SBI PO --QUESTIONS EXPECTED - General Awareness, Marketing and Computers

1.India lost the Asia/Oceania Group-I Davis Cup tie against which of the following countries recently?
 a) Spain
 b) Indonesia
 c) Canada
 d) South Korea
  e) None of these
2.Examine the following statements with respect to the Short Range-Surface to Air Missile (SR-SAM) deal concluded between India and France recently:
 A) The SR-SAM deal worth Z30,000 crore between India and France was concluded recently during French President Francois Hollande's India visit.
 B) The SR-SAM would be co-developed by MBDA of France and DRDO of India.
C) The SR-SAM would be deployed by the IAF, the French Air Force and its other European allies. Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) Only (A)
 b) Only (B)
 c) Only (C)
 d) Only (A) and (B)   
 e) Only (A) and (C)
3.Consider the following statements regarding Damodaran Committee:
 A) It is a panel comprising government officials and corporate honchos set up to look into ways to improve the country’s overall business environment.
 B) The panel headed by the former Sebi Chairman M Damodaran is likely to finanlise its report soon.
 C) The committee was set up by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
 Which of the above statements is/are correct?
 a) Only(A)
 b) Only(B)
 c) Only (C)
 d) Only (A) and (B)
 e) All (A), (B) and (C)
4.Which of the following PSUs has gotten the Maharatna status from the CentralGovernment recently? It will now get enhanced powers to expand its operations in the domestic and global markets.
 a) Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd   
 b) Oil India Limited
 c) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited  
 d) Bharat Electronics Limited
  e) None of these
5.Consider the following methods adopted by the RBI:A) Selective Credit Control B) Credit Authorisation Scheme C) Moral Suasion Which of the above methods is/are considered to be a qualitative method(s) of credit control?
 a) Only (A)   
 b) Only (B)     
 c) Only (C)
 d) All the above
 e) None of the above
6.With respect to 'financial inclusion', which of the following will be the best alternative banking service to branch banking?
 a) Setting up of ATMs     
 b) Providing credit cards 
 c) Establishing personal banking branches
 d) Mobile banking
 e) None of the above
7.Rohinton Nariman resigned as the Solicitor-General of India recently. Who among the following has been appointed the new Solicitor-General of India?
 a) Mohan Parasaran  
 b) OR Rajagopaul
 c) Abdul Rehman
 d) Harish Salve  
 e) None of these
8.The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has constituted a panel to examine issues of certification under the Cinematograph Act 1952. The panel is headed by
 a) Javed Akhtar
 b) Mukul Mudgal
 c) Shanni la Tagore   
 d) Lalit Bhasin   
 e) Pankaja Thakur
9.The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) unveiled its latest supercomputer recently which is capable of crunching data up to 524 teraflops, about 10 times faster than the previous supercomputer. Name the latest supercomputer.
 a) Param Yuva-I
 b) Param Yuva-II
 c) Param Yuva-III
 d) Param Yuva-IV
 e) None of these
10.     Which of the following best defines 'teaser rates', the rate we often read about in newspapers?
 a) An introductory high rate offered by the banks on the deposits which goes down as time passes
 b) An introductory high rate of interest offered by the banks on home loans which are promised to go below the normal rate as time passes
 c) An introductory low rate of interest offered by the banks on home loans which increases after a certain period and becomes higher than the normal rate.
 d) An introductory low rate of interest offered by the banks on deposits which increases after a certain period and becomes higher than the normal rate.
 e) None of the above
11. Consider the following mechanisms with respect to micro credit:  a) Regular Repayment Schedule         b) Dynamic Incentive    c) Col laterals Which of the above does/do not contribute to the success of micro credit?
 a) Only (A)
 b) Only (B)
 c) Only (C)
 d) Only (A) and (B)   
  e) All the above
12.     Examine the following statements with respect to the latest announcement made by the US President to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan:
 a) The US has announced to withdraw 34,000 American troops in the next one year from war-torn Afghanistan.
 b) By the end of 2014, the US will end the war in Afghanistan and all its commitment will come to an end.
 c) The US will continue training and equipping Afghan forces so that the country does not slip again into chaos.
 Which of the following statements is/are correct?
 a) Only (A)     
 b) Only (B)
 c) Only (C)     
 d) Only (A) and (C)
 e) All (A), (B) and (C)
13.     Examine the following statements with respect to the order of a CBI probe into the alleged scam in a chopper deal with an Italian firm:
A) The CBI will probe into the alleged scam in the `3600-crore deal for 12 helicopters with an Italian firm Agusta Westland, a subsidiary of aerospace giant Finmeccanica.
B) The head of Finmeccanica, Giuseppe Orsi, has been arrested in relation to -a probe into international corruption which has prompted the government in India to order a CBI probe.
C) Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman, allegedly approached and bribed. it to mend rules so that the Italian company could bag the deal.
 a) Only (A)   
 b) Only (B)     
 c) Only (C)
 d) Only (A) and (B)   
 e) Only (A) and (C)
14.     Which of the following countries has been in news for the smog and heavy pollution enveloping most of its major cities recently? PM 2.5, the microscopic pieces of solid or liquid matter in the air that adversely affect human health, has risen 20 times higher than permissible limits.
 a) UK  
 b) Japan
 c) China
 d) South Korea 
 e) None of these
15.     Which of the following statements is/are correct about Real Time Gross Settlement (RIGS)?
A) In RTGS, processing and final settlement of fund transfer instructions can take place simultaneously.
B) In RIGS, final transaction takes place at the end of the day.
C) In RIGS, final settlement of fund takes place at 3 pm every day.
 a) Only (A)   
 b) Only (B)
 c) Only (C)
 d) Only (A) and (C)   
  e) None of these
 
1.D      2.D      3.E4.A      5.D      6.D      7.A      8.B      9.B      10.C
11.C    12.D    13.D    14.C    15.A

MBA admission- Marketing

Marketing Specialization


1. What is the difference between sales and marketing?

2. Who is Kotler?

3. How will you sell a “coffee” without making them taste it

4. What do you understand by “intangibility”

5. How will you sell an intangible thing

6. How different is “tangible product selling wrt to intangible selling

7. Being from IT background how is service Vs product selling viewed, Which one does u prefer? And why

8. Punch line and Advertisement

9. What should a be a characteristics of a good Advertisement

10. Comment on 2 favorite adds that has impressed you

11. If you were the marketing manager of Cadbury dark chocolate, How would have you marketed it

12. Any understanding on Integrated communication

13. What do you understand by Brand

14. What is your Brand Value

15. Distinguish between market share Verses Wallet share

Questions on Sampling 11-20

1. Define Non probability Sampling
The difference between non probability and probability sampling is that non probability sampling does not involve random selection and probability sampling does. It can be divided into two broad types: accidental or purpose. In purposive sampling, we sample with a purpose in mind

2. Define various non probability sampling methods
Modal Instance Sampling
Expert Sampling
Quota Sampling
Non proportional Quota Sampling
Heterogeneity Sampling
Snowball Sampling

3. Define Modal Instance Sampling
In statistics, the mode is the most frequently occurring value in a distribution. In sampling, when we do a modal instance sample, we are sampling the most frequent case, or the "typical" case.

4. Define Expert Sampling
Expert sampling involves the assembling of a sample of persons with known or demonstrable experience and expertise in some area. Often, such a sample is done under the auspices of a "panel of experts. It would be the best way to elicit the views of persons who have specific expertise

5. Define Quota Sampling
In quota sampling, you select people non randomly according to some fixed quota. There are two types of quota sampling: proportional and non proportional. In proportional quota sampling you want to represent the major characteristics of the population by sampling a proportional amount of each

6. Define Non proportional Quota Sampling
Non proportional quota sampling is a bit less restrictive. In this method, you specify the minimum number of sampled units you want in each category. here, you're not concerned with having numbers that match the proportions in the population.

7. Define Heterogeneity Sampling 
The sample for heterogeneity when we want to include all opinions or views, and we aren't concerned about representing these views proportionately. Another term for this is sampling for diversity.

8. Define Snowball Sampling
In snowball sampling, you begin by identifying someone who meets the criteria for inclusion in your study. You then ask them to recommend others who they may know who also meet the criteria. Snowball sampling is especially useful when you are trying to reach populations that are inaccessible or hard to find.

9. Define Accidental Sampling
Its just a means of convenience that this sample is being selected. Based on availability an no specific purpose or thought process is involved in this sampling.

10. What are the other synomnys of accidental sampling
Its also known as Haphazard or Convenience sampling

Questions on Sampling 1- 10

1. Define Sampling?

Sampling is the process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations) from a population of interest so that by studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the population from which they were chosen.

2. Define sampling error?

The standard error is called sampling error. Sampling error gives us some idea of the precision of our statistical estimate. A low sampling error means that we had relatively less variability or range in the sampling distribution. The greater the sample standard deviation, the greater the standard error (and the sampling error).

3. The greater your sample size, the smaller the standard error. Why?

Because the greater the sample size, the closer your sample is to the actual population itself. If you take a sample that consists of the entire population you actually have no sampling error because you don't have a sample, you have the entire population.

4. Define Probability Sampling?

A probability sampling method is any method of sampling that utilizes some form of random selection. In order to have a random selection method, We must ensure some process or procedure that assures that the different units in your population have equal probabilities of being chosen

5. Define Stratified Random Sampling.

It also called proportional or quota random sampling, involves dividing theopulation into homogeneous subgroups and then taking a simple random sample in each subgroup. In more formal terms:

Objective: Divide the population into non-overlapping groups (i.e., strata) N₁, N₂, N₃, ... N_i, such that N₁ + N₂ + N₃ + ... + N_i = N. Then do a simple random sample of f = n/N in each strata.

This method assures that we represent not only the overall population, but also key subgroups of the population, especially small minority groups.

6. Define Cluster sampling

Cluster sampling is a sampling technique used when "natural" groupings are evident in a statistical population. It is often used in marketing research. In this technique, the total population is divided into these groups (or clusters) and a sample of the groups is selected. Then the required information is collected from the elements within each selected group.

7. Define Multi stage sampling

Multistage sampling is a complex form of cluster sampling. Using all the sample elements in all the selected clusters may be prohibitively expensive or not necessary. Under these circumstances, multistage cluster sampling becomes useful. Instead of using all the elements contained in the selected clusters, the researcher randomly selects elements from each cluster. Constructing the clusters is the first stage. Deciding what elements within the cluster to use is the second stage. The technique is used frequently when a complete list of all members of the population does not exist and is inappropriate.

8. Define Systematic random sampling

Systematic sampling is a statistical method involving the selection of elements from an ordered sampling frame. The most common form of systematic sampling is an equal-probability method, in which every k^th element in the frame is selected, where k, the sampling interval

9. Difference between Cluster sampling and Stratified sampling

Although cluster sampling and stratified sampling bear some superficial similarities, they are substantially different. In stratified sampling, a random sample is drawn from all the strata, where in cluster sampling only the selected clusters are studied, either in single stage or multi stage.

10. What is the difference between Random Selection & Assignment

Random selection is how you draw the sample of people for your study from a population. Random assignment is how you assign the sample that you draw to different groups or treatments in your study.

Questions on pricing 1- 10

1. What is cost pricing?
The cost pricing is the theory that the price of an object is determined by the sum of the cost of the resources that went into making it. The cost can compose any of the factors of production including labor, capital, or land and taxation.

2. What is full cost pricing.
Full cost pricing is a practice where the price of a product is calculated by a firm on the basis of its direct costs per unit of output plus a markup to cover overhead costs and profits. The overhead costs are generally calculated assuming less than full capacity operation of a plant in order to allow for fluctuating levels of production and costs.

3. What is the guiding principle for full cost pricing?
The guiding principle underlying the Full Cost Pricing Policy is that a government business should not enjoy any net competitive advantage (or disadvantage) in respect of its private sector counterparts simply because of its public sector ownership. That is, the policy aims to achieve competitive neutrality between public and private sector businesses

4. What’s the difference between costing and pricing
Costing involves determining the value of resources consumed in the production of goods or the provision of a service. Costing's role in pricing is to act as a benchmark against which pricing and production decisions can be made. Pricing refers to the process of determining a figure at which products or services will be exchanged in the marketplace. The focus on pricing is on the income received from the exchange of the good or service.

5. What is market based pricing?
A pricing model wherin the concern is how to price , so that it can affect the company’s position in the marketplace. Value is included in this notion of price, and the underlying marketing theme is to set prices at ‘what the market will bear’. The assumption behind market-based pricing techniques is that prices are a major factor in achieving competitiveness.

6. What are the various methods of market based pricing?

- Penetration pricing
- Skimming
- Perceived value pricing
- Psychological pricing

7. Define Penetration pricing
Penetration pricing involves setting prices at a sufficiently low level to make them attractive to the mass market. The aim is to achieve high initial sales, which are maintained during the life cycle of the product. An associated aim is to deter competitors. Penetration pricing is particularly appropriate for products where unit cost reductions can be achieved through initial mass production. Setting-up costs are usually high and initial development costs are recovered over a long period. The task of marketing is to ensure that customers retain interest during the life of the product.

8. Define Skimming
A skimming approach adopts a high-price strategy, charging what the market will bear. The aim is to ’skim the cream off the market’. This policy is particularly attractive to a company with a new and unique product. When the cream has been skimmed, prices can be progressively reduced.

9. Define Perceived value pricing
Perceived value pricing determines prices from assumptions made about the beliefs that consumers have of the value of the product to them. These assumptions may be founded on market research aimed at establishing in buyers’ minds values about the basic product and the various special features in the product that appeal to them. If the company charges more than the buyer-recognized value, sales will suffer. Revenue may also fall below attainable levels if prices are lower than the perceived value.

10.Define Psychological pricing
Many consumers use price as an indicator of quality. Prestige pricing uses higher prices to promote the idea of value and status. Price levels can be set just below a round figure, for example Rs 9.99 rather than Rs 10.00. These pricing points, as they are called, persuade people to think that the price is in a lower range than they expected. Value for money can be emphasized by the effective presentation of discounts and free offers. The perceived value of offering one item free if four items are purchased may have a greater impact than a 20 per cent discount offered over the whole five purchases.

Questions on Marketing 1-10

1. What is the difference between Sales and Marketing

The major difference between sales and marketing is that the sales is refer to the conservation of assets by advertising products while marketing is a mechanism through which these sales mechanism are introduce to the general market and the way through which the product is introduce in the market to increase sales. Therefore marketing can be considered as an integral part of sales as it directly influence the amount of sales a company process and makes.

Sales and marketing are interrelated to each other. Both terms are associated with the products which are promoted and sold at different business and commerce associations.

2. What is FMCG?..what are the driving forces of this sector

FMCg stands for Fast moving goods. The main players include P&G(Procter and Gamble),Cadbury, Nestle, Johnson and Johnson etc

3. What is promotion?

It’s a means by which the organization or set of organizations (go-betweens) is involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user. It’s a major component of the Marketing Mix.

4. What are the 4-Ps of Marketing

- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Place

5. Compare market share Vs Wallet Share

Market share refers to the percentage of your presence with respect to the entire market.

Wallet share refers to the percentage this entity is bringing in to your pocket with respect to the entire portfolio of entities in your kitty. A High market share doesn’t mean a huge wallet share and vice versa.

Eg: My business has Product A and B, A has a market share of 15% in India, where as B has a share of 8%.But B” being a highly prices, premium product, my profit margin is huge from ‘B” and hence my wallet share is mostly coming from “B”.

6. What is Skimming.

Price skimming is a pricing strategy in which a marketer sets a relatively high price for a product or service at first, then lowers the price over time.EG. Apple iPhone, Playstation3 etc

7. What is PUSH and PULL STRATEGY?

In a "pull" system the consumer requests the product and "pulls" it through the delivery channel. In push system the seller/shopkeepers push their products to the customers with help of offers and other promotions

8. What are the deciding factors of pricing.

The floor price is determined by production factors like costs , economies of scale, marginal cost, and degree of operating leverage.

The price ceiling is determined by demand factors like price elasticity and price points

9. Explain the understanding of an individual Brand

Examples, Unilever's Dove, P&Gs Pampers etc. The individual brands are presented to consumers, and the parent company name is given little or no prominence. Other stakeholders, like shareholders or partners, will know the producer by its company name.

10. What is IMC?

IMC stand for integrated marketing communications. A management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation

Questions on Branding 1-10

1. How do you define a BRAND!

A brand is a name, sign, symbol, slogan or anything that is used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service, or business. Each and every person is a brand by itself.

2. What is Brand Parity

Brand parity is the perception of the customers that all brands are equivalent

3. Define co-branding

Co-branding, also called brand partnership, is when two companies form an alliance to work together, creating marketing synergy

4. Define Derived branding

When a supplier of a key component, when being used by a number of suppliers of the end-product, may wish to guarantee its own position by promoting that component as a brand in its own right. Example is Intel, which secures its position in the PC market with the slogan "Intel Inside".

5. Define Brand equity

Brand equity is an intangible asset made out of the BRAND.

- It can be leased or sold
- It increases the cash flow by increasing market share , reducing promotional costs etc
- It allows premium pricing

Brand equity can be measured by – determining the premium a brand commands over a generic product. This can be used for brand extensions and sub-branding where in its leveraging on the already existing brand name. Strong brand equity means a good Brand loyal customer base.

6. Define Brand Architecture.

Brand architecture is the structure of brands within an organizational entity. It is the way in which the brands within a company’s portfolio are related to, and differentiated from, one another.

7. What are the levels of brand architecture

There are three key levels of branding:

· Corporate brand/ umbrella brand/ family brand
· Endorsed brands, and sub-brands
· Individual product brand

8. Explain the understanding of Corporate brand

Examples include TATA, Virgin Group etc.
These are consumer-facing brands used across all the firm's activities, and this name is how they are known to all their stakeholders – consumers, employees, shareholders, partners, suppliers and other parties. These brands may also be used in conjunction with product descriptions or sub-brands: for example TaTa Steel,Tata Nano

9. Explain the understanding of Sub-brand

Examples include Nestle KitKat, Cadbury Dairy Milk etc. These brands include a parent brand - which may be a corporate brand, an umbrella brand, or a family brand - as an endorsement to a sub-brand or an individual product brand. The endorsement should add credibility to the endorsed sub-brand in the eyes of consumers.

10. What is “no- Brand” branding

· A number of companies have successfully pursued "No-Brand" strategies by creating packaging that imitates generic brand simplicity. Examples include the Japanese company Muji, which means "No label" in, and the Florida company No-Ad Sunscreen.

· This no-brand strategy means that little is spent on advertisement or classical marketing and Muji's success is attributed to the word-of-mouth, a simple shopping experience and the anti-brand movement.

· No brand" branding may be construed as a type of branding as the product is made conspicuous through the absence of a brand name.