Instructions

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 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 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.
l. Note: Auditors role is to verify accounts.

Question 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?

Solution

Statement 1 and statement 2 have no relevance to the scheme. Statement 4 cannot be an effect of the mentioned scheme. Statement 3 can be a valid reason for discontinuing the scheme. Government can claim that people, being highly motivated by incentives, are concentrating more on quantity than quality.
Hence, option C is the correct answer.

Question 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 Noble Prize last year.
Considering the Government to be reasonable which of the following options is UNLIKELY to convince the Government?

Solution

Most famous researchers are also highly paid does not mean that they are famous because they are highly paid. Statement 1 cannot convince the Government.
Statement 2 does not imply that extra benefits result in high quality research papers. Statement 2 is also ineffective.
Statement 3 is irrelevant because the time of winning Nobel prize and the year of being the highest paid are different. Statement 3 is also unlikely to convince the Government.
Hence, option E is the correct answer.

Question 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?

Solution

Auditor's role is to verify accounts only. So, statement 1 and statement 3 are out of the scope of auditors' role. Therefore, the director would agree with statement 1 and statement 3.
Hence, option D is the correct answer.

Instructions

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 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 Rs. 100 for any of the three services (haircut, shave and hair-dye) on weekdays. They also agreed to increase this rate to Rs. 115 on weekends and holidays. All verbally decided to implement the agreement.

Question 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?

Solution

All the four hair dressers agreed upon the prices of haircut, shaving and hair-dye. If Kamal introduces a new service fro which there is no agreement as such, he would be able to charge extra and also he would not be violating the agreement.
Hence, option A is the correct answer.

Question 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?

Solution

The hairdressers have agreed on the prices. So, changing the price in any manner would be violation of the agreement. Thus, options A, B, C incorrect. Note that option C is making the price 0 which is also in violation of agreement.

In decision making questions, it is important to focus on the premise of the question. The central purpose of the shopkeeper is to avoid any violation of agreement while retaining his loyal customers. The option that fits both is the best fit.

In option D, he does not violate the agreement but he is not doing anything to retain the loyal customers.

Hence option E is the best fit among the given options where loyal customers are benefited while not violating the agreement.
It is entirely true that jumping queue is a moral quandary in itself but as per the central purpose of the author, option E is the lesser of the evils and logically coherent.
Hence, option E is the correct answer.

Instructions

Analyse the following caselet and answer the questions 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. Shailesh Nair, the mayor of Yashmund, perceived that most of these taxis do not offer sufficient comfort and safety to passengers.

Question 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?

Solution

Random inspection will not be effective. Also, there is no provision of punishment mentioned. Option A is incorrect.
Options B and C are focused on new taxis and do not resolve current problem.
It has not been mentioned that safety is not offered due to less income generated. Option E is irrelevant.
Option D best serves the purpose. As every taxi needs renewal, affecting it and the taking feedback from passengers would not allow the taxi drivers and owners to overlook safety and comfort.
Hence, option D is the correct answer.

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?