Konsult - Casebook - 2016

Consulting Casebook 2016-17

Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode

Table of Contents How to use this book .............................................................................................................................. 3 Solving a Case.......................................................................................................................................... 4 First Step: Definition of the Problem .................................................................................................. 4 Second Step: Problem Scoping ........................................................................................................... 4 Third Step: Segmentation ................................................................................................................... 4 Fourth Step: Problem Structuring ....................................................................................................... 4 Fifth Step: Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 5 Sixth Step: Synthesis/Summary .......................................................................................................... 5 Case Frameworks .................................................................................................................................... 6 Profitability or Profit ............................................................................................................................... 6 Cost: .................................................................................................................................................... 7 Revenue: ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Increasing Volume ............................................................................................................................ 11 New Market Entry ................................................................................................................................. 12 Problem Diagnosis Situation ................................................................................................................. 13 PE Investment ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Capacity Expansion ............................................................................................................................... 16 Turn Around .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Growth Strategy .................................................................................................................................... 18 Beginning: ......................................................................................................................................... 18 Structuring: ....................................................................................................................................... 18 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 18 M&A ...................................................................................................................................................... 20 Type of Synergies .............................................................................................................................. 20 Case Type: Business Situation Framework – Victor Cheng Videos ....................................................... 23 Case Type: Market Entry ....................................................................................................................... 25 GUESSTIMATES ..................................................................................................................................... 29 Example 1: Estimate the no. of auto rickshaws in Delhi ................................................................... 30 Example 2: Estimate the two wheeler market in India ..................................................................... 31 Practice Cases ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Case Type: Profitability ..................................................................................................................... 34 Case Type: Growth Strategy.............................................................................................................. 37 Case Type: Market Entry ................................................................................................................... 40 Case Type: New Product Offering ..................................................................................................... 41 1|Page IIM Kozhikode

Case Type: Growth Strategy.............................................................................................................. 44 Case Type: Investment and Divestment ........................................................................................... 45 Summer Placement ............................................................................................................................... 49 Experience............................................................................................................................................. 49 Boston Consulting Group .................................................................................................................. 50 Accenture .......................................................................................................................................... 64 Deloitte ............................................................................................................................................. 76 EY....................................................................................................................................................... 86 KPMG ................................................................................................................................................ 92

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How to use this book It gives us great pleasure in bringing to you the IIM Kozhikode Case Book for the first time. We have spent more than a month to frame, collect and collate the content. The objectives of preparing and publishing this book are as follows: 1. Provide a detailed view of the various frameworks 2. Enable the students to capitalize on the interview experiences of the various interviews at older IIMS, ISB etc. 3. Detailed review on Guesstimates and Case questions Few tips before you start preparing for consulting interview: One, practice to absorb and not to memorize: It is very important to practice and one cannot undermine the learning it brings but refrain from finding ‘the best answer for any type of problem’. Focus on sharpening your approach than the answer because as you all might know – a thousand roads can lead to the same goal. Second, work in (non-homogeneous) groups: This is the best way to maximize your learning from the diverse experience everyone offers. Challenge yourself to work with people you haven’t before; don’t spread your preparation time with a homogenous group because you might end up risking the width and depth that a nonhomogenous group can offer. And third, maintain individuality: Companies come to hire ‘individuals’ because they offer perspective that is not shared by everyone alike. Hence, it is important to focus on how you as an individual fit best into a particular role, in a particular culture, rather than following a group and get into a role that is not for you. IIMK or any other B-School would say, there are no right answers as far as cases are concerned. It is very much possible that you might think of different, more comprehensive or even better ways of solving the cases that we were asked. Another point we want to convey is about the solutions given for the cases listed. Some of the cases have detailed dialogue between the candidate and the interviewer. These will give you a very good feel for what happens in a case interview. For some cases, we have listed the main areas to be explored. As you can guess, due to varying levels of interest and recollection, the case solutions have different depth. Use the ones with less depth for discussion within your case study groups. For better preparation you may follow any one of IIMA, ISB or Darden casebook. You must also revise the following courses:  Micro and Macro Economics  Operations Management/SCM  EOS/ Competitive Strategy Frameworks  MANAC/FM-1&2  Marketing Management/ Frameworks  QM Work hard, act smart and be stress free- that’s all you need to land on your dream job. We wish you all the very best for upcoming placements -

Team Konsult

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Solving a Case First Step: Definition of the Problem Understand the company and its business. You should be able to create a mental image of the company and its business. Figure out where the business is operating. What does the company do? How is it placed competitively etc?   

Analyze EVERY WORD of the problem statement and ask clarifying questions w.r.t. that. Understand what caused the problem and what has been the impact. Keep the 3Cs (Customer, Company and Competition) and 2Ps (product and price) in mind at all times when solving a case. Whenever you’re stuck, revisit these.

Second Step: Problem Scoping Think along basic cuts like: a. Internal vs. external b. Short term vs. Long term c. Current state vs. desired state (desired state can be understood through objectives/ goals/motivations of the management)

Third Step: Segmentation This is one of the most crucial and often overlooked steps. Always break the problem by company segments before applying any standard framework. Understand which part of the business the problem lies in. For e.g. think along the below segments:

a. b. c. d. e.

Customer segments Product segments Geographic segments Segments in terms of different parts of the value chain Different channels of distribution

At this point, you should’ve a pretty good hold of defining what the actual problem is. It helps to paraphrase or summarize the problem statement more tangibly at this point.

Fourth Step: Problem Structuring 1. Build out a quick approach of what the key issues are that we need to tackle, and what is the sequence you intend to follow 2. Communicate this approach to the interviewer 3. Then build out a MECE structure 4|Page

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When building a structure:   

Note making clarity is important Visualize the case. Put yourself in the CEO’s shoes. It helps! Don’t try to force fit frameworks. Always approach a problem based on first principles. Frameworks will support your analysis. 4. Communicate the structure to the interviewer and get his buy in.

Fifth Step: Analysis     

Develop a hypothesis for where the problem might lie. Then ask questions and collect more information to prove/disprove it Make it a collaborate process. Do not treat it like an interview. It’s not meant to be that. Treat it like a real project and that you’re working with a colleague on the project. Ask for numerical data at every level of structure before going deeper. This is required until you figure out whether it’s a numerical problem or not. Speak with conviction and bring creativity into your solution. In case of numbers, take your time. Do not sacrifice accuracy for speed.

Sixth Step: Synthesis/Summary It is effectively an answer to the client’s problem. Make your recommendation and provide 23 strong supporting reasons for it. Follow it up with considerations / risks that may be involved with the strategy. Overall synthesis should not exceed a minute ideally. Important Tips:  Always define the problem again and ask if your understanding is correct  Always take a buy-in on your framework before you proceed  Show the inherent excitement to solve the problem – your eyes should sparkle once you identify an issue  Once you identify a core issue – always think “Why” is it happening – shows that you want to really solve

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Case Frameworks Frameworks can act as useful tools to structure thoughts during a case interview. Moreover, they ensure that you ask the right questions and help you reach the answer fast. By using frameworks, you will seldom miss solutions to ‘standardized’ cases such as Profitability, Market entry etc. However, interviewers these days enjoy asking abstract cases such as “How will you reduce terrorism in India” or “Should Subhash Ghai sign Aishwarya or Katrina for his next movie”. You definitely can’t apply standard framework to such cases. You are expected to relate the problem to a business situation and create your own framework on the spot.

Profitability or Profit Beginning: This problem is very vast and can come in various dimensions. It’s very important to scope the problem in the beginning itself – so that you not solve the wrong problem Definition: Please help me understand what exactly do you mean when you say that profit is down?    

The aggregate profit or profit margin? {If interviewer says profit margin or Profitability} Ask: Is it gross margin/operating margin or net margin which is facing the decline? Product Mix: Has the decline in profitability in all the products or specific products in the mix?

Comparison/Trend:   

Since when has been this trend in low profits been visible and my how much? How has the industry performance been over this time frame? – benchmarking. Anything particular which changed - did you launch some product/slash prices/competitor do something/Macroeconomic aspect?

Define Success: Say that this is a broad based question]-How would the client define success? -What kind of increase in profit do you want to achieve – what will be ideal? Profit = Revenue – Cost (Is a first principle)

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Profit Revenue

cost

Price

Variable

Volume

Fixed

Say: There are two drivers – Revenue and Cost. Which one would you want me start of first?

Cost: 

Ask what % of unit cost is Variable vs. Fixed – this would help you understand some key trends

- In a high fixed cost business there is very high temptation of price wars. - Remember it can be a product specific problem or a product mix problem something such as that we are selling more of higher cost product. 

Ask and then draw out the value chain

Raw Material 

Inbound Logistics

Warehou sing

Manufac turing

Outbound Logistic

Distribution

What is the percentage split of costs across these different processes? - In case one particular head has highest % say 50% or more then you can ask the interviewer that you would want to look at this head to start with. -

Many a times there might not be one major head and there could be two heads with 30%30% split. In these cases, you’ll need to explore both heads and also see that the profitability decline could be partly because of one and partly because of another.



Broadly at any point there are two issues - - Price at which you get or operate (vis a vis Competition) - -Your efficiency (Any wastage due to efficiency problem in terms of people/process/technology)



Exploring each head one by one

In case of manufacturing Industry

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

Raw Material Cost: o o o o o



Start by asking type of good (Perishable/durable)? Where does Competitor source from – does it get better prices? If says same price, ask about efficiency – conversion ratio/wastage/efficiency for us? If the problem is higher price or higher overall procurement cost then: Resolutions: - Better Negotiation/Bulk Order - Time of Sourcing (Opportunistic) – order when cheap - Currency Hedging – Use forwards/futures if prices are expected to rise. Also use call or put options for the variable part of future demand. - Substitution (Different Raw Material) - Value engineering (Use lesser Raw Material) - Standardization of Parts Backward Integration – ordering more of same type of good - Same supplier - bulk order/syndicated demand? - Cheaper material - indigenization/rationalization? - Cheaper supplier - China etc?

Inbound Logistics: o o o o



Production/Operations: o o o



Outsource Economies of Scale/Learning curve Labour cost arbitrage

Distribution/Outbound Logistics: o



Machine broken? Maintenance/spare cost Power outrage? labor unavailability? Total availability will be a function of (% of time labor, % time machine available, % Idle time)

Resolution – additional dimensions: o o o



Explore Labour cost and efficiency vis-a-vis competitor. Inventory Cost (EOQ) Overheads such as Electricity/Rent same or higher?

Machine Utilization: % Downtime - High? o o o o



Do you and your competitor use the same Mode of Transportation? Do you incur the same rates and same overall cost? Explore Distance Travelled – could be that the rates are same but your factory is further away from the supplier base. Are you ordering at the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) – Trade of between Set up cost, holding cost and expected demand

Explore same as (Inbound)

Post Sales Cost: o o

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Installation Service or Warranty cost? IIM Kozhikode



Gross margin is same but Operating margin has reduced: o o o o



Marketing & Administration – SGNA R&D cost Restructuring cost Licensing and regulatory costs

If NOPAT is down o o o o o o

Depreciation & Amortization Interest Expense Tax rates – which geographies (VAT) does our company operate in? Inventory Write off Gains/losses or external investments Loss due to some catastrophic event

Revenue:  Explore Price and Volume and ask for preference to explore one first.  Caution: Remember it could be that your Prices, total volume and total cost everything is same but the revenues are down because you are selling more of the less priced product – Mix problem In case Price has reduced:  Questions: o Has this been for a particular product in the mix? o Is this product a differentiated product or a commodity? o Competition: Has competition taken any particular action (reducing prices/launched new products) o Customer: -What customer segments? -Are the customer preferences changing? -What about price elasticity? 

Resolution: o Product Differentiation – Better features -Better brand -Better packaging



Innovative Pricing Methods: o Loss Leader Pricing/ Captive Pricing (Razor Blade), o Bundle Pricing



Different methods of pricing: o Value based Pricing (Premium Pricing & Price Skimming), o Cost plus Pricing o Comparable (Parity) Pricing

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

Bundling & Cross selling



Consolidation: Acquire other markets players – Charge premium price, Have more units sold.

Units Sold Decline: It is a function of Market Share and Market Size.  

Questions: Market Share is a function of Are customers aware of your product - Share of Voice o Promotion related -Inadequate Promotion -Improper Training -Improper targeting -Messaging is not as required – impacting perception



Do customers like your product - Share of Mind? o Product/Service Related factors -Poor Quality -Problem with product mix – Inadequate depth breadth of product/service mix -Network effects with other products/Complementary Products -Training Adequacy – Curriculum/Frequency of Training o Substitutes? o Better competitive offerings?



Is the product available - Share of Distribution? o Distribution Related: -Penetration (No. Of stores), Percentage shelf space -Trade Mix – (Retail Segment targeting-do customer buys from these channels) -Service Level/Lead time (Number of days of Stock outs-Is the product available when the customer wants it?)

   

Questions: Market Size is down – what’s happening in the Industry? Population * % of a particular segment Usage rate Suggestions: o Can we do something in collaboration with the industry to increase the segment size? o Can we explore new customer segments? o More users – same market or new geographies? o More usage? o Alternate usages? Can enter Allied/Related Product segments? o If demand is seasonal – then come up with schemes discounts, promotions o If demand is elastic, then cut the price to increase the total revenue

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Increasing Volume There are four methods of doing it.

PRODUCT Present

MARKETS

Present

New

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New

Market Penetration (New viewers in existing segments)

Product Development (Content Development)

Market Development (Reach out to new segments)

Diversification (Move into new medium, channels e.g. Digital)

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New Market Entry 

Ask if this fits the company’s mission / culture -- e.g., why does the company want to expand? o Invest excess cash flow o Increase market share o Decline in existing market (shrinking sales, higher costs, lower margins)



Assess the firm’s resources and capabilities: o Economies of scope and scale o Ability to leverage current value chain components (infrastructure needed) o Capital, labor, and capacity constraints (see CAPACITY card)



Evaluate market conditions o Size and growth rate of new target market o Competitive profile / trends and likely competitive responses o Barriers to entry (and how to overcome them) and regulatory considerations



Consider complements with current product / markets, potential issues of cannibalization, and market cross-elasticities



Analyze cost - benefit of new market entry o Niche vs. large market share o Consider methods of entry (e.g., JV, direct investment, exporting, acquisition)

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Problem Diagnosis Situation 

People

People

Tangible

Salary (Basic)

Incentives

Intangibles

Perks: Money Value

Prof. Developme nt

Personal Developme nt

Professional Development o Growth o Research opportunities o Learning and training facility o IP (Doctors, Engineers and IT guys may need this)



Personal Development o Status within the company o Brand of the workplace o Culture o Work life balance Process

Identify Process Map

Identify Critical Path

Identify Bottleneck

Identify Utilisation Improvement

Identify Redesign and Process Improvement

After identification of the Bottleneck, explore the following for improvement: Utilization improvement  Reduce idle time - Scheduling  Batching /De-batching (Grouping examples from factory examples in SCM class)  Setup time/Run Time (Complete solution will depend on combination of the two) Re-Design 13 | P a g e

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 

Process improvement Capacity Expansion (units of flow rate) o Reduce time o Add additional machines

Capacity =   

𝑋 𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑝 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒+𝑅𝑢𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒∗𝑋

−

1 𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 +𝑅𝑢𝑛 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑋

As X increases, Flow Time increases (bad) and capacity increases (good) As X decreases, Flow Time decreases (good) and capacity decreases (bad)

Technology

Technology Compatibilty

Capability

Employee Familiarity

Speed/Rate

Internal Compatibilty

Suitability

Lack of Training

Sometimes it may not be clear where the issue is then use: (this is good from understanding how the business runs) 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Man Machine Method Materials Measurement Mother Nature (Environment)

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PE Investment Following key aspects need to be evaluated in case of any PE player is considering making an investment: We need to start with the fund’s motivation to invest and the attributes of the firm.

PE Firm Characteristics •Fund Size •Fund Style •Portfolio •IRR •Exit Period

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Industry Attractivenes •Market Size and Growth •Profitability •Barriers to Entry •Competition •Customers •Costs and Risks •Suppliers •Substitutes

Target Specifics •Business Model •Management Capability •Willingness to sell •Revenue Profitabality •Market Share and Growth •Product/Services •Valuation

Sources of Return •Opertaional Efficiency •Unlock potential •Use leverage

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Capacity Expansion Do we need extra capacity? External Factors

Internal Factors

Total Demand (Growth/Size) Supply Dynamics •Suppliers Global/Local •Future Supply projections •Game Theory Proce War •Substitutes

Our products share and growth Present production rate Is new technology available? Can I use economies of scale

How to build extra capacity?

Investment

Organic- Resources

Improvement People/Process/ Technology

Acquire - M&A Framework

Outsource

Crucial Points:  

Matrix of evaluation is in Market Entry Case – Keep in consideration the Investment/Payback Period evaluation Reducing or increasing capacity will affect the market clearing price – thereby the profitability

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Turn Around Information about the company:  What has been the failure trend?  How was failure defined?  How long has the failure been observed? After this go into the basic industry information situation:  Product  Customers  Company – Strengths and Weaknesses (any major changes in the time period of failure)  Competition – (any major changes in the time period of failure)  External factors – regulations, taxes, substitutes, trends such as technological advancements (digital for Kodak) Now again this is either revenue increase or profitability increase. Only thing to look out is to check if there is a conglomerate then divest a branch! Profitability or growth:  Always ask about the other product.  Material part diversification – is not possible

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Growth Strategy Beginning: Current Business: What is the context (customer/product/geography segments) in which you are presently operating in and what is the current position of your firm? Lifecycle of the Industry? Ambition: What level you want to grow?  If you want to surpass the Market growth rate that means you want to eat away in other people’s market share.  What are the options you are looking for: Think about the ansoff matrix – to understand the growth from – for scoping the problem

Structuring: To understand growth we need to look at overall demand and supply dynamics of my product. There could be a scope of improvement on either side.  “Demand side”: Market is contracting or demand for my product is falling.  “Supply side”: Demand is there but I am not able to supply enough. This can lead to both lost sales and lost customers Strategic Options:  Improving the profitable or promising part of the business.  If nothing looks promising then you can consider o Spin off: Creating part of the business as a separate business o Divesture: Reduction or sale of assets o Acquisition: Get yourself acquired by a competitor/sister company or potential entrants Understand how the business works in each segment of customer:    

  

Understand the value chain and decision making process for the customer? What part of the value chain am I catering to? Say: This particular player is the market leader – let’s try to understand what is it that he is doing different? Comparison with the competitor o Offering: Complete value prop in terms of o EVC, Service, warranty etc. o Commodity or Differentiated o Has the competitor erected any BTE: Brand/Network effect/Switching costs Price: Why has the competition got it lower? o Cost Structure o Economies of scale Promotion: Sales Force or Marketing expenditure - Efficiency and Total Expenditure Distribution Network: Also understand who are the stakeholders and any particular reason why they prefer the other product over ours.

Analysis As we know it can be of two parts – Volume and Price. 18 | P a g e

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 Volume: Note: When we talk about penetration for same product/same market then think from two perspectives:

-You can increase the market share -Increase the market size itself.  Also think about can you increase volume by better utilization of existing capacity – hospital  Think of 2/2 matrix for volume increase say penetration or market development  Price you have to go to the profitability framework to understand the customer segment contributions and whether they can sell at a higher price or sell more of the costlier product.  Penetration: More Users/More Usage  Product development: Innovate/Improvise  New channels?  New Geographies?  Maintain Customer Loyalty  Convert customers who are using alternatives or substitutes  New competitive arenas - vertical integration

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M&A There are two ways any M&A can generate value – 1) Value of Control 2) Value of Synergy. The actual value of how the acquirer benefits will depend upon the premium paid. There are two types of M&A. Strategic:  Value Generated = (Vat – Va – Vt) + (Va-Va’) Non Strategic:  Value Generated = (Vat – Va – Vt) Opportunity Cost: (Va – Va’)  Competition  Industry Synergy

Operational

Financial

FCF

Tax Savings

Long Term Growth

Bankruptcy Costs

Abnormal Growth

Decreased Agency Cost

Ra

Less asymmetry info

Time of abnormal growth

Type of Synergies Operational:  FCF = EBIT (1-Tax) + Depreciation – Change in WC – Capex  EBIT = Revenue – Cost Revenue = P * Delta Q + Delta P * Q + Delta P * Delta Q Delta Q: Ability to sell more  Better Product  Combining Strengths: Examples: Distribution network+ Sales force, Access to cheap funds, better geographical reach – say more offices, Increased Management Bandwidth, Combining Sourcing capability with Distribution 20 | P a g e

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Reach  Cross Selling: Doing this is very risky though  Bundling  Up-selling Delta P: Ability to price higher   Low Competition  New products or Better quality  Increase pricing power in case of Strategic acquisition Cost 







COGS decrease  (Dis) Economies of Scale/Scope: There can be losses as well if there are coordination problems or management bandwidth issue.  IT budget streamline  Pooling of technology  Reduction of overhead SG&A reduction  Remove duplication of Sales force  Promotion Streamline R&D cost reduction  Linking innovative capability  Sharing technology Reduction in threat of Hold up cost  Future Price Increase  Not in time supply  Not appropriate quality product

Depreciation Tax Shield  Asset write up: One time gain as assets are market up to market value on acquisition Change in Working Capital  One time gain in case acquirer has better receivable management practice Capex investment  If Asset Turnover (Sales/Assets) increases then less Capex investment required in future Growth:  Long term Growth doesn’t change generally  Look for opportunities that enable permanent competitive advantages Abnormal Growth:  Ga = ROC * Reinvestment Rate  ROC can increase due to higher EBIT or higher Asset turnover  RR can increase due to availability of more positive NPV project Abnormal Growth Time Period  Can increase due to erecting barriers to entry Ra  Beta or systematic risk can reduce in case you combine:  Cyclical (Corporate Banking) + Counter Cyclical (Bankruptcy Advisory) 21 | P a g e

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 

Cyclical (Luxury Business) + Non Cyclical (Tobacco) Vertical Integration sometimes reduces risk

Financial Synergies  

Tax Savings: o Tax loss carry forward from a winding business o Ability to take more debt – hence more tax shield Bankruptcy cost: o As per MM, if Bankruptcy costs exist (that is there is destruction of value) then this adds value - Lost Customers - Lost Employees - Lost Supplier relationships o Reasons for default: Cyclical business Cash Flow volatility Competition Technological obsolescence

If Bankruptcy costs exists then savings happen due to merger

Reduced Agency Cost  Debt brings discipline Reduced Information Asymmetry  Internal capital markets (use of most economical source of funds)  Exploit any mis-pricing in the markets Analysis of RISKS 

Fit o Cultural Fit - Are the cultures of the merging entities coherent? for e.g both are entrepreneurial orgs - Are the cultures complementary? For e.g. an entrepreneurial design org and a highly organized sales org. - Do we expect significant cultural clashes on merger? For instance formal vs. informal o Strategic Fit - Are the long-term strategies of the merging firms in tune? - Will the merged firm evolve a new long-term strategy? - Costs associated with percolating new strategies through the merged org. o Organizational Fit - Degree of similarity in org structures. Matrix, functional, divisional etc. - Management overlap and talent.

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Case Type: Business Situation Framework – Victor Cheng Videos Beginning: Whenever you are stuck anywhere you can use this framework. This framework can also be considered as the first principal way of solving: “It makes sense to find out where the problem is, you can’t reach much depth if you keep working on an aggregate level” 1. Understand the Value chain (Company) 2. Customer Buying behaviour (DMU) 3. Understand the product segments and customer segments: Make a grid and find out where the problem is. (Customer – Product) 4. Competition Victor Chain: Products: How much does our company’s product meet the needs?  Commodity or differentiation?  Complementary products?  Substitution?  Product Lifecycle  Packaging  Depth and Breadth of product line Customers:  Segments  % contribution to total revenues and % growth trends  Present Needs and future Preferences evolution  Willingness to Pay and Price elasticity  Channels  Any Promotion preferences Company:  Capabilities and expertise  Distribution Channels used  Cost Structure (Compare to the Industry – what is more suited for the situation and what does this company have?)  Intangibles  Financial Situation  (Optional) Organization Structure – how is the sales team organized – is it client friendly?  (Optional) Investment Cost Competition:  Market Shares  Consolidated or Fragmented 23 | P a g e

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  

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Barriers to Entry Best Practices Industry Lifecycle

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Case Type: Market Entry Beginning: These are the initial dimensions you need to understand from the interviewer before you deep dive in your analysis.  Motivation: Let’s understand - what is the primary objective of the client to enter this market.  Profit Increase (by expanding his revenue base)  Investment in some growth industries – promising (Will pay off in the long run)  Diversification  Empire building – expansion plan  Vertical Integration (Can be backward or forward – can result in cost synergies)  Return: What is your target rate of return and (what timelines are you looking for)  Hurdle rate/cost of capital vs. the Internal rate of return  Target Revenues or Total Profits  Total Capital you want to invest  Define Success: Say that this is a broad based question]-How would the client define success?  What kind of market share do you want to achieve Question about the current business   

What are the geographies of interest? What are your products presently? How exactly does this business work – finding about the overall players and dependencies. (Birds eye view)

The most important things to start about the business of interest: 1. Statement: I want to understand which stage of Industry lifecycle are we in - Nascent or Growing, Mature or Declining 2. Question: Please tell me the overall market size, potential/profit and growth rate 3. Which part of this business do you want to enter? (Draw a value chain of this particular part) 4. How do you want to enter – Green Field, Brown field (JV, M&A), Franchise (Evaluation Matrix below) High Growth High Margin (2*2) matrix

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Let’s look at it from three perspectives – External view, internal view and exact mechanics of entering Industry Attractiveness

Competitive Advantage

Barriers to Entry

Short Term

Competition

Long Term

Value Chain

Substitutes

Industry Attractiveness

Customer

Cost & Risks

Try to grow your capabilities Organic/Inorgan ic and then

ETER

Don’t Enter

Further evaluation is needed

Company Competitiveness

Industry Attractiveness:  Barriers to Entry:  Government Regulation  Any barriers to exit?  High Capital requirements  R&D - IP or Patent  Brand equity  Human Capital  Economies of scale or scope  Switching Cost (Network effect)  Distribution Network  Competition:  Consolidated or Fragmented  Market Shares  Competing on Product, Service, price, quality, features?  Strength/Weaknesses – channels  Contractual Lock-in for customers  Buyer:  Segment and Growth  Willingness to pay  Channels preference  Demand-Supply Gap     26 | P a g e

Pricing Power – Customer concentration Threat of forward integration Present Perception of different products Preference evolution - Promotion required IIM Kozhikode

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Value Chain:  Supplier:  Consolidated or fragmented  Market Shares  Threat of backward integration  Alternative buyer options for suppliers  Switching costs of buyers  Distribution Network  Raw Materials availability  Manufacturing resources – including talent availability Substitutes:  Any peculiar substitutes  Consumer behavior evolution

Competitive Advantage: Understanding companies strength once inside the market  Short Term: (Fit) – Does it make sense for this company to enter the market?  Prior experience in moving to new markets  Business model needed ideally to succeed in this industry  Synergy with existing operations?  Tactical decisions 4 P’s (Product, Place, Promotion, Price)  Game Theoretic perspective and strengths and weaknesses of each player  Competitive Response  Long Trem  

How can we create competitive advantage in the long run? What Barriers to Entry or Exit to erect to deter other new entrants? - Contracts/Product differentiation

Evaluation of different methods of entering: Evaluation Matrix: Various Sources of Risk Investment/Payback Period/Break-even Management Cultural Fit Risks Availability Time



Weights 40%

Green Field

Franchise

M&A

JV

20% 10% 30% Essential Essential

Financial Risk:  What is the cash position of the parent firm?  What % of companies total cost base will go into the new market? Implications: What will be the impact if this new venture fails

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  

Technology Risk Political Risk People Risk

Wherever you can execute the process in a standardized manner (You can tell outsiders how to do it) and not much subjectivity in measurement

High Risk

Ability to monitor work

Easy

Equity research, litigation support, R&D support

Highest Risk Difficult

Pricing, Product design

Subjective

Low Risk Transaction processing, insurance claims, customer service Moderate Risk Supply chain coordination, customer data analysis

Objective

Precision of metrics used to measure process quality

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GUESSTIMATES

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Do not neglect this section and be thoroughly prepared with the same. A guess estimate can be asked in multiple ways, even while solving a normal profitability case. Once you have completed the guess-estimate then try to include the following to make your analysis much richer – 1. Verification of data – Identify a few sources from where you can get the right numbers to further refine your estimate. 2. Sensitivity Analysis – Conduct a basic sensitivity analysis and identify the most critical assumptions you made. Such an extended analysis shows that you have thought through all the assumptions made and are not arbitrarily using any number to estimate. Although the numbers do not matter here but having a basic sense of the numbers used, knowledge of conversion scales and identifying the potential areas of over/under estimating helps a lot. Guesstimate problems can be solved through three methods (with certain other variations): 1. . Top Down Method 2. . Bottom Up Method 3. Employing a proxy Tips: 1. When you receive a guesstimate question, please make sure you scope it down so that applying a method becomes easy 2. Use simple numbers and round off intelligently so that you don’t get stuck on account of calculations 3. Please try to write the guiding formula you are going to use and explain it to the interviewer so that while you are performing the guesstimate, he follows you. 4. Whenever you make an assumption, please take a buy in of the interviewer asking “ Does that make sense ?” 5. Whenever you make and assumption, please make sure that the actual no. can be found out through a public information source, so even if your assumed no. is not correct, it can be correct. Be sure to state the same. 6. Try and be MECE (Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhaustive), just like in solving cases, at each step

Example 1: Estimate the no. of auto rickshaws in Delhi Whenever you encounter such problem, please be sure to ask the interviewer whether he wants you to solve the problem from supply side or demand side. From Demand Side You actually go about determining the actual demand of auto rickshaws. The steps followed could be as under: 1. Formula: No. of auto rickshaws = (Total No. of Auto Passenger Trips to be travelled per day in Delhi)/ (No. of Trips/Auto/day)*(No. of Passengers/Trip)* Utilization factor

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2. Now in order to calculate Auto passenger miles, we would divide the trips into trips into trips made for regular usage ( done by professionals ) and occasional trips, and use top down method to calculate each 3. We would first figure out trips done for professional usage by figuring out how many people use auto rickshaws for professional usage on a daily basis, using filters such as income. Top down Method          

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Population of Delhi = 1.2 Crores % Working (say 1 per household) = 1.2/4 = 30 lacs Auto Fare per day =Total kms* km rate = 20*15 = Rs. 300 Total monthly expense = 300*30 = 9000 Assumption (A person can at max spend 10% of his income on auto rickshaw) = 90000 Rs per month should be his income) % people in urban Delhi in that income bracket (10%) = 3 lacs % People who shall be travelling by auto = 1-% people who use own vehicle-%people who use metro = 40% No. people who would use auto on a regular basis for professional usage = 3 lacs*0*40% = 1.2 lacs Hence no. of passenger trips from professional usage = 1.2*2 trips/day = 2.4 lacs auto passenger trips Similarly, we can find out for occasional usage ( we can also employ 80:20 rule as well, saying majority of trips are for professional usage, lets add 20% to account for remaining trips, but such justifications should be backed well with data) On no. of trips an auto makes, you can use the following formula = (Average speed of an auto) * No. of operating hours* (Idle time)/ Average distance per trip And verify this no. by using your judgment whether it looks practical or not You can similarly find out, the other terms in the main formula and figure out the number.

From Supply Side 1. In order to verify this you can employ supply side through following formula = (Average Total No. of autos sold in Delhi/year)*( Average life of an auto) 2. You can find out the first term by looking up the sales numbers of all the major auto players for past few years (In the interview you would have to assume or ask) and average life of an auto also is a similar information Similar Problem: Estimate the Airplane Fleet size of Air India

Example 2: Estimate the two wheeler market in India Please make sure you ask whether the market has to be estimated in no. of units or You can again approach this problem from supply side and demand side. You need to clarify the same with the interviewer. Demand Side 31 | P a g e

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        

       

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We would divide the demand into : New Demand ( new users) and Replacement Demand ( Existing Users) Replacement Demand = ( Total No. of Two Wheelers Currently in India)/ ( average replacement period) New Demand = (Population segment Growth Rate) * Total no. of two wheelers currently in the country Two wheelers can be of two kinds: Domestic (owned for personal usage) and Professional (owned by professional agencies such as dominos, police, postman) . To estimate for personal usage, we would employ top down method Start with population of India, 1.2 Billion Urban (30%) and Rural (70%), which implies 0.36 Billion Urban and 0.84 Billion Rural No. of Urban Households 0.36/4 = 90 Million and No. of Rural Households = 0.84/6 = 140 Million Now we need to figure out how many can afford a two wheeler and remove the elite population that only owns four wheelers. Hence, we shall have to find out the income level and figure out the number of two wheelers in households hence. Lets say that no. comes out to be 30 Million Now based on the current no. we can find out the expected replacement demand Replacement Demand (Domestic) = 30/4 = 7.5 Million New Demand = 30*2% (growth rate of eligible population segment) o = 0.6 Million Hence total domestic market = 7.5+0.6 = 8.1 million/year To calculate Professional Demand, we can use proxy and bottom up combination So, first assumption is professional usage is primarily urban Then take a city and categorize various types of uses (This is bottom up approach): 1). Police 2). Dominos 3). Postal Services 4). Others Estimate each of these and come with a number Then employ proxy method as under Total Professional usage = (No. of vehicles in the city)*Urban population in the country/ (Population of the city) * Correction factor

 Supply Side: Similar approach as Example 1, please try it yourself  Similar Example: Estimate the pet food market in India  Estimate the luxury home market in Chandigarh  Example 3: Can two dogs have identical no. of hair in the world?  Short Answer is YES!  This one is an application of pigeon hole principle (Such problems are asked in Oliver Wyman/BCG) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeonhole_principle#Hair-counting

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Practice Cases

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Case Type: Profitability CASE: Raw material prices (McKinsey) Source: IIMA Casebook 2013 Case statement: Client is a power plant located in India, and is worried about expenses related to coal. The client has no other plants or business interests. Explore this issue and suggest some methods to resolve any issues that you encounter. Candidate (C): Just to clarify, I am to focus only on coal, and not worry about other costs, revenues or overall profitability. Is that correct? Interviewer (I): Yes C: I’d like to categorize the association of coal by the plant into 4 stages: Sourcing, Transportation, Use/Processing, and Disposal. I: OK C: Before I process further, I’d also like to know whether the worry about coal related expenses is unique to our client, or an industry wide phenomenon. I: It is not unique to our client. C: Very well. I’ll start with sourcing then. Can you tell me a bit about how we are currently procuring our coal? I: Our client buys coal from two sources. One is from a state owned monopoly, and the other is from foreign companies. The foreign coal market is like a standard commodity market – quite competitive, with companies being price takers. The Indian coal prices are set by the government, and revised periodically. C: Could you tell me a bit more about the trends and prices of the two markets? I: The foreign coal market has a broadly increasing trend in terms of prices, although there are a few short term fluctuations. For the Indian state owned monopoly, as I said, the government sets prices and has periodically increased them from time to time. C: Are these trends likely to hold in the future as well? I: Yes, you may assume that. C: Does the client have a sourcing strategy at present? I: Nor really. Contracts are set for a given period, and usually the contract is made with the source (foreign or Indian) that is likely to have the lower price in the near future C: It appears that the ideal scenario would be for the client to pay the lower of foreign or government set Indian prices, for every load of coal it buys at all points in time. I: OK. Can you show me on a graph what that might look like? C:

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I: Right. As you can see that is quite a random pattern. How then do you propose to obtain the minimum price at all times? C: I can think of two primary ways of doing it. The first would be through a financial mechanism. The company could buy options to purchase coal on the foreign market, and exercise them if it is ordering at a time when the foreign price is lower than the Indian price. Although there would be a price in terms of the cost of the options, I feel that the reduction in uncertainty and the concomitant benefits to planning would make this option worthwhile. The second option would be integrated upstream, by buying coal fields abroad or forming a JV with a foreign coal company. Although a deal could be structured to get a supply of coal as and when needed, I would still go with the first option because the power plant is unlikely to have the business expertise to handle running a coal operation. I: OK that sounds good. C: Would you like me to explore the other parts of the coal chain – how the coal is transported, whether the processing of coal can be improved, and issues regarding to by-products or disposal or coal? I: No, I don’t think so. These are quite standardised, and our client has adopted the best practices of the industry. I think that will be all. Thanks. C: Thank you.

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CASE: CEMENT PRODUCER (BCG) Source: IIMA Casebook 2013 There is a major cement manufacturing company which recently has started experiencing a decline in profitability. They have hired you to determine the cause of the same and suggest remedial measures. Case Discussion: Candidate: Since our profitability has declined, I would like to analyse the situation from two angles, whether our costs have increased in a disproportionate manner or have our revenues decreased in a disproportionate manner when compared to the industry levels. Interviewer: Fine. Candidate: This follows from the fact that there might be certain factors which have decreased our selling price or any of our significant cost drivers has experienced a major influence by some external factor. Interviewer: That seems a good enough basis. Candidate: To start with the problem I would first like to analyse our revenues. Has our selling price decreased in the recent past? Interviewer: No, in fact we have in fact tried to increase our price to offset this loss in profitability. Candidate: Since revenue = price*volume and for profitability volume does not play a role, I assume that the revenue side of our balance sheet is fine. Interviewer: Quite right, in addition to that our volumes have actually increased over the past six months. Candidate: So, I believe it would be fair to assume that our profits might have increased but only our profitability has decreased. Interviewer: Yes. Candidate: Trying to analyse the cost side of the problem, I would like to analyse the value chain to determine the various cost drivers. Interviewer: Yes. Candidate: Our key drivers I believe would be 1. Raw Materials 2. Manufacturing 3. Storage 4. Sales and Distribution 5. Marketing and Administrative Expenses Are we missing out on any relevant cost driver? Interviewer: That seems a fairly comprehensive list, carry on. Candidate: Starting with the raw materials, I am personally familiar with the cement industry. I would like to analyse what are the relevant raw materials and figure out any changes in the costs of the same with respect to any data we might have. Interviewer: The raw material is basically limestone which has not experienced any major upheavals. In fact the same can be said about our manufacturing process. Candidate: Assuming that there are no issues with the raw materials or the manufacturing process, I would like to analyse the distribution costs. Have they experienced any change? Interviewer: Coming to think of it. Yes, our distribution costs have increased in a significant manner. Candidate: And have we been able to find the relevant cause for the same? 36 | P a g e

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Interviewer: No, that is why we have you here Candidate: With the increase in volume, one would Candidate: With the increase in volume, one would expect the distribution costs to be less due to economies of scale. However as this is not the case, I would like to analyze the distribution system. What is the model we are following? Interviewer: In the cement industry, cement is supplied from the factories to the relevant centers which take care of further distribution themselves. We receive an order from one of these centers and map it to the nearest facility, if it is able to supply it, then it is good, else we move on to the next closest factory and so on Candidate: Is the cost of supplying from any one factory to any other center constant? Interviewer: No. It depends on the distance and quality of roads. The petrol prices haven’t changed that much over the past year. Candidate: It seems that with the increasing demand we are not able to supply the cement centers in the most cost effective manner. Interviewer: True, we almost have to end up at our third or fourth choice plants as the first two are invariably running to capacity. Candidate: So it is clear that our plants due to their capacity are not able to satisfy their local demands in a cost effective manner. Interviewer: That’s good. So what do you suggest, we should do. Candidate: I would suggest setting up more plants or renovating the plants to increase capacity. Interviewer: Our client does not want to incur any capital expenditure Candidate: We could increase our selling price to retain the necessary margins. Interviewer: That would not be possible; it’s quite a competitive industry. Candidate: We could try to allocate centres to factories based on the most effective combination to minimize costs. Interviewer: That seems a feasible option. How would you do it? Candidate: Let us assume there are two Centres, 1 and 2 and two factories ‘a’ and ‘b’. We will try to minimize C1a + C2a + C1b + C2b based on the demand and supply constraints of each centre and factory. ‘C’ here stands for the cost incurred in the specific transit. Interviewer: Very good. Anything else you might want to add. Candidate: This optimization basis is a short-term solution only. The organization should carry out a proper forecast for the future demand and if it finds it favourable, it should go for capital expenditure in addition to these short term measures. Interviewer: That seems a pretty good analysis. So can you just summarize the case for me? Candidate: Our client is a major cement manufacturer. Of late, in spite of increase in profits, it has been experiencing a decline in profitability. The reasons were for the same were found out to be the unfavourable costs incurred while supplying the products to the relevant centres. A short term measure for the same was to optimize the costs incurred by matching the factory and centre in a most cost effective manner. A long-term solution would involve doing the cost-benefit analysis of a possible expansion and using the same to expand capacity at relevant plants. Interviewer: Thanks. We have had a good discussion.

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CASE: SATURATED TELECOM MARKET (ACCENTURE) Source: IIMA Casebook 2014 Let us discuss a case which we recently did at Accenture. The client is a telecom operator in India and wants to increase his revenues and grow in this saturated market. What would you advise? Candidate: I would like to start by understanding the telecom market in India, looking at the revenue drivers and advise the client on which ones he could use. I understand that the telecom sector works by hiring its services from tower operators and then use their own brand name and services to generate revenues. Interviewer: True. Our client too hires such service at market rates. Candidate: Okay. Then I shall explore the meaning of saturated market. Has the client explored all geographies? Like the whole of rural market? I recently read that we have about 680 million telecom connections. So, I believe there is still some untapped market to explore. Interviewer: Right. There is an untapped market. Let us go on and say the rural market has been penetrated to the extent possible and they have probably done what they could in that respect. Candidate: Okay. So assuming a saturated market, we should look at increasing revenue from existing consumers. We could analyse the existing calls being done and could think of schemes like STD call rate packages, local call packages, local and STD SMS packages that suit to the area to increase per user usage. The idea would be to have lower rates more than compensated by higher usage. Interviewer: Good, what else? Candidate: We could look at various value-added services like revenues through internet services on mobiles. Having different plans and offering better speeds, we can get more consumers to use internet on their mobiles. Also, with 3G technology, mobile internet will surely be a huge source of revenues. Interviewer: Good. Anything else? Candidate: Also from games and applications. There are many businesses coming up in the area of mobile gaming and product development of applications. We could buy them and use them as sources of additional revenue. Interviewer: Okay, thanks for the inputs. We will now move to the next interview. Thanks for your time. CASE: Should American Express drop annual fee charged? Source: ISB Casebook 2014 Case Narration: American Express (Amex) is a consumer services company providing a variety of services to its cardholders. Its primary service is its well-known charge card, that enables “members” (i.e., cardholders) to purchase goods and services from millions of merchants that accept the card. Unlike other credit cards, cardholders are required to pay off their accrued balances each month, and interest is not charged. Recently, Amex has faced strong competition from new credit cards entering the market. They have considered dropping the $55 annual fee. What are the economics of such a decision, and should they drop the fee or not? Recommended Approach: SOLUTION STRUCTURE • Determine how American Express makes money. 38 | P a g e

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• Evaluate the pros and cons of dropping the annual fee. • Explore options for replacement revenue. • Make a recommendation. Revenue Drivers: • $55 x the number of members (could round to $50 for simpler math). • Q: How many people have the American Express Card? A: What is your best estimate? • The number of cardholders is approximately 14 million (you can round to either 10 or 20 to simplify the math). • No additional revenues from consumers, since balances are paid monthly. (Amex doesn’t enforce late fees) • 1% merchant fees for all transactions from merchants honoring the Amex card. • Est. annual transactions are $1,000.00 per cardholder. ($1,000 x 1% x 10mm = $100 million) Issues to be addressed: If the annual; fee is dropped, Amex loses $55 x number of cardholders. Amex would have to generate new or additional revenues to overcome the loss of annual-fee revenue.  Using a conservative estimate, lost revenue will be 10mm x 55 = $550 million.  Q: Will consumer spending increase sufficiently to generate merchant-transaction revenue?  A: Not likely, since cardholders must still pay-off balances at the end of the month.  Therefore, must increase number of cardholders to increase merchant-transaction revenue.  Q: Is it possible to sufficiently increase the number of cardholders? A: How would YOU estimate this?  The average annual transaction revenues are $1,000 x 1% = $10 per member.  Therefore, the number of new customers required to overcome the revenue loss would be 550mm/10 = 55 million  Now, is it possible for Amex to gain 55 million new members this year? Not likely, is it!  Also possible to raise transaction fees: more revenues, but must address consequences for vendor relations.  Q: Does Amex enforce late fees?  A: No, but most credit cards charge $20 - $25 for late payments. Should Amex charge interest and allow card-members to hold a balance? • Would the new revenues from interest offset losses from dropping the annual fee? Depends on rate of interest and average balance. Q: What is the average APR and average monthly balance? A: You tell me. (use 15% and $500) • If average balance = $500 at ~10% APR = $50 per member x 10 million members = $500 million annually. Recommendations • Based on economic analysis, don’t drop the fee. It is difficult to replace the lost revenue. • While some options exist (i.e., charging interest on balances) the consequences should be explored. 39 | P a g e

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•

Amex could issue an interest-driven credit card under a new brand name (in fact, Amex did so with the Optima card).

• SOLUTION ANALYSIS The client specifically inquires about the economics of ending the annual fee. Good answers should focus on this issue, and should provide recommendations based on the analysis. Good answers should explore the issue of rival credit cards entering the market, how their product offering is similar or different from the American Express card, and the strengths and weaknesses of American Express’s position. Alternative revenues should be explored. One option is charging interest and allowing cardholders to hold a balance. Answers should address how this would this affect the AMEX brand, i.e., the consequences of becoming a just another ordinary credit card. Another is enforcing late fees, or raising merchant fees. The consequences of these should be addressed also. Outstanding answers should additionally explore the effects of competition among credit cards for revenues, and recommend how Amex could increase revenues without dropping the $55 fee. For example, comment on the quality of new members acquired, since competition is forcing many credit card companies to issue cards to riskier consumers.

Case Type: Market Entry CASE: FURNITURE COMPANY (Deloitte) A 40 year old company selling office furniture wants to enter the home furniture space. You have been hired to decide whether to enter the segment or not. How will you go about doing this? Candidate: Before I start, can you tell me a little about the company - specifically, what kind of office furniture it sells, who are their major customers. Interviewer: Sure, the company caters majorly to the big offices where a lot of standard furniture is used. Candidate: Does it customize the furniture or does it have fixed designs? Interviewer: There is only a small degree of customization, most designs are from a short list of options Candidate: Now coming to the problem, apart from a potential business opportunity and higher profits, are ther any other objectives for entering the segment? Is the existing segment saturating or not profitable? Interviewer: Quite the contrary - the office furnishing segment has been growing at a very good rate, and margins are also generally high for office furnishing. You can assume the they just want to explore this opportunity. Candidate: Ok, I will go about with the analysis in the following way (draws chart): 1. The home furnishing industry: a) Market size, growth, margins b) Competition etc. c) Demand-supply gap 2. The client company: a) Ability to invest in this business (cash position, current position of the company etc.) b) Availability of laborers and other supply side constraints Interviewer: This looks good to me. So let me quickly give you some information: The market is growing, but slower than the office furnishing space. It's margins are also typically lesser and are shrinking because of many mass-producers and high labor costs. There is always a 40 | P a g e

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supply gap when it comes to customized furniture in your home, but we have no estimates of whether existing retail supply is enough to account for the demand. The client company is also in good shape to make any investment in such a project, provided, that it is profitable in the long run. Candidate: So, I would like to analyze the client's ability to enter this business a bit more. The major differences between home and office furnishing are: 1. Scale & degree of customization 2. Distribution Interviewer: Excellent points. So why don't we analyze them one by one. Candidate: Office furnishing usually happens in large volumes, and as you mentioned there would be very little customization involved. However, in case of home furnishing, customization is typically higher and more importantly, a wide variety of designs and styles are required. In addition, volume of each design sold will be low and unpredictable. Interviewer: That is correct, and that is another reason why operating margins are not as high as compared to office furnishing. go on Candidate: In terms of distribution, I will assume, the client won't go for custom-made furniture at households. SO it will need either it's owned outlets, or contracts with existing outlets. In case of the former, real estate costs will eat up into the company's profits and in case of the latter, margins will reduce even further. In addition, they will have to design an entire distribution system from production to the retail outlet. This can be a costly affair too. Interviewer: Absolutely, in fact estimates state that if the company gets into the business, it will suffer a loss in this division for at least the first few years. Also, on the point you mentioned about labor - the existing availability of labor in itself is scarce and securing more skilled labor and training them for this purpose will not be easy. It will take considerable time and investment. So, we are running out of time... With these facts in hand, what decision do you take? Candidate: Considering the margins, the condition of the industry and our lack of experience in this segment, coupled with the labor sourcing problems, I am tempted to decline this opportunity. However, the company is looking at the segment for the long term, and if it is able to solve the issues mentioned above and use it's brand name to settle into the market after 4/5 years of loss, I would still recommend them to go ahead and explore the opportunity. Interviewer: Ok, thank you. The client did in fact enter the segment and they are doing really well after 6 years. That would be all.

Case Type: New Product Offering Case: Third Party Automobile Service Stations (BCG) You are having tea with Mr. Ratan Tata. He has just returned from Germany where he saw third party car service stations which were doing very well. So, he is thinking of opening a chain of such stations in India. You need to give him your thoughts and make a pitch from BCG’s side for helping him with the project. Case Discussion: Candidate: I’m not very sure of what you mean by third party service stations. Can you explain a little? Interviewer: To service a car there are service stations. They can be authorized stations like the chain that Maruti has or they can be local garages. The third type, which is currently 41 | P a g e

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missing in India, is an independent chain of service stations which will service any brand. These are third party service stations. Candidate: Ok. This is a new business that Tata would want to enter. I’d like to look at a few things while considering the new venture Tata’s final aim - do they have a target profit /market share/return on assets as their target from the venture Market scenario – growth & size, competition Tata’s capabilities – financial capability, expertise in area, synergies with other businesses Interviewer: Tata is a big & profitable company, they want as high profits as possible from the venture. Also, they have no constraints with regards to finances. They build automobiles as you know and have authorized service stations for their automobiles. Candidate: So, the aim of Tata is high profits and they have sufficient finances and expertise in the automobile area. I’ll go on to look at the automobile maintenance market. Currently in India there are 2 kinds of garages – the local ones and authorized service stations. So, when we enter the market, would we be servicing all kinds of brands and providing a full range of services? Interviewer: Yes. All brands and a full range of services. Candidate: We would need to differentiate ourselves from the 2 kinds of competitors that we have in order to get customers. Interviewer: Ok. How would you do that? Candidate: I’ll look at why a customer goes to a service station and why he chooses a particular station to go to. A car would be taken to a service station for Regular check-ups/services In case of an accident Maintenance when it breaks down Interviewer: Ok Candidate: Now when an owner chooses a service station he would want Quality – In terms of genuine parts if replacements are done, trained mechanics, the car being treated properly, delivery on time Cost – He would want the service to be as cheap as possible Convenience – The service station should be close or should have a pick & drop service. There would be a segment of customers who would lay a lot of emphasis on cost while another segment would lay emphasis on quality. In case of an accident or break-down convenience would play a big role. Local garages will have low quality and low cost while authorized service stations will have high quality and high cost. Also, local garages are generally more in number so would be more convenient to reach in most cases. Interviewer: Ok. Now I want you to make a grid of the dimensions that you’ve mentioned and figure out where our competitors lie and where we should go. Candidate: (Starts drawing a 2X2 matrix) Interviewer: Let us club convenience with quality. We’ll just analyze the situation based on 2 parameters

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Now, Tata wants to start a third party chain of service stations which will serve all brands. If Tata targets low quality, local garages will beat them since these garages can service all brands and charge very low unbeatable prices. Also, they would be built at strategic locations which Tata may not be able to acquire, coming late into the market. On comparing Tata stations with authorized service stations, Tata could stand a chance. They could ensure quality by sourcing parts from manufacturing companies and employing well trained mechanics. Since such a service station will service all brands it will be a convenient place to come to for high quality services. However, the price charged will be high. Interviewer: Do you think anyone will come to such a service station when they can go to a Maruti or Hyundai authorized service station? Candidate: In India a majority of cars are Maruti and Maruti has a very good chain of service stations which are convenient to reach and high quality. Hence, Maruti cars will definitely not come to Tata’s stations. Other brands like Hyundai would come since their service stations are few and far apart. If Tata offers the same quality at the same price, it might be cheaper & more convenient for consumers if Tata’s chain has numerous stations at strategic locations. Interviewer: Maruti has almost 50% of India’s car market share. Now do you think it is beneficial to set up Tata’s third party service chain? Candidate: Owners of other brands will prefer to go to their authorized service stations as they would be more trusted. And given such a lopsided market in favor of Maruti, it will be difficult for us to compete with Maruti directly. So, the number of cars coming to Tata’s stations might be too low for the venture to be viable. But, if there are expectations that many new brands will enter India as some already have, then Tata’s venture could be viable given that these firms would not want to open a service chain of their own due to small numbers and newer vehicles could mean that the local garages might not be well-equipped to deal with all kinds of problems with the vehicle. Interviewer: What would your final recommendation be? Candidate: My final recommendation would be to not start such a venture currently since Tata would not be able to beat competitors on any dimension - cost or quality. However, in the near future this could turn sustainable so an eye should be kept on this market. Interviewer: Ok. Thanks. 43 | P a g e

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Case Type: Growth Strategy Case: Growth Potential In Fire Safety Equipment (BCG) Source: ISB Casebook 2014 Our client is evaluating growth potential for a distributor of fire safety equipment. How would you approach the problem? Case Discussion Candidate: Hi. I would need a moment to pen my thought down. Interviewer: Please do. Candidate: I would first like to look at the market in itself, and examine the growth potential that exists there, also analysing the existing competition in the market. Then I would like to look at our client's growth prospects in particular along with the key strengths of the client and how they can be used to grow in the field. Interviewer: Sounds good. So what do you think drives growth in this industry? Candidate: First of all I would like to know about the growth rate within the industry. Interviewer: It is not very significant. It is close to 2% per annum. Candidate: Okay. Now we can look at the nature of competitive forces that exists in the industry. How many key players are there and are we an established player? Interviewer: Let’s not look at competition for the moment. Let’s focus more on understanding the industry and what drives the industry. Candidate: Ok. So I assume the key streams of revenue would be initial installation and maintenance. Interviewer: True. But what drives the demand for the initial installation? Candidate: Demand must be driven by the need for safety precautions. In most cases, it might actually be driven by government rules and regulation regarding fire safety norms for buildings. Interviewer: Correct! Please continue. Candidate: Since mostly commercial clients who purchase fire equipment do so for compliance, I would like to approach the problems from two angles. The first would be the growth in the existing customer base and the other would be growth due to change in regulation. Growth in the underlying customer segments would be linked to overall industrial growth. Interviewer: Yes. But how do you think could you measure the growth in industry? Candidate: Well, industrial growth in turn could also be measure by the increase in commercial and residential space etc. Interviewer: Good. Since growth rate in number of square feet of space is the proxy for demand growth, what would you understand from the following table? Metro Delhi (NCR)

Expected Growth Expected Expected Growth in Residential Growth in in Commercial Area Industrial Area Area 9% 12% 10%

Mumbai

10%

8%

12%

Chennai

9%

15%

7%

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Candidate: We can see that the growth in Delhi and Chennai would be important to us because we are dealing with industry safety equipment. Interviewer: Well, I never said we were dealing with industrial clients. What if we are dealing with safety equipment used in commercial areas? Candidate: In that case Mumbai and NCR look like interesting questions. But I would like to have some more data on the expected growth in lakh sqft and not just percentages, before I can comment. Interviewer: Ok. How will change in regulatory requirements and/or increased compliance affect the industry? Candidate: Do you have any data on the current regulatory requirements and how they will change? Interviewer: No, But I know that the current ratio of regulators per factories in our target industry is roughly 1:8000, which is expected to remain same in the future. Candidate: Ok. So that means there will not be any significant increase in compliance. Interviewer: How do you think can compliance be increased, without increasing manpower? Candidate: There can be more frequent checks and stricter penalties for lack of compliance. Interviewer: Fine. There are two proposed regulatory changes, one that would impose a high fine on products not complying during an initial check-up during commencement of a facility/space and a second that would increase the frequency of subsequent check-ups. Which has the potential for increasing market growth? Candidate: I would go with the latter, as it would automatically enforce initial compliance which the former enforces, and also increase maintenance revenues. Interviewer: Thank you. That would be all.

Case Type: Investment and Divestment Case: Road Construction Company (Bain) Source: IIMA Casebook 2013 Your client is a Road Construction Company. This client had recently won a government contract through a bidding process for constructing a road. The price awarded at the time of the tender was Rs. 4000 crore. But soon the client realized that their cost of the project was going to be Rs. 4500 crore. What should our client do to make the project profitable? Case Discussion Candidate: Can you tell me about the nature of the project? Does it only involve constructing a road or also operating it for a certain time period? Also can you let me know the duration of the entire project? Interviewer: It is only a build project with an expected completion time of 4 years. Candidate: Fine. Does the company have any target hurdle rate (Return on Invested Capital / ROIC) for its projects. Interviewer: Yes, any project with a ROIC greater than 15% is considered suitable. Candidate: To target returns, I think we should look at the revenues and cost. Moreover, since it is only a build project, I think costs become highly important as our revenue remains only from one source. Interviewer: Yeah, that seems a good way to begin. So let us look at the costs now.

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Candidate: Even within costs, I think our foremost concern should be to identify the possible reasons for the 500 crore escalation. Is there any specific reason that the client has shared with us. Interviewer: Not really, I think you will have to figure that out as well. Candidate: So, I will start with different factors contributing to the cost. Interview: Okay. Candidate: Raw materials would be a major component of the costs. Here, if the company has long term sourcing contracts then I don’t think it would have contributed to cost increase. Do we have any information about their sourcing contracts? Interviewer: No. Candidate: In that case, we can also look at the option of negotiating prices with the suppliers if the company has a high bargaining power with them. Interviewer: OK, these two options look fine. Candidate: Further, maybe we can also explore low cost substitutes for existing raw materials. In case if we can alter the product mix, even that option should be looked at. Interviewer: Don’t you think these options will impact the quality of the road. Candidate: At all times while considering these options, we should set certain minimum quality standards as per norms and then see if we can reduce costs. Interviewer: That seems fine. Candidate: Apart from raw material costs, I believe that we should also look at the equipment costs. Here a decision to either lease the equipment or buy it needs to be taken. Interviewer: Can you explain what will be the basis for such a decision? Candidate: It will depend on the scope of future projects. If this is a one-off project of its kind, then the company should lease the equipment. Otherwise, if the company plans or is executing similar projects, they can buy the equipment. In such a case they can depreciate the costs across different projects. Interviewer: You can move onto other costs now. Candidate: Employee costs need to be very well planned. Since the project is expected to last for 4 years, there can be a substantial increase in these costs. Can you let me know whether the company has its own employees or hires a contractor? Interviewer: The contractor brings in most of the employees. Candidate: I think in such a project, the speed of the project to a large extent would be determined by the amount of labour used. Maybe, then we can go in for more employees or ask the current workers to work overtime. This will reduce the duration of the project and increase the Net Present Value. Interviewer: Do you think employees would work overtime? Candidate: They might, but a better option would be to consider working multiple shifts. Interviewer: Yeah, that could possibly be tried. Any other cost that you would like to take into account. Candidate: I think even the financing costs would play a major role depending on the capital structure of the project. Will the project amount of Rs 4000 crore be paid in phases or only upon completion of the project? Interviewer: Money will only be paid upon completion of the project and due to this a significant portion of financing will come through debt. Candidate: This will result in significant interest costs that will have to be paid during the project. Interviewer: Also, the company is using a percentage completion method of accounting. Anything about the working capital financing that you can think of? 46 | P a g e

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Candidate: The employee wages and raw material payments would form a significant portion of the working capital. We can look at negotiating the credit period with our suppliers but given the 4-year span of the project, I think that this cost will still be substantial. In case of employee wages, I think that they would have to be paid daily. Interviewer: So is there a way to address this concern? Candidate: Maybe we can go back to the government and renegotiate the payment terms such that the amount of Rs. 4000 crores is paid in installments rather than only at the completion of the project. Interviewer: If this doesn’t work out, what other options will you suggest? Candidate: The Company could drop the contract but in that case it will have to estimate the impact of such a decision on its reputation and ability to get future contracts. Also, a penalty might need to be paid in this case. Interviewer: Would you suggest the company to go ahead with the current project even if the terms remain unchanged? Candidate: Yes, the company can consider this project to be a real option for future projects. Maybe they will incur a loss of Rs. 500 crore on this project, but it will enable them to bid for such projects in the future. Interviewer: Good justification. I believe we have had a good discussion. Thank You.

Case: PPP In A Road Construction Project (BCG) Source: IIMA casebook 2013 The client (a construction company) is currently evaluating the prospect of taking up an upcoming public-private-partnership project. The project is for the construction of a stretch of highway for the government under the Build-Operate-Transfer model. The construction cost (about Rs. 1500cr) will have to be borne by the client and the client will earn revenue by collecting toll for the next 10 years. Evaluate whether the project is worth investing. Case Discussion Candidate: I want to start with the pure financial aspect of project evaluation and will later move onto subjective evaluation criteria. Interviewer: That sounds good. Candidate: Do we have any information on the approximate cost of construction and the average traffic flow forecast once the highway is complete. Interviewer: At present the construction cost of the highway would be about Rs. 1500 Cr. A simple net present value evaluation after asking for expected inflation rates, rates of interest, toll projections and vehicle traffic projections showed a positive NPV of about Rs. 150 cr. So you think we should go ahead with the project? Candidate: Right now at least the financials do not indicate a loss so I think it is worth thinking it through and then deciding. Interviewer: Really? You think I would be happy earning a meagre Rs. 150 crores on an investment of Rs. 1500 crores? And that too over a distant time horizon of 10 years. Candidate: I am not saying the returns are enough. I want to stress on the fact that we should take a look at other perspectives before taking a final decision. Interviewer: Ok. Tell me what are the kinds of risks that I am taking if I decide to go ahead with the project? Candidate: The primary things that affect the return on investment over here are project construction cost and vehicle traffic in the next 10 years. So any unwanted deviation in their 47 | P a g e

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estimates is a big risk. There could be a huge decrease in vehicular traffic if there is an alternate transportation route (train or road) that comes up between points A & B that are connected by the highway we plan to build. We also need to take a look at the overall utility of the highway as in vehicle traffic can be low if other segments in the highway are not completed on time. Interviewer: Great answer. So what else? Tell me more about the risks. Candidate: Any delay in the construction might attract a penalty from the government and will also affect our cash flow projections (by shifting them further into the future) thus affecting the viability of the project. Interviewer: Perfect. Just to let you know, delay in completion is the biggest problem that such projects face in India. Candidate: There can also be an adverse effect due to political considerations. Say if the power dynamics changes in the next few years. It might have a different outlook on this project. Interviewer: Nice. What else? Candidate: We should also look at the land procurement process if any for the construction of the highway. That part often leads to local opposition to such projects and can be harmful for the project. Interviewer: Yes but let us leave that responsibility to the government. Candidate: I think I have enumerated all the risks I could think of. Interviewer: I think we should give it a stop there. The analysis was pretty good and structured. Candidate: Thank you. I really enjoyed doing the case with you.

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Summer Placement Experience PGP 19

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Boston Consulting Group

Interview Experience – PGP 19 2015

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Name of the Candidate Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Case Type Case Question

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

Maanav Mahon BCG N/A (Principal) Interview 1 Nothing out of the way. It was only from the resume and focused majorly on my past work-ex and about my startup. Also, "why consulting?" Went on for 10-12 minutes I suppose Numerical: Profit/Loss The client Is in the hotel business. However does not own any properties. Provides his brand name, resources and training to existing budget hotels. Profits have been declining for the past few years. Figure out the cause and give a recommendation  So before anything I needed to ask a few questions to clarify my doubts. I asked how many hotels were there, what was the actual amount of loss we were facing and was it spread out over all properties. Then I went on to further analysis. I divided the possible factors into External and internal.  External factors included: market growth, competition/substitutes and Government regulations etc. After some questions I got to know that there was no problem with the hotel/tourism industry as such. Also that the number of customers coming to our chain was decreasing while on the other hand it was increasing for our competitor, which was operating on same principles as us.  Once this was done, I looked into the internal factors, such as pricing, marketing, service quality etc. to figure out where the problem lied. Got to know that, as these are budget hotels, there is not much differentiation price-wise. Also, the competitor is not offering any discounts. Got stuck here, so asked the interviewer, if there

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is anything I am missing out. He said that the occupancy of the hotel also depends upon the discretion of the reception manager, who makes on the spot decisions about room pricing  From this, I gathered that there is some issue with the way we are training the staff. This led to the info that the competition was doing on the job training for the staff and we were doing classroom training, which was not as effective. Did a cost benefit analysis of switching the training process and gave the final recommendation What do you think went right/wrong?

What went wrong was that I could not think of the training problem by myself. However the fact that I was never hesitant in asking for directions and did not waste a lot of time beating around the bush was what went right.

Any tips for the future batch

Keep it a 2-way conversation. Do not try to make it a one-man show, because its not. It matters a great lot to them that the candidate should be receptive of what the client wants to say, hence ask questions and keep adjusting your approach based on the info you get.

Outcome

Qualified for next round with the partner

Name of the Candidate Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

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Maanav Mahon BCG N/A (Partner) Interview 2 Only from the resume and focused majorly on my past work-ex and about my startup. Nothing else at all. However asked a lot of detailed questions about these two. Went on for around 20 minutes. IIM Kozhikode

Case Type Case Question

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

Qualitative: Market Expansion Client manufacture a wood pulp based fibre and has been running into losses. The operations are majorly in Europe and Asia (India and Vietnam). Figure out the cause and provide recommendation.  Just wanted to clarify regarding the value chain, as in does the client manufactures and distributes as well and who are the customers. Got to know that the client manufacture as well as supply to the customers, who are basically cloth manufacturers. The fibre is used majorly to make shirts. I divided the possible factors into External and internal.  External factors included: market growth, competition/substitutes and Government regulations etc. The first question I asked was about substitutes. Got to know that polyester and other better quality fibres are now dominating the market. Then asked about the competition. He gave me the situation of five other competitors, from which, I could easily gather that Europe was a loss-making market. Asia was OK overall, but China seemed to be a growing market.  Once this was done, I looked into the internal factors, such as pricing, marketing, service quality etc. to figure out where the problem lied. However there were no issues on this front. At this point I asked him to give me a moment to gather my thoughts, however, he said that you are almost there, just give me a recommendation based on whatever you have got so far.  The last part was all about structuring the recommendation. So told him that it seems like Europe is a fast declining market for us and that China is a market that we need to

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expand into. This can be done either by starting from scratch, by an acquisition or by a joint venture. Suggested him to go for a joint venture as it will allow him to tap into the existing infrastructure of the other company and hence make his entry into the market much easier. What do you think went right/wrong?

I felt it was a pretty straightforward case. All that was needed, was to structure it properly.

Any tips for the future batch Outcome

Offer

Name of the Candidate Sushrut Helwatkar Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question Case Type

BCG Project Lead Round 1, Interview 1 Describe the roles and responsibilities at my last working place - HCCB Case 1 - Supply chain optimisation. Case 2 - Market Expansion

Case Question

Case 1 - An oil manufacturing company has 2 ports through which Raw oil is imported. There are 9 manufacturing facilities spread across the geography. There are 70 distributor locations. How do we ensure optimisation of costs in a dynamic environment? Case 2 - A tea manufacturing and distribution company, who is the market leader in South India, is facing issues while expanding its market in North India. How to make a turn-around?

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Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

Case 1 - I explained the algorithm to be used for making an Optimisation Model, where in the costs of sourcing would be compared and optimum movement of material carried out keeping in perspective the Cost of Production at various plants, Freight costs and Procurement costs. Case 2 - I used the 4P approach to identify the problem area. The Pricing and Product was the issue area. The pricing was premium and the product was sold in small packets, so there was a mismatch in the pricing and SKU pushing strategy. Recommendation - push bigger SKUs at premium pricing.

What do you think went right/wrong?

Right - Asked the right questions. Got to the answer without beating around the bush. Wrong - Interviewer told that energy was lacking.

Any tips for the future batch Outcome

Moved to Next round

Name of the Candidate Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Sushrut Helwatkar BCG Karishma Bhalla - Principal Round 2, Interview 1 The Interview started with a chat about my family background and reason for choosing my graduation field. Case - New Product/Service Introduction A Car insurance company wants to negate the middlemen at the dealer level by introducing online insurance for the new-car owners. What should be the target segment for this product's launch?

Case Type Case Question

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Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

I started off with targeting Company owned car dealerships. These accounted for about 10% of the dealers. The next level would be the type of cars SUVs were targeted here as the people who prefer these cars would be tech-savvy and interested in the product. The next level would be based on geographic location, areas with good road infrastructure to be targeted. The next level would be consumers with a family - less prone to rash vehicle usage. In family owners, based on the credit card history, low risk consumers would be targeted.

What do you think went right/wrong?

Right - Overcame expectations of the interviewer without any prior knowledge of the industry. This was appreciated by the interviewer. Wrong - Took some time to move from family level to the next level.

Any tips for the future batch Outcome

Moved to next round

Name of the Candidate Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question Case Type Case Question

Sushrut Helwatkar BCG N/A, Partner Round 3, Interview 1 The interviewer directly moved to the case study.

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Case - Declining Market Share The case was regarding an insurance company based in Sri-Lanka who was the market leader 2 years back, but now has come to 3rd position. The decline in market share is to the tune of 15%. How to regain the market position.

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Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

The industry trend was of extraordinary growth. The competitors had captured most of the new market. The sales channels were distributed to three types – 1. Personal Selling (60%) 2. Sale through Banks (35%) 3. Online Selling (5%). The major drop in market share was contributed to Personal Selling channel. On analysis of this channel, two critical factors came up – 1. Number of salesman 2. Conversion rate of salesmen. The conversion rate was adhering to the industry average. The issue was with the strength of the sales force. As a recommendation, I suggested to increase the sales force and also to conduct trainings to improve their conversion rates.

What do you think went right/wrong?

Right - Followed a structured MECE approach - the hierarchy put on paper was appreciated by the interviewer. Wrong - Got stuck during the sales channels part, interviewer suggested the third sales channel of banks.

Any tips for the future batch Outcome

Offer

Name of the Candidate Neha Sankhe Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number 57 | P a g e

BCG Karishma, Principal Round 1, Interview 1 IIM Kozhikode

Personal Interview Question Case Type Case Question

NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

(I took half a minute to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of online model in this case)

Profitability A car insurance company is concerned about its declining profits because the dealers (who directly deal with the customers) are charging a higher premium to customers with an intension to earn more than the quotes commission. The company is considering going online with its business transactions. Evaluate whether it would be a good move.

Neha: The advantages of going online are that here will be - Better monitoring of premiums charged and commission taken by dealers - Customers will appreciate transparency as they have better visibility Disadvantages would be - Dealers will not appreciate the change as they can’t manipulate the customers and get higher commission - (She has told me that the car insurance market is commoditized) Dealers will switch to other insurance companies - Training the local dealers would require resources How is the breakup of the premium charges Karishma: 80% of it is premium fee, 10% service fee and 10% dealer commission. Neha: Okay, so the dealers are taking 20% from the customers and passing on 70% to the company as premium fee? Karishma: Yes Neha: An online model will help in this case. It will 58 | P a g e

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be difficult to convince the local dealers because going online would mean that the dealers will start getting 10% as per policy. They will switch to other insurance providers. Karishma: That’s right. But, Insurance companies have renewal scheme too (15 minutes in the case) Neha: Right. Once a customer is acquired, he will go for a renewal of insurance in a year or 3 year depending upon the insurance plan subscribed to. Karishma: Can you still make the dealers stick to you by offering him what he needs? Neha: Yes, I was thinking whether we could offer him a 20% (or maybe 30%) cut from the premium fee of customer in the first year. This can be seen as a higher customer acquisition cost and an incentive for dealers to take up the online portal and register each customer through the portal. We can cover the same in the renewal process by keeping the dealer commission same, and charging the premium. In the long run, the company can directly take the entire renewal premium from customer through online renewal. Karishma: Can you work that out on the paper? Neha: I worked out the plan. Made a table for year1 and pear 2 and year3 and showed how this will help in the long run. Karishma: Okay, Do you have any questions? (This is the great opportunity to have a conversation with the interviewee. I asked a question and had a chat for about 2 minutes and left) What do you think went right/wrong? 59 | P a g e

I had done a similar case. I realised that I should have thought about the renewal part. But, what IIM Kozhikode

worked for me was the later part of the case. I went slow and asked many questions. (Some were very basic) Finally she was convinced with it. Any tips for the future batch

Use the opportunity of asking questions to them very wisely.

Outcome

Moved to Next round

Name of the Candidate Neha Sankhe Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question Case Type Case Question

BCG Amitabh Mall, Partner Round 2, Interview 1 NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

(I took half a minute and noted zillion things to be considered during market entry and framed some quick introductory questions to be asked)

Market Entry A European textile giant is considering entering China. How should the company go about it.

Neha: How big is the company in Europe? Why moving to China? Competition in China? Amitabh: The Company is one of the biggest in Europe and is moving to China to make more profits. Competition in China is very fragmented geographically with many local players and none big ones. Neha: Okay. And what kind of textiles do they produce? Amitabh: They actually produce the yarn required in textile production.

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Neha: That means it is a B2B market the company is looking at. Just want to ask, how is the demand like in China for this yarn. Amitabh: That’s right. The demand is good and hence a good opportunity for the company. Neha: Okay, I think this look like a good market. Let us analyze the kind of profits the company should be looking at. It can enter the market through make, ship or acquiring model. Amitabh: Good. He pulled out his laptop and showed me a table with the different costs associated with the shipping and making routes. Neha: Worked out the final cost of yarn if we ship or if we make and realized that the “make” costs were lower. I suggested that, instead of shipping the make costs are lower. The problems, which would arise if the company decides to make, is that, there will be high costs of having an integrated distribution network in China. But, initially they can outsource their distribution or acquire local companies to utilize their distribution network and resources. Amitabh: Okay. Any questions. Neha: I had some, but Karishma answered them. Thank you. What do you think went right/wrong?

For 15 minutes I was evaluating between the make and ship model and completely forgot to consider the Acquisition model. Only in the end I mentioned about it. Acquisition route works well in Chinese fragmented markets. I knew this, still I didn't bring it up.

Any tips for the future batch

They will help you in case you miss anything. I missed to add a cost in shipping and earlier found

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shipping to be more cost effective. But he reminded and I corrected myself. Outcome

Moved to Next round

Name of the Candidate Neha Sankhe Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question Case Type Case Question

BCG Senior Partner Round 3, Interview 1 NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

Initially I asked some introductory questions about the life insurance industry as a whole and tried to find the possible reason why the company could be making less profits. Asked about competition and realized that he didn’t want me to focus on them much (by his responses)

Profitability A life insurance company is making less profits. How would you help them?

Okay. So, let’s look at some internal reasons. How does the insurance sell? Partner: Through hired agents. Can you think about what data you will ask for from the company to analyze low profitability? Neha: Sales per agent could be a way to find out if agents are selling the product well. Because, in lifeinsurance industry, the persuasion and push from the agents will determine the sales of the company Partner: Any thing else that could have affected the profits Neha: I said a series of things, to which he 62 | P a g e

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responded with No, No ,No , No.. (That part was scary because I thought I am losing it) Partner: Product? Neha: What about the product? Partner: Don’t you think that the insurance policy we were providing was not as per the requirements of the customer? This could be a reason of decline in sales per agent. Neha: yes, I mentioned that I didn’t think of that because our product/service was competitive and hence, quality was not much of a concern. But, thanks for highlighting the thing I missed. (I don’t remember much of this interview, but he tried to pressurize me by saying I am wrong and think hard) Partner: Any questions? I used this opportunity to better the situation and had a small chat with him. What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch

Think out loud. Bring up every possible reason for declining profits. Don’t miss anything. Keep cool even if you think the interview is not going good.

Outcome

Offer

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Accenture

Interview Experience – PGP 19 2015

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Name of the Candidate Kiranmai Gogireddy Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question Case Type

Case Question

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

Accenture Saurabh Kumar Sahu - Principal Round 1, Interview 1 An overview of the job responsibilities at the organizations I worked (Ecommerce, Budgeting application provider) Case 1: Qualitative: Workforce productivity Case 2: Qualitative: Profitability Case 3: Qualitative: Declining market share Case 1: Your client wants to improve the workforce productivity of organization. What all factors would you take into consideration and what are your recommendations? Case 2: Your client, an Ecommerce company, has been seeing very low profit margins and hence profitability. Analyze relevant factors and give recommendations to improve the profitability. Case 3: Your client, a conglomerate, has seen a decline in overall market share even though all the individual business units have seen an increase in the market share. Is this scenario possible? If so, how? Case 1: I listed down various factors for improving the organization productivity as per the theories of organization behavior such as hygienic, motivational etc. and gave some suggestions accordingly. Case 2: I used the cost driver approach for profitability and categorized various costs such as website setup, logistics, sourcing, promotions under fixed and variable and gave recommendations as to how savings can be made. Case 3: Asked if the conglomerate operates in all the industries, the interviewer said yes. I said that the given scenario is possible and gave the example where the

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market size increases and the market share of individual business units will also increase but to a lesser degree, hence resulting in a drop in the overall market share. What do you think went right/wrong?

Since I knew the domains well, I was able to come up with the relevant factors quickly and asked good questions. The interviewer was impressed with the approach, progress and moved on to next questions.

Any tips for the future batch

The cases asked will mostly be from the domain of previous work experience. Hence, thorough preparation in that area will definitely help.

Outcome

Qualified for next round with the partner

Name of the Candidate Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Kiranmai Gogireddy Accenture Saurabh Agrawal - Principal Round 2, Interview 1 Detailed questions on my responsibilities at work Why consulting/Why the shift from IT to consulting? What alternate careers are you considering and why? What skills from your previous work experience would help you in consulting? Challenges you might face while transitioning to a consulting career? How would you convince your client (CEO) that you know more than him/her about their domain/industry?

Case Type Case Question Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible 66 | P a g e

NA NA NA

IIM Kozhikode

What do you think went right/wrong?

It was a stress interview - The interviewer kept countering my answers at every point, I came up with more alternatives as far as I could.

Any tips for the future batch

Be thoroughly prepared for various HR questions on consulting.

Outcome

Selected for Partner Round

Name of the Candidate Kiranmai Gogireddy Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Accenture Ganesan Ramachandran - Partner Interview 1 Questions on my background and responsibilities at work Why consulting? Pitch a product (of the organization I worked at) to a potential client What function and sector would you like to start your consulting career with? Would you be able to handle the rigour of work and travel of consulting career?

Case Type Case Question

NA NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

NA

What do you think went right/wrong?

Was able to answer the questions well due to thorough preparation on work experience and consulting. The change in Accenture's process (regarding which I asked a question) was being driven by the interviewer.

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Any tips for the future batch

Asking a good question at the end of interview will create a good impression.

Outcome

Offer

Name of the Candidate Apoorva Mittal Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Accenture Anil Ravindran, Manager Round 1, Interview 1 NA

Case Type Case Question

Role Play What decisions should you take considering the recent slump in oil prices?

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

I made it very clear from the interviewer that the organization has upstream as well as downstream operations. Firstly, he asked me explain the current scenario and the reasons behind it. I talked about the geopolitics and the advent of shale gas technology. I didn't talk much about upstream operations and only said probably we have to close our deep-sea operations. For downstream, I suggested to make the use of strategic resources India have near Hyderabad. The next course of the discussion went to Refinery Transfer Pricing and Gross Refinery Margins. Abruptly the interviewer shifted to the e-commerce Industry and the round abruptly ended

What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch

There were too many things coming of abruptly, the key was to keep your head cool and listen to the questions properly. Keep yourself updated about the latest trends in the industry you hail from.

Outcome

Qualified for second round

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Name of the Candidate Apoorva Mittal Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Accenture Sandeep Singh, Manager Round 2, Interview 1 The icebreaker here was a puzzle testing the concept of probability. A revolver contains two bullets and they occupy consecutive spots. A person shoots himself for two consecutive times. Find the chances for his survival.

Case Type Case Question

Rural Marketing A FMCG major in the country is considering entering the rural market with the aid of Self Help groups. How would you suggest the company to approach

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

Again it wasn't something which was discussed at full length and the round ended abruptly. The issues discussed were the need of opting for new distribution channel and empowering women to sell goods. It was then diverted towards designing a special program targeting rural masses and deploying women as the sales agent

What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch

Take sufficient time before answering the questions

Outcome

Moved to Partner Round

NA

Name of the Candidate Apoorva Mittal Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number

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Accenture Amit Wagh, Principal Round 3, Interview 1

IIM Kozhikode

Personal Interview Question

No cases were asked in this round, I was told to help them walk through my resume and some questions related to why consulting and long term goals

Case Type Case Question Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch Outcome

NA NA NA

NA NA Moved to the Final Round

Name of the Candidate Apoorva Mittal Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question Case Type Case Question

Accenture Rutvik Gaur, HR Manager Round 4, Interview 1 Again some basic resume related questions

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

I was asked to practically demonstrate 2nd law of thermodynamics (Entropy of the universe is continuously increasing) and at the same point I have to prove the same by stating some examples and facts from day to day life (It was the toughest question in the entire interview). In the later half I was asked to develop the business plan. It was a stress interview, all of the points I mentioned were discarded blatantly

What do you think went right/wrong?

It was a stress interview, so just try to use some logic and stick to your argument but at the same time be flexible as well

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New Business development A company is planning to open a new food chain serving chat in the city. Develop a business plan

IIM Kozhikode

Any tips for the future batch Outcome

NA Offer

Name of the Candidate Annan Aggarwal Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question Case Type Case Question

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

What do you think went right/wrong?

Any tips for the future batch

Outcome

Accenture Senior Manager Round 1, Interview 1 NA Profitability of an e-commerce company Built a Profit and Loss statement for an ecommerce company and asked me to improve the profitability of the company  Discussed on the competition  Discussed on the various types of e-commerce models and profitability of each  Discussed on category mix and its impact on profits  Discussed on growth prospects of the industry Had good knowledge of the industry which helped; Figuring out what exactly the interviewer wanted me to do helped a lot; The interviewer was interested to know my point of view on issues  Industry Analysis workshops helped a lot;  Try and bring in your independent/personal point of view into the scheme of things; Moved to Second Round

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Accenture HR Senior IIM Kozhikode

Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Case Type Case Question Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch

Outcome

Round 1, Interview 2, HR Round Resume basedStrengths, Weaknesses , Which course do you like the most, Why Consulting, Something which is not on your resume, Failures in life; Achievements; What differentiates you from your peers at IIM-K

NA

NA  Need to be consistent with your answers  Maintain eye contact  Prepare a question that you would ask the HR Moved to Partner Round

Name of the Candidate Annan Aggarwal Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Accenture Partner Round 3, Interview 1  Why Consulting?  Resume based - Why do u think Consulting suits you? And then follow up questions based on the answers

Case Type Case Question Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch

NA NA NA

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NA  Prepare very well for the 'Why Consulting questions’ IIM Kozhikode

 Your answers can guide how your interview goes about, so be very sure of what you speak  Be prepared for the grill - It could be a stress interview Outcome

Offer

Name of the Candidate Noel Roychoudhury Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Accenture NA Round 1, Interview 1 Very detailed questions from my resume mostly related to work ex, ABG Scholarship interview, why I think I did not get the scholarship, then simulated a situation wherein I am in an elevator with all the panelists of the ABG interview and I have got 30 seconds to convince them to change their decision. Concluded with asking me if I had any non-academic questions for him

Case Type Case Question Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible What do you think went right/wrong?

NA NA NA

Any tips for the future batch

Try being as honest and upright as possible, be extremely comfortable with answers to the resume related questions and be yourself. They mostly look for people who are going to fit with their organizational culture more than anything else.

Outcome

Qualified to the next round

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This round was mostly right in all sense because I could answer very detailed and tricky questions from my workexperience, also I answered the question about not being awarded the ABG scholarship with honesty which he later pointed out. He also liked the non-academic questions I asked him about AMC related to the kind of work etc.

IIM Kozhikode

Name of the Candidate Noel Roychoudhury Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Accenture NA Round 2, Interview 1 A stress interview wherein he tried to test my patience, I felt. Hovered around, why MBA for about 15-20 mins, what skillsets do you think a consultant needs to have for another 10 mins asking me to explain why each skillset is required, then he asked to solve a few puzzles and ended with a general "Do you have any questions for me?"

Case Type

Tricky Puzzles (very random ones)

Case Question Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

NA I felt he was looking at the approach which I used in solving the puzzles, and whether I was able to justify my thoughts with enough logic

What do you think went right/wrong?

I think major turnaround in this interview happened in the "Do you have any questions for me?" part and the skillsets required to be a consultant part

Any tips for the future batch

Even if you feel that the interview is going out of your hand, do not show any kind of desperation and try being as honest and witty as possible till the last second

Outcome

Qualified for Final round

Name of the Candidate Noel Roychoudhury Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question 74 | P a g e

Accenture NA Round 3, Interview 1 Very casual resume based questions and some HR questions like whether you have faced any moral dilemma before, why do you love reading this particular IIM Kozhikode

genre of books etc. It was more of a chat rather than an interview Case Type

NA

Case Question Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible What do you think went right/wrong?

NA NA

Any tips for the future batch

Be easy going and casual if the interview gives you the right kind of vibes.

Outcome

Offer

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This round was very informal and casual and I was getting positive vibes throughout.

IIM Kozhikode

Deloitte

Interview Experience – PGP 19 2015

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Name of the Candidate Nikhil Jandial Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Deloitte NA Interview 1 A 15 minute interview focusing on my past work (had to describe my role and a project), my interest in consultancy and a Guesstimate. Also focus was on why Deloitte and what I know about Deloitte

Case Type Case Question

Guesstimate For the new Bandhan bank in India, estimate how many credit cards would it have.

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

 I clearly defined at the beginning that since Bandhan bank is newly created bank for lower income groups, it does not include present credit card holders.  I did rough estimation and presented the panel the numbers. The factors used were urban/rural, age group, income groups, people with bank accounts.  However the win here was me stating the people in Bengal will have higher % of accounts as this bank originated there. Also spoke about the Jan Dhan Yojna and pointed out we could include full population and remove people with bank account factor.

What do you think went right/wrong?

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Right - Being aware about what Bandhan bank was/its origin. Key here is when the panel is just trying to look at your approach, you bring in various factors like Region bias/Jan Dhan Yojna etc and impress the panel.

IIM Kozhikode

Any tips for the future batch

It is very important to be aware of happenings around the world apart from general expectations from IIM graduate. How you best integrate your learnings from your awareness into your business situations plays a vital role in your selection and performance

Outcome

Selected for Round 2

Name of the Candidate Nikhil Jandial Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Deloitte NA Interview 2 A 45-minute interview where I had to solve one entire case quantitatively and qualitatively. Post the case solving, the partner was called into the room and I was made to summarize the case and my solution to him. The intention here was to judge my communication skills and how I present my findings to a senior executive.

Case Type Case Question

Buy/Build strategy case Post the Obama act, hospitals in US are finding it difficult to maximize revenues as they are not able to retrieve full money from insurance companies. How best can they solve this issue? Either build their own internal optimization strategy or buy from a third party. The cost of both options to be estimated and decision to be taken.

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

I began the case solving by some questions on Working model, Annual performance and performance/growth parameters. I was provided quantitative data further based on my questions. For example - I asked about annual performance and the revenue figures were shared, and then I asked for operational cost figures and

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those figures were shared. Post which I computed the costs for both options and found it to be same. I was further asked to compute efficiency and other geography parameters related to geography and I did the same by taken his guidance on how you define each parameter in this business. Finally I had to take a decision on the options. Since quantitatively the cost was same I pointed out various qualitative factors that will help take decision. Factors: 1) Though costs are same now, as monthly fees needs to be paid to third party instead of 1 time investment in internal optimization , third party is subjected to various fluctuations in market prices. 2) If there is monopoly of third part person in market prices will be volatile and as per him 3) The third party vendor will solve the problem but not share the process and approach, hence similar problems in other areas would need dependency on him. Can make a contract with him though to share all information after solving the case. 4) Monthly cash outflow will be higher for the company which might not be desirable. As project duration is not known. The above plus couple of other factors made me decide on internal optimization. What do you think went right/wrong?

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Right - Connected MANAC and ME concepts in strategy making. Gave a different and out of box feeling to the panel. Wrong - Quantitatively was not at my best and needed panels help. Could do much better if I had practiced few quantitative cases before. IIM Kozhikode

Any tips for the future batch

Very important to bring out new factors for which you need to pause, think and then deliver. Everyone who enters the room can talk and state common factors, your selection depends upon how different you think and deliver.

Outcome

Offer

Name of the Candidate Elizabeth Mathew Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Deloitte NA Interview 1 Basic questions about my background. Why I want to switch from IB to Consulting. What about my nature seems to align to Consulting. I had a gap year, so what I did then.

Case Type Case Question

Guesstimate Since I have a background in the wedding planning industry he asked me to guesstimate the wedding photography market in India

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

 I first asked him if he wanted to know the number of photographers or the rupee value of the market, to which he replied the rupee value. Then we calculated the percentage of population that is in the marriageable age. Since weddings require a couple, we halved the number. We split this by income groups and took an assumption of how much each income group was willing to pay for a wedding photographer.  He then asked me if I had missed out on anything. So I made adjustments for possible remarriages or marriages outside the conventional age bracket. Also I did an analysis trying to account for differences in

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marriageable age of men and women. This got very messy so he stopped me midway.  It became very calculation intensive and after a certain point it was evident that the interviewer was not interested anymore. That got me scared… So I started asking him if what I was doing was correct and generally for support. What do you think went right/wrong?

Right: I tried to cover all the possible respects that could affect the wedding market. Wrong: My calculating abilities weren't very strong. At one point I made a mistake were I forgot a zero of a million.

Any tips for the future batch

Keep asking questions. Build a relationship with the interviewer. It’s a give and take system.

Outcome

Selected for the next Round

Name of the Candidate Elizabeth Mathew Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Deloitte NA Interview 2 Brief questions about my college. What I liked about Delhi and what I didn’t. Asked me to compare Delhi and Hyd. A couple of questions about my projects with my previous employer.

Case Type Case Question

Profitability A hospital in America is having issues with their medical claims process. Analyse and suggest possible improvements

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible 81 | P a g e

 So first I asked for numbers regarding the number of patients they treated and how many claims have gone through each month. IIM Kozhikode

The cost of clearing each medical claim was also given. Once I analysed this data it became evident that the hospital should consider outsourcing this process. Then I asked for data regarding the outsourcing agency. This agency was offering a fixed cost per claims and had an upper limit of the number of claims they would process. The interviewer asked me what could be the possible downsides to this, so i discussed how laying off workers is never a smooth process and how there would be excess capacity in term of IT systems and existing software. I also discussed the possible doctor-patient confidentiality clause issues.  I was asked to suggest ways of making the outsourcing process smoother. I suggested a VRS system, phased out transition and selling the excess capacities.  Then they took it one step further. They gave me regional data split for the hospital. The hospital had claims processing offices in 4 regions across America. Individual data for the number of claims processed per month, number of employees, cost per employee was given for each office. I analysed this data by calculating how much it costs per claim in each regions and compared it to what outsourcing would cost. I also compared this between regions. Finally came to the conclusion that 2 of the offices were operating cost effectively. She asked me to calculate the total cost benefit that the hospital would get. What do you think went right/wrong?

Wrong: I didn't have much knowledge about the medical claims processing system.. It took me a while to figure out the very basis of the case

Any tips for the future batch

NA

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Outcome

Selected for the next Round

Name of the Candidate Elizabeth Mathew Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Deloitte NA Interview 3 The partner walked in mid-way through my case interview. He was very interested in my work ethic and asked me questions that revolved around how I approach problems. He also asked me about my family. Majority of the interview was about why I wanted to join Deloitte. Why after CFA you want to do Consulting? What are your long-term goals?

Case Type Case Question

NA NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch

NA

Outcome

Selected for the next Round

NA Read up about the company and have one relevant question ready. This should be a smart insightful question.

Name of the Candidate Yukti Batta Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

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Deloitte Partner Round 1, Interview 1 1. Walk me through your CV. 2. Why do you want to go into consulting? 3. What is the unique thing about you? IIM Kozhikode

4. What is your major accomplishment during workex? Case Type Case Question

Guesstimate Estimate the market for Loius Vuitton handbag worth 1 lakh in India.

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

I started with an approach which took into consideration that such handbags would have demand mainly in the tier 1 and tier 2 cities. Then took a percentage of people residing in these cities. Then considered what would be the percentage of the highly affluent families. Then considered that roughly half are women and out of these 40% would lie in the target age group and a further 25% would be interested in such a handbag. Landed up at a figure of 50,000.

What do you think went right/wrong?

The fact that I took into consideration the location, income level and age group factors gave the idea that it was not a narrow type approach. Secondly, the question that I asked to him was regarding Business Transformation as there was a recent article at that time saying how Deloitte is the go to consulting company for this purpose. I started with the commonly used answer for why consulting and then he said let us give another try. Then I was frank and mentioned about wanting a job with power, travel and related to telecom industry. The partner was responsible for 2 out of the 4 leading telecom operators in India, so there was around a 5 min conversation about the future of this industry.

Any tips for the future batch

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Keep the energy level high and question whenever in a fix. Try to be frank and true. Well prepared answers are good but then they should not appear as if scripted. IIM Kozhikode

Outcome

Selected for the next Round

Name of the Candidate Yukti Batta Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Deloitte Managers Round 2, Interview 1 1. Why consulting? 2. Why Deloitte?

Case Type

Case 1: Profit/loss Case 2: Guesstimate

Case Question

Case 1: A motor insurance company is trying to ascertain the flaws with its current system since there are unncessary claims. Case 2: Estimate the size of the wedding photography in India.

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

Case 1: The case given had all the data and 3 possible reasons were provided. There were internal issues and numerical data was also there giving the number of stages in processing these claims. Calculations were involved to figure out whether new system should be adopted or the current one should be modified. Case 2: So I started by asking are we focusing on any particular income group, the answer was no. Then I considered the various age groups, mainly, below 18, 18-30, 30-45, above 45. Then considered the growth rate of the Indian population. The next step was to consider the male and female population and estimating the rough number that gets married each year. After reaching a particular number, I

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considered that three income levels exist, and the amounts being paid would probably be 1000, 10000, 50000 for wedding photography. What do you think went right/wrong?

One of the interviewers was really adamant that the answer I am giving is wrong but I was equally adamant. He gave me scenarios specifying different growth rates and profits asking which option would I go for. What went right is the fact that I stood by my decision, which was obviously based on calculations.

Any tips for the future batch

Since the interviewer wasn’t really agreeing with me, I was getting a bit annoyed but the point was not to lose my temper. Moreover, the other interviewer ultimately agreed that my approach and answer were both right. Hence, if you are certain that you have taken into consideration all the necessary factors, stick by your choice.

Outcome

Offer

EY

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Interview Experience – PGP 19 2015

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Name of the Candidate Abhishek Harlalka Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

Case Type

EY- PI Senior Manager Round 1, Interview 1 General HR questions in the beginning and then getting details about the work experience from the resume. He went through every detail from resume and sought for clarification wherever needed. Company goal and objective. NA

Case Question

NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

NA

What do you think went right/wrong?

Everything went smooth and the answers were structured

Any tips for the future batch

Try to answer to the point and don't beat around the bush. Try to get the clarity of the role and align your answers accordingly. Also structure your answers before presenting it to the interviewer Selected for the next round

Outcome

Name of the Candidate Abhishek Harlalka Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

EY- PI Partner and HR Round 2, Interview 1 Long term plans and suitability of the role. Which domain I would like to work in EY

Case Type

Supply Chain

Case Question

Strategies to select a vendor

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Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

Any tips for the future batch

If I am planning to make a product for which I need to screen some suppliers before giving away contract. What are the things I need to look at before selecting one? Given that quality and price are the two basic parameters that are excluded from the criteria list I couldn’t think much about the criteria and could answer just 2 of them as he start posing restrictions after each point of mine One just need to be calm. Sometime it’s the test of your patience and thought process

Outcome

Offer

What do you think went right/wrong?

Name of the Candidate Ritika Yadav Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Questions Asked

Case Type

EY- PI Senior Manager Round 1, Interview 1 1. Proclivity towards finance 2.What is corporate finance 3.How do you measure the health of a bank 4.What is asset management from a firms perspective 5. What are the typical assets for a bank/ how does a bank earn money NA

Case Question

NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

NA

Outcome

Selected for the next round

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IIM Kozhikode

Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Qusetions

Case Type

EY- PI Director Round 2, Interview 1 HR Round 1.Resume+ Past work-ex details 2.Basic knowledge of French (mentioned as a 3rd language in my resume) 3.Why EY? Why not PwC(past work ex ) 4. Career goals (short and long term) NA

Case Question

NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

NA

Outcome

Selected for the next round

Name of the Candidate Madhur Agrawal Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Qusetions

Case Type

EY- Transactions Advisory Services (TAS) Director Round 2, Interview 1 The Interview revolved around my previous work-ex, why I wanted an IB role, how will I contribute to the revenues of EY's IB division, my family background and my personal background NA

Case Question

NA

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

NA

What do you think went right/wrong?

I think my ability to make the conversation interesting with a few punches here and there kept it good.

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Any tips for the future batch

Sound convincing in whatever you say. There is no right or wrong

Outcome

Offer

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KPMG

Interview Experience – PGP 19 2015

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Name of the Candidate Shekhar Tenny Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

KPMG Angad Singh (Associate Director) Round 1, Interview 1 This was a group activity. No personal questions.

Case Type Case Question

Caselet on an e - commerce firm A group of 10 students was created and we were asked to discuss and list down the important factors to consider to forecast the demand of items so that the e-commerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart can maintain optimum levels of inventory. We came up with around 12 factors and then we were asked to rate them on the basis of High, Medium or Low importance.

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

We discussed factors like seasonal products, location of warehouses/fufillment centres, complimentary products, new product launches, lead time for delivery and several others. We had to prioritize these factors and offer solutions to deal with the same.

What do you think went right/wrong?

Any tips for the future batch

Wrong: The discussion could have been more structured. The group had difficuty prioritizing the factors and the KPMG executives had to steer the discussion some times. Learn to converge to a solution. Having the last word need not always ensures success.

Outcome

Selected for the next round

Name of the Candidate Shekhar Tenny Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number 93 | P a g e

KPMG Director Round 2, Interview 1 IIM Kozhikode

Personal Interview Question

Any tips for the future batch

Walk me through your resume. Why consulting? Why KPMG? Some questions on my work experience and any challenges that I faced there.. Profitability/Sales increas I was asked what my favorite company was. Then he asked me to assume the role of the CEO of that company and give recommendations to improve topline and bottom line. The key here is to understand, which aspect has the major influence on the company operations. I chose Amul and for it, supply chain management is the key. I was asked - if I had a meeting with the Unilever CEO in an hour, what would I discuss with him and tell him about the growth aspects of Unilever in India in the next 5 years. This question was asked purely to test my awareness about the macroeconomic changes introduced by the new government in the centre and how it impacted business. Wrong: Always have a list of top 3 companies that you admire with their strong and weak points. I was caught unprepared for this question and had to blurt out the first compnay that came to my mind. It coud have backfired but I was lucky to sail through. Read newspapers. Try to link the news articles with the impact they can have on business.

Outcome

Selected for the next round

Case Type Case Question

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

What do you think went right/wrong?

Name of the Candidate Shekhar Tenny Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

KPMG Paertner Round 3, Interview 1 (Telephonic) Again asked to introduce myself and walk through the resume. Some questions on my work-ex.

Case Type

Pricing

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Case Question

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch Outcome

You have to start a flight between 2 new cities. How would you go about pricing the flight tickets. Discuss the factors. I approached this case by first identifying how big and prosperous these 2 cities were and whether they were surrounded by town with people having sufficient spending power. I also discussed if those two towns had connecting flights to major cities of the country. Then I suggested analyzing the existing means of transport between these 2 towns, number of AC buses, number of trains, etc. Then I discussed taxes that are levied by the airports of those towns. NA

Ask questions if you are stuck. More often than not, the interviewer drops some clue and it helps to take the discussion forward Offer

Name of the Candidate Vipin Kumar Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

KPMG Angad Singh (Associate Diretor) Round 1, Interview 1 NA

Case Type Case Question

Scalability and new market opportunities Case on expansion of a wedding platform and its scaling opportunities

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible





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Which new products should the online wedding platform enter, new industry if possible, along with financial projections and other implications on advertising, marketing, customer retention as after getting married, customer donot come back to the platform again. 9 candidates were called for case discussion together and we were divided in groups of 3 to plan and solve 3 aspects of problems, financials, marketing and new market identification in India. My team was to asked IIM Kozhikode



What do you think went right/wrong?

to suggest new products, we suggested a few things like online photo platform, wedding catering services, automatic photo albums delivery on important days like birthday and wedding anniversary. The other 2 teams made their suggestions and each was asked to cross questions one another Cross questioning and correcting the financials was mainly important for them, I corrected a few things estimated by other members. Estimation based on internal factors as pricing, service, etc. were inacccurate as most of the paid subscriptions in wedding online platforms are for females and not bridegrooms. After this guesstimate, corrections based on market size were also asked from all participants in case

Any tips for the future batch

Estimations and marketing techniques feasibility corrections in other team's estimates proved good for me. Nothing wrong as far as I remember. Don't hesitate in giving random ideas and claiming that you suggested the Idea

Outcome

Qualified for next round with the partner

Name of the Candidate Vipin Kumar Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

KPMG Partner Round 1, Interview 1 Why consulting, major vertical preference, 2 small industry specific cases, nothing related to resume

Case Type Case Question

Scalability and new market opportunities Qualitative: Airlines industry problems in India; Quantitative: Online Market opportunity for real estate construction material manufacturers 1. The second most profitable airline in India, has come to KPMG. It wants to become a leader and is currently non-profitable.

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

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2. A construction material manufacturer client wants to enter online space. Analyze Ecommerce industry as an opportunity for the client.  External factors included: market growth, competition/substitutes and govt. regulations etc. For this in the airlines case, I was looking into how fuel price hedging is performed by our client and others, expansion plans, competitive targeted marketing by other players, etc.  For the material manufacturers, an initial guesstimate was required for which I asked several questions on feasibility of clients to supply in different locations in time, any existing players, portfolio of the client i.e. which categories in construction does it cater to, any existing tie ups with big construction firms. He gave me very brief answers to these and hinted high market growth for an existing online player using the same model  The airline case and client were easy to sort out from here on as I could confirm that the client has similar profile to SpiceJet. So, plans of following having uniform fleet, fuel price hedging in markets, JV with the biggest tier-2 city airline caterer or a low cost leader, better offers for customer retention.  In manufacturing material client case, profitability of operating online was marginally higher than operating offline. I started the market size guestimate by considering 2000 houses/buildings/offices under construction in each of the 4 metropolitan city outskirts. Most of the big contractors already have their fixed contracts, so smaller contractors are the target here. Average order per day of INR 85k on the basis of my personal experience in construction sector was taken. A supply cost was deduced by me and I completed a market size 97 | P a g e

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What do you think went right/wrong?

Any tips for the future batch Outcome

guesstimate along with suggestions for improvement in operations. A supply chain design from company outlets to cities being catered with order clubbing and inventory planning management system was also discussed First case was easy, discussion based, mostly general knowledge was required but for the second I was hesitant in going out of the box and asking. I was answering questions based on my personal experiences only. Keep asking questions, if need be, think out loud

Qualified for next round with the team director

Name of the Candidate Vipin Kumar Company Name Interviewer Name Interview Number Personal Interview Question

KPMG Director Round 3 (Telephonic) Nothing related to resume except for internship related questions done during graduation

Case Type Case Question

Market expansion opportunities Qualitative: Market Expansion for telecom player

Narration of the case, as descriptively as possible

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 A client is the second highest subscribed telecom operator in Madhya Pradesh. The client wants to become the highest subscribed telecom operator.  External factors included: market growth, competition/substitutes and govt. regulations etc. The first question I asked was rural market telecom penetration in the state. How saturated urban markets were, what was the talk time plan offerings being made in rural areas and urban areas by competitions, if any, number of antennas planted by different IIM Kozhikode

players in the state to find out if any load sharing can be done by a venture between players. I also asked what is the market share of 3rd leading players.  Once this was done, I looked into the internal factors, such as pricing, marketing, service quality etc. to figure out where the problem lied. However there were no issues on this front. At this point, it only seemed that the market leader had the benefit of good marketing and first mover’s advantage.  So for recommendation, I suggested to exploit a few select villages with paying capability or least under poverty line residents. To enter the rural market, even resource sharing with the 3rd market leader to reduce risk of failure and move against the market leader. Marketing by marginal funding in village fairs and festivals, etc. The next question was on if the client's village distributor is giving preference to other telecom players for under table incentives, what can be a solution. I suggested overlapping of villages for distributors where sales are below average. 2 distributors taking care of marketing of telecom brand in one village to cross verify one another's portfolio. Talk time prepaid recharge coupons of INR 10, 20 and 50 only to be distributed in the villages along with a particular bottom-line for each distributor What do you think went right/wrong? Any tips for the future batch Outcome

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It seemed to be a pretty straight forward case. Things come up only after discussion. So, keep asking questions. NA

Selected

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Disclaimer The Case book is an extension of the “Placement Preparation (PGP-18) HandbookConsulting”. Konsult is not responsible for the experiences collected. They are provided by the students to the best of their knowledge.

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