Management Syllabus for UPSC Main

Examination
Paper-I
The candidate should make a study of the concept and development of management as
science and art drawing upon the contributions of leading thinkers of management and apply
the concepts to the real life of government and business decision making keeping in view the
changes in the strategic and operative environment.

Section-A
I.Managerial Function
Concept and Foundations of Management, Evolution of Management Thoughts;Managerial
Functions Planning, Organizing, Controlling; Decision making; Role of Manager,
Managerial skills; Entrepreneurship;Management of innovation ; Managing in a global
environment, Flexible Systems Management; Social responsibility and managerial ethics;
Process and customer or ientat ion; Managerial processes on direct and indirect value chain.

II.Organisational Behaviour and Design

Conceptual model of organization behaviour; The individual processes personality, values
and attitude, perception, motivation, learning and reinforcement, work stress and stress
management; The dynamics of organizat ion behaviour power and politics, conflict and
negotiation, leadership process and styles, communication; The Organizational Processes -
decision making, job design; Classical, Neoclassical and Contingency approaches to
organizational design; Organizational theory and design - organizational culture, managing
cultural diversity, learning organization ; organizational change and development ;
Knowledge Based Enterpr ise systems and processes; Networked and virtual organizations.

III.Human Resource Management

HR challenges; HRM functions; The future challenges of HRM; Strategic Management of
human resources; Human resource planning; Job analysis; Job evaluation; Recruitment and
selection; Training and development; Promotion and transfer; Performance management;
Compensation management and benefits; Employee morale and productivity; Management of
organizational climate and Industrial relations; Human resources accounting and audit;
Human resource information system; International human resource management

IV.Accounting for Managers

Financial accounting concept, importance and scope, generally accepted accounting
principles, preparation of financial statements with special reference to analysis of a balance
sheet and measurement of business income, inventory valuation and depreciation, financial
statement analysis, fund flow analysis, the statement of cash flows; Management accounting
concept, need, importance and scope; Cost accounting records and processes, cost ledger
and control accounts, reconciliation and integration between financial and cost accounts;
Overhead cost and control, Job and process costing, Budget and budgetary control,
Performance budgeting, Zero-base budgeting, relevant costing and costing for decision-
making, standard costting and variance analysis, marginal costing and absorption costing

V.Financial Management
Goals of finance function; Concepts of value and return; Valuation of bonds and shares;
Management of working capital: Estimation and financing; Management of cash, receivables,
inventory and current liabilities; Cost of capital; Capital budgeting; Financial and operating
leverage; Design of capital structure: theories and practices; Shareholder value creation:
dividend policy, corporate financial policy and strategy, management of corporate distress
and restructuring strategy; Capital and money markets: institutions and instruments; Leasing,
hire purchase and venture capital; Regulation of capital market; Risk and return: portfolio
theory; CAPM; APT; Financial derivatives: option, futures, swap; Recent reforms in financial
sector

VI.Marketing Management
Concept, evolution and scope; Marketing strategy formulation and components of marketing
plan; Segmenting and targeting the market; Positioning and differentiating the market
offering; Analyzing competition; Analyzing consumer markets; Industrial buyer behaviour;
Market research; Product strategy; Pricing strategies; Designing and managing Marketing
channels; Integrated marketing communications; Building customer satisfaction, Value and
retention; Services and non-profit marketing; Ethics in marketing; Consumer protection;
Internet marketing; Retail management; Customer relationship management; Concept of
holistic marketing.

Paper-II
I.Quantitative Techniques in Decision Making
Descriptive statistics tabular, graphical and numerical methods, introduction to probability,
discrete and continuous probability distributions, inferential statisticssampling distributions,
central limit theorem, hypothesis testing for differences between means and proportions,
inference about population variances, Chi-square and ANOVA, simple correlation and
regression, time series and forecasting, decision theory, index numbers; Linear programmi n
g problem formulation,simplex method and graphical solution, sensitivity analysis.

II.Production and Operations Management

Fundamentals of operations management; Organizing for production; Aggregate production
planning, capacity planning, plant design: process planning, plant size and scale of
operations, Management of facilities; Line balancing; Equipment replacement and
maintenance; Production control; Supply chain management - vendor evaluation and audit;
Quality management; Statistical process control, Six Sigma; Flexibility and agility in
manufacturing systems; World class manufacturing; Project management concepts, R&D
management, Management of service operations; Role and importance of materials
management, value analysis, make or buy decision; Inventory control, MRP; Waste
management.

III.Management Information System

Conceptual foundations of information systems; Information theory; Information resource
management; Types of information systems; Systems development - Overview of systems
and design; System development management life-cycle, Designing for online and distributed
environments; Implementation and control of project; Trends in information technology;
Managing data resources - Organising data; DSS and RDBMS; Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP), Expert systems, e-Business architecture, e-Governance; Information systems
planning, Flexibility in information systems; User involvement; Evaluation of information
systems.

IV.Government Business Interface

State participation in business, Interactionbetween Government, Business and different
Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India; Government's policy with regard to Small
Scale Industries; Government clearances for establishing a new enterprise; Public
Distribution System; Government control over price and distribution; Consumer Protection
Act (CPA) and The Role of voluntary organizations in protecting consumers' rights; New
Industrial Policy of the Government: liberalization, deregulation and privatisation; Indian
planning system; Government policy concerning development of Backward areas/regions;
The Responsibilities of the business as well as the Government to protect the environment;
Corporate Governance; Cyber Laws.

V.Strategic Management
Business policy as a field of study; Nature and scope of strategic management, Strategic
intent, vision, objectives and policies; Process of strategic planning and implementation;
Environmental analysis and internal analysis; SWOT analysis; Tools and techniques for
strategic analysis - Impact matrix: The experience curve, BCG matrix, GEC mode, Industry
analysis, Concept of value chain; Strategic profile of a firm; Framework for analysing compet
i t ion; Competitive advantage of a firm; Generic competitive strategies; Growth strategies
expansion, integration and diversification; Concept of core competence, Strategic flexibility;
Reinventing strategy; Strategy and structure; Chief Executive and Board; Turnaround
management; Management of strategic change; Strategic alliances, Mergers and Acquisitions;
Strategy and corporate evolution in the Indian context.

VI.International Business
International Business Environment : Changing composition of trade in goods and services;
India's Foreign Trade: Policy and trends; Financing of International trade; Regional
Economic Cooperation; FTAs; Internationalisation of service firms; International production;
Operation Management in International companies; International Taxation; Global
competitiveness and technological developments; Global e-Business; Designing global
organisational structure and control; Multicultural management; Global business strategy;
Global marketing strategies; Export Management; Export- Import procedures; Joint Ventures;
Foreign Investment: Foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment; Cross-border
Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Exchange Risk Exposure Management; World Financial
Markets and International Banking; External Debt Management; Country Risk Analysis
Books on Management as Optional subject for IAS Exam are as Follows:

Paper I
1. Organizational Design: Khandwala; Madhukar Shukla (both) Buy Now
2. Organizational Behaviour: Luthans and Robbins- for some portions Blanchart is also
good.Buy Now
3. Organizational Behaviour: Luthans Buy Now
4. Strategic Cost Management: Business Today supplements
5. Economics: Any good economics book
6. Management: Terry and Franklin; Koontz and Donnel ; Koontz and weihrich (any one) Buy
Now
7. Strategic Management: Michael Porter Buy Now

Paper II
1. Marketing: Kotler and any one Indian author book(Saxena/Ramaswami etc.) Buy Now
2. Financial: Pandey/Chandra /Khan & Jain/Bearley - Any two
3. Information Technology: Any good book which gives holistic view covering all the topics
along with Internet based notes.Buy Now
4. International: Business Media and Government Rules on export procedures, transfer pricing
etc.
5. Operations: Adams/Taha
6. HRD: Mammoria/Monappa/Prasad/Flippo - Any two. Buy Now
Paper 1

Key to success master HR and OB topics (mandatory for good marks) and either prepare
Finance or Marketing thoroughly; for all other topics you should have basic idea

Paper 1 is all theory based, the syllabus lists 6 major topics in which HR, Organizational
Behavior, Finance and Marketing are the ones you need to focus on. Introduction and
Accounting part you can go through once ( so far they have only asked marginal costing v/s
absorption costing; budgeting techniques and inventory management). Tip they will most
likely ask about marginal/absorption costing this year (they do it every alternate year!)

The best part about paper 1 is that even in finance they ask pure theory questions like what is
NPV, IRR, CAPM, leverage etc. It is so basic that even non finance experts like me could
cram and answer in the paper. My strength was in HR, OB and marketing with a basic
knowledge of other three topics in syllabus. You have a choice in Marketing or Finance but
HR & OB is a must read for both marketing and financial experts as it makes up for 80 90%
of section A in paper 1! (Note I had HR as one of the specialization; so things were little
smooth for me in this department!)

Honestly, if you go through previous year question papers; youll also be able to estimate as
to which topics you would like to cover extensively. I would also suggest that you at least go
through all the topics stated in the syllabus once to be secure decent marks in compulsory 10
marker questions!

Paper 2

Key to success cover quant, Operations, Strategic management well; this paper is time
consuming, you will know almost all the answers but you need to manage the time well or
youre screwed!

Paper 2 is the antithesis of paper 1! It is all application; numerical questions and case studies
which make it slightly lengthy yet very scoring if you practice well! The beauty of this paper
is that every year they mix extremely tough questions with easy ones; you need to watch out
for easier ones Dont get overly attached to any particular subject. Strictly attempt those
questions that you feel are manageable in 3 hour window!

Case in point: 2013 paper Section A was a nightmare; Section B was a piece of cake; I first
finished off 3 questions from section B in 1hr 30mins, then went on to compulsory question
of section A which took me about 45 minutes and took 45 minutes for my last question! I had
prepared Operations well but ended up doing the MIS case study due to lack of time!

For the case studies you need to use simple formulae and the most basic frameworks taught to
us. In strategic management for example UPSC for some reason loves BCG matrix,
Mckinsey framework, porters five forces.so why bother getting into more advanced models?
Please avoid advanced models that you learned in IIMs or read somewhere, stick to the
syllabus (as paper checker is a university professor who doesnt like to be told that he knows
less than you!)

In quant they frequently ask mean, median, mode, graphical method in linear programming or
a basic numerical on simplex method in worst case, correlation and regression line (very
basic numerical here as well); probability (maximum till bayestheorm!) and decision making
(you may skip this or refer to internet documents for some basic problems), rest you can skip

In operations, I recommend you go through the syllabus well and practice previous years
numerical questions (they are more than sufficient). So, if you are good in quant, operations
and basic strategic management this paper will easily get you 120+ out of 250!

I didnt specifically prepare MIS, Intl Busness, and Govt business relation because half of it
is like GS and a basic understanding can get you through. However, again you must go
through/ read all the topics stated in the syllabus once!

Tips for overall good performance in paper 1 and paper 2!

Practice on previous year question papers frequently

At least have a general reading of the entire syllabus; youll be glad you did it once (and in
my opinion you only get time to do this once)

Revise specific topics again and again, identify your strengths in both papers

Whatever happens complete your paper, practice time management for paper 2

Dont use extraordinary language or models in your answer, use simple frameworks in case
studies and quote the most general examples if you wish to quote one

Whatever happens stick to the syllabus

Be generous in using internet for topics you are not clear about; internet is the most
powerful tool in this optional!

Reading Material

IGNOU booklets released by their department of management studies : these are short, sweet
&the most ideal partner for this exam. I relied solely on these at times for HR, Finance,
Accounting, Strategic management (actually they are the best source to cover UPSC level
questions!) and international business! do whatever it takes to get hold of these!

Topic wise books used by me are under, you can happily rely on your institute provided
books/ ppts; they are also more than sufficient
Organisational Behavior Robbins, judge &sanghi
Human resource and personnel management Ashwathappa
Marketing Kotler
Financial management ross, westerfield and jaffe
Theory of organizational development and change Thomas cummings (this is optional,
you may only refer to IGNOU notes)
For Quant : Complete business statistics: AczelSounderpandian
Operations Management: david collier
Strategic Management: IIM class ppts/ Mostly IGNOU notes!
MIS: laudon and laudon
 Intl Business: some local author book/ IGNOU
Decision making : internet documents/ class PPts