Written Ability Test

AIM: 1. Test writing skills. 2. Ability to put forth the ideas in given constraints.
Some general tips of preparing and writing essays for WAT:
1. Practice makes man perfect. Hence, best key to crack in WAT is to practice 1 or 2 essays daily. This
helps in reducing pressure while appearing for WAT
2. Writing in certain structure implies the clarity of thoughts. This may help you in fetching more points.
3. Generally, Introduction, Body & Conclusion is the framework one should follow while writing essay.
4. Be precise and well versed.
5. Avoid: grammatical and spelling mistakes, fanatic remarks over politics and region, jargon.
6. Keep sentences short, precise and lucid.
7. PESTLE analysis is a good tool to analyze a variety of topics from different viewpoints.
P: Politics, E: Economic S: Social T: Technological L: Legal E: Environment
8. They say: First impression is the last impression. Hence, try to start with interesting first line or a
quote.
9. Supplement your ideas and opinions with logic. Data facts and figures can be used to support your
idea.
10. Most Important, Handwriting should be neat and clear. Writing should be legible.
 Personal Interview
Dressing etiquette is extremely important. Being well groomed makes a difference.
BOYS: Shave properly. Wear ironed formals, preferably Black suit and Black Tie.
GIRLS: Anything which is business formals works.
Some general tips of preparing and appearing for PI:
1. Prepare thoroughly on: RESUME; Questions related to academics, especially those subjects which you
claim to interest you; People with work experience can be questioned on your role at your
organization and any projects you may have worked on, questions related to the concerned industry.
2. Confident body language, good communications skills are expected.
3. Maintain eye contact and address all the panel members
4. Goal Clarity: Answers should be in a line and precise. It is expected to have a reasonable clarity
regarding your goals.
5. Do a SWOT analysis of yourself and be prepared to talk about the situations where you found your
strengths useful and what you tried to overcome your weaknesses.
6. Try not to be anxious and keep the conversation going. Interviewers like to know more about you
7. Listen to the questions carefully, ask for clarifications required. Dont rush into your answer. Take a
few seconds to think.
8. Basic etiquettes like seeking the permission before entering the room, greeting the panelists & being
polite go on a long way in creating a long lasting impression.
9. Most IMPORTANT: Make sure you smile.
 Current Affairs
Following is the list of some current affairs which you should prepare:
1. IIM Bill 2017
2. Globalization and protectionism
3. Digital India, its implementation and cyber threats
4. GST Bill
5. RBI and it's institutional autonomy, Monetary policy committee
6. Demonetization and its impact on economy
7. India's foreign policy in trade, counter terrorism, bilateral ties with developed economies.
8. Bankruptcy and insolvency code
9. BREXIT
10. Budget, it's rescheduling, would it be helpful?
11. Merging rail budget was a good or bad move?
12. After scraping Planning commission has NITI Aayog got the it's framework in place to carve out
growth for Indian economy in years to come?
13. Swatch Bharat and it's poor implementation
14. World economic forum, Davos summit
 Current Affairs

14. Net Neutrality

15. Oil Crisis
16. Rationalization of subsidies Pros and Cons
17. Budget 2017-18
18. US Presidential Elections: Election of Donald Trump
19. Zika Virus
20. Is there a right method to evaluate Indias GDP

*This list is non exhaustive. We have mentioned the topics we felt important. Try to prepare for
this as much as possible.
 FAQs
1. Why MBA? Why MBA after engineering? Why MBA without/with Work-ex. These are the most frequently
asked question.
2. About yourself, Strengths, Weaknesses. This can be answered by doing a SWOT analysis of yourself
3. Why should we select/reject you?
4. What are you Long term and short term goals?
5. Which other calls do you have?
6. People with work-ex may be asked: Job profile details, company info, competitors, major business areas,
etc.
7. What are your hobbies? Make sure that you tell the hobbies which you were engaged with and can
elaborate it.
8. Questions may come on: Academic record, favorite subject in graduation, time lags (if any).
9. Which specialization would you choose and why?
10. If you choose specialization as marketing the question may come: Sell this Pen/Tie/Glass to me, What are 4
Ps of Marketing.
11. Questions may come on analysis and estimate. Such as, How many people live in your surrounding, or how
many Bikes are there in India. These questions dont have any fixed answer. They are asked to test your
thought process. Good approach to tackle the situation will be thinking aloud so that panel gets the clear
idea of your approach
 FAQs
12. What would you do if you dont get admission this year?
13. What is the difference between MBA & PGDM.
14. What are the qualities of a good manager
15. Abstract questions like: Why blue is blue and not red
16. Questions may come on: City, region, state you belong to. Be prepared with name of politicians, and history
of your area.
17. What is your biggest achievement/failure?
18. What is the meaning of your name? How does it relate with your personality?
19. What are your expectations from a B-School?

The above were few Frequently asked questions. Please do prepare well. You may be asked questions on any
other topics as well.
 Introduction To General Management
General management is arguably the ultimate realization of a career in business. It entails complete
responsibility, including profit and loss accountability, for the performance of an entire business or a
business unit. A general manager can be:
The president or CEO of a company, or
The head of a division or department within a larger business

General managers typically have cross-functional responsibility; that is, they make decisions that involve the
coordination and integration of functional areas such as sales, marketing, human resources, finance, and
production. They manage individuals in charge of these various areas and coordinate their activities. The
CFO may know more about finance and the CMO more about marketing, but the general manager has to
know enough about each function to:
Coordinate its activities with the organization's overall strategy, and
Plan the business's strategy for going forward.
 Introduction To Strategic Management
Strategy is the means by which the individuals or organizations achieve their objectives. Common to most
definitions is the notion that strategy is focused on achieving certain goals; that it involves allocating
resources; and that implies some consistency, integration, or cohesiveness of decisions and actions.
Strategy assists the effective management of organizations. First, by enhancing the quality of decision
making, second, by facilitating the coordination, and, third, by focusing of pursuing the long term goals.
Strategy has its origin in the thought process of entrepreneurs and senior managers.
A companys strategy can be found in three places:
In the heads of Managers
Articulations of strategy in speeches and written documents
Decisions through which strategy is enacted
Strategic Management is all about identification and description of the strategies that managers can carry so
as to achieve better performance and a competitive advantage for their organization. An organization is said
to have competitive advantage if its profitability is higher than the average profitability for all companies in
its industry.
Strategic Management gives a broader perspective to the employees of an organization and they can better
understand how their job fits into the entire organizational plan and how it is co-related to other
organizational members.
 Introduction To Strategic Management
The strategic management process involves analyzing cross-functional business decisions prior to
implementing them. Strategic management typically involves:
Analyzing internal and external strengths and weaknesses.
Formulating action plans.
Executing action plans.
Evaluating to what degree action plans have been successful and making changes when desired results
are not being produced.
Making companies able to compete is the purpose of strategic management. To that end, putting strategic
management plans into practice is the most important aspect of the planning itself. Plans in practice involve
identifying benchmarks, realigning resources financial and human and putting leadership resources in
place to oversee the creation, sale, and deployment of products and services. Strategic management
extends to internal and external communication practices as well as tracking to ensure that the company
meets goals as defined in its strategic management plan.
Some of the commonly used frameworks in strategic management are:
SWOT Analysis: is a structure planning method to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,
Threats involved in a project or business venture
Michael Porters Value Chain
Porters Five Forces Analysis: analyze the level of competition within an industry and business strategy
development
 Finance & Economics
Basic Financial Terms:

Assets : An asset is a resource with economic value that an individual or firm owns in order to generate
future benefits. Assets are reported on a company's balance sheet.

Liability : A liability is a company's financial debt or obligations that arise due to the borrowings.
Liabilities are settled over time through the transfer of money, goods or services.

Owners Equity : Owners' equity is the capital received from investors in exchange for shares and
retained earnings.

Balance Sheet : A balance sheet is a financial statement that summarizes a company's assets, liabilities
and shareholders' equity at a specific point in time.

Income Statement : An income statement is a financial statement that reports a company's financial
performance over a specific accounting period.

Cash Flow Statement : a cash flow statement is a financial statement that shows how changes in balance
sheet accounts and income statement affect cash and cash equivalents.
 Finance & Economics
Corporate Finance:

Financial Markets : The financial market is a broad term describing any marketplace where trading of
securities including equities, bonds, currencies and derivatives occurs.

Bonds : Bonds are used by companies, municipalities, states and governments to raise capital and finance
a variety of projects and activities. Owners of bonds are debt-holders, or creditors, of the issuer. Bonds
are issued for a defined period of time at a variable or fixed interest rate.

Equity Shares : An equity share or simply share represents the form of fractional or part ownership in the
firm that can be purchased/owned for a publicly traded company.

Commodities : A raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as
copper or coffee.

Net Present Value : Net Present value (NPV) is the difference of current investment from current worth
of a future sum of money or stream of cash flows with given a specified rate of return.
 Finance & Economics
Basic Economics:

Gross Domestics Products : It represents the total money value of all finished goods and services
produced within a territory over a specific time period.

Inflation : Inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an
economy over a period of time.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) : The SEBI is the designated regulatory body for the
finance and investment markets in India. The board plays a vital role in maintaining stable and efficient
financial and investment markets by creating and enforcing effective regulation in financial
marketplace.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India. The Reserve
Bank of India uses monetary policy to create financial stability in India, and it is charged with regulating
the country's currency and credit systems.
 Finance & Economics

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) : CRR is a certain percentage of the total bank deposits that has to be kept in
the current account with RBI. It means banks do not have access to that much amount for any
economic activity or commercial activity.

Repo Rate : Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country lends money to commercial
banks in the event of any shortfall of funds.

Reverse Repo Rate : Reverse Repo rate is the short term borrowing rate at which RBI borrows money
from banks. The Reserve bank uses this tool when it feels there is too much money floating in the
banking system.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) : SLR is the Indian government term for reserve requirement that the
commercial banks in India require to maintain in the form of gold, government approved securities
before providing credit to the customers.
 Finance & Economics
Normal Goods : Any goods for which demand is directly proportional to the income are know as
normal goods. For eg. when income increases demand for fashionable product, cars, etc. increases.

Inferior Goods : Any goods for which demand is inversely proportional to the income are know as
Inferior goods. For eg. Second hand vehicles, etc.

Giffen Goods : A special type of inferior good may exist known as the Giffen goods, when the price of
a Giffen good increases, the demand for that good increases. For eg. Price of grocery during war
time, etc.

Marginal Cost : Extra cost incurred to produce one extra product is known as marginal cost.

Marginal Utility : The benefit gained from consuming one additional unit of a product or service is
known as Marginal Utility.
 Introduction to Marketing
What Is Marketing?
Simple definition:
Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer
requirements profitably. (CIM,2001
Goals:
1. Attract new customers by promising superior value.
2. Keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction.
 Marketing Defined
Marketing is the activity, set of instructions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and
exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

NEW view of
OLD view of marketing: marketing:
Making a saletelling and Satisfying
selling customer needs
Why is Marketing Important?

Shifting Business Paradigms

Buyers markets

Sellers markets
The Marketing Process
A simple model of the marketing process:
Understand the marketplace and customer needs and wants.
Design a customer-driven marketing strategy.
Construct an integrated marketing program that delivers superior value.
Build profitable relationships and create customer delight.
Capture value from customers to create profits and customer quality.
Needs, Wants, and Demands
Need: State of felt deprivation including physical, social, and individual needs.
Physical needs: Food, clothing, shelter, safety
Social needs: Belonging, affection
Individual needs: Learning, knowledge, self-expression
Want: Form that a human need takes, as shaped by culture and individual personality.

Wants + Buying Power = Demand

Customer Perceived Value
Customer perceived value:
Customers evaluation of the difference between all of the benefits and all of the costs of a marketing
offer relative to those of competing offers. (Armstrong & Kotler)
Perceptions may be subjective
Consumers often do not objectively judge values and costs.
Customer value = perceived benefits perceived sacrifice
The Marketing Mix

The set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target
market.
Product: Variety, features, brand name, quality, design, packaging, and services.
Price: List price, discounts, allowances, payment period, and credit terms.
Place: Distribution channels, coverage, logistics, locations, transportation, assortments, and inventory.
Promotion: Advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and personal selling.
Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy
Requires careful customer analysis.
To be successful, firms must engage in:
Market segmentation
Market targeting
Differentiation
Positioning
Market Segmentation and Targeting
Segmentation:
The process of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics, or
behavior who might require separate products of marketing programs.
Targeting:

Involves evaluating each market segments attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter.
Differentiation:
Creating superior customer value by actually differentiating the market offering.
Positioning:
Arranging for a product to occupy a clear, distinctive, and desirable place relative to competing products in
the minds of target consumers.
 What is Operations Management?
Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and controlling the process
of production and redesigning business operations in the production of goods or services.

It involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as few
resources as needed and effective in terms of meeting customer requirements.

Inputs and Resources: These are purchased by the organization. For eg. Natural or material resources,
human resources, technological resources etc.

Processes: Involve the transformation or conversion of these resources into products or services

Output and then feedback to the organization from its customers.

 Why is it important?
Consider the human body:
Marketing Style of dress, personal hygiene
Finance Blood, oxygen
Administration taking care of health, exercising, lifestyle management
Training Education, work experience
Operations the entire process of keeping all organs healthy, interacting day
to day, moving around i.e. everything you do!

If you dont take care of one element, the entire body can suffer
 Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management (SCM) is the oversight of materials, information, and finances as they move in a
process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Supply chain management
involves coordinating and integrating these flows both within and among companies.
 Inventory Management
Inventory management is the practice overseeing and controlling of the ordering, storage and use of
components that a company uses in the production of the items it sells.
Inventory management is also the practice of overseeing and controlling of quantities of finished products
for sale. A business's inventory is one of its major assets and represents an investment that is tied up until
the item sells.

Total Quality Management

A system of management based on the principle that every member of staff must be committed to
maintaining high standards of work in every aspect of a company's operations.
It consists of organization-wide efforts to install and make permanent a climate in which
an organization continuously improves its ability to deliver high-quality products and services to customers.
 Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving toward six
standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process from
manufacturing to transactional and from product to service.
Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry
bests and best practices from other companies.

Value Chain
A value chain is a set of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a
valuable product or service for the market.
The process or activities by which a company adds value to an article, including production, marketing, and
the provision of after-sales service.

Procurement: Process of purchasing material and products from a given vendor for various application in
an enterprise.
Lead Time: The amount of time that elapses between starting of a process and its completion.
A glimpse of life at IIM BG
 DISCLAIMER
Media and Public Relations Committee, IIM Bodh Gaya prepared this document based on prior experience
and interaction with faculty members who were part of PI process of IIMs at some point of time.
IIM Bodh Gaya or any other IIM in no manner takes the responsibility for usage of the document.
This copy is intended for the receiver only.
Strictly for private circulation.
You are free to share this document for non commercial use as long as you attribute the work to the author
i.e. Media & Public Relations Committee, IIM Bodh Gaya.