SVKM’S NMIMS

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Programme FTMBA CORE
Academic Year: 2020 – 2021, Trim – II

Course: BUSINESS ANALYTICS Date:

Marks: 20
Time: 2 Hours

FINAL EXAMINATION

Instructions: Candidates should read carefully the instructions as mentioned below:

IMPORTANT NOTE:
1. All questions are compulsory; there is a total of 2 questions and total marks are of 20.
2. The total duration of the exam is 2 Hour.
3. All the answers should be answered in the word document and save this document with your SAP
no. and convert this document into pdf format for submission.
4. It is an open book exam. You must submit your own work, without any help from others. This
confirms that you have understood and abided by the University’s rules on plagiarism and
collusion.
5. If you want to design any diagram then draw on the paper and scan it on the final document OR
you may draw it using .doc or .pptx. The choice is yours.
6. Word limit of each of these questions is in between 500 - 700 words excluding diagram.
7. For any diagram and table, if required, you must give it a label and it should be included in the text
of the concerned answer.
8. The final answer document is properly edited with the following characteristics
-Font size should be 12, Calibri, Single line Spacing, font colour black and Justified format
9. Please be specific to the case and situation mentioned in the respective question. And write in
detail by considering all the possible perspective.
10. Make necessary assumptions if required.

Question 1: Read the following case and attempt the questions below –

Aarti Industries is a leading Indian manufacturer of Speciality Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals with a
global footprint. Chemicals manufactured by Aarti are used in the downstream manufacture of
pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, polymers, additives, surfactants, pigments, dyes, etc. The Chemicals
Division remains the cornerstone of Aarti Industries. Using feed-stock materials, primarily of Benzene
and Toluene, Aarti has created highly integrated value chains. Aarti Industries has 17 manufacturing
units, at Vapi, Tarapur, Jhagadia, Dahej, Bhachau, Pithampur, Silvasa, Dombivali, Sarigam, 2 USFDA
units and its HO is at Mumbai. Most of its factories are zero waste. It has over 4600 employees, 200+
products, 400+ global customers and 600+ domestic customers. 45% of revenue comes from global
markets, of which US accounts for 26% and EU 25%. China and Japan, account for 10% each.

It is the only domestic player to have products until the sixth level derivative of benzene chemistry. It
also expects to leverage its existing clientele to promote its toluene and other derivatives. Most
contracts are long term cost+ contracts that offer better control on the overall cost structure. Aarti
Industries Limited reported a 15.1% y-o-y (up 25.1% q-o-q) increase in its consolidated revenue to Rs.
1,173 crore. Revenues from speciality chemicals segment grew by 32.5% y-o-y to Rs. 1,109 crore and
that from Pharmaceuticals segment increased by 21.8% y-o-y to 222 crores. The company has
recognized $5 million in its revenues as compensation of cancellation of a long-term contract. Gross
margin improved by 181 bps y-o-y to 50.7%, However, OPM at 21.7% (down 185 bps y-o-y) due to
higher than expected operating cost (up 32% y-o-y). EBIT margin for speciality chemicals segment
declined by 678 bps y-o-y to 17.1% EBIT margin for pharma segment remained strong rising by 702
bps y-o-y to 25.5% led by higher contribution from regulated markets and value-added products.

The company expects an improvement in speciality chemical margin as domestic demand in respect
of discretionary end-use sectors is likely to reach to pre-COVID-19 level in Q3FY2021 and exports
markets are expected to progressively improve over next 2-3 quarters. Aarti Industries would be a
key beneficiary of the Chinese substitution factor along with rising domestic demand for speciality
chemicals. Owing to strong order book visibility, Aarti is in an aggressive expansion mode. Going
ahead, Aarti is likely to spend at least | 1000-1200 crore per annum in the next three to four years to
complete existing pipeline, expansion in value-added, pharma segments in the backdrop of strong
demand visibility to drive long-term growth

Particulars FY19 FY20 FY21E FY22E FY23E

Net Sales (Rs. 4168 4186 4506 5528 6932
Crs)
OPM (%) 23.2 23.3 23.2 24.0 24.1
Adjusted PAT 492 536 525 703 958
y-o-y growth 47.7 9.1 (2.2) 34.0 36.3
(%)
Adjusted EPS 28.4 30.8 30.1 40.3 55.0
(Rs.)
EV/EBITDA (x) 20.2 20.3 19.4 15.3 12.0
RoCE (%) 17.8 14.7 13.3 15.1 18.1
RoE (%) 23.4 19.1 16.3 18.6 21.0

You are working as a management advisor to improve performance. You have to prepare a high-level
data strategy addressing the following key areas:

a) What are the Key questions Board will ask its executives for its monthly and quarterly review?
b) The data warehouse can be implemented to answer Board questions and operational level
questions (i.e., strategic as well as tactical queries). Draw an appropriate and clear data
warehouse schema like (star/snowflake/constellation schema) to address these questions for
the above scenario.
[10 Marks]

Question 2: Read the following case and attempt the questions below –

One of the application areas where Big Data and analytics promise to make a big difference is arguably
the field of politics. Experiences from the recent presidential elections illustrated the power of Big
Data and analytics to acquire and energize millions of volunteers (in the form of a modern-era
grassroots movement) to not only raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the election campaign but
to optimally organize and mobilize potential voters to get out and vote in large numbers, as well.
Clearly, the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections made a mark on the political arena with the creative
use of Big Data and analytics to improve chances of winning.

Data is the source of information; the richer and deeper it is, the better and more relevant the insights.
The main characteristics of Big Data, namely volume, variety, and velocity (the three Vs), readily apply
to the kind of data that is used for political campaigns which is comprised of census data, election data,
social media data, habits & browsing history, etc. This implies that in addition to the structured data
(e.g., detailed records of previous campaigns, census data, market research, and poll data) vast
volumes and a variety of social media (e.g., tweets at Twitter, Facebook wall posts, blog posts) and
Web data (Web pages, news articles, newsgroups) are used to learn more about voters and obtain
deeper insights to enforce or change their opinions. Often, the search and browsing histories of
individuals are captured and made available to customers (political analysts) who can use such data
for better insight and Behavioral targeting. If done correctly, Big Data and analytics can provide
invaluable information to manage political campaigns better than ever before.

From predicting election outcomes to targeting potential voters and donors, Big Data and analytics
have a lot to offer to modern-day election campaigns. In fact, they have changed the way presidential
election campaigns are run. In the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, the major political parties
(Republican and Democratic) employed social media and data-driven analytics for a more effective
and efficient campaign, but as many agree, the Democrats clearly had a competitive advantage.
Obama’s 2012 data and analytics-driven operation were far more sophisticated and more efficient
than its much-heralded 2008 process, which was primarily social media-driven. In the 2012 campaign,
hundreds of analysts applied advanced analytics on very large and diverse data sources to pinpoint
exactly who to target, for what reason, with what message, continuously. Compared to 2008, they had
more expertise, hardware, software, data (e.g., Facebook and Twitter were orders of magnitude bigger
in 2012 than they had been in 2008), and computational resources to go over and beyond what they
had accomplished previously. Before the 2012 election, in June of last year, a Politico reporter claimed
that Obama had a data advantage and went on to say that the depth and breadth of the campaign’s
digital operation, from political and demographic data mining to voter sentiment and behavioural
analysis, reached beyond anything politics had ever seen.

According to Shen, the real winner of the 2012 elections was analytics. While most people, including
the so-called political experts (who often rely on gut feelings and experiences), thought the 2012
presidential election would be very close, several analysts, based on their data-driven analytical
models, predicted that Obama would win easily with close to 99 per cent certainty. For example, Nate
Silver at FiveThirtyEight, a popular political blog published by The New York Times, predicted not only
that Obama would win but also by exactly how much he would win. Simon Jackman, professor of
political science at Stanford University, accurately predicted that Obama would win 332 electoral votes
and that North Carolina and Indiana—the only two states that Obama won in 2008—would fall to
Romney. In short, Big Data and analytics have become a critical part of political campaigns. The usage
and expertise gap between the party lines may disappear, but the importance of analytical capabilities
will continue to evolve for the foreseeable future.
Attempt the following questions:
a) What are the different ways of managing a huge set of data (structured or unstructured data)
to arrive at a campaign plan for action for improving the prediction of the election results?
b) How is analytics be useful during election campaign and post-election to predict the election
results?
[10 Marks]