. 1,2,3,4
B. 2,3,4,1
C. 3,1,2,4
D. 4,3,1,2
E. 4,1,2,3

If builders are forced to pay penalty for bad quality then they are more likely to deliver good quality, though it would be difficult to force the penalty on unregistered builders.
The chances of unregistered builder improving quality because of penalty are lower, as the builder can, more easily, escape the clutches of law. Hence, the right set of option should start with 3. It gives us C as the right answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 7-8 that follow:
A pastor had eaten at a restaurant with his troupe of ten and his family. It is a norm to tip the waiter and about 20% of a waiter‘s salary comes from these tips. However, while paying the bill, the pastor crossed out the automatic 18% tip charged for parties of more than eight and wrote ―I give God 10% why do you get 18%?‖ above his signature. The chagrined waitress at the restaurant posted a photo of this on the social media. She was subsequently fired for violating company‘s policy on customer privacy.
This would have been understandable if the restaurant had not posted just 2 weeks ago a customer receipt that was complimenting them. Social media and social activists came heavily upon the management‘s ambivalent stand and the firing of the waitress. In response, the company posted a note on their social media page defending their actions. This quickly drew over 10,000 comments, mostly negative, to which the management started responding by posting the same note over and over again. There were also accusations of the company deleting negative comments and blocking users.
The restaurant also experienced a sizable drop in their footfall.

Q. 7. Who/what is the main cause for the situation becoming unmanageable?

A. The pastor for flouting the norm of restaurant.
B. The waitress for violating customer privacy.
C. The management for not taking action against the pastor.
D. The management for giving out disproportionate punishment to waitress.
E. The management for removing negative comments from the social media.

Among the options available, the root cause would be that option which if removed will stop the further consequences. Applying this principle D is the root cause because had the management not meted out a disproportionate punishment, the current situation faced by the organization would not have risen. Even if the pastor flouted the norms, and the waitress violated the privacy, the public outcry would not have arisen unless the public perceived the punishment meted by the organization as unfair. It is not a crime to flout a norm; but, the waitress might have committed an offence by flouting the rules of the organization. However the punishment for such an alleged offence is what started the outcry. Hence, Option D is the right answer.

Q. 8. The downward spiral continued for the restaurant as the management persisted in defending their actions and argued with those who criticised them. By the following week, the original post had generated over 18,000 negative comments.
Which of the following is the best way forward for the restaurant at this juncture?

A. Unconditionally restore the waitress to her former position and salary on the ground that she was never at fault in the first place.
B. Apologise to and reinstate the waitress and ask her to apologize for her breach of customer privacy and post both the apologies on social media.
C. Reinstate the waitress provided she apologises for her breach of customer privacy and post that apology on the restaurant‘s social media page.
D. Reinstate the waitress if and only if she apologizes for her breach of customer privacy and posts that apology on her social media page.
E. Recruit two waitresses at a higher wage but stick to the original decision of firing the waitress.

Since waitress was punished in a disproportionate manner to the mistake she committed, hence, the organization should first apologize to the waitress and offer to re-instate her as early as possible. However, waitress is wrong to display customer details on her personal social media page. She should also apologise for this act ofdiscretion. Hence, the organization should offer to reinstate and ask her to apologize
for her action, in the social media. Hence, B is the best answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 9-10 that follow:

A college campus with a population of around 2,000 of whom 200 were children, 1,200 people between 15 and 45 years, 500 people between 45 and 65 and around 100 people more than 65 years of age. The campus has two big gates opening out to the city. There are 400 cars and 500 motorbikes inside the campus. The residents relied on these vehicles to visit the city located 10 kilometres away. Now, with land within the campus becoming scarce, the chief administrator (CA) found the growing demand for parking lot difficult to handle. The faculty, staff and students wanted increased parking space. In the past six years, the parking requirement on campus had doubled. The CA found it inappropriate to construct parking lots from the students‘ fee, even though those with vehicles may not complain about it.

Besides creating parking problems, the CA felt that these vehicles added to the pollution and made residents less responsible towards each other. The risk to the children and the elderly because of over-speeding was menacing. Therefore, the CA wanted to reduce the number of vehicles in the campus. Many faculty members, students and staff members, however, felt that demand for more parking space was natural as vehicles were required to go to the market, railway station, airport, and inter- state bus terminal all located in the city. They also told the CA that the elderly, sick and the toddlers relied only on these vehicles. After listening to all stakeholders, the CA wanted to solve these problems while ensuring the campus remained responsible and green.

Q. 9. Which of the following actions would best satisfy all the stakeholders within the campus?

A. Levy extra fee on students to construct additional parking lots inside the campus. Students should pay for up-keep of the campus.
B. Let all vehicles be parked in a college-managed space outside the campus while two battery operated vehicles handle exigencies inside the campus.
C. Bring all stakeholders to the discussion table.
D. To reduce carbon footprints, only pooled vehicles should be allowed to operate inside the campus.
E. Charge significant fee from any vehicle entering or leaving the campus.

Option A is not possible because it is unfair to the students as mentioned in the case.
Option C is not a solution as it talks only about discussions and not a decision. It can be a good initial point but not a concrete way to solve the problem.
Option D is not the best solution as it does not address the concern of parking lot and emergencies. Further D is an inferior option in comparison to Option B even with respect to pollution control. Option E does not solve the problem as it does not address concerns of parking lot. Further, Option E is inferior in comparison to Option B with respect to pollution control. Option B is the best solution as it addresses parking as well as other issues including those related to environment.

Q. 10. Which of the following would be the best option to increase revenue, decrease carbon footprint and still satisfy all the stakeholders in the campus?

A. Make substantial collection from vehicles entering or leaving campus and construct a parking lot outside the campus.
B. Levy extra fee on the students and build extra parking lots inside the campus.
C. Bring all stakeholders to table and let them build consensus.
D. To reduce the carbon footprint, only pooled vehicles be permitted on campus.
E. Let all vehicles be parked in a managed space outside the campus while battery operated vehicles parked at the two gates can be used inside the campus.

Option C is not correct as it offers a path but does not offer a solution. Option D is wrong because it does not provide the administration with any increase in revenue.

Option E can reduce carbon footprints and satisfy stakeholders but there is no scope of increase in revenues. Option B is unfair as one stakeholder pays for deeds of others and it does not solve carbon footprints. Option A increases satisfaction for all stakeholders; it will also increase revenue and can reduce carbon footprints by making it costly to drive vehicles inside campus. So, Option A is the correct answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 11-13 that follow:

Girirajan an unemployed youngster from Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu, visited Singapore where his school friend worked as software engineer. In Singapore, Girirajan realized that there were a lot of Tamils in ―Little India‖ area. He soon assessed that there were very few restaurants serving authentic Tamil food and decided to set-up a restaurant ―Giri‘s‖ in ―Little India‖ serving authentic Tamil food in traditional banana leaf. Customers loved the food. Very soon word spread about the good quality food served in the traditional way. Girirajan expanded operation recruiting 10 employees, all Tamils. Six months later, Girirajan realized that a lot of Kannadiga and Telugu customers started visiting the restaurant along with their Tamil friends. One day, a Kannadiga customer looking for Devangere Benne Dosa suggested that it may not be a bad idea for Girirajan to serve Karnataka and Andhra cuisines along with Tamil. With time, the popularity of the restaurant kept soaring. As a result, a lot of Malays, Indonesians and Chinese started visiting the restaurant. His software engineer friend advised to cater to customers of all nationalities. Despite his desire to go grand, Girirajan realized he did not have enough money to get extra space anywhere in Singapore and banks were also reluctant to lend.

One day, while assessing the business, he realized that the restaurant had 90% occupancy rate during peak hours and 40% during the non-peak hours. Both figures were increasing with time.

Q. 11. Which of the following options would be most suitable for the growth of the business?

A. Include Karnataka and Andhra cuisines in the menu.
B. Include Indonesian and Chinese cuisines in the menu.
C. Keep the focus on Tamil food only with an increased focus on quality improvement.
D. Expand to include either Karnataka and Andhra cuisines or Indonesian and Chinese cuisines.
E. Include Karnataka and Andhra cuisines as well as Indonesian and Chinese.

The business has already reached 90% utilization (and this is improving further) during peak hours, in addition he has space constraints. Making substantial changes will incur lot of costs but opportunities for benefits are limited because of existing 90% utilization. Further, selling dishes of other regions might affect current focus on authentic Tamil food (and this was the business opportunity according to the passage). – . Moreover, there is no surety that he will do well in other cuisines because lack of experience/expertise. Hence, Giri is better off to focus on authentic and quality Tamil cuisine which is the reason for his success. So, option C is the correct answer.

Q. 12. Girirajan started analysing his quarterly customer data to assess growth opportunities. He discovered that 20 % of his customers are Kannadigas and many of them were requesting for a few Karnataka dishes. He was not sure if it was a good idea to serve Karnataka food. He wanted to experiment before taking the final call. Which of the following options will be worth experimenting in the next fortnight?

A. Introduce a Karnataka food day every week to please the Kannadiga customers.
B. Recruit a few Kannadiga waiters to interact with Kannadiga customers.
C. Rename a few Tamil dishes as Karnataka dishes.
D. Serve Karnataka dishes as and when requested by customers without the menu displaying these dishes.
E. Add a few Karnataka dishes to the cuisine and display these in a separate menu.

The objective is to experiment with a few Karnataka dishes. Customer should be aware of it, but this (experimentation) should not be added to the mainstream business as of now, therefore, should not be part of the main menu. The only option that satisfies both the criteria is E and therefore, Option E is the right answer.

Q. 13. Girirajan experimented with Karnataka food for a fortnight. He collected sales data for Karnataka food along with the trend of overall sales for the last seven days. Which of the following datasets, IF TRUE, will give Girirajan greater confidence to continue serving Karnataka food? (Figures below represent Karnataka food sales as percentage of total sales.)

A. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, with total sales trend increasing by 0.4%.
B. 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, with total sales trend increasing by 0.4%.
C. 50, 47, 44, 40, 47, 45, 40, with total sales trend remaining same.
D. 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, with total sales trend remaining same.
E. 20, 50, 10, 45, 43, 13, 36, with total sales trend coming down.

In Option A, the trend for sales for Karnataka dishes increasing along with the total sales increasing and hence A is the right answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 14-16 that follow:

A University coach was asked to select teams in three sports: Shooting, Cricket (batsmen only) and ―Snakes & Ladder. The honest and keen observer head boy of the school informed the coach that he had observed 100 students playing the three games – shooting, cricket and ―Snakes & Ladder‖. In shooting, all students were given 100 chances to hit a target. In cricket, a batsman faced a maximum of 100 balls, provided he DID NOT GET OUT. In ―Snakes & Ladder, every student could play 100 matches, one each with the other students and one against a computer. In shooting, a player got one point for hitting the target and zero point for missing the target. In cricket, a batsman got one point for hitting the ball and zero point for missing it. In ―Snakes & Ladder‖, a person got one point for winning the game and zero for losing. To the coach‘s utter surprise, the distribution of points across all three games was the same.

It was as follows: Points scored Number of students
0-9 1
10-19 8
20-29 5
30-39 15
40-49 20
50-59 20
60-69 13
70-79 7
80-89 9
90-99 2
The coach has to select a team of eleven in each sport.

Q. 14. Which of the following options is the best way to select the ―Snakes & Ladder‖ team?

A. The coach must select all students between 80 and 99.
B. The coach must select both the students between 90 and 99.
C. The coach must select at least 6 students between 40 and 59.
D. The coach must not select students between 0 and 9.
E. The coach can ignore the data in the table and randomly pick any 11 players.

In Snakes and Ladder, the player cannot exhibit any skill and therefore cannot determine the outcome, which is random if the dice is fair. The past data in the table is not relevant for selection. Hence, the best selection process should give equal opportunity to everyone and therefore, Option E is the right answer.

Q. 15. Which of the following options is the best way of selecting the Shooting team?

A. The coach should select all students in 80-99 ranges.
B. The coach should select both the students in 90-99 range; others can be from any of
the other ranges.
C. The coach should select at least 6 students between 40 and 49.
D. The coach should not select students between 40 and 89.
E. The coach can pick randomly any 11 players from any of the ranges.

In hundred shooting trials, it is highly unlikely that any student would get a high score unless he/she is really good at shooting. The trials give us enough information to choose those who have scored the highest. Therefore, option A is correct.

Q. 16. Which of the following options is the correct statement for picking up the cricket team?

A. The coach should never select the player in the range of 0-9 points.
B. The coach should never select players from the range of 50-59.
C. The coach should never select players from the range of 70-79.
D. The coach should definitely select players only from the range of 80-99.
E. None of the above.

In the game of cricket, a player has to stop batting when he gets out. Therefore, there is no guarantee that even the best of batsman will play out all 100 balls. On the contrary, even the worst batsman can play hundred balls, though chances are low. Hence, there is a possibility that best batsman can get out after playing 5 balls and worst batsman can play more balls than him. Hence, the coach can never be sure of rejecting a person with low score or select a batsman, based on the above data. Hence, options A, B, C, and D all are wrong. Best answer is Option E.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the question that follows:

Q. 17. As a newly started organization in the IT sector, Saksha IT is a fast growing 400 employee organization. Its head, Saksha Kumar believes in building an organization driven by humility. Which of the following policies would best help him achieve that?

A. Employees shall, in their annual evaluation form, be asked to acknowledge three of their shortcomings, overcoming which will make them better.
B. Employees shall be asked to share with their peers three shortcomings they had noticed about their peers.
C. The immediate superiors would suggest three shortcomings their subordinates have to work on in a given period.
D. Everyone beginning with Saksha, shall be asked to share three of their weaknesses, in a public forum.
E. Employees shall be asked to overcome three shortcomings in the following year. Improvement, if noticed would attract rewards.

Humility is the quality of not being proud of being perfect as you are aware of your limitations. Therefore, among the options, the option that focuses on awareness of the self with respect to limitations should be in the consideration set for the correct answer. However, the focus on awareness of self is not necessarily linked to ―improvement‖ or ―overcoming‖ the limitations. Moreover, the culture of humility should not be confused with the performance measurement or rewards and compensation. Among the options, Option D focuses on making one aware of one self without any link with rewards or performance and hence, Option D is the right answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the question that follows:

Q. 18. Principal Maheshwari of BINK School of Management is facing a problem that calls for quick action. She received an anonymous mail one day, possibly from one of the students, complaining about outdated syllabus, mediocre teachers and poor choice of courses on offer.

Which of the following is the best course of action available to the Principal?

A. She should invite students to discuss any problem openly, one on one or in small groups, promise to act on them but firmly condemn the culture of anonymous mails.
B. She should update the students about the efforts the institute is taking in sprucing up the syllabi, hiring talented faculty etc., but make no reference to the letter.
C. She should convene a meeting of the faculty at the earliest and get them to work on updating the syllabi and also arrange a faculty development program but keep mum about the letter.
D. She should convene a meeting of the faculty and talk about the letter as a symptom of a deeper malaise, ask them to update the syllabi and also organise a faculty development program.
E. She should ignore the letter and not think about it at all.

The principal has received an anonymous mail which could be a result of an underlying concern, which might be genuine or not, among the student(s). So, she should focus on the underlying concern, but this way of communicating anonymously is something that should be strongly discouraged. Since the underlying concern may or may not be genuine, she should openly invite students for discussions but not discuss the mail as such.
Hence, Option A is the right answer because principal is addressing: a) the issue of anonymous email and b) whether the content of the email is a concern.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 19-21 that follow:

Shyam prepares and sells piping hot puri and sabji (gravy) from 7:00 am to 9:00 am (both inclusive) through a stall at XLRI campus. Presently, he has just a single oven, which can do only one job at a time. It takes 30 minutes to cook one handi (a large bowl) of sabji, sufficient for 12 customers. It takes him 10 minutes to prepare 2 plates of puri at a time. While the cost of a plate of puri-sabji is ₹10, the price is ₹25. Puri stays hot for only 5 minutes after preparation, while sabji stays hot for 30 minutes only. It takes 10 minutes to reheat the sabji which stays hot for another 30 minutes. If he brings a handi of hot sabji from home, the transport would cost him ₹5 0. It can also stay hot for 30 minutes excluding the transportation time. Currently, every 20 minutes five plates are ordered. All unsold quantities are distributed at cost after 9:30 am.

Q. 19. Find the maximum number of plates of puri-sabji Shyam can sell in the first hour of business?

A. 6
B. 8
C. 10
D. 12
E. 15

The answer is C (10), as can be seen from the table below:
Time Oven Puri nos.
7
7.05
7.1 2
7.15
7.2 2 Puri preparation
7.25 Reheating sabji
7.3 2 Heating
7.35
7.4 2
7.45
7.5
7.55
8 2
Total 10
puri sabji Timeline customer in line Event
Start + Sabji comes
Preparation 2/10 min 30 min 7:00 from home
remains
hot 5 min 30 min 7:10 2 puri
reheat time NA 10 min 7:20 5-2-2 2 puri
7:30 2 puri + Sabji becomes cold
7:40 5 + 5 – 2 – 2- 2 Sabji reheated
7:50 2 puri
5 + 5 + 5 – 2 – 2 –
8:00 2 – 2 – 2 2 puri
Total 10 puri.

Q. 20. Shyam‘s puri-sabji became famous. Now he gets 5 orders per 10 minutes and has invested in an additional oven. As he is working alone on both the ovens simultaneously, now in any one oven it takes him 45 minutes to cook one handi of sabji, 15 minutes for 2 plates of puri and 15 minutes to reheat the sabji. He can bring only one handi from home. What will be his maximum daily profit?

A. ₹250
B. ₹280
C. ₹300
D. ₹330
E. ₹360

The answer is B (280), can be seen.
Time Oven1 Puri Oven2 Puri
7
7.05
7.1
7.15 2 2
7.2
7.25
7.3 2 2 Puri preparation
7.35 Reheating sabji
7.4 Heating
7.45 2 idle
7.5
7.55
8
8.05 2
8.1
8.15
8.2
8.25
8.3
8.35 2
8.4
8.45
8.5 2 2
8.55
9
2 2
Total 12 10 G.Total 22
Profit Transpt

Answer 22*15 -50 280
Puri sabji Timeline Oven 1 Oven 2
Start + Sabji
Preparation 2/15 min 45 min 7:00 comes from home
remains
hot 5 min 30 min 7:15 2 puri 2 puri
2 puri + Sabji
reheat time NA 15 min 7:30 becomes cold 2 puri
7:45 sabji reheated Sabji
8:00 2 puri sabji
8:15 2 puri sabji
8:30 2 puri 2 puri
8:45 2 puri sabji reheated
9:00 2 puri 2 puri
Total 22 puri
=(Price – cost) *plates – transportation
Cost 280

Q. 21. Shyam‘s stall was becoming popular by the day. Now he gets 5 customers every 10 minutes. After buying a second oven, he employed a helping hand, Aman at ₹100 for two hours. Aman can cook one handi of sabji in 20 minutes or can prepare 3 plates of puri in 10 minutes. Reheat time for sabji is 10 minutes. None of them can work on both the ovens simultaneously.
Which of the following options will help Shyam maximize his daily profit, if he does NOT bring sabji from home?

A. Shyam should dismiss Aman because his wages are more than the benefits he brings.
B. Shyam will prepare only puri and Aman will prepare only sabji.
C. Shyam will prepare only sabji and Aman will prepare only puri.
D. Shyam and Aman will prepare both puri and sabji.
E. Options B, C and D will yield the same profit.

Option D is the best option as it gives highest profit. Even if we subtract wages of Aman
(100), option D remains the better.
Cond 1: Shyam puri,Aman, Sabji Cond 2: Aman Puri, Shyam Sabji Cond 3: Both puri and sabji
Time Shyam Puri Aman Sabj Time Aman Puri Shyam Sabji Time Oven1 Oven2 Puri
Nos i Nos Nos
7 7 7
7.05 7.05 7.05 Aman
7.1 7.1 7.1
7.15 7.15 7.15 Shyam
7.2 2 7.2 7.2 2
7.25 7.25 7.25
7.3 2 7.3 3 7.3 3
7.35 7.35 7.35
7.4 2 7.4 3 7.4 Shyam 3
7.45 7.45 7.45
7.5 2 7.5 3 7.5 3
7.55 7.55 7.55
8 2 8 3 8 3
8.05 8.05 8.05
8.1 2 8.1 3 8.1 Aman 3
8.15 8.15 8.15 Shyam
8.2 2 8.2 3 8.2 3
8.25 8.25 8.25
8.3 2 8.3 3 8.3 3
8.35 8.35 8.35
8.4 2 8.4 3 8.4 Shyam 3
8.45 8.45 8.45
8.5 2 8.5 3 8.5 3
8.55 8.55 8.55 Shyam
9 2 9 3 9 2 3
Total 22 30 0 4 30 34
Profit Profit Profit
330 450 510

XAT Decision Making Online Course @ 699 ₹/- Only

Decision Making for XAT 2016 – Previous Year Questions

The easiest way to crack XAT Decision Making Section is to go through XAT Decision Making previous year papers. To make it easy for students, I decided to put all the previous year papers of XAT Decision Making.

Analyze the following caselet and answer the questions 1-3 that follow:

Indian Institute of Research is a Government-established body to promote research. In addition to helping in policy making, it also provides free online access to all the articles to the public. It has a mission of publishing high quality research articles. Till 2010, the publication of articles was very slow because there was no incentive for researchers to publish. Researchers stuck to the mandatory one article a year. Most of the researchers engaged in offering consultancy and earned extra income. Since its inception, the institute was considered the best place for cutting-edge research. The new director of the institute was not happy with the work done by researchers in silo and came out with a new research policy in 2013 to increase research output and improve collaboration among researchers.

It was decided that extra benefits would be offered to researchers with new publications. As a result, the number of research articles increased fourfold in 2014. At the 2015 annual audit, an objection was raised against the new benefits scheme. Auditors were not happy with increased expenses towards remuneration for researchers. Further, the Government opined that the publication was itself a reward and hence researchers need be paid nothing extra. The director tried to defend his policy but the response from the government was not encouraging.

Note: Auditors role is to verify accounts.

Q. 1. The following facts were observed by an analytics team hired by the government to study the extant situation.

1. There was a four-fold increase in the number of researchers leaving the organization in 2014.
2. A researcher died while on duty.
3. The quality of articles published declined substantially.
4. The average number of people accessing an article decreased by 2%.

Which of the following options would justify the government’s intention to DISCONTINUE the scheme?

A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 3
C. 3 only
D. 4 only
E. 3 and 4

Correct answer: C

Exp: Fact 1 cannot be the reason as a substantial increase in attrition is irrelevant for the government to take a decision regarding the quality of the scheme.
Fact 2 cannot be the reason as one researcher could have died because of other reasons.
Fact 3 corroborates the government’s reason for not equating publications with rewards
(the quality of articles published has decreased).

Fact 4 cannot be the reason as 2% decrease is not substantial enough.
Hence the only possible answer is fact3 making C as right choice.

Q. 2. The director still wanted to persuade the government to review its stand. He had framed the following arguments:

1. Most famous researchers in the world are also the highest paid.
2. American institute of research gives extra benefits to its scientists.
3. This year’s highest paid researcher had won the Nobel Prize last year.
Considering the Government to be reasonable which of the following options is UNLIKELY to convince the Government?

A. 1 and 2
B. 2 only
C. 2 and 3
D. 1 and 3
E. 1, 2 and 3

Correct answer: E

Exp: Those most famous researchers are also paid high does not imply that the highest paid researchers are always famous or that they will be productive. If an American Institute is giving extra benefits it does not mean IIR should also follow it. The researcher may be getting the highest pay as a consequence of receiving the Nobel Prize, or there may be other reasons for the researcher to be highest paid.
Hence E is the correct option.

Q. 3. The director wanted to promote good decision making at Indian Institute of Research. A few trusted colleagues offered the following suggestions:

1. Auditors need not be allowed to object to extra benefits schemes.
2. Auditors need not pin-point sudden increase in expenditure.
3. Auditors need not be consulted before taking any policy level decision.
Which of the following combination of options should the director agree THE MOST with?

A. 1 and 2
B. 2 only
C. 2 and 3
D. 1 and 3
E. 1, 2 and 3

Correct answer: D

Exp: As given in note 1 of the caselet, the auditor’s role is to verify accounts and not to make policies. The Director and other top officials are the best people to decide on policy related matters. As points 1 and 3 are policy related, D is the correct answer.

Analyze the following caselet and answer the questions 4-5 that follow:
Kamal Chinnappa, Vimal Rao, Ganesh Krishnan and Dinesh Kumar own a saloon each on the Barbil street. They are the only hairdressers on that street. Each of them offered three services viz. haircut, shaving and hair-dye. One evening, all four of them met in a nearby tea stall and agreed to charge ₹100 for any of the three services (haircut, shave and hair-dye) on weekdays. They also agreed to increase this rate to ₹115 on weekends and holidays. All verbally decided to implement the agreement.

Q. 4. The following day Kamal, being the most competent hairdresser on the street, was contemplating charging higher than agreed upon price.

Which of the following would enable him to charge more with minimal violation of the agreement?

A. He should introduce a new and specialized service at ₹130.
B. He should open another shop on the same street and charge ₹150.
C. He should charge ₹130 for those wanting to jump the queue.
D. He should charge ₹115 for a service to a particular customer and give the next service free.
E. He should open his shop two hours before others and close it two hours after.

Correct answer: A

Exp: He wants to charge more for his competence but with minimum violation of the agreement. So for the agreed services he cannot charge more. But for any new service he can charge more. Hence A is the correct answer.

In B he is in violation of the agreement since the agreement was between people and not the shops.
C and E is wrong since charging more for jumping the queue and extending work hours may increase revenue but will not enable him to showcase his competence (which is his objective).
D is a wrong answer since giving free service is a violation of the agreement.

Q. 5. Vimal relies heavily on a bunch of loyal customers. He is concerned about retaining them.

Which of the following options should he choose if he does not want to violate the agreement?

A. He should charge differential rates for loyal customers.
B. He should charge the loyal customers lower.
C. He should make every third visit free for his loyal customers.
D. He should charge all the agreed upon price.
E. He should allow his loyal customers to jump the queue.

Correct answer: E

Exp: A, B and C will end in violation of the agreement. C because the price per visit comes down by one third. D does not violate but does not solve the problem of retaining the loyal customers. The correct answer hence is E where the customers get a preference but pay the same.

Analyze the following caselet and answer the questions 6-7 that follow:
The City of Yashmund is served by licensed taxis operating on officially sanctioned metered rates and driven by licensed drivers who do not own the taxis but pay a monthly rent to the taxi-owners. Shaliesh Nair, the mayor of Yashmund, perceived that most of these taxis do not offer sufficient comfort and safety to passengers.

Q. 6. The Mayor wants the owners and drivers to care about comfort.

Which of the following decisions, IF TAKEN, is MOST LIKELY to increase the comfort levels of passengers?

A. The mayor issues a guideline that taxis will be randomly inspected by the police for the comfort level.
B. The mayor ensures banks grant drivers loans to own cars. Owner driven cars generally offer greater comfort.
C. The mayor introduces licensing of air-conditioned taxis which can charge increased rates to the rich customers.
D. The mayor introduces a feedback system that records passenger satisfaction with comfort levels; this will affect renewal of annual taxi license.
E. The mayor permits doubling metered rates which will ensure enhanced income for owners to invest in greater comfort.

Correct answer: D

Exp: A does not imply any punishment and therefore may not induce the drivers to care about comfort. B may not be taken up by the drivers if they are satisfied with the rents they currently receive and hence is not correct. C focuses on a specific market segment and may not solve the problem for the entire market. E does not ensure that the extra amount will be invested in comfort. D focuses on a measure of comfort and a penalty for lack of comfort based on the measure and hence is the correct answer.

Q. 7. The mayor wants to involve the car owners in finding a solution to the problem of comfort and safety. He is concerned that the customers may not be willing to pay more for safety.
Which of the options below is MOST LIKELY to convince the owners?

A. The taxi owners who clear comfort-inspection can charge higher rentals from the drivers and drivers with impeccable safety record can charge the same from customers.
B. The taxis that clear comfort-inspection can charge 25% above the metered rates; studies have shown that customers are willing to pay around 18% extra for comfort.
C. If a taxi owner has a consistent record of comfort and safety the government will subsidize a second loan.
D. Taxis can charge 25% more if they clear comfort-inspection. However, owners of the taxis found compromising on safety will be jailed.
E. Taxis that pass comfort-inspection test can charge 25% more. Should they violate any traffic rule this privilege would be withdrawn.

Correct answer: D

Exp: The customers are likely to pay more for comfort and not for safety. Taxi owners can be motivated to provide more comfort by allowing them to charge more, but only strong penalties would prevent safety violations. Only D addresses both safety and comfort concerns and therefore is the right answer.
Option B and E focus on comfort but ignore safety (violation of traffic rule is only one aspect of safety rule). Moreover, option E penalizes safety rule breakers by only denying the use of comfort related privilege. Penalty should be more with safety rule violation.Option C does not penalize safety violation. Moreover, the taxi owners may not require a second loan.
Option A is wrong since customers are not willing to pay more for safety.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 8-9 that follow:
Chatterjee, the MLA of Trikathapur, owes his election success to his close friend and businessman Ghosh. The victory had appeared unlikely for Chatterjee after the arrival of
Bhowmick, a budding politician with hordes of money. However, his clean image along with Ghosh’s money ensured Chatterjee’s resounding victory.

Q. 8. After the elections, Ghosh requested Chatterjee to sanction the land adjoining his factory, for expansion. However, the requested government land was a green belt reducing harmful pollution from the factory.
Which of the following is the BEST option for Chatterjee in these circumstances?

A. Chatterjee should approve the sale only after Ghosh plants a large number of trees around the factory and the city.
B. Chatterjee should oblige Ghosh provided he recruits 20 locals as his employees on condition that they plant and maintain a tree each in their locality.
C. As Ghosh is paying market rates Chatterjee should approve the sale with no riders.
D. Chatterjee should approve the sale and ensure that the green belt is shifted to a different tract of land outside the city, purchased from the proceeds of the sale.
E. Chatterjee should unconditionally approve the transfer of the land to Ghosh as a token of gratitude.

Correct answer: A

Exp: E and C are wrong as they do not take care of Chatterjee’s duty to the city. B is wrong since the locals and not Ghosh are made responsible for the greenery; moreover the 20 30 trees in their respective locality may not be sufficient or even relevant to reduce pollution. D is wrong since Chatterjee is taking the responsibility to buy land from the proceeds of the sale and Ghosh gets the land with no riders (similar to C). A ensures that Ghosh first plants a stipulated number of trees and that too around the factory and the city, hence A is the right answer.

Q. 9. Inspired by Bhowmick’s manifesto, Chatterjee is contemplating a green policy which can adversely affect Ghosh’s business interests.
Which of the following actions from Ghosh is likely to convince Chatterjee NOT to pursue this policy?

A. Request Chatterjee to defer implementation of the green policy by 3 years, the time needed to make his factory green.
B. Remind Chatterjee that it is for his clean image that people voted him and not for Bhowmick’s green policy.
C. Warn Chatterjee that all industrialists will turn against him and despite his clean image he may be hated by the industry.
D. Appeal to Chatterjee’s sympathy citing the potential loss his business will suffer if the policy were to be implemented.
E. Threaten Chatterjee that he should not take his loyalty for granted as Bhowmick has invited him to join his party.

Correct answer: B

Exp: Chatterjee may not pursue the green policy unless his future interests are protected.
Option A will not convince Chatterjee as it will not affect his future interests. Moreover, Policy framed in favour of his friend makes it unethical.
Option C is unfounded assumption and hence is wrong. D may gain Ghosh some sympathy but it is not going to convince Chatterjee.
E may affect Chatterjee, but it might backfire on Ghosh too.
B appeals to Chatterjee’s stakeholders and hence is the right answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 10-12 that follow:
Nicky, Manoj and Benita are graduates from a top ranked B-school. They joined ABC corporation a year ago. ABC is known for its performance oriented culture. This is the first time the organization recruited from a top ranked B-school. They are part of a five member team with two others from lower ranked B-schools. Nicky, Manoj and Benita draw 40 per cent higher salaries than other team members. This team reports to Amelia Ganeshmurthi, a senior executive.

Q. 10. Amelia is disappointed with the performance of Nicky, Manoj and Benita. She came to know that ABC was not their first choice and they had spent the first ten months applying to other organizations. However, they have now started liking ABC and promised to do their best henceforth. Amelia has to rate their annual performance and decide about their future. She has the following choices:

1. Fire them from ABC for insincerity and save the organization’s time and money.
2. Give them average ratings with a year to prove their worth and fire them from ABC if they fail to show significant progress.
3. Impose a pay-cut of 15% since they have not delivered on the promise, but give them relatively high ratings.
4. Give them relatively poor ratings with one year time to improve and fire them from ABC if they fail to show significant progress.
5. Give them high ratings and give them a second chance to prove their worth.
Which of the following options rank the above choices in the order of MOST APPROPRIATE to LEAST APPROPRIATE?

A. 1, 2, 4
B. 2, 1, 4
C. 4, 2, 5
D. 4, 3, 1
E. 5, 2, 3

Correct answer: C

Exp: Action 1 is the third best and better than action 5 in which they get very high ratings for performance in a performance oriented organization.
Action 2 is the second best action since the trio gets average ratings instead of less than average ratings for their poor performance.
Action 3 is the worst decision because this action sends mixed signals. Amelia is giving high ratings and simultaneously cutting salary.
Action 4 is the best action because poor rating reflects the poor performance of the trio in tune with the performance orientation of the organization while giving the trio enough time to improve.
Action 5: The organization is right in giving them an opportunity but rating them high is wrong. This decision is better than action 3 since the communication is clearer and does not send any mixed signal.
Hence, the correct ranking is 4, 2, 1, 5, 3
Option C is in sync with the above logic and therefore is the correct answer.

Q. 11. Recruiting Nicky, Manoj and Benita was part of a larger initiative to make the organization attractive to prospective employees. Recently Amelia’s boss informally told her that the trio’s perception of the organization might influence future recruitment from top B-schools. However, the trio had already expressed their unhappiness about the organization to Amelia. She suspected that her promotion due next year might depend on the trio!
Which of the following is the BEST way for Amelia to deal with this situation?

A. Henceforth, she should be lenient with the trio.
B. She should promise the trio an early promotion if they can help her recruit good talent from top B-schools.
C. Henceforth, she should occasionally invite the trio for dinner and informal outings.
D. She should tell her boss that it is unfair to link her promotion to the trio’s behaviour.
E. She should convey the trio’s unhappiness to her boss.

Correct answer: E

Exp: Ms Amelia “suspects” that the trio could affect her promotion. She should clear this suspicion by communicating the opinions of the trio to her boss. This will result in her boss reviewing his/her expectations from the trio and therefore also from Ms Amelia. Therefore E is the correct answer.
Options A, B and C do not serve the interests of the organization.While option A and option C might serve Ms Amelia’s short term interests. Option D is wrong since it is her own perception and unfounded.

Q. 12. Nicky’s performance on the job is disappointing though she is considered a very helpful person outside the workplace helping her teammates and others in the organization with their personal needs e.g. finding a place to rent, a good place to get homely food etc. On the other hand, Manoj and Benita are performing well in their respective jobs and are perceived by their teammates as important to the team. But they are not interested in helping outside the workplace. Amelia has to decide the future of the trio. She has the following options:

1. Inform the higher authorities about Nicky’s poor performance and ask them to take a call.
2. Send Nicky for a one month training earmarked for top performing employees.
3. Serve Nicky an ultimatum to improve within the next six months or get fired.
4. Even though they performed well, give Manoj and Benita average ratings because of their disinterest in helping outside workplace.
5. Give Manoj and Benita high ratings based on their performance.
Which of the following combination of above options will be the MOST APPROPRIATE?

A. 1 and 5
B. 2 and 4
C. 2 and 5
D. 3 and 4
E. 3 and 5

Correct answer: E

Exp: ABC is a performance focused organization, punishing poor performance and rewarding good. Among the combination of decisions that are appropriate for the given situation, one decision from 1, 2 and 3 and one from 4 and 5 have to be chosen (1, 2 and 3 are about Nicky and 4 and 5 are about Manoj and Benita).
Action 1: Amelia is running away from her responsibility with this action.
Action 2: This decision rewards Nicky for non-performance.
Action 3: Amelia is asking Nicky to focus on performance and gives her an ultimatum. This is a better decision compared to the actions 1 and 2.
Action 4: This decision is wrong because Amelia is punishing Manoj and Benita for their behavior outside workplace.
Action 5: This decision rewards Manoj and Benita for their performance and is the right thing to do. Based on this rationale, the best combination would be 3 and 5 .Therefore Option E is the right answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 13-15 that follow:
Recently a private food testing agency reported the presence of a harmful chemical in Crunchy Chips, a product of a fast moving consumer goods giant. The report sparked a nationwide outcry.

Q. 13. Rajan Shekhawat, the CEO of the company, feared this incident might affect the company’s image among consumers. Rajan had the following options:

1. Apologizing publicly for this inconvenience and immediately withdrawing the products from all stores.
2. Communicate ‘the correct findings’ to the public.
3. Hire a reputed independent testing agency to verify the claims of the report.
4. Establish internal mechanisms to prevent repetition of such incidences in future.
5. Give higher incentives to distributors and retailers for selling the company brands.
Which of the following would be the MOST APPROPRIATE ORDER of options for Rajan, starting from the immediate?

A. 3, 1, 5
B. 3, 2, 4
C. 1, 3, 5
D. 1, 2, 5
E. 5, 3, 2

Correct answer: B

Exp: Veracity of leaked report has not yet been ascertained. It may be a good idea to first check the credibility of the report through an independent agency. Based on these findings a concrete action can be taken. Therefore 3 followed by 2 is the correct order. Therefore B is the correct answer.

Q. 14. Mukesh Routray, a shopkeeper in a remote village was surprised to read in the newspaper, his only source of information, about harmful chemicals in Crunchy Chips. He had stocked a large quantity of Crunchy Chips for the forthcoming festive season. He also realized that people in his village are completely unaware of this controversy. He had the following options:

1. Sell the entire stock at a discount before the news spreads.
2. Destroy the entire stock and advise customers not to buy this product from other shops as well.
3. Donate the entire stock of Crunchy Chips to a local orphanage.
4. Inform customers about the controversy but understate its seriousness.
5. Ignore the news and sell the stock at the forthcoming festive season as planned.
6. Explore the veracity of the report and then take decision.

If arranged from ethical to unethical which of the following is DEFINITELY the WRONG order?
A. 6, 5, 1
B. 6, 1, 4
C. 4, 5, 1
D. 2, 4, 3
E. 2, 4, 1

Correct answer: B

Exp: Actions 1, 3, and 5 are unethical because Mukesh is capitalizing on information he is privy to. Action 4 is also unethical but to a lesser extent compared to 1, 3 and 5 though he is informing the consumers he is deliberately “understating the seriousness”. Whereas action 2 is ethical, 6 is not unethical.
So the correct order would be: 2>6>4

1, 3 and 5 are all unethical with no definite ranking among them. This rules out Option A, C, D and E.
Option B is definitely a wrong order and hence the correct answer.

Q. 15. An independent and trustworthy confidante of Rajan Shekhawat, the CEO of the company, informed him that one of their main competitors had bribed the food testing agency to manipulate the report.
Which of the following actions will BEST help Crunchy Chips to bounce back?

A. Proclaim over the media that their product is completely safe.
B. Secretly hire a food testing agency to ascertain the quality of the competitor’s product.
C. Hire another food testing agency to test and communicate the outcome to the consumers.
D. File a defamation case against the competitor for their alleged involvement in the conspiracy.
E. File a defamation case against the food testing agency.

Correct answer: E

Exp: The objective is to bounce back i.e. resurrect the damaged image of the company and dispel all the doubts about their products. The company should ensure that such incidents are not repeated. The root cause of the problem is that the testing agency engaged in an inappropriate action (whereas the agency was supposed to be fair and neutral) at the behest of the competitor and this should be nipped in the bud.
Option A and C: The option does address the national outcry but does not address the proxy war by the competitor, which might recur.
Option B: The decision is inappropriate and not addressing the problem at all.
Option D: Their competitor is engaged in a proxy war. So, directly targeting the competitor will be a disaster.
Option E: The decision is appropriate as it targets the testing agency and not the competitor.
It also addresses the national outcry indirectly because only a brand confident of its product quality will file a defamation suit. This in a way reassures the consumer about the product quality.
Therefore Option E is the correct answer.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 16-18 that follow:
Purushottam Bhatnagar owns and operates a sweetshop Puru and Sons. He is about 60 years old and is eager to hand over the business to his sons Ratan and Pramod. He however, fears that his sons, fresh from college may not understand the tricks of the trade.

Q. 16. Purushottam sends a batch of sweets to the Police station across the street every day. Ratan construed it as a bribe and wanted to stop this practice.
Which of the following arguments, IF TRUE, would BEST convince Ratan NOT to give up this practice?

A. In the last three years, three attempts to burgle Puru and Sons were effectively foiled by the Police.
B. Each policeman receives only two pieces of sweet, too small to be considered a bribe.
C. The police in return send two policemen in mufti to mingle with the customers during rush hours to prevent pickpockets.
D. Every day, Purushottam also sends a batch of sweets to the school next to the station, an orphanage nearby and the temple at the end of the street.
E. Purushottam’s competitor Uttampurush who runs a sweetshop in the same street and his neighbour Mahapurush who runs a samosa stall, both do similar things every day.

Correct answer: D

Exp: Option A and Option C are both wrong since in both cases Purushottam is “paying” the police for discharging their duties. Option B is wrong since the pettiness of the bribe cannot be a defence. Option E is wrong because you don’t become right just because others are also doing it. Option D is the best since Purushottam is sending a batch of sweets to many other social institutions and therefore can be argued as a goodwill gesture.
Therefore Option D is the correct answer.

Q. 17. Purushottam’s eldest son discovered that the shop repackaged sweets that were close to expiry and sold them at a discount under different names. These sweets usually get sold very fast. But his son was concerned about the possible consequences of this practice. Purushottam was thinking of the following arguments to convince his son.

1. These sweets are consumed the same day and therefore there is no cause for worry.
2. Reduced prices give enough indication about the sweets to the customers.
3. These products are preferred by those who cannot afford full price and in a way, this is a service done to them.
4. In the past 30 years not a single person has reported ill because of consumption of these sweets.
5. Repackaging and selling sweets is a common practice.

Which combination of arguments below is MOST LIKELY to convince Ratan?
A. 1 and 3
B. 1 and 4
C. 2 and 3
D. 2 and 5
E. 4 and 5

Correct answer: B

Exp: Statement 1 by itself is not a correct answer since “no cause of worry” is not supported by any evidence. This support comes from Statement 4. Therefore Statement 1 together with Statement 4 will convince Ratan. Therefore Option B is the right answer.

Q. 18. Purushottam’s younger son Pramod discovered that 10% of their customers whom Purushottam called privileged customers purchased sweets at prices fixed 10 years ago (which is significantly lower than the current prices). Purushottam told him, “This 10% are my core and loyal customers with whom I have personal connect and therefore they deserve this privilege”. Pramod refuted his father’s argument citing the following information.

1. These customers form the top 20% of the income bracket of the city.
2. These customers frequently purchase from other sweetshops at market prices.
3. None of them recognises and greets Purushottam at the shop or at anywhere else.
4. None of them was present at Pramod’s marriage.
5. These customers actually buy sweets at Puru and Sons for others not part of the core and loyal customer group.

Which of the following combination of the above will MOST LIKELY convince Purushottam to charge market price to all?
A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 4
C. 2 and 5
D. 3 and 4
E. 4 and 5

Correct answer: C

Exp: Option A is not correct since discount cannot be discontinued just because customers are in the top income bracket. Options B, D and E are not correct since not being present at one event cannot be used against them. Option C is the right answer since the customers do not seem to be loyal and are also taking advantage of the discount in an unfair manner, since this is a select discount only to the loyal customers.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 19-21 that follow:
Six people working at the Bengaluru office of Simsys are planning to buy flats at a real estate project at Whitefield. Their preferences are listed below:

They have identified 7 real estate projects with following facilities available (marked with √):

A person is ‘satisfied’ if a project meets all three preferences.

Q. 19. Identify the project(s) where NONE of the 6 persons will be ‘satisfied’.
A. M only
B. N only
C. P only
D. N and P only
E. In all projects at least one person will be ‘satisfied’.

Correct answer: C

Exp: The satisfaction levels of all 6 persons for various real estate projects are shown below (D = dissatisfied, S = satisfied):

Hence the right option is C.

Q. 20. Identify the project(s), where AT LEAST 3 of the 6 persons will be ‘satisfied’.

A. M Only
B. S only
C. Q and R only
D. M, Q and S only
E. M, Q and R only

Correct answer: D

Exp: The satisfaction levels of all 6 persons for various real estate projects are shown below (D = dissatisfied, S = satisfied):

Hence the right option is D.

Q. 21. The marketing managers of all the six projects have agreed to add a recreation club and a car parking facility to the projects. In this changed scenario identify projects where AT MOST 2 of the 6 persons will NOT be ‘satisfied’.

A. N, Q and R only
B. P only
C. M and P only
D. N and P only
E. M, N and P only

Correct answer: A

Exp: The satisfaction levels of all 6 persons for various real estate projects are shown below (D = dissatisfied, S = satisfied):

Hence the right option is A.

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 22-23 that follow:

Geetha Gawde can cultivate up to 6 crops a year. Crop A and B are ready for harvest in 2 months; crop C and D in 3 months, and crop E and F in 4 months. Crop A can be cultivated from January to June; crop B can be cultivated from April to September; crop C can be cultivated from May to December; crops D as well as E can be cultivated from August to December, and crop F from November to May. If Geetha plans a change of crop the soil should be left fallow for one month; however, if the same crop is sown no fallow time is needed. Sowing takes place only at the beginning of a month. Geetha can only harvest a maximum of 1000 units of any crop at any point in time. The production cost per unit (incurred at the time of sowing) and price per unit of crop are as follows:

For Geetha soil preparation does not incur any cost. If a crop is abandoned before the scheduled harvesting, she gets no money. Geetha is preparing a cropping schedule to maximize her annual profits (i.e. price – cost). She plans to replicate the schedule in the coming years.

Q. 22. Which of the following would DEFINITELY be a part of the ideal schedule?

A. Cultivate crop B in August or September.
B. Cultivate crop B from April to September.
C. Do not cultivate any crop in August but cultivate crop D in September.
D. Cultivate crop D or crop E in August or September.
E. Do not cultivate any crop in August; but cultivate crop D or crop E in September.

Correct answer: C
Exp:

Though crop E generates the same profit, we cannot produce E from Sep to Dec because in that case, crop A cannot be cultivated from Jan. Hence, the correct answer is Option C.

Q. 23. Which of the following schedules would maximize her annual profit while minimizing the costs, if Geetha decides NOT to repeat a crop in a calendar year?

A. Crops A, B and E
B. Crops B, D and F
C. Crops B, D, E and F
D. Crops C, D and F
E. Crops A, B, D or E

Correct answer: A
Exp:

Hence, the answer is Option A.

XAT Decision Making Online Course @ 699 ₹/- Only

Decision Making for XAT 2015 – Previous Year Questions

The easiest way to crack XAT Decision Making Section is to go through XAT Decision Making previous year papers. To make it easy for students, I decided to put all the previous year papers of XAT Decision Making.

Directions for questions 1 to 3: Answer questions on the basis of information given in the following case.

Bright Engineering College (BEC) has listed 20 elective courses for the next term and students have to choose any 7 of them. Simran, a student of BEC, notices that there are three categories of electives: Job-oriented (J), Quantitative-oriented (Q) and Grade-oriented (G). Among these 20 electives, some electives are both Job and Grade-oriented but are not Quantitative-oriented (JG type). QJ type electives are both job and Quantitative-oriented but are not Grade-oriented and QG type electives are both Quantitative and Grade-oriented but are not Job-oriented. Simran also notes that the total number of QJ type electives is 2 less than QG type electives. Similarly, the total number of QG type electives is 2 less than JG type and there is only 1 common elective (JQG) across three categories. Furthermore, the number of only Quantitative- oriented electives is same as only Job-oriented electives, but less than the number of only Grade-oriented electives. Each elective has at least one registration and there is at least one elective in each category, or combinations of categories.

Q. 1. On her way back Simran met her friend Raj and shared the above information. Raj is preparing for XAT and is only interested in Grade-oriented (G) electives. He wanted to know the number of G-type electives being offered. Simran replied, “You have all the information. Calculate the number of G-type electives yourself. It would help your XAT preparation”. Raj calculates correctly and says that there can be _______ possible answers.

Which of the following options would best fit the blank above?

a) 3
b) 5
c) 8
d) 9
e) 11

Q. 2. Simran prefers J-type electives and wants to avoid Q-type electives. She noted that the number of only J-type electives is 3. Raj’s preference is G-type electives followed by Q-type electives. However, they want to take as many common electives as possible. What is the maximum number of electives that can be common between them, without compromising their preferences?

a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 7
e) Not possible to answer from the above information.

Q. 3. Vijay and Raj want to avoid each other. Vijay is interested in J-type electives and wants to avoid Q-type electives. Raj’s preference is Q-type electives followed by Q-type electives. Raj noted that the number of only G-type electives is 2. Is there a possibility that they would not share any common electives(s)?

a) Yes. There is a possibility
b) No. They would meet in one elective.
c) No. They would not be able to avoid in two electives.
d) No. They meet in five electives.
e) Cannot be solved with the information given.

Answer 1 : b

Answer 2 : c

Answer 3 : a

Directions for questions 4 to 6: Answer questions on the basis of information given in the following case.

Mr. Dipangshu Barua, a young IT professional, came early to office to assist his boss in the preparation for an important client presentation. When be switched on his computer, he saw an email from Mr. Patel. The email was as follows:

Dear Mr. Barua,
This email serves as a follow-up of my conversation with you on December 1, 2014. I have already conveyed need for improvement in your behaviour as desired as desired by your project leader and colleagues. They are yet to notice any visible improvements. I am
apprehensive that your failure to act may warrant further action leading to dismissal. I will continue to monitor and assess your performance over the next three months to determine whether improvements meet the expectations. At the same time, I would like to re-affirm that you are very valuable for our organization.

Best Wishes,
Mr. A. Patel
HR Director

Q. 4. Initially, the e-mail distracted Dipangshu but he decided to focus on the job. Which of the following options might best explain his decision to do so?

a) Mr. Patel would soon be transferred to another department.
b) Last week, Mr. Dipangshu has been assigned to a new team in the same project.
c) Three days back, Mr. Dipangshu has been assigned a new project similar to his final year engineering project.
d) His friend has been hospitalized for the last three months.
e) Failing to perform in the client meeting might further complicate things.

Q. 5. The scheduled presentation went off smoothly. Back in his cabin, Dipangshu read Mr. Patel’s e-mail once more and pondered over it. During the last meeting he tried hard to put forward his explanation but Mr. Patel had not allowed him to speak. Dipangshu was thinking of meeting Mr. Patel once again but was doubtful that would help. Incidentally, he had a job offer from a start-up with a comparable salary. If Dipangshu was to join the new job, he had to accept the offer within the next two weeks. However, he cannot think of a life without a job. Dipangshu was confused!

Which of the following options would be the best move for Dipangshu?

a) Talk to Mr. Patel and highlight the initiatives he has taken but at the same time start applying for other jobs.
b) Reject the offer from the start-up. Use the next three months to find a better job, but continue in the present job.
c) Resign from this organization right now.
d) Accept the offer, only if the start-up gives a salary hike, else keep prospecting.
e) Accept the offer with a request to give him a 10% salary hike.

Q. 6. After a couple of weeks, Mr. Patel came to know that Dipangshu’s project leader Mr. John, a very competent senior executive, may have wilfully influenced his team members to file a wrong complaint against Dipangshu. Mr. John may have done it because Dipangshu has refused to tow John’s line. Mr. Patel also came to know that Dipangshu was thinking of quitting this job. He felt regretful about his letter to Dipangshu. He wanted to resolve the complicated situation. He was contemplating following five actions in his mind.

I. Talk to Mr. John about Dipangshu and convey to him that losing a bright employee would cost the organization dearly.
II. Catch up with Mr. John during coffee break and convey that Dipangshu has a very good track record.
III. Chat with Dipangshu during coffee break.
IV. Catch up with Dipangshu during coffee break and convey that the organization values him.
V. Arrange a meeting among Mr. John, Dipangshu and himself to sort out the difference.

Which of the following is the best sequence of actions for resolving the problem?

a) I, III, V
b) II, III, V
c) I, II, IV
d) I, IV, V
e) III, IV, V

Answer 4 : e

Answer 5 : e

Answer 6 : d

Directions for questions 7 to 9: Answer questions on the basis of information given in the following case.

A few years back Mr. Arbit and Mr. Boring started an oil refinery business. Their annual earing is currently just 50,000 million rupees. They are now exploring various options to improve the business. Mr. Xanadu, a salesperson from Innovative Technology Solutions (ITS), is trying to sell a new oil refinery technology to Mr. Arbit and Mr. Boring. This technology could potentially enhance their annual earning to 150,000 million rupees within a year. But they have to make one-time investment of 100,000 million rupees to implement the technology. If the technology is not successful, the investment would be lost.
Mr. Arbit and Mr. Boring are discussing about possible risks of the investment.

Q. 7. Mr. Arbit is enthusiastic about this investment idea but Mr. Boring is a little sceptical. This impasse makes them approach a consultant. The consultant makes some observations.Which of the following observations, made by the consultant, might reduce Mr. Arbit’s enthusiasm for the new investment idea?

a) Investment is warranted only when benefits outweigh costs.
b) Technology investments give higher earnings in future.
c) Investment in technology leads to reduction of costs in the long run.
d) Technology risks can be controlled.
e) Business is all about taking risky decisions.

Q. 8. In order to sell the technology to Mr. Arbit and Mr. Boring, Mr. Xanadu is thinking of five possible sales pitches. Which of the following sales pitches would reduce uncertainties the most for Mr. Arbit and Mr. Boring?

a) All other competitors are aggressively investing in risky technologies.
b) If the technology succeeds, the annual earnings would grow 3 times from the next financial year and they would be able to recover the invested money within 1 year.
c) Preliminary studies indicate that success rate of the technology is 85%.
d) The R&D team of ITS is working to counter any possible downside of the technology.
e) Business is all about taking risky decisions.

Q. 9. Mr. Arbit and Mr. Boring did not invest in the new technology, but the new technology is a big success. Repentant, they are now estimating the additional amount they would have earned (i.e. forgone earnings) had they invested in the new technology. However, the two owners differed on expected lifespan of the new technology. Mr. Arbit expected lifespan to be 5 years, whereas, Mr. Boring expected it to be 2 years. After the technology gets out- dated, the earnings from the business would drop back to 50,000 million rupees.

What would be the difference between two expected foregone earnings after 5 years of the technology investment, if yearly earnings are deposited in a bank @10%, compounded annually?

Note: Forgone Earnings = (Earnings from business with new technology) – (Earnings from business without new technology)

a) 231,200 million rupees
b) 331,000 million rupees
c) 400,510 million rupees
d) 431,000 million rupees
e) 464,100 million rupees

Answer 7 : a

Answer 8 : c

Answer 9 : b

Directions for questions 10 to 13: Answer questions on the basis of information given in the following case.

Life saving Pharmaceuticals (LSP) is India-based Pharmaceuticals Company. Their business mostly revolves around a couple of generic drugs and a few patented drugs. LSP operates in 30 odd countries and more than 50% of their sales volume is from outside India.

Q. 10. If more than 50% of their sales volume is from generic drugs, which of the following options is definitely correct? (Note : All percentages figures are with respect to total sales volume)

a) If sales volume of patented drugs in India is 43%, the sales volume of generic drugs in India will be less than 43%.
b) If the sales volume of generic drugs in foreign countries is at least 24%, the sales volume of patented drugs in India will be above 24%.
c) If the sales volume of patented drugs in India is 54%, the sales volume of generic drugs in foreign countries will be above 54%.
d) If the sales volume of patented drugs in India is 29%, the sales volume of generic drugs in foreign countries will be above 29%
e) If the sales volume of generic drugs in India is at least 60%, the sales volume of patented drugs in foreign countries will be above 60%.

Q. 11. Mr. Sinha, a senior executive of LSP, observes that their business in India is not vibrant. LSP faces stiff competition from Indian and global players, except in rural areas. Interestingly, most of their sales in the rural area are from cough syrup, used as sedatives by teenagers. Mr. Sinha is planning the following actions to improve business in the long run.

I. Invest in development of new drugs.
II. Increase sales of cough syrup in the rural markets.
III. Try and cut costs.
IV. Recruit more medical representatives in the rural areas.

Which of the following sequences is best arranged in the descending order of appropriateness?

a) I, III, II
b) II, I, III
c) II, III, I
d) IV, II, III
e) IV, III, I

Q. 12. Mr. Rastogi, HR head of LSP, is contemplating of transferring MR. Jose, from India to their Luxembourg office. Mr. Jose’s wife is also with the HR department of LSP. The couple is expecting their first child within next four months and hence they want to be together. Mr. Rastogi is wondering whether Mr.Jose would accept the transfer. If he doesn’t, Mr. Rastogi would have to send a less competent person for this job as early as possible. The office in Luxembourg is very important for the company’s future. It is at its nascent stage and does not yet have an HR department. Hence, it is not possible to transfer Mrs. Jose to Luxembourg.

Which of the following options would be most appropriate, from the organization’s perspective, to resolve the issue?

a) Giving a salary hike to Mr. Jose with a promise to transfer Mrs.Jose to Luxembourg in the near future.
b) Giving Mrs. Jose option to work from home while in Luxembourg so that she can be with Mr.Jose.
c) Giving Mr. Jose option to work from India for the time being so that he can be with Mrs. Jose in India.
d) Giving a salary hike to Mr. Jose to compensate for Mrs. Jose’s salary so that she can join Mr. Jose at Luxembourg, even with loss of pay.
e) Asking Mr. Jose to accept the offer right now but give him up to six months to join Luxembourg office.

Q. 13. Mr. Khan used to work as the Vice President of LSP India. However, he had resigned from LSP India for a better job in New York. In the meantime, his wife was promoted to head the HR of LSP India. Mrs. Khan had struggled hard to reach this position and was quite popular and respected within the organization. Mrs. Khan was contemplating whether she should give up her career and join him in New York. Mrs. Khan is considering the following actions:

I. Take a break for the time being and focus on personal life. Given her reputation, she can always get back to the same job, if required.
II. Go to New York, on leave without pay for two months to help Mr. Khan settle down. After that she can come back and resume her responsibility in LSP India.
III. Request Mr. Khan to look for an equivalent job in India.
IV. Resign form LSP India, join Mr. Khan in New York, and look for a similar job there.
V. Request LSP India for a similar position in LSP USA and follow Mr. Khan to New York.

Which of the following sequence of actions can be immediately taken by Mrs. Khan to maintain her work-life balance?

a) I & II
b) I & III
c) I & IV
d) II & V
e) III & V

Answer 10 : d

Answer 11 : a

Answer 12 : b

Answer 13 : e

Directions for questions 14 to 16 : Answer questions on the basis of information given in the following case.

Mohan’s was a popular fast-food joint at Connaught Place, Delhi. Initially Mohan handled his business alone. His sons, Ram and Kishan, joined the business after graduation from college. Ram was entrepreneurial in nature. Subsequently, another branch of Mohan’s was opened in Panipat. Mohan had chosen Ram to head the Panipat branch. Though Ram increased sales in short time, he had stopped using premium quality organic vegetables, the speciality of Mohan’s.
Mohan and Kishan were not happy with his way of doing business.

Now, the foremost challenge for Mohan was to sort out this issue with Ram. Mohan knew that replacing Ram with Kishan was difficult as Kishan did not want to leave Delhi. However, giving a freehand to Ram might have long term negative consequences. Mohan was confused about the future of course of actions.

Q. 14. Mohan sought the help of five consultants, who give the following opinions:

I. Organic vegetables might be a big success at Connaught place but awareness about organic vegetables is low among Panipat customers.
II. The Connaught place model can be implemented in Panipat provided the business is prepared to face the consequences.
III. Many high end restaurants in Panipat use organic vegetables. So, using organic vegetables will not be a differentiating factor.
IV. Selling prices of their dishes in Panipat are significantly lower. Using organic vegetables will bring down profits.
V. Premium quality organic vegetables are not easily available in Panipat.

Which of the following set of options would support Ram’s argument of not using organic vegetables?
a) I, III, IV
b) II, IV, V
c) I, III, IV, V
d) II, III, IV, V
e) All of the above

Q. 15. Mohan sought feedback from a few of his businessmen friends, who were familiar with both the branches. Here is what they said:
– Businessman 1 : Customers of Connaught place and Panipat are very different.
– Businessman 2 : Customers in Panipat are extremely happy with Ram’s behaviour.
– Businessman 3 : Panipat branch does not use the same quality of ingredients but maintains good hygiene and taste.
– Businessman 4 : Who knows, tomorrow the customers of Panipat might also appreciate what Connaught place customers appreciate today!

If Mohan thinks all these are valid concerns, which of the following actions would be best for the business?

a) Training Kishan to replace Ram in a few months.
b) Not worrying about ingredients as long as business grows.
c) Bringing Ram to Connaught place branch.
d) Naming the Panipat branch as ‘Ram’s’, and changing it back to Mohan’, when needed.
e) Asking Kishan to run the Panipat branch.

Q. 16. After discussing with a few customers, Mohan realised that compromising on the quality of ingredients at Panipat branch may not be good idea but at the same time he also realized that Panipat branch had grown fast. He was contemplating following five actions. Which of the following actions would be the best for the future of his business?

a) Creating awareness campaign for organic vegetables in Panipat.
b) Mohan himself should took after the Panipat branch.
c) Close down the Panipat branch.
d) Send Kishan to Panipat branch and bring Ram to Connaught place permanently.
e) Hire a new person to run the Panipat branch.

Answer 14 : c

Answer 15 : d

Answer 16 : b

Directions for questions 17 and 18: Answer questions on the basis of information given in the following case.

MBA entrance examination comprises two types of problems: formula-based problems and application-based problem. From the analysis of past data, Interesting School of Management (ISM) observes that students good at solving application-based problems are entrepreneurial in nature. Coaching institutes for MBA entrance exams train them to spot formula-based problems and answer them correctly, so as to obtain the required overall cut-off percentile. Thus
students, in general, shy away from application-based problem and even those with entrepreneurial mind-set target formula-based problems.

Half of a mark is deducted for every wrong answer.

Q. 17. ISM wants more students with entrepreneurial mind-set in the next batch. To achieve this,ISM is considering following proposals:

I. Preparing a question paper of two parts, Parts A and Part B of duration of one hour each. Part A and Part B would consist of formula-based problems and application-based problems, respectively. After taking away Part A, Part B would be distributed. The qualifying cut-off percentile would be calculated on the combined scores of two parts.
II. Preparing a question paper comprising Part A and Part B. While Part A would comprise formula-based problems, Part B would comprise application-based problems, each having a separate qualifying cut-off percentile.
III. Assigning one mark for formula-based problems and two marks for application based problems as an incentive for attempting application-based problems.
IV. Allotting one mark for formula-based problems and three marks for application-based problem, without mentioning this is the question paper.

Which of the following proposal (or combination of proposals) is likely to identify students with best entrepreneurial mind-set?

a) II
b) I & II
c) I & III
d) II & III
e) II & IV

Q. 18. ISM conducts a common entrance examination every year. This year, the question paper would comprise 60 questions with an equal mix of formula-based problems and application-based problems. All questions would carry equal marks. Balaji is appearing for the examination. Before, appearing for the examination he gets the following information from coaching institutes:

I. Application-oriented problems take more time to solve in an examination hall.
II. Chances of silly mistakes would be low in application-based problems.
III. ISM would assist the students with bank loans to start a new venture.
IV. Options are generally confusing for formula-based problems.
V. ‘Practice makes a man perfect’ can apply only to formula-based problems.
VI. Students get very good campus jobs.

Based on above information, which of the following options would help him to be better prepared for the examination?

a) I &II
b) I, II & V
c) II, III & VI
d) IV, V & VI
e) I, II, IV & V

Answer 17 : d

Answer 18 : e

Directions for questions 19 to 22 : Answer questions on the basis of information given in the following case.

The Disciplinary Committee of Nation Political Party (NPP) is meeting today to decide on the future of two of their party members, Mr. Loyal and his son Mr. Prodigal. Mr. Prodigal is the prime accused in the brutal murder of Mr. Victim, an opposition party leader. Mr. Prodigal is in
police custody and his appeal for bail has got rejected. Mr. Loyal claims that his son is innocent and Mr. Victim’s death was the result of internal rivalry in the opposition party. Though Mr. Loyal is not accused in this case, his weakness for his son is well known. The media is blaming him for influencing key witnesses to protect his son. Severe criticism of his father-son duo, both by the media and some social activists, is damaging the image of the party. However, Mr. Loyal
has significant followers within the party and is considered an asset to the party. Any harsh decision against Mr. Loyal would adversely affect the future of NPP and could even lead to a split in the party. This would benefit the opposition.

Q. 19. Which of the following actions would adversely affect both NPP and Mr. Loyal, the most?

a) Take no action against Mr. Loyal.
b) Suspend Mr. Prodigal from the party with immediate effect.
c) Expel Mr. Loyal from the party with immediate effect.
d) Ban Mr. Loyal from entering party premises till completion of court proceedings.
e) Initiate an internal inquiry to find the truth.

Q. 20. At the Disciplinary Committee meeting, members came up with the following suggestions. Which of the following suggestions would harm the party, the least?

a) Maintain status-quo
b) Expel Mr. Prodigal from the party with immediate effect to maintain party’s clean image
c) Initiate an internal inquiry to find the truth.
d) Suspend Mr. Prodigal from the party with immediate effect but announce that he will be taken back if the court declares him innocent.
e) Suspend both Mr. Loyal and Mr. Prodigal from the party with immediate effect.

Q. 21. Mr. Opportunist, a veteran member of NPP, stakes his claims to be nominated as an NPP candidate in the upcoming election. Mr. Opportunist presented the following arguments in favour of his candidature to the NPP Executive Committee.

I. Mr. Loyal’s candidature in the upcoming election will adversely impact NPP’s chances. Hence, the party should not nominate him.
II. The party should call a press conference to disown Mr. Loyal. This would enhance the party’s image.
III. The party would not be able to take any strong disciplinary action against Mr. Loyal, if he gets re-elected.
IV. I have a lot of goodwill and significant followers in the constituency,
V. None of my close relatives are into active politics.
Which of the following combinations would best strengthen the claim of Mr. Opportunist?

a) I & III
b) I &IV
c) II & III
d) III & V
e) IV & V

Q. 22. The Disciplinary Committee has decided to suspend Mr. Loyal from the party because they felt he was influencing the judicial process. However, Mr. Loyal feels that the committee is biased and he is being framed. Now, election has been announced. The last time. Mr. Loyal had won with a majority on account of his good work. Which of the following options is most likely to resurrect Mr. Loyal’s immediate political career?

a) The main opposition party has invited Mr. Loyal to join the party and contest the election Chance of winning is high.
b) Not participation in the campaign and instructing his followers to stay away from the campaigning process.
c) Ask his followers to support the NPP nominated candidate and display his loyalty to NPP.
d) Mr. Loyal should contest as an independent candidate. But because of a split in votes, his chances of winning would be low.
e) Influence the nomination process through his followers within NPP, to get one of his close associates nominated.

Answer 19 : c

Answer 20 : d

Answer 21 : a

Answer 22 : a

Directions for question 23: Answer question 23 on the basis of information given in the following case.

Q. 23. Innovative Institute of Business (IIB) has decided to be the first green campus in India. IIB Administration has advised all campus residents to reduce carbon footprints. IIB faculty members did a brainstorming and came up with the following suggestions:

I. Replacing electricity source for street lights with solar panels.
II. Replacing the existing buildings with environment friendly buildings.
III. Organizing a seminar on ‘Towards a Sustainable Future’ involving all students, staff, and experts from around the country.
IV. Introducing a compulsory course on sustainability to increase awareness among students.
V. Conducting an initial energy audit to explore where IIB can reduce carbon footprints.

Which of the following options would be the most preferred sequence of actions to reduce carbon footprints on campus?

a) II, IV, V
b) IV, V, III
c) V, I, II
d) V, I, III
e) V, III, I

Answer 23 : c

XAT Decision Making Online Course @ 699 ₹/- Only

Decision Making for XAT 2014 – Previous Year Questions

The easiest way to crack XAT Decision Making Section is to go through XAT Decision Making previous year papers. To make it easy for students, I decided to put all the previous year papers of XAT Decision Making.

Q. 1. The main issues of interpretation arising from the work of professionally trained anthropologists are that they are late in colonial/post-colonial trajectories, because professional training shapes their interpretations. However, within field of interest and training, their works are most thorough and systematic. The best conclusion drawn from the above paragraph is analogous to :

A. Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which states that speed and position cannot be determined simultaneously.
B. Cultural relativism, which states that two or more than two cultures cannot be compared.
C. Personal relativism, which states that one should not study anthropological phenomenon for personal gains.
D. Conclusive relativism, which states that anthropologists should not knowingly color their findings.
E. Communicative relativism, which states that anthropologists should not be selective in communicating their findings.

Q. 2. Consider merit pay for teachers, Schools face constant pressure to change their management approaches to improve performance, which is usually assessed by standardized reading, math, and science scores. In most schools teachers’ pay is determined by seniority, years of total teaching experience, and credentials. Pay is rarely based on performance, which is contrary to the belief among parents and private sector. Parents and business leaders lament that there are no carrots/sticks used to motivate teachers. Consequently, there has been greater push to implement some form of merit pay to improve the motivation.
Which of the following statements will disprove the claim of the parents and business leaders?

A. A recent study suggested that teachers are self- motivated.
B. Teachers are largely motivated, by financial incentives; so pay for performance will induce greater and more effective effort.
C. Learning cannot be measured reliably and accurately by a test given once a year.
D. Teaching is a solo-activity; there is a little interdependence with other co-curricular and extra-curricular activities in the school.
E. To err is human, and hence stick should be used to reduce errors.

Q. 3. In a new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), researchers explored how caffeine can serve as a “mild anti-depressant”. They concluded that “drinking several cups of coffee daily appears to reduce the risk of suicide”. Data pulled in from three large studies in the US showed that the suicide risk of those who drank two to four cups of caffeinated coffee a day was about half of those who drank decaffeinated coffee or very little Of no coffee. In the studies, a respondent’s caffeine consumption was assessed every four years through a questionnaire. The respondents were all adults, and the study was published online. The authors, however, cautioned the public from increasing coffee intake as it could result in “unpleasant side effects”. “Overall, our results suggest that there is little further benefit for consumption above two to three cups/day or400 mg of caffeine/day,” wrote the researchers. The authors observed that there was no major difference in suicide risk for adults who drank two to three cups a day from those who drank four cups or more.

Which of the following shaped graph would best capture the above paragraph (x-axis represents “coffee intake” and Y-axis represents “suicidal tendency”)?

A. Straight line
B. Saw tooth curve
C. S shaped curve
D. U shaped curve
E. L shaped curve

Q. 4. A group of nine runners will finish the 400 meters race in a certain order. The runners are: Ashok, Benjamin, Chetan, Divya, Eshant, Faneesh, Girish, Himani, and Irravaty. They all finish at different times, and their finishing order is as follow:
• Faneesh finishes before Ashok. • Divya finishes before Benj amin and Eshant. • Irravaty finishes after Chetan. • Girish finishes after Ashok.

Which is the best position Girish can finish?
A. First
B. Second
C. Third
D. Fourth
E. Fifth

Answer 1: A

Answer 2: A

Answer 3: E

Answer 4: C

Answers Questions 5 to 7 based on the information given below.

Ms. Banerjee, class teacher for 12 standard, wants to send teams (based on past performance) of three students each to district, state, national and international competition in mathematics. Till now, every student of the class has appeared in 100 school level tests. The students had following distribution of marks in the tests, in terms of “average” and “number of times a student scored cent percent marks”.

Student Average Number of times a student scores cent percent
1 70 7
2 60 15
3 65 8
4 70 1
5 65 6
6 65 10
7 65 4
8 60 12
9 65 3
10 60 8
11 70 1
12 65 6
13 70 2
14 60 20
15 65 5

Ms. Banerjee has carefully studied chances of her school winning each of the competitions. Based on in- depth calculations, she realized that her school is quite likely to win district level competition but has low chances of winning the international competition. She listed down the following probabilities of wins for different competitions. Prize was highest for international competition and lowest for district level competition (in that order).

Competition Probability of win
District 0.95
State 0.6
National 0.1
International 0.05

All the students are studying in the school for last twelve years. She wanted to select the best team for all four competitions (Ms. Banerjee had no other information to select students).

Q. 5. Which of three members should form the team for the International competition?

A. 4, 11, 14
B. 2,8, 14
C. 1,6, 12
D. 13, 14, 15
E. 1 , 3 ,4

Q. 6. Which of the following members should constitute the team for the district level competition?

A. 4, 11,14

B. 1,4, 11

C. 4, 5,6

D. 4, 11, 13

E. Any team can win the competition

Q. 7. Ms. Banerj ee has to select the team for national competition after she has selected the team for international competition. A student selected for international competition cannot be a part of national competition. Which is the best team for the national competition?

A. 1,7,4
B. 8, 9, 10
C. 2, 8, 14
D. 3, 6, 1
E. Any of remaining students, as it would not matter

Answer 5: B

Answer 6: D

Answer 7: D

Answers Questions 8 to 11 based on the information given below.

Krishna Reddy was the head of a pharmaceutical company that was trying to develop a new product. Reddy, along with his friend Prabhakar Rao, assessed that such products had mixed success. Reddy and Rao realized that if a new product (a drug) was a success, it may result in sales of 100 crores but if it is unsuccessful, the sales may be only 20 crores. They further assessed that a new drug was likely to be successful 50% of times. Cost of launching the new drug was likely to be 50 crores.

Q. 8. How much profit can the company expect to earn if it launches the new drug (suppose there are no additional costs)?

A. 12 crores
B. 10 crores
C. 10.5 crores
D. 11 crores
E. 11.5 crores

Now, Reddy and Rao were in a quandary whether the company should go ahead and market the drug. They contacted Raj Adduri, a common friend for advice. Adduri was of the opinion that given the risky nature of launch, it may -be a better idea to test the market. Rao and Reddy realized test marketing would cost 10 crores. Adduri told them the previous test marketing results have been favorable 70% of times and success rate of products favorably tested was 80%. Further, when test marketing results were unfavorable; the products have been successful 30% of the times.

Q. 9. How much profit can the company expect to make if the product is launched after favorable test marketing results (assume there are no additional costs)?

A. 11.5 crores
B. 10 crores
C. 8.5 crores
D. 13.8 crores
E. 24 crores

Q. 10. What is the probability of product failure if Reddy and Rao decides to test market it?

A. 0.21
B. 0.35
C. 0.14
D. 0.28
E. Cannot be computed

Q. 11. If Rao and Reddy decides to launch the product despite unfavorable test marketing, how much profit can the company expect to earn?

A. – 13.2 crores
B. -36.8 crores
C. -46.8 crores
D. 46 crores
E. 10 crores

Answer 8: B

Answer 9: E

Answer 10: B

Answer 11: D

Please read the three reports (newspaper articles) on ranking of different players and products in smart phones industry and answer the question nos. (12-15) that follow.

Report 1: (Feb, 2013):

Apple nabs crown as current top US mobile phone vendor.
Apple’s reign may not be long, as Samsung is poised to overtake, Apple in April, 2013. For the first time since Apple entered the mobile phone market in 2007, it has been ranked the top mobile phone vendor in the US. For the latter quarter of 2012, sales of its iPhone accounted for 34 percent of all mobile phone sales in the US – including feature phones—according to the latest data from Strategy Analytics. While the iPhone has consistently been ranked the top smartphon e sold in the US, market research firm NPD noted that feature phone sales have fallen off a cliff recently, to the point where 8 out of every 10 mobile phones sold in the US are now smartphones. That ratio is up considerably from the end of 2011, when smartphones had j ust cracked the 50 percent mark. Given this fact, it’s no surprise that Apple, which only sells smartphones, has been able to reach the top of the overall mobile phone market domestically. For the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple ranked number one with 34 percent of the US mobile market, up from 25.6 percent year over year. Samsung grew similarly, up to 32.3 percent from 26.9 percent—but not enough to keep from slipping to second place. LG dropped to 9 percent from 13.7 percent, holding its third place spot.

It should be noted that Samsung and LG both sell a variety of feature phones in addition to smartphones. Looking only at smartphones, the ranking is a little different according to NPD. Apple holds the top spot with 39 percent of the US smartphone market, while Samsung again sits at number two with 30 percent. Motorola manages to rank third with 7 percent, while HTC dropped to fourth with 6 percent. In the US smartphone market, LG is fifth with 6 percent. Note how the percentages aren’t all that different from overall mobile phone market share—for all intents and purposes, the smartphone market is the mobile phone market in the US going forward. Still, Samsung was the top mobile phone vendor overall for 2012, and Strategy Analytics expects Samsung to be back on top soon. “Samsung had been the number one mobile phone vendor in the US since 2008, and it will surely be keen to recapture that title in 2013 by launching improved new models such as the rumored Galaxy S4.”

And while Apple is the top vendor overall among smartphones, its iOS platform is still second to the Android platform overall. Samsung is the largest vendor selling Android-based smartphones, but Motorola, HTC, LG, and others also sell Android devices, giving the platform a clear advantage over iOS both domestically and globally.

Report2: Reader’s Response (2013, Feb)

I don’t actually believe the numbers for Samsung. Ever since the debacle in early 2011, when Lenovo called into question the numbers Samsung was touting for tablet shipments, stating that Samsung had only sold 20,000 of the 1.5 million tablets they shipped into the US the last quarter of 2010, Samsung (who had no response to Lenovo) has refused to supply quarterly sales numbers for smartphones or tablets. That’s an indication that their sales aren’t what analysts are saying.

We can look to several things to help understand why. In the lawsuit between Apple and Samsung here last year, both were required to supply real sales numbers for devices under contention. The phones listed turned out to have sales between one third and one half of what had been guessed by IDC and others. Tablet sales were even worse. Of the 1.5 million tablets supposedly shipped to the US during that time, only 38,000 were sold.

Then we have the usage numbers. Samsung tablets have only a 1.5% usage rate, where the iPad has over 90%. Not as much a difference with the phones but it’s still overwhelmingly in favor of the iPhone.
The problem is that with Apple’s sales, we have actual numbers to go by. The companies who estimate can calibrate what they do after those numbers come out. But with Samsung and many others, they can’t ever calibrate their methods, as there are no confirming numbers released from the firms. A few quarters ago, as a result, we saw iSupply estimate Samsung’s smartphone sales for the quarter at 32 million, with estimates from others all over the place up to 50 million. Each time some other company reported a higher number for that same quarter, the press dutifully used that higher number as THE ONE. But none of them was the one.

Without accurate self-reporting of actual sales to the end users, none of these market share charts are worth a damn!

Report3: Contradictory Survey (Feb, 2013)

iPhone5 Ranks Fifth In U.S. Customer Satisfaction Survey inShare The iPhone5 ranks fifth in customer satisfaction according to the results of a recent survey from OnDevice Research, a mobile device research group. In the poll, they asked 320,000 smartphone and tablet users from six different countries, how, satisfied they were with their devices,. According to 93,825 people from the US, Motorola Atrix HD is the most satisfying and Motorola’s Droid Razr took second spot. HTC Corp? (TPK:2498)’s Rezound 4G and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 took third and fourth spots, while Apple’s iPhone5 landed in fifth spot.

It appears that Apple may be lagging m consumer interest. GnDeviee Research, Sarah Quinn explained, “Although Apple created one of the most revolutionary devices of the past decade, other manufactures have caught up, with some Android powered devices now commanding higher levels of user satisfaction.”

Despite the lower rankings, things aren’t looking too bad for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) elsewhere. In the United Kingdom, they ranked second place, right after HTC One X. Interesting enough, Apple did take top spot for overall satisfaction of mobile device, whereas Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) ranked second. Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE:MMI), HTC Corp (TPE:2498), and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) took third, fourth, and fifth places respectively, while Sony Ericsson trailed behind at sixth place.
The survey sampled mobile device users in the following countries: United States, United Kingdom,

France, Germany, Japan, and Indonesia. Although OnDevice didn’t share the full list of devices mentioned in the survey* it does show some insight to what customers want. Unfortunately, there were still many questions regarding the survey that were left unanswered. F.veryone wants to know why Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was on the list when they are not an actual smartphone maker and why was Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) on the bottom of the satisfaction list when the brand is leading elsewhere. Fortunately, those questions were answered by On Device Research’s representative. He explained that the survey was conducted on mobile web where the survey software could detect the taker’s device and since users rate their satisfaction levels on a 1 to 10 scale, thanks to the Nexus device, Google was included.

Q. 12. If you analyze the three reports above, which of the following statements would be the best inference?

A. Newspapers publish completely wrong data.
B. All three reports have been bought by the companies.
C. Newspapers may report selectively.
D. Apple is leading but its dominance in Korean market is definitely under threat.
E. Customer’s response, in report 2, is neutral and objective.

Q. 13. Assume report 1 and report 2 are both correct, which of the following can be a reason for seemingly divergent ranks of different companies and their products?

A. iPhone4, another product from Apple, could have been the best seller in the U.S.
B. HTC-One was the most preferred device in Japan.
C. OnDevice included Google in the list because it is an important player in Android market.
D. Customer satisfaction never leads to higher customer loyalty.
E. None of the above.

Q. 14. If report 1 and report3 are both correct, which of the following can be a reason for seemingly divergent ranks reported for different companies and their products?

A. iPhone4, another product from Apple, could have been the best seller in the U.S.
B. HTC-One was the most preferred device in Japan.
C. OnDevice included Google in the list because it is an important player in Android market.
D. Customer satisfaction never leads to higher customer loyalty.
E. None of the above.

Q. 15. Which of the following is more likely to be a correct conclusion about the respondent/reader in report2?

A. The reader is an Apple user.
B. If the reader is an Apple user, his usage rate is higher.
C. The reader is a frequent user of HTC One.
D. The reader does not like Android platform.
E. The reader wants more objective data to be released by the companies.

Answer 12: C

Answer 13: E

Answer 14: D

Answer 15: E

Answers Questions 16 to 18 based on the information given below.

Ajay was thinking deeply about a problem that his organization, a business consulting company, faced. Globalization had affected his company like many other companies. Despite the downturn, the current revenues remained healthy. However, Ajay knew it was inevitable that the company could not do business the same way. The complexity of managing the business had increased with time. Consultants were under pressure to deliver good and innovative solutions. The organization had consultants from different age groups having a good mix of domain and industry expertise. It was a flat organization with three levels. The biggest challenge for Ajay was to have consultants with latest knowledge who would also earn revenues. Getting additional business was a challenge as all the consultants were busy and it was very difficult to hire new consultants.

Q. 16. Some of the consultants were adept at applying old solutions to new problems. Ajay was not very sure if this would work for long. Some of the clients had complained about the performance of old and reputed consultants. Ajay was mulling over the following five solutions to tackle this problem.

1. Decrease time spent on client interaction and increase time spent for generating solutions.
2. Increase support staff to help consultants to remain updated.
3. Decrease the number of simultaneous projects handled by consultants.
4. Make it compulsory for consultants to work on inter-industry and inter-domain problems.
5. Recruit more consultants.

Which of the following would be the best sequence of decisions taken by Ajay (starting from immediate to distant)?

A. 3, 2, 1,5,4
B. 4,3,2, 1,5
C. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
D. 2, 4, 5, 1,3
E. 1,5,4, 3,2

Q. 17. After Ajay implemented some of the steps mentioned above, consultants wanted to renegotiate their contract with the organization. It seems that the organization had never mentioned that consultants have to work across industries and domains. Some of the old consultants were reluctant to change their ways, while many of the younger consultants were willing to follow Ajay’s advice. Which of the following decision can be taken by Ajay to handle this situation?

A. Retrench old consultants and recruit young consultants.
B. Pressurize non-conformists by giving preferential treatment to the conformists.
C. Negotiate with the old consultants and communicate that the new rules would apply to the new consultants only.
D. Do nothing and wait for a right solution to emerge, as with time resistance would die down.
E. Discuss the issue in an open house and let solutions emerge democratically.

Q. 18. Ajay was to retire in five years and he wanted to leave behind a legacy. Order the following activities, from the most important to the least important, that Ajay should undertake, in next five year :

1. Do nothing.
2. Set a future direction for the organization in these challenging times.
3. Benchmark performance with respect to the best consulting company in industry.
4. Empower senior consultants and at the same time seek opinion of all others for handling future challenges.
5. Infuse fresh thinking by hiring outsiders. Choose the best option from the following sequences

A. 1, 2, 3, 4
B. 2, 3, 4, 5
C. 3, 4, 2, 1
D. 2, 5, 3, 1
E. 2, 5, 4, 3

Answer 16: B

Answer 17: E

Answer 18: B

Answers Questions 19 to 21 based on the information given below.

Intercontinental Business Manufacturing (IBM) was doing a roaring business. Demand of the products was high and supply of raw-material was abundant. IBM was manufacturing three different products. Some customers bought two types of products and some bought only one. The three products were “quickie – quick”, “run-of-the-mill”, and “maxi-max”. Customers were not complaining loudly. Ram, the product manager, was confused! Demand for “quickie-quick” was increasing. Raw material suppliers wanted to supply lower quality at cheaper price. It was profitable for the company to increase production. Quality department was not happy with the product. Ram met Rahim, the CEO, who, as always, wanted higher profits. He said that IBM will set up a committee for improving the quality.

Q. 19. What must not be done by Ram?

A. Only produce “quickie-quick” as it gives highest profits.
B. Increase the production for “quickie-quick” and ask the supplier for better quality raw material.
C. Maintain the level of production for “quickie-quick” and ask the supplier for better quality raw material.
D. Reduce the production of “quickie-quick” till committee submits its report.
E. Stop production of “quickie-quick” till committee submits its report.

Q. 20. Rahim set up a “brand” committee comprising of a few selected managers, headed by Robert. The committee proposed that IBM should continue to manufacture the three differently branded products. It also proposed to recruit a new brand manager for improving brand image of the products. It agreed with Rahim that the company should increase the price. Rocket Singh, head of sales, was confused because he realized that customers were miffed with “run-of-the-mill” and “maxi-max”.

What should Rocket Singh do?

A. Launch one more product to increase sales.

B. Stop production of quickie-quick.

C. Launch a campaign on social media to increase awareness about company’s products.

D. Send an anonymous email to all the employees highlighting customer dissatisfaction.

E. Conduct a research study to find out the reason for customers’ dissatisfaction.

Q. 21. Some of the managers in production department were discussing the problems faced in shipping products in time. They complained that they had to undertake responsibility of creating financial and marketing plans in addition to responsibility of production planning. At the same time, finance and marketing managers were to be involved in preparing production plans. It was expected that this will reduce customer complaints. It was rumored that these changes were initiated by the managers educated in the U.S.
Which of the following is the best possible course of action available to the affected managers?

A. Create a union to safeguard their rights.
B. File a law suit against the company.
C. Create a forum for discussion and resolution of issues.
D. Register a complaint with the human rights body.
E. Go for further education to the U.S.

Answer 19: A

Answer 20: E

Answer 21: C

Answers Questions 22 to 24 based on the information given below.

Rajinder Singh was 32 years old from the small town of Bhathinda, Punj ab. Most of the families living there had middle class incomes, with about 10% of the population living below the poverty level. The population consisted of 10 percent small traders, 30 percent farmers, besides others. Rajinder liked growing up in Bhathinda, where people knew and cared about each other. Even as a youngster it was clear that Rajinder was smart and ambitious. Neighbors would often say, “Someday you’re going to make us proud!” He always had a j ob growing up at Singh’s General Store – Uncle Balwant’s store. Balwant was a well-intentioned person. Rajinder loved being at the store and not just because Balwant paid him well. He liked helping customers, most of who were known by the nicknames. Setting up displays and changing the merchandise for different seasons and holidays was always exciting. Uncle Balwant had one child and off late, his interest in business had declined. But he had taught Rajinder ‘the ins and outs of retailing’. He had taught Rajinder everything, including ordering merchandise, putting on a sale, customer relations, and keeping the books.

The best part about working at the store was Balwant himself. Balwant loved the store as much as Rajinder did. Balwant had set up the store with a mission to make sure his neighbors got everything they needed at a fair price. He carried a wide variety of goods, based on the needs of the community. If you needed a snow shovel or piece of j ewelry for your wife, it was no problem – Singh’s had it all. Rajinder was impressed by Balwant’s way of handling and caring for customers. If somebody was going through “hard times”, Balwant somehow knew it. When they came into the store, Balwant would make them feel comfortable, and say something like, “you know Jaswant, let’s put everything on credit today”. This kind of generosity made it easy to understand why Balwant was loved and respected throughout the community.
Rajinder grew up and went to school and college in Bhathinda.

Later on, he made it to an MBA program in Delhi. Rajinder did well in the MBA course and was goal oriented. After first year of his MBA, the career advisor and Balwant advised Rajinder for an internship at Bigmart. That summer, Rajinder was amazed by the breadth and comprehensiveness of the internship experience. Rajinder got inspired by the life story of the founder of Bigmart, and the values the founder held. Bigmart was one of the best companies in the world. The people that Rajinder worked for at Bigmart during the internship noticed Rajinder’s work ethic, knowledge, and enthusiasm for the business. Before the summer ended, Rajinder had been offered a job as a Management Trainee by Bigmart, to start upon graduation. Balwant was happy to see Rajinder succeed. Even for Rajinder, this was a dream j ob – holding the opportunity to move up the ranks in a big company. Rajinder did indeed move up the ranks quickly, from management trainee, to assistant store manager, to store manager, to supervising manager of three stores, to the present position – Real Estate Manager, North India. This j ob involved locating new sites within targeted locations and community relations.

One day Rajinder was eagerly looking forward to the next assignment. When he received email for the same, his world came crashing down. He was asked to identify next site in Bhathinda. It was not that Rajinder didn’t believe in Bigmart’s expansion. What was printed in the popular press, especially the business press, only reinforced Rajinder’s belief in Bigmart. An executive viewed as one of the wisest business persons in the world was quoted as saying, “Bigmart had been a maj or force in improving the quality of life for the average consumer around the world, offering great prices on goods, giving them one stop solution for almost everything.” Many big farmers also benefitted as Bigmart’s supply chain facilities helped reducing the waste. Consumers also benefitted through low prices, as middlemen were removed. At the same time, Rajinder knew that opening a new Bigmart could disrupt small businesses in Bhathinda. Some local stores in small towns often went out of business within a year of the Bigmart’s opening.

In Bhathinda, one of those local stores was Singh’s, now run by Balwant’s son, although Balwant still came in every day to “straighten out the merchandise.” As Rajinder thought about this assignment, depression set in, and nightmares followed. Rajinder was frozen in time and space. Rajinder’s nightmares involved Balwant screaming something – although Raj inder could not make out what Balwant was saying. This especially troubled Rajinder, since Balwant never raised his voice. Rajinder didn’t know what to do – who might be helpful? Rajinder’s spouse, who was a housewife? Maybe talking it through could lead to some positive course of action. Rajinder’s boss? Would Bigmart understand? Could Rajinder really disclose the conflict without fear? Uncle Balwant? Should Rajinder disclose the situation and ask for advice? He wanted a solution that would make all stakeholders happy.

Q. 22. Who is the best person for Rajinder to talk to?

A. Wife
B. Boss
C. Let time take its own course
D. Balwant
E. His colleagues in the office

Q. 23. After deliberation with many people and a lot of research, Rajinder came across a study published in leading journal, which stated that most local farmers benefited because Bigmart bought agricultural produce directly from the farmers. Which of the following actions would you prefer Rajinder to take, after he got this fresh information?

A. Since farmers benefit from Bigmart’s presence, Rajinder should be happy with Bigmart’s presence in Bhathinda.
B. Rajinder should undertake a new study to find out influence of Bigmart on local farmers.
C. Rajinder should see this as an opportunity to take concerns of local traders to the top management of Bigmart in India. It may help Bigmart to develop new solutions that can benefit Bigmart, retailers, farmers and consumers.
D. Quit job at Bigmart and start another big retail chain to compete with Bigmart.
E. Request his boss to transfer him to a new location, which has a low percentage of mom and pop stores. This would reduce Rajinder’s discomfort.

Q. 24. Which is the right ascending order, in terms of proportion of population, benefitting from Bigmart, in and around Bhathinda?

A. Consumers, farmers, retailers
B. Farmers, consumers, retailers
C. Retailers, farmers, consumers
D. Farmers, retailers, consumers
E. Consumers, retailers, farmers

Answer 22: D

Answer 23: C

Answer 24: C

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