PR/INDR/S09/PGP2/TM2/0050

December 20th , 2010

Notice
Project Trimester : Project Submission for PGP and MBA : Guidelines
Dear Protons,

1. It starts Project Trimester today, wherein, you have to prepare and submit a Project Report (PR).
2. PR is mandatory for all Protons. Yet to be placed Protons can choose the project suggested by Institute (given at
the end of this notice) in one area of their specializations. Placed Proton will be doing their Projects in their
respective companies. Moreover, all Protons are free to search for their own project (within specialization).
3. It is compulsory for the Protons to actually visit a Company/Enterprise to practically observe the implication of the
topic he/she has selected.
4. Protons will be submitting the regular reports to Dean’s Office in every 15 days.

5. Again, one more PR required to be submitted in VMU to qualify to get MBA degree (Deadline of submission is
same). It means, Protons have to submit two PRs : One for PGP and one for MBA.
6. Here, Protons have an option of either to prepare two different PR or submit the same PR in two sets.
7. The deadline to submit this PRs is 28-02-2011. Failing to submit the PR in time may cause:
• Delay in issuing 5th Trimester Mark sheet and PGP Completion Certificate.
• Getting Zero out of 100 in Project, which means a big loss in overall percentage in second year and
even further and bigger delay in getting MBA Degree.
8. Please note that submission of PR to VMU is something other than written assignment. VMU assignment will be
given in due course of time.
9. Now, very important instructions:
• Prepare two sets: one for MBA and one for PGP. ( a MUST ).
• Content should be original. Any two or more identical PRs may get cancelled in VMU.
• The minimum number of pages in PR should be 110. ( a MUST)
• PR must be hard bound (no spiral bound) and laminated as well. ( a MUST )
• A samples of title page / first page is given herewith. You can design creatively your own page, but please
ensure that your page must contain all the information given on sample page. ( a MUST )
10. The Project Report may be presented in accordance with the following outline:
1. Introduction: What prompted you to choose the topic? How is the topic important in shaping your career
2. Objectives: Specific and lucid statement of what you wish to achieve through the project.
3. Methodology: This may contain:
a. Design: A statement on what your overall plan of action is.
b. Sampling: How you would go about selecting the specific object, events or respondents you want to study.
c. Tools/Techniques: What instruments, devices, material or techniques you choose for collecting your data.
d. Processing and Analyzing Data: What techniques you may use to process the data which you collect and analyze them to
answer your questions.
4. Analyses and Findings: A lucid presentation (numerical or graphical wherever necessary) of the analyzed data and the interpretations you
make thereof.
5. Conclusions: The insights you have gained through this exercise, and how these may help in understanding the concept and promoting the
practice of distance education on the whole.
6. Bibliography and Appendices.

Happy grade hunting..! Happy score hunting..!

Prof. Dr. Vinay Goyal

Dean – Academics
PROTON business school – Indore Campus
Title/First page sample

Final Project Report

On

(Project Title - for example)

:Merger & Acquisition:

Opportunities in BPO Sector

Submitted in partial fulfillment for

Final Year (July 2009 - 2011 Batch)
of
Master of Business Administration

Submitted To
Directorate of Distance Education
Vinayaka Missions University, Salem

:Faculty Guide: :Submitted By:

(Signature) (Signature)

(Name of Faculty Guide) (Name of Student)

Professor VMU Registration Number
Proton Business School - Indore Campus 2040330_____
 Operations Management Project

Note – Protons to select any one from the given topic and for details they
should contact Prof. Harshvardhan Phatak.

1. To study the effectiveness of inbound logistics and outbound logistics, and helps in bringing
down the logistics cost for the organization. A student can choose any retail or a
manufacturing organization of his choice.

2. To perform ABC analysis for inventory control in an organization of your choice.

3. To develop a vendor rating system for procurement of various products in an organization of

your choice.

4. Analyze the different Operational Management (OM) perspective of any Retailer.

5. Reduction in Cycle Time of manufacturing for an industry of Students Choice.

6. Study and statistical analysis of quality data and suggestions for improvement for a
manufacturing organization.
 
 HRM Project # 01

Visit any Corporate organization of your choice and study the Corporate social
Responsibility initiatives taken by the organization.

The study should focus on

a) CSR Model of the organization
b) Linkage of CSR to Organization Vision
c) Budget allocated to CSR activities
d) Stakeholder management
e) Impact of CSR on Good will generated
f) Impact of CSR on Corporate reputation ( highlighting any awards conferred for
the same)
g) Impact of CSR in building long term customer relations
h) Sustainable social impact
 HRM Project # 02
Study National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) with respective to
a) origin
b) Objectives
c) Target
d) Implementation (G2C and G2B models)
e) Stake holder analysis
• Supply side: governments side, district offices, local Panchayats
• Demand side: users such as citizens, departments, private and public
institutions
f) Duration of the project
g) Current status of the project
h) Assess the impact on:
• Community empowerment
• Enhanced people’s participation
• Transparency of governance
• Accountability of government machinery
• Leveraging e governance for Sustainable development
• Conflict resolution
 HRM Project # 03
Visit any Organization of your choice and study the Employee Engagement Index prevailing in the
organization, identify the areas of improvement and suggest action plan for improvement in Employee
Engagement Index.

Methodology:

1. Selling the concept of Employee Engagement and its significance.

2. Conducting the Employee Engagement Survey (questionnaire), which should focus on following
points:
a. Organizational Pride
b. Business Focus & Awareness about Vision, Strategies & Goal and their alignment
c. Goal Achievement Process – Supervision, Performance Appraisal, Feedback, Coaching &
Mentoring
d. Compensation & Benefits, Rewards & Recognition
e. Learning & Development
f. Career Development & Leadership Development – Really see this organization as place to
develop your career
g. Communication
h. Supportive Environment & Quality of work life
i. Productive Work Ethic & Feel Good Factor

3. Data Analysis: This will be done at Macro Level (at Organization Level) to identify overall
Employee Engagement Index and Micro Level (at Departmental Level) to identify the Employee
Engagement Index at departmental level and contribution form the same department towards
Organizational Effectiveness.

4. Suggesting the Action Plan: A detailed report on suggesting the action plan for different processes
e.g. strengthening Career Development, Competency mapping and Capability Built Up, PMS,
People Management, Job Analysis, Welfare and Training & Development activities.
 Marketing Project # 01 
Proton will choose an organization from a services marketing perspective. Each need to select from
the following industries –

1 Airline services
2 Hospitality
3 Financial services
4 Tourism and travel
5 Health services
6 Logistics services
7 Education
8 Advertising
9 BPO
10 Enterprise software solutions
11 Event management
12 Consulting
13 Courier services
14 Entertainment and broadcasting
15 News and information services
16 Internet service provider
17 Mobile service providers

Data Sources: Data collection and information collection should happen through reading books,
Internet sources, market research and interviews with managers of the company chosen -

Interview should focus on

• Understanding the need for such a service.
• What are the features that the consumer is looking for in the service?
• What would be the possible positioning of the service?

Guidelines for the project deliverables:

Following are some points that the students should consider while analysing the organisation /
sector they have taken up for the project.
1. Elements of the service marketing mix (design of service, chosen positioning, pricing,
delivery channels).
2. Integration of operations, human resource and marketing activities to achieve required
service delivery.
3. Nature of service act.
4. Innovation (if any) in service delivery.
5. Use of technology (if any) and its effect on service quality.
6. Analysis of consumer behaviour in typical service encounter.
7. Flowchart depicting service buying process.
8. Flowchart depicting service delivery process.
9. Application of role and script theories to the chosen service context.
10. Brand elements that are expressed through the servicescape.
11. Recommendations for service redesign by identifying fail points in the process.
12. Customer misbehaviour and handling of the same.
13. Revenue management systems (if any) in place.
14. Loyalty programmes and monitoring of consumer satisfaction.
 Marketing Project # 02 
The project will have two parts – consumer study and store study. The project will be aimed at
answering the following questions –
PART A: Consumer Study (A minimum of 30 consumer interviews must be done)
1) Consumer perception of the store's brand image
2) What products do they buy at the store?
3) What alternatives do the consumers have?
4) Why do they decide to buy at that particular store?
PART B: Store Study
1) Merchandising policy
2) Marketing communication policy and point of sale displays
3) Recruitment and training of staff
4) Help desk, billing process, home deliveries, loyalty programmes
5) Area served and type of customer targeted
6) Visual appeal and store layout
7) Competition and competitive pressures
Data Sources: Data collection and information collection should happen through store visits,
interviews with store floor staff, managers, consumer interview, reading books, Internet sources,
and market research.
 Marketing Project # 03 
Students to choose a product / service of their choice and make a detailed study of all aspects of the
consumer behaviour related to that product or service. Students are expected to use different types
of research interventions for this purpose. The consumer behaviour study should detail out the
following aspects:
1. Psychographic segmentation of the users
2. Consumer decision making
3. Influences in decision making / purchase decision
4. Reference groups involved and their influences
5. Opinion leaders and their influences
6. Process of purchase
7. Process of use
8. Process of re-buying / re-using
9. Process of building of brand loyalty and critical incidents related to the process of building
brand loyalty

The above must not be collected through use of only structured questionnaire. For example, process
of usage can be better understood by observing and taking notes. Process of purchase needs us to do
both – observe as well as ask questions to the buyer. The influences of opinion leaders, reference
groups are better understood through in – depth interviews. Total of at least 10 consumers and 2
opinion leaders must be interviewed / observed.
Thus, a multiple number of tools should be used to capture different types of behavioural
information. The data must be analysed to understand if there are clear differences in the usage and
buying behaviours based on any particular demographic variable (like age, sex, region, etc.)
The report must focus on providing such consumer insights and then also provide suggestions /
observations about how these insights can be used.

Data Sources: Data collection and information collection should happen through reading books,
internet sources, primary research using – observation of consumers in shopping environment,
questionnaires to consumer of the product and in – depth interviews with the people who use the
product, study of advertising communication.
 Finance Project # 01

Project Objective:
The student gains an exposure into the hedging practices of global Indian firms using the
techniques learnt in this course.

For the project student can pick one Indian company from the following or any other -

1. Sterlite Industries
2. Reliance Industries
3. Bharti Airtel
4. Indian oil corporation
5. ICICI bank
6. Mahindra and Mahindra limited
7. Ranbaxy
8. Larsen and Tubro
9. Cipla
10. HCL technologies
11. Tata motors

Student have to study the major lines of business of the company they select (after approval
from the faculty) and analyze the kind of risks each line of business faces. For each line of
business, students have to study the hedging practices it employs in order to protect it from
global uncertainties among other aspects. The risks that need to be studied are:
1. Forex risk
2. Credit risk
3. Trading risk
4. Commodity market risks etc.

Out of the 4 risks outlined above, some of them will be more relevant depending on the kind of
sector the company is in (For example: Sterlite Industries will be exposed more to the
commodities market risks more than the other). The student has to analyze all the risks (other
than the 4 mentioned) and study how the company manages them effectively.

The student will have to prepare this project report and, also, present their findings.

 
 Finance Project # 02

Project Objective:
Study of real world financial institution by student applying the concepts and thought process

Student has to choose a financial institution and study in detail the following aspects about a
financial institution (FI):

• General details about the FI, its top management.

• Geographical spread of the FI.
• Business areas it is present in.
• Past history / milestones achieved by the FI.
• Business / revenue model of the FI.
• Complete financial analysis of the FI.
• Comparison ratios – this has to be further used to perform a peer analysis of two or more
comparable firms in its sector of operation.
• Risk management – exposure to various kinds of risk and how they are managed.
• Regulatory environment – the various regulations it has to comply with. If it is
geographically spread out, pick out the top 3 markets and explain the regulatory regime in
those markets.
 Finance Project # 03

Project Objective:
Study of a real world M&A or restructuring to reinforce the learning of the concepts covered in the
course

Guidelines:

Student should select one Indian / international M&A deal for studying various concepts related to
M&A. He should analyze the deal with respect to the various concepts of M & A discussing the deal
with respect to but not limited to following points:
• Change forces which led to the deal
• Legal aspects of the deal
• Change in strategy of the resultant entity
• Timing of the deal
• Valuation impact of the deal
• Tax implications of the deal
• Corporate and financial restructuring processes involved

You should also comment on the performance of this deal and conclude whether the deal was
successful or not.
 Finance Project # 04 
 

SECTORAL ANALYSIS PROJECT – UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS OF BANKING SYSTEM

What You have to do –

1. Visit to 3 type of banks in your town (if possible) – Nationalized bank, Private bank,
Rural/Cooperative bank
2. To understand the type of deposits and make the comparative study of their procedures.
a. Savings
b. Current
c. Fixed deposits
d. NRE/NRO/FCNR or any other a/c’s
3. Core banking details (if followed by that bank)
4. Type of services provided by the bank
a. Investment
i. Mutual funds
ii. PPF
b. Insurance
c. D-mats
d. Portfolio management services
5. Underwriting if done
6. Type of loans and advances
a. Term loans
b. Cash credits
c. Bank overdrafts
d. Housing
e. Vehicle
f. Personal
g. Education
h. Mortgage loans
i. Any other type of loans
7. Locker facilities
8. Cross selling of any other type of products
a. Rail reservation
b. Mobile charging
9. ATM’s and other online banking facilities
10. Credit card/debit card/smart card or any other type of cards facilities

Rules of the Project

1. You have to submit the name of bank and its branch where you have visited and done the project
2. Name of the concerned officer in that branch along with his contact no.

It’s time for positive change!