IIM Lucknow
Casebook
2021
The Consulting & Strategy Club
Foreword
This casebook has been created by the 35th and 36th batch of the Consulting and Strategy Club of
IIM Lucknow. This casebook aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the case interview
process conducted by consulting companies and should be of help to anyone who is interested in
consulting as a career.
The Consulting and Strategy Club of IIM Lucknow has been at the forefront in helping students of
IIML prepare for their consulting interviews. In 2020, we became the first consulting club in India
to launch a mobile application: CSC Briefcase. It covers what consulting is, brief about renowned
consulting firms, process overview for a typical case interview, along with a whole lot of resources to practice such as frameworks, sample cases, mock case videos, industry insights, interview transcripts & even datasheet for guesstimates. It is one of a kind unique initiative undertaken by the Consulting and Strategy Club of IIM Lucknow. The app is available for download on
Google Playstore. We also have an active YouTube channel where you can find videos on mock
cases & guesstimates.
We would also like to thank everyone from the 34th and 36th PGP and PGP-ABM batches of IIM
Lucknow who volunteered to document their case interview experiences and share it as part of
this casebook. Lastly, a big thank you to our readers, without whose feedback and inspiration this
document would not have been possible.
The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow (Batch of ‘21 & ‘22)
Top (L-R): Vishal Ajmera, Nishant Sharma, Ayush Maiti & Kushal Maheshwari
Middle: Mayur Jain, Medha Verma, Anoushka Banavar, Diya Bhatia, Vishal Goyal & Raghav Sally
The Consulting & Strategy Club
Scan the QR code to download
Bottom: Deepak Jain, Sathya Sahay, Ayesha Hafeez, Raunika Sharma, Vedika Gulati & Aziz Malik
Indian Institute of Management Lucknow
CSC Briefcase from Playstore
2020 in Review
In 2020, the Consulting and Strategy Club of IIM Lucknow conducted a range of activities to aid consulting preparation of the students of IIM Lucknow and beyond.
Following is a brief snapshot of our activities in the year that went by.
Advanced Case Workshops
CSC Briefcase
Auxilium and C2C
Conducted 4 advanced case workshops
for over 900+ attendees from PGP1 and
PGP2 before placements
Became the first consulting club in India to
launch a mobile application to cover
everything related to consulting
Mentorship and guidance to candidates shortlisted
for consulting interviews by providing one to one
case sessions from alums
Consulting 101 Sessions
Upskilling Initiatives
Live Projects
Strategia
Facilitated Consulting 101 sessions and
interactions with alumni now working
at leading consulting firms
Dedicated YouTube channel covering videos
of mock guesstimates and cases with 1L+
total views
Executed 15+ live projects with over
60 students with clientele including
Ernst and Young, RCS
IIM Lucknow’s flagship strategy
event with 4 competitions and
5000+ registrations
2
Table of Contents
Consulting Overview……………………...…………...………………….04
Case Transcripts (Summers)…..…………………………………………….64
Alvarez & Marsal………..…………………………........................65
Case Frameworks.............................………………………………..10
Accenture Strategy…..…………………………………………………..75
Profitability……………………………………………………............14
Auctus Advisors…….………………………………………................98
Market Entry…………………………………………………………...18
Bain & Co.…………….…………………………….………………………103
Market Sizing……………………………………….…………………..20
BCG……………………..…………………………….……………………….136
Pricing…………………………………………………………..............21
Deloitte……………….……………………………………………………..166
Mergers & Acquisitions/Due Diligence……………………..22
Everest Group…….………………………………………………………190
Growth Strategy……...……………………………………………….25
Kearney………………………………………………….………………….199
Case Examples…………………………………………………………………26
Profitability……………………………………………………...........27
Market Entry……………………………………………………………38
Pricing………………………………………………………….............44
GTM………………………………………………….…………………….46
Growth Strategy………………………………………………….…..48
M&A/DD………………………………………………………………….52
Business Abstract/Abstract………………………………………55
Mastercard Advisors…………………………………………………..212
McKinsey & Co.………………………………………………………….231
PwC……………………………………………………………………………247
Synergy Consulting.…………………………………………………...268
Case Transcripts (Finals)…………………………………………………….272
Appendix……………………………………………………..…………..……….302
3
Consulting Overview
The Consulting & Strategy Club of IIM Lucknow is proud to present the IIM Lucknow Casebook
for the year 2021. Through this casebook, we have made an attempt to bring to you a consolidated preparation guide which is an amalgamation of commonly asked case frameworks and
most recent case interview experiences – as communicated by candidates who sat through
the placement process of consulting firms recruiting from IIM Lucknow.
Preparing for consulting interview can be daunting especially, if you are doing it for the very
first time! Here is our take on what the process typically looks like and what you should anticipate. We hope this helps those reading the book to better understand if they want to make a
career in consulting or not. If your answer is yes, then we hope the book helps you better prepare yourselves for the process.
Who should use this book?
•
•
•
Students who wish to familiarize themselves with the typical interview process followed
by major consulting firms across the globe
Students across Indian B-schools and undergraduate colleges who are preparing for consulting roles on campus
Students who want to practice cases closest to actual interview scenarios
•
Language: Once your points have been finalized, you should check if each point
conveys your role/contribution in a crisp and clear manner to the evaluator. If you
have worked in a very technical role, try to use less jargons and simplify the language
for the person on the other side of the table.
•
Structure: After freezing your final CV points, it is important that you order the boxes in
your CV tactfully (The most generic boxes in a CV being – education, academic achievements, work experience, extra-curriculars and positions of responsibility).
•
Highlighting: Highlighting of key points is crucial to attract the evaluator’s attention to
the points that you want him/her to read first. This is especially significant since companies have to evaluate a huge number of CVs before coming out with the shortlist.
•
Formatting: Lastly, your CV must be well formatted. Presentation skills matter and any
flaw here puts you in negative light.
Top consulting firms are known to shortlist candidates whose CVs show 3-4 ‘spikes’. Spikes
can be any noteworthy achievements in the sphere of academics, extra-curriculars, workexperience or PORs that make your CV stand out from the rest. Try to keep this at the back of
your mind while making your CV.
Insight into the Process
1. The Shortlist
The first step towards landing your dream job is preparing your CV, on the basis of which
the interview shortlist is released by different firms. Making the perfect CV is a task in itself and should be taken very seriously. It is important to get your CV reviewed on five
things – impact, language, structure, highlighting & formatting.
2.
Buddy Process & Company Interactions/Dinner
Some companies have a month-long buddy process. One buddy is assigned to each
shortlisted candidate. Buddies are typically your college alumni in the firm who have 03 years of experience in the firm. This process aims to serve the following purposes depending on the company:
•
•
Support & guidance for the final interview: Buddies practice cases with you over the
one month and provide feedback for the final interview. They also help you prepare for
HR answers. Any queries about the process can be routed through them. Interactions
with them are meant to be less formal than a professional setting.
Impact: Typically, you are encouraged to show the impact created by you in every possible point and also quantifying the impact wherever possible.
4
•
Opportunity for candidate to evaluate the company: Buddies are also your means of
getting an insight into the company. There may be multiple interactions and workshops
scheduled in this one-month period where company representatives and buddies will
visit campus to take a pulse check on your prep. This is an ideal time to ask questions
about firm culture, get to know the people and try to gauge if the firm is a good fit for
you.
•
Pre-interview evaluation of candidates: Some companies may have a pre-interview
evaluation of candidates either through the cases done with buddies or through interactions during workshops and dinners. It is important to be proactive throughout the
process and maintain visibility. However, your performance on the day of your final
interviews is the most important criteria for your selection.
In most cases, the buddy process is what you make of it. Thus, you should try to maximize your gains out of this process.
3.
Final Interviews
On the final day, you will have 2-3 case interviews back-to-back. While they maybe eliminative for some firms, others may hold the same number of interviews for all candidates before rolling out offers. Each interview typically lasts for 45 mins for final placements while the summers process may have shorter interviews lasting for around 20
mins. It comprises of a case and HR questions.
HR:
It is extremely important to know your CV inside out. You can be asked anything related to
your CV. In fact, there are times when you are asked cases based on themes/sectors in your
CV. The questions that you must prepare for are – basic introduction, your reasons for
wanting to join consulting and why you want to join the particular firm you are interviewing
with. How the job fits into your short-term and long-term plans may also be important questions to reflect on. All in all, through this component of your interview, the interviewer tests
how good a fit you are for the firm.
4.
Virtual Interview Process
In the current COVID-19 scenario, most firms have shifted their hiring processes online and
are conducting interviews digitally. In light of this, it becomes all the more important to
keep the interviewer engaged throughout the interview process and communicate the approach well. Unlike a physical interview, interviewers do not have access to the sheet of paper
where the interviewee makes his/her case structures. As a result, the role of communication
becomes all the more crucial.
Case:
For this component of the interview, you are evaluated on your communication skills
(clarity of thought, articulation & crisp communication), problem solving skills (scoping
the problem, reaching the solution using a structured approach and asking the right
questions) and numeric skills (comfort with numbers, business sense, speed & accuracy). In addition to this, the interviewer may want to evaluate your presence & personality in general while you are interacting with a client.
5
Introduction to Case Interviews
6
Case Interview Helicopter View
Pre-Case
Conversation
•
•
•
•
3-4 minutes of
informal
conversation
Some hygiene
questions on
candidate’s level of
confidence
Fit questions (HR)
Questions related
to work experience
Higher level
understanding of
client situation
Case Introduced
Case issued generally
falls in the following
buckets
• Profitability
• Market entry
• Pricing
• Abstract
• Estimation
•
•
•
•
Understand the
problem
statement
Probe interviewer
to get context on
the current
situation
A solid framework
to use- CPCCP
Ask relevant
questions
Deep dive into
case for diagnosis
•
Get into the details
of the case
• Tools at hand
• Value Chain
Analysis
• PORTER’s 5 forces
• PESTLE
• If not able to
diagnose, move
backward, try
thinking of other
frameworks
Potential Solutions
/ Summary
•
•
•
•
Suggest
problems to the
interviewer
Identify 2-3
solutions of the
problem
Summarize and
synthesize
Don’t push
infeasible
solutions
7
“Personality”, “Fit”, “Work Experience” Related Questions
▪
Personality
▪
▪
Fit for the firm
▪
▪
Work experience
▪
Questions to gauge a higher-level understanding of candidate’s skills-communication,
knowledge and experience related
Sample questions:
o Tell me about yourself? – (Ice breaker. Your chance to take the interviewer to your strengths)
o Things that you are passionate about? (Your ability to deep-dive into your interests)
o Situational questions- Handling a crisis, negotiating with colleagues and others
Questions to assess if the candidate can fit in the culture of the firm. Since consulting firms put
high emphasis on their culture, this area is a make or break
Sample questions:
o Why firm “X”? (To understand your knowledge about the firm’s culture)
o How do you solve a problem? (Assessing how you approach problems- 70% of early career)
o What is your greatest achievement? (To assess how you measure impact)
Questions around candidate’s work experience/internships- assessment of overlapping areas of
work with the interviewing firm, responsibilities handled, and impact delivered
Sample questions:
o Things that you liked about your previous firms? (Identifies your optimism about workplace)
o Most interesting project? (Knowing your expertise in the area of work)
o Why did you leave your previous job? (Triggers that reduce your motivation about workplace)
8
Major Case Interview Categories
Revenue
Cost
Market
analysis
Market sizing
Pricing
Profits
Market
Entry
Case
Categories
Mode of entry
Others
Growth
Strategy
Performance
improvement
Product launch
Abstract
M&A
9
Solving a Case: Frameworks
10
Irrespective of case type, the problem statement can generally
be probed by deploying “CPCC”
Problem Formulation
Company
Product
Customer
Competition
• SMART objectives
(constraints priorities)
• Scope of the problem
• Since when are you
facing the problem?
• Magnitude of the
problem
• Why certain decisions
being taken now?
(Market Entry Cases)
• Geography specific?
• Business lines &
revenue segments
• Locations – Plant,
Sales
• Business Model &
Distribution model
• Scale of operation
• Type of player – Low
cost or differentiated
• How old is the
company?
• SKUs – types,
variants, sizes
• USP of the
product
• Revenue share by
product
• Is the problem
specific to a
product?
• How are the
customers segmented
• Customer segments
served?
• Different customer
and consumer?
• Revenue contribution
of channel partners
• Is the problem specific
to a customer
segment?
• Who are the
competitors and what
are their market
shares?
• Who are the indirect
competitors?
• Fragmented vs
concentrated industry
• Are competitors also
facing the issue?
Points to
remember
Why clarifying questions are important?
• Better understanding about the client & industry
• Scoping and segmenting the problem
• Generating inferences from the information gathered.
Accordingly, customize further questions and case
solving structure
To-Dos
• Contextualise the questions as per the case (product,
industry etc.)
• If you have any prior understanding, always state it
and get it validated, rather than asking a question.
11
Frameworks to conduct Industry Analysis
PESTLE- Macroeconomic analysis
Porter’s 5 forces- Microeconomic analysis
Political
Environment
Economic
PESTLE
Analysis
Social
Legal
Technological
•
Refer to the appendix for detailed PESTLE analysis
The 4P framework – generally applicable across all business
cases
Product
Place
• What are the product’s
differentiating attributes?
• Why does the consumer
purchase the product?
• How is the product
distributed to consumers?
• What is the distribution
supply chain? (distributor,
wholesaler, retailer) –
Commissions, product
push, time to transport etc.
• What new methods of
distribution are available?
• Product placement at retail
outlet (Right place, right
way, right environment,
right quantity)
•
•
•
•
•
Features
Quality
Packaging
Brand
Support services
(installation, after sales
support)
Promotion
• What promotions are being
used – advertisements,
sales/trade, PR? (Mode,
Message, Messenger)
• Any negative PR recently
• What is the most effective
way of “getting word out”?
• Evaluate each promotion
mechanism by reach,
frequency, impact
• How it helps in creating
brand loyalty, preferences
• Sales & Trade promotion
• Advertising – ATL/ BTL/ TTL
• Personal Selling
Price
• How is the product
priced?
• How are its competitors
priced?
• What pricing strategy?
• How the customers pay
(channels, payments
modes)?
• Discounts, loyalty
schemes
• Cost based, value pricing,
competitor based
• Premium pricing
• Skimming pricing
• Penetration pricing
13
Profitability Framework- Revenues are declining
Profits
Revenues
Costs
Refer Profitability-costs framework
Price
Quantity
Internal factors
External Factors
Product, Promotions, Place
Approach
Customer Journey
Approach
Refer 4P framework in appendix
Refer Customer Journey framework
Product
• Need served?
• Features &
Quality
• Brand
• Packaging
• SKUs
• Consumption
frequency
Promotions
• STP
• Core message and content
• Modes
• Advertisements – Online, offline
• Sales Promotions
• Trade Promotions
• Public Relations & sponsorships
Place/ Distribution
• Modes of Distribution
• Direct - Online, Offline
• Indirect - Online, offline
• No. of customers in each mode
• Average value of purchase
Macro Economic
factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
Political
Economic
Social
Technological
Legal
Environmental
Industry level factors
•
•
•
•
Supplier
Customers
Substitutes
Threat of New
Entrants
• Competitive Rivalry
• Complements
14
Profitability Framework- Customer Journey Approach
Need
Necessity
• Alternatives
available?
Yes/No
• Utility good
Awareness
Trade
Promotion
Discretionary
• Alternatives
available? Yes/No
• Luxury good
Sales
Promotion
• Channel
Incentives
• Salesforce
effectiveness
•
•
•
•
Mode (Media)
Message
Messenger
Perception/PR
Experience
Purchase
Experience
• Vendor Selection
• In-store exp. –
Ambience,
salesmen
• Payment process
• Delivery
Post Delivery
• Unpacking
• Installation
• Usage – Draw
parallel to
product need
and customer
satisfaction
Accessibility
Coverage
• Reach
• Logistics
• Channel
Management
Product
Placement
• 4Rs
- Right Place
- Right way
- Right Environment
- Right Quantity
Affordability
Customer
Service
• Feedback
• Problem
- Help (Customer
Care)
- Solution
(Warranty/NonWarranty)
Pricing
Strategy
• Base/Premium
• Discounts
• Loyalty/
Subscriptions
Payment
Options
• Credit –
Credit card, EMI
• Non-Credit –
Cash, Debit card,
wallets, etc.
15
Customer Journey Approach in practice
It is not always necessary to follow the standard buckets while mapping the customer journey
The candidate should step into the shoes of the customer and solve it through first principle
Example: Mapping the customer journey on an e-commerce platform
Home Page
Features
Ease of Use
Search
History
Results
Suggestions
Product
Aesthetics
Repairs
Returns &
Replacements
Features
Placement
After Sales
Installation
Product Page
Product
Price
Reviews
Suggestions
Payment
Delivery
Time
Quality
Credit
Non-Credit
Reach
16
Profitability Framework- Costs are increasing*
Costs are increasing
Operational
Secondary
Primary
Warehousing,
storage &
Transportation
In-bound Logistics
Raw Material
Quality
Non-Operational
Quantity
Transport
Storage
Distribution, marketing &
sales costs
Wholesaler
Retailer
After sales service
costs
Consumer
Production Process
Material
Man
Machine
Non-operational cost
•
•
•
•
Depreciation
Amortization
Bad debts
Finance costs
Method
Measurement
Secondary costs
•
•
•
•
Research & development
HR and admin costs
Infrastructure costs
Technology development
•
•
Classification depends on industry
Refer to the appendix for detailed classification
Market Entry Framework (1/2)
Proposed framework for market entry:
A. Qualifying questions
A. Understanding context - Qualifying questions
B. Decision to enter –
• Market attractiveness
1. Quantitative Analysis
1. Market Size & Growth
2. Breakeven Analysis (NPV, IRR, Payback period)
2. Qualitative Analysis
1. Country (macro) & Industry analysis (micro)
• Need-gap analysis & STP
C. Mode of entry
D. Operationalizing (optional)
Motive
• Profit increase
• Market share expansion
• Diversification
• Other reasons - welfare,
charity, etc.
Any reasons why the chosen
country?
Why now?
Basic info:
• Company
• Products/
services
Constraints
• Time period
• Investment
B. Entry decision - Market attractiveness#
Country analysis
Political
Legal & regulatory
Economic
Socio-cultural
Industry analysis
Technology &
infrastructure
Environmental
#Quantitative – Market Size & Growth, Breakeven Analysis (NPV, IRR, Payback Period)
Suppliers
Consumers
Substitutes
Complements
Competitors
Barriers to entry
18
Market Entry Framework (2/2)
B. Entry decision - Need-gap analysis & STP
Identify segments on the basis of:
• Geography
• Demographic
• Behavioural
• Psychographics
Perform need-gap analysis
• Define product/ services
• Identify USP
• Target segments whose needs are met
C. Framework for market entry mode
D. Operationalizing
Rate comparatively for each factor on 3-level scale: High, Mid and Low
Factors for
various
options
Costs
Time to
profitability
Autonomy/
control
Risks
Organic
growth
M&A
JV
For each target segment, identify
• Market Size (potential guesstimate)
• Growth
• Lifecycle
License/
Franchise
Setup the business for the firm:
1. Establish value chain
• Sourcing
• Manufacturing
• Logistics (Transportation & Storage)
• Distribution
• Marketing
• Customer service
2. Product/ services related19: (4 P Approach)
• Product/ Service
• Pricing
• Promotion plan
• Place
19
3. Identifying Risks & Synergies
Market Sizing/ Guesstimates
A. What do interviewers look for
in guesstimates?
1. Approach (Reduction factors,
assumptions made) – Most important
2. Market/ consumer/ industry specific
insights
3. Calculations – Speed, correctness
• Perform approximate calculations to
save time & reduce chances of error
C. Does the final answer matter?
•
The final answer need not be accurate
•
Try not to arrive at numbers with large
deviations (10x, 100x) (validating final
answer through any other ball-park
estimation). In case of error, don’t hesitate to
go back to the approach & include any other
factor or review the numbers taken
B. Types (Decide based on constraints/ limiting factor)
Demand Side:
• Example – Mobile phones sold, Ketchup
consumed etc.
• ‘Consumer Centric’ approach –
• Imagine yourself as a consumer of the
product and identify consumer insights
• Usual reduction factors –
• Population (Or any other consumer)
• Age, Gender, Income
• Religion, Ethnicity
• Urban/ Rural or location wise
• Consumer usage related factors
• Units per person
• Substitutes & other options
• Complements
• Replacement Rate
• Competition
Supply Side:
• Example – No. of flights landing in an airport
• Usual Reduction Factors –
• Production capability
• Infrastructure facility
• Time, Resource, Capital
• Units per facility
• Competition
• Substitutes & Complements
D. Process
Scoping &
Clarification
Define the approach
(reduction factors),
draw issue tree & get
buy-in from interviewer
State all the
numbers and back
it up with any
suitable rationale
Apply 80/ 20
Rule – Only
proceed with
major segments
Perform
calculation &
adjust minor
segments ignored
Validate the answer
through other approach/
benchmark (ball-park
estimation works)
20
Pricing Framework
R&D Cost
FC
Cost based
Production cost
VC
Breakeven period, WACC
Similar product in the
market
Pricing
Competition based
Substitutes
Opportunity cost
Value based
Value of similar products
21
Mergers & Acquisitions, Due-Diligence
Proposed framework:
B. Pre-Offer
A. Type of merger – Horizontal, vertical, conglomerate
B. Pre-Offer
• Motive for merger and valuations
C. Offer
• Due-Diligence
• Synergies
• Deal Structuring
D. Post-Offer
• PMI
• Strategy & Exit
Valuation
Motive
Operational
• Asset Seeking
• Overcapacity
• R&D
Financial
Managerial
• Acquiring an
undervalued
firm
C. Offer
Due Diligence
Use SMIOLF Framework
• Strategic
• Marketing
• IT
• Operations
• Legal
• Finance
Synergies
A+B > A,B
• Compare the value
chains of both the
firms and identify
synergies
Can use any method
for valuations:
• DCF
• Segment
• Market Value
• Agency
issues
• Monopoly
D. Post-Offer
Deal Structuring
• All Cash
• Cash + Stock
• All Stock
• Debt
• ……
& similar combinations
PMI
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Strategy
Culture (Values)
• Cost
Systems (Cost)
• Redesign
Strategy (Synergies)
Structure (Leadership)
Staff (Attrition)
Style (Decision makers)
Skills (Talent)
Exit
• When
• How
Strategic
Fit
22
Due Diligence (Do DD of heads relevant to the case)
DD is an extensive process undertaken by an acquiring firm to assess target company’s business, assets, capabilities, & financial performance.
Organization
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Structure
Ownership
Divisions
Business Units
Strategy
Comp. advantage
VRIO
Financial
• Audit of FS
• Earning Quality
• CAGR of KPIsSales, profit
• Cash flows
• Working capital
cycle
Product
•
•
•
•
Offerings
Variants
Stage in Lifecycle
Change in
product mix
Management
• Experience &
Qualification
• Promoters stake
• Strategy
• Culture
• Belief and Vision
• Integrity
Customer
• STP & Stickiness
• Change in
customer mix
• Demographicsgeographic,
psychographic,
behavioural
Competition
•
•
•
•
•
IT
• Systems
• Processes
• Integration
Market structure
Market share
Growth
Offerings
Valuation
Legal
•
•
•
•
Patents
Licenses
Agreements
Regulations
Operational
•
•
•
•
•
Value chain
Suppliers
Distributors
Innovation
R&D
Marketing
•
•
•
•
HR
• Policies
• Professional HR
Team
• Feedback
mechanism
• EE survey
Customer mix
Channel mix
Communication
Brand Image
Environment
•
•
•
•
•
Emission
Pollution
Reuse
Recycle
Refurbish
23
Synergies
Synergy is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts.
• It Identifies
potential
synergies across
value chain:
R&D-> Suppliers> Operations >Product ->
Distribution >Marketing >Customer
• Other areas of
synergiesFinances, HR etc.
R&D/ Resource
Suppliers
• Sharing
knowledge, tech,
labs, machinery
& scientists
• Access to
patents, licenses,
spectrum, etc
• Dec. number
• Retain quality
• Bulk Orders- Dec.
order &
transport costs
• Bargaining
power
Distribution
• Scale/Scope
• Salesforce
rationalization
• Incr. penetrationmore channels
• Bargaining
power
Marketing
• Scale and reach
• Customer data
• Knowledge
sharing
• Co- Branding
Product
Operations
• Economies of
scale/scope
• Higher capacity
utilization
• Higher
productivity
Financial
Customer
• Better product
• Same STP
• Cross selling
• Bundling
• Upselling
(Ability to sell
more)
• Wider range
• More variants
• Better pricingdue to better
quality & lower
competition
•
•
•
•
•
•
WACC decreases
Deprn. tax shield
Tax savings
Bankruptcy costs
Agency costs
Information
asymmetry
HR
• Productivity
increase
• More diversity
• EEs with special
competencies
• Labour cost
rationalization
24
Growth Strategy
Proposed framework:
Approach
Inorganic
Organic
•
•
•
•
• Improving own
competencies
New Geography
Existing Geography
Current Product
New Product
Current Product
Market Penetration
– 4Ps
Product
Development
Market
Development
Existing Product
•
•
Increase usage
Updates/
Upgrades
Pricing & Promotion
Incentives &
Awareness
M&A
J&V
Partnership
Franchise
New Product
Diversification
Core Offering
Distribution
•
•
Channels
Contract
Management
•
•
•
Services
Products
After Sales
Non-Core Offering
•
•
•
Services
Products
Accessories
25
Case Examples
26
Profitability- Interview Transcript
An Oral Hygiene Products Manufacturer facing declining profits in India
Case Transcript
Your client is an Oral Hygiene Products manufacturer. They have observed declining profits. Help find
the solution to their problem.
I would like to begin by confirming the problem statement, and asking some clarifying questions from
our client. As per my understanding our client manufactures oral hygiene products, and has faced
declining profits. Is that correct? How long has the client been facing this problem?
Let’s focus on the Revenues for Toothbrush.
Now Revenue issue can be a market share issue where your firm is facing declining revenues whereas the
industry is performing well, or a market value issue, where the market itself is not performing to the par.
Where do you think the issue is here?
I think it’s a Market Share issue, the Toothbrush market has maintained its growth levels otherwise.
That is correct. The client has been facing declining profits since the inception of the firm 2 years ago.
Thanks, now Revenues can further be broken down into Price, and Volumes. Has there been a decline in the
volume of the product being manufactured or has there been some change in the prices?
Thank you. What all products does the client manufacture? Also, where does the client operate?
The prices have remained constant focus on the volumes here.
The client manufactures two products toothbrush, and mouthwash. They are present only in the
Indian market.
What are the competitors faced by the client, and where is the client situated in the competition?
Ok. So if there has been a fall in volumes, it could be because of supply side issues, where the demand exists
but the client has not been able to meet it, or a demand side issue with the problem at the consumer’s end.
Could you help me understand, on which side the issue could be?
Since they have established their operations recently, the client is still market follower, and is placed
4th in terms of national market share for oral hygiene products.
The client believes that there has been a fall in demand.
What is the sales split of the two products manufactured by the client? Further, have both of seen a
decline in profits?
Alright then. This fall in demand can then further be attributed to internal factors innate to the client’s
product such as branding, product specifications, and after sales service or external factors that have
emerged from outside the client’s control, like substitutes, complements, with taste and preferences. Is
there any segment you would like me to focus on specifically?
The client manufactures one standard type of Toothbrush (A) and Mouthwash (B) each, which
contribute 75% and 25% of the total sales, respectively. Both are being hit in terms of profitability.
Does the client operate across the value chain or in a specific part? Also, will it be safe to assume that
the end consumers of the client’s products are majorly households?
Begin with product specifications
Yes, the client operates across the entire value chain; and, could you elaborate which households?
The Product specifications can further be broken down into functional aspects (i.e. the bristles, grip, length of
the toothbrush etc.) and experiential/symbolic factors like colours, packaging, unique features. Could there
be a reason for us to believe that the client’s product is different from the industry in the above factors?
Sure. Assuming the client is competing nationally, I believe the toothbrush sales should be majorly
driven by middle-income households. Whereas, Mouthwash demand emanating largely from uppermiddle to high-income households. Is this assumption fair?
Yes, it has been found that the bristles and the length the toothbrush has not been satisfactory. Can you
highlight what issues could there be?
Fair, you may proceed further.
Since there are two products with their respective sales contributions, I will begin with toothbrush since
it has greater contribution, and then proceed to mouthwash
Sure, go ahead.
So, Profits can be broken down to revenues and costs. Since profits are declining, it could either be
revenues declining, costs increasing or costs increasing greater than the revenues. Which option would
you like me to proceed with?
Sure, Indians are known to brush their teeth rigorously, and mostly in the morning for freshness. I believe
there could be an issue with the quality of the bristles or the area of bristles that could either make the
experience hurtful, or not allow adequate toothpaste to get a satisfactory brushing experience. For the
length, due to the brushing pattern as stated above, rigorous strokes are made. If the length is longer than
expected, it could either damage the gums, or not make the toothbrush flexible enough to provide the
experience the customers are looking for.
27
Profitability- Interview Transcript
An Oral Hygiene Products Manufacturer facing declining profits in India
Case Transcript
These could certainly be plausible issues; but changing product specifications is a lengthy process, and requires research. What would you recommend the client?
Alright. The decline in revenues for toothbrush is largely coming from product where the client may have difficulties in finding immediate solutions. In that case I would recommend fringe benefits to customers in
the short run to make the product more lucrative until specifications can be met with. These could be:1. Explore bundling of products to make the bundle attractive and drive sales in both products
2. Niche promotion that could address this myth, or make the brush look like a differentiated offering
The recommendations seem feasible. Now explore the mouthwash segment. Focus on external factors, and it is a market share issue.
Thank you. Since it is an external issue, it implies, the client’s product is facing issue in the business environment. Would it be safe to assume that the issue with Mouthwash being faced, at the same time as
Toothbrush too?
No, it is a more recent phenomenon.
Sure, since it is a customer driven (demand) issue, external factors could be Affordability, Availability, Accessibility, or Likeability. Is there any specific factor you would like me to consider first?
Explain what you mean by likeability?
Likeability are the factors that would affect the customer’s propensity to buy the product provided it is available, affordable and accessible. These could emergence of substitutes, tastes and preferences, or
complements.
Yes, it has been found that our mouthwash brand is endorsed by a famous Hollywood actor who is also endorsing a tobacco brand in a significant country, and has faced global criticism for it, which may have
affected preferences here. This was a constructive interaction, thank you and all the best!
28
Profitability- Case Structure
An Oral Hygiene Products Manufacturer facing declining profits in India
Qualitative Information
Case background:
Case Framework
Profits
Oral Hygiene Products
manufacturer facing
unsatisfactory revenues
Revenue
Price
Costs
Volumes
Demand
Internal
Case facts:
•
•
Supply
External
Promotion
2 Products – Toothbrush
(A) (75%) and
Mouthwash (B) (25%)
Likeability
Distribution
Customers – Middle
Income Households for A
and Middle to High for B
•
Placed
•
Problem since inception,
2 years ago
4th
Quantitative Data & Analysis
None
in the Market
Availability
Substitutes
Accessibility
Complements
Affordability
Tastes and
Preferences
Product
Functional
Experiential
Problems and recommendations
Toothbrush – Product Specifications Issue in Bristles and Length. Niche
promotions and bundled sales until product redesign
Mouthwash – Taste and Preference Issue because of Brand Ambassador
Interviewee feedback
The case assesses the ability to extend and structure a revenue side issue in the
most extensive way. The key is to cover most filters first, and then explore the
breadth before depth while searching for the issue. Structure is prioritized over
recommendation
29
Profitability- Interview Transcript
Our client is a biscuit retailer. Of late, they have experienced a decline in profit. Why is this happening?
Case Transcript
(After clarifying the problem statement) I would like to understand more about the retailer. Where is
our client’s business based out of? Where are the retail shops located? How long has the retailer been
facing this issue?
We get our supplies from the same wholesaler for last 5-6 years. There has not been any major change in
any of these. You may move ahead.
Good. The retailer is based out of India. The shops are located in the residential areas of Lucknow. It’s
a well-known shop. The client has been facing this issue since last 3 months.
The retailers own a few trucks. There have been a few structural changes like increase in fuel costs but it
has impacted the overall industry. Go ahead.
Alright. I would like to understand more about operating model of the client. Does our client
manufacture the biscuits as well?
Now, next step is to unload the biscuit packets. There could be issues related to mishandling during the
process.
Interestingly, our client procures the biscuits from the manufacturer. He stores it in the warehouse
and then sends it to the respective retailers.
No, I don’t think there is any mishandling at this stage. What else?
Okay. Could you please elaborate a bit on the competition faced by the biscuit retailer? And are the
competitors also facing this issue?
There are no major competitors in Lucknow. People heavily rely on our client’s products. No, the
competitors are not facing this issue.
Now, I would like to know more about the different types of biscuits being sold by the retailers? And
does our client serve only households?
As of now, our client sells only one type of biscuits. It is being consumed by the middle class families.
(Asked for a few seconds to develop my structure) Based on our discussion, the client is facing issues in
the profits. Profits can be declined because of two reasons: a) decline in revenues b) increase in costs.
Do you want me to focus on any particular area?
Yes, I would like you to explore costs first.
For costs, I would like to see what are costs being incurred by the retailer at each point of the value
chain of the retailer. As per my understanding, the client will first procure the biscuits from the retailer.
For which, some inbound logistics will be required. After unloading, the biscuits will be stored at a
warehouse. From there, they will be transferred to the retail shops. Is there anything I am missing out?
Great. I think you have covered all the points. You may start with your this structure.
Sure. I would like to start with the procurement of biscuits from the wholesaler. Has there been any
change in the price charged by the wholesaler or any other terms and conditions?
Sure. I would like to understand the modes of transportation used by the retailer to procure the biscuits from
the retailer.
Next, I would like to understand how the storage of the packets takes place?
Good. We own a warehouse nearby the city. We are using the same warehouse for last 8 year. What kind
of problems can you think here?
There could two possible problems in storage. A) Human issues B) Non-human issues
Interesting, can you walk me through the possible issues under each head.
Sure. Under human issues, there could 3 possible problems:
i) Mishandling which includes damage due to the labour
ii) Stealing of the packets by the labour
iii) Management of the inventory i.e., using LIFO for a perishable product may affect the old packets
Absolutely. Inventory management is one issue due to lack of training in new employees. Can you think of
some non-human issues?
Under non human issues, there are two possible issues:
i) Spoilage due to climatic conditions ii) Damage due to rodents
Yes, there has been a lot of damage due to this monsoon season. Great, can you recommend some
possible steps to combat this issues observed?
Sure. In short term, we can: i) Employee training in inventory management ii) undertake regular pest controls
to prevent the damage from rodents.
In long term: i) installation of CCTVs to keep a check on workers ii) renovate the warehouse to make it water
proof.
Certainly. It was a great discussion. Do you have any questions for me?
30
Profitability- Case Structure
Our client is a biscuit retailer. Of late, they have experienced a decline in profit. Why is this happening?
Qualitative Information
Case background:
Case Framework
Biscuits retailer facing issues
due to increasing costs
Profit
Revenue
Cost
Value Chain
Procurement
from warehouse
Inbound
Logistics
Case facts:
Human
issues
• Located in residential areas
• One product and no
competitor
• Middle class families
Unloading
Mishandling
Stealing
Load on
Shelf
Storage
Non Human
issues
Inventory
Management
Spoilage
Transfer to
shop
Purchase by
customer
Damage
After sales
service
• Problem since last 3
months
Problems and recommendations
i) Human issues: Poor inventory management by personnel
ii) Non-human issues: Spoilage due to the monsoon season
Recommendation:
i) Training in inventory management techniques
ii) Make the warehouse water resistant.
Interviewee feedback
The case revolves around the back-end work of the retailer. It is not always
necessary for a retailer to face customer related issues. Therefore, it is a
recommended step to clarify the operating model. Using the value chain can
help in identifying the problems easily at each stage.
31
Profitability- Interview Transcript
Client is an NBFC. Its sales have been declining for the last few months. Help identify the reason.
Case Transcript
Client is an NBFC. Its sales have been declining for the last few months. Help identify the reason
Okay. Since the problem only occurs with you, I am going to start from the broker. Are we offering the
brokers competitive commissions ? Are our checks stricter?
Could I know more about the client? Where is it operating, for how long, how are sales defined, which
customer profiles it serves and is the competition facing a similar issue?
Both our commission and checks are competitive.
The client has been operating in India since 2000. It’s HQ is in Mumbai. As an NBFC, it offers loans which
have seen a decline. My competition, which includes other private NBFCs and banks, are not facing the
problem. We provide both retail and corporate loans, both of which are facing the decline.
Okay. So, then there is a problem with the final conversion of customers. And since the brokers are
neutral, are we taking a lot of time to get back?
How do we provide loans to our customers?
That’s correct. Our competitors have upped their process of verification, that has significantly reduced
their get-back time and covert the customers. That’s good, we can end the case here.
We provide loans directly and through DSEs which are like brokers for banks.
Thank you.
Has there been a decline in the DSE channel?
Yes. Significantly.
Has there been a fall in the applications? Could you tell me how this channel works?
The number of applications has been the same and yes, the product is still competitive. The DSE
channel works like this – customer goes to broker – broker shows them all the options, including ours –
broker sends back applications – we review the applications – get back to broker – broker conveys to
customer – deal is signed
32
Profitability- Case Structure
Client is an NBFC. Its sales have been declining for the last few months. Help identify the reason
Qualitative Information
Client has been
Case
background:
operating
for 25
years with two
NBFC facing declining
strong brand
revenues
in DSE
(independent)
channel
names. It faces
indirect
Case facts:
competition from
beer and
fresh
•theProblem
specific
to
client
cocktails.
Case Framework
Customer
approaches DSE
Broker presents
loan options
Broker sends
back forms to
NBFC
•
Here, sales mean
loan sales
It
is
a unique
• Loans
provided by
client are competitive
product
Loans reviewed
NBFC gets back
Client accepts
Deal signed
Bank takes longer
time to review offers
and give clearance
Problems and recommendations
Interviewee feedback
Clients’ loan application verification process time is significantly
slower than the competition and is having trouble converting
customers.
It is always good to ask for value chains of a business you have less
knowledge about. The case did not follow any conventional structure,
hence it is extremely important to solve cases using first principles.
33
Profitability- Interview Transcript
Our client is an automotive manufacturer and has been facing a decline in profits. Help us find out why.
Case Transcript
Since when have the profits been declining and by how much?
The client has been facing this issue since the past 1 year and the quantum of fall has been 10%
Okay, I would like to know if there has been any major change in the location of the manufacturing plants /
suppliers you’re procuring from / product mix / target customers in the recent past that could have led to a
change in procurement costs for the firm?
I would like to understand the company’s business model and how long it has been in business for?
Yes, we have recently changed our suppliers owing to a change in procurement policy which aims to
localize procurement closer to Chennai plants.
The company is 50-60 years old. It typically procures parts, assembles it and sells the final product in
markets across India
Okay, so one of the reasons for lower profitability be the additional transportation costs you are bearing to
transport the parts from Chennal plants to other manufacturing facilities located pan-India?
Where are the company’s manufacturing plants located? And where does it procure parts from?
Yes, that is correct. But at the same time we are lowering raw material procurement costs for Chennai
plants. The transportation cost as a proportion of total costs has gone up from 5% to 8% while the raw
material cost has gone down from 15% by 17%
It has 5 manufacturing plants. One each in Pune, Kolkata and Lucknow and two in Chennai.
Distribution happens from all across India while procurement sites are aggregated closer to Chennai
Does the company have its own stores or does it distribute through third parties? What is the share of
online and offline distribution?
Okay, that means that the change in raw material cost has been ~1.73% of total costs and so the net
increase in costs has been 3%-1.73% = 1.27%. So this is one of the reasons for a spike in costs and decline in
profitability.
We distribute through our own stores as well as through third party distributors. The share of offline
sales is around 95% and rest is taken up by online sales.
Right, now I would like you to tell me how the findings so far can impact warehousing costs.
What is the type of automobiles that you manufacture? And what is the share of revenues you get from
each of these product segments?
The client manufactures commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles and is also in the business of spare
parts. The revenue mix is around 50%, 50% and 5% respectively
And what is the kind of clientele we are targeting with the products?
With the passenger vehicles, the client is targeting the middle income group and the typical clientele
for commercial vehicles is trucking aggregators and other businesses
Alright, in terms of competition, who are your major competitors in the market and where are you
placed among them? Have they been facing a similar issues?
We are among the top 3 players in the market and you can assume all three of us have equal market
share. I am not aware if our competitors are facing similar issues or not.
I’d now like to delve into the case and identify reasons for decline in profitability. So since you said your
profitability has been declining, it could either be a function of decline in revenues or increase in costs.
There has been an increase in costs
Okay, I would like to break down the costs into Primary and Secondary costs. Primary costs will include
costs related to R&D, procurement of raw materials, in-bound logistics, warehousing of raw materials,
processing, warehousing of finished goods, outbound logistics, marketing etc.
That sounds exhaustive. I would like you to begin with procurement, our R&D costs haven’t had an
impact on profitability.
Warehousing costs could be further divided into human and non-human costs. Human costs include any
changes in number of employees, skill level of employees, wages of employees in the warehouse. Nonhuman costs will include costs associated with inefficiencies in inventory management (inventory carrying
cost) or related to general maintenance/security of warehouse
There has been no change in human costs. However, the inventory carrying cost has been impacted. Could
you suggest why?
Is it because the number of days taken for the inventory to reach your Lucknow, Pune and Kolkata plants has
increased, thereby increasing the number of days that the inventory is in transit?
That is right. Now, we have also been facing a lot of complaints post-purchase of vehicles. How could this
be having a cost implication?
Okay, so complaints could be of two types, one, that requires only servicing and doesn’t require additional
spare parts, the other can be where spare parts are required. The implications of these can again be two fold
- one, increase in manpower costs for handling these complaints and second, cost of storing/transporting
spare parts on demand (Depending on how your model works)
Yes, so there has been an increase in the costs related to transporting the spare parts to these service
centres since earlier the anticipated demand for spare parts was lesser than what it has been over the past
year. The new supplier seems to be providing more defective parts. Could you summarize the case for me?
Sure. We were trying to ascertain why an automotive company is facing declining profits and we found out
that one, there has been a change in procurement policy of parts which is leading to an increase in inbound
logistics costs, second is the increase in inventory carrying costs because inventory in transit is taking longer
now and lastly, servicing costs have gone up due to the new supplier supplying more defective parts.
Profitability- Case Structure
Our client is an automotive manufacturer and has been facing a decline in profits. Help us find out why.
Qualitative Information
Case background:
Case Framework
Quantitative Analysis
Problem area
Automotive manufacturer is
facing an increase in costs
primarily due to a change in
procurement policy of the
company
Profit
Revenue
Decrease in raw material
procurement costs = 17%
Cost
Value Chain
Procurement
from suppliers
Case facts:
Inbound
Logistics
• 5 manufacturing plants
located in Lucknow,
Kolkata, Pune and 2 in
Chennai
• Makes Commercial
vehicles, passenger
vehicles and in the
business of spare parts as
well
Raw material costs (previous) =
15% of costs
Inventory
warehousing
Human Costs
Maintenance
& Equipment
Change in
Supplier
Increase in
Distance
Problems and recommendations
Change in Procurement Policy has resulted in:
1) Net increase in inbound logistic costs
2) Inventory carrying costs has increased
3) Servicing costs increase due to more defective parts
Mode of
Transportation
Processing
Finished
goods
warehousing
Non Human
Costs
Theft
Transfer to
shop
Servicing
Inventory
Management
Inventory
carrying cost
Service
Centre
Spare Parts
Thus, change in raw material
costs = 1.73%
Transportation costs (previous)
= 8%
Transportation costs (new) =
5%
Thus, change in transportation
costs = 3%
Net increase in costs =
3%=1.73%=1.27%
Interviewee feedback
The case requires you to link one problem to another and arrive at multiple cost
implications of a change in procurement policy of the organization. Being
exhaustive in asking preliminary questions and laying down the entire value
chain helps the interviewer to lead you in the right direction, otherwise the case
can get extremely messy and lengthy
35
Cost Optimization Problem- Interview Transcript
Our client is a major IT company. They want to optimise their costs. Help them
Case Transcript
(After clarifying the problem statement) Firstly, I would like to understand what the client means
exactly by optimizing their costs.
The client here wants to cut costs wherever possible by 10%
Okay, does the client have a timeline within which they want to achieve this?
2 years.
So, I would like to better understand this IT company in terms of their scale and services
The IT company is based out of 15 cities in India. They provide maintenance support for software as
well as are into product development. You can think of them like any big IT firm you are aware of.
Well, I would look at the following factors here. Firstly, introduce adaptive staffing as per the SDLC
requirements on projects. As per my experience, when projects near ‘go live’ periods they require more
manpower, however, during more relaxed phases this man power may be billing hours to the client without
putting in enough work as they have more idle time. So, possibly we could look at an adaptive staffing system
which would ensure that there are firstly minimum number of people on the bench at a time, optimum
number of people per project and lastly we could look into the performance evaluation system. Strict
monitoring and improving accountability in terms of hours billed to client and actual work done through a
tracking system can be introduced. Lastly, if I were to try to reduce the number of hours billed per team, I
would also look at upgrading from legacy systems using outdated software to more recent software systems.
Ok.
Then I am looking at a firm like a Wipro, Cognizant, TCS etc. Is it a correct assumption that most of their
clients would be based in the US and Indian operations would be their offshore business?
In terms of the average cost per team, I would look into the team compositions in terms of work done at
each hierarchical level. Increasing the number of junior employees while reducing the number of senior
employees, will help optimize costs especially, if the technical skills required are similar across lower and
middle level employees.
Yes, that’s a correct assumption. 90% of their clients are US based.
Any other factor that you would look into while tweaking team composition?
Moving to the IT competitive landscape, as per my understanding there are numerous firms in the
industry and all of them offer pretty much standardised services.
I would look into the number of onshore and offshore employees. Onshore employees will tend to be more
expensive to maintain for the company as compared to offshore employees. Hence, firing one onshore
employee will be almost equivalent to let’s say firing 10 offshore employees. However, I am unsure of how
the labour laws work for onshore employees. Within India also, I could look at hiring as well as relocating
more employees to Tier 2 cities where the cost of living is less. This would not only help in decreasing salaries
for employees possessing the same competency and skill set but also decrease my other operating expenses.
Fair enough. Our client is one of the biggest players, however, the management feels that cost
optimization will help them grow at a faster rate.
Sure, I would like to now move into breaking down the costs so as to exactly pinpoint areas wherein we
can cut costs. For this I would be splitting the costs into operational and non-operational costs. Since, I
understand that the major cost driver in the IT industry is the employee costs (part of operational
costs) I would like to start there.
That’s a good observation. You may proceed.
I would like to express employee costs as the number of employees multiplied by the cost incurred per
employee.
But, how would you proceed from there?
As I understand cost per person could be calculated easily when we look at teams. I would further
express the cost per person as the product of the number of teams, average cost per team and number
of persons per team.
Good.
First, taking the number of teams, as I understand this would be determined by the number of projects?
Or am I misinterpreting the structure of the organization?
The number of teams is not the same as the number of projects, as there are certain large projects
with sub teams and smaller projects with just a few members. Why do you need this information?
Fair point. What else?
I would next like to move into the number of people at a time per team. As the IT sector sees large attrition
rates, training costs will increase if the client’s attrition rates are higher than that of competitors. Hence, if
possible having lock-in periods in line with project completion timelines will help. Secondly, especially in
areas such as testing, increasing automation testing and decreasing manual testing will help improve time,
quality and costs for project delivery.
Do you think you are missing out on any important factor?
I would look into the pay structure of the employees to optimize fixed & variable components of the salaries.
I think we have covered sufficient ground in terms of employee costs. Can you briefly list a few other areas
where costs can be significantly reduced?
Sure. Firstly, I would look into the sales team, in terms of efficiency, number of clients converted (retention
of old clients and generation of new business) and look at any reductions there. Next the infrastructure costs
in terms of rent paid, options of co-working spaces, work from home etc.
36
We have run out of time. Thank you.
Cost Optimization Problem- Case Structure
Our client is a major IT company. They want to optimise their costs. Help them
Qualitative Information
Case background:
Case Framework
Costs
Major IT company looking to
reduce costs by 10% in the
next 2 years.
Operational
Non-Operational
Case facts:
Infrastructural
Costs
• Works on a typical
offshoring model like a TCS
Sales &
Marketing Costs
• Optimising of costs directly
linked to future growth
Employee Costs
Number of
employees
• Operates out of 15 cities in
India
Number of
teams
Finance Costs
Bad Debts
Depreciation/Amortiza
tion
Cost incurred per
employee
Average cost
per team
Number of
employees per team
• 90% of clients are based in
the US
Change in
staffing
system
Change in
employees
on bench
Change in time
billing system
Change in team Change in team
composition
composition
(skill)
(location)
Problems and recommendations
The major cost driver in the IT Industry is employee costs. Recommendations:
1) Increase automation, upgrade software systems
2) SDLC adaptive staffing, decrease attrition through lock in periods
3) Increase team efficiency, employee efficiency - review of appraisal system
& pay structure, tracking systems for monitoring client billed hours
Introduction of
lock-in periods
Introduction of
more automated
methods
Interviewee feedback
Cost Optimization problems can be easily solved if there is a prior understanding
of the major cost driver of that particular industry, in the case of IT, it would be
the employee costs. It is advised to clarify with the interviewer beforehand, if
the emphasis should be on the major cost driver. Secondary cost drivers can
then be touched upon at a later stage. Competitive benchmarking can also help
Market Entry- Interview Transcript
A global investment bank wants to enter India. Help it out.
Case Transcript
I am the MD of a global investment bank. My bank wants to enter India. Help me out
I will need to understand more about the investment bank. Can you tell me which country it is
headquartered in, what geographies does it cover and why does it want to enter the Indian market?
Good question. I am a US based top 20 investment bank. I am strongly present in US and European
markets and have small presence in Asian markets. US and European markets are slowing down
while Indian markets are picking up so we want to expand our business in India.
That’s interesting. Can you help me in understanding your revenue sources, their break-up and your
customers.
Definitely. We have four major products- ECM, DCM, M&A and FX markets. We also do private IB
advisory. Our major revenue drivers are M&A, DCM and FX. Our customers range from fortune
1000 companies to mid size multi-million dollar firms. We also cater to high net worth individuals.
Further, though there is competition, we expect to gain a good market share.
I understand. Looking at the situation, I will base my decision on the following factors:
i)
Macroeconomic outlook for India: India is in a strong growth phase. Over the next 10-20 years,
the same is expected as well.
ii)
Banking regulations and environment: Banking regulations are reasonably liberal and the fintech innovations have made the financial sector more efficient.
iii)
Further, number of HNIs, fortune 1000 firms, multimillion firms are also increasing
significantly.
To conclude, the market appears welcoming.
Yes, the overall market is great. What other things should I look at?
Based on our discussion, we understand that Indian market is attractive. Now I will like to focus on IB
business. We need to identify what market shares will we be able to capture across our product mix.
Will the growth in each of these businesses be sustainable? Given that there are potential clientsFirms etc. present, what are the resources available to
capture them. What will be my break-even period, expected revenues, costs, ROE etc.?
Above analysis will help me quantify the investment decision.
Interesting. Anything else that you will like to look at.
Two more things:
i)
Overlap between our current operations: Will a entry into India be able to leverage our
existing operations? Do we already have an existing office that can cater to the Indian
demand?
ii)
Mode of entry: Since we are a US bank and may lack local market understanding, we can
either partner with a another player through merger/acquisition. Or we can also enter
directly, given we have a background with the market/government and our prior experience
of entering other geographies.
Great. Can you help me in estimating my expected revenues in the first year of operations
Definitely. Your total revenues for the first year of operations will be:
Revenue earned per deal* Number of deals.
Given that there are multiple products, we have to calculate the above based on each product.
We can calculate the number of deals per product based on- Total number of deals in that country*
Expected market share. To identify revenue earned per deal, we can identify deal size and multiply it
with the margin per deal.
You are right, Let me give you some information. I want to do business in M&A, DCM and ECM. I
expect to do 3 M&A deals, 4 DCM deals and 10 ECM deals in the first year. Expected deal size for
M&A is $5 bn., DCM is $2 bn. And for ECM is $1 bn. Our margins on each are 5%, 3% and 2%.
Sure. Given this information We can simply calculate the revenue as:
Margin*deal-size*Number of deals per product.
Makes sense. Thanks for having this discussion. You have any questions for me?
38
Market Entry- Case Structure
A global investment bank wants to enter India. Help it out.
Qualitative Information
Case background:
US based top 20 global
investment bank wants to
enter Indian due to slowdown of US/European
markets
Case facts:
Four products: DCM, ECM,
FX, M&A
Key customers: Fortune 1000
firms, other multimillion $
firms and HNIs
Case Framework
Quantitative Data & Analysis
Expected 1 year revenue:
IB entering India
Indian market
conditions
Macroecono
mic factors
IB industry
factors
10 year
growth rate
Average
margins and
deal sizes
Number of
metros
Banking
regulations
Number of
HNIs/ multiMN $ firms
IB growth
rate in India
v/s other
markets
Expected market share
and key financial metrics
Productwise market
share
Financial
projections
Expected
share and
projections
Revenue
break-up
by each
product
Synergy
with bank’s
current
market
portfolio
Revenue and
cost
projections
Problems and recommendations
Since we discussed the factors that will drive entry into the market, we can say
that the decision will be contingent on the result of the proposed analysis in the
case.
Recommendation: Conduct the mentioned analysis quickly to converge to a
decision
ROE and
break even
analysis
Risk ratiosVary,
Car, Capital
ratios
Mode of entry
Number of deals by product:
M&A:
Product
Direct entry
JV/
Acquisition
Onshore/Offshore
operations
Niche
player
acquisition/
Partnership
with local
bank
DCM
M&A
ECM
No. of
deals
4
3
10
Average
size
($bn)
2
5
1
Margin
3%
5%
2%
Revenues=
4*2*0.03 + 3*5*0.05 +
10*1*0.02 bn. $
= $ 1.19 bn
Interviewee feedback
Though the case statement may appear complicated and might give the
impression that a knowledge of Investment banking industry is required, the
fundamental mechanics of the case is very simple. Probing the interviewer with
right set of questions and ability to handle difficult jargons can be very useful.
39
Market Entry- Interview Transcript
Ratan Tata returned from Germany where he observed 3rd party authorized car service. He wants to see if he can start the same in India. Help him.
Case Transcript
Could you please explain what 3rd party authorized car service means?
That’s correct. Although you should also know unorganized players provide very poor service leaving
customers frustrated with multiple service for same problem.
Sure. A 3rd party authorized car service is an independent car service provider. It provides all services
provided by car OEMs (Other Equipment Manufacturers) to their customers, providing a suitable
alternative to car owners.
Sure. This means customers ideally would like to have the following in their car service: insurance that covers
their service, authentic service, cost-effective and time-saving.
Does this mean this provider offers car services for different brands and is adequately adept at dealing
with issues belonging to different cars such as hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs or vans?
Yes. The provider can service any car brand or type as it has professionals and experts that have
worked in service department of various car brands. Additionally the provider has contacts with
various suppliers for repair parts and refurbishments.
Great. Thanks for the information. Now I would like to understand the objective of Ratan Tata for
setting up such a similar car service in India?
Ratan Tata is primarily looking for profitability and revenues through this venture.
Are there any constraints that I should have in mind while analysing the problem? Any profitability
targets, time period or investment constraints?
No. There are no constraints as such. The venture is funded well, although we would like to see
profitability as soon as possible.
Yes. That’s correct. Let’s look at the supplier aspect.
Sure. In my opinion, firstly we will need repair parts suppliers from various car brands OEMs. Do the OEMs
that manufacture the car also manufacture the repair parts?
Yes that’s correct. However, we do not have a lot of control over them. Car brand OEMs drive a major part
of their revenue through services and would see our operation as threat to their operations.
I see. That means the car brand OEMs cannot be relied on as suppliers for parts. Correct?
No. The car brand OEMs can supply to us. But they will charge higher price.
There are two aspects. Either the customer will come to us through insurance or through their own pockets.
The insurance won’t support us because we will be charging higher service cost. Similarly, the customers
won’t spend higher because they have cheaper and authentic option available through car brand OEMs
service centres. Either way, we will not be cost-effective.
That’s right. We will provide more expensive service.
Sure. Now I would like to explain you my approach. I would like to break the analysis as follows: Market
attractiveness 🡪 Need-gap analysis & STP 🡪 Mode of entry 🡪 Operationalizing the firm.
What about other 3rd party suppliers that we can source parts from? Additionally, can we manufacture the
parts ourselves?
Interesting. How will you evaluate the market attractiveness in India?
We do have 3rd party suppliers but their quality is not reliable.
Producing in-house is not an option.
To analyze the market attractiveness, we must break down the analysis into macro factors affecting the
country & then the micro factors that affect the industry. The idea is to look for factors that enhance
and/ or limit our entry into the car service market.
I think the macro factors are taken care of as TATA group is well established in India. You may begin
with micro analysis.
Sure. I would like to first understand the current car service market in India through the following
aspects: Customer demands + Supplier availability + Competitors + Substitutes + Complements + any
other Barriers to Entry. Could you tell me a little bit about the consumer demands?
So currently the car customer are served equally by organized segment (serviced by brand OEMs) and
unorganized segment (roadside car fixers).
Could you please explain the difference in the two segments? What are the benefits of each?
If my understanding is correct, then, organized sector would be primarily driven by customers who have
car insurance and want authentic repair/ service. While the unorganized sector is usually for cheap,
time-saving service.
Okay. Since producing in-house is not an option, it appears our only source of repair parts are 3rd party
suppliers. Since their quality is not so good, are their prices lower than car brand OEMs?
Yes their prices are lower.
So, since we can’t compete with the organized retail segment on price, we can perhaps compete with the
unorganized sector through 3rd party supplies. Could you tell me the quality differentiation between the
repair parts from these 3rd party suppliers and from unorganized players? Also what is the price difference?
The quality is the same actually. Prices however will be expensive at our end.
Oh. Then we will not be beneficial to our consumers again as our prices will be higher and quality wouldn’t
have any difference.
So what do you think?
Since we can neither compete with organized segment nor with unorganized segment because of suitable
supplier that can provide better quality at lower cost, we shouldn’t enter this market.
Market Entry- Case Structure
Ratan Tata returned from Germany where he observed 3rd party authorized car service. He wants to see if he can start the same in India. Help him.
Quantitative Data
& Analysis
Case Framework
Qualitative Information
Case background :
3rd
Ratan Tata wants to start
party authorized car service
in India
Market
attractiveness
Macro analysis
Need-gap
analysis & STP
Mode of entry
Operationalizing
the firm
50-50% market
split between
organized and
unorganized car
segments in India.
Micro analysis
Case facts:
• 3rd party authorized car
service is an independent
car service provider
• Provides all services
offered by car brand OEMs
service centre
• Service has professionals
from various car brands to
deal with all car problems
Customer
demands
Insurance
Authentic
Cost-effective
Time-saving
Supplier
availability
Competitors
Substitutes
•
•
Competes with the car brands
OEMs directly
Seen as threat to car brands
OEMs business
Expensive for insurance
companies and consumers
Problems and recommendations
Broke down the micro analysis into suitable components. Deeply studied
customer demands and then delved deeper into supplier availability. Identified
that lack of suitable supplier is not conducive to market entry as customer
demands won’t be met
BTE
3rd party suppliers
Car brand OEMs
•
Complements
•
•
Offers low quality car part
repairs
Similar quality to roadside car
fixers but more expensive than
them
Interviewee feedback
The interviewee/ candidate carefully analyses the market entry operations into
several segments and then further breaks down the problem for micro analysis.
Based on the analysis, the interviewee identifies the crucial reason why the
market entry won’t be sustainable and hence recommends against it.
41
Market Entry- Interview Transcript
Client is a Football club owner. Its planning to enter China. Help identify whether it should enter or not.
Case Transcript
Client is a Football club owner. Its planning to enter China. Help identify whether it should enter or
not.
Could I know more about the client? Where is it based out of, which other geographies does the club
has its presence in and why does it want to enter China?
The client is based out of USA. It has previously participated in the European Premier League and
Singapore Premier League. It wants to enter China because it thinks the market in China is lucrative
and untapped. It wants to gain broadcasting rights, look for new players and earn through ticket
and merchandise sales.
This is a potential risk. Is the client willing to take such a risk?
As of now, consider the client is willing to proceed. Let’s move ahead.
Next, I would like to look at the football industry, starting with the competitors both direct and
indirect. Direct would include International and Domestic teams along with their USPs. Indirect
would include local clubs. Next, we need to analyze the availability of Chinese football players and
club’s own players. Also, the possibility of other sports such as Table Tennis substituting interest in
football should be considered. Football stadiums and merchandise suppliers are important
complements along with the people’s interest in football as compared to other sports.
What are the timelines and are there any financial constraints?
The Chinese premier league is scheduled within the next 6 months and our client wants to
participate in it. There are no major financial constraints.
The client’s players are used to playing on synthetic grounds. However, in China grass grounds
exist.
I would first like to analyze the country level macro factors, then the sports industry particularly
Football in China, then estimate the market size and if everything is suitable, I would further delve into
the team specific dynamics, potential risks and mode of entry.
This might affect the performance of US players in China and raise safety concerns as well.
However, this can be overcome by practice as we still have 6 months before Chinese Premier
League
Good. Now estimate the market size.
Sounds good. Go ahead.
So first I would like to analyze whether China, being a closed economy, is open to foreign clubs
entering their country. Also, the FDI options along with legal requirements need to be considered.
Next, the overall GDP of China and growth in the sports industry would be important. Also, how US
players are treated in China, the perception of US clubs in China and the performance of Chinese
players needs to be considered. Suitable technology and infrastructure for broadcasting, compatibility
with US standards are a few other factors.
China has recently allowed entry of foreign clubs and the sports industry in booming in China. Also
no major difference in perception of players exist in China and the technology is compatible to US
standards. However, the club is owned by the same client which has a legal case pending in China.
The market size can be estimated as the total number of football viewers in China. Do we have any
data on the percentage viewership?
It is estimated that a total 35% viewership exists out of potential 1.5 cry people.
As such the total market size comes to be approximately 50 lacs. What is the clients international
benchmark in terms of market size?
The client has entered where the market size is greater than 40 lacs.
So, it is feasible to enter. Next, we can consider the team dynamics such as number of Chinese and
US players in a team, coaches and practice sessions in Chinese grounds.
That is sufficient. We can end here. Thanks
42
Market Entry- Interview Transcript
Client is a Football club owner. Its planning to enter China. Help identify whether it should enter or not.
Case Framework
Case background:
US based football club
wants to enter China
Market
Attractiveness
Case facts:
•
•
•
Country
Analysis
Prominent club of US
Wants to look for new
players apart from
earning revenues
Major competitors
are 3 International
teams and 5 domestic
teams.
Political
Closed
Economy
Economic
FDI &
Legal
GDP
Sports
Industry
Industry
Analysis
SocioCultural
Perception
of US Clubs
Problems and recommendations
Problems: a) The club is owned by the same client who has a legal case pending
in China. b) The client’s players are used to playing on synthetic grounds.
However, in China grass grounds exist.
Recommendation: Since a lot of factors are to be analyzed in Market Entry case,
always list the various factors and ask then the interviewer which area to focus .
Technology and
Infrastructure
Competitors
Direct
Broadcasting
Stadiums
Indirect
Availability Of
Players
US
Players
Spectators
Chinese
Players
Interviewee feedback
The case looked different but followed any conventional market entry case
framework. Hence, it is extremely important to stick to basics and seek help
from the interviewer wherever required.
43
Substit
ute
Sports
Pricing- Interview Transcript
A pharmaceutical company has recently developed an Anti tobacco pill. Assess whether you should launch the product or not.
Case Transcript
(Clarified the problem statement) I would like to understand more about the company first. Where
is it based and what type of pharmaceutical company is it?
The company is a leading Generic Drug manufacturer operating pan-India. It has been in
operations since 15 years and caters to a wide variety of diseases.
What is the current business model of the company? Is it similar to a usual pharma company’s
value chain – where the manufacturer sells it’s products through sales representatives
Sure. Starting with the cost based, I we would first understand the variable costs and fixed costs. In
variable costs, I’ll look at costs across the value chain – raw materials, manufacturing, sales and
distribution. The long term costs such as R&D for the product will be spread over multiple years and
would have to be factored in. Based on the above analysis, we can get per unit cost. After getting a per
unit cost, we would decide on a margin to price the product.
Good. What about the substitute based pricing?
Yes. The company operates as a typical pharma company
Although there are no direct competitors, there might be some de-addiction courses that help in
stopping tobacco. We can evaluate the time frame for such courses and fees for the same before pricing
our product
Could you please elaborate a bit on the competition in the pharma industry and specifically in the
anti tobacco pill
Alright. We feel that exploring value based pricing might be better. Can you walk me through that
There are 2-3 major competitors in the industry. 60% of the market is organized. For the Anti
tobacco pill, there is no direct competition since it is the first of its kind pill
Since it’s first of its kind, do we also have patents for the same?
Yes, it is a patented pill
I would also like to understand the product better. Is it a OTC or prescription drug? How should it
be consumed? What is the suggested consumption pattern?
It is a prescription drug that is to be taken once a day for 4 months. It needs to be simply taken
with water. Our research shows that the success rate is 50%
Lastly, I would like to clarify the objective of launch. Is the firm looking for capturing market size or
profit maximization? What is the time frame?
Under this method, I would like to understand the benefits and the costs. Starting from the basic, a
person would first save the price of the tobacco packet that they consume. Second, they would benefit
from the positive effect on health - they would have lower chances of life threatening diseases such as
lung cancer, heart attacks. Also, there would be a lower number of general physician visits because
improved immunity. Lastly, they would also save on the price of the mouth fresheners that they buy
Interesting. How can we work out the numbers here?
So starting with the cost of tobacco, on an average my friends consume 2 tobacco units a day which
roughly costs Rs. 10 each. Thus, over an year, they consume tobacco worth 2x30x10x12 i.e. Rs. 7200.
With each tobacco packet, they need 1 mouth freshener of Re 1. Thus cost of mouth freshener for an
year would be 2x30x1x12 i.e. Rs. 720. Total comes out to be around Rs. 8000 a year. We should also
include long-term cost savings.
The firm is interested in maximizing market size and profits, both in a span of 2 years
Go ahead
I would like to breakdown the problem into assessment of Market size & opportunity, Macro
Analysis, Micro/Industry Analysis, Launch strategy
Smokers have a higher chance of chronic diseases. For such a disease, they might incur expenses nearing
3 lakh. Considering that the probability of contracting such disease in 10%, we need to factor 30,000
into the calculation. So the total cost per year would be Rs. 38,000. We would have to divided by the
total amount into the Total number of pills. Total number of pills are 1x30x4 i.e. 120. Thus, the total
amount per pill would be around Rs. 300.
Interesting. Let’s explore the Market Size & Opportunity
Sure. I would start by breaking down market size into Price and Quantity. Do we have any data on
either.
No. We don’t have any data. But I would like to understand that how can I price my product.
We can price the products in three ways – Value based, Cost based and based on any substitutes
Great. Can you walk me through each of these
Doesn’t this number seem significantly high?
Yes, this is high since this is the maximum that the consumer would be willing to pay considering he
takes into account in all the above factors. Since the customers do not think of long term effects at once,
they might not be willing to pay this. In case we just want to include the short term savings, we would
divide 8000 by 120 i.e. Rs. 66. We can use these figures in addition to figures from the other two
methods to price our product
44
Pricing- Case Structure
A pharmaceutical company has recently developed an Anti tobacco pill. Assess whether you should launch the product or not.
Qualitative Information
Case background:
Case Framework
Price of anti-tobacco
pill
Pharmaceutical company
which has recently developed
an anti-tobacco pill.
Case facts:
Quantitative Data & Analysis
Cost savings on tobacco per
year = (# of tobacco packets per
day x days x price of tobacco
packet) =
2 x 30 x 12 x 10 = 7200
Cost Based
Substitute
Based
Cost of additional mouth
freshener per year =
2 x 30 x 12 x 1 =720
Value Based
Generic drug manufacturer
based in India
First of its kind pill –
prescription drug with 50%
success rate
Cost of tobacco
Cost of mouth
freshener
Gain maximum market share
and profit in 2 years
Cost of treatment of
chronic disease
Cost of treatment in case of
chronic disease = 3 lakh
Chances of contracting = 10%
Expected Cost = 30,000
Total number of pills to be
taken = 1 x 30 x 4 = 120
Price per pill (based on longterm consideration)=
38000/120 ~ Rs. 300
Price per pill (based on short
term consideration)= 8000/120
~Rs. 66
Problems and recommendations
Interviewee feedback
Identified the pricing approaches through cost based, substitute based and
value based methods. In value based methods, derived prices by specifically
looking at long term and short term considerations of customers
Although this appears to be a market entry and launch strategy case at start,
the interviewer is primarily looking to grill on pricing and wanted to drive to
value based approach specifically.
45
GTM Strategy- Interview Transcript
Client is an Alcohol manufacturer. It has recently developed a readymade cocktail line. Help them take the product to the market.
Case Transcript
Client is an Alcohol manufacturer. It has recently developed a readymade cocktail line.
Help them take the product to market.
Could I know more about the client? Where is it operating, for how long, what products is it
known for, competition that the client is facing?
The client has been operating in India for 25 years. It is known to operate in the whiskey
and rum market under popular brands. The cocktail is a new and only product in the
market. It is ready to launch.
Sounds fair. Can you help us determine a price basis this?
Sure. There are three methods of Pricing – competitor based, cost based and value based
method. Since there are no competitors and the product is unique, we shall be using the
value based method. We are indirectly competing with the strong beer and readymade
cocktails, hence we have a range. A strong beer comes at around Rs. 70, since our product
tastes better at the same content and we have a brand name, our cocktail should be priced
above this. The product is closer to a fresh cocktail (avg. price of Rs. 330) but lacks the
freshness because of preservative which also give it a longer life. Hence the product should
be priced at around Rs.220.
What are the objectives and constraints of the client?
Alright, what next.
The client wants to maximize revenues as soon as possible. There are no major constraints.
I would like to discuss available distribution channels and the promotional strategy.
As a part of the analysis let us understand the product. Could you describe the composition,
taste (flavours), USP, SKUs and packaging?
The client has an existing network of distributors, i.e. restaurants, super markets and clubs.
Give me some brief campaign ideas and we’ll close the case.
The product is a pre-mix cocktail which comes in a 250ml bottle in four flavours, mojito,
screw driver, LIIT and Bloody Mary. It has preservatives, hence doesn’t taste as fresh as
actual cocktails. However, our product can be stored for 3 months. The alcohol content is
the same as a strong beer, comes in a same looking glass bottle. The bottle is transparent
to show the colour of the cocktail with a white label.
Sure, we’ll target the clubs and supermarkets first, as there our products will not be
cannibalizing the sales of fresh cocktails like in the restaurants. We can host parties, offer
free samples, drive social media campaigns with youtubers etc.
So, our product is trying to be a substitute to both fresh cocktails and a strong beer. So we
should identify potential customers on the basis of this. Fresh cocktails are mostly consumed
in high end restaurants by women of the upper middle class. Similarly, strong beer is
consumed mostly by pub going youth. Hence, we can target these customer profiles and
place our product in pubs, restaurants and direct retailers.
These ideas sound good. We can end here. Thanks
46
GTM Strategy- Case Structure
Client is an Alcohol manufacturer. It has recently developed a readymade cocktail line. Help him take the product to market.
Case Framework
Product
Mixture
Preservative
Alcohol content same as
strong beer
Target
Taste
USP
Almost like fresh
cocktail
One-of -a-kind
3 month life
SKU
Clubbing youngsters
Upper middleclass social
women
Cost based
4 flavours in 250
ml bottles
Price
Channel
Competition
Value based
Promotion
Price between 70
(Strong beer) and 330
(Fresh cocktail) at 220
Factors:
Brand name
Life
Conveniences
USP
Qualitative information
Interviewee feedback
Client has been operating for 25 years with two strong brand names.
It faces indirect competition from the beer and fresh cocktails. It is a
unique product
To come up with the strategy it is important to know about the
product, competition and target. Based on this you come to the price,
channel and promotion strategies. The target can be determined in
more detail by doing market sizing.
47
Growth Strategy- Interview Transcript
Client is a media service provider- Netflix . Help him increase its market share in India
Case Transcript
Client is a media service provider- Netflix . Help him increase its market share in India
Okay. What about pricing and channels?
Could I know more about the client? Is it the Netflix we know? What are the timelines and
constraints of the client? What is its current share?
As far as pricing is concerned, Netflix can come up with customized bucket options where price
sensitive customers can subscribe to a few TV series and movies. Also, it can offer a limited
subscription model in terms of languages or content. In terms of channel, Netflix can launch an
application for android and IOS. It can also come up with something similar to a Firestick which can
be plugged into any TV or a device similar to Kindle designed for Netflix.
Yes, it is the Netflix we know. The client wants to increase its market share by 20 % in one year.
They are no major constraints. There are two other major competitors, and the current share of
Netflix can be taken to be around 25 percent.
As per my knowledge Netflix entered India two years ago and caters mainly to college students and
young professionals. Its differentiating factor is its in-house produced local content and is
positioned as a Premium offering. Is this a current assumption? Also can you let me know about the
current subscription plans?
What can be the possible drawbacks of customised bucket options?
Yes, it is true. Currently the company has three subscription plans, single screen for Rs 500, two
screen for Rs 650 and four screen for Rs 800.
Fair point. Do you think a Netflix only device can compete with the already existing tablets and
mobiles?
So, I would like to break the problem in two parts. First I would like to analyze the new offerings
possible in terms of products, promotions, price and channels. Then I would like to analyze which
offering would be suitable for which geography.
Depends on how it is positioned and priced. It can be a major attraction for those who prefer to
binge watch content on the platform. Some videos can be pre-fed and users can have an option to
download videos later and watch them later as per their convenience.
Sounds good. Go ahead.
Good suggestion. Go on.
So, in terms of products, Netflix should focus on in-house production and diversify into regional
languages and create content for kids also. This would help attract a new customer segment. It can
also include cooking and dance sessions. Netflix could license TV series and movies which are all
time classics. It could also purchase rights to broadcast any sport such as football and develop a
niche in it. Since the overall internet speed is low in India, Netflix can upgrade to a low speed
platform something like ‘Netflix lite’ so that streaming can be done without buffering. In terms of
promotion Netflix could offer loyalty programs, tie up with schools, offices, airlines, hotels, etc. and
follow a referral strategy. They can also offer a first episode free of various TV series so that people
have an option to try and then subscribe.
Next I will look at geographies and product combinations. Since the majority of its current
subscribers are from Metro and Tier I cities, Netflix needs to follow a penetrative strategy in these
areas. Here tie ups, loyalty programs and sports content might help. However as Netflix expands to
Tier II and III cities, it needs to focus on Netflix lite and regional app based content.
Since, generally people watch one or two TV series at a time, it is possible that majority of the
subscribers shift to the customized bucket option.
These ideas sound good. We can end here. Thanks
48
Growth Strategy- Case Structure
Client is a media service provider- Netflix . Help them increase their market share in India
Case Framework
Case background:
Netflix wants to increase
market share in India
Netflix
Case facts:
•
Launched two years ago
in India
•
Struggling to gain market
share
•
Faces direct competition
from Hotstar and Amazon
Prime.
Products
Content
In house
production
Promotion
Netflix Lite
Tie ups
Price
Referral
Customised
Bucket
Channels
Limited
Subscription
App Based
Netflix
Device
TV
Purchased
Problems and recommendations
Interviewee feedback
Identified the various new offerings in terms of products, promotions, price
and channels to attract new customers and increase retention in existing ones.
Subsequently analyzed which offering would be suitable for different
geographies.
This case can also be structured with the Ansoff Matrix in the following way:
1) How to acquire new customers
2) How to increase retention in existing customer segments
3) How to enter new geographies and develop new technology.
49
Growth Strategy- Interview Transcript
Client is a Cement Manufacturer. Devise a growth strategy to increase both revenue growth as well as margins.
Case Transcript
The client is a promotor driven cement manufacturer operating in India since last 3-4 decades. The
industry is growing at 14% p.a. while the client’s revenues are growing at only 12% p.a. In addition,
the margins are also 2 %age points less than the industry average. You are required to devise a
growth strategy to increase both revenue growth as well as margins.
Let me just reiterate the problem statement. The client is growing less than the industry which
means it is losing market share every year. In addition, the profitability of the client is also 2 %
points less that the industry average. This means we have to focus on both revenues as well as
costs.
Yes, you are right.
Before diving into the problem, I would like to understand more about the company, its products,
customers, competitors and a bit about the industry.
This is all the information that you have. I am not sharing any other information
Okay! Let me have a minute to structure my thoughts and then we can start diving deep into the
problem.
Sure
Profit is essentially a function of Revenues and Costs. In this case, we need to focus on both
revenues and profits. Which one should I focus on first?
It is totally up to you. I am interested in knowing your approach to the problem
Sure. Let me start with revenues first and then, if time permits, I will move on to costs. Revenues are
essentially average price into number of units sold. I am assuming we have only 1 size of SKU. Let us
focus on quantity sold first. In quantity, I want to look at majorly 3 things i.e. Product, Distribution &
Communication/ marketing strategy
Sure
Within product, I want to look at the Design, quality and customer experience aspects. In design, I
don’t have much clue about the industry but as far as I know, there are broadly 2 types of cement:
Grey & White. Maybe we can enter the other category or alter our portfolio mix to include more
proportion of the higher margin product. Another aspect of the design can be granularity of the
product. If more granular cement is desired by the customer or not. If yes, we should make
necessary changes. Looking at the quality, I think some of the measures of measuring quality of
cement is quickness to dry and strength. If we are not placed at par with the competitor here, I
would like to make necessary changes in the product to make our product better than the
competition. Under customer experience, I believe that masons are our customers. So, maybe we
can speak to them and do some research and come up with a product which offers better
experience. Should I move to distribution now?
Totally up to you. If you feel you have covered everything, we can move on to the next point
I think I broadly had only this in mind as of now. Let me switch to distribution. Under
distribution there are mainly 2 aspects we can look at, our existing distribution and whether we can
increase distribution or not, this can be either in the same geography or a new geography.
Increased reach is a good point. How do you plan to look at the existing distribution?
I would like to look at the trade promotion schemes here. What is the margin we are paying vis-àvis competition? What margin structure are we following? Can we improve the same to provide
more incentives to distributors?
And this is an industry where purchases are influenced by influencers. We can tie up with the
contractors so that they can recommend our products over the others. In addition, we can also go
for institutional sales by directly tying up builders and firms like L&T, DLF, etc.
Okay. Let’s move on to the next.
Sure. Under communication, there are three things that we need to focus on, Mode, Message and
Messenger. By mode I mean the channels we are using for communication. Message refers to what
are we conveying, and messenger stands for whom are we conveying the message through. I would
like to explore options like celebrity endorsements, endorsements through architects or bigger
builders, etc.
Makes sense, we can end the case here. Thank you!
50
Growth Strategy- Case Structure
Client is a Cement Manufacturer. Devise a growth strategy to increase both revenue growth as well as margins.
Case Framework
Case background :
Profits
Company wants to increase
revenue share and margins
Revenues
Case facts:
•
•
•
Quantity
Operating in India for 3-4
years
Margins 2% points lesser
than industry
Design
Type of
cement
Grey
Quality
Granularity
Price
Communication
Distribution
Product
Industry revenue growth
at 14% v/s client’s 12%
Cost
Customer
Experience
Existing
New
Mode
Message
Messenger
Quickness to dry
Strength
White
Problems and recommendations
Identified the objective and structured the problem. Divided revenues into its
components. The quantity sold was further broken down into product,
distribution and communication related aspects. Each of these heads was
further broken down into subheads.
Interviewee feedback
This case can also be structured with the Ansoff Matrix in the following way:
1) How to increase sales and margins in existing customer segments
2) How to enter new geographies
Since the question was about margins, should have moved faster to analyze
ways to reduce costs
51
M&A- Interview Transcript
A traditional pharma company wants to acquire a biologicals startup. How should it go about it?
Case Transcript
Our client is OldPharma, a major pharmaceutical company with revenues $10bn. Its
corporate HQ and primary R&D centres are in Germany with regional sales offices
worldwide. It has had a successful history developing and selling small molecule drugs
(which is the major variety of drugs today.
It wants to enter a new rapidly growing segment of drugs called “biologicals”, that can
treat conditions not treatable with traditional drugs. Since competitors are way ahead of
OldPharma, it wants to jumpstart its biologicals program by acquiring Biofuture, a leading
biologicals startup based in San Francisco area. Biofuture was founded 12 years ago by
prominent scientists and employs over 200 people. It is publicly traded and is valued at
$1bn.
What factors should the team consider whether the team should acquire BioFuture?
1. Value of Biofuture’s current pipeline - # drugs in development, likelihood of success,
revenues and profits
2. Future drug pipeline – R&D capabilities (scientific talent, IP – patents)
3. Marketing/sales capability – Relationships with physicians KOLs
4. Acquisition price
5. Existing partnerships with pharma companies
6. OldPharma’s capability gaps in biologicals, R&D, sales and marketing
7. Other potential targets
1. Scientists do not have overlapping disease interests
2. Integration into process driven OldPharma culture may hinder the entrepreneurial
culture that is key to its success
3. Language barriers hinder communication and sharing of information
4. Key scientific talent may leave Biofuture after acquisition
Post acquisition, OldPharma believes it is necessary to consolidate all biologicals R&D into
one centre either Germany or San Francisco. It currently does not have any biologicals R&D
practice in Germany.
Germany – Overall better integration of OldPharma and Biofuture
1. Better coordination with non-biologicals R&D
2. Better coordination with other business units like sales/marketing
3. Easier transfer of scientists in biologicals and traditional R&D
San Francisco –
1. Less likely to see flight of talent – Relocating to Germany could be tough
2. Easier to retain entrepreneurial spirit at Biofuture at SFO
3. No need to rebuild manufacturing plants, research facilities etc.
What issues should the team consider while evaluating the existing drug pipeline?
A week into the engagement, the VP of business development meets you in the cafeteria.
He asks your team’s perspective on the acquisition and next steps you are planning to take.
How would you respond?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
(Summarize the case)
Market size, share, Costs – manufacturing and selling
Perception in the medical community
Likelihood of clinical trials, winning regulatory approval, side effects and legal exposure
Emergence of substitutes – Time to market, Loss of exclusivity time
Strength of patents – How likely is it a competitor can copy BioFuture’s drug?
BioFuture’s existing pipeline is very limited. OldPharma is interested in its potential to
become a biological research engine. What risks exist for integrating R&D functions?
52
Due Diligence- Interview Transcript
Your client is a PE Firm. It wants to take up a stake in a chain of restaurants. Diagnose and recommend whether it should go
ahead with the acquisition
Case Transcript
(After clarifying the problem statement) I want to understand the client’s business. What is the
average portfolio, the expected growth rate and exit time?
The company has a mixed portfolio of different sized investments and is looking for a 30%
growth rate on this investment. It wants to make a quick exit in about 4-5 years.
Alright. I would like to know why the firm is considering a chain of restaurants for investment?
Interestingly, our client does not have any investments in the hospitality sector and this
investment may help us complement a future investment.
Okay. So, can I know some details about the restaurants? Exactly how many restaurants are being
run as of now and where?
There are 6 restaurants in different metropolitan and Tier-1 cities as of now.
Okay. I would like to know more about the cuisine served by the restaurants and their experience
in food service.
The restaurants provides quick service and authentic Spanish and Italian cuisine. They’ve been in
the market for the last 5 years adding one new city each year.
Thanks. Now, I will move on to the supply and demand aspect. Is there a significant demand for
these cuisines in the cities this restaurant chain is operating?
Yes, there is significant demand from consumers towards food and cuisines they haven’t tried
before.
Alright, now I’d like to know the number of competitors serving a similar cuisine in the locations
served by the restaurant chain. I’d also like to know their market share.
Yes, I would like you know that there are only 4-5 competitors serving authentic cuisine in these
cities with equal market share.
Is there a significant difference in pricing of these restaurants?
The competitors also serve in the same price segment. Going ahead, I would like to know how
would you value the investment?
Sure. I can value the company by analysing the current performance of the restaurant chain and
what is the future growth expected. I can find the NPV of the profits by guesstimating the revenue
and cost figures. Further I can try to come up with an annual growth rate and compare it to our
expected growth rate to check feasibility.
That sounds reasonable. Lets focus on revenue as of now. How will you compute the revenue
from the demand side? You can focus on the restaurant present in Delhi.
Okay, from the demand side, revenues will depend on the accessibility to restaurant, affordability of
food and experience. In terms of the accessibility, the focus is chains currently present in Metros and
Tier I cities. Hence, our consumer base would primarily be middle class and above segments.
For affordability, there would be different dishes available according to customer budget; the
consumers who could afford it would depend on the price available.
Assuming that the average price of a dish at INR 150, I can estimate demand in a month through the
price per meal*potential market*frequency of visits. The potential market would be about 20% of the
population of Delhi(20 million) i.e. the high income & middle income in service sector. In order to
estimate the frequency of visits I could split the customers into three groups; 1) 10 visits per month, 2) 5
visits per month, 3) 1 visit per month
Okay, can you evaluate the risks associated with the investment?
The biggest risk comes from food delivery services such as Zomato, Swiggy etc. Since this gives the
customers the easy of ordering food from anywhere at a discounted price . Therefore, it could result in
less demand for quick service food and reduced margins..
Additionally, there is traveling expense associated with going out to eat. So, customers would be less
willing to travel to one of these restaurants frequently unless located nearby.
An added risk for quick service restaurant is the changing perception of consumers towards healthy
food. Consumers are moving away from processed food to healthier options like salads.
Great. Can you tell me what due diligence should be done?
For due diligence, we’ll discuss the various levers involved in the restaurant functions or operations.
These would be:
Financial: Which stores are the most and the least profitable? Is each store maintaining its gross profits,
or are increasing revenues and profits the result of reducing prices or adding stores that are
unprofitable or only marginally profitable?
Operational: Revenues at restaurants are tied closely to location, so determine the risk to profitability if
something about the location changes.
Legal: Such as a landlord unwilling to extend the lease on a highly profitable store
HR: Is the current management operating the stores at sustainable personnel levels? Has there been a
recent change in salaries or benefits of employees or any change has been promised?
Strategy: How would the deal fit in with the client’s overall growth strategy? Are there any past or
future investments from which synergies can be leveraged?
Yes, well done. How would you finally come to the investment decision? Also, conclude the case for
me now.
The one last thing that is left is comparing the estimated growth rate of the NPV with our estimated
growth rate. The former would basically be our estimates of the restaurant’s organic growth and how
5330%, and the
much we can add to it through inorganic growth. If the sum of these two is not less than
NPV of the recurring profits seem adequate, the PE firm should go ahead with the purchase.
Due Diligence- Case Structure
Your client is a PE Firm. It wants to take up a stake in a chain of restaurants. Diagnose and recommend whether it should go
ahead with the acquisition
Qualitative Information
Case background:
Case Framework
• Investment fund – 30%
growth rate in 4-5 years
Quantitative Data & Analysis
Population of Delhi = 20 MN
Target customer segment (2050 years) = 50%
Middle and higher income
segment = 60%
Population employed in service
sector = 70%
Potential market =
50%*60%*70%
= 21% (~20%) of population
• Explore viability by
estimating revenues (demand
side, supply side)
Visit frequency = 20%*10 +
40%*5 + 40%*1 = 4.4
visits/month
Revenue
The client specifically looking
to invest in a restaurant chain
Case facts:
Supply Side
Demand Side
Price per meal
Potential
Market
Total market potential =
250*4.4*(20%*20 MN) = 2,640
MN/month = INR 2.6 bn/month
• Identify risks associated
with the investment
• Explore potential due
diligence steps
Visit frequency
No. of cities
Italian/Spanish cuisine = 2-3%
of market potential = INR 66
MN/month
Growth rate
Restaurant/city
Problems and recommendations
Identified the valuation of the company using Supply and Demand approaches.
Identify indirect competition while exploring risks associated with the
investment by specifically looking at long term and short term consumer
behaviour. Always remember the original motive of the client (in this case, 30%
growth rate) while identifying risks, synergies and different levers for Due
diligence.
Interviewee feedback
The case had a wide number of things that could be analysed; key was in
understanding the interviewer’s questions one at a time and focusing on the
available information for that question.
54
Business Abstract- Interview Transcript
Our client is a low cost airline carrier. It has been facing an increase in turn around time at the Mumbai airport. Find out why
Case Transcript
(After clarifying the problem statement) I would like to understand the magnitude of the problem
better. Since when has the TAT increased and by how much?
Okay, once the aircraft reaches the parking spot, the passengers deplane. Has there been any change in the
seating capacity of the plane because of which deplaning is now taking time? Or has the airline rolled out
some schemes for the aged or disabled because of which deplaning is taking time?
The client has been facing this issue since the past 3 months. TAT has increased from 30 to 45 mins
What exactly do you mean by turnaround time?
It is the time that a plan takes after landing to the next take off.
How many flights does the airline operate at the Mumbai airport? And since when have you been
present at the Mumbai airport?
The client operates 10 airplanes and has been present at the airport for the past 10 years
And do you operate domestic or international flights or both?
No, we have not changed the plane capacity since the past 10 years. There has been no increase in the
time taken to deplane as such.
Alright, so as the passengers deboard, the ground staff is also engaged in offloading the baggage. There
could have been a possible increase in this due to increase in freight/baggage allowance or delays by the
staff due to lack of training or experience
There is no increase in off-loading time. The ground staff and maintenance staff has remained more or less
the same. Any hire/fire doesn’t impact TAT significantly
Only domestic flights
Sure, in that case I’m assuming there hasn’t been any change in the cleaning time before the aircraft is ready
for the next set of passengers to board?
Is this problem being faced only at the Mumbai airport or other airports as well? And by our airlines
only or by other airlines operating at the Mumbai airport as well?
Yes, you may proceed further.
Only Mumbai airport. Only our airline as far as I am aware.
Alright. I would like to take a few minutes to lay down the entire journey of a plane from the time it
lands at the airport till the time it takes off again and then try to ascertain where the problem lies
Now before the plane finally takes off there are three more things that are to be done. One is fuelling and
second is crew change and then finally getting the passengers for the next flight on board. Has there been
any increase in the time taken to fuel the aircraft?
Sure
Yes. What could be the possible reasons for this?
Please let me know if my understanding is correct. The plane first lands on the runway, goes on to its
parking spot. After this the passengers deplane and the ground staff helps in offloading the luggage.
The maintenance staff possibly cleans the plane. The plane is fuelled. Once the plane is ready for the
next flight, passengers on-board, luggage is on-loaded again, there is also some time for crew change.
After this the plane goes to the runway from where it finally takes off. Am i missing anything?
I think this is an exhaustive process. We’ll figure out if anything is missing as we go deeper into the
case. You can start exploring all buckets post landing.
Okay, after the plane lands it reaches its parking spot. Has there been any change in this because of
which the time taken to reach the parking spot from the runway and subsequently the time taken to go
to the runway from the parking spot has increased?
Yes. The parking spot has changed, but it is now closer to the runway and the boarding gates.
Because of this actually we are saving 5 mins of our time in total
Well, there could be either an increase in tank capacity or the speed of fuelling could have reduced.
The tank capacity has remained the same and the speed of fuelling is also the same. Could you think of
something that also links to the previous finding of yours?
Previously we had discovered that the parking spot had changed. So the possible effect it could have on the
duration is that it could be taking the oil tanker longer to reach the plane in its new parking spot because of
which the time was increasing.
Correct. Now if you could do some quick math for me, if the speed of the tanker is 3 km/hr and the
distance of the plane from the tanker is around 1 km then what is the delay time?
Okay, is it then fair to assume that then whatever is causing this increase in TAT is because of a delay of
20 mins and I need to ascertain what it could be?
If the tanker is covering 3 km in 1 hr, it’ll cover 1 km in 1/3rd of an hour which is 20 mins. Since we had
figured out earlier that the time saving due to the changed parking spot is 5 mins, the overall increase in the
TAT is 20-5=15 mins.
Correct.
That is right. Thank you, we can end the case here.
55
Business Abstract- Case Structure
Our client is a low cost airline carrier. It has been facing an increase in turn around time at the Mumbai airport. Find out why
Qualitative Information
Case background:
Case Framework
Problem area
Quantitative Analysis
Decrease in TAT because
of reduction in distance
from boarding gates = 5
mins
TAT
Low cost airline carrier facing
high turn around time at the
Mumbai airport
Case facts:
• Been facing increased TAT
since the past 6 months
Landing
Deplaning
Baggage
offloading
Fuelling
Cleaning
Staff
Change
• Increase of 15 mins in TAT
Change in
tank size
• Ideal TAT should be around
30 mins, thus its total turn
around time at the
moment is 45 mins
Decrease in
speed
Increase in distance of
tanker from plane
Increase in
freight/bags
Increase in
seating capacity
Increase in time due to
human delays caused
by ground staff
Change in airline’s
parking spot
Onboarding
/Onloading
Decrease in
time due to
parking spot
being closer
to boarding
gates
Take-off
Could
have an
impact
due to
change in
distance
from
runway
Increase in distance of
fuel tank from plane’s
parking spot = 1 km
Speed of fuel tank = 3
km/hr
Therefore, increase in
fuelling time
= 1hr/3=⅓*60 mins=20
mins
Increase in older
/disabled passengers
Problems and recommendations
1) Inform the fuelling department in advance to cut down on the
time taken for the tanker to reach the parking spot
2) In the longer term - try to quantify the losses vs savings of
retaining the new parking spot
Interviewee feedback
The value chain approach seems to be the most exhaustive in this
case Also try to understand if the problem of change in parking spot
is temporary or for a longer duration and why it was changed in the
first place - after that give suitable recommendations
56
Abstract Case- Interview Transcript
Our client is the Ministry of Shipping. They have less than 1% market share in the global ship repairs industry. Help them identify
the reasons why for such a low share and suggestions to increase the same.
Case Transcript
I’d like to understand the client and the concerned industry better. Can you describe where do they
operate out of, what all do they do under the purview of ship repair, and what competition is the
client facing?
That’s a good list of factors. Documents for immigration arrive much slower than they do in other
nations. Apart from this, the client uses labor intensive processes, but this is true for competitors’
processes too. Our processes just take longer.
The client has been operating out of a dry dock in Gujarat. It provides ship repair services on
dock, which broadly encompasses wear and tear maintenance (major operations) and basic
breakage (minor operations). They serve ships travelling through South East Asian routes, so
they usually compete mainly with ship repair service providers in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Okay. Addressing the paperwork issue first, I’d like to understand how this documentation is dealt with
at our end and at the government’s end. I’m assuming this process is carried out through online means
for reasons of viability. Is that correct?
This could be because of multiple reasons- because of our labour based processes lacking efficiency, or
because of them having efficiency but lack of enough quality leading to lower repeat business over the
years.
Do we have any data on what are the crucial service factors in this industry? How are we doing on
these parameters relative to competitors?
Yes, the time it takes to repair the ship is the most important criteria. Currently, the client takes
4-5 more days than competitors for providing comparable services. Distance from the port and
price of services are secondary factors which may become relevant. One of the other important
factors client is not doing well on is port space utilisation.
Okay. Let’s try to see which parts of the ship repair process create this time lag, given these may
provide insights as to how market share can be increased. As per my understanding, the process
should entail ship’s docking on the port, paperwork (given international borders), the process of
carrying out the repairs once the ship is docked and ship’s exit from the port. Is there anything I’m
missing in this process?
This sounds fine. You may go deeper into the process and try to understand where our problem
originates.
Sure. When the ship enters the port, docking needs to be time efficient. Once the ship has entered,
is the time taken to obtain necessary approvals/paperwork at par with competitors? How is this
process different from theirs? What about the immigration process for people onboard the ship?
Does dry docking increase the time taken to provide these services? Finally, the method of doing
ship repair- is that labour intensive or tech intensive?
Yes, that’s correct.
Okay. Then the problem could be due to the systems at either end or the red-tapism originating inside
the system on account of bureaucracy. Now, addressing the second part, there could be multiple
reasons- labour based processes lacking efficiency, or because of them having efficiency but lack of
enough quality leading to lower repeat business over the years.
You’re right about quality of workers causing inefficiency. Most of the workers employed in these
ports are unskilled or not specifically trained for the job. Can you suggest some measures that will
help address these issues?
Sure. There are two sets of issues we need to address. To address the inefficiency in the current
business, we can try moving to using skilled workers. We can employ people with similar experience,
who are technical specialists in the field. In terms of long run efforts, the Government should aim to
simplify the procedural clearances in case of ship repair customers. They could go for an improved IT
and clearance system to facilitate faster relay of clearances as well. Finally, the Government should aim
to increase port utilisation by increasing the range of its services, quantum of its services or using it for
domestic ship related services
These ideas sound good. We can end here. Thanks
57
Abstract Case- Case Structure
Our client is the Ministry of Shipping. They have less than 1% market share in the global ship repairs industry. Help them identify
the reasons why for such a low share and suggestions to increase the same.
Case Framework
Case background:
Process
Low market share in the
global ship repairs industry
Case facts:
• Current market share – 1%
Docking
Documentation
• Slower ship repair process
than competitors (by 4-5
days)
Goods on-board
• Prioritisation criteria for
service takers is time taken
for ship repair
People on-board
Repair process
Labour/Capital
Intensity
Undocking
Dry-docking
Technical
Expertise
Standard
Efficiency
Qualitative information
Problems and recommendations
Client is the Ministry of Shipping. You have been appointed to increase the
client’s market share in the global ship repairs industry. Time to repair the ship
is the most important criteria, client takes 4-5 more days than competitors for
providing comparable services.
Process approach followed, with key recommendations for these steps:
- Paperwork for goods and people on board > Improved clearance system
- Repair process > recruitment of specialised labour
Additionally, to address Port Utilisation, they should consider up-selling
additional services or rent the space out to private service providers as well
Abstract Case- Interview Transcript
Our client is the State Government of Maharashtra. They want to improve the traffic conditions in the state. Help them
Case Transcript
(After clarifying the problem statement) I would like to understand how the client defines traffic
conditions. Also, is the client targeting any particular cities/towns in the state?
Well, that would still increase the traffic congestion due to private taxis such as Olas & Ubers. I believe there
should be laws around the number of vehicles per cab operator allowed to operate on non-share basis per
locality per city at a time.
Traffic conditions is defined as the number of vehicles per unit time, a measure of road congestion as
well as their implications. The client wants to decrease this by 15% from the current levels in each of
three metro cities and five Tier 2 cities that the government is focussing on.
Fair enough. You may continue
I would next like to understand the current road conditions in the metro cities and Tier 2 cities
respectively.
Metro cities are connected with the following types of roads- National highways, State Highways,
Existing 2,4, 6 and 8 lane roads. All these are 90% concretised with seasonal pothole issues requiring
maintenance. Tier 2 cities are connected again with national, state highways and the internal 2, 4
lane roads are 60% concretised.
So, as I understand, the stakeholders in both the Tier 2 and metro cities would be the same but the
issues to be addressed may differ slightly. Hence, I would like to break the issues down depending on
the stakeholder to be liaised with.
Yes, this approach should be fine.
I have 2 more questions before I step into solving the case. Firstly, what is the timeline that our client is
looking at to achieve these targets. Secondly, I am assuming that there are no budgetary constraints
Yes, that’s a correct assumption. Regarding the timeline, the government has a tight 2 year target to
achieve the reduction in congestion
Thank you for the clarification. I will now like to list down the 4 major stakeholders that I can identify
namely- The citizens , the municipal corporations, the traffic police and lastly the construction lobbies.
Would you want me to look into any particular stakeholder first?
Fair enough. You can explore each of these one by one.
Sure. Starting with the citizens of each of these cities, I would like to divide the issues possibly
contributing to congestion on the basis of transportation type i.e. public and private modes of
transport.
Ok. Identify the issues and the possible solutions also.
Alright. In the private modes of transportation, I would look at two wheelers and four wheelers
separately. As I understand, two wheelers would be more predominant in Tier 2 cities. From my
observations, illegal two wheeler registrations, unlicensed drivers and environmentally non-compliant
vehicles are some of the issues. Four wheeler congestion would be more a problem in metros, possible
issues arising out of peak office hours, increasing disposable income & hence an increase in car
ownership while possibly the capacity of city roads have not increased proportionately.
What about the recent decrease in the sales of private automobiles?
Some solutions would be- tighten the regulations to procure a license, increase the PUC check points with
frequent checks by the traffic police and set up a checks system for the sale of non compliant second hand
vehicles which are environmentally non compliant. To decrease four wheeler congestion, offices in a pin
code could if possible stagger their discharge times, incentivise workers to car-pool, borrow the odd-even
policy implemented in NCR , have more restrictions regarding roads and timings after which heavy vehicles
such as trucks, lorries can enter. Also, streamline traffic, by creating one ways during peak hours on 2 lane &
4 lane roads, such as those implemented in certain parts of Mumbai
I think we can move onto the other stakeholders you mentioned.
Sure. Moving on to the police, I would like to break this down into centralised systems and decentralised
systems. Within centralised systems I would look into infrastructural and environmental factors.
Infrastructural issues could be lack of proper sign boards, CCTV cameras, improper functioning and
inadequate signals, improper lighting etc. In the environmental factors, I would look into the AQI monitors,
noise pollution control systems etc. Decentralised systems would include the traffic police functioning at
every signal/intersection. Are they equipped with speed sensors, quick response systems to decongest roads
due to accidents, stalled vehicles, processions etc to prevent bottlenecks.
That sounds exhaustive. I would like you to now move onto how the conditions of the roads and the
seasonal factors mentioned will be dealt with.
I will look into these under the Construction Lobbies stakeholder bucket in my structure. As construction of
roads is mainly given on contractual basis to construction companies, I would look at increasing the
concretised roads for the Tier 2 cities as there are currently just 40% of concretised roads. In the metro cities
ensuring that construction companies finish existing projects on time as per deadlines as also providing
suitable diversions due to the construction work so as to not create further congestion. Undertaking
construction of more expressways and broadening of existing lanes would also fall here.
Ok. But, what are the duties of the Municipal Corporations then?
Agreed. The last stakeholders, the Municipal Corporations would have the responsibilities of identifying
these new infrastructure projects, executing them and most importantly addressing seasonal issues such as
potholes before the monsoons arrive. To increase accountability by the municipal corporations to the people,
we could look at a partnership with the local communities to identify locality wise road issues causing
congestion. Also, have a citizen portal where with the help of Google Maps.
Sure, I hope your suggestions help improve the traffic conditions of our client. We can end the case here.
Thank you.
Abstract Case- Case Structure
Our client is the State Government of Maharashtra. They want to improve the traffic conditions in the state. Help them
Qualitative Information
Case background:
Case Framework
Stakeholders
The State Government of
Maharashtra is looking to
decrease the traffic
congestion by 15% in 3 metro
cities and 5 Tier 2 cities.
Case facts:
Citizens
Public modes of
transport
Private modes
of transport
• Congestion is the number
of vehicles per unit time on
the road
• Metro cities have 90%
concretised roads while
Tier 2 cities have only 60%
concretised roads
• Seasonal issues such as
potholes causing
congestion in metros
Police
Centralised
systems
Infrastructur
al Costs
Two
wheelers
Cabs, taxis
Four
wheelers
Municipal
Corporations
Construction Lobbies
Decentralised
systems
Existing
projects
New projects
Environment
al Costs
Tier 2 cities
Metro cities
Privately
owned cars
Problems and recommendations
Stakeholder approach, with following recommendations:
1) Citizens : Carpooling, limited taxis per city, stricter licence checks
2) Police force: Provision of quick response systems
3) Municipal Corporations: Existing projects speed-up, citizen inclusion
4) Construction Lobbies: Concretisation in Tier 2 cities
Interviewee feedback
The case requires the interviewee to come up with the maximum number of
problems and their respective solutions. Idea generating cases require depth as
well as breadth. In very open ended abstract cases wherein there is a
requirement of a long term plan, the stakeholder approach helps being
exhaustive and looking at the case from multiple points of view.
60
Abstract Case- Interview Transcript
A Hollywood film producer has called in a consultant to develop a successful film. Help it out.
Case Transcript
A Hollywood film producer has called in a consultant to develop a successful film. Help it
out.
I would like to know more about the producer. Can you tell me how old they are and where
they’re based out of?
Secondly, in the production phase, we need to look at developing a convincing set by hiring a
good art director. The cinematography and screenplay will also be a key aspect into
developing a good film. This will be taken care of by the direction team, cameramen and the
actors. We shall also need good soundtracks, both background and main, for which we shall
need good music directors, lyricists, singers. Finally, a good editor, who shall finalize the film.
It is an old production house with 90% success rate, based out of Los Angeles.
Can you define the parameters of success for me?
Alright, what next.
Two objectives:
a) Break even in 3 years.
b) Receive critical appreciation
Lastly, I want to look at the post production phase. This shall serve two purposes. First, to
promote the movie to the audiences, and in a way to gather some funds to reach our break
even objective. We can look at endorsements, promotions in target audience areas like
malls, universities etc., and a good trailer and music launch to generate interest for the film.
Does the producer have a theme in mind? Also, is there a Director and have other cast and
crew members already been signed?
Okay, this seems good. Let’s quickly look at the factors you want to consider for the break
even part.
The theme revolves around a teenager who committed suicide. They don’t have a director
in mind yet, and the cast & crew will be selected by the director, although we may choose
to give opinions.
Sure. Considering that critically acclaimed films may not be box office successes, I would
want to divide my approach into 3 buckets. 1) Maximize revenue from sales, 2) Other
avenues of portraying idea, 3) Ancillary sources
1) We should look at maximizing distribution to theatres, pay-per-view services, online
mediums and through CDs and DVDs. 2) We should aim for film festivals worldwide and look
at options to convert our story into a play or even a novel. 3) Finally, we can use ancillary
sources like merchandise and goodie sales. Also, we can organise suicide awareness camps,
as it connects to our theme directly.
To start off our analysis, I would like to begin by discussing how to achieve critical
appreciation, first. We can divide this timeline into three major phases- Pre-production,
production and post-production.
First, in the pre-production phase, we need to develop a good story and script around our
theme. Hire a director who has made such successful films before and allow him to choose
the cast and crew best suited for the film.
These ideas sound good. We can end here. Thanks
61
Abstract Case- Case Structure
A Hollywood film producer has called in a consultant to develop a successful film. Help it out.
Qualitative Information
Case Framework
Case background:
Successful Film
Production company with
90% success rate. Based out
of LA.
Critical Appreciation
Breaking Even
Commercial Objective: Break
even in 3 years.
Non-commercial Objective:
Critical appreciation.
Case facts:
Story line: Teenager commits
suicide.
Appointment of cast and
crew to be done by director
on recommendation of
production house (if any).
PreProduction
Production
PostProduction
Film
Distribution
Other
Avenues
Ancillary
Story &
Script
Set/Live
Location
Distribution
Theatres
Film Festivals
Merchandise
Director &
Writer
Cinematogra
phy & Sound
Brand
Endorsement
Pay-per-view
Live
Plays/Shows
Suicide
Awareness
Cast (Lead
and Support)
Performance
Trailer/Music
Launch
CDs/DVDs
Novel
Crew
Editing
Promotions
Online
streaming
Problems and recommendations
Interviewee feedback
We need to target the different areas as mentioned in order to maximize our
objectives. Since we have a 3 year break even period and a critically acclaimed
film might not be a box office success, we should look at converting the film
into a novel or a play as well.
It is important to concentrate on both aspects of the case. In the short time we
have, one generally tends to forget one of the two aspects. Listing down factors
is a key for abstract cases. For break even analysis, the candidate can choose to
do a quick guesstimate of the number of viewers and of revenues & costs.
62
Appendix
PESTLE Framework to conduct industry analysis (detailed)
Political
Economic
SocioCultural
Environment
• Forms of Govt.
• Stability of Govt.
• Stability/ Continuity of Law
• Outlook towards industry
• Current political scenario
• Is economy growing?
• Sectoral growth
• GDP per capita (especially of our target
customers)
• Credit availability
• Investment Environment
• Expenditure/ Discretionary Spending
• Societal/ group level
• Religion
• Caste/ Ethnicity
• Gender
• Individual level (Habits)
• Existing Product Usage
• Demographic Patterns – Gender, Income,
Region based, Rural/ Urban
• Environmental Regulations
Technology
• Core Technology
• Technology Availability
• Manpower
• Enabling Technology
• Internet
• Smartphone
Legal &
Regulatory
• National
• Entry barriers
• One time permit
• Compliance requirements
• Taxes & Duties
• Police & Judiciary
• State/ Federal – Within state and Inter – state
• International
• Trade Agreements
• Trade Barriers
• Import restrictions
Infrastructure
• Product/ Service specific infrastructure (exavailability of stadiums if launching a sports event)
• Enabling Infrastructure
• Transport Connectivity
• Land & Buildings
• Utilities – Water, Electricity
• Waste Disposal
Cost Value Chain (detailed)
1. Raw Material
2.
Transportation
(In/ Outbound)
3. Storage
• What? - Quality Specifications, Quantity, Types –
Product & Packaging related
• How? - Procurement process
• 1st time/ one time – Market Survey, Policy,
Approvals, RFP, Tendering, Selection and Contract
terms, Payments
• Repeat procurement – Demand Forecasting,
Purchase requisition process, delivery & returns,
payments
• When? – Demand forecasting, seasonality, lag time
• Who – Suppliers
• No. of suppliers, Quality (capability &
performance)
• Cost
• Where – Distance, route, transportation mode,
damages & pilferages
• Transport mode and route factors
• Service provider related factors
• Operating factors
• Warehouse facilities/ features, Cost
• Accessibility of warehouse, availability of space
• Process of storage, Inventory Management, (LIFO/
FIFO), Inventory levels and Inventory control
4. Production
5. Distribution,
Sales &
Marketing
6. After Sales
Costs
7. Other Costs
•
•
•
•
•
Material
Manpower
Machine
Method
Measurement
• Trade Promotion
• Salesforce – Size, Efficiency
• Channel Incentives (Commissions) – Monetary
& Non Monetary
• Advertisement - Modes (ATL/ BTL/ TTL), Cost per
impressions, effectiveness
• Discounts, offers, loyalty schemes
•
•
•
•
•
Installation
Customer Service (Online, IVRS, E-mail support)
Service Centres
Returns & Warranties
Feedback Mechanism
• Research & development (Manpower, equipment,
patents/ IP, Trials)
• HR and admin costs
• Infrastructure costs (Machinery, Land, Building –
Factory, Warehouse, retail outlets, offices)
• Product/ Technology development
Key Data Points for Guesstimates
1. Population
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
India: 1.4 Bn (140 Crores)
Lucknow: 3.5 Mn
Uttar Pradesh: 230 Mn
Delhi : Mn
Mumbai : 20 Mn
Kolkata : 14 Mn
Bangalore: 12 Mn
Growth Rate: 1.2%
Birth Rate: 20/1000
Death Rate: 7.5/1000
Life Expectancy: 70 years
Sex Ratio: 950/1000
2. Area (In Sq. Km.)
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
India: 3.2 Mn
Lucknow: 600
Uttar Pradesh: 0.25 Mn
Delhi: 1500
Mumbai: 600
Kolkata: 205
Bangalore: 700
3. Rural v/s Urban
A. Rural: 70%
B. Urban: 30%
C. Top 10 cities – 7%
4. Age
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
0-6 years: 15%
7-14 years: 15%
15-25 years: 20%
000025-35 years: 15%
35-65 years: 30%
65+ years:5%
<35 years: 65%
<25 years: 50%
5. Income
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
BPL: 25%
Low: 30%
Lower Middle: 30%
Upper Middle: 10%
High: 5%
6. Sector- wise (%age of GDP)
A. Agriculture: 15%
B. Industry: 30%
C. Service: 55%
7. Occupation
A. Agriculture – 50%
B. Industry – 20%
C. Services – 30%
8. Others
A. Literacy Rates
A. India – 75%
B. Youth (15-24 years) – 85%
C. Male (83%), Female (65%)
B. Religion
A. Hindu – 80%
B. Muslim – 15%
C. Others – 5%
C. Car Penetration – 20/1000
D. Internet Penetration – 50%
E. Mobile Phone Penetration – 80%
F. Smart Phone Penetration – 35%
IIM Lucknow
Interview
Transcripts
The Consulting & Strategy Club
How to make best use of Interview Experiences?
o
The interview experiences are categorized as per different companies. This will give
readers a chance to understand and differentiate the type of cases asked by each
company, the depth into which they want you to go and what domain to companies
tend to focus on.
o
There are instances when the same problem statement was given to multiple
candidates and thus different approaches to the same case have been written down.
This will enable students to get diverse perspectives on the approaching the case.
CASE INTERVIEW EXPERIENCES
o
The case experiences have been provided in a format that is closest to the actual
conversation that went down on the day of interviews and hence students can go over
the case transcripts to set their expectations of the case interviews right so that there
(SUMMERS 2020)
are no last-minute surprises.
o
This book can also be used to create a bank of HR related questions that can be asked.
Since the background of each candidate has been provided alongside the HR questions
asked, you can find candidates with similar profiles as yours.
o
Names of candidates and their profiles have been provided so that readers, if need be,
can reach out to the relevant person to be able understand the case better or for any
other assistance that they may require with respect to placement preparation.
Note – All mentions of ‘C’ refer to Candidate while ‘I’ refers to Interviewer in this
book.
64
Manu Gupta
Undergraduate College
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, New Delhi
Field of Graduation
Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Deloitte India (24 months)-
HR & Conversation Questions
Introduce yourself.
Why do you want to do consulting?
What does a consultant need to do so that a client can really see their value?
What are you good at? (Data crunching, presenting, or talking to client) What are the sectors
you like to track?
How do you approach projects under a deadline?
When do you perform the best (under pressure or in a well-planned assignment)?
How would you deal with situations when you are in a completely new environment/region
and have to accomplish a task?
65
Case Interview 1
Foreign auto manufacturer made an entry in the mid-level segment (5-7 lacs) cars with Maruti
Suzuki Swift as the main competitor. Swift sells 50k cars a month but the client is only selling
4k cars a month. The client has very deep pockets and has 2 years to take the sales from 4k
cars per month to 10k cars per month. The client sells their car at 10lac in India, while Swift is
5-7 lacs. The customers like the client’s car but due to the price, they buy Swift. How would
you try and help the client achieve their goal?
I: Introduce yourself and why do you want to work in consulting?
C: Gave my introduction and linked my inclination towards consulting with my past experiences.
I: What does a consultant need to do so that a client can really see their value?
C: Talked about the value consultants add for a client.
I: What are you good at? (Data crunching, presenting, or talking to clients)
C: Since I have an engineering background, I am good at analyzing data and drawing insights
from it although I have worked on the other two skills as well.
I: Alright, let us do a case. A foreign auto manufacturer made an entry in the mid-level segment
(5-7 lacs) cars with Maruti Suzuki Swift as the main competitor. Swift sells 50k cars a month but
our client is only selling 4k cars a month. The client has very deep pockets and has 2 years to
take the sales from 4k cars per month to 10k cars per month. Our client sells their car at 10 lacs
in India, while Swift is 5-7 lacs. The customers like our client’s car but due to the price, they buy
Swift. How would you try and help the client achieve their goal?
C: Can I take a few moments to structure my approach?
I: Sure, you can take 3 minutes.
C: Looking at the case facts, the customers like our client's car but they are not willing to pay
such a high price for a car. We could try to use our client's deep pockets to undercut prices, but
it may not be a sustainable approach. I think that our client's costs may be too high which is
pushing the price up. If we can manage to lower our costs, we may be able to lower prices. I
would like to ask about our client's supply chain and business model. Do they import any parts?
Where is the manufacturing/assembling units located? Where does our client sell cars in India?
I: Okay, we import our parts from Europe and assemble those parts in India. Our plant is located
on the outskirts of Bombay. We sell our cars pan India.
C: We could try to reduce some of these costs. In terms of importing, can we try and change our
import source to a cheaper country, maybe China?
I: That would lead to quality issues. Our factory is located on the outskirts of Bombay, near the
Bombay-Pune belt.
C: Yes, the costs in that region might be high. We can also look to shift our manufacturing
locations where labor and rent are cheaper.
I: Alright fair enough. Can you think of some promotion strategies (ATL/BTL) that our client may
use?
C: We could also try to target a different market segment or promote our car as a premium and
prestigious model highlighting its quality and safety to differentiate from Swift.
I: Okay. Are there any sectors that you like to track?
C: Answered with a sector (Follow up question on that sector)
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? HR answers about consulting
66
What could you have done
better?
Stating my approach upfront
I: How would you decide the number of extra balls?
Conversational while solving the case
C: We could set a limit to the minutes in play every ball can be used for before replacement.
Follow up question on a sector (underprepared for the sector)
I: You have 5 minutes remaining and you need to quickly give a number.
C: We could take a rough estimate of the average number of balls that are lost in matches.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Asked about the geographies of projects at the firm
Case Interview 2
I: How would you get that number; it will be difficult to calculate. Is there someone you can ask?
C: We can ask someone who has done this kind of tournament before and adjust the number
of balls required.
Guesstimate: Estimate the number of footballs required for a tournament at IIML?
I: Good. Now tell me how do you separate a needle from a haystack?
I: Since you like football, can you estimate the number of footballs you would need for a
tournament at IIML? You can only order once, and you have 15-20 minutes to decide. I want
you to give me a number.
C: We can use a magnet.
C: Sure, can I take a few moments to figure out my approach?
C: We can put the haystack in water and the needle would sink.
I: Yes take 2 minutes.
I: Okay, what else?
C: I would like to ask some questions before I jump into the calculations. How many teams are
participating and what is the tournament format? How many pitches are available for a match
(since we may be able to reuse some footballs if matches are held sequentially)? What is the
number of balls used per match?
C: Can I have a few moments to think?
I: What else?
I: Sure, think about the chemical properties of the two.
C: If we do not need the haystack later, we can burn it.
I: The tournament has a group stage, followed by the semifinals and finals. There are two groups
with five teams per group. Each team plays one match with the other in their own group. The
top two teams advance. Two fresh balls are used per match.
I: Yes. Any questions for me?
C: Asked him about his experience at the firm.
C: Alright, that means there are 23 total matches and 46 balls required. We would also need to
order extra balls in case a ball is lost or becomes unusable.
67
Interview Experience
C: Sure, could I take a few moments to structure my approach?
What worked well for you? Detailed scoping questions
I: Okay
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Managed to stay composed and think through an unconventional
problem.
C: I would evaluate the demand for cement and the supply of the raw materials required for
producing cement.
Had a good conversation with the interviewer
I: Forget cement. I and my competitor sell a pen. Our product is exactly the same with the same
cost per pen. I charge Rs10 from my customer while the competitor charges Rs. 8 and the cost
per pen is Rs. 5. My competitor enjoys a much larger market share than me. Should I reduce my
price to Rs8? Think from a considerably basic financial perspective. What are the questions that
you would ask me?
Not much.
Asked him about his personal experiences
C: What is the increase in quantity sold if we drop the price by 2 rupees? It may not make sense
to drop the price if an increase in quantity sold is not sufficient to sustain revenues.
Case Interview 3
I: Think from your finance courses at MBA. There is an equation you can use.
Cement prices fell during lockdown but have rebounded. We are building a pricing model for
rupees/tonne for the manufacturer. What are the factors you would consider for that model?
Think from a general industry independent perspective (what would affect the price charged
by someone)
C: Is our pen more premium than the competitors?
I: Walk me through your CV.
C: Gave my intro with a focus on describing some of the CV sections
I: Alright, let us do a case. Cement prices fell during lockdown but have rebounded. We are
building a pricing model for rupees/tonne for the manufacturer. What are the factors you would
consider for that model? Think from a general industry independent perspective (what would
affect the price charged by someone)
I: No, they are in the same segment. Think from a layman's perspective. Tell me what does a
company need to do business?
C: Capital?
I: Yes, now you are on the right track. Can you ask me the right question now?
C: What are the debt and equity levels of the firm?
I: You should ask about return on capital, should you not?
C: Yes, ROCE should be more than returns on alternate investments for the manufacturer or it
68
may not make sense to be in this business.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Composure in a difficult interview
What could you have done
better?
Could have been more practical in my approach.
Basic finance concepts for cases
Should have substantiated HR answers
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Samarth Wahi
Undergraduate College
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies
Field of Graduation
Management
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Ernst & Young- Consulting – 33 months
None
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
Tips for Future Candidates
Why Consulting? Why A&M?
Be clear in your communication.
Why do you think you are a good fit?
Be confident and enthusiastic.
What are your interests outside of work?
Be logical (do not try to force a framework but use them to guide your approach)
Tell me about your work with EY.
Refer to case books and practice cases well in advance.
What are the projects you have loved the most?
Some interviews may be tough, and it is important to keep calm
How has your day been?
Who all have you interacted with today (From A&M)? How have your interactions been so
far?
Tell me about your interests.
69
What do you understand about consulting and A&M? What is the job like? Have you or
anybody else in your family travelled for work?
I: The client is PE firm. They are only motive is to maximize their profits. (I do not remember
him mentioning that the client was a PE firm initially. If he did, this was a blunder on my part.)
Gave me numbers for capital structure, interest costs.
How has your day been?
Who all have you interacted with today (From A&M)? How have your interactions been so
far?
Tell me about your interests.
What do you understand about consulting and A&M? What is the job like? Have you or
anybody else in your family travelled for work?
C: Based on the limited information available, Company B appears to be the better option. Do
you want me to explore the two options further?
I: Yes, maybe we can dig deeper. What are some other factors that would affect the decision?
C: Listed factors like - revenue current and future, interest burden, volatility of revenue (risks),
diversity of revenue streams (to hedge against risks), environmental factors, increasing costs,
etc.
I: Asked me to think more. What would be that one piece of information that would change
your decision altogether?
Case Interview 1
Suppose you have a PE firm as your client, looking to invest in a company into packaging
business. The client has 2 options.
• Company A: 200Cr in revenues, 15 Cr EBITDA, Growth rate 10%
• Company B: 150 Cr in revenues, 18 Cr EBITDA, Growth rate 15%
You have to assess the options. However, you cannot ask for more than two data points
from me/client.
C: ROI to the firm (How much would I need to invest to earn x% return) - this should have been
mentioned before (ideally) - defended myself by saying that I had asked for the capital
structure and as per his reply capital investment was comparable
I: Gave me feedback. You could have thought about the total capital requirement of the firm.
Did not consider whether the companies would need to raise additional capital to grow at the
projected rates - apart from the money they would be raising from our client.
C: (Reiterated the problem. Asked for time to think at the end.)
Interview Experience
C: I would ask for the following two data points.
1. Purpose of the investment? I want to understand if the investment has a larger strategic
motive or if it is being done purely from an investment perspective.
2. Considering we are looking at EBITDA numbers right now and not the net profit, I would
want to know the capital structure of the two companies - debt/equity split and financial costs,
if any.
What worked well for you? I think at one point during the case he was just pushing me into
a corner to keep coming up with more factors. I did not give up,
kept suggesting the next best logical factor.
70
What could you have done
better?
I missed the fact that the client was a PE firm in the initial case
problem. The two questions I asked could have been more
relevant had I not made that mistake.
C: I believe I have got a good sense of the overall business and the opportunity we are
analyzing right now. I would now proceed to analyze the factors that could have an impact on
the decision.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Asked for time to think. (Took about 45 seconds)
Case Interview 2
Your client is an EPC company (construction business). They work in construction of roads,
buildings, water tanks, etc. The client has heard from a friend that there are growing
opportunities in water sector. The client has reached out for your help to figure out whether
they should pursue this.
Started with PESTLE, Porter's 5 forces. However, he asked me to quickly list all the factors - did
not give a lot of information.
I: From our discussion so far, can you list the top 3-4 factors that will be relevant to the
decision?
C: Listed 3 factors.
I: Alright. So, let us assume after all the discussion, we have narrowed down on XX opportunity
and it requires an investment of INR 1000 Cr. The project would give the client INR 100 Cr in
cash inflows for the next 15 years. Should the client go ahead with this?
C: Reiterated the problem, confirmed case facts.
C: Started with CPCC to understand the context. Asked questions on the motives.
I: Gave me facts about the company, competition, market scenario for EPC players.
C: You initially mentioned that the client has a presence in water tanks - you mentioned
projects like construction of water tanks. What are these new opportunities that we are
exploring now? Are they different from the kind of work we already do?
C: Asked questions about equity/debt split, cost of capital, cost of debt. He gave me the
numbers.
I started with the calculation at this point. I was 30-40 seconds into the calculation when he
realized that the calculation had become a little complicated (because of the additional
information he had just given me).
I: Let us not get into the entire calculation. That may take too much time. Tell me the approach
you were following.
I: Gave me a detailed description of water sector projects - different categories.
C: Asked a few questions related to each category - customer profiles, market size, growth
rates, competition
C: Explained IRR calculation. IF IRR> Weighted cost of capital - profitable investment. If not,
the client should not invest.
I: Alright. I think we are done here. You should be hearing from us soon.
71
Interview Experience
Shreshtha Mitra
What worked well for you? I believe the initial case structure was laid out well. There was a
lot of information exchange at that stage with me asking multiple
follow up questions. This did not leave a lot to be solved later.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
None
Undergraduate College
BITS Pilani, Goa Campus
Field of Graduation
Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
KPMG- Consulting- 49 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Case Interview 3
1. Guesstimate on estimating the number of trees in Gurgaon.
2. Suppose you have $ 1mn to invest and 3-4 stocks to choose from, what are the factors
you would consider for selecting any stock?
3. Suppose your client is establishing a hospital on a highway in India. What are the factors
that need to be considered?
Tell me about yourself.
The interviewer asked about my exposure to the retail industry based on my workex.
What motivates you to work?
Why do you want to join A&M?
Case Interview 1
Suppose you are a consultant at A&M and your client is the Mumbai International Airport
Authority. The CEO has approached you to suggest ways to increase earnings per
passenger.
C: I would like to start by splitting the revenue into aero and non-aero revenue. Would you
like me to focus on any particular revenue stream first?
72
I: Yes, let us focus on non-aero revenue sources only.
C: I would like to map the customer journey here and identify key factors impacting the nonaero revenue. Passenger Mix, Placement of Retail outlets and Retail Mix are the three critical
parameters.
At this point, data for Retail spend per passenger, Retail Area and Passenger Mix
(International: Domestic) was provided.
C: Calculated the current numbers and what incremental revenue would the airport be able
to generate through changes at various steps.
I: Could you please go ahead and compare these parameters with four major airports - Delhi,
Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bangalore?
C: Differentiated the airports based on available data. Provided final recommendations for
increasing the revenue.
I: Assume that there is an option to place a Subway or an Apparel shop near the boarding
gates. What would you recommend?
C: Calculated the monthly revenue for both options using footfalls and average bill value,
splitting into the peak, non-peak, non-operational hours and came up with a final
recommendation.
What could you have done
better?
Nothing specific, the interview went well.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Does A&M also implement the solutions that we recommend
to our clients?
Case Interview 2
Our client is a PE firm, looking to invest in a mid-market player in the Cement industry.
How would you form a view on its pricing growth?
I: Your client, a PE firm, is looking to invest in a mid-market player in the cement industry.
How would you form a view on its pricing growth?
C: Before I move on to pricing, I would like to understand a bit more about the cement
company, its customers and current competition in the market.
I: Interviewer provides details of the company.
C: I now have a fair understanding of the company and would now like to move on to the
macroeconomic factors impacting the industry and then would like to understand the
cement industry scenario in terms of buyer, suppliers, and competition.
I: Interviewer provides details on the questions asked. How do you now approach the pricing
growth?
Interview Experience
C: Discussed the three main ways of pricing - Cost, Competition and Value based.
What worked well for you? The interview was in a conversation mode, so at every point, I
verified whether I was going in the right direction. The data
points given made it less subjective to analyze the case and
come up with recommendations.
I: Talked about relevant concepts including asset turnover and RoI.
Interview Experience
73
What worked well for you? Answered the HR answers well. Case was conversation based,
so had a chance to quickly grasp what were the terms he
expected during the case solving.
per match. Added a buffer from historical data to arrive at the final number.
What could you have done
better?
Did not know in detail about ROIC, and that was one major
ratio to be covered in the case.
What worked well for you? Spontaneous ideas and quick math worked in my favor.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Case Interview 3
Interview Experience
What could you have done
better?
None
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Estimate the number of pressure cookers sold in a year in India.
Tips for Future Candidates
Started the guesstimate by splitting into domestic and commercial. First calculated for
domestic use. Split the population based on income and then by average family size.
Assumed an appropriate percentage of low-income group owning a pressure cooker. Then
assumed no. of pressure cookers per household and then estimated years of use to come to
the final number.
List down the factors to be considered while setting up a hospital on a highway.
Directly started listing down all possible factors. Connectivity of places, frequency and type
of vehicles, nearby hospitals/clinics, nearby residential areas/hotels, availability of resources
like electricity and water. Also mentioned about the historic record of accidents and
residential facilities for hospital staff.
Candidates must practice a lot of guestimates and have a basic understanding of financial
ratios.
Cases on Profitability, Pricing and Market Entry are important. Sector importance Consumer, Logistics and Healthcare.
Keep conversing with the interviewer, to know whether you are on the right track and what
more is expected.
How many cricket balls are used in an IPL series?
Objective was to arrive at number of matches and then number of balls per match. Started
with number of teams then number of matches at each level multiplied by number of balls
74
Anshul Topnani
Undergraduate College
Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi
Field of Graduation
Mining Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Wipro Ltd.- Information Technology- 36 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
Please elaborate on the work that Team Synapse does.
Can you tell me more about the chatbot you built? What were the use-cases?
What was your role at Wipro?
How does a chatbot function?
How would you go about building a customer service chatbot?
Choose any industry of your choice.
Which AWS services would you require to build the chatbot you just designed?
Why Accenture?
75
What do you want to do after an MBA?
It was not a case interview round.
You have diverse experience, UG in mining engineering, work-ex in IT, and now
management. What would be your preferred line of work among the three.
Interview Experience
Which segment would you prefer to work with within Accenture?
Consulting is a job that requires meeting tight deadlines and includes a lot of travel. How
would you cope with that?
What worked well for you? The interviewer directed me towards talking about business
perspective whenever I went too deep into technical aspects,
and I was able to follow and answer the questions
appropriately.
What are your career goals?
What could you have done
better?
Having an in-depth business perspective of technologies, I had
worked with.
Interview 1
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
It was not a case interview round.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Thorough knowledge about CV points.
What could you have done
better?
Answer to chatbot designing question was loosely structured.
I was using pen and paper for writing some flow which were
not fully communicated to the panel.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
How are the functions for summer interns defined?
Interview 2
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Anushka Gupta
Case Interview 1
A firm that has 2 divisions. Each division produces 2 products, A and B. The first division is
more profitable than the other, what is the reason for this?
Undergraduate College
Christ (Deemed to be University)
Field of Graduation
Computer Science, Maths, Stats
Professional Qualifications
None
C: Sure, so the firm in consideration has 2 divisions with 2 products in each of them and we
wish to find the reason for a greater profitability of the first division. Could I ask a few
clarifying questions in order to understand the problem in hand?
Work Experience
None
I: Yes, go ahead.
HR & Conversation Questions
Briefly walk us through your professional life.
Tell me more about this academic research project that you have mentioned in your CV.
What were the variables considered, tools used, modelling done, and conclusions drawn?
I see that you have been a part of the Marketing Cell at IIM Lucknow. Shed some more light
on this. Is marketing your primary domain of interest?
Tell us about some of your learnings from team projects and individual assignments that you
may have taken up during the course of your graduation.
C: I would want to know a little more about the company? Is it a new company or an
established one? And about the divisions, is any one of them more recent?
I: The company is an established one and both divisions have been operating since inception.
You can move on; the divisions are similar in terms of their product designs. You need not
take the revenue cost approach here; it is a customer-centric case. To add in some
information, the customers of the firm are government as well as private sector companies.
C: Oh, I see. On those lines, is there any particular division that each of these segments focus
on?
I: They do buy a mix but one of the divisions sells imported products and one sells local made
products.
How has your IIM Journey been so far?
C: Understandable. Considering the difference in imported and private products, I believe
this is quite important as government sector would prefer buying local made products over
the imported ones. Is there a difference in the prices offered by the divisions as well?
Tell us a bit more about your role in the PORs that you have mentioned.
How do you think they can help you while you aim to pursue a role in consulting?
I: Yes, you can assume that.
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C: Okay. So, I assume that the division with local made products would be selling a greater
quantity to the government sector customers at a significantly lower price while the
imported goods and services are comparatively costlier and procured majorly by the private
customers. Assuming the quantity to be the same, this difference in price would be one of
the major reasons for difference in profitability.
In addition, we could also look at other factors.
I: That's alright, you arrived at the major reason. We can end this here.
Interview Experience
C: Sure.
I: A company has a manufacturing plant in Pune while it serves the customers in Gujarat. It
wants to shift the plant to Sikkim. Could you highlight some key implications of the same?
C: There are various implications that the company would have in terms of business,
economic, financial etc. but I would also want to know what is the reason of this shift? Are
they planning to venture into another market or any such plans?
I: No, everything remains the same. Just that there have been certain issues with the Pune
plant and want to relocate.
What worked well for you? None.
What could you have done
better?
Asking whether the interviewer wanted me to focus on any
particular aspect and utilizing the information that he kept
adding than following any preset frameworks.
C: Alright. Considering the two locations are quite different geographically as well, firstly,
there would be financial implications in terms of the costs associated with buying the land,
machinery etc. The governmental norms may be different for operations, the technological
requirements.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I could have asked some more questions wrt the customers.
I: That is perfect, tell me a bit more on the cost side.
Case Interview 2
1. A company has a manufacturing plant in Pune while it serves the customers in Gujarat.
It wants to shift the plant to Sikkim. Could you highlight some key implications of the
same?
2. A company has its marketing activities running across television, social media, blogs,
websites etc. How can it optimize their marketing spend?
C: In terms of cost, the company needs to probably purchase a land, the price for which may
be different as compared to Pune. It would then need to purchase the machinery and
equipment. New licenses to operate would need to be bought. The labor charges and
training charges would be different. All these could either be disposed of at Pune and a new
set may be purchased at Sikkim or the same may be transported, both may have different
implications, positive/ negative. Further on I: Go on.
C: Further, on production, the costs incurred would be different to transport the goods and
services to Gujarat would probably be more from Sikkim due to the distance and as per the
inventory, further logistics cost shall be considered.
I: Let us solve some cases. First, a general one and then one in marketing. Is that okay?
78
I: That seems enough, great. A quick question now: A company has its marketing activities
running across television, social media, blogs, websites etc. How can it optimize their
marketing spend? Just touch.
upon the points, you need to delve deep into any.
Be confident and crisp. Ensure that the interviewer understands that you know what you are
speaking in extremely precise words. When asked for explanation, talk extensively with great
interest in the topic.
C: Oh sure. In order to optimize the marketing, spend, the company must proceed in three
phases- Analyze, Plan and Spend.
It should first analyze if the current expenditure on various media and channels are effective
to their target customers they plan to reach and the forecasted response. This can be done
by checking the TRP for televisions, number of visitors on websites, number of clicks on
display and search ads and the revenue earned from the same.
Using the results of this analysis, planning needs to be done on understanding the
improvements, switching of channels.
I: Good. That is all. Thank you.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Briefly touching upon various buckets for implications was
extremely helpful as the interviewer led me to the important
one and seemed satisfied.
What could you have done
better?
Asked some questions probably in the marketing case to
understand if there was something specific expected.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
Tips for Future Candidates
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Tell us more about your academic project carried out in Germany.
Arpit Gupta
How are Balance sheet, Cash Flow Statements and Income Statements related?
Undergraduate College
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad
Field of Graduation
Information Technology
Interview 1
Professional Qualifications
None
It was not a case interview round.
Work Experience
Citi Bank- Technology- 34 months
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Confidence and CV preparation
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
Why MBA?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
None
Why Consulting and Accenture?
What industries is Accenture into?
Case Interview 2
What projects did I do at Citi and their overall business impact?
My preferable domain to work in Accenture Strategy.
Why Accenture?
Consulting seems glamorous but it is generally not. Would you be able to cope up with
pressures and different Client Expectations?
Extra-curricular activities I am interested in.
Mini Case: DSO reduction for a client
Case 1 - Cost Pressure on Automotive Client. How do you go about it?
C: Can you please elaborate what is DSO and what exactly does the client do?
I: DSO is the Days Sales Outstanding. The client is an auto manufacturer.
C: What is the objective of the client?
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I: Client needs to reduce DSO from 50 to 40. What benefits can you think of?
Interview Experience
C: Qualitatively, the benefits I could be, extra interest income that client could earn in 10
days, leaner working capital, no cash shortages and so on.
What worked well for you? Confidence, Communication Skills, Case Prep, Strong CV
knowledge.
I: Okay, Great!
What could you have done
better?
Case 2: Our client is facing cost pressures. help them.
C: (Asked various scoping questions, using CPCC)
I: It is an automotive client, serving distributors and various geographies in India.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
None
C: Could you tell me about the revenue trends and other income if any.
I: Let us just focus on costs.
C: Just give me a moment to lay out the complete value chain of Cost.
I: Surely
C: The value chain is.
Procurement of Raw Material > Inbound Logistics > Manufacturing > Outbound Logistics >
Post Purchase services.
(I Asked various question in each of the parts)
I: That's okay. You understand Value chain. We can close the case here.
81
Hemdeep Padalia
Use-cases of AI in R&D in automotive industry.
General advice to CEO to improve their auto R&D capability.
Undergraduate College
IIT Bombay
Field of Graduation
Mechanical Engineering
Case Interview 1
Professional Qualifications
None
An automotive OEM wants to enter Indian Market. What are the factors it should
consider while deciding its location strategy?
Work Experience
Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India Private
Limited, Bangalore- Manufacturing Automotive – 32
months
C: What is the objective of the client for entering Indian market?
HR & Conversation Questions
Please introduce yourself.
I: Capturing the new potential market.
C: What stages of supply chain does it want to enter in Indian market?
I: All stages (manufacturing to selling)
Can you please explain me your job profile at Mercedes-Benz?
C: Does the client have a sister concern in India or is willing to collaborate with existing
players?
Why IIM Lucknow after having worked in Mercedes-Benz?
I: No for both
Why Accenture Strategy?
C: I will consider the following factors while considering location strategy: Macroeconomic
(Favorable Govt. policy for certain locations, tax exemptions, credit incentives, cluster
development areas identified for auto industry), Industry (Existing auto OEMs location
distribution, supplier’s distribution, Human Resource availability), Company level decision
factors (Geographical market in focus, vehicle segment in focus, distribution strategy,
favorable terms with local governments)
If you had an option to work for world's most innovative auto OEM, which would that be?
What are the upcoming trends in auto industry - globally and in India?
3 use-cases of AI in auto industry.
Discussion on currently prevalent themes in automotive industry - Connected,
Autonomous, Shared, Electric mobility.
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I: That is exhaustive. Can you tell me more about the factors you will consider for
distribution strategy in particular?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Detailed discussion on automotive industry
C: I will look for location (company locations, geographical suitability), Available
transportation modes, taxation regime for transportation from location A to location.
I: Good. We can close the case.
Conversational approach from interviewer
What could you have done
better?
Solve guesstimate in the method interviewer explained
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
1. Experience working at Accenture Strategy after coming in
laterally.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Smooth and crisp introduction touching multiple areas of
achievements.
2. Experience working with automotive industry clients while
at Accenture Strategy
Discussions revolving around automotive industry - area of
previous work experience
What could you have done
better?
Better present my case structure
Interview 3
It was not a case interview round.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Interview Experience
Case Interview 2
Estimate the annual number of travelers visiting to Delhi Airport (domestic +
international)?
What worked well for you? Smooth delivery of answers
Deep discussion on automotive industry
What could you have done
better?
Keep my answers a bit crisper
83
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
What differentiates a great consultant from a good
consultant?
Learning advice to a budding consultant
Nandini Sreenath
Undergraduate College
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
Field of Graduation
Electronics & Communication Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Qualcomm- Machine Learning- 12 months
Tips for Future Candidates
Be thorough with your previous work experience industry, if applicable - Major discussion
revolved around the same
Give equal focus on delivery of CV/HR answers along with case interview.
Be prepared with future trends in technology, digital and business.
Showcase your research/prior conversations with others regarding Accenture Strategy in
your answers during the interview and in the questions, you get to interviewers
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself. What motivates you?
Describe your work? What is the problem that exist in NLP?
Asked about my work at Qualcomm. How did it benefit my team?
Drawback of VLOOKUP, alternative to solve this.
Case Interview 1
Discuss the implications of teleportation.
C: I clarified the problem statement to understand if it was only movement of matter from
one place to the other or information too?
I: Assume matter only.
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C: A lot of the physical infrastructure will not be required any more like roads. It will also
mean that we will have to develop the network infrastructure to support this. We will also
have to develop mechanism to support disassembly and assembly for this to be possible.
I: You can consider the infrastructure exists. What other implications can you think of?
C: Telephones and social media platforms that are required for instantly connecting would
not be required anymore.
I: True. There would be other implications as well like more space for housing (since roads
are not there), ethical problems rising from where one can teleport, definition of
boundaries etc.
Pranav Ohri
Undergraduate College
Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore
Field of Graduation
Electronics & Communication Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Cisco Systems- Network Infrastructure (Telecom)- 35
months
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? I was able to think of different kinds of implications of
teleportation. I was also well prepared for my CV questions
What could you have done
better?
Approaching the problem with a better structure.
HR & Conversation Questions
Why Consulting?
Why Accenture?
How good are you with Excel and PowerPoint?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Can you share some highlights about yourself?
You are from an Army family. You must have travelled a lot?
Tips for Future Candidates
Prepare well from IIML Casebook.
Case Interview 1
Be well prepared with HR and work-ex related questions and other CV points as well.
If teleportation became a science reality, what would change?
I: Currently teleportation is just a science fiction. If it became a science reality what would
change?
85
(Asked a few clarifying questions)
the distance over which the machine can teleport, can its cross borders etc.)
C: How are we achieving this teleportation? Is it a machine? Is it available only with industry
players or can a normal person buy it? How affordable is it?
I: It is a machine which costs about Rs. 10L. Anyone who can afford it can buy it.
C: Is there any specific area where you would want me to focus or should I look at it from
a broader view?
Interview Experience
I: You can proceed with whatever comes to your mind.
C: 1. Effect on general public time saving, cost effective and safer means of transportation
2. Effect on transportation industry - cabs and other personal/public transports will be
replaced.
3. Effect on employment - loss of jobs for people currently employed in transportation and
logistics. But newer opportunities as we would require people for operating the machines.
I: Can you list down 3 more changes you would see in the world?
C: 1. Effect on environment - We would be eliminating the pollution effect from all kinds of
transport. Also, since we would not require roads anymore, a lot of land can be taken under
agricultural and forest cover. This would also help boost the agricultural sector.
2. Logistics - Since the technology has been invented, it is not long that it gets scaled to
teleport larger quantities. Delivery of shipments becomes much faster. We will face much
lesser or negligible damage and loss of shipments (gave example of product damaged
during transit when ordered from Amazon).
(Took some time to think of the third point here)
I: We can stop the case here.
(Gave me feedback on the case. I missed out on the security factor since boundaries and
walls might no longer have any significance. Could have asked a clarifying question about
What worked well for you? I had answer prepared for why consulting with respect to
Accenture CN. I tried to keep the interview like a
conversation, which actually helped my confidence during
the interview.
What could you have done
better?
Could have done a bit more of scoping before jumping into
the case.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
What are Accenture’s projects in the Aerospace and Defense
Industry?
Interview 2
It was not a case interview round.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? The HR interview went on like an amazingly simple
conversation which helped me feel comfortable in the
interview.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
NA
86
Interviewer
Rahul Das
Undergraduate College
Indian Institute of Technology, BHU
Field of Graduation
Electronics Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Honeywell - Advance technology (IT), Hardware Design,
Marketing – 24 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Have you experienced a situation where you had to overcome an obstacle? How did you
react? What were your learnings?
Was there any situation in our workplace where you had to convince your manager for a
task?
What was your most significant achievement?
Have you come across a situation where you had to perform a task in an unconventional
way?
Case Interview 1
There is a square and coins. Area of the coin is less than the square. There are two players
A and B who have to fill the square with coins. The person who puts coin in square at last
87
place wins, i.e., after which there is no space to put another coin. Among A and B who
can go first and what will be his strategy to win the game.
C: Can I use pen and paper please?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Will our role involve interaction with Indian customers only
or will it also be with global customers, Will we be
positioned in the industry domain as per our prior work
experience?
I: Sure.
C: Can the coins be of any size? And will the size of the coins be constant throughout?
I: Yes
C: Whoever goes first will fill the square with the area such that there is no space left for
2nd player. So, whoever goes 1st, wins.
I: Your solution is correct but think a generalized solution. The first mover will place the
coin at center. Take this as a hint.
C: Okay, thank you for the hint. In whichever position the 2nd player places the coin after
the coin is placed at the center, the first player will always have a position of reflection of
2nd player. Thus, the last mover will be the player who had placed the coin first.
I: Correct!
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Specific and precise answers, staying confident throughout
the interview and keeping a positive mindset really worked
for me.
What could you have done
better?
I had understood the solution earlier and could have solved
it without the hint.
88
2.Keeping the entire interview conversational and
interesting instead of just answering the question asked
Sanjana Gupta
Undergraduate College
Hansraj College, Delhi University
Field of Graduation
B. Com (Hons.)
Professional Qualifications
CFA Level 2
Work Experience
PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd, Trade Science LLP- Risk
Assurance Services- 27 months
What could you have done
better?
I could have researched more on Accenture related projects.
This could have been beneficial while answering questions
like why consulting, why Accenture. I could have also read
about Accenture's global Environment Responsibility Policy
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Discussed about the project the interviewer was currently
working on.
What kinds of activities does Accenture undertake to help
the society?
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
How do you connect the dots from graduation to work experience to IIM?
Why do you want to pursue consulting?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Why do you want to join Accenture?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? 1.Having in-depth knowledge of each line mentioned in the
CV.
89
MD Round: How is your day till now? What are your hobbies? How do you manage stress?
What do you plant a tree? Why IB?
Saumya Gupta
Undergraduate College
NIT Jaipur
Field of Graduation
Electrical Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Estimate the demand for Oxygen cylinders for the next 6 months for COVID-19 situation
in a city or country of your choice?
Work Experience
Deloitte USI -47 months
(The question was triggered because I had covid-19 response written on my CV)
Case Interview 1
Tell me about yourself?
C: Since I live in Bangalore, can I estimate the demand for Bangalore city for 6 months?
(Interviewer indicated to use choice of city/country but also said you may take
Allahabad/Jaipur which were on my CV. Since I was more aware of Bangalore COVID-19
cases and population, I chose that)
Why Consulting? Why Accenture?
I: Yes, go ahead.
Why do you want to pursue consulting after Deloitte USI?
C: Explained the pros of using Demand approach in this case as opposed to Supply
approach.
HR & Conversation Questions
How do you define success in consulting?
Have you faced a conflict at work? How did you resolve it?
Explain more about the work you did and how will you train yourself for Consulting? Do
you think you are already there or is there something to learn? If yes, what are those
things?
How will you convince someone to use technology for cost optimization? What are the few
suggestions that you might give the person specially in Covid-19? Give me financial
suggestions and technical suggestions for Covid-19 support?
I: Yes, makes sense.
C: I started giving the current cases in Bangalore and expected % increase and then %
decrease in coming months. Then I divided the cases into Intensive Care and non-intensive
care. Further, I divided the Intensive care also into those requiring extreme oxygen, some
requiring medium oxygen, and some requiring less oxygen and assumed it to be 10, 5 and
2 cylinders per day.
Further I calculated the value by assuming cases to go down in 6 months and keeping a
safe stock of Oxygen cylinders.
90
The interviewer expected me to talk the whole time and asked me to summarize. He also
asked a few cross questions on my assumption.
C: What are the types of trucks in the product mix?
I: 16-ton, 22-ton, 30-ton, 40-ton, trailer.
I: I think it is a fair estimate. Good job on choosing the demand approach.
C: How are the trucks sold.
Interview Experience
I: Typical truck selling.
What worked well for you? Confidence and Clarity. Even if the numbers were not exact,
I had a good sense of approximations I was making and kept
the calculations quite simple.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Nothing
I attended the company PPT and showed keen interest in it. I
asked 2-3 questions based on the recent deals of Accenture
and vision going forward. I also asked about the Bangalore
Int. Airport project.
Case Interview 2
C: Since these are trucks, can I assume that major sales are happening in rural areas and
tier1/tier2 cities? (It was a wrong assumption completely. The product was trucks and not
tractors)
I: Not at all, these are trucks being bought in fleets by industrialists and given on lease to
truck drivers. The major sales happen in metro cities and tier 1 cities.
C: Do we have any offline and online distribution channels? Also, has there been a change
in the industry due to which sales are overall declining? (Again, wrong assumption, since
the question clearly stated market share was declining)
I: Can you please ask question again? Also, can you tell me what do you understand by
market share?
C: Explained the answer correctly this time. And rephrased my question to are there any
changes in competitor strategy?
Case: Client is Automotive Industry with both commercial and passenger vehicles. Their
commercial sales are 65%. Their market share has been decreasing every year since last
3 years. Suggest how to revive sales. It is a market leader and assume no effect of Covid19.
I: No online sales. As per industry practice, 95% sales happen offline. Also, there have been
some new technologies introduced by competitors, but it has not affected our client. They
are market leaders, so we can assume that it cannot be basic issues.
Guesstimate: Total amount invested in mutual funds in India in a year.
C: Started asking some more questions.
Started by rephrasing the Problem statement and clarifying questions using the CPCC
approach. The interviewer quickly gave all the answers and did not wait for me to complete
my questions.
I: Okay, please tell me your overall approach, no need to explain the entire case.
91
C: Summarized the situation till now and pointed out the key areas where we can look to
understand drop in sales and how it can be improved.
I: Okay. I was looking for Region specific questions. The sales only declined in the South
Region. No problem. Let us solve a guesstimate now.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Being cool and energetic was especially important to keep
the interviewer interested. Ability to showcase your interest
in the job/company applied.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Confident and simple approach for the problem. Ability to be
cool and explain the solution to the interviewer. Interviewer
was constantly correcting my approach. Also, I was slow, so
the interviewer constantly said leave this part, move faster.
Even though I was not able to arrive at the final answer for
both case and guesstimate, maintaining cool was important
in the situation. The assumption was that this is an actual
case and actual client interaction. I behaved as I would have
in actual situation.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Speed. Since I lacked a bit of practice, my speed was slow.
I had prepared many questions from before. I asked about
the interviewers experience currently and how it changed in
the COVID pandemic situation.
Interview 3
It was not a case interview round.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
It was a very free flowing HR interview. A variety of
questions were asked about my joining city? WFH? Also, I
picked up some industry experience from the MD
introduction and asked him regarding the challenges in that
industry during covid-19 situation. How fast will I be placed
in front of clients?
Tips for Future Candidates
The first and last part of your preparation should be CV and HR.
Do not lose hope till the end of preparation. In case of doubt, reach out to seniors to help
on preparation.
Do a pre-research on the company and show keen interest in knowing about the company.
It was a long process of total 7 interviews (for both IB and CN roles), keeping your energy
high was important.
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Sourav Kumar Baidya
Undergraduate College
Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad
Field of Graduation
Mining Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Coal India Limited- Operations – 48 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
How is your journey been at Coal India Limited??
Why do you want to join Accenture?
How you are coping up with the pandemic scenario?
sending them to a car manufacturing company, Maruti. Maruti is using those containers
and sending back the containers to the manufacturer A while receiving the containers, A
found that they are receiving damaged containers which is increasing their product cost.
What incentive scheme company A could apply to reduce the damage rate of receiving
the container?
C: Sir, Can I have a minute to gather my thoughts? May I know at which end the containers
are getting damaged?
Option 1: While travelling from A to MRF end
Option 2: While travelling from MRF to Maruti end
Option 3: While travelling from Maruti to A
Option 4: At Maruti’s end itself.
Option 5: At MRF’s end itself.
I: Sir, we can have a ranking system, where ranking will be based on the damage rate of the
containers. High damaged containers pack will have a lower ranking and low damaged
containers pack will have a higher ranking. Based on the ranking of the containers pack
received company A will give a discount to MRF, which will do the same when they will
start receiving the containers at a lower cost. As soon as Maruti will notice that they are
receiving discounts not to damage containers and it is reducing the product cost at their
end so they will start handling the containers more safely and also try to introduce a quality
check before the containers leave Maruti.
Explain one scenario where you have taken out of the box approach to solving the
problem?
C: Thanks!
What was the most challenging scenario you faced while working with coal India limited?
Interview Experience
Case Interview 1
What worked well for you? I was completely thorough with my CV and the technical
knowledge about the work I had done during my work
experience. These are the two things that helped me.
Presence of mind is especially important in an interview,
Let us say there is a manufacturing company A, selling small containers to a tyre
manufacturing company MRF. MRF is packing their tyres in those small containers and
93
many times they want to check your approach about any
problem without noticing the right or wrong answer.
What could you have done Although things fell in place, the case was dynamic, and I
better?
would have been more comfortable if I had practiced solving
more cases.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I asked about the interviewer’s experience during MBA and
summers.
Tiwari Shubham
Undergraduate College
National Institute of Technology Calicut
Field of Graduation
Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Bosch India- Automotive- Technical Consulting (36
months)
Tips for Future Candidates
HR & Conversation Questions
I feel that everyone has their own personality and is unique in their own way. So, my
suggestions would be: Be honest & be confident and believe in yourself
Tell me about yourself.
Could you explain more about your work and the responsibilities you had?
Why Accenture Strategy?
How would your previous work experience help us?
What was your role in the PDC of the product mentioned in the CV?
What would you like to do at Accenture (any specific inclinations?)?
What interests you the most about Accenture?
Tell me more about the kind of quizzing you are into (did not enquire much).
94
Case Interview 1
(No more questions were asked after this)
No case asked in the first interview. It was only a conversation around my work-ex and
CV
Interview Experience
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? I was straight-forward and to-the-point with my answers.
Maintained a calm demeanor throughout.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
What worked well for you? Previous work experience had provided me some idea about
studying faults and damages. Also, took the first principal
approach explaining every thought process one by one.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
NA
NA
Case Interview 2
Client is a container manufacturer who is seeing large-scale damages to the containers
when they are sent back after use. The client wants to begin an incentive scheme
awarding it to the user/customer so as to encourage return of containers w/o damage.
Design the incentive program (factors to be considered). How would you approach the
problem?
C: I would like to take a minute think and structure my thoughts. I would take both an
internal and external stakeholder. Internally, need to figure how could processes be
changed to reduce damage. Externally, have to work on a process map, and work on
understanding the problem's origin at each step. The incentive scheme is designed after
containing these issues so as to reduce expenses.
95
Uppalapati Vaidehi
Undergraduate College
NIT Warangal
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (Civil)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Mu Sigma- Business Analytics & Consulting – 37
months
HR & Conversation Questions
Give me a quick introduction about yourself. Why MBA? Why do you want to pursue
a career in consulting?
What are the challenges that you have been facing in this virtual learning phase and
how have you managed to overcome that? What would be your preferred work
location?
What were your roles and responsibilities at Mu Sigma? Walk me through a project
that you have worked on during your tenure at Mu Sigma. Few questions around
chatbots (related to a project) and how to optimize them to improve customer
satisfaction and cut down customer care costs.
How did you on board sponsors for your college fest? What were the responsibilities
you handled as the Secretary of Dance Club at NIT Warangal?
Case Interview 1
State the effects, advantages, and disadvantages of teleportation. What industries do
you think will be impacted the most by this?
C: (after taking a minute to think) I think teleportation will have an impact on several
industries. If the teleportation technology is inexpensive, it will have an impact on
automobile industry, aviation, and hospitality. Teleportation can emerge as an alternate
to conventional modes of transport and find applications in travel and hospitality.
I: Alright. What do you think will be the biggest challenge in this case?
C: The biggest challenge will be the application of this technology and how to make it
inexpensive. The more expensive the technology is, the more difficult its access would
be.
I: I agree to what you are suggesting. What are the major risks associated with this
technology?
C: The risks associated with this technology include safety and security. The industries
that will see the maximum impact will be automobile, travel, and hospitality.
I: That will be all. Thank you.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? I tried to stay calm throughout the interview. That helped
me in being spontaneous with my answers.
What could you have done
better?
NA
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Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
Tips for Future Candidates
Be candid, confident, and honest with your answers. Solve as many cases and
guesstimates as you can. Be structured while communicating your thought process.
Prepare your HR answers very well, have a story to back your answer. Refer to IIML, IIMA
and ISB casebooks.
Vidhi Surana
Undergraduate College
St. Xavier's College, Kolkata
Field of Graduation
Economics
Professional Qualifications
Actuarial Science
Xceedance Consulting, Aakash Aath -
Work Experience
Insurance Consulting, Media & Strategy – 24 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Why do you want to join Accenture?
Why a shift from actuaries?
Which industry would you want to work in?
One good thing about Accenture and one thing you would not want to join Accenture
for?
How will you make a blind person understand the color green?
Case Interview 1
Calculate the number of petrol stations in Kolkata.
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C: This is can be solved through both the supply and the demand approach. Which one
should I follow?
I: Lets go through both one by one.
C: In the supply side approach I will take the area of Kolkata, divide it according to
population and rush. Based on my personal experience I will use my personal
neighborhood as an example to say how many petrol stations in a particular sq km area.
This I extrapolate to Kolkata by factoring in the area.
In the demand side, I will first estimate the number of 4 wheelers and 3 wheelers in
Kolkata, then estimate per vehicle petrol requirement, then I will use this monthly total
petrol requirement of the city and try to identify how much is the capacity (Stock +
Supply) of each station. Also, I factored in variables like peak times in the day (morning
and late evening), rush areas and weekend and weekday difference.
I: Sure, thank you!
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? The interview was very conversational. I tried to take all
hints given by the interviewer and moved the discussion
accordingly.
What could you have done
better?
I could have added more variables in both the approaches I
explained.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
98
Case Interview 1
Vandana Singh
Think on how many charging stations would be required in city of Indore by 2025.
Undergraduate College
National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra
Field of Graduation
Electronics & Communication Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
C: Ok, I would like to ask you if you want me to go with electric 2 wheelers or four
wheelers.
Work Experience
Azcom Infosolutions- India (17 months), Qualcomm (18
months)
I: It is your call.
I: You must think on how many charging stations would be required in Indore city by
2025? We will do this in 8 to 10 minutes.
C: Ok, I would like to go with 4-wheeler. What would be the charging time per vehicle?
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself in brief.
Why 76% in B. Tech? Maybe because you participated in too many activities? What was
your rank in B.Tech.?
How has the entire process been like virtually? Anything new that you have done in the
virtual setup? How is the placement process going on in the virtual mode and any
improvements that you would suggest for the current placement process?
I: You can check it from google. You have all the resources; you can google the entire
question if you want to. (there was no time for that)
C: Ok, the population of the city of Indore would be around 20 lakhs. I am taking a breakup
of 65% as urban population and 35% as rural population. I would like to have 1 to 2
minutes to structure it.
I: Sure, go ahead, take your time.
(After 2 minutes) I: Are you done?
What did you do in Qualcomm?
C: Yes, should I give you a number or the approach?
Any embarrassing workplace moment?
I: Just give me the flow, we can calculate the number.
Give me a brief and crisp intro of where are you from, your graduation and where have
you worked?
C: Cool, I have taken the population of the city of Indore as 20 lakhs, 65% urban
population and 35% population as rural population.
99
I: Yeah ok, that gives us 13 lakh urban population and 7 lakh rural population.
C: Yes, now out of the 13-lakh people living in urban areas, I am considering that people
using cars would be 65% and in rural area the percentage would be 25% which gives us
several people using cars in urban and rural areas which is approximately 8.5 lakh and 1.7
lakh, respectively.
I: Okay, go ahead.
C: Now I would like to consider the urban population first. I am considering that people
who own a car will use it for travelling long distances or some medium distance travel or
daily commute to offices and schools. I am taking 15% people will use it for long distances
like business taxis, Ola outstation etc. This section of people will not prefer switching to
electric vehicles because they will not like increasing their journey time.
I: Okay, you have next 2 minutes to complete this.
C: Sure, so the medium distance travelers will be around 50% of whom I am considering
60% would switch because government is also promoting it through different schemes.
People who use it for short distances which comprises of 10% population, mostly all
would switch.
Similarly, in rural, I am taking that people do not use cars for travelling short distances.
So, 35% people will use it for medium distance travel and 65% for long distance because
people need to usually go to cities far for various purposes and this section will not prefer
switching.
I: How are you planning to calculate the number of charging stations required?
in case of emergency. For people travelling medium distances say 100 km, I will take how
many kilometers my car can run in one charge cycle, and then calculate on an average
how many charging cycles would be required and taking charging time as 15 minutes,
people would not like to wait more than 15 min, I will take every charging station can
handle 2 people at a time one who will be using it and other one who can wait. Thus, we
can get charging station number. We can factor in time of the day and rush hours too.
I: That is fine. Cool. That would be it.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Be genuine and do not try to make up things. Just have a
conversation and smile.
What could you have done
better?
Try to be aware of the time. While doing a case, keep a
watch nearby if interview is going on virtually.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
How has your experience been with Auctus?
Case Interview 2
What is the revenue of Delhi metro? Since you are from Faridabad, you must have
travelled a lot by metro.
I: What is the revenue of Delhi metro? Since you are from Faridabad, you must have
travelled a lot by metro.
C: We have got number of electric vehicles and I will take people who travel to short
distances will not need charging stations and only very less people say 10% might need
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C: I will take a minute to think. I have thought of revenue streams which are rent from
shops, smart cards sale, tokens. So, would you want me to consider revenue from
everything?
I: Okay, first tell me what more sources of revenue could be? Think of customer journey.
C: Yes, there can be parking fees, then I may purchase from shops for which we have
already taken rents.
I: Have you seen the stations names are changed sometimes?
C: Yes, organizations pay for getting their names on the metro stations.
I: And what about advertising spaces inside metros?
C: Sometimes the entire metro train is used for advertising as well.
I: Let us focus on revenue from riders only.
C: Sure, so there are 2 ways we can purchase tickets. 1. Smart card 2. Tokens. For
considering revenues, we need to focus on 3 factors, Time of the day or week, station
from which you are travelling and number of coaches in a train.
I: How are these factors going to affect your revenue?
C: Time of the day - we will have more people traveling during morning and evening hours
and thus number of people travelling will be more. In fact, on Sundays, frequency of
metro is also less. Stations from which you are boarding- 1) it basically affects the density
usually on certain lines like on purple line population density travelling is more. 2) Also,
we can look into the average number of stations people travel on each line like if people
from board from Faridabad (purple line) then people usually go up to Delhi or Gurgaon.
3) Number of coaches, we have one ladies’ coach, and it has low density.
I: You can leave this; we can assume all coaches are same.
C: Number of coaches would affect how many people travel like certain lines have all
eight coaches, or sometimes 6 coaches.
I: Can we take this as population density only?
C: Umm, no.
I: Do you think that it matters that if there are six coaches, less people would board it?
C: No, usually most people board the next metro that comes be it 6 coach or 8 coach.
I: So, we can say density is all we need. Go ahead, how should we calculate the revenue?
C: We need to find average number of stations; people would travel on each line.
I: Yes, how would you do that?
C: I think we can use intersecting stations like Rajeev Chowk, we have three intersecting
lines, so, 60% to 70% people on those lines would tend to travel to that station, this might
help us calculate average number of stations.
I: What more? OK, what all places do people go to using metro?
C: Shopping complexes, schools, colleges, offices.
I: So, can you think on these lines?
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C: We can think of most visited places and we can calculate average number of stations
travelled by people.
I: Suppose you are in class 8 and play basketball. You have to decide what to choose as
your career, go for engineering or basketball. How would you decide?
I: Now think about token system, how do we calculate revenue from there?
C: Okay, I must decide what should I chose as my career option. And currently I am in 8th
standard. I would like to use uncertainties. Uncertainties would be whether I would be
doing good academically in future and how am I going to perform in Basketball in future.
I will also look into how good I am, currently, in both fields.
C: We can check for tokens sold?
I: How would you do that without data?
C: We can use the queue length that we have in front of the ticket counter. We can check
number of ticket booths we have and multiply it with queue length and we already have
the average number of stations people travel.
I: Great. That would be all.
C: It will be higher income, societal status, and self-satisfaction. Points like selfsatisfaction cannot be measured. So, I would look majorly into income because it can be
measured.
I: Okay, how would look into it?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Delving deeper into more prospects, being open to more
questions and explaining my thought process clearly.
What could you have done
better?
I could have thought more on revenue streams for Delhi
Metro.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I: What would be your objective while choosing both fields?
None.
C: I will check in which college can I get into and what will be the average package of the
college.
I: How would you decide which college. Say you got into XYZ college it will have highest
package as 10 lap and lowest some number how would you decide?
C: According to my current performance, I can estimate my future rank. Accordingly, I can
decide which field I will get and what would be the average package of that field.
I: Great. And how would you do that for sports?
Case Interview 3
Suppose you are in class 8 and play basketball. You have to decide what to choose as
your career, go for engineering or basketball. How would you decide?
C: I can check for the various career options if I can be a national player or a coach and
check for the average salary I will get.
I: What more can you think of?
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C: We can have other factors like parental consent and opinions, if I have siblings, what
kind of impression I want to leave for them.
I: Thank you. That would be all.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Previous discussion with seniors on similar topics.
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Be patient and keep smiling in your interviews. Get all the information you can from
seniors.
103
C: I can try. Can I ask questions about processes specific to the industry, wherever
relevant?
Abhishek S
Undergraduate College
Shri Ram College of Commerce
I: Sure, I will help you with industry specific practices.
Field of Graduation
Commerce
Professional Qualifications
None
C: Reiterated the problem statement and asked Preliminary questions (CPCC), questions
relevant to the case, how long the problem has persisted? The definition of revenue from
new clients (First year revenue). Any particular geography which is facing the issue?
Revenue generation from old client’s v/s new clients? Any particular service industry
facing this problem and Competitive landscape.
Work Experience
Deloitte USI - 24 months
Yarn Company - 7 months
HR & Conversation Questions
I: Problem has been there for 6 years now. No specific location assumes any one region
and team working there. The revenue generation is 99% from existing clients and 1% from
new logos. Problem with every vertical (Industry served by the IT company). Company is
growing with the market, but new client revenue is sub-par comparing with the major
Competitors.
Tell me about yourself
A question on my overall experience at both the companies I worked at previously.
Case Interview 1
Client is global IT company who is facing problem with revenues from new client. Please
help.
After the initial introduction, there was a small conversation on industries which she
works on.
I: I have given a case from the industry which I specialize. If you want, we can do a case
from some other industry.
C: (After taking a minute to assimilate the information)
My overall approach would be look at the client acquisition team as a separate entity
from the company and look at the structure and hierarchy of the team and the human
resources (Ability and Willingness), approach followed by the team while dealing with the
prospective clients, and lastly the integration between the both the teams.
I: Sounds fair. Client acquisition employees are generally called hunters. So, the team has
Junior hunters, Senior hunters, and Team leader. The team leader reports to the vertical
heads.
C: Talking about the division of work, I assume that the junior hunter generally research
on the prospective clients, prepares pitches and the senior hunter leads the client
interactions? Further, talking about the Ability in terms of qualification, job fit and
attrition and also in terms of number of hunters & Willingness in terms of monetary and
non-monetary factors. Do you want me to dive deep into either of the factors?
104
I: Junior hunters are involved in client interactions too. No problem with Ability. We can
discussion about the willingness aspect later in the case.
C: Sure, Should I look at the approach followed by the team?
I: Revenue formula.
C: (Tried keeping calm after the blunder) So the Revenue would number of clients
multiplied by the average revenue. Has there been a dip in the number of clients through
these years?
I: Can you elaborate?
I: There has been an increase, in fact.
C: I will try to analyze the buckets such as Lead generation and targets, vertical expertise
of the hunters, resources allocation and sharing with the main team (Integration).
I: There is no set procedure for lead generation. The hunters get leads from farmers (Who
have contacts and leads). The farmers are not formal employees of the company but are
friends with the hunters. No problem with resource sharing, but the integration is a
problem.
C: I could identify few problems here. 1) Lack of formal structure in place which leads to
haphazard targeting. 2) Single channel of lead generation and that too informal, 3)
Integration problem could be that the client acquisition team is neglected by the vertical
heads as they might concentrate on the existing clientele since the revenue share is pretty
high.
I: Right, these are few of the problems. However, I want to you to find the reason why
the same is happening.
C: Okay, sure. (Confused, as the interview was going well and now the interviewer wanted
me to change the course of thinking).
I: Think on a considerably basic level, one aspect which has led to the problems
mentioned above.
C: (Still Confused and Blank) Any particular aspect?
C: Bringing in the quality aspect here. New logos have been increasing but total revenue
is not picking up which might be due to the ticket size from new clients.
I: Right, link it to the salary aspects of the hunters.
C: The salary of the hunters would be comprising of fixed, variable and bonus component.
Starting with variable and bonus component. Looking at the trend and revenue
generation from the new clients, I assume that the bonus component is linked with the
number of clients rather than the size?
I: Great, can you give few recommendations?
C: Streamlining the process, information sharing from the teams working with the existing
clients to know the industry trends which might help in targeting new clients, Salary
structure, where bonus and also the variable component is linked to the size, progressive
variable pay policy. (Tried explaining which would be applicable in the short term and
long term but interrupted as the interview was already over 45 minutes)
I: Great, Thanks Abhishek. Any questions?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Tried keeping calm and also was thinking out loud and
tried asking as many questions as possible.
105
What could you have done
better?
Could have started from a considerably basic structure
(Revenue formula)
C: In terms of quantity sold, I would evaluate the options in terms of a 2x2 matrix, keeping
product offering on one axis and market on another axis (Ansoff matrix).
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Asked one at the beginning on industry expertise and one
question related to hunters and farmers if these
terminologies are used across industries.
Further, I would analyze the value chain from production to distribution to check for any
bottlenecks.
Case Interview 2
Growth Strategy for a net manufacturer
The case was more in terms of idea generation and also the approach followed during a
guesstimate.
C: Asked the Preliminary questions. The relevant facts were that the major product line
was the fishing nets, and the case was about fishing nets.
(After taking a minute to make a structure)
I would approach the problem by looking at the equation, Revenue= Quantity sold X
Average Price, I would first look at the Pricing Strategy in terms of demand elasticity of
the agricultural nets.
I: Explain more on Elasticity.
C: If the demand for our product is inelastic, an increase in price would increase our
revenue and if the demand is elastic, a decrease would increase our overall revenue.
(Explain a bit which was studied in Micro-Economics)
I: Why Value chain? Cost is never a problem; we just have to look at the top line.
C: Analyzing the value chain to see if there are ways to enhance production capacity to
meet demands which are not satisfied currently.
I: Right, no problem with fulfilment of demand. And now we are talking about demand,
can you estimate the market size for fishing nets in India.
C: (Should not have talked about the value chain) Sure, I would first try to lay out the
approach and look for reduction factors and come up with a number.
I: Okay.
C: Since our target audience are fishermen, from the 130 million population, I would
eliminate half of the population looking at the geography of the country (southern half)
assuming symmetry. Out of the remaining area, assuming 25% being the coastal region
where fishing is done. I would add 20% of the fishing in coastal region to arrive at inland
fishing.
I: You can ignore inland fishing.
C: Of the population, I would split it in terms of occupation. (Agriculture, Manufacturing,
and Services). Around 60% of the population is involved in agriculture and similar
activities. Out of which I am again assuming around 60% to be involved in Fishing and
I: Fair enough. Go ahead.
106
related activities. Now I would divide the population in terms of number of people per
household and arrive at the households involved in fishing. Calculating this,
I: Good Question. We produce pipes to transport oil and gas to consumers and hence the
costs are extremely high, around ~6000 cr.
I: That is fine. We are short on time, summarize the case.
C: Asked the preliminary questions. No important facts as such. (Further, the case became
more like a Q&A)
C: Summarized.
I: What are the heads under which you would categorize the costs.
I: All the best for the interviews lined-up during the day.
C: Material, labor, machine, production methods. Any particular category to focus upon.
C: Thank you.
I: Let us talk about material. Our raw material constitutes around 60% of the cost. Steel
which we bend and make the rolls for our pipe is 95% of our raw material.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
A structure was in-place and started with approach during
the guesstimate hence avoiding any calculations.
C: I will start looking at the procurement process currently and try to find potential
optimization methods.
What could you have done
better?
Made few assumptions and did not validate it.
I: We procure for the entire year in one shipment currently.
C: Do we have possibility to alter this, as we might be saving on inventory costs.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Case Interview 3
Client is Pipe manufacturer. We need to reduce the cost by 150 crores. A. Growth
Objects: Historically, the company had 8 - 10 % growth. New target is 5%
The interviewer did not ask any HR questions as I had interacted with him, a day before
and started with the case. He gave a case on which he worked as an intern.
C: (Reiterated the problem statement.) Before asking question would want to know
which type of pipes and the base which we are looking at.
I: Inventory is not a problem. But we can break the total order in multiple orders.
Efficiency and utilization are an issue. But if we have the liberty to order as many times
as possible, we like, what should be the number according to you. Like, 1,2,3,4 or maybe
even more?
C: I would go with 2 as we can assess efficiency from the first order and order according
and saving on transportation.
I: Great. Should I order 80% in the first or 20% in the first?
C: Should be 80% as would have safety margins and reduce stock out costs as it might
disrupt the entire process.
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I: Sure. Doing this we can reduce the steel cost by 2%. Can you come up the number?
C: Sure. 60% of 6000 would be the cost of raw material, which is 3600 and 2% of which is
72cr. (Instantly realizing that I missed the 95% part). Sorry, did not factor the 95%,
factoring in would come to be around…
I: That is completely fine. Number is secondary.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? There was a paucity of time hence being cognizant of the
fact, gave crisp and brief answers.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Asim Mehta
Undergraduate College
H. R. College
Field of Graduation
Commerce
Professional Qualifications
CA, CFA
KPMG (4 months)
Work Experience
Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (28
months)
NA
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Structure and clear communication are the key.
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself? Why consulting?
Case Interview 1
How will you value a broking / wealth management firm?
I: How will you value a broking / wealth management firm?
C: As a financial services firm, we will have a number of services offered.
I: Let us consider a broking firm. What business verticals can you consider?
C: Major services offered would include the following –
1. Broking services
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2. Debt syndication
3. Commodities
4. Advisory - Investment banking, Portfolio services etc.
C: We can assign a growth rate based on the growth rate of the economy and
performance of equities related to it.
I: How will you value these?
I: Good, let us consider broking firm into equities.
C: As these are a series of cash flows, we can take a DCF approach.
C: What is the geography where the broking firm is located?
I: Bombay and has clients with NSE.
C: Do we operate in stock exchange across India?
I: Let us consider clients across India, operating in NSE.
C: What is the client base that we cater to?
I: This is on an ongoing basis. How about if I close the business?
C: We will also consider the terminal value. It can be calculated based on tangible and
intangible assets.
Tangible assets could include assets of the firm (computers, office etc.) and a broking
card (important and holds great value as a license).
Intangible assets could include assets - customer data and relations. The team will have
access to funds of customers which is valuable.
I: HNI + General public.
I: Good. Thanks.
C: When we are considering valuation of a broking firm, we can.
evaluate the revenue and cost to determine the cash inflows.
Revenue is based on value and % of brokerage.
Value = Price of shares * Quantity of shares * Mix of shares
I: Which parameters affect the quantity?
C: No. of customers, type of customers (for instance- HNI will trade more than general
people), exchanges traded in, we can also look at the geography, penetration,
competitors, and the life cycle in stock exchange (gave relevance of 2008 stock crash
leading to reduction in number of people).
I: How to evaluate price over a period of time.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? My strong knowledge about my work-ex, especially the
projects that I had worked on in the domain of cloud
migration helped me. The interviewer extensively
focused on testing my knowledge about different cloud
platforms and their pros and cons. The case interview
was related to my professional experience; hence it was
helpful to know my resume inside-out.
What could you have done
better?
Understanding of the broking business and the various
business streams.
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Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Tried understanding the future of broking business with
increasing competition, automation and reducing
margins.
I: Rs.6000 Cr. What are the various costs that I can incur?
C: Raw Material (RM), production, distribution, marketing, and support.
I: RM is my major cost, and it accounts for 60% of the overall cost.
Case Interview 2
C: RM will include purchase cost and inbound transmission.
We are a steel pipe manufacturer, and we are working on a cost transformation
program and wish to reduce our cost by Rs. 150 Crs.
I: Let us consider purchase cost.
C: What is the time horizon within which we would like to reduce the cost?
I: 12 months.
C: What is the product that we manufacture and whom do we cater to?
I: Large steel pipe and we cater to B2B and large customers.
C: Do we deal in separate product SKUs?
I: We have different diameters and variants depending on the process. But let us have
one SKU for now.
C: What would be the location?
I: Hanjar port. We can import raw material from China and export it to the neighboring
countries.
C: Would it be safe to assume that our customers are international?
I: Yes.
C: Given we are looking at reducing costs, what would our total current cost be?
C: Purchase cost = Price / tonne * Quantity
I: What parameters would affect the price?
C: The country from where we purchase - China, South Africa, Indonesia etc. It is a
commodity and, thus, prices would fluctuate. We can consider domestic purchase as
well. Quality, grade of the RM can also be considered. Concept of EOQ i.e., ordering cost
v/s storage cost tradeoff.
I: Good, let us assume we have an order of 100 tonnes, and efficiency is 95%, so we will
roughly order 105 tonnes. We have 2 options, order 105 in one go or in 2 parts, what
would you recommend and why?
C: As melting steel is costly; it would be better to do so in one go. How much of it would
be needed in the start?
I: Let us say 80% is needed in the start.
C: Then it is advisable to order in one go as it will help to reduce storage and transport
cost and help to get a bulk discount.
I: Why would I consider ordering 20% in the start?
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C: Maybe if it is a new supplier and we are not sure of the quality or the manufacture
process with our infrastructure.
I: What if I have options to order, 3/4/5 times.
Tips for Future Candidates
Stay calm, do not let day -1 experience influence your Day 0 performance.
C: We will consider the EOQ concept and evaluate it independently based on
requirement.
I: We can also consider the confidence we have on supplier to build a relationship.
C: Yes.
I: Let us do a quick calculation. If I am able to save 2% of the RM cost, what would the
amount be and how am I able to justify the same with my target?
C: Total cost is 6000 cr. RM is 60%, i.e., 3600 Crs and 2% of the same is 72 Crs. Our target
is 150 Crs and, thus, we will not be able to achieve it.
I: Thank you.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
My answers related to my professional experiences were
well-structured and covered all aspects in detail.
NA
None
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My friend is a Financial Advisor. He is looking to buy a smart gallery. How will you
value it?
Chinmay Jain
Undergraduate College
IIT 1Roorkee
Field of Graduation
B. Tech. (Electrical Engineering)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Texas Instruments – 36 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself apart from your resume.
Why consulting? Why Bain?
Are you a team player or an individual player (asked to give an example of both)?
What is your biggest fear about consulting?
I: My friend is a Financial Advisor. He is looking to buy a smart gallery. How will you
value it?
C: What is a smart gallery?
I: Smart Gallery is an art gallery portraying works of upcoming as well as local artists.
C: What are the revenue streams for the art gallery and where is it located?
I: Located in Mumbai. It has three kinds of revenue streams: 1) Buying & Selling of
Paintings 2) Commission from tickets on Exhibitions organized 3) Renting the space for
private events like corporate parties.
C: Number of paintings the art gallery currently has, the number of exhibitions and
private events that are organized each year and the revenue from each?
I: Lets focus on the paintings for now, the art gallery currently has 50 paintings.
Tell me about your experience in filmmaking, how did you go about making a 12M+
views video?
C: We can value these paintings by looking at Competitors' prices of similar paintings or
find out the cost of acquisition and use cost plus method or even use value-based
method depending on the product attributes to value the paintings.
Roles and responsibilities at Texas Instruments.
I: How will you use the value-based method?
Case Interview 1
C: We can start with a Base price of paintings and add value to the painting based on
factors such as: price of artist's similar works, price of similar style of paintings, price of
paintings at similar art galleries.
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I: Any other lever to value the painting.
C: I am not sure which one I am missing.
I: You have covered all, apart from this there could be an X-factor to each painting.
C: Yes surely, it could be possible if the painting has some story or historical incidence
related to it.
I: Okay, we can close the case now (followed by one more HR Questions and any
question I had for him).
C: What kind of investments have the PE firm made before and how long have they
been operating?
I: Mostly in Healthcare industries only, have several ventures.
C: Can you help me understand more about the hospital they are currently evaluating;
in terms of the services, it provides and customers it caters to.
I: It is a specialty hospital with premium services and serving high-income individuals.
C: What are the sources of revenues for the hospital?
I: It is a 1000 bed hospital with 80% utilization factor and 2 Crores p.a. revenue from
each bed, having a 20% EBITDA. We can explore other revenue sources.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Good, detailed HR interview in the beginning helped set a
positive tone of the interview. Case was simple and short.
What could you have done
better?
I could have come up with the X-factor lever for valuation
of the painting.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
What are things that you like about Bain?
C: Based on the data given, I calculated the initial investment cost to be done using NPV
and discounting. I would next want to evaluate the decision based on some Macro and
Industry level factors.
I: Macro parameters are good, let us look at the Industry level factors.
Case Interview 2
Bain has been hired by a PE firm who is evaluating investing in a hospital in Gurgaon.
Help them decide how much they should value the business if they are looking at a
25% IRR in a 5-year horizon.
C: (Asked about the competitors, supplier buying powers and customers)
I: Faces competition from some of the known brands like Apollo, Vedanta, etc. prices
are similar. How do you think we can increase the revenue of the hospital?
C: We can break it down into factors such as No. of customers, the customer mix,
Average duration of stay for a customer and the price per customer. (Suggested 2-3
ideas for each of these factors)
I: What can be some of the other sources of revenue for the hospital?
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C: We can list down other services that the hostel can start, explore treatment of
diseases that are not covered till now, establish a loyalty program with customers for
consultations, launch health checkup packages, extend the pathology services of the
hospital, increase revenues from the canteen, parking space.
Deepak Jain
Undergraduate College
Delhi Technological University
I: Okay, can you quickly summarize the case for me?
Field of Graduation
Mechanical & Automotive Engineering
Interview Experience
Professional Qualifications
None
What worked well for you? I was able to understand the interviewer's requirements
and follow the cues given.
Work Experience
BCG – 47 months
What could you have done
better?
I could have covered more points while exploring
additional revenue streams.
HR & Conversation Questions
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
How has your day been?
Tell me something about yourself which is not on your CV?
How are you? Where are you from?
What did you like about BCG and when was the time when you felt like leaving the
organization / work that you were doing?
Tell me some instances when you shared your ideas and if they were implemented by
the case team?
Would you like to work with Bain?
Do you have any issues in that?
Case Interview 1
You are working with online retailer focusing on the fashion industry. Their private
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label business is 200mn USD. How will you further grow this.
C: Reiterated the problem and said that we can assume this to be Myntra to start with.
I: Sure. Go ahead.
C: Calculated market size - 1.7 bn in 3 years. Assumed top 60% sales from major
brands, 20% from Private labels and 20% from others. Given 100 brands in private
label, calculated 3.4 MN USD opportunity from Website.
(Similarly got information for other 3 ways and calculated market for each of them.
Tried to catch on hints like own website growth would be more than that on Amazon,
and how to push own product on our website without losing customers)
C: Please share more details about the company and about their business.
I: The company is 7-8 years old, based out of India and is in apparel & accessories
segment. No major customer segments. The company holds 25% market share and is
among top 4 players in ecommerce, and top 2 in fashion.
I: That will be it. Tell me in case you have any questions.
C: Asked if there is enough demand in the market. Given it is in the India market, said
there must be enough demand.
What worked well for you? I was able to cover almost all the possible options and do
calculations
I: Yes, there is. We can focus on how to cater to the demand.
What could you have done
better?
I think if I were a bit faster in calculations, that would
have left a better impression
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
C: So, we can expand in 2 ways- B2B and B2C. Gave example of B2B – like giving clothes
to big bazaar.
I: We need to make our brand name, so focus on B2C.
C: Sure, so in that case we have multiple options – (1) selling through own website, (2)
selling through third party websites, (3) from own new stores or (4) from third party
stores.
Asked Interviewer of what she wanted me to focus on and how to proceed ahead.
I: Please size the market for each of these options after 3 years.
C: Sure. Started taking numbers on overall market size, growth and estimated
percentage that can be made from it.
I: Let us assume Amazon to present 1 bn USD opportunity with growth rate 20% and
amazon has 5000 brands.
Interview Experience
Case Interview 2
You are working with IT service company and the profits are less than those of the
competitors. Identify the issues and also suggest possible solutions.
C: Tried to ask about the company and what all it does.
I: Sure, so company is like Wipro etc. who work across multiple industries like consumer,
Industrial goods etc. These company get projects from the industry and work on it. Do
you know about Hunter, Farmers, New logo, win rate and close rate?
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C: No, since I am new to this industry, it will be great if you can help me with these.
I: Sure. Hunters are sales team members, farmers are accountants. New logo referred
to new companies that were clients within the past 1 year. Win rate is clients hat got
converted divided by total companies approached by hunters. While close rate was
total potential of the converted clients divided by total available pool.
(it was quite technical, and interviewer had to spend 10-15 minutes just to explain these
terms, but it was especially important to understand before reaching any conclusions)
C: Hence that means they were not strategically approaching these people and that is
leading to the issue of lower profits and revenue eventually.
I: Correct, but how will you solve this issue?
C: Figured out multiple ways like – salary basis client size, fixing the clients to interact,
better training for good conversion rates, allocating clients basis capabilities.
I: Yes, one more way is to pay more for bigger clients like 6-7% for bigger clients in terms
of opportunities, and 2% of deal for smaller clients.
Next, tell me why are new logos important?
C: Yes, got it Thank you.
C: It is because these are essentially clients that can will give us lot of work in the future
and have lot of potential.
I: Absolutely correct. So, our win rate is same as other companies, but close rate is
lower. Can you figure out the reason?
(took a minute to think)
C: Sure, so it is important to understand this from a hunter’s perspective. Broke the
problem into 2 parts- if the hunters were willingly doing this or not. Gave justification
of willingness as motivation could be less because of fixed pay or pay in terms of number
of deals.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
I kept asking questions that I did not get. So, I was able to
answer questions correctly as I had clarity of the question
What could you have done
better?
Would have been better if I had understood the problem
statement much faster.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
I: No, so they are paid 2% of the deal amount.
C: There could be a few cases here, if the hunters themselves selected these pools of
people and did not realize the potential or they were given a set of people.
I: They themselves choose to select the people.
Case Interview 3
Estimate the revenue of a museum in a day in a city in Europe?
(did CPCC to start with and got following information)
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C: Sure. It is an art museum based in some city with population 0.5 MN. The museum is
200 years old.
We can consider it to be a weekend. The neighboring cities also have museums. The
customers include household and people travelling from outside.
I think the revenue segments would ideally be – ticketing revenue, gifts & souvenirs,
and F&B shops. Is there any source of revenue that I am missing?
I: Yes, so company has an exhibition space and earns from B2B segment by giving it on
rent.
C: Sure, thanks for this. I would want to look at this problem from customer’s
perspective and figure out how many people would visit in a day (i.e., weekend)
(Listed factors like -age, interests, guests etc. to understand how many people will
actually visit)
I: what more will you consider getting to the figure?
What could you have done
better?
The interviewer kept guiding me, so I could have
generated more idea
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Be confident and have a logical reason behind all the thoughts and communication.
The interviewer is looking for a good 15-20 minutes, hence important to keep it
interactive and ensure the interviewer enjoys the conversation.
In the online setup, comminating the structure, thoughts and staying confident will be
the key
C: I would want to see the number of households, and then assume 40-50% people
having the willingness to go to museum rather than their next best options of
entertainment, shopping etc.
Also considered facts like guests being at home and taking them along for it and going
to nearby museums,
I: I do not need a number, just wanted to see your approach. That will be it.
C: Thank you.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
I asked the required questions and was able to get the
required details
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Ridhima Anand
Undergraduate College
Delhi Technological University
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (Information Technology)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Deloitte – 35 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Give me a quick introduction about yourself.
C: Okay. Fair enough. And how can we help our client here?
I: The client would like to know if we will be able to make unit economic profit in India.
C: Sure. I would love to help him with the best of my abilities.
(Understood about the company, its USP and specifics about the revenue model,
consumer, and competitors. Applied PESTLE to understand market attractiveness. I
was asked to focus on unit economic profit and profit is function of revenue and cost.
Therefore, I decided to deal with revenue and cost separately)
C: We can do a market estimate to determine potential unit revenue.
(The major revenue streams considered were delivery charges and commissions from
restaurants. After a detailed discussion, the interviewer asked me to consider 20% of
bill value as commission and 25 Rupees as delivery fee. We also talked a little bit about
the recent hike in delivery fee by Swiggy and Zomato. I finished the market estimation
and the Interviewer nodded in approval after hearing the final number. Then we
moved to cost analysis)
I: What type of costs would you consider while doing cost analysis?
Case Interview 1
Client is an Indonesian food delivery startup, like Swiggy and Zomato. It is a market
leader in South Asia. Now it wants to enter India. Chart out a Market Entry strategy.
C: *Clarified the question* Before starting with the analysis, I have some clarifying
questions that I would like to ask.
I: Sure, go ahead.
C: I see that the client wants to enter India, is there specific purpose for this move?
I: Yes, the purpose is growth.
C: For unit cost, I would like to focus on labor cost and fuel cost.
I: You can ignore fuel cost for now. How would you go about the labor cost?
C: We have calculated total demand in the guesstimate. From there, we can compute
the total number of delivery persons by dividing demand by total number of orders
per driver per day. Total number of orders per driver in a day can be found by
incorporating peak and non-peak hours.
I: You can continue with this approach.
(I calculated the total number of delivery persons which came out to be a reasonable
number.)
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C: Do we have any information about the salary given to delivery persons?
(The Interviewer gave me an average salary paid to a delivery person. After doing
necessary calculations, I found that the company will incur losses if it enters Indian
market.)
None
Case Interview 2
I: That will be all. Thank you.
Let us begin our case. Client has a diagnostic lab, one of the largest in the world. He
wishes to get a good assessment of market in India.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? There were a couple of things that worked well for me. I
had read a few case studies while preparing for the
interviews. It gives you an idea about the type of cases
asked before and helps develop your thinking ability.
Also, communication is the key! As this time, the whole
process was virtual, keeping interviewer in the loop
became much more important. I even read aloud the
calculations I did just to make sure that the interviewer
knew what I was writing! In addition to this, looking
vibrant and keeping a smile on your face throughout
the interview goes a long way.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
In the first interview, I became a bit nervous. There was
a point when I was all over the place. However, the
interviewer helped me out and guided me to the right
direction. But I feel it can happen with anyone. The
important point is to calm yourself down, take a deep
breath and start over! The interviewer is not looking for
the right answer from you, they are looking at your
approach.
C: *Reiterated the question to make sure if I understood it correctly. * The client wants
to enter the Indian market, I presume.
I: That is correct.
C: Before we start, I would like to ask some clarifying questions.
I: Sure, go ahead.
C: What kind of operations does the lab undertake? Does it specialize in certain areas
or is it a general-purpose health lab?
I: It is a general-purpose health laboratory. It conducts 2 types of tests – Prevention
tests and tests prescribed by doctors.
C: Okay. And what is the nature of technology used in these labs?
I: It is a high-end laboratory; they use the latest technology.
C: (Understood more about the company, about their competitors and consumers.)
C: May I take a minute to analyze the information?
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I: Okay.
be available in rural areas in future, say, in the next 10-15 years? However, if we are
assessing the current Indian market, we can ignore rural areas.
C: (After reviewing the information) To assess the market, we can look into the
potential revenue generated from these tests. I would like to analyze Prevention tests
and Prescribed tests separately.
I: Good analysis. Let us focus on urban areas.
I: We can focus on the prescribed tests for the time being.
C: Great! When we are talking about prescribed tests, we mean the tests prescribed
to patients by doctors in case the former needs the test to be performed, is that
correct? I mean, here we are considering all doctors, working at hospitals or clinics.
C: Sure. Since we are talking about one of the largest companies, do we have any data
available on the proportion of revenue generated by prescribed tests.
I: Yes, the past data shows that prescribed tests form 80% of the revenues for the
company.
C: That is great. That means analyzing the potential revenue from prescribed tests may
give us a good idea about the Indian market!
I: That is correct!
C: For prescribed tests, we can analyze the market India possesses by dividing it into
urban and rural areas. Rural areas have a huge scope, mainly because of two reasons.
First, high percentage of population residing in rural areas. Second, rural healthcare
has seen huge investments coming in in the past few years. However, there are some
issues about operating a high-end laboratory chain in rural areas.
I: And what are these issues?
C: To start with, currently, there are very a smaller number of functional hospitals in
rural areas. That means the number of doctors prescribing the tests would be much
less than in urban areas. In addition to this, the sourcing of laboratory equipment and
medical supplies would need a well-developed road connectivity. These facilities may
I: Yes. You have got it right!
C: Okay. We can do a guesstimate to find the number of doctors in urban areas.
I: No need to delve into that. You can assume that the number of doctors is 0.7 per
people pan India.
C: Thank you! That will make the calculation much easier. We know that the current
population of India is around 1.3 billion people. Using the data, you just provided, it
seems like there are around 9.1 lakh doctors all over India. As number of doctors in
urban areas are much more than in rural areas, we can safely say that around 60% of
the doctors are working in cities.
I: That is a reasonable assumption. And how many of them would be eligible to
prescribe laboratory tests?
C: I believe a huge percentage of urban doctors in India would be eligible to prescribe
laboratory tests. Let us say, around 60% doctors fulfil this criterion. The final number
comes out to be around 3.3 lakh doctors.
I: Good work. The number seems to be fair. How would you calculate revenue from
this number?
(This was followed by a discussion on average number of patients attended by a doctor
in a day, the number of tests prescribed per day and an average cost of these tests in
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India. Both Interviewer and I were picking instances from day-to-day life to back our
values. We came to an agreement that on an average a doctor prescribes 8 tests in a
day with an average cost of 100 Rupees per test.)
C: From this data, the revenue derived from prescribed tests per day is around 24
crores. Say, the laboratory is open 300 days a year, the net revenue per year comes
out to be 7200 crores. I presume that the client would require the potential revenue
in USD.
I: That is correct. You can do the necessary conversion.
C: Taking the current conversion rate as 1 USD = 72 Rupees, the potential revenue
derived from prescribed tests is around 1 Billion dollars. Do we have any data on the
present revenue generated by the laboratory chain?
I: Sure, it generates around 7 Billion dollars a year. What do you think, should the client
enter the Indian market?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
None
Case Interview 3
Let us take a small case. Client is the CEO of PVR Cinemas. Help him in understanding
the unit revenue of PVR Setup.
C: *Clarified the question*. The revenue stream would include revenue from tickets,
food and beverages, and advertisements shown before the movie or during the
interval.
I: That seems right.
C: India has always been a huge market for healthcare sector. A market with a
potential revenue capacity of 1 Billion is an attractive option. It would also result in
14% increase in the global revenue. Moreover, this market is growing at a fast pace of
20% in India. I believe the client should consider this option. (Always back your opinion
with number and current scenarios)
I: Very well. A comprehensive analysis overall. We can close the case now. Thank you.
C: Thank you!
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
C: The size of a PVR Setup may vary with the size of the city/town it is being introduced
in. Are we talking about a PVR Setup in a metropolitan area?
I: That is correct.
C: Okay. A general PVR Setup in a metropolitan area has 4 screens. Each screen has a
capacity of 150 people. The price varies from place to place but we can take an average
of around 100 Rupees. Do these assumptions seem valid?
I: The numbers seem fair. You can move forward with these values.
My answers related to my professional experiences
were well-structured and covered all aspects in detail.
C: Thank you. The next step would be to calculate revenue generated from screenings.
I: And how would you go about that?
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C: We can use the simple relation that revenue generated per show will be equal to
(average number of screens) *(Percentage occupancy) *(average price of each ticket).
(It was followed by a detailed discussion on how we would calculate percentage
occupancy as it will depend on various factors like - day of the week, any new release,
holidays, festivals etc.)
I: You can take an average percentage occupancy of 60%.
C: That is great! So, the number comes out to be around 150*0.6*100*4 = 36000
Rupees per show. We can multiply it by number of shows in a day.
(We discussed the various factors to incorporate while calculating the number of
shows. I was coming up with values based on my experience. For example, the length
of English movies is around 1.5-2 hours whereas Hindi movies are generally of 2.5-3
hours. Further, around 20-30 minutes are allotted between the shows to clean the
theatre and allow people to settle in for the next show.)
C: We can take the average length of movie as 2.5 hours. As per my experience, PVR
Cinemas are generally operational for 14 hours in a day. Also, around 20 minutes break
is given between shows for cleaning. After taking all this into account, we can say that
around 5 shows are run on each screen in a PVR Setup. That means, in total, around
20 movies are shown in a day in a PVR Setup.
I: That seems fairly accurate. No need to calculate the final revenue. We can close the
case here. Thank you!
Tips for Future Candidates
The interviewer is not looking for a right answer from you, they are looking at your
approach.
Rishabh Bajaj
Undergraduate College
Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi
Field of Graduation
B.Com. (Hons.)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
T9L- A Startup Studio (26 months), EY (8 months)
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
Where are you from?
How have you been coping with COVID's impact in Delhi?
What's a Startup Studio's business model like?
Case Interview 1
The client is a billion-dollar IT services player (application and infrastructure
management). They have been lagging behind in profitability and need help with
this problem.
C: What is the quantum of the lag in profitability? Is there any data available for how
short is the company falling of its targets? Also, since when has the company been
facing this issue?
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I: Yes, the company has been clocking 12-13% EBITDA compared to a 15-16%
expectation. The issue has come to light in the last 3-4 years.
C: Thank you. As I am not too aware of the concerned industry here, could you help
me understand what do we exactly mean by ‘application and infrastructure
management’ services?
I: Yes, that is correct. There are 3 tiers of companies serving as good competition.
Tier-I would be the likes of TCS & Infosys, we would be a part of Tier-II followed by
smaller local players.
C: Thank you. I have sufficient information to dive into the issue. Can I take another
20 seconds to structure my thoughts?
I: Sure, go ahead.
I: Application services are simply app development and maintenance while
infrastructure management services range from cloud-based data management to
ERP solutions to core system maintenance and a few other add-ons.
C: As the company is experiencing a profitability issue, I can define profits as
Revenues - Cost considering a single stream of revenue which is service fees.
C: I would like to know a bit about the client to establish some context here. Can you
help me the following details? Location, Areas of operations (client bases),
age/maturity of company, size of the company (in terms of workforce- as it is an IT
services company)
I: Yes, ignore revenues for now, let us look at costs for the client.
C: Sure! As it is an IT services company servicing mostly US-based clients, people’s
costs would be a major component of total costs for the client apart from other
operational and non-operational costs like.
I: Sure! The company is based in India and has offices in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune,
and Trivandrum. It is a mid-90s company and has approx. 2500 employees. 80% of
the client base is in US.
I: Yes, ignore other costs for now. Let us focus on personnel costs which forms 80%
of total costs.
C: Sounds good. To understand the offering better, is it safe to assume that the
company offers customized solutions to every client given different scales of client
firms?
I: Yes absolutely. The requirements of every client would differ based on its scale
and specific solution needs.
C: Also, I would assume that there would be a fair amount of competition in India in
this industry. Can I get some information on the competitive landscape here?
C: To ascertain personnel costs, I would like to use the following equation=
No. of offices x No. of projects x Avg. no. of people per project x Avg. CTC
Moreover, Avg. no. of people and CTC will be different for different tiers of
employees.
I: Yes, that seems fine but on what other ‘lever’ would the costs depend?
C: Further, the projects would have different tiers of personnel and their CTCs will
be different based on level of skill/seniority.
I: Yes correct. Can you think of any other ‘lever’ that could vary costs in this context?
123
C: I have a few questions which I need more clarity on. Is the employee structure
top-heavy or bottom-heavy? Moreover, could efficiency of certain tiers of
employees also be a cost driver here? (Struggling to come up with other ‘levers’ of
costs.)
I: In such a firm, the structure is almost always bottom-heavy. Also, what do you
mean by efficiency, can you explain your thought process behind this. You can also
consider the office space available as a factor of personnel costs in this context.
C: Sure. By efficiency I meant the amount of time that an average team would take
to complete a project and benchmarking that with that of other competitors, we
could get an idea about the relative efficiency of the workforce.
Also, I think I missed the space aspect earlier. Different office locations would have
different office space available and hence, the costs could vary across these
locations. Would you want me to explore this further?
I: Yes, that sounds good. How would you benchmark the efficiency of employees
when projects are customized and not uniform across various clients in different
industries?
C: Yes, I agree that benchmarking would not be fully accurate, but it is just to get an
idea of relative costs. If we take a hypothetical project and allocate a group of
employees and compare across competitors for the same, we might be able to assess
if we are less or more efficient than them and get an idea of relatively higher/lower
costs.
I: Alright, that makes sense but like you said, it is not possible to have this data and
hence is a hypothetical scenario. Also, we have ¾ mins. left with us. Can you quickly
think of some additional points that could drive personnel costs?
employees with that of the competitors. Secondly, we can compare the utilization
of employees per annum and compare it with that of competitors.
I: Yes, that sounds good. Finally, what we wanted to arrive at. Seems like our time is
over but do you have any questions for me?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Following cues given by the interviewer worked well
in this case, especially because the proposed time for
the round was less. I stated hypothesis without
immediately explaining a lot about it. I was prompted
to explain later and got a chance to elaborate.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Scoping of the problem and initial questions could
have been reduced and I would have saved 3/4
minutes entering early into the problem-solving part.
When I used a mathematical equation to be MECE, I
realized later that the interviewer was merely looking
for a somewhat exhaustive list of major cost drivers.
Also, I should have asked for feedback in this round as
I was sure about going into another round right after.
What has kept you going at the firm so long?
Case Interview 2
C: (Asked for 30 seconds to brainstorm.) I have a few more points which could be
cost drivers. Firstly, we could look at benchmarking the salaries of different tiers of
The client is a specialized chemicals manufacturer and is facing issues with its
124
profitability. They need us to help them figure the problem and recommend
solutions.
I: Yes, that is a good point. Leather products are driving down the profitability
primarily. Can you explain about the cost structure/heads of this company?
I: (seemed to be in a rush right from the beginning and suggested to focus only on
structure and idea generation)
C: Sure. On the nature of costs, I could divide them into Operational & Nonoperational costs. On the basis of behavior, I could use a Fixed, Variable & Semi:
variable classification.
C: Sure! Since how long has the client been facing these issues? Also, I would like to
know a bit about the client and the industry it operates in and the timeline in which
the client is looking to resolve the issue.
I: Let me help you with some initial information. The client manufactures chemicals
used further to produce plastics, paints, textiles, and leather goods. It has 400
different SKUs and clocked revenues of INR 160 Cr. last year. They require quick
solutions which can be implemented within a 2-3-week period.
C: Thank you for that information. (Made some assumptions and confirmed with the
interviewer: B2B clients pan-India and business model/value chain were from
Sourcing-Manufacturing-Sales & Distribution). Asked a few more questions about
the competitive landscape.
I: Yes, you can go ahead with that understanding. Ignore the competitive
landscape. Although could you tell me the kind of clients this company could have?
I: Good. Name a few operational & non-operational costs here and let us proceed
with it then.
C: Under operational costs, I would list down raw material costs, labor costs, inbound logistics cost, production process costs, warehousing & storage costs and
distribution costs including outbound logistics, R&D costs, Administrative costs, and
technology costs. Under non-operational I would consider depreciation and finance
costs.
I: Alright, let us move to the revenue aspect now. How would you proceed?
C: Before I dive into it, could you help me with an SKU distribution across all 400.
This is to determine how heavy is the leather products’ SKU share among the overall
SKUs offered.
C: Yes, I would assume consumer durables, apparel, lifestyle brands to be key clients.
Is that a good assumption?
I: Sure. Consider it as 50, 70, 120 & 160 SKUs for plastics, paints, textiles, and leather
goods, respectively.
I: Yes, that sounds good. Go ahead!
C: Thank you. As we can observe that leather goods form the highest share of the
overall SKU mix, the top line can be majorly affected by leather goods. Following this,
I would break the revenue as no. of leather goods’ units produced * avg. price of
leather SKUs. Do we have any information on the quantity produced or the pricing
policy/trends that the client has observed for their goods in the past?
C: I will break down profits into Revenue-Cost. Assuming multiple revenue streams
and cost centers for 4 different types of products, would you like me to focus on any
of these specifically or can I explore each one by one?
125
I: Good observation. So, the client follows a cost + mark-up pricing model. The
quantity of production has not changed. Anyway, can you quickly suggest some ideas
for a company like this to improve profitability?
C: As we have a short timeline to improve profitability, I would look at the SKU mix
offered. We would have to increase sales effort on certain SKUs and reduce or phase
out a few. Producing and selling larger SKUs could reduce carrying costs and
packaging costs. Since our clients are all B2B, if the smaller SKUs are not truly
relevant, we could look at reducing sales of these and reallocate resources towards
larger SKUs. Would that be a fair suggestion?
I: Yes, although the cost of producing the primary material is the same across all
SKUs, the other product costs could be tweaked. I like the idea of pushing large SKU
sales although phasing those out would not be recommended as there are certain
buyers for its who would not purchase beyond a certain limit due to many reasons.
If phased out, the revenue and profits from that segment could get totally wiped
out.
and idea generation was good in the limited time we
had which boosted my spirits.
What could you have done
better?
I could have managed time better. I could not share
more good ideas in the solution/recommendation
part of the interview.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I would like to know what keeps you going in the
Consulting industry after 10 years of experience. Also,
would be great to receive some feedback on our
discussion.
I: That is, it for our case discussion. Do you have any questions for me?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
I avoided unnecessary scoping in the beginning as I
was given a hint to focus on idea generation. That
and the interviewer’s sense of rush prompted me to
dive straight into the case with a basic understanding
of the background. Asking for feedback helped as it
helped him recollect what went good for me in the
interview. He ended up mentioning that the structure
126
I: Your client is a Brick Manufacturer. A new player has entered the market and
slashed the price by 10%. The client is asking us what they should do.
Shivani Karnik
Undergraduate College
N M College, Mumbai
Field of Graduation
B. Com.
C: (Clarified the problem statement and the objective) To understand our client
better, can you tell me how old is the company?
I: The client is an old company in this line.
Professional Qualifications
CA, CFA Level 1
C: Does the client also have other lines of business?
Deloitte Haskins and Sells LLP – 28 months
I: No. The client only manufactures bricks and sells it directly to customers.
Karnik & Associates – 5 months
C: As we are selling directly to customers, can I assume that most of our customer
base is builders?
Work Experience
HR & Conversation Questions
I: Yes. Most of our customers are small builders.
C: Okay. Where is the Client located? Also, what is our scale of operation?
Tell me something about yourself.
What motivates you in life?
I: The Client is located in East India. It has a single plant in a catchment. It is one of
the biggest players in East India.
What is one quality that you feel has helped you in the past with your 4. work?
C: Who are our competitors? Also, is it a fragmented industry?
Asked about work experience in BFSI.
I: Yes. It is a fragmented market with 30 odd players in the market. There are 2-3
big players in the market and our client is one of them.
Case Interview 1
Your client is a Brick Manufacturer. A new player has entered the market and
slashed the price by 10%. The client is asking us what they should do.
C: Okay. What is the price that we are currently charging for the brick? Is that the
price that our competitors are charging as well?
I: We are currently charging Rs. 10 per brick. Yes, the price throughout the market
currently is more or less similar. However, the new player has entered and cut price
by 10%.
127
C: As we have to decide if we should cut the price by 10% or not, we can consider
the following before taking a decision. Our Market Share in the current market, the
current pricing of the product, the process of manufacturing, our customer base
and their perception of a price cut, the quality of our product vis a vis our
competitors.
C: In this scenario, the price of the brick is Rs. 10. We need to earn a profit of Rs.
4L. The fixed costs will not change due to change in quantity of sales and
production. Thus, the contribution will be 6L. Per brick contribution is Rs. 7, thus, I
will have to produce and sell around 85,000 bricks.
I: Yes, that makes sense. What does the contribution signify?
I: This sounds good. Let us look at the market share but I want you do a few
calculations for me first.
C: Sure
I: Let us say we are selling 100 thousand bricks. Should we reduce our price? Is it
feasible?
C: I would like to decide the feasibility of price reduction on the basis of our
profitability. To understand more about it, do we have any information about the
costs incurred for production as well as the fixed costs?
I: Yes. The variable costs are around Rs. 3 per brick and the fixed cost is Rs. 20000
currently.
C: (Asked for some time for calculating profit) Currently, we are selling a 100
thousand bricks at Rs. 10 per brick. Thus, our sales are Rs. 10 Lakhs. The variable
cost of producing 100 thousand bricks is Rs. 3L. Contribution is 10L minus 3L i.e.,
7L. The fixed costs are 2L thus our profit is Rs. 5 Lakh. We have a profit margin of
50% currently. If we reduce the price 10% per brick for the same sale quantity, the
sales would be 9L and the profit would be 4L. Although our profit margin would
reduce from 50% currently to around 45%, it still seems a feasible option.
I: Sounds Fair. How many bricks will I have to produce and sell if I still want to earn
a profit of Rs. 4L without reducing the price by 10%.
C: The contribution is that portion of revenue which is not used up by variable costs
and used to cover the fixed costs. Contribution is also considered while calculating
the break-even quantity essential to keep the business running in the short term.
I: Good. All the factors you listed while considering a price cut make sense.
However, as we are short of time, can you tell me why would you consider
customers while deciding a price cut?
C: As we are an established player manufacturing since many years and amongst
the Top 3 players, can I assume we would be having a specific loyal customer base
since many years?
I: Yes, we do have some loyal customers who value our quality.
C: Customers might perceive price cut as reduction in our quality of bricks. It can
create a lower perceived value for the product and buyers might consider our
product less valuable.
I: That sounds fair. So, what do you think should we do?
C: As currently the pricing in the market is more or less similar, 10% reduction by
one player will affect the pricing of other competitors as well. Based on the
calculations, a 10% price reduction will affect our profitability by 5%. We are a big
player in the market, and we have the capacity to reduce our prices and focus on
increasing our volume to compensate for the reduction in profit. Also, since most
of our customers are small builders, a 10% saving in brick cost might also be an
attractive opportunity for them to shift to another manufacturer since the product
128
offered by all players is similar. Thus, we can also go ahead with reducing our price
by 10%.
I: Correct. Seems good. That will be all.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Most of the interview was about working around a
set of data. The calculations were quick and easy,
and I could explain certain costing concepts well.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
There was not enough time towards the end of the
interview and the interviewer was rushing with the
questions. I could have explained a few factors to be
considered better. Also, it was not an industry I
knew much about.
None
Case Interview 2
Your Client is the manufacturer of fishing nets. These nets are used in agriculture,
fishing, and construction. The growth has slowed down. It wants to grow at 15%.
I: Your Client is the manufacturer of fishing nets. These nets are used in agriculture,
fishing, and construction. The growth has slowed down. It wants to grow at 15%.
I: Sure. Go Ahead.
C: What is the current growth rate of our client? Has there been a fall in our growth
rate?
I: The client is currently growing at 5%. It is a well-established player and was
growing at 10% earlier but the growth has gradually reduced to 5% over the last
few years.
C: What is time period within which we need to achieve this target of 15% growth?
I: We need to achieve this target in the next 3 years. Let us only consider the fishing
industry for this problem.
C: Okay. I would like to understand at what rate is the fishing industry growing.
I: The industry is also growing at 4-5% and our growth currently is in line with the
growth of the industry.
C: Okay. Where is the client located? Also, what is the distribution channel that the
client uses?
I: The client is located in India. It operates through dealerships and has a
distribution network all over India.
C: I would like to understand a little more about our competitors and their share in
the market.
I: We are one of the major players in the market. Our market share is about 70%.
We have not been able to grow much as the market has now stagnated.
C: (Clarified the problem statement). To understand the problem better, I would
like to ask a few questions first.
129
C: Okay. In order to grow at 15%, I would like to explore the existing market and
also explore new geography or businesses.
required. However, the fishermen would not buy a new net every year so we also
need to factor in the number of years after which they would buy a new net.
I: Let us consider the existing market for now.
I: This is a good approach. Can you also tell me what other strategies can we look
at to grow in the existing market?
C: While exploring the existing market, I would look at increasing the volume of
sales or increasing the price of our nets.
C: Sure. Fishing net can be used for sea water as well as freshwater fishing. I would
divide the population of the country on the basis of access to coast or river and
those with no water body around for fishing.
C: Firstly, we can increase the overall distribution network that we have. Currently,
we are only selling through dealership. We can increase our distribution channels
and also venture into setting up our own retail stores. Or we can also increase the
number of dealerships we have within the same channel. Second, we can analyze
the current market and try to onboard more customers. Third, we can diversify our
product. We can introduce different sizes for the fishing net. We can also introduce
a variety in the shapes of the mesh. Fourth, we can market our product better. As
most of the customers we are targeting are from rural areas, we can market our
product through radio or local bazaars and trade fairs. Fifth, we can also consider
acquiring other players in the market. However, that depends on two factors –
their willingness to sell and our capacity to buy. Sixth, we can look at the pricing of
the product.
I: Let us consider only seawater fishing here. Since we are short of time, tell me the
approach first and then you can calculate.
I: This sounds good. I think you have covered all. We can stop here. Do you have
any questions for me?
C: Sure. I would divide population of India who live along the coast and those who
live in landlocked areas. Out of the people living along the coast, I would divide
them into those living in rural areas and those in urban. The population practicing
fishing as a profession in urban areas would not be much thus, I would first look at
the professions practiced in rural areas along the coast. On the basis of their
professions, I would divide the population majorly between agriculture/farming,
poultry/animal husbandry, fishing and other. Out of the population that practices
fishing, I would consider the number of households here and divide the population
assuming 5 people per household. This would give me a number of fisherman and
assuming every fisherman buys his own net, that would be the number of nets
Interview Experience
I: I would like you to look at increasing the volume of sales first.
C: The volume of sales can be increased by increasing our customer base or
increasing the quantity sold to a particular customer.
I: Can you help me estimate the size of the market for fishing net?
What worked well for you?
The first interview had gone well so I was a little
more confident while solving this case.
What could you have done
better?
I could have solved the guesstimate better. I got a
little lost at first on how I should go about it but
then I took some time to gather my thoughts and
then went ahead with it.
130
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Shreya Gupta
Undergraduate College
Shri Ram College of Commerce
Field of Graduation
B. Com (Hons)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Deutsche Bank – 12 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Why consulting, why Bain & Co.?
Why consulting over finance?
Case Interview 1
Your client is a cable manufacturer operating pan India. It is one of the 3 largest
players in the country. For the last few years, his/her costs have been higher than
industry standards. Can you help him/her figure out why is it so?
I: Your client is a cable manufacturer operating pan India. It is one of the 3 largest
players in the country. For the last few years, his/her costs have been higher than
industry standards. Can you help him/her figure out why is it so?
C: Reiterated the problem statement and asked some scoping questions. How high
have the costs been against the competitors? What is the value chain of the client?
Understanding more about the product of the client.
131
What are the costs to be looked at in a particular segment (process leg, geography
etc. or at an aggregate level)? Who are the consumers? Have the competitors
operated in a similar manner?
C: That's interesting, is there anything else you want me to look at in this process?
I: No, this should be fine. (Had some discussion about how this industry works and
the manner in which this case was actually solved)
I: Let us look at what the various heads of costs can be.
Interview Experience
C: Sure. So as per my understanding, the costs incurred can be broken down into
the following heads- Raw material acquisition, Inbound logistics, Production and
processing, Outbound logistics, Distribution, Marketing & after sales services,
others such as depreciation, financing cost etc. Is there any particular cost head I
should look at?
I: Do you mind taking a guess?
C: Since it is a high-volume industry, I believe the cost of raw material and logistics
(inbound) must be high.
I: That's right, the cost of raw materials and logistics is a major chunk of the client's
total cost. Can you maybe figure out why do we have a higher cost?
C: Sure, there can be few reasons for the same, quantity, quality, and suppliers.
I: The quantity we buy has been in line with our processes. We have also had the
same suppliers for the last 10 years or so. Is there anything else you can think of?
C: If the quantity we are buying is not an issue, that rules out possibilities of
efficiency related costs. We are essentially incurring higher cost per unit which
might be because of difference in the quality, form etc.
I: Yes, that is right. While we are buying aluminum in form of sheets. our
competitors are buying it in the form of blocks.
What worked well for you? NA
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Asked for feedback.
Case Interview 2
Client is a steel rod manufacturer who wants to reduce costs by a target amount.
I: Client is a steel rod manufacturer who wants to reduce costs by a target amount.
You need to help the client.
C: I would like to start by listing down the major cost heads for the manufacturer.
Starting with the procurement of raw material, logistics, manufacturing, storage,
and distribution are the major cost heads. Is there anything I am missing here?
I: Safety costs are also a major part of the overall cost. We also import 100% of our
raw materials which again is a major cost head.
C: Understood. We can domestically source the raw material required to reduce
the cost. Moving on I would like to understand more about the manufacturing
132
process. Is the manufacturing output uniform across or is it cyclic as per the
demand?
Tanvee Mall
I: Our client has a uniform output across the year, but the demand is not uniform.
This leads to higher holding costs during low demand period. The factory generally
operates at 60% of max output.
Undergraduate College
St. Xavier's College, Kolkata
Field of Graduation
Economics
C: As I understand, the fixed cost and the holding cost are high and there is a scope
to optimize it. Instead of uniform production we could look at cyclic production
and lease out our factory area to other players. This would also help us get the
transportation costs down and we could operate closer to max capacity, optimizing
the operating costs as well.
Professional Qualifications
FRM Level 1
I: Correct, we could plan to move the production process to cyclic process rather
than uniform and also revisit the procurement costs. Thank you, that would be it.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
My answers related to my professional experiences
were well-structured and covered all aspects in
detail.
Fidelity International (10 months)
Work Experience
Citi Group (21 months)
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
Tell me something that is not on your CV.
How has the virtual MBA experience been thus far?
NA
Case Interview 1
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Client is a ropes and nets manufacturer. Their growth has slowed down while
their margins are improving. They want to achieve full potential. Help them.
C: What is the current growth level?
I: Single digit
133
C: What is the KRA for achieving full potential?
C: I would like to analyze the product mix, pricing, and distribution aspects across
the existing and new potential markets.
I: Sales acceleration- double business in 5 years.
C: Who are primary clients and what is our product mix?
I: Primary industries are fishing, construction and agriculture. Let us restrict our
analysis to nets.
C: Is it correct to assume our products include safety nets, fishing nets and shade
nets predominantly across the three industries?
I: Yes
C: Is it safe to assume that we operate across the value chain and the distribution
network is dealership module with region wise traders in place?
I: Yes, distribution module is the most critical and works in the dealership
mechanism.
C: How much market share is captured by us and how is the competitive
landscape?
I: That is good. Asked follow up questions on what in each bucket would you
analyze. Asked to guesstimate the size of the fisherman market.
C: Discussed broad approach. Extrapolated Bengal population to average out the
population of coastal states. Divided population by income levels and assumed
proportion of population in the segment involved in fishing industry. Estimated
overall market demand considering initial and replacement demand based on
average years mentioned. Considered market growth @ 5% lower than GDP owing
to nature of product. Selling Price of net given by interviewer.
I: Summarize the case and give key next steps to achieve full potential.
C: Checked for any time or spending limit. Suggested recommendations across
product, contract-strategy, and distribution network. Product diversification into
relatively lower grade and life of net. Increase variants other than rayon and nylon
and other use cases for the product. Recommended long-term contracts with
fisherman and rental option. Streamline Distribution network across operations.
With dealership restricted to one player across prominent regions. Reduce
overheads and increases sales.
I: We are a dominant player.
Interview Experience
C: Shall I analyze all the 3 industries and layout their sales acceleration strategy or
focus on any particular industry?
I: Let us start with fishing industry.
C: How many types of fishing net do we have? What is the quality, material, and
life of these nets?
I: Nylon and rayon nets. Average life 7 years
What worked well for you? Ability to comment on industry value chain and
specifics based on first principles. Continuously take
buy in and discuss assumptions with reasoning along
the case discussion.
What could you have done
better?
The guesstimate could have been approached in a
more structured manner.
134
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Could you give an example where client onboarding
happened by chance but became a critical longstanding relationship later?
Case Interview 2
Your client is an OTA aggregator. It is growing really well at 20-30% over the last
5-6 years. It wants to be IPO ready in 5 years but has negative EBITDA. Chart out
the strategy
C: Since when is the client operating?
I: 10 years
C: What is its current market share and how many competitors exist?
I: 30% share and it is the 3rd largest player among the few competitors.
C: What are key services. Are we like MMT with flights and hotels as are key
product offerings? Do we offer any other product?
C: Is it safe to assume we are primarily catering to the upper middle class and the
rich?
I: Yes
C: Since a path to EBITDA positive is key consideration. I would like to divide my
analysis into understanding revenue growth opportunities and secondly look at
areas of cost minimization. Is that ok and would you like me to focus on any of the
above analysis?
I: Yes, let us focus on revenue.
C: As our revenue model is commission based, I would like to confirm if it is safe to
assume that the commission is based on both value and volume of transactions?
I: No, it is based only on value.
C: Since this is a B2B2C operations, I would like to analyze revenue growth
opportunities through 2 key stakeholders the customers and the retailers.
I: Let us start with retailers.
I: Yes, while flights and hotels capture 80% and 15% of revenue mix. We also offer
train/bus booking and experiences with experiences captures less than 1%.
C: Shall I focus on flight and hotel segment as they comprise 95% of our revenue
C: Are we facing negative EBITDA across all segments?
I: Yes, can you give me suggestions on revenue improvement for these two
segments.
I: Yes
C: Primary revenue sources would be commissions. Is my understanding correct?
I: Yes
C: Laid out my analysis across 3 segments: existing revenue model and scope, and
contract strategy, promotions. Suggested enhancing existing revenue model by
transition to commission model based on value and volume to benefit from both
open and click rates. Suggested push marketing for low ticket purchases increase
experience segment contribution. Revamp contract strategy to ensure increase
135
product placement and bundled offers for improving commission paid by retailers.
Focus on revenue from advertisements on desktop, mobile website, and mobile
application. Enter new segment and deprioritize segments with low revenue
potential. Discussed on bus and train segment. Increase experience offerings to
include products offered by likes of Thrillophilia.
I: We are planning on entering car rental. Should we do that?
C: Broke down the cab rental space talked about existing players like Zoomcar
predominantly which has captured the market. Discussed about time and resource
constraint given negative EBITDA of existing operations.
I: Agreed and asked if we should acquire something like Zoomcar?
C: Suggested no and substantiated based on disadvantages despite the benefits of
the strategy keeping in mind the objective of IPO in 5 years.
I: Agreed with recommendation. Please summarize the case.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Able to substantiate answers with industry
examples.
What could you have done
better?
Could have improved my case solving structure.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
How different is it working with early-stage startups
on strategy projects in comparison to larger
established corporates?
136
Arpit Burad
Undergraduate College
IIT Bombay
Field of Graduation
Chemical Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Tata Steel – 36 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell anything from your life so far which you are extremely proud of?
I see you have worked quite a lot on coal industry, can you categorize what are the
challenges faced by the industry in India?
Case Interview 1
Our client is an NBFC and they want to reduce their loan turnaround time to 1/10
of existing so that they can match the best in industry. Identify the levers through
which it can be done.
C: Explained him about my understanding of NBFC. So, our client is an NBFC and
they want to reduce their loan TAT to 1/10. Is there any other objective? Also, in
order to achieve the same do we have some constraints on time and investment?
C: Asked about the company, the type of loan in case, target customer segments
and strategies used by the competition.
I: Bangalore based NBFC. 4th largest player in the market. We are looking into
home loan segment for the case.
C: Told and confirmed on my understanding of TAT in loan disbursal i.e., starting
from enquiry of loan, to loan disbursal by bank. Laid out the value chain of the
process.
Need of getting home loan > consideration set of all banks (based on brokers,
online search, and marketing by bank) > Going to the bank’s site to put request >
Submit documents > Property Verification > Approval and Loan Disbursal.
Asked questions and suggested recommendations which could lead to increase in
TAT because of each block in the value chain. E.g., Online submission of documents,
document handling (physical/digital), e-verification, verification of property via
government registry, automated approval based on past sanctioned loans based
on Machine Learning Algorithms etc.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Structured the case well. Interviewer seemed
satisfied given the knowledge about NBFCs and
loans. Was nervous at the start but HR answers
helped build the rapport in the initial few minutes.
What could you have done
better?
Since it was a qualitative idea generation case, I
could have spent less time on asking scoping
questions.
I: No constraints on investment. We want to see the result within 1 year.
137
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I assume that this is one of the cases handled by
BCG, what were the firm’s recommendations to
resolve it and what were the end results?
Case Interview 2
Our client is an IT firm based out of Bangalore. They are looking for international
expansion. Suggest ways and tell whether the firm should go for it or not.
C: Reiterated the case. Applied CPCC framework to know about the firm, its existing
customers, kind of services provided, presence of Indian IT players overseas. Asked
about
monetary
and
timeframe
constraints.
Laid out the framework of case. International presence could be done in 3 ways:
Inorganic (acquiring overseas players), Organic 1 (Opening a branch over there to
attract foreign customers), Organic 2 (Marketing and get overseas customer and
function from India).
C: Impact created on other clients, service time compared to other players, skilled
workforce and support provided post implementation.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Since the first round went well, was confident
during this round.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Tips for Future Candidates
I: Asked about what key cost drivers for an IT firm are.
Focus more on solving problems of different industries rather than solving multiple
problems of the same industry.
C: Human Resource, Infrastructure, Sales and Marketing etc.
Always try to lay the overarching framework at the start during interview.
I: What are the key risks associated with setting up industry by the organic 1 way
which you mentioned?
C: Customized Porter’s 5 forces and PESTER to identify risks. Classified them to
Industry and Macro Risks. Included government norms, growth in IT industry,
availability of skilled human resource, response from local players etc.
I: What would be the major components of your pitch to any major IT foreign client.
138
C: To understand more about the company, where does it sell tyres and how many
different types of tyre does it sell?
Aziz Malik
Undergraduate College
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
I: Its market is in the US itself and has only one single type of tyre.
Field of Graduation
Chemical Engineering
C: Is the client the leading manufacturer in the market?
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Ola – 24 months
I: Yes, it is the leading player across US.
C: Is there any constraint on the capacity with either of the options?
I: No, we can cater to the increased demand with either of them.
HR & Conversation Questions
Talk about 3 highlights from your CV.
How is Ola doing right now? What do you think is the way forward for Ola?
C: I would now like to delve deeper into the available options. First, I would like to
proceed with expansion in the US market. I would break down the different costs
and then look at each of them. Setup of plant (land and equipment), procurement
of raw materials, manufacturing operations, distribution network. Should I go
ahead with these heads or am I missing something?
I: Sure, go ahead.
Case Interview 1
C: Are we planning to setup a new unit or acquire an existing unit in the mid-west?
If we plan to set up a new unit, what will be the cost of land and equipment?
Client is a tyre manufacturer in Mid-west US. Market is growing for automobiles
and client wants to expand capacity. Two options are available with the client,
either expand in the US or tie up with a Chinese manufacturer. Analyze the
options and recommend the solution.
I: We want to setup a new unit. The government is supporting local manufacturers
and we will be able to purchase land at subsidized rates with a tax holiday for 5
years. Machines will be of better technology and will also be subsidized.
I: Let us do a case. Your client is a tyre manufacturer in Mid-west US. Market is
growing for automobiles and client wants to expand capacity. Two options are
available with the client, either expand in the US or tie up with a Chinese
manufacturer. Analyze the options and recommend the solution.
C: Understood, there is a clear benefit in terms of acquiring land and purchasing
equipment. Now I would like to know more about the procurement and
manufacturing costs. Will we be procuring from same suppliers? Will there be any
reduction in costs of manufacturing like manpower due to better automation?
I: Yes, cost of raw materials would be same and labor costs will go down due to
advancement in technology.
139
C: Moving on, how will our distribution costs change if we open a new plant? Will
the overall logistics cost increase?
I: No, so there is a mother warehouse in mid-west US from where we deliver across
the country.
C: Right. So, I have covered the costs for new set up in US and would now like to
move on to the tie up with Chinese player.
I: Sure, go ahead.
C: Since the player is already manufacturing tyres, I would like to understand what
the nature of the deal and the overall cost will be associated with tyre. This would
include margins of the Chinese player, import duty and shipping costs.
What worked well for you? I was confident in my approach and was asking the
interviewer time to time if I was missing something
or not.
What could you have done
better?
The structure could have been better covering more
qualitative factors like associated trade risks. tyre
quality, consistency in shipments etc.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Case Interview 2
I: Right, so the margin of the player is 10% over the price of the tyre, import duty
is 20% and shipping cost is additional 5%
C: So, assuming base price of manufacturing to be same, it is 1.35x of current price,
but China has lower manufacturing rates compared to others and thus, the cost
would be lower.
A new hotel has opened up in a metro city in India. What would be the number
of water bottles consumed annually in the hotel?
I: Let us do a quick guesstimate. A new hotel has opened up in a metro city in India.
What would be the number of water bottles consumed annually in the hotel?
I: What is your final recommendation for the client?
C: What kind of hotel is this and where is it located in the city?
C: From the data we have analyzed, it seems that with the subsidy of the US
government, the new setup seems to be a more beneficial option and would
recommend setting up own plant.
I: Thanks Aziz. That would be it.
Interview Experience
I: It is a regular business hotel with rooms, restaurant and a business center located
in the city center.
C: I would like to break the calculation into 3 parts, the calculation for rooms, the
restaurant, and the business center. To start with the rooms, I would calculate it
using the formula,
Rooms*average occupancy of rooms*no. of people in a room*bottles consumed
per person per day*365. Is it correct or am I missing anything?
140
I: Let us talk about factors affecting occupancy of rooms and consumption per
person.
C: The occupancy would depend on the type of rooms, day of the week, the
seasonality (March might have higher no. of customers compared to October
which is a festive month). The consumption of bottles would depend on size of
bottles.
I: Correct, the bottle is a 500ml bottle. Let us move to restaurant now.
C: For calculating no. of bottles for the restaurant, I will use, working hours of
restaurant, split it into peak and lean, multiplied by avg no. of people visiting in an
hour*bottles used per person* %people using bottled water.
I: This is alright, could you think of another approach to calculate people visiting
the restaurant?
C: We can take a supply side approach b calculating customers through number of
tables. Tables*per table seating*%occupancy*bottles per person.
What worked well for you?
I was able to break down various areas of
consumption and then list down the factors
affecting each
What could you have done
better?
I missed a couple of points and should have
promptly taken the interviewer’s hints as the case
progressed.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Be confident in your approach and try to smile during the conversation.
Go through the problem statement very carefully before beginning a case.
I: How will you break down occupancy?
C: The occupancy would be influenced by factors including meal of the day and
average time spent per person in the restaurant.
I: Right, I think we can end here. Thank you.
Interview Experience
141
C: Tell me more about the Victoria memorial property.
Ketan Katkar
Undergraduate College
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Field of Graduation
Metallurgical engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Tanaka Precious Metals – 34 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
Why do you want to pursue consulting?
Case Interview 1
Client is US based archeological site management company. They are entering
India and the first site they want to evaluate is Victoria memorial Kolkata. Every
year 1 cr. people visit the Victoria memorial. Currently the entry ticket is 1
Rs/person and annual operational cost is 150 Cr. Shall we bid for the property or
not for 30-year lease period?
I: Client is US based archeological site management company. They are entering
India and the first site they want to evaluate is Victoria memorial Kolkata. Every
year 1 cr. people visit the Victoria memorial. Currently the entry ticket is 1
Rs/person and annual operational cost is 150 Cr. Shall we bid for the property or
not for 30-year lease period?
I: a. Garden b. Lake c. Museum | Garden is 40 acre and has walking and jogging
paths. | Lake has boating facility | Museum is 3 stories and contains Victorian era
artifacts.
C: What is our objective?
I: Primarily Profits. Secondarily, enter Indian market.
C: I would use the following structure for the case. Analyze the investment
financially (Revenue streams, Profits, Investments, exit barriers) and operationally
(Autonomy, Risks involved)
I: Let us start with revenue stream analysis. Assume lake is not in our control we
can only generate revenue from Museum and Garden. How will we price the
tickets?
C: What type of people come to visit the Victoria memorial?
I: There are domestic (80%) and foreign tourists (20%).
C: For garden to roam around 40 acre one will spend 1 hour maximum. We can use
the value-based approach to price its ticket. Proxies for garden visit can be having
a cup of tea, watching movie, visiting a mall or just time-value of 1 hour. Minimum
one will be willing to pay is Rs 10 (for cup of tea).
I: Okay. What about the Museum?
C: We can do value based or competitor-based analysis to price the ticket.
I: Okay, let us assume ticket price for domestic tourist is 10 Rs. How much shall we
take from Foreigners?
142
C: We can take a fixed percentage from their expense. Or we can see how much
they are spending on similar attractions (like Taj Mahal, Gateway of India).
What worked well for you? Structuring the case quickly and exhaustively.
Keeping the interview conversational, hence
interviewer helped me understand details better.
I: Okay. Let us assume we take 500 Rs from foreigner. Now do you think we can
make profits.
Ability to do quick mathematics accurately.
C: Let us see how many people will visit garden and museum. Garden is more
suitable for generic purpose; hence 75% people will visit it. Museums require
specific interest in art and history, hence only 25% people will visit them.
I: Okay, calculate the revenue generated.
C: With the assumed information we will make around 110Cr from the tourist
tickets.
What could you have done
better?
Asking good preliminary questions is important and
do not miss out on them.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
My interviewer had previously worked in Zomato
and Paytm (I looked it up on BCG micro website
before the interview). I asked him what made him
bring come back to consulting from startups?
I: We need at least 40 Cr more. That means 40 Rs per customer. How will you
generate it?
C: We can look into food and catering services, tour guides, photography, transport
services. The revenue generation might not be 40 Rs per person it can be more
from foreigner and less from domestic tourists.
I: Okay. So, we shall make the bid? What about operational aspect?
C: Financially it looks profitable, as over the year we can look into increasing the
tourist volume and reducing costs. We should look at risk factors such as what will
be the response of locals staying near Victoria memorial when we implement the
tickets, as they might protest to that.
I: Okay, that is all from my side.
Interview Experience
Case Interview 2
Give revenue increasing solutions only to a paints company CEO.
I: Give me only revenue increasing recommendation for a paints company.
C: I would like to know more about the company, its product and competition.
I: It is India's second largest paints company, and it is growing very fast. They have
already done their cost analysis and they are competitive. They make decorative
paints. The largest player is 2 times their size.
C: Can I get to know what is their product mix?
I: They make 3 types of paints. Luxury, Premium and Mass. Luxury is for high-end
customer and is price competitive with other companies and has 70% margin.
143
Premium is for middle class customer and has lower price than luxury and has 60%
margin. Mass is for general purpose and is price competitive with other companies
and low price and has 45% margin.
C: We can make contracts with multiple raw material suppliers to reduce cost.
Improve logistical efficiency. Automate accounting processes through inventory
management software.
C: Can you tell me about the company’s value chain? and to whom do we sell it to?
I: Okay that will be all.
I: The paints company manufactures, then send it to depot from where it goes to
retailers. The company has around 50K retailers. From there we sell it to contractors
and painters.
Interview Experience
C: Structure of the case. We can increase profit margins by increasing the price,
changing the product mix and by product innovation. We cannot increase sales by
volume because that will lead to increase in cost also. To increase the price, we must
look at the price elasticity of each product (in our case premium product's price can
be increased little bit to match its competitions price). We can promote more of
luxury products because they have more margin. We can try to come up with new
types of paints for wider range of application and newer technologies.
What worked well for you?
Be confident, do not hesitate to take time to think
and if you feel it is taking too long, start thinking loud.
What could you have done
better?
Make no assumptions always ask for data you do not
know.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
The partner taking my interview was handling FMCG
clients. I asked him that I am being from Industrial
background have not experienced working in FMCG
clients. How are they both different and how are we
allotted on the cases?
I: (15 minutes into the case) Okay now let us have a look at cost side also once.
Where can we try to reduce cost?
C: We can divide it into raw material, manufacturing, logistics/transportation, and
retailer’s margin.
I: Look into the raw material cost as it accounts for 70% of the total cost.
C: We can break it down into Commercial cost + procurement cost + accounting cost.
I: Give me suggestion to lower down the raw material cost.
Tips for Future Candidates
While preparing for consulting interviews try to understand how different
businesses work. This will help you to structure in more innovative ways. Always
time your practice cases, as they push you to dive deeper in less amount of time and
make your structures leaner.
144
Kushal Maheshwari
Undergraduate College
Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and
Economics
Field of Graduation
Commerce (B. Com and M. Com)
Professional Qualifications
CA, Cleared CFA Level 3
Work Experience
Omniscient Capital – 21 months
Case Interview 1
I am a UAE based bank. I want to enter the Indian market. Help me in taking this
decision.
(This case was completed in <5-7 minutes)
C: Surely, as your consultant you want me to assist you in deciding whether the
Indian market is good for your business, right?
I: Yes.
C: I would first like to gain a deeper understanding of the business. Since how many
years are, we in operation and which geographies do we cater to?
HR & Conversation Questions
I: We are in business for more than 20 years and are the in the top 5 banks in UAE.
We operate in the GCC countries.
Tell me something about yourself.
C:
Why have you done CFA after CA and why MBA now?
Tell me something about your articleship experience (I spoke about an NBFC client,
this drove the entire discussion for the next 15 minutes)
Difference between a bank and NBFC?
Who regulates banks, who regulates NBFCs?
How do they source funds? Who has cheaper funds?
Is
GCC
is
an
alliance
of
some
countries
in
the
Gulf
Region?
I: Yes, GCC stands for Gulf cooperation council and has 6 members.
C: What kind of banking services do we offer? How is our portfolio, in terms of book
size in retail, corporate, real estate and others? Also, since we are a global bank, we
might be having many international transactions, am I right?
I: We provide all sorts of banking services, but we specialize in Transaction banking.
Yes, we do have multiple international transactions.
C: What exactly do you mean by transaction banking?
How is the current scenario for NBFCs and banks?
I: We are into trading, exports, imports, and forex. Could you move on to how we
will make the decision.
145
C: Absolutely, give me a few seconds to structure my thoughts.
I: Do you think HDFC will not be able to replicate that?
I: Definitely.
C: Yes, they will be able to replicate it.
C: I would begin by analyzing the qualitative country and industry level factors, then
I would see whether the market size is lucrative…
(I was a bit lost after this, because this was a conversation and since we were not
following any structure, I did not know what to do next)
I: Kushal, let me interrupt you. I do not want you to use this framework. Tell me how
we enter the market.
I: What do you think our real advantage is?
C: Just give me a few moments to analyze the situation.
C: Alright, so we could enter the market organically by taking a license from RBI, or
maybe look at inorganic modes subject to regulations of RBI.
I: Surely.
I: Let us cut to the chase, do you think we can compete with the likes of HDFC.
C: HDFC has a very diversified business all over the country with an exceptionally
clean loan book with strict control on bad debts and this enables it to have cheap
cost of funds. For a new entrant, competing with HDFC will be exceedingly difficult.
C: We have a customer in UAE who are interacting with counterparties in India, we
can explore to leverage these relations.
I: So, what do you suggest? Should we not enter.
C: We can target the counterparties to our customers and give them a holistic
banking experience with priority banking and services related to forex, futures, and
forwards.
C: We need to find a niche segment we can cater to.
I: Like?
I: Correct, go on.
I: Right, this is the only advantage we have over Indian banks, we can leverage this
to enter the Indian market. Thanks a lot, all the best!
C: India and UAE have good import export volumes. So, we can start by entering into
a state where there are extremely high exports and imports like Gujarat. We can
begin our operations there and slowly scale up.
Interview Experience
I: Good approach, but why will people come to my bank and not HDFC.
What worked well for you? What worked well was the interview was very
conversational, I knew my technical well and that
drove around 15 minutes of a 22–23-minute
C: We can try to create tech-based solutions to improve the banking experience.
146
interview. In terms of case solving, I stayed calm and
composed.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I should have thought more practically about
competing with a player like HDFC, right from the
beginning.
None
Case Interview 2
We are a tyre manufacturer in Mid-west US. The market for automobiles is growing
and we to expand our capacity. Two options are available with the client, either
expand in the US or tie up with a Chinese manufacturer. Analyze the options and
recommend the solution.
C: Surely, I would like to gain a deeper understanding of the company first, where
does it sell tyres and how many different SKUs does it sell?
C: Do we foresee that there is enough demand to have a good capacity utilization
after increasing the capacity? Also, is there any constraint on the capacity with either
of the options?
I: Yes, our calculations say that even after increasing the capacity, we will operate at
100% capacity because of the demand. No constraints on capacity, we can cater to
the increased demand with either of them.
C: Do we have, or did we have any existing tie-up similar to the one we are
evaluating?
I: Yes, in the past we had a tie up with the same Chinese manufacturer for 10 years.
C: What is the size and scale of this manufacturer? What was the reason for
discontinuance of the same?
I: The Chinese manufacturer is a market leader in China. There were not enough
growth opportunities.
C: Give me a few moments to structure my thoughts.
I: Sure.
I: Our market is in US only and we have only one variant of our tyre.
C: Could you give me some details about the competitive landscape?
C: We can do a qualitative and quantitative analysis to decide which option is better
in the long run. Do you want me to proceed with this approach?
I: Yes, it is the leading player across US.
I: Yes
C: At what percentage of our capacity we operating at?
C: In qualitative analysis I would like to compare the two options based on certain
company level metrics like quality of tyres. speed of the process, nature of contract,
chances of shortages, degree of control and then we can evaluate industry and
I: We are operating at 100% capacity.
147
country level factors. I would evaluate the costs in the quantitative analysis. Do you
think I am missing anything, or can I proceed?
I: Yes, you can proceed.
C: Will the quality of tyres be same?
I: Yes.
C: If we expect timing of orders to be uncertain then relying on 3rd party would be
slightly difficult because time between ordering and receiving the tyres would be
long and we might lose out on customers. In our own system we can change
production levels as and when required. Also, we might have contracts with tyre
manufacturers with terms and conditions w.r.t minimum quantity. These contracts
could be detrimental if quantities are uncertain and speed required is high. There
could be demand & supply mismatch which could lead to shortages. Another key
thing that we should consider is whether this frees up the management bandwidth
and management can channelize their energy and efforts to something else.
I: Very good, go ahead.
C: Now looking at the bigger picture, US- china relations are especially important,
the tax regulations and tariff barriers should be considered. Considering the current
situation where elections are happening there is a lot of political uncertainty. Also,
US has imposed multiple tariffs and custom duties on Chinese products. I would also
like to know if there are any subsidies, tax advantages for own production.
I: Wonderful, move on to the quantitative analysis.
C: We will have to incur fixed cost to either own or lease machinery to increase our
capacity. Apart from that we will have to incur Raw material cost on items like
rubber. We will consider other elements of the cost sheet like Direct labor, direct
expenses, Factory over heads, admin overheads, Selling and Distribution overheads
to reach cost of goods sold, to this we will add the duties we have to pay and deduct
the benefits of the subsidies. Whichever option has a lower cost will be chosen.
I: Great analysis. Assume that cost of making it ourselves is cheaper and qualitatively
also it is a bad decision to tie-up, but the CEO still chose to go ahead with the tie up.
Why would he have done so?
C: Could it be because they wanted to outsource this task as far as possible and focus
their efforts somewhere else.
I: That is a good reason but that was not the case here.
C: The Chinese manufacturer is the largest player in China, could it be possible that
we could leverage this relation to enter into the Chinese market?
I: Yes, that is what the CEO planned. Thanks, Kushal, all the best!
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
I: Yes, there is 50% subsidy for which we will be eligible if we do domestic production
without China.
C: Hence, looking qualitatively it makes more sense to produce on our own. Just one
thing we should consider is what if our competitors tie up with the Chinese
manufacturer.
What could you have done
better?
Giving importance to capacity in the initial scoping
questions as it was truly relevant to the case. This
helped me showcase first principle thinking.
NA
148
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Mayur Jain
Undergraduate College
Shri Ram College of Commerce
Tips for Future Candidates
Field of Graduation
B. Com (Hons.)
Knowing each and every line of your CV is absolutely essential, my entire interview
round 1 was based on only one line of my articleship which was ~ 5 years back.
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
QCI: 20 months, PRS Legislative – 12 months
Be patient between the 2 interviews as that is a high stress time period which could
make or break your placement process.
Keep it conversational, as you have to keep the partner interested. In the second
interview, the partner and I had a particularly good conversation about the
importance of being hungry for learning where he gave certain examples of his life.
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself
Why consulting?
Case Interview 1
You have been hired as an advisor to the Climate Resilience Officer (CRO), Mumbai.
Your first task is to create a vision for the next couple of years for the CRO. How
will you go about this?
(This case came up after an initial discussion on climate change as the interviewer
was a part of the climate change and environment practice at BCG)
C: Could you please explain to me the exact mandate of the CRO? Is this in line with
the BMC?
149
I: You can say that the CRO is an officer of the BMC. The CRO is responsible on two
fronts. Firstly, he is responsible for building climate resilience which means preparing
the city of Mumbai to absorb stresses imposed by climate change (rising sea levels,
increased temperatures). Secondly, he is responsible for climate adaptability. The
weather patterns are constantly changing and the CRO is responsible for building
any infrastructure that may be necessary for coping with changing weather patterns.
You can imagine building ridges along the sea banks as in The Netherlands.
C: Understood.
(After taking some time to think)
For the next couple of years, I think we can prioritize the action keeping in mind the
following two objectives:
a.
Saving lives of the population, particularly the vulnerable segment living
near the sea. Focus should also be on a large section of the population living in slums
like Dharavi who do not have the means to support rehabilitation in case need be.
b.
Minimizing disruptions when creating climate resilience infrastructure in the
city for corporations and general population as well.
I: Alright. How would you categorize your response to meet these objectives?
C: I would like to break the response into two aspects, a couple of initiatives which
are fairly long-term and can be started now, such as pushing corporations to build
sustainable infrastructure and moving to renewable energy. We can look at
introducing legislations in this regard over the next couple of years. In the shortterm, we can create ridges along the sea banks to prevent any immediate mishap
that may happen due to rising sea levels. We can also look at rehabilitation options
for slum dwellers in the short-term.
I: Okay. What is the kind of resources that you would need to implement these
points? Think in terms of competencies.
C: Maybe technical and budgetary support. Technical staff would include scientists,
technology staff to monitor climate patterns, knowledge transfer from international
locations. Budgetary support can be sourced from government funds, international
agencies like World Bank, UN, International Solar Alliance etc.
I: Alright, I think we can end the case here.
(This was a small case and was largely conversational as an extent of the earlier HR
discussion)
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? I kept the interview largely conversational which was
helpful.
What could you have done
better?
I should have stuck to the actual case structure that I
proposed in the beginning.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
What are the best practices internationally when it
comes to Climate Resilience?
Case Interview 2
Your client is a fuel retail company. The revenues have not been growing since the
150
last 3 years. The client has hired BCG to look at revenue generating options outside
the fuel and energy space. How should we go about this?
I: No, they just pick oil up from the refineries and use their distribution network to
sell fuel.
(Took a couple of seconds to come up with initial set of questions by using the CCPC
framework)
C: Understood.
C: Could you please elaborate on the scale of business of our client here? Where do
they operate?
(Tried to structure the response by using the Ansoff Matrix)
I: Sure, the client is a major fuel retailer in India. It distributes petrol, diesel and CNG
through its network of 13,000 pumps spread across the country. It is among the top
3-4 players in the market.
C: Since fuel is heavily government regulated, making changes in the price is
something we cannot look at. However, we can explore promotional tie-ups with
financial institutions for discounts. We can look at a combination of making
modifications in the existing product portfolio and the geographies we are catering
to. Maybe tap into new geographies and cater to B2B segments.
C: Understood. How does the client segregate these 13,000 pumps? By geography,
products supplied, any other way?
I: Makes sense. But for now, let us focus on non-fuel segment. Can you list down a
few factors and maybe come up with a model to decide which businesses to enter?
I: By geography. You can assume that the pumps are segregated into three
categories: urban, rural and highways. All three segments are facing this issue. The
products supplied across these pumps are fairly standard.
C: Sure, on a preliminary level, I would look at factors like revenue/profit
maximization, ease of business expansion, competition in allied sectors etc. All these
factors would differ in their importance depending on the geography.
C: How is the industry fairing at this time? Are the competitors also facing this issue?
I: Alright. Can you list down a couple of ideas by which the client can increase his
revenues?
I: Yes, so what has happened is that a number of competitors have entered the fuel
distribution ecosystem in the country in the last 5 years. Some of them have adopted
deep discounting policies as well. As a result, the overall revenue growth has become
stagnant. The client, thus, wants to diversify its business.
C: I see. One last question on the nature of business of our client, they are not into
crude oil extraction?
C: (After taking a moment to think) In the urban areas, we can look at monetizing
options by selling a couple of fuel stations which do not contribute enough to our
revenues. Urban stations will command a higher land price. We can also look at
integrating with allied services such as vehicle repairs, retail stores and shopping
centers wherever feasible. In the rural areas, the customer segments will naturally
be different so we will have to look at revenue generating options for rural
population. We can leverage our distribution networks and create rural mandis and
service centers for trucks and tractors. For highways, the main customers would be
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trucking and logistics companies. We can look at creating motels for them. Large
retail outlets can also be opened in busy routes. Service centers can also be opened
for vehicles.
Nikita Balaji
Undergraduate College
Lady Shri Ram College for Women
I: Makes sense. In addition to this, the client is also looking at tapping into other
allied services like insurance for vehicles and drivers.
Field of Graduation
Economics
C: Understood.
Professional Qualifications
None
I: Thank you, that will be all from my end.
Work Experience
None
C: Thank you Sir.
HR & Conversation Questions
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
I was able to take the cues from the interviewer and
was proceeding in a direction he wanted me to.
What could you have done
better?
I should have stuck to the actual case structure that I
proposed in the beginning.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Since this was an actual BCG case, I asked about the
approach they employed.
Tell me something about yourself.
(Among other points, mentioned travelling as a hobby) Any particular place/incident
that is your favorite?
(Mentioned Sweden) Do you know how Sweden has handled the pandemic
situation?
Case Interview 1
Tips for Future Candidates
Stick to the initial structure that you may have proposed and keep the interview
conversational.
Client is an IT major in India. They are doing well but have sub optimal top line
growth compared to their peers. The sales force productivity is declining. Help
them increase the same.
I: Let us do a case. Client is an IT major in India. They are doing well but have sub
optimal top line growth compared to their peers. The sales force productivity is
declining. Help them increase the same.
152
C: I wanted to ask some questions to get a better understanding. When you mention
IT major, can I assume a company like TCS? What exactly do you mean by top line
growth?
I: Yes, assume a company like TCS or Infosys. Top line is revenue growth.
C: What are the revenue streams for the company? What is the role of the sales
force?
I: The company provides IT services to other firms (B2B). The salespeople are linked
to accounts verticals. For large accounts, there is one person who acts as the single
point of contact. The more junior salespeople are mapped to verticals like banking
etc. The sales force is divided into hunters and farmers. Hunters are responsible for
bringing in new clients while farmers are responsible for handling existing clients.
They manage to bring in a revenue of 8-10 million a year.
(Here, as I started diving into the case, I missed asking about sales force productivity
and how it is measured, which the interviewer pointed out. I asked and he clarified
the same)
Productivity is measured as the amount of revenue per salesperson.
C: Thank you. Now that I have a fair understanding of the situation I would like to
jump into the case. Since the revenue per salesperson is decreasing, this could be
due to 2 reasons: we are not getting new clients (hunters), or we are not engaging
well with or enough with our existing clients due to which they are leaving us.
I: The hunters are producing okay but there are too many hunters which is leading
to lesser revenue per person (1-2 million per year). Farmers have low productivity.
C: If we were to focus on farmers, there could be two reasons why their productivity
is low. Either the existing clients are leaving us (account churn rate is high) or they
are unable to expand the existing accounts.
I: Right, they are unable to expand existing accounts. Why do you think this is
happening and what can be done?
C: They can keep track of any new opportunities within their existing clients,
expanding into other areas not already covered by the firm. The SPOC must keep
track of any such opportunities that might come up.
I: Anything else?
C: The salespeople must pitch the value proposition of the firm and their USP in order
to encourage the clients to give more business to the firm. They can give incentives
to the clients in terms of monetary or other means as well. They should reach out to
the right people within their client firms in order to land the message well.
I: Alright. Let us close the case here.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? I was confident and did not get flustered even when I
made a mistake, instead accepting and rectifying it
and continuing with the case.
What could you have done
better?
I missed out on an important clarifying question which
I should have been more careful about.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
The partner introduced himself and told me about his
journey at the firm. He mentioned about working on
climate change which I asked him more about.
Case Interview 2
153
The client is a petrochemicals company. The promoter is involved in the
exploration and production of oil and produces around 200,000 barrels of oil a day
(a sizeable amount - about 25% of India's production). The oil he produces is
significantly discounted. Help him add value to his oil.
I: The oil that our client transports are heavy or medium oil. It is a waxy oil which
makes the transportation and receiving process cumbersome. There is also a high
presence of Sulphur content.
I: Let us do a case. The client is a petrochemicals company. The promoter is involved
in the exploration and production of oil and produces around 200,000 barrels of oil
a day (a sizeable amount - about 25% of India's production). The oil he produces is
significantly discounted. Help him add value to his oil.
C: Thank you. I think I have a broad understanding now and would like to dive into
the case. In this situation, I think there are two areas we can broadly focus on:
looking at the current refineries that the client is delivering to and how the
transportation process can be improved or looking at identifying and delivering to
newer refineries.
C: Sure. I wanted to ask a few questions to understand this better. Where is our client
based out of? What does the value chain of his business look like?
I: Identifying new refineries will be tough to make practical. Is there anything else he
can focus on?
I: The client is India based. He is involved in the production of crude oil in India and
transferring it to 4-5 refineries. His production facility is present in Rajasthan and he
delivers oil to one refinery in Mathura, two in Gujarat, and one in the coastal area in
Mumbai.
C: He can expand his business into setting up his own refinery.
C: In this case, is there a way to set up a production facility closer to these refineries?
I: This process has a long lifecycle wherein it takes 3-4 years to find the oil and then
a few more years to start the drilling process. Hence, this is a process of 3-7 years
and not very feasible.
C: Alright understood. Next, I want to understand, when you mentioned that the is
oil is discounted, how much is it discounted?
I: Yes, that is an option he can explore. In terms of the yield of the crude slate, 45%
is petrol and 20% is diesel. There is an additional realization of $20 for petrol and
$30 for diesel. For example, for a crack of $20 he will realize $75. What is the return
per year the client can hope to get? Assume the plant is closed for 15 days a year.
C: Performed calculations. Total amount = $1.05 billion/year
I: Great. What are some other options the client can explore in his existing setup?
C: There are two issues with the transportation as you mentioned. The first one was
excess wax. Can we somehow modify the way we transport the oil to fix this?
I: We deliver the oil through pipelines. What can we do to reduce the wax?
I: The known price of Brent crude is $55 per barrel and producers can sell their oil at
either a premium or discount to Brent. Our client sells at a discount of $10 a barrel.
This is not acceptable to him and he wants to know how to monetize his oil better.
C: We can maintain the oil at a certain temperature so as to prevent wax from
forming.
C: Is there a particular reason for why his oil is being discounted?
I: Right, so we can have heated or insulated pipes. What else?
154
C: Can we use the sulfur content in the oil?
Shravan Jain
I: We can also create naphtha from the crude. We will get 10% yield regularly. This
can increase to 20% but will reduce the yield of petrol and diesel by 5%. Each ton
would cost $145. Would this be a feasible option? I started calculating but the
interviewer stopped me in between.
Undergraduate College
Osmania University, Hyderabad
Field of Graduation
Commerce
I: We can close the case here.
Professional Qualifications
CA, CFA L2 Candidate
Interview Experience
Work Experience
KPMG – 20 months
What worked well for you?
I was calm and confident, even though I did not know
much about the industry and was able to handle the
numbers aspect as well without getting flustered.
What could you have done
better?
Maybe I could have structured the solution better.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I asked the partner about his journey in the firm.
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
How has the journey at IIM Lucknow been until now?
Why Consulting over Finance given your background?
How was your experience while working in Europe?
Case Interview 1
The client is a bank in UAE looking to expand to South Asia and seeks your advice
on the same.
C: Asked clarifying questions ranging from the objective, timeline, past experience
of expansions, if any, current operations, target audience etc.
155
I: Briefed about the above, mentioning that the banks major clients in UAE are
corporates, dealing in international transactions.
C: Asked if the target audience is to be the same or can be different and proposed
to concentrate on India.
I: Sounds good, Which parts of India do you think should be looked at?
C: Suggested the South-Indian states with special focus on Kerala with reasons for
the same.
I: Good case, lets end it here. Can you summarize the case for me?
I: You may focus on India as the target. What factors would you evaluate for different
regions and businesses to be targeted?
C: Since it was established that the Indian market was to be entered, confirmed
whether an evaluation of India as a country was required.
I: Assume India is the best possible country to go ahead with. Let us focus on the
business plan.
C: Evaluated the banking industry and confirmed if the related regulations and
requirements could be met by the client. Inquired regarding competition and the
presence in international transactions space.
I: Please consider the actual scenario of banking industry in India and evaluate the
competition accordingly.
C: Summarized the case and exchanged pleasantries.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Directing the case based on the information I had of
the country/industry and timely confirming the points.
What could you have done
better?
More suggestions could have been provided for
locations to be targeted.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
C: Given the presence of MNCs and the export intensive software & IT industry,
concluded existence of aggressive competition. Also, differing nature of transactions
compared to Oil and Gas industry would also be a barrier preventing the client from
using the expertise gained earlier.
Case Interview 2
I: Valid point. What could be the other alternatives the client has?
C: Confirmed the exact timeline and was told it is a real time scenario. Asked other
scoping questions such as the operations, difference in Europe and other regions.
C: Suggested targeting Indian origin employees from the middle east countries with
their families in India. As they would require assistance with money transfers,
deposits, withdrawals., etc., this space could the point of focus.
I: Europe is primarily used for high end fabric processing and the Asian
manufacturing units are for the medium and low end.
Client is a cloth manufacturer with presence in Europe and South Asia facing
growth issues due to the pandemic. Help them.
156
C: Inquired regarding competition and was given to understand that the one major
competitor was facing similar low growth rates while the other players experienced
a fall in revenues.
I: What according to you could be the different strategies to improve revenue
numbers?
C: Suggested reduced pricing and entering unexplored geographies considering
promotion and marketing actions would not garner additional demand due to the
pandemic.
I: Let us explore them further.
C: Initiated with price reduction and suggested parallelly targeting reduction in costs
to be able to sustain margins. Discussed how the same could be achieved and I
presented a few ideas for the same exploring each section of the production and
supply chain.
I: What factors would you consider for choosing a location and the strategy to be
adopted for that particular location to increase sales?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
The responses to the HR questions and scoping
questions set the interview in the right direction.
What could you have done
better?
Time spent on HR answers could have been reduced
and more points could have been spent on discussing
the case.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Just be yourself. Make sure you attend the Disha KT session before interview as that
would be the most helpful element that aids your interview altogether.
C: Bifurcated the solution offered into two using Ansoff matrix i.e.
1) New product in existing markets like Asia and Europe with price/product
modifications
2) Exploring new countries where the client currently does not have any presence.
Discussed briefly on each of the two.
I: That shall be all, thank you. Any questions for me?
C: None, thank you.
157
For rooms = No of rooms* Occupancy rate per day* No of days (30) * People per
room* bottles per person per day
Stuti Murarka
Undergraduate College
Lady Shri Ram College for Women
Field of Graduation
Economics
Professional Qualifications
NA
Work Experience
Citi (21 months)
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
(The interviewer helped with the numbers, he was satisfied with the equation and
wanted me to focus on the restaurant part.)
For restaurants = Operation hours of restaurant* no of tables* seating capacity per
table* occupancy of tables by the various operational hours* No of bottles per
person (also accounted for avg time spent per person per table)
The business center/ hall part will be fairly similar to the restaurant part. So, I
would focus on factors which would affect the booking of these corporate halls.
Some of the factors were location of the hotel (if closer to a business park or the
airport), the package offered by the hotel, the service provided and the reputation,
seasonality (for instance year ends would have more bookings)
I: Thank you, well done.
Case Interview 1
Interview Experience
The client is a hotel company, setting up a new hotel in a metro town. Estimate
the number of water bottles consumed in the hotel in a month. (Pre-COVID-19)
What worked well for you? I was continuously discussing my approach with the
interviewer. When I had realized I had missed out on
a factor I was calm and asked the interviewer if I
could take a step back and make certain changes.
C: What kind of hotel is it and how many rooms are we looking at. What is the size
of the bottle we are talking about and does the hotel also have halls given for
corporate and other events?
I: It is a 100-room hotel, mostly for business use. Looking at 500ml bottles and yes,
the hotel has halls rented out for events.
C: I would like to estimate room demand, restaurant demand and corporate event
demand separately.
What could you have done
better?
I had missed out on some factors initially and was
able to realize this when the interviewer gave me a
hint. I should have covered them myself in the start
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
158
Case Interview 2
I: Initially the quantity had dropped but now it has been restored to pre Covid-19
levels. We are operating at full capacity now so a lot cannot be done on this front.
You have been hired by a textile firm to create a post COVID-19 recovery road map
to improve their margins. Help them out.
C: I want to understand about the pricing and how it fared against competitors.
C: I would like to start by understanding about the client’s textile business, their
location of operations. What margins they are looking at and how the same have
been in the past. By when they want to achieve this target and if there is any
budgetary constraint. Also, I want to understand about the industry and the present
competition.
I: In the textile industry there are 4 major steps:
a. Getting the fiber, cotton, or polyester.
b. Spinning fiber into yarn
c. Weaving or Knitting
d. Garment Manufacturing
The client is in the 2nd step. They have 1000+ SKU's with plants in Europe, South East
Asia, and India. They ship to 60 countries globally. They were looking at a 7-8%
EBIDTA margin by 2021 or asap and no such budgetary constraints. The industry is
extremely competitive with a lot of players.
I: Because of a lot of competition there was a lot of undercutting and the client had
to reduce prices to sell.
C: I would look at some methods to improve our revenues. For instance, out of the
1000+ SKU got to know all do not sell well, so the focus can be on the ones that do
sell well. For some SKU’s, the client was known well in the market and had an
advantage over competitors so it could establish itself more in those areas. It could
also enter long term contracts with the weavers so that price-cutting would not be
required to be able to sell.
(The interviewer was very satisfied and stopped me midway. Asked to focus on the
next bucket.)
The major cost buckets starting from raw materials, inbound logistics, plant related
costs (labor, machinery, utility etc.), outbound logistics and any storage costs.
I: Due to paucity of time, choose any 2 buckets myself and analyze them further.
C: Since we want to improve our earnings, I want to focus both on how we can
increase our revenue and reduce our costs. Is there any particular bucket I should
start with?
I: You can start with revenues.
C: I want to understand how the quantity of production has changed from pre Covid19 to post Covid-19 and if we were able to sell our produce.
C: I would like to choose transportation and plant because I feel after Covid-19 this
was an area which could be focused on first.
(I Suggested methods on labor management, analyzed the wage structure as well.
Also spoke about ensuring that while transportation the most optimal routes were
chosen in terms of time and costs. Was more of a discussion with the interviewer)
I: Was happy and then we had to close it due to paucity of time. Asked if I had any
questions for him.
159
Utkarsh Agarwal
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
The fact that it was conversational throughout and I
was running the interviewer through my thoughts
and incorporating what we were saying as well.
Undergraduate College
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, University
of Delhi
Field of Graduation
Instrumentation and Control Engineering
What could you have done
better?
Could have given better reasons for choosing a
particular bucket first over the other.
Professional Qualifications
None
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Work Experience
BCG – 36 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tips for Future Candidates
Tell me something about yourself.
One needs to be very calm and composed throughout the interview. Even if you
make mistakes, it is okay to take a step back and make changes, it is important to
not panic.
What did you do at BCG for 36 months? Which team were you a part of?
Tell me 3 good things about your experience at BCG and 3 not-so-good things about
your experience at BCG.
A few questions related to basketball and undergrad PCom experience.
Case Interview 1
Your client is the CEO of an FMCG company. The profitability of the hair oil
product is a problem. Please look into it.
I: Let us jump to the case now. Your client is the CEO of an FMCG company. You
have been invited to inspect the profitability of hair oil brand.
160
C: Sure. I have a few clarification questions here. I wanted to understand more
about the company and the product. (Asked specific questions here)
I: It is a typical FMCG company with many brands and many products. We are here
to study the profitability of the hair old product. The oil is available in 3 SKUs- 50,
100, and 300 ml. (no special trend across the three SKUs)
C: I wanted to understand more about our customers and understand if the
product is targeting any particular set of people.
I: Great. We sell via 3 channels: general trade, modern trade, and e-com. The
percentage distribution of quantity sold is 50%, 30%, and 20% respectively. And
the margins in the 3 channels are 70%, 50% and 20%.
C: Thank you for sharing the data. It seems that general trade is best for business.
If the sole focus is on increasing the profitability, maybe we can think of selling
even more volume via general trade channels, considering e-com has considerably
lower margins.
I: That's great. I think we are done here. Asked few more questions from CV.
I: Yes, this oil helps in re-growing hair. There is not a lot of competition, but one of
our major competitors is priced at 2x. Oil is sold widely across India.
Interview Experience
C: Thanks. Now I want to look at the profitability. Since we are talking about
profitability and not profit, I would want to look at both revenues as well as costs.
What worked well for you? Kept it conversational. Took buy-in from him at a lot
of places.
I: Sure. Go ahead.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
C: So, looking at the gross margins, first, I want to look at costs. Can we look at
optimizing costs by achieving some sort of economies of scale?
I: Costs are optimized, nothing else can be achieved.
C: Okay. Now, looking at the revenues. Looking at it from units x price per unit
angle, and since the price has remained constant (confirmed this), units can be
increased, but I do not think that will increase the gross margins.
I: That's right. What else?
C: I want to look at the channels via which the product is selling.
Case Interview 2
Your client is trying to create a logistics company, which will use something like
a TATA Ace to deliver materials from one place to the other, and they plan to use
EVs to do this. However, to make it commercially viable, the client realizes that
they will have to run the EV almost 16 hours each day, which seems unrealistic.
What can be done?
161
I: Let us start the case. Your client is trying to create a logistics company, which will
use something like a TATA Ace to deliver materials from once place to the other,
and they plan to use EVs to do this. However, to make it commercially viable, the
client realizes that they will have to run the EV almost 16 hours each day, which
seems unrealistic. What can be done?
C: Sure. Could you help me understand who exactly the client wishes to serve?
I: It will basically transport standard FMCG stuff to kirana stores, retailers etc.
C: Okay, I want to clarify the question. What exactly does the client need help with?
I: Oh. So, during the normal delivery process using a diesel-based vehicle, it used
to run for about 7-8 hours each day and be commercially viable within a certain
time period. However, if we switch to EVs, even if we work for about 16 hours each
day, it will still take us more time than before to be commercially viable. What can
the client do about this?
C: Thanks for explaining. I want to understand what a typical day looks like for the
vehicle, as in, how many clients are supposed to be touched, any quality checks,
any mandatory factory visits etc. Where and how much does a vehicle travel each
day?
Vasudha Bassi
Undergraduate College
Shri Ram College of Commerce
Field of Graduation
B.Com. (H)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
J.P. Morgan – 34 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself in short.
Why consulting (and not finance)?
Which practice areas you are interested in?
Tell me about your work experience
I: Okay. Why don't you prepare a detailed travel route for the vehicle? Make it as
detailed as possible, think about everything from the start to end of day.
Case Interview 1
C: Tried to create a typical day for the vehicle including loading, unloading,
maintenance, sign-off during delivery, mealtimes, travel paths, etc.
The Government of Delhi is looking to outsource the operations and
management of Qutab Minar as they are running in losses. Your client is a Global
company, should they bid on this or not?
I: Now just tell me, where all can you cut time and how?
C: Gave some ideas to cut down time at each step.
I: The cost of operation is Rs. 150 Cr and ticket price are Rs. 2. Qutab Minar has 1
crore visitors in a year. Hence, revenue is Rs. 2 Cr, and losses incurred are Rs. 148
cr. Now, should they bid on this project or not?
162
C: (reiterated the problem statement) Okay I would like to understand more about
the situation. Can you tell me a bit more about this company? Where is it based?
What is the competitive scenario for it?
I: We do not need to look at the market. We can look at the contract specifically.
You can assume we would have the same costs.
I: There are 3 companies worldwide that do this. We are a US company and have
the largest market share. Others are European companies.
C: Okay so Rs. 150 cr for 30 years. That’s Rs. 4500 cr. We can look at the revenue
then. Which can be further divided into Ticketing and non-ticketing revenue.
Should I look at ticketing revenue first?
C: Okay. And what sort of monuments/sites have they managed before?
I: Yes
I: They have managed sites in US and Europe both. They have the capabilities to
manage Qutab Minar as well.
C: Since currently the ticket revenue from Rs. 2 is too low to cover the costs
incurred, can we explore the idea of differential pricing for foreign tourists? That
we can look at in terms of price, then we can also look at trying to increase footfall
to the monument.
C: Who usually manages the monument sites in India? Are there any domestic
players or just managed by government?
I: Managed by Archaeological Survey of India, which comes under the Government.
I: We can look at differential pricing. Assume we are already getting the maximum
footfall.
C: What is the duration of the contract for managing Qutab Minar?
C: Do we know the split of the footfall in terms of domestic and foreign tourists?
I: 30-year contract.
I: 80L domestic, 20L foreign
C: And the ticket price mentioned, Rs.2, is it the same for all visitors or does Qutab
Minar follow differential pricing for foreign tourists?
C: To look at the price to be charged to the foreign tourists, we can look at the 3
broad pricing strategies – cost based, competitive pricing and value-based pricing.
Looking at cost based, we can divide 150 cr by (paused here). Ok we cannot
determine for domestic and foreign tourists separately from this. But we know
average would be minimum of Rs. 150
I: Same price for all
C: Okay so we can probably evaluate India as a whole, the market attractiveness,
and then specifically the revenues and costs associated with this contract and sort
of understand if this will be a profitable venture for us to bid on. Does that sound
alright?
I: Yup. Does that help?
C: Not much. I will move on to competitive pricing then.
I: Sure
163
C: Okay so we can look at the prices charged for domestic and foreign tourists at
other key monuments in Delhi such as Red Fort. Do we have any information
around that?
I: But do you think that will cover up the gap plus the amount we bid on the
contract?
C: Most likely not.
I: You can assume the maximum charged for domestic tourists is Rs. 5, and there is
a cap on that by the state government.
C: (conversation about if monuments come under state or central government) We
can also compare with monuments in other states of India…
I: So then should we bid on the contract?
C: Since the contract is not profitable, we should not bid on the contract.
I: Thank you.
I: We can charge Rs. 10 at the maximum let us say.
Interview Experience
C: Sure, so revenue from that would be Rs. 8 cr. The rest of Rs. 142 cr also has to
be recovered. So, 142 cr/20L = Rs. 710 per foreign tourist. But this does not include
any margin we would want to make.
I: Do you think that is a reasonable price to charge them?
C: As per my experience, since my Father has been mistaken for a foreigner a
couple of times, around Rs. 500 is charged for foreign tourists.
We can also see in comparison to ticket prices for monuments in other countries.
I have been only to the US and there at Empire State the ticket price was more than
$30. Rs. 710 at the current exchange rate is just about $10. So as per me that should
be fine.
I: Fair enough. Let us say we can only charge maximum of Rs. 10 for domestic and
Rs. 500 for foreign tourists. Should we bid on the contract?
C: There is a gap of 42 cr still. To bridge that we can look at non-ticketing sources
of revenue sources, if we are allowed, such as parking…
What worked well for you? Being conversational and taking buy-ins.
What could you have done
better?
Faster calculations
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Is the case based on a real scenario?
Case Interview 2
Since we have both worked in the energy sector, let us look at the launch of a
new alternate fuel. A green Hydrogen based fuel, created using electrolysis and
does not use any fossil fuel. I want you to estimate the market for it in India and
tell me what factors should be considered to arrive on an investment decision.
Does India make sense for such a fuel?
164
C: We want to evaluate how suitable India is for the launch of a new Hydrogen
based fuel – the factors to look at and the market size. To do so, can you tell me
what sort of uses are we looking at for this fuel?
I: What uses do you think there could be? (interrupts me before I can say anything)
So mainly it can be used in Transportation and as an input into refinery/chemical
processes, hence industrial demand.
C: (took a minute) Some factors that would be more key in case of trucks would be
Utilization/time, infrastructure, and safety.
(Discussed on these, interviewer mentioned a couple of other factors such as cost
and asked if clean quotient mattered here. Ruled out commercial vehicles as a
good market)
I: Let us look at the chemical industry and the market size there.
C: Sure. Is there any segment I should try to look at first?
C: Could you tell me a bit more where exactly it is used in the refining process?
I: In terms of transportation what all segments can we look at?
I: It is used to remove sulfur from crude oil.
C: Road, rail, air, and water transport. And within that public/commercial and
private vehicles would be there
C: We need to find the market size and its growth, for which we can look at the
demand side from the refinery sector or the supply side. Supply side as per me
would involve more assumptions.
I: Okay, let us focus on road transport first. Within that what all would come?
C: Commercial and personal vehicles – cars, 2 wheelers, buses, trucks…
I: We can look at demand side as supply is not a problem since it is formed from
electrolysis.
I: Okay what all factors should we be looking at for a Passenger car owner?
C: (asked for a minute)
C: (took a minute to think) Okay so 5 main factors as per me would be – current
fuel mix in the category, cost associated, availability, safety, and utilization
(mileage). Is there anything I should focus on first or anything else I should look at?
I: I will tell you this that for 15 MN tons capacity, 1 MN ton of Hydrogen is required
in a year. Fuel demand is growing at 3-4% every year.
I: Let us compare these factors for this Hydrogen fuel vs electric car and discuss
them further.
(Discussed on the different factors and whether EV or Hydrogen fuel fared better,
and if it made sense)
I: Let us discuss the factors that should be looked at for Commercial vehicles –
trucks.
C: So, if we know the number of refineries and their capacity, we can calculate the
demand.
I: If there is a capacity of 300mn tons then what is the market?
C: 20mn tons.
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I: Yes. What all factors will these refineries look at while switching to a clean and
green hydrogen?
C: (took a minute) They will probably look at cost, contract and its terms, reliability
of supply, differentiation (clean), volume incentives and ease of use. (Further
discussion on these – determined additional capex costs would be the biggest
hindrance in adoption)
I: How would we persuade the refineries to switch to this?
C: (asked a little more about how exactly hydrogen is used and refinery process)
We can construct the necessary pipelines, provide the convertor from our own
expenses so that they do not have to make those capital expenditures. Use the
clean quotient as a differentiator.
I: Fair enough. We could also look at making the capex costs variable or payable
over time. Thank you.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Knowing hydrogen is combustible/explosive and
being conversational
What could you have done
better?
Covered a couple of points where the interviewer
pitched in
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
166
Akurathi Yeshwanth
Tell me something about the toughest project you have worked on and your
contribution in it.
How was your previous work experience at Oracle? Was it good? If yes, why did
you leave it in these unprecedented times?
Undergraduate College
NITK Surathkal
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (CSE)
Professional Qualifications
None
Case Interview 1
Work Experience
Oracle Corporation – 24 months
Your client is a pharma company and is willing to optimize its IT infrastructure
because of COVID-19. They have 6 data centers out of which 2 are critical. And
have around 10 internal applications. How would you optimize it?
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself, your biggest achievement.
Tell me something interesting in your life recently. (I talked about my new hobby.
Electric Unicycle. He wanted to know more about how I got into it. Had some good
discussion there.)
I: You seem to have some experience in cloud. Do you have any preference in what
type of case you want to do in cloud? Like scaling up, cost cutting etc.
C: Yes, most recently I have worked on a project to migrate to cloud. So, anything
related to cloud migration would be great.
I: Sure. (He gave the above case)
Tell me about your hometown (Guntur, my hometown was quite famous in Andhra
Pradesh according to him)
Do you follow politics? Who's Guntur’s(hometown) MP? How did he win when he
is not in the ruling party? If you are his upcoming campaign manager, how would
you strategize to make him win again?
What are the 3 things you liked about the Deloitte USI? Any suggestions or
improvements?
C: I observe that two Data Centers (DC) are critical and the rest four DCs are not.
So, we can migrate them to cloud and scale them according to our needs. This is
with the DC part.
I: We would like to know the steps of how you do that.
C: Identify which 4 need to be migrated, check the capacity they need, negotiate
with all vendors like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and go with the one with the most
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competitive price. Sometimes the vendors help in data migration so the data
center migration will be taken care.
What could you have done
better?
I did not reconfirm my assumptions in the smaller
bits, I was trying to give all the info that I know and
then asked him if this was ok to assume. But should
have done this in smaller bits.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
When asked for questions, I said that I had a very
long telephonic interview where I got all my
questions clarified.
I: Is that it? Is nothing else required?
C: With respect to DCs I cannot think of anything else in this moment. But we must
build the links to the applications with the migrated DCs.
I: Exactly! How would you go about it?
C: Can I assume there are around 10 applications in the company which we want
to focus on? Like ERP, CRM, HCM, Salary applications and HR applications etc.?
I: You need not classify them, just assume there are 10 out of which 4 are critical,
4 non-critical, 2 are not at all critical. C: If our client wants to show the progress to
their higher management, I would like to start with the biggest application so that
they can show a big impact in the first few months.
I: That's great! All the best for the second round!
(In the end they also asked about number of environments like development, UAT,
Production required for these 10 applications and how would I optimize there as
well - All these are too technical and need not be known)
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? They were giving clues when I was stuck. I always
made sure that I reiterated where I was lost so that
they could help me.
Tips for Future Candidates
In the telephonic round candidates will be given the kind of role they are being
interviewed for. For example, I was being interviewed for Cloud Strategy
Consultant. Knowing this would really help the way you prepare for the real actual
interview. Casebook by CSC and its sessions will give you a good start to cases. But
practicing them is entirely in your hands. If possible, try to be ready with general
knowledge questions along with the HR questions.
My partner round was a very casual discussion. The main issue was that
interviewer’s video was off and I could not see how he was receiving my answers.
But I always kept smiling and assumed that he has been receiving it well. I kept
smiling and maintained my calmness.
I should have prepared well for questions based on my hometown and politics.
Once he asked about my city and local politics, I got shocked. I took some time to
think. Luckily, IIM interview prep helped but should have brushed them up. Would
have been a cake walk if I had brushed up the general knowledge part.
168
A. Growth Objects: Historically, the company had 8 - 10 % growth. New target is
5%
Anurag Arora
Undergraduate College
Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka
B. Geographical Split of Revenues: USA - 80%, Canada - 25%, Mexico - 5%
Field of Graduation
Engineering
C. Margin - 10% ($1bn)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
KPMG (2 months), ZS Associates (34 months)
HR & Conversation Questions
Give me a quick introduction about yourself.
What are your aspirations?
Can you elaborate on the segmentation project as mentioned in your resume?
Why did you leave KPMG in 2 months? If given a chance, will you re-join KPMG?
D. Revenue split by Products: Heavy Vehicle sales - 70%, Light Vehicle sales - 30%
E. Revenue by channels: Automotive sales - 75%, Services - 25%
Sigma lags in EV innovation and advanced driving systems. Sigma is open to
expand to new markets. The competition is following cross border M&A and the
norm is traditional auto companies looking to acquire tech startups in other
countries.
C: I will just try to summarize all I could gather about the problem statement and
please fill in if I missed anything (Repeated the Summary).
I: Sounds good. The first question is what is the acquisition framework that you
would follow for this firm.
C: I would follow the following steps:
Case Interview 1
Your client is Sigma Automotive. They have $10bn revenue and are the current
industry leaders. They have been facing growth challenges since the past couple
of years. The slowdown is industry wide. The industry is moving towards a
consolidation landscape and smart vehicles. The growth beyond core offering is
the company’s current target.
1. Identification - Do an in-depth analysis of our requirements to have a clear
understanding of what we need from the start up and the acquisition.
2. Market Research - Do extensive secondary research to identify the startups
which fit our requirements.
169
3. Narrowing down options - Once we have a list of startups that fit our
requirements, do a detailed analysis on the shortlisted companies about their
financials and operations.
I: Alright great. Thanks.
4.The work towards the mode.
*Interrupted*
What worked well for you? Since the case was very data heavy, referencing the
data points in answers and properly analyzing the
data worked well.
I: This makes sense. Now you must meet with CEO, and you must give a summary
of growth options. Please suggest.
What could you have done
better?
I had not focused much on M&A cases during my
case prep and had focused more on profitability and
market entry cases. Focusing more on M&A cases
would have helped.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
What is the one thing that you like the most about
Deloitte?
Interview Experience
C: I would suggest 3 growth options:
1. Organic growth - We have a strong foothold in the heavy vehicle market, and we
can use the brand name to expand into the light vehicle market within USA.
2. Inorganic growth - We are already looking into options for technology start up
acquisitions to drive innovations in EV and advanced driver systems.
3. Expanding into other continents - We have a good name and market in the USA,
and we can explore international markets like Europe and Asia.
I: Okay now we will display three options of the startups on the screen and you
tell us which one you go with and why.
*Displayed 3 options with details around the growth, revenue, and net worth*
C: I would go with option 3 since it is in Europe and Sigma is looking for expansion
into other countries. Additionally, the revenues that the startup generates align
with the company's target and they have a fair experience of working in the
automotive industry.
170
Apeksha Gupta
Undergraduate College
Then, I assumed a certain percentage of people in each category who would be the
market for premium phones in India and thus, calculated the total demand of
premium phones.
Jaypee Institute of Information Technology
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (CSE)
Finally, to arrive at the market demand for iPhone, I factored the market share of
Apple in India.
Professional Qualifications
None
Interview Experience
SigFig - 15 months
What worked well for you? I kept the guesstimate discussion conversational and
stated all my assumptions and rationale.
Work Experience
HealthCare at Home - 26 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Give me a quick introduction about yourself.
Are you aware of the DevOps cycle?
What could you have done
better?
I felt I took more time than required for the
guesstimate. Had I practiced enough guesstimates
earlier, I could have been quicker.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
As the questions revolved around DevOps and cloud, I
asked for more clarity on the role I was being
interviewed for in terms of what is expected out of
candidates with no background in cloud.
In my introduction, I had mentioned how I had only worked with startups. I was
asked about my experience of working in a startup and how would that be
different from working at Deloitte?
What are the different avenues of switching to the
non-tech strategy roles at Deloitte?
Case Interview 1
Estimate the market demand for iPhone 12 in India.
For this guesstimate, I began with the total population of India and segregated that
basis income level & age group.
Case Interview 2
There is a retail company that has been growing tremendously for the last few
years. Recently, there has been an increase in the data center costs. As the data
centers are old, there have been a lot of outages lately. The owner has heard a lot
171
about cloud technology from his friends and is thinking of moving to cloud. Should
he make this decision? What will be the cost of moving to cloud?
mentioned the data centers are quite old, they might be using one of these
(obsolete) technologies.
(Asked a few clarifying questions)
I: Fair enough. What are the other considerations?
C: Where is the company located?
C: What is the size of the company and the user base?
C: I would want to do a cost-benefit analysis of moving to cloud vs having an in-house
setup with regular maintenance. I would also look at the current employee expertise,
data security and compliance issues, also the number of applications that we are
looking to move to the cloud.
I: Like Flipkart.
I: Let us talk about the last point more. What do you mean?
C: About outages - if it is a trend or a seasonal issue?
C: Say, we have multiple small applications which are not in use anymore, we might
not want to move those to cloud, rather do away with them or integrate them.
Basically, do a suitability and a financial analysis.
I – India.
I: Seasonal/ Promotional.
C: Since it is not a consistent issue, the company can consider moving to cloud as it
allows the flexibility to upscale/ downscale storage as per requirement. If the
company increases the data storage at the current data center, that might become
redundant at other times of the year, hence incurring him extra costs.
I: Alright.
C: What is the infrastructure/platform of the data center?
I: (Some back and forth on the above point.) Let us talk about the costs now. What
are the different costs involved in an in-house setup vs on cloud in terms of capital
costs and operating costs?
C: Mentioned some costs under both the headers stating the rationale behind them:
Capital costs - Hardware & Labor Costs
Operating costs - Maintenance Costs
I: Why do you want to know that?
Interview Experience
C: This would have a huge impact on my decision to move to cloud. Certain cloud
platforms are not compatible with some technologies. For example - AWS does not
support Mainframe applications and Unix based applications. They need to be
refactored and re-platformed respectively to perform the migration. Since you
What worked well for you?
As before, I tried to be vocal about my thought
process. The interviewers were not looking for any
172
industry jargon or deep technical knowledge, just the
logical structure and flow.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I am relatively new to this domain. What is expected
of me as an intern?
Where would an intern’s contribution be in the whole
(cloud) consulting chain?
Tips for Future Candidates
Keep smiling throughout. Make the interview conversational and be honest.
Gandhi Mihir Hiren
Undergraduate College
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (Chemical)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Mu Sigma – 32 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
Explain how do you pursue your hobbies and how do they help you? Tell something
about
the
Premier
League
and
Liverpool
Football
Club.
This was an interview with the strategy consultancy partner. So, it was mainly a
company-fit check interview. Below are the questions he asked:
Share your experience with online learning and the online placement process.
Describe your journey from Data Science to Consulting.
Explain briefly about your pricing project.
Explain briefly about the fraud detection project and showcase the impact the project
created.
173
Case Interview 1
I: That is correct.
Our client is a sports manufacturer, and their business has been affected by the
ongoing pandemic. They sell fitness products and accessories to the customers.
What would be your strategy to increase the revenue of the client?
C: Since when are we experiencing this decline in revenues and what has been
the quantum?
Used profitability and growth framework to identify ways to promote the business
in pandemic.
Interview Experience
I: The decline has been for 5 years and the decline is >20%.
C: By fitness outlets do we mean a setup like a gym?
I: Yes.
What worked well for you? This was an interview with a buddy, I made a good
impression in the initial HR questions.
C: How many such outlets do we have and where are they located?
What could you have done
better?
I could have used better storytelling while explaining
my projects.
I: We have 20 such outlets in the semi: metro areas.
(Used profitability and growth framework & used CPCC to get the basic
understanding of the problem)
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Basic questions about Deloitte and the role.
Case Interview 2
Divided problem in Revenue and Cost parts. Discussed on multiple components
from both the branches. Identified multiple bottle necks in the costing part. After
having a discussion for around 15 minutes, we could cover all the potential
problems.
Our client has 20 fitness outlets in semi metro areas in USA. The company has
been observing a decline in revenue from last 5 years. Try to analyze the case and
find the potential solutions to improve the situation.
I was then asked to provide a short term and long-term solution and once I
answered that, I was asked to perform A/B testing on 10-10 fitness outlets. It was
asked mainly to check what all factors I was able to come up with.
C: To reiterate, our client has been facing decline in revenues for that last 5 years,
and as their consultant you want us to find the reasons and some possible solutions
for the same.
Interview Experience
174
What worked well for you?
I was able to implement a MECE structure into the
case to identify the root cause. I could also design a
strategy to find an optimal solution.
We talked a lot about the prospects of consultancy
and how COVID-19 have impacted the situation?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I could have solved the case much quickly if I would
have clarified my assumption with the interviewer
earlier.
I asked them about the definition of success for the
managers and how involved were they in
organization level planning and activities.
I asked about the interviewer's involvement in the
delivery projects and other organization-level
strategies. We also talked about different types of
clients and how Deloitte maintained good business
relationships with them.
Tips for Future Candidates
Try to connect with buddies prior to Day Zero, it helps to understand the company's
POV. It also shows how serious you are for the role. The second interview round
was grilling one. They tried to put me under time pressure. Try to keep them
involved in similar situations so that they are aware of the progress. Try to design
different questions for different interviewers.
Nama Pranay Naresh
Undergraduate College
IIT Guwahati
Field of Graduation
B. Tech
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Rivigo-37 months
HR & Conversation Questions
We had a general chat on my previous company Rivigo. The interviewer knew about
it and discussed about my experience there, what did I like, what did I not like. How
was my overall experience there?
Further discussion on IIM Lucknow since the interview was an alumnus. What are your
career goals and expectations from work and workplace?
I had a reverse cloud migration project mentioned in the CV, the interviewer asked
questions around that to try and understand what exactly was done and why.
Case Interview 1
1. A financial firm which uses old legacy applications is growing rapidly, you must
recommend a cloud migration strategy, how would you go about it?
2. Guesstimate: Estimate the total number of videos on YouTube.
175
I: A financial firm which uses old legacy applications is growing rapidly, you must
recommend a cloud migration strategy, how would you go about it?
videos a month - example would be coaching class channels), low frequency (10 videos
a month).
C: (Asked some clarifying questions about the firm- how old is the firm, how well
established is it) There are 2 aspects to this, firstly an analysis of the current systems
and communicating the benefits of cloud migration to the client. Secondly, the actual
strategy around how would we go about the migration. Which aspects do you want
me to focus on?
I: Very good, go on.
I: Let us focus on the benefits part, what all benefits will you communicate to the
client? Give a top-level overview. (Since I had told him that I had not worked on cloud,
the interviewer was not expecting too much detailing and did not grill but was
interested in a more general thought process and approach).
I: No need to estimate for the entire duration, 2019 is enough. How would you go
about it if you did not know the 2 bn figure of user base?
C: The benefits that the clients get include easier, faster, and cost-effective scalability
since the firm was growing. In addition to this, Better security features provided by
cloud service providers. The client will have cost-saving in terms of having the ability
to dynamically demand server resources with pay as you use pricing models.
I: Let us move on to a guesstimate Estimate the total number of videos on YouTube.
C: There are 2 bn YouTube users currently. I would like to assume that the content
creators to content consumers ratio of 1:10000 based on my assumptions. Can I go
ahead with this assumption?
I: Yes, you may proceed.
C: I would further like to break down the content creators into 3 segments based on
frequency of video uploads as high frequency, middle frequency, low frequency
content creators (10%, 20%, 70%). Then estimated high frequency uploads around
(1500 videos a month - example would be news channels), middle frequency (100
C: For the total number, since YouTube was started in 2005, I would assume a base
number x and an average year on year growth percentage and equate it to the 2019
figure obtained. This will help me find the total number.
C: I would estimate the userbase for India by segment based on internet penetration
in urban and rural segments and then age groups and get to a number, extrapolate
that to the world population considering some valid assumptions.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Being honest about what you know and do not know,
along with clarity of thought and structure in approach.
Taking enough time to think before jumping on to
answer the questions and showing an interest in
company.
What could you have done
better?
Everything went well, according to me.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
About the role I was being considered for.
176
Case Interview 2
Tips for Future Candidates
What are the benefits of cloud migration, challenges to be considered and
planning required as part of the cloud migration strategy?
Be calm, confident, honest, and upbeat throughout the interview. Show
genuine interest in the company and role. Take time to think before jumping
on to answer any question.
I listed down some major factors to be considered for the adoption of cloud
computing as Internet connectivity, Internet speed, availability, reliability, data
storage location, security, data sovereignty, cost, integration, data backup,
provider dependability, employees’ knowledge, and transportability.
Further, I discussed the migration strategy as to which systems to prioritize first,
how to decide what upgradations might be required, how to group systems for
migration, when to do the migration (as this would involve a downtime), can the
downtime be avoided, data transfer costs as a major barrier.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Having a solid introduction. Reading up on cloud
technology as I knew before the interview that I was
being interviewed for tech strategy role. Being
honest, calm, and confident.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
A bit about the company culture, movement within
the company to different teams, team office
location, internship projects.
177
Piyush Sneh Tirkey
C: Can I consider the food delivery service to be Swiggy and the location to be
Bangalore as I have been there for the past 3 years?
Undergraduate College
IIT Kanpur
I: Yes.
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (CSE)
C: Can I take the time frame of 1 month for the total no of orders placed and then
approximate the total no of complaints or queries?
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Deloitte USI (25 months)
I: Yes.
Interviewer: Since the time is limited so just let me know the approach which you
would take?
HR & Conversation Questions
C: Following are the steps:
Give me a quick introduction about yourself.
Step1: Approximate the population of Bangalore.
You said you are into sports. What is the learning in life which you gain from it?
Step 2: Segment the population in 4 different age groups.
What makes you apply to this firm, given that you left it after working for 2 years?
Step 3: Approximate the % of people from each age group who would make online
orders.
Explain the work which you did in Deloitte as an Analyst. What kind of challenges did
you face working with US based clients?
Step 4: Approximate the average orders per week (different buckets for Weekdays
and Weekends) from different age groups?
Case Interview 1
Step 5: Compute the total orders.
1. Guess the total no. of order complaints placed on the major online food delivery
service in the location of your choice.
2. Guess the total no. of executives assigned for customer service department in
the organizations like Zomato/Swiggy.
Step 6: Approximate the frequency of complaints or no of complaints per 1000 orders.
Make buckets on different kinds of requests/complaints and then estimate the total
complaints per week.
Step 7: Calculate the total complaints/requests received per month?
178
Step 8: Assignment of executives would be based on no of complaints received per
week.
Step 9: Executives would work in slots. More executives in the peak time i.e.,
weekends and in evenings.
show everything in detail but doing that would have
been better in my opinion.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
How has been your experience with Deloitte so far in
terms of exposure and challenges?
After this, interviewer interrupted me and said that we are good with the approach.
Case Interview 2
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? For me, the comfort level which I initially established
with the interviewer helped a lot. It established the tone
for the conversation.
For example, the first question to me was, "Hi, Piyush,
how are you doing?"
My reply was: “Hi Vignesh, I am going okay but it could
have been much better. Given the challenging time that
we are in, and me being away from home is quite
difficult but that is how we learn and grow. So yes, I am
grateful enough to sit here comfortably and talk to you
but meeting you in person in the campus would have
been much better if the situation were normal.” This
made the interviewer to be more informal and then we
had a very comfortable conversation.
What could you have done
better?
I could have been more robust in number crunching
while dealing with the case. Although I was not asked to
There is a financial company with data centers across three countries (USA, France,
India) and the cost of the data centers have increase by 10% over the past 6 months?
Help us to know the exact reasons for it. As a consultant, what kind of solutions
would you propose to tackle this situation?
Initially, I enquired about the cost distribution of the data centers across the locations.
It was uniform. Then I created multiple buckets for the reasons of cost in a data center:
1. Fixed Cost (rent of land: I shifted it to VC with long term aspect with the assumption
of one-time establishment of the infrastructure)
2. Variable Cost (employee’s salary, maintenance, upgradation, security patches for
data centers, power consumption) I further discussed and asked questions on all of
these.
Then I used PESTEL framework. They asked more on the IT part of the costs, more on
security patches, software upgradation charges, storage capacity and scalability. After
this, I was asked to discuss on the solutions given the problem was scalability and
maintenance cost. I talked about storage data on cloud using 3rd party services like
AWS/Azure. I discussed the usability of it for a large company daily, the costs that it
cuts and the new costs and tradeoffs if any and the long-term feasibility of it.
179
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Prerna Barde
I think that my previous work-ex with Deloitte helped
me to talk more about the organization.
I did not have much content in the case solving part,
but I was good at asking questions which helped me a
bit. Overall, it could have been much better if I had
some previous ideas about the details of data centers.
Can you tell me that one most important piece of
advice that you as seniors in the organization would
give to an ambitious candidate who is entering in the
world of management consulting?
Undergraduate College
Lady Shri Ram College, DU
Field of Graduation
B. Com (Hons.)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Arete Advisors (17 months), EY (12 months)
HR & Conversation Questions
Give me a quick introduction about yourself.
Tips for Future Candidates
Tell me about major accomplishments in your work experience.
Be confident and real. Do not even try to be fake with extra smile. It is a big negative.
When you are not sure about the answer then mention it but at the same time show
the will to go ahead with what you in the best way possible. Be open to advises and
be interactive.
Tell me about yourself.
Briefly explain your role/day to day working in both corporate roles in the work
experience.
Briefly explain my project with a PE Fund. This was followed by a discussion around
recent developments in the healthcare industry (as based on my work experience) and
M&A /consolidation in healthcare.
Case Interview 1
180
Your client is Sigma Automotive. They have $10bn revenue and are the current
industry leaders. They have been facing growth challenges since the past couple of
years. The slowdown is industry wide. The industry is moving towards a
consolidation landscape and smart vehicles. The growth beyond core offering is the
company’s current target.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
A. Growth Objects: Historically, the company had 8 - 10 % growth. New target is 5%
B. Geographical Split of Revenues: USA - 80%, Canada - 25%, Mexico - 5%
C. Margin - 10% ($1bn)
D. Revenue split by Products: Heavy Vehicle sales - 70%, Light Vehicle sales - 30%.
E. Revenue by channels: Automotive sales - 75%, Services - 25%.
Sigma lags in EV innovation and advanced driving systems. Sigma is open to expand
to new markets. The competition is following cross border M&A and the norm is
traditional auto companies looking to acquire tech startups in other countries.
I used the Ansoff matrix to deploy growth opportunities as organic and inorganic
opportunities. This was followed by a discussion where the interviewer presented a
document to analyze 3 options.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Being confident and putting across my thoughts in a
structured/matrix format wherever possible helped.
What could you have done
better?
NA
181
Sarthak Ladhani
Undergraduate College
C: (Asked some scoping questions) What are the areas the client operates in, what is
the team size, what are the operating conditions now and locations. (Interviewer was
more interested in how I reached the problems and not in the solutions).
BIT Mesra
Field of Graduation
Electronics and Communications
I: The client operates in tours, experiences and travel, a large established firm, having
both online and offline presence.
Professional Qualifications
None
C: Can I have a few moments to structure my thoughts.
Work Experience
None
I: Yes surely!
Tell me something about yourself.
C: (I came up with a structure) I will divide it into internal & external buckets. There
will be WFH and infra needs as well as saving in internal. External bucket was the major
part in which I bucketed customers in Pre-booking, During-booking and Post booking,
backlog created and how problems can be handled.
What did you like/not like about the interview process?
I: What else can you think about?
Tell me something about your internship experience and work culture at Unilever.
C: Do you think I have missed anything, or can I proceed? From the above heads is
there any one you want me to focus on?
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about your CLV project during PwC internship and what was your role in it.
I: Talk more about internal issues that can arise.
Case Interview 1
Your client is a Head of Customer Department of a Tours and Travel Agency like MMT
(Make my trip) in the month of April 2020, what problems do you think they are
facing and what is the way out?
C: Divided into different teams after asking for dependency on online/offline channels.
Operations, Marketing, and Tech team were the major divisions and went to speak
about their possible problems. (The interviewer was not interested in numbers,
discussion continued more around operations).
I mapped the employee journey from basic needs to motivation and engagements,
did cost comparison for the expense borne by the firm and discussed some ideas on
how to make it productive.
182
I: Well, done! Summarize all the issues.
Interview Experience
Undergraduate College
NIT Warangal
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (Civil)
I was initially hasting through the problem to work on
recommendations while he wanted the whole
discussion to be about brainstorming problems only.
Understood it in sometime and adjusting accordingly.
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Wipro – 25 months
General question on how the work is impacted given
Visa problems and COVID-19.
HR & Conversation Questions
What worked well for you? I was able to give structure to my thoughts. Also, I took
my time before giving any answer.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Shikhar Mahajan
Tell me something about yourself (I mentioned about my family background, my hobbies
-singing, some achievements and a little about my past work experience).
He tested my knowledge of singers and music directors, to check if I was genuinely
interested in music (the hobby I stated) or not.
Tell me more about your past work experience.
Case Interview 1
1. Estimate the number of Denims sold in a year in India.
2. You want to enter the ice cream market in in Jammu. Let us say a Baskin Robbins
store. What all would you do?
1. Denims Guesstimate.
183
C: What exactly do you mean by Denims?
Interview Experience
I: The jeans that we wear daily.
What worked well for you? Using a reference from my own wardrobe interested him.
Also, I talked about how shopping behavior changes in
India with festivals. (He discussed about this for 2-3
minutes).
C: I will use the supply side approach to compute the number of denims sold in a year in
India. I will start from the population of India, split it into Rural and Urban. Out of the age
groups we will target 7-year-old to 40-year-old. I will assume, the Gender split to be 6040.
I: You can calculate for the number of jeans for the male proportion only.
C: I would then like to split the males by income. From my own experience and using my
own wardrobe as an example I would estimate the number of jeans bought in higher
income category and assumed a suitable multiplier for the rest of the income categories.
What could you have done
better?
I took a little while to arrive at the point of checking with
different franchises in the ice-cream question.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
No questions as I was asked to join another link
immediately; this interview went around for 50 minutes.
I: That is a very good approach. Let us end this here and move on to the case.
Case Interview 2
2. Market Entry.
1. Which of the two companies (A and B) would you invest your money, here is some
data from their financial statements and one financial ratio. You can ask for more
financial ratios/ data which you might need in your decision-making process.
C: (I started with some scoping questions.) What is the objective of entering this market?
Is it market share expansion or increasing profits or anything else? Are there any
constraints we should keep in mind?
2. Tell me about the methods of depreciation and the industries where these methods
are relevant.
I: We want to enter Jammu to increase our market share. No constraint as such.
I: Which one looks like a better company?
C: (He just wanted an approach in this case and wanted me to be MECE entirely in my
approach. He did not want me to estimate the market size. The key point he was looking
here was the mode of entry that would be used. He wanted me to think about
approaching other franchises in Jammu about their revenues and get an idea whether we
should get into the business).
C: Based on the data given, I answered (majorly profitability and efficiency ratios).
I: Okay great, now I am giving two more ratios. Now tell me which one looks like a better
company.
184
C: I did some math and found out the other company looks better now with the given
ratios in hand.
I: Cool, this company is better. Good.
I: Good question. It basically means the work done by students as a part of the curriculum
in school, college, and university.
C: I explained him my approach and he was convinced but still he wanted me to arrive at
a number. So, I had to solve it till the end.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
C: What exactly do you mean by coursework?
The interviewer in this round wanted to understand if I
was updated with the market trend and if I am
comfortable with the FRA (Term-1 subject). My awareness
of the current issues and financial ratios worked here.
What could you have done
better?
I could not tackle the depreciation question well. My
knowledge in the same was limited and I told him that.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
I would like to use the age filter and find the number of students in this age group, then
estimate the number of students attending schools, colleges, and universities. I would
further filter using mode of education i.e., phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop).
I: Great, this number looks good to me.
2. Market Entry Case 1
C: I asked him some clarifying questions regarding the product and the criteria company
has in mind
Case Interview 3
I: He gave me data of market growth projections for 5 years and asked me to use the
assumptions of the numbers from the previous guesstimate.
1. Estimate the number of students doing coursework online on a Wednesday
afternoon in Bangalore?
C: I did some calculations, and it was found that the criteria is met.
3. Market Entry Case 2
2. Our client manufactures a screen protector. Should he enter the market or not? He
gave me data as well about the market growth (Data intensive)
3. Our client is an established pharma company and wants to see if entering the
sanitizer market is commercially viable for them. Help us (data intensive).
1. Guesstimate
C: I asked him all the scoping subtly using CPCC.
I: I will also give you all the data I remember.
C: I used PESTLE and Porters subtly. I also did the math with suitable assumptions about
the sanitizer market to compete the market sizing.
185
Result - the numbers did not meet the criteria of the market entry and I suggested the
company not to enter the market.
I: What could be done to enter then?
C: Explained him about JV and M&A.
Soham Talukder
Undergraduate College
Institute of Engineering & Management, Kolkata
Field of Graduation
Electronics & Communication Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Oracle – 24 months
I: Fair enough.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
He liked my approach in the entire process. Also, the
interviewer was friendly and chipped in with thoughts and
ideas.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
HR & Conversation Questions
Give me a quick introduction about yourself. A brief discussion on my academic career,
important PORs and responsibilities held, key projects done in work experience and
hobbies.
Can you elaborate what you have done in your work experience in detail and explain
each project. This was followed by a discussion on cloud migration, which was one of the
projects in my work experience.
Case Interview 1
Suppose you are a consultant at Deloitte and a client has asked you to formulate a
roadmap for their enterprise application to be shifted to cloud. How will you advise
them to do so? You must guide them about where using "Lift and Shift" would
beneficial and where "containerization" would have to be used.
186
I: Suppose you are a consultant at Deloitte and a client has asked you to formulate a
roadmap for their enterprise application to be shifted to cloud. How will you advise them
to do so? You must guide them about where using "Lift and Shift" would beneficial and
where "containerization" would have to be used.
C: Cloud migration majorly depends on the structure of the enterprise application. Most
of the enterprise applications follow a broad 3 level model, which are: 1. Front end, 2.
Mid-office, 3. Back end. Can I assume that the client also follows the same?
I: Yes, assume the 3-tier model for this case.
C: I explained a detailed guideline for each of the 3 level cloud migrations and the
methods which can be used at each level. I gave the rationale on each answer to back my
suggestions up and some alternative scenarios that can be attempted as well based on
different features of cloud like scalability and cost effectiveness.
I: I agree to what you are suggesting. Don't you think a different approach can be used as
well? (Then he suggested a reverse approach to the one I had proposed and asked
whether it was feasible or not).
C: The methods solely depend on how the organization is maintaining or assigning their
workforce on each tier. I stated the assumption that I had taken based on how the models
were followed in Oracle and told them the scenario at which the suggested approach by
the interviewer will be feasible.
migration, helped me. The interviewer extensively focused
on testing my knowledge about different cloud platforms
and their pros and cons. The case interview also was
related to my professional experience; hence it was helpful
to know my resume inside out.
What could you have done
better?
The rationales I provided during the case could have been
better structured.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I asked if the projects related to cloud solutions have
increased post COVID-19 and if yes, at what magnitude.
I asked how those projects, where extensive on-site client
interaction is required, are shaping up after COVID-19.
Tips for Future Candidates
For every interview be very thorough about each point in your CV, you never know the
interviewer will be interested in which section.
For every answer, try to form a structure in your mind first before answering. If needed
take a pause of 5-6 seconds.
I: Okay, I got your rationale behind the suggestions you are putting forward.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? My strong knowledge about my work-ex, especially the
projects that I had worked on in the domain of cloud
187
I: Our client is an online travel aggregator like MakeMyTrip and faces issues in
telephonic support & customer service. They have asked us to help them respond in the
short-term.
Vatsal Sharma
Undergraduate College
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (Material Sciences)
Professional Qualifications
None
Business Analyst at Axis Bank (27 months)
Work Experience
Data Science at Delhivery (13 months)
HR & Conversation Questions
Give me a quick introduction about yourself.
Why do you want to join Deloitte and enter consulting? How have your buddy
interactions been?
Can you talk about your projects at Axis Bank?
What were the various positions of responsibility at college and key learnings from each
of them?
Case Interview 1
Our client is an online travel aggregator like MakeMyTrip and is facing issues in
customer service. They have asked us to help them to respond in the short-term.
C: For how long has the client been facing this issue, and do we have any data on the
service levels or any other KPI affected? Also, what time frame do we consider as shortterm for the given situation?
I: Assume that the case was around March 2020 when the lockdown was imposed. Our
service levels have decreased, and we cannot service all the calls. We need a quick
solution to be implemented in phases in one week to one month.
C: Got it. So, we need to focus on the contingencies created due to the lockdown and
find the immediate short-term fixes.
I: Yes.
C: So, before we move onto the case, I would like to understand a few factors about the
client and the situation.
I: Go ahead.
C: I would like to understand the client's business model, its location, and its scale.
I: Our client is based in Gurgaon and serves customers nationwide. You can consider it
like any other online travel aggregator like MakeMyTrip, Go Ibibo, etc. What do you
think are the kind of services do these aggregators offer?
C: From my understanding of the aggregators mentioned above, I understand that they
offer travel booking and hotel booking broadly. Do we have any information on any of
these segments which are facing an issue?
188
I: Both the travel booking and hotel booking segments are facing the issue. Can you
elaborate on the major issue which both customers might be facing across both
segments?
C: If we are focusing on the time just after the lockdown was imposed, the major issue
which both corporate and retail customers were facing was the cancellation of travel
plans. For retail customers, the plans of leisure travel and meeting friends/family were
cancelled while for the corporate customers, the meetings requiring travel were
canceled. The trip cancellations would lead to a demand for a refund and related
customer service queries.
I: Correct, so what do you think maybe the broad reasons for the client is facing the
issue?
C: To diagnose the issue, we can look at the customer service from the perspective of
people, process, and technology. Later, we can see if the problems exist for the
competitors too or not.
I: Our competitors are also facing similar issues and hence let us focus on our client only.
Can you list the probable issues in each of the buckets mentioned above?
C: In terms of the customer service, we can have issues in terms of #people
*#hours*productivity. The number of people might have decreased as people might not
be able to work from home due to maybe travelling to hometown, permanent migration
to hometown combined with attrition, etc. I assume that the call center employees are
mainly from the low and middle-income families trying to earn a quick buck. Hence,
they might have space constraints at home due to the smaller home sizes at times. Thus,
the number of hours might be reduced as people might not be able to work late nights,
especially in shared spaces at home. Productivity may be reduced too, as the home
environment needs time to adapt and might not be conducive for operations.
In terms of the process, the management, coordination, and resolution of WFH related
issues might be a problem.
In terms of technology, we can have issues in terms of the hardware (laptop, router,
etc.), software (call center management software, VPN, video/audio call), and internet
(availability, speed, and reliability).
I: Yes, our client has been facing issues because of the lack of people due to migration
of people to hometowns and/or the lack of proper infrastructure. A major issue is that
we have not provided laptop to most of the employees working from home due to cost
considerations. Some of the people have been facing problems in installing various
software required to operate. Moving ahead, why do you think a customer calls
customer service in our business?
C: A customer calls our service center mainly for help regarding booking a ticket, queries
regarding travel booking, and cancellations.
I: So, which of these queries might have increased or decreased during the period.
C: The queries regarding booking a new flight and related follow-up may have decreased
as no new flights were allowed for a month or so. At the same time, the queries for
flight cancellations, rescheduling, and refund processing will have increased.
I: Fair enough, our client is facing issues due to many cancellations and problems in
refund processing. Can you suggest some quick fixes for the same?
C: Sure. To reduce customer dissatisfaction, we can focus on either increasing the no.
of many hours and productivity of call center, or we can get a quick solution with the
189
same set of people. Since the time frame is short, can we proceed with a solution using
the same number of people?
I: Yes, that is correct.
C: The main point we need to keep in mind here is to do things quickly and clearly
communicate with the customers. So, with the same number of people and their
efficiency in the short-term, we can have a few changes in the app or processes which
can be implemented at the earliest. We can make the self-induced ticket refund process
easier for the customer and put it on the front page of the app or announce it before a
call begins, we can auto-refund the customer and send an email without any customer
intervention or we can give customers a coupon for future purchases instead of instant
cash if we have limited cash.
190
Case Interview 2
Navdeep
Undergraduate College
Delhi Technological University
Field of Graduation
Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
PwC – 11 months
A supermarket client having stores in India is facing 20% decline in profits. What could
be the reason for the same?
I: A supermarket client with stores across India is facing 20% decline in profits and wants
to figure out reasons for the same.
C: Before I begin, I would like to understand a little more about the company and
products. Are these normal grocery stores?
I: Yes, grocery stores.
HR & Conversation Questions
C: How long the client is facing this issue?
Tell me about yourself.
I: Revenues are falling for the past month.
What were your roles and responsibilities during your job?
C: What kind of geography in which the client is operating?
If PPO is given, would you be interested in working full time for Everest group?
I: The stores are present in all the tier 1 cities.
Case Interview 1
Government of India wants to promote the adoption of e-vehicles by customers in
the Indian market. Mention key challenges and factors to achieve the same.
This was not a regular case but more of a conversation. Key parameters which I
mentioned were reducing the tax rate e-vehicles, availability of raw materials,
awareness among middle class as a lot of people are not aware about it, developing
trust, and setting up of charging stations.ge, duration, procurement from etc.
C: I would like to divide the profits into revenue - cost. Since profits are declining, there
can be multiple scenarios, decrease in revenue, increase in costs or both.
I: The cost is more or less the same, but the revenue has declined.
C: I would write revenue as avg spending by a customer * footfall of each store * no of
stores. Is it okay?
I: Sure, go-ahead
191
C: Any of these parameters can lead to a decrease in revenue. Do you want me to look
at a specific parameter?
What could you have done
better?
I should have read a bit more about the profile and the
company to frame my HR answers better.
I: Footfall has reduced while other parameters are the same. Can you think of reasons
which can cause this decline?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I asked about the kind of work and cases which I will be
working on as a summer intern at Everest Group.
C: Yes, there could be multiple reasons for the same.
1. New stores might have been launched by the competitor in the nearby locations.
2. Either people are not able to come to the store because of some accessibility issue or
there might be a change in the store locations.
3. It might be because some stores are not able to meet the demand of the customers.
4. It might be because of change in the current policy that might have backfired.
5. Since our stores are in tier 1 cities, people might be preferring online platforms like
Big Basket etc.
I: Do you have any other factor in your mind?
C: Considering the COVID-19 situation, it might be because of social distancing or some
payment-related problems like online/offline payment
I: Great, that would be it. Thankyou.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
My prior consulting experience helped me a little during
the interview.
192
Pothukuchi Saketh
C: I would like to know more about the product the firm sells.
I: Firm is like TCS services and has similar operations.
Undergraduate College
IIT Guwahati
C: How have the profits and sales grown in the said period?
Field of Graduation
E.C.E
I: The firm is doing well. There is in fact, an increase in the profits.
Professional Qualifications
None
C: Has the competition also faced a similar issue related to hiring?
Work Experience
Veritas Technologies – 25 months
I: We do not know about the competitors and their hire growth-rates.
C: There can be two approaches to the problem. The reason could be because of either
external or internal factors. Do you want me to look at any one of these first?
HR & Conversation Questions
I: I would like you to tell me how it could be external and how could it be internal.
Tell me something about yourself.
Tell me more about your work experience.
What have you done in your domain and how did it help your company?
C: It can be external in terms of the macro effects such as general outlook of the service,
technology needed by the employees in the domain, etc. It can be internal in terms of
factors such as product outlook in market, promotions made for the work environment,
place - work place (infrastructure) employee satisfaction, employee wages, company
requirement of employees etc. Do you want me to take any one of these?
Case Interview 1
I: Yes. Please go ahead with internal factors.
The CEO of client firm has reported that there has been increase in number of
applicants for job at their firm by 50% but the growth in new hires has decreased by
15%.
C: Considering the increase in job applications we can look at promotions, salaries,
place. Has there been any change in type of employees that are required for services
that the client provides?
I: The CEO of client firm has reported that there has been increase in number of
applicants for job at their firm but the growth in new hires has decreased by 50%. You
need to help him/her investigate the cause.
I: No, there has been no change.
193
C: Considering the increase in job applications again we can rule out employee
satisfaction process, then we would be left with hiring process, has there been any
changes in structure of hiring process, the panel, number of rounds, etc.?
I: No, there has not been any change in structure of hiring process.
C: Despite the increase in the number of applications the hiring process has not
changed. This might have led to a situation where due to large volume of applications
there is a delay in hiring process. Is the hiring process on first come first serve bases or
best of interviewees model?
I: Yes, there has been increase in delay time because the company follows best of
interviewees model. That would be it. Thankyou.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
The structuring was important, and I was able to
clearly justify my thoughts.
I should have taken the clue earlier that it was not
because of employee satisfaction or similar internal
metrics rather, was related to the hiring process.
I asked about the culture and the work life balance at
Everest.
\
Case Interview 2
Your client is a lemonade seller in Lucknow, and he wants you to provide a strategy
to expand his reach in entire UP.
I: Your client is a lemonade seller in Lucknow and wants you to provide a strategy to
expand his reach in UP.
C: What type of lemonade is the client selling and are there any constraints that my
client wants me to take care of?
I: It is a regular lemonade available in 2 variants, soda, and non-soda. No, you do not
have any constraints and assume there is no investment restriction.
C: First, I would like to look at the factors that affect my strategy. From supply side
would look at the raw materials, infrastructural cost, production process cost and
distribution/logistics cost. From demand side, the reach of customers towards the shop,
the competitors, etc.
I: Good, now how will you choose the locations(cities) for your expansion in UP.
C: Since we are not restricted on the investment that we get, we can think in terms of
demand, first in short run I would be looking into metro and tier-1 cities like Noida and
Kanpur. In the long term, would focus on tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
I: Well, now considering that you have a lemonade in Lucknow how would you price
your lemonade?
C: The pricing can be done in 3 ways, cost based, competition based, and value based.
Since we are having no investment restriction, I would go ahead with competition and
value based. First, I would like to consider an additional value of the lemonade to be Rs
3. Given high investment, I would like to assume that we are using high quality raw
material and equipment and thus, producing high quality lemonade. With the cost
assumptions that paper cup costs Rs 2, Rs 2 for raw materials, Rs 3 for processing and
194
a margin of Rs 2, the lemonade for competitors is priced at Rs 9. Adding the value to
this, we can say that the price of lemonade should be Rs 12 for our client.
I: Good, I think that sums up the case.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
The structuring of the case worked in my favor.
What could you have done better? Knowing the basics of processing a lemonade
could have helped.
Questions asked to the Interviewer None
Vaisakh M N
Undergraduate College
College of Engineering, Trivandrum
Field of Graduation
Applied Electronics and Instrumentation
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Infosys – 32 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
Tips for Future Candidates
Just be yourself and make sure to talk to seniors prior to the process and also to the
interviewees who have interviewed before you.
Tell me more about your work experience.
Case Interview 1
A niche tech company based out of Gurgaon has been growing at a CAGR of 20-25%
for the past five years. For the last year, they are struggling to fill the positions in the
company. It is taking more time to fill the positions as compared to earlier. Please
help them.
I am the CEO of a hospitality chain based in India. I want to build another hotel in a
tier 2 city. I have narrowed it down to 5 different cities. What all different factors
would I consider for choosing one amongst them?
195
Case 1:
I: Sure.
I: A niche tech company based out of Gurgaon has been growing at a CAGR of 20-25%
for the past 5 years. For the last year, they are struggling to fill the positions in the
company. It is taking more time to fill the positions as compared to earlier. Help them.
C: Okay. I would like to approach this case in the following formats— internal and
external factors.
(Reiterated the problem to confirm and started with basic CPCC)
C: May I know what technology does the company operates?
I: The company is a software developing company. It also develops android apps for
its client.
I: Okay, go ahead.
C: In the internal factors, I would like to consider factors such as work culture, worklife balance, HR, facilities, Talent acquisition team, Training, and recent changes.
I: Alright.
C: May I know from which country do we have our majority client base?
C: In the external factors, I will include the overall economy, skills required, and Rules
and regulations from the govt.
I: How does that matter?
I: Okay, please go ahead.
C: I would like to know whether the employees have to take night shifts if our client
base is from the USA or European countries.
C: What is the culture of the company? Is it still working as a startup or matured into
a big company?
I: Our clients are majorly from the US. But we do not have to take shifts. Just weekly
calls.
I: It is in the transition phase.
C: Thank you. And may I know which companies are our competitors?
I: No companies. Since we work on niche technology.
C: Should I include the COVID-19 scenario?
I: No. This is happening in 2017.
C: Please give me a minute to structure my thoughts.
C: Okay, thank you. May I know on average how many hours employees have to work
in the company per day?
I: It depends. Sometimes less. When there are project deadlines, employees may have
to chip in some additional work hours as it is for every other organization.
C: Okay, thank you. May I know about the HR regulations on a team outing, bonding,
or any other cultural events? Also, may I know the facilities offered by us to employees
such as gym, swimming pool, etc.?
196
I: All of it is the same as any other software company, like Infosys. (I have work ex in
Infosys)
C: I would look into the difference of the days required to fill the positions now
compared to one year before
C: I believe we have two types of employee intake—freshers from universities as well
as Lateral entries from other companies.
I: Now it takes 70 days to fill up a position. It was 50 days earlier.
I: Yes, that is correct.
C: Are we seeing any drop in any of them? Also, may I know some details about the
talent acquisition team? Are they well trained for this activity?
I: Drop in both of them. And yes, they are qualified.
C: Do we have enough universities that teach our required skill set? Do we visit all of
them?
I – Yes, to both the questions.
C: Thank you. Now I would take each step in the hiring process and analyze each step.
Let me go through each. When we have a talent requirement, I believe the team
manager will reach out to the talent management team. Now, if there are employees
available inside the company, they will be allotted. Else, they will notify the talent
acquisition team. Then the company would post the required notice on their website
and shortlist candidates. Then interviews will happen, selected candidates are put into
training/KT and then allotted to respective teams. Should I look into any step in
particular? Or go through the entire process?
I: Okay. Take steps from the interview.
C: Okay. Did we witness any change in the leadership of the company recently?
C: There are two departments - management and technical. Is this problem only for
one section?
I: No.
I: Yeah, consider only managers for now.
C: I believe this is not due to internal factors. Can I move ahead to external factors?
C: Okay. Who takes the interview of a candidate? As per my understanding, seniorlevel managers take middle-level and middle-level managers to interview junior levels.
I: Vaisakh, I think we are wasting a lot of time. Just tell me what all are the things
(metrics/ numbers) you look at initially when you hear such a problem?
I: That's correct.
C: Sure. Give me a minute to structure my thoughts.
C: Which level is experiencing this issue?
I: Sure.
I: Middle and junior levels. Senior level will anyhow take a longer period.
C: Do we have any shortage of interviewers?
197
I: No.
C: Okay. Can I move on to the next step?
I: Vaisakh, you have only considered demand-side factors. Please check supply-side
factors too. Also, while you are at it. Please consider the general factors that could
affect this decision.
I: Yes.
C: Sorry. Please give me a minute to note down the factors.
C: After making an offer, are we seeing any delays? In giving out offer letters or in
training?
Supply-side factors could be-
I: No, we are not witnessing anything. Due to the interest of time, let us go to next
case, Vaisakh.
1. Availability of labor (For building the hotel)
2. Availability of water and other natural resources.
C: Sure, thank you.
3. Well-connected logistics
Case 2:
4. Ease of finding employees.
I: I am the CEO of a hospitality chain based in India. I want to build another hotel in a
tier 2 city. I have narrowed it down to 5 different cities. What all different factors
would I consider for choosing one amongst them? When I started with basic
questions, the interviewer asked me to go directly to the factors that I should consider.
General factors could be –
C: I would consider the following factors.
3. Environmental laws
1. Is it a tourist center?
4. Socio-cultural aspects of the region
2. The average income of regional people.
5. Legal issues
3. Presence of business centers such as IT parks.
I: Okay. Good. Now tell me at what number I should consider building it in one city.
1. Ease of doing business in that state.
2. Govt regulations
4. Presence of cricket, football, tennis, or any other stadiums
5. Presence of Railways/Airports/ NH.
198
C: Did a guestimate on breakeven taking parameters such as population, no. of tourists
visited per year. The number of professionals/ Companies. Rooms in the hotel,
restaurant seats. Timings and slots
I: Thank you for your time Vaisakh.
C: Thank you, sir.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Considering diversified perspectives while doing the
case
What could you have done
better?
Could have structured the first case better
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Asked about the roles of an intern
Tips for Future Candidates
My cases where entirely different. Maybe more cases like these should be solved.
199
C: Where are the two factories located?
Rishabh Jain
I: Assume both factories are in the same industrial park in Noida.
Undergraduate College
IIT (BHU), Varanasi
Field of Graduation
B. Tech
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Oracle Financial Services – 24 months
C: Okay. The production allocation decision will depend upon the total cost that will
be incurred during the manufacturing process. Are both the factories owned by us?
I: No, only Factory 1 is owned by us. We buy the end product from Factory 2.
C: Do we have any data on what is the total cost or cost per unit incurred in both
factories?
I: Yes. (Interviewer then gave the data about fixed and variable cost of both factories)
HR & Conversation Questions
What is one unique thing about you which differentiates you from all the other
candidates?
Case Interview 1
Our client is a packaged tea manufacturer. He has two factories, say Factory 1 and
Factory 2 located in Noida with maximum production capacity of 100 tons per month
each. Assume earlier the demand was the summation of production capacity of two
factories, that is, 200 tons per month. However, client has forecasted that in coming
months the demand is going to fall to 150 tons per month. Devise a production
allocation strategy for the client.
Factory 1 – Rs 300 per ton. It can be divided into 3 parts – labor (Rs 100 – 80 fixed, 20
variable); utilities (Rs 100 per ton); fuel (Rs 100 per ton)
Factory 2 – Rs 225 per ton.
C: Okay. From the data given by you, Factory 1 has fixed cost of Rs 80 per ton * 100
tons = Rs 8000 and variable cost of Rs 220 per ton.
Assuming we produce x tons in Factory 1. Then we will be producing 150 – x in Factory
2. Max value of x can be 100 tons.
Total cost would come around to be 8000 + 220x + 225(150 – x) => 41000 – 5x. Hence
from the cost equation, we can infer that keeping x as 100 that is, running factory 1 at
full capacity will give us the minimum cost.
(Started with a few probing questions to get clarity about the client’s business)
200
C: Good. Can you think of why production in our own factory with outdated machinery
is preferrable as compared to buying product from factory 2 which employs better
production techniques?
are the risks of digital disruption?
I: The variable component of labor cost is the major factor. If the split would have been
60:40 instead of 80:20, we would have come up with a totally different answer.
(Started with questions to probe the problem statement)
C: Good answer Rishabh. The case has ended now. Thank you.
What worked well for you? Deriving the mathematical equation of the total cost of
production.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
C: Okay, just to reiterate, the client is a legal & accounting books publisher looking to
buy a print & paper-based publisher in India.
I: Correct.
Interview Experience
What could you have done
better?
[Short case -15 to 20 min]
C: What is the objective behind buying out this new publisher?
I: They are looking for geographical expansion.
I went through the entire value chain to determine
whether cost under each bucket affects the allocation
decision. Less time could have been taken to reach the
manufacturing bucket.
C: What is the timeline that the client is looking forward to?
The case statement was a real-life problem statement
which the interviewer himself has worked on. Post the
case, we had a conversation about how he went about
solving the problem.
(While trying to probe more, interviewer indicated that he is interested in knowing
just the market size)
Case Interview 2
We have been approached by a global publisher of legal & accounting books. They
are planning to expand into India by buying a print & paper based local publisher of
similar kind of books. Can you help them size the market? Also, what do you think
I: No timeline as such. They just want to know what the potential market size of the
industry is.
C: Okay. To start with estimating the market size, can you help me understand where
all legal and accounting books are used? From my understanding, educational
institutions, and people working in this profession might refer to these as well such as
lawyers, accountants.
I: Yes, you are right. Let us consider only educational institutions for the case.
C: In educational institutions, we can have schools as in India, senior secondary
education has subjects on accounts, as well as colleges/universities for these domains.
201
I: Consider only educational institutions for undergraduate & post-graduate studies.
Interview Experience
C: Okay, my strategy here would be to estimate the demand of new books in a period
of one year. This can be calculated by estimating number of colleges that we have in
the country and the books required by students of each year, i.e., freshers, 2nd year
students etc.
What worked well for you?
The case was quite new for me. Not getting
overwhelmed by the details I think worked well.
What could you have done
better?
I could have covered the market sizing faster to move
to the reasons of digital disruption in the industry
sooner.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I asked about the sector/industry interviewer was
working in.
I: Go on.
C: (followed standard guesstimate procedure starting with Indian population,
estimating the number of students opting for accounts and law post their schooling
and then estimated the number of students for each year in their undergrad. Assumed
the number of books required by each student in a semester and estimated the total
number of books required. Took some time here and hence could not move to risks
for digital disruption in the sector.)
I – Okay. I think we are running out of time. Can you quickly list down what can be the
potential risks that the legal & accountings books publishing industry faces due to
digital disruption?
C – Yes, due to the increasing popularity of eBooks, hard copies are not preferred
much because they are bulky. Whereas eBooks can be accessed anywhere on phones,
laptops. That is a potential risk that the industry faces.
Also given the rise in educational tech and coming up of startups in the EdTech
domain, the hard copies of textbooks are becoming redundant as most of the
information is provided digitally.
I – Sure, makes sense. Thank you Rishabh for your time.
Case Interview 3
MP Government is facing an all-time low in tourism and entertainment industry due
to COVID-19. Suggest some ways in which MP Government can tackle this problem.
[Short case – lasted 10-15 min]
I: Hi Rishabh. How is it going? How were your previous rounds?
C: Good morning! It is going well. I feel I did good in the first round and could have
done better in the second.
I: (asked about the cases in both the rounds and the areas of improvement in each
were)
I: So Rishabh, let us solve a case quickly. Where are you from?
C: I am from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
202
I: Okay. So, let us say we have been approached by MP Government. They are facing
an all-time low in tourism and entertainment industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
What are some ways in which you can suggest the MP government to tackle the issue?
C: Since the case ended soon, I could have jumped quickly and elaborated on the
solutions for tackling the issues instead of majorly focusing on what all the problems
can be.
C: Okay, just to reiterate, MP Government has reached out to us because it is facing a
decrease in revenues in tourism & entertainment industry and we have been asked to
provide solutions in which it can tackle this issue.
I: No issues, I think you listed the sources of problem well. Thank you for your time.
I: Right.
Given the interviews were held virtually, it becomes essential to keep the interviewer
engaged. Also, since interviewer cannot see what you are writing on your sheet
(neither did they ask me to show the sheet), conveying the structure that you have on
paper to the interviewer verbally becomes a crucial factor.
C: Do we have any budgetary constraints?
I: No constraints as such.
Tips for Future Candidates
C: What is the timeline we are looking at? Is the government looking for solutions in
the short term or in the long term?
I: You can go ahead and give solutions for both short term and long term.
C: [After this the discussion was on the lines of what potentially comes under tourism
& entertainment – tourist sites, cinema theatres, sports events, fairs (melas), theme
parks. After this, discussion shifted to potential sources of revenue for a theatre.
Employing how exactly a customer would go about watching a movie in a theatre, I
laid down the journey and potential sources of revenue for the theatre such as parking
fees, ticket sales and snacks & beverage sales. After this there was a similar discussion
on revenues that the government can generate from hosting sporting events in the
state.]
I: We can end the case now. So, what do you think how did the case go?
203
Sameeksha Gupta
Undergraduate College
Delhi Technological University
Field of Graduation
Computer Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Microsoft – 26 months
initiatives in CV.
I: Sales, marketing, distribution strategy for low-cost water purifier
C: I asked clarifying questions on the company, the geography the client is planning to
launch in, the cost of the purifier, competition in market, and any target customers. I
then understood about the functioning of the purifier to check on constraints like the
need of electricity etc.
I: There is 1 competitor in the market. Which all customers will you target?
HR & Conversation Questions
C: I kept access to electricity and lower income group while deciding target audience
to come up with distribution strategy involving government, NGOs etc. Then, I
identified promotional strategy, included CSR initiatives for villages.
Introduce yourself.
Interview Experience
What are you passionate about? There were 10-15 minutes of discussion on my
hobbies and areas of interest.
What worked well for you? Communication. I knew my CV well and drew on my
learnings.
Why consulting?
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I asked about the interviewer's practice area and his
journey at Kearney.
Describe your role at Microsoft and their business model.
Follow-up questions on work experience
Case Interview 1
Sales, marketing, distribution strategy for low-cost water purifier. This statement
was related to my CV, had mentioned a water purification project as part of social
Case Interview 2
Sales for a candy company has dropped in past 4-5 months. Help the client with the
same.
204
C: I began with clarifying the problem statement and asked questions around the
company, candy variants, price, competition etc. I also included the distribution
channel in my scoping questions.
Case Interview 3
If I want to introduce calligraphy as a course in Delhi University, what factors
should be considered? Had mentioned Calligraphy as a hobby.
I: The distribution channel is from company to wholesale to retail shops.
Regarding competition, 1 competitor is gaining market share.
C: Enrollment in a course can depend on - future job options, nearby
institutes/academies offering such courses.
C: I talked about how candies are commoditized. The next step was to structure the
problem into supply-demand and identified the issue from the demand side. Through
probing questions identified, that the distributors are the same for various candy
companies. Enquired about distributor margins etc. They were the same.
I mentioned that in DU course fees are less, but the total cost incurred in terms of
materials etc. should be factored in.
I then mapped the customer journey and identified retail shop owner as the major
decision maker while handing candies to customers. As next step, I asked questions
about the margins for retailers and figured out that the competitor was offering
double the margin as the client.
What worked well for you?
The interviewer was intimidating, being calm helped
me.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
The discussion with interviewer on areas of interest
worked well for me.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I asked about the interviewer's practice area and his
journey at Kearney.
Interview Experience
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
205
I: Your client is a global company looking to acquire an Indian publisher of legal books
used by lawyers, students, professionals like CA, CS etc. Help us estimate the market
size and key risks for the business.
Satviek Goyal
Undergraduate College
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies
(SSCBS), University of Delhi
C: Asked some clarifying questions with respect to the problem statement.
Field of Graduation
Management
I: Estimate market size for all kinds of legal books in India (Company Law, criminal law
etc.)
Professional Qualifications
None
C: Can I take a minute to think about the problem?
Work Experience
None
HR & Conversation Questions
I – Sure.
C: We can estimate the market size on the basis of three factors, namely- the no. of
people buying legal books * Frequency of purchase i.e., No. of books bought by a
person* Average price of a book. Should I proceed ahead?
Why Consulting?
I – Yes.
Why Kearney?
Some questions about where I stay, background (schooling, college, and internships)
and quizzing achievements
C: The main customers for our products would be students, Practicing lawyers/legal
departments and CAs, CS. Is there any customer segment I should think of?
I: No, you can proceed ahead with estimating the no. of students.
Case Interview 1
Your client is a global company looking to acquire an Indian publisher of legal books
used by lawyers, students, professionals like CA, CS etc. Help us estimate the market
size and key risks for the business.
C: The students that would be interested in buying legal books would mainly be
students with a background in law, commerce, or management. I would like to
estimate the no. of students undergoing a law degree since they would be forming the
bulk of the legal books demand in India.
I – Why estimate only the no. of law students?
206
C – Students with a background in commerce, management or otherwise might
require these books for the purpose of 1-2 subjects as part of their course, however
law students will be studying more extensively from these books. Hence, I believe that
a good amount of the legal books would be demanded by law students in India.
I – Okay, go ahead.
C: As per my knowledge, law is usually a five-year course. So, we can assume that law
students would mainly be in the age group of 18-25 years. India has a population of
1.3 B with a median age of 25. Hence, we can assume that 20% of the population i.e.,
260 Mn would be in this age group.
is getting widely and easily available on the internet so we will have to provide more
insightful information in the books we publish.
I – Okay thank you for your time, I would like to close the case in the interest of time.
Do you have any questions for me?
C – No Sir. Thank you!
Case Interview 2
I – Fair assumption, go ahead.
You are a management consultant and you have been appointed by the Ministry
of Sports to formulate a strategy to improve the international competitiveness of
the Indian Football team within the next 10 years.
C – Mentioned other reduction factors like higher education enrolment in India (30%),
different streams of education like arts, commerce, engineering etc. (low enrolment
in arts), students who would be going for law within the arts stream etc.
I: You are a management consultant and you have been appointed by the Ministry
of Sports to formulate a strategy to improve the international competitiveness of
the Indian Football team within the next 10 years.
I – Okay, how would you approach estimating the no. of practicing lawyers and CAs?
C: Asked some clarifying questions with respect to the problem statement and
scope.
C – Told.
I – Understood, why do not you tell me the key risks for the business.
C – Increasing digitization can affect the business prospects. Legal books can be used
for learning and for the purpose of legal precedents. Some people especially the
younger generation may be more comfortable with a digital mode of learning. In
addition, digital books may have a search option which will make it easy to find legal
references. Plus, it is possible that e-books would be cheaper. In addition, information
C: To improve the international competitiveness of the Indian Football team within
the next 10 years, we will have to look at the different stakeholders like the Sports
Ministry, student base, families and parents, football associations in India at the
national and state level, Sports leagues like ISl, domestic clubs and some foreign
leagues and clubs that would be interested in setting up base in India to expand their
international base considering the growing market. We can break down the 10-year
period into two 5-year plans to improve Indian Football Team's international
competitiveness. We can have a broad review of the goals achieved at the end of the
207
first five-year plan so that necessary actions can be taken to achieve our goal. Should
I proceed ahead?
I: Can you mention some other stakeholders that would be important in achieving
this process?
C: We can also look at the coaching and teaching staff that would be involved in
developing talent in the next 10 years. This could be through better training or
collaboration with international leagues and clubs. Infrastructure and necessary
sports facilities are also important factors to improve Indian Football Team's
international competitiveness.
same (data-heavy case with an excel screen shared as well).
C: Asked about the case, PE Firm, bus operator, area of operations, business model
etc.
I: So, what do you think are the main cost heads for this business.
C: The main costs can be:
1. Fuel
2. Maintenance
I: Keep going.
3. Employee Costs (Drivers, other employees etc.)
C: We can look at football schools where children are trained from an early age and
their education is taken care of by the clubs that finance these schools Football
players, celebrities and other influencers would also be important in improving the
football awareness in India. We can also look at providing support/incentives to
people whose career involve around football so that they do not have to look at
other avenues of employment to support themselves/their families.
4. Parking Fees/ Insurance / Tolls etc.
I: Okay, in the interest of time let us end the case here. A couple of factors that you
mentioned in bits and pieces but missed out on were the corporates that would be
sponsoring the football activities and International associations like FIFA, AFC etc.
Case Interview 3
Your client is a global PE Firm that is looking at investing in a bus operator based
out of Australia. You have been hired to look at ways through which the main
operating costs can be decreased and come up with recommendations for the
I: Okay you are broadly correct. There might be other costs as well as registration
fees, highway access, etc. (An excel tab was screen shared with major cost heads) So
as you can see the fuel cost is 12% of the total costs. Can you help us take care of the
fuel costs?
C: So, the main determinants of the fuel cost would be Fuel efficiency *distance
travelled*Fuel Costs. (briefly explained the factors)
I: (shows an excel table showing fuel efficiency according to the place of operation,
bus model used, and some other headers like the month of recording, min. and max.
fuel efficiency, fleet size etc.) So, can you tell us why is there a difference in the fuel
efficiency for different places like Perth, Melbourne etc.?
208
C: It could be due to the place-specific factors like weather conditions, road
conditions, maintenance crew and processes etc.
undertake training for our employees like drivers and maintenance crew to improve
their performance and improve fuel efficiency across the board.
I: Okay look at the model XYZ used in place A & B (do not remember the exact model
or place). Even after taking into consideration the factors you mentioned there is a
difference in the fuel efficiency of the same bus model in these two places. Can you
tell me the reason for the same?
I: Thank you, Satviek. Someone will get back to you shortly
Tips for Future Candidates
Practice as many different cases as you can.
C: So, before I proceed ahead can you tell me the significance of the month
mentioned for these data points?
I: This is the time period during which the fuel efficiency was recorded.
C: So, the difference could be due to the weather conditions in Australia, the early
parts of the year will generally be warmer since Australia is in the Southern
Hemisphere. Because of that there might be differences in the fuel efficiency in
different months. In case it snows in the reason, the bus might need more fuel to
cover the same distance. Another reason could be the way drivers are driving. More
braking and constant gear changes might result in decreased fuel efficiency for the
buses in questions.
I: So, fuel efficiency is low in January due to the use of AC during the summer season
in Australia. And as you had mentioned, the other reason is due to the driver
behavior. Can you come up with recommendation to optimize our costs?
C: We can use the bus model with the best fuel efficiency to standardize our fuel
efficiency. We can also look at using modern technology to come up with the best
path to reach our location in the lowest possible time and distance. In case we have
different vendors for our fuel requirements, we can enter into a long-term contract
with a national vendor to negotiate lower costs and better terms. We can also
209
C: Sure, should I focus on one sport to increase the revenue or should I focus on all
sports which have the potential to increase revenues?
Shrika Kohli
Undergraduate College
St. Stephen's College, Delhi University
I: Your choice.
Field of Graduation
Mathematics
Professional Qualifications
None
C: Great. I would like to divide the sports into two categories: Individual sports like
badminton, tennis and team sports like basketball, cricket. Then we can look at
both the categories and focus on whichever suits us better.
Work Experience
None
I: Sounds good.
HR & Conversation Questions
C: I would like to focus on team sports first as cricket and hockey are doing really
well in India, so I would explore other such sports. I would like to take up basketball
first as I know more about it as compared to others.
Could you briefly introduce yourself?
I: Yes, you can start with basketball.
You have a great wall of paintings behind you, tell me about your interest in art.
C: Since basketball is not a common game in India, I will divide it into the rural and
urban segment and think about ways to increase awareness and hence the
participation. In rural areas, people do not play this sport due to improper
infrastructure and hence as the government of India we could build courts in some
parts to increase participation. We could also play sports mandatory as a subject
in school. Coming to the urban segment, I would divide the people in two groups:
sports and non-sports, then I will look at ways to increase participation in both.
Since how long have you been playing basketball? Do you play other sports too?
Tell me about your internship that you did with KPMG India.
Tell me about your interests
Case Interview 1
You are working with the government of India and need to increase the revenue
generated from sports in India. How will you do it?
I: Focus on people who play other sports, how will you increase participation from
them?
C: For the people who play other sports, it is mostly because they have been taught
the same since a very young age. Basketball being uncommon can be made known
to people by improving the facilities available in India. Being a player myself, the
210
facilities here are bad and hence there is less scope to do well in this sport. We
could also have more events for basketball to improve competition, not just with
Indian players but can bring in International players for exposure. Games like NBA
should be promoted, similar to FIFA or a cricket world cup.
Your client is a leading Asian Automaker in the Luxury segment. Should they
enter India and if they do, how?
I: Sounds good. If you were to conduct a basketball event, what all revenue streams
would you have?
I: Sure, what do you want to know?
C: The different revenue streams that I can think of are: Tickets, Food and Drinks,
Parking, Media Rights, Advertisements, any other event conducted on the ground
when there is no game going on.
I: Okay, sounds exhaustive. Let us close the case here.
C: Would it be okay if I clarify a few things before I begin?
C: Can I assume our car company to be like other Luxury players in the market like
BMW, Mercedes, etc.?
I: Yes, our company is similar.
C: Do we have a time or a budget crunch?
I: Nothing of that sort.
Interview Experience
C: Where are we currently operating, why India, why now?
What worked well for you?
Since the case was open ended, sticking to a
structure was hard but I somehow managed to do
that. Many different ideas were discussed.
What could you have done
better?
Could have thought about more ways to increase
viewership for basketball among the people who
play other sports.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
It would be great if I could get some feedback to
know where all can I improve.
I: America, vast market and felt like expanding now.
(few other clarifying questions)
C: I would like to divide this case in 4 parts: Explore the India market, explore the
luxury car industry (market sizing as well), look at how we will enter (modes of
entry), potential risks involved.
I: You can ignore the first bucket and start from the second.
C: Sure.
Case Interview 2
(Looked at all of Porter's forces one by one and did a qualitative level market sizing)
211
I: How would you make people switch to our car?
C: I would divide it in two parts: First would-be people who do not own a luxury car
and the second would be people with a luxury car who can switch to our segment.
To bring about a differentiation, I would firstly look at the car features, the pricing,
coverage, and reach, lastly at advertising.
I: Why would people want to use a luxury car?
C: Two reasons: Status/Prestige and Credibility.
I: Good, now where all will you advertise?
C: For advertisements we have three channels: Banners and Ads, Social Media,
Collaboration with offices, hotels, celebrities, etc. We could also rely on word of
mouth to gain credibility.
Tips for Future Candidates
Just answer with confidence.
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C: Could you tell me more about the features of the payment card. Is it like a
debit/credit card or does it work on points and cashbacks?
Aayushi Garg
Undergraduate College
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies,
University of Delhi
I: You can consider it to be similar to the Amazon pay card that is in tie up with ICICI
Bank.
Field of Graduation
Management
Professional Qualifications
NA
C: I would like to divide the market into urban and rural. I will further divide rural
areas into places with and without internet penetration. Can I proceed with this
approach?
Work Experience
NA
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
Why consulting? Why do you think you will be good at consulting?
Explain your contribution to the work done by you in your internships?
(The interviewer was an alumnus from my under-graduate college, so we had a
conversation regarding college for 5-10 minutes)
Case Interview 1
Jio-Mart is looking forward to launch a payments card. What would be its target
market/customer? What scheme do you suggest-cashbacks or points?
I: Yes, you can go ahead.
C: Since, Jio has a mass appeal image the target customers could be very large, we
can target the existing Jio customers which provide higher ARPU. To calculate the
final market size, we will need to consider the behavioral and demographic
elements of the target population.
I: Very well, do you think launching the card is feasible?
C:(I did a PESTEL and Porter analysis to ensure that launching the card is feasible) I
recommend you should go ahead with cashbacks in the short term to attract the
customers away from other competitors like Amazon. But since cashbacks are
really expensive, in the longer term, we can shift to a points system.
(I also did a customer and competitor analysis. The interviewer asked me a few
follow up questions post that, majorly to explain the answer in more detail.)
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? I was confident, calm, and listened to the questions
carefully. I took any hints that interviewer threw at
213
me and improved my structure accordingly. The
interviewer loved the question I asked at the end of
the interview as coincidentally, she was working on
the same issue. The interviewer was really amazed
when I told her that I have a YouTube dance video
which has crossed more than 2 million views. Thus,
one should prepare a good introduction.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
MasterCard's biggest asset is its data. But now
increasingly, countries are getting cautious about
sharing their data. How does MasterCard plan to
deal with this?
of the organization. The right most column has 4 to 7 characters since it has the
year of the achievement. The center row has about 70 characters based on the
average number of words in a line and average number of letters in a word. (I also
estimated the number of special characters like commas used. The interviewer
seemed happy because of the detailed approach)
2. Case:
C: Could you give me more details about our customer base? How do we segment
them? In my opinion we could segment them based on criteria like based on
amount and size of transactions.
I: Very good, we do segment them based on transaction size into high-end and
lower-end customers.
C: Are they both provided points in the same section/ category?
I: Yes
Case Interview 2
1. Guesstimate the number of characters on your CV.
2. I am a bank and I send reward points for redemption to my customers. The site
is 5-year-old, and we are planning to revamp it now. Lately, we have noticed that
customers are not redeeming the points. What could be the reason and how to
tackle it?
1. Guesstimate
C: How are the points delivered?
I: Physically
C: Could you give me a few moments to structure my thoughts.
I: Surely!
C: I will map the entire user journey by assuming that I am the bank's customer and
point at various flaws through the process.
C: There are 4 sections in my CV each section has about 12-14 lines. There are 3
columns in the entire CV, leftmost column has around 15 characters for the name
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I am someone who is busy and will not check my messages (SMS) very often. I am
used to WhatsApp and emails. If the bank sends me the points through a message,
I miss out. The bank should either call me via Relationship Manager or email me.
We need to ensure that client preferences are met. For example, a higher end
customer would want a spa appointment while a lower end customer might just
need shopping vouchers.
I – Great, what next.
We also need to consider the COVID-19 situation currently as consumers are
increasingly availing services online. We can tweak the deals accordingly. Examplecustomers are using Urban Company services over salons and spas these days.
C: I fear cyber-attacks. If a message is not properly, formally drafted and looks
suspicious, I might not click on the link. So, the bank should make sure that the
message is carefully drafted.
I: What are some other things you will consider?
C: Once I click on the link, the site should not take a lot of time to load because I,
as a customer, am not very patient. The process should be smooth, and I should
not face any issues. The site should be customer friendly for ease of use. The
sections for different levels of points must be separate as customers would want
different kind of points and services accordingly. The deals must have a sufficiently
larger expiry date as the points are physically delivered.
The bank should transition to providing points online itself as customers are
increasingly transacting online and do not have to wait for a physical delivery. The
deals and offers that customers get should be customized according to different
target groups as lower and higher end people have different requirements.
I: Okay, so how will you ensure this?
We also need to ensure that the items/services we are giving points for are suitable
in terms of price as the customer would not want to pay the balance amount (i.e.,
net of points) if it is too costly.
I: Okay, I think I am done. That was comprehensive and a great one.
C: Thank you!
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
My answers were nicely structured. I kept the
points crisp and tried to factor in all elements
(MECE). Lastly, I was confident, calm and had a
smile on my face.
NA
C: We can have separate sections for both the segments. We can float forms
occasionally to understand what customers expect and the kind of deals, they
want. Post that, we need to onboard the relevant vendors.
215
Abhishek Bansal
Case Interview 1
Undergraduate College
Hindu College, University of Delhi
Mastercard wants to launch a loyalty product for an e-commerce player. Tell me
how you would go about it and how we can select the partner.
Field of Graduation
B. Com (H)
I: Let us do a market entry kind of case (followed by the case statement).
Professional Qualifications
NA
C: Could you give me details about what kind of loyalty product do you have in your
mind?
Work Experience
NA
I: This is like Smart Buy which HDFC and Mastercard have launched (She also told me
about the portal and the card's benefits)
HR & Conversation Questions
C: Give me a minute to structure my thoughts.
Introduce yourself.
I: Yeah sure!
How has your day been?
C: (I basically thought of going by 4P approach and wrote down some factors to be
considered for each head. communicated this to the interviewer.)
How many processes have you gone through till now?
What projects have you done till now which makes you think you are fit for
consulting (I talked about a project for street vendors that I launched as a part of
Connecting dreams foundation in college and another project that I did for a
Singapore based company)
Could you please explain the CDF project (I gave a detailed explanation about the
project; This followed with an in-detail conversation about the project, its impact
and how could it have made sustainable in the future at a larger scale, the
discussion revolved majorly around marketing techniques employed.)
Do you want me to evaluate the benefits of launching the loyalty card and what
forms of benefits could be provided?
I: No, That's fine. Let us just focus on how you will select the e-commerce partner
and which one.
C: I would like to focus on the current offerings on different platforms and then
comparing them with some benefits that we could provide. There are some other
factors that we need to consider like Flipkart having its own loyalty program- super
coins and said that this would cause difficulty in partnering with them.
216
I: Why are you looking only at Flipkart or Amazon. Do you know what an e-commerce
platform means?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
C: (I was looking at this only from the retailer point of view, So I explained the
meaning of e-commerce and then accepted my mistake)
Case Interview 2
None
There are different aggregators in various categories like transport, food, and others,
giving examples.
Estimate the yearly revenue of Cafeteria & Co.
I: Right. Let us pick one and then see why that would be beneficial for us.
I: Abhishek, you have stayed in Gurgaon, right? Let us calculate the yearly revenue
of a party place in Cyber Hub of your choice,
C: Let us start with Swiggy. Zomato has a premium membership while Swiggy did not
which made it a good partner.
C: I do not know of any place in Cyber Hub, but I can probably do this calculation for
a cafe in Hudson lane near my college in Delhi.
I: That's fine we can close the case here. That will be all from my side. Good luck.
I: Surely.
Interview Experience
C: So, I would do this calculation for Cafeteria & Co. Just give me a few moments to
structure my thoughts.
What worked well for you? My project for street vendors became a talking point.
The interviewer was satisfied with my answers about
how to scale the project in the future and maintain
sustainability for the project. I was able to show that I
had put in efforts and knew the project in and out.
What could you have done
better?
The case was dragged a bit by me as I initially focused
only on retail platforms like Amazon, Myntra and
Flipkart. The interviewer had to guide me to consider
other platforms as well. This was a key point that I
missed.
C: The revenue can be calculated using the formula: Avg. size of a group * Avg. spend
per group* Seating capacity* occupancy* No. of days
I: Why have you taken a group rather than an individual?
C: Drawing on my own experience, my hypothesis is that people always come to this
café in groups.
I: Fair enough.
C: Moving ahead, occupancy would be low during summer and winter breaks and
exam time.
217
I: That's fine. Let us calculate revenue for a single Sunday.
C: All right. Give me 30 seconds to come up with a structure.
C: (I started assigning numbers to all the factors while explaining them also talking
about why occupancy would be low on a Sunday)
I: Yeah sure!
I: Let us go by individuals rather than groups.
C: All right. I would also like to incorporate the time for which the café runs and then
divide it by the average time a person spends in the café to arrive at the number of
customers served.
I: That seems fine, that is all!
I: Let us keep on assigning numbers as well and explain your reasoning. You are free
to make any assumptions.
C: I would start with the Indian population and divide into urban and rural. I would
like to discard rural area since the sales there would be much lesser.
I: Good, go ahead,
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
C: (Started explaining the various filters)
I was able to explain my research on UPI nicely to
him. Also, I considered all factors for the guesstimate
and was able to give reasonable explanations
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
C: I would like to calculate the number of urban households and then further divide
them into income segments, focused only on the upper-middle and high-income
segment. I will assume X percentage for both the segments for households which
would buy an air purifier.
I: Abhishek can you give me some more factors for this percentage?
C: Yeah, give me a minute.
I: Sure, take your time.
Case Interview 3
C: The 2 factors would be - tier 1 and 2 cities for income and level of pollution in
them. (I assigned percentages for both income segments by making a 2 by 2 matrix
and came up with a final percentage for both.)
Guesstimate the sale of air purifiers in India.
I: That is fine. Give me a final figure.
I: Let us do a quick guesstimate on the number of air purifiers sold in India.
C: (Did the calculations and gave a final figure.)
218
I: Thanks Abhishek. That will be all. Good luck.
Interview Experience
C: I just wanted to clarify that the internal data referred to spending by different
companies or not.
I: Yeah, that is right. We also can get a proxy of revenue for our clients.
What worked well for you?
I was able to segment well and come up with factors
to justify my assumptions.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Case Interview 4
Let us quickly do a short case as we are short on time. ICICI bank has 1000
customers who use their commercial credit cards. These cards are of 2 types- i)
Purchase cards, ii) Travel & expense cards. I want you to give me factors to look
into by which we can identify which customers (companies) spend less using our
cards and which have the potential for more.
C: Then what we can do is take out the ratio of revenue to expenditure for all our
clients and further the percentage of their expenses that are made through our
cards. We can then benchmark our clients against some high spending companies
within our portfolio.
I: That's great Abhishek. That is the right way to go about it. So now ICICI has
identified 200 such clients which have the potential to increase their spends. Tell me
how we can come up with a strategy to target them.
C: We can further divide the expenses into various heads and then see which
company is spending less where and come up with an appropriate pitch for that
client.
I: That is great Abhishek. That is what is required to be done. It was great talking to
you. Best of luck and have a good day.
C: Same here.
C: Give me some time to think of factors.
I: Yeah sure!
C: We can look into the cash flow and income statements of all 1000 companies and
then compare them.
I: That's exactly right. But it is difficult to get this data as all companies might not be
listed. Tell me how we can go ahead with the internal data itself.
Tips for Future Candidates
It is important to think out aloud; more so in a virtual setup as the interviewer cannot
see what you are doing on the paper. Always explain your reasoning behind
assumptions. It is also advisable to know when to ask for numbers and when to have
your numbers validated from the interviewer.
219
Ankita Goomer
C: (After taking few moments to think about it, framed the structure and walked the
interviewer through it)
Undergraduate College
Hansraj College, University of Delhi
Explained the demand and supply side approach.
Field of Graduation
B. Com (H)
I: Which approach do you think would be more feasible in such a situation.
Professional Qualifications
NA
Work Experience
Deloitte USI – 22 months
C: Supply side since there is limited seating capacity.
I: Let us talk about some numbers now.
C: Framed the mathematical equation and estimated the revenue.
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about your work-experience in brief.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Structured Approach and open communication.
Tell me about the POR you hold at IIM L.
What could you have done
better?
Could have framed the mathematical equation in a
more comprehensive manner.
Case Interview 1
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Estimate the yearly revenue of your favorite restaurant in Cyber Hub, Gurgaon.
I: Since you have lived in Gurgaon for quite a period, so you must have visited Cyber
Hub.
C: Yes sir
C: So, estimate the revenue of your favorite restaurant in Cyber Hub
Case Interview 2
You are the consultant of a South Asian Company which provides different cards
to companies, however, recently their profits in the travel card vertical are going
down. How would you identify the potential clients which we can approach to
increase our profits?
220
I: Travel card vertical is where they provide travel cards to the companies which
distribute it to employees for their daily travels/ trips /business travels. How would
you go about identifying potential companies where we can increase our revenues?
C: Talked about Macro factors based on which new trends and insights can be
obtained and potential companies can be identified
I: That's fine and that is for gaining new companies into the portfolio. How would go
about identifying the potential companies from the current portfolio?
I: Talked about various aspects like financial insights and on the basis of size, revenue
and growth rate of different industries clubbed together.
Dhanushree Bhanawat
Undergraduate College
Sri Venkateswara College
Field of Graduation
Statistics Hons.
Professional Qualifications
NA
Work Experience
Optimal Strategix – 24 months
C: Super, we will end the interview here.
HR & Conversation Questions
Interview Experience
Tell me something about yourself and a follow up question on hobbies.
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Structured approach, keeping communication open
and frequent and posing alternative solutions
Could have thought about the structures more
speedily
None
Case Interview 1
A tyre manufacturing company is seeing a decline in sales. Investigate.
C: Clarifying questions on size of the firm, presence of other competitors, product
portfolio local brands, etc.
I: Among the top brands nationally but the company is facing competition from local
players.
C: Since when have the sales been in decline?
I: Since the past 1 month.
221
C: Was there a price change?
I: No.
C: Relative to our competitors, has the prices suddenly become more expensive?
I: Maybe, explore what could be the reasons not limited to price change.
C: Explored the entire journey right from supply chain to distributors to warehouses,
to retailers and finally the customers. I put forward possible causes such as
What worked well for you? I followed the customer journey approach and
dissected the problem step by step.
What could you have done
better?
Be more creative in terms of coming up with reasons.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
What kind of projects does Mastercard typically have?
a) under-stocking at stores because of loss of inventory in the supply chain
Case Interview 2
b) Possible changes in quality that is making our product less attractive
There are two types of corporate cards: Travel card and Payments card where the
latter is used by companies to make payments to their vendors/suppliers. You are
the credit card company, and you see that certain clients are not using these credit
cards up-to the designated limit. So, for e.g., if the limit is 10000, the client is only
utilizing 1000 of it. What kind of data (primary and secondary) can you use to
nudge these kinds of companies to utilize their credit card limits and make more
payments?
I: Up to the point of distribution in stores, there is not any problem. Think of any
possible causes beyond that.
C: There can be two possible causes:
a) Changes in product placement in stores,
b) change in promotion policies of our company vs the competitor company
I: Yes, that is right there has been a change in promotional strategy of competitors.
They have started sending goodies like pen stand, wall clock etc. with their logo to
the retailers. And that is increasing top of mind awareness both in the minds of
retailers and customers who visit their shops.
Interview Experience
The discussion was for about 40 minutes where I first understood the working of
these two credit cards, what kind of information the credit card company tracks
about payments made etc.
The interview was more of a discussion and the crux of the solution is that we shall
categorize our customers (companies) based on their utilization levels - high,
medium, low. Then, we shall compare two or more companies belonging to the same
industry but with different utilization levels based on the following parameters:
1) Size of payments made
222
2) Number and types of suppliers/vendors to whom the payments are being made
3) Frequency of payments etc.
Based on mismatch of above parameters (high vs low), we shall nudge the low
utilization companies by running targeted advertisements.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
My experience in data analytics helped me in this
interview.
Divyani Malhotra
Undergraduate College
Shri Ram College of Commerce, DU
Field of Graduation
B. Com (Hons.)
Professional Qualifications
Actuarial Science
Work Experience
KPMG – 14 months
Velocity – 12 months
What could you have done
better?
Be more structured in articulating.
HR & Conversation Questions
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Tell me something about yourself.
Why consulting after audit?
Tips for Future Candidates
Be honest. Interviewers appreciate honesty.
What do you know about Mastercard Advisory services?
Why do you think you are good fit for Consulting?
Which other shortlists do you have?
A brief discussion about one of my projects related to GTM.
Case Interview 1
Calculate the number of table tennis balls that can be put inside an Indigo airplane.
223
C: The number of balls that can be put inside a plane would be the =volume of the
plane-30% (for the seats, equipment which are a part of the airplane)/ volume of the
one TT ball.
I: Let us move forward with the approach only.
C: We can consider the middle portion of the plane to be a cylinder and the
dimensions can be calculated assuming the number of rows to be 30. Assuming
every row has distance of 1m distance between them which makes a 30m length
adding another 5m for the cockpit area, we get a total length of 35m. An average
person is of the height 2m. Hence the volume= 3.14*2*2*35=400m^3.
An average table tennis ball is of a radius 2.5-3cm. The volume of one
ball=4/3*3.14*3*3*3=113.04cm^3 which we convert back to my^3.
I: That is good enough.
Your client is a card issuer. How can they increase their revenues?
C: For the sake of the case can I assume the operations of the client to be like maybe
say ICICI bank?
I: That's correct. But's lets only focus on increasing the profitability for the card’s
revenue segment.
C: Alright! Profitability can be measured in terms of Revenues and Costs. According
to my knowledge of the industry, revenue of the client would mostly be from the
Gross Dollar value charged from customers, transaction or interchange fee, interest
charged.
And the costs are the costs of issuing, acquisition cost of the client, merchant fee
paid.
Interview Experience
Please let me know if I am missing out on anything as I am not fully aware about the
payments industry.
What worked well for you? Approach was well constructed, and I maintained a
continuous interaction with the interviewer.
I: That's understandable. We can move forward with these heads. How can we
increase the profitability from the interest revenue?
What could you have done
better?
Could have mentioned all the areas for which I will be
calculating the area in the beginning
C: Interest revenue are majorly charged when a consumer makes a purchase on the
credit card. We can look into the EMI section as that is major source of this kind of
an income. We can increase the EMI facilities in different products.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
I: That's a good point. We can close the case now. Do you have any questions?
Interview Experience
Case Interview 2
224
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I tried to keep it as structured as possible.
Could have laid down a few more sub heads.
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Read about the payments industry. Buddy calls are extremely important, take them
seriously. Understand their projects those can help you frame your HR answers.
Mansi Gupta
Undergraduate College
Delhi Technological University
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (CSE)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
None
HR & Conversation Questions
Pitch yourself in one minute.
Elaborate on a research paper that you have worked on.
Tell me about yourself.
Why MasterCard?
Case Interview 1
Given profit margin and revenue for an airline, I had to calculate costs and analyze
profitability of the airlines.
225
I: A low-cost airline has 20% profit margin and 5 million as revenue. Their costs
comprise of 2 components: fuel and non-fuel. The fuel component is half of the nonfuel component. Calculate the fuel cost.
Pranjali Garg
Undergraduate College
Kirori Mal College, Delhi University
Field of Graduation
B. Com (Hons.)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Deloitte Touche and Tohmatsu AERS Pvt. Ltd.- 24
months
C: Confirms that profit margin is (R-C)/R and proceeds to calculate.
I: Now if the fuel prices are set to increase by 10%, what would be the new profit
margin?
C: Calculated.
I: Now can you suggest if the airline should continue operating or shut down because
of rise in fuel prices?
C: Explained that since the airlines are still profitable, they should continue to run.
I: Let us look at ways they can increase their profitability.
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself.
C: Broke down the whole profitability framework and listed all possible options.
Case Interview 1
Your client is a bank issuing thin file cards that wants to launch them in another
geography. How will you go about it?
Ran me through the flow of the interview, gave a quick introduction about himself
and asked me to introduce myself.
C: Focused more on the personal aspect and talked about what inspires and drives
me in life and how I have worked upon myself to get better with every venture that
I have taken up.
226
Your client is a bank issuing thin file cards that wants to launch them in another
geography. How will you go about it? (After the introduction, the interviewer gave
me the case and a brief on what ‘thin file cards’ are: Issued to people who have
limited credit history)
C: Asked clarifying questions, Geographical Location? New geography within the
country or another country? Objective? More about the product- how are they
different from credit cards? Other offerings by the bank? Launch for all the offerings
or just thin file cards? Any specific location that the client has already in favor?
I: India, want to expand to some other country, objective was to expand and increase
customer base. The card functions like a credit card except for the initial limit offered
on a thin file card is quite less which is subsequently improved based on the usage.
Mainly launch for only thin file cards. No specific location.
I: Was convinced with the reasoning and asked me to go ahead with the structure of
the estimation.
C: Went ahead with the standard % division based on the income level with the focus
on the upper level and middle-income group of the total population.
I: (Ended the case being satisfied with the overall approach and structure) What
excites you about Mastercard?
C: Talked about the focus on the booming payments industry.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
C: I drew the structure which had 4 components and gave a brief overview of each
of the element relevant in each component- a. Country Selection (PESTLE): Political
factors, legal factors, technological factors, and economic factors b. Industry Analysis
(Porter's 5 forces): Competition, Substitutes and Buyers c. Market estimation d. The
logical sequence of events.
The interviewer was more interested in the
structure rather than the actual answer so
being very structured with my answers and
using first principle for any reasoning to
justify my answer worked well
What could you have done
better?
I: Reiterated the structure and was convinced with the flow. Asked me to focus on
market estimation, what will be the main idea behind the estimation- can US be
taken as an example.
Could have been more specific with the
country that I could have chosen to do a
market estimate for?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
What is the vision of Mastercard for its new
launch: contactless cards?
C: Gave a brief that the main benefit will be in a country where income is sufficient
that people do not opt for loans/ credits and it is thus difficult to ascertain the credit
history of the population which will divert them towards thin file cards. A country
like US would be the right way to go for it.
Tips for Future Candidates
Be very structured with your approach Practice a few cards launch based
cases for Mastercard.
227
Vaishnavi Gupta
C: Where does the store operate? What product variants it sells (high ticket items /
small etc.)
Undergraduate College
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, DU
I: Delhi, sells both high- and low-ticket items.
Field of Graduation
Management
Interviewee: What kind of business model the firm has? - rental charge, duration,
procurement from etc.
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Praxis Global Alliance – 12 months
HR & Conversation Questions
I: 3 possibilities - Either customer pays monthly charge as per use, customer pays
monthly charge for 2-3 months and then buys the furniture at lumpsum amount,
customer pays monthly charge for a year or so and is handed over possession of
furniture.
C: What is current market share, How much decline in market share? Is the decline in
any SKU? who are competitors?
Tell me about yourself in under 1 min. (This was strictly timed by her using timer)
What kind of legacy you would like to leave and to which fictional / historical
character, the legacy resembles?
Elaborate on a project you did while working with Praxis.
Brief discussion on hobbies.
Case Interview 1
A rental furniture store is experiencing loss in market share. Help the client on the
steps ahead.
I: Market leader currently with 40% share, fragmented market with new entrants.
Decline is nonspecific.
C: Structure- Market share of this firm will be a function of #customers* avg spend per
customer (further divided into - frequency of purchase* avg ticket size per item). So,
either one of these have been affected or a combination that led to fall in market
share. I started elaborating reasons for all 4 buckets.
# customer falling due to customers switching to competitors. This can be because of
better customer discounts, better user interface for purchasing, awareness should not
be an issue as already market leader, better financing facilities like EMIs etc.
228
I: Firm Y is giving higher discounts and is also providing attractive EMI options for high
ticket items. Additionally, they are pushing the lumpsum model rather than other 2.
Can you tell why would they do it?
considered too to make sure you have ample
opportunity to discuss your ideas as much as possible.
C: Reason 1- Lower working capital for procuring new furniture for sale
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Reason 2- Customers like to rent brand new furniture and by pushing selling of the
same, they can keep fresh stock for rental customers and increase value proposition.
Case Interview 2
I: What recommendations you would like to give?
C: The firm has basically 2 types of customers - Paying Guests, usually millennials
staying in Delhi for work / university - expect vibrant and sleek furniture.
How does MasterCard make its policies employee
friendly?
A low-cost airline player has xx revenues. Its non-fuel costs were 2x its fuel costs.
PAT margin was y%. The fuel costs have recently doubled. What is new profitability.
What should they do to maintain initial PAT margins?
Conservative customers who like to try high ticket furniture first and then buy if it suits
their ambience, such items are also lower priced than fresh product.
C: Calculated new PAT margin by finding initial costs, then doubling fuel costs. Clearly
stated the assumption that revenues have remain unchanged, i.e., price of ticket and
neither #customers have changed to calculate new PAT margin.
C: After doing cost benefit analysis, we can provide discounts like competitors and also
provide new services like home interior services for vibrant houses as target audience
is millennials.
In order to maintain initial PAT margins, either revenues should increase, or costs
should go down. Should I consider both possibilities?
I: Focus on increasing revenues only.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? I kept interviewer engaged and was always thinking out
loud. I laid my points confidently and seek clarity
wherever required.
What could you have done
better?
I took a lot of time initially to understand business
model. Because of that, we could not discuss any other
bucket apart from #customers. Time should be
C: I would like to calculate by how much % we need to increase revenues considering
costs cannot increase to maintain same PAT margin.
Revenue = #customers * avg ticket size of a flight * avg frequency of travel
#customers: Increase occupancy rates in non-peak times (when its usually 30-40%) by
reducing prices a bit and better marketing. Also, newer routes (via cities) can be done
to cater to newer locations for higher occupancy rates.
229
I: We do not want to incur any costs on marketing, routes are already at optimal and
we can consider the occupancy point. Let us say 3% revenues increase due to it. (we
needed ~14% increase)
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
C: For increasing avg ticket size: We can provide additional meals or newer
supplementary services such as OTT apps streaming etc.
Tips for Future Candidates
I: No, we want to maintain our image as low-cost carrier only.
What all variety of projects you do in Mastercard even
within payments segment?
Be humble and confident. Mastercard panelists for me were friendly, so show your
friendly side too. They ultimately want to have a good team member by their side.
C: The average frequency of travel can increase by more competitive pricing if
possible. New routes to cater to newer customers is not an option as already
established.
I: What recommendations you will give to this firm? Given we are 2nd in market
currently and 1 out of only 2 players who are profitable in the industry.
C: Not much can be done during this time to increase PAT margins. Our advantage lies
in sheer profitability which the firm is still making as high fuel costs will affect other
players too, and more severely, given they are already loss making. This opens new
doors to possible mergers in future and increase diversification of airlines leading to
higher revenues and higher future PAT margins.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
The recommendation part impressed interviewer.
I did not ask current market share of airline and more
on competitive landscape on my own.
230
Ayesha Hafeez
Undergraduate College
Hans Raj College, University of Delhi
Field of Graduation
Economics
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
McKinsey Knowledge Center (30 months), EY (5
months)
HR & Conversation Questions
As you know, McKinsey is increasingly focusing on inclusivity. Can you narrate an
incident from your life where you, as a woman, had to deal with multiple stakeholders
from different cultural backgrounds? How did you go about it and what was the
outcome?
Case Interview 1
The client is a large two-wheeler manufacturer in India. The growth for the last 3
years has been flat, ~0-1%, while the market has been growing at 5%. How can they
grow at a rate faster than the market growth rate?
The interviewer began with a case right away.
C: Just to reiterate the problem statement, our client is a large two-wheeler
manufacturer growing at ~0-1%. The client wants to grow at a rate greater than the
231
market growth rate which is 5%. So, I have to devise a growth strategy for the client.
Is that correct?
I: Yes, sounds good.
C: I would like to begin with understanding the problem statement further. Could you
tell me about any other geographies that the client caters to, what the value chain
coverage looks like and the number and location of plants that the client has?
I: The client operates only in India and has 4 plants across the nation. They
manufacture as well as sell the two-wheelers.
C: Thank you. Next, I would like to know about the revenue streams. Is the sale of two
wheelers the only source of revenue? Are there different types of two-wheelers?
I: Yes, there are 3 types of two wheelers - scooters, motorcycles with less than 125 cc
engine and motorcycles with greater than 125 cc engine.
C: Great, could you help me with the market growth rate of these separate segments?
I would also like to know the revenue split of the client.
I: Scooter sales are growing at 28%, <125cc motorcycle growth is negligible and >125cc
motorcycle growth rate is 10%. For the client, the revenue split is 25%, 70% and 5%,
respectively.
C: Interesting! This is definitely an aspect we should look at while devising the growth
strategy. Before that, I would like to understand the distribution channels and the
level of market fragmentation.
I: The client has a large dealership channel of 1500 dealers and the market is
consolidated. The client is the market leader with 3 other players having similar
market share.
C: Thank you. There are 3 broad strategies we can consider here. First, I would like to
focus on the existing market and offerings, and the possibility of changing the product
mix and promotion tactics. Next, we can look at entering new geographies within and
outside India. Lastly, we can diversify and introduce new products altogether.
I: Let us start with the first. Can you elaborate what you mean by the product mix?
C: Maximum revenue for the client comes from motorcycles with <125cc engine, for
which the market growth is negligible. I would therefore suggest promoting the
existing stock of products aggressively and changing the product mix to push the sales
of scooters since that segment is growing at the highest rate of 28%.
I: How would you suggest promoting the sales?
(Here I focused on the customer touch-point approach to suggest methods for both
scooters and piled up stock, and emphasized the importance of dealership experience
and incentives)
C: Good. Let us say we come up with a new scooter for women. Can you suggest ways
to leverage digital and analytics to improve the customer experience at a dealership
store?
I laid down the customer journey to suggest methods to digitize in-store as well as test
drive experience and leverage the data collected to enhance products and services.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Not jumping to conclusions and scoping the problem
well before diving into the growth strategy. I also tried
to keep it conversational given the virtual scenario.
232
What could you have done
better?
I could have taken a break before answering towards
the end to ensure more comprehensive inputs.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Asked him about the function or industry he led. He
mentioned being part of the M&S and growth strategy
teams and that this was a real case he had worked on.
Tips for Future Candidates
Solve cases with seniors from the very beginning and make it a point to fair them out.
Focus on quality over quantity and be confident during the interview!
Disha Gupta
Undergraduate College
St. Xavier's College, Mumbai
Field of Graduation
Statistics
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Fresher
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
What are your academic interests?
Why McKinsey and why you?
Questions based on statistics
Case Interview 1
None. The first interview was majorly an interaction on different concepts of
Statistics.
Interview Experience
233
What worked well for you? Communication, being honest with my answers and
domain knowledge
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Structuring of answers
Current project you are working on, could you please
introduce yourself (if not an alum/interacted with
already), how has your experience been so far.
Case Interview 2
Your client is a financial institution who provides loan services. They plan to extend
loan facility to lifestyle products (TV, mobile phones) in the online market. Consider
they plan to tie up with e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart etc. How many
loans could they expect, given that more than 50% of the market will avail the
service for products over ₹5k
(I asked some preliminary questions and scoped the problem)
C: Starting with India's population (took 1.4 Bn for ease of calculation), I would first
split them on the basis of urban and rural population. Then I would consider Internet
penetration in these regions. Further I would divide each region on the basis of age as
it influences people's preference towards online medium for purchase of Lifestyle
products. Am I heading in the right direction?
C: So here we have the total market for lifestyle products. Next, the average life of a
product is generally 3 years which I would factor in to get the annual demand. I would
then look at income division to understand which people will actually turn towards
loans for their purchases (Took the interviewer's buy in while fitting the number to get
the market size)
I: So Disha, now that we do not have much time left can you summarize what steps
would you take after this to get to the answer.
C: Sure, I would consider the 50% market size and considering around 80% lifestyle
products (assuming phones, TVs, smart watches) are above 5K I would come up with
the final market size.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Taking the hints dropped by the interviewer at every
stage, communication, and confirming assumption.
What could you have done
better?
Scoping could have been better, Maintained a higher
speed.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
I: Go ahead
Fitted the percentages and took buy in from the interviewer at every stage.
234
Divita Bora
Undergraduate College
Shri Ram College of Commerce
Field of Graduation
B. Com (Honors)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Bira 91 (B9 Beverages) – 25 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself
What has been a challenging phase of your life and how did you handle it?
What aspect of dramatics do you like the best (I had spoken about being actively
involved in dramatics in school and college)?
Case Interview 1
What population of India would have suffered during the lockdown because they
were involved in the Theatre industry? How can the Government help them
(alternate sources of revenue)?
I: Since I am also involved in dramatics, let us discuss a case about the same. What
population of India would have suffered during the lockdown along with the revenue
loss because they were involved in the theatre industry? How can the Government
help them (alternate sources of revenue)?
I started with the guesstimate by stating that:
I will look at the number of people involved in one stage play production (The
assumption here was that we were only including stage plays- I confirmed this later)
This would include both direct (cast and crew) and indirect (costume and prop rentals)
Then I would extrapolate the number by multiplying it with the number of plays
showcased in a theatre,
Then further multiply this with the number of theatres in a city (dividing this into tier
1 and other cities)
For the cities, I took Delhi as a proxy since I had knowledge about the theatre circuit
there.
I took some time in solving this, after which he told me to stop since we were short on
time. So, I asked if I could quickly tell him about the solutions that I had thought of,
which were broadly on the lines of pre-recording the performances and streaming it
online. I also spoke about some long-term solutions, of how to attract audiences back
to the theatres post the lockdown.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? The interview was more like a conversation, and I think
related both the case problem and the HR questions to
my personal experiences helped me do well in the
interview
What could you have done
better?
Could have been faster while solving the guesstimate so
that I could cover more solutions
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
235
C: I gave a basic overview of customer segments in each part.
Heet Shah
Interview Experience
Undergraduate College
IIT Bombay
Field of Graduation
B. Tech (Civil Engineering)
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Axis Bank – 25 months
HR & Conversation Questions
What worked well for you? Good discussion about work experience and
understanding about customer segments of hotel
industry helped.
What could you have done
better?
Not sticking to the set frameworks. I also could not
maintain a structure during the idea generation
process.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
How are you feeling?
Where are you from? (Some discussion about his recent visit nearby)
What are some of the interesting insights you found during your work at Axis?
Case Interview 2
Case 1: Your client is a dairy product manufacturer. It wants to double revenues in
3 years. How to go about it? Structure it.
Case Interview 1
Client has a hotel chain with hotels across America and Europe. It also has 10-12
hotels in India. Growth is stagnated in America and European markets, so the client
wants to explore whether to expand in India.
Case 2: Client is the CEO of an automobile manufacturer (assume a company like
Hyundai). Government has just announced a lockdown due to COVID-19. What
should be his priority for next 30 days?
Both the cases were short 5-minute cases.
C: (Laid down a broad level structure of a typical market entry disguised in a 2*2
matrix.)
I: Can you explore different customers segments and value proposition for each of
them?
Case 1: Asked few clarifying questions about current operations of the company and
used a standard growth strategy framework and explained each of the buckets and
ideas in each of it.
236
Case 2: (The interviewer explicitly mentioned he just wants a structure and not ideas)
1. Business continuity
a. Supply (Split the value chain and highlighted the impacted areas)
b. Demand (Drew a Customer journey)
2. Safety of People
a. Own Employees
i. Factory employees
ii. Management/Central office employees
b. Distributors/Retail Stores
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Structuring of cases concisely worked well and a good
connect with the interviewer during the initial HR
discussion.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Megha Punjabi
Undergraduate College
St. Xavier's College, Mumbai
Field of Graduation
Economics & Statistics
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
HDFC, Standard Chartered, Axis Bank (54 months)
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
Why McKinsey? Why consulting?
What are your key strengths?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Why mountaineering? Where all have you travelled solo?
What do you write on?
Case Interview 1
A private equity firm is interested to invest in metros and ports in India. Help them
decide.
C: Understood the motivation behind entry into the Indian market and this sector and
their existing portfolio. Clarified if there was any other motive for entering this market
237
apart from profits. For the valuation part, I analyzed the targeted rate of return and
time for recuperating the investment and the desired cost of capital.
(The interview became more of a discussion and we discussed on the lines of how I
would do this if I were on the case. I was able to bring creative ideas to the case.)
I: A Canadian firm wants to invest in India and is looking for good income flow. The
timeline is 2-3 months. There is no specific location or other constraints.
C: I analyzed the regulatory environment (given the nature of the sector, wanted to
understand if there were any current / upcoming regulation regarding investments in
infrastructure). Clarified that tolls form a major source of revenue for the highway
(95% w.r.t this case). Therefore, I restricted the analysis to the revenue earned via tolls
as a matter of this case. I mentioned about different types of valuations and clarified
that Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method will be used to value this project.
Interview Experience
I: What are the potential risks to this investment?
C: Used a graph to show the risk factors and ROI indifference curve.
Future economic outlook, systematic risk, operational, Technology changes in future,
currency risk. Spoke about the risk equation of r = (1/N) *Var + (1-1/N) * Cov to
highlight that there is always going to be some systematic risk and mentioned the risk
mitigation strategies through hedging.
What worked well for you? Staying calm throughout the interview helped. I was
enjoying the conversation and tried to structure all my
answers.
What could you have done
better?
Read economic theories in detail.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
I: Can you calculate the loss in case a type of commercial vehicles stopped using the
highway (agri: vehicles)?
C: (Got data related to different type and proportion of vehicles that use the highway
and calculated revenue lost if 50% of agri: commercial vehicles stop using the highway.
Data: 100,000 vehicles per day; 40% cars, 20% buses and 40% commercial vehicles
with toll charges 100, 200 and 300, respectively. 50% agri and remaining auto
commercial vehicles. Calculated per day loss of 3 Mio and was asked to list down the
reasons for decline in agri commercial vehicles and ways to compensate for the lost
income.
238
Roopika Maniktala
I: There are a lot of variants in the premium, mid, and economy segments.
C: Who are the customers of these products? Are they based in India?
Undergraduate College
Shri Ram College of Commerce
Field of Graduation
Commerce
I: Yes, all our customers are based in India. 80% of the supply is to people like you
and me and 20% is B2B.
Professional Qualifications
None
C: What is the competition landscape like?
Work Experience
JP Morgan – 24 months
I: There are a lot of competitors, it is a fragmented market.
C: What is the objective of increasing the market share?
HR & Conversation Questions
I: The company has hired a new CEO; he is working on growth of the company.
Pitch for 30 seconds as to why you are good at teamwork/ drive/ leadership.
C: Okay, since the company wants to increase the market share to 20% in next 5
years, it should try to grow either organically or inorganically. For organic growth, it
may enter new markets or launch new products for the existing ones. For inorganic
growth since M&A is out of option, we can look for joint ventures with other players
to build a brand in new markets or we can have franchises and retain the control.
Case Interview 1
Paint manufacturer has 12% market share and wants to achieve 20% market
share over next 5 years. M&A is not an option. Help the client.
C: What kind of paints does the company manufacture?
I: Paints that go on walls.
C: Is it an established company? Can I imagine something like Asian Paints?
I: Let us just focus on organic growth for now. There is not much scope to increase
the portfolio of products that the company has. But we have seen that most of the
sales come from premium products followed by mid category and we do not have
any market share in the economy class products. We have two proposals. First is to
increase premium sales as much as possible, focus a lot more on mid and mostly stay
away from economy. Second is to enter the economy segment while retaining or
increasing shares in the other two segments. Why don’t you run some calculations
to see which one would be better?
I: Yes, it is an established player. Asian Paints is a good comparable.
C: What are the different products/SKUs that the company offers?
(Gave numbers for market demand across all segments and market share of the
company in each segment. Discussed the numbers with before reaching a solution)
239
C: On the basis of these numbers, second option will be better. Since the company
will enter a new segment it will be beneficial for the long-term growth as well.
I: But what do you think about the first option? What if the company does not have
the necessary resources to delve into economy category paint production? The
company’s USP is premium products and as such does not have a customer base for
economy class products.
C: We can a take a look at all the aspects right from the customer segmentation,
geographical areas, positioning of the product for each of these product categories
to see where the efforts need to be directed.
I: What all basic metrics would you cover? Product category is one, pricing is another;
what else?
C: Marketing and sales & distribution could be other areas of concern
What worked well for you? Being able to pick hints and follow the direction
provided by the interviewer. Also, since it was a
number heavy case, walking the interviewer through
all the calculations before choosing any option helped
me
What could you have done
better?
More analysis on choosing options other than what
the numbers conveyed could have been done.
Focusing on implied qualitative factors and not getting
blinded by numbers was something that the
interviewer was looking for
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
About his area of practice and experience at the firm
I: That is correct. Distribution could be an issue. Try to compare our distribution
channel with that of other major players and suggest what changes can be made.
(Gave category-wise distribution for different players and number of shops in which
they sell products and asked to decide if we should distribute more products in
existing shops or increase the number of shops)
C: (Based on numbers, provided pros and cons for each option and after discussing
concluded that more products should be distributed using existing network)
I: I think that is good, let us end the case here.
Interview Experience
240
Case 3: Your client is a large FMCG manufacturer/company with multiple brands
and products under its ambit. It has seen a decline in profitability despite no
change in profit per unit profit or production costs. Why might this have occurred?
Sathya Sahay
Undergraduate College
Ashoka University, Sonipat
Field of Graduation
B.Sc. Economics and Finance
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Fresher
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me about yourself
Why do you want to join McKinsey?
Would you regret ranking McKinsey first if you get rejected right now?
Case Interview 1
Case 1: You are a consultant to the CEO of Hyundai sitting in March 2020. What
would be your priorities/measures/concerns in the next 30 days with the COVID19
lockdown having just been imposed?
Case 2: Your client is a large dairy product manufacturer who is a market leader in
India. They want to double their revenues in the next 2 years. Suggest possible
avenues available to them.
I: Good Morning Sathya, how are you feeling?
C: Good Morning Sir. I am excited but also a little nervous. I would be lying if I said I
was not sweating under this suit and my heart was not racing at 100 miles an hour.
I: Haha! As you can see, I am dressed in a t-shirt and I am the one taking your
interview, so my vitals are just fine. I have not had the chance to glance through your
CV yet, so why don't you tell me a little about yourself?
C: Sure Sir! (introduced myself)
I: That's great Sathya. Why do you want to join McKinsey?
C: (an elaborate answer focusing on culture, values, people, international exposure,
and aspirational value) I was getting cold feet about ranking McKinsey first with all
the hot calls flying around from other companies, so I had a really honest chat with
my McKinsey mentor about how he dealt with this dilemma and its associated
feelings when he was in my shoes and he really took the time to allay my fears over
a 1.5-hour phone call. The conversation really drove home the level of support that
McKinsey provides to its people - and it is exactly what I would want in an
organization that I work with.
I: I would actually love to chat more about the risks and rewards associated with
ranking McKinsey first for someone in your position but in the interest of time, let
us dive into a case. You are a consultant to the CEO of Hyundai sitting in March 2020.
What would be your priorities/measures/concerns in the next 30 days with the
COVID19 lockdown having just been imposed?
241
C: (asked scoping questions about the company, its operations, and the situation) I
think the way I would approach this is to look at the value chain of Hyundai and see
where all one could face issues with the imposition of the lockdown - right from
procurement of raw materials to sales and distribution...
I: I like the approach, but you are using a framework here. Let us change up the
problem. Your client is a large dairy product manufacturer who is a market leader in
India. They want to double their revenues in the next 2 years. Suggest possible
avenues available to them.
C: (asked scoping questions about the company, products, competitors, customers,
market context and constraints) So here we could look at multiple options. We could
expand using our existing business and grow organically. However, given that we are
a market leader, we may be unable to meet our growth targets. So, we could look at
new products like frozen yoghurt or enter new geographies where we are likely or
expect similar success like at home. Alternatively, we could go with the inorganic
route and acquire a player in the existing or new markets that we presently operate
in. Would you like me to look into any particular idea?
I: These are all good suggestions. Let us do another one - Your client is a large FMCG
manufacturer/company with multiple brands and products under its ambit. It has
seen a decline in profitability despite no change in profit per unit or production costs.
Why might this have occurred?
C: I would certainly cry myself to bed tonight, but I would take the same decision if
given the choice once again.
I: I am glad. It was great interacting with you, best of luck in case you have any other
interviews lined up for the day.
C: Thank you Sir!
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Staying calm even though the problem statement was
constantly changing and keeping the case solving as
conversational as possible.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Could have tried to think from a more first principle
approach instead of applying a framework to the first
problem.
None
C: (broke down profitability mathematically) Could it be because prices and costs are
both increasing by the same amount, leading to a decline in percentage terms?
Tips for Future Candidates
I: Suppose that is not the case.
Keep calm and try to make the interview as conversational as possible, even while
being structured during case solving.
C: Then it could also be because the product mix has changed.
I: Absolutely. Thanks, Sathya, we can stop solving cases now. Would you regret your
decision of ranking McKinsey first if you get rejected right now?
242
Vaishnavi Patki
Undergraduate College
What worked well for you? The two-way conversation and an in-depth discussion
about my work (my comfort zone) paved the way for
second round.
Institute of Chemical Technology
Field of Graduation
Food Engineering & Technology
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Marico Limited – 26 months
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Case Interview 2
HR & Conversation Questions
How are you feeling?
Your client is a financial institution who provides loan services. They plan to extend
loan facility for the online market. Consider they plan to tie up with e-commerce
platforms like Amazon. How many loans could they expect?
Tell me a little about your work at Marico.
What did you like the most while working there?
Post reiterating the question statement, clarified the minimum price point that has
to be considered for the guesstimate. (3k+)
What kind of project would you love working on if you get to intern with McKinsey?
Checked with the interviewer if focusing on Electronics and Fashion segment would
be correct for the guesstimate and then proceeded with this assumption.
Case Interview 1
Started with daily/monthly visitors on Amazon website & App, followed by an
average conversion rate.
There was no case in this round. The focus of the interview was on my work
experience and learnings.
Interview Experience
Later considered the percentage of people who would buy items from the abovementioned two segments, considered all the available payment options, and then
landed on a number for the people who will actually opt for loans provided by our
client.
243
Interview Experience
Vedika Gulati
What worked well for you? I believe thinking out loud and keeping the
interviewer aligned worked well for me.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
NA
Undergraduate College
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, DU
Field of Graduation
Management
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
McKinsey Knowledge Center (24 months), Grant
Thornton (6 months)
None
HR & Conversation Questions
Why would you like to come back to McKinsey?
Describe a project wherein you took a leadership role.
Tell us one of the biggest hardships that you overcame in life?
Case Interview 1
The client is a PE firm and would like to evaluate an Indian asset portfolio of roads,
railways, highways, ports etc. We have received the cash flow position from target
company. Suggest a list of risks to the cash flows.
I: The client is a PE firm and would like to evaluate an Indian asset portfolio of roads,
railways, highways, ports etc. We have received the cash flow position from target
company. Suggest a list of risks to the cash flows.
244
C: Asked about the firm, its location of operations, any particular asset they would
like me to look at first and where does the firm lie in terms of its value chain of
managing the assets (i.e., whether the client is involved in building assets,
maintaining the assets, etc.).
I: The client is an established PE Firm, operates Pan India, and no particular asset is
a priority at the moment. In terms of value chain, the client bids for an asset, and
once the contract is won, client is responsible to construct the asset (say a highway
or a port), then maintain it for a certain period before handing it over to the
government in about 35 years.
regular maintenance costs of the highway until the asset is handed over to the
government.
I: Good, now let us consider that we won a bid for a highway between Mumbai and
Hyderabad. It has been 5 years since construction. We have projections of the cash
flow for the next the 25-30 years. Evaluate the risks to this cash flow in term of
revenue from toll.
C: The way I would calculate the revenue would be as follows - Number of cars x
Frequency of visit x Toll per visit.
C: Could you give me a moment to structure my thoughts?
I: Would only cars be paying the toll?
I: Sure, go ahead.
C: No, the vehicles would include passenger cars, cabs, buses, trucks,
and two wheelers.
C: We can start by looking at multiple factors that could affect the operating cash
flows. The factors could be external to the firm and beyond its control, such as any
regulatory changes by the government (since one of the major stakeholders in the
contracts is the government), contractual changes, any substitutes to the assets that
come up (alternatives to highways, roads, etc.) or could be internal to the firm, such
as efficiency in managing traffic, maintenance of assets (allowing more users), rates
of tolls (if any), etc.
I: Good. What would be the operating inflow and outflow of cash for acquiring or
maintaining an asset, say a highway?
C: Sources of inflow of cash would be toll collection, lease money for renting out area
in and around the highway, for instance - for petrol pumps, small restaurants and
leasing out advertising spaces. Sources of outflow of cash can be looked at by
considering the value chain. We would pay out the bid money, outflow of cash for
buying raw materials and machinery, hiring labor to construct the highway and the
I: Right. Let us focus on trucks. What are the risks to toll revenue from trucks?
C: Could you give me a moment to structure my thoughts?
I: Sure.
C: Toll revenue would be a function of number of trucks and the toll charges. We
could have direct and indirect factors impacting the toll revenue from trucks. In case
of direct factors, we could have any alternate routes available to the truck drivers
(could be another highway) affecting the number of trucks taking the highway.
Changes in toll charges could also have an impact on the revenue.
Since the trucks are travelling between two cities (Mumbai and Hyderabad), they
would primarily be serving as inbound and outbound transportation for the
companies. So, the indirect factors could be inter-state taxes, cost of raw materials
within the two cities, and regulatory & legal requirements especially with respect to
transportation of trucks (for e.g.- timings within which trucks can operate).
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I: Take two industries - agriculture and automobile. Trucks supplying to these two
industries contribute maximum to the toll revenue, about 40%. Inter tax rates
between the states have increased, toll revenue from trucks supplying to which
industry would be impacted the most?
C: It is hard to switch supply from one source to another in case of agriculture
industry since its dependent on climate, soil, etc., while for automobile industry it
could be relatively easier to shift the source.
I: Good, thank you, Vedika.
I - Client is a financial institution (FI), estimate the number of loans the FI would
disburse in one month to customers buying a product online via e-commerce
platforms.
C - By products being purchased on an e-commerce platform, do you mean a
platform like Flipkart and Amazon?
I - Yes, for simplicity, assume it to be Flipkart.
C – Okay. Are we focusing on any particular region or is it Pan India? Do we have any
specific criteria for disbursing the loan?
Interview Experience
I - Nothing specific.
What worked well for you? Maintaining composure and being open-minded
helped, especially since this is not a usual case and the
interviewer kept transitioning from one case problem
to another.
What could you have done
better?
I could have taken the interviewer’s buy-in at more
points during the case.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Case Interview 2
Client is a financial institution (FI), estimate the number of loans the FI would
disburse in one month to customers buying a product online via e-commerce
platforms.
C: Okay, just give me a moment here.
I - I would like to calculate the number of online purchases and then find out the
proportion of purchases for Flipkart and finally the proportion of loans disbursed by
the FI.
So, number of online purchases = Population (130 Crore) x Rural / Urban (~7:3) x
Internet penetration (30%) x Income Classes (40% of middle/lower middle class) x
Age (35% - 15-35 years) x Proportion of online purchasers (assumed 30%) x
Frequency of high-cost purchases (Once in 6 months) x Factor for mode of financing
(EMI, Loans, self-finance)
Then, Loans for purchases on Flipkart = number of online purchases x Market Share
of Flipkart (~30%)
(Fortunately, I knew the market share and took the interviewer's go-ahead on this
one)
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Finally, Number of Loans for FI in one month = Loans for Purchases of Flipkart x
Market share of FI
(For market share of FI, I asked the interviewer if we had information on the market
share directly or if we knew the number of FIs in the sector. The interviewer told me
that there were 3 close competitors, hence I could assume 1/4th of the market share
for simplicity)
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Having knowledge on industry specific value chain
helped. This time I tried to take in interviewer’s buy-in
wherever possible.
What could you have done
better?
I could have considered more buckets such as sales or
discount-days during festivals.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Practice as many cases of different types as possible, especially abstract cases since
it helps broaden one’s perspective.
Take in interviewer’s go-ahead wherever possible
247
What are you plans post MBA?
Aditya Jain
Why PWC? Why this role? Why consulting?
Undergraduate College
Hansraj College
Field of Graduation
B. Com (H)
Case Interview 1
Professional Qualifications
None
Estimate the number of cows in Lucknow.
KPMG India – 18 months
(After taking 30-40 seconds to think)
Grail Insights – 14 months
HR & Conversation Questions
C: I would do this by the following approach: [(Cow milk demand in Lucknow (month)
+ exports - imports)/Average milk given by a cow] + Non lactating cows + Stray cows.
My assumption here is that the first two 2 categories of cows are kept in a closed
facility.
Tell me about yourself
I: Seems fine, go ahead.
Go through your work ex starting from KPMG and briefly go through the work you
did there?
Note: There were some cross questions when I was calculating the numbers, but he
was happy with the approach.
Talk about the major projects you did at Grail Insights.
Interview Experience
Asked me about my PORs and the challenges I faced and how I managed everything.
What worked well for you? Quality and clarity of work experience and taking a
structured approach in the guesstimate.
Work Experience
Questions related to the applicability of marketing concepts in my work experience.
Tell me about your biggest achievement.
How did you work in a team when there was a personal conflict between you and a
team member?
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I was sitting for the Customer Strategy Role, which
had multiple functions under it. I asked him how we
248
are going to be allocated in those functions, if selected
and how switchable are they in the long run.
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Case Interview 2
Part 1 – Estimate the revenue of a food delivery platform in Delhi.
Tips for Future Candidates
Part 2 – Case: Pricing strategy case for a food delivery platform
Hard-work and proactiveness are key during the prep days, and confidence and
patience are key during the process. Start early and be consistent. Rest will follow.
Some questions that I was asked during the interview are:
- Develop the pricing structure of a food delivery platform comprehensively for a
particular area?
- What is this pricing strategy called?
\
- What are other pricing strategies?
- What are the factors that you would consider while deciding pricing for a particular
area? What are the pricing drivers?
- Will the pricing be different for an area like Old Delhi and for an area somewhere
in South Delhi? Why?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Taking a MECE approach and having end to end
clarity on work that I did in KPMG and Grail.
What could you have done
NA
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Fazin M Naseer
Undergraduate College
NIT Calicut
Field of Graduation
B.Tech. – Electronics and Communication
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
Netcracker Technology – 36 months
HR & Conversation Questions
I: Tell me about yourself
C: I mainly talked about my college Internship and work-ex focusing on different
experiences I have working in cloud and assisting in digital transformation and some
questions on CRM as my work-ex was developing a CRM.
I: What do you know about Consulting especially M&A?
C: I started reading about the consulting domain while I was working and basically it
was about solving problems and I was able to relate to the work I was doing. Even
though it was development I was more interested in finding solutions to customer
requirements. Considering M&A cases, a similar work for me was integrating
different modules into the project and I had to do a similar due diligence there
before integration. So, I was able to relate my current work with consulting.
Tell me about yourself
Why consulting?
What are your 3 skills which can be useful while working in PwC?
How did you manage a conflict while leading a team?
What do you know about cloud applications, CRM, IT?
What do you think constitutes IT of a company?
Case Interview 1
What are the different factors that should be considered for IT integration while
merging two companies?
I: What are the different factors that should be considered for IT integration while
merging two companies?
C: First thing that should be considered is the data of two companies such as
employee data, customer data, vendor data etc.
I: What factors need to be considered while integrating data?
C: Integration depends on how it is stored, if it is in cloud or on-premises data center,
if the same cloud provider data could be migrated, if different data need to be
exported and imported. Data models might be different for the same entity type as
employee data fields. Then, the kind of databases being used become relevant, such
as the use of SQL or not. This will also determine the time and cost of integration.
One thing that needs to be considered is the privacy laws in different countries as
250
some countries might require the data to be stored in the same country as the GDPR
law.
I: Okay. What are the other bottlenecks other than data?
C: Infrastructure will be a factor like servers, data centers, etc. Companies might
have different infrastructure requirements. One may be completely in cloud while
other on premise or a combination of the two. So, decisions need to be taken
regarding what to use and which one to use. Some might be obsolete and can be
sold off.
I: What do you think about applications?
C: Companies might have different applications being used by different departments
such as ERP, CRM, HRM etc. Some might be cloud applications and some installed in
local data centers. The license needs to be changed or updated, some applications
need to be removed and employees need to be trained. So, data associated with
these applications also needs to be moved.
I: You almost covered the basic buckets. Read more about IT Due diligence and see
what you have missed.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Since the interview was for DDV-IT having a basic
understanding of what constituted IT of a company
was critical
What could you have done
better?
I missed mentioning Hardware devices like user
workstations, extra laptops, Headphones, etc. while
explaining IT components. I was asked about TSA
which I did not know. So, reading about that would be
good
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Will there be a spike after Covid-19 for Digital
Transformation as companies rely on technology now
more than ever?
Case Interview 2
There are two companies A and B. Company B is divesting a vertical to company A.
Company B came to PwC to help them in their divestiture. How will you go about
it? Company B has 20 SaaS applications, 20 Vendor Applications (On-Premises),
and 20 Company Applications (On-Premises) that need to be migrated.
I: Tell me about yourself?
C: I gave a 2 min introduction focusing on Work Ex, my role as a team leads at work,
and my interest in problem solving.
I: What do you think constitutes IT of a company?
C: According to me IT can be divided into broadly 3 buckets – Infrastructure,
Applications, and Data and People. Under Infrastructure come the servers, data
centers (power and cooling systems), networking equipment’s, user workstations,
meeting room equipment’s like projector, mouse, laptops, and all cables. Under
Applications come all the applications being used by employees, vendors, customers
and all the automation tools. Employee applications include enterprise applications
like ERP, CRM, HRM, applications used by Accounting and Finance teams, customer
service tools, other applications like IDE for developers, third-party applications
251
integrated by using Open APIs, payment gateways etc. Also, if it is a tech company
there would be projects which are being developed by the R&D team. The data
associated with all these applications is either stored in a public cloud, private cloud,
on premise data center or workstation of an employee – all need to be considered.
Also, the licenses of the 3rd party applications need to be re-negotiated and the
owner changed. Third come the people who run and maintain all the applications.
Technicians who maintain the servers, developers who build and support
applications, the IT guy who provides the necessary devices and fixes them on time,
all constitute the people of an IT company with the CTO and CIO at the top
depending on the hierarchy of the company.
I: There are two companies A and B. Company B is divesting a vertical to company A.
Company B came to PwC to help them in their divestiture. How will you go about it?
Company B has 20 SaaS applications, 20 Vendor Applications (On-Premises), and 20
Company Applications (On-Premises) that need to be migrated.
C: The 20 SaaS applications should support multi tenancy so that a new tenant needs
to be created for company A and all data needs to be transferred to the new tenant
DB. Company B our client can now reduce its OPEX (Operational Expenditure) as SaaS
applications usually charge by the no. of users and the number of resources used.
Here both are getting reduced, so a new deal needs to sign with the SaaS application
providers.
Company A might require some time to migrate so it cannot be done strictly on day
1, hence, a TSA can be signed so that company B allows company A to use its
resources by paying a premium to company B.
I: If company A is using the company A data centers according to the TSA what are
the disadvantages for company B?
C: Previously all the resources were being used by company B. Now since it shares
the resource servers, storage needs to be given to company B. If virtualization is not
there, under-utilization of resources will take place.
I: Okay. We can stop with the case. Tell me What are your 3 skills which can be useful
while working in PwC?
C: One, problem solving skills that I have developed with my 3 years of work ex.
Second, knowledge on different technologies and expertise in working cloud and
third, being a people’s person, I will be able to handle different clients and my
experience being part of pre-sales demos will help in communicating with clients.
I: Thank you Fazin. That is all.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
I had a clear structure when I explained about the IT
of a company. The interviewer was really impressed
as I covered almost everything in my structure.
What could you have done
better?
Be careful of who your client is as it could be the
acquirer or the one divesting. I made a mistake here
and was asked to start from the beginning. So, keep
I: What about On-Premises ones?
C: The 20 vendor applications need to be installed in Company A on premise and
corresponding data needs to be moved. If not on premise, they can migrate it to
cloud. As company B is also using the applications, a new deal can be signed with the
vendor or if we do not require the on-premises data centers which were previously
used, company B can sell it off depending on the new capacity requirement.
252
ears open as solution changes depending on the
client
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Gautham Anand
Undergraduate College
IIIT Allahabad
Field of Graduation
B. Tech Electronics and Communications Engineering
Tips for Future Candidates
Professional Qualifications
None
The role I applied for was DDV IT. For industry or function specific roles, read a lot
and have context. I read a lot about IT Due diligence which came in handy during my
interviews. I would also suggest being well-versed with your CV and know about the
projects done during work experience.
Work Experience
RBS – 36 months
None
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
Give a brief description of your work-ex.
Why consulting? Why PwC IT?
What is your opinion on the impact of US Presidential election results in India?
What do you know about the possible acquisition of IndusInd Bank by Kotak
Mahindra?
Case Interview 1
How would you go about integrating the IT divisions of two firms looking to go
through a merger? What are the different components you would take into
consideration?
253
Talked about the different buckets that should be considered. Applications,
Infrastructure, Organization, Suppliers/Vendor Management, IT Culture, and IT
Operations.
Faced further cross questioning on the applications bucket, in particular ERPs. Was
asked how I would go about deciding between two different ERPs that were in use in
the client and the target. Answered by mentioning points of difference between the
two in terms of capabilities, pricing, etc.
Interview Experience
integrate, and to implement an overall IT transformation. Also tell me how you
would order the three major tasks: IT Transformation, IPO, and IT Integration.
Initially started with CPCC questions to get background on the two companies, the
areas in which they operate, an idea of what their value chains look like, etc. This was
similar for both companies.
C: What kind of products does the target manufacture? Does the target have any
specific offerings that the client does not have currently?
What worked well for you? Communicating the broad structure effectively
probably gave a good impression from the offset.
I: The target makes vinyl-liner pools which the client does not. They also have a
method of manufacturing these which are much faster than the manufacturing
process of the client.
What could you have done
better?
C: Right, so this is the reason the client is considering the acquisition. Would you like
for me to dive deeper into the different synergies that can be achieved?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Better preparation. IT integration does not appear in
any consulting prep material, and the structure had to
be pieced together from various sources on the
internet. A single consolidated source would have given
me more time to prepare some sample cases and reach
a concrete solution during the interview.
None
Case Interview 2
A swimming pool manufacturer in the US is looking to acquire another pool
manufacturer. The combined entity is also looking to launch an IPO in the future.
Objectives are to assess risks, evaluate steps for IPO readiness, look at how to
I: Yes, therefore the acquisition is being considered. Before moving further, tell me
how you would order the three major tasks mentioned before.
C: Alright. Before I can decide can you tell me what is the timeline being considered
for the IPO?
I: The client wants to launch the IPO in the next 5 years.
C: And what is the reason the client wants to perform this IT transformation? Do they
have outdated systems or is it to streamline the IT division?
I: The client wants to perform the IT transformation because of a lack of uniformity in
the applications it uses in its two divisions.
254
C: Then, I would put the IT transformation first to streamline the client's IT processes
and make them more efficient and coherent before moving onto the acquisition and
going forward with the IT integration, and then finally the IPO.
I: Alright great. How would you go forward with the IT integration? Look at this from
a due-diligence perspective. What are the various considerations you would consider
while merging the IT functions?
C: I would look at the following broad buckets when considering an IT integration:
Applications (like ERP, CRM, etc.), Infrastructure (Hardware infra like servers,
Infrastructure software like OS etc.), Organization (it is size and structure, capabilities,
location, etc.), Suppliers/Vendor Management, IT Culture, and IT Operations
There was slight deep diving into the Applications, Infrastructure and Organization
buckets. Questions were around how the integration would happen.
There was also a question on IPO readiness from an IT perspective. What kind of IT
requirements would be most important for making the client IPO ready? I had given
an answer with mentions of financial and accounting software, and specialized
software to prepare and publish financial reports, before time ran out.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Working on feedback and learnings from previous
interview. Communication was key. I had been able to
give a skeleton for the case, and the different
parameters to assess while doing IT integration, but no
specifics. The clarity with which I had communicated
my structure was likely given more weight than an
actual final solution.
What could you have done
better?
I was slightly haphazard in structure. Referring to a
consolidated framework would have helped.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Questions about projects the interviewer had worked
on. The case given was a real-life scenario that the
interviewer had worked on.
Case Interview 3
Following on from the Kotak IndusInd discussion (in HR questions), how would you
go about integrating the IT functions of both banks?
Started with a standard M&A IT checklist. Listed out the different components of the
IT divisions that need to be looked at before a merger - Applications, Infrastructure,
Organization, Suppliers/Vendor Management, IT Culture, and IT Operations.
I was asked about the Applications and Infrastructure buckets - the various
components that would come under these, and the criteria I would use to evaluate
how integration was to happen.
I was also asked about cloud transformation - What IT components of a bank could be
moved to the cloud, and what could not? Why?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Being communicative and clear at every step.
255
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Asked about work culture at PwC and particularly in
DDV-IT. Also asked questions based on interviewer's
previous work-ex and relevance to work at PwC.
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Might be helpful to refer to the following for forming a framework for IT integration:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781118692028.app2
Kavya Jacob
Undergraduate College
BMCC, Pune
Field of Graduation
B. Com (H)
Professional Qualifications
CA
Work Experience
None
HR & Conversation Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
What do you know about the work PWC does?
Why is cashflow statement important?
What are the ratios in manufacturing sector?
What is zero based budgeting? What are the sub-functions under the CFO?
Describe the work done during your articleship.
What is P2P?
What is a 3-way match?
How would you reduce the SGA of a company?
256
Case Interview 1
Estimate the number of thermal scanners in India.
C: By thermal scanners do we mean the temperature measuring devices used at
malls, restaurants, etc. before entering, to check for fever during COVID-19.
I: Yes, that is correct.
C: I will be using the demand side approach to figure out the number of thermal
scanners. Does that seem okay to you?
What worked well for you? I had thoroughly gone through what the company does,
what the role entails, and I had tried anticipating and
preparing for potential questions based on my CV which
is majorly what they were looking for.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I should have practiced more guesstimates. That would
have given me much more confidence and comfort
during the interview.
Basic questions about the company and the role.
I: Yes, please go ahead.
C: I would like to bifurcate the users of thermal scanners into hospitals/clinics and
others (theaters, restaurants, offices etc.).
I: That sounds like a fair approach.
C: I would look at the number of people going to the above places in Pune. I would
then use a relevant multiple for the entire country keeping 2 things in mind; 1Population of Pune, 2- Pune being a Tier-1 city will have more restaurants, malls, etc.
than Tier-2 cities and rural areas.
(Some figures were discussed but more than the final answer the interviewer was
looking for sound logic. Also, being a telephonic interview, it was slightly difficult for
the interviewer to keep a track of the numbers)
Interview Experience
Case Interview 2
Estimate the potential number of persons who would travel by metro in Pune.
C: I will use the supply side approach to figure out roughly how many people travel by
metro. I will do these calculations for a day. This can be then extrapolated to a week,
then a month and then a year.
I: Good. Go ahead.
C: I will take the starting point as the population of Pune and then bifurcate it based
on age. For age brackets 0-10 and 60-80, I would assume that only 10% would travel
by metro. For the age 11-25, the age bracket of school and college going students, a
higher rate of say 40% can be used. For the working class, i.e., age 25-50, I would
assume based on my experience that around 65% go by metro. Do these assumptions
seem fair to you?
257
I: Yes, you can proceed.
C: The above calculation will be done for a weekday. For Weekends, I will assume
that the crowd is 50% of that on a weekend since offices and educational institutions
are generally shut. The results of the week can be extrapolated to find yearly
travelers.
Saurav Yadav
Undergraduate College
IIT Kanpur
Field of Graduation
Chemical Engineering
I: Good, we can end the case now, Thank you.
Professional Qualifications
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Work Experience
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories – 36 months
Be very thorough with both the role and your CV.
HR & Conversation Questions
Asked me to elaborate on 3 work-ex pointers, providing a brief overview of my
internship, followed by my experience as a freelancer.
Asked me to summarize myself as a person, including my likes and dislikes.
A brief about my family & their traditional occupation was asked.
A question on strengths and weaknesses.
Overview of academic journey - ups and downs.
Questions on situational questions like a moment when I overcame resistance to
accomplish something significant and an instance where I followed an unconventional
technique.
Case Interview 1
258
Guesstimate the no. of masks disposed-off daily in the city of Mumbai.
I: What other factors?
Commercialization of a pharmaceutical drug in a new geography: aspects to
consider?
C: Pricing such that the incurred R&D cost can be recovered basis projected demand.
Launch generic version of the same drug if unaffordable in underdeveloped countries.
Covered product life cycle of an innovator drug.
(The case was pertaining to my pharma related work-ex)
I: Commercialization of a pharmaceutical drug in a new geography: how to go about
it?
C: Clarified about geographies to be targeted, drug type, the targeted disease, the
prevalence of the disease, innovator, or generic drug.
I: Asked me to summarize my approach.
I: Further cross questioning on drug patent and other stakeholders involved in the
launch.
C: Answered.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Overall understanding of healthcare industry
C: Demand, supply, regulatory and pricing to be considered for an economical &
seamless commercialization
I: How to estimate the size of the market (demand)?
C: Through disease prevalence, population size and the severity of the disease.
I: What factors to consider in supply?
C: Raw material cost (API is expensive and inhouse development can reduce the
procurement cost), manufacturing plant and its operations, warehousing and
distribution channels
What could you have done
better?
Defending CV points. It is important to be well-versed
with your CV.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Future impact of pandemic on healthcare industry.
Case Interview 2
I: What goes in regulatory approval?
Commercialization of a pharmaceutical drug in a new geography: aspects to
consider? (Same case was asked in both rounds)
C: FDA reviews the product development report before approving the launch of a
drug, preclinical and clinical trials data also required.
Commercialization of a pharmaceutical drug in a new geography. I covered demand,
supply, regulatory and pricing aspects.
259
Describe an incident where you were required to adapt to changes very quickly. How
did you accept those changes?
Shinjani Jindal
Undergraduate College
MNNIT Allahabad
Field of Graduation
Electrical Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. – 12 months
HR & Conversation Questions
Case Interview 1
What is the total area impacted by PepsiCo in India?
C: Categorized it into PepsiCo owned operations & Franchises. Within each category
further classified into agricultural area, cold storages, manufacturing facilities,
warehouses, distribution centers and PepsiCo's offices.
I: Focus on the agricultural activities.
What are your 3 weaknesses?
C: Categorized it into land under Potato cultivation (Contract Farming & Independent
sources), rice, corn & gram cultivation for other food products and water from areas
around beverage plants.
Why Consulting? And why Operations consulting particularly?
Interview Experience
Tell me something about yourself.
Why PwC?
Tell me more about your primary project. What was the problem statement and how
did you approach it?
Describe a project apart from your main project that you believe was impactful.
Explain the end-to-end operations of your plant.
Describe an incident where you were under a lot of pressure but had to deliver results.
What worked well for you? The fact that I knew my plant operations worked to my
advantage because the role was also Operations
Consulting.
What could you have done
better?
I could have done the guesstimate in lesser time.
Practicing is the key here!
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
How does a day at PwC look like?
Do you provide only solutions to clients or stay with
them throughout the implementation phase as well?
260
Case Interview 2
You are a company that provides warehousing services in North & Central America.
But you want to expand your operations in Southern regions as well, so you decide
on merging with another similar company that is a major player in the market,
second only to you. How would you go about the whole merger? Cover all aspectsLegal, Operational etc.
Followed the basic M&A framework. Dived deep into operational issues that could
arise (the Interviewer wanted to check my understanding of warehousing & logistics).
Was asked to discuss inventory management too.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
Although I had not practiced M&A cases but knowing
the framework and thinking on the ground level helped
me solve the case.
What could you have done
better?
Practicing M&A cases beforehand would have helped
me solve it faster.
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
implement this at a particular lake, where they find that the sheets keep getting
blown away by the wind and the thermocol is unable to serve its purpose. How
should the MP proceed if he wants to use these sheets? Devise a business plan for
him to present at the budget meeting.
Part 2: Guesstimate the total budget needed for implementing this across 10 lakes
each being 200m wide and 1km long?
Started with the harmful impact of thermocol on aquatic life. Suggested that we could
use some spacing between the sheets for sufficient oxygen supply.
Asked questions around wind speed and general weather conditions.
Found out that it is a windy area. Therefore, suggested that we use floats or anchors
to keep the sheets in place.
For budget, assumed the sheets to be as big as the ones available in the market. Found
out the number of sheets required. Assumed a price for each sheet and then found
out the total budget for sheets. Further, found the cost of the floats/ anchors based
on the cost of per unit material they are made up of.
Case Interview 3
Part 1: A state in Southern India is facing the issue of drying up of its lakes at a very
high rate. An MP suggests that they should cover the lakes with giant sheets of
thermocol since it is an insulator it would prevent evaporation of water. They
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Utkarsh Anand
Undergraduate College
BIT Mesra, Ranchi
Field of Graduation
Industrial Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Merkle InC: 25 Months
Work Experience
Trident Group - 15 Months
Have you ever faced a challenging situation?
List out some points of learning from the two companies you have worked with. How
different was the experience, what did you notice about the two industries?
Case Interview 1
An AI Solutions Provider is facing profitability issues. Help!
I: Our client who is an AI solutions provider is recently facing profitability issues.
HR & Conversation Questions
C: Clarified the problem statement and asked since when the client was facing
profit issue & by how much.
What do you know about consulting & why do you want to join PwC?
I: Profits have fallen by approx. 20% in the last 1 year.
What is your understanding about the role?
Explain the audience & customer strategies you used in your work ex.
C: When we say the profits are declining, is it revenue which is getting impacted or
the costs are rising for the firm.
Tell me something about yourself apart from CV.
I: Primarily, it is a revenue side problem.
What skills have you learned in your work-ex & how will you apply them at PwC?
(I started with the CPCC approach to understand more about the problem)
Have you ever managed a team/people?
C: Where is the client based out of, how long has it been in the market?
How do you manage conflict in a team?
I: Client is based out of the US, is an established player in the AI industry with a
good client base.
How do you make sure your point is heard across in a discussion?
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C: How is the industry trend? Since it is an AI solutions provider, I believe the
industry would be growing – has there been a new competitor which has entered?
I: Great, as you rightly pointed out, the industry is growing but we are facing issues.
C: When we say AI solutions provider, what does the company essentially do &
who are the customers & where are they located?
Have I missed anything?
I: These are all valid in the given context, you have rightly pointed out some of the
possible reasons which are leading to a downfall in services revenue. Technology
upgrade & complaint resolutions are something which the firm is struggling with.
Can you frame some solutions to the problem statement?
I: It caters to AI technology requirements of industries, they serve a wide range of
businesses mainly in the US - Retail, Manufacturing, Logistics, IT.
C: As far as our discussion goes, the client is primarily facing problems in the
services domain and needs to retain services from its existing partners. I suggest
below pointers as solutions:
C: What are the different product offerings & revenue streams of the company?
- Strengthen feedback mechanism for queries & complaint resolution
I: There are a wide range of products which the company offers, major revenue
streams of the company come from a) Selling hardware b) Contract or subscription
basis c) Services.
- Make a separate department to identify current advancement in technology &
incorporate those suggestions in current service offerings
C: Is the drop across all these buckets or should we focus on a particular segment
first?
- Establish a ticketing system to see what the possible queries in different
industries are (manufacturing, retail, IT etc.), automate some processes to improve
the resolution efficiency
I: Focus on the services side.
C: Revenue from services only comes from customers having a contract or
subscription or there are also companies with which we have a service only
relationship?
I: We only offer services to companies with which we have a contract.
C: Within services these can be the possible segments where the company needs
to look at in terms of improvement: - Maintenance - Data & Insights - Complaint
Resolutions - Technology Upgrade
- Speak to BD team & identify partner issues in real time so that there is no lag in
information flow across product & market.
I: Great, lets conclude here.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Tried to make the case very conversational.
Framed solutions as per the pointers picked during
discussion.
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What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
Took help form the interviewer wherever I faced a
roadblock.
Divided the locality into 4 parts - a) Family b) Students (age>15 yrs.) c) Working
people living alone d) Others.
The case was highly qualitative; therefore, I should
have understood more about the AI industry &
requirements of the different industries the firm was
serving.
Since Pune is a Corporate hub & also has many colleges and institutes, I took an
appropriate % for each of the mentioned buckets.
About the role & projects which come under the
Customer vertical.
Family - 40%
Students - 20%
Working People living alone - 20%
Others - 20%
Case Interview 2
Market Estimation & Pricing of a Food Delivery Service in Pune.
Primarily, our target market is students & working people living alone, which
constitutes 40% of the locality = 40% (5000) = 2000
Market Estimation & Pricing of a Food Delivery Service in Pune.
Total potential consumers for our business = 2000
C: The food delivery service is a personal venture (from home) or we are looking at
an established restaurant entering food delivery?
Now, I followed the awareness - consideration - conversion framework.
I: It is a personal venture, to be carried out specifically from home & to serve the
local population (typical dabbawalla or tiffin system).
C: First, I would like to estimate the market size for the service & then would move
to the pricing part.
I: Please go ahead.
C: Assuming the owner is living in a 5000 (population) strong locality, we will
segment the population basis demographic factors: Occupation.
Owner, through his own contacts & referrals, can reach out to roughly 200 people
without any promotion activities (banners, paid posts etc.)
Through promotion he can further reach out to 400 more.
Hence total size with awareness about the service = 600
Further, segmented the awareness pool into people who are a) satisfied with their
food service, b) not satisfied & c) do not have any regular system & rely on office &
online orders. For the sake of simplicity, assumed this to be equal % i.e., 1/3 (600) =
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200 for each segment. Only people who are not satisfied would be willing to try our
offering, hence Consideration = 200.
Finally, they would evaluate multiple alternatives. Asked a question about the no of
competitors to which the interviewer asked me to use my knowledge about the area.
As Pune has multiple food delivery alternatives, I assumed it to be a competitive
market & only 25% of the consideration pool would finally convert as customers.
Hence, 50 people per day would be our customers initially.
Pricing: Did a cost based & substitute-based pricing here. Calculated price per meal
breaking down into segments:
I: Okay, we can end here.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
I incorporated ideas which were a success in the
market - like Freshmenu. The interviewer seemed
impressed with that.
What could you have done
better?
I could have spoken more about differentiating
factors & include them in pricing.
1. Raw material/ Material 2. Labor 3. Logistics 4. Promotion
Case Interview 3
Cost per standard meal (regular ingredients) came out to be around Rs 80, adding a
profit % of 20, gave the final price ~ Rs 100.
Calculate the volume of paint needed to pain a Boeing 747.
C: Asked whether we must paint the jet only on the outside or completely.
I: Okay, now that you have the no of consumers you would have for the service can
u think of increasing customers for this business?
I: Only on the outside.
C: Gave ideas around menu diversification as we were primarily focused on students
& working population gave ideas which would suit their requirements.
C: Approach - We will calculate the total surface area of the jet, dividing it into
constituent parts - (Cabin - Cylinder, Cockpit – Hemisphere, Wings - Triangle,
Stabilizers (for brand logo) – Triangle).
-
For working people: Freshmenu kind of service where they would get healthy
food.
Students - Protein rich diet (nonveg).
Promotions: Leverage Social Media, ask customers to post positive reviews, have a
good feedback mechanism & focus on quality packaging as its important for people
who travel for work.
Used my height as reference to calculate the radius of the cabin (3 meters), length
of the cabin = 70 meters, assumed wings to be equilateral with 30 meters side,
stabilizers ~ 1/4th size of wings, cockpit - hemisphere with radius 2 meters).
Used formula is for Surface area (Hemisphere, Cylinder, Triangle).
Assumed 1 sq meter of area to consume 200 ml of paint & multiplied the total
265
surface are by 200 to get volume of paint in ml.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you?
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I was quick to use references in finding out
dimensions of a plane.
NA
Vignaesh M
Undergraduate College
IIT Kanpur
Field of Graduation
B.Tech. – Material Science and Engineering
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
EXL Services – 34 months
None
HR & Conversation Questions
Tips for Future Candidates
Tell me something about yourself.
Use STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Recommendation) approach while answering HR
questions and be thorough with the vertical you have applied for.
Tell me something about yourself.
What do you know about M&A?
Why do you want to pursue consulting?
Questions around Work Experience
Personality based questions
Case Interview 1
A cheese company wants to acquire a vegan company. Discuss.
266
I: Company A wants to acquire Company B. Both are retail companies operating in
North America. Discussion on the companies and objectives: Product portfolio
(Company A: Cheese & related products; Company B: Vegan products like Yoghurt),
establishments (both are old), growth rates (similar ~10%). Primary objectives (Onetime cost; synergies – operational & back-office), can start with synergies, reason for
acquisition (1. Presence in the market; 2. Diversify into product line).
C: Explained ways for operational synergies.
Case Interview 2
Chemical company performing below financial benchmarks.
I: US based chemical company operating in the B2B segment, is performing below
financial benchmarks.
Discussion on the company, and the issue:
C: Listed areas like R&D, infrastructure department, etc.
Company produces compounds used for downstream operations like medicines,
issues more around working capital, which is higher, financial benchmark is w.r.t
competitors.
I: Ok. (Discussion on the departments). Can you explain the factors?
C: Explained working capital factors.
C: Explained factors like skills, systems, etc.
I: (Discussion on the factors) Okay. Let us say the issue is with accounts payable.
What do you think is happening?
I: Ok. Let us look at back-office synergies. Which areas would you consider?
I: (Discussion on the factors). Thanks.
C: Listed potential reasons.
Interview Experience
I: (Discussion on difference w.r.t the competitors). What would you recommend?
What worked well for you? The approach I took worked well – the interviewer
seemed happy.
C: Explained ways like quantity, pricing, etc.
I: (Discussion on the recommendations). Thanks.
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
267
Divyank Agarwal
Undergraduate College
BITS Pilani, Hyderabad
Field of Graduation
Civil Engineering
Professional Qualifications
CFA Level 1
Work Experience
UnitedHealth Group, Deutsche Bank- Data Analytics,
Strategy and Governance- 20 months
HR & Conversation Questions
1.Tell me about yourself.
2.Why do you want to pursue consulting?
3.Why do you want to pursue finance?
4.Why do you want to join Synergy?
5.Did you speak to any of your seniors who interned with us last year?
6.What do you know about Synergy Consulting?
7.Why do you think you are a good fit for the role?
Interview 1
268
1.What is Depreciation?
Tips for Future Candidates
2.What do you understand by Corporate Finance?
Be thorough with Corporate Finance and Valuation concepts
3.NPV vs IRR, which is better and why?
4.What will be the Discount Rate used?
5.What is Beta? What is Levered and Unlevered Beta?
6.How would you calculate the relevant Beta for a listed company?
7.How would you do that for a Start-up?
8.What will be the value of Beta for a niche firm with no comparable competitors?
9. How would you value a company? What if the company does not pay out dividends?
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? NA
What could you have done
better?
NA
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
1.Which sectors would you consider to be Synergy's
forte?
2. How does Synergy Consulting take care of the aspect
of developing the industry/firm specific knowledge
relevant for each project?
269
8.Tell us about the most influential deal you worked upon there, what was your role
and responsibility? What are your expectations from the internship and what do you
know about Synergy?
Jayant Singhal
Undergraduate College
Hansraj College, University of Delhi
Field of Graduation
B.A. Economics (H)
Case Interview 1
Professional Qualifications
None
Work Experience
KPMG (6 months), Spire Research & Consulting (4
months)- Investment Banking and Management
Consulting- 10 months
Your client wants to perform a corporate restructuring and operates in the
automotive sector, how do you go about it? Focus more on valuation aspects.
(was a long interview of around 55 mins)
I: Could you tell us something about yourself?
HR & Conversation Questions
1.Could you tell us something about yourself?
2.What are the subjects that you have studied in trimester 1?
3.What was your most favorite and least favorite subject? Why do you feel so?
4.How has your experience been at IIM Lucknow? What do you feel about virtual
setup?
5.What drives you as a professional?
6.Any questions for us?
7.Tell us more about the work that you did at KPMG.
C: Told my background, talked about my professional experiences, startup initiatives,
and about my inclination towards strategy consulting and investment banking.
I: Tell us more about the work you did at KPMG. What was the most influential deal
you worked upon? What were your roles and responsibilities?
C: Talked about my deal experiences in the automotive sector and financial modeling
& valuations.
I: Okay, so you are well-versed with business valuations, right? Let us do a case on it.
Your client wants to perform a corporate restructuring and operates in the automotive
sector, how do you go about it? Focus more on valuation aspects.
C: Clarified about what he exactly meant by corporate restructuring, what was the
type of restructuring, what were the types of transactions involved, what part of the
270
value chain was the client operating in, why did the client want to restructure (these
were some of the preliminary questions asked one by one)
I: The client was operating in auto-component manufacturing, the deal involved two
transactions related to a de-merger and a merger (also discussed the potential reasons
which could be there behind a restructuring)
C: Structured my approach in three parts starting from the preliminary company &
industry analysis and benchmarking to business valuations to swap valuation &
implementing the deal (information about financial metrics, financial statements,
valuation model to choose from, swap ratio target, etc. were provided).
(While solving the case, also had a discussion side by side on every technical aspect,
was asked about the types of techniques to value a business, discussed in detail about
DCF analysis, swap ratio valuation, etc. and general awareness about auto-component
sector)
I: What is NPV, IRR, XIRR, MIRR? Could you give me the excel syntax?
C: Provided a detailed explanation of each
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? I think my past case-solving experiences and structuring
my case from the very fundamentals (the approach
which I usually follow) worked in my favor, plus, my IB
exposure at KPMG aided me well in tackling all the
technical questions.
What could you have done
better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
I: (after the case) what are the different types of charging depreciation?
C: told (was grilled on the units of production method in detail) (then there was
another small case on financial linkages connecting all three financial statements in
which some transactions were given, and I had to prepare the three statements
intertemporally)
I: What is bottom-up beta? How do we calculate bottom-up beta for a monopoly firm
having no comparable?
C: Talked about the historical trend method, future projection method, and business
fundamentals method
None
I asked them about the typical day of a summer intern
at Synergy, and another question related to financial
modelling in the energy sector
Interview 2
It was not a case interview round.
Interview Experience
What worked well for you? Being honest and precise about my answers aided me
pull the interview in my favor
What could you have done
None
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better?
Questions asked to the
Interviewer
None
Tips for Future Candidates
Since Synergy Consulting is a financial consulting and M&A advisory firm, I would
suggest the candidates to prepare all the finance related concepts well along with
consulting cases and guesstimates.
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