Domain Prep

An IIM Lucknow Students’ Initiative
WRITTEN ABILITY TEST (WAT) &

PERSONAL INTERVIEW (PI)
PREPARATION KIT
IIM Lucknow
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MARKETING
What is Marketing?
Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including
market research and advertising.
Is Sales and Marketing the same?
The answer is a big NO! Sales is one of the final stages in marketing which involves carrying out
transactions with the end customers, i.e., exchanging of products for cash.
Some facts about Marketing:
Orientation Profit Western Description

Driver European
Timeframe
Production Production Until the A firm focusing on a production orientation

methods 1950’s specializes in producing as much as possible
of a given product or service. Thus, this
signifies a firm exploiting economies of scale
until the minimum efficient scale is reached.
Product Quality of Until the A firm employing a product orientation is
the product 1960’s chiefly concerned with the quality of its own
product. A firm would also assume that if its
product was of a high standard, people would
buy and consume the product.
Selling Quality of 1950’s and A firm using a sales orientation focuses
the product 1960’s primarily on the selling/promotion of a
particular product, and not determining new
consumer desires as such. Consequently, this
entails simply selling an already existing
product, and using promotion techniques to
attain the highest sales possible.
Marketing Needs and 1970s to the The ‘marketing orientation’ is perhaps the
wants of present day most common orientation used in
customers contemporary marketing. It involves a firm
essentially basing its marketing plans around
the marketing concept, thus supplying
products to suit new consumer tastes.
Holistic Everything 21st century The holistic marketing concept looks at
Marketing matters in marketing as a complex activity and
marketing acknowledges that everything matters in
marketing and a broad and integrated
perspective is necessary in developing,
designing and implementing marketing
programs and activities.
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Important concepts in Marketing:

1. STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning)
a. Segmentation — This involves dividing the market into segments. This can be based upon
various criteria upon which we can classify groups of people who can buy the product. E.g.:
Market for cars can be classified income wise, i.e., a group of people who can afford a 1 lakh
car, some people can afford a 5-lakh car and some 20 lakhs and so on.
b. Targeting — This involves deciding which group of the market we are targeting, i.e., for
whom are we creating this product/service?
c. Positioning — This involves positioning the product/service based on the target market. So,
with the positioning per a target segment, the product will attract that set of customers.
2. 4Ps of marketing
a. Product — This signifies the product or the service the company is bringing to the market, its
key features, its USP’s (Unique Selling propositions).
b. Place — This signifies the placement of the product/service. It includes where the product
will be visible to the consumers and where they can buy it.
c. Price — This signifies the pricing strategy of the product. It includes at what price point the
product/service will be sold to the target segment.
d. Promotion — This involves the strategy with which the company will attract customers and
promote its product in various media (print, TV, social).
Important Terminologies – B2C marketing, B2B marketing, Digital and Social Media Marketing,
Guerrilla Marketing.
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5 things a marketing enthusiast needs

to know before appearing for MBA
admissions interview
So, the CAT results are out and for a lot of MBA aspirants, this is the chance they were
looking for, for a long time. This is the last lap which can help you make your dream career in
your preferred domain.
Maybe the challenging job or their expected adrenaline rush or maybe even the drive of
knowing the customer behaviour and persuading them to buy your product and create a
brand, sales & marketing has been one of the most sort out domain amongst MBA aspirants.
But the question is what is it that can make you stand out in the crowd of thousands? What is
it that can save the prestigious seat in the premiere b-schools of India.
1. Drop the mask: Maybe, a bit of a cliché but filling your CV with some positions or
extra-curricular activities, where you did not make much of a difference will not help
and may even sometime go against you. Because you might not have enough content
to support those points. And keep in mind that the interviewers are either alums or
professors of the same prestigious institute where you are seeking a seat in. trust me
they know when you are making things up.
2. Know basic terminologies of S&M: Most probably interviewers won’t ask you
directly but knowing the basics of STP, 4Ps, digital marketing, Ansoff matrix, primary
& secondary market research techniques might help you in certain situations. If
asked “Ok, so you are interested in S&M. tell me how will you market XYZ product in
5 steps? “you can answer in a very constructive way.
3. Why marketing? The basic questions which you will face for sure is “why
marketing”? or even “why marketing after IT/Engineering experience?” Be ready for
those situations. Giving an answer that “makes sense” might fetch you the brownie
points and assure the seat.
4. Recent Buzz: If you want to make a career in S&M then be updated with recent
news, a hyped TV show, a movie. Even a soccer match result can become your
interview topic. So, be aware of what’s going on outside the 3 walls of your office
cubicle.
5. All-rounder – Last but not the least know a bit about financial, statistical, or
operations terminologies. It can be CRR, SLR, recent RBI policies, theory of central
tendency, six sigma, lean, SCM, JIT etc. In a stress interview the topic can divert in
those directions as well.
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FINANCE
What is Finance?
Finance is a branch of economics, a science that studies the management of funds (money
and other assets). More specifically, through financial analysis, decisions and corrective
actions can be taken regarding the collection and use of those funds so as to optimize their
use toward the objectives of an organization (states, companies and businesses) or
individual.
Careers in Finance?
The study of finance is relevant to a wide range of occupations. Finance professionals enjoy a
high rate of employment in leadership positions at all levels of financial management for
careers in business, industry, government, and public or private corporations. Finance
majors typically embark on careers in corporate finance, risk management, investments,
insurance, real estate, banking, or financial planning.
Important Topics for Interview Preparation
General
•
Why Finance?
•
What is the difference between Finance and Accounting?
•
What are the different branches of Finance? What are the different career avenues?
Economics
Terms:
GDP, GNP, Inflation, Unemployment, Fiscal Deficit, Exchange Rate, Budget,
Current/Capital Account, Quantitative Easing, Demonetization, Eurozone
Questions:
• What are the highlights of this year’s budget? Why is the Rupee depreciating?
• What impact will Demonetization have on India’s economy both in the shorter run and
the Longer Run?
• What is India’s GDP and which sectors being the major contributors? What is the
difference between FDI and FII?
• What is the Sovereign Debt Crisis of Europe?
• What was the sub-prime crisis of 2008? What is Quantitative Easing?
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Capital Markets
Terms:
Equity and Debt Markets, SENSEX and NIFTY, SEBI, Mutual Funds, Derivatives, Bitcoin,
Benchmark, Leverage, Market Value vs Book Value, Bull & Bear Market
Questions:
• What is the difference between SENSEX and NIFTY? Name some companies in each.
Which company in India has the highest market capitalization?
• What is the difference between Fundamental and Technical Analysis? What is SEBI and
what are its roles?
• What are the typical returns of various investment products like bonds, mutual funds
etc.?
• What were the various scams in Indian Stock Markets?
Banking
Terms:
Policy Rates - Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, CRR, SLR Indian Banking Structure, BFSI,
Basel Norms, Federal Reserve, Money Supply, Basis Point, Rule of 72, Compounding,
Federal Fund Rate
Questions:
• What are the different types of banking? What is RBI and what are its roles?
• Who is the current governor of RBI and what are the steps he has undertaken recently?
What is the NPA problem that the Indian banks are presently facing?
• What are M&A? Give some recent M&A activities? What is microfinance?
• What is financial inclusion?
What’s New?
1) GST – Goods & Service Tax (including the E-Way Bill)
2) NPAs and Bank Reforms
3) FinTech, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and new trends in Trading
4) India’s Fiscal Issues
5) Corporate Governance Issues
6) Global Crises – Turkey, Venezuela, Italy
7) The tide against Globalisation – USA, UK, China
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OPERATIONS AND SUPPLY CHAIN

Have you ever wondered:
• What is the level of detail that goes into planning the delivery of any product to your
home?
• How are the firms able to create great value for customers while reducing the cost of
delivering goods and services?
• How critical is efficient delivery of goods and services for a firm which sometimes is solely
responsible for its success or even survival in some cases?
• How important are innovation and exploitation of technologies for a firm to gain
competitive advantage over others?
The integration of global economy has forced the organizations today to deliver supplies and
products from one place to another at the right time with the lowest possible cost,
maintaining the desired quality standards simultaneously. The whole process involves the
integration & application of statistics, software, technological advancements and innovative
ideas.
Operations and supply chain management will help you to answer the above questions and
foresee the disruptions on the horizon. It deals with getting work done quickly, efficiently,
without any error, at lowest possible cost. “Operations” refers to the processes used for
transformation of resources employed by a firm into products and services desired by
customers. “Supply” on the contrary, deals with the movement of materials and services to
and from the transformation processes of the firm.
Trending topics in Operations and Supply Chain Management
1) Job Profiles in Operations & Supply Chain Domain
- http://www.careers-in-business.com/om.htm
- http://www.careersinsupplychain.ca/careers-scm/
2) Challenges and Opportunities in Manufacturing Sector
- http://www.ibef.org/industry/manufacturing-sector-india.aspx
- http://ficci.in/Sedocument/20348/India-Risk-Survey-2016.pdf
- https://goo.gl/nYVJKp
- https://goo.gl/f2EUqk
3) Technological Innovation in Supply Chains
- https://goo.gl/R7nGK4
- https://goo.gl/SFS6vy
- https://goo.gl/deDMK8
4) Operations Management v/s Supply Chain Management
- https://goo.gl/Nds1sF
- https://goo.gl/zqk1bj
5) How critical is Supply Chain management to retail sector and FMCGs?
- https://goo.gl/Zeb8dh
- https://e27.co/challenging-existing-fundamentals-logistics-supply-chain-
20180104/
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SYSTEMS
Systems management is primarily concerned with the incorporation of business processes
with technology. The key skill is the understanding of various hardware and software
platforms and the ability to determine the exact IT requirements of an organization based on
its processes and finer way of working. The aim is to use the latest advancements in
technology to cater to the ever-growing business needs of corporate. Systems Management
focuses on areas like e-business, IT security, IT strategy etc.
Enterprise Resource Planning
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a software designed to support and integrate almost
every functional area of a business process. The central feature of all ERP systems is a shared
database that supports multiple functions used by different business units. In practice, this
means that employees in different divisions—for example, accounting and sales—can rely on
the same information for their specific needs.
By integrating the business processes, the ERP offers the following advantages:
- Saves time and expenses.
- Allows faster decision-making by the management
- Single data source and sharing of data among all the units of an organization
- Helps in tracking every transaction that takes place in an organization, from starting till
end
Software development life cycle
The software development life cycle (SDLC), also referred to as the application development
life-cycle, is a term used in systems engineering, information systems, and software
engineering to describe a process for planning, creating, testing, and deploying an
information system. The SDLC aims to produce a high-quality software that meets or
exceeds customer expectations, reaches completion within times and cost estimates.
Phases of SDLC:
- Planning and Requirement Analysis Defining Requirements
- Designing the product architecture Building or Developing the Product
- Testing the Product and deployment in market Maintenance & Disposal
SDLC Models
The most important and popular SDLC models followed in the industry:
- Waterfall Model Iterative Model Spiral Model
- V-Model
- Big Bang Model
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Internet of Things:
Internet of things is the interconnection of physical devices embedded with electronics,
software, sensors, and network connectivity that enables the devices to share information
among themselves. This information sharing can be done over a connected network, mostly
over the internet. Humans can interact with the gadgets to set them up, give them
instructions or access the data, but the devices do most of the work on their own without
human intervention. Research group Gartner predicts that 4.9 billion connected devices will
be in use this year, and the number will reach 25 billion by 2020.
The following are some of the top IoT platforms on the market today:
- Amazon Web Services - Microsoft Azure
- Thing Worx IoT - Platform IBM's Watson
Cloud Computing:
Cloud computing means instead of all the computer hardware and software that you're using
sitting on your desktop, or somewhere inside your company's network, it is provided for you
as a service by another company and accessed over the Internet. These services are broadly
divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service
(PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Different types of clouds:
1) Public Cloud - A public cloud is one in which the services & infrastructure are provided
off-site over the Internet. These clouds offer the greatest level of efficiency in shared
resources.
2) Private Cloud - The private cloud delivers all the agility, scalability, and efficiency of the
public cloud, but it also provides greater levels of control and security.
3) Hybrid Cloud - By using a Hybrid approach, Companies can maintain control of
internally managed private cloud while at the same time relying on the public cloud as
needed.
Big Data
Big data is used to describe huge amount of structured & unstructured data, normally
running into terabytes & exabytes (1 Terabyte = 1012 bytes, Exabyte = 1018 bytes).
Big data is characterized by 3 Vs:
1) Volume: This refers to the size of data. Years of transactional data, data coming from
machines, sensors, social media etc. contribute to a huge volume.
2) Velocity: Speed with which data is generated.
3) Variety: Different formats of data – text, numeric, unstructured data in the form of
videos, audio etc.
Current Trends in Information Technology
1. Internet of Things and new IT reality in connectivity
2. Tech disruption in Financial sector and their effect post demonetisation
3. Artificial Intelligence Today and Tomorrow
4. Indian IT Industry: 2018 and Beyond
5. Data Security and Privacy issues over Cloud computing
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CONSULTING (Only for Advanced Preparation)

Consulting is all about solving problems and developing strategies to improve efficiency and
performance in businesses or functions. Many consulting firms also use business-related
case studies to test candidates' ability to think commercially, but guesstimates isolate your
core critical thinking abilities from your knowledge of the industry you're hoping to join. This
means interviewers can assess how you respond to unfamiliar situations and your raw ability
to succeed in the job. To check the business acumen of an individual, companies/colleges
come up with Guesstimate problems in interviews. This is used to test the analytical skills of
an individual, problem solving capability, thought process, structural approach and
innovation. Find below some of the tips and techniques to get an edge over Others in such
problems.
1. Thinking on your feet
Don't panic. This part of the interview is designed to test your ability to remain calm, act
rationally and think logically, whatever is thrown at you.
2. Logical thought process
Whether your methodology is top-down or bottom-up, interviewers want to see that you can
break down a problem, identify the most important issues and work through them in a
logical manner to find a solution.
3. Common sense
A thorough understanding of the problem and using complex calculations to solve it are all
very well, but they're useless Without a bit of common sense and practical reasoning. You
need to show interviewers that you have general awareness of business practices, people and
how the world works.
4. Numeracy skills
Brainteasers will usually involve a bit of mathematics. The ability to do basic adding,
subtracting, multiplying and dividing on the spot and under pressure is important in
consulting.
5. Communication skills
Consulting is a client-focused business in which you'll often have to persuade clients to put
your strategies into practice. You'll also be expected to work in teams to deliver the most
effective solutions. So being able to think out loud and to verbally justify your reasoning in a
clear and succinct way is crucial.
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Practice Questions:
How many gallons of white house paint are sold in the U.S. every year?
THE "START BIG" APPROACH: If you're not sure where to begin, start with the basic
assumption that there are 270 million people in the U.S. (Or 25 million businesses,
depending on the question). If there are 270 million people in the United States, perhaps half
of them live in houses (or 135 million people). The average family size is about three people,
so there would be 45 million houses in the United States. Let's add another 10 percent to that
for second houses and houses used for purposes besides residential. So, there are about 50
million houses.
If houses are painted every 10 years on average (notice how we deftly make that number easy
to work with), then there are 5 million houses painted every year. Assuming that one gallon
of paint covers 100 square feet of wall, and that the average house has 2,000 square feet of
wall to cover, then each house needs 20 gallons of paint. So, 100 million gallons of paint is
sold per year (5 million houses x 20 gallons). (Note: If you want to be fancy, you can ask your
interviewer Whether you should include inner walls as well!) If 80 percent of all houses are
White, then 80 million gallons of white paint is sold each year. (Don't forget that last step!)
THE "START SMALL" APPROACH: You could also start small, and take a town of
27,000 (about 1/10,000 of the population). If you use the same assumption that half the
town lives in houses in groups of three, then there are 4,500 houses, plus another 10 percent,
then there are 5,000 houses worry about, painted every 10 years, 500 houses are being
painted in any given year. If each house has 2,000 square feet of wall, and each gallon of
paint covers 100 square feet, then each house needs 20 gallons - and so 10,000 gallons of
house paint is sold each year in your typical town. Perhaps 8,000 of those are white. Multiply
by 10,000 - you have 80 million gallons.
Your interviewer may then ask you how you would actually get that number, on the job, if
necessary. Use your creativity -contacting major paint producers would be smart, putting in
a call to HUD's statistics arm could help, or even conducting a small sample of the second
calculation in a few representative towns is possible.
More Practice Questions
1. How many births are there in America each day?
2. How many petrol stations are there in Sydney?
3. How many bottles of wine are consumed in France each month?
4. How many cups of tea are drunk in England each day?
5. How far does the average Premiership footballer run in a single game?
6. How much does Mount Kilimanjaro weigh?
7. How many pounds are spent on haircuts in the UK each year?
8. How many ping-pong balls will fit inside a Boeing 737?
9. How many weddings are performed in China each year?
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP
What is Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship, in its essence of following a passion, playing to innate strengths and
making a difference to people around by building an enterprise, has become a way of life.
Why Entrepreneurship?
Freedom from being an employee
Early self-life by handling the topmost level of your organization
Happiness of generating employment and contributing to the society
Learning a lot about various aspects of business, let it be finance, marketing or any other
managerial area
Important Topics for Interview Preparation
B-Plan
Questions:
1) What idea of business do you have? Explain your B-Plan (Business Plan)?
2) What is your model of business?
3) Why do you think your idea is a viable idea? What is the social issue you will be
solving?
Marketing Perspectives –USP, Target Market, Break Even Point
Questions:
- Who is your major target customer?
- Who are your major competitors?
- What are the weaknesses you might face? What are the opportunities available?
- When will you reach the Break Even Point?
Financial Perspective –Capital Required, Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors,
Questions:
- How much capital you may require?
- Do you have enough capital to start your venture? If not, then what are your source of
funding?
- Are you thinking to approach any Venture Capitalist (VCs) or Angel Investor? What is the
difference between the Venture Capitalist and Angel Investor?
- What are the typical returns of various investment products like bonds, mutual funds
etc.? What were the various scams in Indian Stock Markets?
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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the process of acquiring, training,
appraising, and compensating employees, and of attending to their labour relations, health
and safety, and fairness concern.
Some basic concepts related to HR (Human Resources):
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory:
In 1943, a Psychologist Mr. Abraham Harold Maslow suggested a Theory of Human
Motivation. According to Maslow, human behaviour is related to his needs. In hierarchy of
needs theory, Maslow identified five types / sets of human need arranged in a hierarchy of
their importance and priority. He concluded that when one set of needs is satisfied, it ceases
to be a motivating factor. Thereafter, the next set of needs in the hierarchy order takes its
place. These needs in hierarchy can be compared to a pyramid.
Link: http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/maslow/
Herzberg’s two factor Theory:
In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist proposed a two-factor theory or the
motivator-hygiene theory.
Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for existence of motivation at
workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these factors are
absent/non-existent at workplace, then they lead to dissatisfaction.
Motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors motivate the employees for a
superior performance. These factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in
performing the job. Employees find these factors intrinsically rewarding.
Link: http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/herzberg/
The above-mentioned concepts are only indicative.
Some of the profiles or roles played by HR managers in an organization are as follows:
• Talent acquisition (staffing)
• Organization Talent Development
• Compensation and Benefits
• Industrial Relations
• HR Analytics
• HR Consultants
• Change Management
• Learning & Development officer
Some recent trends & news about HR:
• http://www.hrkatha.com
• https://www.peoplematters.in
• https://www.shrm.org
• https://hrtrendinstitute.com
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An IIM Lucknow Students’ Initiative

WRITTEN ABILITY TEST (WAT) &

Orientation Profit Western Description

Production Production Until the A firm focusing on a production orientation

Important concepts in Marketing:

5 things a marketing enthusiast needs

OPERATIONS AND SUPPLY CHAIN

CONSULTING (Only for Advanced Preparation)

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

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