ISB - Co2014 Consulting Case Book

Indian School of Business

Consulting Case Book - Co2014

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Table of Contents From the Presidents’ Desk .. ......................................................................................................................... 3 Some Gyaan – about major Consulting Firms!! ............................................................................................ 6 Consulting Club Calendar: 2013-14............................................................................................................. 10 CASE FRAMEWORKS ................................................................................................................................... 12 Profitability Framework .......................................................................................................................... 13 Market Entry Framework ........................................................................................................................ 24 PE Investment Framework ...................................................................................................................... 27 Sourcing/procurement cost reduction framework................................................................................. 28 Value Chain Analysis framework............................................................................................................. 29 Pricing Framework .................................................................................................................................. 31 M&A Framework..................................................................................................................................... 32 General Frameworks ............................................................................................................................... 33 CASE INTERVIEW EXPERIENCES .................................................................................................................. 36 ACCENTURE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING............................................................................................. 37 AT KEARNEY ............................................................................................................................................ 46 AMAZON ................................................................................................................................................. 51 APPLE ...................................................................................................................................................... 52 DELOITTE ................................................................................................................................................. 52 HUL – INTERNAL CONSULTING ............................................................................................................... 64 MCKINSEY & COMPANY .......................................................................................................................... 66 PWC ....................................................................................................................................................... 112 SIEMENS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING ................................................................................................ 119 THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP ...................................................................................................... 123 THE PARTHENON GROUP...................................................................................................................... 166

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From the Presidents’ Desk .. Dear Consulting Club Members, We are pleased to present to you all, the ISB - Class of 2014 Consulting Case Book. This case book has been compiled to provide you with the experience of students of Co2014 who had placement interviews with the consulting firms. The ISB Case Book will give you a flavor of what to expect in the interviews and come October, this book will be the most important preparation material to crack the case interviews. Consulting has been a premier career choice amongst the ISB students. The range of career interests spans a wide spectrum of consulting areas including management consulting, domain/ vertical focused consulting and internal consulting roles within organizations. The ISB Consulting Club is a student association, which seeks to equip the student body with resources to make informed decisions on consulting careers, tools necessary to build successful career in consulting and opportunities to promote extra-curricular excellence. The club anchors these efforts by creating forums for aspirants to learn and imbibe skills and best practices from industry experts and harnessing initiatives that enable students to assimilate the learning into practical application. The club has over 500 members, who come from diverse backgrounds and bring in valuable work experience. Before we move onto the case frameworks and the case interview experiences, we would like to give you all a brief about how the Consulting Club at ISB works. Soon after the President is elected, the club will organize various on-campus events (alumni sessions, expert speaker series), conduct multiple resume review sessions and coordinate case competitions to enable you make the right career choice. Alums from different consulting firms will visit campus frequently and you should feel free to ask any question relevant for your career choice or preparation. This year the club took some new initiatives for its members – formulated a “Mentor-Mentee” model where each club member was assigned to an alumnus (from the consulting industry) so that the club member can reach out to the alumnus for any help

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needed. Also, the club designed a “Functional Champion Model” where club members were told about the roles and firms available in functional consulting (e.g. Risk, HR, IT, Operations consulting etc.). The final interview process consists of two parts – Personal interview and Case interview. It is the latter part where you would find this casebook extremely useful. Cracking a case requires a thorough understanding of core term courses and decent level of familiarity with different case types. Ideally, you should revisit your core term courses before you start with your case preparation. The casebook captures majority of the cases asked during campus recruitments and hence should sufficiently cover all types of cases you can expect in your campus interview. Case preparation is best done in groups. Try forming group with people who are dedicated towards case preparation and have similar class schedule to provide good preparatory time overlap. This preparation would require different effort from different people so don’t benchmark it with number of cases or number of hours you practice cases. The aim of your case preparation should be to feel comfortable solving cases in general and you should stop once you attain that level of comfort (don’t kill yourself with case preparation). Personal interview (PI) is an equally important, if not more important, part of the final recruitment process. Make sure you spend enough time preparing for your PI and are comfortable answering general PI questions. Refer to the PI guide from the consulting club for common PI questions. Finally be prepared for the roller coaster ride and the hectic scenario of Day One. Students with multiple shortlists need to get their priority ranking of the firms’ right and ensure that they prepare in the best possible way for these firms. Please do sleep well before Day One and relax because you can do only so much!! We would like to wish you all the very best for the coming year and we sincerely hope you have a great time here at ISB and from a career point of view move in your area of interest.

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Acknowledgements We both would like to thank the Consulting Club Core Teams from Hyderabad and Mohali: Nikhil Abraham, Anand, Ashok, Mark, Shisher, Sidharth, Saurabh, Ajay, Rohit Singh, Aarushi, Anant, Aditya, Shrestha, Soumyopriyo, Nidhi, Rohit Lohani, Pranav and Shiva; for the work they have put in not only to compile this case book but also for their fantastic efforts to organize various activities for the members of the consulting club. Also, congratulations and special thanks to our fellow batch-mates who got through the most sought after consulting firms and then helped us in compiling the case book. Best Wishes, Nikhil Vij and Nitin Golani Presidents – Consulting Club 2014

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Some Gyaan – about major Consulting Firms!!

McKinsey Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinsey, McKinsey has grown into a global partnership with over 6,000 consultants in more than 80 offices in more than 40 countries around the world. McKinsey serves more than 70% of Fortune magazine’s most admired companies. It serves governments in more than 35 countries and conducts 150 pro bono engagements each year. Clients come to McKinsey for advice on their most critical issues – when they have major strategic, operational or organizational challenges. The firm is comprised of a global network of offices and practices led by a partnership group. Therefore, it is not tied to earnings pressures or to increasing returns to shareholders. A strict professional code of ethics includes putting clients’ interests ahead of McKinsey’s, upholding absolute integrity, keeping client information confidential, telling the truth as they see it, and delivering the best to the client in a costeffective manner. McKinsey is very effective in concentrating the global knowledge and expertise on the topics of interest to their clients. It has also a loyal and important alumni community. As an example, 150 McKinsey alumni have become CEOs of companies with more than one billion dollars in annual revenues. McKinsey is a non-hierarchical organization, where knowledge, insight and the quality of ideas trump seniority. It is a merit-based organization, where advancement and recognition is based on the merit of the individual’s contribution. There is various training programs available and an ongoing, frequent review process tied to a strict "up or out" policy. McKinsey typically recruits for generalist Associate positions, but also Associates for specific functional practices namely Business Technology, Marketing & Sales, Operations and Corporate Finance. In most offices, consultants are required to speak the local language. While the majority of Associates do work as "generalists", with growing seniority – after consultants have been given the chance to explore multiple industries and functions – specialization is a natural progression. Overall, the firm has a culture of enabling consultants to determine their own

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career path, and maintains that with its broad reach across industries, functions and geographies. When hiring, McKinsey seek individuals with leadership potential, integrity, a sharp analytical mind, creativity and the ability to work with people at all levels in an organization. Please Visit: www.mckinsey.com

The Boston Consulting Group BCG was founded in 1963 by Bruce D. Henderson. Since its inception, BCG has grown from Boston to a total of 61 offices in 36 countries (with 13 offices opened since 1999) and approximately 2,900 consulting staff. The core of BCG’s work has been summarized as the “virtuous circle of insight, impact, and trust”. It focuses on helping clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage. In BCG’s view, best practices, benchmarks and off-the-shelf tools are rarely sufficient to create lasting value. Instead, each assignment consists in working with the client towards a tailored solution, accounting for the unique set of opportunities and constraints of the specific situation/background. For a newly hired MBA holder, this in practice means having the satisfaction and excitement of helping a client break new ground: "I use BCG to see the unseen” as says one of its clients' CEO. The low consultants-to-partners ratio and continuous training programs stimulate the out-of the-box thinking. Working closely with the client is a key factor to bring impact into projects, learn how to lead, and not just analyze. As a result of its direct casework done with clients and intensive analyses within competence practices, BCG has been pivotal in establishing that the sources of competitive advantage can be systematically explored and applied. Beyond classics such as the Experience Curve, GrowthShare Matrix or the Time-based Competition theories, 24 books published since 2000 by BCG further contribute to changing how business is done.

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BCG generally encourages young MBA graduates to start as generalists. Many of them start their consulting life – if they wish so - with projects in the industry of their pre-MBA job and have therefore the satisfaction to leverage their previous experience, while learning a brand new job. Typically 20% of BCG consultants serve on social projects across community, urban development, health/social services, nature and arts. Consultants have opportunities to gain further international exposure, either by choosing to work on projects outside the home office, or by asking for a temporary 1-year, or definitive, transfer to another office. Generally, knowledge of the local language of the chosen BCG office is required. Please Visit: www.bcg.com

AT Kearney A.T. Kearney is a global management consulting firm that uses strategic insight, tailored solutions and a collaborative working style to help clients achieve sustainable results. Since 1926, AT Kearney has been trusted advisors on CEO-agenda issues to the world’s leading corporations across all major industries. While A.T. Kearney has been serving Indian clients for over 30 years, they opened offices in New Delhi in 1997 and subsequently, Mumbai in 2004. Both offices have grown rapidly and are outstanding examples of the firm’s growth story in India. Please Visit: www.atkearney.com

The Parthenon Group The Parthenon group is a boutique consulting firm focused in the education sector. The group’s main theme is its belief that there is no silver bullet when it comes to solving clients' business challenges. Customized solutions are the key to solving complex business issues, especially in today's fast-paced, global environment. The firm preaches the right combination of analysis from its myriad of analytical tools, generating actionable insights that deliver impactful results. 8

Please Visit: www.parthenon.com

Accenture Consulting Accenture became public in April 2001, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It has more than 146,000 employees in 49 countries, including approximately 4,500 senior executives. Initially called Andersen Consulting, Accenture was formally established in 1989 when a group of partners from the Consulting division of the various Arthur Andersen firms around the world formed a new organization focused on consulting and technology services related to managing large-scale systems integration and enhancing business processes. Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, identifying new business and technology trends and developing solutions to help clients around the world enter new markets, increase revenues in existing markets, improve operational performance, and deliver products and services more effectively and efficiently. Please Visit: www.accenture.com

Other Major Consulting Firms 

Deloitte – Strategy & Operations, Technology Strategy & Architecture

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Ernst & Young - Performance Advisory

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KPMG - Shared Services & Outsourcing Advisory

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PwC - Strategy

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Oliver Wyman

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PwC’s Diamond & Technology Consulting

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Vector Consulting Group

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Consulting Club Calendar: 2013-14

June 

Elections and Formation of the Core Team

July – September 

Alumni Interaction Sessions; assigning of mentors to each club member (BCG, McKinsey, Deloitte, Parthenon)

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Expert Speaker Sessions (Diamond Consulting, Vector Consulting, AT Kearney, Cognizant, Accenture)

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Coordination of Case Competitions and other B-School Competitions

September – October 

Resume Preparation

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Resume Review Session conducted by McKinsey, BCG and Deloitte

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Functional Champion Model and Handbook

October – December 

Case Study Preparation; through formation of peer groups

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Mock Case and Personal Interviews conducted by alums

November 

Consulting Club Conclave @ ILS 2013; Topic – “Is implementation the real deal in Consulting?”

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Consilium 2013 (a business strategy case competition) – Consulting Club’s flagship event

December Day I (Please look at the updated academic calendar for this)

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January Day II and III (Please look at the updated academic calendar for this) March Post Placement Activities: workshop on excel and PowerPoint training

Please visit the below link to have a detailed insight about the consulting club’s activities \\isbhdata\ISB_Common\Consulting Club 2014 Also, all consulting enthusiasts please join the ISB Consulting Club Facebook group. Here you will find all the alumni from ISB https://www.facebook.com/groups/194867853901398/

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CASE FRAMEWORKS

Note: The following section has been compiled by Nishant Kedia, Vijayalakshmi Vaithianathan, Pranav Mathur and Sarvesh Rathi. This is a concise version of important frameworks that were used by them. However we would recommend you to go through the earlier case books as well to cover all possible case approaches used over the years.

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I - Profitability Framework

Profitability cases are the most common type of cases that you will see. The importance of the case stems from the fact that profit-making is the final goal of every business problem. It is always recommended to think on first principles when you approach a case-problem. Here we will try to run through the anatomy of a profitability case. Breaking profitability down to its simplest components is the key in consulting cases. Dividing profitability into components such as revenue and cost can be helpful in discovering the causes of a less than favorable bottom line. It is to be noted that many a time, the interviewer will not specifically mention the type of the case. The candidate is expected to follow a sequence of logical steps by gathering information (by asking relevant questions). The structure shown above will be useful in exploring how to go about exploring the case. Deconstructing the case-problem 13

The profitability problem is very vast and generally comes in varied dimensions. Thus, scoping of the problem becomes very important in order to make a structured headway in the case. This could be done by asking a sequence of logical questions. The idea behind these questions is two-folds – a) to scope the problem, b) to gather relevant information available with the interviewer. Defining the problem 1. What is the magnitude of loss/profit? Since when has the trend occurred? Also, it is noteworthy to inquire if profits are declining or profitability has been affected. (These are two different things. Profits are merely a difference of Revenues and Cost, while Profitability is a measure of profit margin.

Q2) Ask if gross margin/operating margin or net margin which is facing the decline? Now, going ahead with the framework, we first define profits as ‘Revenues – Cost’. Thus, it is a function of two drivers. We deep dive into one driver and hold on to the second one for the time being. Q3) What is the target of profit / profitability? Any other constraints or secondary objectives (e.g. market share)? Q4) Is there a timeline that the company wants to solve the problem in? Q5) Just to get a background of the company, I would want to know the product mix and revenue streams for the company. Q6) Ask for data on trends of each product and ascertain the product(s) which is leading to the problem. Q7) Is the profitability problem across the industry and trends for the product? If problem is across the industry ask for context • Demand

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-

Macroeconomic factors Changing priority of customers – change in demographics Regular market disruptions

• Supply -

Regulatory – change in policies Increase in fragmentation (high supply, low demand) – leading to commoditizing the product

Q8) Competitive landscape – No of competitors, market share and its trend Define and reiterate the statement: Improve Profits in X product from A% to B% by n years. A brief structure as below would help to landscape the problem –

-

The problem may lie in two areas - revenue and costs. What are the trends of revenues (up or down) and costs (up or down)? Depending on the response, choose which one to go in first and take buy-in of interviewer

REVENUES Revenues are dependent on two factors – 1. Average Price - Thus, if revenue side has been affected then either Average Price across the product mix has decreased (majorly due to competition or company policy). Quantitatively, we can see that Average Price = Price of all the products/Total number of products = Here, the advice is to stick to first principles and be aware of the fact that price of the products in the product mix and total number of products could also affect the revenues. 

Internal factors 15

o Company tried to reduce price to increase revenues but it backfired o Increased price because costs increased o Transfer pricing (may be relevant if problem is limited to a division of a company) 

External Factors o Price war o Other stakeholders demanding more in value chain e.g. – increased distributor margin o Government regulation (price cap) o Customer preference changed. Had to reduce price

Resolution: - Product Differentiation 1. Better features 2. Better brand 3. Better packaging - Innovative Pricing Methods 1. Loss Leader Pricing/ Captive Pricing (Razor Blade), 2. Bundle Pricing - Different methods of pricing: 1. Value based pricing (Premium Pricing & Price Skimming)   

Aspirational value of a similar product Opportunity cost of not getting the product/service It is also a function of the size of the target customer segment. As larger size would allow us to charge lesser than the maximum aspirational value in order to penetrate into the new market

2. Cost plus Pricing   

R&D Costs Manufacturing/servicing/construction costs – Fixed and Variable Costs Break-even costs, WACC

3. Comparable (Parity) Pricing   

Existing products with similar features => Marked Price + Mark-up Existing products with superior features => Marked Price of the existing product + Value of additional feature to the customer If no similar product exists, then consider => NPV of substitute product 16

- Bundling & Cross selling - Consolidation: Acquire other markets players – Charge premium price, Have more units sold. If Product/Service mix – volume has changed, Identify which product’s relative volume increase has led to overall revenue decrease. For that product, following parameters could be assessed – Product Related Problem • Poor product quality • Problematic product mix  Inadequate breadth of product line • Depth of product line • Network effects with other products/complementary products Service Related Problem • Poor service quality • High cost of service • Training adequacy -Curriculum -Frequency of training • Depth and Breadth

2. Volume Ascertain changes in number of units sold. The two potential reasons for a volume decline are – a) Market share decline b) Market size decline a) If Market share declines Market Share = %Aware X %Preference Buyers X %Available X % Time for adoption X %Repeat Purchase • Price o Have these increased? What is the elasticity? 17

• Product o Share of Mind (Likeability)  Poor quality  network effect with other products  substitutes  product mix  better product in market  quality of service o Perception of poor quality but good product  Check perception and preference map  If problem in perceptual map, check for accuracy in positioning  Training adequacy (curriculum or frequency of training)  Remember – The final consumer might not always be the purchase decision maker. There might me other stakeholders involved, for whom we might need to make the product attractive. • Promotion 

Share of Voice (Awareness) – how to increase awareness. Check for failures in each of the following stages.

Segmentation

Target

Build Ad Message

Positioning

Try to think in terms of the customer purchase funnel –

Awareness Knowledge/Perception

Consideration Preference Loyalty Advocacy 18

Decide Medium

Decide Frequency

• Place 

Share of Distribution (Accessibility) – Penetration, trade mix, lead time, distributor margin (agency problem), sales force (less or not trained), Skill and will of sales force

b) If market size declines

Market Size Decline

Due to Demand 

Demand (mature stage in PLC) o Check product life cycle o Demographics change o Product obsolescence o Usage rate gone down Solution – Ansoff Matrix

• Supply (still in growth stage of PLC) 19

Due to Supply

 

Are you the only supplier and constrained by supply? Are the SKUs being offered being liked by consumer? Change in consumer preference for another SKU

Solution: 



Short term  Increase distributor margins  Target new segments Long Term  Launch new SKUs

COSTS Following approaches can be used for cost analysis: a) Fixed costs and variable costs a. In a high fixed cost business there is very high temptation of price wars (Remember MADM fundas). For Fixed Costs, following considerations need be made –   

Capacity Utilization Increasing the scale of business/manufacturing – What causes it? Complex Product: High Costs - What causes it?

Complexity arises from additions to the number of products or activities managed  

Often without increase in overall volume That cannot be added at low marginal cost or minor adjustments in production/staffing

Complexity can arise in numerous parts of cost structure – 





Manufacturing: machine change-over and setup; increased inventory o Starter runs: Machine changeover and setup o Higher inventories: especially if little interchangeability o Additional/longer product lines: often at lower volumes Sales/distribution o Sales force requires in-depth knowledge of full product line o Increased storage facilities, distribution logistics Administration o Tracking and coordination issues 20

Remember it can be a product specific problem or a product mix problem something such as that we are selling more of higher cost product b) Value chain analysis Albeit simpler, FC and VC approach is considered limited in considering the entire set of costs related problem. Here Value Chain analysis helps us to consider all the costs in detailed.

Raw Material

Inbound logistics

warehousing

Manufacturing

Outbound logistics

Distribution

Customers

The value chain depicted above represents a manufacturing setup. However, thinking on first principles one can easily construct a value chain for any business mentioned in the case. For starters, think of Suppliers, Distributors (inbound/outbound), storage/warehouses, end customers (VERY IMPORTANT) c) Costs income statement wise (COGS, SG&A, Interest, Depreciation, Tax) What is the percentage split of costs across these different processes?  

In case one particular head has highest % say 50% or more then you can ask the interviewer that you would want to look at this head to start with. Many a time there might not be one major head and there could be two heads with 30%-30%split. In these cases you’ll need to explore both heads and also see that the profitability decline could be partly because of one and partly because of another.

Exploring each head one by one In case of manufacturing Industry, • Raw Material Cost: o Start by asking type of good (Perishable/durable)? o Where does Competitor source from – does it get better prices? o If says same price, ask about efficiency of utilization – conversion ratio/wastage/efficiency for us. If efficiency is improved => less RM lead to reduced costs o If the problem is higher price or higher overall procurement cost then: Resolutions

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

 







Specification o Substitution (Different Raw Material) o Cheaper material - indigenization/rationalization? Quantity o Value engineering (Use lesser Raw Material) Per unit price o Same Supplier  Better Negotiation/Bulk Order – Can you provide something in return for a better price?  Time of Sourcing (Opportunistic) – Buying when prices are low o Alternate supplier  Currency Hedging – Use forwards/futures if prices are expected to rise. Also use call or put options for the variable part of future  Standardization of Parts– ordering more of same type of good  Backward Integration  Cheaper supplier - china etc? Inbound Logistics: o Do you and your competitor use the same Mode of Transportation? o Do you incur the same rates and same overall cost? o Explore Distance Travelled – could be that the rates are same but your factory is further away from the supplier base. o Are you ordering at the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) – Trade of between Set up cost, holding cost and expected demand Production/Operations o Explore Labour cost and efficiency vis-a-vis competitor. o Inventory Cost (EOQ) o Overheads such as Electricity/Rent same or higher? o Machine Utilization: % Downtime - High?  Machine broken? Maintenance/spare cost  Power outage?  Labour unavailability?  Total availability will be a function of (% of time labour, % time machine available, % Idle time) o Resolution – additional dimensions:  Outsource  Economies of Scale/Learning curve  Labour cost arbitrage Distribution/Outbound Logistics: 22







 Explore same as (Inbound) Post Sales Cost: o Installation o Service or Warranty cost? Gross margin is same but Operating margin has reduced: o Marketing & Administration – SG&A o R&D cost o Restructuring cost o Licensing and regulatory costs If NOPAT is down o Depreciation & Amortization o Interest Expense o Tax rates – which geographies (VAT) does our company operate in? o Inventory Write off o Gains/losses or external investments o Loss due to some catastrophic event.

SUMMARY Define the problem by asking the following questions – 1. What is the magnitude of the profit/loss? 2. Since when is the issue happening? 3. Is it in any particular geography or is it nationwide? 4. What is the profit/loss of the product mix? 5. What is the target profitability? 6. What is the target time frame? You may ask other questions as well depending on the problem type. Once you get a grip of the problem start structuring your analysis as indicated below – 1. Market –  

How is the market growing? Industry wide or company specific issue

2. Customer –

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

Segment customers

3. Competitors 

Segment competitors

Now proceed with the framework outlined above to identify the root cause of the problem

II - Market Entry Framework Market entry cases can be quite tricky if the basic factors such as basis of entry, company’s As-Is position etc. are not understood properly. This framework broadly outlines the major considerations in a market entry case. Different portions of the framework may be important for different problems depending on case in point. A comprehensive analysis includes the following: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Situation Analysis Value chain Analysis Industry Attractiveness Entry Strategy

1. Situation Analysis Situation Analysis

Motive - Profit, Market Share, geographic expansion?

Current business/ products

Expectation Current Customers

- Target profit, market share, geogrpahy etc. - Which part of value chain? - Timeline?

If the situation analysis culminates into finding which part of value chain is appropriate for entry, value chain analysis needs to be done. 24

2. Value Chain analysis

Parameters

Sourcing

Manufacturing

Distribution

After sales services

Market Size Sales Growth Profitability Competition Customers Technology/skills Investment required Value of Synergy  That part of value chain must be chosen which maximizes profits of the firm. It must be in-line with the firm’s primary objective 3. Industry Attractiveness Once the firm’s objective and its role in the market entry is understood it is essential to evaluate the industry attractiveness. It has two major components:  Fundamental Attractiveness – Is the industry attractive irrespective of the firm’s current business, products, customers, performance etc.?  Competitive positioning – How is the firm positioned to perform in the industry by virtue of its present status?

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Industry Attractiveness Fundamental Attractivenss

Competitive Positioning Revenue Synergies

Market

- Cross selling existing products to new segment

- Size, Growth, Profitability Industry

- Cross selling new producs to existing customer segment

- Competitors

- Effect of increased product quality (if any) on pricing and volume Cost Synergies

- Customers

- Value Chain Entry Barriers

- Economies of scale

- Regulation

- Sourcing/ Distribution benefits

- Distribution

Technological benefits

- Investment

- Savings in SG&A

- Technology

- Consolidation benefits

- Brand Loyalty

- Value chain integration benefits (upstream/downstream)

Fundamental Attractiveness

Increase in either of the parameters compensates for the decrease in the other for a threshold level of attractiveness. A curve can be plotted as shown below:

Enter

Do not enter

Competitive Positioning

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4. Entry Strategy

Entry Strategy

Mode of Entry

Resources Required

- Greenfield

- Financing

- Franchise

- Technology

-M&A

- Manpower

- Joint Venture

Mode of entry can be evaluated using the following parameters: Parameters Financial

Greenfield

Franchise

M&A

JV

Profits Investment Operational Management Control Expertize Cultural fit Strategic Vision Risks Lock-in Coordination Cross effects Threat of competition

III - PE Investment Framework This section discusses investment into a business for financial gain. Whenever asked to evaluate an investment it is essential to understand the objective first.

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 Why? – Objective of investment: direct return from investment, incentives in the current business, synergies, etc.  What? – What is the target rate of return from investment  When? – Timeline of investment Once the expectation setting is done, rationale to make an investment can be evaluated as follows:

Industry Attractiveness

Target's Potential

Sources of Return

•Market Size and growth •Profitability •Competition •Customers & Suppliers •Substitutes •Entry barriers •Financial •Revenues, revenue growth •Profits, profit growth •Debt/Equity •Price per share/ Earnings per share (P/E) • Operational •Products & Services •Capabilities - Sourcing, manufacturing technology, distribution, IP etc. • Management •Vision •Skill

• Value of control - Operational Efficiency (Value chain analysis) • Synergy (Revenue & Costs) with existing investments • Other benefits - Tax breaks, regulatory reliefs etc.

Only if the industry is attractive, target has high potential and expected return from the investment (from all sources) exceed target ROI, investment is justified.

IV - Sourcing/procurement cost reduction framework The following framework can be used to analyze increasing sourcing costs and make recommendations for reducing the same: 28

Sourcing costs RM Costs

Transportation costs

Supply

Demand

- Reduce Wastage

- Price (Negotiation, LTC/ futures etc.)

- Operational

Network optimization

- Price - Negotiation - Long term/ future

improvement (value

contracts

- Mode of transport

chain analysis)

- Volume discounts

- Supplier rationalization

- Suppliers

- Substitutes

- Supplier rationalization (alternate suppliers, consolidation etc.)

- Change specification

- Efficiency of transport (TAT, load factor, quantity transported per trip etc.)

- raw material specs

- finished product specs

- Backward integration

V - Value Chain Analysis framework Value chain analysis is an extremely useful tool to solve many business problems. The basic idea here is to understand different parts of the value chain and look for abnormalities/inefficiencies at each leg of the value chain. A general value chain structure is as follows (some parts may not be relevant for certain industries):

Demand Forecasting

Sourcing

Warehous ing

Logistics (inbound)

Manufact uring

Logistics (outbound)

Distributi on

After Sales service

A few important questions to ask under each part of the value chain will result in insights for problem solving: 29

Demand Forecasting  How volatile is demand?  What is the method used for high demand and high volatility raw materials?  Recommendations – Careful estimation of raw material quantities for high profit margin and high variability products Sourcing  Refer sourcing framework Warehousing      

Are warehousing costs significantly higher than the industry average? Warehouse capacity sufficient? Is warehouse optimally utilized? Visibility of SKUs? Automated vs Manual operations Recommendations – apply EOQ to reduce inventory costs, manpower rationalization, layout modifications etc.

Manufacturing  Benchmark all costs with industry average o Direct Labour o Direct Material o Overheads  Reason for higher costs? o Process (process parameters, sequence of operations, utilization etc.) o People (Incentives, skill, motivation etc.) o Technology (obsolete, inefficient etc.)  Recommendations – Make vs buy (outsource?), Consolidate manufacturing capacity (Economies of Scale and Scope), upgrade technology, people management and training, process redesign etc. Logistics     

Benchmark with industry average Price (Negotiation, LTC/ futures etc.) Network optimization Supplier rationalization (consolidation, alternate suppliers etc.) Mode of transport 30

 Efficiency of transport (TAT, load factor, quantity transported per trip etc.) Distribution  Penetration (no of distributors)  Shelf space (% of own items vs % of other’s items)  Recommendation – look at distributor commission structure (push), discount schemes (pull), expand distributor network etc. After Sales Service     

Service time, quality and cost Variety of services Accessibility/Availability Benchmark with industry average Recommendations – improve the metric (time, cost and quality) which is most important to the customer, open more service centers, relocate centers, acquire other service centers, outsource etc.

VI - Pricing Framework

Product Pricing Cost Plus

Value Based

Competitive

Defining the problem Start with the basic questions on the product, company, customers. Ask specific questions on the product like – 1. Differentiated or Commodity product 2. Who is the consumer and who is the customers (customer and consumer can be different) 3. Is it a luxury product or a necessity?

31

Once you understand the nature of the product, then try to assess what kind of pricing methodology would work best (in any case you should price the product based on all the methods and give your final recommendation based on a price range based on the three methods) Product type:

Standard/Commoditized product Pricing Methodology: Cost Plus

Competitive

Differentiated product Value Based

Tips: 1. Many pricing problems are masked ‘market size’ estimation problems. When the conversation goes in that direction, ensure you specify that you’d calculate the market size before pricing the product 2. There’s no single price – Always offer a price range. Mentioning the sensitivity metrics in calculations would fetch additional brownie points. 3. Think about competitive reaction in the market 4. Topics like bundling and other innovative prices (discount scheme etc.) will fetch brownie points 5. Price the product based on consumer psychology (for example - use $5.99 as the price to indicate that consumers are more willing to buy at $5.99 instead of $6)

VII - M&A Framework The following are the main steps to evaluate a case which for an acquisition: 

 

What is the need for acquisition o Type 1: If there are operational needs – revenue increase/ cost decrease explore other than M&A options also o Type 2: The other reason could be deployment of capital – if it is the case, explore alternatives for investment in the decision making process What are the list of businesses which are available for acquisition – In case of Type 2, it can be further classified as related businesses and non related businesses Acquisitions are like make or buy – always question what would it cost to build the business in-house v/s acquiring it

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









List down some criteria to select the businesses to acquire and rank them. This approach can be used either when there are multiple businesses to select from or same business but different companies to select from. Some criteria could be as follows: o Synergies from costs o Synergies from customers in terms of revenue – you can add a wow factor that you would generally be cautious here since revenue synergies are hard to materialize o Level of competition o Extension of existing strengths into the new business o Use of existing competitive advantage o Risks in the business Compute the net benefit of such acquisition based on the costs incurred to acquire them v/s the potential synergies that could be realized. Remember to mention that estimating synergies is a tricky business (this is the wow factor here) Once you have identified the synergies you would like to focus on the valuation o Discounted cash flows method o Market multiple method (has the issues associated being a historical number and also the possibility of being inflated) The next thing that you would want to focus on is how you plan to finance the acquisition o Finance acquisition through stock – to be used when the acquiring company stock is overvalued o Finance acquisition through cash (a combination of equity and debt) - to be used when the acquiring company stock is undervalued o Finance acquisition through both stock and cash The next step would be to perform the due diligence and then consummate the transaction.

VIII - General Frameworks Prioritization Matrix (2 by 2’s): Can be used to evaluate any project/R&D activity. There are number of ways to do the same a few are outlined below –

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Guess Estimates: Do not neglect this section and be thoroughly prepared with the same. A guess estimate can be asked in multiple ways, even while solving a normal profitability case. Once you have completed the guess-estimate then try to include the following to make your analysis much richer – a. Verification of data – Identify a few sources from where you can get the right numbers to further refine your estimate. b. Sensitivity Analysis – Conduct a basic sensitivity analysis and identify the most critical assumptions you made. Such an extended analysis shows that you have thought through all the assumptions made and are not arbitrarily using any number to estimate. Although the numbers do not matter here but having a basic sense of the numbers used and identifying the potential areas of over/under estimating helps a lot.

Sales Force Effectiveness: You may use this to identify the reason for low sales force output.

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Sales Force Effectiveness

Motivational

Monetary

Efforts/Skills

Non-Monetary

Training

Salary

Perks

Recruitment

Incentives

Career/Growth

Organization Structure

Recognition/Awards

Sourcing Strategy: Such types of cases are relatively rare however can be solved using a standard approach outlined below – Sourcing Strategy

What to source

How much to source

Whom to source from

How to Source

Mode of transport

Others

Same Raw Material sourced

Wastages

Backward Integrate

Centralized

Govt

Alternate Raw Material

Process redesign

Current Suppliers

De-Centralized

Macro trends

Quantity Bundling

New Suppliers

35

CASE INTERVIEW EXPERIENCES

36

ACCENTURE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

Aditya Shrivastava Accenture Management Consulting Partner from Operations Practice

First 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)

Introduction Why Consulting & Why AMC Learning from ISB Past Work Experience Biggest Strength What went Right  Was very thorough with my resume and hence was able to handle questions on projects that had undertaken. - What Went Wrong  I was asked to defend my GPA, specifically why I was not in the top 10 % considering I wanted to be in consulting. Wasn’t prepared for the question and mumbled a very unconvincing answer Case question (as narrated by the It was a short case, probably to check my comfort level with interviewer) numbers and understanding of operations. Questions- A packaged water manufacturer wants to reduce the cost at which plastic bottles are reduced. How would you approach the problem How did you define the scope of the  Clarified the focus of the case – Only cost reduction in case plastic bottle or I needed to look at other aspects as well.  Clarified what was the client’s expectation for the reduction. Ball park figure mentioned was 5-7 % Case Analysis presented by you



Framework for analysis 1. Reduce costs by rationalizing suppliers 2. Cost reduction from modified design 3. Cost reduction by predicting demand betterreducing inventory costs for client & supplier

Final recommendation / summary



On cross questioning I realized that the client was procuring 1000 bottles from 10 different suppliers at the same rate. Suggested reducing the number of suppliers to 2-3. Economies of scale would help in reduction of cost for the supplier, a percentage of which can be transferred to the client. 1. Interviewer mentioned that for the entire supplier the entire capacity was occupied, to 37

increase volume of client procured bottles the suppliers would have to let go of other clients. How will our client gain the reduction  Mentioned 3-4 improvements that will lead to reduction in cost 1- Reduction in number of set up times, 2- an injection/ blow molding toll with a larger number of slots can be used to reduce cycle times per bottle , 3- Reduction in overall time spent in booking orders, 4- Delivery to reduced number of customers will lead to a reduction in transportation cost 2. Interviewer then asked how I will select 2-3 suppliers from the existing 10 and why 2-3 instead of 1.  Drew a matrix on which each supplier can be rated. Had used 3-4 performance criteria ( do not exactly remember)  Mentioned the risks associated with keeping a single supplier and also the fact that keeping 2-3 supplier allows us to play one supplier against the other 3. For Cost reduction by Design – I mentioned that the design of the bottle can be changed to reduce the material required per bottle and also to improve the cycle times. Suggested changing the raw material or using a blend of recycled and fresh polymers 4. Suggested improving the efficiency of demand prediction and a closer collaboration between client and its supplier. Implementation of Dynamic demand tracking system so that the supplier knows when to expect order and can accordingly plan his inventory At every stage the interviewer was asking me to estimate what percentage reduction would I be able to achieve with each of the steps and at the end he gave me fictional numbers asking me to calculate overall reduction What do you think went right while I was able to keep the interviewer engaged throughout the solving the case? analysis. What do you think could have been While calculating the overall reduction I missed the reduction done better while solving the case? which can be obtained by the reduction in set up times as I had not written it down in my framework Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to Round 2

38

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)

Aditya Shrivastava Accenture Management Consulting Amit – Engagement Manager Operations Practice Second 1. Introduction 2. About my past work experience 3. Why I move from R&D to a B-School and why do I want to join consulting 4. Details of all my Patents – expected business , commercialized or not etc -

What went Right  Had prepared a story about how my career has transitioned till date - What Went Wrong  Nothing that I can point out Case question (as narrated by the Turnaround strategy for Nokia’s Mobile devices division (Pre interviewer) Microsoft Acquisition). The interviewer wanted a bird’s eye view of the strategy, didn’t wasn’t me to go into the details How did you define the scope of the  I mentioned upfront that Nokia should look at itself as a case company with expertise in consumer electronics and not just as a mobile manufacturer Case Analysis presented by you  Framework for analysis 1. Identification of Consumer Preference 2. Product Development 3. Operations Strategy 4. Marketing Strategy 5. Organization Structure Final recommendation / summary 1. Mentioned the steps the company can take to identify how consumers interact with personal electronic devices and then identify what would be required in the market in the next 2-3 years. Suggested methods such as Conjoint, Focus group discussions etc for the same 2. Suggest formation of product specific PD teams with broad based expertise to accelerate product development. Also mentioned that the teams should keep a close watch on patent filings by Samsung and Apple to identify the direction the two major players next gen products. 3. Identification of outsourced manufacturers who have excess capacity to ensure the company gets competitive prices. Also excess capacity would ensure that production can be scaled up on short notice 4. Marketing Strategy- Suggested target marketing via internet and test marketing of products in limited geographies to ensure that a lemon is not marketed 39

heavily. Also test marketing will help in identifying the best way to push the product into the different markets 5. Organization Structure- Mentioned that the organization should be centered on PD groups to ensure they get complete support and have to face least resistance. This would also be a method of signaling to other employees about what is critical for Nokia What do you think went right while Was able to leverage my previous experience in product solving the case? development and launch to create a frame work after the framework it was pretty easy to continue as it was mostly faff and no cross questioning What do you think could have been Should have touched on Android V/S Windows mobile and the done better while solving the case? pros and cons of going with one or the other. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to Round 3



Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been

Aditya Shrivastava Accenture Management Consulting Jasjit Parmar – HR Manager Operations Partner ( Not the one who interviewed my in the first round) Third Round 1. Introduction 2. Defend your GPA 3. Why Accenture 4. What was my contribution to Consilium 5. Why was I under pressure / why do you look under pressure - What went Right  Defended my GPA pretty well,  Knew multiple alums in Accenture and hence when they were trying to push me I could use one of them as an example for why I wanted to join Accenture - What Went Wrong  It was a classic good cop-bad cop interview to create a stressful situation and at one point in time I became very serious. NA NA NA NA NA NA 40

done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third)

Was made an offer

Maan Bodawala Accenture Management Consulting Not a partner First

Personal interview questions (please Apart from general questions like walk me through your resume, write the questions only) strengths, Why consulting, etc was asked Example of conflict resolution, Team support and Team Leadership experience. Comments on the PI rounds (please Was confident, which was the most important thing. On why elaborate on what went right and consulting, I provided a really rosy picture as to the greatness of what could have been done better) the role, like learning, ambition, networking etc. The interview through agreed informed me a lot of downsides, like work life balance, commitment and I was required to defend why I was a suitable candidate to handle them. Case question (as narrated by the Relevant to my experience, Possible reason why an Oil & Gas / interviewer) Power plant is delayed. How did you define the scope of the Project Management case Case Analysis presented by you Value chain Basis: Actual Bidding phase, Planning, Engineering, Procurement: Technical/Commercial, Manufacturing & monitoring, Quality Checks, Logistics, Construction, Pre commissioning, Commissioning and Final Testing before actual startup. Took the interviewer through all reasons of delay and multiple reasons for checks and corrections if any Final recommendation / summary The interviewer was very pleased, No cross questions asked. What do you think went right while Elaborate and thorough knowledge of your previous industry/ solving the case? function a must. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Selected for Round 2

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)

Maan Bodawala Accenture Management Consulting Partner Second General Questions. Experience and resume related. Also inquired about vertical/horizontal preferences at Accenture and why. By the 3rd question told me that there was little energy level visible. I apologized and responded that I am generally calm and soft spoken, which may be why the interviewer may feel that I am showing lesser energy. Also told him that there were some 41

conflict placement scheduling concerns which I have been managing for the past 2 hrs, which may have an impact Case question (as narrated by the Relevant to my experience, The client is a Water treatment EPC interviewer) company, and has grown exponentially in the last 3 years. But the organization is now facing profitability concerns, they seek your help. How did you define the scope of the Profitability framework : Project Management case Case Analysis presented by you Me: Reiterated to the interviewer that though the revenues are growing, the profitability lowering means that the costs are rising at a much faster rate. Interviewer : Obviously, Me: I would like to analysis the costing increase now and I can do the same in 2 methods: 1) The traditions Income statement method 2) The Value chain method Also I would like to add that I would prefer analyzing the value chain as it would provide a more thorough analysis. Interviewer: Asked what matrix I would use to evaluate which component is impacting the costing most. Me: I would firstly use industry Benchmarks, followed by the traditional costing when the company was showing acceptable profitability. Interviewer: Anything else. Me: Thought about some time, could not come up with an answer. Interviewer: Ok I would really prefer the conventional financial statement analysis but let’s proceed with the value chain one. Me: I can work even with a financial statement analysis, if u want. Interviewer: No proceed with Value chain. Me: Value chain Basis: Actual Bidding phase, Planning, Engineering, Procurement: Technical/Commercial, Manufacturing & monitoring, Quality Checks, Logistics, Construction, Pre commissioning, Commissioning and Final Testing before handing over to client. Went about describing potential costing reasons in each Interviewer: Please stop focus on the question statement please. Me: I apologize, will constraint my analysis of what possible increments possible due to work increments and would start by focusing on various constraints and process de optimization due to increasing requirements. Interviewer: Let me tell u that the main reason for cost increase was Procurement and construction costs, why is that so. Me: Started by mentioning manpower and process constraints. Interview: Don’t use generic terms, please tell me what is cost basically Me: Was taken aback. Responded Unit cost * Volume Quantity. 42

Interviewer: Tell me why there is an increase in both in this case. Me: Quality concerns, wastage, theft and inventory mismanagement at plant level. Interviewer: Anything else. Me: Management issues, coordination between different departments might not be proper increasing costing and quantity. Interviewer: Anything else that may impact both. Unit cost & Quantity Me: Blank.. Could not come up with anything new. Told maybe the contractual obligations may change in process, or initial mistakes while bidding. Interviewer: the actual reason was that the engineering department had become constraint: the process was that the HOD would review each document before application, hence a huge delay was there and also some incorrect drawings were approved. Me: I already stated quality, and had engineering as a component of my value chain, but I understand that the costing in procurement and construction may go up due to engineering issues without an impact on engineering costs directly. Should I summaries Interviewer: Not required Final recommendation / summary The interviewer was very specific in what he wanted. Be as thorough as possible. What do you think went right while Pointed out the major issues. solving the case? What do you think could have been I felt nervous when after many days of case prep wasn’t able to done better while solving the case? get the solution the interviewer wanted. Outcome of the interview (optional) Selected for Round 3


Maan Bodawala Accenture Manoj - Senior partner 3rd

Personal interview questions (please Tell us about form extracurricular achievements write the questions only) Why is Microsoft looking to hire a CEO from outside Microsoft, Why is there inflation in India, What makes a company truly innovative, Which is the most innovative company according to you and Why. Comments on the PI rounds (please Was confident, Answered everything to the point, was able to elaborate on what went right and defend cross questions like why does Microsoft truly require what could have been done better) people from none IT backgrounds, and if FIIs & FDIs are the main reason for inflation why inflation is lesser in china. Case question (as narrated by the None 43

interviewer) How did you define the scope of the None case Case Analysis presented by you None Final recommendation / summary The interviewer was very pleased; by the middle of the interview only I could sense an FIF but still remained calm and composed. What do you think went right while Smiled when was asked the inflation question, the interviewers solving the case? were intrigued, asked me why I smiled and I calmly responded that I did not expect this question. The fact I was able to nail the same showed I was able to manage some sort of ambiguity. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Made an offer



Case question (as narrated by the interviewer)

How did you define the scope of the case

Kushagra Gupta Accenture Management Consulting Kaustubh Verma, Manager Round 1 Kaustubh started out with the usual PI questions: 1. Walk me through your resume. 2. Why consulting? 3. You must have shortlists from other consulting firms. Why Accenture? 4. How many consultants currently work at Accenture? Who is our CEO? This was my first interview of the day and it was already running a bit late so my responses were not quite up to the mark. I felt I answered questions 1-3 quite well (tip: personalize your why consulting/ why this firm responses). I had not read up on Accenture so did not know answers to question 4. I told Kaustubh so that I did not know. It is better to honestly admit if you don’t know something. Our client is family-owned Indian conglomerate. Suppose that they have insider knowledge that a scientist has developed a technology that provides an eternal source of energy to any device that it is plugged to. You are called in to advise the client on how he can benefit from this opportunity. I started out by asking the standard questions of what our client was currently into (food and electronics) and what was the nature of this new invention (it provided a portable unlimited power source to any device it was connected to). I hypothised that our client could partner with the scientist to take this new technology to market and build power devices that encapsulate 44

this technology. However, Kaustubh said that the scientist plans to make this technology open source so that anyone in the world would be able to make devices based on this technology. I now deduced that the scope of the problem was once this technology becomes freely available, how could our client take advantage of the new conditions. Case Analysis presented by you I split the impact into two groups: 1. Supply of energy: There would be a need to manufacture devices to harness this new technology. Particularly, I analyzed larger power supplier like power generation plants, etc. Our client could make products to deliver this new technology for mass power generation. Kaustubh mentioned here that this new technology could be plugged into anything such as cars, etc. So I suggested our client could look at broad spectrum of energy products (from mass-production to mobile). 2. Demand for energy: With energy becoming essentially free, demand for electrical and electronics would go through the roof, especially in developing economies such as India and China. In parallel, demand for oil would go down and hence Gulf economies would be affected. I suggested that our client could become a trader for goods between both country blocs. They could also ramp up their capacity for electronics to sell to this growing demand from India and China. Final recommendation / summary Ramp up capacity to produce electronics for sales in India and China in the wake of exponential growth in demand created by this new invention. What do you think went right while This case was not a typical consulting case and required intuitive solving the case? thinking and not frameworks. I think I asked the correct questions to narrow down the scope and then outlined various impacts and how our client could benefit from them. The case was more like a discussion with Kaustubh guiding me on which options he wanted me to analyze in depth. What do you think could have been I feel that I could have been more structured in exploring options done better while solving the case? for the impact and Kaustubh had to guide me a bit to come to the demand side impact and related recommendations. Outcome of the interview (optional) Advanced to Round 2, backed out of the process after receiving an offer from another firm.

45

AT KEARNEY Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

Pratheek Hegde A T Kearney Ayushman, Partner


Pratheek Hegde A T Kearney Shiv Shivaraman, Partner

First He focused mostly on my extracurricular activities. I had mentioned my NCC experience, flying and shooting there in detail. He found it interesting and we had a long chat about it. Comments on the PI rounds (please Build a connect with the interviewer during PI. It really helps to elaborate on what went right and break the ice and build a rapport. what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the A chemicals manufacturer has hired you to audit the company’s interviewer) performance and provide a long term strategy How did you define the scope of the This was one of the cases which required quick on the spot case thinking and altering the framework. After few scoping questions I realized he was looking for me to evaluate its entire value chain. Case Analysis presented by you I laid out a detailed value chain and asked questions about each activity. I zeroed in on manufacturing and used the profitability framework. Through the analysis it turned out that the company had an old plant and was fully depreciated. It did not have any debt on the books. Thus it was recording profits quarter on quarter for the last 2 years. Volume of its sales had stagnated since capacity was fully used. Final recommendation / summary Invest in a new plant. The profit is a symptom rather than a result. The actual profit by including interest payments and dep. Was lower. What do you think went right while He liked my value chain and the way I used the profitability solving the case? framework. He was impressed by the way I related operations to the financial statements What do you think could have been Nothing really done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to next round

2nd He started the interview with a formal chat and we spoke about Bangalore and the university. (he was from the same university as I was in BE) I had built a very good rapport with him during the dinner that ATK held for shortlisted candidates. He was a 46

mech. Engineer and was very passionate about cars. We spoke for nearly 30 mins on various mechanisms and how TATA nano had lost its way. Comments on the PI rounds (please Build a connect. elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the A simple guestimate question on number of 4 wheelers in India interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you It was simple to layout a structure and plug in numbers. I think he was checking my speed with complicated numbers. I kept my cool and calculated till the last step. Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while My knowledge about the sector helped here. solving the case? What do you think could have been Nothing really done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to next round

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case

Pratheek Hegde AT Kearney Nithin, Principal 3rd No PI

Entry strategy for a global auto client to India

I laid out the standard entry framework. He quickly advised me to be creative and asked for a different approach. He said make it more like a conversation. Case Analysis presented by you I started by analyzing the strengths of the client and studied their products. He asked me to concentrate on the implementation part of the strategy. This was a long interview and at times I was not sure what he was looking for. Finally when I came to dealer development and establishment of service centers he asked me to stop. Final recommendation / summary He was testing my domain knowledge and wanted to gauge how much I know about my sector. What do you think went right while Nothing solving the case? What do you think could have been I think this was the worst interview of the lot. He was looking for 47



Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case

Case Analysis presented by you

a crisp and quick analysis. I dragged it too much into details which he was not interested in. Offer made

Kushal Patwardhan AT Kearney Nitin Chandra (Principal) First   

Tell me about yourself Tell me something that's not on the resume Tell me 2 of your biggest accomplishments one from personal life and one from professional I had prepared answers for all PI questions so it went very smoothly. Also had met Nitin during informal session so was able to connect well. A small car manufacturer is currently importing 100% of their cars from Korea. They're thinking about moving manufacturing to India. How should they decide? Started with asking timeline, budget constraints, etc. I asked about Motivations and expectations. He confirmed the motivations as purely profits and strategically it did not matter where manufacturing happened. Expectation was 20% ROI It was a very simple MADM problem. Costs of importing from Korea Production cost : $6500 Import logistic: $500 Import duties: $500 Cost of making in India Production cost: $5500 Any other costs savings ? (inventory etc) .. was asked to ignore all other costs. Savings per car = $7500-$5500= $2000 Initial investment required = $3 million Breakeven period = 3mill/ 2000 = 150,000 units Projected sales per year 50,000 Break even period = 150000/50000 = 3 years ROI = (Using rule of 72) 72/3 = 24% Since ROI required is greater than 20% . Exceeds expectations. He then asked me to talk about risks. I used SCOR framework from MRGO elective course to list 48

Supply risks- Raw material, Component supplier availability in India . Costs of production in India rising which would reduce $2000 savings. Production risks- Labor , infrastructure, political disruptions ,etc ( faced by Tata motors, Maruti n all). Costs rising over next few years. Demand risk - recession, possibility of projected demand not being realized, delaying the payback and reducing ROI Final recommendation / summary

Client's expectations of ROI are satisfied by this investment. Recommendation is to go ahead with these investments after doing Sensitivity analysis for each cost component and other risks mentioned. What do you think went right while Math was easy, I asked motivation and expectations upfront solving the case? which helped. Classes taken in Ops helped build a risk assessment framework which was liked by interviewer. What do you think could have been Made the mistake of asking price of car (which was irrelevant to done better while solving the case? the calculation) I forgot how to calculate ROI!! Interviewer had to hint me that payback period means that investment is doubled. Then I realized that rule of 72 should be used. It was my first interview of the day so was nervous and fumbled on an otherwise simple case. Outcome of the interview (optional) I was told to wait and immediately meet a partner


Kushal Patwardhan AT Kearney Shiv Shivaraman (Partner)

Second  Tell me about yourself  Why did you come back to India?  Why ATK? Comments on the PI rounds (please PI questions I had prepared well so had no trouble there. I had a elaborate on what went right and really nice discussion with Shiv. He had also worked in HVAC what could have been done better) consulting so we talked a bit about that. Case question (as narrated by the Estimate the market size for small car in India in 2020 interviewer) How did you define the scope of the Just had to establish what a small car is. he said priced between case 3lakh - 5 lakh Case Analysis presented by you This is a standard guesstimate. I don't remember all numbers but this is how i went about it 1. No .of Households in india in 2020 ~ 300mill 2. Income distribution (told me to assume more or less same as today) 160 million - <1.5lakh per annum 49

80 million - 1.5 - 3.5 lakh per annum 50 million - 3.5 -17.5 lakh 5 million - 17.5 lakh + Then I calculated cost of buying a car per year EMI for a 3lakh car for 5 year loan @12% interest rate = approximately 3lakh*1.5 / 5 years ~ 1 lakh Considering that car is not a primary need, it cannot be more than 1/5th of annual spending. So only families with more than 5 lakh income can afford it. This eliminated 240 million families, leaving us with 55 million. Then with help of Shiv I calculated the penetration, Preference for small cars (based on substitute effect of bikes and luxury cars) etc and arrived at some number. He was happy with that. Final recommendation / summary

Arrived at car market by multiplying volume by avg. price provided by interviewer What do you think went right while I had done similar guess estimates so this wasn't too difficult. solving the case? What do you think could have been I forgot substitution effect (higher income people will prefer done better while solving the case? luxury cars). Shiv had to nudge me to make me remember that Outcome of the interview (optional) After the interviews I was called back in and asked point blank about other shortlists and my pecking order of companies. I truthfully told them that ATK was 3rd on my priority (probably a bad idea) Not shortlisted for other rounds although I think the interviews had gone well.

50

AMAZON Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

Daniel Fernandez Amazon – BDM Amazon Associates Program

5 rounds in total Your biggest achievement professionally? One time when your POV was different from your manager and you were right/wrong. Most challenging situation at work. Comments on the PI rounds (please Know the Amazon core values, each interview is designed to test elaborate on what went right and your outlook and the fitment. Last round can be a stress what could have been done better) interview, important to stay calm as the interviewer is likely from a non-related background and may not be able to relate to your work or achievements. Case question (as narrated by the Suppose Dance India Dance would like to sign up as an affiliate interviewer) for the Amazon Associates program. How would you value the deal and how would you structure it? A large upstream provider which accounts for 30% of your overall traffic in the Associates Program has started sending you fraudulent traffic. What do you do? Do you suspend his account immediately and lose 30% of your traffic or find a way to keep him on. You’re starting the Amazon Associates Program in India. How do you decide which partner to prioritize and try and sign up first? How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while Cases in all rounds had an ethical contention to it – it really solving the case? helped knowing the Amazon core values and doing the right thing. Ask yourself, what would Jeff Bezos do? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)

51

APPLE Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

Vijay Bansal Apple – SDM Team Senior Execs from SDM Team Singapore First & Second Why do you want to shift to Supply Chain?(I had no prior experience in Supply Chain Industry) Why do you think you are a write fit for this profile?

Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the 1.There are 3 products A,B,C in a store. The store sells 10,000 interviewer) units each week combined and A,B and C constitute 50,25 & 25% of the sales respectively whereas variation of sales is 20%, 200% & 200%. Each time you replenish you lose a margin of X%. Considering the current margin of 40% in each of A,B and C what do you think will be the appropriate replenishment strategy? 2. Estimate the annual number of pedestal fans sold in India? How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you For the Guesstimate question, I divided the problem into two areas- rural and urban. Then I took some assumptions about people per household and which are the areas where fans can be used (households, shops, pandals etc,). Interesting thing over here was that a fan won’t be bought every year. So after I came up with a number I divided it with the assumed life time of the fan to come up with a final no. Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while The interviewer was happy with my assumptions and was solving the case? challenging me if something seemed inappropriate to him. What do you think could have been I dig into lot of details while solving the guesstimate. So after done better while solving the case? some time he asked me to come to a quick estimate in 2 minutes. Moreover I think, I should have performed better if I would have written in a more structured fashion in the sheet given to me. Outcome of the interview (optional)

DELOITTE Name Bhavana Jayanth Name of company interviewing with Deloitte S&O Name and designation of the Don’t remember (Senior partner) 52

interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) First Personal interview questions (please Something unique about you? write the questions only) Any other hobbies? Why consulting? Comments on the PI rounds (please I had practiced the answers to all these questions and that elaborate on what went right and helped. what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the Guesstimate: Number of books (non-academic) that people in interviewer) Mohali campus would read in a month (Question linked to my hobby) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Identified students, spouses, faculty, admin etc and gave approximate number for each. Went ahead to estimate percentage of people who would read books in each category and then estimated average number of books per month Final recommendation / summary Came up with a number (which I felt was slightly on the higher side) and told the interviewer that it was an optimistic estimate. He agreed…. What do you think went right while It was an easy straightforward guesstimate and I structured the solving the case? whole thing as a tree. What do you think could have been He asked me for any alternative ways of arriving at the number. I done better while solving the case? came up with one but it was not what he was expecting: Calculating the number of free hours that each student/ spouse would have in a month and then estimating how much time in that time people would devote to reading, then calculate number of pages read per hour and number of pages per book to arrive at a number. I couldn’t have thought of that one on my own but when he explained it to me, I agreed that it was a good approach. Outcome of the interview (optional) Went through to the next round

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer)

Bhavana Jayanth Deloitte S&O 2 interviewers Second Tell me something about yourself? Where would you fit in in Deloitte? Again, prepared answers

Client: Insurance company in the US who wants to expand geographically. How would you approach the problem? Once I gave my approach, I was given statistics and charts to analyze 53

different markets…. How did you define the scope of the Repeated the question. Ensured that I understood the expansion case meant geographic expansion. Clarified the kind of clients the company had (firms or individuals). Deloitte has quant heavy cases so I knew from the beginning that I would be given data as I went along. Case Analysis presented by you I initially considered internal and external factors while choosing the geographic market and listed quite a few (about 12). They agreed and gave me details about the population, growth rate, profitability, competition etc. I ruled out some companies and shortlisted 2. They told me to proceed with Australia. They then provided me more detailed statistics about Australian customers, competitors and segments they were in. I had to decide between starting from scratch, acquisition and alliance. We chose an alliance with a company of suitable size. (I say “we” because it was more like a discussion and I took them through my thought process and they agreed with my logic). They then told me to switch hats, assume that our client has decided to start from scratch and that they have already made an investment. They gave me a future investment to be made and profitability of customers, discount rate etc. Had to do an NPV calculation to see if the investment was justified (ignoring the sunk costs). It was…. That was the end of the case Final recommendation / summary They did not want a summary. It was a pretty long case with quite a few numbers and percentages. 35 mins or so. They simply said thank you…. What do you think went right while The interviewers were quite happy with some details and points solving the case? which I captured (mainly from solving other cases). For example, I considered the average age of the population in the country that we sought to enter as it was an insurance firm. I was also very quick to neglect sunk costs (a core economic concept) which they were happy to see. These small things are the things which set you apart. What do you think could have been One number that I calculated: I said “roughly 33 million” and the done better while solving the case? interviewer said “why roughly?” because that was the exact number. I could have shown more confidence in saying 33 million Outcome of the interview (optional) Went through to the next round


Bhavana Jayanth Deloitte S&O Santosh and another partner Third and Last None

54

Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you

Elevator pitch: present the case that you solved in the second round in 5 mins (because they had to go golfing!  ) Checked if I could use flipcharts… I did… Quick summary of problem, some numbers and final recommendations

Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while Although unexpected, I didn’t lose my cool. I couldn’t remember solving the case? some details because I had another interview in between the two rounds but I filled in the gaps as best as I could What do you think could have been I did not practice presenting summaries as much as I had done better while solving the case? practiced solving cases. I could have done a better job if I had been better prepared Outcome of the interview (optional) Got an offer! 


Kushagra Gupta Deloitte S&O Santosh, Practice Lead & Principal, Deloitte S&O US India

Round 1 Santosh remembered me from an interaction session that Deloitte had organized on campus after the short-listing process. He went through my CV and nevertheless asked me the following PI questions: 1. Why consulting (since I worked with an investment bank before). 2. Why Deloitte? 3. Work experience-related questions. 4. How was it like working with Deloitte consultants (in my previous role, I had worked on the client side with consultants from Deloitte UK) 5. Questions on my hobbies and interests (Formula 1). 6. Questions on a consulting panel discussion that we had invited Santosh to as a part of the course curriculum. Comments on the PI rounds (please Since I had met Santosh before, the PI was more like a chat and I elaborate on what went right and was very relaxed during the whole process. A tip is to know your what could have been done better) CV in and out and have one or two “spikes” that really differentiate you from the rest. In most of my PI-based interviews, I could weave an interesting story around these spikes that impressed the interviewers. Case question (as narrated by the None interviewer) How did you define the scope of the None 55

case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)


None None None None Advanced to Round 2.

Kushagra Gupta Deloitte S&O 2 S&O consultants from IIM (don’t remember their names) Round 2 Both the interviewers had gone through my CV and asked only the basic tell me something about yourself question. By now I had narrated this answer so many times that I could do it in my sleep!!

Our client is US financial services major who is looking to enter the Brazilian market. You are called in to advise the client on their entry plans. How did you define the scope of the I first tried to understand the type of products our client dealt case with (insurance and mutual funds), what was their motivation to enter the Brazilian market (saturation in home market) and did they have any targets in mind to assess the success of this entry (10% market share in first 2 years). The case pretty much fits into the New Market Entry framework. Case Analysis presented by you I started out by conducting an industry analysis. I asked questions regarding the attractiveness of the insurance products market in Brazil, growth rates, competitors and their market shares, etc. At this time, the interviewers handed me a sheet with 9 graphs. These graphs describes the population levels, age brackets buying insurance, income levels, education levels, population’s spending on financial products, gender-wise split on buying financial products, growth rates for population and penetration of financial products in Brazil in 2013 and 2020. They asked me to analyse the graphs and describe trends in the data. A few important trends I could glean was that more of the middle class with annual income between 20K and 50K USD and that the size of this segment was growing. Hence I recommended that our client target this segment. Then the interviewers asked me to analyse the growth in the educationbased policies market in Brazil (based on data in the graphs). 56

Finally, they asked me to estimate the market size and market share for our client based on the segments that I recommended in 2020. Final recommendation / summary The client should enter the Brazilian market and focus on insurance products for the middle class segment within a certain age bracket (I deduced from graphs) and income levels of 20K to 50K USD. I outlined certain modes of entry like greenfield operations, JV, acquisition of a local player and franchise models and mentioned their merits and demerits. What do you think went right while I was able to deduce major trends from the graphs shown and solving the case? recommend the correct segments that the client should focus on. What do you think could have been While calculating the market size for the client, I overestimated done better while solving the case? the penetration of financial products in the Brazilian market, which led to larger than expected size. I should have been more realistic in justifying my assumptions Outcome of the interview (optional) Advanced to Round 3, backed out of the process after receiving an offer from another firm. Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)

KSHITIJ MOHAN LAL DELOITTE LLP MANAGER, TECH STRATEGY AND ARCHITECTURE

FIRST Read my resume for 2 minutes. And then asked me to connect the dots. The interviewer was silent for the first 2 minutes. This was my first and only PI question. My answer was for about 2 minutes and I based it on the standard “Walk me through your resume” answer I had prepared. This was immediately followed by the guesstimate question. The interviewer maintained a poker face throughout our conversation. Case question (as narrated by the Calculate the number of 3G sites that Vodafone has in India interviewer) (Note that I came from Telecom Services background. The manager also had experience in TMT Consulting- hence this question) How did you define the scope of the Quick Guesstimate case Case Analysis presented by you I started by taking few assumptions, such as the distance covered by one site (1 sq. km), Vodafone having its presence in 15 telecom circles. I took 5 circles with the size of 1000 sq. km and rest as 10000 sq kms. Also made certain assumptions on the density of the towers within the circles. I came up with an answer of 1,50,000 sites. I had this number in mind as I knew Vodafone had ~ 25% market share and there are total of ~6,00,000 sites in India. I believed that the no. of towers should be in similar ratio. I used my assumptions to arrive at the above 57

number. Final recommendation / summary This was a stress interview. The total interview was less than 10 minutes! Was not allowed any time to think and my questions (on case) were mostly dismissed. What do you think went right while My initial assumptions and the fact that I divided the circles into solving the case? two broad sizes struck a cord. What do you think could have been I wasn’t given any time. Only 2 minutes to come up with a done better while solving the case? number. I took around 3. Note that I completely forgot that I had to calculate 3G sites and not 2G! This was a mistake I realized when I was done with the interview. The time pressure caused me to slip the 3G part. Outcome of the interview (optional) Invited for Round 2


KSHITIJ MOHAN LAL DELOITTE LLP MANAGER, TECH STRATEGY AND ARCHITECTURE SECOND Was a partner round. Was asked to introduce myself.

Since I had prepared an answer, it went quite well. I made sure I kept my answer friendly and light hearted so it eased up the following conversation. I was handed a print out of the case question. The question was about a telecom service provider which had grown very rapidly in the past few years. They had launched a music download service on black Friday which saw 20000 customers signing up. However, in the following week, number of customers had dropped to 10000. The company blamed the internal IT infrastructure and hired a new CIO. The new CIO invited Deloitte to analyze the case and provide recommendations on Deloitte’s behalf. How did you define the scope of the The case was about identifying the problem and then presenting case a better GOTO market strategy. Case Analysis presented by you I first laid down possible reasons for the problem apart from IT – to ensure that the firm has narrowed down the problem properly. Once I did that, I focused on the problems within IT (Internal/external) and narrowed down to the server capacity as the main source. I was later asked to present a GOTO market strategy for such a service. I mentioned that social media advertising/traditional media advertising/freemium models, etc can be used. I gave real world examples to support my case. Final recommendation / summary The partner was very accommodating and chilled out. He helped me out whenever I seemed to be stuck in the case. However, he did not allow me too much time to think. What do you think went right while My recommendations and the fact that I began with many 58

solving the case? possible reasons and narrowed it down thereafter. What do you think could have been I was asked to apply a framework to come up with the solution. I done better while solving the case? was stuck here as I couldn’t think of a framework which would work for this tech. case. However, the partner helped me identify few variables such as ‘time’ and then I chipped in with the rest, such as ‘cost’. Outcome of the interview (optional) Invited for Round 3.


Harsh Parikh Deloitte – S&O Sanchit Agarwal – Manager First The interviewer enquired about my experience at the previous firm. Post this, Sanchit asked me to take him through the CV He asked - what was one word that I would like to associate to myself which was another way of asking what your strengths are? Next question – Why Deloitte? (He mentioned that he knew I had an answer prepared but still wanted me to answer that)

Smilingly, he asked that if I was given an offer letter from McKinsey and Deloitte, which one would I pick Comments on the PI rounds (please A few notes here: elaborate on what went right and 1) The CAS sends you a mail of 100 questions for PI. Consider what could have been done better) those as the basic questions that you have to know the answers for. Best is to write them down and rehearse them well enough in advance (and not the day before the interview) 2) The interviewer can put you in a tough spot and tell you that you may have prepared for the question. In such a scenario, don’t panic and still answer what you prepared 3) Do not copy someone else’s answers for these interviewers. Be genuine and come up with your own factual instances as examples. 4) Smile enough. Case question (as narrated by the No case interviewer) How did you define the scope of the No case case Case Analysis presented by you No case Final recommendation / summary No case What do you think went right while No case 59

solving the case? What do you think could have been No case done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to Round 2


Harsh Parikh Deloitte – S&O Can’t recollect – 2 Sr. Managers Second They asked me to quickly take me through the CV Replied the shorter version of take me through your CV (Prepare for a 5 minute and a 2 minute version separately) It was a two member panel for case discussion where they explained that one of the interviewers would help me crack the case while the other would give the case details.

How did you define the scope of the case Post this, they asked me if I was familiar with sourcing and I explained that I had done the P2P (Procure to Pay) reviews at a Case Analysis presented by you few clients and knew the process. They initiated the case by explaining the case – A large company is reviewing its expenses Final recommendation / summary in a bid to rationalize them. The expenses are largely SG&A in nature. Help them analyze the expenses They initiated the discussion by asking me models by which services can be managed by the company. I started explaining how services can be evaluated based on service level agreements and that there are matrices that can be created to rate a service (I had misread the question and thought they were discussing service evaluation). 2-3 minutes into the discussion, they explained the case scope again and asked me models in which services can be managed. I explained that services can be managed either in-house, outsourcing, co-sourcing, loan staffing, shared service centre and explained each of these in detail giving pro and cons for each option. I was given a sheet with details of expenses (named as Exp 1, Exp 2 etc.), FTE count at locations where the work had been outsourced (Full Time Equivalent), cost attributable to each location and some other details. I asked them if I could consider the services as HR, IT, Marketing etc. to which they consented. Then I asked if FTE meant nos. of employees at each location and here they explained me what 60

FTE meant and how it slightly differed from employee count. Next, I wrote down the FTE count next to the nation wise cost and did a quick calculation of cost per FTE. The cost per FTE was very high for some nations and I advised that we can rationalize cost by moving these services to nations with lesser FTE. I also explained qualitative factors such as quality of service, time gap, back up options that need to be considered before the service can be moved. They gave me another sheet giving details of 2 services, their cost, vendors that provided that service and 3 parameters (Cost, Quality and Promptness) on which the vendors had been evaluated and asked my inference on those sheet. I understood the grading mechanism first as there were no details on the page regarding the grading mechanism. Post that I explained them my approach wherein I created a Service – Parameter matrix (2 x 3). Using the table from the sheet, I rated each vendor as L1, L2 etc. defining the order of the vendor to be selected for that particular parameter. Then filled the matrix that I had created and identified the best vendor across the three parameters for each of the service. We discussed on what parameter is more important for different service categories. We also discussed at length on multi-sourcing v/s. single sourcing. They asked me if I had questions for them and I asked what firm initiatives include. What do you think went right while There was no case solving methodology that I could have used solving the case? for the case. Do not panic and narrow down to the solution directly. In such a scenario, I used the standard approach of gather, analyze, observe and recommend which means 1) try to gather as much information for the case. Do not reach to any conclusion at this stage 2) Analyze the facts of the case and ask for their agreement regularly so that you know that you are not completely off 3) Make observations based on the facts and analysis of the facts. Here you can try to fit in concepts that you may have learnt either at ISB or from your work experience 4) Recommend but make sure you do not say anything definitive. Keep scope to include further improvisations to your recommendations What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to round 3

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Harsh Parikh Deloitte – S&O Santosh and another partner (Both were partners) Third No PI question No PI question

They explained that one of them was the CEO of the company where you conducted the review and asked you to present the finding in 5 minutes. How did you define the scope of the I used the Issue – Analysis – Root cause – Recommendation case approach to explain the problem at hand and used the white board to explain each. While doing the presentation, I Case Analysis presented by you mentioned that I had a lengthy discussion with my colleagues Final recommendation / summary (named my round 2 interviewers…some schmoozing helps) and then suggested recommendations. Santosh then asked me if it was safe to outsource work to India. I had read a report on outsourcing work to India and quoted the policies being set up to take care of these problems. What do you think went right while The partner chuckled when I referred to the previous solving the case? interviewers as my colleagues. Stick to case methodology as much as you can. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Offer extended

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer

Manasi Narang Deloitte USI Round 1 – Senior Manager – Supply chain vertical Round 2 – 2 Managers from the Finance vertical Round 3 – Santosh Anu (Partner S&O) Interview round (first/second/third) First/ Second/ Third Personal interview questions (please First round write the questions only) Take me through your resume. Why did you switch from audit to M&A diligence? Why did you decide to pursue an MBA? Second round – Tell me something I wouldn’t know from your resume Comments on the PI rounds (please The PI went well. I wasn’t nervous at all. It helps to look calm and elaborate on what went right and greet the interviewer with a smile. Interview processes can last what could have been done better) for over 12 hours especially if you have multiple shortlists, its important to be as stress free as possible, else you will burnout by the end of the day. 62

I worked with Deloitte India for 7 years and was able to relate to the Deloitte processes and practices, hence the conversation was very relaxed in each round. Case question (as narrated by the Round 1 - It was a short guesstimate case – interviewer) How many lamp posts are there between Marriot Chandigarh and ISB Mohali Round 2 – A US based telco, which was the market leader for almost a decade is now seeing deckling revenue trends for the last 2-3 years – WHY? How did you define the scope of the Round 1 – I assumed that the distance between the Hotel and case campus is 10 km and that there is a lamp post at every 100 metres. Did the math and multiplied by two since there is a lamp post on both sides of the road. Round 2 –Broke it down into industry trends, market share, competitor performance, revenue components and asked questions around these parameters. Case Analysis presented by you After much probing and questioning I understood that the Company was heavily dependent on call and message revenue whereas the customer was moving towards applications like viber, whatsapp and skype. Also it was targeting only 60-70% of the smart phone customers. In the end I was also asked to calculate the expected revenue based on my recommendations and additional information shared during the discussion. Final recommendation / summary Round 3 – Presentation on case analysis to partner and director Recommended that the company should focus on acquiring more smart phone consumers, offer better value added services, can possibly bind consumers with attractive contracts and postpaid offers ( better than those offered by competitors) What do you think went right while The case prep really helped. It is advisable to sit with a bunch of solving the case? friends and try to solve cases. Discussions with others help you gather various view points. You are also more structured in your approach and are able to break down the problem statement into logical steps. What do you think could have been When I started asking questions around the case, I realized I was done better while solving the case? scribbling all over that piece of paper. The interviewers do peep into that paper every now and then to see what your thought process is. It would have been better if I were more organized in jotting down information and creating buckets of information shared. Outcome of the interview (optional) Received an offer.

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HUL – INTERNAL CONSULTING Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)

Shirish Damani HUL – Internal Consulting Role Don’t Remember

First and Second There was no PI as such. They just asked one question i.e., where do you see yourself 5 years from now? They did not ask any PI question. However, many interviewees gave this as a feedback that the firm can actually gauge student interest by asking some PI questions. So you can expect some PI questions in the years to come. So prepare accordingly. Case question (as narrated by the This was not the regular case interview. It was more of a rapid interviewer) fire round. The interviewer told me that irrespective of your answer right/wrong I will move to the next question. Hence I will just mention the questions here. Round 1: In the first round we had to make a 5 minute presentation on “The biggest challenge you have overcome in the last 2 years”. This was followed by one question. 1. Your CAPEX requirement to build a new plant is $1/unit v/s $2/unit of your competition. How does this help you strategically? Round 2: This had multiple short cases. Ill mention them below. 1. There is a straight road from Zurich to Paris on which you are sending an air tight truck. The truck is standing at the factory door at Zurich and is packed completely (i.e., no more packing efficiency possible). Your manager comes and asks you to reduce the transportation costs by 50%. Give atleast 2 ways 2. You are an analyst at Goldman. Your manager asks for one financial metric to judge Unilever’s performance. What will this one metric be? 3. You have 3 products. All your costs are variable. How can you improve your gross margins? Remember no fixed costs and variable costs cannot be decreased. 4. Give 4 ways how you can reduce production cost of Kissan Jam. 5. Unilever needs to setup a new detergent plant in Africa. Which country should it set it up in? There were a few more questions which I can’t recollect now. How did you define the scope of the NA case Case Analysis presented by you NA 64

Final recommendation / summary NA `What do you think went right while Keep your cool. This was a stress interview with not the standard solving the case? case questions. There is no time to use any framework. Just go with an open mind and treat the questions like brain teasers. What do you think could have been I had no idea this would be the interview pattern. I would have done better while solving the case? been a little more relaxed. At times I got nervous and got a feeling that I messed up the interview. But that was not the case. Just go with an open mind and expect some tough questions. Moreover, the interviewers were not appreciating too many cross questions on the mini cases. So avoid that if possible. Outcome of the interview (optional) Offer made. 

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MCKINSEY & COMPANY Name

Nishant Kedia

Company

McKinsey & Company

Interviewer

Jaidit Brar, Partner

Round

Round 1 Interview 1

Personal Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself (in an indirect way) How was the ISB experience? Which is your most significant achievement in ISB? Tell me about The Parthenon Case competition (including specifics) Questions about my division and work at ITC. Discussion about ITC in general, which eventually became a case It was my first interview of the day (8:00 am). Jaidit is one of the nicest people to interview to with as he puts one at a lot of ease. We started with a normal conversation about my interview line-up for the day, how am I feeling etc. After a little nervous start I quickly gained confidence. I strongly believe that being structured in your answers puts a great impression on the interviewer. About 20 mins were spent on PI, which, I think, went very well as the interviewer seemed happy with all my answers ITC has diversified into multiple businesses. Which business should ITC enter to continue or accelerate its growth?

Comments on PI Interview

Case Question Scope of the case

It was a market entry case, wherein the objective was to only select the market to enter and not formulate the strategy to enter

Case Analysis

The question was asked by Jaidit during our conversation on my work experience at ITC. Initially I mentioned the attributes of the desirable business but Jaidit hinted me to be elaborate. I began by clarifying the objective in order to come up with the parameters for evaluation. This was a special case wherein I knew a lot about the company (profitability, businesses, products, customers etc.). Stating that upfront to the interviewer, I mentioned a frame work to guide the discussion: 1. Industry Selection a. Fundamental attractiveness b. Competitive positioning 2. Entry Strategy a. Resources required b. Mode of entry Jaidit asked me to focus only on industry selection. When I asked Jaidit on which industries should I consider he asked me to suggest myself. I told Jaidit that I will consider the big 66

baskets, where ITC is currently not present and suggested the following:  Iron & Steel  Automobiles  Pharmaceutical  Cement  Financial Services He nodded and asked me to proceed. Since, the case was solely on industry selection, I quickly realized that I will have to come up with a comprehensive list of parameters to give an objective view. I came up with the following evaluation matrix (pardon my memory for not being exact): Parameters

Ind. 1

A. Fundamental Attractiveness Financial Revenue Revenue growth Profitability Industry Structure Competition Customers Sourcing Distribution Entry Barriers Regulation Manufacturing technology Investment Brand loyalty/ stickiness

customer

B. Competitive Positioning Revenue synergies Cross selling advantages Effect on product quality of the 67

Ind. 2

….

current and entry business (Pricing and volume effects) Cost Synergies Economies of scale Sourcing/distribution benefits Technological benefits SG&A savings It was a very interactive discussion wherein I was seeking continuous inputs as well as approval from the interviewer. I came up with a few more parameters which I am unable to recall. It is very important to observe the interviewer as he is ready to support with inputs as well as hints you towards the relevant part of analysis. As I quickly understood that the objective of this case is just thought experiment I didn’t become data centric. I told the interviewer that I have a broad understanding of relative financial figures of different industries and I would like to proceed using a √ and X method, with the former depicting unfavourable and the latter one depicting favourable aspect. We had a good 30 mins chat on the case. Final Recommendation/ Summary

What went right?

What could have been done better? Outcome of the interview

Based on the analysis I recommended pharmaceutical and automotive. But, referring to the limitations of the analysis I mentioned that it might not be the most optimum solution as we have considered only limited parameters and have not evaluated certain other businesses such as EPC, consulting, etc. Also, I told him that the management might not always choose the profit maximizing ventures because of certain other factors. On this Jaidit asked me why did ITC enter Foods and Personal Care. I was already prepared with the answer and shared my thoughts. He seemed satisfied with my answer. I involved the interviewer very well in the case and sought inputs from him on all my assumptions. Jaidit liked comprehensiveness of my thought process and was smiling profusely in the latter half of the discussion. In the hindsight I feel that this was my best and the longest interview of the day! I feel that I was slightly verbose initially. I could have been a little crisper in making my arguments. Not disclosed. Attended the pre-scheduled second interview.

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Name

Nishant Kedia

Company

McKinsey & Company

Interviewer

Renny Thomas, Sr. Partner (Director)

Round

Round 1 Interview 2


How was your first interview? Walk me through your resume Why McKinsey?


Renny had a very brief discussion on PI questions. I think this was because of the PI overdose in the first round  A cement manufacturer in Gujarat has only one plant. A byproduct of the plant is a certain type of chemical, which is also sold in market. The market for that chemical is growing very well. What should the company do?

Case Question

Scope of the case Case Analysis

It was a multi-faceted case, which had aspects of market entry, investment analysis and pricing I started by asking questions about the manufacturer, cement market and the chemical market. Based on his reply it became evident that the manufacturer would not like to replace the current cement-producing capacity with the chemical-producing capacity. Hence, I shifted focus on understanding the chemical market better – competition, customers, entry barriers etc. The industry had excess demand over capacity. I proposed three methods: - Expand cement capacity and continue chemical extraction as a byproduct - Source chemical from some cement manufacturers at intermediate prices - Build capacity to manufacture the chemical o In-house (Own, JV, acquisition etc.) o Outsource Renny told me that cement market is saturated and we don’t see much growth in our share and the market alike. This ruled out the first option. Also, no other cement manufacturer would sell at a price less than the market price. Renny also told me that since the chemical was a by-product from the cement plant, the cost of production was very low, which helped the client to price it very competitively. I enquired further about the current cost, the cost to manufacture it standalone and the competition prices. The standalone cost was more than the current price. Hence, if the client manufactures the chemical self 69

or even outsource, he will have to increase the prices. It means increasing prices across the board, including his current customers also. Now Renny asked me whether increasing price was the only way? Or should he forget about the prospect of manufacturing more chemical?

Final Recommendation/ Summary

What went right?

I told him that price increase for the current customers is not an advisable option as it will bring a lot of bad publicity in the market. My recommendation was to segment the market by using certain additives and changing chemical compositions to increase the price for newer customers. For this the client should build a demand curve by: - Studying the manufacturing costs for all the manufacturers in Gujarat. The bigger suppliers will be able to manufacture at a lower price as compared to the smaller ones. Plotting the total capacity with the manufacturing costs gives the supply curve - Plotting customer’s willingness to pay gives the demand curve Since the industry had excess demand at current prices, I advised to look at the excess demand with increasing prices. Based on the size of demand and ease of differentiation, we can decide whether manufacturing should be undertaken or not. Assuming certain market share for the excess demand at a price, profitability as a function of price can be found and maximized. No specific recommendations as the numbers were not available. Recommendation was to look at ways of differentiating and choosing a price to maximize the profits.

Outcome of the interview

I was able to use the information given by the interviewer well and make specific inferences. The interviewed looked happy with my structure as I covered all the relevant aspects. I missed a few facts which were stated by interviewer in the beginning. The interviewer looked slightly displeased when I asked for the facts again. But, my overall performance in the interview covered for it. It is very important to be alert and note down all facts during the case discussion. Shortlisted for Round 2

Name

Nishant Kedia

Company

McKinsey & Company

Interviewer

Shirish Sankhe, Sr. Partner (Director)

What could have been done better?

70

Round

Round 2 Interview 1


Case Question

It was a complete PI round. Shirish also discussed a project he was pursuing with the government and we had a short discussion on certain aspects of it. Shirish covered a range of PI questions: Tell me about yourself Questions on the entire Extracurricular section Most significant achievement in ITC Why Consulting? Why McKinsey? Shirish gave me a feedback that my both interviews went well. Knowing that gave me a lot of confidence. After giving about 8 interviews in the day I was answering what I truly believed (might have been somewhat different from what I prepared ). I felt that I had a great connect with the interviewer and my confidence grew exponentially. It was a 10-min chat and by the end of 5 mins I realized that a happy news is round the corner. NA

Scope of the case

NA

Case Analysis

NA

Final Recommendation/ Summary What went right? What could have been done better?

NA My performance in the first two rounds strengthened my chances NA


Made an offer



Anshul Malik McKinsey & Co. Sujit Chakrabarty (Partner) Leads McKinsey’s Outsourcing and Offshoring Practice in Asia and our Business Technology Office in India. Interview round (first/second/third) First Round First Interview Personal interview questions (please The interviews were running a tad late, hence, Sujit asked me to write the questions only) get going with the case and if there is some time left we can take up interview questions later on. This was my first interview of the day. He said since your background is IT let’s do an IT services case. I said that I know how IT services firms work, however, I am from a software product background which is an entire different world. Sujit said it is fine as he understood my background. Comments on the PI rounds (please No PI elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) 71

Case question (as narrated by the There is an IT services company with $3Bn in revenues and a interviewer) growth rate of 20%. It is among the top 6 players in its area. The current margins are 17%. CEO thinks that he can increase the margin. What do you think CEO should do, should he increase the margins? How did you define the scope of the I asked initial questions regarding how other firms in the top 6 case bracket are doing, what is their revenue, growth %, margins. One objective is to see whether we can increase margins is there any other objective? No. of employees. He told me that we are growing well on the revenue side, however, the top player has a margin of 25% and average margin is 20% and margin is the only objective. He gave me some figure for total number of employees. On this I said that we are on the lower side and probably, we do have a scope of increasing our margins. I further asked him: Where does our client operate? What is the business model? He told me that it is an India based IT company with clients in the US. Sujit then asked me to come up with the business model. I drew the following: Acquiring Clients -> Negotiating the contract and finalizing the requirements -> Developing and Testing -> Deploying the solution -> Maintenance He was satisfied with the model. Case Analysis presented by you

I then asked for sometime to think (the usual 2 min. brainstorming time that every consulting candidate thinks as his/her birthright by the end of case preparation). This seemed more of a profitability case (I realized how deep a profitability case can run) hence I thought of the usual revenue/cost. Since, Sujit mentioned in the case stem and also while scoping that on revenue side we are doing well, I did not go into the revenue side. I asked him about how costs are distributed in various activities in the value chain (business model) that I just drew and what are competitors’ costs in the same activity. He gave me a few numbers: 25% for Acquiring clients and negotiating (at par with competition), 63% of the costs are in Development & testing + Deploying + maintenance and 12% are in SG&A. He did not tell about competitor breakup in the latter two components. I said that since 63% of the costs are in Development & testing + Deploying + maintenance, and hence is the major chunk of cost, I would like to proceed with it, to which Sujit nodded. I again took some time and broke up these three into people cost and Project cost (going with MECE). On this Sujit asked me what do I mean by project cost. I told him that these are the costs associated with project delays (contractual obligations). He said suppose there are no penalties if we delay the project, do you think there could be other costs if we delay the project. I told him that there could be costs in terms of lost revenue 72

because if one project is delayed then there would be a cascading effect on other projects. He said so do you think this is a problem. I could sense some catch here and asked him for a moment. I referred back to the initial problem and saw that revenue growth is good. I told Sujit that since revenue is growing and our objective is only to see if we can increase the margin, this is not a problem. He was happy. I then took his permission to delve deep into the employee cost. I broke the employee cost into Salary, Infrastructure (i.e. machine per person, office rent etc.), Hiring cost, Training Cost, attrition. I asked him one by one about each and for every expense he said that we are paying as per the industry standard (he never said whether our total cost for a particular employee cost head is more or less). At this time, I read what I had written earlier while scoping the case. I realized that clients are in the US and hence there must be some employees in the US as well. I asked Sujit that I think there would certain employees in the US and their salaries and other expense would be more than Indian counterparts, so I would like to know what percentage of our employee are in the US and the same figure for the competitor. He told me that we have 30% employee in the US and our competitor has 25% employees in the US. This was my Aha moment, when I thought I had nailed the problem. I asked him for average employee cost in the US vs India. He gave me some numbers for per hour revenue and cost per employee in US and India and their Utilization (US 100% utilization, India 75% utilization). I actually took a very long route to do the math (took total employees and did the calculation). Did some minor error midway which I corrected myself. He then asked me cant you calculate per employee, to which I said “Yes that is what I should have done”. I did some calculation (with minor glitches, which Sujit helped to correct). Final recommendation / summary Overall, after saying that we should reduce our number of employees in the US I calculated that our margins would be around 22%. Sujit asked what could be potential problems with this, to which I replied that we must look at what kind and number of clients we handle vis-à-vis what kind and number of clients does our competitor handles. Also, our employees’ skill level might be lower hence if we need to reduce the number of employees we need to put more money in training. By this time, the time was almost over (and there was some random person who was calling in the landline of the office in which interview was being conducted, that bugged me twice in the middle of solving the case), Sujit said we do not have time left for PI, shook hands and I left. What do you think went right while Asking the right questions. Maintaining calm even when I solving the case? committed a few errors while doing the Math and going back to whatever data/information interviewer gave me. Followed MECE 73

at every point. What do you think could have been The calculation part. done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Next interview of the same round


Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer)

Anshul Malik McKinsey & Co. Rajat Dhawan, Director Leads McKinsey’s Operations Practice in Asia and has deep experience in helping clients in the automotive and industrial sectors achieve global success. Plays an active part in catalysing the growth of India’s manufacturing sector. First Round Second Interview Before going into the interview room I asked the alums about a brief one liner about the interviewer’s area of work. Alums told me that Rajat has worked mostly in the manufacturing sector and not in IT. (this helped to shape my PI answers according to the interviewer which in turn helped both of us to talk on the same page). Rajat seemed a very serious guy initially. He had my resume and started asking me about the process improvement initiatives that I had taken. I told him whatever I did without using Software jargons. He continued asking me what else… I kept on telling him the projects that I did. After a point he was silent and I was silent (trust me a silence of 2 seconds seems like 20 minutes). I then changed the tone by saying let me tell you something I do apart from academics and professional experience. I told him that I mimic bollywood actors. Listening to this Rajat kept the resume on the table and said why don’t you mimic right now. :O . I started in full flow and he didn’t stop me till I finished the act. After this point there was an instant rapport that was build between us. He asked me how did I mimic? I narrated him the incident after which I started performing on stage etc. It was the most amazing PI round. And once I mimicked I was 99% sure of getting in (mimicry has helped me in all the interviews till date) While talking there was some instance when he asked me to guess his age. I said, Sir you are a director, however you look quite young, somewhere around 35-36. He said you are close, what do you think would be my years of experience in McKinsey. I said around 14 years. On which he said how did you guess it. I said well since you are a director, I assumed your years of experience must be above 10 years for sure. Rajat then said let us do a quick case on finding my years of experience in McKinsey. 74

How did you define the scope of the N/A case Case Analysis presented by you I realized that this was not a structured case, rather Rajat wanted to see my approach to a problem from multiple dimensions. He kept me asking for more ways. In the end, I gave him 6 ways to find his years of experience in Mckinsey. 1) Simple way: Public Information, ask your colleagues 2) Number of projects you have done * average time per project. 3) Since you are a Director and you must have started from Junior Associate, hence, would see number of levels between them * average time taken for promotion from one level to the other 4) Find out McKinsey’s employee strength when you joined, average growth rate in employee strength and current employee strength. Would find out your number of years in McKinsey from that. 5) Some other way I forgot. 6) Final nail -> Find out your salary and see how much experience is required to get that paycheck. :P Final recommendation / summary Rajat was impressed by 6 ways to find out his years of experience at McKinsey. Please do not underestimate your extra-curricular and PI. PI is extremely important and you must prepare well for it and personalize your PI answers. Cases are standard, but your PI is you. What do you think went right while I think PI in itself went so well that Case was a smooth ride. solving the case? What do you think could have been None done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Shortlisted for round 2


Interview round (first/second/third)

Anshul Malik McKinsey & Co. Renny Thomas, Director Supports the rapid growth of Asia’s financial services sector, helping build new institutions from scratch, boost small and medium enterprises’ (SME) access to finance, and grow regional and international champions in banking, insurance, and private equity. Second round First Interview

Personal interview questions (please None. It was a dream come true. As soon as I sat, Renny spoke write the questions only) the exact words which I wanted to hear : “Welcome to the firm”  Comments on the PI rounds (please None  75

elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you

None NA NA NA NA NA Got the offer.

Kushal Patwardhan Mckinsey & Co. Jaidit Brar (Senior Partner) First round- first interview  Tell me about yourself  Why did you return to India Jaidit is a really nice interviewer. He put me at ease and when he casually asked to tell me about myself, I almost forgot it's an interview :-P. India wants to become energy independent by 2030. How should they go about it? I asked clarifying questions about what is meant by energy (both power & transport) , independence (zero import of inputs) , who is the client (Govt. of India) . I asked about primary motivation . I was told that CAD was the main reason and also instability of countries from which we import the inputs puts India at risk. Environmental considerations were not that important & any recommendation should be economically viable. I laid out my approach that I will look at today's energy demand and supply and find the demand and supply in 2030 and find the most important issue to attack. He told me go ahead. Today's energy demand 100 MTOE (million tonne oil equivalent) Power : 50 MTOE Transport : 50 MTOE 50% of it is imported. I asked import percentage in transport . it was 80% 76

So, Power : 40MTOE inhouse 10MTOE import Transport: 10MTOE inhouse 40MTOE import I asked growth in demand, it was 10% YOY for both power and transport. 2030 was 16 years away, so using rule of 72 I calculated that demand will quadruple to 400 and a bit more (72/10 = 7.2 years to double) I asked about growth in supply , for power we have unlimited coal so we can ramp up faster and meet all the demand. For transport our supply can grow at 3% YOY . Which I calculated to go approx from 10 to 15 over 16 years (again rule of 72) So in 2030 Power Demand 200 inhouse supply 200 Transport Demand 200 inhouse supply 15 import 185!!! So this is a huge amount. We can tackle it either from supply side or demand side Supply side : We can increase production by existing fields (insignificant) or hope to find a jackpot field (unlikely) Eliminated supply side since 10 to 200 jump is impossible with either solution. Demand side : We can think about reducing consumption by a. reducing demand by promoting public transport etc b. increasing efficiency of engines etc to consume less fuel per km But these are very small & incremental changes and are not going to bring 200 demand down to 15. So I eliminated these options. So only alternative to reduce demand is to find a substitute He said ok, so what substitutes can you propose. I said I'll look at what resource India has in abundance & inexpensive and utilize it 1. Coal - we already established that we have unlimited coal , so perhaps we can have coal-based fuel. 2. Renewables - We can explore solar powered cars etc. He said apart from coal-based fuel, what else do you think we can do with coal. I was so into the case it took me 1 whole minute to find the obvious answer ! Of course! Unlimited coal = Unlimited power, we can use electric vehicles! That ended the case :-)


Wasn't asked to summarize. But answer to case was two words 77

- Electric cars What do you think went right while Almost everything. I never went on tangents or jumped to solving the case? solutions. Clarifying questions helped separate out power & transport. I established the size of shortage first hence was able to confidently reject solutions pertaining to reducing demand and increasing supply because of the impact was too small. What do you think could have been Not much. I think even the time taken by me to say 'electric done better while solving the case? cars' was actually appreciated by Jaidit because I hadn't approached the case with a solution in mind and had reached there in a very logical manner. Outcome of the interview (optional) Everyone had to do 2 interviews in Round 1


Kushal Patwardhan Mckinsey & Co. Renny Thomas First round- Second interview  Tell me about yourself  Why consulting Renny looked very tired. PI was very formal. I didn't really get a chance to establish any connect with him.

A large chemical company in India has a chemical plant and a cement plant in Gujarat where they use waste material from chemical plant as an input to cement plant. They use common distributors for both cement and chemicals. Now the distributors are demanding more cement from the chemical company. What should chemical company do? How did you define the scope of the Everything was given by interviewer already case Case Analysis presented by you After some clarifying questions ( are plants working at capacity, are they setting up new chemical plants ,etc I laid a structure based on all the alternatives chemical company has to respond to distributor request 1. Do Nothing ( refuse to give more cement) 2. Supply the extra cement Within option 2 there are 2 alternatives 1. Produce it yourselves 2. Buy it from elsewhere I then went about evaluating each option. I asked him do you want me to get into numbers, he said no just describe general approach. 78

1. Do nothing - Distributors will be disappointed but they will not leave us as we have good relations with them for chemical distribution. 2a. Produce ourselves - Current cement plant is at capacity so we will have to Increase production capacity and Since we have no plans for expanding chemical plants, we will need to buy inputs from market or competitors 2b. Buy it from elsewhere - Company can simply buy more cement and give to distributors Since there's no growth in chemicals market, company should look at cement as a growth opportunity. Another lever the company had was they were selling cement below market price, which they could increase. I said we'll need to do a cost benefit analysis of options to choose the right option. I did some analysis with his help (which I don't remember, as there were no numbers, only variables) .and came up with some recommendation. Final recommendation / summary Don't remember :( What do you think went right while Didn't try to force-fit a framework. Clarifying questions about solving the case? both industries and also capacity utilization during 'Define' stage itself , helped me approach the problem better. What do you think could have been A lot. At times I felt lost without more data but the Renny only done better while solving the case? wanted approaches. Outcome of the interview (optional) Made an offer :-)


Amit Gupta Mckinsey & Company Somnath Chatterjee (Associate Principal)

First Round 1st Interview Interviewer was alum from my Undergrad college. So initial conversation was about the Undergrad college. Then he directly went into the case Comments on the PI rounds (please I think having alum from my Undergrad college helped me in elaborate on what went right and connecting with him. what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the One case and one small guess estimate. interviewer) Case: How would you plan the bench strength of IT company? GuessEstimate: Estimate the potential size of DTH market in 79

India How did you define the scope of the Case: Interviewer was looking for more of an approach to solve case the problem of bench strength. So I didn’t spend too much time in scoping. I just enquired about current operations and if there are some issues we are seeing for which answers were either “irrelevant for the case” or “Assume anything” Case Analysis presented by you Case: After the scoping I thought about the problem for some time and then told interviewer that I would like to apply the concepts of supply chain in it. Somnath smiled and asked me to explain the approach. I assumed that one single pool of bench is there and used to satisfy all the demand. Then I drew following diagram: Recruitment (Procurement) -> Training (Processing/Packaging) -> Bench (Inventory Management) -> Project Deployment (Demand) Then I listed down the factors affecting the bench strength (safety stock + cycle inventory) are: 1. Recruitment lead time and its variability 2. Training Lead time and its variability 3. Employee cost (salary + overhead) 4. Different skill levels required Then he asked me ways to reduce the bench strength: 1. I first suggested the usual suspects, reduce variability and lead time 2. Then I talked about cross training. (To get the benefits of aggregations) GuessEstimate: Pretty standard approach. Divided the potential customer into urban and rural and then high income and middle income families (Used facts learnt in GSBC to calculate the number of potential homes). From there calculated the market size of DTH. Final recommendation / summary Summarized the Inventory Management approach to plan for bench strength What do you think went right while Case: Using supply chain approach for solving the case. solving the case? Guess Estimate: Didn’t fumble with numbers and showed clear step by step calculations. What do you think could have been Case was fine but in case of guess estimate initially I made one done better while solving the case? assumption (DTH penetration) which was practically not true. Outcome of the interview (optional) Outcome after 2nd interview of first round

80


Amit Gupta Mckinsey & Company Sasi Sunkara (Partner)

First Round 2nd Interview Only couple of questions: 1) Tell me about yourself? 2) How do you used to adapt to different work cultures? (Related to my travel during Job) 3) Did you like travelling? 4) What was your father’s job?! (Since I told him that as I child I never stayed at one place for more than 3-4 years) spent most of the PI time on this  Comments on the PI rounds (please Very brief PI and I think main objective was to connect with the elaborate on what went right and interviewer which I did I guess. what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the The client is an agricultural input retail chain and they are facing interviewer) stock outs and overstocking. How did you define the scope of the Did the scoping in usual suspects (Product, time and Geography). case Summary of scoping: Problem was with all the products and all the stores. Recommendations were expected for short as well as long term. Case Analysis presented by you Then drew the value chain and asked specific questions to identify the value chain component which had issue. Value chain: Procurement -> Inbound Logistics -> Warehousing -> Stores Some representative questions: Procurement: - Are the supplier lead times reliable? - Does he give some kind of bulk discounts? Inbound logistics: - Are inbound lead times reliable? - What is shrinkage percentage? Warehousing: - What kind of network model? (Asked because interviewer mentioned that replenishment lead time to stores are high) Stores: - What is the process for replenishment orders? Is forecasting done etc. Final summary of analysis: - Replenishment was done at adhoc and intuitive basis. No processes were followed. - All products were given same importance. - Only one warehouse in North India was directly used to satisfy pan-India demand Final recommendation / summary Short term: 81

1) Implement planning processes 2) Define KPIs and benchmark against the industry 3) Do product segmentation to identify the highest value products and put special care in replenishments 4) Cost-benefit analysis for every bulk discounts availed? (Supply Chain Costs vs Discount) Long Term: 1) Implement IT systems to do replenishments in stores and monitoring 2) Move to Hub and spoke model Few more but doesn’t remember all! What do you think went right while I was able to draw the value chain accurately and identify the solving the case? value chain component which was an issue. I think my prior experience in supply chain and agricultural products helped in giving some realistic recommendations. Sasi did mention that he is going to apply few of the recommendations in his current case. One tip: Prepare well for the cases from your background. Also, try and apply some of the insights in the case. What do you think could have been I guess maybe I went to too much in detail of the problem and done better while solving the case? therefore took more than 20 minutes for the case. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to the next round


Amit Gupta Mckinsey & Company Jaidit Singh Brar (Partner)

Second Round 1st Interview When I reached the room Jaidit asked me to walk with him to the cafeteria. On the way he told me that he is not going to interview because they are giving me offer! So no questions! He welcomed me to the firm and asked if I have any questions. Comments on the PI rounds (please NA elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the NA interviewer) How did you define the scope of the NA case Case Analysis presented by you NA Final recommendation / summary NA What do you think went right while NA 82

solving the case? What do you think could have been NA done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Got the offer!


Mayank Bishnoi McKinsey & Company Renny Thomas, Director First  Tell me about yourself

Renny asked me just one question before jumping onto the case. This is one question you need to prepare really well as it is going to come in almost every interview. I usually approach PI questions in a story format rather than bullet points but you can do it in whichever way you feel comfortable. The interviewer should catch at least one point out of the whole story on which you can have further discussion. Case question (as narrated by the A consumer finance company wants to double its profits. Help interviewer) them out! How did you define the scope of the I asked some company specific questions first - current product case line, geographical presence, current profits, customers, channels & timelines. Turned out that the company had a pan India presence and offered 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler loans. It wanted to grow its profits from 1000 cr. To 2000 cr. in 5 years. Then, I looked at the industry performance for the last couple of years and since the industry was growing at 10% p.a, it became quite clear that the company needed to expand to other segments if it wanted to double its profits. Case Analysis presented by you I told Renny that the company can grow in two ways - organic & inorganic and since the industry is not growing that fast, we need to venture into different business. I gave him certain suggestions like venturing into 4-wheeler loan segment or may be mortgage business. He then asked me to list certain factors I would need to look before entering a new business. From then on, it was a standard market entry problem and I followed the standard framework including industry attractiveness, company’s strengths and weakness and mode of entry. I mentioned one additional point in the whole discussion about liquidity needs for the company before entering into a different business, which I think Renny liked a bit. Final recommendation / summary Final recommendation included venturing into a new loan 83

segment or any other category in the consumer finance business. Renny told me that the company entered the insurance business, something which I missed, but my idea of new business and the logic behind it was correct. What do you think went right while I understood the nature of the business pretty well at the solving the case? starting of the case and was able to form a hypothesis which I treaded upon during the case discussion. What do you think could have been I missed the insurance point and also I did not have any done better while solving the case? questions to ask Renny at the end of the interview. I just threw one random question to him at the end of the interview. So my advice would be to prepare at least one question for each interviewer. Outcome of the interview (optional)


Mayank Bishnoi McKinsey & Company Shirish Sankhe, Director

First Round, 2nd Interview I had a very good interaction with Shirish over McKinsey dinner and he remembered me from that day. So when I walked in, he welcomed me really well and we had a very good conversation regarding travel to Mohali, nervousness amongst students, cold weather etc. Then he asked me couple of questions related to my resume  How has your experience been at ISB  Why did you go to IIT Roorkee  What did you do at DB & BofA and which was a better experience  How you started playing billiards  Rate ISB experience vis a vis IIT experience  One key learning at ISB  How do you manage a team in sports Comments on the PI rounds (please Since I had interacted extensively with Shirish over dinner, I elaborate on what went right and never felt that I was in an interview and we had a very frank what could have been done better) conversation. Sometimes, it really helps to know the interviewer beforehand and my advice would be to take advantage of whatever interactions you have with senior people before interview date. Know them well, their work interests and anything else which you can talk about during an interview and which makes sense. Case question (as narrated by the A cement manufacturer has just started its operations in South interviewer) India and its cost of capital is $120/ton with debt to equity ratio of 70:30. Now, it wants to sell its cement bag in Mumbai but doesn’t know the price at which it should sell so as to earn an adequate return. 84

How did you define the scope of the I asked Shirish to define the adequate return the company wants case to earn but he instead asked me to define the adequate return for a cement manufacturer. At that moment, I was stunned and thought that this interview was a goner. I then asked him for some time to think about the problem and I then realized that it was a simple NPV analysis where I first needed to calculate the IRR company should earn and then calculate the price for that IRR. Case Analysis presented by you I told Shirish that I would first calculate the cost of capital and then would add some margin over it for calculating the IRR. He then told me that the cost of capital would be the adequate return and there is no need to add any margin. M: I will calculate the cost of equity first and then cost of debt to calculate WACC S: let’s calculate cost of equity first M: I need risk free rate, so in India it would be around 8-9% looking at the government securities. Is that fine? S: ya, take it as 8% M: I need to estimate the beta now. For cyclical industries it will be greater than 1 and for stable industries, it will be less than 1. S: What do you think of the cement industry? Volatile of stable M: I think it’s a volatile industry. So beta should be more than 1 S: Correct, it is very volatile. Can you give an example of a stable industry? M: Healthcare industry is very stable S: Right. So now estimate the beta of cement industry M: I think it will be around 2. S: Smiled and told me that it’s not that volatile either M: I corrected it and said that it would be around 1.3 S: Ya, take it as 1.3 M: Now, knowing the risk free rate and the beta, I need to know the historical market return. S: So, what do you think will be the market rate of return M: In US, it’s around 10% for the last 30yrs, in India it should be around 15% S: Ya, take it as 15% M: I calculated the cost of equity and then moved to estimate the cost of debt. I said since the risk free rate is around 8%, the cost of debt should be around 10-11%. S: Take it as 10% M: I then calculated the WACC. Now I needed to use the NPV equation to calculate price. So, I asked him about the variable costs and other fixed costs. S: He asked me to assume the gross margin to be 30% and fixed costs to be INR 100/yr and let’s do it for one year. M: I thought that he is just looking for logic and I oversimplified things, ignoring taxes and depreciation in the calculation and came out with an answer. 85

S: Your answer is incorrect because you have ignored two important things. Can you tell me what are they? M: I said I ignored taxes. S: Right, there is one more thing. M: Got confused and thought maybe there is a mistake in the logic and I tried to gauge it by talking to him. S: You are still missing one thing. M: I ignored working capex S: You ignored depreciation. M: Right, I was oversimplifying things. So what depreciation should I take? S: Assume the life of project to be 20 years. Now calculate the price of a cement bag M: I calculated something but he told me that the answer was incorrect. I checked my calculations and it seemed to be alright but I decided to not contest further. S: I think we have reached the end of the case. Any questions for me. M: Ended the interview without asking any questions. Final recommendation / summary Recommended the price of a cement bag but more than the answer, the discussion I had with him was important. I could figure out during the interview that he was enjoying discussing the case with me. What do you think went right while My interaction with Shirish and the way I approached the case solving the case? involving him at every point worked for me. What do you think could have been I oversimplified things in between which I should not have done. done better while solving the case? Always state your assumptions to the interviewer. Outcome of the interview (optional) Was told at the end of the interview that both the interviews went well and I should wait for the 2ndround call.


Mayank Bishnoi McKinsey Rajat Dhawan, Director

Second Round, 1st Interview  Tell me about yourself  Why don’t you play golf  How many interviews have you given already  How was your experience at DB & BofA  Which company’s interview process has impressed you the most  Why do you want to shift from finance to consulting  What will you do if Deutsche Bank makes you an offer  How keen are you on joining McKinsey Comments on the PI rounds (please It was just a PI round with Rajat. Having interviewed with two elaborate on what went right and directors in the 1st round and being called for the 2nd round made 86

what could have been done better)

it clear that at least one of the directors had given his nod. Rajat, while asking all the above questions was checking out his Ipad and he seemed to be a little distracted which somehow made me lose my enthusiasm and my voice dropped a bit. But I was lucky enough to realize well within time that I needed to speak loud and clear and still carry the same enthusiasm whatever be the outcome. Case question (as narrated by the No Case interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Rajat extended his hand and the offer was made.


Nidhi Arora Mckinsey & Company Ruchi Kalra, Associate Partner

First Tell me something about yourself? What was XYZ project at Essex (pre ISB firm) all about? What was your biggest achievement at Essex? Of the many things mentioned in your resume, what are you most passionate about? Why do you want to do consulting? Comments on the PI rounds (please Ruchi is a very warm and friendly person who makes you feel at elaborate on what went right and ease right from the word go. Hence, was able to build a good what could have been done better) rapport with her right from the first question. Described the project very crisply. It is very important to prepare short and effective answers to all possible questions from your resume. Case question (as narrated by the The interview involved 2 short cases: interviewer) Case 1: How will you go about opening an NGO for abandoned elderly people? Particularly focus on how you will make it financially sustainable. Was asked this case question because of a stint with an NGO. Solution: Since this was one of those unconventional open ended cases, I avoided using any framework. 87

I asked a few of opening questions: 1. Where do we intend to open the NGO? 2. Have we already reached out to the elderly people we would have at the NGO? 3. For making the NGO financially sustainable can we also consider applying for different licenses – domestic and foreign to raise funds? After gathering this info I proceeded to structuring my analysis into the below: 1. For whom – how will we reach out to these elderly people and convince them to be a part of our NGO 2. Where – where exactly will we open the NGO in Delhi? This will be governed by availability of resources (shelter, help etc.) and concentration of abandoned elderly people in the area 3. What – what activities will happen at the NGO i.e. how do we intend to help the elderly people in their normal routine 4. How – depending on the what, how do we plan to fund/finance these activities and hence the NGO Ruchi liked this structure and asked me to just focus on finding out on a monthly basis how much money would we need. I again broke this down into the below (as the list of things we would need money for): 1. Food 2. Shelter – rent, utilities, maintenance, housekeeping etc 3. Clothing 4. Monthly activities – city trips, self help/spiritual sessions etc. Again Ruchi was fairly satisfied on how I broke the analysis and concluded this discussion and moved onto the second case Case 2: An Indian retail bank wants to expand its deposit base. How will you help them? Solution: I asked the below questions to define the problem – 1. What products are we looking at – savings, current or Fixed deposits? Ruchi asked to focus only on savings. 2. What does the current savings deposit base stand at? By how much do we want to increase it? Ruchi gave me same numbers which I don’t remember now 3. Given the target increase, is it safe to assume that the industry is growing well to be able to achieve it? Yes After gathering this information I structured the case analysis into 2 components – 1. Penetration – how to get more deposits from existing customers i.e. increase share-of-wallet 2. Acquisition – how to acquire new customers to increase our deposits Again here Ruchi gave me more numbers that how much more can we expect to get from existing customers. From the calculations it appeared that a major portion (around 90%) of the target increase in deposits had to come from new customers. 88

Ruchi then asked me on a couple of final recommendations on how can we achieve this How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary To achieve the 90% target increase from new customers, we could do two things: 1. Aggressive cross-selling efforts – get leads from credit cards and loan divisions of the bank. Also, look at the current solicitation process and see how it can be made more effective 2. Sales & marketing campaigns at universities/colleges and corporate as they help to open new accounts in bulk. Also, more focus on corporate as will be able to get in more deposit balances from corporate customers. What do you think went right while Did not try to force fit any frameworks. Kept communicating my solving the case? approach/thoughts at regular intervals to the interviewer – this helped as a sort of validation and also Ruchi felt engaged in the case analysis It is important to know your resume very well as the interviewer may form a case then and there from your resume itself. What do you think could have been Everything seemed to have gone very well. This was infact my done better while solving the case? best interview of the day despite being the first one  Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to round 2.




Nidhi Arora Mckinsey & Company Shirish Sankhe, Director Second Walk me through your resume. What was your biggest achievement at Essex? Why did you quit Credit Suisse in 8 months? Tell me about your leadership skills. Again it is important to be prepared for all sorts of questions on your resume. I was prepared for the quitting Credit Suisse question as well and Shirish was fairly happy with the response A cement company wants to price cement/bag for its new facility setup somewhere in South India. Shirish gave additional information that the company had a capex of some XX crs. in the plant and life of the plant is 25 years. I asked the total capacity of the plant and the quantity per bag. This helped me get the number of bags produced annually. Next I asked Shirish how should we depreciate the capex on the plant – he asked to use straight line depreciation. Additionally I also asked whether we need to consider any 89


particular city for pricing as the distribution costs (a major portion of the cost structure) would be different. Shirish said to consider let’s say Mumbai and that there is sufficient demand. I laid down the typical structure of a pricing problem – 1) Cost based 2) Value based 3) Comparables. Shirish asked to consider only cost based pricing. I then listed the various components of cost structure: 1) Manufacturing costs 2) Distribution/Transportation costs 3) Sales & Marketing Shirish gave me all these numbers per bag. After calculating the total per bag, Shirish asked me that how I would decide the cost plus mark up on a per bag basis. Here I got stuck a little bit as I could not think that the mark up would be governed by the WACC of the capex. Shirish then asked me a couple of questions on WACC that whether it will be of the plant or the firm and that how will you calculate it etc. Then Shirish gave me the WACC number as 9%. After that the calculations were simple: Cost per bag = Variable Cost per bag + (1+WACC)*capex per bag

Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while Asked the right upfront questions. Did not assume that only cost solving the case? plus pricing method would be used. One should never assume anything even if it seems to be the right method, should always verify with the interviewer What do you think could have been Should have thought of the WACC angle. done better while solving the case? I kept telling Shirish that the mark up would depend on the rate of return the client expects on the plant. Shirish asked me to think what it should at the minimum. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to round 3

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Nidhi Arora Mckinsey & Company Jaidit Brar, Partner

Third Jaidit is one of the nicest persons to talk to at Mckinsey. He is extremely friendly and it helps a lot to calm down your nerves! How many interviews have you given today so far? What was your experience of the first 2 interviews at Mckinsey? Why do you want to do consulting? What is your biggest achievement at ISB? Comments on the PI rounds (please The PI part went very well and I could strike a connect with elaborate on what went right and Jaidit. He was smiling all through after this during the case what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the Before giving the case, Jaidit said that we will do a simple case interviewer) and we will try to do it jointly and that I can take as much time as I needed. This made me feel all the more comfortable. The case question was that we need to reduce the waiting times at the Delhi-Gurgaon toll. How should we go about it? How did you define the scope of the I asked Jaidit a few opening questions: case 1) What are the current wait times? 2) By how much do we want to reduce it? 3) What are the times of the day when the problem is most acute? Case Analysis presented by you I then listed down the various reasons due to which long waits occur: 1) Lower capacity 2) Variability in demand/arrival rates 3) Variability in servicing rate I told Jaidit that we can see what measures can be taken to address each of these issues and reduce waiting times. He was very pleased with this approach and asked me to consider the last point. I asked him what causes the variability in service rate. He asked me to come up with a few and I listed the below two: 1) Variability in processing time of the server 2) The price charged per trip as sometimes giving back the change in coins becomes time consuming Jaidit was happy with what I came up with and added one more the different times taken by car drivers to position the car correctly besides the booth. After this Jaidit just closed the discussion saying that the way you are analyzing the problem you will be able to solve it. Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while Jaidit was not really looking for a solution but the approach and solving the case? how I was communicating it to him. One thing that really helped me here was OPMG as I 91

remembered the basics from the queuing theory. It is important to revise some of the core term courses and remember the application! What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Was made an offer! 



Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case

Shirish Damani McKinsey & Company Sasi Sunkara, Partner Round 1, Interview 1 I went into the interview a little nervous as I knew Sasi was in the Financial Services vertical and knew the case would be from that sector and coming from a manufacturing background myself this was not my most comfortable area. However, I quickly took that off my mind and the interview started off with a general discussion on the cold in Mohali and I told him that I was used to it since I was working in Chandigarh for close to 3 years. Further we discussed how the entire placement process with ~450 students from Hyd going to Mohali seemed like a grand wedding and not placements. And how the expenses associated with it resulted in the Merit List scholarship getting cancelled.  After 8-10 mins of chit chat we finally started with the regular PI questions. 1. About yourself. (have a common theme flowing across your answer) 2. Detail about your work. (esp prepare anything which stands out in your CV) 3. Why consulting? (Try and personalize the answer apart from the regular stuff) This was my 3rd interview of the day and hence I was already in flow. I was well prepared with all 3 answers and at the same time made it a point to not come across as if I had mugged the answers. Prepare well for PIs with buddies and in case groups and make sure you take feedback from multiple people. V important is to have structured, complete yet concise answers so that the interviewer does not get bored. Client is CEO of a NBFC and is concerned that the loan collection process of the firm is not ok. Asked basic questions, SD: To whom does the client lend? SS: mostly to transport companies to buy trucks and other transport vehicles. 92

SD: Where does the firm operate? SS: Pan India SD: Since when has there been a problem. SS: CEO is not sure if there is a problem as such. SD: In that case we should first try and see if there is really a problem. SS: Exactly. What are some measures you will look at to detect if there is a problem or not? SS: I will take 2 mins to come with a list of metrics. Case Analysis presented by you

I came up with the following metrics, 1. Comparison of % Bad debt across different regions in which the firm operates in to understand if there is a problem with a specific region. 2. Comparison of % Bad debt with competition 3. Comparison of % Bad debt over time 4. Comparison of % Bad debt with target Sasi was convinced with these metrics and we had some discussion over each of them. Post this he asked me to briefly talk about what could be done in case a problem was identified. I asked about the current process which he asked me to ignore and asked me to mention just a few points at a very broad level. I took a minute and mentioned some basic things like, 1. Better credit analysis before lending. 2. Sales team incentives to have % bad debt as a measure and not just amount loans given as this would create an incentive to lend to credible people. 3. Establish clear cut and objective guidelines/checklist to check the credibility of the borrower so that there is minimal scope for discretion. Sasi was very convinced with the discussion and seem satisfied. End of case. Finally I was given a chance to ask a question. As I knew Sasi had worked outside India I asked him how is the consulting experience in India different from that outside. We had a brief 35 minute discussion on this.

Final recommendation / summary No such final recommendation or summary as such. What do you think went right while Not force fitting a framework where not applicable helped. solving the case? Think from basics and try to scope the problem. This is the most important thing in any case discussion. I had read in the previous case books that connecting with the interviewer always helps. However, did not really understand what it really meant. But after this interview I realized what 93

people were referring to. The initial general discussion which I had really eased me out and then the interview was more of a discussion than an interview which really helped especially because of the finance phobia that I had. As one of my buddies had told me that the more you speak in an interview the chances of you making a mistake increases. So let the interviewer also speak and turn the interview into a discussion. That is exactly what happened and both the interviewer and myself were very satisfied. What do you think could have been Frankly speaking I think all my McK interviews were like a dream done better while solving the case? come true. I think everything was just fine. But in this case if I still have to point out something it will be the final question which I had asked. I think I asked a question which almost everyone would have asked Sasi and probably could have something better. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to next round. 


Shirish Damani McKinsey & Company Jaidit Singh Brar, Partner

First Round, Second Interview 1. About yourself. (have a common theme flowing across your answer) 2. Detail about your work. (esp prepare anything which stands out in your CV) 3. What would you like to change about P&G (past organization)? 4. Why consulting? (Try and personalize the answer apart from the regular stuff) Comments on the PI rounds (please He asked all standard questions. But what helped was that I was elaborate on what went right and well prepared with all the answers and all the answers had a what could have been done better) personal touch. And the answers should not be the standard answers which everyone is giving. This is the easiest as well as quite impactful part of the interview. If prepared well then you can guide the interview as you want and to your strength. Moreover, since this is the first part of the interview it really helps create a big positive impact if the questions are answered well. Case question (as narrated by the This was the more unusual cases. interviewer) JB: What will be your recommendation to Arvind Kejriwal for the 2014 LS elections? (Remember this was before the Delhi elections results had come out and hence before AAP came to power) How did you define the scope of the I was a little surprised by the case. I took a couple of minutes off 94

case

before I started and was quick to start thinking.


I started by saying that considering the size of the country and the current strength of the AAP it is not possible for them to fight elections impactfully across the country. So we need to look at 2 main points i.e., resources and possible impact. In the mean time I thought of a 2X2 to represent this. I felt I was having a good day coz never in any case practice session I had ever made a 2X2. This kind of boosted my confidence. However, I was a little skeptical to use this especially since many buddies had asked not to use standard terms. Moreover since this was a McK interview I was not sure if I should use a BCG 2X2. I was clearly over thinking. Please avoid this. SD: I have thought of a 2X2 should I use it. JB: sure go ahead. SD: We can represent it using a 2X2 with resources required … both people and money .. on one axis and probability of winning on the other. I then drew the 2X2 on the paper and started discussion on that. SD: We can then classify all the states into each of the 4 quarters and definitely target the ones where resources required are low and probability of winning is high and avoid the opposite quadrant. The other two quadrants will need to be decided on a case by case basis. JB: How will you determine the resources required and probability of winning? SD: Resources required would depend on the size of the state and current presence of AAP in these states and probability of winning would depend on the current nature of politics and general voting pattern in the states i.e., whether people vote based on caste (eg. UP). Probability of winning would also depend upon current available options for the states like in West Bengal people are not happy with the available alternatives and hence AAP might have a better chance. At this point I was a little out of ideas and asked for a minute. SD: Should I take an eg. of a state in each quadrant and explain. JB: Sure, go ahead. SD: UP is an eg. where resources required will be high because of the size of the state and probability of winning is low as people vote based on caste. Since AAP doesn’t stand for caste based politics it will be difficult to make inroads at this stage and hence 95

AAP should avoid UP and other such states. Next, we can look at a state where resources required will be relatively less and probability of winning is higher. West Bengal/Kerala could be an eg. of this as people are more educated and hence AAP’s anti corruption image might strike a chord with the voters. Moreover, caste based politics being minimal in these states might work in AAP’s favor. In addition frustration with the existing political parties and lack of a good alternative could be perfect for AAP. JB: Ok good. (He seemed convinced with the discussion). Would you like to add anything else to this? SD: Yes. There are some watch-outs (there always is). Things AAP needs to be careful about while scaling up. For eg. 1. While recruiting people for the party they need to ensure people do not have any controversial background as their entire campaign is based on anti-corruption. 2. Similarly while tying up with other organizations it needs to ensure similar anti corrupt background. 3. When fighting at the national level it will need to make it stand clear on other issues of national interest and not just talk about corruption. Jaidit seemed to be satisfied with the discussion and asked me to ask any questions which I had. I thought of a good question there. I had mentioned in my “Why Consulting” answer that I want to become an entrepreneur in 3-5 years time and hence consulting will help me with industry knowledge, problem solving and contacts. Taking this forward I asked. SD: With your experience in consulting what are some of the things you fell you have learnt which will help you as an entrepreneur? Jaidit was very impressed with the question as it was not one of the regular ones and talked in detail about what he felt. He went ahead and even spoke about things one learns in consulting which will hamper someone as an entrepreneur. We had a good 5-7 minute discussion on this. Final recommendation / summary

SD: As discussed, AAP should not go about fighting the LS polls across the county due to time and resource constraint. It should classify the states on the 2X2 matrix and have a state wise strategy and form alliances with a political regional organizations but not before doing a thorough check on their background. What do you think went right while Not force fitting a framework where not applicable helped. solving the case? I had read in the previous case books that connecting with the interviewer always helps. However, did not really understand 96

what it really meant. But after this interview I realized what people were referring to. The initial PI questions really eased me out and then the interview was more of a discussion than an interview. In this case even the last question which I asked Jaidit impressed him and helped me leave a mark as the interview ended. Finally watching Arnab Goswami on news hour every night helped me with some facts. What do you think could have been Frankly speaking I think all my McK interviews were like a dream done better while solving the case? come true. In this case I think everything was just fine could not have asked for a better interview. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to next round. 


Shirish Damani McKinsey & Company Rajat Dhawan, Partner

Second Round This was my 7thcase interview of the day and was hoping that this would be a simple case interview. To my delight this turned out to be just a PI and no case and also my last interview. Rajat asked some standard questions, 1. Which firms are you interviewing with? 2. How many interviews have you given till now? 3. Tell me about your work in P&G. Comments on the PI rounds (please As I was talking about my P&G experience Rajat was working on elaborate on what went right and his iPad and at that time I got really nervous coz I thought that I what could have been done better) am boring him to death with my answers. As I was answering he suddenly looks up and tells me, RD: Ok that’s good. Now tell me what is the process of extending an offer to you. I was a little surprised and spoke about the FIF process which I myself was not 100% clear about and confused him. RD: Anyways, my team will take care of this, I am pleased to welcome you to the firm. That was it. I shook hands and left the room. Case question (as narrated by the NA interviewer) How did you define the scope of the NA case 97

Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)

NA NA NA


Venugopal Balasubramanian McKinsey & Co. Rajat Dhawan, Director


NA Made an offer 

First Round – First Interview Went through resume fairly systematically. He asked me a little about my work experience at Citibank, but possibly because that was fairly short, moved on to my extra-curriculars. It was a very easy-going discussion regarding my experiences and what I had learned in the process. It’s useful to build a rapport with the interviewer quickly, both to keep it interesting and to avoid getting stressed out. Two bits of advice:  Think of the interview as a conversation, and not a test  Keep up your energy levels I also think that the fact that I took the initiative to open the interview with some small talk helped show some initiative and keep the conversation on a friendly level. What do you think the market would be for luxury homes in Chandigarh? Definition of luxury homes: 4 cr ticket size

Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Initial approach : Population >> No of households >> Demand due to new families + Demand from families changing houses Tried to estimate demand from new families by estimating 30 yrs between generations (I chose to ignore net immigration). Similarly, assumed a family would stay in a house on average for about 15 years (random number). Got a figure for total number of houses sold a year. ). I assumed that there would be two categories of people buying in this segment – well-paid professionals, and wealthy individuals. For well-paid professionals I estimated the average EMI (came out to be something like INR 5 lakhs), but without any data on the number of people in that salary bracket I could not proceed. As the number of corporations in Chandigarh is llimited, I said this group would probably not account for the majority of customers in this segment. So I said I would focus on 98

the other segment – namely, affluent and HNI individuals – and estimated that a high value property would typically account for upto 25% of their net worth and based on that I would need to look at people worth more than INR 16 cr or so. But again I was finding it difficult to proceed. Rajat suggested taking a different approach from the supply side. So I tried to assume number of houses in premium neighbourhoods and then get a notion of supply in this market, but that didn’t get too far either. Final recommendation / summary Did not reach any conclusion. What do you think went right while I kept trying, and did not give up even when the interviewer started solving the case? ignoring me during the interview (the case part was a bit of a stress interview, in that sense). What do you think could have been I could have had some more enthusiasm, and made some more done better while solving the case? aggressive assumptions. In the event, I stopped at the point when I was no longer comfortable with the validity of the assumptions I was making. Outcome of the interview (optional) N. A. (first round interview)





Venugopal Balasubramanian McKinsey & Co. Shirish Sankhe, Director First Round – Second Interview PI focused almost entirely on academics/achievements in college.  Greatest academic achievement  Was my CGPA good?  What had I enjoyed learning at ISB?  Why did I choose to become President of the Fin Club instead of the Consulting club Again entering the interview with some calm and confidence makes a lot of difference. I think keeping my answers frank also helped a lot, as it makes you seem more genuine. Having met Shirish at the networking dinner also helped in making conversation, and more generally, helped me feel on familiar ground. You have an acre of slum land in Mumbai, and it needs to be redeveloped. Find the breakeven FSI that you have to apply for.  Basically the slum dwellers would be given compensatory flats on a 1:1 basis  No land cost to be included  Ignored costs due to corruption etc My basic approach would be to look at the costs and revenue.

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Sources of revenue:  Sale of apartment – primary source of revenue (ignored the rest)  Sale of parking space, etc  Fees for club facilities, security, etc I said about Rs. 40k/sq ft would be reasonable in Bandra (kept the context to a neighbourhood I was familiar with). Cost heads:  Construction cost o Material o Labor o Utilities charges o Overhead  Land cost – to be ignored  Registration and other regulatory charges – also to be ignored. So the main job was to estimate construction cost. I tried to estimate using a profit margin and then back-calculate. The figure was wildly overestimated, so Shirish corrected me and said that about Rs. 1200 – 2000/sq ft would be reasonable, depending on quality of construction. He also pointed out that the quality of apartments would be low for the slum dwellers’ rehabilitation and high for the apartments to be sold ( a point that I had overlooked). The breakeven FSI came out to be some fraction just over 1. It was so low, that I went back and rechecked the numbers. Final recommendation / summary An FSI of just over 1 would be more than enough to breakeven. What do you think went right while Kept the business perspective in mind when discussing issues. solving the case? Moved the discussion at the end beyond case assumptions and showed interest in what the real-world dynamics of this problem would be. Remained very systematic in my approach. What do you think could have been My arithmetic – I repeatedly had to go back and check because I done better while solving the case? was afraid that I was messing up the zeros. Outcome of the interview (optional) The interviewer seemed happy. After the second shortlist was put up, I had a short discussion with a third partner, Sujit, after which they made an offer.

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Pranav Mathur McKinsey & Company Rajat Dhawan (Sr. Partner) First The discussion started with standard questions about me, why consulting etc etc. Rajat was interested in knowing in detail about my work experience. He asked me a few questions on the same which I answered easily. Rajat seemed a little distracted and was working on his ipad throughout; I kept my cool and answered all his questions.

Comments on the PI rounds (please I explained my work well. Since I had worked on the shop floor, he elaborate on what went right and asked me specific questions on issues faced in what could have been done better) operations/manufacturing. I was able to defend these questions well. This was the first interview of the day for me and I was a bit nervous (something which Rajat could notice easily). It took me some time to warm up after which the discussion went smoothly. My Advice - prepare your resume inside out and know your work well. The first few minutes of the interview can really help you gain confidence for tackling what comes next. Case question (as narrated by the Estimate the number of luxury households in Chandigarh-Mohali interviewer) How did you define the scope of the This was a standard guess estimate which I had practiced many. case Me: What is a luxury house-hold ? RD: Houses with more than INR 4 Crore value. Case Analysis presented by you Me: There are two ways to approach this problem, from the demand side and the supply side. RD: Proceed with the demand side approach < I explained my logic of starting with the population in Chandigarh Mohali and dividing the same based on income distribution of households. He nodded and asked me to proceed. I assumed the population as 5 Million, taking average 4 people per household = 1.25 Million Households. Since financing a house is done by taking loans, I assumed that the loan is paid over 10 years with equal monthly installments. This gives us = INR 4 Crore/10 yearly payments = INR 40 Lakhs/year. Now since this money comes from the disposable income of the individual/household. I assumed that 40 Lakh would constitute 1/3rd of the disposable income of the household. => Minimum household disposable income to afford a luxury home = INR 120 Lakh. Rajat all this while was doing something else on his ipad and gave me a nod and an occasional “ok” to validate my approach. Next, I divided the 1.25 Million households based on annual disposable income with 60% below 120 Lakhs, 30% between 120 – 250 Lakhs and 10% above 250 Lakhs. 101

At this point, I said that people in the mid/high segment can afford this but might not necessarily buy a house and hence we need to factor that in. I drew a structure stating the kind of people who would be interested – Who currently are in rental accommodation, who are looking for only an investment opportunity plus some more which I cant remember now. Rajat asked me to tell him the final number as he wanted to finish the interview fast. I took some percentages and arrived at 10% * 1.25 Million = 125,000 households. This number seemed very large to me and hence I told him that the number looks too big and that might be because of the percentages we have assumed and we can validate the same from publically available information on income groups in Chandigarh/Mohali. Rajat ended the case and asked me if I had any questions for him. Final recommendation / summary Final answer – 125,000 houses What do you think went right while I did not get nervous when Rajat started working. Took a lot of time solving the case? to think and neatly drew down my structure. Struck a good rapport with Rajat in the beginning which really helped. Rajat liked the disposable income approach that I used. Since my final number seemed too large I qualified it by admitting that the number is large and the assumptions should be ratified once again – something which he liked in the analysis. What do you think could have been Rajat kept asking me to hurry up and give him an answer fast. It done better while solving the case? took me some time to narrow down on a number in the end (made the calculations a bit complicated) – something which I should have thought through before starting the case itself. Outcome of the interview (optional) Called for next round


Pranav Mathur McKinsey & Company Renny Thomas (Sr Partner)


I was told before walking in that my first round had gone well – hence I was fairly confident right from the beginning of this interview. Struck a good rapport and answered all questions. A chemical company also makes cement and uses the same distribution channels to reach end customers. Their main business in Chemicals, but they manufacture cement as one of the waste products from the chemical manufacturing is used as input RM for Cement. Lately the firm has seen an increase in cement demand

Second Standard questions – about myself, why consulting etc etc. He asked me how I found the ISB experience different than my IIT experience to which I gave him a couple of points. He asked me what aspect of ISB I liked the most.

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and has asked you to evaluate what they should do about it. How did you define the scope of the I started by asking basic questions on the company and its relative case standing in the market. I was told that they are the leaders in Chemicals and Cement is not their main focus. The distribution channels are the same and they operate in only one geography. I enquired regarding profitability and was told that chemical is more profitable than cement. I also confirmed that the key ingredient in manufacturing cement is the waste produced in chemicals manufacturing. At this point I took some time to think how to approach this. Case Analysis presented by you I started with analyzing the industry, company, competition and customer. It turned out that the demand for cement was expected to go up in future and the client had a very strong name in the market. Customers were price conscious when buying cement and our cement was at a premium price as compared to competitive products. I told Renny that we have the following options – 1. Open new plant for cement 2. Expand Capacity in current plant. In either case, the major challenge was the chemicals waste used as RM as we would need more of this to manufacture more cement. This was the crux of the problem. Renny told me that the Chemicals demand is also increasing however the current plant does not have space to expand and is running optimally. I told him that in case we do put up a new plant for Cement, we would need to establish a chemical plant as well or procure the waste from outside which would raise costs. He asked me how will you evaluate this situation to which I responded saying that I would conduct a financial feasibility study to check this and compare that with any other opportunities for investment that I might have. Renny asked me to tell him some more – to which I mentioned about capabilities/resources required etc. Renny told me that assume that the project is financially attractive even if we procure the waste from the market. Since procuring waste would increase costs, we had three options – 1. Reduce price 2. Retain Price 3. Increase Price. I talked briefly about each option and finally suggested that we should conduct a market research to understand consumer buying behavior better and then decide what to do with the prices. Renny asked me if this was my final advice – to which I said yes. He then asked me why we could not just increase prices as there was increasing demand in the market. I replied saying that directly increasing prices would be too risky as there might be long term implications with distributors etc and we should only do that once we are fairly confident on the consumer perceptions about price. Final recommendation / summary

Conduct a market survey to gauge price elasticity and then 103

evaluate. This was a risky suggestion as increasing demand in the market would directly imply that prices would go up. However I stuck to my answer and said that increasing prices should be based on careful research as it may lead to long term issues with downstream partners and customer perceptions. What do you think went right while This was a very smooth case and I was able to identify the key solving the case? issues easily. Renny prompted me at the end to change my answer (from conducting research to just raising prices). However I stuck to my answer and defended it (something which he appreciated) What do you think could have been Renny was looking for the traditional supply- demand curves to done better while solving the case? analyze price variations. However, as long as you can defend your line of reasoning you would sail through. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to next round, which was a general PI and the offer was made. 

Names Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)

Abhishek Ahuja McKinsey & Co. Sujit Chakrabarty (Principal)

First  Tell me about yourself  How did you plan this day? How has it gone?  These are standard PI questions so it wasn’t very difficult and went well  The PI was brief (about 5 mins) as the interviewer wanted to get on with the case Case question (as narrated by the Your client is the CEO of an IT company, who has a week to interviewer) present to the board on the weak performance of the company and recommendations that would help turn things around How did you define the scope of the Started with general questions on the company, as little was case provided in the case. The company was a US based IT company providing solutions across the globe. It was placed 2nd by market share and had impressive revenue growth of 20% but profitability was a concern. There were a few other figures provided but not very relevant. This clearly paved way for approaching the case through standard profitability framework. We started with revenue that was growing well, so I agreed with the interviewer to eliminate this aspect and move to costs. Finally, on costs objective was clarified the board expected lower costs. Case Analysis presented by you At this point I listed the broad cost categories and was asked to assign weights to the same. I had listed the following with weights: 104

 Payroll costs – 70%  Other Operating Costs – 10%  Selling costs – 10%  Admin costs – 10% We went into some details of each with regard to software and hardware, and their depreciation/ amortization of a large IT company. Next, we focused on the payroll costs and its drivers. I clarified on the number of employees, location, salary costs, other payroll costs and outsourcing options. To this information was provided on the company having employees in both India and US. Indian employees had lower costs but also lower charge out rates as compared to US. However, the profitability % was higher for US. Final recommendation / summary Taking the objective of lowering costs in isolation it may seem that shifting employees to India is ideal, however, the board would not appreciate lower revenue and profitability. Accordingly, recommendations included: (1) Negotiation of higher charge out rates for Indian employees to enable shift – by charging based on deliverables instead of employee location. (2) Looking at China/ Indonesia as alternatives for outsourcing with lower costs with similar charge out rates as US. What do you think went right while The case had a standard profitability approach but required solving the case? detailed numerical analysis to identify the root cause and reason for the CEO dilemma. The numbers went well and the interviewer was particularly happy with my recommendations. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)


Abhishek Ahuja McKinsey & Co. Shirish Sankhe (Director)

Second  What have been the recent events at ISB? How has hosting ‘Progressive Punjab’ helped ISB?  Provide an example of a leadership experience outside of work?  Briefly take me through your CV and elaborate on one of your sections in the CV  What was the rationale behind the job shift?  Do you really think consulting is your calling or is it a stepping stone?  (At the end) Any questions for me specifically? Comments on the PI rounds (please  This was a PI heavy round with various cross questioning and elaborate on what went right and discussions on my perspectives on multiple topics 105

 Shirish made me comfortable but was continuously prodding me with tricky cross questions – maybe to check whether I contradict myself. Here my PI preparation was put to good use.  Research on the interviewer really helped as we had a long discussion after soling the case on the specific questions I had for him. Case question (as narrated by the This case is based on a case the interviewer gave the previous interviewer) year. He wanted to know whether I read the Casebook 2013 and whether I remembered the case facts. The case was given to Shwaitang (refer Casebook 2013) and further figures were added. I was asked to compute the break-even FSI for construction of apartments for existing dwellers. How did you define the scope of the At first I put forth all facts that I remembered from the case case given last year with regard to the area of the property, the conversion of acres to sq. ft., restriction of FSI etc. I then asked him certain clarifying questions regarding  Options for the real estate developer for land use  Area of development and the kind of customers  Whether existing dwellers were required to pay anything? I then confirmed that break even FSI was the only objective of the case, and moved forward. Case Analysis presented by you As the break-even FSI was required, I formulated the equation involving various factors on the revenue and the cost side. The revenue side involved land area for revenue generating real estate development, FSI, number of apartments, sale price and sale-ability percentage. I then estimated each of these factors with FSI as the variable. The cost side estimation was partly done in the case given in the previous year. He asked me to estimate the cost of constructing a flat in a way other than that used last year. I decided to use the market rate I knew in my hometown and divided that into profit, land premium and cost. This required a brief guesstimation exercise for profit and land premium. The next step was difference in cost of construction between development for existing dwellers and the one for sale. Here again certain basic knowledge of real estate was required (I had some work experience in the area) and I developed a factor for the same based on area, furnishing etc. The rest of the case required numerical calculations for coming up with a break even FSI. However, assumptions here were critical. Especially with relation number of apartments expected to be sold at pre-launch and then subsequently at different rates. Final recommendation / summary This was a numbers heavy case that required an exact computation of break even FSI. However, it required various assumptions and guesstimations that were more a part of the final summary than the solution. what could have been done better)

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What do you think went right while Staying calm while solving the numerical portions was critical to solving the case? getting the calculations right. There are no excuses for having inaccurate calculations and are best done slowly as there are no points for speed. The assumptions I made were based on my work experience and I justified each one of them through examples and logic. What do you think could have been This was a PI heavy round with a number heavy case. I had gone done better while solving the case? through Casebook 2013 but never expected that I would be made to recall facts. I did hesitate initially but with the interviewer’s help recovered and was able to solve it relatively smoothly. Outcome of the interview (optional) This was my second interview with McKinsey, and both went well. Offer was made after this interview !





Kushagra Gupta McKinsey & Co. Renny Thomas, Director – Head of Financial Services Practice Round 1 – Interview 1 Renny was very warm in welcoming me and put me at ease by starting out with the standard PI questions such as tell me something about yourself, why consulting, why McKinsey, CVbased questions on work experience (probably since my prior experience was in financial services) PI was mainly to put me at ease and to have an informal conversation regarding my interests, prior work experience and motivation for taking up consulting having worked with an investment bank before. This was my 3rd interview of the day and the good thing was that I was very conversational and involved Renny in my PI answers. It is very important to keep the interviewer involved in the conversation and to treat the interview more like a chat. Our client is a family-owned chemicals manufacturer in Gujarat. The waste product from the manufacturing process is used to manufacture cement in an ancillary plant attached to the main chemicals manufacturing plant. In the past 6 months, the demand for the client’s cement has increased two-fold. The CEO has approached McKinsey & Co. to advise him on the future course of action. I started out by asking questions about the client such as what chemicals business they are into, who are their clients and how is this cement manufactured. I also inquired about the distinguishing characteristics of this cement and what macroeconomic factors have led to this sudden spurt in demand. It turned out that the client was manufacturing chemicals for the construction industry and that they were a well-known local 107

chemicals player. As to the cement, it was priced lower than competitors since it was made from waste byproduct but otherwise equivalent in quality. The sudden spurt in demand was on account of construction boom (domestic and commercial) in Gujarat. Finally, I asked whether our client was looking to enter the chemicals business in a major way given the rise in demand to which Renny answered in the negative. So the scope of the case boiled down to improving profits within the confines of the existing factory setting. Case Analysis presented by you I structured the analysis as we could do one of 2 things – increase supply of our cement or curtail demand. We could increase supply by increasing the quantity of cement manufactured from the ancillary unit. This could be achieved by increasing capacity of the entire plant (including ancillary unit), reengineering the chemicals manufacturing process to make it more “inefficient” to generate more waste by product and thus more cement to sell. However, Renny commented that the plant was running at full capacity and the company had no immediate plans of capacity expansion. To curtail demand, we could simply raise prices of our cement, yet be lower compared to competitors which would automatically ensure demand matches supply. This was exactly what Renny was expecting and said that this is what they advised the client. Final recommendation / summary I structured the summary as: Context: A chemicals manufacturer wants to increase profits from cement produced in its ancillary plant in the face of increased demand. Recommendations: Short-term: 1) Increase prices of the cement to closely match those of competitors but still be lower than them. 2) Bundle and sell cement and chemicals to existing construction clients at a higher combined price (clients would save on dealing with fewer suppliers and procurement costs). Long Term: 1) Capacity expansion of plant. 2) Process reengineering of the chemicals manufacturing process to increase waste by product. What do you think went right while Scoping was the main aspect in this case and I think I nailed the solving the case? scope down quite early. The bundling suggestion was a kind of “wow” moment since I think Renny did not expect this suggestion. What do you think could have been I took a fair bit of time in reaching the most obvious answer, done better while solving the case? which was raising the price of cement. A word of advice, try to solve cases by first principles rather than applying a rigid framework. At the time of defining the scope, you can make out whether the case fits into a framework or whether you are better off using first principles. 108

Outcome of the interview (optional)

Advanced to Round 1 – Interview 2


Kushagra Gupta McKinsey & Co. Rajat Dhawan, Director – Head of McKinsey’s Operations Practice in Asia Round 1 – Interview 2 This interview was a complete PI based interview. Some of the questions that Rajat asked were: 1) Tell me something about yourself. 2) Grades and academic/research experiences at ISB and VJTI. 3) In-depth discussion about my work experience with a focus on leadership traits. 4) Leadership positions at ISB with the Finance Club. 5) My interests in Formula 1, travel and volunteering engagements. The interview was more like an after lunch chat (he did have lunch prior to my interview!!) on my CV. Comments on the PI rounds (please I think the interview went quite well. My advice for PI would be elaborate on what went right and to not leave it till late to prepare for it since it is a very important what could have been done better) part of the consulting interview, especially for McKinsey. Try to prepare your stories well and intersperse them with humorous comments/interesting/unique facts. Personalize all your answers to Why McKinsey? Why consulting?, etc. Case question (as narrated by the None interviewer) How did you define the scope of the None case Case Analysis presented by you None Final recommendation / summary None What do you think went right while None solving the case? What do you think could have been None done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Advanced to Round 2


Kushagra Gupta McKinsey & Co. Abhijit Kulkarni, Engagement Manager with the Mumbai office Round 2 – Interview 1 Abhijit is an ISB alum and also an alum from VJTI, my engineering school. The interview started out as a discussion of VJTI, how things have changed there, professors from his time, etc. We had a discussion around his McKinsey engagements and work-life 109

balance in consulting. Then Abhijit mentioned that both partners in Round 1 had already approved of me and that the outcome of this interview would not affect their decision. He then said the cherished words, “Welcome to the firm!!” Comments on the PI rounds (please General advice for PI (and cases) is to be yourself in the elaborate on what went right and interviews and not be concerned with the outcome of the what could have been done better) interviews that you have already given. Many people will be interviewing with 4+ firms, which means atleast 10-12 interviews. Keeping you cool and not fretting about a bad interview will do your confidence wonders in the madness that is “Day 1”. Case question (as narrated by the None interviewer) How did you define the scope of the None case Case Analysis presented by you None Final recommendation / summary None What do you think went right while None solving the case? What do you think could have been None done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Made an offer


Vishal Anand McKinsey & Co. Shirish Sankhe (Director) Round 1 – 1st interview (1st interview of the day) What’s the secret of CGPA 4.0/4.0? Why your academic record at IIT is not as outstanding as it is in ISB? How should I go about investing my personal wealth (Because I was an i-alpha analyst)? A bit of smile and a bit of excitement always helps. Do prepare for all typical interview questions but don’t be too dependent on it. Be honest in whatever you say. A cement manufacturer is setting up a plant in Chennai and would be selling the cement in Mumbai. He wants your help in determining the price. The question was quite straightforward.

How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you I asked few questions around capital expenditure, depreciation, taxes, transportation cost, operating cost, channel margin. He asked me to calculate the WACC. I asked questions around beta, risk free rate, market risk premium and he asked me to take a guess for each of them. The calculation was based on the assumption of perpetuity cashflow. Finally I gave him the price and he was happy with it. 110

Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)


I was asking to the point question as it was a clear cut number case and he did not expect any faff. At the end when I told him the answer, I forgot to take into account the taxes which clicked me once asked me to think once more if I am missing something. 2nd Interview

Vishal Anand McKinsey & Co. Sasi Sunkara (Senior Partner) Round 1 – 2nd interview It was more of a chit chat. Was asked personal questions about my family, my education etc. He was very chilled out. My 1st interview went well and I was quite confident in this one.

A promoter of a conglomerate has won the bid to set up some government program (something like e-choupal) in 4 states including Bihar and the shareholders are not happy and think that it will be a value eroding proposition. Suggest 5 ways to enhance the value of this investment. How did you define the scope of the I asked about the existing business of the company (the case company was into several businesses including equipment finance) and how the village centers will be run and what will be the investment of the company etc Case Analysis presented by you He wanted only 5 ideas and no framework based analysis. I asked for 2 mins and gave 5 recommendation: 1. Reduce the cost by asking the local entrepreneurs to share the cost 2. Leverage the geographical reach in the existing businesses of the company 3. Diversify into businesses which are village centric 4. Use this as a platform and invite other companies to use this platform and charge fees for e.g. Banking services 5. Since it’s a government initiative, ask for tax breaks etc which can lift the value up Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while Everything. Most importantly I asked upfront if I shall only give solving the case? recommendations or shall I also do the analysis. He asked for only recommendations. What do you think could have been It was good enough. done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) No 2nd round – offer was made after the 1st round. 

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PWC Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)



Rachit Raj PWC Strategy & Research Anuraag -Principal Consultant First Had the basic personal interview questions – Tell me about yourself, Previous role, How will you connect it to the role being offered? PI is very important to connect with the interviewer. It is very important to get your story correct. In my case the interviewer wanted to understand the connect between my previous sales role and the consulting role on offer. For people with multiple shortlists – Don’t ignore any organization/role specific prep A paper manufacturer in India is losing Market share (MS) due to competition and you are consulting the head of Marketing division of this company. I first nailed down the objective – Is it to arrest MS decline or do I need to look at other aspects? So I started with scoping questions that were : Segmented the products – any particular products losing MS Segmented by geography – Any zone losing MS Decline in MS happens when your growth is lesser than the market growth – so I clarified if any particular competitor was doing very well . The answer I got was – new set of competitors came in the market 2-3 years ago. They are slowly growing and eating into the clients MS. During the scoping questions I had found out that we were losing MS across products but in a given geography – North and west zone. So it as a case where a pioneer in a market was losing MS to new comers and the pioneer was unable to differentiate its products as it was the paper industry. I asked for the details of how sales were done in the industry and realized that distribution was done through dealers and this was the critical point in the case wrt. to recommendations. Finally I used a tabular approach to clearly identify how the client was different from the competitors.

Types of product on offer Price point Discounts offered No. of dealers 112

Client Capabilities

Competitor Capabilities

Dealer Margin offered Sales force Geography present in Etc Final recommendation / summary

The key thing about recommendations was that I was recommending to the head of marketing so I had to focus on how could marketing arrest the MS decline. I made recommendations to expand into East zone that was growing with minimal competition. By this time he stopped me. What do you think went right while I was a longish interview with 20 mins of PI and 25 mins of case. I solving the case? think I was able to convince him on why I want to shift from a sales role to a consulting role. Also it was very conversational. What do you think could have been Interview happened at 1:00 am at the night, and by then I had done better while solving the case? appeared for 5 other companies, so I was completely exhausted. I was low on energy. Outcome of the interview (optional) Next round


Rachit Raj PWC Don’t remember the name -Principal Consultant Second No PI, only case

It was a pricing case, where a pharma company has come out with a new drug to cure HIV/AIDS. How should they price it? It was not a standard case, so I had to understand the problem first. The interviewer did not want me to come with a final rice but wanted an approach of how would I price it. I started by listing down factors : Price = f(size of target market, purchasing power of target market, cot incurred by company etc..) Then he asked me, where could I get data for all the above factors from. For example – for purchasing power of the TS one could use the per capita GDP of the country as a proxy. Then the question turned to pricing it in Europe – given that there is a huge disparity between the per capita income of west and east European countries, how would I price it and what would I do to stop smuggling of cheaper priced drug from east 113

Europe to west Europe. I said I would color code the pills differently and promote them as different drugs in both places. Final recommendation / summary It was very conversational and the interviewer was trying to test where would I lead the conversation. What do you think went right while Given that it was not a standard case, I did not use any solving the case? framework which was appreciated by the interviewer. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Next round



Rachit Raj PWC Shashank Triphaty - Partner Third This was mainly PI – and went smoothly

Small guesstimate was given – estimate the size of the baby diaper industry.

This was a simple guesstimate and I did it with the standard population approach. After which, partner asked me alternate ways of solving the same question. The entire experience of day 1 is very exhausting.. The main challenge is to not lose hope when you receive a rejection from one company as you have other interviews lined up.

What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Job offered


Siva Sakthiraj PWC’s PRTM Management Consulting Mr Chenincherry, Director First round (~50 mins) 114

Personal interview questions (please  Why PRTM? write the questions only)  Why not return to your prior firm? (I was a consultant in one of the Big 4 firms prior to ISB)  Specific questions on some of my previous work assignments Comments on the PI rounds (please We discussed quite a bit on the merits/demerits of Big 4 (to elaborate on what went right and defend on my decision not to return), and how even though what could have been done better) PWC had acquired PRTM, the demerits discussed for Big 4 would not be applicable. My interactions with the alumni working with PRTM on the structuring and relationship between PWC and PRTM helped to a great extent in this discussion. Takeaway: Make full use of the alumni network at the firm you are interviewing with. Helps you credibly substantiate your reasoning for some of these standard questions. Case question (as narrated by the (A market entry case) interviewer) The case discussion took off from a discussion on a market entry assignment that I had at my prior job. A Chinese company providing professional accounting services is looking to enter India. Advice. How did you define the scope of the Took time to clarify on some basic questions such as what case specific accounting services (to which I was informed tax accounting), time frame, capital available etc. Then setup a standard market entry framework. Case Analysis presented by you Spent a considerable amount of time sizing the market. Divided the consumer segments into standard B2B and B2C segments. The B2C was relatively straightforward (Urban/Rural  High/Med/Low Income household  Effective usage of service). Took a discount to the number by deducting those individuals who would fall under tax bracket but may not use because of no complications in tax structure (eg. only salaried individuals without complications such as capital gains & other taxes). Argued for pricing by considering that such a service may save 0.5/1 day of work for the individual and hence, that is the maximum cap that he/she would be willing to pay for this service. The B2B segment was relatively grey. The end segment were businesses that were not large enough to use professional auditing services but at the same time not small enough so as to be lucrative. Worked with the interviewer to assume the number of businesses that would fall in this range based on the corporate tax filing numbers. Then went about evaluating the market on fundamental attractiveness - current players in the market, switching costs 115

among consumers, demand-supply gap, barriers to entry – political, technological etc., along with relative competitive positioning. Final recommendation / summary Based on the evaluation, recommended that the firm enter with a focus on B2B market segment initially in a specific geography of urban markets for resource efficiency. What do you think went right while I think the extensive detailing of the market sizing worked in my solving the case? favor. It helped showcase my line of thought and at that same time clarified to me what my final recommendation should be. What do you think could have been Since the market sizing was extensive, I had little time left for done better while solving the case? evaluating the other aspects of the market, which constrained me a bit. At the end of it, the interviewer pushed me to make a recommendation though I was not complete with my framework. Though, in hindsight, I would repeat what I had done in terms of detailing because that is where you could differentiate from other candidates. Don’t bypass stuff just because you believe there is a time constraint. Outcome of the interview (optional) Through to Round 2


Siva Sakthiraj PWC’s PRTM Management Consulting Mr Lakshman, Director Ms Srivastava, HR Manager Second round (~45 mins) Director  Why should we hire you? (considering that my prior consulting experience was skewed towards energy, infrastructure, cleantech – sectors that were not of much focus at PRTM then)  Again, some specific questions on my previous work assignments HR Manager  Two areas that I would focus on apart from the standard advisory assignments/BD work while at the firm?  Instances when I was upset/stressed out during my prior consulting assignments?  Few other standard HR questions that I don’t remember  Comments on the PI rounds (please Again being prepared for these questions helped. Having done elaborate on what went right and considerable research on the consulting assignments carried out what could have been done better) by PRTM, I was anticipating questions such as the fitment one. All interviews at PRTM were highly conversational. Though the above were the major PI questions, all of them naturally fit into our conversation. Hence, you could drive the discussion towards areas of your strength if you are cognizant. 116

Exception: To my knowledge, the other candidates did not have the HR Manager interview in the second round. Case question (as narrated by the Surprisingly, while all other candidates had a case interview in interviewer) this round, I did not have one. This may either be because my first round case discussion went very well or my prior consulting experience gave the interviewers some confidence on my casesolving abilities or just plain randomness.  However, be prepared to encounter at least two rounds of cases while interviewing with PRTM. How did you define the scope of the NA case Case Analysis presented by you NA Final recommendation / summary NA What do you think went right while NA solving the case? What do you think could have been NA done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Through to Final Round


Siva Sakthiraj PWC’s PRTM Management Consulting Mr Singh, Country Managing Partner

Third/Final round (~80 mins)  Areas/Sectors/Functions that you expect to contribute in?  Why PRTM over McKinsey/BCG?  Some personality trait questions  Three things that will make you enjoy your stay post joining PRTM? Conversely, three things that will make you quit? Comments on the PI rounds (please This was the make or break interview. And it went for 80 mins elaborate on what went right and (twice as much as that for the other candidates) primarily what could have been done better) because, I believe, we were able to strike a chord. Considering that the Country Managing Partner (CMP) was interviewing, there were several subtle aspects (often ignored) that, I believe, went right for me.  Always make sure you research extensively on the interviewer’s background. A very straightforward aspect, but in the rush to prepare cases, often forgotten. At the end of the day, interviews with CMPs/MDs/CEOs, often comes down to building a rapport / comfort factor. I had researched considerably on the background of the CMP through alumni 117

and professional networks so as to find common points of discussion which could help me strike a chord.  Be as transparent as possible. With the experience of CMPs/MDs/CEOs anything that you are trying to fake would easily come through. By being transparent, you could make your individuality stand out, which generally impresses interviewers of this stature.  Start and finish on a great note. Make your ‘About yourself’ as personalized as possible. Further, while you may ask generic questions at the end such as Vision, Long term plan etc, try again to squeeze in a personalized question that makes you stand out from the other candidates. Case question (as narrated by the There was a mini-situational case, which he kind of made it on interviewer) the go. I thought it was pretty straightforward and more to test the way I think when put in a spot. Don’t think any preparation was required for this, so don’t bother much. How did you define the scope of the NA case Case Analysis presented by you NA Final recommendation / summary NA What do you think went right while NA solving the case? What do you think could have been NA done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Offer made! 

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SIEMENS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

Vikas Pavankumar Siemens Management Consulting Stephen – VP – SMC/India Office Head First The interview revolved around PI A large number of generic questions such as Why Consulting? Why SMC? About yourself? A large part of my interviewed revolved around Stephen discussing one of my projects that I had mentioned on my resume

The fag end of the interview was questions that I had about Siemens Management Consulting and my view on certain business units of Siemens. He also discussed about his experience of consulting Siemens businesses in India versus in Germany Comments on the PI rounds (please It is very important to have your story in place. It will help you elaborate on what went right and answer important questions such as Why SMC and Consulting? what could have been done better) Especially for Siemens the importance on personal interview is extremely high since they evaluate candidates on the cultural fit since eventually a candidate is expected to move to a Siemens Business Case question (as narrated by the No Case interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Selected for Round 2


Vikas Pavankumar Siemens Management Consulting Nishant Gupta – Consultant Second The interview revolved around PI A large number of generic questions such as 119

Why Consulting? Why SMC? About yourself? Whether you had a conflict with a top management in your previous organization? How did you deal with it? What if a similar situation were to happen with you at Siemens how would you deal with it? Also asked me to run through a project that I felt was the most exciting to me? Comments on the PI rounds (please Again at Siemens the importance on personal interview is elaborate on what went right and extremely high since they evaluate candidates on the cultural fit what could have been done better) hence it is extremely important to have a strong grip on your story Case question (as narrated by the Role Play interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary Try to play the situation when you are in a role play Always maintain a few important traits  Honesty  Analytical and off the feet thinking  Communication Skill  Presentation skill What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)


Kushal Patwardhan Siemens Management Consulting Apeksha Khadelwal (senior Consultant)

First  Tell me about yourself  Biggest failure  what frustrates you  Biggest accomplishment  Three words your friends would use to describe you  Tell me something that is not on your resume  Why Consulting?  Why SMC?  Hobbies Comments on the PI rounds (please It was an extensive PI (Close to 40 mins) . This interview was a elaborate on what went right and month before day 1 so I had not prepped for PI too well. Except what could have been done better) 'Why SMC?' which I was able to answer very well 120



CEO of Siemens India wants to reduce accidents happening on sites Asked what constitutes an accident - any work related human injury What sites- Mainly power plant, turbine etc project sites Limited to employees? - Yes I laid out a structure that No. of accidents = No. of risky situations X No. of humans exposed X % likelihood of injury We can look at each aspect and identify opportunities to improve. 1. No. of risky situations - can reduce by better equipment, better planning, better reporting of risks ,etc 2. No. of humans exposed - We can try to keep employees away from the risky situations by using more automation, etc 3. % likelihood of injury - This further depends on following factors %risky behavior X % use of preventive equipment We can focus on improving risky behavior with safety training We can increase use of PPE (personal preventive equipment) by increasing awareness and rules mandating use of PPE Apeksha said these are all correct approaches however what is required to achieve all this at a higher level? I answered these changes need to be driven from top level as a cultural change . 'Safety first' a. Incentivize and mandate risk reporting b. Empower employees to prevent a risky situation even if it means lost time and revenue. She said that's exactly what SMC recommended. She then showed me a graph showing no. of accidents 25 20 15 10 5 0 0

2

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4

6

8

10

12

14

Y-axis representing no. of accidents and X axis months after implementation of SMC recommendation The accidents started going up after SMC's recommendation was implemented. Why? I answered, initially the actual reporting of accidents was probably low, so the initial increase just indicates higher % of accidents actually reported. Then eventually once the reporting % stabilized the no. of accidents started going down. Next she asked me, CEO wants to buy safety vests for 10,000 employees. How many vests he should buy? I asked clarifying questions about types of employees (80% workers 20% officers) Do they work in shifts (No, all work in same shift) How many sites (100 sites avg 200 employees) So I said the workers work simultaneously at all sites in same shift so we need 1 vest for each worker. = 10,000*80%*1= 8000 Officers probably don't use it all the time so we don't need to buy 2000 vests. Here I could not really figure out how to solve it but she ended the case and asked if I had any questions for her Final recommendation / summary

Incentivize risk identification and safe behavior, empower employees to prevent an accident at the expense of work stoppage What do you think went right while For part1: I got the feedback that structure was very good and solving the case? recommendations were also good. What do you think could have been Part 1: I sometimes went too much into detailed done better while solving the case? recommendation for preventing certain types of accidents and Interviewer had to pull me back up to the big picture level. For part 2 (guesstimate): I couldn't solve the last part (which required use of little's law) . Outcome of the interview (optional) Shortlisted for next round in Mumbai Office

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THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP Name

Nishant Kedia

Company

The Boston Consulting Group

Interviewer

Navneet Vasishth, Partner (Director)

Round

Round 1 Interview 1


Jumped straight to case after exchanging pleasantries


NA

Case Question

An IT company has two businesses – one premium (Engineering products) and another commodity (Service). It is facing increasing costs in both the businesses. On the other hand prices of products and services are reducing owing to competition. What should the firm do? It was a profitability case

Scope of the case Case Analysis

I started by understanding more about both businesses – industry wise trends, duration of this trend, any specific organization changes, magnitude of change in prices and costs, break-up of increase in various components, what is the target etc. Navneet told me that the effect is more prominent in Engineering business wherein we have fallen much below the average industry profitability. I focused on the Engineering business and understood both revenue and costs parameters. Based on the discussion it became evident that pricing power does not lie with the firm and it cannot differentiate its products much to price them higher. Moving on to cost part, I laid out all possible costs an IT organization has and discussed each in detail. It is at this part, wherein I got struck as I asked a few irrelevant questions to which interviewer asked me to take time to think. I added a few more cost heads and we had further discussion. It seemed that the interviewer was checking my ability to think 360 degree on what can possibly raise costs in an organization.

Final Recommendation/ Summary

After a few hicupps I was able to point out that manpower costs has increased because of the organizational structure of the company, wherein the organization had become top heavy. Recommendations included: - Increase in variable and reduction in fixed component of compensation 123

Change in organizational structure Acquisition of other firms with bottom heavy organization structure - Reshuffling of manpower between businesses (A few more which I am unable to recall) I was able to find a way whenever I reached roadblocks. Listening to interviewer and understanding his expectations is a must before commencing any analysis. Whenever, ideas stop to come by, just think from the absolute basics and sub-divide everything into smaller parts. Also, thinking aloud helps interviewer guide you whenever time is scarce and you are going down the wrong path. I became blank in the middle of case, hence took a bit more time to solve the case. -

What went right?

What could have been done better? Outcome of the interview

Not disclosed. Attended the pre-scheduled second interview.

Name

Nishant Kedia

Company


Interviewer

Sachin Kotak, Principal

Round

Round 1 Interview 2


Tell me about yourself? Describe very briefly what you have done in ITC What are you most proud of? Why Consulting? Sachin is known to be a stress interviewer. He looked disinterested for most part of the PI. He interrupted a couple of times in between asked me to be concise. Knowing about him well, I maintained my cool and kept replying confidently. Altogether I was satisfied by my performance. A friend of yours wants to enter the car hire market. What would you advise him? It was basically a market entry case, turned into an open ended case by the interviewer. Initially I enquired about primary objective of the entry, current business of my friend, why car hire market only? etc. Sachin told me that your friend is a working professional, who just wants to start-up and has made mind to enter the car hire market. So, I didn’t evaluate the attractiveness of the car hire market. From then it was clear that it was a problem relating to the entry strategy: mode of entry and resources required. I laid out a comprehensive framework: - Resources required o Financing


Case Question Scope of the case Case Analysis

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-

o Technology o Consumer Knowledge o Manpower o Infrastructure etc. Mode of entry o Own o Franchise o M&A o JV

I also mentioned a matrix to evaluate which of the mode of entry is best suited. Sachin looked quite displeased with my approach as he described it as too mechanical. I further enquired if something important is missing. He asked me to think like an entrepreneur. I was puzzled as I felt I had covered everything. I mentioned that financing, customer know-how, exit options and a good team are the most important. He nodded and asked me to think more. I said that a value proposition needs to be decided – luxury cars, comfort, cost effectiveness, etc. That will define the operational strategy – new cars vs refurbished cars, car accessories, customer segments to be targeted etc. Sachin kept pushing me to think further, which led me to come up with a lot of other considerations (which I don’t remember now). Final Recommendation/ Summary

What went right? What could have been done better?

It was an out and out stress interview, wherein the interviewer will negate most of the things you say and will keep pushing you to think harder. I guess I was prepared for this and did reasonably well. Keeping cool under stressful situation and thinking out of the box helps perform well in a stress interview. I don’t know yet!


Called for Round 2. Accepted an offer from McKinsey by then, hence didn’t attend the interview.

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please

Sarvesh Rathi The Boston Consulting Group Bitan Dutta, Project Leader (PL) First Tell me about yourself 125

write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)



Your first interview will be usually case focused. Having said that, prepare well (rehearse it a few times) for the basic interview questions like tell me about yourself, why a particular firm, why consulting and the like. Not answering these questions appropriately would most certainly impair the interview. A Company manufacturing hand tools have not been able to meet their revenue targets Was not a very open ended question. I discussed with Bitan about the background of the Company and established that the Company entered the market 4 years back and have consistently been missing their revenue targets. I started the question by asking questions to understand the company and its product lines. From further discussions I gathered that the market was competitive and fragmented with the top 3 players having close to 40% market share. Our client was the 2nd largest player in the market. It was also established that the industry was growing and industry growth was in line with our expectations. From here on I started to lay down the structure for the case. Told him that the inability to match budgets could have been on account of three factors:  Ambitious budgets  Internal factors like product / service / distribution / promotion related problems (share of voice * share of mind * share of distribution)  External factors like macro economic factors / declining industry / substitutes / change in preferences We quickly ruled out factors like ambitious budgets, product, service and promotion related problems. I figured out that the product offerings were much superior to customer expectations and competitor offerings. I recommended that the Company could explore the option of reducing product quality to industry or slightly better than industry levels because hand tools are a commodity and better than industry quality / brand do not make a difference to the buying decision. The recommendation was in line with blue ocean strategy – to reduce features that the customers don’t value. We started discussing about distribution related issues. Bitan highlighted that the Company’s offerings were available across all channels and stock outs were not an issue. This left us with the issue of aligning distributor / retailer interests with that of the Company. We ruled out the possibility of profit margins being an issue – profit margins were in line with what 126

competitors offered. I felt like I had hit a dead end here. Bitan prodded me in the right direction and asked me to think about what the distributor / retailer looks for while pushing a Company’s product. I replied revenue potential leading to higher profitability and return on capital employed. Bitan had given me my hint – while the profit sharing ratios were similar, capital deployment required to stock the Company’s products were higher. Upon further discussion, I discovered that the Company required its distributors to make payments with 2 weeks as against the industry standard of 1 month, thereby doubling capital requirement and reducing ROCE. At this point Bitan smiled, indicating that I had reached a logical conclusion. I recommended that the Company should relax its credit policy. However this meant higher capital deployment for the Company. This is where the recommendation about reducing product quality to industry standards / customer expectations came in handy (Please note that it doesn’t always pay to have the best product in the market especially for commodities. Meeting market-standards is sufficient). I pointed out that enhanced profit from higher sales and also from reducing product quality would more than take care of interest costs if any from the additional capital deployment. Bitan then questioned me about what could be a potential M & A strategy the Company could pursue. I highlighted that while buying out the biggest company was an attractive option, it would come at a significant premium. In a highly fragmented & competitive industry, it might be difficult to justify the deal. Buying the insignificant (smaller) players would bring no capabilities to the Company (the smaller players typically have limited brand presence and brand loyalty is also insignificant. Hence a viable strategy could be to try and acquire the 3rd largest player in the market. My background as an investment banker came in handy here. Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case?

What do you think could have been done better while solving the case?

As stated above  Was able to lay down a coherent MECE structure  I had interviewed with Deustche Bank’s investment banking practice before I attended the BCG interview. That interview went very well and gave me a lot of confidence for all other interviews. I was not a bundle of nerves when I started my interview process with BCG. In the hindsight it seems very obvious that a distributor will try to optimize his capital requirements. I should have highlighted this possibility without Bitan having to prod me in that direction. 127


Next interview


Sarvesh Rathi The Boston Consulting Group Burjor Dadachanji, Principal


The interview didn’t really start on a positive note. Burjor has been an investment banker with JP Morgan in his previous life. I told him that I had interviewed with Deustche Bank’s IB team before coming here. He put me on the back foot saying that I would take up DB’s offer and ditch BCG. From here on it was an uphill task to convince him that BCG was indeed my first choice. The interviewer wanted to be sure that I was serious about BCG and he did push me to ascertain that.

Second  What other interviews do you have today?  Tell me something about yourself that I wouldn’t know from your resume  Why do you want to move from investment banking to consulting, when most people try to move from consulting to investment banking?

The above questions were not asked one after the other. They were asked during the case discussion, thereby making the personal interview section a stress interview. You will have a stress interview at some point. So watch out and be prepared. Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case

A serial entrepreneur with excess cash (to the tune of INR 50 crs) wants to invest in the call taxi business. Advise. I asked questions about which city was the entrepreneur targeting, what were his strengths and the investment timeframe. Also does the client want us to advise him about whether he should enter the business or not or also about how he should enter the business. Burjor clarified that the entrepreneur was looking to invest the entire amount within one year and the client was seeking our advise on both counts. The client was good at obtaining licenses and managing man power intensive businesses.


By now it was clear that it was a market sizing and market entry case. I listed down the entire structure of a market sizing and market entry case and started with market sizing.

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I split the market into the following divisions: 1. Within the city trips 2. Trips outside the city I further sub divided trips within the city as follows: 1. Airport to office / home drop and pick up 2. Railway station to office / home drop and pick up 3. Home to office drop and pick up 4. Other applications Basis the above classification, we went ahead to size the market (determine the number of cars that the market can profitably accommodate) and decided that the market was attractive enough. We further proceeded to understand the total number of cars available in the market and the supply shortfall that could be fulfilled by the entrepreneur. We proceeded through the market entry frame work where we spoke about our strengths vis-à-vis competitors, customer decision making factors and attitudes, risks involved (PESTLE) and mode of entry. However we figured out that though returns were attractive, the supply shortfall (that our client could fulfill) would not consume the entire INR 50 crs the client wanted to invest. This would mean that he would have to identify additional avenues to deploy his cash. Hence we decided that while the call taxi market was attractive, the client should continue to look for other options (in a time bound fashion) and could take up the call taxi option if no other attractive investment opportunity comes up. Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case?

As stated above Be prepared to answer PI questions / discussions while solving the case. Most importantly, you should be able to go back to the case without forgetting where you left the case conversation. It’s a way to test your capability to manage yourself under stress. It helped that I had noted most of our case discussion on the white sheets provided to me (in an organized fashion). Hence even when I was interrupted by PI questions, I was easily able to go back to the case facts and pick up from where we left the case conversation.

What do you think could have been

The interview went on for about 65 minutes (standard interviews are about 45 minutes). It helped that I didn’t lose my cool when the interviewer told me that he was convinced that I wouldn’t take up an offer from BCG. None that I can think of 129


Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case?



Next round

Sarvesh Rathi Boston Consulting group Suresh Subudhi, Partner Third Tell me about yourself

A cement manufacturer wants to increase channel sales. Advise I didn’t know the meaning of channel sales and I didn’t ask Suresh what it was. This effectively meant that my case analysis was on a complete tangent to the question

Case interviews are more like discussions and the recruiters are looking of problem solving skills. They don’t expect you to know everything. In the hindsight I should have asked Suresh what channel sales meant. IF YOU DON’T KNOW SOMETHING – ASK! Sent for one more interview

Sarvesh Rathi Boston Consulting group Navneet Vashisth, Partner Fourth There was no personal interview. We got started with the case immediately. This was my last round and being administered only a case meant that all I needed to do from now on was to crack the case! An IT major’s profitability is lower than its peers. Advise Upon further discussion, Navneet clarified the following: 1. The Company is engaged in provision of IT services 2. All contracts are time and material based 3. Profitability is lower in percentage terms 4. I was expected to advise on why the profitability was lower and what could be done to set it right 130


Upon further questioning, Navneet indicated that the Company’s profitability was 2% lower than its peers. Profit % could be lower on account of lower billing rates (revenue issues) or on account of higher costs (in percentage terms). Navneet smiled and said that indicated that the Company was billing its clients at industry rates. So we moved to costs and did a quick comparison of the common size cost statement (individual costs as a % of total revenues) of the Company and its peers. It resulted that the issue lay in employee costs. Upon further discussions, Navneet indicated that salary & employee costs per employee were in line with industry standards. This clearly indicated that the issue lay in employee efficiency (leading to over staffing on projects) or in bench strength or both. Navneet quickly clarified that efficiency standards were on par with industry. This meant the issue lay in bench strength. Navneet smiled and said yes. On further discussion, I figured out that overstaffing issues existed both at the engineers and management level. Navneet asked me to identify the reasons for why they were overstaffed.


What do you think went right while solving the case?

What do you think could have been done better while solving the case?

It turned out that the Company was overstaffed at the lower levels because the employees on the bench had a set of specialized skills but the Company was not able to sign contracts which called for those skills. At the management level, the Company promised all its clients greater involvement of the senior management in all projects. I recommended that the Company should provide training to its employees at the lower levels so as to make them fungible resources. I also recommended that the sales force needs to realign its strategies to be able to focus on winning projects commensurate with the bench strength. Further, the Company should start focusing on selling its skills than winning projects merely on the strength of greater involvement from higher management. All of the above recommendations meant training & realignment of priorities for the sales team I was able to lay down a structure very early in the conversation (the initial discussion to scope out the case was helpful). From then on it was straight forward – I just had to follow the structure. Despite it being a make or break round, I was able to keep my calm and it reflected in the way I handled the case. Being a good listener helps. Navneet dropped a lot of hints throughout the case and it helped that I was able to capitalize on those clues The case went very well. No regrets

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Offered a job. General pointers that helped me during preparations: 1. Don’t fret about the number of short lists you have received. I had only one consulting shortlist and managed to convert it. The more the number of shortlists, the more the pressure of managing interviews on Day 1. This is not to say that you shouldn’t have multiple shortlists. Everyone likes the cushion offered by multiple shortlists. But you would do well to remember that multiple shortlists don’t guarantee you a role and a single shortlist doesn’t make you ineligible for any role. Be careful what you ask for! 2. Don’t fret if you have messed up your 3rd or 4th round. If you have done in your other rounds, chances are that they will give you another crack at the cases. 3. From the day you receive your shortlist, nothing in the world matters (including classes and assignments) apart from case preparations. Doesn’t mean that you flunk classes / miss assignment deadlines. Just accord the highest importance to case preparations 4. ISB casebooks are more than sufficient for your preparations. Finish all ISB casebooks before you proceed to do others. Structures laid out in the CO 2010 / 13 / 14 casebooks are comprehensive. A word of caution here – while its great to follow casebook structure, formulate (consistently review / revise) your own structures – it will give you a lot of familiarity and confidence 5. Doing cases in groups is very helpful. But your group may not always be up for case preparations. They have their own academic and other commitments. Reading and trying to solve cases on your own is as helpful as doing them in group. Utilize every opportunity you get to read cases on your own 6. Day one (when consulting interviews take place) happens usually in the middle of Term 6. So try to ensure that you take only 3 papers during Term 6 (that way you

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would have more time for your case preparations). 7. On the day of the interview, be sure to keep yourself energized (energy / snicker bars and chocolates are your best options). I was physically and hence mentally drained by the time I started the 4th round of my interview. 8. There will be someone in your batch who would be up for case preparations anytime you call him. Find those people out. They are your best buddies when it comes to case preparations.


Sidharth Gupta The Boston Consulting Group Yashraj Erande, Principal

First Round, First Interview Started off with this. Just one question: Tell me something about yourself. 8:30 am. I was waiting in a room with all shortlisted candidates when Yash walked in looking for his next interviewee. I had asked the alums helping out the shortlisted candidates who would interview me. And I had seen his profile in the profile book shared by BCG earlier. So I recognized him immediately and went up to him to say I was next on his list. We walked to the interview room, where he made sure I was comfortable. He was very friendly, and the interview started with the straightforward “Tell me a little about yourself” I had an interesting answer prepared, and this bit of the interview was quite smooth. Case question (as narrated by the Our client is a bank with a Rs. 50,000 cr balance sheet. Among interviewer) the assets, you have about 50% worth of government bonds, 20% cash and 30% other assets. The liabilities include customer deposits (a distribution between short and long term, current and savings accounts was given, which I don’t recall). Last night, the government has announced change in interest rates for long term bonds from 9% to 11%. Does this affect our client? How did you define the scope of the It was my first interview of the day. And it was early in the case morning. Which made me nervous. I asked for a minute to think about the issue, after which I started off with a simple profitability framework – Revenues and costs. Yash stopped me right there and asked me what question I 133

was trying to answer. I said I was trying to look how the change in interest rates would affect the bank’s profits. He told me to first answer whether or not it affects the bank’s balance sheet, and if so, how. And we could look at the profitability later. Case Analysis presented by you I had started off with a traditional framework, but was made to realize that this case required not a regular framework, but simple straightforward thinking. So I decided to look at what all items on the balance sheet could possibly see a change in their value due to the interest rate change, and it was clearly only the government bonds (worth Rs. 25,000 cr) on the asset side that would be affected, if at all. Now the job was to identify how. Here, I faltered when I said that the value of the assets would increase as the bank-owned bonds yielding 9% would now yield 11%. Yash pointed out that this was not the case, and the bonds owned by the bank were bought when the interest rates were 9% and the bonds would continue to yield only 9%. I thus had to think about this again. This was when I realized that the value of the bonds owned by the bank had actually gone down as the bonds available in the market would yield more. Yash said that this was right and asked me to talk more. I said I would look at the situation from the point of view of an investor. Anybody looking to buy bonds would buy from the open market and not from our client to get 11% yield. Yash said this was right and asked me to now calculate the fall in the value of the bank-owned bonds. I did this by equating the NPV of a bond bought for Rs 100 in the open market to the NPV of a bond bought for Rs. X from the bank. Time for which to calculate the NPV = 2 years (time to maturity of the bonds – asked Yash for this) Discount rate to be taken = 11% (Risk-free rate, same as the long term bond yield rate in the market) This helped me get the value X, and consequently the fall in value of the bank’s assets. With, this part of the case over, and almost 25 minutes into the interview, Yash asked me to just quickly list the various options available to the bank at this point in time. I listed the following options: 1. Hold on to the bonds and wait for the rates to go back down 2. Sell them off and take the loss. Will help reduce tax liability 3. Another one or two options that I don’t recall now. He seemed happy with the case overall. Towards the end, he asked me if I had any questions for him. We spoke for another couple of minutes and the interview was over. Final recommendation / summary Covered above. What do you think went right while The interview lasted about 30 minutes. I hadn’t started off very solving the case? well. Was a little nervous, which probably contributed to me 134

being a little confused about the question in the beginning as well. However, after digressing and being put back on track by the interviewer once, I collected myself, told myself the case could only get better from there on, and it did. Towards the end, I was fairly confident and was rattling off possible solutions quickly. What do you think could have been The only thing I could have done better was to be more done better while solving the case? confident and quicker in the beginning, thus saving more time for final recommendations. The first round interviews are usually allocated 30 mins. Outcome of the interview (optional) Everybody gets two interviews in the first round, so this wasn’t really a decider.


Sidharth Gupta The Boston Consulting Group Bitan Dutta, Project Leader

First Round, Second Interview Just one question at the very beginning of the interview. Something about my most significant achievements till then. I had gone back to the waiting room after my first interview, and was told I would have the second interview soon. Started around 9:15 am. I kept the PI answer fast and interesting, and Bitan seemed to like the answer. Case question (as narrated by the Our client is a hand tools manufacturer who has been in the interviewer) Indian market for 5 years, but they have never done well. We need to solve their problem. How did you define the scope of the I had a few questions before I started my case analysis. case 1. Understanding the question: a. What is meant by “haven’t done well”? Is the profitability below the industry average, is the market share low, etc. b. What exactly are hand tools? 2. Understanding the industry: a. How many players in the market? b. What are the different categories of products? c. How does distribution work in the industry? 3. Understanding the client: a. Is the client present in parts of India or all across? b. Who are the customers? c. How are sales being made? Etc. The answers that Bitan gave me through some slides that he 135

had:


1. Understanding the question: a. The market share was low (around 10%) b. Tools like spanners, pliers, automobile repair tools etc. 2. Understanding the industry: a. Three big players, with us being the third biggest. The top two had market shares of 35%, 25% or so. The rest of the market is fragmented. b. No sub-segments c. Network of distributors across the country, most of whom stock products from all manufacturers. Distributors are of two types – big and small. On digging more, I was told that big distributors were mostly in cities and contributed to roughly 25% of overall sales. Small distributors penetrated the entire country and contributed to 75% of overall sales. On asking about transportation, I was told that all product transportation happens through trucks. 3. Understanding the client: a. They have relationships with distributors all over the country b. Business as well as consumers. c. These distributors/retailers are the only medium through which sales are made. The distributors are reached through a dedicated sales force Armed with all this knowledge about the client, I now moved on to understanding why the client was not doing well, by looking at the Key Success Factors of the Industry: 1. Price (The product is a commodity) 2. Ease of access 3. Quality When I asked about the prices of the client’s products compared to competitors, I was shown some numbers which basically concluded that the prices were higher than competition. So there was clearly one problem area here. I then moved on to the distributor network and asked if the distributors were stocking our products in as much quantity and as prominently as the competitors’ products. The answer was that many of the small distributors were not. I decided to analyze this problem from the demand side as well as supply side. On the demand side, one obvious problem was that the demand would be low because of the high prices. On the supply side, problems could be a poor transportation network (we already knew this wasn’t the case) or long lead times or reluctance to stock because of lower retailer margins, 136

etc.. I was again shown data which basically pointed out longer lead times compared to competitors. This was a problem because it would lead to either frequent stock-outs or high cost of capital and warehousing for the distributors as they would need to maintain larger inventory. I was told that this was indeed the problem, and distributors were not stocking the client’s products due to the high costs involved. Lastly, I was asked to give a 60 sec summary of the identified problems to the CEO of the company. Final recommendation / summary Direct solutions to the two big problems identified – Reduce prices and lead time. We didn’t really discuss these. What do you think went right while Everything. I knew I had cracked this case. Bitan too seemed solving the case? happy with the quick thinking What do you think could have been Nothing I can think of done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to Round 2


Sidharth Gupta The Boston Consulting Group Navneet Vasishth, Partner

Second Round, First Interview We had a 20-25 minute discussion in the latter half of the interview, where we both asked questions. His questions: Why BCG? Another question or two that emerged out of whatever we had been discussing till then. Comments on the PI rounds (please I had a strong feeling that I had cracked the second interview. So elaborate on what went right and I stuck around for the next round. When I was told that Navneet what could have been done better) would be interviewing me, I had an idea that this could be the final interview if I did well. That definitely did help my confidence. The interview started around 11 am. Everything went right in the PI. We had already developed a rapport by the time we got to it. Navneet had been smiling throughout the interview, which was encouraging and I think I smiled back most of the time as well. We had already discussed some of my work practices at my earlier workplaces during the case. Towards the end, we discussed theatre, writing, his international experience and mine. We both seemed to be enjoying the discussion and it hardly felt like an interview. Case question (as narrated by the The interview started with the case. interviewer) Our client is a specialist software company. They make customized products for, say, aircraft navigation systems, luxury car entertainment systems, etc. Their profitability is 15%, compared to an industry average of 20%. 137

How did you define the scope of the I asked questions similar to the previous case in order to case understand the industry and the company. Findings: 1. Products are customized, and each project is different 2. There are 2-3 other players in the market of comparable revenues, but higher profitability 3. All sales are B2B, and there is a dedicated team for sales and marketing efforts 4. I also understood how the projects were executed. I stated my understanding on how I would do it: The sales team pitches projects to clients. Projects then go to the Product development or Technical team who develops the product, in coordination with the Project Management or clientfacing team. These are then implemented on-site by the client but with extensive support from a support team. Navneet confirmed this project cycle. Case Analysis presented by you I now drew a simple profitability framework. Revenues – Costs. Revenue was comparable to competitors, so the bigger issue lay in the costs being higher. I confirmed this with Navneet and moved ahead. To understand the costs, I drew upon the value chain of any project in the company which I had drawn above. The major cost heads included: 1. Employee costs 2. Technology costs – servers, softwares, etc. 3. Sales and Marketing costs 4. Rents, interests, etc. I decided to focus on the employee costs as I knew these would be the major chunk. Navneet agreed. Employee costs included: Hiring costs, Training costs, Salaries and Attrition costs. Of these, salaries would be the major chunk. On asking Navneet if the salaries were more than the industry average, I was told that they were as per industry standards. The attrition also was not more than the industry average. At this point, I decided to take a different approach. I decided to create an employee pyramid to understand if the number of employees in each salary band was sub-optimal. The thinking here was that if the issue isn’t with the amount of salary being paid, it has to be with the number of people being paid. I took the analogy of a consulting firm’s employee pyramid which would look something like this 138

I asked if the number of employees at each level was optimal – in terms of the industry average as well as in terms of the employees’ idle time. If we had more employees at the higher positions, we would be paying them more, thus leading to higher employee costs. Navneet said that this was indeed a problem, but this was one that would take the company from 18% to 20% profitability. There was still something that was stopping the company from going from 15% to 18%


On asking more about the idle time and team structures within the organization, I found that the idle time was high not only at the higher levels but also at lower levels, because of 2 reasons: 1. There were separate teams for each specialization. For eg. GPS, Audio, etc. and the resources weren’t shared among these teams 2. Resources were dedicated to projects as well and nobody worked on 2 projects at a time. This meant that even if one person wasn’t required full-time on Project A, if a new project started that required similar skills, a new employee would be hired instead of sharing the existing ones. The recommendations I gave included: 1. Effectively use the large number of senior people to acquire and manage more projects, and if that is not possible, lose some of them 2. Use an organization-wide capacity management tool to keep track of employee utilization by project, skill, department, etc. a. Break down projects into modules and allocate employees of different departments to these modules as required, rather than allocating for entire projects 3. Establish a smaller set of super departments, rather than 139

the several existing departments. Also encourage sharing of employees across departments 4. Establish a knowledge base to reuse modules developed over earlier projects What do you think went right while Everything. I managed to establish a rapport with Navneet fairly solving the case? early on and he was very encouraging and helpful throughout. A few things that always help in any case interview: 1. Keep checking with the interviewer if you’re proceeding in the right direction 2. Simple, yet sometimes not so much. Keep smiling and keep trying different approaches even if things don’t seem to be going too well – shows the interviewer you are confident. Everybody likes to help and work with confident people. 3. You will be given a brief profile of the entire interview panel a day before the interviews. Go through it and carry a printout with you. Makes it easier to strike a conversation and nothing like it if you share interests with the interviewer. What do you think could have been Nothing I can think of done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Made an offer I couldn’t refuse :)


Abhishek Ahuja The Boston Consulting Group Suresh Subudhi – Partner First  Tell me about yourself?  How has the day been for you so far? PI was very brief and we moved to the case almost right away

Client is a tyre manufacturer primarily for passenger and commercial vehicles in the domestic market. The client is not satisfied with the growth and wants to enter the tractor tyre market in the US. How did you define the scope of the Clarified more on the details of the company with regard to its case profitability and market position to find that profitability was in line with industry and it ranked 3rd in India. Then moved on to the tractor industry landscape in the US to find that there are good growth aspects with three main segments – premium, standard and budget. Clarified that objective was to identify how to enter this tractor market in USA as it provided higher growth opportunities in the near future than those faced by the company with its existing 140

segments. Case Analysis presented by you Based on the case facts and clarifications this was a new market entry case and as we know, there is a broad framework for this. I started by following the same to determine whether it would be a good idea for this company. Accordingly, I started with Industry attractiveness. Followed the basic questions of industry attractiveness: competition, existing players, market size, segment shares and growth trends. The main information was with regard to competition: two major players had duopoly in premium segment; Indian exporters were in competition for standard and Chinese exporters for budget. Then tried to understand whether the company had competence to source and manufacture tyres – but interviewers asked me that was not a constraint. Concluded that market was developed and with growth opportunities, the market was attractive but depended on market positioning. Interviewer agreed and wanted me to delve deeper into market positioning and determine the factors for market positioning. I then moved to price points and the three different categories in the market. My question on price elasticity brought discussion of farmer perspectives that farmers assigned higher price to higher quality. I then explored option of possibility of going in between existing segments and the interviewer agreed. Final recommendation / summary Final recommendation on summary was to enter an in-between price range as farmer demand is relatively inelastic with a premium on the price. The case was stopped abruptly without a synthesis. What do you think went right while Involved the interviewer at each stage and took buy ins as a lot solving the case? of information was required to move forwards and judgments needed to be made. What do you think could have been I took my time in analyzing the problem especially towards the done better while solving the case? end in making the recommendations. Ideally this time should be less than a minute at a time but I may have gove over. Outcome of the interview (optional) I was called for the next round

Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and

Abhishek Ahuja The Boston Consulting Group Yashraj Erande – Principal Second  What are your interests  What do you think of recent announcements by RBI Governor? Again PI was brief but could establish a rapport as he was an ISB alum. We talked about recent developments and placements 141

what could have been done better) outlook of an increased class. Case question (as narrated by the Client is a bank and recently RBI has increased the interest rates interviewer) on treasury bonds. How will this impact the bank and what should the management do to secure a stable balance sheet position? How did you define the scope of the At the outset I gathered some information about the bank’s case operations, location and customers. It was a large retail bank operating throughout the country. Next I went on to understanding the balance sheet where I was given various figures for both assets and liabilities. After confirming objective of interest rates on bank’s balance sheet I moved on to the analysis of the case. Case Analysis presented by you The approach I developed was to first look at the impact of the interest on the value of assets on the balance sheet and possible alternatives to deal with them. This case involved calculations around impact on market price of bonds given the change in interest rates. This involved concepts of Corporate Finance and Macro Economics. After determining the impact that value of assets would be adversely impacted we moved on to impact of the same. Considering it was a listed bank, there is likelihood that stock prices would be adversely impacted. It was further confirmed that amount of treasury bonds with the client was higher than competitors. Further, the coverage ratio of assets to large retail deposits would also fall possible resulting invoking certain RBI guidelines protecting interest of customer. At this point interviewer was satisfied and asked me to move on to measures for improving the balance sheet state. Final recommendation / summary Final recommendation involved measures to improve the balance sheet position post interest impact. First, was to pass on cost of interest to other assets by increasing loan rates. Second, was to restructure the balance sheet by attracting deposits to fund assets and taking advantage of this move by RBI to lower liquidity. Third, anticipate NPAs as a result of increased loan rates and increase securitization. At this point the interviewer decided to close the case. What do you think went right while The fact that I had gone through the concepts of bond valuation solving the case? in Corporate Finance and interest rate impacts in Macro economics I was able to move on with the case. Interviewer was checking these concepts and did not dwell on other areas. The case went well and was one of my best interviews of the day. What do you think could have been This was on the only case during that day that tested only core done better while solving the case? courses concepts. I was looking for a framework to start with, and took a longer initial pause. However, the interviewer made me comfortable in just focusing on the concepts and not digressing into a framework for the case. Outcome of the interview (optional) I was asked to come for the last interview, and was indicated 142

that an offer was likely. However, before the last interview I had received McKinsey offer and communicated to BCG alums that I would not be continuing further.



Kushagra Gupta The Boston Consulting Group Sachin Kotak, Principal Round 1 – Interview 1 Sachin started out with standard PI questions such as tell me something about yourself and CV-based questions related to my prior work experience. The PI questions were pretty standard but BCG gives very little importance to PI other than being an ice-breaker. Sachin showed me an assessment sheet that they use to grade candidates and most criteria related to case-solving skills. I am an entrepreneur who has been thinking of launching a car hire/cab service. I am approaching you for advice in this regard. On the face of it, this case seems to be a typical new market entry case. So I started out by asking about what kind of cab service he had in mind, in terms of which clients (C-suite executives, mid-management professionals, tourists, etc), locations (metro, 2nd tier cities), current competitors, etc. Sachin’s responses to these questions were quite vague and I guessed he wanted me to suggest a business model and proceed. So I chose one business model (C-Suite cab service) to outline how I would go about organizing the venture. I drew a bit from the New Market Entry framework and New Product Launch frameworks. I structured the analysis under following buckets: 1. Attractiveness of the business: Customer segments I will be targeting (C-Suite professionals), existing competitors (Unorganized sector of unorganized cab providers, newer players like Uber), USP of my business (luxury sedans with online booking and low advance booking time), etc. 2. Product: Location (Metros and Tier 1 cities), Price (Premium pricing), Sales channel (transportation departments of MNCs, travel aggregators, premium concierges and 5-star hotels) 3. Financials: Revenues based on distance travelled and type of vehicle, Costs – leasing of cars, driver’s salary, maintenance of cars, technology investment for booking and tracking. 4. Risks/Challenges : Regulatory risks in procuring driver licenses from government agencies, training of drivers, high upfront costs of acquiring cars and customers. At this point, Sachin asked me to generalize these factors which I 143

described for one business model to scale to other business models. I replicated the same criteria to determine trade-offs for another business model (car share service). Final recommendation / summary I outlined the above mentioned factors that one would consider while launching any cab/taxi service. What do you think went right while I got most of the factors that Sachin was looking out for and we solving the case? had a healthy discussion on the 2 business models that I suggested. What do you think could have been In his feedback to me, Sachin mentioned that he had expected done better while solving the case? me to outline the factors that I would consider independent of the business model and then describe how those factors would determine choices based on the business model. He wanted a blueprint, which I ended up recommending, but I spent a lot of time discussing the C-Suite cab model and not much time on the general factors he was looking out for. Outcome of the interview (optional) Advanced to Round 1 – Interview 2


Kushagra Gupta The Boston Consulting Group YashrajErande, Principal

Round 1 – Interview 2 Yashraj is an ISB alum so we started off on an informal note discussing ISB in general. The standard questions of tell me something about yourself and why consulting. Comments on the PI rounds (please The PI questions were pretty standard but BCG gives very little elaborate on what went right and importance to PI other than being an ice-breaker. what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the Our client is a bank. In the past 6 months, the value of the assets interviewer) on their balance sheet has shrunk. You are called in to advise the client on the cause for this devaluation. How did you define the scope of the I asked the basic scoping question such as what kind of bank this case was (retail/investment), was it a nationalized bank (it was) and what assets were affected on the balance sheet (50 crore of 10year Indian government bonds). Hence, I deduced that these are the cause of the problem. Case Analysis presented by you I suspected that the devaluation must be due to interest rate changes and asked Yashraj on the interest rates 6 months before and now on 10-year government bonds. He gave me figures of 8% and 10% respectively. Then I presented my analysis that the change from 8% to 10% in interest rates meant that the bond prices decreased. Yashraj asked me to calculate the balance sheet impact. I tried to explain using the bond pricing formula of how change in discount rate would affect the price of the bonds but could not put a figure to the impact without a calculator. He then mentioned whether I had leant about some ratio (I forget 144

the exact name) which measures interest rate sensitivity of a bond (I had not). He described it as as the percentage change in price of bond for 1% change in interest rates. Once he gave me this number, I was easily able to calculate the balance sheet impact. Final recommendation / summary I calculated the balance sheet impact of the change in interest rates using the ratio given by Yashraj. What do you think went right while I quickly identified the cause of the devaluation and could solving the case? explain theoretically why the devaluation would occur. What do you think could have been I did not know about the specific ratio that Yashraj was looking done better while solving the case? out for. Make sure read up on Corporate Finance if you have a finance-based CV. Outcome of the interview (optional) Put on hold for Round 2, backed out of the process after receiving an offer from another firm.


Vijayalakshmi (Viji) The Boston Consulting Group Karthik Valluru, Project Leader (PL) First A brief introduction about myself

The interviewer was a Chartered Accountant himself and so I was able to strike a chord with him talking about the profession in general Clarity in what you want to focus on in the PI with the interviewer will help a lot Case question (as narrated by the You are a large steel manufacturer in a country and you want to interviewer) expand into South east Asia. How will you go about it? How did you define the scope of the The scope of the case was clear and I went ahead to reiterate my case understanding of the question Case Analysis presented by you The case was very open ended and therefore it became necessary to structure the thought process clearly based on what parameters I wanted to discuss with the interviewer. I have presented the crux of the analysis here as I don’t remember greater details: I opened the analysis understanding more about the Company. The Interviewer responded that they are the largest player in India and they have a significant cost advantage due to lower RM procurement being done at the corporate level centrally for all their processing plants. I then understood the competitive landscape in South east Asia. There is a local player who is the market leader there. Once I gathered these details, I then laid down the broad 145

structure of the case:  Options to enter – acquire a company or go green-field or to import from India where the current plant is.  Analysis of the risks of various countries in South East Asia to determine location of the plant / acquisition target – this can be political, economic and legal and listed down the various items that I would consider. I created a matrix with the conditions / criteria on the left and started scoring them saying what is important and presented a matrix to him at the end of the discussion laying down two three countries where the plant could possibly be located.  Competitive advantage of the firm – I engaged in discussions with the interviewer to understand the advantages of the firm – the main advantage was the RM procurement and lower import duties in the country as they sourced steel from abroad  Competitor actions – I made a game theory table of the various choices of the Company and how would the competitor react. This also helped in determining the risks in each of the options above. The  Acquire a new company – I listed down criteria that I will consider and understood that there are smaller plants which can be acquired. There would be a significant culture difference and integration might be a difficulty  I listed down the pros and cons of the options by now alongside when discussions were done as a chart and laid it in front of the interviewer Final recommendation / summary Acquire a smaller plant or go green field subject to risks What do you think went right while The structured approach helped a lot in solving the case. During solving the case? the entire case, we were doing a joint problem solving and I engaged the interviewer into the case well by showing him my whiter paper where I had laid down structure like a ppt slide. The case was open ended and hence I was able to steer it the way I wanted to. Use of game theory brought a “wow” factor with the interviewer What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Next interview 

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Vijayalakshmi (Viji) The Boston Consulting Group Sachin Kotak, Principal Second A brief introduction about myself and the kind of deals I had looked at in the Private Equity fund where I worked before He questioned about my views on being an entrepreneur in India and how I used to evaluate business models The interviewer had worked in an investment bank in the past and he asked me about the current industry trends etc.

Comments on the PI rounds (please Ability to talk about the industry I came from helped me a lot to elaborate on what went right and connect with the interviewer. I discussed with him my opinions what could have been done better) on current trend and he appreciated that I had a view on the events happening. It helps to read newspapers and keep yourself updated about economy in general and especially events in the industry you came from. It shows that you are overall good rather than just being academically bright. Case question (as narrated by the A small company wants to start taxi operations in a city. How will interviewer) you go about it? How did you define the scope of the Another open ended case and I defined the case by asking case questions about the taxi company. I gathered that they are new players and wanted to start fresh with the idea of going for investment in the near future Case Analysis presented by you I started the question by asking questions to understand the market first. He asked me to take a city like Chennai and that it is a very crowded market From what I gathered about the market from him I put down the broad segments of the market – within city commute, outside city commute, corporate travel and on-demand radio taxi market. Once I put down the segments, I outlined the broad frame work with which I was going to approach the case:  Analysis Current market scenario in these given segments  Estimation of demand in these segments  Factors on growth of the segment Then I would give him the final recommendation of which market can the taxi operator target and proceed. Analysis of market scenario: I asked a series of questions about each of these segments and wrote down factors that he should consider targeting each of the segments. Some of the factors 147

included across segments – highly crowded radio taxi market, entry of player like “uber” in this segment, growing corporate travel services, need for safety of employees and more long distance office location due to city getting expanded, etc. I asked him if I have to estimate the market demand. He asked me to assume that there is enough market demand in all the segments identified We analyzed the growth of these segments, based on the factors I have listed down in the first part and it became evident that the corporate travel segment and the within city travel market for luxury customers are growing at a higher rate He asked me how would I differentiate a taxi provider which will operate in these two segments from the other players and how I would position them: I made a simple framework saying either price or quality of service can be the broad areas and listed down the methodologies in which each can be differentiated. Some of the suggestions are as under:  Subscription based pricing for the luxury customers – like a package which they can use within 7 days etc but booking in advance  Enable within car experience for the luxury customers providing wi-fi etc.  Monetize the luxury market by providing targeted advertisement for luxury service providers and use that revenue to cross subsidize the rate charged to the luxury customers and therefore have a lower price point than other players  Create an app for the Company to find out where the cab is and ensure safety of employees  Create optimization engine for pick up of employees using the shortest route and this would also ensure that there are no more than required cabs at any point in time serving the Company thus enabling lower costs to the customer He then asked me to draw criticism of the solution from an investor perspective and what factors would the investor consider when investing in this kind of a business model. Final recommendation / summary The within city travel luxury customer market and the corporate travel What do you think went right while The knowledge of the radio taxi market helped me figure out solving the case? market segments when approaching the case. Once I had put down the broad segments and the structure towards the case, 148

the interviewer became very relaxed and the rest of the case was more like a conversation and that helped me a lot. What do you think could have been I could have thought of better suggestions on the factors I done better while solving the case? provided on differentiation. I was very tired since this was the fifth interview and was not able to be very creative in solutions Outcome of the interview (optional) Next interview 


Vijayalakshmi (Viji) The Boston Consulting Group Navneet Vasishth, Partner Third I was asked to introduce myself. The next question was why do I want to get into consulting when I worked for a PE fund which is exciting in itself. What are my real motives behind this decision What are the reasons that would stop me from pursuing a consulting career. This was a tricky question and I answered very openly on what would prevent me in the long run.

In my introduction, I mentioned that I grew up in a semi-urban area till my class XII, and he asked me to tell me what are the challenges I faced when I moved to a city and how I addressed them. This was like a “list down strengths” question masked differently Comments on the PI rounds (please I was very open and honest in my conversations and the partner elaborate on what went right and appreciated my honesty especially on the question on why what could have been done better) would I leave consulting. He shared his views as well and I discussed this with him for over 5 mins. Being a good listener then helped me connect with the interviewer. These questions were not asked one after one. Except the first two, the others were asked during the case interview itself. Case question (as narrated by the An IT company is facing decline I profits interviewer) How did you define the scope of the I defined the case asking questions about the IT company – it has case both services and products business with services being the major component. These services are offered to automotive, aerospace and a couple of more niche sectors. The services and products mainly cater to R&D and project design for clients. I questioned about revenues and margins in each of these segments. The products business has been having an increase in sales and margins have been constant. In services business, the 149


revenues have been increasing but the margins are declining. Thus the case boiled down to analyzing the reasons for cost increase in the services business I listed down the entire value chain of costs that are incurred when rendering services to clients – employee costs, administrative costs and selling costs. We quickly concluded that the costs were increasing in employee related expenditure. I listed down the various sub - costs that one could incur with respect to employees – training, salary and then welfare costs. Quickly we gathered that the training costs are not increasing since there is very little attrition when compared to the industry. The welfare costs are in line with industry standards and that the Company is not looking to cut down costs there since it believes that the employees have to be taken good care of to avoid any adverse effects on business. The only other costs that was increasing was salary costs. I presented a framework saying that there could be an increase on account of more number of employees or an increase in salaries compared to the other players in the market. The partner said that the salary levels are on par with the industry. Then I said that the number of employees could be the case. He quickly ruled out saying that the number of employees is the same per project as any other competition. If number is the same, then I reasoned out that there could problem with efficiency. Then we discussed about the efficiency of the employees and I figured out that the efficiency has been dropping on an overall level. Also I figured out that – though the numbers of employees per project are the same, the costs per project for same number of billable hours when compared to competition is higher. This gave me the clue that there was some issue with the employee composition for each project. I brought this up and the partner smiled (I know I cracked it here). The efficiency is dropping since the employee feels monotonous to do same job even after promotion into next level. Then we discussed composition of the team for every project and that the team is more top heavy than competition leading to higher costs. The fact that the attrition was low linked here and I said that the people have moved up in the project increasing the costs while revenues remained at same rates. I also figured out that there was a crunch in the project manager level in the products division and that employees are not generally allowed to shift. The partner then asked me how to solve this problem and how 150

to help the client. I listed down a lot of ideas and some of them are as under:  Cutting down employees may send a wrong signal to the market that the company is not doing well and hence the team members who have grown up in hierarchy needs to be given alternative projects / roles justifying their costs  Newer industries/sectors where the current skills can be used need to identified and new clients should be pursued  Employees can be trained and made more fungible that they can be rotated between the divisions and overall costs can be retained  The rotation can be formalized and the employees can apply to such roles within the company and they will be selected on based on the need and their ability  Employee-appraisal process should be relooked into to check whether the promotion policies are too liberal and whether they need any changes Final recommendation / summary As stated above What do you think went right while Be prepared to answer PI while solving the case as well. Most solving the case? importantly, you should be able to go back to the case without forgetting where you left the case conversation. I had made slide like charts on paper when the case interview was happening and charted them out on the table one after one. So I was able to go back to the case easily synthesize and then solve it even after interruption by PI. Be a good listener and that helps in building rapport with the interviewer. The case was not straight forward in terms of dropping profitability since the costs and number of people were the same per project. Listening and attention to detail helped me figure out the problem from interviewer. At the end the partner asked if I have any questions for him. I discussed with him about Big data and consulting since the partner was primarily into technology sector clients. He was very interested to explain his views on it and talked about his recent engagements. I was able to engage in conversations with him about Google and their plans etc and he was very happy that inspite of coming from a finance background, I understand technology and the outlook of the sector. This closing note gave me the confidence that I am moving to the next round. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Next round 151



How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you

Vijayalakshmi (Viji) The Boston Consulting Group Yash Raj Erande, Principal Fourth What was your GMAT score? He asked me why was I not in 99 percentile though I was an AllIndia rank holder in CA exams. It made me very unsettled. Also in only one of the earlier interviews with another firm I made a computation error and that started playing at the back of my mind the minute he asked me my GMAT score. You are the CEO of a 50,000 crore bank. Raghuram rajan has passed some changes in the central banking system which has pushed the yield rate by 0.5% (don’t remember the exact %). What will you do? The question was very clear that we have to chart a course of action for the bank based on the recent changes made by RBI governor. I asked him basic questions about the composition of the assets and liabilities of the bank and noted it down. I told him that I will first understand the impact of the change on the various items on the Balance sheet before I proceed with the analysis. He nodded to it. He told me the various items on asset side such as loans given, investment in government securities for CRR ratio, fixed assets, etc and their composition % on the overall balance sheet size. He told me the various items on the liability side such as deposits from retail customers, corporate, loans from RBI and other banks, equity capital and their composition. I told him that the yield curve change would affect the asset side because there are no items on the liability side that would get affected by this change. He said ok and asked me what are the items on the asset side that will be affected by this change in yield rates. I said that the investment in government securities will be affected since their market values are based on treasury yield curves. I asked him as to why does the bank invest in government securities - the CRR ratio he mentioned was xx% and the bank had a higher % in the 152

government securities (don’t remember the exact % mentioned). He said that the bank did not explore options and hence this was the investment in treasury securities. He asked me how would I go about on identifying the impact of this change on the asset side. I told him that we should look at the modified duration of these assets which will help us quantify the impact of yield changes. He said the modified duration is 2x. So I quantified the impact of the change (modified duration will be covered in fixed income securities elective). The impact of the change was about 100 crores which was very small compared to the size of the Balance sheet. Once I figured out the impact of the change, I said that we need to consider the following before we make a decision to change the investments into an alternative investment which might yield a better return:  The impact was very small and this is a notional loss since we have not realized the loss yet  the minimum CRR ration has to be maintained and that leaves us with very little chance to change a majority of the investment into any other alternative  what are the other alternative assets in which we can invest and what are their risks when compared to the government securities  what is the economic condition and whether we foresee this change to reverse or become higher? Based on the discussions, I said that we should not consider reacting immediately to this change since it most likely looks like a decision by RBI governor to control inflation and that we should wait to see what would be the long term outlook by RBI. I also suggested that we should have a investment framework which clearly lays out the criteria for selecting asset forms, their risk preferences, the composition we would like to maintain based on their modified duration etc.

Final recommendation / summary As above What do you think went right while The clarity in concepts gave me the confidence to do this case solving the case? well. I had not done a case earlier like this during preparations and it was a complete googly but knowing your basics helped solving it logically. Also awareness of what was happening in the economy gave some leverage to get further details and engage better with the interviewer. What do you think could have been While doing the calculation for the impact of the change, he 153

done better while solving the case?



asked me to crystal ball gaze the nos and not use any multiplication etc on papers and guess estimate the amount. I got tensed here and started taking more time as I felt cornered. But since I identified modified duration correctly, the interviewer was happy and I gained my cool later. I think it is very important to keep cool even when asked unsettling questions as most of the times he is trying to check whether you have the fortitude or not. Moved to next round

Vijayalakshmi (Viji) The Boston Consulting Group Suresh Subudi, Partner Fifth 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Where did you do your schooling and education 3. Why do you want to do consulting when you were working in a PE fund earlier 4. Why did you change jobs -You have shifted three jobs in four years – what is the reason 5. What if you don’t like consulting and think PE fund is a better alternative

Comments on the PI rounds (please The entire interview was a PI round. He argued otherwise for elaborate on what went right and every reason I gave. I stuck to my reasons and logically explained what could have been done better) him my move and how it fit into my overall career goal. Knowing yourself well makes a lot of difference. Interviewers are also looking for consistency in your performance and thoughts. Some of these questions were asked earlier and he had listened to the other interviewers before he interviewed me. So he asked me questions mainly on my job shifts indicating to some answers I gave to his colleagues. Consistency helped me present my case well and also gave me a lot of confidence Case question (as narrated by the No case interviewer) How did you define the scope of the None case Case Analysis presented by you None Final recommendation / summary None What do you think went right while None solving the case? What do you think could have been I was carrying my phone with me into the interview room by done better while solving the case? mistake and it started ringing loudly during interview. I stood up apologized calmly and left the phone outside before I continued 154



my conversation with him. Please make sure that you do not keep it with you during interviews. Be cool though things are going against you. Offered a job

Shirish Damani The Boston Consulting Group Navneet Vasishth, Partner Round 1, 1st Interview Navneet wanted to do the case first followed by the PI. So these questions were asked post the case. 1. About yourself. (have a common theme flowing across your answer) 2. Why consulting? (Try and personalize the answer apart from the regular stuff) 3. Why do you think you will not become a good consultant? 2 reasons Navneet is from Chandigarh and I had also stayed in Chandigarh for ~3 years during my work after P&G. After the about yourself answer we discussed a few things about Chandigarh that helped me “connect” with the interviewer and eased me out. This always helps. As per popular belief consultants like people whom they can talk to and if you can show them that quality it is always a plus. But mind you, this is no substitute for case solving.

Comments on the PI rounds (please I think it was good and the discussion on Chandigarh helped. elaborate on what went right and Moreover I asked him about how he managed travel with family what could have been done better) and kids and he was more than happy to share his personal story. Again what I learnt from my buddies is that consultants in general and partners in particular like to talk about their experiences and guide others. So ask them some relevant questions and turn the interview into a discussion. Case question (as narrated by the Our client is CEO of an IT services company and is concerned that interviewer) his profit margins have been going down. Wants advice. How did you define the scope of the This was one of the more standard cases. So I started with asking case the basic scoping questions. SD: What are the revenue streams of the company NV: It has two broad divisions IT services and Engg services SD: Is this a problem across both the divisions NV: Yes SD: Where does the company operate NV: India wide but most clients are international SD: Since when has the profit margins decreasing. NV: Last 2 years 155


SD: Is this an industry wide problem or company specific NV: Company specific SD: What is the current and target profitability level. And within how much time do they want to achieve the target ? NV: Current is 18%, Target 22-25%. Time Target ASAP. SD: Is there a problem with Gross Profit, Operating Profit or Net Profit. NV: Lets look at all the possibilities Having got the basic information I took a couple of minutes before I started. I used the standard profitability framework. (If there is a possibility go ahead and use the framework but tweak the framework based on the information you already have) SD: Since the profitability is going down we will look at both the revenue and costs sides. NV: Lets start with the costs side. I made a simple value chain and identified that people costs where the primary costs of an IT firm. SD: Since people costs are the primary costs of the firm let us look at that. NV: Yes, I have some data on the COGS as a % of revenue. Lets look at that. He gave me the following data for the client COGS over a period of time and asked me to calculate the gross margins in each case.

Software Development Cost Servicing Cost Misc

Today 40%

3 years back 35%

15% 5%

15% 5%

I did the simple calculations but made a slight mistake in the current year calculation. Where instead of telling him the gross profits I told him the COGS instead. He asked me to recheck and I was quick to identify my mistake. Such small mistakes are not the end of the interview and you should not lose your cool over it. SD: Since the GM has gone down by 5% from 45% to 40% this is the key issue and look at it in detail in particular people costs. 156

NV: Yes lets look at the people cost in detail. SD: People costs can be broken down simply into No. of employees*cost/hour. How are we doing on each v/s competition. NV: We are struggling on both ends. Lets look at it one by one. I asked for a 2 min break and made a list of possible reasons. SD: Ok lets start with no. of employees. As this is higher there could be the following reasons, 1. Higher bench strength which is being underutilized 2. More no of employees per project (vs competition) to deliver projects faster vs competition. At this point I was trying to think of more possible reasons and was stuck for some time but then Navneet asked me to move forward. NV: Lets focus on point 2 SD: Ok. So this could be a company strategy to differentiate itself vs competition but the issue could be that it is not charging the adequate premium and hence the profit margins are lower v/s competition. NV: Ok. Now lets look at employee cost/hr. SD: Higher employee cost/hour could be due to the following reasons, 1. Overtime 2. Over skilled employees 3. Excessive overhead in terms of top management. I quickly realized the general management is not a part of COGS and was quick to point that out. Navneet agreed and asked me to focus on the first two points. SD: Overtime could be due to the same reason as discussed above. NV: Yes. What about point 2? Here I took a break as I could not think of many reasons. Even then I could only think of one reason. SD: This could be due to, 1. Company wants to provide superior services v/s competition to differentiate itself and hence as hired overskilled employees. At this point Navneet probed me a little. NV: Yes that could be there. What else?

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I again took a 30 sec time out and was starting to get a bit nervous as this was my 5th back to back case interview and I could hardly think of anything new. But then I thought of another reason. SD: Maybe the company has aggressive growth plans for the future and in order to be prepared for it the company has hired over skilled employees or has promoted people in advance to be ready to take on responsibility. NV: Yes this could be another possibility. So what will be your recommendation for all the possible issues identified. SD: For overtime and more employees v/s competition the company should start charging a premium so that it can maintain its profit margins. If the company’s clients do not value the faster service and is not willing to pay a premium then it should stop offering that. For higher cost/employee due to faster promotions in order to meet future expansion company should not be too worried as long as the expansion/growth is happening as per plan. The management should be aware and should communicate to others the higher costs is due to the investment in manpower to meet future expansion plans. NV: Ok. Navneet looked satisfied with the discussion and asked me to summarize the case. At this point I took a minute break and made a note of all the points I intended to cover in my final recommendation. Final recommendation / summary The client is facing lower profitability due to increased employee cost. So it should start charging premium for the faster and better services if its clients value the same. And if the increased costs are due to higher employee costs keeping future expansion in mind the company needs to be patient and communicate the same to its share holders as not much can be done now. It just needs to ensure that the anticipated growth is on its glidepath. What do you think went right while I think keeping cool helped me. I made some minor calculation solving the case? mistake and was stuck a couple of times. At these points I took a break and engaged the interviewer which helped. Taking breaks at the right moment is very critical as it allows you to think comprehensively before you start presenting your thoughts. It is always advisable to make a note of all you think during these breaks so that you do not miss out on a point later. Before making the final recommendation it is always advisable to take a break and think of the key point you want to cover in your final recommendation. It needs to be crisp and concise and at the same time cove the key points/findings. NEVER include something in your final recommendation which you have not discussed during the interview. What do you think could have been Avoid calculation mistakes. However, if you do happen to make 158


one do not fret over it. Moved to next round 


Shirish Damani The Boston Consulting Group Vipin Gupta, Project Leader

Round 1, 2nd Interview Vipin told me that he will start with the case and do the PI later. However, the case got extended and we did not have time for a PI. Comments on the PI rounds (please NA elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the This was my 6th case interview of the day. After my last interview interviewer) with the BCG partner I had got the feedback that the partner was impressed with the case and PI however, he felt that my energy level is dropping. So as I went into the interview that was playing on mind and hence when Vipin started narrating the case I was listening to him very absent mindedly for the first half to one minute. Please avoid this. VG: Ill take the case I was discussing with the last candidate. We established that out client a telecom major should not operate across the country as it is not possible to profitable all the regions. So it wants us to decide whether he should be make the selective operating decision on a state level basis, district level basis or telecom tower level basis i.e., for eg. consider each telecom tower should he operate or shut the tower looking at each tower in isolation or should this be done at a district/state level. How did you define the scope of the I was making some notes in my A4 and then asked some case standard questions. SD: Size of the payer? Motive (reach/profits)? Competition? Most of this turned out to be irrelevant to solve the given problem. And I was a little confused where to start from. At this point I decided to engage Vipin more. SD: So how do you want me to go about it? VG: First give me an answer state/district/tower and some reasons to back the same and your thought process. SD: I’ll take a couple of mins.

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At this point I had no clue what he was asking for and how I was expected to solve this. This happens with most people and is fine. The key is to keep your cool and not to show any signs of nervousness. SD: I think they should do it on a state level basis as people travel within state a lot and hence if they have to pay roaming every time they move out of their network it will not be affordable for the customers. VG: Yes that’s there. So how it works is that if the customer moves out of the network provided of our client he/she gets hooked onto the network of some other service provider and the client pays the charge to the other service provider but does not charge the customer anything extra. Therefore the client’s profit reduces if the customer moves out of his network and is using some other network. Now I understood a little more about the problem and asked for data on the costs associated with maintaining a tower. To this Vipin gave some numbers on installation cost, monthly maintenance cost etc. But again this did not have much to do with the case and we discussed some points on this with little progress. At this point I started to get a little nervous as I felt I was not moving in the correct direction. I took a minute to think and finally realized that this had got to do with the contribution margins associated with each scenario. SD: We need to look at the Weighted Average Contribution Margin (WACC) in each scenario and make a decision accordingly. VG: Why are we looking at the contribution margins and not the net profit margin. SD: Because the fixed costs will remain fixed in the short run and the company might not be able to immediately realize the benefits as some fixed costs like salary of top management, employees will not be omitted immediately. VG: Ok SD: Do we have data on the contribution margins for self provided calls and those provided by other service providers. And do we know the % call volume in each case between self provided calls and those provided by other service providers. VG: Yes. The he gave the following data to me. %Call volume of %Call volume self provided calls provided by other service providers 160

State Wise District Wise Tower Wise

90% 85% 75%

10% 15% 25%

CM of self provided calls – 90% CM of calls provided by other service providers– 75% With the above data I did the simple WACC calculations and told him that the client should go forward with the option with the highest WACC. As usual added some watch-outs to this like customer satisfaction in case quality of other service providers is not good, alignment with long term vision, how can the fixed costs be changed in each scenario etc.


I think Vipin was looking for the WACC approach and he was satisfied that I finally got to the crux. The client should go on a piece wise service strategy based on the strategy with the highest WACC. However there are a few watch-outs as mentioned above.

End of case. What do you think went right while I think keeping my cool during times when I was a little clueless solving the case? and nervous helped. Moreover, knowing concepts such as WACC clearly and being clear on how and when to apply them is critical so do a revision of all the core term courses. Whenever faced with a road block engage the interviewer and draw him into a discussion v/s trying to solve the case all alone to little effect. What do you think could have been As mentioned I went into the interview thinking about my done better while solving the case? energy level going down as that was the feedback I got from the last interviewer via my buddy. Due to this I was not focusing on the case at hand during the initial part of the interview and hence drifted a little initially. Avoid this, such things will always happen. The crux is to forget about the last interview and take each one as it comes (esp. if you have multiple shortlists). Remember SUNK COST (again core term revisions will help ) Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to next round.  However, since I had accepted an offer by then, did not go for the next round.

Name Pranav Mathur Name of company interviewing with The Boston Consulting Group Name and designation of the Vipin (Project Leader) interviewer 161

Interview round (first/second/third) First Personal interview questions (please Vipin mentioned that he was the one who had shortlisted my CV and write the questions only) hence knew it in detail. He briefly introduced himself and jumped directly to the case with no PI questions. Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case


N/A

Your client is a telecom service provider who has been facing losses in Maharashtra. They need your help. I asked the basic questions on company, customers and competition. I was told that the company has always made losses and had only 3% market share. I was also told to only concentrate on the Maharashtra market. I took some time out and drew out the standard profitability framework = Profit = rev – costs. I started with revenue = Price * Quantity. Here I broke the quantity into Voice, SMS and Data and asked vipin if any one of these was an issue. He replied that we are at par in terms of price across the three. I looked at quantity in terms of market share and market size. Did the basic analysis (as per the casebook framework) and tried to segment the market based on geographies within Maharashtra, type of service, type of customers etc so that I could identify a segment that was less profitable. However, Vipin told me that all segments are equally divided. At this point I was stuck as I had finished the framework evaluation and nothing seem to fit. Vipin hinted that the client has 5000 towers in Maharashtra to provide the service. This was the cue to look at the problem from a value chain point of view. I said that typically a tower has high costs (variable and fixed) and the same provides service to a particular area. Vipin asked me what number would you look at to judge the performance of the tower. Since we had already established that all customer segments are equally profitable and equally distributed within a geography, I said I will look at population density/tower. Vipin was happy to hear that and asked me to go on. I said that there might be areas where there is low population density and hence we are not able to recover the costs of the tower. I would prioritize the towers based on population density in the coverage area and then decide. I also mentioned that the analysis should be forward looking and take into account new developments in those areas to account for higher population density later. He asked me to talk about costs/customer. I said that there are variable and fixed. Vipin told me about the various cost heads and asked me which ones would I consider. I said Variable as rest were all allocated fixed costs and hence not impact the decision (MADM fundas) 162

Finally, I synthesized and gave my recommendations. Final recommendation / summary Evaluate the situation from a population density/tower and variable cost/customer approach. What do you think went right while Was structured in the analysis and wrote very neatly in the paper. I caught solving the case? on to his hints fast and was able to switch between frameworks easily. Know your frameworks well and be ready to mix and match different frameworks whenever required. What do you think could have been Do not be too stuck up on the case frameworks as they may not always done better while solving the case? work. Always assess the situation independently and then move forwards – be ready to create your own approach and ditch the framework approach whenever required. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to round 2

Name

Pranav Mathur

Name of company interviewing with


Name and interviewer

designation

of

the Suresh Subudhi (Partner)

Interview round (first/second/third)

Second

Personal interview questions (please General chit-chat regarding my institute rank and how I managed to write the questions only) get that (rank - 7  ). He asked me what I felt about Arvind Kejriwal (The Delhi election results were in the news at this time). I told him my views on the same. Suresh said that he wanted my views on Arvind Kejriwal since he and I both are alums of IIT KGP). Comments on the PI rounds (please Struck a good rapport with Suresh. Was up to date with the current elaborate on what went right and news on elections and hence was able to have a decent what could have been done better) conversation on the same. Case question (as narrated by the A tyre manufacturer wants to enter the global agricultural tyre interviewer) business. Help them. How did you define the scope of the I approached this through the standard market entry case. Initially I case asked him about the company, customers and competition. I was told that the company currently makes only light motor vehicle tyres for Indian market. It also does a bit of exports.


Agricultural tyres are used in tractors etc. There are a few Indian companies who have gone global and earned 20-25% returns. Our current ROI = 10-12%. I jumped into the framework and analyzed – 1. Industry attractiveness 2. Resources required and 3. Methods of entry Analyzing the size, scale and growth of the industry we realized that the USA/Europe market was growing at 2% and rest at 10%. Further analysis revealed that there are two types of tyres sold –new 163

tractor tyres and replenishment sales. The replenishment sales were the major growth areas and customers did not want high quality products and were price conscious. There were 5-6 major competitors in these markets and in the other markets there were many players competing on price. So it was clear that it would not make sense to enter the other markets and we should only explore US/Europe. I talked about new entrants and the barriers to entry. Suresh asked me how would you get to know who is entering and what the competitive outlook would be like. I said I will look at past data and current companies toughness in the market (to gauge if they are likely to crush others or not). Suresh asked me to think more. I took some time and mentioned that if people are looking at expanding we can look at land allocations to gauge how many new plants might come up in US/Europe. He asked me to think harder (at this point I was drained and started feeling the pressure). I took some time and said OEM manufacturers would know about new machine orders being placed and we can get to know the capacity etc purchased. (prior experience worked here as I had seen this being done at ITC as well) Suresh seemed happy with the analysis and asked me to give a recommendation. I summarized what all we had discussed. Final recommendation / summary

There was no specific outcome to this. I just summarized the entire discussion. What do you think went right while Handled the pressure fairly well and was able to remain calm and solving the case? composed. I used my own experiences to evaluate what a firm does in order to understand competitive moves – how to gauge market intelligence etc. Draw from your past experiences and relate them to the cases. Such approaches are really appreciated. What do you think could have been The focus of the case kept shifting from market entry to done better while solving the case? competitive assessment and required me to be completely alert to what Suresh was saying. Outcome of the interview (optional)

Moved to round 3

Name

Pranav Mathur

Name of company interviewing with


Name and designation of the Sachin Kotak (Sr Principal) interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Third

164

Personal interview questions (please Sachin seemed disinterested and sat down on the sofa next to me. write the questions only) This was my 7th interview of the day and I was very tired by then. Comments on the PI rounds (please I guess Sachin was just testing me on how I can handle a case in a elaborate on what went right and different setting – this was not a traditional case across the table since what could have been done better) Sachin was sitting on the Sofa right next to me. Case question (as narrated by the I want to open a car rental service in Delhi. Tell me whether I should interviewer) do it or not. How did you define the scope of the Asked standard questions on what does a car rental service does etc. case Case Analysis presented by you Standard framework based questions. I however could not think anymore and made a mess of the case. Sachin was looking for creative segmentations and approaches which I could not come up with. He did not seem too happy with my standard approach and said that I was unable to think. He was looking for customer segmentations based on type of employment – I could not comprehend what he was looking for. We had a brief discussion on the case and that was it. Final recommendation / summary No recommendation What do you think went right while I started off well with the framework approach however could not solving the case? understand what Sachin was looking for. What do you think could have been Try to be creative! done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)

Surprisingly, I was called for the fourth interview which I did not go to as I had another offer at hand.

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THE PARTHENON GROUP Name Name of company interviewing with Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)





Shirish Damani The Parthenon Group Danish Faruqui First Interview started with the standard take me through your resume question. This question I was not answering very well and thankfully the interviewer interrupted in between and asked me to explain my work in P&G in more detail. Being an engineer and having done capital management at P&G helped me in quite a few interviews as most people were intrigued by the work profile. I was well prepared with my answers and hence worked in my favor. Could have done better with the take me through your resume question as most of my buddies told me that interviewers will ask more pointed questions and hence was not very well prepared with this answer. But I will recommend all to prepare answer to this question as it becomes tricky to judge which parts of the resume to focus on and at the same time ensuring that the answer does not turn into a speech. A PE firm is considering investing into a Brazilian company which provides standard education applications to schools. They want you to help them understand if they should go ahead with the investment or not. More particularly by answering these questions, 1. Why will this application be/not be successful? 2. How can the firm gain competitive advantage over its rivals? 3. Will this application work in India? Why/Why not? Since this was my first case of the day, I was a little hesitant to start off. Took a min and then started by asking more about the application and its utility. SD: What does the application do? DF: This is an application which standardizes the course curriculum and instructs teachers what to teach and how to teach. SD: Who pays for this application? DF: The school doesn’t pay. The app. Provider directly charges students. The school just provides the app provider with a platform ie. A student base. Then I took a couple of mins. And started with my analysis. Since this was not a regular framework case (hardly any case will be a regular one) I was engaging the interviewer a lot more than normal. SD: The app will be used for 3 main purposes 166

1. It will standardize the curriculum and parents are guaranteed good quality education 2. The schools can signal of the most up to date technology being used and differentiate themselves from competition. 3. It will make life easier for the faculty and hence school can attract better faculty. DF: Focus more on the last point and think exactly what impact will this have I thought a little and said school can attract better faculty. But upon being probed a little got to the crux that with standard apps available schools can actually do with poor quality faculty as a lot of the curriculum has been standardized and hence can lower its faculty cost. Now coming to question 2. I asked some details on the market structure i.e., market share and competition. DF: The firm client is planning to invest in has market share of 15% and is currently 5th in the market. It wants to reach to the top 2 with market share of 35-40%. Again I took a couple of minutes to think about viable alternatives. The most obvious answer was the firm could create a pull for its app by giving a commission to the schools from the fee it collected from the students. However, I thought that others could copy this and hence is not a sustainable way. Thought of a few more alternatives. Then started answering. SD: There are multiple options. First, is that the firm can give a cut to schools for the schools to prefer the firm. However, this can be easily copied. The interviewer stopped me there and then and said this is exactly what the firm did and was successful and asked me to move on to the next question. SD: This will not work in India because for one in India teaching is not a very high paying profession so not much benefit to schools as discussed in earlier. Secondly, the curriculum of each board is fixed and there is no further need to standardize. DF: Exactly. Curriculum in India is set by each board. In countries like Brazil the curriculum is given overall and details are not specified hence there is a lot of teacher specific variability induced in the system. Hence, such a software had great benefits in terms of standardizing

167

End of case. Final recommendation / summary

There was no such final recommendation. The interviewer was very satisfied with the discussion. What do you think went right while Thinking from basics and not force fitting any framework was the solving the case? key. Taking time out to think and actually thinking and writing down your points before speaking helps you make a more comprehensive argument. List down all ideas coming to your mind and mention it to the interviewer. I learnt this during my case practice sessions with my buddies when many a times the reason/idea I thought was very stupid would turn out to be the right answer. The most important thing is to stay confident throughout. Any sign of nervousness is a big turn off for the interviewer. What do you think could have been Could have been better prepared for the take me through your done better while solving the case? resume question. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to next round 


Shirish Damani The Parthenon Group Mayank Gupta Second This was a quick 30 min interview without any PI. NA

Our client is a PE firm looking to invest in an education consulting business in China. They want advice on the same. In particular, 1. Why do students come to them? 2. On what factors will the demand depend? How did you define the scope of the SD: What does education consulting mean? case MG: This is consulting for students who want to go outside China for graduation and post graduation studies. SD: What is their business model? MG: They help students with their applications and the passport, visa formalities and take commission from both students and colleges. SD: What is the investment horizon of the firm? MG: 3-4 years Case Analysis presented by you Took a couple of mins and began with Question 1 i.e., why do students come to them? I could think of the following reasons, 1. Since people in China are not very fluent in English they would 168

need help with applications. 2. Firm provides end to end support so it is convenient for students. 3. Easy way to get higher education since most of these colleges would be the 2nd rung colleges (as they give commission to such firms I assumed these would not be the Harvards and the Stanfords) and hence getting through would not be very difficult with help from these firms. Mayank was convinced with the answer, however he pointed out that the main reason why the students go outside China is because of the glamour associated with the international tag. I kicked myself for not asking this basic question at the start. He asked me to move to the next question i.e., On what factors will the demand depend? Most factors I could think of would not be relevant in the given investment horizon and asked Mayank whether I should mention them or not. To my relief he asked me to list down all factors, 1. Growth in English education in primary schools. As people become fluent in English the need for such services will go down. This was accepted. 2. Growth in good quality higher education institutes. However, Mayank argued that these people are going for the tag and don’t really care about quality education. To this I argued that if foreign institutes open campuses in china students could be willing to study in them because of the brand. He kind of agreed. 3. Demographics of China. With an aging population the demand for such services will go down. This was accepted. Next Mayank asked me to analyze why were foreign institutes giving them a commission. I took a min and came up with the following reasons, 1. Since these are not very well known institutes they seats will remain empty if students are not pushed by such firms. 2. Since marginal cost of serving a student is minimal institutes want all seats to be full. 3. It would want students from as many countries as possible so that it can boast of an international student and alumni base. Next Mayank asked me to think why don’t Airlines promote their seats in such a manner. I was quick to realize that the similarity was that for both of them i.e., Airlines and Education institutes marginal cost of an additional student/customer is almost zero. I took a good 2 – 3 mins and was actually thinking aloud. Finally I concluded that the information asymmetry in case of education institutes is much higher as compared to airlines and hence such education consulting firms can actually influence your decision. 169

In case of airlines the choice is generally made based on fare and timing and hence possibility of travel agents influencing your choice of flight is minimal. This was the end of the case. Next Mayank asked me what other shortlists I have. I told him the name of other firms and he asked me my preference. I told him I was undecided and would decide as the day proceeds. Final recommendation / summary No such final recommendation or summary. What do you think went right while Again the same as before. Think from the basics and don’t force solving the case? fit frameworks. I actually interacted with Mayank towards day end after I was done with my placement. He actually told me that the thing he liked most was that I did not try and force fit any framework and was asking logical questions to break down the problem. He said this is what clients expect and hence what firms look out for in candidates. He was actually upset with some people trying to force fit framework to this very question and was strongly against it. So keep this in mind. What do you think could have been Could have done a better job asking the clarifying questions in done better while solving the case? particular why do Chinese students go abroad for studies. I went into the interview expecting PI to be followed by a case. However was a bit surprised when directly started with a case and hence probably messed up the initial part. Don’t go with a fixed mindset interviewer might tweak the interview based on his mood/preference. Outcome of the interview (optional) Moved to next round.  However, since I had accepted an offer by then, did not go for the next round.


Ridhi Gupta The Parthenon Group Pranav Saxena First (Interview 1) None, Mostly Case Based

The client is a Nigerian based company operating in higher education. While the growth in higher education sector is 15%, our client has seen only a 7% growth in number of enrollments. What could be the reasons?

How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Looked at what are the product offerings of this school in terms of subjects and what kind of students enroll in our school. 170

So the school had two campuses, one in the city and the other in the outskirts. While the school in the city offered Math and Accounting, the school in the outskirts offered Business, Math and Accounting. So it was observed that most of the growth was coming from Business enrollment which our campus in city was unable to tap. Further because the 2nd campus in outskirts was at a remote location, students did not prefer it. In terms of students, we had regular students and some part time enrollments coming from older people looking to upgrade their skills. The sudden increase in number of part time enrollments was driving the overall growth number up. These people also preferred to attend school in the city over the set up and preferred studying Business. So since our city set up was not catering to their needs, we saw a relatively less growth compared to the overall growth numbers. Final recommendation / summary To start Business as a subject in the city campus and attract full time students to the outskirts campus by providing better residential facilities etc What do you think went right while Asking the right questions and getting the right analysis that the solving the case? interviewer had in mind. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)


Ridhi Gupta The Parthenon Group Mayank First (Interview 2) None, Mostly Case Based

The client is a China based company that provides application services to universities abroad to the students. Its been seeing a fall in its business, what should it do?

How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you So first of all I looked at understanding the business model. So the client charged every student a fixed amount of $200 and provided him with a list of 5 universities where he had a shot of getting through, helped him with essays, provided assistance with visa one he got the admission. 171

This was basically because of language barrier between students and the universities they applied to. The client also got $2000 commission from the university where they admitted students. It is observed that no one increases the commission from the student at the moment. Should the client go about increasing the charges for his services? Say he increases the charges by 10%, he loses 10% of his students. Should he go for it? The answer is no, because his major revenue driver is not the commission from students but the commission from the universities, and the volumes matter more than the price he charges. Final recommendation / summary To start Business as a subject in the city campus and attract full time students to the outskirts campus by providing better residential facilities etc What do you think went right while Asking the right questions and getting the right analysis that the solving the case? interviewer had in mind. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional)


Ridhi Gupta The Parthenon Group Mayank/Jasdeep Two

Was given a 10 page case about a company and was asked to work out a roadmap for the company by identifying problems in the business/areas for growth spanning different streams of businesses they are in. Was given 30 minutes to prepare it and then present in on the white board, after which they grilled me for around 20-25 minutes on my recommendations

How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary

I found a lot of concepts taught in MGEC useful in this particular interview, so it really helps to be on top of the concepts covered 172

in core terms. What do you think went right while solving the case? What do you think could have been done better while solving the case?

Name and designation of the interviewer Interview round (first/second/third) Personal interview questions (please write the questions only) Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer) How did you define the scope of the case Case Analysis presented by you

Partner Round PI Completely Was asked about my motivation to join Parthenon, general interest in the firm, things I knew, career aspirations etc

Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while I think what worked here overall is my awareness levels about solving the case? their business and having interacted with people to understand what their work is about. What do you think could have been done better while solving the case? Outcome of the interview (optional) Was Made the offer

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ISB - Co2014 Consulting Case Book

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