Para Jumbles Type 2 Questions and Answers

P. A difference in the frequency of usage of counter proposing between skilled and average negotiators suggests that counter proposing may not be, as effective one tends to think it would be.
Q. I may have suggested that my son buy a pair of trousers at a certain price whereas my son would have made a counterproposal that he would rather buy two pairs at half price each.
R. Research conducted across several negotiators ranging from sales negotiators to purchase and labour negotiators shows that average negotiators tend to counter propose more often than skilled negotiators.
S. This happens in everyday life too.
T. Think back to the last time you were discussing completing an assignment with one of your colleagues : you may have suggested that you both come in on Saturday to finish the work and your colleague may have counter proposed that you could stay back on Friday evening and finish it instead.

P. Over the years, I have had the opportunities to observe and understand the thought processes behind the ads that have been flooding both the print and the TV media.
Q. Although there is a huge shift in the quality of ads that we come across on a daily basis-- thanks essentially to improvement in technology--I somehow can't help but feel that the quality of communication of the message has become diluted.
R. Proportionally, the number of ads that lack in quality, have gone up exponentially as well!!
S. There is an increasing attempt by most companies to be seen as cool and funky.
T. Another reason could be the burgeoning number of companies, which means an exponential increase in the number of ads that are being made.

P. The credit rating agencies use legions of high trained analyst with access to top management.
Q. Their meticulous reports giving ratings for corporate bonds are designed to give an accurate picture of the bonds riskiness and ultimately the probability of default.
R. Lately, the credit-rating agencies have struggled to keep up.
S. It seems a bond rating tells you even less about the price that investors are willing to pay.
T. In 1999 two-third of the debt rated triple B by standard and poor was priced within 20 basis points of the average bond with the same rating.

P. Let us take a look at the manner in which the traditional bank adds value to the customer.
Q. The ability to retain deposits, in itself, is not enough to ensure long-term survival and growth.
R. The ability to deploy invested funds into productive economic activity at a higher rate of return, hence contributing to the prosperity of both the economy and the institution, is the other loop in the banking cycle.
S. Further, as only a small portion of the actual deposit base is retained with the bank in a liquid form, the very survival of the bank lies in building enough trust with its clientele so as to prevent the occurrence of a sizeable chunk of simultaneous customer withdrawal (a run on the bank).
T. The bank's basic job is risk absorption- it takes money, which has a lot of attached risk, and provides the customer an assured rate of return.

P. Wonder is marvellous, but it is also cruel, cruel, cruel.
Q. We have paid a terrible price for our education, such as it is.
R. Of course, wonder is costly because it is the antithesis of the anxiously worshipped security.
S. The Magian World View, in so far as it exists, has taken flight into science.
T. We have educated ourselves into a world from which wonder has been banished.

P. The inherent expectations of a high short-term return on advertising investment that is common to most traders who are attempting to scale up operations is not conductive to a long-term consistency in advertising direction.
Q. The lack of significant players with national reach is only one of the factors that explains the relatively low attention given to mass marketing by the retail sector in India.
R. Mass marketing by Indian retail chains has hitherto been the exception rather than the rule.
S. The focused brand image which leads to pithy, punchy advertising has been difficult because most retailers have not been focused in terms of their own vision for their retail brand. Most advertising has tended to focus on the presence of locations or the range.
T. Advertising then tends to focus significantly on announcement of in store promotions and events, where the payoffs in terms of immediate increases in customer entry.

P. In P979, Grenada witnessed the establishment of a socialist government by Maurice Bishop, which survived four years of US-engineered incursions.
Q. This was duly appreciated, with some 7, 000 US servicemen being designated as heroes and given decorations.
R. This government was overthrown in an internal power struggle among left-wing groups and, within three weeks of the Bishop’s ouster and assassination, Reagan launched Operation Urgent Fury against Grenada, claiming that the invasion was "forced on us by events that have no precedent in the eastern Caribbean."
S. In the end Grenada, just like Cuba and Nicaragua, was no more than the Chomskian "threat of a good example" to other Third World countries in the region.
T. Around Q,000 US Marines "fought" for a week, destroying a mental hospital, killing 8S Cubans building an airstrip, and S00 Grenadians.

P. They argue that it is this, which has led to the bankruptcy in many states.
Q. Here was a commission whose members worked very hard, did exemplary research and homework, before coming up with a list of recommendations that balanced economic efficiency with safety nets for disadvantaged labour.
R. It reminds us of the political shenanigans during the implementation of the Fifth pay Commission.
S. How many times have you heard experts, politicians and the finance minister refer to the implementation of the pay hikes following the commission's report as the singular cause for the increase in government expenditure?
T. Barring P. Chidambram, who was then the finance minister, every single political party and politician opposed the implementation of the recommendations and are directly responsible for the current fiscal crises in the Centre and the states.

P. In his second book ‘Manage yourself’, Dishu explained how the expectancy theory convinced managers and employees that managing the individual works better than treating everyone the same.
Q. Earlier on, Dishu had applied his expectancy theory in a step by step process used mainly as a one-on-one approach between the manager and the employees.
R. Everyone was flabbergasted by his success.
S. Nevertheless, Dishu organized a team and implemented, tested and gathered data to measure results in the corporate environment.
T. It was not designed for the entire organizations.

P. More organisations today seek a transformation in their businesses, yet most of them think of and talk about managing change.
Q. Change is characterised by 'reactivity'. Most of us live in the domain of change both as individuals and as organisations.
R. The characteristics of transformation are positive and actually creative. They stem from a new found sense of purposefulness, once a higher purpose is discovered.
S. The implications of this conflict will not be fully appreciated until we learn to distinguish between change and transformation.
T. Clearly, we all aspire to live in the domain of transformation even if we presently are in the domain of change.