Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow Placement Interview Questions

• Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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• Q2. Go through your work ex starting from KPMG and briefly go through the work you did there?
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• Q3. Talk about the major projects you did at Grail Insights.
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• Q4. Asked me about my PORs and the challenges I faced and how I managed everything.
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• Q5. Questions related to the applicability of marketing concepts in my work experience.
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• Q6. Tell me about your biggest achievement.
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• Q7. How did you work in a team when there was a personal conflict between you and a team member?
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• Q8. What are you plans post MBA?
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• Q9. Why PWC? Why this role? Why consulting?
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Estimate the number of cows in Lucknow.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: I would do this by the following approach: [(Cow milk demand in Lucknow (month) + exports - imports) / Average milk given by a cow] + Non lactating cows + Stray cows. My assumption here is that the first two 2 categories of cows are kept in a closed facility.

I: Seems fine, go ahead.

Note: There were some cross questions when I was calculating the numbers, but he was happy with the approach.

Part 1 – Estimate the revenue of a food delivery platform in Delhi.

Part 2 – Case: Pricing strategy case for a food delivery platform.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

Some questions that I was asked during the interview are:

- Develop the pricing structure of a food delivery platform comprehensively for a particular area?

- What is this pricing strategy called?

- What are other pricing strategies?

- What are the factors that you would consider while deciding pricing for a particular area? What are the pricing drivers?

- Will the pricing be different for an area like Old Delhi and for an area somewhere in South Delhi? Why?

• Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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• Q2. Why consulting?
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• Q3. What are your 3 skills which can be useful while working in PwC?
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• Q4. How did you manage a conflict while leading a team?
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• Q5. What do you know about cloud applications, CRM, IT?
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• Q6. What do you think constitutes IT of a company?
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What are the different factors that should be considered for IT integration while merging two companies?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: First thing that should be considered is the data of two companies such as employee data, customer data, vendor data etc.

I: What factors need to be considered while integrating data?

C: Integration depends on how it is stored, if it is in cloud or on-premises data center, if the same cloud provider data could be migrated, if different data need to be exported and imported. Data models might be different for the same entity type as employee data fields. Then, the kind of databases being used become relevant, such as the use of SQL or not. This will also determine the time and cost of integration. One thing that needs to be considered is the privacy laws in different countries as some countries might require the data to be stored in the same country as the GDPR law.

I: Okay. What are the other bottlenecks other than data?

C: Infrastructure will be a factor like servers, data centers, etc. Companies might have different infrastructure requirements. One may be completely in cloud while other on premise or a combination of the two. So, decisions need to be taken regarding what to use and which one to use. Some might be obsolete and can be sold off.

I: What do you think about applications?

C: Companies might have different applications being used by different departments such as ERP, CRM, HRM etc. Some might be cloud applications and some installed in local data centers. The license needs to be changed or updated, some applications need to be removed and employees need to be trained. So, data associated with these applications also needs to be moved.

I: You almost covered the basic buckets. Read more about IT Due diligence and see what you have missed.

There are two companies A and B. Company B is divesting a vertical to company A. Company B came to PwC to help them in their divestiture. How will you go about it? Company B has 20 SaaS applications, 20 Vendor Applications (On-Premises), and 20 Company Applications (On-Premises) that need to be migrated.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: According to me IT can be divided into broadly 3 buckets – Infrastructure, Applications, and Data and People. Under Infrastructure come the servers, data centers (power and cooling systems), networking equipment’s, user workstations, meeting room equipment’s like projector, mouse, laptops, and all cables. Under Applications come all the applications being used by employees, vendors, customers and all the automation tools. Employee applications include enterprise applications like ERP, CRM, HRM, applications used by Accounting and Finance teams, customer service tools, other applications like IDE for developers, third party applications integrated by using Open APIs, payment gateways etc. Also, if it is a tech company there would be projects which are being developed by the R&D team. The data associated with all these applications is either stored in a public cloud, private cloud, on premise data center or workstation of an employee – all need to be considered.

Also, the licenses of the 3rd party applications need to be re-negotiated and the owner changed. Third come the people who run and maintain all the applications. Technicians who maintain the servers, developers who build and support applications, the IT guy who provides the necessary devices and fixes them on time, all constitute the people of an IT company with the CTO and CIO at the top depending on the hierarchy of the company.

I: There are two companies A and B. Company B is divesting a vertical to company A. Company B came to PwC to help them in their divestiture. How will you go about it? Company B has 20 SaaS applications, 20 Vendor Applications (On-Premises), and 20 Company Applications (On-Premises) that need to be migrated.

C: The 20 SaaS applications should support multi tenancy so that a new tenant needs to be created for company A and all data needs to be transferred to the new tenant DB. Company B our client can now reduce its OPEX (Operational Expenditure) as SaaS applications usually charge by the no. of users and the number of resources used. Here both are getting reduced, so a new deal needs to sign with the SaaS application providers.

I: What about On-Premises ones?

C: The 20 vendor applications need to be installed in Company A on premise and corresponding data needs to be moved. If not on premise, they can migrate it to cloud. As company B is also using the applications, a new deal can be signed with the vendor or if we do not require the on-premises data centers which were previously used, company B can sell it off depending on the new capacity requirement. Company A might require some time to migrate so it cannot be done strictly on day 1, hence, a TSA can be signed so that company B allows company A to use its resources by paying a premium to company B.

I: If company A is using the company A data centers according to the TSA what are the disadvantages for company B?

C: Previously all the resources were being used by company B. Now since it shares the resource servers, storage needs to be given to company B. If virtualization is not there, under-utilization of resources will take place.

I: Okay. We can stop with the case. Tell me What are your 3 skills which can be useful while working in PwC?

C: One, problem solving skills that I have developed with my 3 years of work ex. Second, knowledge on different technologies and expertise in working cloud and third, being a people’s person, I will be able to handle different clients and my experience being part of pre-sales demos will help in communicating with clients.

• Q1. Tell me something about yourself.
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• Q2. What do you know about the work PWC does?
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• Q3. Why is cashflow statement important?
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• Q4. What are the ratios in manufacturing sector?
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• Q5. What is zero based budgeting? What are the sub-functions under the CFO?
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• Q6. Describe the work done during your articleship.
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• Q7. What is P2P?
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• Q8. What is a 3-way match?
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• Q9. How would you reduce the SGA of a company?
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Estimate the number of thermal scanners in India.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: By thermal scanners do we mean the temperature measuring devices used at malls, restaurants, etc. before entering, to check for fever during COVID-19.

I: Yes, that is correct.

C: I will be using the demand side approach to figure out the number of thermal scanners. Does that seem okay to you?

I: Yes, please go ahead.

C: I would like to bifurcate the users of thermal scanners into hospitals/clinics and others (theaters, restaurants, offices etc.).

I: That sounds like a fair approach.

C: I would look at the number of people going to the above places in Pune. I would then use a relevant multiple for the entire country keeping 2 things in mind;

1- Population of Pune,
2- Pune being a Tier-1 city will have more restaurants, malls, etc. than Tier-2 cities and rural areas.

(Some figures were discussed but more than the final answer the interviewer was looking for sound logic. Also, being a telephonic interview, it was slightly difficult for the interviewer to keep a track of the numbers.)

Estimate the potential number of persons who would travel by metro in Pune.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: I will use the supply side approach to figure out roughly how many people travel by metro. I will do these calculations for a day. This can be then extrapolated to a week, then a month and then a year.

I: Good. Go ahead.

C: I will take the starting point as the population of Pune and then bifurcate it based on age. For age brackets 0-10 and 60-80, I would assume that only 10% would travel by metro. For the age 11-25, the age bracket of school and college going students, a higher rate of say 40% can be used. For the working class, i.e., age 25-50, I would assume based on my experience that around 65% go by metro. Do these assumptions seem fair to you?

I: Yes, you can proceed.

C: The above calculation will be done for a weekday. For Weekends, I will assume that the crowd is 50% of that on a weekend since offices and educational institutions are generally shut. The results of the week can be extrapolated to find yearly travelers.

• Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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• Q2. What were your roles and responsibilities during your job?
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• Q3. If PPO is given, would you be interested in working full time for Everest group?
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Government of India wants to promote the adoption of e-vehicles by customers in the Indian market. Mention key challenges and factors to achieve the same.
This was not a regular case but more of a conversation. Key parameters which I mentioned were reducing the tax rate e-vehicles, availability of raw materials, awareness among middle class as a lot of people are not aware about it, developing trust, and setting up of charging stations.ge, duration, procurement from etc.

A supermarket client having stores in India is facing 20% decline in profits. What could be the reason for the same?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

I: A supermarket client with stores across India is facing 20% decline in profits and wants to figure out reasons for the same.

C: Before I begin, I would like to understand a little more about the company and products. Are these normal grocery stores?

I: Yes, grocery stores.

C: How long the client is facing this issue?

I: Revenues are falling for the past month.

C: What kind of geography in which the client is operating?

I: The stores are present in all the tier 1 cities.

C: I would like to divide the profits into revenue - cost. Since profits are declining, there can be multiple scenarios, decrease in revenue, increase in costs or both.

I: The cost is more or less the same, but the revenue has declined.

C: I would write revenue as avg spending by a customer*footfall of each store * no of stores. Is it okay?

I: Sure, go-ahead.

C: Any of these parameters can lead to a decrease in revenue. Do you want me to look at a specific parameter?

I: Footfall has reduced while other parameters are the same. Can you think of reasons which can cause this decline?

C: Yes, there could be multiple reasons for the same.

1. New stores might have been launched by the competitor in the nearby locations.

2. Either people are not able to come to the store because of some accessibility issue or there might be a change in the store locations.

3. It might be because some stores are not able to meet the demand of the customers.

4. It might be because of change in the current policy that might have backfired.

5. Since our stores are in tier 1 cities, people might be preferring online platforms like Big Basket etc.

I: Do you have any other factor in your mind?

C: Considering the COVID-19 situation, it might be because of social distancing or some payment-related problems like online/offline payment.

• Q1. Tell me about yourself in under 1 min.
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• Q2. What kind of legacy you would like to leave and to which fictional/historical character, the legacy resembles?
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• Q3. Elaborate on a project you did while working with Praxis. Brief discussion on hobbies.
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A rental furniture store is experiencing loss in market share. Help the client on the steps ahead.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Where does the store operate? What product variants it sells (high ticket items/small etc.).

I: Delhi, sells both high- and low-ticket items.

C: What kind of business model the firm has? - rental charge, duration, procurement from etc.

I: 3 possibilities - Either customer pays monthly charge as per use, customer pays monthly charge for 2-3 months and then buys the furniture at lumpsum amount, customer pays monthly charge for a year or so and is handed over possession of furniture.

C: What is current market share, How much decline in market share? Is the decline in any SKU? who are competitors?

I: Market leader currently with 40% share, fragmented market with new entrants. Decline is nonspecific.

C: Structure- Market share of this firm will be a function of #customers* avg spend per customer (further divided into - frequency of purchase* avg ticket size per item). So, either one of these have been affected or a combination that led to fall in market share. I started elaborating reasons for all 4 buckets. # customer falling due to customers switching to competitors. This can be because of better customer discounts, better user interface for purchasing, awareness should not be an issue as already market leader, better financing facilities like EMIs etc.

I: Firm Y is giving higher discounts and is also providing attractive EMI options for high ticket items. Additionally, they are pushing the lumpsum model rather than other 2. Can you tell why would they do it?

C: Reason 1- Lower working capital for procuring new furniture for sale,
Reason 2- Customers like to rent brand new furniture and by pushing selling of the same, they can keep fresh stock for rental customers and increase value proposition.

I: What recommendations you would like to give?

C: The firm has basically 2 types of customers - Paying Guests, usually millennials staying in Delhi for work / university - expect vibrant and sleek furniture. Conservative customers who like to try high ticket furniture first and then buy if it suits their ambience, such items are also lower priced than fresh product.

C: After doing cost benefit analysis, we can provide discounts like competitors and also provide new services like home interior services for vibrant houses as target audience is millennials.

A low-cost airline player has xx revenues. Its non-fuel costs were 2x its fuel costs. PAT margin was y%. The fuel costs have recently doubled. What is new profitability. What should they do to maintain initial PAT margins?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Calculated new PAT margin by finding initial costs, then doubling fuel costs. Clearly stated the assumption that revenues have remain unchanged, i.e., price of ticket and neither #customers have changed to calculate new PAT margin. In order to maintain initial PAT margins, either revenues should increase, or costs should go down. Should I consider both possibilities?

I: Focus on increasing revenues only.

C: I would like to calculate by how much % we need to increase revenues considering costs cannot increase to maintain same PAT margin. Revenue = #customers * avg ticket size of a flight * avg frequency of travel #customers: Increase occupancy rates in non-peak times (when its usually 30-40%) by reducing prices a bit and better marketing. Also, newer routes (via cities) can be done to cater to newer locations for higher occupancy rates.

I: We do not want to incur any costs on marketing, routes are already at optimal and we can consider the occupancy point. Let us say 3% revenues increase due to it. (we needed ~14% increase)

C: For increasing avg ticket size: We can provide additional meals or newer supplementary services such as OTT apps streaming etc.

I: No, we want to maintain our image as low-cost carrier only.

C: The average frequency of travel can increase by more competitive pricing if possible. New routes to cater to newer customers is not an option as already established.

I: What recommendations you will give to this firm? Given we are 2nd in market currently and 1 out of only 2 players who are profitable in the industry.

C: Not much can be done during this time to increase PAT margins. Our advantage lies in sheer profitability which the firm is still making as high fuel costs will affect other players too, and more severely, given they are already loss making. This opens new doors to possible mergers in future and increase diversification of airlines leading to higher revenues and higher future PAT margins.

• Q1. How much time has it been since you joined IIM Lucknow?
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• Q2. Do you think its justified that summer placements happen only after 3 months of joining?
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• Q3. How did you decide upon which domain you want to join?
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• Q4. What do you want me to look at in your CV?
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• Q5. Any questions for me?
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Suggest improvements in IIML summer placement process.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- I would first like to identify the stakeholders in the placement process - Students, Companies, Placement Committee and IIM L administration.

Then, I would like to identify the objectives of each stakeholder. For students its getting placed in minimum time, for companies its getting the best candidate, for placement committee it is getting all students placed as soon as possible and for the
administration it is smooth functioning during the process so that the institute's reputation is maintained.

Then I would like to identify the concerns of each stakeholder. And after that we can make a roadmap of the whole process with potential
road blocks.

I- Now that you have made the whole structure and identified the major problems in the current process. Would you like to suggest some alternatives?

C- Yes. I would like to suggest 4 alternatives and their pros and cons as well-

First two are based on timeline and the next two are based on logistics constraint.

Swap Lateral placements and summers with each other. Gives first years more time to decide upon the domain and well suited candidates for companies. It will be difficult for second yeartides though as their STEX might get jeopardized.

Shift the whole process ahead. First HEPP, then finals and then summers. Again STEX will be an issue.

HEPP and summers together, but logistically difficult for administration.

Cluster model and HEPP and summers together

I- Okay, thanks.

• Q1. Tell me something about yourself.
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• Q2. Tell me something about yourself.
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• Q3. What do you know about M&A?
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• Q4. Why do you want to pursue consulting?
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• Q5. Questions around Work Experience.
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• Q6. Personality based questions.
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A cheese company wants to acquire a vegan company. Discuss.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

I: Company A wants to acquire Company B. Both are retail companies operating in North America. Discussion on the companies and objectives:

Product portfolio:
(Company A: Cheese & related products;
Company B: Vegan products like Yoghurt),
Establishments (both are old),
Growth rates (similar ~10%),
Primary objectives (One-time cost; synergies – operational & back-office), can start with synergies,

Reason for acquisition:
1. Presence in the market;
2. Diversify into product line.

C: Explained ways for operational synergies.

I: Ok. Let us look at back-office synergies. Which areas would you consider?

C: Listed areas like R&D, infrastructure department, etc.

I: Ok. (Discussion on the departments). Can you explain the factors?

C: Explained factors like skills, systems, etc.

I: (Discussion on the factors). Thanks.

Chemical company performing below financial benchmarks.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

I: Discussion on the company, and the issue: Company produces compounds used for downstream operations like medicines, issues more around working capital, which is higher, financial benchmark is w.r.t competitors.

C: Explained working capital factors.

I: (Discussion on the factors) Okay. Let us say the issue is with accounts payable. What do you think is happening?

C: Listed potential reasons.

I: (Discussion on difference w.r.t the competitors). What would you recommend?

C: Explained ways like quantity, pricing, etc.

• Q1. Why Accenture? and why not Deloitte?
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• Q2. What industry do you want to work in?
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• Q3. Why MBA?
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• Q4. Why consulting?
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• Q5. Give me an example of a situation where you led your team to success.
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• Q6. Tell me about your job responsibilities and projects.
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• Q7. What did you like in Deloitte? and how will you implement the same at Accenture?
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• Q8. Tell me about the current e-commerce trends in India and how they will change by 2024?
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Your client is a musical equipment manufacturing company that is undergoing a loss for the
past 2 years. Provide them a solution.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: Reiterated the problem statement and confirmed the objective; also asked for any other objective.

I: Let’s focus on the profit for now.

C: Asked him about the company, competitors and products sold.

I: Keyboards are the main products. They generate 80% revenue from them. Profits have been declining since 2019. A few competitors faced this same issue, but the others did not. Our client is the biggest player in the Indian market.

C: Profits depends on revenues and cost. Is it a cost side problem or revenue problem?

I: Let’s look at revenues first.

C: Revenues depends on price sold and quantity sold. Was there any change in any of these two factors?

I: Yes, the price remained the same while number of equipment sold increased. Can you tell me the reason for this?

C: Was it sudden increase or gradual increase?

I: Sudden increase.

C: There are two possibilities that I can think of

1) Covid lockdowns made a lot of people free to pursue their interest and kill boredom

2) Schools making music as a compulsory subject.

I: It’s the first option that you mentioned. People have been buying more equipment than usual during COVID. Good job figuring it out. Now tell me what does this mean for our client?

C: If quantity sold had increased and we continue to face losses then we must be facing a bigger issue on the cost side. Let me analyze the cost side of the problem.

Was there any increase in R&D costs, salaries, or training costs?

I: Yes, there was a slight increase here but not too significant. Let’s move further.

C: What about the raw materials required? Was there any change in them?

I: Tell me what the raw materials are first.

C: The materials I can think of are plastics, wood and electronic chips.

I: You are right. These are our main raw materials and yes there was a significant increase in the cost of electronic chips. Tell me why?

C: Increase in electronic chips could be due to more demand or increase in transportation costs or increase in storage costs or reduction in supply.

I: The demand has indeed increased, and production has decreased. Do you know why? It’s related to real life scenario.

C: Elaborated on covid and how it has increased the demand for electronic gadgets. Also highlighted how covid has affected supply chains due to shut down of multiple countries.

I: You are right but I want a specific answer for electronic chips.

C: Is it about the Taiwan China issue?

I: Bang on! That's what I wanted to hear. (Explained in detail about the issue and how it caused the shortage) Now tell me what should my client do?

C: 1) Can go for new suppliers who produce for our competitors (Short term solution).

2) Can try to setup a new plant separately in India with the help of the old supplier (long term solution).

I: That's exactly what our client had in mind. They are using our competitor's supplier for the short term and that is the reason for increase in the R&D and training costs. Can you figure out why that is?

C: They might be using a different technology for producing our chips and might require training to handle them.

I: Correct! Now tell me about your long-term solution. Will your old supplier really want to come to India to setup a new plant?

C: If he can get a good RoI then he will surely consider. Since we are the biggest player in the market, he will surely get a good deal of money from this.

• Q1. Tell me something about yourself.
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• Q2. Tell me more about your work experience.
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• Q3. What have you done in your domain and how did it help your company?
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The CEO of client firm has reported that there has been increase in number of applicants for job at their firm by 50% but the growth in new hires has decreased by 15%. You need to help him/her investigate the cause.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: I would like to know more about the product the firm sells.

I: Firm is like TCS services and has similar operations.

C: How have the profits and sales grown in the said period?

I: The firm is doing well. There is in fact, an increase in the profits.

C: Has the competition also faced a similar issue related to hiring?

I: We do not know about the competitors and their hire growth-rates.

C: There can be two approaches to the problem. The reason could be because of either external or internal factors. Do you want me to look at any one of these first?

I: I would like you to tell me how it could be external and how could it be internal.

C: It can be external in terms of the macro effects such as general outlook of the service, technology needed by the employees in the domain, etc. It can be internal in terms of factors such as product outlook in market, promotions made for the work environment, place - work place (infrastructure) employee satisfaction, employee wages, company requirement of employees etc. Do you want me to take any one of these?

I: Yes. Please go ahead with internal factors.

C: Considering the increase in job applications we can look at promotions, salaries, place. Has there been any change in type of employees that are required for services that the client provides?

I: No, there has been no change.

C: Considering the increase in job applications again we can rule out employee satisfaction process, then we would be left with hiring process, has there been any changes in structure of hiring process, the panel, number of rounds, etc.?

I: No, there has not been any change in structure of hiring process.

C: Despite the increase in the number of applications the hiring process has not changed. This might have led to a situation where due to large volume of applications there is a delay in hiring process. Is the hiring process on first come first serve bases or best of interviewees model?

I: Yes, there has been increase in delay time because the company follows best of interviewees model. That would be it. Thankyou.

Your client is a lemonade seller in Lucknow, and he wants you to provide a strategy to expand his reach in entire UP.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C: What type of lemonade is the client selling and are there any constraints that my client wants me to take care of?

I: It is a regular lemonade available in 2 variants, soda, and non-soda. No, you do not have any constraints and assume there is no investment restriction.

C: First, I would like to look at the factors that affect my strategy. From supply side would look at the raw materials, infrastructural cost, production process cost and distribution/logistics cost. From demand side, the reach of customers towards the shop, the competitors, etc.

I: Good, now how will you choose the locations(cities) for your expansion in UP.

C: Since we are not restricted on the investment that we get, we can think in terms of demand, first in short run I would be looking into metro and tier-1 cities like Noida and Kanpur. In the long term, would focus on tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

I: Well, now considering that you have a lemonade in Lucknow how would you price your lemonade?

C: The pricing can be done in 3 ways, cost based, competition based, and value based. Since we are having no investment restriction, I would go ahead with competition and value based. First, I would like to consider an additional value of the lemonade to be Rs 3. Given high investment, I would like to assume that we are using high quality raw material and equipment and thus, producing high quality lemonade. With the cost assumptions that paper cup costs Rs 2, Rs 2 for raw materials, Rs 3 for processing and a margin of Rs 2, the lemonade for competitors is priced at Rs 9. Adding the value to this, we can say that the price of lemonade should be Rs 12 for our client.

I: Good, I think that sums up the case.