Ira Singhal (IAS Topper Rank-1) explains Ethics Case study Writing & GS4 Preparation?

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• published: 13 Aug 2015
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Q. How can we prepare ethics paper without coaching? because we know what is constitutionally right or wrong but how to put it in answer sheet? Ethics paper is asking about “you”. for example “what does happiness mean to you?” no coaching class can teach you that. Coaching will be detrimental here because even if you don’t belive in something, you’ll try to convenience the examiner about it. For remaining papers, it doesn't matter, they’re factual or textual questions where your internal belief doesn't matter much. You’ve to define yourself, be honest with yourself. There is no right or wrong answer here. You don’t need to practice for that exam, it should come from within. Yes, there is a structure of writing the case study -I’ll discuss that one. example, if you dislike someone, find out why? First you deal with your own negative emotions. Q.How to write case studies in a structure manner? Consider following question asked in Mains GS Paper 4 in 2014 Rameshwar successfully cleared the prestigious civil services examination and was excited about the opportunity that he would get through the civil services to serve the country. However, soon after joining the services, he realized that things are not as rosy as he had imagined. He found a number of malpractices prevailing in the department assigned to him. For example, funds under various schemes and grants were being misappropriated. The official facilities were frequently being used for personal needs by the officers and staff. After some time, he noticed that the process of recruiting the staff was also not up to the mark. Prospective candidates were required to write an examination in which a lot of cheating was going on. Some candidates were provided external help in the examination. Rameshwar brought these incidents to the notice of his seniors. However, he was advised to keep his eyes, ears and mouth shut and ignore all these things which were taking place with the connivance of the higher-ups. Rameshwar felt highly disillusioned and uncomfortable. He comes to you seeking your advice. Indicate various options that you think are available in this situation. How would you help him to evaluate these options and choose the most appropriate path to be adopted? 250 words Approach: You’ve to do a stakeholder’s “pro-con” analysis. Usually most case studies have following stakeholders Person /Victim / Complainant Staff / officers/ bosses organization/ government society at large. You analyse each option from each of above’s perspectives. In Rameshwar case study- only two stakeholders need to be discussed- (1) him (2) organization. Decision: Should Rameshwar quit or not? Stakeholder Pro Con Person (Rameshwar)- pro : Can find better job wherein his talent is properly utilized. Con: May be rendered jobless. Organizatin- Pro: Unhappy employee is unproductive employee, better let him go. Con- Money spent on his training, will be wasted. Difficult to find a new replacement person quickly. Ultimately, you should write the least selfish answer. Q.How to handle questions related to Feminism? It is .Better not to pick up such questions in essay / ethics, if you’ve option to answer another question. Because you don’t know the gender of the evaluator. I discussed last year’s ethics paper with boys and girls, each wrote different answers. Even if the topic is close to your heart, but we may not be able to maintain rationality. Our end goal is to “pass” the exam. Never get overexited over topic. Q.Please prescribe resource / Booklist for Ethics GS Paper 4 Lexicon thin book on ethics I Didn’t really need to prepare much so no clue. Never did a single case study or read any other book. Can’t help much here. I handled Case Studies basis what I had learnt in Business School so there isn't any one technique. Every question requires a different strategy. Some techniques you can google are - PESTEL, Stakeholder Analysis, Value Chain, SWOT and Pro-Con. Venue: SPIPA, Ahmedabad Date: 12 August 2015