SBI PO 2015 PYQs

Question 1

Realistically, however this disconnect cannot _______ itself very long, sooner rather than _______ the whole will no doubt converge.

Accepted Answer

The first blank requires a verb in its base form ('cannot sustain'). The second blank needs an adverb of time ('sooner rather than later') to complete the common idiom.

Question 2

Directions (Qs 1-5): Rearrange the following six sentences (A), (B),(C), (D), (E) and (F) in proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph,then answer the given questions.
(A) Take for example, the market for learning dancing
(B) This could never happen if there was a central board of dancing education which enforced strict standards of what will be taught and how such things are to be taught.
(C) The Indian education system is built on the presumption that if something is good for one child, it is good for all children.
(D) More importantly, different teachers and institutes have developed different ways of teaching dancing.
(E) There are very different dance forms that attract students with different tastes.
(F) If however, we can effectively decentralise education, and if the government did not obsessively control what would be the “syllabus” and what will be the method of instruction,there could be an explosion of new and innovative courses geared towards serving variousriches of learners.

Which of the following should be the LAST (SIXTH) sentence after the rearrangement ?

Accepted Answer

To find the last sentence, identify the concluding statement that summarizes or provides a final thought. Sentence F typically serves as a strong concluding remark, making it the sixth sentence.

Question 3

Digitisation will _______ a couple of billion dollars in pay revenues, bring more taxes choice and clean out black money _______ cable.

Accepted Answer

Digitisation will 'release' revenues, meaning to make them available. Black money is cleaned out 'from' cable, indicating separation. Option 3 fits both contexts perfectly.

Question 4

Directions (Qs 1-5): Rearrange the following six sentences (A), (B),(C), (D), (E) and (F) in proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph,then answer the given questions.
(A) Take for example, the market for learning dancing
(B) This could never happen if there was a central board of dancing education which enforced strict standards of what will be taught and how such things are to be taught.
(C) The Indian education system is built on the presumption that if something is good for one child, it is good for all children.
(D) More importantly, different teachers and institutes have developed different ways of teaching dancing.
(E) There are very different dance forms that attract students with different tastes.
(F) If however, we can effectively decentralise education, and if the government did not obsessively control what would be the “syllabus” and what will be the method of instruction,there could be an explosion of new and innovative courses geared towards serving variousriches of learners.

Which of the following should be the THIRD sentence after the rearrangement?

Accepted Answer

To determine the third sentence, identify the logical flow and connections between sentences. Look for introductory sentences, supporting details, and concluding remarks to establish the correct sequence.

Question 5

Public sector infrastructure financing companies could _______ of the ambitious ‘smart cities’ citing _______ of guaranteed returns on investments.

Accepted Answer

The phrase 'opt out' means to choose not to participate, which fits the context of companies withdrawing due to 'lack' of guaranteed returns. This combination makes logical sense.

Question 6

Looks like the oil markets are not only showing _______ between the physical and the financial perspectives from time to time but also _______ between the short term view and the long term realities.

Accepted Answer

The sentence implies a lack of alignment in both cases. 'Disconnect' fits the first blank, and 'divergence' (meaning moving apart) fits the second, maintaining the negative connotation.

Question 7

Top global oil exporter Saudi Arabia _______ its crude production in April to a record high, _______ its flourishing Asian market share.

Accepted Answer

The first blank requires 'raised' (transitive verb) as production is being increased. The second blank needs a present participle 'feeding' to show the consequence of the action.

Question 8

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.Certain words/phrases have been given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPG) face two key challenges this year. The first is continued slow or negative growth in people’s disposable incomes. The second is changing consumer attitudes toward products and brands, as the great fragmentation of consumer markets take another turn. In response, companies must dramatically shift the route they take to reach consumers in terms of both product distribution and communications. In many markets, consumer wages have been static for five years now. Even where economies are starting to perform better, the squeeze on after -tax wages, especially for the middle class younger people and families, is
depressing
consumer spending. Although growth in developing countries is still better than in the United States and Europe, a slowdown in emerging countries such as China - where many countries had hoped for higher sales- has translated quickly into lower-than expected consumer spending growth.
Meanwhile, what we call the great fragmentation is manifested in consumer behaviour and market response. In both developed and emerging markets, there is a wider variety among consumers now than at any time in the recent past. Growth is evident both at the top of the market (where more consumers are spending for higher-quality food and other packaged goods) and at the lower end (where an increasing number of consumers are concentrating on value). But the traditional middle of the market is
shrinking
.
Further, individual consumer behaviour is more pluralistic. We are used to seeing, for example, spirits buyers purchasing a premium brand in a bar, a less costly label at home for personal consumption and yet another when entertaining guests. But this type of
variegated
shopping has now spread to the grocery basket as well. Fewer consumers are making one big stocking-up trip each week. Instead, shoppers are visiting a premium store and a discounter as well as a supermarket,in multiple weekly shops ¾ in addition to making frequent purchases online. During recession, more shoppers became inclined to spend time hunting for bargains and as some traditional retailers either went out of business or
shuttered
down, retail space was freed up and was often filled by convenience stores, specialty shops, and discounters.
A decade ago, VCPG companies had only a handful of sales channels to consider supermarkets, convenience stores, hypermarkets in advanced economies and traditional small and large retailers in emerging countries. Since then, various discounters have made-significant inroads, including no frills, low variety outlets, such as Europe’s Aldi and Lidi, which sell a limited range of private-label grocery items in smaller stores and massive warehouse clubs, such as Costco and Sam’s club, which initially operated solely in the U.S. but are now expanding internationally. In addition, dollar stores, specialised retailers, and online merchants are having an impact on the CPG landscape, Economising consumers have been pleasantly, surprised by the savings generated by spreading their business among multiple channels, as well as by the variety and product quality they find. The result has been greater demand for more products and brands, with different sizes, packaging and sales methods. At most CPG companies, SKUs are proliferating despite there being little increase in overall consumption. A better outcome can be seen at smaller food and beverage suppliers, which are benefiting from consumer demand for variety and authenticity. A recent report found that in the U.S., small manufacturers (with revenues of less than US
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Consumers’ media usage has also fragmented with the rise of digital content and the proliferation of online devices. Each channel- from the Web, Mobile and social sites for radio, TV, and printhasits own requirements, audience appeal and economies, needing specialised attention. But, at the same time, media campaigns need to be closely coordinated for effective consumer messaging.
Collectively, these shifts challenge the way CPG companies manage their brand and business portfolios and call for a rethinking of their go-to-market approach, with an emphasis on analytics. Our work with INSEAD shows that among business leaders, applying analytics-especially for tracking consumer behaviour and product and promotional performance- considered one of the most effective ways to improve results and outpace the competition. But it’s not just about insight. It’s also about using the insight wisely to determine how to manage costs. The more knowledgeable about customer needs and preferences a company is, the smarter and more focused it must be in managing its own economics to cost-effectively deliver both variety and value to be squeezed consumer.

Directions (6-15) : Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.Certain words/phrases have been given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions. Manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPG) face two key challenges this year. The first is continued slow or negative growth in people’s disposable incomes. The second is changing consumer attitudes toward products and brands, as the great fragmentation of consumer markets take another turn. In response, companies must dramatically shift the route they take to reach consumers in terms of both product distribution and communications. In many markets, consumer wages have been static for five years now. Even where economies are starting to perform better, the squeeze on after -tax wages, especially for the middle class younger people and families, is depressing consumer spending. Although growth in developing countries is still better than in the United States and Europe, a slowdown in emerging countries such as China - where many countries had hoped for higher sales- has translated quickly into lower-than expected consumer spending growth. Meanwhile, what we call the great fragmentation is manifested in consumer behaviour and market response. In both developed and emerging markets, there is a wider variety among consumers now than at any time in the recent past. Growth is evident both at the top of the market (where more consumers are spending for higher-quality food and other packaged goods) and at the lower end (where an increasing number of consumers are concentrating on value). But the traditional middle of the market is shrinking . Further, individual consumer behaviour is more pluralistic. We are used to seeing, for example, spirits buyers purchasing a premium brand in a bar, a less costly label at home for personal consumption and yet another when entertaining guests. But this type of variegated shopping has now spread to the grocery basket as well. Fewer consumers are making one big stocking-up trip each week. Instead, shoppers are visiting a premium store and a discounter as well as a supermarket,in multiple weekly shops ¾ in addition to making frequent purchases online. During recession, more shoppers became inclined to spend time hunting for bargains and as some traditional retailers either went out of business or shuttered down, retail space was freed up and was often filled by convenience stores, specialty shops, and discounters. A decade ago, VCPG companies had only a handful of sales channels to consider supermarkets, convenience stores, hypermarkets in advanced economies and traditional small and large retailers in emerging countries. Since then, various discounters have made-significant inroads, including no frills, low variety outlets, such as Europe’s Aldi and Lidi, which sell a limited range of private-label grocery items in smaller stores and massive warehouse clubs, such as Costco and Sam’s club, which initially operated solely in the U.S. but are now expanding internationally. In addition, dollar stores, specialised retailers, and online merchants are having an impact on the CPG landscape, Economising consumers have been pleasantly, surprised by the savings generated by spreading their business among multiple channels, as well as by the variety and product quality they find. The result has been greater demand for more products and brands, with different sizes, packaging and sales methods. At most CPG companies, SKUs are proliferating despite there being little increase in overall consumption. A better outcome can be seen at smaller food and beverage suppliers, which are benefiting from consumer demand for variety and authenticity. A recent report found that in the U.S., small manufacturers (with revenues of less than US $ l billion) grew at twice the compound annual rate of large manufacturers (with revenues of more than $ 3 billion between 2009 and 2012. Consumers’ media usage has also fragmented with the rise of digital content and the proliferation of online devices. Each channel- from the Web, Mobile and social sites for radio, TV, and printhasits own requirements, audience appeal and economies, needing specialised attention. But, at the same time, media campaigns need to be closely coordinated for effective consumer messaging. Collectively, these shifts challenge the way CPG companies manage their brand and business portfolios and call for a rethinking of their go-to-market approach, with an emphasis on analytics. Our work with INSEAD shows that among business leaders, applying analytics-especially for tracking consumer behaviour and product and promotional performance- considered one of the most effective ways to improve results and outpace the competition. But it’s not just about insight. It’s also about using the insight wisely to determine how to manage costs. The more knowledgeable about customer needs and preferences a company is, the smarter and more focused it must be in managing its own economics to cost-effectively deliver both variety and value to be squeezed consumer.

The central theme of the given passage is _________.

Accepted Answer

To find the central theme, analyze the passage for its main argument or recurring idea. The correct option summarizes this overarching message effectively.

Question 9

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given.
Certain words/phrases have been given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions
From a technical and economic perspective, many assessments have highlighted the presence of cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy use in buildings. However several bodies note the significance of multiple barriers that prevent the take-up of energy efficiency measures in buildings. These include lack of awareness and concern,limited access to reliable information from trusted sources,fear about risk, disruption and other‘transaction costs’ concerns about up-front costs and inadequate access to suitably priced finance,a lack of confidence in suppliers and technologies and the presence of split incentives between landlords and tenants. The widespread presence of these barriers led experts to predict that without a
concerted
push from policy, two thirds of the economically viable potential to improve energy efficiency will remain
unexploited
by 2035. These barriers are
albatross around the neck
that represent a classic market failure and a basis for governmental intervention.
While these measurements focus on the technical, financial or economic barriers preventing the take-up of energy efficiency options in buildings, others emphasise the significance of the often deeply embedded social practices that shape energy use in buildings.These analyses focus not on the preferences and rationalities that might shape individual behaviours,but on the ‘entangled’ cultural practices, norms, values and routines that
underpin
domestic energy use. Focusing on the practice related aspects of consumption generates very different conceptual framings and policy prescriptions than those that emerge from more traditional or mainstream perspectives.But the underlying case for government intervention to help to promote retrofit and the diffusion of more energy efficient particles is still apparent, even though the forms of intervention advocated are often very different to those that emerge from a more technical or economic perspective.
Based on the recognition of the multiple barriers to change and the social, economic and environmental benefits that could be realised if they were overcome, government support for retrofit (renovating existing infrastructure to make it more energy efficient) has been widespread. Retrofit programmes have been supported and adopted in diverse forms in many setting and their ability to recruit householder sand then to impact their energy use has been discussed quite extensively. Frequently, these discussions have criticised the extent to which retrofit schemes rely on incentives and the provision of new technologies to change behaviour whilst ignoring the many other factors that might limit either participation in the schemes or their impact on the behaviours and practices that shape domestic energy use. These factors are obviously central to the success of retrofit schemes, but evaluations of different schemes have found that despite these they can still have significant impacts.
Few experts that the best estimate of the gap between the technical potential and the actual in situperformance of energy efficiency measures is 50%, with 35% coming from performance gaps and 15%coming from ‘comfort taking’ or directre bound effects. They further suggest that the direct rebound effect of energy efficiency measures related to household heating is likley to be less than 30% while rebound effects for various domestic energy efficiency measures vary from 5 to 15% and arise mostly from in direct effects (i.e., where savings from energy efficiency lead to increased demand for goods and services).Other analyses also note that the gap between technical potential and actual performance is likely to vary by measure, with the range extending from 0% for measures such as solar water heating to 50% for measures such as improved heating controls. And others note that levels of comfort taking are likely to vary according to the levels of consumption and fuel poverty in the sample of homes where insulation is installed, with the range extending from 30% when considering homes across all income groups to around 60% when considering only lower income homes. The scale of these gaps is significant because it materially affects the impacts of retrofit schemes and expectations and perceptions of these impacts go on to influence levels of political, financial and public support for these schemes
The literature on retrofit highlights the presence of multiple barriers to change and the need for government support, if these are to be overcome. Although much has been written on the extent to which different forms of support enable the wider take-up of domestic energy efficiency measures, behaviours and practices, various areas of contestation remain and there is still an absence of
robust
ex-post evidence on the extent to which these schemes actually do lead to the social, economic and environmental benefits that are widely claimed.

Which of the following is most nearly the OPPOSITE in meaning to the word ‘CONCERTED’ as used in the passage ?

Accepted Answer

The word 'concerted' means jointly arranged or carried out. Its opposite would be something done individually or without coordination. Since no option directly means 'individual' or 'uncoordinated', we look for the closest opposite. The correct answer is not provided in the options, as 'concerted' means 'done together' and none of the options are its opposite. Assuming there's a typo and the correct answer is 'uncoordinated' or 'individual', we'd choose that. Given the options, none are direct opposites.

Question 10

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Core competencies and focus arenow the mantras of corporate strategists in Western economies. But while managers in the West have
dismantled
many conglomerates assembled in the 1960s and 1970s, the large, diversified business group remains the dominant form of enterprise throughout most emerging markets. Some groups operate as holding companies with full ownership in many enterprises, others are collections of publiclytraded companies, but all have some degree of central control
As emerging markets open up to global competition, consultants andforeign investors are increasingly pressuring these groups to
conform to
Western practice by scaling back thescope of their business activities. The conglomerate is the dinosaur of organizational design, they argue, too unwieldy and slow to compete in today’s fast-paced markets. Already a number of executives have decided to break up their groups in order to show that they are focusing on only a few core businesses
There are reasons to worry about this trend. Focus is good advice in NewYork or London, but something important gets lost in translation when that advice is given to groups in emerging markets. Western companies take for granted a range of institutions that support their business activities, but many of these institutions are absent in other regions of the world. Without effective securities regulation and venture capital firms, for example, focused companies may be unable to raise adequate financing; and without strong educational institutions, they will struggle to hire skilled employees.
Communicating with customers is difficult when the local infrastructure is poor, and unpredictable government behavior can stymie any operation.Although a focused strategy may enable a company to perform a few activities well, companies in emerging markets must take responsibility fora wide range of functions in order todo business effectively
In the case of product markets, buyers and sellers usually suffer from a severe
dearth
of information for three reasons. First, the communications infrastructure in emerging markets is often under-developed. Even as wireless communication spreads through out the West, vast stretches in countries such as China and India remain without telephones. Power shortages often render the modes of communication that do exist ineffective. The postal service is typically inefficient, slow, or unreliable; and the private sector rarely provides efficient courier services. High rates of illiteracy make it difficult for marketers to communicate effectively with customers
Second, even when information about products does get around, there are no mechanisms to corroborate the claims made by sellers. Independent consumer organizations are rare, and government watchdog agencies are of little use. The few analysts who rate products are generally less sophisticated than their counterparts in advanced economies
Third, consumers have no redress mechanisms if a product does not deliver on its promise. Law enforcement is often
capricious
and so slow that few who assign any value to time would resort to it. Unlike in advanced markets, there are few extrajudicial arbitration mechanisms to which one can appeal.
As a result of this lack of information, companies in emerging markets face much higher costs in building credible brands than their counter parts in advanced economies. In turn, established brands wield tremendous power. A conglomerate with a reputation for quality products and services can use its group name to enter new businesses, even if those businesses are completely unrelated to its current lines. Groups also have an advantage when they do try to build up a brand because they can spread the cost of maintaining it across multiple lines of business. Such groups then have a greater incentive not to damage brand quality in any one business because they will pay the price in their other businesses as well

What suggestions have been cited by the writer in regard to raising adequate financing and hiring skilled employees ?

Accepted Answer

The question asks for suggestions regarding both financing and hiring. Option 3 comprehensively lists all three elements mentioned in the text: effective securities regulation, venture capital firms, and strong educational institutions.

Question 11

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.Certain words/phrases have been given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPG) face two key challenges this year. The first is continued slow or negative growth in people’s disposable incomes. The second is changing consumer attitudes toward products and brands, as the great fragmentation of consumer markets take another turn. In response, companies must dramatically shift the route they take to reach consumers in terms of both product distribution and communications. In many markets, consumer wages have been static for five years now. Even where economies are starting to perform better, the squeeze on after -tax wages, especially for the middle class younger people and families, is
depressing
consumer spending. Although growth in developing countries is still better than in the United States and Europe, a slowdown in emerging countries such as China - where many countries had hoped for higher sales- has translated quickly into lower-than expected consumer spending growth.
Meanwhile, what we call the great fragmentation is manifested in consumer behaviour and market response. In both developed and emerging markets, there is a wider variety among consumers now than at any time in the recent past. Growth is evident both at the top of the market (where more consumers are spending for higher-quality food and other packaged goods) and at the lower end (where an increasing number of consumers are concentrating on value). But the traditional middle of the market is
shrinking
.
Further, individual consumer behaviour is more pluralistic. We are used to seeing, for example, spirits buyers purchasing a premium brand in a bar, a less costly label at home for personal consumption and yet another when entertaining guests. But this type of
variegated
shopping has now spread to the grocery basket as well. Fewer consumers are making one big stocking-up trip each week. Instead, shoppers are visiting a premium store and a discounter as well as a supermarket,in multiple weekly shops ¾ in addition to making frequent purchases online. During recession, more shoppers became inclined to spend time hunting for bargains and as some traditional retailers either went out of business or
shuttered
down, retail space was freed up and was often filled by convenience stores, specialty shops, and discounters.
A decade ago, VCPG companies had only a handful of sales channels to consider supermarkets, convenience stores, hypermarkets in advanced economies and traditional small and large retailers in emerging countries. Since then, various discounters have made-significant inroads, including no frills, low variety outlets, such as Europe’s Aldi and Lidi, which sell a limited range of private-label grocery items in smaller stores and massive warehouse clubs, such as Costco and Sam’s club, which initially operated solely in the U.S. but are now expanding internationally. In addition, dollar stores, specialised retailers, and online merchants are having an impact on the CPG landscape, Economising consumers have been pleasantly, surprised by the savings generated by spreading their business among multiple channels, as well as by the variety and product quality they find. The result has been greater demand for more products and brands, with different sizes, packaging and sales methods. At most CPG companies, SKUs are proliferating despite there being little increase in overall consumption. A better outcome can be seen at smaller food and beverage suppliers, which are benefiting from consumer demand for variety and authenticity. A recent report found that in the U.S., small manufacturers (with revenues of less than US
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Consumers’ media usage has also fragmented with the rise of digital content and the proliferation of online devices. Each channel- from the Web, Mobile and social sites for radio, TV, and printhasits own requirements, audience appeal and economies, needing specialised attention. But, at the same time, media campaigns need to be closely coordinated for effective consumer messaging.
Collectively, these shifts challenge the way CPG companies manage their brand and business portfolios and call for a rethinking of their go-to-market approach, with an emphasis on analytics. Our work with INSEAD shows that among business leaders, applying analytics-especially for tracking consumer behaviour and product and promotional performance- considered one of the most effective ways to improve results and outpace the competition. But it’s not just about insight. It’s also about using the insight wisely to determine how to manage costs. The more knowledgeable about customer needs and preferences a company is, the smarter and more focused it must be in managing its own economics to cost-effectively deliver both variety and value to be squeezed consumer.

In the context of the passage, which of the following brands existed otherwise but is now being manifested in buying groceries as well ?

Accepted Answer

The question asks for a brand that existed but is now seen in grocery buying. Option 2, 'Consumer willing to purchase goods for a longer period of time,' implies brand loyalty, which is a pre-existing concept now extending to groceries.

Question 12

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given.
Certain words/phrases have been given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions
From a technical and economic perspective, many assessments have highlighted the presence of cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy use in buildings. However several bodies note the significance of multiple barriers that prevent the take-up of energy efficiency measures in buildings. These include lack of awareness and concern,limited access to reliable information from trusted sources,fear about risk, disruption and other‘transaction costs’ concerns about up-front costs and inadequate access to suitably priced finance,a lack of confidence in suppliers and technologies and the presence of split incentives between landlords and tenants. The widespread presence of these barriers led experts to predict that without a
concerted
push from policy, two thirds of the economically viable potential to improve energy efficiency will remain
unexploited
by 2035. These barriers are
albatross around the neck
that represent a classic market failure and a basis for governmental intervention.
While these measurements focus on the technical, financial or economic barriers preventing the take-up of energy efficiency options in buildings, others emphasise the significance of the often deeply embedded social practices that shape energy use in buildings.These analyses focus not on the preferences and rationalities that might shape individual behaviours,but on the ‘entangled’ cultural practices, norms, values and routines that
underpin
domestic energy use. Focusing on the practice related aspects of consumption generates very different conceptual framings and policy prescriptions than those that emerge from more traditional or mainstream perspectives.But the underlying case for government intervention to help to promote retrofit and the diffusion of more energy efficient particles is still apparent, even though the forms of intervention advocated are often very different to those that emerge from a more technical or economic perspective.
Based on the recognition of the multiple barriers to change and the social, economic and environmental benefits that could be realised if they were overcome, government support for retrofit (renovating existing infrastructure to make it more energy efficient) has been widespread. Retrofit programmes have been supported and adopted in diverse forms in many setting and their ability to recruit householder sand then to impact their energy use has been discussed quite extensively. Frequently, these discussions have criticised the extent to which retrofit schemes rely on incentives and the provision of new technologies to change behaviour whilst ignoring the many other factors that might limit either participation in the schemes or their impact on the behaviours and practices that shape domestic energy use. These factors are obviously central to the success of retrofit schemes, but evaluations of different schemes have found that despite these they can still have significant impacts.
Few experts that the best estimate of the gap between the technical potential and the actual in situperformance of energy efficiency measures is 50%, with 35% coming from performance gaps and 15%coming from ‘comfort taking’ or directre bound effects. They further suggest that the direct rebound effect of energy efficiency measures related to household heating is likley to be less than 30% while rebound effects for various domestic energy efficiency measures vary from 5 to 15% and arise mostly from in direct effects (i.e., where savings from energy efficiency lead to increased demand for goods and services).Other analyses also note that the gap between technical potential and actual performance is likely to vary by measure, with the range extending from 0% for measures such as solar water heating to 50% for measures such as improved heating controls. And others note that levels of comfort taking are likely to vary according to the levels of consumption and fuel poverty in the sample of homes where insulation is installed, with the range extending from 30% when considering homes across all income groups to around 60% when considering only lower income homes. The scale of these gaps is significant because it materially affects the impacts of retrofit schemes and expectations and perceptions of these impacts go on to influence levels of political, financial and public support for these schemes
The literature on retrofit highlights the presence of multiple barriers to change and the need for government support, if these are to be overcome. Although much has been written on the extent to which different forms of support enable the wider take-up of domestic energy efficiency measures, behaviours and practices, various areas of contestation remain and there is still an absence of
robust
ex-post evidence on the extent to which these schemes actually do lead to the social, economic and environmental benefits that are widely claimed.

Which of the following is most nearly the OPPOSITE in meaning to the word ‘ROBUST’ as used in the passage ?

Accepted Answer

Robust means strong and healthy. The opposite of strong is weak or flimsy. Therefore, 'flimsy' is the most appropriate antonym.

Question 13

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Core competencies and focus arenow the mantras of corporate strategists in Western economies. But while managers in the West have
dismantled
many conglomerates assembled in the 1960s and 1970s, the large, diversified business group remains the dominant form of enterprise throughout most emerging markets. Some groups operate as holding companies with full ownership in many enterprises, others are collections of publiclytraded companies, but all have some degree of central control
As emerging markets open up to global competition, consultants andforeign investors are increasingly pressuring these groups to
conform to
Western practice by scaling back thescope of their business activities. The conglomerate is the dinosaur of organizational design, they argue, too unwieldy and slow to compete in today’s fast-paced markets. Already a number of executives have decided to break up their groups in order to show that they are focusing on only a few core businesses
There are reasons to worry about this trend. Focus is good advice in NewYork or London, but something important gets lost in translation when that advice is given to groups in emerging markets. Western companies take for granted a range of institutions that support their business activities, but many of these institutions are absent in other regions of the world. Without effective securities regulation and venture capital firms, for example, focused companies may be unable to raise adequate financing; and without strong educational institutions, they will struggle to hire skilled employees.
Communicating with customers is difficult when the local infrastructure is poor, and unpredictable government behavior can stymie any operation.Although a focused strategy may enable a company to perform a few activities well, companies in emerging markets must take responsibility fora wide range of functions in order todo business effectively
In the case of product markets, buyers and sellers usually suffer from a severe
dearth
of information for three reasons. First, the communications infrastructure in emerging markets is often under-developed. Even as wireless communication spreads through out the West, vast stretches in countries such as China and India remain without telephones. Power shortages often render the modes of communication that do exist ineffective. The postal service is typically inefficient, slow, or unreliable; and the private sector rarely provides efficient courier services. High rates of illiteracy make it difficult for marketers to communicate effectively with customers
Second, even when information about products does get around, there are no mechanisms to corroborate the claims made by sellers. Independent consumer organizations are rare, and government watchdog agencies are of little use. The few analysts who rate products are generally less sophisticated than their counterparts in advanced economies
Third, consumers have no redress mechanisms if a product does not deliver on its promise. Law enforcement is often
capricious
and so slow that few who assign any value to time would resort to it. Unlike in advanced markets, there are few extrajudicial arbitration mechanisms to which one can appeal.
As a result of this lack of information, companies in emerging markets face much higher costs in building credible brands than their counter parts in advanced economies. In turn, established brands wield tremendous power. A conglomerate with a reputation for quality products and services can use its group name to enter new businesses, even if those businesses are completely unrelated to its current lines. Groups also have an advantage when they do try to build up a brand because they can spread the cost of maintaining it across multiple lines of business. Such groups then have a greater incentive not to damage brand quality in any one business because they will pay the price in their other businesses as well

The writer has cited some hurdles in the case of product markets regarding shortage of information. Which of the following statement(s) in this regard is/are true ?I. Communications infrastructure in emerging markets is often under developed.II. Postalservice is typically inefficient, slow or unreliable.III. High rates of illiteracy make it difficult for marketers to communicate effectively with customers.

Accepted Answer

The question asks to identify true statements based on the text. Since the original text is not provided, we cannot determine which statements are true. Therefore, none of the given options can be confirmed.

Question 14

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.Certain words/phrases have been given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPG) face two key challenges this year. The first is continued slow or negative growth in people’s disposable incomes. The second is changing consumer attitudes toward products and brands, as the great fragmentation of consumer markets take another turn. In response, companies must dramatically shift the route they take to reach consumers in terms of both product distribution and communications. In many markets, consumer wages have been static for five years now. Even where economies are starting to perform better, the squeeze on after -tax wages, especially for the middle class younger people and families, is
depressing
consumer spending. Although growth in developing countries is still better than in the United States and Europe, a slowdown in emerging countries such as China - where many countries had hoped for higher sales- has translated quickly into lower-than expected consumer spending growth.
Meanwhile, what we call the great fragmentation is manifested in consumer behaviour and market response. In both developed and emerging markets, there is a wider variety among consumers now than at any time in the recent past. Growth is evident both at the top of the market (where more consumers are spending for higher-quality food and other packaged goods) and at the lower end (where an increasing number of consumers are concentrating on value). But the traditional middle of the market is
shrinking
.
Further, individual consumer behaviour is more pluralistic. We are used to seeing, for example, spirits buyers purchasing a premium brand in a bar, a less costly label at home for personal consumption and yet another when entertaining guests. But this type of
variegated
shopping has now spread to the grocery basket as well. Fewer consumers are making one big stocking-up trip each week. Instead, shoppers are visiting a premium store and a discounter as well as a supermarket,in multiple weekly shops ¾ in addition to making frequent purchases online. During recession, more shoppers became inclined to spend time hunting for bargains and as some traditional retailers either went out of business or
shuttered
down, retail space was freed up and was often filled by convenience stores, specialty shops, and discounters.
A decade ago, VCPG companies had only a handful of sales channels to consider supermarkets, convenience stores, hypermarkets in advanced economies and traditional small and large retailers in emerging countries. Since then, various discounters have made-significant inroads, including no frills, low variety outlets, such as Europe’s Aldi and Lidi, which sell a limited range of private-label grocery items in smaller stores and massive warehouse clubs, such as Costco and Sam’s club, which initially operated solely in the U.S. but are now expanding internationally. In addition, dollar stores, specialised retailers, and online merchants are having an impact on the CPG landscape, Economising consumers have been pleasantly, surprised by the savings generated by spreading their business among multiple channels, as well as by the variety and product quality they find. The result has been greater demand for more products and brands, with different sizes, packaging and sales methods. At most CPG companies, SKUs are proliferating despite there being little increase in overall consumption. A better outcome can be seen at smaller food and beverage suppliers, which are benefiting from consumer demand for variety and authenticity. A recent report found that in the U.S., small manufacturers (with revenues of less than US
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Consumers’ media usage has also fragmented with the rise of digital content and the proliferation of online devices. Each channel- from the Web, Mobile and social sites for radio, TV, and printhasits own requirements, audience appeal and economies, needing specialised attention. But, at the same time, media campaigns need to be closely coordinated for effective consumer messaging.
Collectively, these shifts challenge the way CPG companies manage their brand and business portfolios and call for a rethinking of their go-to-market approach, with an emphasis on analytics. Our work with INSEAD shows that among business leaders, applying analytics-especially for tracking consumer behaviour and product and promotional performance- considered one of the most effective ways to improve results and outpace the competition. But it’s not just about insight. It’s also about using the insight wisely to determine how to manage costs. The more knowledgeable about customer needs and preferences a company is, the smarter and more focused it must be in managing its own economics to cost-effectively deliver both variety and value to be squeezed consumer.

Which of the following is most nearly the OPPOSITE in meaning to the word ‘DEPRESSING’ as used in the passage ?

Accepted Answer

The word 'depressing' means causing sadness or gloom. 'Encouraging' means giving hope or support, which is its direct opposite.

Question 15

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given.
Certain words/phrases have been given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions
From a technical and economic perspective, many assessments have highlighted the presence of cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy use in buildings. However several bodies note the significance of multiple barriers that prevent the take-up of energy efficiency measures in buildings. These include lack of awareness and concern,limited access to reliable information from trusted sources,fear about risk, disruption and other‘transaction costs’ concerns about up-front costs and inadequate access to suitably priced finance,a lack of confidence in suppliers and technologies and the presence of split incentives between landlords and tenants. The widespread presence of these barriers led experts to predict that without a
concerted
push from policy, two thirds of the economically viable potential to improve energy efficiency will remain
unexploited
by 2035. These barriers are
albatross around the neck
that represent a classic market failure and a basis for governmental intervention.
While these measurements focus on the technical, financial or economic barriers preventing the take-up of energy efficiency options in buildings, others emphasise the significance of the often deeply embedded social practices that shape energy use in buildings.These analyses focus not on the preferences and rationalities that might shape individual behaviours,but on the ‘entangled’ cultural practices, norms, values and routines that
underpin
domestic energy use. Focusing on the practice related aspects of consumption generates very different conceptual framings and policy prescriptions than those that emerge from more traditional or mainstream perspectives.But the underlying case for government intervention to help to promote retrofit and the diffusion of more energy efficient particles is still apparent, even though the forms of intervention advocated are often very different to those that emerge from a more technical or economic perspective.
Based on the recognition of the multiple barriers to change and the social, economic and environmental benefits that could be realised if they were overcome, government support for retrofit (renovating existing infrastructure to make it more energy efficient) has been widespread. Retrofit programmes have been supported and adopted in diverse forms in many setting and their ability to recruit householder sand then to impact their energy use has been discussed quite extensively. Frequently, these discussions have criticised the extent to which retrofit schemes rely on incentives and the provision of new technologies to change behaviour whilst ignoring the many other factors that might limit either participation in the schemes or their impact on the behaviours and practices that shape domestic energy use. These factors are obviously central to the success of retrofit schemes, but evaluations of different schemes have found that despite these they can still have significant impacts.
Few experts that the best estimate of the gap between the technical potential and the actual in situperformance of energy efficiency measures is 50%, with 35% coming from performance gaps and 15%coming from ‘comfort taking’ or directre bound effects. They further suggest that the direct rebound effect of energy efficiency measures related to household heating is likley to be less than 30% while rebound effects for various domestic energy efficiency measures vary from 5 to 15% and arise mostly from in direct effects (i.e., where savings from energy efficiency lead to increased demand for goods and services).Other analyses also note that the gap between technical potential and actual performance is likely to vary by measure, with the range extending from 0% for measures such as solar water heating to 50% for measures such as improved heating controls. And others note that levels of comfort taking are likely to vary according to the levels of consumption and fuel poverty in the sample of homes where insulation is installed, with the range extending from 30% when considering homes across all income groups to around 60% when considering only lower income homes. The scale of these gaps is significant because it materially affects the impacts of retrofit schemes and expectations and perceptions of these impacts go on to influence levels of political, financial and public support for these schemes
The literature on retrofit highlights the presence of multiple barriers to change and the need for government support, if these are to be overcome. Although much has been written on the extent to which different forms of support enable the wider take-up of domestic energy efficiency measures, behaviours and practices, various areas of contestation remain and there is still an absence of
robust
ex-post evidence on the extent to which these schemes actually do lead to the social, economic and environmental benefits that are widely claimed.

Which of the following is most nearly the same in meaning to the word ‘UNEXPLOITED’ as used in the passage ?

Accepted Answer

The word 'unexploited' means not having been used or taken advantage of. 'Untapped' means not yet used or exploited, making it the closest synonym.

Question 16

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Core competencies and focus arenow the mantras of corporate strategists in Western economies. But while managers in the West have
dismantled
many conglomerates assembled in the 1960s and 1970s, the large, diversified business group remains the dominant form of enterprise throughout most emerging markets. Some groups operate as holding companies with full ownership in many enterprises, others are collections of publiclytraded companies, but all have some degree of central control
As emerging markets open up to global competition, consultants andforeign investors are increasingly pressuring these groups to
conform to
Western practice by scaling back thescope of their business activities. The conglomerate is the dinosaur of organizational design, they argue, too unwieldy and slow to compete in today’s fast-paced markets. Already a number of executives have decided to break up their groups in order to show that they are focusing on only a few core businesses
There are reasons to worry about this trend. Focus is good advice in NewYork or London, but something important gets lost in translation when that advice is given to groups in emerging markets. Western companies take for granted a range of institutions that support their business activities, but many of these institutions are absent in other regions of the world. Without effective securities regulation and venture capital firms, for example, focused companies may be unable to raise adequate financing; and without strong educational institutions, they will struggle to hire skilled employees.
Communicating with customers is difficult when the local infrastructure is poor, and unpredictable government behavior can stymie any operation.Although a focused strategy may enable a company to perform a few activities well, companies in emerging markets must take responsibility fora wide range of functions in order todo business effectively
In the case of product markets, buyers and sellers usually suffer from a severe
dearth
of information for three reasons. First, the communications infrastructure in emerging markets is often under-developed. Even as wireless communication spreads through out the West, vast stretches in countries such as China and India remain without telephones. Power shortages often render the modes of communication that do exist ineffective. The postal service is typically inefficient, slow, or unreliable; and the private sector rarely provides efficient courier services. High rates of illiteracy make it difficult for marketers to communicate effectively with customers
Second, even when information about products does get around, there are no mechanisms to corroborate the claims made by sellers. Independent consumer organizations are rare, and government watchdog agencies are of little use. The few analysts who rate products are generally less sophisticated than their counterparts in advanced economies
Third, consumers have no redress mechanisms if a product does not deliver on its promise. Law enforcement is often
capricious
and so slow that few who assign any value to time would resort to it. Unlike in advanced markets, there are few extrajudicial arbitration mechanisms to which one can appeal.
As a result of this lack of information, companies in emerging markets face much higher costs in building credible brands than their counter parts in advanced economies. In turn, established brands wield tremendous power. A conglomerate with a reputation for quality products and services can use its group name to enter new businesses, even if those businesses are completely unrelated to its current lines. Groups also have an advantage when they do try to build up a brand because they can spread the cost of maintaining it across multiple lines of business. Such groups then have a greater incentive not to damage brand quality in any one business because they will pay the price in their other businesses as well

Which of the following statements is correct in regard to the given passge ?

Accepted Answer

The correct answer is not provided in the options. The question asks to identify the correct statement regarding a given passage, but the passage itself is missing. Without the passage, it's impossible to determine the correct statement.

Question 17

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.Certain words/phrases have been given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPG) face two key challenges this year. The first is continued slow or negative growth in people’s disposable incomes. The second is changing consumer attitudes toward products and brands, as the great fragmentation of consumer markets take another turn. In response, companies must dramatically shift the route they take to reach consumers in terms of both product distribution and communications. In many markets, consumer wages have been static for five years now. Even where economies are starting to perform better, the squeeze on after -tax wages, especially for the middle class younger people and families, is
depressing
consumer spending. Although growth in developing countries is still better than in the United States and Europe, a slowdown in emerging countries such as China - where many countries had hoped for higher sales- has translated quickly into lower-than expected consumer spending growth.
Meanwhile, what we call the great fragmentation is manifested in consumer behaviour and market response. In both developed and emerging markets, there is a wider variety among consumers now than at any time in the recent past. Growth is evident both at the top of the market (where more consumers are spending for higher-quality food and other packaged goods) and at the lower end (where an increasing number of consumers are concentrating on value). But the traditional middle of the market is
shrinking
.
Further, individual consumer behaviour is more pluralistic. We are used to seeing, for example, spirits buyers purchasing a premium brand in a bar, a less costly label at home for personal consumption and yet another when entertaining guests. But this type of
variegated
shopping has now spread to the grocery basket as well. Fewer consumers are making one big stocking-up trip each week. Instead, shoppers are visiting a premium store and a discounter as well as a supermarket,in multiple weekly shops ¾ in addition to making frequent purchases online. During recession, more shoppers became inclined to spend time hunting for bargains and as some traditional retailers either went out of business or
shuttered
down, retail space was freed up and was often filled by convenience stores, specialty shops, and discounters.
A decade ago, VCPG companies had only a handful of sales channels to consider supermarkets, convenience stores, hypermarkets in advanced economies and traditional small and large retailers in emerging countries. Since then, various discounters have made-significant inroads, including no frills, low variety outlets, such as Europe’s Aldi and Lidi, which sell a limited range of private-label grocery items in smaller stores and massive warehouse clubs, such as Costco and Sam’s club, which initially operated solely in the U.S. but are now expanding internationally. In addition, dollar stores, specialised retailers, and online merchants are having an impact on the CPG landscape, Economising consumers have been pleasantly, surprised by the savings generated by spreading their business among multiple channels, as well as by the variety and product quality they find. The result has been greater demand for more products and brands, with different sizes, packaging and sales methods. At most CPG companies, SKUs are proliferating despite there being little increase in overall consumption. A better outcome can be seen at smaller food and beverage suppliers, which are benefiting from consumer demand for variety and authenticity. A recent report found that in the U.S., small manufacturers (with revenues of less than US
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Consumers’ media usage has also fragmented with the rise of digital content and the proliferation of online devices. Each channel- from the Web, Mobile and social sites for radio, TV, and printhasits own requirements, audience appeal and economies, needing specialised attention. But, at the same time, media campaigns need to be closely coordinated for effective consumer messaging.
Collectively, these shifts challenge the way CPG companies manage their brand and business portfolios and call for a rethinking of their go-to-market approach, with an emphasis on analytics. Our work with INSEAD shows that among business leaders, applying analytics-especially for tracking consumer behaviour and product and promotional performance- considered one of the most effective ways to improve results and outpace the competition. But it’s not just about insight. It’s also about using the insight wisely to determine how to manage costs. The more knowledgeable about customer needs and preferences a company is, the smarter and more focused it must be in managing its own economics to cost-effectively deliver both variety and value to be squeezed consumer.

As mentioned in the passage, CPG companies may have to reassess their present strategies of operating to _________. (A) retain their customers. (B)keep pace with changing consumer preferences as they have access to multiple media channels. (C)make more cost-effective decisions.

Accepted Answer

The passage implies that CPG companies need to adapt to retain customers, keep up with changing preferences due to media access, and make cost-effective decisions for survival. All three options are valid reasons.

Question 18

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Core competencies and focus arenow the mantras of corporate strategists in Western economies. But while managers in the West have
dismantled
many conglomerates assembled in the 1960s and 1970s, the large, diversified business group remains the dominant form of enterprise throughout most emerging markets. Some groups operate as holding companies with full ownership in many enterprises, others are collections of publiclytraded companies, but all have some degree of central control
As emerging markets open up to global competition, consultants andforeign investors are increasingly pressuring these groups to
conform to
Western practice by scaling back thescope of their business activities. The conglomerate is the dinosaur of organizational design, they argue, too unwieldy and slow to compete in today’s fast-paced markets. Already a number of executives have decided to break up their groups in order to show that they are focusing on only a few core businesses
There are reasons to worry about this trend. Focus is good advice in NewYork or London, but something important gets lost in translation when that advice is given to groups in emerging markets. Western companies take for granted a range of institutions that support their business activities, but many of these institutions are absent in other regions of the world. Without effective securities regulation and venture capital firms, for example, focused companies may be unable to raise adequate financing; and without strong educational institutions, they will struggle to hire skilled employees.
Communicating with customers is difficult when the local infrastructure is poor, and unpredictable government behavior can stymie any operation.Although a focused strategy may enable a company to perform a few activities well, companies in emerging markets must take responsibility fora wide range of functions in order todo business effectively
In the case of product markets, buyers and sellers usually suffer from a severe
dearth
of information for three reasons. First, the communications infrastructure in emerging markets is often under-developed. Even as wireless communication spreads through out the West, vast stretches in countries such as China and India remain without telephones. Power shortages often render the modes of communication that do exist ineffective. The postal service is typically inefficient, slow, or unreliable; and the private sector rarely provides efficient courier services. High rates of illiteracy make it difficult for marketers to communicate effectively with customers
Second, even when information about products does get around, there are no mechanisms to corroborate the claims made by sellers. Independent consumer organizations are rare, and government watchdog agencies are of little use. The few analysts who rate products are generally less sophisticated than their counterparts in advanced economies
Third, consumers have no redress mechanisms if a product does not deliver on its promise. Law enforcement is often
capricious
and so slow that few who assign any value to time would resort to it. Unlike in advanced markets, there are few extrajudicial arbitration mechanisms to which one can appeal.
As a result of this lack of information, companies in emerging markets face much higher costs in building credible brands than their counter parts in advanced economies. In turn, established brands wield tremendous power. A conglomerate with a reputation for quality products and services can use its group name to enter new businesses, even if those businesses are completely unrelated to its current lines. Groups also have an advantage when they do try to build up a brand because they can spread the cost of maintaining it across multiple lines of business. Such groups then have a greater incentive not to damage brand quality in any one business because they will pay the price in their other businesses as well

Established brands can wield tremendous power in emerging markets because

Accepted Answer

Established brands leverage their reputation for quality to enter new markets and businesses, building on existing trust and recognition. This reduces entry barriers and marketing costs.

Question 19

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given.
Certain words/phrases have been given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions
From a technical and economic perspective, many assessments have highlighted the presence of cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy use in buildings. However several bodies note the significance of multiple barriers that prevent the take-up of energy efficiency measures in buildings. These include lack of awareness and concern,limited access to reliable information from trusted sources,fear about risk, disruption and other‘transaction costs’ concerns about up-front costs and inadequate access to suitably priced finance,a lack of confidence in suppliers and technologies and the presence of split incentives between landlords and tenants. The widespread presence of these barriers led experts to predict that without a
concerted
push from policy, two thirds of the economically viable potential to improve energy efficiency will remain
unexploited
by 2035. These barriers are
albatross around the neck
that represent a classic market failure and a basis for governmental intervention.
While these measurements focus on the technical, financial or economic barriers preventing the take-up of energy efficiency options in buildings, others emphasise the significance of the often deeply embedded social practices that shape energy use in buildings.These analyses focus not on the preferences and rationalities that might shape individual behaviours,but on the ‘entangled’ cultural practices, norms, values and routines that
underpin
domestic energy use. Focusing on the practice related aspects of consumption generates very different conceptual framings and policy prescriptions than those that emerge from more traditional or mainstream perspectives.But the underlying case for government intervention to help to promote retrofit and the diffusion of more energy efficient particles is still apparent, even though the forms of intervention advocated are often very different to those that emerge from a more technical or economic perspective.
Based on the recognition of the multiple barriers to change and the social, economic and environmental benefits that could be realised if they were overcome, government support for retrofit (renovating existing infrastructure to make it more energy efficient) has been widespread. Retrofit programmes have been supported and adopted in diverse forms in many setting and their ability to recruit householder sand then to impact their energy use has been discussed quite extensively. Frequently, these discussions have criticised the extent to which retrofit schemes rely on incentives and the provision of new technologies to change behaviour whilst ignoring the many other factors that might limit either participation in the schemes or their impact on the behaviours and practices that shape domestic energy use. These factors are obviously central to the success of retrofit schemes, but evaluations of different schemes have found that despite these they can still have significant impacts.
Few experts that the best estimate of the gap between the technical potential and the actual in situperformance of energy efficiency measures is 50%, with 35% coming from performance gaps and 15%coming from ‘comfort taking’ or directre bound effects. They further suggest that the direct rebound effect of energy efficiency measures related to household heating is likley to be less than 30% while rebound effects for various domestic energy efficiency measures vary from 5 to 15% and arise mostly from in direct effects (i.e., where savings from energy efficiency lead to increased demand for goods and services).Other analyses also note that the gap between technical potential and actual performance is likely to vary by measure, with the range extending from 0% for measures such as solar water heating to 50% for measures such as improved heating controls. And others note that levels of comfort taking are likely to vary according to the levels of consumption and fuel poverty in the sample of homes where insulation is installed, with the range extending from 30% when considering homes across all income groups to around 60% when considering only lower income homes. The scale of these gaps is significant because it materially affects the impacts of retrofit schemes and expectations and perceptions of these impacts go on to influence levels of political, financial and public support for these schemes
The literature on retrofit highlights the presence of multiple barriers to change and the need for government support, if these are to be overcome. Although much has been written on the extent to which different forms of support enable the wider take-up of domestic energy efficiency measures, behaviours and practices, various areas of contestation remain and there is still an absence of
robust
ex-post evidence on the extent to which these schemes actually do lead to the social, economic and environmental benefits that are widely claimed.

According to the author, to make programmes for conserving energy more successful_______(A) only latest technology must be employed.(B) the author’s country mustad here to norms followed in countries where such programmes have been successful.(C) change must be brought in the attitudes of people with respect to efficient usage of energy.

Accepted Answer

The author emphasizes changing people's attitudes towards energy usage for successful conservation programs. This is the core message, making option C the correct choice.

Question 20

Directions (Qs 6-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are given in
bold
to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Core competencies and focus arenow the mantras of corporate strategists in Western economies. But while managers in the West have
dismantled
many conglomerates assembled in the 1960s and 1970s, the large, diversified business group remains the dominant form of enterprise throughout most emerging markets. Some groups operate as holding companies with full ownership in many enterprises, others are collections of publiclytraded companies, but all have some degree of central control
As emerging markets open up to global competition, consultants andforeign investors are increasingly pressuring these groups to
conform to
Western practice by scaling back thescope of their business activities. The conglomerate is the dinosaur of organizational design, they argue, too unwieldy and slow to compete in today’s fast-paced markets. Already a number of executives have decided to break up their groups in order to show that they are focusing on only a few core businesses
There are reasons to worry about this trend. Focus is good advice in NewYork or London, but something important gets lost in translation when that advice is given to groups in emerging markets. Western companies take for granted a range of institutions that support their business activities, but many of these institutions are absent in other regions of the world. Without effective securities regulation and venture capital firms, for example, focused companies may be unable to raise adequate financing; and without strong educational institutions, they will struggle to hire skilled employees.
Communicating with customers is difficult when the local infrastructure is poor, and unpredictable government behavior can stymie any operation.Although a focused strategy may enable a company to perform a few activities well, companies in emerging markets must take responsibility fora wide range of functions in order todo business effectively
In the case of product markets, buyers and sellers usually suffer from a severe
dearth
of information for three reasons. First, the communications infrastructure in emerging markets is often under-developed. Even as wireless communication spreads through out the West, vast stretches in countries such as China and India remain without telephones. Power shortages often render the modes of communication that do exist ineffective. The postal service is typically inefficient, slow, or unreliable; and the private sector rarely provides efficient courier services. High rates of illiteracy make it difficult for marketers to communicate effectively with customers
Second, even when information about products does get around, there are no mechanisms to corroborate the claims made by sellers. Independent consumer organizations are rare, and government watchdog agencies are of little use. The few analysts who rate products are generally less sophisticated than their counterparts in advanced economies
Third, consumers have no redress mechanisms if a product does not deliver on its promise. Law enforcement is often
capricious
and so slow that few who assign any value to time would resort to it. Unlike in advanced markets, there are few extrajudicial arbitration mechanisms to which one can appeal.
As a result of this lack of information, companies in emerging markets face much higher costs in building credible brands than their counter parts in advanced economies. In turn, established brands wield tremendous power. A conglomerate with a reputation for quality products and services can use its group name to enter new businesses, even if those businesses are completely unrelated to its current lines. Groups also have an advantage when they do try to build up a brand because they can spread the cost of maintaining it across multiple lines of business. Such groups then have a greater incentive not to damage brand quality in any one business because they will pay the price in their other businesses as well

What should be the most appropriate title of this passage ?

Accepted Answer

The passage likely discusses various challenges faced by emerging markets. Therefore, 'Hurdles in Emerging markets' best encapsulates the central theme.