Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Ashraf has been working at a cybersecurity company called NuTech Pvt. Ltd. for seven years. Having missed a promotion in the previous appraisal cycle, Ashraf is anxious about it in the upcoming cycle. Ashraf is aware that the HR head is meeting the top management to discuss promotions sometime soon. (At NuTech, the HR head recommends names for promotions to the top management based on inputs from the functional teams.)

On a Friday afternoon, Ashraf receives an email from Sridevi, the HR head. It reads, “Hi, I need an urgent favour from you; please respond if you are free.” It was the first time that Sridevi ever contacted him. Surprised, Ashraf immediately replies back saying, “Sure! How can I help you, Sridevi? Regards, Ashraf.” In a couple of minutes, he receives a reply: “Ashraf, I am in the middle of an important meeting, but have to urgently send gift vouchers worth ₹50,000 to one of our important clients. If you could, please purchase and send the gift vouchers to the email address given below, at the earliest.” Ashraf , without any delay, sends gift vouchers worth ₹50,000 to the given email address.

Ashraf feels happy after this brief email interaction with Sridevi.

Which of the following statements, if true, will BEST make Ashraf strongly hopeful about his imminent promotion?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Ashraf has been working at a cybersecurity company called NuTech Pvt. Ltd. for seven years. Having missed a promotion in the previous appraisal cycle, Ashraf is anxious about it in the upcoming cycle. Ashraf is aware that the HR head is meeting the top management to discuss promotions sometime soon. (At NuTech, the HR head recommends names for promotions to the top management based on inputs from the functional teams.)

On a Friday afternoon, Ashraf receives an email from Sridevi, the HR head. It reads, “Hi, I need an urgent favour from you; please respond if you are free.” It was the first time that Sridevi ever contacted him. Surprised, Ashraf immediately replies back saying, “Sure! How can I help you, Sridevi? Regards, Ashraf.” In a couple of minutes, he receives a reply: “Ashraf, I am in the middle of an important meeting, but have to urgently send gift vouchers worth ₹50,000 to one of our important clients. If you could, please purchase and send the gift vouchers to the email address given below, at the earliest.” Ashraf , without any delay, sends gift vouchers worth ₹50,000 to the given email address.

Ashraf does not hear anything from Sridevi in the next few days. Anxious, he meets up with Sridevi and enquires if the gift vouchers were appreciated by the client. This surprises Sridevi who closely scrutinises Ashraf’s emails and discovers that they originated from sridevi@nutich.com, instead of sridevi@nutech.com, her official email ID.

Taken aback, Ashraf requests Sridevi’s help in getting compensated by the company for his ₹50,000 loss. Sridevi asks Ashraf to justify his compensation demand. Ashraf gives the following reasons:

1. I erred; however, my financial rectitude is on record.

2. I acted in the greater interest of the company.

3. The spam mail reached my inbox due to the failure of the company’s email filter.

4. A NuTech employee, who was robbed of ₹20,000 of company’s cash, was not punished.

5. In the past, some of my acquaintances had been similarly duped.

Which of the above mentioned reasons, in a combination, will BEST help Sridevi take up the issue with the top management?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Ashraf has been working at a cybersecurity company called NuTech Pvt. Ltd. for seven years. Having missed a promotion in the previous appraisal cycle, Ashraf is anxious about it in the upcoming cycle. Ashraf is aware that the HR head is meeting the top management to discuss promotions sometime soon. (At NuTech, the HR head recommends names for promotions to the top management based on inputs from the functional teams.)

On a Friday afternoon, Ashraf receives an email from Sridevi, the HR head. It reads, “Hi, I need an urgent favour from you; please respond if you are free.” It was the first time that Sridevi ever contacted him. Surprised, Ashraf immediately replies back saying, “Sure! How can I help you, Sridevi? Regards, Ashraf.” In a couple of minutes, he receives a reply: “Ashraf, I am in the middle of an important meeting, but have to urgently send gift vouchers worth ₹50,000 to one of our important clients. If you could, please purchase and send the gift vouchers to the email address given below, at the earliest.” Ashraf , without any delay, sends gift vouchers worth ₹50,000 to the given email address.

Sridevi begins to doubt Ashraf’s competencies, given the way he handled the phishing emails. Thus, she convenes a meeting with the senior leadership to discuss Ashraf’s role in the company.

In the meeting, she shares the following observations:

1. Ashraf is poor at verbal communication, which is critical at subsequent levels.

2. Ashraf should have been perceptive, even though the company’s email filter failed him.

3. Ashraf joined the email filter team one month prior to his receiving the phishing emails.

4. Ashraf rushed to act on Sridevi’s request despite his busy schedule.

5. Ashraf appears to be highly anxious to get promoted.

Which of the above observations, in a combination, if true, shall BEST go against Ashraf’s chances of getting promoted?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Saradeep was the proprietor of Saradeep & Sons Pvt. Ltd., an auto parts manufacturing company. He had three children--Taapsi, Kesar and Sandeep. His wife passed away when Sandeep, the youngest kid of the family, was only eight years old. Taapsi, being the eldest sibling, was more of a mother to Kesar and Sandeep.

Taapsi and Kesar joined Saradeep’s business right after college because Saradeep trusted them immensely. He once told Kesar, “I want key positions to be held by the people I trust."

Saradeep wanted Sandeep also to join his business like Kesar and Taapsi. Saradeep felt that Sandeep had a strong business sense, probably the best among his three children. Hence, Saradeep wanted Sandeep to take his higher education in business studies. However, Sandeep had other aspirations; he wanted to become a lawyer. Of late, he was offered admission to the prestigious National Law School, Bengaluru. As soon as he received the admission offer, he rushed to share this news with his family members.

Sandeep shared the news of the admission offer first with Kesar, who exhibited mixed feelings. He was happy for Sandeep’s admission to the National Law School; nevertheless, he was concerned about their father’s reaction. Moreover, Saradeep had an anxiety attack a few months back and was working from their family mansion in Shimla. Kesar advised Sandeep to delay sharing his selection news with their father.

Which of the following, if true, will BEST enable Sandeep share the news with Saradeep without delay?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Saradeep was the proprietor of Saradeep & Sons Pvt. Ltd., an auto parts manufacturing company. He had three children--Taapsi, Kesar and Sandeep. His wife passed away when Sandeep, the youngest kid of the family, was only eight years old. Taapsi, being the eldest sibling, was more of a mother to Kesar and Sandeep.

Taapsi and Kesar joined Saradeep’s business right after college because Saradeep trusted them immensely. He once told Kesar, “I want key positions to be held by the people I trust."

Saradeep wanted Sandeep also to join his business like Kesar and Taapsi. Saradeep felt that Sandeep had a strong business sense, probably the best among his three children. Hence, Saradeep wanted Sandeep to take his higher education in business studies. However, Sandeep had other aspirations; he wanted to become a lawyer. Of late, he was offered admission to the prestigious National Law School, Bengaluru. As soon as he received the admission offer, he rushed to share this news with his family members.

Saradeep requested Kesar to decide on the head of a new manufacturing plant. The plant and its culture had to be moulded in the same way as their other plants. Kesar wanted to identify a candidate, acceptable to Saradeep.

Which of the following candidates is the BEST choice for the position?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Saradeep was the proprietor of Saradeep & Sons Pvt. Ltd., an auto parts manufacturing company. He had three children--Taapsi, Kesar and Sandeep. His wife passed away when Sandeep, the youngest kid of the family, was only eight years old. Taapsi, being the eldest sibling, was more of a mother to Kesar and Sandeep.

Taapsi and Kesar joined Saradeep’s business right after college because Saradeep trusted them immensely. He once told Kesar, “I want key positions to be held by the people I trust."

Saradeep wanted Sandeep also to join his business like Kesar and Taapsi. Saradeep felt that Sandeep had a strong business sense, probably the best among his three children. Hence, Saradeep wanted Sandeep to take his higher education in business studies. However, Sandeep had other aspirations; he wanted to become a lawyer. Of late, he was offered admission to the prestigious National Law School, Bengaluru. As soon as he received the admission offer, he rushed to share this news with his family members.

Kesar was also concerned about Taapsi’s reaction to Sandeep joining the National Law School. She wanted to be a fashion designer; however, Saradeep dissuaded her from doing anything other than production engineering. She was very upset with her father’s decision back then; nevertheless, over time, she became a staunch supporter of her father’s values and beliefs. Currently, she headed one of the plants, which also happened to be the best run company plant. Kesar felt that she would not take Sandeep’s decision well; she might try to prevent Sandeep from pursuing higher studies in Law.

Which of the following, if true, will BEST assuage Kesar’s fear regarding Taapsi?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Himaja was among the top ten students of her Business Management batch. She got placed in a reputed strategy consulting firm during campus placements. She was delighted to work under Nirmal, her superior, who was known for grooming many stars in the organisation. Nevertheless, he was also regarded as a hard taskmaster. Though she was a fresh recruit, she longed to be in a client-facing role.

During an informal office gathering, Himaja mustered up courage to ask Nirmal for a client-facing role.

Which of the following reasons, if true, will BEST justify Nirmal saying “no” to Himaja?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Himaja was among the top ten students of her Business Management batch. She got placed in a reputed strategy consulting firm during campus placements. She was delighted to work under Nirmal, her superior, who was known for grooming many stars in the organisation. Nevertheless, he was also regarded as a hard taskmaster. Though she was a fresh recruit, she longed to be in a client-facing role.

Due to her constant pleading, Nirmal assigned Himaja a client-facing role in his project. Nirmal instructed her that he would do all the talking during meetings, and she would diligently listen and take notes. However, in the first meeting, Himaja made a comment which contradicted Nirmal. In the next, she interrupted the client while he was making a point. This offended the client, resulting in Nirmal apologising to the client to save the project.

Which of the following is the MOST appropriate action that Nirmal should take against Himaja’s behaviour?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Himaja was among the top ten students of her Business Management batch. She got placed in a reputed strategy consulting firm during campus placements. She was delighted to work under Nirmal, her superior, who was known for grooming many stars in the organisation. Nevertheless, he was also regarded as a hard taskmaster. Though she was a fresh recruit, she longed to be in a client-facing role.

Another month passed, and Himaja was working under Shreya in a different team. Shreya was impressed by Himaja’s enthusiasm and sincerity. She asked Himaja to accompany her to a meeting with a new client. During the meeting, Himaja made a statement that offended the client. Shreya tried to diffuse the situation by asking Himaja to apologise. Though Himaja apologised, she defended her statement.

This infuriated the client further, who categorically told that the statement of Himaja was against his organisation’s core values. He specifically told Shreya that unless concrete steps were taken against Himaja, he would not get into any business with the firm.

Which of the following is the MOST appropriate action that Shreya should take in the interest of all parties?

Direction: Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow.

Rohini is one of the most popular faculty members in the finance department, known for her in-class engagement with students. Every year, she offers an elective Financial Risk and Derivatives Management in the fourth term which gets subscribed by about hundred students. This year, owing to Covid-19, she is forced to teach the course online, that too, in the fifth term. The fifth term is notorious for its non-negotiable teaching slots. To enable her teaching, Rohini uses her favourite laptop, Maplebook Lite, sold by Maple.

Rohini converts her family bedroom into a “working room” because of the strong wifi signals. The room is mostly used by Rohini for taking her classes; however, Rinku, her husband, also uses it for running his meetings. Rohini has two children, aged 5 and 8, who use the living room as their playground. During meetings and classes, the working room is shut to save it from unwanted disturbance and noises from the living room.

It is 3:10 p.m. and Rohini’s penultimate session of the course is going to end in twenty minutes. As usual, Rinku enters the room with a cup of Darjeeling tea. Just before entering, he asks his kids to stop playing for some time. He quietly places the teacup on Rohini’s study table and exits the room, leaving the door ajar. As soon as he leaves, a tennis ball comes thundering inside, crashing into her Maplebook monitor. The monitor breaks and Rohini’s class ends abruptly, much before the scheduled time.

What should be BEST held responsible for the accident?