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 Referral
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: We started the interview with a 3-4 minute chat about how painful it can be in the morning to travel and start working right away (He had just arrived).
He then quizzed me about leadership instances at work and in academic career; then I took him into what he believed leadership was. We had a long chat about why leadership was important in consulting. We also spoke about how I was to translate a very explicit form of leadership displayed at work (I was leading operations in a factory) to an implicit environment (like consulting). We talked about what leadership skills are transferable and ones which are not.
The case was about a global heavy vehicle manufacturer. The firm was planning to enter India; my job was to devise a strategy for it. A simple case to begin with I thought, but I knew very well that the challenges are higher in a simple case.
I started off with a simple framework (nothing great, decided the marketing mix and the way to enter – organic was the better route). I also identified the capabilities of the manufacturer that could be transferred to this setting. This went on for about 10 minutes. Here it was important to structure the problem well, following a MECE structure. I also shared some experience of a project with him that we had done in Competitive strategy project that we had done on cars and shared some uniqueness of thenIndian market with him. I am not covering this in detail as it was pretty standard and I just had to do the basics right. Then he told me to size the truck market in India. I told him that I will follow the stock method of analysis, by which I will estimate the number of trucks currently in operation throughout India. Since I was doing a demand side analysis, I divided the trucks into
variable loads (where capacity utilization is less than equal to 100%) or fixed loads (construction equipment carriers, petrol loads, car containers, etc.). He said that they normally don’t do it this way but he wanted me to proceed as he found it interesting.
Then, he told me that he wanted me to do it for the car carriers for paucity of time. I went ahead and assumed a certain number of carriers that are bought every year (the number wasn’t important, I assumed 1000 for ease of analysis). I understood the supply chain from him and he explained the dealer system to me. Then, I told him that I will assume steady state, as in the number of cars sold are the number of cars manufactured and distributed. I then divided it as per the number of manufacturers, number and location of manufacturing locations, distance, speed distribution, capacity of trucks, capacity utilization, number of hours driven in a day, maintenance days and the average number of days that a truck is driven in a year to arrive at the number of trips made and hence, the number of trucks that were plying. It was important to note that the trucks generally came back completely empty. I also told him that the transporters will like to keep some number of trucks on a standby. He asked me to estimate that as well. I gave him a framework to analyze that. I gave him a framework depending on locations, routes, failure time and MTBFs. He was ok with that. The case was extremely quantitative and was very intensive numerically. I also did a sensitivity analysis on one of the
parameters showing him that the whole estimate was sensitive to a few parameters.
Then, I told him that if I link both the cases together, then it gives me an interesting sight into what value proposition the truck
manufacturer can give to the Indian transporters. I told him that let’s look at each of the variables that I had estimated earlier and
see whether we can reduce them. Then, I said that we can try to increase the mileage and increase the size of the truck as well. Then, I told him that both the things might be inversely related. It can also be done that the truck speed can be increased on the back journey. Maintenance days can be decreased. He asked me for a few creative recommendations, which I gave – I don’t really remember them now but the method was as stated above.
Then, he asked me for a feedback about the case and discussion overall. I told him about how different the case would have been
had the case between about variable loads. He was ok with it.
He then told me to ask him a question. I asked him about the project specifically and to what detail McKinsey went. I also asked him how McKinsey keeps a tab on how clients implement suggestions. The overall case lasted about 25 minutes. I then linked it with one of the questions asked in the personal interview. I told him that it is a challenge that line managers like us will face in a
consulting environment, wherein we do not necessarily get to implement. Then, I shared a few jokes that I had played with consultants (mostly technical) and how it might be my turn to be on the receiving end now.
Tips: I think the skill that was being tested here was how comfortable I was with the interviewer in the beginning. It was important to
engage him in a fruitful conversation that is argumentative but not confrontational. I think basic presence and communication skills were being tested here. Overall, the whole experience lasted about 10 minutes, and when he was convinced that I was comfortable enough, we went into the case.
It is important to be your natural self in the interview. Comfort with numbers is absolutely crucial. It is also important that when using creativity, structure should not be lost. Never shoot ideas of the hat, always be structured. It is important to see and address the body language of the interviewer. The basic thing that works is that one should focus on bringing out one’s strengths in the interview. My strengths lay in creativity, structuring and quick calculations (which I specifically tried to bring out in the interview). Your strengths (preparation will yield that) could be very different and you should try to bring them out. It is very important to remain cool after the interview since one might get a feeling that he’s not done well but the results could be just the other way round!
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: We started the interview with a conversation about my career at IIT and my times in Cuttack (Orissa), my hometown. He was hooked onto my JEE rank and asked me why the number was unique. I don’t think he wanted a particularly great answer but he wanted to check my ability to think on my feet. He asked to give him 5 different uniquenesses.
He also asked me why Cuttack wasn’t doing as well as a Bhubaneswar. To this I replied taking geographic, political, cultural and economic reasons into account. We then discussed about my Summer Project with Reckitt Benckiser (this was an automation project with a FMCG major). He asked me to explain the labor implications of implementing automation. He then went ahead to ask me my experiences in dealing with unionized labor at ITC. He was also interested in one of the papers that I had written about
BOP and presented at XLRI. This was about how to bring your best people to the BOP. He asked me to explain the paper and then told me to explain how useful it can be to the corporate world. My observation had told me that he was very practical and won’t like flowery answers that this is the idea of the millennium! I gave him all the strengths and weaknesses of the idea (and real ground level ones) in implementation.
After that he asked me why I was looking forward to a consulting career. I told him that it links well to my long term goal, which is
leading a NGO. I told him that this is one of the reasons that McKinsey stands out for me as a firm, with all the public policy and
pro-bono work. We discussed a bit about India’s policy change from the ‘50s to the ‘70s. I gave him some funda about what I had
seen in the Commanding Heights video, though he was doing most of the talking.
He was visibly happy with the fact that I said public policy (Later I realized that he specializes in public policy at McK) and told me
that he will give me a case on it. The whole experience lasted 15 minutes.
He started off the case asking me what I knew about the Bharat Nirman Project. I told him that my knowledge is limited to what I have read in the papers over the past few weeks and I do not know in detail about it. He told me that this case will enhance my
learning about the challenges facing somebody working in public policy.
The case was about rural electrification. He said the objective of the central government has now shifted to putting an electric bulb in every Indian home by Feb, 2008. He asked me how the Government should go about it.
I started off telling him that the idea looked unrealistic to me. Assuming that 1 billion is the Indian population and 65% lived in
villages, 650 million is the current rural population. Assuming that there are 5 members per rural household, there are 130 million
households. Then assuming that 30% of rural India is electrified, 91 million households remain. We just have two years, which is
approximately 700 days. Even if we work throughout, 1.3 lakh households have to be electrified every day. This is by no means
easy. Add to this fact that there is huge geographic dispersion and the current state of the SEBs, the plan looks nonviable. I told him that I found it impractical. To this he replied saying that most public policy projects are such. They lack thinking about the design phase itself. He asked me to go ahead with the problem assuming it is doable.
I approached the problem saying that I would see the project from three standpoints – economic, organizational and operational. On the operational point, I would divide the project into generation and T&D phases. On the economic standpoint, I would look at the ways and means to fund this project. On the organizational front, I would like to see who would own this project. Here, he told me that the question should not be treated like any other consulting case and he is looking for completely creative solutions.
I asked him whether I should go ahead with the analysis the way I had structured or he wanted me to do something different. He
replied that he is looking for specifically the Generation area. I told him that when it comes to generation, there are four issues
that need to be looked at – Performance of conventional energy generation units, New conventional energy units, isolated units and non-conventional sources of energy. He said that I should discuss the non-conventional energy sources first.
I told him that I was aware of solar, wind and bagas (sugarcane by product). He asked me to describe the economics of Solar. I showed it to him that at the current rate, it’s unprofitable. Then, we went to Wind energy. I told him that the issues to look for
here are technology, fixed costs and practical viability (availability of areas) where they can be installed. We discussed each one of
them in greater detail from then on.
I told him that when it comes to buying technology, it would be very costly and technology transfer has to be on a mutual basis.
Then, we went it to the details of the windmill technology and its advantages in the Indian context. He was doing most of the talking here.
He asked me to do a commercial evaluation of all these technologies. I did the same considering three parameters – speed (because the industry has an external effect), cost and future viability (to incorporate learning curve effects). After shedding
some light on each one of them, he asked me to move on to the funding aspect in generation.
I told him that the money here can be drawn from four areas – government, Indian private, Foreign players and debtors. I told him how each one of them was different (most of the logic was thought on the spot). We then discussed about the amount of privatization that should be allowed. I was of the opinion that wherever private participation is allowed, it should be in both R&D and generation. Having only one of them was not of any use. He didn’t agree to it and he was of the opinion that we weren’t ready yet. We closed the interview on an argumentative note.
He asked me to ask a question at the end. I asked him what kind of persuasive powers consultants enjoy when it comes to public policy projects. He smiled and gave me a lot of insight into public policy consulting. He appreciated the fact at the end of the interview that I could make people talk. The whole experience lasted close to 20 mins.
Tips: Keep your cool. Show a good understanding of the things happening around you (may not be knowledge, but an opinion usually helps). Do not try to throw facts when they amount to nothing!
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: He asked me about the problems that dealing with a union entails. There were a few more specific questions about my resume, in
which I had to describe the work I did. I spoke for some time – maybe 2 minutes.
Then he asked me the kind of preparation that our batch had done for consulting. I gave him some feedback about how the interview workshop process done by McKinsey could have been better and how different it was from other colleges (stressing on poor institutional memory and ways to deal with it). He asked me what my last case was about. When I told him that it was about public policy and I had like it. He said that he also wanted me to do a case in that. The whole conversation lasted close to a little over 10 minutes.
An extremely short case. It lasted less than 10 minutes. He asked me what a government could do to improve the banking
policy of a third-world country. To begin with, I told him that there is no generic answer and the policy has to be case specific. I also told him that I got a feeling that he was speaking from personal experience.
He said that I was right and asked me to take the case of Bahrain. He asked me what I knew about Bahrain and its banking industry. I told him that I knew it was a Muslim country and was staunch in protecting Muslim values (I used to collect stamps; I knew that they did not have a word of English – I told him that).
Then he gave me a good overview about Bahrain (lot of tangential stuff) and told me that the Finance minister was worried that the industry might lose it. He told me it was majorly into fostering corporate banks.
To begin with I told him that it was a case of B2B marketing and banks would stay if they get a good value proposition in Bahrain.
But then, if they get a better value proposition elsewhere, they’ll shift. He said I was right and asked me to think ahead. I asked him who these banks were. He told me that they were the Middle East bases of MNC banks. I asked him why the banks were there in the first case. He told me that it was centrally located and had liberal laws. I analyzed the geography and told him that what struck me was the fact it was close to Dubai. I asked him why not Dubai?
He told me that there was an announcement by the Dubai officials that they would make their policies freer than Bahrain and would make it a free trading zone.
I inferred from this saying that this might be a symptom of the real issue but wasn’t the actual problem. To this, he agreed. I told him that first of all I need to analyze the Dubai threat more closely. I told him first that we need to establish whether Dubai’s threat is credible or not (look at their history and look at the economic impact). He asked me to assume that they can do it. Then, I told him to look at the value proposition (including the switching cost to Dubai – local knowledge, skill base) that Bahrain provides and compare to the value proposition that Dubai gives. I told him that it is important to keep a futuristic view in mind. Then, I told him that what strikes me about the case is the fact that in this industry, it is very important to build your local clientele and not rely on foreigners. He said fine.
Then, I quizzed him about how developed was Bahrain’s retail and corporate banking was. I told him that it would relate very closely to the economic development was in Bahrain.
I told him that I felt that the real issue with Bahrain was the fact that the industry relied too much on MNCs without first satisfying local demand. I told him that I would like to create a policy keeping this in mind.
He asked me to stop the interview then and there.
Tips: Thinking on your feet is extremely important at the beginning of the case. First think commonsensical and then get on to the regular consulting case analysis. One way of dealing with a person you know is to use your previous experience with him (in any which way).
Round: Other Interview
Experience: I was told at the beginning that I won’t have a case. He asked me to ask a few questions that I felt were relevant.
I asked him how McKinsey makes the environment conducive for knowledge sharing. He gave me a few inputs.
I told him what I had read about McKinsey’s knowledge management in a HBS case. He heard it attentively. He then gave me an idea about the state of affairs now and particularly in India. I asked him about how sharing gets linked to performance initiatives. I also asked him how other firms (esp. consulting) do it. He then asked me to narrate a few instances about ISB. I told him that any education program is incomplete without pranks. I told him a few pranks that I had played on a few friends in ISB (and vice versa).
Tips: Be your natural self and try to gauge the interviewer’s body language when telling a story.
General Tips: 1. One of the key facets is to make the case completely seamless, wherein you have to link both the PI and cases and both the cases together.
2. Structuring is very important.
3. The other thing is to make the interviewer comfortable.
4. Do not speak a little too much.
5. With seniors, I think it is very important to listen.
6. It is also important to observe as you go along the interview process that every interviewer is looking for a particular skill or dimension in your personality.
7. It is also important that whenever you give a radical thought, you should back it up by sound strong logic.
8. Control the interview.
9. A bit of formal attitude would help.
10
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: We started the interview with a 3-4 minute chat about how painful it can be in the morning to travel and start working right away (He had just arrived).
He then quizzed me about leadership instances at work and in academic career; then I took him into what he believed leadership was. We had a long chat about why leadership was important in consulting. We also spoke about how I was to translate a very explicit form of leadership displayed at work (I was leading operations in a factory) to an implicit environment (like consulting). We talked about what leadership skills are transferable and ones which are not.
The case was about a global heavy vehicle manufacturer. The firm was planning to enter India; my job was to devise a strategy for it. A simple case to begin with I thought, but I knew very well that the challenges are higher in a simple case.
I started off with a simple framework (nothing great, decided the marketing mix and the way to enter – organic was the better route). I also identified the capabilities of the manufacturer that could be transferred to this setting. This went on for about 10 minutes. Here it was important to structure the problem well, following a MECE structure. I also shared some experience of a project with him that we had done in Competitive strategy project that we had done on cars and shared some uniqueness of thenIndian market with him. I am not covering this in detail as it was pretty standard and I just had to do the basics right. Then he told me to size the truck market in India. I told him that I will follow the stock method of analysis, by which I will estimate the number of trucks currently in operation throughout India. Since I was doing a demand side analysis, I divided the trucks into
variable loads (where capacity utilization is less than equal to 100%) or fixed loads (construction equipment carriers, petrol loads, car containers, etc.). He said that they normally don’t do it this way but he wanted me to proceed as he found it interesting.
Then, he told me that he wanted me to do it for the car carriers for paucity of time. I went ahead and assumed a certain number of carriers that are bought every year (the number wasn’t important, I assumed 1000 for ease of analysis). I understood the supply chain from him and he explained the dealer system to me. Then, I told him that I will assume steady state, as in the number of cars sold are the number of cars manufactured and distributed. I then divided it as per the number of manufacturers, number and location of manufacturing locations, distance, speed distribution, capacity of trucks, capacity utilization, number of hours driven in a day, maintenance days and the average number of days that a truck is driven in a year to arrive at the number of trips made and hence, the number of trucks that were plying. It was important to note that the trucks generally came back completely empty. I also told him that the transporters will like to keep some number of trucks on a standby. He asked me to estimate that as well. I gave him a framework to analyze that. I gave him a framework depending on locations, routes, failure time and MTBFs. He was ok with that. The case was extremely quantitative and was very intensive numerically. I also did a sensitivity analysis on one of the
parameters showing him that the whole estimate was sensitive to a few parameters.
Then, I told him that if I link both the cases together, then it gives me an interesting sight into what value proposition the truck
manufacturer can give to the Indian transporters. I told him that let’s look at each of the variables that I had estimated earlier and
see whether we can reduce them. Then, I said that we can try to increase the mileage and increase the size of the truck as well. Then, I told him that both the things might be inversely related. It can also be done that the truck speed can be increased on the back journey. Maintenance days can be decreased. He asked me for a few creative recommendations, which I gave – I don’t really remember them now but the method was as stated above.
Then, he asked me for a feedback about the case and discussion overall. I told him about how different the case would have been
had the case between about variable loads. He was ok with it.
He then told me to ask him a question. I asked him about the project specifically and to what detail McKinsey went. I also asked him how McKinsey keeps a tab on how clients implement suggestions. The overall case lasted about 25 minutes. I then linked it with one of the questions asked in the personal interview. I told him that it is a challenge that line managers like us will face in a
consulting environment, wherein we do not necessarily get to implement. Then, I shared a few jokes that I had played with consultants (mostly technical) and how it might be my turn to be on the receiving end now.
Tips: I think the skill that was being tested here was how comfortable I was with the interviewer in the beginning. It was important to
engage him in a fruitful conversation that is argumentative but not confrontational. I think basic presence and communication skills were being tested here. Overall, the whole experience lasted about 10 minutes, and when he was convinced that I was comfortable enough, we went into the case.
It is important to be your natural self in the interview. Comfort with numbers is absolutely crucial. It is also important that when using creativity, structure should not be lost. Never shoot ideas of the hat, always be structured. It is important to see and address the body language of the interviewer. The basic thing that works is that one should focus on bringing out one’s strengths in the interview. My strengths lay in creativity, structuring and quick calculations (which I specifically tried to bring out in the interview). Your strengths (preparation will yield that) could be very different and you should try to bring them out. It is very important to remain cool after the interview since one might get a feeling that he’s not done well but the results could be just the other way round!
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: We started the interview with a conversation about my career at IIT and my times in Cuttack (Orissa), my hometown. He was hooked onto my JEE rank and asked me why the number was unique. I don’t think he wanted a particularly great answer but he wanted to check my ability to think on my feet. He asked to give him 5 different uniquenesses.
He also asked me why Cuttack wasn’t doing as well as a Bhubaneswar. To this I replied taking geographic, political, cultural and economic reasons into account. We then discussed about my Summer Project with Reckitt Benckiser (this was an automation project with a FMCG major). He asked me to explain the labor implications of implementing automation. He then went ahead to ask me my experiences in dealing with unionized labor at ITC. He was also interested in one of the papers that I had written about
BOP and presented at XLRI. This was about how to bring your best people to the BOP. He asked me to explain the paper and then told me to explain how useful it can be to the corporate world. My observation had told me that he was very practical and won’t like flowery answers that this is the idea of the millennium! I gave him all the strengths and weaknesses of the idea (and real ground level ones) in implementation.
After that he asked me why I was looking forward to a consulting career. I told him that it links well to my long term goal, which is
leading a NGO. I told him that this is one of the reasons that McKinsey stands out for me as a firm, with all the public policy and
pro-bono work. We discussed a bit about India’s policy change from the ‘50s to the ‘70s. I gave him some funda about what I had
seen in the Commanding Heights video, though he was doing most of the talking.
He was visibly happy with the fact that I said public policy (Later I realized that he specializes in public policy at McK) and told me
that he will give me a case on it. The whole experience lasted 15 minutes.
He started off the case asking me what I knew about the Bharat Nirman Project. I told him that my knowledge is limited to what I have read in the papers over the past few weeks and I do not know in detail about it. He told me that this case will enhance my
learning about the challenges facing somebody working in public policy.
The case was about rural electrification. He said the objective of the central government has now shifted to putting an electric bulb in every Indian home by Feb, 2008. He asked me how the Government should go about it.
I started off telling him that the idea looked unrealistic to me. Assuming that 1 billion is the Indian population and 65% lived in
villages, 650 million is the current rural population. Assuming that there are 5 members per rural household, there are 130 million
households. Then assuming that 30% of rural India is electrified, 91 million households remain. We just have two years, which is
approximately 700 days. Even if we work throughout, 1.3 lakh households have to be electrified every day. This is by no means
easy. Add to this fact that there is huge geographic dispersion and the current state of the SEBs, the plan looks nonviable. I told him that I found it impractical. To this he replied saying that most public policy projects are such. They lack thinking about the design phase itself. He asked me to go ahead with the problem assuming it is doable.
I approached the problem saying that I would see the project from three standpoints – economic, organizational and operational. On the operational point, I would divide the project into generation and T&D phases. On the economic standpoint, I would look at the ways and means to fund this project. On the organizational front, I would like to see who would own this project. Here, he told me that the question should not be treated like any other consulting case and he is looking for completely creative solutions.
I asked him whether I should go ahead with the analysis the way I had structured or he wanted me to do something different. He
replied that he is looking for specifically the Generation area. I told him that when it comes to generation, there are four issues
that need to be looked at – Performance of conventional energy generation units, New conventional energy units, isolated units and non-conventional sources of energy. He said that I should discuss the non-conventional energy sources first.
I told him that I was aware of solar, wind and bagas (sugarcane by product). He asked me to describe the economics of Solar. I showed it to him that at the current rate, it’s unprofitable. Then, we went to Wind energy. I told him that the issues to look for
here are technology, fixed costs and practical viability (availability of areas) where they can be installed. We discussed each one of
them in greater detail from then on.
I told him that when it comes to buying technology, it would be very costly and technology transfer has to be on a mutual basis.
Then, we went it to the details of the windmill technology and its advantages in the Indian context. He was doing most of the talking here.
He asked me to do a commercial evaluation of all these technologies. I did the same considering three parameters – speed (because the industry has an external effect), cost and future viability (to incorporate learning curve effects). After shedding
some light on each one of them, he asked me to move on to the funding aspect in generation.
I told him that the money here can be drawn from four areas – government, Indian private, Foreign players and debtors. I told him how each one of them was different (most of the logic was thought on the spot). We then discussed about the amount of privatization that should be allowed. I was of the opinion that wherever private participation is allowed, it should be in both R&D and generation. Having only one of them was not of any use. He didn’t agree to it and he was of the opinion that we weren’t ready yet. We closed the interview on an argumentative note.
He asked me to ask a question at the end. I asked him what kind of persuasive powers consultants enjoy when it comes to public policy projects. He smiled and gave me a lot of insight into public policy consulting. He appreciated the fact at the end of the interview that I could make people talk. The whole experience lasted close to 20 mins.
Tips: Keep your cool. Show a good understanding of the things happening around you (may not be knowledge, but an opinion usually helps). Do not try to throw facts when they amount to nothing!
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: He asked me about the problems that dealing with a union entails. There were a few more specific questions about my resume, in
which I had to describe the work I did. I spoke for some time – maybe 2 minutes.
Then he asked me the kind of preparation that our batch had done for consulting. I gave him some feedback about how the interview workshop process done by McKinsey could have been better and how different it was from other colleges (stressing on poor institutional memory and ways to deal with it). He asked me what my last case was about. When I told him that it was about public policy and I had like it. He said that he also wanted me to do a case in that. The whole conversation lasted close to a little over 10 minutes.
An extremely short case. It lasted less than 10 minutes. He asked me what a government could do to improve the banking
policy of a third-world country. To begin with, I told him that there is no generic answer and the policy has to be case specific. I also told him that I got a feeling that he was speaking from personal experience.
He said that I was right and asked me to take the case of Bahrain. He asked me what I knew about Bahrain and its banking industry. I told him that I knew it was a Muslim country and was staunch in protecting Muslim values (I used to collect stamps; I knew that they did not have a word of English – I told him that).
Then he gave me a good overview about Bahrain (lot of tangential stuff) and told me that the Finance minister was worried that the industry might lose it. He told me it was majorly into fostering corporate banks.
To begin with I told him that it was a case of B2B marketing and banks would stay if they get a good value proposition in Bahrain.
But then, if they get a better value proposition elsewhere, they’ll shift. He said I was right and asked me to think ahead. I asked him who these banks were. He told me that they were the Middle East bases of MNC banks. I asked him why the banks were there in the first case. He told me that it was centrally located and had liberal laws. I analyzed the geography and told him that what struck me was the fact it was close to Dubai. I asked him why not Dubai?
He told me that there was an announcement by the Dubai officials that they would make their policies freer than Bahrain and would make it a free trading zone.
I inferred from this saying that this might be a symptom of the real issue but wasn’t the actual problem. To this, he agreed. I told him that first of all I need to analyze the Dubai threat more closely. I told him first that we need to establish whether Dubai’s threat is credible or not (look at their history and look at the economic impact). He asked me to assume that they can do it. Then, I told him to look at the value proposition (including the switching cost to Dubai – local knowledge, skill base) that Bahrain provides and compare to the value proposition that Dubai gives. I told him that it is important to keep a futuristic view in mind. Then, I told him that what strikes me about the case is the fact that in this industry, it is very important to build your local clientele and not rely on foreigners. He said fine.
Then, I quizzed him about how developed was Bahrain’s retail and corporate banking was. I told him that it would relate very closely to the economic development was in Bahrain.
I told him that I felt that the real issue with Bahrain was the fact that the industry relied too much on MNCs without first satisfying local demand. I told him that I would like to create a policy keeping this in mind.
He asked me to stop the interview then and there.
Tips: Thinking on your feet is extremely important at the beginning of the case. First think commonsensical and then get on to the regular consulting case analysis. One way of dealing with a person you know is to use your previous experience with him (in any which way).
Round: Other Interview
Experience: I was told at the beginning that I won’t have a case. He asked me to ask a few questions that I felt were relevant.
I asked him how McKinsey makes the environment conducive for knowledge sharing. He gave me a few inputs.
I told him what I had read about McKinsey’s knowledge management in a HBS case. He heard it attentively. He then gave me an idea about the state of affairs now and particularly in India. I asked him about how sharing gets linked to performance initiatives. I also asked him how other firms (esp. consulting) do it. He then asked me to narrate a few instances about ISB. I told him that any education program is incomplete without pranks. I told him a few pranks that I had played on a few friends in ISB (and vice versa).
Tips: Be your natural self and try to gauge the interviewer’s body language when telling a story.
General Tips: 1. One of the key facets is to make the case completely seamless, wherein you have to link both the PI and cases and both the cases together.
2. Structuring is very important.
3. The other thing is to make the interviewer comfortable.
4. Do not speak a little too much.
5. With seniors, I think it is very important to listen.
6. It is also important to observe as you go along the interview process that every interviewer is looking for a particular skill or dimension in your personality.
7. It is also important that whenever you give a radical thought, you should back it up by sound strong logic.
8. Control the interview.
9. A bit of formal attitude would help.
10
Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. There is this big hospital and the hospital is running losses. Identify what would be the critical issues
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Started with the basic Revenues –Costs = profit framework. He asked me to concentrate on revenues. I identified the sources of revenues 1) Consulting 2) Surgeries 3) Lab 4) Pharmacy. He nodded and asked me to move on. I asked him if there was a revenue dip in any of these services to which he replied these are all related and hence the dip is across all services. I asked him about the competition. I asked him whether the competition is offering similar services and how does it charge for its services as compared to the hospital in question. He said “Competition doesn’t specializes in heart surgeries like our hospital. However, it performs all services and their pricing structure is different.I asked him if they were pricing services lower than us to which he replied “no”. He wanted me to think on what could be different in terms of prices. I told him that the structure of pricing is different and hence the hospital may have one fixed fee whereas the competition may have a base fee plus additional charges. The price may come out to be the same but people may perceive it to be cheaper. He appreciated my answer and asked me if I would change the structure of the Hospital in question.I replied that I wouldn’t change the structure. The hospital has a very strong brand and has been following this pricing structure since ages. If it seemingly makes it lower, there is a possibility that patients may come to know about this and its brand may get tarnished. I wasn’t too happy with how I defended but I defended nonetheless.He asked me if I had any questions and I really didn’t have any questions for him. Too tired and nervous to think of anything. However, it is very important to prepare questions for interviewers.
Tips: 1)PI is extremely important. It helps you to develop connect with the interviewer. Also it adds to your confidence. Be genuine about your PI.2)Always keep smiling and be very confident. More than the solution, the interviewer should get good vibes during the interview. Even if you falter, admit that you do not know and you would like to understand from the interview how it needs to be done.3)Be humble.4)Do not ask your colleagues about how their interview experience went. It will just add to your worries and you may end up losing confidence.5)The interview should be more like a conversation.6)Sleep well the night before, do not wait for the schedule. Get up early and check the schedule. Do one case which you are most confident about the day of the interview.7)Again keep smiling.
Skills: Personality, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Started with the basic Revenues –Costs = profit framework. He asked me to concentrate on revenues. I identified the sources of revenues 1) Consulting 2) Surgeries 3) Lab 4) Pharmacy. He nodded and asked me to move on. I asked him if there was a revenue dip in any of these services to which he replied these are all related and hence the dip is across all services. I asked him about the competition. I asked him whether the competition is offering similar services and how does it charge for its services as compared to the hospital in question. He said “Competition doesn’t specializes in heart surgeries like our hospital. However, it performs all services and their pricing structure is different.I asked him if they were pricing services lower than us to which he replied “no”. He wanted me to think on what could be different in terms of prices. I told him that the structure of pricing is different and hence the hospital may have one fixed fee whereas the competition may have a base fee plus additional charges. The price may come out to be the same but people may perceive it to be cheaper. He appreciated my answer and asked me if I would change the structure of the Hospital in question.I replied that I wouldn’t change the structure. The hospital has a very strong brand and has been following this pricing structure since ages. If it seemingly makes it lower, there is a possibility that patients may come to know about this and its brand may get tarnished. I wasn’t too happy with how I defended but I defended nonetheless.He asked me if I had any questions and I really didn’t have any questions for him. Too tired and nervous to think of anything. However, it is very important to prepare questions for interviewers.
Tips: 1)PI is extremely important. It helps you to develop connect with the interviewer. Also it adds to your confidence. Be genuine about your PI.2)Always keep smiling and be very confident. More than the solution, the interviewer should get good vibes during the interview. Even if you falter, admit that you do not know and you would like to understand from the interview how it needs to be done.3)Be humble.4)Do not ask your colleagues about how their interview experience went. It will just add to your worries and you may end up losing confidence.5)The interview should be more like a conversation.6)Sleep well the night before, do not wait for the schedule. Get up early and check the schedule. Do one case which you are most confident about the day of the interview.7)Again keep smiling.
Skills: Personality, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. There is this hypermarket retailer and is suffering losses. Suggest means to make it profitable
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Follow the basic Profit –Loss Framework. He asked me to just consider Revenues.Revenues of Retail Company Factors: 1) Number of Footfalls 2) Conversion Rate 3) Products Bought 4) Quantity 5) Price of each product 6) Repeat customers.He asked me to discuss strategies to improve all of the above factors.I don’t remember what I spoke for all factors, but wherever I was unable to think, he was giving me clues. Being from retail background, I was able to relate my experiences with many of the solutions suggested.We talked about availability of products: Asked him to keep safety stock. Forecasting needs to be much better, appropriate information needs to be passed to distributors.Talked aboutplanogram: this is how you display your products, shelf space etc.I discussed with him about the loyalty programs and COD model.The interview was long, but again much like a conversation. Was very much relaxes during the interview and the interviewer was also smiling which made me feel very comfortable
Tips: Knowing your background really helps. One can suggest innovative solutions to the interviewer. BCG was the only consulting shortlist I had and by this time, I was very much determined to get to a closure.
Skill Tips: Tell me about yourself. –When I reached my retail experience part, he said “I am very interested in consumer behavior. Letus do a case on a retail chain.”We also discussed a lot about my retail experience:1)He asked me what were the challenges I faced –I told him inventory management was the biggest problem. Did you use some tools to solve inventory issues?I said yes. Spoke about it for about 2-3 mins.2)Why retail?
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Follow the basic Profit –Loss Framework. He asked me to just consider Revenues.Revenues of Retail Company Factors: 1) Number of Footfalls 2) Conversion Rate 3) Products Bought 4) Quantity 5) Price of each product 6) Repeat customers.He asked me to discuss strategies to improve all of the above factors.I don’t remember what I spoke for all factors, but wherever I was unable to think, he was giving me clues. Being from retail background, I was able to relate my experiences with many of the solutions suggested.We talked about availability of products: Asked him to keep safety stock. Forecasting needs to be much better, appropriate information needs to be passed to distributors.Talked aboutplanogram: this is how you display your products, shelf space etc.I discussed with him about the loyalty programs and COD model.The interview was long, but again much like a conversation. Was very much relaxes during the interview and the interviewer was also smiling which made me feel very comfortable
Tips: Knowing your background really helps. One can suggest innovative solutions to the interviewer. BCG was the only consulting shortlist I had and by this time, I was very much determined to get to a closure.
Skill Tips: Tell me about yourself. –When I reached my retail experience part, he said “I am very interested in consumer behavior. Letus do a case on a retail chain.”We also discussed a lot about my retail experience:1)He asked me what were the challenges I faced –I told him inventory management was the biggest problem. Did you use some tools to solve inventory issues?I said yes. Spoke about it for about 2-3 mins.2)Why retail?
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. You own a stand-alone multiplex. Suggest ways you can increase its revenue
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Very basic scoping questions.1)Re-iterated the question. Confirmed the objective. 2)Asked him if this was attached to a mall. –He said forsimplicity purposes, let us assume it to be a standalone multiplex.
I told him that any multiplex would have mainly four sources of Revenues:1)Ticket Sales 2) Food and Beverages 3) Advertising 4) Parking Fees He askedme to ignore Parking fees and suggest ways to improve revenue for each of the other three categories.I started with Ticket Sales. Ticket Sales = Number of Tickets Sold/Show * Price * Number of shows. 1)Optimize show timings in such a way that more showscan be accommodated. This needs to be considered as a tradeoff to advertising and trailer timings.2)Pricing: Have a dynamic pricing strategy just like in airplanes. You charge each customer different based on the timing of purchase and supply demand equation.
Skill Tips: A very long PI session. Can’t say it was a PI, much like a conversation. The interviewer asked me about my work at Arvind Infrastructure. We discussed about my work for around 5-7 mins. This made me feel very comfortable and I was very much set for my case interview. He was extremely friendly and very good to talk to
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Very basic scoping questions.1)Re-iterated the question. Confirmed the objective. 2)Asked him if this was attached to a mall. –He said forsimplicity purposes, let us assume it to be a standalone multiplex.
I told him that any multiplex would have mainly four sources of Revenues:1)Ticket Sales 2) Food and Beverages 3) Advertising 4) Parking Fees He askedme to ignore Parking fees and suggest ways to improve revenue for each of the other three categories.I started with Ticket Sales. Ticket Sales = Number of Tickets Sold/Show * Price * Number of shows. 1)Optimize show timings in such a way that more showscan be accommodated. This needs to be considered as a tradeoff to advertising and trailer timings.2)Pricing: Have a dynamic pricing strategy just like in airplanes. You charge each customer different based on the timing of purchase and supply demand equation.
Skill Tips: A very long PI session. Can’t say it was a PI, much like a conversation. The interviewer asked me about my work at Arvind Infrastructure. We discussed about my work for around 5-7 mins. This made me feel very comfortable and I was very much set for my case interview. He was extremely friendly and very good to talk to
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. Your company wants to bid for National Solar Mission project in Gujarat. Government of Gujarat has offered to purchase 70% of the power generated. Will you bid ...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I summarized the question again. Made sure that I understood the question correctly. I asked him the following scoping questions (not necessarily in this order)Q1. What does this Company do?The company is into power generation and distribution. They have lessexperience in developing solar panels but are capable enough.Q2. At what price will Gujarat Government buy the power at?Don’t remember the exact number. But the number wasn’t important. (Take any fictional number while you do your case prep)Q3. What is our investment capacity? Don’t remember the exact number again.Q4. What are the timelines we are looking for?30 yearsQ5. How important is it for us to take up this project?It is important to take up this project to gain market share. However, one would not take up the project if profitability is low or nil.
Tips: Be calm, interviewers understand your limitations and they understand you may be nervous –just try to maintain composure and always keep smiling.
Skill Tips: Low on PI. Mostly case based. However, I believe PI is extremely important as it sets the tone of the interview. PI worked very well in my case.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: I summarized the question again. Made sure that I understood the question correctly. I asked him the following scoping questions (not necessarily in this order)Q1. What does this Company do?The company is into power generation and distribution. They have lessexperience in developing solar panels but are capable enough.Q2. At what price will Gujarat Government buy the power at?Don’t remember the exact number. But the number wasn’t important. (Take any fictional number while you do your case prep)Q3. What is our investment capacity? Don’t remember the exact number again.Q4. What are the timelines we are looking for?30 yearsQ5. How important is it for us to take up this project?It is important to take up this project to gain market share. However, one would not take up the project if profitability is low or nil.
Tips: Be calm, interviewers understand your limitations and they understand you may be nervous –just try to maintain composure and always keep smiling.
Skill Tips: Low on PI. Mostly case based. However, I believe PI is extremely important as it sets the tone of the interview. PI worked very well in my case.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. A standalone hospital is seeing lower EBITDA. They’ve called you in to help
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Q. Could either be a revenue problem or a cost problem. Which one should I explore? What do you think? Q. Major costs for a hospital are doctor salaries, staff salaries, equipment costs, utility costs, rent and drug costs. These seem mostly fixed in nature, so I’d like to start by exploring the revenue aspect.Ok.Q. Any change in the pricing of our services or are we seeing fewer patients?Fewer patients. Q. Patient volume is driven by the doctors that practice at the hospital. Any change in our lineup of doctors?Nope.Q. General trend of fewer patients or are we losing patients to the competition?We are losing market share. There’s a new hospital opened up close by recently.Q. Why are we losing to the competitor –(explore SoM, SoV, SoD)?Quality of doctors and services at our hospital is better. Advertising is not that important in this industry. No accessibility issues.Q. There are three sources of revenue –consultation, surgery and diagnostics. Are all being hit?Consultation not so much. Surgery the most and diagnostics also significant.Q. So the patients consult with our doctors and get operated elsewhere. Do our doctors work part time at another hospital?No, they work exclusively with us.Q. Patients are not happy with the doctors’ consultation services?Nope, they are happy.Q. Could be a pricing issue. Is the new hospital pricing services significantly lower?There is no predatory pricing by the competition.Q. But it still could be a pricing issue. How does the client priceservices and is it different from the competitor’s approach?We provide an all-inclusive price to the customer. Competition provides a breakup of charges by service.Q. Why would that be an issue?Patients get the feeling that we price services higher even though that is not actually the case. In fact, even our own doctors seem to think that we price higher than the competition.Q. It seems that in an effort to be transparent, we are losing clientele. We should shift to the competition’s model of pricing.
Tips: Heavy on casesInterviews were low on PI but there was a decent amount of general conversation
Skill Tips: Carefully listen to what the interviewer says, there are always subtle clues that will guide you in the right direction. Also, look up the interviewers prior to interview day (you will be sent a document with their profiles) and understand their expertise. Interviews will usually end with them asking if you have any questions. It will help to know their background
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Q. Could either be a revenue problem or a cost problem. Which one should I explore? What do you think? Q. Major costs for a hospital are doctor salaries, staff salaries, equipment costs, utility costs, rent and drug costs. These seem mostly fixed in nature, so I’d like to start by exploring the revenue aspect.Ok.Q. Any change in the pricing of our services or are we seeing fewer patients?Fewer patients. Q. Patient volume is driven by the doctors that practice at the hospital. Any change in our lineup of doctors?Nope.Q. General trend of fewer patients or are we losing patients to the competition?We are losing market share. There’s a new hospital opened up close by recently.Q. Why are we losing to the competitor –(explore SoM, SoV, SoD)?Quality of doctors and services at our hospital is better. Advertising is not that important in this industry. No accessibility issues.Q. There are three sources of revenue –consultation, surgery and diagnostics. Are all being hit?Consultation not so much. Surgery the most and diagnostics also significant.Q. So the patients consult with our doctors and get operated elsewhere. Do our doctors work part time at another hospital?No, they work exclusively with us.Q. Patients are not happy with the doctors’ consultation services?Nope, they are happy.Q. Could be a pricing issue. Is the new hospital pricing services significantly lower?There is no predatory pricing by the competition.Q. But it still could be a pricing issue. How does the client priceservices and is it different from the competitor’s approach?We provide an all-inclusive price to the customer. Competition provides a breakup of charges by service.Q. Why would that be an issue?Patients get the feeling that we price services higher even though that is not actually the case. In fact, even our own doctors seem to think that we price higher than the competition.Q. It seems that in an effort to be transparent, we are losing clientele. We should shift to the competition’s model of pricing.
Tips: Heavy on casesInterviews were low on PI but there was a decent amount of general conversation
Skill Tips: Carefully listen to what the interviewer says, there are always subtle clues that will guide you in the right direction. Also, look up the interviewers prior to interview day (you will be sent a document with their profiles) and understand their expertise. Interviews will usually end with them asking if you have any questions. It will help to know their background
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. A global pharma company had a 10 year monopoly on a breast cancer drug. A biosimilar is about to enter the market in 6-12 months at a significantly lower price ...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I’m sure I have seen this in an earlier ISB case book. Start off with market sizing to understand what is the revenue potential of the drug. The drug is consumed in a drip at the hospital. The doctor plays a major part in deciding which drug to administer –the client’s or the competitor’s. I checked if it was possible to incentivize the doctor to recommend the client’s drug but it led to a dead end. After fishing for a little more information the solutions I suggested were –1) release a second brand at a lower price point, and 2) Take over the competing company
Tips: After the experience of my first interview, I made it a point to initially stick to the framework and then branch out as I began to get more comfortable. The conversation we had before the start of the case definitely helped me to settle some nerves.In hindsight, I don’t think my approach to the case was fabulous but in my opinion what worked to my favor was being able to carry a conversation with the interviewer.If you have hobbies that you are passionate about, show that passion to the interviewer. I feel that it counts for a lot. Also very important –bring your sense of humor to the interview.
Skill Tips: Interviewer suggested a third solution –to sell the drug as a service rather than just a product. The patient would be sold the experience of coming to the hospital and receiving treatment. This might work well here since cancer treatments are extremely harrowing for patients
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: I’m sure I have seen this in an earlier ISB case book. Start off with market sizing to understand what is the revenue potential of the drug. The drug is consumed in a drip at the hospital. The doctor plays a major part in deciding which drug to administer –the client’s or the competitor’s. I checked if it was possible to incentivize the doctor to recommend the client’s drug but it led to a dead end. After fishing for a little more information the solutions I suggested were –1) release a second brand at a lower price point, and 2) Take over the competing company
Tips: After the experience of my first interview, I made it a point to initially stick to the framework and then branch out as I began to get more comfortable. The conversation we had before the start of the case definitely helped me to settle some nerves.In hindsight, I don’t think my approach to the case was fabulous but in my opinion what worked to my favor was being able to carry a conversation with the interviewer.If you have hobbies that you are passionate about, show that passion to the interviewer. I feel that it counts for a lot. Also very important –bring your sense of humor to the interview.
Skill Tips: Interviewer suggested a third solution –to sell the drug as a service rather than just a product. The patient would be sold the experience of coming to the hospital and receiving treatment. This might work well here since cancer treatments are extremely harrowing for patients
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. A global tools manufacturer is looking to increase revenues in the Indian market. Help them out
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Main points of the discussion –Q. What are the segments of tools that they manufacture?Company manufactures hand tools and power tools.They are doing fine on the power tools segment but are lagging on the hand tools segment and want to expand there.Q. Who uses these hand tools? Can prices be increased?Hand tools are mostly used by professionals who work on a smaller scale (plumbers, carpenters etc). They are a price sensitive lot. The company already prices at a premium because of superior quality in terms of durability and efficiency.Q. If products are superior then why do professionals not adopt the company’s products?Is it a price thing/awareness thing etc (explore SoM, SoV, SoD)?Price is definitely a factor. Unlike the power tools segment, branding is not important in the hand tools segment. Q. Any scope of cutting prices thereby driving volume?Company has higher costs because of superior quality, so it is difficult for them to compete on price.Q.Although consumers are price sensitive, they are receptive to products that offer better value. We should find ways to communicate that to them through advertising or promotions at trade fairs.What about inorganic growth?Q. I feel inorganic growth dilutes the company’s value proposition which is offering a superior product at a marginally higher price. So I would not recommend it.
Tips: The case was not hard; it just involved being structured so that all angles were covered. My takeaways at the end of the case were –1)Frameworks are important not only from the point of view of being exhaustive, but also in keeping you composed during the interview since it will seem familiar. This was my first interview of the day and I was all over the place. Change how you approach the case depending on your frame of mind at the time of the interview. I might have performed better if I had mechanically gone through the framework.2)Having said that, it is important to customize your solution to the industry you are dealing with. This is the only thing that can differentiate your answer from anyone else who also applies the framework well. If you reach a point where you are able to go through the framework while constantly linking it to the industry in discussion such that it does not seem like you are just reciting the framework, you are well-prepared.3)Have an opinion and back it with logic or data. During a case, you do not have access to the same level of information as a consultant on an assignment. So it is fine to have a different answer as long as you have a good reason for why you think so. I feel it is appreciated.
Skill Tips: Heavy on casesInterviews were low on PI but there was a decent amount of general conversation
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Main points of the discussion –Q. What are the segments of tools that they manufacture?Company manufactures hand tools and power tools.They are doing fine on the power tools segment but are lagging on the hand tools segment and want to expand there.Q. Who uses these hand tools? Can prices be increased?Hand tools are mostly used by professionals who work on a smaller scale (plumbers, carpenters etc). They are a price sensitive lot. The company already prices at a premium because of superior quality in terms of durability and efficiency.Q. If products are superior then why do professionals not adopt the company’s products?Is it a price thing/awareness thing etc (explore SoM, SoV, SoD)?Price is definitely a factor. Unlike the power tools segment, branding is not important in the hand tools segment. Q. Any scope of cutting prices thereby driving volume?Company has higher costs because of superior quality, so it is difficult for them to compete on price.Q.Although consumers are price sensitive, they are receptive to products that offer better value. We should find ways to communicate that to them through advertising or promotions at trade fairs.What about inorganic growth?Q. I feel inorganic growth dilutes the company’s value proposition which is offering a superior product at a marginally higher price. So I would not recommend it.
Tips: The case was not hard; it just involved being structured so that all angles were covered. My takeaways at the end of the case were –1)Frameworks are important not only from the point of view of being exhaustive, but also in keeping you composed during the interview since it will seem familiar. This was my first interview of the day and I was all over the place. Change how you approach the case depending on your frame of mind at the time of the interview. I might have performed better if I had mechanically gone through the framework.2)Having said that, it is important to customize your solution to the industry you are dealing with. This is the only thing that can differentiate your answer from anyone else who also applies the framework well. If you reach a point where you are able to go through the framework while constantly linking it to the industry in discussion such that it does not seem like you are just reciting the framework, you are well-prepared.3)Have an opinion and back it with logic or data. During a case, you do not have access to the same level of information as a consultant on an assignment. So it is fine to have a different answer as long as you have a good reason for why you think so. I feel it is appreciated.
Skill Tips: Heavy on casesInterviews were low on PI but there was a decent amount of general conversation
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
1 Interview Round
Interview Questions
- Q1. Our client is a merchandise manufacturer. They have recently come up to us saying they are facing losses in the business. We have to help them out
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Which type of merchandise does the manufacturer produce? Does it sell homemade designs or branded products or both?
The store sells mostly homemade design –no branded clothes.
The kind of clothes can be imagined to be as ‘super-hero’ T-shirtsIs the company pan-India or operates only in certain areas of the country?
The company is not pan-India, assume it operates in the complete NCR regionHow many direct competitors does the store have?
There are a few but they have not been making losses.Are there any other products sold by the company?
No
How many stores does the chain have?
There are 7 stores in the NCR region
What is the magnitude of losses faced by the company? And is the losses a new phenomenon for the company? Was it making profits earlier?
The company has been making losses for quite some time now. Just that they are paying heed to it recently. Losses are around 8-12%
Have the revenues been declining or costs going up?Revenues are not declining.
Costshave also not gone up, but yes the company has been reporting losses since 8-10 quarters
Is the manufacturer present in some alternate businesses as well?How will that help in the analysis?
It would help in understanding if the company has deep pocketsand is funding the losses from the cash made from alternate business. Because if they were in losses for quite some time, they would have wanted to shut-down some time back.No, the producer doesn’t have other businesses
Tips: The overall case experience was good. The interviewer was happy with the analysis and questions I asked him. He happily gave the answers and it was a fruitful discussion. The approach of the case is more important than the final answer. It’s also very important to understand and capture the hints from the interviewer’s body language during case discussion.
Skill Tips: From all the hints and answers given by the interviewer, my first step was to make the Value chain for this business. This was the step when the interviewer was also very excited and wanted me to proceed. I laid out the process as Sourcing >> Inbound Logistics >> Production/Manufacturing >> Outbound logistics >>Warehouse >>Transportation >> Outlets/Store.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Which type of merchandise does the manufacturer produce? Does it sell homemade designs or branded products or both?
The store sells mostly homemade design –no branded clothes.
The kind of clothes can be imagined to be as ‘super-hero’ T-shirtsIs the company pan-India or operates only in certain areas of the country?
The company is not pan-India, assume it operates in the complete NCR regionHow many direct competitors does the store have?
There are a few but they have not been making losses.Are there any other products sold by the company?
No
How many stores does the chain have?
There are 7 stores in the NCR region
What is the magnitude of losses faced by the company? And is the losses a new phenomenon for the company? Was it making profits earlier?
The company has been making losses for quite some time now. Just that they are paying heed to it recently. Losses are around 8-12%
Have the revenues been declining or costs going up?Revenues are not declining.
Costshave also not gone up, but yes the company has been reporting losses since 8-10 quarters
Is the manufacturer present in some alternate businesses as well?How will that help in the analysis?
It would help in understanding if the company has deep pocketsand is funding the losses from the cash made from alternate business. Because if they were in losses for quite some time, they would have wanted to shut-down some time back.No, the producer doesn’t have other businesses
Tips: The overall case experience was good. The interviewer was happy with the analysis and questions I asked him. He happily gave the answers and it was a fruitful discussion. The approach of the case is more important than the final answer. It’s also very important to understand and capture the hints from the interviewer’s body language during case discussion.
Skill Tips: From all the hints and answers given by the interviewer, my first step was to make the Value chain for this business. This was the step when the interviewer was also very excited and wanted me to proceed. I laid out the process as Sourcing >> Inbound Logistics >> Production/Manufacturing >> Outbound logistics >>Warehouse >>Transportation >> Outlets/Store.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
3 Interview Rounds
Interview Questions
- Q1. Personal Interview
- Q2. Our client is a solar energy producer who wants to bid for rate at which he can supply the energy. Prepare a bidding strategy for our client
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: HR Interview
Experience: PI round was intense. He directly started asking me questions about the interviews with other firms. Then he asked me my pecking order within consulting firms and why BCG. No usual answer applicable to any consulting firm would satisfy him. He asked very specific questions about what would differentiate BCG from other consulting firms. Since I had a healthy interaction with my buddies and alums, they had helped me to clearly understand BCG’s competitive edge. This was crucial to answer this question.
Tips: Cracking the case is very important. The first 1 or 2 interviews might not have any PI questions –just the case. The later interviews will start asking PI questions, but cases would still be asked.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: What all forms part of the bidding process? How does the bidding for energy take place?Has our client been in the energy production sector?Can we benchmark the rates with respect to the production in other countries.
This was the worst case for the day. The PI had been so intense that I was slightly nervous right at the beginning of the case. I drank water thrice in between and tried to gather myself, but somehow the response from the interviewer was also not supportive during the case. Clearly, the interview was close to a stress interview. However, I did manage to summarize whatever I had discussed and understood about the case and didn’t lose confidence till the end
Tips: I would recommend look at the bidding processes for telecom and energy sectors in detail and understand what all parameters play a role. There are several of clients from these sectors with BCG and such cases are likely to come. My approach was very broad –conducting some cost-benefit analysis (which the interviewer said is irrelevant at that point of time –because fixed costs would be so high initially that the breakeven would be achieved very later down the line). We discussed how this should be treated as a long term project and the NPV of the project should be determined to understand the price we should be charging today. The interviewer wanted me to do calculations only as a secondary priority with the focus being more on explaining the process of calculation and concepts. Next, we discussed benchmarking –discussing which should be the appropriate countries to benchmark the energy generation processes against
Skills: Personality, Ability To Cope Up With Stress, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: PI round was intense. He directly started asking me questions about the interviews with other firms. Then he asked me my pecking order within consulting firms and why BCG. No usual answer applicable to any consulting firm would satisfy him. He asked very specific questions about what would differentiate BCG from other consulting firms. Since I had a healthy interaction with my buddies and alums, they had helped me to clearly understand BCG’s competitive edge. This was crucial to answer this question.
Tips: Cracking the case is very important. The first 1 or 2 interviews might not have any PI questions –just the case. The later interviews will start asking PI questions, but cases would still be asked.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: What all forms part of the bidding process? How does the bidding for energy take place?Has our client been in the energy production sector?Can we benchmark the rates with respect to the production in other countries.
This was the worst case for the day. The PI had been so intense that I was slightly nervous right at the beginning of the case. I drank water thrice in between and tried to gather myself, but somehow the response from the interviewer was also not supportive during the case. Clearly, the interview was close to a stress interview. However, I did manage to summarize whatever I had discussed and understood about the case and didn’t lose confidence till the end
Tips: I would recommend look at the bidding processes for telecom and energy sectors in detail and understand what all parameters play a role. There are several of clients from these sectors with BCG and such cases are likely to come. My approach was very broad –conducting some cost-benefit analysis (which the interviewer said is irrelevant at that point of time –because fixed costs would be so high initially that the breakeven would be achieved very later down the line). We discussed how this should be treated as a long term project and the NPV of the project should be determined to understand the price we should be charging today. The interviewer wanted me to do calculations only as a secondary priority with the focus being more on explaining the process of calculation and concepts. Next, we discussed benchmarking –discussing which should be the appropriate countries to benchmark the energy generation processes against
Skills: Personality, Ability To Cope Up With Stress, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
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