IIM Bangalore Casebook Volume 8(A

IIM BANGALORE
CASEBOOK
VOLUME 8(A)
COMPILED BY
ICON-IIMB CONSULTING CLUB

Contents
FOREWORD.............................................................................................................................................. 2
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3
WHAT TO PREPARE.................................................................................................................................. 3
A. Case Preparation ............................................................................................................................. 3
B. Fit Questions ................................................................................................................................... 4
HOW TO PREPARE ................................................................................................................................... 4
B. Fit Questions ................................................................................................................................... 5
WHEN TO PREPARE ................................................................................................................................. 5
B. Fit Questions ................................................................................................................................... 6
INTERVIEW PROCESS ............................................................................................................................... 6
A. Resume Short Listing....................................................................................................................... 6
B. Interviews........................................................................................................................................ 6
Practice Cases...................................................................................................................................... 8
SAMPLE CASE......................................................................................................................................... 10
MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE INDUSTRY ....................................................................................................... 15
INDUSTRY WRITE-UPS ........................................................................................................................... 18
Automobiles .......................................................................................................................................... 18
E-Commerce Sector ............................................................................................................................... 20
Construction .......................................................................................................................................... 24
FMCG Sector .......................................................................................................................................... 27
Hospitality.............................................................................................................................................. 30
Power Sector ......................................................................................................................................... 32
Oil & Gas Sector ..................................................................................................................................... 34
Aviation Sector ...................................................................................................................................... 36
Telecommunication Sector.................................................................................................................... 38
Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) .................................................................................. 40
IT Sector ................................................................................................................................................. 43
Pharma .................................................................................................................................................. 46
Cases 2018 ............................................................................................................................................. 49
ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 1

FOREWORD
This casebook documents the interview experiences of students across consulting firms to assist the
students of IIM Bangalore in their preparation for case interviews during placements. The aim of
sharing these experiences is to inform students about the case-interview experiences of past batches
and to help them prepare for their placements accordingly. The experiences listed below are not
necessarily the best way to handle case interviews. They only serve to give students an idea as to
what to expect when they walk into a case interview. Every individual could have his / her unique
way of tackling consulting interviews, each of which could be correct.
This document has contributions from students who appeared for campus interviews conducted by
consulting firms during the summer placement process over the past five years. The interview
experiences have been sorted firm-wise.
Special thanks to all the contributors and all the very best for summer placements!

INTRODUCTION
Over a period, a career in consulting has become the numero uno aspiration for a majority of management
students across B-schools in India and abroad. The adrenaline rush to solve a gamut of intriguing business
problems faced by a wide spectrum of industries is enticing enough for most students to want to explore the
intricacies of the consulting sphere.
Considering industry trends and student expectations, many consulting firms visit IIM Bangalore campus every
year for the recruitment process; although the main thrust is on summer placements in different domains like
strategy consulting, IT consulting, operations consulting and analytics. Experience across the globe has given
evidence that an internship with consulting firms gives the student an insight into the industry on a real-time
basis and helps consulting enthusiasts make informed career decisions.
The selection process is predominantly based on resume-based shortlist, followed by case interviews. Thus,
when the competition is amidst the best, it becomes imperative to have a fundamental understanding of the
case interview process of major recruiters. The case interview processes of most of the companies are
conducted similarly and follow a similar pattern.
ICON, IIMB’s consulting club seeks to equip IIMB’s students with a sound understanding of the consulting
industry and provide valuable insights into the entire process as they gear up to tackle the upcoming summer
placement interviews. In a constant endeavour to practice learning by experience, the following pages present
the “as it is” interview experiences of our contributors during their summer selection process at IIMB. This
case interview guide aims to provide a preview into the summer selection process of top consulting firms like
McKinsey & Co., Strategy& (formerly Booz & Co.), BCG, AT Kearney, Accenture, Bain & Co., Deloitte, Roland
Berger etc.
ICON through this guide has endeavoured to assist the students in understanding the consulting industry, the
process involved in selection, the detailed preparation guidelines. The interview experiences will help the
students develop a fair idea of what to expect in the interviews and how best to approach the probable case
solutions.
WHAT TO PREPARE
A typical interview for a consulting firm is a mix of “case” and “fit”.
A. Case Preparation
Cases are arguably the most important aspect of any consulting interview. A good performance in a case puts
you in a very favourable position with the firm; an excellent one virtually guarantees an offer.
A typical case is a business situation, requiring strategy formulation to fix a problem or enhance efficiency
(optimisation). It can vary from a detailed problem statement, supported by several facts to a one-liner
conceptual statement with a very broad problem description along with few if any, facts are available. Case
interviews are designed to help the interviewer assess the candidate on the following parameters.
i. Thinking process – The interviewer constantly evaluates the candidate as the latter thinks through the
problem
ii. Structuring – This involves breaking down the problem into simple, logical components and structuring
a broad approach framework.

iii. Analytical and Quantitative skills – A typical case problem requires the application of basic quantitative
concepts, achieved through an analytical approach to the problem at hand.
iv. Demeanour – In addition to the above, the interviewer also judges the candidate on his poise and
maturity.
Finally, cases also provide the candidate with a flavour of the consulting world regarding the kind of work they
can expect in the industry.
B. Fit Questions
The objective of these questions is to determine the degree of fit between the candidate and the firm. This
part of the interview serves the following purposes:
i. Helps interviewer know more about the candidate, his life-story and ambitions
Explore candidate’s interests, and how they “fit” with those of firms
Assess how coherently the candidate can present himself in a conversation
In parallel to the above aspects, the candidate is continuously assessed on his communications skills as well.
Typically, a very good performance in both parts, i.e. case and fit, is essential for a final offer. Very strong
performance in one section can compensate for average performance in the other to a certain extent, but a
minimum decent show in both aspects of the interview is mandatory to be considered for the next round/final
offer.
HOW TO PREPARE
A. Case Preparation
Resources
ICON Casebook
Case examples provided on McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and other firm websites Casebooks from other business
schools
Case Study group
Typically, a group of 3 – 4 PGP‐I students to discuss cases and conduct case interviews among themselves
Thorough preparation of 10‐15 cases is recommended through this mode
Ideally, all members should be focused on consulting as the career option. It ensures consistent, enthusiastic
participation from all members throughout the preparation period.
Diversity/uniformity in academic background and work experience within a team do not matter.

What indeed matters is group dynamics, the amounts of trust members have in each other, to pass honest
feedback to others and constructively accept the same. The purpose is lost if members do not believe in other
members’ sense of judgement and the ability to pass on accurate feedback.
A couple of cases can be prepared with some other case study groups to break the monotony and, in the
process, obtain varied feedback.
Miscellaneous
PGP‐II students also conduct mock interviews and case workshops, typically the summer interns from
consulting firms
Self-study of solved cases, when group activity is not possible, is beneficial
Knowledge of basic statistics, such as population counts, can prove to be enormously helpful
One should not quit until he or she becomes 100% confident in case analysis
Sector research, especially those in which interviewers specialise, can come in handy
Equally important is to gain a basic understanding of the sectors in which the candidate has undertaken any
academic projects in the past
B. Fit Questions
Typical questions preparation
The Placement committee generally circulates a list of ~40 questions towards the end of Term‐I.
Interview questions from summer interview process of the previous year should also be prepared.
Company Research
It’s recommended to obtain a basic knowledge of the company operations, its history, culture and vision. It
helps in aligning one’s responses on appropriate lines as well as asking relevant questions during the interview
Vault guides
Limited help from mentors appointed by consulting firms (for shortlisted candidates only)
Company’s websites (and neutral sources such as Wikipedia!)
WHEN TO PREPARE
Considering the importance of the entire process and a great deal of preparation required, sufficient time
should be invested.

A. Case Preparation
Case preparations are done best in case groups of 3-4 people, which should typically be formed as the students
begin their Term-II. This should give the students sufficient time of about 20-25 days for preparation before
the summer’s selection process kicks off. It is advisable that students form their case groups well within the
time to avoid last minute bottlenecks of not finding the right case partners.
B. Fit Questions
Another important aspect as discussed above is the preparation of answers for the fit questions. Answers to
these can’t be framed at the last moment, as it requires a great deal of introspection and successive reviews
to frame the best possible answer. Hence, it is in the interest of the students to start working on the first draft
as early as possible, preferably from the beginning of Term-II.
INTERVIEW PROCESS
The selection process has the following stages:
A. Resume Short Listing

All heads are looked at, and the base criteria need to be passed in each of the heads. The base criterion
depends on the batch strength and is not an absolute cut-off. After crossing the base cut-off, 1-2 spikes are
looked at. A Spike is defined as a unique attribute in a resume ‐ something that is not shared by anyone else
in the batch.
B. Interviews
A number of interviews varies across candidates and companies. The interviews for all consulting firms are
mostly case based. These do not stress interviews. The interviewer directs the candidate through the cases,
providing leads and hints, to understand your approach to a particular situation.
As discussed in the last section, a typical consulting interview has two parts – “fit” and “case”. Generally, a
consulting interview lasts for ~40 - 45 minutes, with the following being the breakup
Fit Interview: 15 – 20 minutes
Case Interview: 20 – 30 minutes
Fit Interview
A fit interview is taken to assess your nature and check your suitability to the firm’s work culture.
Fit Interview involves personal questions – Typically of the kind “About yourself”, “Why do you want to join a
consulting firm?” etc.
A typical consulting interview starts with a few personal questions, lasting for 5 – 10 minutes.
This initial phase is used to establish rapport. These questions are used to gauge whether the candidate fits
the company culture.

Personal questions can also be asked during and after the case, hence be prepared for a question when you
are least expecting it.
The interviewer forms an impression of the candidate after going through the resume and tries to verify it
during the interview based on the candidate’s responses to these questions.
The fit questions are not directly addressed but are asked through a chat session, where the interviewer will
try to understand the kind of person one is. You are less likely to be asked direct questions like “How will you
fit in the company culture?” Instead, if a certain consulting firm stresses on team culture, you will be judged
on how good a team player you are.
DO’S AND DON’TS OF A FIT INTERVIEW
DO’s:
Adopt a calm and composed manner throughout the interview – Consultants spend much time in direct
contact with the client where this aspect of the personality is very essential
Be yourself – projecting a false image of being someone else does not work. The person on the other side of
the table is a seasoned player and would easily spot pretence.
Present a coherent picture of yourself in an articulate manner
Be confident – Nothing would compensate for shaky responses and a fumbling tone Be friendly and show that
you can present your thoughts in a clear, concise manner. Consider case solving as a fun experience. The
recruiter should be convinced that you enjoy the job
Display a good knowledge of the firm, and how it fits into your career goals
Be honest – Admit if you don’t know the topic interviewer wants to discuss
Express your expectations and interests concerning the firm
DON’Ts:
Get defensive when the interviewer presents a counter argument
Feign interest in subjects to impress the interviewer – artificial poses don’t carry weight.
Appear confused about joining a consulting firm – your career aims should be clearly outlined.
Narrate stories that present contradictory images of who you are.
Appear ignorant about the position or the firm for which you are being interviewed.
Case Interview
CASE

Consulting firms use cases to gauge how well the candidate will perform on the job and if he/she will like
consulting as a job. The case is given as a 3-5 statement caselet. The case is either number based or strategy
based. (Guesstimates may be given either as a part of number based or strategy-based case). The case gives
the objective of the case.
APPROACH
Take 1-3 minutes to structure your thoughts. You are not judged on the final solution that you recommend,
but on your approach to solving the problem
Feel free to note down your thoughts, take your time to think before coming up with a solution
Make sure that you have touched upon all the areas concerned with the problem
Make the session interactive by asking questions, instead of taking it as a test. The interviewer would guide
you to the solution by giving hints if you approach wrong
Industry knowledge is not required - ask them questions about the industry, which are relevant to the case
Making assumptions is a necessity- always confirm their validity
Try to have your approach to the problem. The standard frameworks can act as a guideline. They would not
like rehearsed problem-solving approaches
Have your style of how you are going to approach cases (top-down, bottom-up etc.) Make sure to listen to the
information given properly, before asking questions; keep noting down any extra information given during the
case discussion. You can take time to restructure your approach with the new piece of information given.
Industry knowledge on few important sectors as telecom, IT will be helpful.
Be calm and try to address the problem based on the hints provided to rectify any errors made. Make sure to
summarise your findings and analysis so that the recruiter has a clear picture of your thought process
PARAMETER IMPORTANCE
Personal Questions Very Important
Communication Skills Very Important
Approach to Problem Solving Very Important
Final Solution to Case Important
Stress Level Low
Guidance by the interviewer Medium
Practice Cases
• A Mobile Handset Manufacturing Company, which has a 60% market share want to strengthen their
position and understand where the growth will come from in the next five years
• A foreign bank wants to start a credit card business in India. What options would you suggest?

• An upcoming BPO wants to understand the workforce crunch (Supply is less than demand) in the next
five years
• An Indian youth channel wants to start a new music magazine. Is it a good venture?
• A VC firm needs market size for institutions for music and creative skills (on similar lines of NIIT for
computer skills)
• Increasing efficiency and reducing costs for a call centre setup
• Selling strategy for condensed milk and packaged milk products in India Infosys is starting BPO
services, how would you control the attrition rate?
• Estimate the market for platinum and diamond jewellery in India for a European company.
• Feasibility of a corrugated cardboard carton manufacturer going into the paper business (profitability
analysis)
• A Telecom call-center BPO couldn’t cope up with the number of calls it was getting. Figure out the
multiple problems ailing the company and generate methods to solve all of them There is a coffee
shop on the ground floor of a 40-floor building. Guess its monthly revenue
• A call centre wants to cut costs by 10 per cent. What are the measures?
• Entertainment Company in music, planning to launch a magazine. Data are given such as expected
readership of other magazines, industry growth, competitor prices
• New heart hospital in New Delhi. It would cost X to set it up. What would be the break-even time for
it?
• Call centre – cut costs per employee by 0.65$
• Tractor Company is losing sales. 2-minute case. Write five possible reasons Chain of stores were losing
business, identify the problem
• Petrol pumps, set up on highways. Suddenly, revenues were going down. What might be possible
reasons?
• How would you make quizzing a national pastime? You are a consultant to the government
• A movie producer has come to you with four scripts. You need to choose one. Which one and why?
• What are the parameters you will use to evaluate?
• Confectionary major is planning to get into India. Should he buy a factory that is on offer, or should he
enter on his own?
• TEM of mobile phones. Sales of your handsets have gone down. Your dealer says that this is because
competitors’ prices are better. What do you do?
• How much investment is required in infrastructure in India in the next 5-6 years

• An Indian private bank wants to go global. Which countries should it focus on and what should be its
strategy?
• How much time would it take a 100-bed heart care hospital to break even and how many customers
would they require to do so
• A box manufacturing company which made a better quality cardboard box (at a higher cost) as
compared to local manufacturers. Analyze the ways in which they could cut costs and communicate
the value proposition of their product
• Various options that could be explored for potential market entry (acquisitions, tie-ups, green-field
etc) of an international chocolate and confectionery manufacturer in India
• A mobile handset manufacturer, which had a leading position in the market but its retailers were
threatening to shift to other brands because they weren’t making as much money on the sale of this
brand. Examine possible reasons for this and suggest ways to overcome the problem
• Market Entry Strategy Case in Retail. Develop a two by two framework to evaluate the prospects of 3
lines of retail business – Baby Care Products, Soft Clothing like screens, bed spreads, etc. and Leather
Accessories
• Guesstimate – demand for a Mosquito repellent band that can be worn on the hand in India
SAMPLE CASE
(This case was asked during a case interview to Aditya Muralidhar by Bain & Co. in Summers’15. It explains the
process of how a case interview is usually conducted and should be mocked while preparing for case interviews
in groups of 3-4.)
Client & service overview:
Case interviewer to describe the Client situation to the interviewee
The Client’s company was founded in 2009 by a set of Indians who were targeting computer technical support
for the ageing population in the United States. The customers were buying laptops at an average price of $150
apiece and were obtaining nine-month hardware and three-month software warranties. The founders spotted
whitespace in the market, as the customers were seen to require support beyond the provided period and
they targeted common computer issues including malfunctioning software, drivers, etc. as part of their
solution portfolio.
The service was modelled as a subscription-based offering, which would give the customer year-round remote
support in any software related issue. Focusing on the bottom line, the founders decided not to target
traditional Above-the-line (ATL) channels and took the digital marketing route. Owing to this, the customer
purchase cycle was different from that of the traditional tech support businesses.
Traditionally, tech support was sold either through retail channels or directly bundled with the device.
However, for the Client, the customers were first attracted to the website through online advertisements and
search engine marketing. Subsequently, interested customers would then place a call to the number listed on
the website and speak with a customer care executive. The customer care executive would then engage the
customer to understand the issues with the computer and suggest a solution to the problem. All this is free of
cost. Upon fixing the problem, the remote technician would then pitch the annual subscription to the calling

customer and would subsequently sell the service. At the end of a year of subscription, the customer has the
choice to renew or cancel the service.
Case questions:
Proceed to subsequent question only upon completing previous ones
What would the price of this service be for the company?
A competitor, say Dell, has priced a similar service lower than the estimated pricing in Q1. What is a profitable
pricing strategy that you would adopt and why would this work? Also, what are the different ways that one
prices a product or service?
At a high-level, what are some of the problems that you could anticipate in such a business?
What are the opportunities that exist for the company to gain further revenue?
Data / Hints:
To be provided only if the interviewee expressly requests for them or if the interviewer wishes to guide the
interviewer

Cost per click : 50c
Click to landing page conversion : 10%
Landing page to pre-sales call conversion : 10%
Cost per 60 min. of call (pre-sales) : USD 12 per hour
Average duration of call (pre-sales) : 60 min
Pre-sales call to buying conversion : 10%
Cost per 60 min. of call (pre-sales) : USD 10 per hour
Average duration of call (post-sales) : 60 min
Number of calls per year (post-sales) : 6 calls per year
Margin : 20%
A competitor, say Dell, has priced a similar service lower than your estimated pricing. What is a profitable
pricing strategy that you would adopt and why would this work? Also, what are the different ways that one
prices a product or service?
Competition price : $250

Target pricing for company : $200 (maximum)
Customer retention : 30%
No additional data / hints

What are the opportunities that exist for the company to gain further revenue (Hints)?
Who is the target population? Elderly persons
Apart from emails, what are they likely to use the internet for? Information gathering, games, gambling
What is likely to be found on several gaming sites? Malware

Answers
To be provided only if the interviewee expressly requests for them or if the interviewer wishes to guide the
interviewer

The approach is to find the ultimate cost of a “buying customer” and apply the margin value to find the price
First, split the purchase process into “At landing page”, “At pre-sales call”, “At post-sales call” to clarify and
bucket the information.
At landing page (A): 1 person on the landing page means 10 persons clicked (@10% conversion).
Per click it is 50c, thus, it would cost the company USD 5 to obtain one engaged customer.
At pre-sales call (B): 1 person on the call means 10 persons were on the landing page (@10%
conversion). Per page landing is USD 5, thus, it would cost the company USD 50 to get one pre-
sales call.
During pre-sales call (C): Per call, the duration is 1 hour at USD 12 per hour. Hence, per call it costs
USD 12. To convert one customer to post-sales, you need 10 customers (@10% conversion).
Hence, the pre-sales call cost per converted customer is USD 120.
At post-sales call (D): After the customer bought the service, they will place 6 calls for one hour
each at USD 10 per hour. Hence, the cost of servicing a paying customer is USD 60 per year.
Total cost: Thus, the total cost across stages is USD 50 + USD 120 + USD 60 (A + B + C + D)= USD
230
Pricing: Margin was given to be 20%. Hence, the price is USD 230 / (100% - 20%)
USD 287.5 (Refer The Interview – Quick Note for clarification if needed)
A competitor, say Dell, has priced a similar service lower than your estimated pricing. What is a
profitable pricing strategy that you would adopt and why would this work? Also, what are the
different ways that one prices a product or service?
Let’s say that the price that we calculated was USD 290. The interviewer tells us that the
competitor has priced it at USD 250 and we want to hit a maximum price of USD 200.
We need to understand that this customer is a repeating customer (accounting for some attrition
/ churn rate) and that all the cost need not be recovered in one year.
It is also important to note that in the subsequent years, the cost is only USD 60 per year and this
is the cost of servicing the paid customer (D).
This, let’s say that the average life of a customer is three years, the total cost comes to be USD
290 + USD 60 + USD 60 = USD 470. Thus, on a yearly basis, we can target a price point of USD 157,
approximately USD 160, lower than the USD 200 target.
As to how this would work, we need to look at the concept of Customer Lifetime Value, which
refers to the total margins that a company makes from a customer before the customer switches
to a competitor or stops using the service. Given that this is not a one-time payment model, the
company can split the costs over a longer time window, which keeps the annual pricing lower than
competitions.
With regards to the pricing strategies, at a high level, companies can use:

A cost-plus model – Where a markup is added on top of total costs
A customer surplus model – Where the estimated value of the service to a customer serves as the
guide for pricing, or
A competitive pricing model – Where products are priced against their nearest competitors
To give the appearance of structured thinking, look at the purchase lifecycle in each of its stages
and brainstorm on what the problems can be. It is recommended that you communicate your
thought process so that the interviewer does not feel like he is in the dark.
Here are some potential answers by stage:

Landing page: Customer unable to find the number easily; customer unaware that the phone
service is free
Pre-sales call Customer calling regarding hardware problems (which cannot be serviced but yet
imposes costs on the company); the customer cannot understand the technical support
personnel’s accent; customer calling during closed hours (affecting brand equity); salesperson
inefficient at converting the customer (which leads to increasing unrecoverable costs)
Post-sales call: Customer calling regarding hardware problems (which cannot be serviced but yet
incur costs); customer cannot understand the technical support personnel’s accent; customer
calling during closed hours (affecting brand equity); sales person unable to attend to a significant
proportion of the arising problems (indicating the need for training, better recruitment or better
diagnoses)
What are the opportunities that exist for the company to gain further revenue?
The interviewee must note that 60 minutes offers significant sales pitching time even in the post-
sales segment for the company to expand into other services potentially.
Again, to approach this in a structured manner, the interviewee must identify the scope of
problem resolution/solution recommendation. Here, the interviewee must once again clarify if
hardware issues can be expanded into. If not, the recommendations should target only software.
Assuming the latter case, the candidate must analyse problems arising from the user’s behaviour
and problems that are extraneous to the user behaviour.
Due to user’s behaviour: The use cases of the customer, such as visiting gaming sites, gambling
sites and adult entertainment sites, should be listed with threats such as malware and viruses
being identified. The technician can then cross-sell licenses to anti-virus packages, from which the
company can gain commission income.
Extraneous to user behaviour: The technician can identify outdated operating system (keep in
mind that this is 2009) and other software versions and can recommend updates, from which the
company can gain commission income.
The interviewee can also hint upon tie-ups with software firms to
understand potential areas of collaboration to, both, improve the company’s technical support
capabilities and to cross-sell products.

The interview
Proceed to the next question only upon completing the previous ones
I was called from the common pool and led to a room with a single interviewer, who was a Partner
at the firm. The following describes interview flows and notable junctures:
Candidate: Good morning, may I come in?

Partner: Yes. We are in a bit of a hurry apparently, so we don’t we have time for
pleasantries. I suggest we get started. What industry are you familiar with?
Candidate: I have worked in Consumer Markets at my past consulting firm, which includes
industries of FMCG, eCommerce, fashion and jewellery. I have also dabbled a bit
in agri-business.
Partner: What about tech support? Are you familiar with it?
Candidate: Not really, but I am sure I can pick things up as we go along.
Partner: Great. So let’s get started. This was an actual case that we were working on. Let
me start off with an overview of the case and we can get into the details
subsequently.
The partner proceeded to cover the portion in Company & service overview section
Interview
interviewee should feel free to clarify questions when needed, but should take care
Progress
not to interrupt too frequently
Partner: Let’s get to the important part now, I suggest that you take notes.
Candidate: I’ve been taking notes as we have been going along.
Partner: I will be describing the Customer Purchase Cycle and there will be some numbers.
I hope you can take notes carefully because I would like to avoid repeating the
numbers.
Interview The Partner covered Case Question 1 & Data / Hints 1. During the course of the
Progress calculation, when I was structuring the numbers…
Partner: (Covers my sheet of paper with hand brushing my pen away) Mental arithmetic.
Candidate: Yeah, okay sure.
Interview After a bit of a jolt, I completed the computations and gave the answer, which was
Progress right fortunately. The Partner proceeded to Case Question 2 & Data / Hints 2
Quick Margins are calculated on the revenue. That is, 20% margin means 80% of the
Note revenues are costs. Thus, when we have cost on hand, we need to divide by 80%
rather than multiple by 20% (of total cost). The latter is the case when we use “mark-
ups”.
Partner: Okay, so let’s get to the main part of the problem.
Interview At a point in this problem, I did not comprehend what the exact question was. An
Tip interviewee should feel confident in explaining what was understood about the
question and ask if it has been understood correctly. In my case, there was an aspect
that I was stuck with and asked the interviewer for 2 minutes to think, which he was
happy to grant. He was also gracious in clarifying an aspect of my understanding, so
it should be noted here that interviewers do not mind helping guide candidates
towards the answer (again, once in a while) as long as they are made aware of the
thought process.
Interview After completing my answer, as detailed in Answers 2, the Partner proceeded to
Progress Case Question 2 & Data / Hints 3
Partner: Okay, so that was the easy part. Let’s get to the main part of the problem.
Interview He proceeded to elaborate on Case Question 3 and 4 in parallel. In Case Question
Tip 4, I was not sure what he was expecting as he wanted “ways to cross-sell and up-sell”,

which I deemed to be a broad question. The interviewer once again was gracious
enough to guide me towards the type of answer that he wanted and in my belief, this
guidance was not taken to reflect poorly on me.
Partner: Give me a minute.
Interview The Partner arose and walked out of the room stating that I can use the time to think
Progress through the two questions. He entered after 5 minutes to take my answer.
Partner: That’s fine. Fair answer. Now tell me, why Bain?
Interview Interviewees should be prepared with the softer questions as the likelihood of being
Tip asked these is high.
Interview After giving my answer, the Partner once again excused himself. Now, this was my
Progress first round of interview and I was not sure at this point how many rounds there
would be with the firm. I was getting worried that subsequent companies might be
filling up their slots and was considering clarifying with the Partner regarding the
subsequent process. Fortunately, however, he concluded the interview at that point
and made the offer.
MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE INDUSTRY

The following table provides an overview of the major players in the industry.
DISCLAIMER: The data collated in this table is obtained from websites and feedback from past
interns. ICON does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the data. The data was last
updated in 2015. This data is not necessarily required for interviews but provided just for the
reader’s knowledge.
Accenture Alvarez & Marshall AT Kearney

Global Scenario
Consultants Worldwide 2000 5000+ workforce 1700
Offices Worldwide NA 53 51
Countries Present NA 19 34
Staffing Model Regional Regional Global
#Industry Practices 3 broad service areas 12 17
(Management, System
Integration and
Technology Consulting)
#Functional Practices NA 10 11
India Specific Info
India Office Locations Bangalore Mumbai New Delhi, Mumbai
Partners 50 NA 13
Consultants NA NA 175
Managing Director NA Sankar Krishnan Vikas Kaushal
Specialty Comprehensive Restructuring, M&A, Strong operations and
solution, beyond Right sizing & corporate manufacturing presence
strategy, offer to clients turnaround
Global brand
recognition due to
services outside
consulting

Priorities NA NA Oil & gas, consumer and
retail, industrial and
automotive, technology
and telecom, metals and
mining
Career Progression Consultant Consultant Associate
Manager Manager Manager
Partner Partner Principal
Partner/Vice-President
Bain BCG GEP Consulting
Global Scenario
Consultants Worldwide 3100 4500 1500+
Offices Worldwide 50 66 12
Countries Present 32 40 NA
Staffing Model Office Regional NA
#Industry Practices 15 20 7 broad service areas
#Functional Practices 11 14 NA
India Specific Info
India Office Locations New Delhi, Mumbai New Delhi, Mumbai, Mumbai
Chennai
Partners 17 27 NA
Consultants 160-180 280 NA
Managing Director Srivatsan Rajan Neeraj Agarwal Manish Sharma
Specialty Private Equity, Strategic Devising strategy of Procurement Supply
diligence, provide 6 portfolio Chain Transformation
months externship
period (not provided by
other firms)
Priorities Maintain and establish Challenge McK’s market NA
loyal client rooster leadership
Keep the lead in PE work Hold onto areas of
strength (financial
services, consumer
goods & industries)
Career Progression Consultant NA Consultant
Case Team Leader Manager
Manager Partner
Principal
Partner
McKinsey & Company Roland Berger Strategy&

Global Scenario
Consultants Worldwide 8500 2400+ 3300
Offices Worldwide 92 50 57
Countries Present 52 36 30
Staffing Model Global Central Regional
#Industry Practices 22 26 16
#Functional Practices 8 27 8
India Specific Info

India Office Locations Gurgaon, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Mumbai, New Delhi
Bangalore, Mumbai Pune
Partners 40 (13 Directors) NA 2
Consultants 400 NA 60
Managing Director Noshir Kaka Wilfried Aulbur NA
Specialty Devising strategy of Strong presence in Energy (oil & gas),
portfolio automotive sector Power, FMCG
Largest consulting firm
emerging from Europe
Targeting a 3-fold
increase in consultancy
reach in next year
Priorities Market Leader NA NA
Create team impact
Career Progression Associate Consultant Consultant
Engagement Manager Manager Manager
Associate Principal Principal Partner
Partner Partner
Director

INDUSTRY WRITE-UPS
The following write-ups cover a brief introduction of the most commonly discussed industries in the case
interviews. The interviewers do not generally expect you to have an in-depth understanding of any industry
(unless you’ve worked in this industry), but it helps to have a general idea of the value chain, key players and
how the industry operates.
PLEASE NOTE: This information doesn’t need to be memorized for interviews in any way. A thorough reading
few days before interviews should be sufficient.
Automobiles
Sector Overview
The automobile industry in India is world’s fourth largest, with the country currently being the world's 4th
largest manufacturer of cars and 7th largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Indian automotive
industry (including component manufacturing) is expected to reach Rs 16.16-18.18 trillion (US$ 251.4-282.8
billion) by 2026.The automotive manufacturing industry comprises the production of commercial vehicles,
passenger cars, three & two-wheelers.
Trends
v. The government aims to develop India as a global manufacturing as well as a research and development
(R&D) hub. It has set up National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP) centres as
well as a National Automotive Board to act as facilitator between the government and the industry.
vi. The Indian government has also set up an ambitious target of having only electric vehicles being sold in
the country. Indian auto industry is expected to see 8-12 per cent increase in its hiring during FY19.
vii. Alternative fuel has the potential to provide for the country's energy demand in the auto sector as the
CNG distribution network in India is expected to rise to 250 cities in 2018 from 125 cities in 2014.
viii. The luxury car market could register high growth and is expected to reach 150,000 units by 2020.
Value Chain Analysis

Porters Five Force Analysis
Force Threat of Bargaining Bargaining Power Threat of new Competition

Substitutes Power of of Buyers entrants among rivalry
Suppliers
Power Moderate Weak Moderate Weak Strong
Factors • Increase in • Small • Large number • Huge • Well
the fuel players of small buyers investme- established
prices • Switching (Individual) nts are Players
• Time, cost is less • Small no. of required • Competing
Personal • Highly corporations & • Brand through
preference dependent govt. agencies Equity is rebates,
• Convenience on (power to very high financing,
takes the operational bargain) • High long term
lead life of the • Low cost of import warranties
car switching taxes and
safety
regulations
in few
countries
Key Performance Indicators

1. Average Production Downtime: It is calculated by taking the hours of downtime at a production facility
within a specified time period and dividing by total time available to produce vehicles within that same
time period.
2. Inventory turn Over: It is calculated by dividing total sales by number of cars in inventory
3. Manufacturing cycle time: It is the time taken by the vehicle to move through the production line from
start to end.
4. Utilization rate: Actual vehicle output/ Potential vehicle output.

E-Commerce Sector
Sector Overview
E Commerce stands for electronic commerce and caters to trading in goods and services through the
electronic medium such as internet, mobile or any other computer network. It involves the use of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) in making commerce
between consumers and organizations, organization and organization or consumer and consumer.
The Indian e-commerce industry has been on an upward growth trajectory and is expected to reach US$ 64
billion by 2020 and US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion as of 2017. With growing internet
penetration, internet users in India are expected to increase from 481 million as of December 2017 to 829
million by 2021. Rising internet penetration is expected to lead to growth in ecommerce.
Since 2014, the Government of India has announced various initiatives namely, Digital India, Make in India,
Start-up India, Skill India and Innovation Fund. The timely and effective implementation of such programs
will likely support the e-commerce growth in the country.
Trends
• Performance Marketing to Boom – Performance based marketing efforts will likely grow stronger due to
the profitability offered. As brands look for better ROI, marketing that drives measurable sales is the way
forward.
• Wallet Usage to Rise – The use of online wallets and payment channels will grow as more and more
Indians adopt digital and cashless payments.
• New categories – The growth of companies from niche categories like fashion, food and groceries has
reached an unseen high. It is not difficult to anticipate that new entrepreneurs will create, capture and
dominate a sizeable chunk of one specific market like Nykaa and BigBasket have done.
• Artificial Intelligence – It will play a key role in e-commerce as we rely more and more on our mobile
devices. As technology is being redefined, the trends like suggesting products based on our purchase
history, browsing history, likes etc. would lead the e-commerce industry to thrive wholeheartedly
• Virtual Shopping Experiences – The key purpose of e-commerce sites is to bring the shopping experience
alive for customers. Virtual reality has made its mark strongly in the market and this trend will likely
grow as it helps users visualize how products will look on them without physically going to the store.

Value Chain
Inbound Operation Outbound Sales & Marketing Servicing

Logistics Logistics
Includes: Includes: Includes: Includes: Includes:
Receiving, Inventory handling Order handling, Customer Handling defect
Warehousing, & management at Dispatch, Management, products, returns,
and Inventory warehouses, Delivery, Payment methods, customer queries and
control of input packaging of final Invoicing Promotion, complaints
materials products to be Sales Analysis,
delivered Market Research
Issue Areas: Issue Areas: Issue Areas: Issue Areas: Issue Areas:
Turn-around Standardization, Efficient order Effective online Efficient customer
time at Demand forecast, handling marketing, response systems,
warehouse, faulty packaging, systems, Performance based pick-up on return
infrastructural etc. Infrastructural promotions, products, defect
challenges, fuel challenges like payments glitches, items, etc.
costs, etc. road conditions, etc.
customer
unavailability
etc.
Porter’s Five Forces

Force Threat of Bargaining Competitive Bargaining Power Threat of New
Substitutes Power of Rivalry of Buyers Entrants
Suppliers
Power Strong Weak Strong Strong Strong
Factors • Large • Availability • Competition • Many players in • Low cost
number of of many among major the market to involved in
sellers with suppliers in players is high serve setting up an
similar the industry as there is no customers ecommerce
products & makes it switching cost • Best price and website
services easier for e- for customers delivery are • 51% FDI in
• No switching commerce • Competition on major factors multi-brand
cost for companies basis of price preferred by online retail
customers to choose and other customers and 100% FDI
and switch factors like • Availability of in single-
suppliers delivery speed, same or similar brand allowed
discounts, alternatives by Indian
offers, govt.
customer
service etc.

KPIs generally fall into one of the following four categories:
1. Sales KPIs
• Sales: Ecommerce retailers can monitor total sales by the hour, day, week, month,
quarter, or year.
• Average order size: Average order size tells you how much a customer typically spends
on a single order.
• Conversion rate: The conversion rate, also a percentage, is the rate at which users on
your ecommerce site are converting (or buying).
• Shopping cart abandonment rate: The shopping cart abandonment rate tells you how
many users are adding products to their shopping cart but not checking out. If your cart
abandonment rate is high, there may be too much friction in the checkout process.
• New customer orders vs. returning customer orders: This metric shows a comparison
between new and repeat customers.
• Revenue per visitor (RPV): RPV gives you an average of how much a person spends
during a single visit to your site.
• Churn rate: For an online retailer, the churn rate tells you how quickly customers are
leaving your brand or cancelling/failing to renew a subscription with your brand.
2. Marketing
• Time on site: This KPI tells you how much time visitors are spending on your website.
Generally, more time spent means they’ve had deeper engagements with your brand.
• Bounce rate: The bounce rate tells you how many users exit your site after viewing only
one page.
• Pageviews per visit: Pageviews per visit refers to the average number of pages a user
will view on your site during each visit.
• Average session duration: The average amount of time a person spends on your site
during a single visit is called the average session duration.
• Traffic source: The traffic source KPI tells you where visitors are coming from or how
they found your site. This will provide information about which channels are driving the
most traffic, such as organic search, paid ads, or social media.
• Mobile site traffic: Monitor the total number of users who use mobile devices to access
your store and make sure your site is optimized for mobile.
• Day part monitoring: Looking at which part of the day site visitors come, can tell you
what times are peak traffic times.
• Average CTR: The average click-through rate tells you the percentage of users on a page
(or asset) who click on a link.

3. Customer service
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) score: The CSAT KPI is typically measured by customer
responses to a very common survey question: “How satisfied were you with your
experience?” This is usually answered with a numbered scale.
• Net promoter score (NPS): NPS provides insight into customer relationships and loyalty
by telling you how likely customers are to recommend your brand to someone in their
network.
• Hit rate: Calculate your hit rate by taking the total number of sales of a single product
and dividing it by the number of customers who have contacted your customer service
team about said product.
• First response time: First response time is the average amount of time it takes a
customer to receive the first response to their query.
4. Project management
• Budget: The budget indicates how much money you have allocated for the specific
project. Project managers and ecommerce business owners will want to make sure that
the budget is realistic; if you’re repeatedly over budget, some adjustments to your
project planning need to be made.
• Return on investment (ROI): The ROI KPI for project management tells you how much
your efforts earned your business. The higher this number, the better. The ROI accounts
for all of your expenses and earnings related to a project.
• Cost performance index (CPI): The CPI for project management, like ROI, tells you how
much your resource investment is worth. The CPI is calculated by dividing the earned
value by the actual costs.
Key Success Factors

• Wide and diversified product portfolio
• Customer Service & Responsiveness
• Multi-channel marketing
• Conversion Rate
• Efficient supply chain management
• Acquisition Cost
Cost Structure - Major cost heads for e-commerce firms include:
• Technology costs
• Software costs
• Management costs – Legal, administrative, banking etc.
• Marketing costs
• Logistics costs
• Office Expenses

Construction
Sector Overview
The Construction industry of India is an important indicator of the development as it creates investment
opportunities across various related sectors. Valued at USD 126 billion, it employs around 40 million people.
The construction industry has contributed around USD 180 billion to the national GDP in 2016-17 (a share of
around 7.74%). The industry is fragmented, with a handful of major companies involved in the construction
activities across all segments; medium-sized companies specializing in niche activities; and small and medium
contractors who work on the subcontractor basis and carry out the field work. In 2016, with over 700
construction equipment manufacturing companies, construction equipment market was valued around USD
8 billion in India.
Trends
1. After recording a spectacular growth of over 12%, more than the country’s GDP in the past half-decade,
Indian construction sector suddenly lost stream largely due to global financial turmoil.
2. The turmoil tremors created multiplier impact across sectors including steel, cement, power, petroleum,
aluminium, IT and ports, besides badly bruising the Indian economy.
3. 80% increase in Infrastructure allocation to $58.64 billion in the Union budget 2017-2018
4. Removal of state barriers and seamless availability of input tax credits under GST regime is expected to
benefit the sector.
5. Under the Smart City Mission, the government plans to develop the infrastructure of 100 selected cities
with an investment $7.2 billion
6. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme plans to spend $7.4 billion to
develop 500 cities by 2022.
7. Housing for all 2022, a Pardhanmantri Awas Yojna Initiative proposes to build 2 crore houses for urban
poor.
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Porters Five Force Analysis
Force Threat of Bargaining power Rivalry among Bargaining Threat of new

substitutes of suppliers existing power of buyers entrants power
competitors
Power Strong Weak Strong Strong Weak
Factors • New and • Industry • Fall in • Construction • Capital
economical members such demand for developers requirements
innovative as the construction have a high for property
methods & principal projects quality of development
processes contractors resulting in information high
coming up are over capacity for decision • Access to
• Low integrating • Competitive making inputs like
switching backwards bidding to • Few skilled labor
costs once into the win contracts developers difficult
a project is business of by and
suppliers construction construction
creating companies clients
concentrated • Overcrowded • Developers
oligopolies market and clients
• Readily dominated can
available by 5 big postpone
construction construction projects
materials companies until a later
from various • Construction stage when
suppliers projects are they can
• Greater highly secure lower
collaboration standardized costs of
between building
contractors, • Decline in
sub- client’s
contractors demand for
and construction
manufacturers projects
required for
successful
delivery of
project
• Switching
costs of
quantity
surveying
firms is low

• Cost and Time: Project cost and completion time of a project. Estimated cost and time are different from
actual values.
• Cost predictability: It is associated with design and construction of project.
• Quality: It is a measure of number of defects associated with project at the end of rectification period.
• Safety: It is a measure of lost Time Incidents (LTI) and reportable accidents per 100K employed.
• Client Satisfaction: Client perception of product & service vs Contractor perception
• Profit margin: It is a measure of profit on turnover (%)
• Productivity: It is a measure of percentage of equipment downtime and labour downtime.
Cost Structure

FMCG Sector
Sector Overview
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is the fourth largest sector in the Indian economy. It includes
non-durable products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost such as toiletries, detergents,
soft drinks, OTC drugs, processed foods, etc. This industry clocked a revenue of US $57.4 Billion in
2017, registering a sharp y-o-y growth of 17%. The retail market is estimated to reach US $ 1.1 trillion
by 2020 from US $ 672 billion in 2016, with an expected growth in modern trade by about 20 to 25%
annually, which is likely to boost FMCG companies’ revenues. Over 55% share of revenue was
generated from urban India while, close to 45% of the revenue share came from semi-urban and rural
India, whose share has seen consistent growth over the last few years.
Trends
• The household and personal care categories are the leading segments accounting for over 50% of
the market followed by Healthcare (31%), and Food & Beverages (19%)
• Hair care is the leading segment accounting for 23% of the overall market in terms of revenue.
Food products is the second largest segment accounting for 19% followed by health supplements
(16%) and oral care (15%)
• People’s preference towards Ayurveda products has led to the growth of Patanjali, with a m-cap
of US $14.94 billion. The company aims to expand globally in the coming decade
• Sales growth for players such as Dabur, HUL and Marico in Q2 2017 is an indication of revival of
consumer demand in India
• An increase in awareness, accessibility and changing lifestyles have been key growth drivers for
the sector
• Online users in India is likely to cross 850 million by 2025
• Revenues are forecasted to touch US $100 billion by 2020 in the FMCG sector
• In the long run, with the system becoming more transparent and easily compatible,
demonetisation is expected to benefit the organized players in this industry
• The focus on agriculture, MSMEs, education, healthcare, infrastructure and employment under
the Union Budget 2018-19 is expected to directly impact the FMCG sector. These initiatives are
expected to increase people’s disposable income, especially in the rural areas, which will directly
benefit the sector

Value Chain
Inbound Operation Outbound Sales & Marketing Servicing

Logistics Logistics
Includes: Includes: Includes: Includes: Includes:
Inbound raw Finishing goods, Order handling, Customer Warranty,
materials, Manufacturing, Dispatch, Management, Maintenance,
Warehousing Packaging, Delivery, Order Education and training
Supply Production Control, Invoicing Management, upgrades
Schedules Quality Control, Promotion,
Maintenance Sales Analysis,
Market Research
Issue Areas: Issue Areas: Issue Areas: Issue Areas: Issue Areas:
Processing cost Standardization, Inventory Disruptive online- Responsiveness,
of raw Demand forecast, Control, marketplace, reliability of after sales
materials, Turn- faulty packaging, infrastructural Pricing and service,
around time at etc. challenges like promotions, need preponderance of
warehouse, road conditions, for customization, defective items, etc.
infrastructural number of etc.
challenges, fuel check posts,
costs, etc. external
environment,
etc.
Force Threat of Bargaining Competitive Bargaining Power Threat of New

Substitutes Power of Rivalry of Buyers Entrants
Suppliers
Power Strong Weak Strong Strong Moderate
Factors • Narrow • Big FMCG • Private label • Low switching • Huge
product companies brands by cost induces investments
differentiati can dictate retailers are the customers’ in setting up a
on under the prices priced at a product shift distribution
many brands through discount to • Influence of network and
• Price war local mainframe marketing promoting
sourcing brands limits strategies brands
from a competition for • Availability of • Spending on
fragmented the weak same or similar advertisement
group of key brands alternatives s is aggressive
commodity • Highly
suppliers fragmented
industry as
more MNCs are
entering

• Profit margin: Big FMCG companies generally have stable profit margins
• Revenue generated per unit area: Gross sales/trading area – used to indicate how much sales
shop floor is generating. This is used to compare across categories and stores
• Gross margin Return on Inventory: Gross margin/Investment in inventory – used to measure
how efficiently retailer is managing his inventory to manage his earnings
• Footfalls: Number of people entering the store in any given day – affected by seasonality
• Number of bills: Number of bills that have been billed in the cash machine on a given day
• Average Bill Value: Total sales in a period/number of bills in a period
• Conversion Ratio: used to compare what percent of people made a purchase as opposed to
those who entered the store
Key Success Factors

• Wide and diversified product portfolio
• Brand Equity
• Continuous innovation and product differentiation
• Strong distribution network
• Efficient supply chain management
Cost Structure - Major cost heads for FMCG firms include:
• Research and Development

• Raw Material Procurement and Processing
• Manufacturing
• Logistics
• Marketing and Servicing

Hospitality
Sector overview
The Indian hospitality industry contributes 7.5% to the GDP and provides for 8.7% of the total
employment. It is the third largest foreign exchange earner.
Growing tourism interest has had a positive effect on the hospitality industry. The booming tourism
industry has had a cascading effect on the hospitality sector with an increase in the occupancy ratios
and average room rates. There is an emergence of budget hotels in India to cater to much of the
population who seek affordable stay. Nowadays, many budget hotels are emerging which are giving
good competition to major players. There is also a shift in the operations of hotels; traditional hotel
chains are concentrating on the branding and distribution functions. They outsource ownership and
operations by means of franchising. Large upscale hotels maintain control through management
contracts. High capital investments required for land, infrastructure and maintenance since costs of
acquiring/maintaining are high and supply is limited. It is even more so in metro and upcoming cities.
Trends
• The sector has received a big boost after 100% FDI has been granted here
• Medical tourism, although seasonal, is also on the rise
• India has a growing population of English speakers which is beneficial in this sector.
• The growth rate in room demand (about 6%) has been consistently outpacing the supply (about
3%) growth in India for the past few years.
• It witnessed the impact of two major government policy decisions - demonetisation and GST,
along with the Supreme Court ruling that banned the sale of liquor in all commercial
establishments located on or within 500 metres of any national and state highways, setting back
the hospitality industry’s hopes of improved performance after it garnered some tail winds in
2016.
• The sector’s total contribution to GDP is expected to further grow to US$280.5B by 2026 and
capital investment in tourism is estimated to increase to US$160B which is a 7% YOY growth
• International hotel chains currently have a market share of 44% which is likely to increase to
50% by 2022.

Bargaining
Threat of Bargaining Power Threat of new Competition
Force Power of
Substitutes of Buyers entrants among rivalry
Suppliers
Power Low Moderate Low Low Low
• Substitutes • High in cities • Limited for • High
• Most of the
like Airbnb and tourist B2B since it economic
factors
have spots depends on risks and
which
already • Internatio-nal prior capital
affect the
dented chains’ entry agreement costs
business
income of has intensified • High for B2C • Difficult
are
hotel competition since to sustain
activities
Factors chains • Differentiation individuals financially
which are
abroad can still be in always look initially
generally
• Customer terms of price for lowest
subcontrac-
loyalty not and service prices
ted like
really • Demand
cleaning,
present in concentrated
valet, HR,
this sector in certain
etc.
periods

• Online ratings (Customer satisfaction): Most visible metric that customers often rely upon.
Considerably influences consumer decision making process.
• Occupancy % = rooms occupied / rooms available: Determines how efficiently a hotel is using
the resources at its disposal. Indicates whether promotional activities pursued by the hotel have
attracted the crowd or not.
• Revenue per available room = Total room revenue/ Total rooms available: Tells whether
income is equally earned across all rooms. Indirectly indicates occupancy rate.
• Market penetration index = Hotel occupancy % / Market occupancy %: Benchmarks hotel
efficiency level with the industry standard

Power Sector
Sector Overview
The Indian Power sector is an important contributor for the growth story of Indian Economy.
Growing at the CAGR of 5.69 % in period FY10-FY18, India’s Power sector has generated
1201.543 BU of electricity in FY18. Total installed capacity of power stations in India stood
at 343.79 Gigawatt (GW) as on April, 2018. India’s per capita electricity consumption has
been continuously increasing over the years. The per capita electricity consumption has
increased from 734 kW to 1075 kWh, an increase of 46% in 8 years. The per capita
consumption has been increasing at an average of 6% every year. This sector is highly
dominated by public sector Companies and is capital extensive. A total of 17,164 villages out
of 18,452 un-electrified villages in India have been electrified up to March 2018 as part of
the target to electrify all villages by May 1, 2018.
Trends
• The industry attracted US$ 12.97 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),
accounting for 3.52 per cent of total FDI inflows in India.
• The Government of India approved National Policy on Biofuels – 2018, the expected
benefits of this policy are health benefits, cleaner environment, employment
generation, reduced import dependency, boost to infrastructural investment in rural
areas and additional income to farmers
• The Union and state governments have agreed to implement the Direct Benefit
Transfer (DBT) scheme in the electricity sector for better targeting of subsidies
• Initiatives taken by the Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) have resulted in energy
savings of 37 billion kWh and reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30
million tonnes.
• The Government of India has released its roadmap to achieve 175 GW capacity in
renewable energy by 2022, which includes 100 GW of solar power and 60 GW of
wind power.
Value Chain

Force Threat of Bargaining Rivalry among Bargaining Threat of new

substitutes power of existing power of entrants
suppliers competitors buyers power
Power Moderate Moderate Weak Weak Weak
Factors • No major • Coal India • All power • Limited • Highly
substitute of Limited is the generated is number of capital
power only supplier used up, so no power intensive
available of coal major companies • Distribution
• Limited coal • Limited competitive • Government and
availability; supply of coal rivalry generally sets transmission
govt. is due to lesser • Private fixed tariff dominated
gradually supply participation rates for by PSUs
focusing on encouraged by power • Regulatory
non-thermal government consumption approvals
and due to high for retail and fuel
renewable demand consumption supply are
sources of major
power bottlenecks
• Dominated
by PSUs
• Guaranteed return: A power company is guaranteed a certain return on capital employed on

generation by the government. If input cost increases, a generation company passes on the
cost through increasing the capital employed to maintain margins. Affects profitability of a
power company.
• Net Asset Value: NAV is important from a retail investor perspective. Mentioned in Balance
sheet of the company.
• Maintenance Cost: Expense incurred in maintenance of plants; an indicator of efficiency
• NAV = ((Capacity * rate per MW depending whether it is pure generation company or a
combination of both) - Debt + Cash) / (number of shares outstanding)
Cost Structure
VALUE CHAIN MAJOR COST HEADS

Raw Material Cost (LNG fuel, Coal etc.) and Interest Cost, regulatory
POWER GENERATION
cost
POWER TRANSMISSION Conductor Cost (ACSR – 38%; HPC: 66%); Tower (18%); Erection and
Foundation (10%), Using HPC increases material cost by 2X but
reduces overall per MW per km cost by 15%
POWER DISTRIBUTION Transmission losses, Infra cost

Oil & Gas Sector
Sector Overview
The oil and gas sector is among the six core industries in India. The government has allowed 100 per
cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in many segments of the sector. It is sub-divided into 3 sectors-
Upstream – Includes exploration for crude oil and natural gas reserves, drilling wells and
subsequently operating wells to produce oil and gas.
Midstream – Involves storage, transportation and marketing of oil and gas products. The operation
in midstream include some elements of upstream and downstream sectors.
Downstream – Comprises refining of crude oil and processing of natural gas. It also involves
marketing and final distribution to end consumers.
O&G is a very capital-intensive industry with huge investments in exploration and setting up
processing facilities of crude oil and gas.
Oil & gas is a non-fragmented sector with most of the market being controlled by state owned
enterprises – IOCL, BPCL, ONGC, OIL and GAIL. The major domestic private player is Reliance while
international players like Shell, BP and Cairn have a minor presence. The growth drivers are –
expected expansion in the robust domestic market; abundant raw materials, favorable policies, huge
investments, skilled labour and massive gas pipeline network.
Trends
• India’s oil demand is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.6 per cent to 458 Million Tonnes of Oil
Equivalent (MTOE) by 2040.
• Demand for energy will more than double by 2040 as economy will grow to more than five times
its current size.
• Gas production will likely touch 90 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) by 2040. Demand for natural gas
will grow at a CAGR of 4.6 per cent to touch 149 MTOE.

Value chain
Porter’s five forces

Power Weak Moderate Weak Weak Weak
Factors • Threat is low, • Bargaining • Competitive • Customers • Threat of
as other power is rivalry is low as have low/non- new entrants
sources of medium as just one-two existent continues to
energy like despite few players operate bargaining be low, due
solar, wind, players in Upstream, power. They to the
coal and operating, Midstream and are price- capital-
hydro- government Downstream takers. intensive
electric at times segments. nature of the
power are delays in Although a few industry and
less subsidy private economies
developed. payment to operators have of scale.
Pressure oil entered the
from companies industry in the
alternative that can lead last couple of
sources is to big losses years, they do
building up not pose any
and might major threat
become currently.
significant in
future.

Aviation Sector
Sector Overview
Indian Aviation industry is in a high growth phase due to new developments like Low-cost carriers
(LCCs), modern airports, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in domestic airlines, advanced information
technology (IT) interventions and growing emphasis on regional connectivity.
The 5 major stakeholders in the Aviation industry are:

1. Airlines
2. Airports- Infrastructure
3. Aircraft OEMs (Aircraft/Engine/Components manufacturers)
4. Service Providers (Handling, Catering & Cleaning)
5. Customers
Trends
• India to become the third largest aviation market in the world in terms of passengers by 2026.
• Air passengers to grow at a CAGR of 3.7 per cent (to double from 3.8 billion air passengers in
2016 to 7.2 billion air passengers by 2035)
• India's air cargo is estimated to grow at 9 per cent over the next few years.
• India is the world’s fastest growing domestic travel market (26.6 per cent YoY growth in
January 2017). Rate of growth of international travel market in India also close to 10% YoY.
• Third largest domestic aviation market globally (over 100 mn. passengers in FY17)
• Domestic air traffic is expected to grow 25% and cross 130 million in FY2017-18.
Value Chain

Porter’s Forces

Telecommunication Sector
Overview
India is the second largest telecommunication sector in the world with a subscriber base of
1.14 billion. India has 0.5 billion Internet Subscribers, also making it 2nd in the world in terms
of Internet Users. Availability of affordable smartphones and lower rates is going to drive
growth, especially in rural India which has currently a penetration of 56%, provided 70% of
Indian population stays in rural India.
Trends:
• The number of internet subscribers increased at CAGR of 42.6% from FY06-18 and is
expected to double by 2021, reaching 0.8 billion.
• Wired Broadband Subscriptions have grown at CAGR 17.31% during FY07-18 to reach
18 million. Total broadband subscribers stand at 0.4 billion as of April 2018.
• Telecom sector revenue doubled to USD 40 billion in FY18, compared to FY06.
• GSM services continue to dominate Indian market with a 99.6 % market share
Value Chain:
Technology &
Network Devices
Chip-Set Infrastructure
Carriers Manufactures
Makers
Develop new Provide Core Provide telecom Build mobile

technology like infrastructure like service platforms phones, handsets
5G, wireless switches, routers, e.g. internet service which are handed
protocols like application servers along with billing over to consumers.
802.11. and backbone and customer e.g. Samsung, Apple
Design some of network relationships.
the most exciting e.g. Cisco, Ericsson e.g. Airtel, Reliance
hardware’s and Jio
integrated chips.
e.g. Qualcomm

Stakeholder Analysis:
Chip Set Infrastructure Network Device

Makers Developers Carriers Manufacturers
Revenue Patent Royalty Sales and Lease Roaming Data Patent Royalty
Selling chips to of Equipment Wireless Voice Selling of
device Service Calls Manufactured
manufactures & provided to Wired Voice Devices
infrastructure network Calls Selling of key
developers carriers and International parts to
organisations Roaming businesses- e.g.
Patent Royalty Connection Samsung selling
Subscription touch screen to
apple
Cost R&D Costs R&D Costs Licence/ Manufacturing
Chip Buildings, Spectrum Fees Costs
Manufacturing Licence/Fee Fixed Costs of R&D Costs
& Raw Material Costs Towers Assembly and
Costs Manufacturing Cost of Packaging Costs
Buildings, Costs Maintaining & Labour Costs
Licence/Fee Service Costs Operating Advertisement
Costs Network towers and Service
Maintenance Employee Costs Costs
Costs
KPI’s Capital New Average Capacity
Efficiency Technologies Revenue per Utilization
Employee Developed call Demand
Productivity Access Point Average Call Forecasting
New Uptime Duration Integration
technologies Percentage Number of calls Capabilities
per year data passed per subscriber Maintenance
Revenue from through access Airtime Cost per unit
existing point Capacity Mean time to
portfolio of Percentage of Utilization repair
products unsuccessful Number of Calls Integration
Revenue from users under Average Capabilities
new portfolio of each access Revenue from
products point internet usage
Time taken Average Delay
from design in data
phase to
market
Portfolio
Diversification

Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)
Sector overview
Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) is an industry term for companies that provide a
range of financial products/services such as universal banks. BFSI comprises of commercial banks,
insurance companies, non-banking financial companies, cooperatives, pensions funds, mutual funds
and other smaller financial entities.
Indian banking industry has recently witnessed the roll out of innovative banking models like
payments and small finance banks.
Trends
• The banking landscape in India is witnessing fast change on account of Government financial
inclusion programmes like the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (‘PMJDY’). The PMJDY, since its
inception in 2014, has already logged an impressive 308mn bank accounts.
• Renewed focus is seen in the Government’s resolution to tackle India’s twin balance sheet
problem in the form of legislations like the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and initiatives like
the bank recapitalization scheme (Rs 2.11 lakh Cr) along with the more recent ‘Project Sashakt’
(which involves setting up an AMC for resolution of loans above Rs 500cr). The country’s largest
bank, State Bank of India, has stated that they’ll take lead in the same.
Further, the bank recapitalization plan is expected to push credit growth in the country to 15 per
cent and as a result help the GDP grow by 7 per cent in FY19.
• The total value of mergers and acquisition during FY17 in NBFC, diversified financial services and
banking was US$ 2,564 billion, US$ 103 million and US$ 79 million respectively. The biggest
merger deal of FY17 was in the microfinance segment of IndusInd Bank Limited and Bharat
Financial Inclusion Limited of US$ 2.4 billion
• The microfinance sector is witnessing growth as evident in the increase in equity funding in the
sector.
• In the aftermath of the Nirav Modi scam that shook the Indian banking sector in early 2018, the
RBI discontinued issuance of Letters of Undertaking and Letters of Comfort for importers with
immediate effect. Increased stringency in RBI disclosure norms is expected to stabilize the
banking sector in India.
• Moves like the recent SEBI proposal that requires large corporates identified as on 31 March
2019 will have to garner at least 25% of their borrowings made in 2019-20 through bond market,
are expected to help in the deepening and evolution of the Indian capital market.
• Requirement of Ind-AS compliance for banking and insurance companies to enhance
comparability with global peers.

Value chain
For banking sector (Sample – Deutsche Bank)
Porter’s five forces

Power Strong Strong Strong Weak Weak
Factors • Non-banking • Dependence • Intensive • Large • Stringent
financial on customer competition concentration norms
companies deposits and • Threat of of individual • RBI
(NBFCs) and loans from mergers & customers regulations
small other acquisitions • High switching • High Initial
cooperative financial costs Investments
banks. MFIs institutions to comply
also compete for cash with banking
for a large generating norms
proportion activities • Entry
of barriers in
population terms of
not under banking
the formal license
banking net

As banks have very different operating structures than regular industrial companies, it stands to
reason that investors have a different set of fundamental factors to consider, when evaluating
banks.
• Loan Growth: Above-average loan growth can mean that the bank has targeted attractive
new markets, or has a low-cost capital base that allows it to charge less for its loans.

• Deposit Growth: Deposit growth gives investors a sense of how much lending a bank can
do.
• Loan/Deposit Ratio: Loan/deposit ratio helps assess a bank's liquidity, and by extension, the
aggressiveness of the bank's management.
• Efficiency Ratio: A bank's efficiency ratio is essentially equivalent to a regular company's
operating margin, in that it measures how much the bank pays on operating expenses, like
marketing and salaries. By and large, lower is better.
• CASA Ratio: CASA ratio of a bank is the ratio of deposits in current and saving accounts to
total deposits. A higher CASA ratio indicates a lower cost of funds, because banks do not
usually give any interests on current account deposits and the interest on saving accounts is
usually very low 3-4%.
• Net interest spread: It refers to the difference in borrowing and lending rates of financial
institutions (such as banks) in nominal terms. It is considered analogous to the gross margin
of non-financial companies. Higher the better, it is for the health of banks.
• Capital Ratios: There are a host of ratios that bank regulators and investors use to assess
how risky a bank's balance sheet is, and the degree to which the bank is vulnerable to an
unexpected increase in bad loans, like EPS, Price to Book Value, etc.
• Return on Equity Return on Assets: Return on equity is especially useful in the valuation of
banks, as traditional cash flow models can be very difficult to construct for financial
companies, and return on-equity models can offer similar information.
• Credit Quality: If a bank's credit quality is in decline because of non-performing loans and
assets and/or charge-offs increases, the bank's earnings and capital may be at risk.

IT Sector
Sector overview
India’s IT industry contributed around 7.7 per cent to the country’s GDP. IT industry employs nearly
3.97 million people in India of which 175,000 were added in FY17. The industry added around
1,05,000 jobs in FY18 and is expected to add over 100,000 jobs in FY19.The IT-BPM sector in India
expanded at a CAGR of 10.71 per cent to US$ 167 billion in FY18E from US$ 74 billion in FY10, which
is 3–4 times higher than the global IT-BPM growth. It is estimated that the size of the industry will
grow to US$ 350 billion by 2025.
India is the leading sourcing destination across the world, accounting for approximately 55 per cent
market share of the US$ 185-190 billion global services sourcing business in 2017-18.
The IT sector can be divided into 6 categories: Software Products, IT services, Engineering and R&D
services, ITES/BPO (IT-enabled services/Business Process Outsourcing), Hardware, and ecommerce
Trends

Value Chain

Bargaining Bargaining
Threat of Threat of new Competition
Force Power of Power of
Substitutes entrants among rivalry
Suppliers Buyers
Power Weak Weak Strong Weak Strong
Factors • No • Suppliers • For • In context of • Intense
substantial consists of IT conventional IT the highly complete-on
substitutes Infrastructure services, commoditized for
to IT services providers bargaining IT services, conventional IT
apart from (Servers, power of the there is little services
Internal IT computers buyer is large threat of new • Opportunity
departments etc.), and the entrants for
Recruitment possibility of • Newer differentiation
firms, Office pressure on technologies through niche
Space rates exists allow the specialization
Suppliers • In case of non- possibility of occurs in non-
• High- conventional new niche conventional
standardizati services i.e. players that are services, i.e.
on exists those that not dependent the ones
cater to on size or focused on
emergent experience emerging
technologies constraints. technologies
and and trends
technology such as
trends there is Analytics,
potential for Cloud
differentiation computing,
and higher Social Media,
margins Enterprise
Mobility, IoT
• KPIs for Software Product company are Average Contract Value, Monthly Run Rate, Annual
Contract Value, Churn Rate, Leads per Month, Orders Booked per Quarter, Days of Sales
Outstanding, etc.
• KPIs for Software Services company are Revenue Per Employee, Utilization Rate, Bench
Strength, Leads per Month, Orders Booked per Quarter, Manpower Attrition Rate, Days of
Sales Outstanding, Defects per Thousand Lines of Code.

Pharma
Sector overview
Indian pharmaceutical sector comprises of ~3.6% of the global pharmaceutical market in terms of
value and ~10% in terms of volume. It is expected to grow to US$100 billion by 2025. India’s
pharmaceutical exports stood at US$ 17.27 billion in 2017-18 and are expected to reach US$ 20 billion
by 2020. India accounts for 20 per cent of global exports in generics. The domestic generics market is
expected to reach US$ 27.9 billion by 2020. Indian pharmaceutical companies received record 300
generic drug approvals in USA during 2017 where the generic market is expected to reach US$ 88
billion by 2021. The pharmaceutical sector was valued at US$ 33 billion in 2017 and it is expected to
expand at a CAGR of 22.4 per cent over 2015–20 to reach US$ 55 billion. Indian healthcare sector, one
of the fastest growing sectors, is expected to cross US$ 372 billion by 2022.
Trends

Value Chain
Bargaining Bargaining
Threat of Threat of new Competition
Force Power of Power of
Substitutes entrants among rivalry
Suppliers Buyers
Power Low Moderate Low Low Low
• No major • Volume • End • Low barriers • Highly
substitute of benefits consume- to entry competitive
medicines occur rs do not Governme- • Low fixed
present as of • Input have nt policies costs
now materials much are • Few big
• Biotechnology are bargaini- supportive players
is catching up standardized ng power for entry dominate in
Factors • Numerous • Brand • Existence of the market
suppliers identity is price and
• Switching governed regulation compete
costs are mainly by aggressively
low doctors
• Price
sensitivity
is less

Key performance indicators
• Return on research capital ratio: Since R&D is one of the major cost for Pharma companies it is
very useful metric to analyze the returns of the company from its research expenses. The return
on Research Capital (RORC) is a basic measure to show gross profit realized by the company for
each dollar of R&D expenditure.
• Profitability ratios: Operating Margin & Net Margin

• Liquidity and Debt coverage ratios: Pharma companies do make huge capital expenditures on
R&D which are often debt financed. Hence, they should maintain adequate liquidity and
manage debt well.

Cases 2018

Case Type: Guesstimate
Sector: Watches
Company: Strategy&
Candidate: Aditya Thatte
Case Statement: Guesstimate the market size of medium priced watch in India
Structure:
Interview Transcript
Interviewer: Good Morning, Aditya. How are you doing?
Candidate: Good Morning. I am doing well. How about you?
Good. Okay, so let’s do a guesstimate. An organization is venturing into medium-priced watch category
Interviewer: in India. You need to estimate market size for them (Directs me to use the paper and pen while he starts
the timer on his mobile)
Candidate: What is the price range for a medium-priced watch?
Interviewer: 6k to 12k
Candidate: Is the product for men or women?
Interviewer: Both
Candidate: Is this a new product category or a product extension?
Interviewer: A product extension
Is this an Indian company or a foreign organization venturing into a new market? Do I need to consider
Candidate:
product supply and distribution or just the market sizing?
Interviewer: Only market sizing.
I then draw the chart. Considering population of India to be 140 Cr. I justified population break up at
two levels, first among rural and urban class, second among lower, middle and upper class. Assuming
Candidate:
population belonging to age group 15-60 only will be interested to buy a medium price watch, I added
another filter. A percentage was then attributed to every segment for estimation of market size.
Interviewer: Okay, so now how will you calculate based on this.
I jot down the calculations. Then I show my sheet and explain what I have done. Then explain that I
will add all these together. Also, in the end I will divide by a factor of five as a watch will have an
Candidate:
average life of 5 years. And it can be assumed that a customer would not go for a repeat purchase for
next 5 years.
Total population (T): 140 Cr Lower class: 40% of U+ 60% of R
Calculations:
Urban population (U): 30% of T Middle class: 50% of U+ 30% of R
Rural population (R): 70% of T Upper class: 10% of U+ 10% of R
Candidate: Do I calculate and get the final number?
Interviewer: No, that will not be required. You have covered everything. It was nice meeting you.
50
Sector: Tyres
Company: Strategy&
Candidate: Anantika Nautiyal
Case Statement: Guesstimate the tyre market in the UK
Structure:
Interviewer: Good Morning, Anantika. How are you doing?
Candidate: Good Morning. I am doing well. How about you?
Good. I believe we have met before, I think at the presentation at this campus. So, I will not be introducing
Interviewer:
myself. Tell me something about yourself.
Yes, I met you at the presentation. (Then I introduce myself in a chronological order. I describe my key
Candidate:
learnings in my last organization which are unique and would also be an asset to a consulting firm)
Ok so let’s do a guesstimate. Estimate the tyre market in UK for me (Directs me to use the paper and pen
Interviewer:
while he starts the timer on his mobile.)
Candidate: The tyres will be used in trucks, buses or passenger cars?
Interviewer: Assume only passenger cars.
Candidate: What is the lifecycle of these tyres?
Interviewer: Take it to be two years.
I then draw the chart. Assume population of UK to be X. Then explain the modes of transportation I have
taken. Confirm if I need to take anything else. I justify population break up in lower, middle and upper
class. It is expensive to have a car in UK – high maintenance and parking fees. So accordingly justify why
Candidate:
each population segment would use each transportation type. Then I consider that 4 tyres will be used
after I confirm that I do not need to consider the stepney. I take only cabs and personal cars to do my
calculations.
Interviewer: Okay so now how will you calculate based on this.
I jot down the calculations. Then I show my sheet and explain what I have done. Then explain that I will
Candidate: add all these together. Also, in the end I will divide by a factor of two as they will be replaced every two
years to get the market of tyres on an annual basis. Do I calculate and get the final number?
Middle class:
Calculations: Lower class:
X*0.50*0.40*4
X*0.20*0.03*4
Upper class: X*0.30*0.90*4
Interviewer: No that will not be required. You have covered everything. It was nice meeting you.
51
Case Type: Application-based interview
Sector: Start-ups
Company: Accenture Strategy
Candidate: Nitish
Case Statement: The client wants to invest in start-ups in Bangalore and Mumbai. However, he is totally unaware of
industries. Where should he invest?
Structure:
I am investor, wants to invest in Bangalore and Mumbai. Wants value out of it. Doesn’t know about any
Interviewer:
fields and want to invest.
Thought of what different opportunities and technologies in start-ups. Drew structure start-up as head
Candidate:
and drew different start-ups in dining, AI, health, 3D Printing, Nano-Tech
Interviewer: Tell me about dining
Talked about dining, how Tiny-Owl had to shut down. Food-panda not having operations. Not an area to
Candidate: get as profitability is an issue. On similar issues, brought down various lists because of shortcomings. Came
down to healthcare- as a service and as a product.
Interviewer: Talk about health-care
Very competitive space to get into health care services. Big hospitals and many start-ups. In product many
discoveries in neurology – like scanning brain and figuring out which area is affected- is electrical impulse
not going in that area. Introduce an anti-affect, age reversing, cardiology. I had seen lot of Ted-X talks in
Candidate: health care. Use your own young blood when u become old, aging will become slow. Crisper Technology-
Edit DNA’s to come with new species with less diseases, scope for improving mortality rate. Cons- People
will try to have DNA change, make more superior- destroy humanity core genes. Invest in health-care as
it is upcoming field.
Candidate: 3rd Round - Had mentioned interests in new technologies
Interviewer: If Self driving Cars, come up in India, which industries would it impact?
Automobile Industry. Medical Industry- Less accidents. Technology Industry- Outsourcing would increase
Candidate:
for tech. companies to sell to these companies
Interviewer: Guided towards insurance Industry
Candidate: Insurance Industry will impact negatively. 2-3 or more industries, can’t remember
I am investor, wants to invest in Bangalore and Mumbai. Wants value out of it. Doesn’t know about any
Interviewer:
fields and want to invest.
Thought of what different opportunities and technologies in start-ups. Drew structure start-up as head
Candidate:
and drew different start-ups in dining, AI, health, 3D Printing, Nano-Tech
Interviewer: Tell me about dining
Talked about dining, how Tiny-Owl had to shut down. Food-panda not having operations. Not an area to
Candidate: get as profitability is an issue. On similar issues, brought down various lists because of shortcomings. Came
down to healthcare- as a service and as a product.
Interviewer: Talk about health-care
52
Sector: Automobile
Candidate: Ankit Gupta
Case Statement: Calculate the number of people flying from New Delhi’s domestic airport terminal.
Structure:
Good Morning, Ankit. Tell me something unique about yourself so that I can remember you even after
Interviewer:
this interview.
I answered flexibility first, but he was not convinced. He really wanted something unique, so I made
Candidate:
something up, but he was not happy with the answer.
So, Ankit, let’s do a guesstimate. You just have to mention the parameter under consideration. No need
to do the calculations. He asked me to calculate the number of people flying from New Delhi’s domestic
Interviewer: airport terminal. (The interviewer gave me a notepad and when I asked for some time to think, he gave
me 8 mins to come up with all the parameters that should be considered to do the guesstimates. He
left the room after that)
I did the guesstimate from the supply side and came up with the following parameters
1. Metro and Non-metro airports in India and frequency of flights from Delhi domestic airport to
these airports.
Candidate:
2. No. of domestic flights took off daily from the Delhi international airport.
3. Hub and spoke effect.
4. Capacity utilization of Aircraft
Interviewer: Okay, thank you. The interview is over.
53
Case Type: Pricing
Sector: Airplane Industry
Candidate: Prakash Ahir
Case Statement: There is an airline company. It has bought 2 new airplanes that would cover the distance between
New Delhi to New York and back. Form a pricing strategy.
Structure:
Good Morning, Prakash. There is an airline company. It has bought 2 new airplanes that would cover the
Interviewer:
distance between New Delhi to New York and back. Form a pricing strategy for it.
Candidate: What is existing capability of the airline company – was there an earlier flight available from ND to NY?
Interviewer: No, first time.
Candidate: What about the airplanes? What kind of features do they have?
Both the planes look the same. They are 200 seater airplanes. They are different from the existing
Interviewer:
airplanes in terms of engine and performance.
Candidate: What is the difference in the engine?
Interviewer: It is of the latest technology and is very fast.
Candidate: What is the amount of time required (flight time) for the flight from ND to NY?
Interviewer: Normally, 24 hours are required but these planes would cover the distance in only 1 hour.
To price the, we can use three methodologies. First, cost based for which I would need financial data,
Candidate:
depreciation, etc.
Interviewer: Choose another method.
Candidate: Second, would be by evaluating if there are any alternate ways?
Interviewer: No, there is no other way to cover the route in an hour.
Candidate: Okay, the third method would be value-based (value-use pricing).
Interviewer: What all values would you consider?
Candidate: I would consider time saving, service in terms of food & drinks, comfort, behaviour of the staff, etc.
Interviewer: Focus on the time saving factor.
Okay, so for the amount that you save in terms of time = time you save*value per hour = (24-1) hrs. = 23
Candidate:
hrs. What would be the value per hour?
Interviewer: To find value per time, do customer segmentation.
Since this is a high value price ticket, I would consider only special people such as business class, higher
Candidate:
end corporates, government officials and celebrities
Okay, you have done segmentation. We are a consulting firm take an example that our MD wants to go
Interviewer:
to NY. Do the pricing.
Candidate: Could you tell me one day’s salary of a MD
Interviewer: For one day, his salary is INR 2 Lakh.
Candidate: What is the total cost of the flight (one way) per seat?
54
Interviewer: The cost of each seat for a one-way flight (both fixed and variable cost included) is INR 35000
Candidate: Okay, so the price of each seat should be INR Two Lakh and Thirty-Five Thousand
This is not the right approach. You are missing a big part. Should you consider the salary as the saving or
Interviewer:
something else?
Candidate: What is the amount he would be saving for the company if he goes there?
He is solving an issue for the company and if he goes there the company gets INR 3 Lakh. What is the
Interviewer:
upper and lower limit of the price that you would quote?
Candidate: 2 Lakh would be the lower limit and 3,35,000 would be the upper limit (willingness to pay)
Interviewer: What would be the price? Closer to 2 Lakh or closer to WTP?
Candidate: Since this is starting new, the price per seat should be closer to 2 Lakh rupees.
Interviewer: Okay, thank you.
55
Case Type: Value Chain
Sector: Start-up
Company: AT Kearney
Candidate: Harshad Naik
Case Statement: Suppose that you have to a fitness start up that is into manufacture of high quality sports technology
equipment. How would you go about setting up such a company?
Structure:
Interviewer: Good Morning, Harshad. How are you doing?
Candidate: Good Morning. Doing good, thank you. There was some interaction around my background and hobbies
So Harshad, let’s suppose that you have to a fitness start up that is into manufacture of high quality
Interviewer:
sports technology equipment. How would you go about setting up such a company?
At this point, I asked the Partner, certain preliminary questions about the scale of the start-up, its focus
area, products etc. The Partner told me that I had the liberty to assume whatever I wanted, and he
Candidate:
would chip in with inputs and constraints along the way. I then asked for a couple of minutes and drew
the value chain as above. (Framework should be neat and legible to the Interviewer)
Then I would like to start by looking at the value chain. Let me start of by looking at the Research and
Candidate:
Development phase.
Let us assume that the basic R&D is already ready. Let us look at the next phase of Raw Materials and
Interviewer: Processing. What kind of Raw Materials do you think this company would need and what kind of
manufacturing skill is required.
Assuming that the company makes fitness trackers and fitness tracking shoes, then the company would
need the following: sensors, basic materials required for making shoes, bands; cloud servers for
gathering and analyzing data collected and analytics software. As far as processing/manufacturing is
Candidate: concerned, that entirely depends on what the company is producing and the raw materials it is using. If
the company is just assembling the software, sensors and the shoes together, then in that case the
manufacturing process will not require many machine or labor. However, if we are building it from
scratch then we would need more machines and labor.
Okay that’s pretty good. Now let us jump into the sales and marketing aspect. How would you go about
Interviewer:
with this?
Firstly, since I know that this a fitness product, I know that my target segment is people who enjoy
running and are health conscious. Hence, I would initially try and get certain early innovators (from
marketing) to get it on board and then ask them to promote it within their own running groups. Also, I
Candidate:
believe that online retail via Amazon or Flipkart would be one of the best ways to sell these products,
since setting up brick and mortar stores would be very expensive for a start-up. If funding is available
then bringing on board a brand ambassador would be a great way to boost sales.
Sure, that seems like a good way to market and sell the product. Now before we summarize, I just
Interviewer: wanted to understand that if I were a VC, then how would you convince me to invest in your start up
(assuming the start-up belonged to me).
56
I told him, I would firstly talk about the products that we have and spoke about estimating the market
Candidate:
share.
Briefly tell me without writing anything, the parameters you would consider when estimating the
Interviewer:
market share.
I would consider the following factors: Firstly, I would divide the population according to age groups and
Candidate: genders. Then within this I would look at males and females and estimate what percentage of them are
health conscious and are runners
(Seemingly satisfied with the factors I had told him regarding calculating market share) Okay so how much
Interviewer:
of equity would you be willing to offer me
The case was an unconventional one, as the partner did not have one correct answer in mind. He was just
Candidate:
looking for structured thoughts and the ability to think on one’s feet.
I would estimate the sales I would make over the next ten years. Using that as my base, I would provide
Candidate:
you a percentage of the equity according to the funding that you provide me.
Interviewer: What rate would you use for discounting
Candidate: I would use the cost of capital.
Interviewer: How much is the maximum equity that you would be willing to offer me.
Candidate: Not more than 49%. Since I would like to have 51% equity so that I can retain control over my company.
Laughs and says, now I am having second thoughts about hiring you, since you are not giving me 51%
Interviewer:
stake in your company.
There was a hard stop at this moment and the partner asked me to summarize the case. He told me that
Candidate:
I had performed well in the interview.
57
Case Type: Revenue Maximization
Sector: Pharmaceuticals
Company: AT Kearney
Candidate: Jyoti Pannu
Case Statement: The client is a Pharmaceutical giant with a blockbuster product that is about to lose patent in the
following year. The client is worried they will lose all their market share to generics & want our help to maximize their
revenue.
Structure:
Interviewer: Hello Jyoti. May I have your resume? And could you also give a brief introduction of yourself?
Interviewee hands over her resume to the Principal and gave a brief introduction of her background.
The Principal asked her to explain her past work experience in detail. But given the interviewee had
experience in technology consulting, there was some gap in understanding. While all this happened,
Candidate:
both the interviewer and interviewee continued to stand. Eventually the Principal was satisfied with
his understanding of her past work. The interviewee says that she was confused what would be the
right course of action, that would not appear rude, to sit or stand?
Great! Let us discuss the case now. Have a seat. I don’t want to sit because I have been traveling a lot
Interviewer:
and prefer walking around
Candidate: Sure, thank you. (Pulls out paper to take notes)
The client has a bestselling drug in an everyday disease area and it has 70% of the market share. The
Interviewer: drug is facing patent expiry in about a year. They are looking for solutions to reduce the decline in
market share and improve revenues
Candidate: Which geographies is the drug distributed in currently?
Interviewer: Mostly USA and some parts of Canada
Very important question. If market share is decaying in one geography due to patent loss, getting
Candidate:
patents in other geographies can help maintain revenues for a long period of time
The client can look into the option of getting approvals/patents and expanding into other geographies
Candidate:
like Europe and Asia to increase their customer base
Right! The client has already started exploring the prospect of expansion. What other channels can
Interviewer:
you think of to improve revenues?
Candidate: In the USA, where are the drugs predominantly sold? Is it pharmacies only?
Interviewer: Although major customers are OTC pharmacies, the client also sells to commercial pharmacies
Having tie-ups with Government run hospitals and academic hospitals could help in expanding the
Candidate: market share. Also, the decay rate in market share from these will also be low if long term contracts
can be signed
That’s a great idea! Contracting with healthcare providers (hospitals) in the USA is very useful in
improving revenues as opposed to the competitors. The client can use its bargaining power and also
Interviewer:
provide incentives to commercial hospitals to include their drug in the prescribed treatment pathway
used by all physicians in their key accounts. Anything else you would like to add?
More aggressive promotions for the product can be taken up in terms of visits to physicians and
Candidate:
showing up in conferences organized for physicians
Good job Jyoti! You have covered all the strategies we have advised to our client. All the best for your
Interviewer:
next round of interview
58
Case Type: Logistics Optimization
Sector: Transport
Company: AT Kearney
Candidate: Kingshuk Mitra
Case Statement: Ministry of transport wants to develop a strategy to optimize logistics in India.
Interviewer: Good Morning, Kingshuk. How are you doing? Let’s start with a case.
The interviewee takes a sheet of paper and asks for a minute to gather his thoughts. I would like to
ask some preliminary questions before diving into the case. What is the objective of this optimization
Candidate: – is it the connectivity between cities or villages, the cost of developing infrastructure, time to
develop such infrastructure, time taken by transports to reach from A to B, the value generated from
logistics and transportation?
Interviewer: Let us focus on connectivity and time taken between two locations.
Alright. I will first look at connectivity and then the time factor. Is that okay? [“Yes”] Please give me a
Candidate: moment to think it through. The interviewee roughly notes down the factors that effect connectivity.
MECE the options and write them down (Roads, Railways, Flights, Water)
I would consider Roads, Railways, Flights and Waterways to connect between locations. Additionally, I
Candidate: will analyze intra-city and inter-city traffic separately. Is there any specific connectivity you would
want me to look at first?
Interviewer: Let us discuss transportation through roads first. Focus on inter-city.
Sure. The major connection between two cities is either through national highways, state highways,
or multi-lane roads. The factors that affect traffic, and hence time to commute, are: length of the road
Candidate: strip, condition of roads, terrain, speed of vehicles, congestion due to unforeseen events like
accidents, landslides, bad weather, water logging, sabotage, etc. Is there any specific factor you would
like me to look into?
Interviewer: Can you think of any other reason why traffic might be slow especially in highways?
Candidate: Let me think. There are toll booths on highways and procedures to cross state borders.
Interviewer: Right. What can we do about time taken in toll booths?
Okay, I would like to look at the step-by-step process of payment at the toll booth counter. The
vehicle approaches, reads the payment required, waits in the queue, comes up to the booth, pays
Candidate:
money through cash mostly, the toll operator processes payment and opens the gate, and the vehicle
passes through. Am I missing any step here?
Interviewer: No, that’s how it happens. How do we reduce this time?
I would first focus on queue length and waiting time and find the optimal number of counters
required to minimize throughput time. We can estimate arrival times of vehicles and create a
distribution for inter-arrival time to help with this. Next, I would look at payment mechanisms. Cash
Candidate:
handling and processing can take some time depending on the operator, the technology he uses and
availability of cash. We can use e-payments with, say, Paytm, however, some time is required to
transfer the money and generation of receipt.
Interviewer: Do you think truck drivers are capable of using Paytm?
Yes, technological literacy, smartphone penetration and network availability are issues with this
Candidate: method. However, internet penetration is increasing at a high rate in rural India. It will take a few
years before this can be implemented.
Interviewer: Can you think of any simpler way to go about this?
<Takes a minute to think> In Singapore, I have seen tolls with Easy pass where the vehicle has a card
Candidate: with RFID or similar technology on the windshield glass and the toll has technology that can capture
the information and charge the vehicle owner electronically. Is that a feasible solution in India?
Interviewer: Yes, we are looking into implementing that solution. We can end the case here. Thank you, Kingshuk
59
Case Type: Profitability
Sector: BPO
Company: Bain & Company
Candidate: Anisha Grover
Case Statement: The client was a BPO that supported finance companies that have had a downturn since the 2008
crisis. Because of the downturn how can the BPO sustain?
Interviewer: Do you have any idea about housing mortgage industry?
Candidate: Not at all
Great, so your client is a BPO whose major client was the housing mortgage industry. But post the
Interviewer: 2008 crisis there has been a downturn in the housing industry in general. What would you do to help
them?
(I started with thinking about the various questions I can ask, since he has given me the cause already,
Candidate:
it’s an external factor) Is there revenue been hit or their margins?
Interviewer: Both of them. What will you look at?
We can consider various factors 1. External 2. Internal. (before I could even start writing he cut me
Candidate:
off)
Assume this is their biggest client area and they specialise in this industry, hence they can’t change
Interviewer:
industries immediately and all external factors are absolutely beyond our control, so internal
Okay so we can look at revenue or cost, at the revenue front we can increase customer base or
Candidate:
revenue per customer which both seem unlikely given the industry. So should I look at cost?
Interviewer: Yes, their bottom-line is being hit, I want you to concentrate on that, basically costs
(So, I start making the cost heads for the BPO industry after asking for a moment) I start with
Candidate:
employees, infrastructure like laptops, computers, etc. some buildings, electricity…
Interviewer: Yeah, I get it, but what do you think is the main head?
Candidate: Employees?
Interviewer: Yeah, it’s the biggest head with approx. 90%+ of the entire cost
Candidate: Okay
So, if I tell you they are currently 7% behind the industry average bottom line and their employee
Interviewer:
utilization is 93% what would you do
We can’t reduce the employee base to get to 100% utilization, since we have to factor in peak load
Candidate:
and fluctuation in demand.
Interviewer: Okay great, we are done.
The interview was relatively short, but I did pause to think whenever I needed a moment to think. The
strange thing about this case was that I just could not use much of the case prep, he gave me
information and did not want me to make any decision tree. Every time I would start one, he would
Candidate:
cut me off and ask me concentrate on just one thing. He limited my scope and answered questions
even before I could ask. The only advice for such a case is, take breaks when you need to think and
keep your calm I guess.
60
Case Type: Cost Benefit Analysis
Sector: Leasing
Candidate: Ankush Saharan
Case Statement: The client is a big MNC who has a private jet on lease. The lease is going to end in a couple of weeks.
So, should the client continue using the private jet by renewing the lease or not?
Structure:
The client is a big MNC who has a private jet on lease. The lease is going to end in a couple of weeks. So,
Interviewer:
should the client continue using the private jet by renewing the lease or not?
Candidate: Before I proceed, I would like to understand the nature and frequency of use of private jet by our client.
The private jet is basically used by top 5 executives of the company to fly between 3 cities –
Interviewer:
Pennsylvania, New York and San Francisco on a regular basis.
Okay, so I will structure the problem in two parts. In first part, I will look at our current leasing costs and
in second part, I will calculate what will be the costs to our client if we do not renew the lease and
Candidate:
instead use some alternate mode of transport between cities. Then, by comparing the costs in the two
cases, I will be able to make a conclusion on whether to renew lease or not.
Interviewer: Sounds good. Let’s first focus on first part – current leasing costs to the client.
What is the leasing arrangement between the client and private jet supplier? How does the supplier
Candidate:
charge our client – based on no. of trips or some fixed amount?
The client has a 1-year lease contract with the jet supplier for $2Mn and supplier takes care of all the
Interviewer:
operational costs of the private jet. Can you think of any ways on how we can reduce this leasing cost?
The client can contact other private jet suppliers and get better contract terms and prices for leasing
Candidate:
private jet from current supplier’s competitors.
No, the client has a good relationship with the current supplier and would like to continue leasing from
Interviewer:
the current supplier only.
Okay, in that case the client can get into long-term leasing contract with the current supplier for leasing
Candidate:
private jet. By doing this, the client will be able to negotiate leasing costs at some discount.
The client is in fact in talks with the supplier for long-term leasing contract with the supplier and
Interviewer: supplier is willing to give 10% discount for 3-year contract and 20% discount for 5-year contract. So, how
much will it cost to the client if he agrees to these contracts.
61
In case of a 3-year contract, the leasing costs to our client will be $1.8Mn/year and if the client goes
Candidate:
with 5-year contract, the costs incurred will be $1.6Mn/year.
Good, now let’s focus on what will happen if the client does not renew the lease. You were talking about
Interviewer:
alternate modes of transport. Let’s drill down into that further.
If the client does not renew the lease, then the firm can use either commercial plane or cars to travel
between 3 cities specified earlier. Now, I want to understand whether car is a feasible option in this
Candidate:
scenario, so I would like to know what the inter-city distance is? (Important to ask the distance between
2 cities for deciding the transport)
The distance between these cities is over 500 Km. So, you can take commercial flights to be the only
Interviewer:
viable option.
Okay, so I will calculate the costs incurred to client if we use commercial flights instead of private jet for
Candidate: travelling between cities. What are the round-trip ticket prices between these cities and the frequency
of travelling of firm’s executives?
Interviewer hands over a sheet of paper with the required pricing and frequency information and asks
Candidate:
to calculate the annual cost of travelling.
Candidate: (Did my analysis) The annual costs incurred to client in case of using commercial flights is $0.75Mn.
Interviewer: Looks good, so what do you recommend? Should we renew the lease or not?
What is the annual revenue or turnover of the client? I want to understand how significant the private
Candidate: jet leasing cost is as compared to other operational costs of the client. (This was a very crucial question
and it is important to know the scale of business of the company before making any decision.)
Interviewer: The annual revenue of the client is in the range of $10Bn.
However, the costs incurred to client in case of commercial flights is less as compared to lease renewal,
but I would recommend that the client should renew the lease and go into long-term contract with the
private jet supplier. Because, if we consider the total operations of the firm, the difference in costs of
about $1Mn is quite insignificant as compared to $10Bn. but there are a lot of intangible benefits that
Candidate: the firm gets by having a private jet. E.g. Flights may get delayed and the client may miss an important
meeting which can cause some serious reputational risk to the firm. This kind of situation can be
averted in case of private jet. So, considering the total tangible and intangible benefits, renewing the
lease makes more sense for the client. (Remember to account for intangible/ contingency costs like
maintenance and delays).
Great. This is even what we suggested to the client when we were working on this case. Even though
the board was concerned about the costs, the CEO of the firm was quite adamant on retaining the
Interviewer:
private jet and the client ended up renewing the lease. Good Ankush, that will be all. Thank you for your
time.
62
Case Type: Market Entry
Sector: Agriculture
Candidate: Jay Gosalia
Case Statement: The client is a big MNC that specializes in tractors, who wants to get into agricultural space. They had
three options and need to choose the best. Identify the market opportunity and choose the best.
Structure:
Interviewer: Being a CA, why do you want to get into consulting?
Candidate: (Gave a convincing answer on my interest towards consulting based on my previous experiences)
Interviewer: Which industry do you want me to ask case on?
Candidate: No specific preference any industry would work. (never say this)
The client is a big MNC that specialises in tractors. They want to get into agricultural space.
Interviewer: Identify the market opportunity. They have three options. Purchase the tractors, Pay per use,
Leasing the tractors. You must suggest the best option among them.
Candidate: First, I will identify the market opportunity and then I will analyse on how to approach it. Would it work?
Interviewer: Please proceed with identifying the market opportunity
I will identify the market opportunity using three approaches. One is estimating the current size. Next is
Candidate: estimating the growth of the market and the cycle of purchase (On an average how long does it take to
replace) and lastly understanding consumers and their preferences
Interviewer: Please proceed with forecasting the number of tractors needed
The approximate area under farming in India which is about 60%. That area can be divided into area
Candidate: that a tractor can be served and area that cannot be served by the tractor. Using this we can calculate
the number of tractors required for the farming area.(a detailed approach which took most of the time)
Interviewer: That’s ok. Can you think of some other approach since the time is very less?
Candidate: I moved on to calculate the growth and cycle of purchase
I can understand your approach. Please proceed on how you will evaluate the options that client wants
Interviewer:
to enter
Candidate: I will consider fixed cost, return of investment and feasibility for the different options available
Interviewer: Ok. How will you evaluate the feasibility of the options?
I will evaluate based on the availability internet, technological penetration and trust among farmers for
Candidate:
using any of the above option. (The case then ended abruptly).
63
Case Type: Leasing
Sector: Aviation
Candidate: Madhu Parvataneni
Case Statement: One of the divisions of a conglomerate has a plane whose lease is about to expire. They are wondering
if the lease needs to be renewed or not. How would you proceed?
Structure:
Interviewer: Hi Madhu! I’ve just been going through your resume. I am Arun (and proceeds to explain his background)
Candidate: Hi! Nice to meet you.
Let’s jump right into the case. What we have here is a well-established conglomerate based in the US
Interviewer: with a presence in many industries. They are a client, we have done several cases for them and this one
is about planes.
Ok. (Unsure where this was going, their aviation division? What is the supply chain for airlines?) Don’t
Candidate:
overthink before you hear the question
One of their divisions has a plane whose lease is about to expire. They are wondering if the lease needs
Interviewer:
to be renewed or not. How would you proceed?
Sure. Could I take a minute to summarize my understanding of the case? (..proceeded to do a 20-sec
summary which he nodded to..) To proceed we will need to understand the usage of the plane
Candidate: currently, the cost of operating it with a lease versus alternative options like telecommunication, adhoc
renting, shared leases and commercial aircraft. This is assuming the leased plane will continue to
function smoothly.
Interviewer: Works. What would comprise the costs of operating a leased plane?
Please give me a minute to jot down (he nodded). Okay, so the cost of leasing of course, fuel, airport
Candidate:
charges, maintenance costs should be the major expenses.
Interviewer: Correct. Are you sure all are covered? And is there a way any of these can be minimized?
(Paused for 10 sec) Crew and F&B would comprise expenses as well. To minimize costs, the fuel costs
Candidate: can be minimized by using the plane judiciously. And a longer lease can bring down leasing cost per year
as well.
64
Great! All costs have been covered. Let’s go deeper into the long-lease you mentioned. (Hands me a
sheet of paper with 3 bar charts – each corresponding to cost split for 5 year, 10 year and 20 year
Interviewer:
leases). Using this, could you tell me the leasing cost for each of these durations. We will proceed with
the assumption that there are no other costs involved.
(Did some math, simple multiplications and additions, he asked not to do NPV.) 20-year lease is giving us
Candidate:
the lowest per-year cost, as expected. (He was cross-checking the arithmetic with the correct answers)
Good. You already mentioned that the alternatives to leasing are telecommunication, adhoc renting and
Interviewer: commercial aircraft. Let’s focus on the last one. Say these guys fly only from the HQ in Philadelphia to
New York, LA and Houston offices and back. What would be the total cost incurred?
Would depend on the ticket prices for these routes, seasonality of prices, number of persons travelling,
Candidate: number of trips to each place and the opportunity cost of the lost time in travelling commercial as
compared to a leased plane.
Great. Opportunity cost is a good point but let’s ignore that as well. (Another sheet of paper with all the
Interviewer: other details I had mentioned. Ticket prices per routes assumed to be constant.) Now tell me what is the
yearly cost of flying commercial.
(Calculated and shared answer, he cross-checked). Since the cost of flying commercial is lower than
Candidate:
even the 20-year lease, this is the better option cost-wise.
Interviewer: Correct. But do you think there might be any consequences to suggesting this to the client?
(thought for a bit) Well, in my past company, free coffees were taken away when the market was rough
and it impacted employee morale. Similarly, if perks like chartered planes are removed from the CXOs, it
Candidate:
might impact their morale, status and might even signal to employees that the company is going
through tough times. Intangible but is likely to affect performance.
Exactly! Good. This is the same issue that faced us, so we explained both aspects of this decision to the
Interviewer: CEO. The case is wrapped. It was a pleasure talking to you. Any questions? (pause for 2 sec) It’s okay not
to have any btw.
Asked a question related to his introduction because I had a similar personal experience and then
Candidate:
thanked and left.
65
Case Type: Market Share
Sector: Manufacturing
Company: Boston Consulting Group
Candidate: Abhishek Gaurav
Case Statement: Client is a power tools manufacturer which is a market leader (80% market share) in India. Three years
ago, they moved into hand tools segment but have been able to get only 5% market share in the segment. The senior
management has decided that they if cannot move into top three market share players in the country in the next 18
months, they shall exit this segment. What are the possible options the company can explore?
Structure:
Interviewer: Good Morning, Abhishek. Why don’t you start by telling me something about yourself?
Good Morning. I was born and brought up in Bihar and have completed my primary and secondary
education from Patna. I joined Economics Program at IIT Kanpur for my under graduation and was
Candidate:
working with PwC Diamond Office in Mumbai for 10 months before joining MBA program here at IIM
Bangalore.
Interviewer: Great, so you do have some bit of experience in the consulting industry.
Candidate: Yes. I worked on a project pertaining to US healthcare sector while at PwC Diamond.
Let’s dive into a case now. Our client is a power tools manufacturer which is a market leader (80%
market share) in India. Three years ago, they moved into hand tools segment but have been able to get
Interviewer: only 5% market share in the segment. The senior management has decided that they if cannot move into
top three market share players in the country in the next 18 months, they shall exit this segment. What
are the possible options the company can explore?
I started with basic set of preliminary questions after which I made a clear outline of the framework I was
Interview
planning to adopt to solve the case. The preliminary questions helped me to gain perspective about the
progress
industry and the business problem.
I have a few preliminary questions to help me better understand the problem our client is facing. What
Candidate:
exactly are power tools?
Power tools are equipment run by additional power source other than manual labour and they generally
Interviewer: utilize an electric motor. Some examples of power tools are - lathe machine, crusher, chainsaw, food
processor, etc.
Candidate: Ok, great! Can you also provide me with a basic understanding of hand tools?
Hand tools are powered by hand rather than electric power. Popular examples include wrenches, pliers,
Interviewer:
screwdrivers, etc.
Candidate: Thanks. Where exactly does our client sell hand tools in India?
Although our client has a national foot print, they predominantly sell in the northern and eastern regions
Interviewer:
of India.
Candidate: How does the competitive landscape look like in the hand tools segment in India?
Good question. Currently, there are three big players in this domain. The two large players together have
Interviewer: 60% market share. Third player has 20% market share. The remaining 20% is shared by small and
marginal players including us.
Candidate: How do we sell hand tools in the market – is it through our own stores or through third party retailers?
66
Interviewer: We do not own any stores, we only manufacture hand tools and sell these through third party stores.
Candidate: Are there any linkages between our hand tools and power tools manufacturing process?
Interviewer: Not relevant to the problem
Interview
I laid out a broad 4P (Product, Placement, Price and Promotion) framework to further my analysis
progress
Candidate: So, I shall like to benchmark our hand tools vis-à-vis our competitors to see if there are ways we can
improve our market share in the next 18 months to feature in the top three players of India.
Interviewer: Okay, go ahead please.
So, is there any difference between our products and the products that our competitors sell. It might be
Candidate: the case that we sell lower quality products which could explain why customers do not prefer our
product.
No, there is no such issue. In fact, the products we sell have a slightly better quality as opposed to our
Interviewer:
competitors.
Candidate: How are we doing on the pricing front? Are our prices in line with our competitors?
As I already mentioned that we are selling slightly better-quality products in the market, so accordingly,
Interviewer:
we charge a slight premium for our products.
Are customers very price sensitive in this segment? Our higher prices might fend off the price sensitive
Candidate:
segment customers.
That’s a fair point. We can think about dropping our prices a bit to gain better market share but that will
Interviewer:
hit our profitability.
How about our distribution push? Is it comparable to our competitors? We can give slightly higher
Candidate:
margins to distributors to push our products to customers.
In hand tools business, distributors generally have long running relationship with their customers and it is
Interviewer:
difficult to push our products on the basis of higher distributor margins.
Alright. Since, it’s a B2B product mostly, I am assuming there is not much on the marketing side that we
Candidate:
can do. Is that a fair assumption?
That’s right. Also, the timeline is 18 months and I don’t think a marketing campaign can help catapult us
Interviewer:
into top 3 position. Any other options that we can think of.
You mentioned that we primarily sell in Northern and Eastern regions. Are we targeting the wrong
Candidate: geography? It could be that the bulk of the demand comes from western and southern parts of the
country.
Interviewer: The demand for hand tools is uniform across the country. So, this is not really an area of concern for us.
My approach all along was to ask questions and provide business acumen alongside every question I
Interview
asked. I was running short of ideas by now and requested some time to introspect what other options we
progress
could have tried.
Since our objective is to be among the top three players in India, another option that we can think over is
Candidate: acquisition. We can acquire any one among the top three players given that we have enough finances to
complete the transaction.
That’s right. This is another option that we can try. If we were to go with this option, what are the factors
Interviewer:
that we should keep in mind?
If we are going for this option, we should ensure that there are complementarities between us and the
player we acquire. So, let’s say the third player has predominance in western and southern India, then it
Candidate:
will align well with our sales in northern and eastern parts. Essentially, we should align with a player
whose strengths are our weaknesses.
Good insight. Should we merge our hand tools brand post acquisition or remain operating separately as
Interviewer:
we do now?
I think if we have acquired another player based on complementarities, we can continue with our brand.
Candidate: Moreover, we already have a non-negligible (5%) market base in India and we would not want our
clientele to get confused post acquisition.
Interviewer: Thanks, Abhishek. I think we can wrap up the case now.
Candidate: Thanks.
67
Case Type: Revenue Generation
Sector: Operations
Company: Deloitte
Candidate: Prathyusha Ponnam
Case Statement: Our client in US is in the frozen foods industry. Its sales volumes are coming down and revenues are
declining. Analyse the reason for the decline and come up with a solution.
Structure:
Interviewer: Hi Prathyusha, are you feeling nervous?
Candidate: I’m not nervous, thank You.
Interviewer: Tell me about your previous work experience?
Briefed him on my work (The discussion moved from my work experience towards importance of user
Candidate: retention for companies and he asked me about the difference between the business models of Google
and Facebook. This discussion went on for 5 minutes.)
Okay, let’s move to the case now. Our client in US is in the frozen foods industry. It currently sells
processed meat. Their revenue is declining for a year now. Their sales volumes are going down. So, they
Interviewer:
approached you to understand the cause for decline in revenues. You are required to analyse the causes
and suggest ways to increase their revenues.
Sure. (After confirming the objective) I would like to clarify a few things before I proceed with the
Candidate:
analysis. Could you tell me about the product mix and revenue streams of the company?
Sure, the product mix of company is frozen poultry, red meat and fish. This is the only stream of revenue
Interviewer:
for the client.
(To know if it’s an industry-wide or company-specific issue) What is the size of frozen foods industry in
Candidate:
US and what are the frozen food industry growth trends over the last 5 years?
Interviewer: The industry has been growing at a consistent rate of 6% over the past few years.
(Understood that it’s not an industry-wide problem, so proceeded with company-specific questions)
Candidate:
Are the declining volumes confined to any particular geography?
Interviewer: Handed me a sheet with certain tables. Figured out that volumes are declining in a specific geography
Where does the company stand in comparison to other firms in this industry? Who is our main
Candidate:
competitor in this particular geography?
Our client currently is in second position, with 20% market share, and its competitor has 35% market
Interviewer:
share. However, this competitor has low presence in the geography where our sales are declining.
Since the industry volume did not decline and our volumes went down, it could mean that customers
Candidate: are preferring competitor’s products over our products. Is any data available on changing consumer
habits, and is there any competitor catering to that need?
68
Yes, you’ve identified the issue. There is a new player in this market. Its offering products with “All
Interviewer: Natural” labels. Customers are becoming more health conscious; hence they are purchasing this
competitor’s products.
Now there are 3 options for the firm. Option 1, it can proceed with its current set of frozen meat
Candidate: products. Option 2, it can enter organic segment, by processing organic meat. Option 3, it can
diversify into producing frozen milk products. Which among these three would you suggest them?
I would like to assess the market attractiveness and then financial impact of each of these options. Do
Interviewer:
we have any data on the market sizes of these industries?
Yes, the current market for frozen meat is expected to grow at 6%. The demand for organic foods has
Candidate: been increasing recently and 40% of Americans include organic food in their diet in one way or the
other. The frozen dairy products industry is growing at 4.5%.
Interviewer: Do we have any data on how much investment would be required in each of the above options?
Handed me a sheet which had information about investments, and consumer demand for each of the
Candidate: options. I recommend that the client should go with option 2. Organic market is expected to grow in
US, and consumers are becoming more health conscious. The ROI is also better with option 2.
Interviewer: Good that you considered the challenge of synergies with our current product mix. Thank you.
69
Case Type: Costing
Company: McKinsey
Candidate: Aditi Jain
Case Statement: The client is a common cold and cough manufacturer. Their facility is now old and dilapidated and
they have two options for their manufacturing activities now.
Option 1: Build a new plant altogether
Option 2: Give the manufacturing to a third-party manufacturer who is 600 miles away from the current facility.
Structure:
Company
Internal Factors External Factors
Access to Physical and

Economic Existing Regulatory Technology
Customers and Human
Viability Expertise Approvals Advantage
Suppliers Resources
I began by asking a few preliminary questions such as follows:
Candidate:
Does the client have any other objective apart from finding an alternative for their manufacturing?
Interviewer: No.
I again divided my analysis into 2 parts:
Internal:
5. Economic viability and capital requirements comparison of both the alternatives
6. Access to customers and suppliers – especially relevant to for the third party manufacturer
7. Other resources required in terms of physical and human resources for both the alternatives
Candidate:
8. Leveraging existing expertise especially in the third party alternative
External:
8. Regulatory approvals
9. Technology advantage – in which of the two set-ups is there a better technology advantage?
Industry ecosystem
We discussed these factors and then he gave me some numbers on the capital requirements and
economic viability part. He asked me to calculate the number of units beyond which it will be smarter
to opt for Option 2.
The numbers were as follows:
Option 1
Interviewer: Cost per unit for the first 20 million units = $2.25
Sales price of each unit = $4.5
Cost per unit for the next 20 million units = $2.5
Option 2
Cost per unit = $2.25
Sales price = same as above
Capital expenditure = $52.5 Mn
Since the fact that in option 1 cost per unit was increasing despite increasing units, it didn’t seem
Candidate:
logical to me, so I asked the interviewer about it.
Interviewer: He told me to accept the numbers (economies of scale)
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I had not understood the question correctly and started working on break-even point for option 2.
Midway, the interviewer explained the question again and I started reworking on it. I was not able to
Candidate:
get to the correct direction, so the interviewer had to guide me further to draft the LHS of the
equation for me:
Interviewer: 20*(4.5-2.25)+(x-20)*(4.5-2.5)
I got the hint and equated the LHS with the RHS to calculate the number of units.
Candidate: RHS = 2.25*x-52.5
And the interview ended.
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Case Type: Market share increase
Sector: Agrochemical
Company: Mckinsey
Candidate: Priya Sahani
Case Statement: Our client is a global chemical company that manufacturers insecticides. In India, it is the third largest
company with 6% market share. The top two companies are also MNCs with 12% and 9% market share respectively.
The other companies have a share of about 4-5 %. They want to increase their market share to 15% organically in 4
years.
Structure:
Good Morning, Priya. So, let’s get started with the case.
Our client is a global chemical company that manufacturers insecticides. In India, it is the third largest
Interviewer: company with 6% market share. The top two companies are also MNCs with 12% and 9% market share
respectively. The other companies have a share of about 4-5 %. They want to increase their market
share to 15% organically in 4 years.
At the outset, I would like to look at all operations of the chemical company and then deep dive into
each of them to understand what factors will increase the market share. The operations of the chemical
Candidate:
company can be broadly divided into the following buckets – Production, Distribution, Marketing, After
Sales. Please tell me is there any specific bucket that I must start analyzing.
That’ good. Rather than going into a specific vertical, lets go by the customer segments. Tell me about
Interviewer:
how you will identify the different customer segments for the company
The customers can be segmented based on the following factors – 1. Geographic region – rural vs urban
Candidate: areas. 2. Use – use in farms, gardening, furniture protection, etc. 3. Type of customer – individual vs
organisations
Ok. Choose one customer segment, and we will then look into how to increase the market share for
Interviewer:
that segment
Candidate: I will choose the segment of individual farmers in the rural areas.
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Alright Priya. Let’s consider farmers in a district called Sangrur in Punjab. What will be the factors that
Interviewer:
will determine the market size for insecticides in Sangrur
The market size will depend on the following factors – 1. Size of the area under cultivation, 2. Type of
Candidate:
crops cultivated, 3. Quantity of insecticides used per hectare, 4. Frequency of application, 5. Price.
Thst’s good. Now let me give you more details about Sangrur. Sangrur has two farming seasons and 7
Interviewer: lakh hectares of land under cultivation. Three crops are cultivated in this region – cotton, rice and
wheat. Here are the details for each of these crops. Find the market size.
Crop Hectares under Amount of Total amount of
cultivation Insecticides per insecticides required
hector annually
Cotton 3.5 lakh acres Rs. 3000/ hectare Rs. 10500 lakh
Candidate:
Rice 3.5 lakh acres Rs. 700/ hactare Rs. 2450 lakh
Wheat 7 lakh acres Rs. 1200/ hectare Rs. 8400 lakh
Total Rs. 21350 lakh
That’s right. Now I tell you that the actual sale of insecticide is much less than Rs.200 crore. What could
Interviewer:
be the reasons for this?
The reasons for this can be multiple. The farmers may be using other pest control techniques or some
Candidate: natural insect control methods like neem leaves, etc. The frequency and quantity of applied Roundation
may be less. Alternately, the insecticides may be underpriced.
Interviewer: Alright Priya. Now tell me three initiatives to increase market share in Sangrur
One technique will be to advertise our products in village gatherings like melas. Apart from advertising
the benefits of insecticides, we can make an emotional appeal about how use of insecticides will
improve your farm yield and help you give education to your children or buy a gold necklace for your
wife.
Candidate:
The second approach is product bundling. We can tie-up with seed manufacturers and sell the products
together.
The third approach is to involve agricultural institute to conduct awareness campaigns about the
advantages of insecticides. This approach will give credibility to our products and increase adoption.
Partner That’s good. Do you have any questions for me?
It was an interesting case. We touched base upon a large number of factors. I would like to know if this
Me
is an actual project that you are working on?
Partner Yes, this is an actual project that I am working on.
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Case Type: Platform amalgamation
Sector: E-Commerce
Company: Mckinsey
Candidate: Priya Sahani
Case Statement: Our Client, an ecommerce company - Flipkart wants to take a decision about amalgamating its
platform. It needs to decide whether to retain the 3 platforms – Flipkart, Jabong and Myntra or combine it into 2 or
keep only a single platform. How should Flipkart evaluate this decision?
Structure:
Good Morning, Priya. So, let’s get started with the case.
Our Client, an ecommerce company - Flipkart wants to take a decision about amalgamating its platform.
Interviewer:
It needs to decide whether to retain the 3 platforms – Flipkart, Jabong and Myntra or combine it into 2
or keep only a single platform. How should Flipkart evaluate this decision?
I would first evaluate the three platforms. Firstly, I will look at all the stakeholders in the Ecommerce
business [Supplier -> Platform -> Logistics -> Customers]. Based on each component of the value chain, I
Candidate: will evaluate the platforms on following parameters – 1. Type of customers, 2. Type of products, 3. Type
of operations (including i. Sources/ suppliers, ii. Logistics, iii. Web/mobile presence and iv. After sales
services – returns and refunds) and 4. Marketing Initiatives
Consumer Type Flipkart Myntra Zabong
Interviewer: College Student 10% 20% 70%
Working Woman 15% 60% 25%
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Alright Ashish. To evaluate this further, I would like to know more about the decision-making patterns
Candidate: for these segments - such as the reasons for buying, time of purchase, etc. Can you provide more details
about the same?
That’s good Priya. Instead of going into specific details for each segment I want you to tell me what all
Interviewer:
factors will you consider in this decision-making process.
There will be numbers of factors that will influence the choice of platform like 1. Variety, 2. Time available
Candidate: for shopping, 3. Peer group, 4. Prices, 5. Discounts/ offers, 6. Reasons for purchase, 7. Delivery options,
8. Payment Options, 9. Return policy, 10. Bank tie-ups
Interviewer: So, now that you have listed all the factors, tell me how you will decide for combining the platforms?
I will take help of Market Research based on both internal data and industry data available.
Next, I will look at who are the common customers across all platforms - their shopping patterns and
their use cases for each platform. For example, a customer may use Flipkart for personal shopping but
Candidate: use Myntra when buying a gift for a friend. We will have to analyse customer behaviour. We need to
understand whether all existing customers will shift to the common platform. If there are some unwilling
customers, then we need to understand what is the reason that they will not switch and whether we can
incentivise them to shift.
Interviewer: Alright, that’s it. The case is complete. I think we have completed it before the time is over.
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Sector: Automobile
Company: BCG
Candidate: Lindu Lawrence
Case Statement: The client is a market leader in tyres manufacturing industry. Of late they have noticed a decline in
the market share. They want to investigate why this is happening and what can be done to defend against it.
Structure:
External Issue
New competitor Existing competitor
B2B product – 4 wheelers

Identify the different in commercial vehicle 2 years to decay in
products and narrow segment market share due to
down on the exact B2B market
product that is affected
Competing product
has higher durability
B2C product B2B Product

Internal External Produce similarly
issue? issue? durable tyres to
defend market share
Background: Given the interviewee had background in the automobile industry, she could ask more specific
questions. Prior to this interview, she also had a quick case on calculating fixed and variable costs of a
product given to her.
Candidate: Before I proceed, I would like to understand type of vehicles for which our client manufactures tyres
and, the market share of the client.
Interviewer: Our client is the market leader in tyre manufacturing and distribution. It manufactures tyres for 2,3 and
4 wheelers – both commercial and passenger vehicles
Candidate: Is the market share falling for all the types of tyres or is to specific to a certain kind of vehicle
Interviewer: The market share of tyres catering to 4-wheeler commercial vehicles, like trucks, is falling. Rest all is
unaffected
ICON TIP: Important to understand the sub-segment in which market share is affected.
Candidate: Okay. So, there can be two situations – there is any internal issue in production & distribution or there
is some external threat from some competitor. Do we know which is the driver here?
Interviewer: There are no internal issues.
Candidate: Okay, in that case has there been a new competitor entry into the market or is some existing player
that has offered price cuts or launched some new product
Interviewer: One of the existing players has launched a new tyre that has much higher durability and priced quite
close to the tyres manufactured by our clients. But this product was launched into the market about 2
years back
Candidate: What is the durability of the tyres manufactured by our client?
Interviewer: About 2-3 years
ICONT TIP: This is an important question as it helps in explaining why there was a time gap between the launch of
the new tyres and dip in market share for client
Candidate: So, we can conclude that the customers took around 2 years to shift to the new tyres because they
were still using the tyres manufactured by our client during this time gap. This is mostly because this is
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a B2B segment and we expect many of the drivers to have extra tyres in reserve. So drop in customer
base was noticed after a time lag.
Interviewer: Good. So, what should be the be the next steps taken by our client?
Candidate: The client should invest in developing a new line of tyres with durability similar or greater than the new
entrant in the market to defend its product or cut prices of its current product.
Interviewer: Okay good Lindu, we may stop here.
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Sector: FMCG
Company: BCG
Candidate: Zaidali Khoja
Case Statement: Reduction of Market Share: A large FMCG has a small business unit which manufactures and
markets an “Energy drink”. Five years earlier, it had a market share of 90% but now its share has dropped to 40%.
You have been asked to help them gain back their market share.
Candidate: Apart from market share, do I need to look at any other issue like falling profitability?
Interviewer: No. Let us concentrate on market share first. And later if time permits, we will get into
profitability.
Candidate: Sure. Can I take 2 minutes to gather my thoughts and structure my ideas?
Interviewer: Sure. Go ahead
Candidate: (Started with standard probing questions. Since when market share is slipping, has a new
competitor entered etc.) Okay. So I have drawn the possible issues that I would like to look at.
(Showed him my sheet).
Internal External
Product issues Competition
Pricing Regulation
Distribution
Branding
Capacity
My hypothesis is that the new competitor in the market is offering similar product at better
price. Can I go ahead with it or do you want me to look at a particular issue?
Interviewer: As you rightly said, there is a new competitor in the market. But I want you to concentrate first
on pricing.
Candidate: So is there a differential pricing between us and our competitor?
Interviewer: Yes. Our energy drink is priced at 966 and theirs at 874
Candidate: I randomly started probing about where the difference is. And he seemed irritated due to my
lack of structure. So got back into the groove and made this table)
Particulars Client Competition

MRP 966 874
Retailer Margin
Distributor Margin
Price to company
Margin to company
Cost (Variable)
• Procurement
• In Freight
• Labour
• Packaging
• Distribution
• Returns
Cost (Fixed)
• Rental salaries
• Promotions
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Yes. Look at capacity utilization and link it to fixed costs. Assume margins are 26% of MRP and
Interviewer:
please do all the calculations in your head
SP of our client is 714 and that of our client is somewhere around 648. Why is there a difference
Candidate: in prices? Is it due to higher costs or higher margin or because our capacity utilization is less
than our competitor?
(He started throwing numbers in order to test my quant) Assume Raw Material is 366, variable
Interviewer: cost is 160 and fixed cost is 176 for our client. COGS and VC is same for competitor but still both
earn same profit per unit of the energy drink.
Since, costs and profit are same except fixed costs and the SP of our client is Rs. 66 (714-648)
higher than competitor, our fixed costs (FC) then must be Rs.68 higher than our competitor.
Candidate:
Hence, competitor FC is 110. And this difference is either due to capacity under-utilization or in
general higher fixed costs
Good. Now tell me what is the volume I need in order to match the fixed cost of my
Interviewer:
competitor?
Candidate: What is the current sales volume?
Market is 19.5 million. Share was 90%. Present volume is 17.6 million. Don’t use paper. And I
Interviewer:
need the answer
90% would be 17.6 m units. 178 per unit is FC on volume of 17.6 million. To achieve FC per unit
Candidate:
of 110, required volume is 17.6*178/110, so 28-30 million approx.
Interviewer: Yes. It should be 28 million. So now tell me what should the client do?
If the client is charging a higher price, then customers will be willing to pay only if the product is
superior. Client should either sell excess capacity to reduce fixed costs or try to increase
Candidate:
volumes through price reduction. Higher volumes will have reduced FC per unit and hence push
back profitability to earlier levels.
Interviewer: Ok. Then finally tell me what are the two risks related to reducing the price of our product?
(Knowing that this is the make or break question because it involves synthesis of the entire
Candidate:
problem). The 2 risks can be
Price Elasticity of Demand – Is price the only reason for reduced sale? And if the price is reduced
Interviewer:
to 874, will the volume actually rise to 28 million
Competitor reaction – How deep are the pockets of the competitor? A price drop might lead to
Candidate:
a competitor reaction leading to a price war.
Interviewer: (Seemed impressed) Good job.
Candidate: Sure. Thanks
• % Under/ Over
capacity
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Case Type: Revenue Growth Strategy
Sector: Software Services Provider (SSP)
Company: Delloite
Candidate: Pranjali Debnath
Case Statement: Our client is an IT Solutions Provider and operates majorly in the US. The Company had been doing
great in the past few years with double digit growth rates. But last year it saw a single digit growth. The company’s
board is aggressive in growing its company and wants to bring back its growth rate to double digits. You need to help
the company understand the core reason for declining growth and suggest ways to increase the same.
Structure/Decision Tree:
Candidate: Before I proceed with the analysis, I would like to ask a few preliminary questions. Is the growth
rate declining only for our client or the other companies in the industry also? What type of
solutions does our client provide? Who are the major customers for our client?
Interviewer: It is an issue with the entire industry. Our clients provide all types of IT Solution services. Clients
are segmented as large customers and small customers based on the number of employees in the
company.
Candidate: If the issue is faced by the entire industry, then one of the possible reasons can be some new
government regulations that are preventing the companies to sell some particular services in a
particular geography or customer segments. It is also possible that the industry has become
stagnant. Is any of these the core issue?
Interviewer: Yes, the industry has become stagnant. Can you suggest ways to increase the growth rate?
Interview Drew the flow chart and focused on exploring new business after proper reasoning for not focusing
Progress: on other options in the flow chart. Linked my reasoning with the discussion we have had so far.
ICON TIP: You can take some time here to frame your thoughts and structure the case. It is very important to
MECE at this stage. This will show that you are aware of all the possibilities and are excluding
possibilities based on facts and the discussions so far. It will also depict that you are listening to the
interviewer carefully.
Candidate: We can consider exploring new business in four possible ways – by entering new
geographies/market, exploring and targeting new customer segments, introducing new services in
its product portfolio thereby catering to the new trending customer demands or through Mergers
and Acquisitions.
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Interviewer: Can you elaborate on Entering New Geographies possibility and list down two major challenges
and benefits?
Candidate: Since the current market is stagnated, it will prove beneficial for our client to consider other
geographies where there are chances of increasing growth and less competition. Entering a new
market will help our client globalize, thereby aiding in building a global brand. Our client can
leverage its network to do the same. We will also have to consider the capabilities of our client in
terms of resources available before taking a decision.
May I take some time to list down the challenges and benefits of a M&A?
Interviewer: Sure, take your time.
Candidate: The major benefits that I can think of are – creating a global brand thereby increasing trust among
its customer segments which will eventually help or client in expanding further and increasing its
growth rate. It will also increase the company’s exposure worldwide building more capabilities and
expertise.
The major challenges include building up financial resources and managerial capabilities required
to enter a new market. Also, it is necessary to see that the local employee base development
causes no conflicts in terms of culture and values of the company.
Interviewer: The reasons are correct. We will now give you some quantitative analysis work. Here, is sheet with
lots of data for the year 2015. Consider yourself in 2015 and calculate the revenue that our client
will generate in 2017?
Interview Handed me a sheet with pie charts and bar graphs. It had data regarding the clients share in US
Progress: and how much it will be able to capture in new market by 2017 if it chooses to enter. Also, the
growth rate of the industry in the US and new market for 2 years (2015-2017) was given.
ICON TIP: ICON TIP: Make sure you speak out while calculating so that if you ever go wrong, the interviewer
will help you identify your mistake and bring you back on track. Also do the calculations clearly so
that the interviewer can understand it easily.
Interview Did my calculations, wrote it as clear as possible. Made 1 mistake in between, but the interviewers
Progress: pointed it out and asked me to analyse the data again carefully. I quickly corrected my mistake and
gave them the required answer. The interviewer Handed me a sheet with pie charts and bar
graphs. It had data regarding the clients share in US and how much it will be able to capture in new
market by 2017 if it chooses to enter. Also, the growth rate of the industry in the US and new
market for 2 years (2015-2017) was given.
ICON TIP: Make sure you speak out while calculating so that if you ever go wrong, the interviewer will help
you identify your mistake and bring you back on track. Also do the calculations clearly so that the
interviewer can understand it easily.
Interview Did my calculations, wrote it as clear as possible. Made 1 mistake in between, but the interviewers
Progress: pointed it out and asked me to analyze the data again carefully. I quickly corrected my mistake and
gave them the required answer.
Interviewer: That is correct Pranjali. Now that we have decided to enter the new market, here is some more
data. Can you analyze which country to enter?
Candidate: (Starting with my analysis) Sir, I see that there is a lot of untapped market in Country C whereas
more that 50% customers in Country A and B are already using IT Service Solutions from other
companies. I feel entering a country where there is untapped market, will give our client immense
opportunity to expand and grow. Also, there is data regarding the willingness of the customer
segments. It shows that the willingness to pay for customers in Country C is appreciably high. Thus,
according to the data, I feel our client should enter Country C.
Interviewer: That is the right option. Since we have less time, can you tell us how would you calculate the
revenue generated on entering any country from the data given?
Candidate: Yes sir, we can calculate the revenue by multiplying the willingness to pay which is the price that
the customers will pay for our services and the number of customers not currently using such IT
Services.
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Interviewer: Now that you have analyzed the problem and have come down to the option of entering Country
C, you need to pitch your analysis to the board of the company. You have only 2 minutes to pitch.
ICON TIP: Take some time to frame the pitch. Make sure you do not miss important data given or analyzed
throughout the interview. Finally, summarize the interview and pitch the idea of entering a new
market to increase growth.
Interviewer: Now, can you let the CEO of the company know of all the challenges it will face due to this option?
You have another 2 minutes.
Interview Listed down all the points and again pitched the capabilities that the company will have to build to
Progress: enter the market.
ICON TIP: Here it is important to speak of all the important points discussed throughout the interview in a
crisp manner. They want to see how confident you are in your analysis and how convincingly can
you pitch your idea to the Board of the company or the CEO. Keep the time in mind and try to
finish your pitch within the allotted time. This gives an impression that you can structure your
thoughts and manage time well.
Interview: Thank You Pranjali. It was great talking to you. Please wait outside.
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Case Type: Profitability Expansion
Sector: Retail
Company: Delloite USI
Candidate: Pallav Gorain
Round 1 Interview:
Case Statement: Guesstimate the number of iPhone sales in India through online channels
Interviewer: Good Morning, Pallav. How has been the day so far?
Candidate: Good Morning. I am doing good + small discussion of the day till then.
There was some interaction around my work experience at Novartis Healthcare and my text analytics
experience in Mu Sigma (algorithm discussion of Sentiment Analysis)
Interviewer: So Pallav, can you do a guestimate of the iPhone sales in India through online channel?
Candidate: Asked a couple of preliminary questions. Drew out the methodology for estimating the iPhone sales –
did an income level segmentation along with market penetration for the iPhone and considered
Android, iPhone and feature phone markets. Interviewer stopped me mid-way and Round 1 ended and
I was selected for Round 2
Round 2 Interview:
Case Statement: Client is a beef making company who is facing a changing trend in customer needs and technology
disruption and is facing a decline in sales. Three options were present as a solution and one solution was to be chosen
from among them. Solution 1 was about modifying the product as per the customer need, Solution 2 and Solution 3 –
I am not sure. Objective was to present the solution to the CEO who has a target to show good results for the next
three years.
Candidate: Before I proceed, I would like to understand what is the client’s business and which parts of the value
chain is it present in
Interviewer: The client prepares beef and is present in the manufacturing part of the value chain and has strong
ties with the distribution which creates shelf space in the retail stores. Before evaluating the options
give me a basis structure on how will go about solving the solution in their absence.
Candidate: In the absence of the solution I would check first if it is an internal or an external problem. In case it is
not external I would go about asking questions such as
What is the decrease in revenue? Are the costs same? Is there any aspect in the revenue/costs side
(value chain / customer delivery process) that is the issue with the fall in growth? (basically, the
Profitability approach)
Interviewer: Ok, that is ok, can u calculate the ROI for the three options that have been given (hands me a sheet of
paper with some numbers on market size, fixed costs, variable costs, margins, COGS, etc.)
Candidate: I calculated the ROI for the given time frame using the market size and market growth and the other
costs for the three options and they come out to be something like 300%, 600% and 800%.
Interviewer: Now, which solution would you recommend and why? At the end of it can you pitch the solution by
assuming that the interviewer is the CEO?
Candidate: I would recommend solution 1 even though it has the lowest ROI among the 3 solutions. Our primary
strengths are our loyal customer base who values our brand and our ties with the distribution
partners – also the solution addresses the primary problem of the changing customer needs which is
here to stay. The other solutions are myopic in nature and are vulnerable to the changing technology
landscape and does not address the customer needs.
Interviewer: Ok, can you tell me what I should be most careful about if I am to go forward with your solution?
83
Candidate: In the solution resented to you, the primary factor in my opinion that should be kept in mind is the
high forecasted growth rate and thus ramping up production in line with the demand so that we do
not lose revenue because of capacity constraints. Thus, the relatively weak part if the manufacturing
aspect of the value chain which we can keep an eye out for
Interview The interview ended with this question. After that, post selection they asked if I had any questions for
progress them. I asked a question regarding their consulting and implementation synergy.
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Sector: Luxury Cars
Company: Roland Berger
Candidate: Debajyoti Chakraborty
Case Statement: Guesstimate for market sizing; Case related to scoping out location for a steel facility (2 rounds)
Structure:
Interviewer: Can you estimate the luxury car market size in India? I don’t need the numbers. Just tell me the approach.
This will most probably be the case, make sure to outline the whole process in front of the interviewer
ICON TIP:
before you jump into numbers.
Candidate: Give me a few seconds to structure my thoughts.
Interviewer: Sure
*After a minute or so*
First I will divide the number of households in the country (1.3 billion/4) based on whether they stay in
urban or rural areas (70% rural and 30% urban)
Candidate:
Then I will divide the number of households (rural and urban both) into 4 categories by income levels
(30% lower income, 30% lower middle income, 20% upper middle income and 20% upper income). Is that
a reasonable assumption?
Interviewer: Go ahead
Out of these 4 segments, the only viable markets would be among the upper middle and upper income
Candidate:
categories in both rural and urban areas
Interviewer: But how would you estimate the rural and urban demand for luxury vehicles?
We can assume that 80% upper income households would be interested in buying 1 luxury car and 20%
would be interested in buying more than 1 luxury car (assume 2 cars per household on average). We
consider that the % distribution would remain the same for both rural and urban areas because even
rich farmers have a propensity to buy luxury cars either for themselves or for their kids owing to high
Candidate:
personal savings
We can take an assumption that in an urban upper middle-income family, 50% households would most
likely buy 1 luxury car (and may or may not buy an additional mid-range vehicle(s)) and that percentage
would be around 30% in rural upper-middle income family. Are these numbers reasonable?
Interviewer: Is that all?
Based on the above made segregation, we can get the personal luxury car market size. There is also a
commercial luxury car market which includes corporate fleets, cars owned by hotel chains, airports and
Candidate:
the like. Finally, we take the total (personal plus commercial) and divide the number by the life of a car
(10 years). Should I proceed by estimating the commercial luxury car market size as well?
Interviewer: That should be it, thank you.
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Case Type: Scoping Out Location
Sector: Steel Facility
Candidate: Debajyoti Chakraborty
Case Statement: Case related to scoping out location for a steel facility
Structure:
I see that you have worked in the steel industry. Let’s start with a case in that industry. Your client is a
foreign steel manufacturing giant and they want to set up a facility in India for selling finished steel
Interviewer:
products in India. What major factors would you consider for recommending them an appropriate
location for setting up their facility?
Candidate: Before I start with the case, I would like to start with a few preliminary questions
Interviewer: Go ahead
Does our client wish to set up a manufacturing unit to produce finished steel or procure them from
Candidate:
abroad?
Our client would be importing all its finished steel from abroad. They would be processing it further and
Interviewer:
selling the finished products in India.
My next question would be what customer segments they want to target. Automotive, real estate,
Candidate:
industrials etc.?
They want to target just the auto manufacturers. Just list out the broad factors that you would consider
Interviewer:
for selecting a location for setting up this facility
Well, one major factor would be of course based on proximity to the coastline since the imported steel
would be coming through the sea route. Another major factor would be proximity to customers. Most of
the automakers are in the south which also has a long coastline. So, that narrows it down in terms of the
Candidate:
geographical region of the country. The determination of which state or location within the state to pick
up would be based on availability of cheap land and labour, simpler regulations, proximity and easy
accessibility to water, proximity to auxiliary industries
Interviewer: Anything else?
*Thought for a while, had a few ideas but decided against blurting them out since they didn’t seem
Candidate:
logical*
Interviewer: (interrupting my thought process) That’s ok. We are done here. Do you have any questions?
*For RB, I had studied a bit about their area of expertise which happened to be aerospace, automotive
Candidate: and defence, so asked question about government’s FDI policy in defence and how would it impact their
client’s businesses and how are they preparing the clients for it*
Interviewer: *Gave an answer*
Candidate: Sir, I have another question. I am curious to know. What other important factor did I miss in this case?
Interviewer: Power availability (duh! :P)
Candidate: Of course! How could I miss that, especially when I considered water availability as a factor.
Interviewer: Don’t worry. That’s not an issue
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Case Type: Market Entry
Sector: FMCG
Candidate: Archana
Case Statement: Client is a FMCG major in India and is looking to enter the consumer space in the US market. They
need to decide whether they should enter the market or not. Walk us through how you would help the client solve this
case.
Structure:
Interviewer: Hi Archana, how are you?
Candidate: Good Morning sir. I am good, thank you.
Interviewer: Can you give a brief introduction of yourself?
Gave a basic introduction about myself [background, work experience, what interests me. (This was
Interview
followed by a 15 minute discussion solely about my work experience at ABB Ltd,. Questions were from
Progress:
my specific projects and how I went about doing it.)
Our client is a FMCG major in India and is looking to enter the consumer space in the US market. They
Interviewer: need to decide whether they should enter the market or not. Walk us through how you would help the
client solve this case. The basic flow diagram would be sufficient.
Candidate: I would like to know a little bit about our client and the context in which it is currently functioning.
Our client is into FMCG manufacturing, sales and marketing in the Indian market. The client is one of the
Interviewer:
top players in the market and is really capable.
Thank you Sir, I would also like to inquire why they want to enter the US market. Is it because of
Candidate:
possible growth opportunities, or market access, or would they like to diversify?
They think there is a large opportunity in the market. Since we do not have enough time left, can you
Interviewer:
quickly take me through the structure you have in mind?
Sure, I would like to begin by gauging the attractiveness of entry. This would depend on various factors
such as understanding the customer segments (consumer preferences, affordability, purchase volume
Vs our capabilities), whether there are entry barriers, on how heavy is the competition (how are the
Candidate:
competitors positioned? Do they compete on cost or any other factor? How is their product different?),
on possibility of exploiting the existing distribution channels, on whether our product would have a
strong substitute in the US market, on possible regulatory issues.
ICON TIP: Structure the factors in the form of a decision tree
Interviewer: Okay. Do you know any other things that we might have to look at?
Yes. We might have to look at the exit options available, in case our client turns out to be unsuccessful
Candidate: after entering. Apart from that, we would also consider other factors, such as technological feasibility,
political stability in the region we are considering.
Interviewer: Good.
If the market is really attractive, then I would go about assessing the current capabilities of our client (Is
there enough manufacturing capacity to handle new markets?), Do we have enough technical
Candidate:
expertise? Do we have enough funding to enter the new market? Can this decision leverage our existing
capabilities?
87
Can I go ahead with this approach?
Interviewer: Yes. Please continue.
After that, I will be looking at how would the client be entering the market: whether it wants to start
from scratch, have a joint venture, or acquire the local players, whether it would take care of
Candidate:
manufacturing, sales and marketing in US, or maintain the manufacturing operations in India which
would reduce the labour costs.
Interviewer: Very good! Thank you!
88
Case Type: Market Growth
Sector: Automotive Industry
Candidate: Hitesh Chajjer
Case Statement: Your client is in the automotive industry in UAE. He wants to grow in the market.
Structure:
Principal: Good Morning, Hitesh. How are you doing?
Candidate: Good Morning. I am doing great.
Interview The interview started with questions like “Tell me about yourself” and “Tell me more about your role
Progress at Hyundai”
Principal: Okay so here is your case. Your client is in the automotive industry in UAE. He wants to grow in the
market. Help him out.
Candidate: Thanks for the case. Before I proceed with the analysis, can I ask a few preliminary questions to
understand the context under which our client is working?
Principal: Yes, sure.
Candidate: Does our client manufacture and sell cars in UAE? Or as many automobile companies do, our client
imports from European / Asian countries?
Principal: Yes, our client only sells in UAE. It imports cars from all over the world. You can imagine it as a large
multinational automotive company with plants all over the world.
Candidate: Oh, that’s great. Also, since our client wants to grow in the UAE market, do we have information about
the competition in the market and how are we positioned?
Principal: Yes, we have the second largest market share in the UAE market among six other major competitors.
Candidate: Do we have any specific objective regarding the market share in terms of revenue or sales volume?
Principal: Yes, our client wants to become the top automotive seller in UAE in five years. Also, your questions end
here. Please describe your thought process in solving such a case and give recommendations in the
process itself.
Candidate: Since this problem is concerned with penetrating the existing market, a thorough internal and external
analysis of the firm is required.
Internal:
(Imagining a 4P in my head)
89
We must begin by looking at the existing product line and benchmarking the same with all the
competitors. Also, news about upcoming product launches must be covered to understand what’s there
in line for the UAE customers. Gaps, if found, must be addressed by looking at our global portfolio of
products.
Next, the pricing of the cars must be considered keeping in mind the rising migrant population in UAE.
Though majority of the customers in UAE would be price insensitive given the high-income levels of UAE,
a sneak peek into the migrant population might give us ideas to position our product line.
Also, sales outlets (dealerships) must be accessible to the entire target population. Attractive dealer
margins can enable us to bring in more dealers who already have the expertise in sales. (Gave the example
of Advaith Hyundai in Bangalore and how they are expanding)
Regarding the promotional aspect, car sales are primarily driven by trust in the brand and I believe ours
has a decent brand recognition in UAE given our market share. To improve the same, UAE, being a
Candidate:
football-crazy nation, a star footballer can be roped in as the brand ambassador.
Principal: Can you give us more recommendations regarding their promotional strategy?
Candidate: Yes, our client can focus on branding their customer service. Our client’s position in various customer
satisfaction surveys by global external agencies such as J.D Power can be set as a benchmark and a CFT
be formed across the organization to act on specific problems faced by our customers. Once improved,
these results can be used in our advertisements to portray our commitment to customer satisfactions.
Principal: Do you think any other factors need to be considered?
Interview Since I believed I had highlighted most of the internal factors, I understood that he was portraying on
Progress: factors external to the organization.
Candidate: Yes, the factors external to our client needs to be considered. We must look at political tensions in the
country, (a pause: realizing I made a very silly point) on a national and international scale to understand
how this might affect the trade. (Phew)
Also, we must focus on the government policies and liaison with the automotive industry bodies /
transport ministry officials to understand the future scope of the industry in the nation. If there is a
huge push towards electric vehicles / environmental norms, we must be ready to launch our existing
portfolio of green/electric vehicles in the country as well.
Principal: Alright, Thank you
Candidate: Thank You
90
Case Type: Unconventional
Company: Cognizant
Candidate: Rubin
Case Statement: Two industries, P&C insurance and Travel & Hospitality. The company wants to integrate newer
technologies like AI/drones into these existing businesses.
Structure:
Candidate: What Industries do we currently cater to?
Interviewer: We are focusing on P&C Insurance as well as Travel and Hospitality.
Let us take the P&C Insurance sector. We need to map out the value chain for a generic business. One of
the key processes involved in the services offered is the claims process. This would involve steps such as
Candidate: Initiation of Claims, Claims Assessment, Adjudication and then Settlement and Closure. (I tried to group
the various activities involved in the claims process into broad steps. Each of these would have a list of
activities that would give rise to a high-level value chain) Please let me know if I have missed something.
Interviewer: Please go ahead.
Considering the various activities involved, we need to cater to the Initiation and Assessment steps as
they seem to have maximum potential. For Example, the initiation process could be made hassle-free
with the help of IoT enabled Telematics without much interference of the insured, in case of a car
Candidate: accident. The assessment stage could benefit with the help of remotely controlled drones that would
assess the condition of the car at the accident location. Data could be transmitted back to the servers
where Computer Vision and Cognitive intelligence could be incorporated to analyze the extent of the
damage and provide inputs to the officer in charge.
Interviewer: What about the other steps you mentioned such as Payments?
Sir, currently the payment methods are secure and take place almost in real-time. I believe the preceding
Candidate: steps need more attention and once we find a way to incorporate highly functional technology in these
early stages, the later stages would benefit as well.
Candidate: Let me now move to the Travel and Hospitality Industry.
Interviewer: That’s not necessary. Rubin, do you have any questions?
Candidate: Asked about the kind of work happening in the company.
91

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IIM BANGALORE

ICON-IIMB CONSULTING CLUB

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 1

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 2

A typical interview for a consulting firm is a mix of “case” and “fit”.

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 3

Assess how coherently the candidate can present himself in a conversation

Case Study group

Thorough preparation of 10‐15 cases is recommended through this mode

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 4

Self-study of solved cases, when group activity is not possible, is beneficial

Company’s websites (and neutral sources such as Wikipedia!)

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 5

The selection process has the following stages:

A. Resume Short Listing

Fit Interview: 15 – 20 minutes

Case Interview: 20 – 30 minutes

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 6

DO’S AND DON’TS OF A FIT INTERVIEW

Present a coherent picture of yourself in an articulate manner

Express your expectations and interests concerning the firm

Get defensive when the interviewer presents a counter argument

Narrate stories that present contradictory images of who you are.

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 7

Making assumptions is a necessity- always confirm their validity

Personal Questions Very Important

Communication Skills Very Important

Approach to Problem Solving Very Important

Final Solution to Case Important

Stress Level Low

Guidance by the interviewer Medium

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 8

• Increasing efficiency and reducing costs for a call centre setup

• Call centre – cut costs per employee by 0.65$

• What are the parameters you will use to evaluate?

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 9

Client & service overview:

Case interviewer to describe the Client situation to the interviewee

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 10

What would the price of this service be for the company?

Competition price : $250

No additional data / hints

What is likely to be found on several gaming sites? Malware

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 11

What would the price of this service be for the company?

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 12

Here are some potential answers by stage:

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 13

Candidate: Good morning, may I come in?

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 14

MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE INDUSTRY

Accenture Alvarez & Marshall AT Kearney

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 15

McKinsey & Company Roland Berger Strategy&

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 16

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 17

Value Chain Analysis

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 18

Force Threat of Bargaining Bargaining Power Threat of new Competition

Key Performance Indicators

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 19

ICON CONSULTING CLUB, IIM BANGALORE 20