Instructions

Read the following scenario and answer the three questions that follow.

Ashraf has been working at a cybersecurity company called NuTech Pvt. Ltd. for seven years. Having missed a promotion in the previous appraisal cycle, Ashraf is anxious about it in the upcoming cycle. Ashraf is aware that the HR head is meeting the top management to discuss promotions sometime soon. (At NuTech, the HR head recommends names for promotions to the top management based on inputs from the functional teams.)

On a Friday afternoon, Ashraf receives an email from Sridevi, the HR head. It reads, “Hi, I need an urgent favour from you; please respond if you are free.” It was the first time that Sridevi ever contacted him. Surprised, Ashraf immediately replies back saying, “Sure! How can I help you, Sridevi? Regards, Ashraf.” In a couple of minutes, he receives a reply: “Ashraf, I am in the middle of an important meeting, but have to urgently send gift vouchers worth ₹50,000 to one of our important clients. If you could, please purchase and send the gift vouchers to the email address given below, at the earliest.” Ashraf , without any delay, sends gift vouchers worth ₹50,000 to the given email address.

Question 81

Ashraf does not hear anything from Sridevi in the next few days. Anxious, he meets up with Sridevi and enquires if the gift vouchers were appreciated by the client. This surprises Sridevi who closely scrutinises Ashraf’s emails and discovers that they originated from sridevi@nutich.com, instead of sridevi@nutech.com, her official email ID.

Taken aback, Ashraf requests Sridevi’s help in getting compensated by the company for his ₹50,000 loss. Sridevi asks Ashraf to justify his compensation demand. Ashraf gives the following reasons:

1. I erred; however, my financial rectitude is on record.
2. I acted in the greater interest of the company.
3. The spam mail reached my inbox due to the failure of the company’s email filter.
4. A NuTech employee, who was robbed of ₹20,000 of company’s cash, was not punished.
5. In the past, some of my acquaintances had been similarly duped.

Which of the abovementioned reasons, in a combination, will BEST help Sridevi take up the issue with the top management?

Video Solution

Solution

The starting tone of the reasons should be apologetic. Thus, Ashraf should start with reason 1.

After establishing his mistake, 'a greater good' reason will definitely help his case. Thus, reason 2 should follow 1.

Now, since there was a fault from the company's end also, he should make a case for the same. Thus, the best combination of the justification will be 1, 2, 3.

Citing shortcomings of the company in a similar previous scenario will not help his case. Also, not taking any lessons from past similar precedents will weaken his case.

Thus, the correct answer is B.

Question 82

Sridevi begins to doubt Ashraf’s competencies, given the way he handled the phishing emails. Thus, she convenes a meeting with the senior leadership to discuss Ashraf’s role in the company.

In the meeting, she shares the following observations:

1. Ashraf is poor at verbal communication, which is critical at subsequent levels.
2. Ashraf should have been perceptive, even though the company’s email filter failed him.
3. Ashraf joined the email filter team one month prior to his receiving the phishing emails.
4. Ashraf rushed to act on Sridevi’s request despite his busy schedule.
5. Ashraf appears to be highly anxious to get promoted.

Which of the above observations, in a combination, if true, shall BEST go against Ashraf’s chances of getting promoted?

Video Solution

Solution

Lacking communication skills is a serious deterrent to advancement in one's career. Thus, observation 1 will be a substantial argument against Ashraf's promotion. The same is true for perception skills. So, option 2 will be a good follow-up. The latter observation can be further exacerbated by Ashraf's role in the email filter team, as it will build a case against his competence. Thus, observations 1, 2, 3 will put forth a very serious case against Ashraf's advancement aspirations.

Observations 4 and 5 put forth a case in Ashraf's favour as it shows his proactiveness and aspirations. Thus, 4 and 5 can be discarded.

Thus, the correct option will be C.

Instructions

Read the following scenario and answer the three questions that follow.

The occasion was a hyper publicised switch-on ceremony of solar power facilities on an island, with many villages, in the Bay of Bengal. PK was the brand ambassador of a Multinational Company (MNC) that was banking heavily on this CSR initiative to strengthen its presence in India. For the millions of fans, enamoured by the aging super star’s Robinhood like onscreen exploits, the pre-event speech of PK was their first glimpse into his off-screen persona. After an emotional speech that extolled the virtues of electricity as a driver of wellbeing & need for inclusive growth, PK with a flourish of his hand hit the button to remotely switch on the solar power facilities. Tens of media cameras stationed in all the island villages, started beaming live feed across the world. Quickly, the event turned from one of joy to something of shock and horror, as all the thatched households on the island caught fire. A few villagers were seriously injured in the fire. Watching the coverage, PK slapped the MNC representative standing next to him, on live camera, and collapsed on a couch with his head in his hands.

Question 83

Soon after, the MNC filed a case against PK for criminal assault and tarnishing its brand image.

Which of the following is the MOST appropriate reason for the MNC to file a case against PK?

Video Solution

Solution

Option A: This is a very appropriate reason to file a case against PK as it shows the affirmation of their image and their intolerant attitude towards such behaviours.

Option B: This helpless attitude will not trade well with the stakeholders.

Option C: Filing a lawsuit against PK won't help their case with their dropping sales.

Option D: This action has the potential to further exacerbate their public image regarding the incident.

Option E: This option will also be discarded for a similar reason as option 4.

Thus, the correct option is A.

Question 84

Post the slapping incident, there was a strong social media backlash against PK. His PR team suggested the following social media releases that he could use not only to defend himself but also to garner positive reactions.

Which of the following social media releases will BEST help PK achieve the purpose?

Video Solution

Solution

The only possible reason that will trade well with the public on social media will be PK's instinctive reaction to the wrong-doings of the villagers.

Since only option B reflects the same,

The correct answer is B.

Question 85

A few months passed and the slapping incident still garnered a good number of views on social media. PK’s publicist was aware that PK harboured a desire to join politics. She wanted PK to make the most of the publicity around the incident before it fadeed away from public memory in the next few months.

Which of the following options will BEST help PK take just advantage of the situation?

Video Solution

Solution

Options B, C, and E will publicize unethical behaviour in public and hence will not help much with his case.

Option D will have a counterintuitive effect on his image.

Option A will be the most appropriate way to publicize him as it will not only revive the memory of the incident but also will give a boost to his Robinhood image.

Thus, the correct option is A.

Instructions

Read the following scenario and answer the three questions that follow.

Churna is a peaceful village, surrounded by thickly forested high hills that isolate it from the rest of the world. Agriculture is the main occupation of the Churna villagers. Moreover, the forests provide seasonal fruits, tubers, medicinal herbs, and other forest produce in abundance. For all material needs not produced locally, the Churna villagers depend on Tendua, a faraway town.

Once a month, the Churna women would arduously trek with the surplus produce to Tendua. In the Tendua market, they convey the virtues of their produce through a beautiful song and dance routine. Reputed for their hard-bargaining skills, they always manage to extract a premium barter from the traders, more than fulfilling all their other material needs.

Question 86

Damdu, an ambitious trader of Tendua, wants to have exclusive access to all the surplus produce from Churna.

Which of the following offers to the Churna village will BEST help Damdu achieve her objective?

Video Solution

Solution

The best course of action for Damdu would be option A that is to set up a shop in Churna which will barter all the material requirements of the village. In this way the women of Churna would not sell their products in the Tendua market instead they sell them to Damdu as it would avoid transportation cost if they get all the materials for their requirement.

Question 87

The head woman of Churna grants exclusive access to the surplus produce to Damdu. However, Damdu’s euphoria dies down when she finds fewer takers for Churna’s produce in Tendua. This trend continues for the next few months.

Which of the following could be the MOST possible reason for Damdu finding fewer takers for Churna’s produce at Tendua?

Video Solution

Solution

In the passage it is given that the Churna women conveyed the virtue of their products through dance and song. So this means that the dance and song of the Churna women provided authenticity to the traders. So we can eliminate option B and D. Now even if Damdu could not dance and sing but could convey the authenticity for the Churna products he was selling then he would have found traders for Churna products in Tendua. So this eliminates option A and C. The best possible answer here is option E.

Question 88

A few months after granting exclusive access to Damdu, the village council of Churna meets to discuss the progress. After much debate and heated discussions, the village council decides to terminate the contract with Damdu. The village council feels that if the contract continues, then:

1. Over time, Churna’s produce will lose its association with Churna.
2. Churna's people will be ignorant of new developments in the market.
3. Churna’s dance and song will lose their identity.
4. Churna’s people will lose social interaction with the outer world.
5. Churna’s people will lose their hard bargaining skills.

Which of the above concerns, when arranged in descending order of significance, will BEST support the decision to terminate the contract with Damdu?

Video Solution

Solution

The most important reason for terminating the contract of Damdu would be the people of Churna feel that their produce might lose association with Churna and develop association with Damdu. The next important reason would be that people will not able to understand and see how the new markets develop, that is they would be confined to Churna only. The remaining three statements state the things Churna people will lose of which the most important would be their bargaining skills followed by their identity and then the social interaction with the outer world. So the correct order is 1, 2, 5, 3, 4.

Instructions

Read the following scenario and answer the three questions that follow.

Rohini is one of the most popular faculty members in the finance department, known for her in-class engagement with students. Every year, she offers an elective Financial Risk and Derivatives Management in the fourth term which gets subscribed by about hundred students. This year, owing to Covid-19, she is forced to teach the course online, that too, in the fifth term. The fifth term is notorious for its non-negotiable teaching slots. To enable her teaching, Rohini uses her favourite laptop, Maplebook Lite, sold by Maple.

Rohini converts her family bedroom into a “working room” because of the strong wifi signals. The room is mostly used by Rohini for taking her classes; however, Rinku, her husband, also uses it for running his meetings. Rohini has two children, aged 5 and 8, who use the living room as their playground. During meetings and classes, the working room is shut to save it from unwanted disturbance and noises from the living room.

It is 3:10 p.m. and Rohini’s penultimate session of the course is going to end in twenty minutes. As usual, Rinku enters the room with a cup of Darjeeling tea. Just before entering, he asks his kids to stop playing for some time. He quietly places the teacup on Rohini’s study table and exits the room, leaving the door ajar. As soon as he leaves, a tennis ball comes thundering inside, crashing into her Maplebook monitor. The monitor breaks and Rohini’s class ends abruptly, much before the scheduled time.

Question 89

What should be BEST held responsible for the accident?

Video Solution

Solution

If Rinku had closed the door not left the door ajar after serving the tea then the accident would not have happened. Therefore the most obvious reason for the accident is Rinku leaving the door ajar.

Question 90

Rohini has her concluding session scheduled the very next day.

Which of the following is the BEST course of action for Rohini regarding the final session?

Video Solution

Solution

Rohini should definitely take the session the next day and not leave it so options B and C are eliminated. Defering the session is not viable as the fifth term is notorious and has non-negotiable teaching slots so she find have too much difficulty in another slot and also the students might have trouble regarding it, so eliminate option A. Requesting a colleague for taking the last session might not be good for the students as they may not relate to the new teacher, so eliminate option D. Option E is best option as Rohini herself must take the class even if there is a bit of problem.

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XAT 2021 Question Paper

Soon after, the MNC filed a case against PK for criminal assault and tarnishing its brand image.

Which of the following is the MOST appropriate reason for the MNC to file a case against PK?

Damdu, an ambitious trader of Tendua, wants to have exclusive access to all the surplus produce from Churna.

Which of the following offers to the Churna village will BEST help Damdu achieve her objective?

What should be BEST held responsible for the accident?

Rohini has her concluding session scheduled the very next day.

Which of the following is the BEST course of action for Rohini regarding the final session?

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