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BCG Consultant Interview Questions, Process, and Tips
Updated
29 Nov 2024
Top BCG Consultant Interview Questions and Answers
- Q1. “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 years – lik ...read more
- Q2. Our client is a builder who constructs office buildings and residential apartments on contract. There’s a new contract construction of a residential society. Almost 30% o ...read more
- Q3. A Widgets manufacturer, who’s been in the business for a few years now, had been seeing phenomenal growth over the last couple of years, and has recently added capacity t ...read more
BCG Consultant Interview Experiences
69 interviews found
I applied via Walk-in
Interview Questionnaire
3 Questions
- Q1. A Widgets manufacturer, who’s been in the business for a few years now, had been seeing phenomenal growth over the last couple of years, and has recently added capacity to cater to expected future demand. ...
- Ans.
The consultant should analyze the market and recommend strategies to address the flat demand.
Analyze the market conditions and trends to understand the reasons for the flat demand
Identify potential opportunities for growth in the market
Evaluate the competition and their strategies
Assess the company's product offerings and pricing strategy
Recommend diversification into new markets or product lines
Suggest marketing and p...
- Q2. A Telecom Infrastructure Company - Provider of Telecom Equipment and Related Services, is facing profitability issues inspite of good growth in their business. I was to identify the key levers that could h...
- Ans.
To overcome profitability issues, the key levers for the Telecom Infrastructure Company could include cost optimization, diversification of services, and improving operational efficiency.
Identify and reduce unnecessary costs and expenses
Explore new revenue streams by offering additional services such as managed services or consulting
Improve operational efficiency by streamlining processes and reducing waste
Enhance cust...
- Q3. An Indian Garments Company, a 3rd party manufacturer for clients in US & Europe wants to enter the Indian Market with their own label. Recommend a go/ no go decision and a suitable branding strategy for yo...
- Ans.
Recommendation and branding strategy for an Indian Garments Company entering the Indian Market
Conduct market research to assess the demand for the company's products in the Indian market
Analyze the competition and identify gaps in the market that the company can fill
Evaluate the company's capabilities and resources to enter the Indian market
Consider the potential risks and challenges of entering the Indian market
Develo...
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Interview Preparation Tips
Round: HR Interview
Experience: The usual PI questions, I’d say be prepared with a list of them. The PI would give you on opportunity to strike the right vibes with the interviewer. So when you get down to doing a case, you’ll feel a lot more comfortable and confident.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked a few clarifying questions. The information that I got was as follows – 1. The trend was temporary, and the market was expected to start growing again after a few years. 2. Need not worry about what widgets are; just consider them to be a part of machine equipment. 3. The manufacturer is a global company headquartered in US 4. The market had been growing over the last 2-3 years at 30 – 40 % and has now flattened. I then defined the problem statement. From here on I took a pretty unconventional first principles approach in structuring my though process. I decided to look at 2 aspects – a. Means to enhance Capacity Utilization through an understanding of the business based on b. Market Analysis Under capacity utilization I had intended to focus on Altering the product mix, increase sales geographically, rationalize my asset base, and providing value added services. The first one wasn’t possible and on the geographical front we were already selling globally. Then I switched to market analysis where I looked at # of players, respective market shares, competitive landscape, drivers of purchase and price points. On questioning, it turned out that we were the largest player with a 35% market share, two other major players had a 20% share each, and the rest of the market was fragmented amongst small players. Everyone sold at the same price. In past, the purchase decision had not been based on price, but on being highest in quality, and we were perceived to be amongst the highest in quality. We were also the cost leaders in this business, and this was the catch point. It also turned out that in being more cautious about their purchase of widgets, our potential customers had now become more price conscious, and the market was price elastic. From here on I started shaping recommendations – I put them as short term and long term. In the short term I suggested that we play on price points. Since we are the cost leaders and the market was price elastic, we can bring down our prices till a point where our profits increase with decrease in prices. Also, our competitors won’t be able to cut prices to the extent that we can, and in this way we can squeeze their margins beyond tolerable limits, force them to exit, and thus increase our share of the pie. In the long run, we needed to work around rationalizing our asset base, and building a value added service layer to our business. That’s where the case concluded.
Tips: I’d suggest that encase you too reach your solution pretty soon in the interview, spend some time to look at other strategic aspects, at points in your structure that might have been left untouched, but don’t panic if there’s nothing more to add from your end. You can close the case as and when you feel you’ve done what you wanted to, and need not wait to have spent a pre-decided amount of time on it. Yes I made it to the next round.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked a few clarifying questions. The information I got was a follows – 1. The client was a $10 billion + company with 50000 + employees. 2. It was a Europe based company with operations all over the world, and their business was expected to grow at 10 – 15 % 3. The lines of business were divided into 2: A. Selling Equipment and S/W in 2G and 3G space. B. Providing Services, which was further subdivided into 4 categories.(i) Turnkey i.e. developing new networks (ii) Managed Services i.e. run the network on behalf of the service provider (iii) Maintenance (H/W and S/W) (iv) Consulting Solutions then defined the problem statement. From here on I structured by approach to do a Revenues & Cost analysis after having done a thorough Market Analysis. Under Market Analysis, I looked at 1. No. of Players – there were 6 -7 players, we were no. 2 with a mkt. share of 20%. The mkt. leader had a 30% share. 2. I looked at Growth in each of the businesses, Selling Equipment and S/W in 2G and 3G space each growing at 15 % and 25% respectively and overall this line of business was growing at 20% In Providing Services, the above 4 were expected to grow at 0%, less than 10%, 15% and less than 10% respectively (in the order mentioned above). 3. The drivers of purchase were driven by Cap Ex and Op Ex incurred by the customers, i.e. Price was the key driver of purchase once you were a part of the consideration set. However, to be considered for a contract by a potential customer, high standards of quality were a must. Before starting to look at the revenues and costs in trying to address profitability, I asked for the revenue break up of for our client. It was as follows – 55% from 2G(30%) & 3G(25%). 24% from turnkey. 9% from maintenance. 6% from managed services and the rest from consulting. I then asked for how this picture would look 3-4 years from now. Selling Equipment and S/W in 2G and 3G space would together constitute 40%, with 70% of this 40 from 3G and rest from 2G. Services would constitute 60% of the revenues, and in comparing to their current contributions, Turnkey would stagnate, Maintenance business would grow at 10 – 15%, and Consulting and Managed Services would grow disproportionately. This unfortunately is all that I remember of the case in terms of data, but from here on it was pretty standard. I prioritized my probing of the cost structures for each of the businesses based on their current and future contributions to the revenue pie. I then explored the cost structures for each line of business, identified the cost levers, and further prioritized my recommendations for each cost lever on the basis of where we could achieve most impact. On the revenue side, my recommendations were around building capabilities around consulting and managed services based on how the business was expected to shape up in the future. There was a lot to talk about under each of the above – off shoring, consolidation of suppliers and subcontractors etc., managing over runs, acquisition to build capabilities, and I did touch upon all of these. I'm sure based on your own judgement, you can add more to it. All the best!
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked a few clarifying questions. The information I got was a follows – 1. The client manufactured broadly two kinds of products A. Textiles (of different counts, pure yarns, viscose mix etc.) B. Garments (semi formal / informal in cotton, for both men and women) I structured my approach as follows: As part of Market Entry evaluation, I wanted to look at the following: 1. Market Attractiveness – size of the mkt., growth expected, penetration levels and margins. 2. Competition – in each of the segments. Further look at unbranded retailing, branded retailing and pvt. label retailing. 3. Strategic Fit and Capabilities as far as this proposed line of business was concerned. 4. How to enter – Organic v/s Inorganic At this point, I was asked to move onto the branding strategy that I would recommend. One key factor that I considered was a single brand v/s a multi brand strategy. And through discussions with the interviewer, I decided to pursue a multi-brand approach for different segments, different qualities etc. (just as Arvind Mills, Madura Garments etc. do). I then proposed that in developing a brand strategy for each of the brands I chose to pursue, I would look at the following: 1. Position the brand 2. Pricing 3. Distribution 4. Promotion. In positioning the brand (each of the brands that we will roll out), I would look at drivers of purchase and then position myself accordingly through parity and distinction. At this point, we got into a more general conversation around how to position, what other factors to consider, and then wrapped up the case.
Tips: As you step in for the interview, make sure that you leave all the excess baggage outside. It’s a big deterrent in one’s performance. I had one more interview that I’m unable to document, after which I was made an offer.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: The usual PI questions, I’d say be prepared with a list of them. The PI would give you on opportunity to strike the right vibes with the interviewer. So when you get down to doing a case, you’ll feel a lot more comfortable and confident.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked a few clarifying questions. The information that I got was as follows – 1. The trend was temporary, and the market was expected to start growing again after a few years. 2. Need not worry about what widgets are; just consider them to be a part of machine equipment. 3. The manufacturer is a global company headquartered in US 4. The market had been growing over the last 2-3 years at 30 – 40 % and has now flattened. I then defined the problem statement. From here on I took a pretty unconventional first principles approach in structuring my though process. I decided to look at 2 aspects – a. Means to enhance Capacity Utilization through an understanding of the business based on b. Market Analysis Under capacity utilization I had intended to focus on Altering the product mix, increase sales geographically, rationalize my asset base, and providing value added services. The first one wasn’t possible and on the geographical front we were already selling globally. Then I switched to market analysis where I looked at # of players, respective market shares, competitive landscape, drivers of purchase and price points. On questioning, it turned out that we were the largest player with a 35% market share, two other major players had a 20% share each, and the rest of the market was fragmented amongst small players. Everyone sold at the same price. In past, the purchase decision had not been based on price, but on being highest in quality, and we were perceived to be amongst the highest in quality. We were also the cost leaders in this business, and this was the catch point. It also turned out that in being more cautious about their purchase of widgets, our potential customers had now become more price conscious, and the market was price elastic. From here on I started shaping recommendations – I put them as short term and long term. In the short term I suggested that we play on price points. Since we are the cost leaders and the market was price elastic, we can bring down our prices till a point where our profits increase with decrease in prices. Also, our competitors won’t be able to cut prices to the extent that we can, and in this way we can squeeze their margins beyond tolerable limits, force them to exit, and thus increase our share of the pie. In the long run, we needed to work around rationalizing our asset base, and building a value added service layer to our business. That’s where the case concluded.
Tips: I’d suggest that encase you too reach your solution pretty soon in the interview, spend some time to look at other strategic aspects, at points in your structure that might have been left untouched, but don’t panic if there’s nothing more to add from your end. You can close the case as and when you feel you’ve done what you wanted to, and need not wait to have spent a pre-decided amount of time on it. Yes I made it to the next round.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked a few clarifying questions. The information I got was a follows – 1. The client was a $10 billion + company with 50000 + employees. 2. It was a Europe based company with operations all over the world, and their business was expected to grow at 10 – 15 % 3. The lines of business were divided into 2: A. Selling Equipment and S/W in 2G and 3G space. B. Providing Services, which was further subdivided into 4 categories.(i) Turnkey i.e. developing new networks (ii) Managed Services i.e. run the network on behalf of the service provider (iii) Maintenance (H/W and S/W) (iv) Consulting Solutions then defined the problem statement. From here on I structured by approach to do a Revenues & Cost analysis after having done a thorough Market Analysis. Under Market Analysis, I looked at 1. No. of Players – there were 6 -7 players, we were no. 2 with a mkt. share of 20%. The mkt. leader had a 30% share. 2. I looked at Growth in each of the businesses, Selling Equipment and S/W in 2G and 3G space each growing at 15 % and 25% respectively and overall this line of business was growing at 20% In Providing Services, the above 4 were expected to grow at 0%, less than 10%, 15% and less than 10% respectively (in the order mentioned above). 3. The drivers of purchase were driven by Cap Ex and Op Ex incurred by the customers, i.e. Price was the key driver of purchase once you were a part of the consideration set. However, to be considered for a contract by a potential customer, high standards of quality were a must. Before starting to look at the revenues and costs in trying to address profitability, I asked for the revenue break up of for our client. It was as follows – 55% from 2G(30%) & 3G(25%). 24% from turnkey. 9% from maintenance. 6% from managed services and the rest from consulting. I then asked for how this picture would look 3-4 years from now. Selling Equipment and S/W in 2G and 3G space would together constitute 40%, with 70% of this 40 from 3G and rest from 2G. Services would constitute 60% of the revenues, and in comparing to their current contributions, Turnkey would stagnate, Maintenance business would grow at 10 – 15%, and Consulting and Managed Services would grow disproportionately. This unfortunately is all that I remember of the case in terms of data, but from here on it was pretty standard. I prioritized my probing of the cost structures for each of the businesses based on their current and future contributions to the revenue pie. I then explored the cost structures for each line of business, identified the cost levers, and further prioritized my recommendations for each cost lever on the basis of where we could achieve most impact. On the revenue side, my recommendations were around building capabilities around consulting and managed services based on how the business was expected to shape up in the future. There was a lot to talk about under each of the above – off shoring, consolidation of suppliers and subcontractors etc., managing over runs, acquisition to build capabilities, and I did touch upon all of these. I'm sure based on your own judgement, you can add more to it. All the best!
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked a few clarifying questions. The information I got was a follows – 1. The client manufactured broadly two kinds of products A. Textiles (of different counts, pure yarns, viscose mix etc.) B. Garments (semi formal / informal in cotton, for both men and women) I structured my approach as follows: As part of Market Entry evaluation, I wanted to look at the following: 1. Market Attractiveness – size of the mkt., growth expected, penetration levels and margins. 2. Competition – in each of the segments. Further look at unbranded retailing, branded retailing and pvt. label retailing. 3. Strategic Fit and Capabilities as far as this proposed line of business was concerned. 4. How to enter – Organic v/s Inorganic At this point, I was asked to move onto the branding strategy that I would recommend. One key factor that I considered was a single brand v/s a multi brand strategy. And through discussions with the interviewer, I decided to pursue a multi-brand approach for different segments, different qualities etc. (just as Arvind Mills, Madura Garments etc. do). I then proposed that in developing a brand strategy for each of the brands I chose to pursue, I would look at the following: 1. Position the brand 2. Pricing 3. Distribution 4. Promotion. In positioning the brand (each of the brands that we will roll out), I would look at drivers of purchase and then position myself accordingly through parity and distinction. At this point, we got into a more general conversation around how to position, what other factors to consider, and then wrapped up the case.
Tips: As you step in for the interview, make sure that you leave all the excess baggage outside. It’s a big deterrent in one’s performance. I had one more interview that I’m unable to document, after which I was made an offer.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Walk-in
Interview Questionnaire
4 Questions
- Q1. How should you go about picking up a stock?
- Ans.
To pick up a stock, one should conduct thorough research, analyze financial statements, consider market trends, and assess the company's competitive advantage.
Conduct thorough research on the company, its industry, and competitors.
Analyze the company's financial statements, including revenue, earnings, and cash flow.
Consider market trends and the overall economic conditions.
Assess the company's competitive advantage, s...
- Q2. Issues on profitability of a cement company
- Ans.
Profitability issues in a cement company
Decreased demand for cement due to economic downturn
Rising costs of raw materials and energy
Intense competition leading to price wars
Inefficient production processes and high maintenance costs
Lack of innovation and failure to adapt to market trends
- Q3. Situation of the company wanting to launch broad band services across India
- Ans.
The company wants to launch broadband services across India.
Identify the target market and customer segments
Analyze the existing competition and market saturation
Evaluate the infrastructure and network capabilities
Develop a comprehensive marketing and pricing strategy
Establish partnerships with local ISPs and telecom providers
Ensure regulatory compliance and obtain necessary licenses
Invest in customer support and servi...
- Q4. Builder company planning to open up a green buildings in India. Assess the NPV
- Ans.
Assessing the NPV of opening green buildings in India for a builder company.
Calculate the initial investment required for constructing green buildings
Estimate the cash flows generated by the green buildings over a specific time period
Determine the discount rate to be used in the NPV calculation
Discount the cash flows to their present value and subtract the initial investment
If the NPV is positive, it indicates a profit...
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Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: In first case interviewer asked me how should one go about selecting a stock. I proposed two approaches one in terms of finding out a DCF based valuation. He was trying to test deepness of my thought and he made me explain the entire process. Then second approach was by comparing EPS. Then he picked me asking all information is available in public domain so what makes you feel that you know this information which nobody else knows – here I was a bit puzzled by I explained him about management profile, investor profile etc. There was some more discussion which I do not remember. Post this long discussion on first case we moved on second case, which was totally unexpected for me. Anyway, after getting the problem statement. I tried to dig deeper by gathering more facts like:
o Industry was in a reasonably stable state
o Products were fairly comparable
o Company was in existence for last 30-40 years Interestingly I did not made the structure upfront rather went on picking each step and going in depth. So I picked on pricing part first – Ravi asked me what will be the factors affecting it, I could think of:
o Type of product
o Customer segments
o Distribution
o Value Added For product as expected answer was nothing, distribution and value added services he said no scope. Now we went on to customer segment – here I figured out the type of segments which one can supply to and problem became a problem of targeting different market areas. Thereafter we went on to discuss how can this firm go on to establish its presence in new market areas – critical issue which came out was establishing dealerships.
Tips: Just treat interview as a professional discussion – so neither you are nervous nor you are so aggressive that you make the interviewer uncomfortable.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I started of with first assessing whether the market is attractive enough for India. Next logical step was to assess market size. I did it by breaking the market in to households, cyber cafes, and small shops / offices (corporates were already out as they were assumed to be running on their VPNs). This was pretty simple. Next step was to estimate yearly sales – here I used Bass model from Marketing Term 2. Seema was visibly impressed with this. But just to test depth of my thought she asked me to tell what factors should be considered for applying this model (v/s the proxy country which we are going to take). I immediately listed down four factors viz. Needs, Income, Globalisation, and Prices of computers. Seema was very happy with this. But to my surprise, she asked me to move on to second phase as to how client should go about launching it. Client had a limited budget and they wanted to launch services across all metros. This was a seemingly difficult question but I listed out three or four ways, e.g. outsourcing infrastructure, launching services in limited area. Later on Seema told me that they took the limited area option. Post this we had a good discussion on how did costs in this industry move. I must admit this discussion seemed like with a colleague and I could sense the positive vibe from the interview.
Tips: Being open to any kind of discussion. Have fundas of core term eco, marketing, operations, dmop ready – they come very handy.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I deciphered the problem in to revenue and cost and the factors affecting them. Primarily the structure was: (it was built around on incremental basis vis-à-vis a normal building) Revenue:
o Built up area (how it was different from a normal building)
o Lease rentals
o Carbon credits Cost:
o Upfront costs
o Operational costs
o Any grants/ subsidy from government / other agencies Any difference in cost of capital being a more stable project. Then the discussion moved on to putting in numbers and finding out NPV of the project. It came out that NPV was not positive. Now Sachin asked me as to how this can be turned in to NPV positive. I tried to dvelve on each and every factor, but he said that more of less everything is fixed. From here on somehow Sachin took charge of the case and he started discussion about what kind of clients will they target - I told him corporates. He asked what kind of I told him three kinds, viz. Image conscious, Large corporates (for whom differential rent is miniscule), and firms which otherwise are known to be polluters / damager to environment). Next he suddenly came back to some number crunching again as to how can we incentives corporates to take it up which was done with some number crunching. At this point it seemed Sachin was done with the case, but suddenly an idea came up in my mind (which was never discussed in the case) and I told him how DLF built various residential areas coupled with a big corporate building and how this can be used by this builder to make one big project. Though Sachin appeared to be convinced about the case, with this idea he was very impressed. This is why probably he immediately asked me the question how serious are you about BCG!
Again being friendly with the interviewer and being honest. I knew that Ravi has experience in consulting industry and he would be familiar with interviewing styles of all firms, so honestly told him my opinion and did not hide any fact. This helped me in case solving as well wherein I did not do any mistake in number crunching (because of low pressure).
Tips: Be friendly and professional. Don’t be nervous. Even if this your 12th or 15th interview in the day, show energy and enthusiasm.
Skills: Ability To Cope Up With Stress, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: In first case interviewer asked me how should one go about selecting a stock. I proposed two approaches one in terms of finding out a DCF based valuation. He was trying to test deepness of my thought and he made me explain the entire process. Then second approach was by comparing EPS. Then he picked me asking all information is available in public domain so what makes you feel that you know this information which nobody else knows – here I was a bit puzzled by I explained him about management profile, investor profile etc. There was some more discussion which I do not remember. Post this long discussion on first case we moved on second case, which was totally unexpected for me. Anyway, after getting the problem statement. I tried to dig deeper by gathering more facts like:
o Industry was in a reasonably stable state
o Products were fairly comparable
o Company was in existence for last 30-40 years Interestingly I did not made the structure upfront rather went on picking each step and going in depth. So I picked on pricing part first – Ravi asked me what will be the factors affecting it, I could think of:
o Type of product
o Customer segments
o Distribution
o Value Added For product as expected answer was nothing, distribution and value added services he said no scope. Now we went on to customer segment – here I figured out the type of segments which one can supply to and problem became a problem of targeting different market areas. Thereafter we went on to discuss how can this firm go on to establish its presence in new market areas – critical issue which came out was establishing dealerships.
Tips: Just treat interview as a professional discussion – so neither you are nervous nor you are so aggressive that you make the interviewer uncomfortable.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I started of with first assessing whether the market is attractive enough for India. Next logical step was to assess market size. I did it by breaking the market in to households, cyber cafes, and small shops / offices (corporates were already out as they were assumed to be running on their VPNs). This was pretty simple. Next step was to estimate yearly sales – here I used Bass model from Marketing Term 2. Seema was visibly impressed with this. But just to test depth of my thought she asked me to tell what factors should be considered for applying this model (v/s the proxy country which we are going to take). I immediately listed down four factors viz. Needs, Income, Globalisation, and Prices of computers. Seema was very happy with this. But to my surprise, she asked me to move on to second phase as to how client should go about launching it. Client had a limited budget and they wanted to launch services across all metros. This was a seemingly difficult question but I listed out three or four ways, e.g. outsourcing infrastructure, launching services in limited area. Later on Seema told me that they took the limited area option. Post this we had a good discussion on how did costs in this industry move. I must admit this discussion seemed like with a colleague and I could sense the positive vibe from the interview.
Tips: Being open to any kind of discussion. Have fundas of core term eco, marketing, operations, dmop ready – they come very handy.
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I deciphered the problem in to revenue and cost and the factors affecting them. Primarily the structure was: (it was built around on incremental basis vis-à-vis a normal building) Revenue:
o Built up area (how it was different from a normal building)
o Lease rentals
o Carbon credits Cost:
o Upfront costs
o Operational costs
o Any grants/ subsidy from government / other agencies Any difference in cost of capital being a more stable project. Then the discussion moved on to putting in numbers and finding out NPV of the project. It came out that NPV was not positive. Now Sachin asked me as to how this can be turned in to NPV positive. I tried to dvelve on each and every factor, but he said that more of less everything is fixed. From here on somehow Sachin took charge of the case and he started discussion about what kind of clients will they target - I told him corporates. He asked what kind of I told him three kinds, viz. Image conscious, Large corporates (for whom differential rent is miniscule), and firms which otherwise are known to be polluters / damager to environment). Next he suddenly came back to some number crunching again as to how can we incentives corporates to take it up which was done with some number crunching. At this point it seemed Sachin was done with the case, but suddenly an idea came up in my mind (which was never discussed in the case) and I told him how DLF built various residential areas coupled with a big corporate building and how this can be used by this builder to make one big project. Though Sachin appeared to be convinced about the case, with this idea he was very impressed. This is why probably he immediately asked me the question how serious are you about BCG!
Again being friendly with the interviewer and being honest. I knew that Ravi has experience in consulting industry and he would be familiar with interviewing styles of all firms, so honestly told him my opinion and did not hide any fact. This helped me in case solving as well wherein I did not do any mistake in number crunching (because of low pressure).
Tips: Be friendly and professional. Don’t be nervous. Even if this your 12th or 15th interview in the day, show energy and enthusiasm.
Skills: Ability To Cope Up With Stress, Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
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I applied via Referral
Interview Questionnaire
1 Question
- Q1. The client is a global pharma company has been present in India for around 10 years. Ithas a history of being an innovative company. The company has developed a drug that cures breast cancer and it is the ...
Add your answer
Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: As the case was big, I quickly summarized the question.Scoping questions asked Patents for the product (Response: No because the patent laws in India are not very strong and it wouldn't be of much help)About the product. How the drug works? Is it a substitute for Chemo and Surgery (Late stage of cancer requires chemo, surgery and drug, while early stage requires only drug) Price of drug (1 course contains 10 vials and costs Rs. 5 –6 Lacs)covered by health insurance? (Yes) Government subsidies available? (Yes, 15-20% get the drug for free) Perception in the market (Very good, blockbuster drug) side effects (None).
Tips: What was good:The interviewer was very happy with the recommendation I gave for ‘response to competition’.What could be better:I probably spent too much time scoping the question. The interviewer had to guide me by asking me to start with the market sizing.
Skill Tips: Market Sizing: Split the population as rural and urban and then into male and female.Stressed on the difference in rate of diagnosis between rural and urban (due to lack of awareness, financial difficulty and access to diagnostic centers, hospitals and oncologists)Based on the above I identified the market size of the drug after making certain assumptions (Interviewers are largely ok with the assumptions youmake. They are more focused on the thought process)Response to Competition:Be as detailed and structured as possible while giving your recommendation. For reference, below is the structure I used in the interview.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: As the case was big, I quickly summarized the question.Scoping questions asked Patents for the product (Response: No because the patent laws in India are not very strong and it wouldn't be of much help)About the product. How the drug works? Is it a substitute for Chemo and Surgery (Late stage of cancer requires chemo, surgery and drug, while early stage requires only drug) Price of drug (1 course contains 10 vials and costs Rs. 5 –6 Lacs)covered by health insurance? (Yes) Government subsidies available? (Yes, 15-20% get the drug for free) Perception in the market (Very good, blockbuster drug) side effects (None).
Tips: What was good:The interviewer was very happy with the recommendation I gave for ‘response to competition’.What could be better:I probably spent too much time scoping the question. The interviewer had to guide me by asking me to start with the market sizing.
Skill Tips: Market Sizing: Split the population as rural and urban and then into male and female.Stressed on the difference in rate of diagnosis between rural and urban (due to lack of awareness, financial difficulty and access to diagnostic centers, hospitals and oncologists)Based on the above I identified the market size of the drug after making certain assumptions (Interviewers are largely ok with the assumptions youmake. They are more focused on the thought process)Response to Competition:Be as detailed and structured as possible while giving your recommendation. For reference, below is the structure I used in the interview.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
Interview Questionnaire
1 Question
- Q1. The 2018 world cup is going to be in Russia and FIFA comes to you asking for help on how to price for the media rights
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Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: What was good: The PI went well despite the interviewer looking uninterested. I found out very soon that the interviewer liked sports and made sure I spoke about my interest in sports as well.What could be better: Nothing specific. It was a very unstructured case which was more conversational in nature
Tips: I started by identifying all the sources of revenue for FIFA (Merchandising rights, Ticket sales and merchandise sales). I started by saying FIFA could price this product using any of the following 3 strategies:Cost + margin (Which is the minimum price that FIFA can charge)Revenue the media channel could earn by airing the event (Which is the maximum price that FIFA can charge)Price of previous world cup events or other large scale sporting events like the Olympics.The interviewer was extremely interested in the 3rdoption and asked me to explain it in greater detail. I explained how FIFA has the experience of pricing the event every 4 years. They can use the previous world cup in Brazil as a base and adjust for various factors like change in macro-economic levels that would drive disposable income, change in the location of the world cup (from brazil where football is widely followed to Russia), changes in other sources of revenue (potential drop in ticket sales or merchandise) and other changes in the tournament format. I also mentioned that FIFA could use the pricing strategy used for the Olympics as a reference.The interviewer seemed happy with what he had heard and said I would solve the case and that he wanted to test me with another short case, where he wanted to have a discussion with me and didn’t want me to write anything.Case 2: The client is in the travel space having multiple businesses in airline, tour operators, hotels, e-commerce website for travel, Hotel, etc. The CEO comes to you and says I have 2 ideas –Retail in Railways and Detective agency-which one should I pick. What advice would you give the client?Response: Scoping question: -Location of the business (India)-Client’s motivation to start new business (The CEO loves starting new businesses and wants to start a customerfacing business to build newbrand)-Targets for the new business (Wants fast growing and customer facing business)-What does retail on railway mean? Sell on the platform or sell in the train? (Selling snacks on the train and the platform)
Skill Tips: I presume it was a stress interview. The interview seemed very uninterested initially and was mostly on his phone. He introduced himself to me and then asked me to introduce myself. He asked me for something that was not on my Resume and I spoke about ISL. He asked me the sports I played and gave me a case on FIFA
Skills: Case Analysis, Ability To Cope Up With Stress
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: What was good: The PI went well despite the interviewer looking uninterested. I found out very soon that the interviewer liked sports and made sure I spoke about my interest in sports as well.What could be better: Nothing specific. It was a very unstructured case which was more conversational in nature
Tips: I started by identifying all the sources of revenue for FIFA (Merchandising rights, Ticket sales and merchandise sales). I started by saying FIFA could price this product using any of the following 3 strategies:Cost + margin (Which is the minimum price that FIFA can charge)Revenue the media channel could earn by airing the event (Which is the maximum price that FIFA can charge)Price of previous world cup events or other large scale sporting events like the Olympics.The interviewer was extremely interested in the 3rdoption and asked me to explain it in greater detail. I explained how FIFA has the experience of pricing the event every 4 years. They can use the previous world cup in Brazil as a base and adjust for various factors like change in macro-economic levels that would drive disposable income, change in the location of the world cup (from brazil where football is widely followed to Russia), changes in other sources of revenue (potential drop in ticket sales or merchandise) and other changes in the tournament format. I also mentioned that FIFA could use the pricing strategy used for the Olympics as a reference.The interviewer seemed happy with what he had heard and said I would solve the case and that he wanted to test me with another short case, where he wanted to have a discussion with me and didn’t want me to write anything.Case 2: The client is in the travel space having multiple businesses in airline, tour operators, hotels, e-commerce website for travel, Hotel, etc. The CEO comes to you and says I have 2 ideas –Retail in Railways and Detective agency-which one should I pick. What advice would you give the client?Response: Scoping question: -Location of the business (India)-Client’s motivation to start new business (The CEO loves starting new businesses and wants to start a customerfacing business to build newbrand)-Targets for the new business (Wants fast growing and customer facing business)-What does retail on railway mean? Sell on the platform or sell in the train? (Selling snacks on the train and the platform)
Skill Tips: I presume it was a stress interview. The interview seemed very uninterested initially and was mostly on his phone. He introduced himself to me and then asked me to introduce myself. He asked me for something that was not on my Resume and I spoke about ISL. He asked me the sports I played and gave me a case on FIFA
Skills: Case Analysis, Ability To Cope Up With Stress
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
BCG interview questions for designations
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Interview Questionnaire
1 Question
- Q1. The Government of India has invited bids for purchasing 1 GW solar power in multiples of 5MW. Our client is considering bidding for this project. Advice the client on pricing and capacity
- Ans.
The client should consider pricing competitively and bidding for a capacity that aligns with their capabilities and resources.
Research the current market prices for solar power in India to determine a competitive pricing strategy.
Consider the client's financial resources and capabilities to determine the appropriate capacity to bid for.
Evaluate the client's experience and expertise in solar power projects to ensure the...
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Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: What was good:Holding my calm and smiling throughout the stress interview.What could be better:I tried to bring in a structure to the best extent possible. I probably could have had a more structured approach.
Tips: I started by telling the interviewer that I would look at this project from two aspects: Risks and Rewards.The interviewer agreed and asked me to drill further into the reward part. I further split reward into financial and non financial, where I explained that financial rewards would be the revenue earned from the government and the non financial rewards would be the brand recognition and possibility of getting similar projects, etc.Diving further into the inflow, I said the inflow would be based on my bid. For me tobid I would consider the following:Costs incurred plus desired marginExpectation of the Government Based on similar projects in the pastCompetitive bid Find ways to identify the other bidders and try and identify who would potentially bid for the contract. I mentioned that you could use game theory for this and the interviewer asked me further questions on how game theory would help and how I propose to use game theory.Under the cost incurred I broke the costs into a fixed portion and a variable portion. The interviewer then asked me what would impact the variable cost and if the variable cost per unit would remain constant. I mentioned it would remain constant over time but the interviewer kept probing me until I mentioned that the variable cost per unit would depend on the scale of production (i.e. If I increase the scale, the VC per unit would reduce). The interviewer nodded and mentioned that learning effects will also reduce VC per unit over time.
Skill Tips: After this discussion the interviewer abruptly stopped the case. I asked some very relevant questions based on articles written by the interviewer. It always helps to prepare about the interviewer in advance so it helps you ask smarter questions
Skills: Case Analysis, Ability To Cope Up With Stress
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: What was good:Holding my calm and smiling throughout the stress interview.What could be better:I tried to bring in a structure to the best extent possible. I probably could have had a more structured approach.
Tips: I started by telling the interviewer that I would look at this project from two aspects: Risks and Rewards.The interviewer agreed and asked me to drill further into the reward part. I further split reward into financial and non financial, where I explained that financial rewards would be the revenue earned from the government and the non financial rewards would be the brand recognition and possibility of getting similar projects, etc.Diving further into the inflow, I said the inflow would be based on my bid. For me tobid I would consider the following:Costs incurred plus desired marginExpectation of the Government Based on similar projects in the pastCompetitive bid Find ways to identify the other bidders and try and identify who would potentially bid for the contract. I mentioned that you could use game theory for this and the interviewer asked me further questions on how game theory would help and how I propose to use game theory.Under the cost incurred I broke the costs into a fixed portion and a variable portion. The interviewer then asked me what would impact the variable cost and if the variable cost per unit would remain constant. I mentioned it would remain constant over time but the interviewer kept probing me until I mentioned that the variable cost per unit would depend on the scale of production (i.e. If I increase the scale, the VC per unit would reduce). The interviewer nodded and mentioned that learning effects will also reduce VC per unit over time.
Skill Tips: After this discussion the interviewer abruptly stopped the case. I asked some very relevant questions based on articles written by the interviewer. It always helps to prepare about the interviewer in advance so it helps you ask smarter questions
Skills: Case Analysis, Ability To Cope Up With Stress
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Get interview-ready with Top BCG Interview Questions
I applied via Referral
Interview Questionnaire
1 Question
- Q1. An apparel company is failing to meet its target to processa number of items in a day in its warehouse. Identify why
- Ans.
The apparel company is failing to meet its target to process a number of items in a day in its warehouse.
Insufficient staffing or lack of skilled workers
Inefficient workflow or process
Equipment or machinery breakdown
Inventory management issues
Lack of proper training or supervision
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Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Q.What is warehousing process? What is meant by processing of items?The manufacturing unit of the companysends the items to the warehouse. The items are recorded and then sent to the storesQ.Is the problem related to only one ware house or others as well?I was asked to just focus on the problems that may arise in only one warehouse. Q. How was the target set?Based on how many they would want to sell.Q. What is the target and by how much is it missing? There were two targets. One for incoming items and one for outgoing items both 25 items per hour.
Tips: I started with drawing a part of basic value chain starting from suppliers ->inbound logistics->warehouse outbound logistics.I was informed that neither suppliers nor logistics is an issue and the problem is related to warehouse management only.So I figured that I need to know the detailed process in warehouse. Upon asking for details I was told that entire warehouse management is divided into two parts. One where incoming items are received recorded and stacked (put on shelf) for dispatch. Another where the outgoing items are picked packed and shipped. Again I asked for capacity of each of the sub processes. The last process for incoming was manual and the capacity hardly reached over 20 items per hour. Again for outgoing one of the processes was bottle neck. So I understood that Manual labour was the problem. Once I mentioned that problem. I was asked what could be the potential problems. I was asked to list down some of the reasons:I came up with the following reasons1)No proper incentive structure for employees2)Training issues 3)Lack of information flow between the incoming and outgoing processes 4)Miscalculating the actual capacity of the workersI was not asked to summarize because the interviewer was looking for list of factors only.
General Tips: Stick to the structure and discuss each part with the interviewer.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: Q.What is warehousing process? What is meant by processing of items?The manufacturing unit of the companysends the items to the warehouse. The items are recorded and then sent to the storesQ.Is the problem related to only one ware house or others as well?I was asked to just focus on the problems that may arise in only one warehouse. Q. How was the target set?Based on how many they would want to sell.Q. What is the target and by how much is it missing? There were two targets. One for incoming items and one for outgoing items both 25 items per hour.
Tips: I started with drawing a part of basic value chain starting from suppliers ->inbound logistics->warehouse outbound logistics.I was informed that neither suppliers nor logistics is an issue and the problem is related to warehouse management only.So I figured that I need to know the detailed process in warehouse. Upon asking for details I was told that entire warehouse management is divided into two parts. One where incoming items are received recorded and stacked (put on shelf) for dispatch. Another where the outgoing items are picked packed and shipped. Again I asked for capacity of each of the sub processes. The last process for incoming was manual and the capacity hardly reached over 20 items per hour. Again for outgoing one of the processes was bottle neck. So I understood that Manual labour was the problem. Once I mentioned that problem. I was asked what could be the potential problems. I was asked to list down some of the reasons:I came up with the following reasons1)No proper incentive structure for employees2)Training issues 3)Lack of information flow between the incoming and outgoing processes 4)Miscalculating the actual capacity of the workersI was not asked to summarize because the interviewer was looking for list of factors only.
General Tips: Stick to the structure and discuss each part with the interviewer.
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Consultant Jobs at BCG
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Interview Questionnaire
1 Question
- Q1. Our client is a builder who constructs office buildings and residential apartments on contract. There’s a new contract construction of a residential society. Almost 30% of the society has been built and no...
- Ans.
The builder should consider using Fly Ash bricks as the base material for the residential society construction.
Fly Ash bricks are more environmentally friendly compared to common burnt clay bricks and concrete bricks.
Fly Ash bricks have better thermal insulation properties, reducing energy consumption for heating and cooling.
Fly Ash bricks have higher strength and durability compared to common burnt clay bricks.
Fly Ash...
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Interview Preparation Tips
Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: How big is our client in terms of business? Is he present in some other business as well?
Consider the client someone similar to DLF
Has the client consistently been using all these types of bricks in construction? Or is some material new?
The burnt claybrick is the most commonly used one. Next are fly ash and sand lime bricks and concrete bricks are relatively new. This is kind of general trend in the market (i.e. among competition) as well as our clientWhere is the residential society located where the construction needs to be done?It’s in Mumbai
Tips: In general, in case interviews, the interviewer wants to push you hard so that you think harder and bring out more points. It’s only necessary to test the problem solving abilities and check the person’s nerve with problems. Thus, during these times, one should never stop thinking or throwing in new ideas at the interviewer. The ideas may or may not be what the interviewer wants to hear, but this strategy would never reflect anything negative about the interviewee. In fact, works positively in most cases. My interviewers were happy with the discussions I had with them and I was offered the job position after this interview
Skill Tips: First layout the basic structure of how you might want to proceed with the case and then continue asking question along the way –which is more like thinking out loud. This helps to involve the interviewer in the discussion
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
Experience: How big is our client in terms of business? Is he present in some other business as well?
Consider the client someone similar to DLF
Has the client consistently been using all these types of bricks in construction? Or is some material new?
The burnt claybrick is the most commonly used one. Next are fly ash and sand lime bricks and concrete bricks are relatively new. This is kind of general trend in the market (i.e. among competition) as well as our clientWhere is the residential society located where the construction needs to be done?It’s in Mumbai
Tips: In general, in case interviews, the interviewer wants to push you hard so that you think harder and bring out more points. It’s only necessary to test the problem solving abilities and check the person’s nerve with problems. Thus, during these times, one should never stop thinking or throwing in new ideas at the interviewer. The ideas may or may not be what the interviewer wants to hear, but this strategy would never reflect anything negative about the interviewee. In fact, works positively in most cases. My interviewers were happy with the discussions I had with them and I was offered the job position after this interview
Skill Tips: First layout the basic structure of how you might want to proceed with the case and then continue asking question along the way –which is more like thinking out loud. This helps to involve the interviewer in the discussion
Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)
I applied via Referral
Interview Questionnaire
2 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
- Ans.
Develop a bidding strategy for a solar energy producer to secure a favorable rate for energy supply.
Analyze the market demand and supply for solar energy
Evaluate the cost of production and potential profit margins
Consider the competition and their bidding strategies
Assess the client's unique selling points and advantages
Determine the client's desired profit margin and risk tolerance
Prepare a comprehensive proposal high...
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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)
I applied via Referral
Interview Questionnaire
1 Question
- 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
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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
Interview Questionnaire
1 Question
- Q1. A global tools manufacturer is looking to increase revenues in the Indian market. Help them out
- Ans.
To increase revenues in the Indian market, the global tools manufacturer can focus on localization, market research, strategic partnerships, and targeted marketing.
Localize products to cater to the specific needs and preferences of the Indian market
Conduct market research to identify potential customers, competitors, and market trends
Form strategic partnerships with local distributors or retailers to expand reach and d...
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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)
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a data engineer
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Hey all,
I have an interview for Data Engineering role(3yoe) at BCG. Can someone provide any insights which can be helpful.
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BCG Interview FAQs
How many rounds are there in BCG Consultant interview?
BCG interview process usually has 2-3 rounds. The most common rounds in the BCG interview process are Case Study, HR and Guesstimates.
How to prepare for BCG Consultant interview?
Go through your CV in detail and study all the technologies mentioned in your CV. Prepare at least two technologies or languages in depth if you are appearing for a technical interview at BCG. The most common topics and skills that interviewers at BCG expect are Active Directory, Agile, Analytical, Analytics and Business Strategy.
What are the top questions asked in BCG Consultant interview?
Some of the top questions asked at the BCG Consultant interview -
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BCG Consultant Interview Process
based on 4 interviews
3 Interview rounds
- HR Round
- Case Study Round - 1
- Case Study Round - 2
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