ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO recruitment · India · Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ICAR)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersSetting the direction of an agribusiness: analysing its environment and industry, choosing strategies for growth, integration or turnaround, and making them happen.
In the exams: agribusiness management PhD entrance and fellowship examinations, strategic management (heavy); agricultural scientist eligibility tests, strategic management and entrepreneurship (heavy)
How our questions for ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO recruitment spread across the units of Strategic Management. Difficulty: 33 easy, 30 medium, 26 hard.
| Environmental and industry analysis | 9 | |
| Diversification | 9 | |
| Strategic control | 8 | |
| Mission and objectives | 7 | |
| Value-chain analysis | 7 | |
| Strategy in fragmented, mature and declining industries | 7 | |
| Strategy implementation, structure and culture | 7 | |
| Corporate governance, CSR and ethics | 6 | |
| Business models | 6 | |
| Generic competitive strategies | 6 | |
| Turnaround strategies | 6 | |
| Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures | 6 | |
| Vertical integration | 5 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Abell's framework defines a business along three dimensions. Which set is correct?
B. Customer groups, customer functions and technologies
Abell asks who is being satisfied (customer groups), what need is being satisfied (customer functions) and how it is satisfied (technologies). The other lists mix the marketing mix, SWOT and the five forces.
Further reading: Abell, Defining the Business (1980)
A statement describing what an organisation wants to become, an image of its desired future, is its:
C. Vision
The vision is the desired future state. The mission states present purpose and scope (what business, whom it serves); objectives are measurable results; policies are guidelines for decisions.
Further reading: Wheelen and Hunger, Strategic Management and Business Policy
A manager decides whether to launch a cheaper but riskier pesticide formulation by weighing the total benefits and harms to all affected people. Which ethical approach is this?
A. Utilitarian approach
Judging an action by its consequences for the greatest number is utilitarian. The rights approach asks whether any person's fundamental rights (such as the right to safety information) are violated regardless of total benefit.
Further reading: Cavanagh, Moberg and Velasquez (1981)
A tomato-paste plant operates only 90 days a year because fresh tomatoes are available only then, and its unit cost is high. Which of Porter's cost drivers is most directly at work?
B. Pattern of capacity utilisation
Fixed costs spread over few operating days make capacity utilisation the dominant driver; extending the season through varieties or procurement lowers unit cost. Timing refers to first-mover or late-mover effects, not seasonality of operation.
Further reading: Porter, Competitive Advantage (1985)
In Barney's VRIO framework, the letters stand for:
D. Valuable, rare, costly to imitate, organised to capture value
VRIO asks whether a resource is valuable, rare, costly to imitate and whether the firm is organised to exploit it. Barney's earlier (1991) list was VRIN: valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable.
Further reading: Barney, Journal of Management (1991); Barney, Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage
A seed-processing plant follows an 85% experience curve. Its unit cost was 200 when cumulative output reached 1,000 tonnes. What unit cost is expected when cumulative output reaches 8,000 tonnes?
A. 122.83
From 1,000 to 8,000 tonnes is three doublings (2,000, 4,000, 8,000). Cost = 200 × 0.85³ = 122.83. Subtracting 15% three times from the original (200 × 0.55 = 110.0) ignores compounding; one doubling gives 170.0; eight doublings (54.5) confuses the multiple with the number of doublings.
Further reading: Boston Consulting Group, Perspectives on Experience (1968)
A fruit processor starts its own nurseries and orchards to supply fruit. This is:
A. Backward vertical integration
Moving toward the supply of inputs is backward integration. Forward integration moves toward the customer, such as opening retail outlets; horizontal integration combines firms at the same stage.
Further reading: Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, Strategic Management
In a GE-McKinsey analysis on a 1-5 scale (low below 2.33, medium 2.33-3.67, high above 3.67), industry attractiveness factors have weights 0.30, 0.25, 0.25, 0.20 and ratings 4, 3, 2, 5; business-strength factors have weights 0.40, 0.35, 0.25 and ratings 2, 3, 4. What are the scores and the indicated strategy?
B. Attractiveness 3.45, strength 2.85; selectivity/earnings (medium-medium cell)
Attractiveness = 0.30×4 + 0.25×3 + 0.25×2 + 0.20×5 = 1.20 + 0.75 + 0.50 + 1.00 = 3.45. Strength = 0.40×2 + 0.35×3 + 0.25×4 = 0.80 + 1.05 + 1.00 = 2.85. Both lie in the medium band, the centre cell, which calls for selectivity and managing for earnings. Unweighted averages (3.5 and 3.0) or raw sums ignore the weights. Scales and cut-offs vary between texts.
Further reading: GE-McKinsey nine-cell matrix; Hax and Majluf, Strategic Management
Selling a business unit to another firm so that it continues under new ownership is called:
C. Divestment
Divestment (divestiture) sells or spins off a unit that goes on operating. Liquidation ends the business and sells its assets piecemeal.
Further reading: Wheelen and Hunger, Strategic Management and Business Policy
A merger between a fertiliser manufacturer and an unrelated hotel chain is a:
A. Conglomerate merger
A conglomerate merger joins businesses with no significant operational relationship. A congeneric (concentric) merger joins related businesses, such as fertiliser and crop protection.
Further reading: Standard classification of mergers
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