Customer Relationship Management

Part One:
Multiple Choices:
1. The extent to which customers recognize and willing to accept this variation is called:
a. Zone of tolerance
b. Zone of fitness
c. Zone of acceptance
d. None of the above
2. SERVQUAL is used to measure service quality. (T/F)
3. SWICS stands for………………………………………………………………………………
4. Real /perceived and monetary/non monetary costs are termed as switching costs.(T/F)
5. TARP stands for ……………………………………………………………………………….
6. If the direct cost be ‘a’, overhead cost be ‘b’ and profit margin be ‘c’ then the cost based pricing
can be calculated by:
a. a+b+c
b. a-b+c
c. a/b*c
d. None of the above
7. If the percentage change in quality purchased be ‘a’ and the percentage change in price be ’b’
then elasticity is given by:
a. a*b
b. a/b
c. a+b
d. a-b
8. If the actual revenue be ‘a’ and the potential revenue be ‘b’ then the yield can be given by:
a. a-b
b. a+b
c. a/b
Examination Paper: Customer Relationship Management
8
IIBM Institute of Business Management
d. b/a
9. Reactors make adjustments unless forced to do so by environmental pressures.(T/F)
10. Least profitable customers are categorized in:
a. Platinum
b. Gold
c. Iron
d. Lead
Part Two:
1. What do you understand by “Customer Gap”?
2. Write the difference between perceptions of service quality and customer satisfaction.
3. Write short “SERVQUAL” survey.
4. What are different types of “Complainer”?
END OF SECTION A

Caselet 1
Giordano is a retailer of casual clothes in East Asia, South-East Asia, and the Middle East. In 1999, it
operated outlets in China, Dubai, Hong Kong, Macao, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Giordano’s sales grew from HK$712 million in 1989 to HK$3,092 million in 1999. This case study describes the success factors that allowed Giordano to grow rapidly in some Asian countries. It looks at three imminent issues that Giordano faced in maintaining its success in existing markets and in its plan to enter new markets in Asia and beyond. The first concerns Giordano’s positioning. In what ways, if at all, should Giordano change its current positioning? The second concerns the critical factors that have contributed to Giordano’s success. Would these factors remain critical over the coming years? Finally, as Giordano’s seeks to enter new markets, the third issues, whether its competitive strengths can be transferred to other markets, needs to be examined. Being Entrepreneurial and Accepting Mistakes as Learning Opportunities
The willingness to try new ways of doing things and learning from past errors was an integral part of
Lai’s management philosophy. The occasional failure represented a current limitation and indirectly
pointed management to the right decision in the future. To demonstrate his commitment to this
philosophy. Lai took the lead by being a role model for his employees “. . . Like in a meeting, I say, look, I have made this mistake, I’m sorry for that. I hope everybody learns from this. If I can make mistakes, who the hell do you think you are that you can’t make mistakes?” He also believed strongly in empowerment – if everyone is allowed to contribute and participate, mistakes can be minimized. Service Giordano’s commitment to excellent service was reflected in the list of service-related awards it had received. It was ranked number one by the Far Eastern Economic Review, for being innovative in responding to customers’ needs, for three consecutive years – 1994, 1995, and 1996. And when it came to winning service awards, Giordano’s name kept cropping up. In Singapore, it won numerous service awards over the years. It was given the Excellent Service Award for three consecutive years: 1996, 1997, and 1998. It also received three tourism awards: “Store of the Year” in 1991, “Retailer of the Month” in 1993, and “Best Shopping Experience – Retailer Outlet” in 1996. These were just some of the awards won by Giordano. How did Giordano achieve such recognition for its commitment to customer service? It began with the Customer Service Campaign in 1989. In that campaign, yellow badges bearing the words “Giordano Means Service” were worn by every Giordano employee. This philosophy had three tents: We welcome unlimited try-ons; we exchange – no questions asked; and we serve with a smile. The yellow badges reminded employees that they were there to deliver excellent customer service. Since its inception, several creative, customer-focused campaigns and promotions had been launched to extend its service orientation. For instance, in Singapore, Giordano asked its customers what they thought would be the fairest price to charge for a pair of jeans and charged each customer the price that they were willing to pay. This one-month campaign was immensely successful, with some 3,000 pairs of jeans sold
every day during the promotion. In another service-related campaign, customers were given a free T-shirt for criticizing Giordano’s service. Over 10,000 T-shirts were given away. Far from only being another brand-building campaign, Giordano responded seriously to the feedback collected. For example, the Giordano logo was removed from some of its merchandise, as some customers liked the quality but not the “value –for – money” image of the Giordano brand.
Against advice that it would be abused, Lai also introduced a no-questions-asked and no-timelimit
exchange policy, Which made it one of the few retailers in Asia outside Japan with such a generous
exchange policy. Giordano claimed that returns were less than 0.1 percent of sales.
To ensure that every store and individual employee provided excellent customer service, performance evaluations were conducted frequently at the store level, as well as for individual employees. The service standard of each store was evaluated twice every month, while individual employees were evaluated once every two months. Internal competitions were designed to motivate employees and store teams to do their best in serving customers. Every month, Giordano awarded the “Services Star” to individual employees, based on nominations provided be shoppers. In addition, every Giordano star was evaluated every month by mystery shoppers. Based on the combined results of these evaluations, the “Best Services Shop” award was given to the top store.
Aggressive advertising and Promotion Fung said, “Giordano spends a large proportion of its turnover on advertising and promotions. No retailer of our size spends as much as us.” For the past five years, Giordano in Singapore had been spending about S$1.5 million to S$2 million annually on its advertising and promotional activities. It won the Top Advertiser Award from 1991 to 1994. Up to June 30, 2000, total advertising and promotional expenditure for the group amounted to HK$41.5 million, or 3 percent of the group’s retail turnover. In addition to its big budget, Giordano’s advertising and promotional campaigns were creative and appealing. One such campaign was the “Round the Clock Madness Shopping” with the Singapore radio station FM93.3 on 1
May 1994. Different clothing items were offered at a 20 percent discount from 12 A.M. to 1 A.M.,
whereas polo shirts and T-shirts and T-shirts were given a 30 percent discount from 1 A.M. to 2 A.M. and then shorts at a 40 percent discount from 2 A.M. to 3 A.M. To keep listeners awake and excited, the product categories that were on sale at each time slot were released only at the specified hour, so that nobody knew the next items that would be on this special sale. Listeners to the radio station were cajoled into coming to Giordano stores throughout the night (Ang 1996). In 1996, Giordano won the Singapore Ear Award. Its English radio commercial was voted by listeners to be one of the best, with the most creative English jingle.
Another success was its “Simply Khakis” promotion, launched in April 1999, which emphasized
basic, street-culture style that “mixed and matched” and thus fitted all occasions. In Singapore, within days of its launch, the new line sold out and had to be relaunched two weeks later. By October 1999, over a million pairs of khaki trousers and shorts had been sold. This success could be attributed partly to its
clearly defined communications objectives. As Garrett Bennett, Giordano’s Executive Director in charge
of merchandising and operations, said, “We want to be the key provider of the basics: khakis, jeans, and
the white shirt.” Elsewhere in the region, sales were booming for Giordano, despite only moderate
recovery experienced in the retail industry. Its strength in executing innovative and effective promotional
strategies helped the retailer to reduce the impact of the Asian crisis on its sales and take advantage of the
slight recovery seen in early 1999. Aggressive advertising and promotions also played a significant role in
the successful remarketing of its core brand prelaunch or introduction of sister brands, Giordano Ladies’,
Giordano Junior, and Bluestar Exchange.
Giordano’s Growth Strategy
As early as the 1980s, Giordano realized that it was difficult to achieve substantial growth and economies
of scale if it operated only in Hong Kong. The key was in regional expansion. By 1999, Giordano had
opened 740 stores in 23 markets, out of which Giordano directly managed 317 stores. Until 2000, four
markets dominated its retail and distribution operations – Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and Singapore. By
2000, Giordano had 895 Giordano stores in 25 markets.
Giordano cast its sights on markets beyond Asia, driven partially by its desire for growth and
partially to reduce its dependence on Asia in the wake of the 1998 economic meltdown. In Giordano’s
first full year of operation in Australia, sales turnover reached HK$29 million (US$3.72 million) in
December 2000. The number of retail outlets increased from 4 in 1999 to 14 in 2000. With the opening up
of its first retail outlet in Sydney in September 2000, Giordano outlets could now be found in both
Melbourne and Sydney. As part of Giordano’s globalization process, it planned to open up its first shops
in Germany and Japan during the first half of 2001. Currently, Giordano planned to focus its globalization
efforts on new markets like Germany, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, and Kuwait.
When the crisis made Giordano rethink its regional strategy, it was still determine to enter and
further penetrate new Asian markets. This determination led to the successful expansion of Giordano in
Mainland China, which saw the retail outlets grow from 253 stores in 1999 to 357 stores in 2000. Due to
the expanded retail network in Mainland China and improvements made to the product line, sales
turnover increased by 30.9 percent to HK$712 million (US$91.3 million) in 2000. Faced with the
imminent accession of Mainland China to the World Trade Organization, Giordano’s management
foresees both challenges and opportunities ahead. In Indonesia, Giordano opened up 7 more stores in
2000, bringing the total number of retail stores to 10. These stores covered areas in Jakarta, Surabaya, and
Bali. However, with the political and social instability in Indonesia, coupled with the downward pressure
on the Rupiah, Giordano was cautiously optimistic about further expansion and planned to proceed with
caution. In Malaysia, Giordano planned to refurnish its Malaysian outlets and intensify its local
promotional campaigns to consolidate its leadership position in the Malaysia market.
Giordano’s success in these markets would depend on its understanding of them, and consumer tastes
and preferences for fabrics, colors, and advertising. In the past, Giordano relied on a consistent strategy
across different countries, and elements of this successful strategy included its positioning and service
strategies, information systems and logistics, and human resource policies. However, tactical
implementation (e.g., promotional campaigns) was left mostly to local managers in their respective
countries. A country’s performance (e.g., sales, contribution, service levels, and customer feedback) was
monitored by regional headquarters (e.g., Singapore for South-East Asia) and the head office in Hong
Kong. Weekly performance reports were made accessible to all managers. In recent years, it appeared that
as the organization expanded beyond Asia, different strategies had to be developed for different regions or
countries.

Questions:
1. How do you think Giordano had/would have to adapt its marketing and operations strategies and
tactics when entering and penetrating your country?
2. What general lessons can be learned from Giordano for other major clothing retailers in your
country?

Caselet 2
In 2003, Jyske Bank Group’s primary operations consisted of Jyske Bank, which was the third largest
bank in Denmark after Den Danske Bank and Nordea’s Danish operations. Jyske Bank was created in
1967 through the merger of four Danish banks having their operations in Jutland, Jyske being Danish for
“Jutlandish.” Jutland was the large portion of Denmark attached to the European mainland to the north of
Germany. Until the late 1990s, Jyske Bank was characterized as a typical Danish bank: prudent,
conservative, well-managed, generally unremarkable, and largely undifferentiated.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Jyske Bank embarked on a change process that led to its no longer being
characterized as either unremarkable or undifferentiated. By 2003 its unique “flavor” of service made it a
leader in customer satisfaction among Danish banks. At the heart of these changes was the bank’s
determination to be, in the words of one executive, “the most customer-oriented bank in Denmark.” The
bank achieved its goal by focusing on what it called Jyske Forskelle, or Jyske Differences.
Jyske Differences
Jyske Differences stemmed from Jyske Bank’s core values. These stood as central tents, guiding virtually
all aspects of the organization’s life. As one manager pointed out, the values were consistent with the
bank’s Jyske heritage: “Really, when we started talking about our core values, and their Jyskeness, we
just became overt about values we had long held.” Jyske Bank’s core values, published for employees,
customers, and shareholders, were that the bank shouls (1) have common sense; (2) be open and honest;
(3) be different and unpretentious; (4) have genuine interest and equal respect for people; and (5) be
efficient and persevering.
The core values led management to reevaluate how the bank did business with its customers.
Managers determined that if the bank were to be true to its values, it would have to deliver service
differently from both how it had in the past, and how other banks delivered service. Jyske Differences
were thus operational zed as specific practices that distinguished Jyske Bank.
Competitive Positioning
Managers looked to Jyske values and differences for the bank’s competitive positioning. This process was
aided by a Dutch consultant, whose market research indicated that Jyske bank’s core target market of
Danish families and small-to-medium sized Danish companies (earnings were 40 % commercial, 60%
retail) generally liked the idea of a bank that was jyske. Additional research suggested that what managers
described as the “hard factors” of price, product, and location had become sine qua non in the eyes of
customers. In contrast, “soft factors” relating to an individual customer’s relationship with her service
providers served as the basic for differentiation, specially, “being nice,” “marketing time for the
customer,” and “caring about the customer and his family.”
Managers felt that the “genuine interest” component of the bank’s values dictated a shift from
traditional product focused selling to a customer-solution approach. They characterized the new approach
by contrasting the statement, “Let me tell you about our demand-deposit account,” with the question,
“What you need?”
Although he bank’s core financial products remained essentially similar to those of other Danish
banks,3 the way they were delivered changed. This required significant changes in the branches, both
Examination Paper: Customer Relationship Management
12
IIBM Institute of Business Management
tangible and intangible, and how they were supported. Tools were developed to support solution-based
service delivery. For example, new IT systems helped employees take customers through processes to
determine their needs and final appropriate solutions. In one, the customer and her banker filled out an
on-line investor profile to determine what style of investment products were most appropriate for her
based on risk aversion, time frame, and return goals, among other factors. A manager commented that,
“The tools themselves aren’t proprietary. We’ve seen other financial services with similar programs – it’s
how our people use them that makes the difference.” Another stated, “Our tools are designed either to
enhance our ability to deliver solutions, or to reduce administrative tasks and increase the amount of time
our people can spend with customers – delivering solutions.”
Finally, being overtly Jyske meant that the bank would no longer be a good place for any customer
meeting its demographic criteria for two reasons. First, delivering this type of service was expensive. As a
result, the bank charged a slight premium, and targeted only those customers who were less likely to
represent a credit risk. Second, the bank would have a personality. According to one manager, “The
danger in having a personality is, someone, inevitably, won’t like you.” Senior management considered
this the price of being candid, and welcomed the effect it had on some customers. For example, Jyske
Bank’s cash/debit card had a picture of a black grouse on it, black grouses being found in Jutland’s rural
countryside. When a few customers complained that the bird didn’t seem very business-like, or wasn’t hip
(one was “embarrassed to pull it out at the disco”) managers were happy to invite them to open accounts
at competitor institution. A manager noted:
Actually, if no one reacts to our materials, they’re not strong enough. Some people should
dislike us. After all, we’re only about 6% of the market. I don’t want everyone to like us –
We’re not for everyone and don’t want to be.
Tangible Differences
Account Teams:
Delivering on the banks competitive positioning required a number of tangible changes in its service
delivery system. These began with assigning each customer a branch employee to serve as primary point
of contact. Over time, managers discovered that this created problems, because customers often arrived at
a branch when their service provider was busy with other customers or otherwise unavailable.
Nevertheless, managers were committed to providing individualized service. According to one, “How can
we be honest in saying we care about customers as individuals if we don’t get to know them as
individuals? And without knowing them, we can’t identify and solve their problems.” The solution was
found in account teams: each customer was assigned to a small team of branch bankers. These employees
worked together to know and serve their customers, sitting in close physical proximity within the branch.
Branch Design:
Jyske Bank planned to spend approximately DKK 750 million to physically redesign its branches (most
of this had been spent by 2003). Danish observers described the new branches as looking “like an
advertising agency” or “a smart hotel.” These effects were accomplished through the use of modern, upscale
materials such as light wood, warm colors, and original art. Branch redesign also included changes
in the way customers interacted with their bankers, made possible by architectural and design changes.
For example, customers waiting for their banker could help themselves to fresh coffee in a small part of
the branch resembling a café. A customer commented on the café, “It means more than you initially think
– it makes you feel welcome, it says they’re really interested in me.” Fruit juice was available for
children, who could amuse themselves with toys in the play center. Bankers’ desks were now round
tables, signifying equally. A team of three or four bankers sat at a single large round table, with customers
making themselves comfortable between the bankers’ work stations. Customers could see bankers’
computer screens, reinforcing openness. Customers’ ability to view the screens also facilitated the use of
IT programs designed to structure interactions between account team members and customers. As equals,
bankers and customers sat in the same type of chairs, and bankers no longer sat on a raised dais, the
origins of which went back to feudal times when the heads of certain people were supposed to be higher
than those of others. If a conversation required more discretion, specially designed meeting rooms giving
the feeling of “home” were available.
Examination Paper: Customer Relationship Management
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IIBM Institute of Business Management
Intangible Differences
Delivering the bank’s new competitive positioning also required numerous intangible changes and other
changes not immediately visible to the customer. Managers stated that the most important of these
involved training and empowering those employees closest to the customer to serve the customer.
Training
Before a branch was remodeled, all staff took part in special training sessions. These included
teambuilding and customer service, drawing on best practices from the “traditional” retail sector.
Management Style
A senior manager commented:
You can train and educate all day long, but unless your managers and employees are committed to Jyske
Differences, they just won’t happen. Getting them required a great deal of my effort.
When we started this process there were times when it was hard – really hard. The branch managers
didn’t think strategically – they sat in their offices and focused on their day-to-day work. I wanted the
branch manager to get up on a hill and look around, to get a bigger picture. To get them to change I asked
them questions: What’s the market? Where – and who – are your competitors? What are your strengths
and weaknesses, how do they tie to Jyske Differences? Now, contrast what you need with what you have.
Are the teams in your branch living up to the demands? What do you need to do to ensure that they will?
There will be resistance; understand where it is coming from. One way to deal with it is to make
agreements with individuals on how they will develop new skills. If there is a complete mismatch you
may need new team members, but for the most part, you can coach your people through this kind of
change – you can lead them.
According to another executive:
The branch managers have to be able to motivate employees to work a little harder, and differently. The
most successful give their employees a lot of latitude for decision making. They do a lot of training, 80%
of which is on the job. When it isn’t, it’s mostly role playing. There aren’t any high-powered incentives to
offer, but there are really good tools coming out of IT. it’s more how the branch managers do it than what
employees to share the values and act on them.
A third noted:
When I have a difficult situation I look for what I call a “culture carrier.” I try put that person into the
middle of it, because they live our values. What I usually see is that the other employees who are on the
fence about the values start to come over – they see the example and they like what they see. This leaves
the few people who really don’t want to be Jyske on the outside, and they tend not to last long. Most
people are willing to change, but they’ve got to be supported in the process.
Conclusion
The bank’s leadership believed that Jyske values and differences, and the bank’s value chain, provided
ways to achieve the balance they wanted among their three stakeholders: employees, customers, and
shareholders. Several leaders commented that with the large capital investments behind them as of 2003,
net income would increase considerably in the coming years, assuming the recession of 2001 and 2002
was over. Shareholders had received a 17.8% annual return on their investment for the ten years prior to
year-end 2002. Anders Dam’s 2002-2003 goal for shareholders was to increase the bank’s stock multiple
approximately 40% to the level of Danske Bank’s, the largest and most richly-priced bank in Denmark.
This was achieved in July 2003.6 While the bank’s leadership was pleased with the bank’s success, they
were more interested in determining how the bank would remain in a position of leadership while still
keeping the interests of its key stakeholders in balance.
Questions:

1. What did Jyske Bank change to enable it to deliver its new competitive positioning?
2. How did Jyske Bank implement those changes?

END OF SECTION B
Section C: Applied Theory (30 marks)
This section consists of Applied Theory Questions. •
Answer all the questions. •
Each question carries 15 marks. •
Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200 to 250 words). •
1. Choose a firm you are familiar with. Describe how you would design an ideal service recovery
strategy for that organization.
2. Discuss the customer’s role as a productive resource for the firm. Describe a time when you
played this role. What did you do and how feel? Did the firm help you perform your role
effectively? How?

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Semester-II                                Examination Paper                                             MM.100
Production and Operation Management
IIBM Institute of Business Management

Section A: Objective Type (30 marks)
• This section consists of Multiple choice questions & Short Notes type questions.
• Answer all the questions.
• Part One questions carry 1 mark each & Part Two questions carry 5 marks each.

Part One:

Multiple choices:

1. If the number of restrictions on sources be ‘a’ and the number of restrictions on destinations be
‘b’ then with the use of ‘stepping stone procedure’, the number of ‘used cells’ will be
a. a+b+1
b. a+b+2
c. a-b-1
d. a+b-1

2. Value of smoothing coefficient ‘α’ lies
a. Between 1 and ∞
b. Between 0 and 1
c. Between -1 and 1
d. Between 1 and 2

3. Forecasting error is
a. The difference between forecasted demand and actual demand
b. The ratio of forecasted demand and actual demand
c. The difference between the standard forecast demand and the evaluated forecast demand
d. Ratio of standard forecast demand and the evaluated forecast demand

4. For forecasting the analyzers plot the demand data on a time scale, study the plot and then look
for the consistent patterns. Now what does the high noise mean to these patterns
a. Many of the point lie away from the pattern
b. Most of the points lie close to the pattern
c. All the points lie on the pattern
d. None

5. Payback period is
a. The length of time after which the production starts
b. The length of time after which the selling starts
c. The length of time required to recover the investment
d. The length of time for which firm bears replacement of the good.


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6. Salvage value is the income from
a. Selling an asset
b. Buying an asset
c. Bargaining in selling
d. Price raised stock

7. On total factor basis ‘Productivity’ is given by x/y, where ‘y’ is
a. Labor + Capital +Materials
b. Labor + Capital + Materials + Energy
c. Capital
d. Capital + Materials

8. Economic efficiency is given by
a. Input /output
b. Input /100
c. (Output-input)/input
d. Output /input

9. This implies an effective management that ensures an organization’s long-term commitment to
the continuous improvement of quality.
a. Quality management
b. Strategic management
c. Total quality management
d. Operations management

10. This techniques for improving productivity involves analyzing the operations of the product or
service, estimate the value of each operation, and modifying (or) improving that operation so that
the cost is lowered.
a. Value engineering
b. Time-event network
c. Work simplifications
d. Quality circles

Part Two:

1. What are the different types of models in production and operation management?







2. Define ‘Depreciation’.

3. What do you understand by ‘Bias’?

4. What are ‘Learning curves’?
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END OF SECTION A

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IIBM Institute of Business Management



          Section B: Caselets (40 marks)
• This section consists of Caselets.
• Answer all the questions.
• Each caselet carries 20 marks.
• Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200 to 250 words).
Caselet 1

COMPANY BACKGROUND


The Bronson Insurance Group was originally founded in 1900 in Auxvasse, Missouri, by James Bronson.
The Bronson Group owns a variety of companies that underwrite personal and commercial insurance
policies. Annual sales of the Bronson Group are $100 million. In recent years, the company has suffered
operating losses. In 1990, the company was heavily invested in computer hardware and software. One of
the problems the Bronson Group faced (as well as many insurance companies) was a conflict between
established manual procedures and the relatively recent (within the past 20 years)   introduction of
computer equipment. This conflict was illustrated by the fact that much information was captured on
computer but paper files were still kept for practical and legal reasons.

FILE CLERKS


The file department employed 20 file clerks who pulled files from stacks, refilled used files, and delivered
files to various departments including commercial lines, personal lines, and claims. Once a file clerk
received the file. Clerks delivered files to underwriters on an hourly basis throughout the day. The
average file clerk was paid $8,300 per year. One special file clerk was used full time to search for
requested files that another file clerk had not been able to find in the expected place. It was estimated that
40 percent of the requested files were these “no hit” files requiring a search. Often these “no hit” files
were eventually found stacked in the requester’s office. The primary “customers” of the file clerks were
underwriters and claims attorneys.

UNDERWRITING    


Company management and operations analysts were consistently told that the greatest problem in the
company was the inability of file clerks to supply files in a speedy fashion. The entire company from top
to bottom viewed the productivity and effectiveness of the department as unacceptable. An underwriter
used 20-50 files per day. Because of their distrust of the files department, underwriters tended to hoard
often used files. A count by operations analysts found that each underwriter kept from 100-200 files in his
or her office at any one time. An underwriter would request a file by computer and work on other
business until the file was received. Benson employed 25 underwriters.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM


Upper management was deeply concerned about this problem. The MIS department had suggested using
video disks as a possible solution. A video disk system was found that would be sufficient for the
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companies needs at a cost of about $12 million. It was estimated that the system would take two years to
install and make compatible with existing information systems. Another, less attractive was using
microfilm. A microfilm system would require underwriters to go to a single keyboard to request paper
copies of files. The cost of a microfilm system was $5 million.


1. What do you recommend? Should the company implement one of the new technologies? Why or
why not?

2. An operations analyst suggested that company employees shared a “dump on the clerks”
mentality. Explain.

IIBM Institute of Business Management


Caselet 2

Harrison T. Wenk III is 43, married, and has two children, ages 10 and 14. He has a master’s degree
in education and teachers junior high school music in a small town in Ohio. Harrison’s father passed
away two months ago, leaving his only child an unusual business opportunity. According to his
father’s will, Harrison has 12 months to become active in the family food-catering business, KareFull

Katering, Inc., or it will be sold to two key employees for a reasonable and fair price. If
Harrison becomes involved, the two employees have the option to purchase a significant, but less
than majority, interest in the firm. Harrison’s only involvement with this business, which his
grandfather established, was as an hourly employee during high school and college summers. He is
confident that he could learn and perhaps enjoy the marketing side of the business, and that he could
retain the long-time head of accounting/finance. But he would never really enjoy day-to-day
operations. In fact, he doesn’t understand what operations management really involves. In 1991
Kare-Full Katering, Inc. had $3.75 million in sales in central Ohio. Net profit after taxes was $
105,000, the eleventh consecutive year of profitable operations and the seventeenth in the last 20
years. There are 210 employees in this labor-intense business. Institutional contracts account for
over 70 percent of sales and include partial food services for three colleges, six commercial
establishments) primarily manufacturing plants and banks), two long -term care facilities, and five
grade schools. Some customer location employs a permanent operations manager; others are served
from the main kitchens of Kare-Full Katering. Harrison believes that if he becomes active in the
business, one of the two key employees, the vice president of operations, will leave the
firm.Harrison has decided to complete the final two months of this school year and then spend the
summer around Kare-Full Katering – as well as institutions with their own food services – to assess
whether he wants to become involved in the business. He is particularly interested in finding out as
much as possible about operations. Harrison believes he owes it to his wife and children to fairly
evaluate this opportunity.


1. Prepare a worksheet of operations activities that Harrison should inquire about this summer.

2. If you were Harrison, what would you do? Why?



END OF SECTION B

  Semester II Examination Papers                                                                                                                

IIBM Institute of Business Management

Section C: Applied Theory (30 marks)
• This section consists of Long Questions.
• Answer all the questions.
• Each question carries 15 marks.



1. Productivity is an important tool for mangers as it helps them to track progress toward the more
efficient use of resources in producing goods and services. Elucidate.

2. In additional to operations research, what are the other tools and techniques used by organizations
to improve productivity?

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Examination Paper: Information System Management
     IIBM Institute of Business Management
                                    Examination Paper                                          MM.100
     System Management
      Section A: Objective Type (20 marks)
• This section consists of Multiple Choice Questions and True & False.
• Answer all the Questions.
• Each Question carries 1 Mark.

Part One:

Multiple choices:
1. TCP stands for:
a. Translate Control Protocol
b. Translate Cable Protocol
c. Transmission Control Program
d. Transmission Cable Program

2. Why we do not tap into a 10Base2 or 10BaseT cable in the same way as we tap with 10Base5
cable?
a. Because the cable is so thin.
b. Because the cable is so strong.
c. Because the cable is so thick.
d. Because the cable is so fat.

3. The Ethernet has its roots in an early packet radio network called:
a. SMA
b. PARC
c. RWS
d. ALOHA

4. ___________is the second major class of Intra Domain Routing protocol.
a. Reliable Flooding
b. Link State
c. Route Calculation
d. Implementation

5. A Network that provides a constant band width for the complete duration of message transfer is a
a.   Cell switched Network
b. Packet switched Network
c. Circuit switched Network
d. None of the above

6. A router :
a. Forwards a packet to all outgoing links up to which the packet originated.
b. Determines on which outgoing link a packet is to be forwarded
c. Forwards a packet to the next free outgoing link
d. Forwards a packet to all outgoing links
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IIBM Institute of Business Management
Examination Paper: Information System Management
7. What is the maximum speed of 10Base5 Ethernet Cable?
a. 100 Mbps
b. 500 Mbps
c. 50 Mbps
d. 10 Mbps

8. What is the maximum number of addressable stations on a 10BaseT Ethernet network?
a. 1024
b. 2500
c. 200
d. 512

9. A device that encodes analog voice into a digital ISDN Link is called:
a. DSL
b. GSM
c. CODEC
d. AMPS

10. One of the small difference between the IBM Token Ring specifications and 802.5 is that:
a. The former actually requires the use of MSAUs.
b. The former actually requires the use of MAC.
c. The former actually requires the use of TTRT.
d. None of the above

        True & False:
1. The sliding window protocol is the best known algorithm in computer networking.

2. One of the issues that faces a network designer is how to make this decision in a fair  
             manner.

3. Multicast addresses area used to send messages to subset of the hosts on an Ethernet.

4. 802.11 can support collision detection.

5.  A Network Interface card operates at the Network Layer of the OSI model.

6. TCP port 5432 is the well known server part.

7. CPU is directly responsible for moving data between two networks.

8. Classless inter domain routing is a technique that addresses four scaling concerns in the
              Internet.

9. LAN is a connection oriented packet-switching technology.

10. Ethernet addresses are configured into the network adaptor by the manufacturer.


END OF SECTION A
2
IIBM Institute of Business Management
Examination Paper: Information System Management

 Section B: Short Questions (20 marks)
• This section consists of Short Questions.( Answer should be in 5 lines)
• Answer all the questions.
• Each Question carries 5 marks.

1. What are the benefits of Packet Switching?

2. What is an Internetwork?

3. What protocols are there in the TCP/IP internet Layer?

4. What is difference between Virtual circuit Switching and Cell Switching?




   Section C: Long Questions (30 marks)
• This section consists of Long Questions.(word limit 100 words)
• Each Question carries 10 marks.
• Attempt any 3 Questions.




END OF SECTION B
1. Write a short note on Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR)?

2. What distinguish a computer network from other type of networks?

3. What are the Salient features of Global Internet?

4. Distinguish between Reverse-Path Multicast (RPM) and Protocol Independent Multicast?
           
END OF SECTION C












3
IIBM Institute of Business Management
Examination Paper: Information System Management


Section D: Applied Theory (30 marks)

• This section consists of Applied Theory Questions.
• Answer all the Questions.
• Each Question carries 15 marks.
• Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200 to 250 words).
1. The Sliding window protocol is perhaps the best known algorithm in computer Network.
Describe however is that it can be used to serve different roles.

2. Explain how the Sliding Window Algorithm works in Direct Link Network.

 


END OF SECTION D































4
IIBM Institute of Business Management
Examination Paper: Information System Management
IIBM Institute of Business Management

        Examination Paper                                             MM.100

   Operating Systems

        Section A: Objective Type (20 marks)

• This section consists of Multiple Choice Questions / True & False.
• Answer all the questions.
• Each Question carries 1 mark.
         
          Part One:

    Multiple Choices:
1. The PCD data is allocated using a data Structure is called______________.
a.  Heap
b. Object Module
c. Tag
d. Head

2. Process is:
a. Language of programme
b. Name of a computer software
c. An execution of programme
d. None of the above

3. Streaming tape can store record:
a. Without a break irrespective of its size
b. With a break in size of record
c. Of size 10 kb
d. Both (a) & (c)

4. _______________is a policy decision based on the page reference information available in
the page table.
a. Memory Allocation
b. Shared Pages
c. Page Replacement
d. Memory Mapping

5. Remote procedure call (RPC) is used by an application execute:
a. To execute a procedure in the system
b. To execute a procedure in another compute in the distributed system
c. Name of a software
d. None of the above

6. Multiprocessor computer system provides:
a. Slow performance by serving several processes simultaneously
b. High performance by serving several processes simultaneously
c. High performance by serving one process
d. None of the above
5
IIBM Institute of Business Management
Examination Paper: Information System Management
  7.     Remote procedure call (RPC) is used by an application execute:
a. To execute a procedure in the system
b. To execute a procedure in another compute in the distributed system
c. Name of a software
d. None of the above

  8.    A distributed transaction is also called:
a. Single-site transaction
b. Two –site transaction
c. Multi-site transaction
d. Both (a) & (b)

  9.    File control block (FCB) contains all information concerning:
a. A file processing activity
b. Execution activity
c. Both (a) & (b)
d. None of the above

10.   Non-uniform memory architecture system consists of number of nodes and each node
consists:
a. Monitor
b. Register
c. Both (a) & (b)
d. 1 or more C.P.Us
       True & False:
1. CPU helps in effective memory management by an OS.

2. High reliability in distributed file systems can be ensured through sharing semantics.

3. The compatible time sharing system for the IBM 7094 was one of the first time sharing
systems.

4. The Processors of multiprocessors are divide into processor sets.

5. A resource rank is associated with each resource class.

6. A cached directory is a copy of directory that exists at a primary site.

7. A cluster of nodes is a section of the distributed system that contains sufficient hardware
and software resources.

8. A cycle is a sufficient condition for a deadlock in MISR system

9. File system integrity implies correctness and consistency of control data and operations of
the file system.

10. A mathematical model consists of three components model of the server

END OF SECTION A
6
IIBM Institute of Business Management
Examination Paper: Information System Management
                                                        Section B: Short Questions (20 marks)


• This section consists of Short Questions (Answer should be in 5 Line).
• Answer all the questions.
• Each Question is of 5 marks.

1. What do you mean by “Authentication”?

2. Distinguish between File System and IOCS.

3. Define “Segmentation with Paging”.

4. Describe the Deadlock characteristics for different resource system.

Section C: Long Questions (30 marks)
• This section consists of Long Questions (Word Limit 100 words)
• Each question carries 10 marks.
• Attempt any three Questions.

1. Write a Short Note on “Structure of an Operating System”.

2. Define Request-Reply-Acknowledgement Protocol and Explain a Blocking version
of RRA Protocol.

3. Explain how starvation is avoided the UNIX and Window system?

4. Discuss influence of disk scheduling algorithms on effectiveness of I/O buffering?

                                                          Section D: Applied Theory (30 marks)
• This section consists of Applied Theory Questions.
• Answer all the Questions
• Each question carries 15 marks.
• Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200 to 250 words).

1. Describe why authentication is important for file protection?

2. Show actions of the basic and control parts of a process to important Ricart-Agrawala
Algorithm?
END OF SECTION B
END OFSECTION C
S-2-210311
END OF SECTION D
7
IIBM Institute of Business Management

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Examination Paper of Human Resource Management
   IIBM Institute of Business Management

Subject Code-B-102                                 Examination Paper                                                MM.100

Human Resource Management

Section A: Objective Type (30 marks)

 This section consists of multiple choice & Short Notes type questions.
 Answer all the questions.
 Part one carries 1 mark each & Part two carries 5 marks each.

       Part One:

      Multiple choices:

1. It is a cultural attitude marked by the tendency to regard one’s own culture as superior to others.
a. Geocentrism
b. Polycentrism
c. Ethnocentrism
d. Egocentrism

2. It is the systemic study of job requirements & those factors that influence the performance of
those job requirements.
a. Job analysis
b. Job rotation
c. Job circulation
d. Job description

3. This Act provides an assistance for minimum statutory wages for scheduled employment
a. Payment of Wages Act, 1936
b. Minimum Wages Act, 1948
c. Factories Act, 1948
d. Payment of Gratuity act, 1972

4. __________ is the actual posting of an employee to a specific job.
a. Induction
b. Placement
c. Attrition
d. None of the above

5. Broadening an individual’s knowledge, skills & abilities for future responsibilities is known as:
a. Training
b. Development
c. Education
d. Mentoring



IIBM Institute of Business Management                                                                                                   1

Examination Paper of Human Resource Management


6. Change that is designed and implemented in an orderly and timely fashion in anticipation of
future events.
a. Planned change
b. Technology change
c. Structural change
d. None of the above

7. It is a process for setting goals and monitoring progress towards achieving those goals:
a. Performance appraisal
b. Performance gap
c. Performance factor
d. Performance management system

8. A method which requires the rates to provide a subjective performance evaluation along a scale
from low to high.
a. Assessment centre
b. Checklist
c. Rating scale
d. Monitoring

9. It is the sum of knowledge, skills, attitudes, commitment, values and the liking of the people in an
organization.
a. Human resources
b. Personal management
c. Human resource management
d. Productivity

10. A learning exercise representing a real-life situation where trainees compete with each other to
achieve specific objectives.
a. Executive development
b. Management game
c. Programmed learning
d. Understudy
     Part Two:




1. Explain the importance of Career Planning in industry.    

2. Write the features of HRM.

3. Briefly explain the concept of Performance Appraisal.

4. Explain On-Job and Off Job Training.




END OF SECTION A

IIBM Institute of Business Management                                                                                                   2

Examination Paper of Human Resource Management
Section B: Case lets (40 marks)

 This section consists of Case lets.
 Answer all the questions.
 Each Case let carries 20 marks.
 Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 150-200 words).

Case let 1

Trust them with knee-jerk reactions," said Vikram Koshy, CEO, Delta Software India, as he looked at the
quarterly report of Top Line Securities, a well-known equity research firm. The firm had announced a
downgrade of Delta, a company listed both on Indian bourses and the NASDAQ.  The reason? "One out
of every six development engineers in the company is likely to be benched during the remaining part of
the year." Three analysts from Top Line had spent some time at Delta three weeks ago. Koshy and his
team had explained how benching was no different from the problems of excess inventory, idle time, and
surplus capacity that firms in the manufacturing sector face on a regular basis, "Delta has witnessed a
scorching pace of 30 per cent growth during the last five years in a row," Koshy had said, "What is
happening is a corrective phase." But, evidently, the analysts were unconvinced.

Why Bench?
Clients suddenly decide to cut back on IT spends Project mix gets skewed, affecting work allocation
Employee productivity is set to fall, creating slack working conditions. High degree of job specialization
leads to redundancy

What are the options?
Quickly cut costs in areas which are non-core look for learning’s from the manufacturing sector Focus on
alternative markets like Europe and Japan Move into products, where margins are better. Of course, the
Top Line report went on to cite several other "signals," as it said: the rate of annual hike in salaries at
Delta would come down to 5 per cent (from between 20 and 30 per cent last year); the entry-level intake
of engineers from campuses in June 2001, would decline to 5 per cent (unlike the traditional 30 per cent
addition to manpower every year); and earnings for the next two years could dip by between 10 and 12
per cent. And the loftiest of them all: "The meltdown at Nasdaq is unlikely to reverse in the near future."
"Some of the signals are no doubt valid. And ominous," said Koshy, addressing his A-Team, which had
assembled for the routine morning meeting. "But, clearly, everyone is reading too much into this business
of benching. In fact, benching is one of the many options that our principals in the US have been pursuing
as part of cutting costs right since September, 2000. They are also expanding the share of off-shore jobs.
Five of our principals have confirmed that they would outsource more from Delta in India-which is likely
to hike their billings by about 30 per cent. At one level, this is an opportunity for us. At another, of
course, I am not sure if we should be jubilant, because they have asked for a 25-30 per cent cut in billing
rates. Our margins will take a hit, unless we cut costs and improve productivity." "Productivity is clearly a
matter of priority now," said Vivek Varadan, Vice-President (Operations). "If you consider benching as a
non-earning mode, we do have large patches of it at Delta. As you are aware, it has not been easy to
secure 70 per cent utilization of our manpower, even in normal times. I think we need to look at why we
have 30 per cent bench before examining how to turn it into an asset." "There are several reasons,"
remarked Achyut Patwardhan, Vice-President (HR). "And a lot of it has to do with the nature of our
business, which is more project-driven than product-driven. When you are managing a number of
overseas and domestic projects simultaneously, as we do at Delta, people tend to go on the bench. They
wait, as they complete one project, and are assigned the next. There are problems of coordination between
projects, related to the logistics of moving people and resources from one customer to another. In fact, I
am fine-tuning our monthly manpower utilization report to provide a breakup of bench costs into
IIBM Institute of Business Management                                                                                                   3

Examination Paper of Human Resource Management
specifics-leave period, training programmes, travel time, buffers, acclimatization period et al." "It would
be worthwhile following the business model used by US principal Techno Inc," said Aveek Mohanty,
Director (Finance). "The company has a pipeline of projects, but it does not manage project by project.
What it does is to slice each project into what it calls 'activities'. For example, communication
networking; user interface development; scheduling of processes are activities common to all projects.
People move from one project to another. It is somewhat like the Activity Based Costing. It throws up the
bench time straightaway, which helps us control costs and revenue better." "I also think we should reduce
our dependence on projects and move into products," said Praveen Kumar, Director (Marketing). "That is
where the opportunity for brand building lies. In fact, now is the time to get our technology guys involved
in marketing. Multiskilling helps reduce the bench time." "Benching has an analogy in the manufacturing
sector," said Girish Shahane, Vice-President (Services). "We could look for learning's there. Many firms
have adopted Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory as part of eliminating idle time. It would be worthwhile
exploring the possibility of JIT. But the real learning lies in standardization of work. It is linked to what
Mohanty said about managing by activities." "At a broader level, I see several other opportunities," said
Koshy, "We can fill in the space vacated by US firms and move up the value chain. But before we do so,
Delta should consolidate its position as the premier outsourcing centre. Since there are only two ways in
which we can generate revenue-sell expertise or sell products-we should move towards a mix of both.
Tie-ups with global majors will help. Now is the time to look beyond the US and strike alliances with
firms in Europe- and also Japan-as part of developing new products for global markets."

Questions:

1. Should benching be a matter of concern at Delta?

2. What are the risks involved in moving from a project-centric mode to a mix of projects and
products?

Case let 2

The contexts in which human resources are managed in today's organizations are constantly, changing.
No longer do firms utilize one set of manufacturing processes, employ a homogeneous group of loyal
employees for long periods of time or develop one set way of structuring how work is done and
supervisory responsibility is assigned. Continuous changes in who organizations employ and what these
employees do require HR practices and systems that are well conceived and effectively implemented to
ensure high performance and continued success.
1. Automated technologies nowadays require more technically trained employees possessing multifarious
skills to repair, adjust or improve existing processes. The firms can't expect these employees (Gen X
employees, possessing superior technical knowledge and skills, whose attitudes and perceptions toward
work are significantly different from those of their predecessor organizations: like greater self control,
less interest in job security; no expectations of long term employment; greater participation urge in work
activities, demanding opportunities for personal growth and creativity) to stay on without attractive
compensation packages and novel reward schemes.
2. Technology driven companies are led by project teams, possessing diverse skills, experience and
expertise. Flexible and dynamic organizational structures are needed to take care of the expectations of
managers, technicians and analysts who combine their skills, expertise and experience to meet changing
customer needs and competitive pressures.
3. Cost cutting efforts have led to the decimation of unwanted layers in organizational hierarchy in recent
times. This, in turn, has brought in the problem of managing plateau employees whose careers seem to
have been hit by the delivering process. Organizations are, therefore, made to find alternative career paths
for such employees.
IIBM Institute of Business Management                                                                                                   4

Examination Paper of Human Resource Management
4. Both young and old workers, these days, have values and attitudes that stress less loyalty to the
company and more loyalty to oneself and one's career than those shown by employees in the past,
Organizations, therefore, have to devise appropriate HR policies and strategies so as to prevent the flight
of talented employees

Question:

1. Discuss that technological breakthrough has brought a radical changes in HRM.
 
Section C: Applied Theory (30 marks)

 This section consists of Applied Theory Questions.
 Answer all the questions.
 Each question carries 15 marks.
 Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200-250 words).
1. Several types of interviews are commonly used depending on the nature & importance of the
position to be filled within an organization. Explain the different types of Interviews.

2. Explain the legal provisions regarding safety of workers.


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