Dev Anand, CEO of a construction company, recently escaped a potentially fatal accident. Dev had failed to notice a red light while driving his car and attending to his phone calls. His well-wishers advised him to get a suitable replacement for the previous driver Ram Singh, who had resigned three months back. Ram Singh was not just a driver, but also a trusted lieutenant for Dev Anand for the last five years. Ram used to interact with other drivers, and gathered critical information that helped Dev in successfully bidding for different contracts. His inputs also helped Dev to identify some dishonest employees, and to retain crucial employees who were considering attractive offers from his competitors. Some of the senior employees did not like the informal influence of Ram and made it difficult for him to continue in the firm. Dev provided him an alternative job with one of his relatives.
During the last three months Dev has considered different candidates for the post. The back grounds of the candidates are given in the table below.
| Name | Age | Educational Qualification | Experience | Expected Salary / Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunder | 32 | Post Graduate | Seven years of driving experience | 18,000 per month. Ex-employers are highly satisfied. Concern: tendency to switch jobs after every six months. Enjoys new jobs but loses interest after six months. Not willing to commit for more than six months. |
| Mani | 23 | Studied up to Standard IX | One year | 8,000 per month. Claims to have more than one year of experience but can’t provide proof. Received a hike of 2,000 last month due to good performance. |
| Chintan | 44 | Graduate | 20 years | 20,000 per month. Worked as driver for one year after losing stenographer job. Recommended to take up driver job. |
| Bal Singh | 40 | Literate | More than 20 years | 15,000 per month. Cousin of Ram Singh. Substituted Ram as Dev’s driver when Ram was on leave. Currently working as driver with Dev’s in-laws. Strongly recommended by Ram. His knowledge and contacts in the firm are as good as Ram’s. |
| Chethan | 38 | Standard XII | 10 years | 12,000 per month. Worked as temporary driver with Dev’s competitor for the last three years. Competitor recommended him to Dev. Expressed willingness for long-term job if given annual increment of 500. |
Dev is primarily looking for a stable and trustworthy driver, who can be a suitable replacement for Ram. His family members do not want Dev to appoint a young driver, as most of them are inexperienced. Dev’s driver is an employee of the firm and hence the appointment has to be routed through the HR manager of the firm. The HR manager prefers to maintain parity among all employees of the firm. He also needs to ensure that the selection of a new driver does not lead to discontent among the senior employees of the firm.
From his perspective, and taking into account the family’s concerns, Mr. Dev would like to have
Show Hint
- Chethan
- Chintan
- Bal Singh
- Mani
- Sunder
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: Family members do {not want a young driver}. That rules out Mani (23). Sunder is unstable (switches every six months; refuses commitment). Chintan has only {one year} of driving and comes from a stenographer background. Chethan is from a competitor and asks a special annual increment.
Step 3: Bal Singh (40) is Ram’s cousin, strongly recommended by Ram, has >20 years’ experience, already substituted for Ram, and knows the firm’s people and processes—closest fit to Ram. Age satisfies the family’s concern.
Hence, Bal Singh is the best choice.
In order to resolve the conflicting preferences, one of Dev’s friends suggested Dev, his family members and the HR manager to identify their most and the least preferred candidates without considering the concerns of other stakeholders.
I. Dev’s most and least preferred candidates: Bal Singh and Chethan respectively
II. Family members’ most and least preferred candidates: Bal Singh and Chintan respectively
III. HR manager’s most and least preferred candidates: Chethan and Bal Singh respectively
Which of the above three statements is/are in conformity with the information provided in the passage?
I. Dev’s most and least preferred candidates: Bal Singh and Chethan respectively
II. Family members’ most and least preferred candidates: Bal Singh and Chintan respectively
III. HR manager’s most and least preferred candidates: Chethan and Bal Singh respectively
Which of the above three statements is/are in conformity with the information provided in the passage?
Show Hint
- Option I
- Option II
- Options I and II
- Options II and III
- Option I, II and III
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: Family’s view (alone). Their only stated concern is “{no young driver},” which disfavors Mani (23). They are not shown to rank Chintan last; indeed Chintan is older and therefore acceptable by their stated criterion. So II does not strictly follow.
Step 3: HR manager’s view (alone). He wants parity and to avoid senior employees’ discontent. Chethan’s {assured annual increment} violates parity; Bal Singh (Ram’s cousin) may also upset seniors, but statement III claims Chethan is “most” preferred—this conflicts with the parity constraint. Hence III is not in conformity.
Therefore, only Statement I conforms.
Who among the following five candidates is most likely to be rejected by the GM (HR)?
Show Hint
- Chethan
- Chintan
- Bal Singh
- Mani
- Sunder
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 2: Senior employees earlier resented Ram’s informal influence. Hiring Bal Singh, Ram’s cousin with similar contacts and influence, risks renewing the same discontent—thus most likely to be rejected by HR.
Step 3: Chethan’s special increment demand hurts parity, but it can be negotiated; it doesn’t by itself antagonize seniors. Others do not trigger strong HR objections relative to Bal Singh’s likely impact on internal harmony.
Hence, Bal Singh is most likely to be rejected by HR.
Top Questions on Complex Arrangement
- MultiKrack, one of the oldest FMCG companies in Eastern India, was run by the Malhotras, a traditional business family, for generations. The organization believed that key positions should be held only by family members and close friends.
But, as the organization grew in size, the top management decided to bring in fresh thinking and fill key positions from premier management institutions. The need for such a decision was also brought upon by changes in consumer preferences, which the top management felt could be best handled by recruiting premier talent from the younger generation (Gen Z).
MultiKrack drew the best talent, from premier management institutions, by offering highly attractive salaries. The first batch of Gen Z management trainees joined MultiKrack. Anindita was one of the seven management trainees recruited. She reported to Uday, a senior manager, who directly reported to the top management.
In one of the meetings, Uday was making a presentation on positioning their most popular product to make it more appealing to Gen Z. Unhappy with the discussion, Anindita candidly shared her concern regarding the assumptions Uday made about Gen Z. Uday immediately retorted: “Anindita, this is a discussion for adults. Kids, like you, should listen for a few months before sharing their opinion.” Further, he remarked, “you Gen Z have opinions about everything regardless of the subject.” Thereafter, he brushed aside any views Anindita attempted to share during the discussion. After the meeting, Anindita felt offended. However, when she discussed it with other management trainees, they did not find anything wrong with what Uday said. Even then, she decided to do something about such a treatment, since it would be seen as an approved behaviour.- XAT - 2026
- Decision Making
- Complex Arrangement
- Brijbhushan is a micro financier who lends to farmers at the rate of Rs. 10 per square meter and charges 10% annual interest. Five farmers Aditya, Bhushan, Chuttan, Damodar and Govind have rectangular lands with maximum and minimum area of 10,000 sq m and 1{,}000 sq m respectively. Damodar's land has perimeter 250 m and the ratio of length to breadth is 4:1. Area of Aditya is thrice that of Govind, while area of Aditya is the average of the areas of Damodar and Govind. Breadth of the lands of Aditya, Bhushan and Damodar is the same, while the length of Bhushan is the sum of the lengths of Aditya and Damodar.
What is the maximum possible value of the total loan amount given by Brijbhushan to the five farmers?
- XAT - 2026
- Decision Making
- Complex Arrangement
- Brijbhushan is a micro financier who lends to farmers at the rate of Rs. 10 per square meter and charges 10% annual interest. Five farmers Aditya, Bhushan, Chuttan, Damodar and Govind have rectangular lands with maximum and minimum area of 10{,}000 sq m and 1{,}000 sq m respectively. Damodar's land has perimeter 250 m and the ratio of length to breadth is 4:1. Area of Aditya is thrice that of Govind, while area of Aditya is the average of the areas of Damodar and Govind. Breadth of the lands of Aditya, Bhushan and Damodar is the same, while the length of Bhushan is the sum of the lengths of Aditya and Damodar.
If the width of Aditya’s land is 25 m, what is the minimum possible length of the land of Bhushan?
- XAT - 2026
- Decision Making
- Complex Arrangement
Girirajan an unemployed youngster from Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu, visited Singapore where his school friend worked as software engineer. In Singapore, Girirajan realized that there were a lot of Tamils in “Little India” area. He soon assessed that there were very few restaurants serving authentic Tamil food and decided to set-up a restaurant “Giri’s” in “Little India” serving authentic Tamil food in traditional banana leaf. Customers loved the food. Very soon word spread about the good quality food served in the traditional way. Girirajan expanded operation recruiting 10 employees, all Tamils.
Six months later, Girirajan realized that a lot of Kannadiga and Telugu customers started visiting the restaurant along with their Tamil friends. One day, a Kannadiga customer looking for Devangere Benne Dosa suggested that it may not be a bad idea for Girirajan to serve Karnataka and Andhra cuisines along with Tamil. With time, the popularity of the reastaurant kept soaring. As a result, a lot of Malays, Indonesians and Chinese started visiting the restaurant. His software engineer friend advised to cater to customers of all nationalities. Despite his desire to go grand, Girirajan realized he did not have enough money to get extra space anywhere in Singapore and banks were also reluctant to lend.
One day, while assessing the business, he realized that the restaurant had 90% occupancy rate during peak hours and 40% during the non-peak hours. Both gures were increasing with time.- XAT - 2017
- Decision Making
- Complex Arrangement
Geetha Gawde can cultivate up to 6 crops a year. Crop A and B are ready for harvest in 2 months; crop C and D in 3 months, and crop E and F in 4 months. Crop A can be cultivated from January to June; crop B can be cultivated from April to September; crop C can be cultivated from May to December; crops D as well as E can be cultivated from August to December, and crop F from November to May. If Geetha plans a change of crop the soil should be left fallow for one month; however, if the same crop is sown no fallow time is needed. Sowing takes place only at the beginning of a month. Geetha can only harvest a maximum of 1000 units of any crop at any point in time. The production cost per unit (incurred at the time of sowing) and price per unit of crop are as follows:
Crop Production Data
Crop Production cost per unit crop (in USD) Price per unit crop (in USD) A \(20\) \(60\) B \(5\) \(55\) C \(25\) \(70\) D \(15\) \(75\) E \(5\) \(65\) F \(35\) \(75\) - XAT - 2016
- Decision Making
- Complex Arrangement
Questions Asked in XAT exam
- An artificial swimming pool is circular and water is flowing clockwise at a speed of 3 km/hr. Two swimmers Ayub and Rana start from diametrically opposite points, Ayub in the anticlockwise direction and Rana in the clockwise direction. They first meet at a point such that Ayub has covered 60 m by that time. Their second meeting point is such that Rana has covered another 180 m after the first meeting point. If the speed of Rana in still water is 3 km/hr, find the time taken by Ayub to cover one full circle in the clockwise direction.
- XAT - 2026
- Time and Work
- Arrange the following generations from the oldest to the youngest:
1. Generation X
2. Silent Generation
3. Generation Alpha
4. Baby Boomers
5. Millennials
- XAT - 2026
- Current Affairs
- Read the following scenario and answer the THREE questions that follow.
Brijbhushan, a microfinancier, lends money at the rate of Rs.10 per square meter to small farmers at a village. He charges an annual interest rate of 10%. All the farming plots in that village are rectangular, with areas varying between a minimum of 1000 square meters and a maximum of 10,000 square meters.
This year, Brijbhushan has lent money only to five farmers: Aditya, Binod, Chhuttan, Dabloo and Govind. The perimeter of Chhuttan’s plot is 250 meters, with the length and width being at a ratio of 4:1. Aditya’s plot has an area three times the area of Govind’s plot. The area of Aditya’s plot is also the average of the areas of Govind’s plot and Dabloo’s plot. The plots belonging to Aditya, Binod and Dabloo are of the same width, but of different lengths. Moreover, the length of Binod’s plot is the sum of the lengths of Aditya’s plot and Dabloo’s plot.- XAT - 2026
- Mensuration
Light Chemicals is an industrial paint supplier with presence in three locations: Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The sunburst chart below shows the distribution of the number of employees of different departments of Light Chemicals. There are four departments: Finance, IT, HR and Sales. The employees are deployed in four ranks: junior, mid, senior and executive. The chart shows four levels: location, department, rank and gender (M: male, F: female). At every level, the number of employees at a location/department/rank/gender are proportional to the corresponding area of the region represented in the chart.
Due to some issues with the software, the data on junior female employees have gone missing. Notice that there are junior female employees in Mumbai HR, Sales and IT departments, Hyderabad HR department, and Bengaluru IT and Finance departments. The corresponding missing numbers are marked u, v, w, x, y and z in the diagram, respectively.
It is also known that:
a) Light Chemicals has a total of 210 junior employees.
b) Light Chemicals has a total of 146 employees in the IT department.
c) Light Chemicals has a total of 777 employees in the Hyderabad office.
d) In the Mumbai office, the number of female employees is 55.
- XAT - 2026
- Pie Charts
An investment company, Win Lose, recruit's employees to trade in the share market. For newcomers, they have a one-year probation period. During this period, the employees are given Rs. 1 lakh per month to invest the way they see fit. They are evaluated at the end of every month, using the following criteria:
1. If the total loss in any span of three consecutive months exceeds Rs. 20,000, their services are terminated at the end of that 3-month period,
2. If the total loss in any span of six consecutive months exceeds Rs. 10,000, their services are terminated at the end of that 6-month period.
Further, at the end of the 12-month probation period, if there are losses on their overall investment, their services are terminated.
Ratan, Shri, Tamal and Upanshu started working for Win Lose in January. Ratan was terminated after 4 months, Shri was terminated after 7 months, Tamal was terminated after 10 months, while Upanshu was not terminated even after 12 months. The table below, partially, lists their monthly profits (in Rs. ‘000’) over the 12-month period, where x, y and z are masked information.
Note:
• A negative profit value indicates a loss.
• The value in any cell is an integer.
Illustration: As Upanshu is continuing after March, that means his total profit during January-March (2z +2z +0) ≥
Rs.20,000. Similarly, as he is continuing after June, his total profit during January − June ≥
Rs.10,000, as well as his total profit during April-June ≥ Rs.10,000.
- XAT - 2026
- Logical and Analytical Reasoning Skills