Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad
Hyderabad, Telangana
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Filter interviews byIndian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad Placement Interview Questions
Updated
22 Sep 2024
228 interviews found
I applied via Walk-in
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. A retailer needs to set up warehouses. Should he hire a logistics provider or should he do it himself. How would you analyse the same? If he cannot find a good ...read more
- Q2. How would you measure the number of windows in Delhi
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I said I would analyse the costs, but as per my personal experience, until and unless the retailer intends to get into the logistics business, he should hire an external logistics provider, since it makes sense to concentrate in the core, and outsource the non-core activities.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I said I would take the population of Delhi and find out the working population and the non-working population. For the non-working, I would estimate the number of households taking an average of 4 people per household. And then an estimate on the number of windows per house. Taking the number of working people, I would further divide them into people working in different sizes of workplaces, and then estimate the no of establishments and the no of windows in each establishment.
Tips: Be confident.
Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis, Guesstimate Skills
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: I said I would analyse the costs, but as per my personal experience, until and unless the retailer intends to get into the logistics business, he should hire an external logistics provider, since it makes sense to concentrate in the core, and outsource the non-core activities.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I said I would take the population of Delhi and find out the working population and the non-working population. For the non-working, I would estimate the number of households taking an average of 4 people per household. And then an estimate on the number of windows per house. Taking the number of working people, I would further divide them into people working in different sizes of workplaces, and then estimate the no of establishments and the no of windows in each establishment.
Tips: Be confident.
Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis, Guesstimate Skills
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. PI questions: Briefly go through my resume
- Q2. Why I chose Marketing and Finance specialization?
- Q3. Questions related to my past work experience
- Q4. What I think of issues related to formation of new states such as Telangana
- Q5. Case Questions: Estimate the number of shoes sold in Hyderabad in a year(Case type:Guesstimate)
- Q6. Case Questions: To figure out the market entry strategy of a pharmaceutical company (Case type:Marketing and Strategy)
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I had met interviewer on the night before during the company dinner organized by Deloitte. That helped to start the conversation. First he asked me to briefly go through my resume. I also mentioned about things which were not mentioned in the resume. It really helped that I prepared in advance and listed down a few things which needed to be mentioned during the interview. Interviewer picked upfrom there and asked me why I chose Marketing and Finance specialization. He also asked some questions related to my past work experience. All in all nothing surprising then he asked me question which
I did not prepare for. He asked me what I think of issues related to formation of new states such as Telangana. I quickly gathered my thoughts and gave my rationale. Overall I was satisfied with my answer but in the hindsight I should have prepared for this question as this was one of the most talked about issues in the media. And when I thought interview was almost over interviewer asked me to solve a small guesstimate which was to calculate the number of shoes sold in Hyderabad in a year. I gave him couple of methods to approach the problem. He suggested using either one of them and coming up with the final number. I chose one of the methods and told him the final answers. All this while I have been talking with him about my assumptions and why I was solving problem in that particular way. Interviewer questioned one of my assumptions and helped me in making corrections. In the end, he
seemed to be satisfied with the approach and I was relieved that firstinterview of my day went fine.
I was prepared for most of the questions. All these were mentioned in the interview guides distributed by Consulting club and other alums.
I should have been more prepared about popular media issues.
Tips: Always attend networking events. I am sure everyone would say this but importance of such events can’t be emphasized enough. Practice PI questions by writing them; it worked for me at least. It helped me be clearer about the answer which is important when you are cross-questioned in the interview.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I was asked to figure out how a European pharmaceutical company should go about launching beauty products. This company may launch new beauty products by making small changes in existing health products. New management wanted to double the revenue in 5 years. I was given a lot of matrices and charts, showing market sizes and growth rates of various markets such as North America, Europe and emerging markets. Based on data and other qualitative judgments, I suggested going to European markets. I used hybrid of multiple frameworks such as new product introduction, market entry etc. to come up with a framework for solving the case. After number crunching we reached to the conclusion that this new beauty product market won’t be sufficient for
the firm to double its revenue. Hence firm must increase market share inits existing pharmaceutical market. I used 2X2 matrix with new products, old products on Y axis and new customers, old customers on X axis. After probing, I realized that bottleneck in firm’s business was their business model. Firm used to buy patents from other small firms and use its manufacturing capabilities and extensive distribution network to sell the product. After number crunching I suggested the approach involving developing its own R&D capabilities and better incentivizing the distribution network. Also used share of voice*share of mind*share of
distribution framework to give my recommendations. At this stage interviewer asked me if I had solved the case before because I had touched upon all the aspects of the case I was pleased to see that case round went well and I came out relieved. Later one of the alums asked me to wait. He went inside and discussed with my interview panel. He came out in 10 mins and asked me if I had
other offers. I was damn pleased to hear that and got the sense that my interview went really well.
Framework which I came up with was exhaustive, kept communicating while solving the case. Even when I was stuck, I re-iterated my approach and showed the logical progression. Sometime, we get so involved in thinking especially when too much data is thrown at us that we do not communicate our approach. It is very important even to justify why you are asking any particular question. If you have shared your approach with the interviewer then it becomes easier. See the whole case interview as a mutual problem solving exercise where interviewer is also part of it.
Could have done calculation little faster. Small tricks of multiplications would have certainly helped.
Be flexible in using frameworks. Sometimes you may need to use multiple of them in the same case so one needs to internalize them. Importance of solving sufficient number of cases cannot be emphasized enough.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: I had met interviewer on the night before during the company dinner organized by Deloitte. That helped to start the conversation. First he asked me to briefly go through my resume. I also mentioned about things which were not mentioned in the resume. It really helped that I prepared in advance and listed down a few things which needed to be mentioned during the interview. Interviewer picked upfrom there and asked me why I chose Marketing and Finance specialization. He also asked some questions related to my past work experience. All in all nothing surprising then he asked me question which
I did not prepare for. He asked me what I think of issues related to formation of new states such as Telangana. I quickly gathered my thoughts and gave my rationale. Overall I was satisfied with my answer but in the hindsight I should have prepared for this question as this was one of the most talked about issues in the media. And when I thought interview was almost over interviewer asked me to solve a small guesstimate which was to calculate the number of shoes sold in Hyderabad in a year. I gave him couple of methods to approach the problem. He suggested using either one of them and coming up with the final number. I chose one of the methods and told him the final answers. All this while I have been talking with him about my assumptions and why I was solving problem in that particular way. Interviewer questioned one of my assumptions and helped me in making corrections. In the end, he
seemed to be satisfied with the approach and I was relieved that firstinterview of my day went fine.
I was prepared for most of the questions. All these were mentioned in the interview guides distributed by Consulting club and other alums.
I should have been more prepared about popular media issues.
Tips: Always attend networking events. I am sure everyone would say this but importance of such events can’t be emphasized enough. Practice PI questions by writing them; it worked for me at least. It helped me be clearer about the answer which is important when you are cross-questioned in the interview.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I was asked to figure out how a European pharmaceutical company should go about launching beauty products. This company may launch new beauty products by making small changes in existing health products. New management wanted to double the revenue in 5 years. I was given a lot of matrices and charts, showing market sizes and growth rates of various markets such as North America, Europe and emerging markets. Based on data and other qualitative judgments, I suggested going to European markets. I used hybrid of multiple frameworks such as new product introduction, market entry etc. to come up with a framework for solving the case. After number crunching we reached to the conclusion that this new beauty product market won’t be sufficient for
the firm to double its revenue. Hence firm must increase market share inits existing pharmaceutical market. I used 2X2 matrix with new products, old products on Y axis and new customers, old customers on X axis. After probing, I realized that bottleneck in firm’s business was their business model. Firm used to buy patents from other small firms and use its manufacturing capabilities and extensive distribution network to sell the product. After number crunching I suggested the approach involving developing its own R&D capabilities and better incentivizing the distribution network. Also used share of voice*share of mind*share of
distribution framework to give my recommendations. At this stage interviewer asked me if I had solved the case before because I had touched upon all the aspects of the case I was pleased to see that case round went well and I came out relieved. Later one of the alums asked me to wait. He went inside and discussed with my interview panel. He came out in 10 mins and asked me if I had
other offers. I was damn pleased to hear that and got the sense that my interview went really well.
Framework which I came up with was exhaustive, kept communicating while solving the case. Even when I was stuck, I re-iterated my approach and showed the logical progression. Sometime, we get so involved in thinking especially when too much data is thrown at us that we do not communicate our approach. It is very important even to justify why you are asking any particular question. If you have shared your approach with the interviewer then it becomes easier. See the whole case interview as a mutual problem solving exercise where interviewer is also part of it.
Could have done calculation little faster. Small tricks of multiplications would have certainly helped.
Be flexible in using frameworks. Sometimes you may need to use multiple of them in the same case so one needs to internalize them. Importance of solving sufficient number of cases cannot be emphasized enough.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Case Questions: A long case was given. Lots of data and whenever I asked questions, a few set of slides were passed onto me. It looked like that the case was an...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: personal interview
Experience: To start with, we connected really well, while we were walking down the corridor to the interview room. Interviewerstarted off by asking “You all seem to have strong extra-curriculars” (I had done put classic music
performances in my resume) I mentioned that it is also a factor that is seen during admissions, and
that’s why the observation.
Interviewer: Take me through your resume.
I: Let me take you through the things that I did apart from the expected duties at each level/stage.
Interviewer: That’s great; go on
I: Went on to mention what initiatives I took at undergrad, work, ISB etc..
Interviewer: Your CGPA takes you to which percentile in your batch.
I: Top 20%
Interviewer: Do you think this is low? Why do you seem to have a comparatively lower CGPA?
I: (I had strong acads in undergrad) Answered appropriately on how I focused on lot of other things, ELP, PaEV etc..
Interviewer: That’s nice to hear. You also seem to have done an ELP on a FMCG product launch in India. Can you elaborate?
I: Explained everything in detail including the focus on distribution etc..
Interviewer: What is your view on the implementation of GST (Goods and services tax) in India? How do you think it might change the dynamics ofdistribution?
I: I do not have a lot of knowledge on this, but I can talk about the impact on FMCG goods. (Went on to describe how under the current structure double taxation happens and how that is limiting supply chain
optimization etc). Also mentioned that it might have an impact on businesses and consulting in supply chain.
Interviewer: That’s what I wanted to hear. Which other companies are you interviewing with?
I: Diamond
Interviewer: What if Diamond and Deloitte both make you an offer?
I: Answered appropriately. Mentioned that it is responsibility and work that I am looking for and hence my decision would be based on that.
Interviewer: What if Deloitte and McKinsey both give you an offer?
I: Answered appropriately.
The connect! We soon established a strong rapport and were conversing like colleagues. I also mentioned that I didn’t know a lot about GST etc, but still made a good attempt at deconstructing the problem. When asked to take through the resume, I went ahead to mention all initiatives and other responsibilities that I undertook at each level rather than a routine account of the work.
Tips: Read the body language of the interviewer. If he is relaxed, smiling etc, try to be in the same disposition.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Laid out a small structure for the problem. There are primarily three ways in which the company can achieve the revenue growth:
1) Natural growth of the Industry
2) Organic Growth
3) In organic Growth – a) Acquire companies to expand product portfolio
b) Acquire companies to improve market power in existing segments
The interviewers were fine with the structure. Then I went ahead to discuss each of the points in slight detail.
Me: What is the expected growth of the branded cardio drugs (the market in which the company was operating) industry in the next five years?
Interviewers: Assume 8% per year.
Me: This means that if they are able to maintain their market share (value wise) over the next 5 years, their revenues will be approx = 5*(1.08)^5
Interviewer: I want you to show the calculations as well
Me: Sure, it will be approximately 1.4*5 = 7 bn + .15*5 = 7.75 bn
Interviewer: Ok. Can you please explain why you used such figures.
Me: Explained. So, the problem now seems to be divided into mainly two parts:
a) How to maintain/improve market share in current operating segments
b) How to achieve another 2.5 bn of revenue growth.
Let me first explore the inorganic growth opportunities for our client. Let us first try and understand market consolidation and cash position of our client. We will also try and evaluate any target that might …
Interviewer: (Interrupting in between) We are not interested in any acquisitions.
Me: Ok. That leaves us with organic growth opportunities. I would first want to explore what are the expansion opportunities in the existing market segments and then venture into new products/segments/geographies.
Interviewer: Can you prioritize your action right now; we are running out of time.
Me: Sure. My first action would be to explore if we can grow with our existing products segment itself. Moreover, with our client being a top 3 player, it might be easier to grow with existing products than explore new products.
Interviewer: Ok. So what do you suggest?
Me: I can think of three opportunities here:
a)Exercise market power to alter prices, if possible or
b) alter distribution channel to improve revenues that reach us or
c)cross-sell existing products to existing customers and increase value derived from a single customer.
Interviewer: Ok. That sounds fine. Now let us try to understand how we can expand into new geographies/new product segments.
Me: (Smiled! Realised that he was just trying to stress me out when he said that we don’t have much time) Ok. Can you share market size and growth by geography and segments information with me?
Interviewer: Gave a slide with lots of tables and charts (can’t recall, we were not allowed to carry notes outside)
Me: To frame my analysis, let me create a simple matrix. (Created the GE portfolio matrix). Went ahead to evaluate opportunities and suggested new segments.
Interviewer: Do you think it makes sense to introduce Generics?
Me: Given the existing market size of Generics and margins in the operating market segments it does not make much sense. However, to protect market share, the company should evaluate options of introducing fighter brands like generics.
Interview got over at this.
Did lots of quick calculations and did not get stressed out. Maintained my composure and adjusted speed when required.
I felt that sometimes my structure was too elaborate and tended to put off the interviewer.
Tips: Read the body language of the interviewer. Don’t get annoyed if interviewer interrupts in between. Before going into an elaborate discussion ask interviewer if he wants you to prioritize options before explaining each one of them in detail.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: To start with, we connected really well, while we were walking down the corridor to the interview room. Interviewerstarted off by asking “You all seem to have strong extra-curriculars” (I had done put classic music
performances in my resume) I mentioned that it is also a factor that is seen during admissions, and
that’s why the observation.
Interviewer: Take me through your resume.
I: Let me take you through the things that I did apart from the expected duties at each level/stage.
Interviewer: That’s great; go on
I: Went on to mention what initiatives I took at undergrad, work, ISB etc..
Interviewer: Your CGPA takes you to which percentile in your batch.
I: Top 20%
Interviewer: Do you think this is low? Why do you seem to have a comparatively lower CGPA?
I: (I had strong acads in undergrad) Answered appropriately on how I focused on lot of other things, ELP, PaEV etc..
Interviewer: That’s nice to hear. You also seem to have done an ELP on a FMCG product launch in India. Can you elaborate?
I: Explained everything in detail including the focus on distribution etc..
Interviewer: What is your view on the implementation of GST (Goods and services tax) in India? How do you think it might change the dynamics ofdistribution?
I: I do not have a lot of knowledge on this, but I can talk about the impact on FMCG goods. (Went on to describe how under the current structure double taxation happens and how that is limiting supply chain
optimization etc). Also mentioned that it might have an impact on businesses and consulting in supply chain.
Interviewer: That’s what I wanted to hear. Which other companies are you interviewing with?
I: Diamond
Interviewer: What if Diamond and Deloitte both make you an offer?
I: Answered appropriately. Mentioned that it is responsibility and work that I am looking for and hence my decision would be based on that.
Interviewer: What if Deloitte and McKinsey both give you an offer?
I: Answered appropriately.
The connect! We soon established a strong rapport and were conversing like colleagues. I also mentioned that I didn’t know a lot about GST etc, but still made a good attempt at deconstructing the problem. When asked to take through the resume, I went ahead to mention all initiatives and other responsibilities that I undertook at each level rather than a routine account of the work.
Tips: Read the body language of the interviewer. If he is relaxed, smiling etc, try to be in the same disposition.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Laid out a small structure for the problem. There are primarily three ways in which the company can achieve the revenue growth:
1) Natural growth of the Industry
2) Organic Growth
3) In organic Growth – a) Acquire companies to expand product portfolio
b) Acquire companies to improve market power in existing segments
The interviewers were fine with the structure. Then I went ahead to discuss each of the points in slight detail.
Me: What is the expected growth of the branded cardio drugs (the market in which the company was operating) industry in the next five years?
Interviewers: Assume 8% per year.
Me: This means that if they are able to maintain their market share (value wise) over the next 5 years, their revenues will be approx = 5*(1.08)^5
Interviewer: I want you to show the calculations as well
Me: Sure, it will be approximately 1.4*5 = 7 bn + .15*5 = 7.75 bn
Interviewer: Ok. Can you please explain why you used such figures.
Me: Explained. So, the problem now seems to be divided into mainly two parts:
a) How to maintain/improve market share in current operating segments
b) How to achieve another 2.5 bn of revenue growth.
Let me first explore the inorganic growth opportunities for our client. Let us first try and understand market consolidation and cash position of our client. We will also try and evaluate any target that might …
Interviewer: (Interrupting in between) We are not interested in any acquisitions.
Me: Ok. That leaves us with organic growth opportunities. I would first want to explore what are the expansion opportunities in the existing market segments and then venture into new products/segments/geographies.
Interviewer: Can you prioritize your action right now; we are running out of time.
Me: Sure. My first action would be to explore if we can grow with our existing products segment itself. Moreover, with our client being a top 3 player, it might be easier to grow with existing products than explore new products.
Interviewer: Ok. So what do you suggest?
Me: I can think of three opportunities here:
a)Exercise market power to alter prices, if possible or
b) alter distribution channel to improve revenues that reach us or
c)cross-sell existing products to existing customers and increase value derived from a single customer.
Interviewer: Ok. That sounds fine. Now let us try to understand how we can expand into new geographies/new product segments.
Me: (Smiled! Realised that he was just trying to stress me out when he said that we don’t have much time) Ok. Can you share market size and growth by geography and segments information with me?
Interviewer: Gave a slide with lots of tables and charts (can’t recall, we were not allowed to carry notes outside)
Me: To frame my analysis, let me create a simple matrix. (Created the GE portfolio matrix). Went ahead to evaluate opportunities and suggested new segments.
Interviewer: Do you think it makes sense to introduce Generics?
Me: Given the existing market size of Generics and margins in the operating market segments it does not make much sense. However, to protect market share, the company should evaluate options of introducing fighter brands like generics.
Interview got over at this.
Did lots of quick calculations and did not get stressed out. Maintained my composure and adjusted speed when required.
I felt that sometimes my structure was too elaborate and tended to put off the interviewer.
Tips: Read the body language of the interviewer. Don’t get annoyed if interviewer interrupts in between. Before going into an elaborate discussion ask interviewer if he wants you to prioritize options before explaining each one of them in detail.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. Why ISB? Why MBA? Why consulting?
- Q2. Case Questions: A publishing firm has been seeing a fall in profits off late. Help them diagnose and fix the problem
- Q3. A lot of questions about my work experience and about my company
- Q4. What I thought was the best way to encourage innovation in a technology company
- Q5. Case Questions: Tata motors was producing Indica (which costs around 3 Lakhs), and wanted to produce a 1 lakh car. How can they go about doing this?
- Q6. PI questions: Tell me about yourself?
- Q7. Case Questions: The Maharashtra government wants to build a plan for the Mumbai metro project and wants it to be a completely self financed project. How could t...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: The case started on a very generic note and on the outset seemed like a standard profitability case. I started with some clarifying questions such as
: What does the company do? The company is into magazine publishing (2nd highest selling weekly magazine, in addition to
few other magazines.
: Who are the competitors? There are a few other competitors. 2 other large competitors, 1 larger and another smaller than our
company and the segment is dominated by these 3. There are a few other smaller players too.
: How long have they been facing the problem? Facing it for the past few years.
: How are the competitors doing? Doing fine. Have been more or less constant.
I started with structuring the problem in a standard profitability problem (profit = revenue – cost). He told me that the revenues have been fine and they have actually seen an increase in revenue over the past few years (he threw some numbers here such as % increase in revenue etc). Then I told him that I would focus on the costs. In order to handle the costs part, I created a value chain of the complete process from the time of collection of news and articles (reporting) editing printing distribution. Here he asked me to think if there could be something else also in the value chain. I realized that after distribution there should be something related to ‘returns’ also. He was expecting the same answer. Then I went through the various parts of the value chain to understand
the costs involved in each part and if something had changed or could be improved there, but there were no major issues. Since he had asked me specifically for the returns part, I asked him a little more about the returns policy and what happens if the vendor/retailer has overstocked the magazines. He told me that the company takes them back and the value is practically zero for those magazines. (Throughout the discussion he was giving me numbers on how much it costs per magazine at each part of the value chain).). At this point, I asked him if there had been an increase in the number of returns (overstocking at the retailer’s end and he gave me some data which indicated that was the case). I told him that at this point, we can evaluate the implications of
both under-stocking and overstocking at the vendor’s end and find if the company is supplying the optimal quantity. This was basically an application of the ‘newsvendor problem’ we studied in the basic operations course. Post this it was simple, I completed the calculations and he looked satisfied.
It’s very important to listen carefully during a case interview. Most interviewers will give away hints and will try to help you solve a case. Catching those hints and solving the case together with the interviewer is the key. Another thing that I think went right was the conversations before and after the case interview. I was done with the interview in 12-15 minutes. For the remaining time, I chatted with him about his experience interviewing at ISB and how he found it different from interviewing at the IIMs. And then we went on to talk about the different models that the schools operate on and how the education sector in India has evolved
etc etc. All of this helped me strike a note with the interviewer. Finally the fact that I could remember what the newsvendor problem was
Tips: Listening skills are very important. Go through the core term concepts. The ability to apply concepts studied in the various subjects to your case interviews give that ‘wow’ factor.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: A majority of this interview was PI. He asked me a lot of questions about my work experience and about my company (Trilogy). He then asked me about what I thought was the best way to encourage innovation in a technology company. Although this was a PI, I tried to put a structure to my answer. I basically divided the reforms into a few buckets, like organizational changes (incentive structures), employee focus, customer focus etc. And then elaborated under each of the sub- headings. There were also other questions related to the biggest challenges at work etc.
This was a very small and simple case. He was primarily looking for ways to not just reduce cost but how to approach a radically different problem. I went through the standard set of cost reduction measures throughout the value chain but told him that this would only achieve only so much cost reduction. In order to create a one lakh car, they need to look at something from the scratch. It needs to be a fresh design (not just of the engine, but also design of how the various processes work today, including where the assembly happens, how distribution works etc).
Most of this interview was about my work experience (Software product development and technology consulting), and my views on the technology sector. It helped to have researched the various trends in the sector and having an opinion on the various things.
Nothing much, though it may have helped to go through the casebooks from earlier years in detail, because this case was very similar to something that was asked in one of the previous years, but I heard it for the first time in the interview.
Tips: : Be very thorough with your work experience related topics
: Do research on the trends etc in the relevant sector.
: Try and structure your responses even in a PI.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This was again a small case, where interviewer did most of the talking. I started with telling him that there would be two key aspects to this project, the first being the financing (sources, procedures) and the second being the revenue generation, and both of these together need to contribute to a self financed metro project. I started with the revenue part first. I approached this through an asset monetization approach (basically analyze the various assets that the project would own and look at ways to monetize each of them). Here I talked about the train, the tracks, the land near the tracks and the stations etc and suggested ways to monetize these. The most important thing that came out was the land that is allocated to the metro project, and which is not used directly for
the project and can be developed as a commercial property to monetize the project. Once we reached this stage, interviewer talked at length about how this worked at the Mumbai metro project where he was involved and how they were able to collect many times more revenue than the amount needed for the project. Then I talked about the financing part. Here I basically started with the
pecking order and suggested ways to finance. I told him that given that government guarantees could be explored and this could lead to ways of reducing the cost of financing. This turned more into a conversation, where interviewer talked about the various kinds of securities that could be used and how the government often provides sops in the form of tax breaks etc.
Again, listening helped. He kept giving me hints and helped me progress through the case. Also, during the case prep sessions, we had touched upon the asset monetization strategy, which helped here.
Nothing really went wrong. It would have been nice to know about the various securities that interviewer mentioned could be used for financing such a project
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: The case started on a very generic note and on the outset seemed like a standard profitability case. I started with some clarifying questions such as
: What does the company do? The company is into magazine publishing (2nd highest selling weekly magazine, in addition to
few other magazines.
: Who are the competitors? There are a few other competitors. 2 other large competitors, 1 larger and another smaller than our
company and the segment is dominated by these 3. There are a few other smaller players too.
: How long have they been facing the problem? Facing it for the past few years.
: How are the competitors doing? Doing fine. Have been more or less constant.
I started with structuring the problem in a standard profitability problem (profit = revenue – cost). He told me that the revenues have been fine and they have actually seen an increase in revenue over the past few years (he threw some numbers here such as % increase in revenue etc). Then I told him that I would focus on the costs. In order to handle the costs part, I created a value chain of the complete process from the time of collection of news and articles (reporting) editing printing distribution. Here he asked me to think if there could be something else also in the value chain. I realized that after distribution there should be something related to ‘returns’ also. He was expecting the same answer. Then I went through the various parts of the value chain to understand
the costs involved in each part and if something had changed or could be improved there, but there were no major issues. Since he had asked me specifically for the returns part, I asked him a little more about the returns policy and what happens if the vendor/retailer has overstocked the magazines. He told me that the company takes them back and the value is practically zero for those magazines. (Throughout the discussion he was giving me numbers on how much it costs per magazine at each part of the value chain).). At this point, I asked him if there had been an increase in the number of returns (overstocking at the retailer’s end and he gave me some data which indicated that was the case). I told him that at this point, we can evaluate the implications of
both under-stocking and overstocking at the vendor’s end and find if the company is supplying the optimal quantity. This was basically an application of the ‘newsvendor problem’ we studied in the basic operations course. Post this it was simple, I completed the calculations and he looked satisfied.
It’s very important to listen carefully during a case interview. Most interviewers will give away hints and will try to help you solve a case. Catching those hints and solving the case together with the interviewer is the key. Another thing that I think went right was the conversations before and after the case interview. I was done with the interview in 12-15 minutes. For the remaining time, I chatted with him about his experience interviewing at ISB and how he found it different from interviewing at the IIMs. And then we went on to talk about the different models that the schools operate on and how the education sector in India has evolved
etc etc. All of this helped me strike a note with the interviewer. Finally the fact that I could remember what the newsvendor problem was
Tips: Listening skills are very important. Go through the core term concepts. The ability to apply concepts studied in the various subjects to your case interviews give that ‘wow’ factor.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: A majority of this interview was PI. He asked me a lot of questions about my work experience and about my company (Trilogy). He then asked me about what I thought was the best way to encourage innovation in a technology company. Although this was a PI, I tried to put a structure to my answer. I basically divided the reforms into a few buckets, like organizational changes (incentive structures), employee focus, customer focus etc. And then elaborated under each of the sub- headings. There were also other questions related to the biggest challenges at work etc.
This was a very small and simple case. He was primarily looking for ways to not just reduce cost but how to approach a radically different problem. I went through the standard set of cost reduction measures throughout the value chain but told him that this would only achieve only so much cost reduction. In order to create a one lakh car, they need to look at something from the scratch. It needs to be a fresh design (not just of the engine, but also design of how the various processes work today, including where the assembly happens, how distribution works etc).
Most of this interview was about my work experience (Software product development and technology consulting), and my views on the technology sector. It helped to have researched the various trends in the sector and having an opinion on the various things.
Nothing much, though it may have helped to go through the casebooks from earlier years in detail, because this case was very similar to something that was asked in one of the previous years, but I heard it for the first time in the interview.
Tips: : Be very thorough with your work experience related topics
: Do research on the trends etc in the relevant sector.
: Try and structure your responses even in a PI.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This was again a small case, where interviewer did most of the talking. I started with telling him that there would be two key aspects to this project, the first being the financing (sources, procedures) and the second being the revenue generation, and both of these together need to contribute to a self financed metro project. I started with the revenue part first. I approached this through an asset monetization approach (basically analyze the various assets that the project would own and look at ways to monetize each of them). Here I talked about the train, the tracks, the land near the tracks and the stations etc and suggested ways to monetize these. The most important thing that came out was the land that is allocated to the metro project, and which is not used directly for
the project and can be developed as a commercial property to monetize the project. Once we reached this stage, interviewer talked at length about how this worked at the Mumbai metro project where he was involved and how they were able to collect many times more revenue than the amount needed for the project. Then I talked about the financing part. Here I basically started with the
pecking order and suggested ways to finance. I told him that given that government guarantees could be explored and this could lead to ways of reducing the cost of financing. This turned more into a conversation, where interviewer talked about the various kinds of securities that could be used and how the government often provides sops in the form of tax breaks etc.
Again, listening helped. He kept giving me hints and helped me progress through the case. Also, during the case prep sessions, we had touched upon the asset monetization strategy, which helped here.
Nothing really went wrong. It would have been nice to know about the various securities that interviewer mentioned could be used for financing such a project
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. PI questions: A lot of questions about Google
- Q2. What it is like to work there?
- Q3. How Google maintains market share
- Q4. How Google suggest works?
- Q5. Case Questions: A pineapple juice manufacturer. Calculate the capacity that would be required for the plant
- Q6. PI questions: Background at Google
- Q7. What impact my projects(Orkut, Gmail) had and working at Google
- Q8. Case Questions: What should Infosys do today to move up the value chain?
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: In PI, we discussed the scale and infrastructure that Google has and how it’s gaining competitive advantage from it.
I told him searching porn well is very important for a search engine entering a new market, and from there we went into market entry strategies for the search engines.
The PI went on for 20-25 minutes, at which point he realized he had to ask me a case. He asked me a really simple case which got over in 5 minutes
The case was very trivial. It was just multiplying a bunch of numbers together. Less than 5 minutes.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Interviewer also works in IT, so he wanted to discuss what Infosys should do next. We talked about their business model, about billing rates and how they can leverage their assets. I brought up the point of “Centers of Excellence” and how they don’t really work in IT services. He asked why, then asked me to come up with alternatives to the model. I talked a while about a skunk-works type project team that they should set up. We discussed the future of the market etc…
The interview was very conversational. No case really, more of a discussion around what I thought of the IT industry and where I see the future of the industry.
Round: personal interview
Experience: This interview was about 20 minutes long, and it was all PI. He asked about why I did an MBA, what I liked/disliked about working at a place like Google. This interview was very different from the traditional case interviews. He asked me “What would people on the campus say about Aditya Kulkarni?”, “Why consulting when you’re doing so well in Google?” etc… I was very honest with my answers, and didn’t use any of the canned responses. I even said that I’m quite lazy and don’t like doing hard work.
We even discussed strategies to do well at exams without studying for them.
I was very honest and upfront about what I wanted from McKinsey. I didn’t use any of the “prepped” answers, and just told him what I thought. I even told him that I was undecided about joining McKinsey (if they made an offer), and he seemed OK with that.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: In PI, we discussed the scale and infrastructure that Google has and how it’s gaining competitive advantage from it.
I told him searching porn well is very important for a search engine entering a new market, and from there we went into market entry strategies for the search engines.
The PI went on for 20-25 minutes, at which point he realized he had to ask me a case. He asked me a really simple case which got over in 5 minutes
The case was very trivial. It was just multiplying a bunch of numbers together. Less than 5 minutes.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Interviewer also works in IT, so he wanted to discuss what Infosys should do next. We talked about their business model, about billing rates and how they can leverage their assets. I brought up the point of “Centers of Excellence” and how they don’t really work in IT services. He asked why, then asked me to come up with alternatives to the model. I talked a while about a skunk-works type project team that they should set up. We discussed the future of the market etc…
The interview was very conversational. No case really, more of a discussion around what I thought of the IT industry and where I see the future of the industry.
Round: personal interview
Experience: This interview was about 20 minutes long, and it was all PI. He asked about why I did an MBA, what I liked/disliked about working at a place like Google. This interview was very different from the traditional case interviews. He asked me “What would people on the campus say about Aditya Kulkarni?”, “Why consulting when you’re doing so well in Google?” etc… I was very honest with my answers, and didn’t use any of the canned responses. I even said that I’m quite lazy and don’t like doing hard work.
We even discussed strategies to do well at exams without studying for them.
I was very honest and upfront about what I wanted from McKinsey. I didn’t use any of the “prepped” answers, and just told him what I thought. I even told him that I was undecided about joining McKinsey (if they made an offer), and he seemed OK with that.
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
4 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Case Questions: There is a company in UK which organizes outdoor trips for field students. A private equity company wants to pick up a stake in the firm and wan...read more
- Q2. Case Questions: This round is specific to Parthenon. I was given a 25-30 pager document on a real client situation with a LOT of numbers and I had to come up wi...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: For a second I thought that the case of around assessing if the revenues of the company were reported correctly. So I wrote the formula:Revenues = No of students going of trips per year * Number of trips per students But after going astray for a min I realized that I have to estimate the total market size. Then the usual line of questioning of what is the population of UK – 60 Mn (given by interviewer) -> Assuming uniform distribution -> trips organized for people in the age group 7yrs – 15yrs (given) - > attenuate
further to estimate total number of people going for such trips - > further I asked if I should attenuate on affordability but it was not required.At this point I had forgot to question on the lines of number of trips per person and interviewer pointed this out. Thankfully, I had written it earlier in front of him and he was ok. We briefly chatted about my restaurant business and then interviewer asked if I had any questions. I asked how did he see Parthenon evolving and he explained that he still expected the office to be small but doing meaningful work.
Writing the formula early on helped not goof up. Didn’t get mired in a lot of detail
Could have remembered the other parameter
Tips: The simplicity of this case is actually what throws people off track. The case was simply about estimating the total market size of the outdoor trips industry and then assessing if the market share claimed = actual market share. So just be grounded in basics.
Round: Personal interview
Experience: We just discussed about my restaurant business. What went well and why did it not work. Then moving on to the viability of organized food services business but really no case. Just conversation.
I tried to point out to key business insights in a structured fashion. I disagreed a lot but was polite.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: After I was ready all the members of the interview panel came into the room and I started presenting. They agreed with the overall though process but the discussion ultimately hinged on why the production process is not cost effective. I pointed out to the economies of scale issue but was shot down. I pointed out to operational inefficiencies but was shot down. We were going round and round on this and it was really late in the night. But I forced myself to think from a fresh perspective
after taking a break of one min. I realized that there is an issue of learning curve here (Economics of strategy, competitive strategy – competitive advantage of Intel) which I presented. The discussion abruptly ended there as interviewer was specifically looking for this insight and I was made an offer on the spot.
I think I did a fairly good job of extracting key business insights and didn’t get lost in numbers. I used the board effectively and laid out a storyboard for the presentation. What also helped was that when pushed to come up with more ideas, I did not give up, did not lose my cool and was continuously thinking on my feet
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: For a second I thought that the case of around assessing if the revenues of the company were reported correctly. So I wrote the formula:Revenues = No of students going of trips per year * Number of trips per students But after going astray for a min I realized that I have to estimate the total market size. Then the usual line of questioning of what is the population of UK – 60 Mn (given by interviewer) -> Assuming uniform distribution -> trips organized for people in the age group 7yrs – 15yrs (given) - > attenuate
further to estimate total number of people going for such trips - > further I asked if I should attenuate on affordability but it was not required.At this point I had forgot to question on the lines of number of trips per person and interviewer pointed this out. Thankfully, I had written it earlier in front of him and he was ok. We briefly chatted about my restaurant business and then interviewer asked if I had any questions. I asked how did he see Parthenon evolving and he explained that he still expected the office to be small but doing meaningful work.
Writing the formula early on helped not goof up. Didn’t get mired in a lot of detail
Could have remembered the other parameter
Tips: The simplicity of this case is actually what throws people off track. The case was simply about estimating the total market size of the outdoor trips industry and then assessing if the market share claimed = actual market share. So just be grounded in basics.
Round: Personal interview
Experience: We just discussed about my restaurant business. What went well and why did it not work. Then moving on to the viability of organized food services business but really no case. Just conversation.
I tried to point out to key business insights in a structured fashion. I disagreed a lot but was polite.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: After I was ready all the members of the interview panel came into the room and I started presenting. They agreed with the overall though process but the discussion ultimately hinged on why the production process is not cost effective. I pointed out to the economies of scale issue but was shot down. I pointed out to operational inefficiencies but was shot down. We were going round and round on this and it was really late in the night. But I forced myself to think from a fresh perspective
after taking a break of one min. I realized that there is an issue of learning curve here (Economics of strategy, competitive strategy – competitive advantage of Intel) which I presented. The discussion abruptly ended there as interviewer was specifically looking for this insight and I was made an offer on the spot.
I think I did a fairly good job of extracting key business insights and didn’t get lost in numbers. I used the board effectively and laid out a storyboard for the presentation. What also helped was that when pushed to come up with more ideas, I did not give up, did not lose my cool and was continuously thinking on my feet
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Walk-in
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. P&G has acquired Gillette and is looking for cost reduction across logistics & supply chain. How would you advise them?
- Q2. How would you leverage E&Y strengths to help telecom companies grow their enterprise business?
- Q3. What are the 2 key areas that would help Indian IT companies remain competitive
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked a couple of clarifying questions: Does P&G manufacture/market shaving products? Answer: No. Is the integration complete (I got a vague response for this)? Are we defining a strategy for short term or long term? Answer: Both I then classified 3 areas of cost reduction: Sourcing, Manufacturing & Distribution. I also mentioned that we need to take 2 perspectives on each cost reduction measure: Operations View: Operationally how feasible is achieving cost reduction and a Strategic View: What are the strategic implications of the cost cutting measure Once I got affirmation of my structure I proceeded to identify the various broad level levers we could adopt. Sourcing: Rationalize the supplier portfolio, renegotiate contracts and allocate more to those who provide better rates Manufacturing; Consolidate manufacturing if P&G plants can produce Gillette goods. It turned out that only packaging could be consolidated as Gillette goods need specialized machinery that P&G does not have. Also P&G due to its larger size can have economies of scale in maintenance Distribution: I was asked to get deep into details regarding a couple of items and this is where I stumbled a bit. I believe the normal case preparation only lets you get a 30,000 foot overview of the situation. Since EnY also does implementation one must depart from a strategic view and address how these measures can be actually implemented. After all this, I ended the case by suggesting the use of a matrix to plot all measures. The X-axis would be amount of cost reduction that can be achieved and Y-axis would be ease of implementation.
Tips: Firms like EnY, Deloitte hire you as consultants for a specific vertical so you need to demonstrate fit in the resume, EoI and interview. It may be good to inquire about specific projects/expertise they have in the vertical of your choice and coming up with examples to demonstrate how your experience will be helpful.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: 1) I said we can leverage our domain expertise to recommend innovative business models to telecom companies that involve triple-play, quadruple-play of services. We can see which model provides greatest benefits and suggest that our client use that. Our implementation focus can also help us
2) For this question, I took the conservative approach and was not very creative. I said that the 2 key areas are: driving innovation and controlling attrition.
Tips: When the interview is with people at the partner level, they become more like conversations. In my experience, in such cases the interviewer is looking for cut and dry responses and not the traditional rehearsed answers. Also, they look for a practical approach to problem solving and a passion for consulting.
Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: I asked a couple of clarifying questions: Does P&G manufacture/market shaving products? Answer: No. Is the integration complete (I got a vague response for this)? Are we defining a strategy for short term or long term? Answer: Both I then classified 3 areas of cost reduction: Sourcing, Manufacturing & Distribution. I also mentioned that we need to take 2 perspectives on each cost reduction measure: Operations View: Operationally how feasible is achieving cost reduction and a Strategic View: What are the strategic implications of the cost cutting measure Once I got affirmation of my structure I proceeded to identify the various broad level levers we could adopt. Sourcing: Rationalize the supplier portfolio, renegotiate contracts and allocate more to those who provide better rates Manufacturing; Consolidate manufacturing if P&G plants can produce Gillette goods. It turned out that only packaging could be consolidated as Gillette goods need specialized machinery that P&G does not have. Also P&G due to its larger size can have economies of scale in maintenance Distribution: I was asked to get deep into details regarding a couple of items and this is where I stumbled a bit. I believe the normal case preparation only lets you get a 30,000 foot overview of the situation. Since EnY also does implementation one must depart from a strategic view and address how these measures can be actually implemented. After all this, I ended the case by suggesting the use of a matrix to plot all measures. The X-axis would be amount of cost reduction that can be achieved and Y-axis would be ease of implementation.
Tips: Firms like EnY, Deloitte hire you as consultants for a specific vertical so you need to demonstrate fit in the resume, EoI and interview. It may be good to inquire about specific projects/expertise they have in the vertical of your choice and coming up with examples to demonstrate how your experience will be helpful.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: 1) I said we can leverage our domain expertise to recommend innovative business models to telecom companies that involve triple-play, quadruple-play of services. We can see which model provides greatest benefits and suggest that our client use that. Our implementation focus can also help us
2) For this question, I took the conservative approach and was not very creative. I said that the 2 key areas are: driving innovation and controlling attrition.
Tips: When the interview is with people at the partner level, they become more like conversations. In my experience, in such cases the interviewer is looking for cut and dry responses and not the traditional rehearsed answers. Also, they look for a practical approach to problem solving and a passion for consulting.
Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Walk-in
1 Interview Round
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: HR Interview
Experience: Most of the questions were around school education as E&Y asked candidates to fill up forms on schooling. I was also asked to state my understanding of role. This led to further questioning on verticals I would like to work on? I guess candidate was expected to clearly state his/her choice and later on show the sound understanding of that vertical. To gauge some general awareness I was asked to give my views on latest boom in retailing and give the name of one company which would win in long run (with reason). I answered this question using some macroeconomic model and quoted Reliance as the clear winner.
Tips: Stay calm and be yourself.
Skills: Personality
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Most of the questions were around school education as E&Y asked candidates to fill up forms on schooling. I was also asked to state my understanding of role. This led to further questioning on verticals I would like to work on? I guess candidate was expected to clearly state his/her choice and later on show the sound understanding of that vertical. To gauge some general awareness I was asked to give my views on latest boom in retailing and give the name of one company which would win in long run (with reason). I answered this question using some macroeconomic model and quoted Reliance as the clear winner.
Tips: Stay calm and be yourself.
Skills: Personality
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Walk-in
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. A real estate developer is trying to evaluate a project to construct an environment friendly building and he wants to seek your opinion of whether to take the p...read more
- Q2. Our client is an auto manufacture and is looking for entering into car financing option. We need to help our client with first whether he should enter into this...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Basic clarification: How are environment friendly building different from normal construction. Basically all the raw materials used to construct will have lesser footprint. These raw materials are readily available at slightly higher price and hence there is no issue with them.What are the objectives of the client from this project? He said what do you think? I mentioned the impacts of such projects are both financial as well as from strategic. I took some time and laid down the following structure Financial: Compared the NPV of this project with the regular project Laid down the entire cash flow statement from boththe projects. Strategic Measure: Impact on brand of the client, impact on the customer base that the client will attract, extension of this environment friendly project to other parts of client’s business, kind of government support that client can gather. Risk associated with this project Once I discussed this structure with Sachin, he started giving me some numbers to calculate the NPV of both the projects (Sorry I do not remember numbers but cash flows from environment friendly building were coming better). I calculated the cash flow for both the projects. Then I told Sachin that cost of capital for both these projects would be different. He mentioned it is true and then we had a long discussion on why environmental building will be more risky. He said right now we might not be able to estimate the risks, so in absence of risk how can we find if we can take the project or not. During our discussion on the risk involved with the project, we found various components of risk. I mentioned we can take base case of normal projects for all those components (basically calculate sensitivity of cash flows on project specific risk) and we did that and found that still environmental project was better. Then we had discussion on the strategic implication of these projects, primarily the one which I had already listed on my initial structure.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This interview had some graphs, I might not be able to reproduce them. But will try my best to give inferences of those graphs. Felix started with showing me the value chain of entire automobile industry. And told in which part of the value chain our client operates: R&D, Manufacturing, After sales.. Client was not in Dealers, insurance and car financing. He asked me to calculate the potential car financing market. I told him we will first calculate the total cars that are needed by US markets and then find out average price of cars sold in US and then see what percentage of people take car financing and also up to what percentage of total car price. He was happy that I mentioned percentage part as most of the times customers make certain payments from their savings. We followed standard method of calculating number of cars, started with number of households and then dissected it across income group which can afford cars. He told me that approximately 90% household in US can afford cars and on average there are 2 cars per households. We came up with some number, but I told him that this number is the stock of car in US. Annual sale of new cars would be dependent on average life of the car and percentage of old car market in US. He asked me to ignore old car market, and told average age of a car is 12 years. He gave me some numbers of the price of the car and % upfront payment. I mentioned that this is the total size of the car financing market, but actual profit that our client will make from this business is dependent on clients market share and the spread of the loans (mainly his cost of borrowing and his rate of borrowing). This was the point where he mentioned I am doing extremely well with numbers, now lets move on to the strategy part. He showed me few graphs which compared the spread of our clients car financing and spread of other loans available in market ( house loans and others.. I am currently forgetting rest). But the spread of car financing was about 0.2% and total profit that the client will make per by using car financing was somewhere around 38$ per car. I mentioned to Felix that this on the face of this looks very small profit, but car financing business can help us in acquiring new customers and the client can make money through that. Then based on the graphs and the discussion till now, he asked me to make 3 recommendations. I told him a) Client can get into joint venture with some banks and decrease its cost of borrowing as banks balance sheet might be stronger than our client. b) Cross sell various other loans like house loans c) I am forgetting third one. Then Felix clicked next on his power point presentation and showed these were the exact recommendations he made to his client. Then we again chatted for sometime about his experience with India and then he mentioned to me that I have cracked the case, he just need to check with my previous interviewer.
Tips: Make sure interview flow like a logical discussion, and try to interact with the partners when they come to campus. Familiarity with the interviewer helps a lot.
Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Basic clarification: How are environment friendly building different from normal construction. Basically all the raw materials used to construct will have lesser footprint. These raw materials are readily available at slightly higher price and hence there is no issue with them.What are the objectives of the client from this project? He said what do you think? I mentioned the impacts of such projects are both financial as well as from strategic. I took some time and laid down the following structure Financial: Compared the NPV of this project with the regular project Laid down the entire cash flow statement from boththe projects. Strategic Measure: Impact on brand of the client, impact on the customer base that the client will attract, extension of this environment friendly project to other parts of client’s business, kind of government support that client can gather. Risk associated with this project Once I discussed this structure with Sachin, he started giving me some numbers to calculate the NPV of both the projects (Sorry I do not remember numbers but cash flows from environment friendly building were coming better). I calculated the cash flow for both the projects. Then I told Sachin that cost of capital for both these projects would be different. He mentioned it is true and then we had a long discussion on why environmental building will be more risky. He said right now we might not be able to estimate the risks, so in absence of risk how can we find if we can take the project or not. During our discussion on the risk involved with the project, we found various components of risk. I mentioned we can take base case of normal projects for all those components (basically calculate sensitivity of cash flows on project specific risk) and we did that and found that still environmental project was better. Then we had discussion on the strategic implication of these projects, primarily the one which I had already listed on my initial structure.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This interview had some graphs, I might not be able to reproduce them. But will try my best to give inferences of those graphs. Felix started with showing me the value chain of entire automobile industry. And told in which part of the value chain our client operates: R&D, Manufacturing, After sales.. Client was not in Dealers, insurance and car financing. He asked me to calculate the potential car financing market. I told him we will first calculate the total cars that are needed by US markets and then find out average price of cars sold in US and then see what percentage of people take car financing and also up to what percentage of total car price. He was happy that I mentioned percentage part as most of the times customers make certain payments from their savings. We followed standard method of calculating number of cars, started with number of households and then dissected it across income group which can afford cars. He told me that approximately 90% household in US can afford cars and on average there are 2 cars per households. We came up with some number, but I told him that this number is the stock of car in US. Annual sale of new cars would be dependent on average life of the car and percentage of old car market in US. He asked me to ignore old car market, and told average age of a car is 12 years. He gave me some numbers of the price of the car and % upfront payment. I mentioned that this is the total size of the car financing market, but actual profit that our client will make from this business is dependent on clients market share and the spread of the loans (mainly his cost of borrowing and his rate of borrowing). This was the point where he mentioned I am doing extremely well with numbers, now lets move on to the strategy part. He showed me few graphs which compared the spread of our clients car financing and spread of other loans available in market ( house loans and others.. I am currently forgetting rest). But the spread of car financing was about 0.2% and total profit that the client will make per by using car financing was somewhere around 38$ per car. I mentioned to Felix that this on the face of this looks very small profit, but car financing business can help us in acquiring new customers and the client can make money through that. Then based on the graphs and the discussion till now, he asked me to make 3 recommendations. I told him a) Client can get into joint venture with some banks and decrease its cost of borrowing as banks balance sheet might be stronger than our client. b) Cross sell various other loans like house loans c) I am forgetting third one. Then Felix clicked next on his power point presentation and showed these were the exact recommendations he made to his client. Then we again chatted for sometime about his experience with India and then he mentioned to me that I have cracked the case, he just need to check with my previous interviewer.
Tips: Make sure interview flow like a logical discussion, and try to interact with the partners when they come to campus. Familiarity with the interviewer helps a lot.
Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Walk-in
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Girls on the manufacturing floor”
- Q2. Manufacturing as a career
- Q3. Why MBA?
- Q4. Why ISB?
- Q5. “there is a company in the telecom sector and has a product “X” – this X is a necessity in telecom and the company has been making good profits for the last 4 y...read more
- Q6. “”Our client is in telecom, profitability is at 10% and they want 25%.. what should they do? ”
- Q7. “Tata is coming with nano, what do you think it’s a threat or an opportunity for other players in the market..”
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked him about the product X? and how important it is for the telecom service providers? is it a big part of their costs ? – he said some arbit stuff – this was a hint that it was a bigger overall strategy case and not into details – so I defined the case as – the CEO wants to know, what to do to increase the profits both in short and long term – he said yes - I immediately moved to the standard profit loss framework and started looking at revenue first - he said OK – I said profit = Price* Quantity and went to pricing... he had said that the telecom service providers were not very sensitive to pricing in the business.. so I dint come to reducing the pricing... I asked about the competitive landscape – our client is 35% business... it went on and on an on ..... could not reach anywhere.. so we went to costs... discussed everything.. excess capacity.. joint ventures.. MnA,..still nothing..so he said.(the discussion was a very intelligent substance discussion.. not general profit loss cases.). – we had a great discussion on both prices and quantity,, why don’t u see decreasing the price – I said.. “ooooooo I thot of it, but then u said that the players are insensitive to price “ - he said “ they WERE, the whole industry as I told u is seeing some problems” – PICK UP THE HINTS... -- once he said this I went to the cost structure of the firm again – I said that our client can play price war only if a) his variable costs are lower than competitors variable costs and he is playing on high investment low variable cost model (reliance model) – he said YES it is exactly this way – I said OK , then let him price X above his variable cost but below the others variable costs and drive the competition away. – I also said, to speeden this up he should in fact price it lower than his variable costs also (extremely low and he can afford it because he has cash with him as he has been on 40% profits for the last 4 – 5 years.. so there should not be an issue on the working capital side – he sair “great” .. he wanted to stop and asked me to summarize the case.. – I summarized the case, and also gave some more ideas like .. seeing the cost and benefit of doing away with excess capacity rite now and adding again when the market is doing good, buying high fixed cost players in the sector.. etcc etc.. a lot more.. – he patiently listened to everything Then he asked me if I had anything to ask him? I asked similar question as I asked in Mck – “ has India become a net contributor to the knowledge base..- he told me about low cost Indian manufacturing.. I said cool... and he said super cool!
Tips: a) work on your resume b) Make the resume in such a way that irrespective of whatever – the you are able to guide the interviewer to THE thing you want to talk about – link all answers to that DO NOT OVERPREPARE – DON’T LOOSE YOUR NATURAL SELF
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Upfront questions – where in the value chain? – ans.. they make towers and maintain them .. and into providing services too.—so I asked details on the portfolio of services and portfolio of work of tower etc. – he gave me everything including margins.. so margins in tower making etc were low – I asked him if he is sure that its not just an accounting issue.—he appreciated the point and said .. no, they do ABC and might be small accounting issues but not really one—I said ok.. and moved on to profitability framework .. revenue – costs --- so I said we will look at the tower making etc.. (pareto) – he said perfect.. – went to revenue... he hinted therez nothing there , I said great! Jumped to costs (didn’t waste time at all) - asked him costs heads .. he gave the following .. – a) Tower making, b) people c) administration (I don’t remember the terminology correctly but the remember the discussion) Discussion on tower making – I said “ so Navneet, what does it include” – he said making and servicing and maintaining and some back office work – so I said following can be wrong (BE CREATIVE, I started throwing solutions/ideas) (i) are the people skilled? Know how much material are they using (extra material = extra cost) (ii) is the quality of material too high (more than required quality increases the costs) (iii) is there rework happening? – are people good?(iv) What kind of designs are there – he said there are various different types of designs – I asked why? – he said no one knows – I said .. are they required? – he said , no – I said then standardize the design! He looked happy – so I started throwing more ! – he said no, lets move on to other ones Discussion on people – people cost = wage * numbera) are outsourced people expensive – yes they are – are they doing some specialized job? – not really, they can be replaced – then replace them b) can we multiskill people – yeah we can – then do that! c) Can we move our service centers to low cost destinations – yes we can d) Can we reallocate people to reduce number of people – yes we can – but can we fire them? – are they unionized? – yes they are and he appreciated the point that I touched upon the fact that the unions are tough to handle ( learning : know your industry, small things can make you win the case Discussion on administration a) planning happening ok? – no – so scheduling, audits have to be done again and again (I did not come up with this point alone. It was a result of a thorough discussion .
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: i said – its an opportunity (no structure , we were taking a walk after all) because it opens up a full market – he said ‘ what shud the competitors do” – I kept on saying a lot of things... - they should lobby with government to stop this .. bla bla bla bla – the discussion was round and round and round.. I was tired with my high heels—then suddenly I said – Arvind can you tell me if I am on the right track ? , am little tired – he smiled and said, ok I again ask you “ what can they do to stop the nano or get ready for the market” – this statement gave me clarity and I said “ ok we can stop nano from coming, or do some other stuff” – he said great , so lets discuss both one by one – (remember that once you asked for clarity then you have to crack the rest of the case, else you are dead) –so I picked up stopping nano to hit the market discussion on stopping Nano to hit the market –
(i) demand side hit – lobby with the activists and say that the infrastructure isn’t ready and hence nano should not be allowed ( he liked it)
(ii) demand side hit -Increase the advertisements on how “Indians have to be sensitive about infrastructure” ( he liked it)
(iii) supply side hit – can we buy out the suppliers? – can we promise them some other meat? – like get them under long term agreements etc
(iv) Supply side hit – can we buy out the low cost suppliers to tatas ( I told them, that my thinking was to stop providing necessary materil that gets into nana
(v) Supply side – can we buy their engineers
(vi) And some more discussion, I don’t quite remember .but ya on similar lines What else they can do till they develop their own low cost (i) can they give fire to second hand car market ( as this is the immediate competition to nano) (ii) he kept on probing me on public transport till I said – why cant they collaborate with the government and make the public transport so easy and good and safe that people don’t need nano! BINGO.. ( he loved it- tho he only got that in my head – amazing guide he is) he still looked dissatisfied and asked me there is something else that is missing.. – something that is a real threat to the competitors of tatas. – we kept on discussing, till I suddenly remembered the team that made the engine is of 30 years average age (READ THE CURRENT ISSUES, IT HELPS BUILD PERSPECTIVE) – so I said “ they have the engineering skills, which can be used to enter other segments (like they can make cheaper engines for indigo .. or come up with new car in ford Ikon category etc).. and this resource is just too good! – BINGO
Tips: a) Be genuine b) Be grounded c) Be yourself d) Be confident e) Be transparent f) Be blunt (but carry it ) g) Connect with the interviewer – genuinely h) Be aware of the current issues
Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: I asked him about the product X? and how important it is for the telecom service providers? is it a big part of their costs ? – he said some arbit stuff – this was a hint that it was a bigger overall strategy case and not into details – so I defined the case as – the CEO wants to know, what to do to increase the profits both in short and long term – he said yes - I immediately moved to the standard profit loss framework and started looking at revenue first - he said OK – I said profit = Price* Quantity and went to pricing... he had said that the telecom service providers were not very sensitive to pricing in the business.. so I dint come to reducing the pricing... I asked about the competitive landscape – our client is 35% business... it went on and on an on ..... could not reach anywhere.. so we went to costs... discussed everything.. excess capacity.. joint ventures.. MnA,..still nothing..so he said.(the discussion was a very intelligent substance discussion.. not general profit loss cases.). – we had a great discussion on both prices and quantity,, why don’t u see decreasing the price – I said.. “ooooooo I thot of it, but then u said that the players are insensitive to price “ - he said “ they WERE, the whole industry as I told u is seeing some problems” – PICK UP THE HINTS... -- once he said this I went to the cost structure of the firm again – I said that our client can play price war only if a) his variable costs are lower than competitors variable costs and he is playing on high investment low variable cost model (reliance model) – he said YES it is exactly this way – I said OK , then let him price X above his variable cost but below the others variable costs and drive the competition away. – I also said, to speeden this up he should in fact price it lower than his variable costs also (extremely low and he can afford it because he has cash with him as he has been on 40% profits for the last 4 – 5 years.. so there should not be an issue on the working capital side – he sair “great” .. he wanted to stop and asked me to summarize the case.. – I summarized the case, and also gave some more ideas like .. seeing the cost and benefit of doing away with excess capacity rite now and adding again when the market is doing good, buying high fixed cost players in the sector.. etcc etc.. a lot more.. – he patiently listened to everything Then he asked me if I had anything to ask him? I asked similar question as I asked in Mck – “ has India become a net contributor to the knowledge base..- he told me about low cost Indian manufacturing.. I said cool... and he said super cool!
Tips: a) work on your resume b) Make the resume in such a way that irrespective of whatever – the you are able to guide the interviewer to THE thing you want to talk about – link all answers to that DO NOT OVERPREPARE – DON’T LOOSE YOUR NATURAL SELF
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Upfront questions – where in the value chain? – ans.. they make towers and maintain them .. and into providing services too.—so I asked details on the portfolio of services and portfolio of work of tower etc. – he gave me everything including margins.. so margins in tower making etc were low – I asked him if he is sure that its not just an accounting issue.—he appreciated the point and said .. no, they do ABC and might be small accounting issues but not really one—I said ok.. and moved on to profitability framework .. revenue – costs --- so I said we will look at the tower making etc.. (pareto) – he said perfect.. – went to revenue... he hinted therez nothing there , I said great! Jumped to costs (didn’t waste time at all) - asked him costs heads .. he gave the following .. – a) Tower making, b) people c) administration (I don’t remember the terminology correctly but the remember the discussion) Discussion on tower making – I said “ so Navneet, what does it include” – he said making and servicing and maintaining and some back office work – so I said following can be wrong (BE CREATIVE, I started throwing solutions/ideas) (i) are the people skilled? Know how much material are they using (extra material = extra cost) (ii) is the quality of material too high (more than required quality increases the costs) (iii) is there rework happening? – are people good?(iv) What kind of designs are there – he said there are various different types of designs – I asked why? – he said no one knows – I said .. are they required? – he said , no – I said then standardize the design! He looked happy – so I started throwing more ! – he said no, lets move on to other ones Discussion on people – people cost = wage * numbera) are outsourced people expensive – yes they are – are they doing some specialized job? – not really, they can be replaced – then replace them b) can we multiskill people – yeah we can – then do that! c) Can we move our service centers to low cost destinations – yes we can d) Can we reallocate people to reduce number of people – yes we can – but can we fire them? – are they unionized? – yes they are and he appreciated the point that I touched upon the fact that the unions are tough to handle ( learning : know your industry, small things can make you win the case Discussion on administration a) planning happening ok? – no – so scheduling, audits have to be done again and again (I did not come up with this point alone. It was a result of a thorough discussion .
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: i said – its an opportunity (no structure , we were taking a walk after all) because it opens up a full market – he said ‘ what shud the competitors do” – I kept on saying a lot of things... - they should lobby with government to stop this .. bla bla bla bla – the discussion was round and round and round.. I was tired with my high heels—then suddenly I said – Arvind can you tell me if I am on the right track ? , am little tired – he smiled and said, ok I again ask you “ what can they do to stop the nano or get ready for the market” – this statement gave me clarity and I said “ ok we can stop nano from coming, or do some other stuff” – he said great , so lets discuss both one by one – (remember that once you asked for clarity then you have to crack the rest of the case, else you are dead) –so I picked up stopping nano to hit the market discussion on stopping Nano to hit the market –
(i) demand side hit – lobby with the activists and say that the infrastructure isn’t ready and hence nano should not be allowed ( he liked it)
(ii) demand side hit -Increase the advertisements on how “Indians have to be sensitive about infrastructure” ( he liked it)
(iii) supply side hit – can we buy out the suppliers? – can we promise them some other meat? – like get them under long term agreements etc
(iv) Supply side hit – can we buy out the low cost suppliers to tatas ( I told them, that my thinking was to stop providing necessary materil that gets into nana
(v) Supply side – can we buy their engineers
(vi) And some more discussion, I don’t quite remember .but ya on similar lines What else they can do till they develop their own low cost (i) can they give fire to second hand car market ( as this is the immediate competition to nano) (ii) he kept on probing me on public transport till I said – why cant they collaborate with the government and make the public transport so easy and good and safe that people don’t need nano! BINGO.. ( he loved it- tho he only got that in my head – amazing guide he is) he still looked dissatisfied and asked me there is something else that is missing.. – something that is a real threat to the competitors of tatas. – we kept on discussing, till I suddenly remembered the team that made the engine is of 30 years average age (READ THE CURRENT ISSUES, IT HELPS BUILD PERSPECTIVE) – so I said “ they have the engineering skills, which can be used to enter other segments (like they can make cheaper engines for indigo .. or come up with new car in ford Ikon category etc).. and this resource is just too good! – BINGO
Tips: a) Be genuine b) Be grounded c) Be yourself d) Be confident e) Be transparent f) Be blunt (but carry it ) g) Connect with the interviewer – genuinely h) Be aware of the current issues
Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
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