Prelims for the Business Quiz I conducted at IIT Roorkee on Cognizance 2015

1. The Business Quiz
Prelims
Cognizance 2015
IIT Roorkee

2. Introduction

3. The Rules
O Flat marking scheme of 1 point for every question
O If there are multiple answers to a question, individual
split will be indicated on the slide.
O There are NO NEGATIVES
O Star-marked questions (10) are indicated by a graphic
on the top right (as on this slide). These questions
would be used to decide the winner in case of a tie.
O Needless to remind, but please don’t be evil.

4. Q1.
O These couple of lines were included in the
opening act of which recent event ?
O “Kuch to phool khilaye humne,
aur kuch phool khilane hai
Mushkil yeh hai bag me ab tak,
kaante kai purane hai”

6. India’s 2015-16 Finance Budget

7. Q2.
O Contrary to what most people believe, he is
not an absolute newbie to the showbiz
industry.
O On the next slide is a snapshot from his first
assignment – a commercial for Lux Onn
innerwear. Where have we more commonly
seen this person (right) ?

10. Mauka-Mauka Star Sports Ads

11. Q3. Who ? X ? (0.5 + 0.5)
O He seems to have a general dark spot when it comes to
technology. Even IBM has never been on his hit list of superior
investment vehicles. And this was not the first time he has
derided X as a poor investment. Speaking about X, he said :
O “Stay away from it. It’s a mirage, basically. … It’s a method of
transmitting money. It’s a very effective way of transmitting
money, and you can do it anonymously and all that. A check is
a way of transmitting money, too. Are checks worth a whole lot
of money just because they can transmit money? Are money
orders? You can transmit money by money orders. People do
it. I hope X becomes a better way of doing it, but you can
replicate it a bunch of different ways, and it will be. The idea
that it has some huge intrinsic value is just a joke in my view.”

13. Warren Buffet, X - Bitcoin

14. Q4. (0.5+0.5)
O Bids were officially solicited of several brands and those under official consideration included Breitling, Rolex,
and Omega, as well as a few others. Hamilton submitted a pocket watch and was disqualified from
consideration, leaving three contenders: Rolex, Longines-Wittnauer, and Omega. These watches were all
subjected to tests under extreme conditions:
O High temperature: 48 hours at 160 °F (71 °C) followed by 30 minutes at 200 °F (93 °C)
O Low temperature: Four hours at 0 °F (−18 °C)
O Temperature cycling in near-vacuum: Fifteen cycles of heating to 160 °F (71 °C) for 45 minutes, followed by
cooling to 0 °F (−18 °C) for 45 minutes at 10−6 atm
O Humidity: 250 hours at temperatures between 68 °F (20 °C) and 160 °F (71 °C) at relative humidity of 95%
O Oxygen environment: 100% oxygen at 0.35 atm and 71 °C for 48 hours
O Shock: Six 11ms 40 g shocks from different directions
O Linear acceleration: from 1 to 7.25 g within 333 seconds
O Low pressure: 90 minutes at 10−6 atm at 160 °F (71 °C) followed by 30 minutes at 200 °F (93 °C)
O High pressure: 1.6 atm for one hour
O Vibration: three cycles of 30 minutes vibration varying from 5 to 2000 Hz with minimum 8.8 g impulse
O Acoustic noise: 30 minutes at 130 dB from 40 to 10,000 Hz
O The evaluation concluded in March 1965 with the selection of the Omega Speedmaster, which survived the
tests while remaining largely within 5 seconds per day rate. What was the contest about and what moniker did
the winner later earn which is used till date for all its models ?

16. Watch to be used for the (Gemini)
Space Program, Moonwatch

17. Q5.
O It was described, in a recent advertisement, as “one
of the best job in the world, but one that few know
exists”.
O This profession requires great sacrifice. They are not
allowed to smoke, drink alcohol and refrain from food
with strongly produced aroma. So they, never eat
onions, garlic, pickled and smoked food, use very
little salt, restrict the usage of spices and sweets.
O Naturally this is a well paid profession. Their health
(more precisely their nasopharynx)is insured for
millions .

19. Tea-Tasters

20. Q6. (1/2)
O It started when Y turned up the heat – on August 2014. It was
business as usual a competitor trying to score a quick win,
about getting the numbers up, sharply, just before stepping out
to raise funds. On a cool Bengaluru morning, Y slashed rates
and kept raising the stakes every subsequent month.
O “We thought it would not last, that it was just a spike,” says
X’s founder. “The incentives given by Y had started affecting
us. So we waited for September and October to see whether Y
would stop.”
O Y was losing as much as Rs.200 on transaction. X was
confident that Y would stop. The company couldn’t have been
more wrong

21. 2/2
O On 28th October, 2014, Y raised $210 million in another round
of funding. X couldn’t believe the news when they had heard it
as it was insane for anyone to write a $210 million cheque for
this business in India.
O X had no option but to jump in to the bloodbath and burn out
its cash to sustain competition.
O X’s condition improved and its founder then flew to US to meet
20 different investors to pump in more cash into the company.
Just as things were looking brighter an extremely unfortunate
unrelated event back in India brought everything to an end.
O X, Y and what eventually followed ? (0.25 + 0.25 + 0.5)

23. X – Taxi For Sure, Y – Ola Cabs
Ola Cabs Acquired TFS in March, 2015

24. Q7.
O While the popularity of X might be new, the item itself
has been around for years. In 2000, author Kenji
Kawakami wrote a book called 101 Unuseless Japanese
Inventions featuring what is known as chindōgu in
Japan. Chindōgu is another term for an odd everyday
object, or, as Kenji Kawakami calls it, a "weird tool."
Some other examples of these offbeat inventions are a
treadmill bike, duster slippers for cats, and a face guard
to protect your hair from getting in your noodles.
O Looq, Minisuit, Polar Pro, Digipower, ProMaster, iPow are
some common brands of this product. What ‘in-vogue’
object are we talking about ?

26. Selfie Stick

27. Q8. FITB.

29. Y Combinator

30. Q9. (0.5+0.25+0.25)
O Quoting directly from PETA India’s site :
O “Apart from winning all the applause for their latest ‘A’
campaign, X has also won the first of PETA’s 2009 Glitterbox
Awards, which are given to businesses that take advantage of
humane alternatives to the use of real animals in their ads.
O ‘A’ is part of the latest ad campaign, which has replaced the
company’s ‘B’ ad campaign. PETA has raised objections in the
past to the use of animals X’s ad campaigns.”
O Both ‘A’ and ‘B’ are very popular ad campaigns that set forth
trends that became a huge hit among the masses.

32. X – Vodafone,
A – ZooZoo, B - Pug

33. Q10. FITB
O The _________________ theory asserts that certain corporations,
particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected
that their failure would be disastrous to the greater economic system,
and they therefore must be supported by government when they face
potential failure. The colloquial term “______________" was
popularized by U.S. Congressman Stewart McKinney in a 1984
Congressional hearing, discussing the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation's intervention with Continental Illinois. The term had
previously been used occasionally in the press.
O Proponents of this theory believe that some institutions are so
important that they should become recipients of beneficial financial
and economic policies from governments or central banks. Opponents
believe that one of the problems that arises is moral hazard whereby a
company that benefits from these protective policies will seek to profit
by it, deliberately taking positions (see Asset allocation) that are high-
risk high-return, as they are able to leverage these risks based on the
policy preference they receive.

35. ‘Too Big To Fail’

36. Q11. Who ? Which company did
he eventually start ? (0.5+0.5)

39. Brian Acton, Whatsapp

40. Q12. (0.5 + 0.5)
O Give me the company name and the
occasion.
O <Image on next slide>

43. Taco Bell, April 1 (1996)

44. Q13. Give me both the blanks. (0.5+0.5)

46. Netflix, Comcast

47. Q14. Which logo ?
O DESIGN ELEMENTS OF THE LOGO:
O Created by the British graphic designer John Pasche in 1970.
O Shape : It actually represents a body part of a member of the
organization. The most srtiking feature of the logo is an indication to
________, goddess of everlasting energy, and signifies the use of free
expression in their work.
O Color : The red color gives it sensuous and a sort of insolent look,
depicting the passion and vitality that lies in their work.
O Font : The organization has mostly used no font in its logo as the
artwork itself wonderfully conveys the message it has intended to
deliver.

49. The Rolling Stones

50. Q15. X, Y, Z ? (0.5+0.25+0.25)
O X is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world and is worth an estimate
$20.4 billion.
O In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, the businessman reveals that he failed a
college entrance exam three times. Once he ruled out college, he applied for 30
different jobs and got rejected. "I went for a job with the police; they said, 'you're no
good,'" he tells Rose. "I even went to KFC when it came to my city. Twenty-four people
went for the job. Twenty-three were accepted. I was the only guy..."
O When X founded Y in 1998, he was met with more obstacles. The brand didn't turn a
profit for the first three years, and X had to get creative. One of the company's main
challenges was that it had no way to do payments and no banks would work with him.
X decided to start his own payment program called Z. The program transfers
payments of different currencies between international buyers and sellers.
O "So many people I talked to at that time about Z, they said, 'this is the stupidest idea
you've ever had,'" he said. "I didn't care if it was stupid as long as people could use
it.“ Today, 800 million people use Z.

52. X - Jack Ma, Y - Alibaba,
Z - Alipay

53. Q16. Creator ?

55. Nate Silver

56. Q17. Who is trolling Apple during the
launch of the Apple Watch ?

57. 2/2

59. Pebble 

60. Q18. Which company ?
O While on its logo it shows established in 1776, the
company was actually founded in June 2001 with a
small staff under the Brand Name SoCal Cash and
changed its brand name in March 2004. The date 1776
refers to the United States Declaration of
Independence in which Thomas Jefferson declared the
right of “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
O The company now employs over 60 staff members and
has launched over 70 “products”.
O At the beginning of 2008, its slogan changed from "The
Difference Is Here" to “______ ____ __ ______".

63. Q19.
O On the eve of the first Earth Day in 1970, Container
Corporation of America (CCA) unveiled a competition to
create a design that would forever change the way humans
thought about a certain aspect of the products we buy.
O Gary Dean Anderson, then a 23-year-old student at the
University of Southern California, created the icon, drawing
inspiration from the Bauhaus design school and M.C.
Escher’s graphic representations of the Möbius strip.
O As with the Möbius strip, the symbol is indicative of a never-
ending path. This cyclical illustration serves as a visual
reference of the process certain products are could (and
should) travel ideally. Alternately, the separation depicts that
there are clear, identifiable stages in this process.

65. The Universal Recycling Symbol

66. Q20.
O Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia created the initial concept during
the Industrial Design Conference held by Industrial Designers
Society of America. At the time, roommates Chesky and Gebbia
could not afford the rent for their loft in San Francisco and came
up with a unique idea to combat their financial woes.
O To help fund the site, the founders created special edition
breakfast cereals, with presidential candidates Barack Obama
and John McCain as the inspiration for “Obama O’s” and “Cap’n
McCains”. In two months, 800 boxes of cereal were sold at $40
each, which generated more than $30,000 for the company’s
incubation and attracted early investors.
O Among its various investors is Ashton Kutcher, who is also a
strategic brand advisor for the company.

68. AirBnB

69. Q21. Place ? Artist ?
O Unedited Version :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKL25
4Y_jtc

71. Detroit, Eminem

72. Q22. Ad for ? Reference to? (0.5 + 0.5)
O Unedited Version :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb3PxN-
07Bk

74. Esurance, Breaking Bad

75. Q23. Ad for ? Directed by? (0.5 + 0.5)
O Unedited Version :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiJhmd
QKtbo

77. Apple Iphone 3G, David
Fincher

78. Q24. Ad for ?
O Unedited Version :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJB0Czl
zSwY

80. Monster.com

81. Q25. Id the speaker and the
source (0.5 + 0.5)?
O Audio Question; Unedited Source :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfd6B
9IKTBc

83. Rajan, Inside Job