Yesterday we asked the questions from the global IQ quiz that appeared in Richard McCormack’s newsletter, Manufacturing & Technology News. Below are the answers.
Q: Which country is the world’s largest producer of small commercial jets of up to 120 seats?
1. France
2. India
3. Russia
4. Brazil
5. Korea
Brazil’s Embraer jets have revolutionized the small aircraft
business with products so successful that they have a $15-billion order
backlog to prove it. The company’s success is not just based on
low-cost labor: Embraer has
proved ingenious at design, responsive
to customers and formidable at competing in international markets. Its
most daring initiative was the ERJ145 family of jets, which turned
conventional design on its head, by making the top of the plane wider
than the bottom — increasing passenger room and comfort. (Answer: 4)
Q: By 2010, India and China together will graduate approximately how many science and engineering students?
1. 250,000
2. 500,000
3. 1.5 million
4. 4 million
Education is the top priority of emerging economies. Taken together,
China and India may be graduating 1.5 million science and engineering
students (12 times the US output), but studies by human resource groups
have shown that three-quarters of these graduated still require
extensive in-house training after being hired. As more
product
development and research resources shift to China and India, it remains
to be seen how ready graduates will be to do the job. (Answer: 3)
Q: Chinese baby goods maker Goodbaby innovates at the rate of one new product development every ____ hours.
1. 12
2. 24
3. 36
4. 48
Since its founding in 1990, Goodbaby has put a premium on innovation
and rapid-fire inventing. The company got its start when the founder
had so many competing bids to buy his new stroller design that he
decided to start a
company and build it himself. Since then, the
company has grabbed 80 percent of the Chinese stroller market, as well
as a 25 percent share of the U.S. market. Goodbaby spends 4 percent of
revenue every year on R&D — well above average for the toy
industry. It operates R&D centers in China, Germany, France, the
UK, the U.S. and Japan. An estimated 400 million households worldwide
use its products. (Answer: 1)
Q: An upstart appliance manufacturer in Asia has designed a clothes washer for the Chinese market that also does what?
1. Removes wrinkles
2. Steams rice
3. Dry cleans silk
4. Washes vegetables
5. Heats the kitchen
Repairmen for China-based appliance maker Haier were getting
numerous calls to unclog the drain pipes on customers’ clothes washer.
They found that customers were using the machines to wash sweet
potatoes. So Haier,
knowing the importance of listening to its
customers, customized its washers for that market by adding a
“vegetable wash” cycle. (Answer: 4)
Q: India-based Aravind Eye Care is so efficient , it still makes a profit even while:
1. Training most of the country’s eye surgeons at no charge
2. Using high-cost, state-of-the-art operating equipment and the most expensive drugs
3. Providing complimentary meals for all patients and their families
4. Performing three out of five cataract surgeries for free
5. Hiring renowned international medical experts at their US/European salaries
Aravind keeps its expensive surgical equipment in operation 24 hours a day, significantly reducing its costper-
surgery. It also focuses doctors exclusively on doing surgery and letting nurses handle pre-op and post-op care,
increasing doctors’ productivity. As a result, the company can give away free surgeries to the poor and still earn a
healthy profit. (Answer: 4)
Q: Which company now owns the prestigious Jaguar and Land Rover lines of automobiles?
1. Cerberus Capital, USA
2. Ford Motor, USA
3. Tata Group, India
4. M+M/Renault, France
5. Mitsubishi Motors, Japan
In March, Indian conglomerate Tata Group announced it was acquiring the famous luxury marquees Jaguar and
Land Rover from Ford Motor Company for $2 billion in cash. It was the latest in a string of M&A deals by Tata,
including the acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus (for $13 billion), acquisition of Tetley Tea ($432
million), and sale of its interest in beverage maker Giaceau to
Coca-Cola for a healthy profit. In businesses as diverse as steel,
cars, food and beverage and technology, Tata Group is developing a
well-known marquee for its own business: as a global player to be
reckoned with. (Answer: 3)
Q: India-based Bajaj Auto is the number-one seller of two-stroke motorbikes in which emerging market
country/countries? Choose all that apply:
1. Sri Lanka
2. Colombia
3. Bangladesh
4. Mexico
5. Peru
6. Egypt
India-based Bajaj is one of the world’s largest makers of small,
affordable motorbikes. It saw plenty of opportunity in the low end of
the market, where buyers had specific needs and design preferences —
but few choices. By 2007, the company had expanded to 50 countries, and
its exports grew by 77percent. And the quality is so good that the
largest companies like Kawasaki are even importing and selling Bajaj
bikes in other markets. Could Bajaj eventually end up competing
head-to-head with Harley Davidson, BMW and Honda? (Answer: All)
Q: Choose the correct order below of the total hours worked per year by white-collar workers in the following
countries — from highest to lowest:
1. Poland, United States, Germany
2. United States, Poland, Germany
3. Poland, Germany, United States
4. Germany, Poland, United States
Poles work an average of 1,984 hours per year, compared to 1,777 for
Americans and 1,362 for Germans. This fierce work ethic is visible
across most fast-growing economies from emerging Europe to emerging
Asia. For example, in China, many workers see part-time opportunities —
like working as street vendors in the evenings and on days off — not
just as a way to add to their incomes, but as a way of gaining valuable
business experience should they want to start a company of their own.
(Answer: 1)
Q: Johnson Electric, the world’s largest independent maker of micromotors, is based in:
1. Dayton, Ohio
2. Seoul, Korea
3. Mannheim, Germany
4. Hong Kong, China
5. Vancouver, Canada
Johnson Electric started out making small motors for motorized toys, but soon expanded to motors for highmargin
products like household appliances. They next began supplying the
German auto industry. Johnson Electric is now the world’s largest
supplier of automotive micromotors, with 45,000 employees worldwide.
Its earnings quadrupled during the second half of the 1990s as the
company recouped its many years of investing in R&D and
manufacturing. (Answer: 4)
Q: The largest acquisition by a Latin American company was made in what country:
1. United States
2. Canada
3. Mexico
4. India
5. Brazil
Brazil-based CVRD, a metals and mining concern, is credited with the
largest corporate acquisition of any Latin American company. CVRD
believes that Western acquisitions are one avenue toward greater global
credibility. According to the company’s director of corporate affairs:
“Being Brazilian is very complicated. We needed to improve our grade,
our rating. The best way to do that was acquiring companies.” So, in
2006, it bought Canadian nickel miner Inco for $19 billion. (Answer: 2)
Q: A typical, 100-person U.S.-based startup will burn through
approximately $20 million in its first year. How much does a similar
Chinese startup spend?
1. $31 million
2. $20 million
3. $10 million
4. $2.5 million
(Answer: 4)