IPE Global District Programme Manager Interview Questions and Answers

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Make sure you research about the company and also understand what the job is going to entail.

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Good to start your career but stay away from politics

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: The interview began with a quintessential -“Why don't you tell me something about
yourself?”, The case in round one was about potato chip manufacturing company. Didn't . really end up cracking the case/
Tips: You really need to be calm and only then will the analytical skills and creativity really show. But do not worry - the interviewer shall go out of his/her way to make you feel so.
Just be you and try to establish connecting with the interviewer. A smiling face comes in handy too.
Also, there is a lot of buildup on campus to the start of day zero- just remain calm during that time. It‟s easy to feel over pressurized, especially with all the short-lists coming in, but just relax. It‟s going to be fine.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case:The client is a large cement company with the highest market share. The second close player is cutting prices. To match the prices the client has also reduced its prices and is facing declining profits. The client has given us 3 weeks to solve the problem.
Structure:
I asked him about the dynamics of the industry. He explained that there is not much difference between the products as well as the cost structures of the company. This meant that even the competitor is losing money by the price war.
I suggested 2 alternatives to solve this: first involved analyzing the cost structure and trying to reduce costs. But the interviewer told me that the client has used all the cost efficiencies possible (this indicates that the interviewer does not want me to go deeper).
Second option that I suggested involved was the Game Theory approach. This involves indicating to the competitor that we will not reduce our prices even if he does so. This I suggested could be done by issuing some way of communication to the competitor. But he said that the competitor is not willing to talk. I could not think of what could be done so he suggested that the client should increase the prices. This will show to the competitor that the client is serious.
Then the interviewer said that after one week, the sales of the client had declined drastically and the competitor had not reduced its prices. This created a problem of inventory.
To solve this data was collected geographically and analyzed. It was found that some dealers had reduced the stocks of the clients cement. The clients did this as they expected the price increase to be temporary and thus wanted to postpone the purchase. I suggested increasing the prices again. This will signal to the dealers that the price increase is not temporary.
Finally he asked me to give some suggestions about the same. I suggested that the dealers should be given discounts based on the average volumes they generate every week and month. This will help in inventory planning. Secondly whenever the price is increased they should be increased all at once and any decrease should be spread over a larger period. This will not allow competitors and dealers to pre-empt the client.
Tips: Even though the ideas might sound outlandish, get them across, they will give you the benefit of thinking out of the box. Try to involve the interviewer in the case as much as possible, if he is interested he will point you out more and more in the right direction.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Started directly with the case. At the end of the case asked me about LBO (Leveraged buyout) and asked me to give an example in the Indian markets .
Case:I was travelling in a taxi when the driver asked me about switching his car and joining the radio cab service such as Meru. What is your advice?
Structure:
I said that we will compare the profits of the two methods and make our decisions based on that. I asked about the revenue and costs of the two and calculated the profit.
I proved that joining the radio cab was better. But the interviewer told me that was the wrong answer. He asked me to go back.
I took the current taxi and approached the different line items one by one. I suggested that if the driver installed an AC he will be able to charge more. But the interviewer asked me to suggest something else.
If the engine of the cab (which was currently diesel) could be replaced by CNG (the radio cab used CNG) the fuel cost reduced drastically making the current cab more profitable. I showed him the calculations.
Tips: Try to be receptive to the hints given by the interviewer in the process. They are extremely important to get to the solution quickly.

General Tips: Do not lose your calm even if you answer wrong.
Skills:
College Name: IIM Lucknow

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)