Eureka- The Business Series

B-Acumen#7

2006-04-03T22:22:00.000+05:30

1) Identify the organization from its Headquarters. All clues in the visual
Answer:

2) Just getting a little naughty here. We all know about Virgin’s plans of Space Flight.

According to latest reports, a certain group of people are not going to be allowed on the Virgin Galactic Shuttle, which includes celebrity actress Victoria Principal. Why are these people not being allowed? (Key words will suffice)
Answer:

3) Earlier a part of the Hilton Hotels chain, it was spun off in 2000, taking the name Park Plaza Entertainment. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Harrah’s Entertainment. After a shareholder meeting in 2003, the name was changed to __________. Fill in the blank.
Answer:

4) The first implementation was in Britain by William Pitt the Younger in December 1798 to pay for the preparations of the Napoleonic Wars. What are we discussing?
Answer:

5) Identify this mouth-watering logo.
Answer:

6) Vichy, Color Pulse, Cacharel, Matrix and Ombrelle are the lesser know brands of which cosmetic company?
Answer:

7) Connect Alex Ostrovsky from West Bloomfield, Mich; the song "Speed of Sound" by Brit pop band Coldplay to a 20-inch iMac computer, 10 60GB iPods and a scholarship to the world-famous Juilliard School of Music in New York. (Key Words will suffice)
Answer:

Answers, suggestions & feedback to: nitirsorah@gmail.com

B-Acumen#6

2006-02-16T00:11:00.000+05:30

1) Identify the advertiser
Answer:

2) Designed to resemble a billowing sail, this landmark soars to a height of 321 metres, dominating the city’s coastline. At night, it offers an unforgettable sight, surrounded by choreographed colour sculptures of water and fire. What are we talking about?
Answer:

3) This concept was first pioneered by Pacific Southwest airlines in the United States when their first flight took place on May 6, 1949. But the credit for this concept has often been wrongly credited to Southwest Airlines, which began service in 1971. What concept?
Answer:

4) The NBA All Star Weekend is around the corner. This is the time for major brands to be sported in the shoe showcase. Signature Nikes on Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, Adidas on Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady and Reeboks by Allen Iverson and Yao Ming, who will be playing in this years game.
But there's another player making his mark at the basketball showdown in Houston, Texas. Cleveland Cavalier Damon Jones will go as a spectator, but will also hold a unique distinction. What?[Key Points will suffice]
Answer:

5) Identify the guru.
Answer:

6) BackRub, established in January 1996, was the forerunner to which internet giant?
Answer:

7) A ticker symbol to end of with: Which company listed on the NYSE has a ticker symbol A?
Answer:

Answers, suggestions and feedback to: nitirsorah@gmail.com

B-Acumen#5

2006-01-23T01:24:00.000+05:30

1) I really like this particular ad.Identify the advertiser.
Answer:Air India. The ad was way back in 2004 when they started flights to Los Angeles. A great collection of all ads by Air India can be obtained at this link

2) In the late 1800s, Louis Glass and William S. Arnold placed a coin-operated cylinder phonograph in the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. It was an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph in an oak cabinet that was refitted with a coin mechanism. This was the first Nickel-in-the-Slot machine. The Nickel in the slot machine was an early forerunner to which modern (well known) device.
Answer:The JukeBox.

3) A gentleman named Thomas Adams had first tried to make a particular type of sap into car tyres, toys, masks, and rain boots but every experiment failed. One day, he did something strange and this resulted in the creation of a brand new product. What did he do, what is the product?
Answer:He popped it into his mouth and he liked the taste. He added flavors to the sap (chicle from sapodilla tree) and thus was created chewing gum.Shortly after, he opened the world's first chewing gum factory. In February 1871, Adams New York Gum went on sale in drug stores for a penny apiece, and in 1876 he founded Adams Sons and Company Adams’ power brands are Halls, Trident and Dentyne. Cadbury Schweppes acquired Adams in 2002.

4) They originally imported Hermann Aegler’s Swiss movements to England and placed them in quality cases made by Dennison and others. The products were then sold to jewelers, who put their own name on the cases. Whom and more importantly what are we talking about?
Answer: These were how Rolex watches were first marketed. The jewelers put their respective names on the dial and sold them. Rolex was called Wilsdorf & Davis before it was renamed in 1908, after their founders Hans Wilsdorf and his Brother in law Alfred Davis.

5) This brand was launched by Transelektra Domestic Products Limited in 1984. The product was innovative and was perfectly priced. It struck the market at the right time and was a huge success in small towns, big cities and metros. Just identify the brand in question.
Answer: Good Knight. Godrej Hi- Care took over TDPL in 1994 along with other brands like Jet and Banish, besides Good Knight.

6) Sona Spice, Jai and Breeze are lesser-known brands of which Indian FMCG company?
Answer: Hindustan Lever Limited, more famous for Fair & Lovely, Lifebuoy, Sunsilk etc.

7) Which company has an NYSE ticker: SDX?
Answer: Sodexho. This company brings out the meal and gift vouchers, which are free of certain taxes, are provided by most MNCs.

8) Born on March 3, 1839 in the sleepy town of Navsari, Gujarat, this gentleman passed out from the Elphinstone College in 1858 as a ‘green scholar’. Identify the business great.
Answer: Jamsetji Tata, the only child of Nusserwanji Tata.

9) A toughie to end the quiz: Which company manufactures all the crockery at Rashtrapathi Bhavan?
Answer:Tata Ceramics Limited

Suggestions, Feedback and Comments to: nitirsorah@gmail.com

B-Acumen#4

2006-01-10T23:04:00.000+05:30

1) The advertiser, I suppose is very simple: The question is, mention the subject of this ad.
Answer: The advertiser is McDonalds and the inspiration is Osama Bin Laden.

2) The inspiration for which advertising icon, was a photograph and story of cowboy Clarence Hailey Long, which appeared in LIFE magazine in 1949?
Answer: Marlboro Man. Leo Burnett who was looking for a new image for Philip Morris’s Marlboro brand was inspired this story.

3) Two Hollywood stuntmen originally from Hampshire started their first venture called ‘Airdome’ in 1937. This was the beginning of a long and successful business story. Identify the two people. (Clue: Go through the quiz carefully, another answer is linked to this one)
Answer:Richard and Maurice McDonald. They opened their first restaurant- a drive in called McDonalds.

4) The following ad campaign was launched by Chemical Bank in the US in 1969 "On September 2, we'll open at nine and never close again." This was actually the punch line for a particular technology/product launch. What?
Answer: This was an ad campaign for ATMs (Automated Teller Machines)

5) Which business magazine was founded by Chris Anderson and journalist James Daly in 1998 and is popular for its ‘101 Dumbest Moments in Business’ list, which is published at the beginning of the year?
Answer:Business 2.0. Josh Quittner is the editor of the magazine since 2002.

6) Depend, Viva, Scott, Poise and Cottonelle are the lesser-known brands of which company?
Answer: Kimberly Clark. Their famous brands, of course, are Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Pull-Ups and Little Swimmers.

7) Simple one to end: IBN is the NYSE ticker of which company?
Answer: ICICI Bank.

Suggestions & Feedback to nitirsorah@gmail.com

B-Acumen#3

2005-12-31T17:42:00.000+05:30

1) Identify the advertiser (Indian Newspaper)
Answer: Malayala Manorama

2) With which Indian brand would you connect Cats, Swift, eGurucool and Futurz
Answer: NIIT, headed by Vijay Thadani

3) Beck’s, Brahma, Stella Artois, Bass, Staropramen, Leffe, Heogardeen are all popular alcoholic beverages from which brewer.
Answer: InBev, the world's largest brewer by volume

4) These first appeared in the summer of 1935 and were a mix of biography, crime writing and novels. Genres were indicated by the color of the band on the cover, biography being dark blue, crime green and fiction orange. All the titles were by contemporary writers including Ernest Hemingway, Eric Linklater and Agatha Christie. They cost just sixpence, the same price as a packet of cigarettes. What are we talking about?
Answer: Penguin Paperbacks

5) Connect Akebono, Konishiki, Sequoia Capital, Tim Koogle, Softbank and an April 1996 IPO to a company/brand.
Answer: Yahoo. Akebono was Yang's workstation and Konishiki was Filo's computer on which the software was lodged. Sequoia Capital agreed to fund Yahoo in 1995. Tim Koogle was Yahoo's first Chief Executive officer. Softbank provided the second round of funding.

6) Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin- Robbins ice cream shops and Togo’s sandwich shops comprised the restaurant business of which company that was recently sold to Blackstone, a British group.
Answer: Was looking for Allied Domecq but Pernod Ricard has been accepted as it was the parent comapny

7) After the release of the movie, Rasputin and the Empress in 1932, the model for prince Natasha filed a lawsuit against MGM, claiming invasion of privacy. What resulted after this incident?
Answer: The roaring MGM lion started appearing with the phrase: 'All characters portrayed are fictitious and resemblance to any person alive or dead is purely incidental

Answers, suggestions & feedback to: nitirsorah@gmail.com

B-Acumen#2

2005-12-31T17:20:00.000+05:30

1) This is a famous ad from the early 1940’s. Identify the advertiser (product)?
Ans: Lux

2) Born on December 13, 1953. Identify the American macroeconomist whose middle name is Shalom.
Ans: Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman nominee

3) In 1886, a young graduate from Ohio’s Oberlin College named Charles Martin Hall discovered the process of smelting aluminum. He realized that by passing an electrical current through a bath of cryolite and aluminum oxide, the then semi-rare metal, aluminum, remained as a byproduct. This remarkable discovery called the Hall Process is still used 117 years later at the company that he founded with the help of some financial backers. Name the company. Ans: Alcoa, Hall started the company as the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which changed its name to Aluminum Company of America in 1907. The name “Alcoa” was coined in 1910, and in 1999, the company officially adopted the name Alcoa to reflect its global scope, with operations in 30 countries at that time.

4) J. C. Fargo took a trip to Europe sometime between 1888 and 1890 and returned frustrated and infuriated. Despite the fact that he was president of American Express and that he carried with him traditional letters of credit, he found it difficult to obtain cash anywhere except in major cities. Mr. Fargo went to Marcellus Fleming Berry and asked him to create a better solution than the traditional letter of credit. What resulted?
Ans: Mr. Berry created the American Express Traveler’s Cheque which was launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100.

5) Ades, Becel, Bertolli, Bird’s eye, Blue Band, Boursin, Bovril, Brevers, Calve, Country Crock, Elmlea, Findus, Flora, Good Humor, Hellman’s, Iglo, Imperial, Lawry’s & Adolph’s, Marmite, PG Tips, Ragu, Stork, Unox and Nogger Black are brands from which global giant?
Ans: Unilever. Ben & Jerry’s, Best Foods, Brooke Bond, Colman’s, I Can’t believe it’s not butter, Knorr, Lipton, Pepperami, Pot Noodles, Scottish Blend, Skippy peanut butter, Slim-Fast are its more famous brands.

6) The MIT students calculated my speed to be around 1046 km/sec, bout 3000 times the speed of light. The total load weight involved in my transfer is 321000 tonnes. 214000 living organisms of the same species are involved in my transfer. I have 918 million destinations to reach in 31 hours across 24 time zones visiting 822.6 destinations per second. Who or what am I?
Ans: Santa Claus

7) He wrote 39 books, the first in 1939 titled The End of Economic Man: The Origins of Totalitarianism, and from 1975 to 1995 was an editorial columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and was a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review. He continued to act as a consultant to businesses and non profit organizations when he was in his nineties. Identify this management theorist. Ans: Peter Drucker

Suggestions and feedback to: nitirsorah@gmail.com

B-Acumen#1

2005-11-15T14:56:00.000+05:30

$1* As I have been a member of the Yahoo Groups for over six months gaining from the vast quizzing community, I have decided to pose the first question very much related to Yahoo. Identify the gentleman, obviously he is Mr.Yahoo.

Ans: Terry Semel, CEO of Yahoo. If reports are to be believed he is the highest paid CEO in the Silicon Valley

$2* The original character and design of this American advertising icon, including facial design and costume were created by George Voorhees, a professional clown, for a hired performance at a local Los Angeles, California area. His first live television appearance was by local TV personality Ray Rayner on WGN-TV Chicago. Soon afterwards Willard Scott played the role in a series of pre-recorded television commercials. Which icon am I talking about?

Ans: Ronald McDonald. He is known as Ronald all across the world except Japan, where he is known as Donald McDonald

$3* Popularly known as "Mademoiselle" by her inner circle, she was born in the small city of Saumur, France in 1883, although she asserted she was born in 1893, in Auvergne. Her mother died when she was six, and shortly afterward her father abandoned her and her four siblings; the children were then placed in the care of relatives and spent some time in an orphanage.
After a couple affairs with generous wealthy men - a military officer and later a English Industrialist - she was able to open a shop in Paris in 1909, selling ladies hats and within a year moved the business to the fashionable Rue Cambon. Her influence on haute couture was such that she was the only person in the field to be named on the List of TIME Magazines 100
most influential people of the 20th century.

Ans:Coco Chanel. She was orphaned at the age of six, her elegantly casual designs inspired fashionable women to abandon complicated, uncomfortable clothes and to adopt her now-classic innovations-i.e., jersey dresses and suits, bell-bottom trousers, bobbed hair, trench coats, turtleneck sweaters, costume jewellery, and the 'little black dress'.

$4* This word was coined by Deepak Mohoni around 1990 while writing market analysis columns for some of the business newspapers and magazines. It gained popularity over the next year or two. Clue: Its in every paper everyday.

Ans:Sensex. Sensex is short for Sensitive Index. The BSE Sensex is a value-weighted index composed of 30 companies with the base April 1979 = 100. It consists of the 30 largest and most actively traded stocks, representative of various sectors, on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The set of companies in the index is essentially fixed. These companies account for around one-fifth of the market capitalization of the BSE

$5* The company was founded in 1902 when George Dayton opened a retail store in downtown Minneapolis. Originally known as the Dayton Dry Goods Company, it became the Dayton Company in 1910. In 1962, the Dayton Company opened its first discount store in Roseville, Minnesota, a suburb north of St.Paul. By 1979, it would be the company's top revenue producer. In 1969, the Dayton Company merged with the J.L. Hudson company. In 1978, the company acquired Mervyns, and in 1990 it acquired Marshall Fields. Dayton Hudson Corporation changed its name to its present name in 2000. Name the company(present name) which has now entered India with its Research and Development Centre in the Bagmane Techpark in Bangalore.

Ans: Target Corporation

$6*The British started the Hijli detention camp to accommodate the large number of youth who took part in the non co operation movement. This bears a very significant part in our historic freedom struggle. Two unarmed detainees were shot here on the 16th of September 1931 and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose came personally to take the bodies away. What stands at this site now?

Ans: IIT Kharagpur

Comments, suggestions and feedback to: nitirsorah@gmail.com