BCG Senior Associate Interview Questions and Answers

Topics to prepare for BCG Senior Associate interview:

• growth
• Profitability
• M&A
• Cost Analysis

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I took a complete background check with regard to the motivation behind diversifying into IT sector. Also, what kind of IT businesses it wanted to diversify. The interviewer suggested that they want to achieve revenue of USD 5Bn from current USD 4Bn. Also, they want a margin of 12-15% from this new business. Also, the major consumer of IT services are Europe and US.So, I divided the problem into two parts –1. Whether IT business would serve them the purpose for achieving desired revenue. 2. If yes, then what would be the strategy for entering into IT services?I started off with the projected revenue estimates for all types of IT services. However, the interviewer changed the problem statement (due to paucity of time I suppose). He asked what would be the basis for selecting companies from an acquisition standpoint from an initial pool of companies across the globe. I came up with two matrix table wherein I stated what the Indian conglomerate wants from the acquisition (ie Need) and what it can offer to the target company (ie want of target) and tried to match it.The interviewer informed that the Indian conglomerate was cash rich company, stands on its values and has strong client relationship with manufacturing sectors / vendors. So I started linking all of them –
•funding –requirement for cash strapped companies
•Reputation –It can offer brand value to companies not well known
•Client relation to leverage –Companies not present in manufacturing IT services.Also, during discussion, I linked the problem practically to how Mahindra went on to acquire Satyam and what factors it looked before bidding. I think the interviewer was impressed with the linking to case to practical situation.

Round: Problem Statement
Experience: Me: Define market share?
Interviewer: Market share is defined by quantity and sales value.
Me: There could be 3 possible scenarios: Market stagnant, we are losing out to competitors; Market growing but we are not growing as fast as market; market shrinking but we are losing more than our competitors.
Interviewer: Second scenario
Me: Major customers
Interviewer: Real estate companies.
After a brief background question, I started off with the problem analysis.
I broke the problem into Demand and Supply side. Under demand side, I mapped the consumer behaviour analysis of buyer and brought out several points. However, the interviewer was interested in delving into supply side. Anyway, he told me to analyse demand side.Based on our discussion, we realized that pricing and timely delivery was an issue. Pricing is based on cost plus pricing. Cost includes transportation cost which was significantly higher than industry standards. High transportation cost stems from the fact that the factory was located far away from the market. Also, acquisition of lime stone has been a challenge for the company. I think the interviewer was impressed from the fact that the problem was solved from the demand side. Also, I quickly suggested 2 solutions to the problem:
•Short term –Reduce prices and take a hit on profit to regain market share
•Medium term –Follow hub and spoke model to reduce delay in delivery time
•Long term –Acquire a source (may be mine or long term supplier) for lime stone.

Round: Problem Statement
Experience: I took background questions regarding in which circle it operates and its vision in India. I suggested that I would do a Net Present Value analysis and would bench mark against return expected by Norway Head Office. We went into revenue stream like voice and data. Cost included operating, spectrum, license fee etc. He seemed to be satisfied with the response. Also, he asked me why AT&T is not bidding for the spectrum. I explained that Uninor has invested time, effort in understanding Indian market which AT&T has not. I drew learning curve of both Uninor and AT&T. He seemed impressed.
Tips: 1.Be calm and composed. Even if one interview does not go well, one would have another chance to perform.
2.Take good background questions to understand the problem. Dissect the problem and then approach.
3.Structured thinking is very important. Also, explain briefly the broad bucket in the structure.
4.All suggestions should have some basis based on the inputs taken during the interview.
5.Thorough CV and HR preparation are hygiene factors.
6.Always smile!

Skills: Case Analysis, Problem Solving Skills, Problem Solving Abilties
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: HR Interview
Experience: The interview started with a detailed discussion on various fascets of points on my CV. Neeraj wanted to know about my thought process as I went through the various phases of my life and how I took decisions that I actually took. For example, he was very interested in knowing as to why I chose IIT Bombay for my B.Tech when I could have gone to join IIT-Delhi which was nearer home. The idea was to develop a rapport with the interviewer by being clear, insightful and interesting in your answers. Be very nicely prepared with your CV and think through the various decisions you have taken in life, keep smiling throughout the interview, present a firm hand shake, think before you speak and engage the interviewer in a discussion.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I started off by trying to understand the situation as clearly as possible. The one dictum I stuck to in this and other case interviews was to really get to the crux of the matter and scope down the problem relentlessly to what the top of the line issues were for the client. So trying to be MECE, I told Neeraj that I would look at the following three alternatives: - Not do any thing about the excess capacity and wait for the good times to come back- - Downgrade the capacity by eliminating excess - Find better uses of capacity or sell more to existing customers A free flowing discussion followed on each of the points above and Neeraj very quickly refuted the first two suggestions. We then dived headlong into the third suggestion and it quickly appeared clear that fiber optic cables were commoditized products to a large extent. I asked Neeraj about the specific ways in which we were better than the competition and got to know that our client had better product quality at the same price. I drew a perceptual map of our Vs. the competitors’ positions on these maps and argued that we may want to play upon our better product quality to induce the customers to buy more from us. When prodded further by Neeraj, I used the tried and tested Raju formula: Market Share = (Share of Voice)X(%of acceptability)X(%of availability) Since availability was not an issue and since advertising was not a main concern, he asked me to dive into ways of improving our Client’s share of acceptability. I proposed pricing as a way of doing so. I postulated that we needed to study our client’s fixed costs and those of our competitors’. Based on the fact that our fixed costs were lower than those of our competitors, I argued that we could play the pricing game by bringing our prices down and cornering a bigger share of the market. I further argued that if our competitors tried to imitate us in this price war, they may end up chasing us to the bottom of the barrel and get killed in the process. This would only be good for the industry which badly needs consolidation given the excess capacity. I think Neeraj was visibly impressed by this time by the depth of analysis I had presented and the diverse ideas from marketing, managerial accounting etc that I was able to bring to the table.
Tips: Be yourself.
Be confident.

Skills: Case Analysis
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)