LEK Consulting Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Identified that the problem could either be surplus or wastage. Understood the inventory procurement and management system. Took a sample fruit for a given week and proceeded with inventory optimization. Developed alternative inventory plans and selected the best one. Then asked to synthesize.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: The interviewer didn’t have my CV. He preferred a brief introduction. Probed about other shortlists and interviews I had.
Then opened an elaborate PPT and walked me through the slides. It was a Dairy Farming Corp. based out of western Europe and we looked at acquisition targets across 4 markets. After 10 minutes of running me through a number of tables and graphs, I was given a minute to think and recommend the best option for the client. I Didn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Concluded with a recommendation and case synthesis.

General Tips: 1. Respond to the tone of the interviewer.
2. Being composed matters.
Skills:
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Two things in the problem statement set the path for me.
a. “Phase -1 trials”, so phase -2, so phase-3 etc had to be looked into – basically the whole development stage from a drug in a lab to a drug in the marketplace.
b. “for what amount” – clearly this case demanded working with numbers, because it was not just a yes/no question, but also asked an approximate deal price.

Solving the case.
a) I laid out the value chain in development of a drug.
b) The interviewer on prodding gave me costs involved in the phased clinical trials and their probabilities of success.
c) CATCH: Phase 3 trials success of failures probability does not affect the overall outcome in expenditure, as even if it is a failure, you have spent the money
d) So I have an approximate numbers on cost in different scenarios.
e) Now, I tried to estimate the potential revenue that can be earned from this drug. The interviewer gave the selling price of the drug has been fixed at USD1000. So now its more of a question of market sizing.
f) Since the company is a global pharma giant, it would be selling all over the world.
g) The problem was now reduced to finding the number of potential male bald customers worldwide ready to shell out USD1000 for a cure.
h) The math worked out that there was no way to make money from this drug (It took a little bit of guts to state this conclusion to the interviewer), and the company abandon this project. Or better still, if somebody is ready to buy the right, just sell it for any amount above the costs you have incurred so far.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: First I tried to understand the Nigerian motorcycle market. Also, I tried to understand if there was any possibility of the Indian maker to sell cheap – that possibility was ruled out. So, if cost leadership does not work, product differentiation will. How could we then differentiate our product?

a) CATCH: As it turned out in the course of our discussion, the motorcycles were used as taxis
b) The drivers owned the motorcycles and plied pillions around the city for a fee.
c) I worked out the math for these chinese motorcycles -buying cost, maintenance, life, mileage, etc.
d) If the Indian client could beat that number, we could have a winner - the buying cost was high, but we were better on mileage, on life (3 years vs 2 years for the chinese product) and on maintenance. Still the number was not favourable.
e) Next came the idea, that if we could not reduce the cost for the drivers, can we improve the revenue. An idea that I blurted out, but which turned out to be the one the interviewer was looking for – was to have a longer seat so that a total of three people could ride the motorcycle comfortably.
f) Now the numbers started making sense. Also note that the previous numbers would have changed, because the mileage with 3 people on board will be less than 2 ppl onboard. Also, the amount individual customers are ready to shell out for a shared taxi will be lesser than for a private taxi. All these changes accounted for, the numbers still looked positive.
g) So a go ahead was declared.
h) Now came the second part, given that we decide to enter Nigeria – how do we position ourselves as a brand and convince the locals to tru out our new expensive product –the benefits of which can only be ascertained after a period of one or two years i) The answer came in renting out these bikes to the drivers on a trial basis, and let them appreciate our better bikes and let word of mouth do the rest.

General Tips: a). Be calm, but be enthusiastic in the interview. Enthusiasm shows.
b). Make the interview a two way process. Let the interviewer help you solve the problem. He will drop hints. LISTEN to them.
Skills:
College Name: IIM Lucknow