ISB_Consulting_Case_Book_2022_23_1701517512_231230_1708381

ISB Consulting
Case Book
2022 - 2023
Consulting Club, ISB

1
Class of 2023
Foreword
From President's Desk

The consulting case book is a summarization of the collective experiences during the placements at ISB. The book can be
considered as a one stop repository for your consulting, strategy and general management role placement preparation. While
we revamp the look and feel of the book, we are adding on to the legacy passed to us by our ISB Alums.
This edition of the case book aims to present frameworks, industry primers, and real cases that candidates were tested on in
2022-2023. We hope that it helps you, the reader, come up this steep learning curve and fast track your case preparation.
This case book would not have been possible without the contribution of the class of 2023, and alums from recruiting firms
who coached our peers on cracking into their dream firms. We would like to thank consulting clubs at peer B-schools across
the country, whose content has been leveraged to prepare some sections of the case book.
To all the aspiring consultants, use this book to prepare for your consulting journey. Follow the segments as in this book to
prepare stepwise for your interviews
Regards,
Dolly Bajaj | President, ISB Hyderabad, Co'23
&
Soumitra Das | President, ISB Mohali, Co'23

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Class of 2023
Team
Soumitra Das
Consulting Club Core Team, President Mohali
ISB Mohali,
Class of 2023
(L-R) Riya Sehgal, Shefali Singh, Abhishek Vashistha, Aashna Khattar, Stuti Budhiraja, Soumitra Das. Aashrita Vempalle, Raghav Singhal
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Class of 2023
Team
Consulting Club Core Team,

ISB Hyderabad,
Class of 2023
(L-R) Meenal Gupta, Rashmi Kumari, Sushmita Shubham, Mayank Sethia, Vihari Vemuri, Prakhar Shukla, Manan Dugar, Anushka
Consulting Club, ISB Gupta, Komal Pramod Agarwal. Pranav Singhal, Dolly Bajaj, Shreya Kamath, Navya Agarwal 4
Class of 2023
Content
Particulars Page Particulars Page Particulars Page Particulars Page
Contents 5 Abstract 52 KPMG 125 Healthcare 166
Consulting 101 6-14 Salesforce Effectiveness 53 PWC 126-127 Hospitality 167
What? 7 Governance 54-55 Accenture 128-133 Insurance 168
Types 8 Tips 56 ADL 134-136 Iron & Steel 169
Who’s who? 9-13 Case Framework Examples 57-71 LEK 137-141 IT & ITES 170
Why? 14 Profitability 58-59 EYP 142-143 Logistics 171
Consulting Prep 15-40 Market Entry 60-63 Samagra 144 Media 172
Introduction 16 Growth Strategy 64-65 Others 145-155 NBFCs 173
Timelines 17 Pricing 66-67 Industry Primers 156-178 Oil, Gas & Energy 174
Before Shortlists 18-26 M&A 68 Airlines 157 Pharmaceuticals 175
After Shortlists 27-40 PE & VC 69 Asset Management 158 Real Estate 176
Case Frameworks 41-56 Abstract 70 Automobiles 159 Retail 177
Profitability 44-45 Case Interview Experiences 72-155 Banking 160 Telecom 178
Market Entry 46 Mckinsey 72-93 Cement 161 Guesstimates 179-190
Growth Strategy 47-48 BCG 94-104 E-commerce 162 Approach 180-183
Pricing 49 Bain 105-115 Electronics 163 Cheat Sheet 184
M&A 50 Kearney 116-122 FMCG 164 Examples 185-186
PE & VC 51 Deloitte 123-124 Food Processing 165 Practice Questions 187-190

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Class of 2023
Consulting 101
Why Consulting?
Consulting Club, ISB Consulting 101 Consulting Prep Industry Primers Case Frameworks Case Analysis Guesstimates
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Class of 2023 What? Types Who’s who? Why?
What is Consulting? Consulting 101
Consulting is a professional service provided by individuals or firms with expertise in a specific field or industry. Consultants are hired by
organizations or individuals to provide expert advice, analysis, and recommendations on various business challenges and opportunities.
Consultants typically work on a project basis, collaborating closely with the client to understand their needs, assess the current
situation, and develop strategies or solutions to address the identified issues.
Expert Advice Problem Solving Value Creation
Consultants offer specialized Consultants analyze complex Consulting optimizes processes,

knowledge and experience to challenges, identify root causes, enhances efficiency, and drives
provide tailored recommendations and develop effective solutions. growth for organizations, resulting
for clients. in improved performance and
profitability.
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Types of Consulting? Consulting 101
Consulting
Strategy Operations Human Resources Financial Advisory Technology
Corporate Strategy Process Management Organisational Change Corporate Finance IT Advisory

Economic Policy Supply Chain HR Technology Restructuring ERP Implementation
Mergers & Acquisitions Procurement Learning & Development Actuarial Services Data Analytics
Organisational Finance Operations Benefits & Rewards Risk Management App Development
Strategy
Functional Strategy Outsourcing Talent Management Real Estate Advisory System Integration
Project Management Forensics & Litigation Enterprise
Architecture
Management Consulting
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Who’s who of Consulting? (1/5) Consulting 101
Note: This is not an exhaustive list and does not necessarily represent status quo processes of companies. The information might differ from the one stated here
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Boston Consulting
Particulars McKinsey Bain & Company L.E.K Accenture
Group
Type of Consulting Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy
Business, Technology,
Focus areas Multi-industry Multi-industry Multi-industry Education
Operations
Typical roles offered Junior Consultant, Senior Associate, Analyst, Consultant,
Junior Associate Consultant
to an MBA graduate Consultant Consultant Manager
Gurgaon, Mumbai,
Gurgaon, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Mumbai,
Location Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai
Bangalore Bangalore, Chennai Bangalore
Hyderabad, Kolkata
Resume + cover letter
Resume shortlisting, Resume shortlisting, Resume shortlisting, Resume shortlisting,
Recruitment process shortlisting, 2-3 case
2-3 case interviews 2-3 case interviews 2-3 case interviews 2-3 case interviews
interviews
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Particulars Alvarez & Marshall Kearney Arthur D. Little Analysys Mason Samagra
Type of Consulting Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Advisory
Sourcing, Procurement,
Focus areas Turnaround, M&A Multi-industry TMT Governance
Operations
Typical roles offered Senior Associate,
Manager, Senior Associate Senior Analyst Senior Business Analyst Associate Consultant
to an MBA graduate Consultant
Delhi, Bhubaneswar,
Gurgaon, Mumbai,
Location Mumbai Gurgaon, Mumbai Gurgaon Shimla, Chandigarh,
Bangalore
Lucknow
Resume + video
Recruitment process shortlisting, 2-
3 case interviews
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Particulars ZS Associates Diamond Dalberg Seimens FTI Consulting
Type of Consulting Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Advisory
Policy advisory &

Focus areas Healthcare & Others Multi-industry Digital transformation Finance sector
implementation
Typical roles offered Consultant –Business Ops, Associate – experienced, Consultant, Senior
Consultant Consultant
to an MBA graduate Tech, Decision Analytics senior across functions Consultant
Location Pune, Bangalore, Gurgaon Bangalore Delhi, Mumbai Mumbai Delhi, Mumbai
Resume shortlisting, Resume shortlisting, Resume shortlisting, Resume shortlisting, Resume, cover letter, 2-
Recruitment process
2-3 case interviews 2-3 case interviews 2-3 case interviews 2-3 case interviews 3 case interviews
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Particulars Deloitte KPMG EY PWC Infosys
Type of Consulting Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy
Multi-industry
Focus areas Multi-industry Multi-industry Multi-industry IT transformation
Business Dev Exe,

Typical roles offered Associate Consultant, Associate, Associate Consultant – Finacle,
Consultant Associate, Consultant
to an MBA graduate Consultant Consultant Business Consultant /
Senior Consultant
Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai,
NCR, Bangalore, Pune,
Pune, Ahmedabad,
Location PAN India Gurgaon, Mumbai Bangalore and more Mumbai, Chennai,
Hyderabad, Kolkata,
Hyderabad
Chennai
Resume + video
Recruitment process shortlisting, 2-
3 case interviews
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Why Consulting? Consulting 101
Consulting as a career is very rewarding. The challenges it throws, make the learning curve very steep. However, it is important to
ensure that one clearly understands what it has to offer and makes the career choice wisely. Some of the reasons why you could
consider it as a career option are:
Exposure to a wide range Helps in developing skills Working with industry

of industries and functions that are very valuable experts and senior leaders
Consultants can rapidly try out As a consultant, you are sure to develop Being a consultant has the advantage of
industries and functional areas due to problem-solving, decision-making, working with experts of the industries.
the varying and ever-changing nature of communication and project For a fresh graduate, working with
projects. This broadens their experience management skills. seniors who maybe 30 or 40 years into
and knowledge horizon. their profession, is very rewarding.
Adapting to quick learning Instant network Opportunities to travel
As the projects are fast-paced and you It is one of the jobs that enable quickest It allows you to move around the world,
are typically working with teams, you and most effective ways to build a vast visiting clients and figuring out their
get to learn quickly from those who are and valuable network by working with needs.
more experienced and get an multiple clients through the course of
understanding across all fields. different projects.
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Consulting Prep
Structure | Approach
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Class of 2023 Introduction Timelines Before Shortlist After Shortlist
Introduction Consulting Prep
Consulting preparation journey requires dedication, time management and high productivity.
Consulting interviews test following in a candidate
• Problem-solving/analytical abilities
• Ability to structure information
• Clear Communication and leadership skill.
Preparing for consulting interviews requires a focused effort – a journey that this case book hopes to take the reader along. Use this book
as a guide to understand the stages involved in preparing for consulting interviews, learning various frameworks that are frequently asked
in interviews, and as a source of credible interview experiences with leading firms.
As you practice cases with your peers, assigned buddies and within your case groups, use the content given in this book to guide your
preparation, test your interview readiness, and as a source of verified cases/interview experiences and best practices on acing the interview.
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Timelines Consulting Prep
Term 1-2 Term 3 Term 4 Term 5

Understand Core Concept about
Resume Building
Consulting
Case Prep Workshops
Guesstimate Workshops
Case Group Formation
Case Preparations with groups and buddies
Guesstimate Preparations
Industry Primer
Personal Interview
Resume First set of
D-day
submission begins shortlists out
PLACEMENT TIMELINE
Note: The exact timeline might differ based on the school’s curriculum but the sequence of events and the preparation journey can be assumed to be similar to the above chart.
The break at the end denotes a breather that every student is recommended to take before the D day
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Before Shortlist Consulting Prep
Resume (1/7) Cover Letter
About Your resume is not a laundry list of achievements you might have had in your life. Rather it is a list of 3-4 strong well written points
resumes which are able to highlight your key skill sets and achievements required for a successful career. It is advisable to make extensive
use of the KM portal & start your CV preparation as soon as possible (preferably one month before resume deadlines).
What a great Each consulting firm on campus has its own subjective/objective criteria of shortlisting of resume. It completely depends on how you
resume can highlight the relevant skill-sets better than others and convince the firm that you have the ‘spike’ in your resume. Typical
showcases characteristics that firms look for in a candidate are:
Client/Senior
Problem solving
Analytical skills Communication Leadership Leadership
horsepower
management
Business/ Quality of
Non-Academic
Commercial People Skills Creativity work
initiatives
knowledge experience
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Step 1: The first draft !

A good way to start preparing your resume is to:
1 2 3
Write down all the Make sure you give equal weightage to all the You have only one
achievements you have sections of your resume – academics, work page to articulate
had on a piece experience and extracurricular while selecting everything. Use every
of paper (Master CV) your achievements for the resume. line of your
resume wisely.
4 5 6
Make sure that your achievements A good framework to Quantifying the impact is pertinent while providing
are recent but more importantly draft your bullet points in Enough qualitative context.
give an underlining story about you an effective and impactful Following a format is also important – write concise
as a person. manner is Result – Action - and crisp (1-2 lines) points in simple language (avoid
Context. jargons) and keep enough whitespaces in the resume
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8
Example: “Youngest to get promoted in For a good bullet point, make sure all Relevant bolding of sentences is
2 years” is good but “Youngest to get these elements are mentioned. Impact if extremely relevant. Many faulter at this
promoted in 2 years against an average quantified through numbers or comparison part.
of 4 years” makes it even more with known references leaves a better The key is to bold phrases instead of
impactful. impression than an unquantified one. numbers/ words so that even if a person
read only the bold part in each line, the
message is delivered.
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Academic Achievements:
Education • ISB / Undergraduate / Postgraduate CGPA, Ranks, Awards; GMAT; Professional qualifications / achievements
• Extraordinary projects/ dissertations / internships
Other Activities:
• Case competitions – highlighting level of achievements ; ISB PoR – highlight level of responsibility and impact
ELPs – focus on nature of project and result achieved
Work Experience Show experiences and achievements separately by company/role

• Mention companies worked in, career progression – provide additional context on company/role if not
common knowledge
• Structure experiences as either type of activities or projects following the RAC format
• Highlight the quantitative and qualitative parts of any project clearly articulating the impact/results
delivered and process/activity undertaken
• Create a logical flow of projects focussing on the pillars a company looks for (mentioned in resume 1/7)
Extra-curriculars • Diversity of Activities: Extra curriculars activities would be anything beyond education and work. You can
mention sports, music, arts, social impact, PORs in undergrad/work
• Structuring of the activities is relevant: Clearly bucketing activities and ordering them by level of
achievements makes the section look clear and neat. Keeping all the related activities e.g. social impact
under one bucket is better than having separate bullets placed haphazardly
• Quantification of achievements if possible would be bonus points
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Step 2: Revising drafts by focussing on ‘Spikes’ on resume

You will hear this word umpteen number of times and still would fail to understand what it actually means to have a ‘spike’ in your
resume. The boundaries surrounding the ‘spike’ are very vague as you guys will find out as your ISB journey goes along. You need spike
in any two of the three sections to get attention of the reviewers:
Education Work experience Extra-curriculars
Spike in academics Spike in work experience Spike in extra-curriculars

• If you are among the top • Brand value of your previous • Any significant position of
10% of the ISB class organization. responsibility (in ISB or outside).
• Extraordinary grade in your • Role and responsibility • Extra-ordinary achievement in
undergraduation handled in your previous job. sports/cultural events etc. can be
• Extraordinary GMAT score • Any significant value addition used here
(740+) to the organization. • It is noteworthy not to write
something very inconsequential
Note: This illustration does not imply that if you don’t have these things on your resume, your chances of getting shortlist are by any means less. These are hygiene factors in resume which enhance your chances of getting a
shortlist
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Step 3: Quick Tests to check your CV’s effectiveness
“So what?” test For every bullet point you write, you should ask yourself “so what if I did ”.
For e.g. if I have led a team of 5 people on xyz assignment resulting in 10% cost saving.
• Now you should ask yourself “so what if I have done this”. Is this a strong enough differentiator for it to come on my CV?
• Does it suggest a strong skill required for consulting which gets communicated through this point and appears nowhere else on my
resume?
• Is it something which sets me apart from the rest or makes for an interesting read for the reader?
If answer to any of the questions above is yes, then keep the point or else discard it.
Half Page test • Once the first decent draft of your resume is done, take a printout and fold it into half along the longer side such that only the first
half of every bullet point is visible.
• See whether the first half of every bullet point gives the reader an idea of the content of the bullet point. If yes, the bullet point is
correctly framed or else you have to reframe the point in such a way that the first 4-5 words describe the point.
• This rationale behind the test is as humans, we tend to focus more on the initial part of sentence while scanning. Details in the
middle part or the latter part of the sentence tend to get missed out when we are hurrying through things.
30 second • This should be done when you have almost reached your final version of resume. Give your resume to one of your friends who
Test hasn’t seen your resume before for exactly thirty seconds. Take back your resume after 30 seconds and ask him/her what he/she
remembers about your resume and looking at the page, what he/she can make of you as an individual in one line.
• This test gives a check of whether the storyline you want to communicate through your resume is actually getting communicated
to a third person. If not, you need to focus more on the points which reflect your skills sets and leave an impression on the
reviewer.
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Step 4: Prepare the final Draft
• Once you have the draft resume with you, make sure that it sees enough eyes other than you so that you get a feedback on whether
your resume communicates the messages you want it to convey or is it just another laundry list of bullets.
• Share your resume with your friends/family and ask them to comment and ask difficult question. This is where your alums can be very
helpful. Reach out to them and seek their advice on how your resume can be improved. This process is very iterative and takes most
of the time in resume building.
The resume is deemed ready when:
• Feedbacks are repetitive and on similar points
• The feedbacks you get after multiple reviews are minor – grammatical, formatting, basic sentence framing etc.
• The resume passes the previous tests
• The reviewer is impressed
and
• You are satisfied ☺
Note: Choosing the right format is extremely important so that the iterations on formatting on later stages is reduced. Best is to consider the formatting instructions from the SEAL team and make your resume from scratch.
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Guardrails to observe
Flow:
Your CV will eventually subscribe to one or more of three formats - Chronological, Skill-Based or Hybrid. There is no single right
answer; but it is important to take a conscious call on how you want your CV/its sections to flow early on. An example of hybrid
format would be to make work experience in consulting project based and that as an entrepreneur chronological.
Reviews:
Don’t get trapped into your own echo chamber! Get your CV reviewed relentlessly. This could be by peers, alums or a mix. Again, there is
no single ‘archetype’ to subscribe to – we have seen people focus overtly on alum-led reviews and land their shortlists, and those on peer-
reviews alone and get over the line, too. Let your sense of comfort guide you on what you do finally. But, the point remains – get your CV
reviewed, because it is mission critical for you to know how a reader/third person perceives what you are trying to communicate.
Misrepresentation:
A partner at a consulting firm will take no more than a few minutes to figure you have faked something on your resume. They’re in the
business of recruiting and developing people. Do not misrepresent.
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Resume Cover Letter (1/2)
Some firms – e.g., Parthenon, LEK, Booz - require candidates to share their expression of interest in the job in question. This is done
through submitting a cover letter.
Best practices to observe while writing a cover letter -

Personalization:
Give a personalized reason in your cover letter for why you are the best candidate for the job. Be sure to make a bridge between what you have done, where you
want to work and how the particular job posting help you to achieve your career goal. Do not copy letters or pieces of letters from sample sources. Recruiters do
recognize them!
Knowledge:
You need to exhibit some knowledge about the firm and demonstrate a fit between the company and yourself. Previous years’ EOI on KM Portal,
alums working in the firm and company’s website might come in handy for gathering information about the company.
Homework:
Do not use generic statements about the company you are applying to (e.g. leading firm, excellent reputation, blue-chip company etc.). For one, this also applies
to most of their competitors. For another, this shows that you have not done your homework to identify why you really want to join the company.
Sanity Checks:
Make sure the grammar and who the letter is addressed to, both are on point.
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Resume Cover Letter (2/2)
Customize your cover letter:

Tailor your cover letter to the specific job you are applying for. DONOT use same cover letter for every company.
Be concise:
Keep your letter to one page or less (font no less than 11 recommended and no pushed margins). Avoid using overly formal or complex language.
Use Specific Examples:

Start with a strong opening: Use an attention-grabbing opening line that clearly states the purpose of your letter. Consider mentioning a mutual connection,
work experience or a relevant personal story that demonstrates your qualifications. Use specific examples, numbers with stats to illustrate your skills and
experiences and impacts created. Be specific about everything that you mention and avoid generic statements.
Other pointers:
• Make a very elaborated master resume: It’s a good idea to keep some bullet points handy from master resume. This helps while writing
cover letter as well as interview preparations
• If you are really interested in some company, consider attaching a cover letter even when not asked mandatorily. This shows your
sincerity and might increase your chance to stand out
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After Shortlists Consulting Prep
Buddy Process Case Prep PI Prep Shortlist Dinner Course Knowledge Guesstimates
• Consulting firms allot one of their people (generally, someone less tenured – perhaps at an Associate level) to guide candidates
What it entails? through the recruiting process with the firm. This entails helping candidates with –
- Cases
- Inputs about the firm
- Connecting with leadership/relevant stakeholders from time to time
• The cadence of conversations is mutually agreed upon between buddies and tends to be once a week.
Why are they • The good news is, buddy interactions are non-evaluative. This means no hiring decisions are based on input from buddies.
important Therefore, the potential negative consequences of buddy feedback are muted.
• However, it is important to note that the recruiting process is after-all human led. Feedback from buddies does transfer to those
who make decisions either formally or informally. Making a positive (first) impression offers a disproportionate advantage.
Therefore, if one puts their best foot forward – be it in cases, interactions, or the likes – the upside is huge.
How can one • There is no real preparation required for the buddy process, besides always bringing you’re A-game to these interactions. You may
prepare for this misfire on case(s), but if you are pushing to imbibe all the feedback given by your buddies, you are covered.
component?
• The above holds true for consulting firms at large, apart from –
– Boutique consulting firms
Special Note – Consulting firms that do not hire in large numbers
• In such cases, the buddy process is used as a soft evaluation and feedback from these interactions is factored in while making final
decisions.
• Candidates have, in the past, reported receiving questions from buddies such as “Which firm are you leaning towards”, which is
atypical for those that hire critical mass from ISB.
• While the approach we prescribe remains largely the same, it is important that candidates be mindful about the things they share
with their buddies.
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Buddy Process Case Prep (1/3) PI Prep Shortlist Dinner Course Knowledge Guesstimates
Case groups
Forming case groups is one of the most important steps in effectively preparing for the case interviews. Forming and effectively utilizing case groups to
practice mock case/normal interviews is paramount
The best way to form & utilize case groups:

Size: Timelines: Workplan:
Ideal case group should consist of 4 to 6 Case groups should be formed 45 to Case groups should be used to
students from diverse backgrounds / 60 days prior the D-day/interview day. discuss all the questions that can be
industries /functions. Having a diverse case Ideal time to start practicing cases within fired at candidates during interviews –
group will help students equip themselves the case group is also 45 to 60 days Cases, Personal Interview Questions,
with diverse industry business acumen and prior the D-day Industry Frameworks, Guesstimates
concepts that might come handy during the
interview day
In the event a person is not able to form a case group:

Try to schedule 30 to 60 minutes slots with your friends and solve cases. Try to strike a balance between diversity and stability – practice cases with both,
a range of people and yet limit the number of people to those who are thoughtful about the feedback they share and your time
Myth Buster:
Contrary to popular belief, the case group is more a space to discuss feedback, cases, insights and learnings than cases themselves. Case groups may or
may not be used to practice cases among themselves, but it is imperative that all time together is utilized to discuss takeaways
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Case interview preparation

Steps:
Watch Victor Cheng Pick up one framework at a Reflect on the cases at the After you are comfortable with a Practice cases randomly with
videos / read case in time, discuss with study group end of the day maintaining framework, move on to another. Do people out of your study
point to get and make notes. Practice 2-3 a log table with not spend too much time on one. group to get familiar with
acquainted with case cases per day with your study improvement areas and Move ahead while still practicing different personalities and
conduction group / alum buddies learning from each case fewer cases on the previous one. note down feedbacks
1 3 5 7 9
2 4 6 8
Read case frameworks Conduct 20-25 min Go through the log book at the end of Leave ample time at the end to
from this book. Also interview in pairs in your 4-5 days to check if you have practice abstract cases as they come
glance through case group and then improved upon your mistakes. (This in plenty during actual interviews.
frameworks from other discuss what could have book serves as a great resource for Make sure you are comfortable with
books, if needed. been done better revision even before D-day) guesstimates, if not, practice
Interviewers are necessarily looking to see you show your prowess in solving a case across four broad steps. [REMEMBER 3S -> Scope, Structure, Summary leads to 4th S Success]
Define the Problem -> Structure the Problem -> Analyze logically to develop answer -> Synthesize the discussion
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General Tips
• Make a detailed plan with your group on how to go about the prep with sufficient time to grasp concepts, practice and reflect.
• While practicing a case, the interviewer [person who prepared the case] would ask the interviewee. Let it be as formal as possible so that there would
not be any jitters on the interview day. Even PI questions can be mixed with the case to be as realistic as possible.
• Leverage your buddies. The cases you do with them are truly invaluable because they are in the industry and can give you accurate feedback. Share
those feedbacks and cases with your peers and vice versa.
• Discussing industries from the industry primer with the study group can be really helpful. This helps in strengthening the concepts.
• Practicing cases at a particular time during the day (say morning time when the interviews happen on placement day) builds a habit and prepares your
best version for the final interviews.
• You should try to cover cases from multiple industries and sectors to get a decent understanding of various industries. Often, the interviewer can also
start discussing about the industry in which the candidate has previously worked and hence it becomes extremely crucial that one’s own industry is
thoroughly known.
• Cover breadth and depth of cases -case group can make a sheet with different industries and can keep tracking their development in different sectors
and whether cases from every industry has been covered or not.
• Running a case marathon as a simulation of the placement day is a helpful exercise in which one person gives back to back interviews as on D-day.
• Take breathers as and when necessary. Do not burn out. Do not fall into FOMO of solving many cases a day. Remember Quality > Quantity.
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Buddy Process Case Prep Shortlist Dinner (1/2) PI Prep Course Knowledge Guesstimates
What it • Shortlisted candidates are invited to either virtual or in-person meals (generally, dinner) in a bid to get to know them better in
entails? informal settings. These sessions involve a plenary session wherein a regional leader talks through their journey/firm’s value proposition,
and breakouts wherein smaller groups of students interact with firm leaders.
Why are • Let us start off by saying that they do not have a bearing on the final decision around one’s candidature, i.e., no hiring decisions are made on
they this day. However, these dinners are an important way to cast a positive impression on leadership; or, better yet, avoid casting a negative
important impression.
• At the same time, it is important to remember that these dinners are a good way to evaluate the other way round too. These interactions
with leadership are a pivotal step in evaluating what the culture of the place is like, how one can expect to grow, etc.
How can • Preparation for these dinners involves getting smart on 2 things only –
one ✔ Perfecting your introduction: Develop a solid 45-60 second elevator pitch about yourself, which could potentially entail
– Where you’re from
prepare
– Where you’ve worked
for this – What you’re passionate about, etc.
compone People will remember you by your introduction and the confidence you project!
nt? ✔ Asking questions: Curate a list of questions that display your genuine interest in the firm and/or its work; this could possibly entail
– Those around an industry you want to work in
– Those around growth, mobility, etc.
– Those around the firm’s value proposition
Any questions asked for the sake of asking are easy to spot and make one reek of inauthenticity
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Buddy Process Case Prep Shortlist Dinner (2/2) PI Prep Course Knowledge Guesstimates
Guardrails to observe:
Collaborate, not compete:

Do not talk over others - it is meant to be an easy-going conversation among a group of individuals! It is about being a meaningful contributor
and not the loudest voice in the room; if some questions remain unanswered, you can always reach out to firm leaders separately
Be a good listener:
Some individuals tend to ask questions only for the sake of asking them, and in that they end up asking questions that have already been
answered. This is of course, not good practice and if anything – only places you in bad light. There is also a natural flow to a conversation – also
be mindful about when you ask your questions.
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Buddy Process Case Prep Shortlist Dinner PI Prep (1/6) Course Knowledge Guesstimates
What it • Generally, the first 5-7 minutes of an interview are used by recruiters to get to know the interviewee at a personal level. The questions could be
entails? pre-determined (which the recruiter’s thought of asking come what may), those based on your CV (which the recruiter might have handy then)
and those that come up by way of conversation.
Why are • Consulting is a people-led business. Employee evaluations (semi-annual, annual) are based on a people development model, which is anchored
they around competencies such as –
important – Personal leadership
– Ability to work in teams
– Ability to hold a sensible and interesting conversation
• While traditional wisdom dictates Case Interview makes or breaks a candidate’s chances, it is the personal interview that helps distinguish one
candidate from the other. This is because technical skills are replicable but qualities such as presence and gravitas are not.
• In addition, these conversations are used to evaluate whether or not the candidate is a culture fit for the Popularly known as the ‘Airport Test’,
recruiters look to assess whether or not the candidate would be someone they’d be able to/comfortable talking to if they were stuck at the
airport with them on account of a delayed flight.
• Finally, well-begun is half done. Starting the interview on the right note always makes it easier to crack the case – even seemingly twisted ones.
How can Preparation for the personal interview involves getting smart on 3 aspects –
one prepare • Resume: It is incumbent upon the candidate to know everything there is to know about their CV. Questions can be shot off on –
- the number
for this
- the context
component? - the learnings/takeaways from an experience
If there is one way to destroy one’s credibility during an interview, it is by not being able to answer a resume-based question adequately.
• HR Questions: These are questions around your story, strengths, weaknesses and the likes. They are aimed at developing a
deeper understanding on who you are at your core and what your aspirations are. Sample questions follow.
• Questions to Ask: Asking questions that you genuinely want an answer to displays your (sincere) interest in the firm. Sample questions follow.
33
Guardrails to observe:
STAR STRUCTURE:
Stories, especially when pressed for time, come to life when told methodically. Anchoring one’s story around the STAR framework is a way to get
this quick
win in an interview. STAR stands for –
Situation: Set context

Task: What was needed to be done
Action: What was done
Result: What was achieved
Sample HR Questions:
• Tell me about yourself
Note: This is one question that you will certainly be asked in the beginning of every interview. Have a crisp one-to-two-minute answer prepared for
this (don’t overshoot two minutes). Broadly, cover your education, work experience and your interests (mention special achievements, if any).
Personal Within the two minutes as well, dedicate the lion’s share to your work experience. Make sure you can speak for at least five minutes on anything
that you mention when you introduce yourself, because most interviewers will pick queues from this to lead the rest of the interview. Hence,
measure each word well and prepare thoroughly for this one.
• Do you have other offers? Why would/wouldn’t you take our offer over one of the others?
Note: This question can come if you are interviewing later in the day. The response to this question could swing either ways – take a judgement
call on how you want to play it.
34
Personal • What would you like me to know about you that is not on your resume?
• What are the three most important events of your life?
• What were you doing during this gap of time I see here on your resume?
• Where did you grow up? What are your three major accomplishments?
• What was an experience in your life that you would want to go back and change?
• How would your friends describe you?
• Give me three words to describe yourself
• Enlist your top three qualities
Goal • What new goals have you established for yourself recently?
• What are your five-to-ten-year career goals?
• What are your career and educational goals?
• What are the attributes of an ideal job for you? If you could do “it” all over again, what would you do differently?
• What are you looking for from this role?
• How long a commitment do you plan to give me?
• What is your ideal job?
• What other types of positions are you considering?
• What kind of boss would you prefer?
• Why are you pursuing this field?
• What would you like your lasting impression to be?
35
Goal • Do you have a final statement?

• What are your career options right now?
• How could you have improved your career path?
• What salary are you expecting? In addition to salary, what benefits would most interest you?
• What does “success” mean to you?

Values • What does “failure” mean to you?
• Which is more important to you: money or the type of job?
• Who do you admire? Why?
• What do you get passionate about?
• Who is your hero, and why?
Past • Do you have an offer from the firm you worked with before doing your MBA? If yes, what are your thoughts on the offer?
Experienc • If no, why do you think do they not want you back?
e • What can you tell me about your past bosses?
• How do you think a former supervisor would describe your work?
• What did you enjoy most about your last employment? Least?
• How did you find your internship experiences?
• Describe the job or the activity, which has had the greatest impact on your career goals
36
Management • What is your management philosophy?

style / • Define leadership
leadership • Tell me about a time when you successfully resolved a conflict or disagreed with your boss.
• Give me an example of a leadership role you have held when not everything went as planned.
• What qualities should a successful manager possess? Do you have these attributes (of a good manager)?
• What two attributes are most important in your job?
• Give an example of a situation in which you provided a solution to an employer.
• Give an example of a time in which you worked under deadline pressure.
• Name a point in your life where you turned a negative into a positive.
• Tell me about a decision you have made that you later regretted.
• How do you feel about working overtime?
• Give me an example of how you manage multiple projects.
• What would you say to a boss that has a sub-par idea?
Strengths / • Are you creative? Give me an example. What have you done that you consider creative?
Weaknesses • What are your strongest abilities?
• What is your biggest weakness?
Note: Do not sugar-coat your weaknesses as strengths. Be genuine and recognise your shortcomings. Never say that being a perfectionist
is your biggest weakness. Some applicants think that this makes you look better, but it seems that you not secure. Also, mention what you
are doing to overcome the weakness.
37
Strengths / • Why should we hire you?

Weaknesses • Give me an example of something that you have done that shows initiative.
• What makes you stand out among your fellow students?
• What makes you different from the other candidates for this position?
• What can you do for us that someone else cannot do? What was the most important thing you learned from your previous
experience/internship?
• How do your skills relate to our needs? What can you offer us?
• What have you disliked in your past jobs?
• How long before you can contribute? In the past year, what have you been dissatisfied about in your performance?
• What major problem have you encountered and how did you deal with it?
• Have you ever had any failures? What did you learn from them?
• How do you feel about working in a structured (or ambiguous) environment?
• Are you able to work on several assignments at once?
– In what kind of work environment do you do your best work?
– What kinds of tasks and responsibilities motivate you the most?
– What has been your greatest challenge?
38
Buddy Process Case Prep Shortlist Dinner PI Prep Course Knowledge Guesstimates
Course Knowledge
• Primarily for case preparation, core course knowledge comes very handy as most of the cases are also based around concepts taught in core courses. So,
candidates should start accumulating material and refine their concepts. The ISB Gyankosh works as a good database for a complete summary of course
concepts.
• Do ensure that following courses have been understood well and revised before the final interview. During case prep as well, cases should be marked
where concepts from courses have been used and those cases should be used to understand as to how to apply the concepts in an interview setting.
Following Concepts should be particularly focused:
• Marketing Frameworks
• Competitive Strategy Frameworks
• Microeconomics
• Macroeconomics
• Operations Management / Strategy
• Accounting & Corporate Finance (Valuation etc.)
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Also, some of the electives are also handy but electives should be chosen considering the workload one can manage as lot of preparation and time goes
for resume and case prep process.
39
Buddy Process Case Prep Shortlist Dinner PI Prep Course Knowledge Guesstimates
What it • Guesstimates are tested in interviews either as a part of the market entry case or standalone problem statements.
entails? • These can also take up to 20 minutes of interview time on the basis of the depth of the problem statement.
Why are • In everyday life, consultants guesstimate basic numbers in their projects. This exercise serves as a test if you are ready to think on your feet
they for the most bizarre calculation available. The guesstimates are designed to test :
important • Quick and approximate calculation
• Creative and MECE thinking
• Fast problem solving
• Many medium/small consulting firms test on guesstimates so it is important to excel at it for your D-day (Even big consulting firms do too)
How can • Practice guesstimates either alone or in study groups to make sure you build a structured thinking around the process of guesstimates.
one prepare • Practicing one guesstimate every alternate day is a good cadence for those who are not very comfortable with numbers or want to get best
for this at solving guesstimates.
component? • It is pertinent to practice these with alums/ peers to develop a habit of taking the interviewer through the solution while you are doing it
instead of just solving guesstimates on your own.
40
Case Frameworks
Overview | Breakdown
41
Class of 2023 Profitability Market Entry
Growth
Pricing M&A PE & VC Abstract
Salesforce Frameworks
Strategy Effectiveness by Samagra
Overview Frameworks
Frameworks can act as useful tools to structure thoughts during a case interview. Moreover, they ensure that you ask the right questions
and help you reach the answer fast. By using frameworks, you will seldom miss solutions to ‘standardized’ cases such as Profitability, Market
entry etc. However, interviewers enjoy asking abstract cases such as “There’s a dinosaur in the room- help” or “Your client is a thief. Tell him
What it how and what to steal”. You definitely can’t apply standard frameworks to such cases. You are expected to relate the problem to a business
entails? situation and create your own framework on the spot. The frameworks given below cover the classic cases ranging from profitability to
M&A. Note that we have provided these in the standardized form in which you’ll typically see them in other case books and/or preparation
material. We would encourage you to think about using these as guidelines to form your variations of the frameworks for the same case
types. This is because not all aspects of a given framework are going to be relevant for the case that you get on D-Day. Use your own
judgement to isolate a certain MECE component of a larger framework to quickly get to the root of the issue and solve the case. You should
however, demonstrate to the interviewer that you are aware of other aspects that may be relevant to the case, which aren’t included in
your framework for the sake of efficiency by calling out those aspects verbally
Use these frameworks as a guiding tool for you to create your own notes based on daily practice and keep improving upon them with time.
4Ss are pertinent to every case: Scope, Structure, Solve, Synthesize. Frameworks generally form the structure and solving part of any case.
Scoping and Synthesis more or less remains the same.
How to
use these Scope: Scoping a problem statement is clarifying the and then asking relevant questions that will narrow down the scope of the problem
framewor statement for you. There are various aspects of scoping but 3CPOR is the most common way of scoping. (Do not spend a lot of time here)
ks?
Structure: Structuring the problem statement by ensuring MECE is very relevant to make sure you are taking the correct approach and the
interviewer is following your approach properly. There are many ways to ensure MECE structuring. (Main portion of the case)
Solve: Solving the problem might mean drilling down to the Root Cause or solving guesstimates. (Make sure you don’t make silly mistakes)
Synthesize: Synthesize does not mean summarize so do not go on summarizing everything. Synthesis should be of 1 minute and crisp and to
the point. (You want to ideally cover everything in 3 points taking a tops down approach and mentioning the hook of the case)
42
Growth
Scoping Frameworks
Scoping (3CPOR):
A. Objectives E. Context
• Clarify the objective of the case & repeat the case statement • From how long is the decline seen ?
• Is there a secondary objective? • Any specific geography or product seeing the decline?
B. Company • Quantum of decline?
• Current business model
F. Regulation
• Value chain and capabilities
• Geographies • Any government regulation/constraint that should be considered?
• Consumers (Target)- Any specific demographic ( • Any impact due to Covid? (depends on the timeline of the issue)
• Channel of sales/ distribution
C. Product
• Product mix?
• What is the USP?
• Any substitutes available?
• Where is the product in the lifecycle?
• Is the concern due to cyclicity/ seasonality?
D. Competitors
• Is it an industry wide issue?
• Market fragmented or concentrated? Our market position? Tip: The major buckets of the scoping questions mostly falls under the given
buckets for almost all the framework, only the type of question changes
depending on the problem at hand. E.g Context for profitability would be to
access the period of decline, but for market entry problem, context question
would be ‘why do we want to enter the market, what is our target?’
43
Growth
Profitability (1/2) Frameworks
Profitability
Revenue Costs
Price Volume Product mix
1 Price sensitivity
Market size (overall demand/supply) Market share
lel < 1 (Inelastic)
Demand
P
lel > 1 (elastic) Product/customer Industry Macro factors Supply
🡪R 1) Supplier constraints
Need to see trade off 1) Cust Behaviour 1) Product life cycle 1) Economic
changed (mature/decline) 2) PESTEL 2) Raw material
& response of
2 Price
competitors 2) Usage 2) Cyclic 3) Labour union issue
decreased 3) New competitors 4) PESTEL
3) Demographics 4) New Substitutes
Demand Supply
(find bottle neck

If average prices decreases in value chain)
Internal External Awareness Preference/likeability Availability

1) P to R & , did not work 1) Price wars 1) Ad spent 1) Product 🡪 Quality, price for 1) Channels 🡪 Convenience, Accessibility,
2) Transfer pricing (internal division 2) Channels complement < >, perceived benefits, feature (stock outs/replenishment,
2) Government regulations
transfer) 3) Message (purpose, communicate core attributes packaging, SKU size display, shelf spare, % penetration)
3) Change of other margins in value
purchasing behaviour?) 2) Service 🡪 Quality, price, salesforce 2) Operational hours
chain
4) Discounts, cashbacks 3) Complement/Substitutes 3) Distributor/Retailer margin
4) Customer preference changed
5) Types (Paid/ Unpaid social media 4) Right customer segment? 4) Salesforce effectiveness by channel
word of mouth) 5) Service/ Payment? 5) Place features
6) Brand Perception 6) Logistics post purchase 6 senses: ambience, look & feel,
7) Returns & After sales design, size, hours, accessibility
OR take the customer journey approach
44
Growth
Profitability (2/2) Frameworks
Product mix changed Costs (fixed vs. variable)

Fixed costs Variable costs
Product related Service related Customer • Rent • Contractual salaries
problems problems Preference • Employee salaries • Utilities
• SG&A • Raw and packaging material
1) Quality 1) Poor service 1) Change in needs
• Marketing • Overhead/other expenses
2) Inadequate product 2) Costly service • Equipment
width/depth/quantity 3) Inadequate accessibility — Depreciation
3) Network effects (with or customer service — Repair and maintenance
other products) 4) Inadequate training • Insurance
• Interest expense
• Overhead/Other expenses
Costs (value chain) – (at every state it is good to ask the difference wrt competitors
R&D Demand Forecasting Procurement costs Processing costs Distribution Marketing & Sales Customer Service
• Equipment (Raw materials & • Machinery Storage & Outbound • Channels • After sales
• Human capital Inbound logistics) • Factory rent Logistics o Ad spend on each service cost –
• Cost of financing • No. of materials • Labour hours • Warehousing costs channel repair, spare,
(loans, interest) • cost per unit • Technology • Inventory holding costs o Conversion rates per returns
• Patents • Bulk orders/contracts • Capacity (trapped capital) channel • Maintenance
• Supplier party utilization • Transportation costs • Promotions teams
• Transportation • Packaging Salesforce
• Wastage / Use • Utilities • Different sales channel
efficiency • Admin costs • Salesforce costs (Bonus,
• Defects (Quality Training cost (#trainings Miscellaneous
checks) X Avg. cost X Type),
Salaries, Benefits, • Finance (Interests, Taxes,
Retention cost) Depreciation, Inventory
• Rent & Utilities write-off)
• Quality checks • Support activities (Firm’s
infra, HR, Tech)
45
Growth
Market Entry Frameworks
Scoping:
D. Operational Feasibility
• In addition to the general scoping focus on why are we planning to
enter this specific geography/product Value Chain:
• Imp question: Check feasibility of setting up a value chain at each stage procurement, production,
• Any preferred mode of entry to explore? distribution, marketing, supply, etc.
• Evaluation Metrics: ROI, IRR, Cashflow, Market share, profit
GTM: (Optional)
A. Industry attractiveness If Go to Market strategy is asked then cover STP and 4Ps
Market size*Market share STP: Segmentation, Target, Positioning
• Growth/Lifecycle 4Ps: Price, Product, promotion, place
• Profitability
• Barriers to entry Risk:
— Regulatory • Entry Risk
— Economies of scale — Porter’s five forces: Competition, New entrants, Buyers, Suppliers,
Substitutes
B. Financial viability — Risks (PESTLE)
• Upfront investment and opportunity cost of investment • Exit Risk
• ROI/IRR, Payback period — FDI Regulations
• NPV/ Profit — Huge Capital Investment
• Cash flows — Brand/reputation Impact
Tip: Try to create a formula to solve this part. E. Strategic viability
C. Modes of Entry
• Short term
— Prior experience in new market entry
Organic Inorganic — Synergy with existing operations
— Competitive response/ Tactical decisions (4Ps)
1) Build 1) Joint venture/Partnership
• Long term
2) Import 2) Merger and Acquisition — Creating customer lock in
3) License — Creating barriers to entry/exit
46
Growth
Growth Strategy (1/2) Frameworks
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Scoping / Look at growth avenues Evaluate an Prioritize

Understand the current industry Draw 2X2 matrix at the end to evaluate
(3CPOR) eg. the ideas
• Market size, growth (required only if time permits)
• Life cycle
• Competition
• Customer price elasticity
• Customer preferences Within same industry Outside Industry
• Product differentiation
(Last resort only if the previous industry is
saturated)
Organic Growth Inorganic Growth
# of Items Revenue per item Related Unrelated
• Avg. price/unit (check sensitivity) • Horizontal Integration • Joint Venture

• Product mix (upselling) / cross selling • Vertical Integration • Partnership
Supply Demand • Introduce Loyalty Programs • Acquisition
• Discounts/ Bundling / Subscriptions
• Capacity
Expansion
47
Growth
Growth Strategy (2/2) Frameworks
Demand
Existing Markets New Market
Same Capability/Product New Capability/ Product Same Capability/ Product New Capability /Product
Market Penetration Product Development Market Development Diversification

Awareness • New geography • New product/ new segments
• Better Marketing • Adjacent categories/services • New customer segment • New marketing channels
• Promotion Channels • Complimentary products • Reposition products to cater to a
• Increase reach/ frequency (check risks of PORTER and PESTEL) wider/ new group
• Identify right customer segment • Different sales/ marketing channels
Accessibility
• Improve existing channels
• New channels (online/ offline)
Likeability
• Focus on Product Differentiation
• Better packaging
• Increase SKUs
• Variety (Usage/Uses)
48
Growth
Pricing Frameworks
Type of Product
Sale Retain Ownership
Additional service over generic products New Invention Similar to other products in market
Pricing Methods
A Cost B Value based C Competitor Based Pricing

plus pricing Pricing
Use:
a) Find out Industry Offerings and average
Fixed Cost Variable Cost Tangible Intangible Industry Margins.
b) Find competitors with similar products and try
Use: to price your product based on the objective.
E.g Undercut if need to gain market share or
a) Calculate opportunity cost of not having the product
Markup % price it higher if task is to generate higher
b) Calculate Willingness to pay by taking into account the total profit margin
Use: savings incurred over time by using the product
c) Price on the basis of proxy products
a) Calculate the Fixed cost and Variable Cost per item c) Calculate the upper and lower price limit and then place your
b) Price the product by charging the desired markup pricing based on WTP of customer
49
Growth
M&A Frameworks
Scoping: 1. Understand the client and the target company 2. Understand the objective of the merger
Synergies Post-merger integration
Cost Operationalbenefits
Op`erational benefits Financial benefits People Technology Process
Process
• Diff IT systems
• IP issues
Revenues (how to • Information
Costs (how to Low cost of ability to raise exchange
increase revenue)
reduce cost) funds funds
Monetary Non-monetary Internal External

Acquisition Integration
• Pay structure • Cultural • Corp. governance
cost cost
• Perks & benefits • Behavioral • Backend
• Other schemes
(e.g.: ESOP, etc.)
Customer facing Outreach activities
50
Growth
PE VC Frameworks
A. Objectives E. PE firm and target Fit Evaluation
• Why: Strategic/financial Analysis:

• What: Metrics of evaluation (Revenue, IRR, profit, growth, NPV) Financial Non-financial Synergies
• When: Timelines (Exit strategy) – Market Size People
– Market Share
• Reputation and knowledge
B. PE Firm – Gross Rev • Management • Portfolio
• Firm Size: Capacity of investment • Margin prof • Willingn help (operational
• Risk Appetite/Investment style; Early/late investors itability ess to efficiency)
• Industry portfolio: Check that the direct competitor of target should not sell • Unlock potential
• RACC (risks)
be in the existing portfolio of PE firm (conflicting interest) Process (leverage)
• Valuation
• Evaluation Metrics: (IRR/NPV, etc.)
• Business model • Geographic knowledge
• Risk
C. Industry Attractiveness of the target • V.C capabilities • Customer base
• Basic: Market size, growth rate, profitability Tech

• Porters forces: Barrier to entry, competition, customer power, supplier • Competitive edge
power, substitutes.
F. Exit
• PESTEL external risk (cost vs risk comparison)
• Public: IPO
D. Evaluate the Target • Private: Another fund, back to company, to individual investor
3CP G. Recommendation
• Company: Geography, revenue stream, value chain
• Customer: Customer segment, their preferences and future growth Yes/No basis on
• Competition: Market share (Product and customers) • Industry attractiveness
• Product: (SKU, USP, Premium Ness, price, patent) • Target fit evaluation
• Financial Metrics
• Non-financial consideration (softer aspects)
51
Growth
Abstract Frameworks
Breaking down the problem statement
4W How
•Scope
What Why Who When
What does the client want? Define scope of the case:

• Do we need an overall approach?
•Objectives • Do we need to come up with a winning bid, etc.?
Strategic Financial KPIs • Are there any constraints to be considered?
1) Use equations for increase/decrease parameters. Subsequently, focus on each parameter and discuss it further. Examples:
• Birth rate – Death rate = Migration Rate
• Cash balance = Cash in – Cash out
2) Decision making problems, following can be considered:
• Stakeholder cost-benefit analysis
• Decision trees
•Structuring • Pay-off matrix
3) Implementation problems: Outline the value chain and then get buy-in on focus areas
4) Various ways of approaching what to do with a resource: Use it, Sell it, Give it away
5) Problem solution:
• Investigate ‘why’ problem exists
• Give solutions to solve problem
• Explore further opportunities
One can also use 7S : Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Style, Staff, Skills to identify what needs to be aligned to improve performance
52
Growth
Salesforce Effectiveness Frameworks
# people Efficiency
HIRE [full time on temporary] Attrition Skill Will

Redeploy talent
• Campus Reskill Upskill
(across levels)
– UG Lateral (revise old (give new Internal External
– PG skills) skills)
Internal External Foun- New Govt. mandates

Incentives Labour union (max. working
dation tech
hours)
Direct job Head Agencies • External
Referrals Monetary Non-monetary
postings hunter training &
(poaching) conferences • Salaries • Leaves
• Externships • Variable pay • Travel
and rotations • Perks and • Rewards
perquisites and
Internal External (F&B. Etc…) recognition
• Insurance • Work life
• Better opportunities • Bonus and balance
• Organisation specific
subsidies
issues • PESTEL
Organisational support
Professional Personal
• Promotion • Company culture

• Career growth • Brand
• Performance/goal measurement • Status
alignment with organisation
• Networking opportunities
(leadership)
• IP protection
53
Growth Salesforce Frameworks
Strategy
Effectiveness by Samagra
Governance (1/2) Frameworks
High
Sleeping Giant Battle Ready Key principles for tree creation
Capacity
System
1 Branching at every node to be MECE

Comatose Shooting star
Low High 2 Power of two - branching into two is ideal

Political
Salience
Governance Matrix 3 More knowledge / better judgement improves branching

quality
Panchsutras for Governance
Transformation 4 Oral narrative / explanation accompanying a tree is essential
1. Sustained political will and bureaucratic championship is a must have
2. A tangible and cascaded goal is important to keep all system actors aligned
5 Hypothesis to be explicitly stated during tree creation
3. Visible and credible progress towards the goal is key to maintaining momentum
4. Leading with administrative enablers paves the way for complex technical initiatives
5. Sustainability is driven by embedding a new way of life, aligning incentives & creating
institutional structures
54
Strategy
Governance (2/2) Frameworks
Example of a tree: Public health case delivery not

streamlined
In adequate
Adequate supply Motivated
supply
Human resources Facilities Efficient Non-efficient
Available Not available Non- adequate or Inadequate or

Accountable Clarity on RLR
accountable effective tools ineffective tools
Capable Not capable No proper review No flow of citizen

Tech Non-tech
monitoring feedback
Not motivated Motivated
Non-monetary Monetary
Performance –
career Non-career Base pay Increments
linked increments
Accommodation
recognition transfer <text> Workload
condition
promotion monitory Facility condition Positive <text>
55
Strategy
Tips Frameworks
Ways of MECE VRIO (Sustained Competitive Advantage)
A. Algebra • Valuable, Rare, Imitable, Organized
• Break down in a formula STP (Marketing)
• Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

B. Process Structure
Porter’s 5 Forces
• Start Mid End (Time / Money)
• Barriers to Entry:
C. Customer Journey Entry deterring regulations / capital requirements / proprietary
technologies / brand differentiation / access to distribution / economies of
• Break down the customer journey scale / economies of scope /entry deterring prices
• Or go through the route of value chain deep diving into each
part
• Buyer Power:
• Or Planning – Acquisition - Retention
Buyer concentration / switching cost /competitive product / threat of
forward integration
D. Conceptual frameworks
• 3CP, 4P, PPE, 3U (Users, Usage, Uses) • Supplier Power:
Supplier concentration / Alternative suppliers / switching cost / threat of
E. Opposite words backward integration
• Internal / External
• Supply / Demand • Threat of substitutes:
Direct substitution – Better functionality / Increased product usage
F. Stakeholder Analysis
• Note down all the stakeholders involved and analyze • Competitive Rivalry:
#rivals, Basis of competition (price, features etc) , Industry growth rates,
fixed costs
56
Growth
Case Analysis
Examples | Question & Answer
57
Class of 2023 Profitability Market Entry Growth Strategy Pricing M&A PE & VC Abstract
Perfume Manufacturer Profitability | Revenue Decline | Example
Problem Statement – Your client is a perfume manufacturer who is facing a decline in profits. Help them figure out why this
is happening.
Q: Where is the client based out of? A: The price remains the same, however the # of units sold has gone down
A: India Q: # of units further depend on the supply side and the demand side.
Q: Who are our primary customers? A: The supply remains the same, however the demand has fallen
A: We cater to the mid-tier segment Q: Okay, since the demand has fallen, there can be an issue in either the internal factors -
Q: What is our product mix? Is there any particular product facing a decline in profits? product side, promotion aspects, or the place of selling OR external factors such as economic,
A: We have just one product political, social etc.
Q: What price are we selling this at? A: You can think that there is some issue with the product.
A: It's a regular everyday use perfume and is priced in an affordable range Q: Product issues could include fragrance of our perfume, the size of the bottle. Change in the
Q: I want to know more about the competitor segment. Is there any recent change? Are chemical composition, the look and feel of the bottle.
our competitors also experiencing the same decline? A: Yes correct, the client increased the size of the bottles and they were lasting for longer
A: We are one of the leaders in this type of perfume segment. No, this problem remains periods now, hence the decline in # units.
specific to us, nothing has been changed industry wide. Q: Great, now since the problem is identified I would like to advise the client for both short
Q: Okay, so I have enough information about our company and the product. Now term and long term. In short term the client should continue with the increase in bottle size
since profitability is a factor of both however they should also simultaneously promote the product, highlighting the increase in
revenue and cost, do we know if this decline arises due a decline in any one of the volume that the customers will be getting and hence subsequently increasing the price to
above? Or is it a factor of both? cover up for the losses.
A: It's majorly Revenue. You can ignore cost for now. In long term, the company can come up with a different line of luxury perfumes and hence
Q: Alright, since revenue further depends on the number of units sold and expand its product range.
the price/unit, do we know if there's a decline in the units sold or the price A: Thank you! That'll be all.
has reduced?
58
Chemical Industry Profitability | Example
Problem Statement –Your client is a chemicals manufacturer. Company is not able to achieve its target profits. You need to
come up with a solution to this situation
Q: Where is our client based out of? Q: Is there any specific segment out of the three which is a concern?
A: How does that matter? A: Yeah, let’s dive into Plant Availability
Q: It would affect our customer profile. Q: Do we see a change in the time spend after tackling the breakdowns?
A: India, it is! A: Yes
Q: What are the various uses of the product? Q: So the issue could be in either of the three scenarios: 1) time spend per breakdown
A: It is used only for two purposes, one for making tyres and another for printing various has increased 2) no. of breakdowns have increased 3) waiting time has increased.
newspapers. A: Yeah, so the waiting time has increased due to the increase in the occupancy rate of
Q: How many competitors do we have? Is it a fragmented market or concentrated in the the machines. The manufacturer has recently doubled the quantity of production and so
hands of a few? the machines are running at full capacity thereby leading to wait time increase in
A: 3, Delhi, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. breakdown initiation. What would you recommend?
Q: Are they facing the same trend? Q: Did synthesis and recommended that the company can either think of buying more
A: No, only us. machines of the same strength or larger machines. If space is a constraint, it can look
Q: I will take a few seconds to structure my thoughts and get back to you, is that okay? into possibilities of rent/ buying/ expanding the existing factory.
A: Sure A: Thank you! That will be it.
Came up with performa of revenue statement and discussed about FC and VC. Interviewer
stopped and gave extra information.
A: The overall equipment effectiveness of our client is 70-75% and that of competitors is
95%.
Q: What do you mean by equipment effectiveness?
A: Overall Equipment Effectiveness can be broken down into three parts:- Plant Quality,
Plant Availability and Productivity. Quality means that the products produced are as per
specifications, Availability is effective time availability after taking care of breakdowns,
etc. and productivity is the number of units produced in relation to time
59
Manufacturing Industry (1/2) Market Entry | Example
Problem Statement – Your client is a dish washer manufacturer who wants to enter the Karnataka market. They want your
advice about the proposal.
Q: Does the client have a specific metric in mind to decide whether to enter the market Q:Noted. What was the market share of the client’s product when it first launched in
or not? Maharashtra? Can we expect similar market share here?
A: The client wants to benchmark the estimated profits from this market to its profits in A: Sure, the market conditions were similar during launch and we can estimate the
Maharashtra, where they currently operate. market share to be 10%
Q: May I know what USP the client’s product has? Q: May I have the cost structure for this product?
A: This is a dishwasher built with the latest technology & can be operated remotely as A: Assume no fixed cost. The client’s manufacturing cost is Rs. 15,000 and distribution
well. It is one of a kind in the market and is patented. There are no other direct cost of Rs. 3000.
competitors. Q: Based on my calculation, the profits should be Rs. 60 crores. May I know the profits
Q: Thanks, I wish to proceed with the overall strategy. I will first assess the opportunity of the Maharashtra outlets for benchmarking?
and calculate the market size, expected market share and profit margin. Next, I will A: The Maharashtra outlet currently has a profit of Rs. 200 crores. Can you list out few
evaluate the operational feasibility, assess potential barriers to entry and evaluate reasons for this discrepancy?
entry strategies. Q: I would like to explore the differences in three different aspects:
A: Let’s assume that the implementation bit can be taken care of. Let’s begin with the i) W.r.t. market size: Maharashtra is more populous than Karnataka, hence the
market sizing. market size is larger.
Q: Sure, before proceeding with market size, may I know the price of the dishwasher? I ii) W.r.t. market share: Since we have been in the market for longer, the Maharashtra
want to understand who will be able to afford it. outlets enjoy a higher market share.
A: The price is Rs. 20,000, same as Maharashtra and it can be afforded by most middle- iii) W.r.t profit margin: Since the selling price is the same, it is possible that the cost
income families onwards structure in Maharashtra is different leading to higher profit per unit.
Q: Noted. I’ll start with the overall Karnataka population and apply appropriate filters A: That’s right. The distribution channels are standardised and we incur a lower
to arrive at the market size. distribution cost per unit. Considering all of this, what would you advise the client?
A: Your assumptions seem fair. We have done a similar calculation and estimated a sale Q: I’ll advise the client to go ahead with the proposal as the product is profitable and
of 30 lakh units. over time the profits may be comparable to the Maharashtra market.
Q: Next, I’ll calculate the market share. To do this, may I know how the product A: Thanks for the recommendation.
compares to others in the market? I can think of a few features such as price, quality of
the product, ease of use, durability and size.
A: The product is better than industry standard.
60
Manufacturing Industry (2/2) Market Entry | Example
Problem Statement – Your client is a dish washer manufacturer who wants to enter the Karnataka market. They want your
advice about the proposal.
Population
Households
(4 per family)
Urban 30% Rural 70%
Lower Middle Upper Lower Middle Upper

40% 50% 10% 60% 35% 5%
Electricity penetration 20% 70% 90% 10% 30% 90%
Affordability 0% 75% 100% 0% 60% 90%
Market Size
61
BPO Industry (1/2) Market Entry | Example
Problem Statement – Your client is a BPO service provider based in the US. They want to enter the Indian market. They want to
know whether this is a good idea.
Q: Does the client have a specific metric in mind to decide whether to enter the market Q: Noted. How about the other features, such as competence of employees (fluency in
or not? languages), operational hours, service quality and query resolution time?
A: The client wishes to be profitable. There is no other metric. A: Our client’s services are superior to the other players in the industry.
Q: As I am not well aware about the BPO industry, may I know how the client operates? Q: Okay. Considering this, can I assume the first year market share to be 10%?
A: You can think of the client as a call centre. Fintech companies hire their services to A: Yes, please.
provide customer assistance. The BPO charges these companies per call answered. Q: Thanks. May I know the revenue cost structure of the client?
Q: Understood. May I know what the competitive landscape is like in India? A: The client will be charging Rs. 10 per call. It will have an initial setup cost of Rs. 10
A: There are around 10 players in the BPO industry in India. The top 3 companies lakhs and a cost per call of Rs. 5 per call.
command 60% market share. The rest are fragmented. Q: Okay, so the profit that our client’s operations can generate will be 30 lakh calls *
Q: Are there any regulatory barriers that I need to be aware of? 10% * Rs. 5 per call – Rs. 10 lakhs = Rs. 5 lakhs per day. Since the business is profitable,
A: No. You may proceed with the overall strategy. may I go ahead and evaluate the operational & financial feasibility?
Q: Sure, I will begin with the opportunity assessment and calculate the market size, A: Sure, go ahead.
expected market share and profit margin. Next, I will evaluate the operational Q: Starting with operational feasibility, the client will have to consider both one time
feasibility, assess potential barriers to entry and evaluate entry strategies. and recurring activities. Within one-time setup, the client will have to evaluate office
A: Please go ahead. locations, regulatory approvals for setup, employees and general policies. Within
Q: Before start off with market sizing, it can be noted that in India, most fintech recurring costs, the company will majorly incur IT & Telecom costs to provide services.
transactions are online payments. May I consider this the primary reason for customers They will also have to focus on constant employee training and promotion of services.
to call the BPO? A: These are fair points. Can you suggest the client an entry strategy into the market?
A: Yes, please proceed. Also, for this you may only focus on the urban population. Q: Sure, the client can consider both greenfield and brownfield strategies. Within the
Q: Noted. I’ll start with the overall India population and apply appropriate filters to brownfield strategy, the client can consider either merging with another major
arrive at the market size. (Refer to the next page). competitor or acquiring a smaller player of the industry. However, this may pose a risk
A: Your assumptions seem fair. We have done a similar calculation and estimated 30 lakh as the client will risk sharing their proprietary technology. Hence, I recommend setting
calls per day. up their own business from scratch, i.e., going ahead with a greenfield strategy.
Q: Next, I’ll calculate the market share. To do this, may I know how the service A: We can end this case here. Thank you for your recommendation.
compares to others in the market? Is there any USP that the client has?
A: Our client has a proprietary technology which identifies identity theft calls more by 30%
62
BPO Industry (2/2) Market Entry | Example
Problem Statement – Your client is a BPO service provider based in the US. They want to enter the Indian market. They want to
know whether this is a good idea.
Population –
1.5 Billion
Urban 30%
< 20 yrs 20-60 yrs > 60 yrs

Ag
(30%) (50%) (20%)
e
Lower Middle Upper
Income 60%
30% 10%
Daily transactions 4 2
Transaction failure 5%
rate
Probability of calling BPO 10%
Market Size
63
Automobile Industry Growth Strategy| Example
Problem Statement – Your client is a 2 & 3 wheeler manufacturer selling the product PAN India. They are witnessing a growth
of 4-5% while the industry is growing at 9-10%. How can they increase the growth equal or more than the industry
Q: I would like to understand the objective of our client. What does he mean by Q: To expand organically we can look into the total number of customer and average
growth? Is he referring to the top line of the company or bottom line of the company? revenue per customer. To increase the total number of customers, we would start with
And what is the timeline of the objective? estimating the market size. I would like to estimate the market size First, we will
A: Growth would mean sales here and the timeline is 1 year identify users who visit the website to search for 2-wheelers, then we will further
Q: I want to understand a bit more about the client. Where in the value chain does it segment the customers who were searching for scooters, then we will further segment
stand. You said that it’s a manufacturer so do they deal with retailers directly and what the users who searched for the scooters with similar specs as our product. This will
type of products do they sell give us our target customer segment. Once we get the target segment, we can group
A: Yes they deal with dealers directly and are mostly into bikes, scooters and e-rickshaws. them further based on Age, gender, regions using data mining tools.
I want you to note down some numbers A: Move onto e-rickshaws now.
Q: I would first find the target market for E-Rickshaw and then we will see the market
Market Growth Market Share Our growth Revenue split
size based on the customer affordability, accessibility.
Bikes 7% Competitive 7% 5% A: Please proceed
Q: So, the target market would be the substitute of normal Rickshaw in places with
Scooters 20% 10% 25%
easy availability of charging stations. Then the customer affordability need to be
E-rickshaws 2% 70% 2% 70% considered. Do we know the price point of the E-Rickshaw and that of normal
Rickshaw?
Q: So can we focus on scooters here as we see its growth is half of the market and then A: Let’s assume that the charging stations are located in metro. The price of E-Rickshaw
on e-rickshaws as it is the largest revenue segment for us? is half that of ICE- based Rickshaw
A: Sure. Go ahead. Q: Okay. As the charging stations are located in few cities, the market is stagnant. But
Q: Can you confirm is there any shift in the product type which led the industry grow the price of ERickshaw is quite attractive to increase the presence in other cities as
faster than our client? well. In order to increase the market size, our client can tie-up with state government
A: Our competitor have improved the design of the scooter. to invest in setting up of charging stations in Tier-II & Tier-III cities. This will lead to
Q: So this might be one of the reason for customers to shift towards competitor's increase in market size. Now, to capture a bigger market share, our client can add
product. For growth of the scooter segment, our client can either expand organically by some additional feature in the product such as fast charging and better-quality product
themselves or adapt an inorganic strategy by partnering with other manufacturers with more powerful motors.
A: Please focus on organic for now. A: That’d be all! Thanks!
64
Gaming Industry Growth Strategy | Example
Problem Statement –Your client is a gaming company in India and want to grow its business. Help!
Q: What kind of a gaming company is it? Q: Okay. I can break that down into (commission per user) X (#users per sittings) X
A: Real Money card games (e.g. Poker) (#sittings)
Q: We want to grow the business but do we have any specific objective? A: Go ahead
A: We want to grow revenues Q: We can increase the commission by 1) increase the charge overall 2) can charge in
Q: Can you tell me a bit more about the gaming app. Are they available on android, ios tiers (where high budget games have higher % of commission) 3) time of the day –
both? happy hours 4) play with assistance feature by charging extra
A: The app is long time established in android. They have just entered ios. A: Okay
Q: How many competitors do we have? Is it a fragmented market or concentrated in the Q: Similarly for #sittings, we can have 1) leadership board 2) daily targets 3) offers/
hands of a few? coupons on higher sittings 4) streaks 5) notification – your friend is playing 6) challenge
A: We are the market leader with >50% share mode 7) higher stake tables 8) private room with friends
Q: How does the customer profiles look like. Do we have any numbers? A: Interesting, and what about # users.
A: 18-30 years old males constitute 80% and the remaining by 35+ years men. We call the Q: # users can be increased using 1) referral programs 2) share option to post on social
second segment the whales – those who spend a lot of money media networks 3) use marketing by influencers 4) earn money by playing your first
Q: So I assume that the revenue stream of the company would mostly advertisements, game 5) play with friends incentive.
subscriptions and extra commission per game, right? A: Okay, how will increase advertising and subscription revenues
A: Yeah sure Q: 1) We can have subscription models to avoid ads. 2) E-sports (tournaments) - online
Q: We can focus on different clusters to grow the revenues of the business: with the and offline 3) whales vs whales game modes 4) website (UI) to onboard more ios users
existing product or introduce a new product. And within each of them, we can look into quickly and for advertising, we can have a dedicated advertising board which can show
their introduction in the existing market or new market. many ads and bidding system can be applied to it. Moreover, ads by celebs may have a
A: Let’s focus on the existing market with existing product higher click rate so charge for ads in tiers that go on the full screen
Q: Sure, we can break down the revenue into advertising revenue + subscription A: Thank you. That’d be it.
revenue + commission revenue as we discussed. Do we want to focus on any specifics or
can I go ahead and break down all?
A: You can start with commission revenue.
65
Real Estate Industry Pricing| Example
Problem Statement – Your client is a real estate developer in Mumbai. He has recently built a housing complex and wants to
figure out how to price the apartments. Please advise.
Q: I would like to know a few more details about the housing complex. What kind of Q: Our price should be such that it should include the cost incurred by the client and
locality is it located in and how crowded is the market? the profit expected out of the project. Considering the profit to be 10% of the
A: The complex is located about an hour away from the city. It is an upcoming region with investment made in the project. The total expected revenue would be 280 crores.
not a lot of complexes around. Expected Revenue = number of flats*price/square feet*square feet. Since some flats
Q: Is there a specific reason for this location? are to be priced higher than others, price/square feet for floor 1-5 would be 1467 and
A: The Government has announced a new airport in the area and there are a few offices price/square feet for floor 6-10 would be 1333 INR. Since all the apartments would not
coming up nearby. be occupied in the first year, we can increase the price of the apartment in future years
Q: Understood. How many apartments are there in the complex? to account for growth, improvement in surroundings and inflation.
A: There are 4 buildings with 250 apartments each. A: Okay, and how would you consider competitor-based pricing?
Q: So, 1000 apartments in total. Are there different categories of apartments or are they Q: I would find the competitors’ prices and costs in the economy category to gauge
all homogenous? their margins. Moreover, I would compare their offerings with ours to see if they offer
A: You can assume that they are all homogenous with the same amenities across. more or less for unit price. I will then price the apartment basing competitor as the
Q: How much has the builder invested in this project, and is there a target gestation benchmark.
period in mind? A: What about value-based costing?
A: The builder has invested Rs. 100 crores and expects a 10 year gestation period. Q: Well proximity to airport and office spaces certainly be a reason to add a premium
Q: Okay, and what is the size of the apartment? to the competitor - based pricing I had discussed earlier, if the competitors don’t offer
A: Approximately 2000 feet. this advantage. We can also look at proxies in other parts of the city to analyze the
Q: Noted. For pricing these apartments, I will consider three approaches, cost based, prizing strategy followed by builders. Therefore, I would price the apartments at a
competitor based and value-based pricing. So, I have a few questions before I begin. I premium above the competitors’ prices, with an overall constraint of keeping prices
want to know about the expected profit margins and maintenance charges per flat, above or equal to the cost-based rate that was computed.
expected sale schedule and pricing strategy to be followed for different flats A: Finally, what would you recommend in this case?
A: Consider profit margins to be 10% of the cost incurred and maintenance charges to be Q: Since it is upcoming region and metro services are not being offered right now, so
payable annually and thus not included in the pricing of the apartment . The client is competition and value-based pricing would not help us much and we should go with
expecting to sell 20% of the flats every year in the next 5 years. Assume floor 1-5 to be cost-based pricing till the area is sufficiently developed.
priced 10% higher than 6-10. A: We can end this case here. Thank you for your recommendation.
66
Healthcare Industry Pricing| Example
Problem Statement – A diagnostic laboratory chain based in England has decided to enter the Indian market. They want your
help in deciding how they should price their products.
Q: I would first like to know more about what kind of products the laboratory chain has A: Okay, go on.
to offer, the potential geographies in India that they are looking at and the competition. Q: We can go for cost plus pricing and have smaller margins than the competitors. As
Is this a general-purpose health laboratory or do they specialize in some tests for the sales are made through doctors, I think we can build a good client base by offering
specific diseases? prices which are much lower than the competition. Over time we will increase our
A: It tests blood and urine samples- simple blood tests to various disease specific tests prices when we have a loyal customer base of doctors. Can you tell me on an average
ranging from tests for diabetes, cancer, hyperthyroidism, hepatitis etc. what is the price of one test offered by the competitors?
Q: Ok. I would like to know more about these tests. Is the technology the same as that A: On an average the tests are priced at Rs 2000 per test.
of the competitors are using in India or is it very new? Q: Ok. For the labs, I believe the fixed cost for the machines and the set up would be
A: They use the latest technology, but the closest competitors are also using the same high. There will also be significant overheads for rent, salary of the personnel in the
technology. laboratory and the promotion and advertising costs. We have to keep in mind to cover
Q: Okay. Can you tell me more about the competition? How many competitors are these costs and the variable costs. Accordingly, we will have a price which is lower
there, what geographies do they operate in and what are their margins? than the competitors but with which we are able reach the breakeven point in a
A: There are two main competitors that use the same technology as we do. They mainly reasonable period, say 2 to 3 years. So, with Rs 2000 as the average price and taking
operate in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. The chains have minimal presence in rural areas. 70% as the margin, the costs are Rs 600 per test. If we decide to price it at half of that
The two competitors have 85 % of the market share between them in these geographies of competition, then at Rs 1000, we have margins of 40%. Also, if promotion is good
and the remaining is standalone pathology labs. The margins for the two competitor enough, we will have more sales at the price that we are deciding and hence the
chains are as high as 60 to 70 %. breakeven point can be reached even faster.
Q: Can you tell me who our customers are; do the doctors recommend our tests or do A: Alright, this is about the urban market. What about the rural areas.
we incur additional costs in advertising to all the patients? Q: I think once we decide on a price that is lower than the competition in urban areas,
A: We sell the lab tests to the doctors. They in turn prescribe the tests. we should follow the same in the rural areas. As of now, I think for the kind of latest
Q: Noted. I was thinking we could either price the product at a price comparable with technology that we offer, customers from the rural areas would come to the cities. So
the competition or base it on the costs that we have incurred. We can also look at it will not be wise to have a higher price in the rural areas just because the closest
value-based pricing, and price according to the willingness of the customers to pay. competitors do not operate there. However, just like in the cities, the prices should be
Since you have mentioned the technology is the same as that of the two biggest increased incrementally once a loyal customer base is formed.
competitors and they have a huge share of 85% , I shall focus on pricing it in such a way A: Thanks, that will be all.
that the price is
lesser than the competition so that it helps us gain a presence in the saturated market.
67
IT Industry M&A| Example
Problem Statement – Client is an IT services player. The number of applications for entry level training
program have been reducing. They want to figure out why.
Q: Okay. Can you tell me more about the client? Q: Now looking at the external factors, we can look into our competition.
A: The client is a top II tier IT player, ERP support is outsourced to them. They There could be other companies offering extra salaries or better profiles. There
provide offshore support. could also be a possibility that more companies are visiting campus which gives
Q: Okay. Can you also tell me more about the training program? From where do students a wider pool to choose from and hence they are not considering
we hire, what is the salary, what all do we expect from the applicants, etc.? applying to our firm.
A: We hire freshers from MBA colleges across India, and we are open to A: Yes, recently a lot of start-ups have started recruiting from these campuses
off campus applicants as well. Salaries are 10-20k per month. We hire which offer better profiles and better exposure, hence students are preferring
software engineers only. those over us.
Q: But we are not receiving enough applications as we used to, is that correct? Q: Okay.
Since when has this been happening? A: There is another reason why the applications are reducing. Can you continue
A: Yes, that is correct. It has been an issue for the past 3 years. your analysis?
Q: Okay. I will go through the whole journey of the application process and see Q: Sure sir. I would like to continue the journey and now further look at the
where the issue is. Does this work? process. After the students apply, there is a recruitment process like tests,
A: Yes, go ahead. interviews, etc. and then finally some candidates are offered full time
Q: The journey starts when the students apply for jobs during their final year. employment. Has there been any change recently in the application or
After graduation, there are three most common options that students have – recruitment process, for instance, being longer or tougher?
taking up a job in different fields like core, software, or any other nontechnical field, A: Yes, we recently moved to an online process since we found the offline process
going for higher studies, or starting their own venture. So firstly quite cumbersome, but we are facing issues with it and are still in the process
I would like to understand if the preference of the students has changed in the of fixing it. That would be all, thank you.
last couple of years – that less students are now applying for these software Q: Thank you!
jobs and have different preferences.
A: No, the total applicants for taking up a job in colleges are the same
68
VC Fund PE & VC| Example
Problem Statement – Our client is a VC firm. They are currently valuing a group of semiconductor
start-ups for home IOT devices. How will you value these startups?
Q: Can you please help me in laying down the process of valuing startups? Q: Do we have their projected revenue numbers and which funding stage they are
A: Okay, so let’s go to the basics. How would you value a company in very basic in?
terms. A: Yes. I have both. J – 1M in 1 yr (series A), K – 3M in 5 yrs (series C), L – 10M in 4
Q: Mainly by it’s financial health and operational health. yrs (series B). Just tell me which company you would pick amongst these and
A: Right. These are early phase startups, so assume they don’t have significant why?
operations or significant revenue. What now? Q: I would go with K. Given that this is it’s 3rd round of funding, I took there
Q: We can look at how existing companies in the industries are valued. revenue projections as the most reasonable baseline. So company L is
A: Right. What else? obviously inflating the revenue numbers. Also, it seems unrealistic for company
Q: 1) We can also look at how much the different part of the company, like J to be able to start generating such a high revenue from the first round itself.
production, development etc would cost. 2) We can do a discounted cash flow A: But K has a very high MM compared to J.
calculation for the projected revenue in future maybe. Q: Right, I am assuming that would be because they assumed their would
A: Right. So, the first approach is called market multiple. Essentially we valuate negotiation on that and that’s why went with a higher start point. Moreover, J
existing companies as Value = MM x revenue. MM is determined by other looking for a valuation of 10M in 1 yr and K of 30M over 5 yrs, which spreads to
companies in the industry. But again these are non revenue generating 6M per year. This allows us the spread the investments over 5 years based on
companies. So what do we do now? their performance. The 1yr time period of J makes that investment riskier,
Q: We can go for other 2 approaches or adjust the valuation by 1) adjusting MM A: Right. I think we will wrap it up. All the best
– based on historical data for other companies and projected revenue value 2)
an absolute adjustment in the valuation based on which stage the company is
and how much they usually raise in seed fund.
A: Right. The second method is called cost-to-duplicate. But let’s focus on
MM now. The industry MM is 15x. The 3 companies have requested valuations
at J- 10x, K- 20x and L- 25x of their revenues. How will you choose among
them? (J,K,L are company names)
69
Tourism Industry Abstract| Example
Problem Statement – Government of Saudi wants to increase the number of visitors in two pilgrimage places – Haj and Umra
Q: So can I safely assume that our objective is to increase the number of visitors only. Is Q: Sure.
there any secondary objective? 1) People are not aware about the place especially Islamic population for whom this
A: Yeah right, we want to increase the no. of visitors thus increase revenue from tourism can be a once in life visit.
Q: Could you help me clarify about Haj and Umra. What kind of places are those? 2) The process of getting a visa can be a roadblock where one might not be able to get
A: These are places of workship in the world. Once in life visit (over the world) a visa easily
Q: Do we have any timeline in mind and any quantitative target? 3) Flight tickets are difficult to get due to a) low connectivity b) expensive tickets c)
A: We want to increase the influx from 2MM in Haj to 10MM and from 5MM to 15 MM in few seats, or the road trip from the airport to the places is a concern a) roads are
Umra annually. But I would like you to look at the qualitative aspects of the problem not good b) no proper availability of transport c) transport not comfortable d)
Q: Is there any constraint as in can anyone enter or is there a process? frequency of transport low
A: The places are accessible. A person can fly to Riyadh and travel by road henceforth. And 4) Accommodation near these places are a) not well built b) are not sustainable c) not
yes Saudi people with Visa can enter. Moreover Haj is open 2 weeks in a year in appealing to the crowd d) few hotels/ guesthouses available e) facility is bad
September, and Umra is accessible across the year. 5) There is a political tension in the country that’s why people might not want to
Q: Any specific hour of the day? Restriction on mode of transport and how long can enter the country. Or the weather is too harsh for people to travel during the time
people stay? or travel or there is a epidemic in the country
A: No restriction on time and transport. People can stay near these religious places for 1-2 6) There are better places to travel (especially during September) and people might
days. Could you help figure out bottlenecks that the government could face? prefer that over Haji.
Q: Sure. I will take a few seconds to jot down possibilities and then discuss with you. Is A: Interesting, please give your recommendations and then we will close.
that okay? Q: for each of the above : 1) marketing campaigns – a) in those months by the govt b)
A: No worries. festive seasons c) tie up with Islamic countries d) representatives like muslims in
Q: Okay, so looking at the journey as I would take to visit these places, I have listed mosques (word of mouth)
down 6 things that I have to consider : 1) Awareness about the places 2) Visa 3) 2) Clear regulations for those travelling to these places
Travelling (flight, road, car) 4) accommodation nearby 5) political issue / environment 3) Add more transport on the road, On arrival Visa (especially during those months)
issue 6) opportunity cost 4) Subsidies and govt quarters for tourist visiting in those places
A: Okay. Could you explain your thoughts. 5) Change months of access if possible to avoid harsh weather issues or high
opportunity costs
70
Case Analysis
Questions | Notes | Facts | Recommendations
71
Growth
Salesforce
Strategy Effectiveness
Healthcare App- Profitability Profitability| Interview | Mckinsey
Mckinsey BCG Bain Kearney Deloitte KPMG EY India PWC Accenture ADL A&M LEK EYP Samagra Others
Problem Statement - The client is a healthcare app (like Practo) facing a decline in profits post covid
Case Details Scoping Questions Problem Breakdown

• What are the services that the client provides? All services
Candidate Name: Akash Yadav that you can assume The basic profitability framework was used and I
Interviewer Name: Shwaitang Singh, • Is the decline coming from a particular geography? realized that the revenues were done. I used the
Partner Coming from all although the major penetration of the below formula to calculate revenues per month and
Type of Case: Profitability client is in tier 1 cities deep dived on the all the four factors.
Interview Round: Round 2
Revenue = (Monthly active users) X (% Users who
ordered at least once) X (Avg Orders per paying user)
X (Average Order Value)
Recommendations Reflections
• Hospitals had opened up and covid restrictions • Getting the formula right put the structure in
were over so people had started going out and place for the case and it was easy for the
taking physical appointments. Also, good interviewer to guide me in the right direction
doctors continued their practice and left the • I could have used a structure at an L2 level for
platform. revenue.
• It was also a pricing and satisfaction issue.
There were a lot of diseases that could not be
treated via virtual appointment.
72
Growth
Salesforce
Retail Broking- Profitability Profitability| Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - The client is a retail broking company. Clients buy and sell shares with them. The client is facing slow growth rate and the
number 2 competitor is catching up. Diagnose what is going wrong.
• Timeline of falling revenue and profits?
Candidate Name: Sanchit Goyal • 5Cs of company and competitor I started with breaking down the different revenue
Interviewer : Financial services Partner • Value prop of the company and the competitor streams - principal charge on demat accounts,
Type of Case: Profitability • Information about the clients and the revenue model commission rate on trading account, and whether
Interview Round: Round 1 this is all online or offline. I was told it was offline.
The interviewer then asked me to build an equation
for the revenue. Basis discussion, the equation built
was as follows - number of customers x average
amount traded x % commission x frequency of
transactions. To each of these elements, I tried to
understand the difference between us and the
Recommendations Reflections competitor to see where we are falling short.
As the competitor was an online • Highly conversational discussion with the Partner.
model, and the client was offline, • PI went very well and Partner spent a decent amount of
their frequency of transactions had time asking about my projects.
fallen significantly. Hence, the client • Communication could have been more structured.
was registering low revenue growth.
73
Growth
Salesforce
Pharma- Growth Profitability| Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - The client is a mid-sized pharma company in India. They have been acquired by a PE firm and McKinsey has been asked to
drive value in terms of EBITDA.
1. About the company, customers, business model, positioning
Candidate Name: Sanchit Goyal We started with breaking down the revenue product
in the value chain, product mix
Interviewer Name: Pharma Partner and geography wise. Focusing on the domestic
Type of Case: Growth business, we focused on price and volume of the
2. About the PE form - synergies identified, amount given, %
Interview Round: Round 2 products being sold. Then the interviewer asked me
stake
to suggest growth paths for increasing the sales
volume of top 10 products of the client. I suggested
3. About the competitors
ideas across both supply and demand side. The
interviewer then made me run some calculations. He
gave the P&L figures and suggested different changes
in cost headers and asked me what the EBITDA
Recommendations Reflections margin come to in each case. He then asked me to
No specific conclusion, it was more of • I was quick and accurate with the quant. map out the entire supply chain - R&D,
an exercise to check the range of • Kept it conversational. manufacturing, distribution, and retailing. The
thought. • Active listening of the hints being given by the interviewer gave what our competitors were doing
interviewer under each head, and asked what all the client can
• I could have scoped out the problem better do.
74
Growth
Salesforce
Credit Card - Profitability Profitability| Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - The profitability of a credit card company is declining

The partner gave me all the data at the start itself. Scoping
Candidate Name: Ashwin Bansal then was very limited. I was basically tested on the breadth of thinking and
Interviewer Name: Shivanand Sinha, how I could apply a framework to the problem in
Partner hand and customize it for a credit card company.
Type of Case: Profitability
Be calm and confident. You've done I believe staying calm and confident was very important. I took
the work and now you just have to my time in computing the CLV without being too nervous.
communicate it to them. Be
conversational with the partner.
75
Growth
Salesforce
Insurance - Profitability Profitability| Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - An Indian holding company has invested in an insurance company in UK. The company has not met profit or growth
expectations (both goals were with respect to % vs industry average)
Few questions, understood from the body language that I was
Candidate Name: Rajiv Chandrasekhar expected to start solving ASAP. What is a holding company? I looked at profitability and then growth. Discussed
Interviewer Name: Karthi, Partner What kind of insurance company is this? How concentrated is major cost and revenue heads of a typical insurance
Type of Case: Profitability the market? company. When it came to growth, the partner
Interview Round: Round 1 shared his screen- it was an XY chart with growth and
profitability in the axes and compared different
companies on these metrics. There were also
bubbles that indicated the market share of each
company.
I was asked to share my thoughts on the chart (eg-

Recommendations Reflections what do you have to say about the market share
Stay calm, sound and look happy, I kept it conversational and solved it with the partner. Didn't sizes, why are some companies on this quadrant-
prepare the basic PI questions. Do make it feel like it was an interview. Things I did well: Took my what kind of insurances do you think they issue?).
not focus too much on frameworks- time, a lot of time, clarifying the meaning of the axes and the
focus on first principle problem units in the chart before jumping to the solution. Answer to the I was finally given a simple quants problem regarding
solving. PI question was very structured. Things I could have done the same- around how much admin cost should you
better: I fumbled a little in the quant problem and solved it in a cut down to bring up the profits to X. I was asked to
very convoluted fashion. It took a little too long. give the answer in Million USD
76
Growth
Salesforce
Chemical Manufacturer - Case Profitability| Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - A chemical manufacturer in India gets 80% revenue share from chemicals and 20% from Cement. The cement business is facing stagnated
revenues. Identify why?
Candidate Name: Tanvi Garg 1. About the company. Profitability framework - drilling into revenue side. Price had been
Interviewer Name: Partner 2. Which region is facing decline? same - issue was on quantity side. Further broke down quantity
Type of Case: Profitability 3. Competitors? into demand and supply and highlighting potential causes under
Interview Round: Round 2 4. Value chain? each bracket.
N/A N/A
77
Growth
Salesforce
Pharmacy retail chain - Case Profitability| Interview | Mckinsey
PI - 1. Tell me about yourself? 2. What did you do at ISB outside of the classroom? Problem Statement - Your client is a pharmacy retail chain with a revenue of INR
1000 crores. They want to increase their EBITDA from 3% to 6%. How can they do this?
Candidate Name: Somya Sharma 1. Where are we present and how many Broke down costs by raw material, rent, staff, utilities, marketing. I
Interviewer Name: Sasikanth Dola, stores do we have? - India, we don't want was told that rent, staff and utilities together comprise 25% of
Partner to open any new stores to achieve profit revenue and are fixed and assume marketing to be 0. The
Type of Case: Profitability growth. interviewer then asked me to calculate the required revenue to
Interview Round: Round 1 2. Which products do we sell? - medicines achieve 6% EBITDA margin. I communicated the equation I used
(75%) and OTC, beauty (25%). To increase and calculated the revenue to be INR 1,100 crore.
profitability, looked at costs.
The interviewer told me the Understanding of costs and quick math went
interview went well even though I well.
felt I could have done much better. I took a longer than needed to narrow down
Do not let your expectations affect the problem and asked more scoping
your interviews. questions than needed – this could have been
improved.
78
Growth
Salesforce
Coffee Chain - Profitability Profitability| Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - A coffee chain in Singapore has witnessed 25% decline in profitability post COVID. Assess quick reasons and give suggestions
for growth in revenue
Asked a little about the coffee chain - locations, products, number Started out with breaking down profit into cost and
Candidate Name: Shivangi Amba of stores, dine-in / delivery, competition etc. revenue. Was asked to give broad points under both
Interviewer Name: Ali Potia, Partner • Products - coffee, food and coffee machines buckets that could lead to decline in profits. Broke
Type of Case: Profitability • Location - across Singapore down the buckets mathematically and gave 2-3
Interview Round: Round 1 • Channels - Just dine in reasons around behavioral changes in buying due to
• Was given average revenue per store and total annual revenue the pandemic and increased staff costs. He was
and was asked to calculate number of stores looking for a quick list and not much detail.
Post this, I figured he did not want to spend too much time in
scoping and dived into the case which the interviewer appreciated Used 4P to give suggestions -
1. Product mix - change product mix to include more
Recommendations Reflections profitable / high selling items
2. Price - Bundled purchase options - coffee + food,
This was my first interview at 8am and Figure out that he did not want scoping to be very time differential pricing across peak, non-peak hours
there was limited PI. Hence, there was consuming at the start itself. It took me 3-4 mins to gauge that. 3. Place / Channels - Partner with a food delivery
limited room to warm up and I had to Many times, he just wanted a broad list of points. partner / have online ordering / omni-channel
dive right into the case. Be prepared presence
for that and don't get thrown off if 4. Promotion - Online advertising as web browsing
numbers come your way. Take your and online has increased post pandemic
time to calculate and walk the
interviewer through your assumptions
79
Growth
Salesforce
Insurance Company - Case Profitability and Growth | Interview | Mckinsey
PI – A point where you did something more than what was asked for. Drilled on the instance with question for 5-6 levels deep. How did you think about it? How did
seniors react on idea? How did you execute? Where you confident or doubtful of the output? How were you confident about it? What was the outcome/impact?
Problem Statement – A UK-based insurance co. with offices globally is not able to grow in UK at market growth rate & is not able to make profits at industry avg. rate.
Interviewer didn't allow any scoping question. Asked to Broke the problem in two parts: Growth problem and Profitability problem.
Candidate Name: Yogesh Agarwal directly structure the case.
Interviewer Name: Karthi - For Growth: Divided the problem into acquisition of customers and
Purushothaman, Partner retaining customers.
Type of Case: Profitability and Growth - For profit: Divided the problem into revenue or cost side issue.
Interviewer asked to break further.
- For Growth: did a 4P analysis.

- For revenue: analyzed into number of customer x revenue per customer
Recommendations Reflections - For cost: broke into different types of cost: claims, marketing and sales,
I was not getting much direction from the interviewer. I legal, administration.
In the end, Partner mentioned that I am
doing great and asked to just enjoy the next tried to be comprehensive in breaking the problem at
each stage for both the legs of the problem, growth and Next:
round. This was a great confidence booster.
profitability. For the PI, a bit more of confidence would
have been better, but I was able to answer every - For cost: He mentioned administration cost needs to be reduced (from
question he asked. The start was very unexpected. 20% to 12%), can it be done? Just mention hypotheses and idea behind it.
Interviewer asked whether we should do case or PI first.
I said anything is fine. - For growth: He opened a graph on the screen with scatter plot of players
He started with case and did PI at the end. Usually, PI is in the industry. Graph had Growth on X-Axis and Profitability on Y-Axis. Was
done first. asked to anlayze the industry to give insights.
80
Growth
Salesforce
Automotive Practice - Case Profitability | Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement – An automotive practice in disruptive mobility (construction of toll road- build and then transfer ownership to government) has seen 50% less
than the projected revenue. Identify why?
Candidate Name: Dolly Bajaj 1. How long has this been happening? Profitability framework - drilling into revenue side. Price had been
Interviewer Name: Jitesh Khanna, 2. Do we have numbers? same - issue was on quantity side. Further broke down quantity
Partner 3. Company landscape and market holding into demand and supply and highlighting potential causes under
Type of Case: Profitability 4. Any specific area/project facing this issue each bracket. When the causes did not come out from the initial
Interview Round: Round 1 5. Any specific built difference in this project concepts, took a journey approach to understand roadblocks in the
journey of the toll road passengers.
Partner asked me to list down some factors why the demand
might be an issue. At the end we see that there was a perception
issue that the drivers take the state highways instead of toll roads
because they think toll roads are priced higher than state highways
Recommendations Reflections even though their overall cost is lower in taking the toll road.
Partner gave some calculations at the end.
Presenting the solution confidently N/A
and not messing up the math
calculation went well. Smiling
occasionally and making it
conversational helped to ease the
interview pressure.
81
Growth
Salesforce
Swiggy orders - Guesstimate Guesstimate| Interview | Mckinsey
PI -Introduce yourself question; also asked me to explain any one important project I did at work.
Problem Statement - Estimate the number of Swiggy orders in Hyderabad in a month.
Didn't ask much scoping question as the question was fairly
Candidate Name: Adithya Ravishankar straightforward. Since this was a fairly standard guesstimate, I
Interviewer Name: Shwaitang Singh, estimated the demand for orders from a demand-
Partner side perspective by making assumptions of order
Type of Case: Guesstimate / Market frequency at each income level, and taking into
Sizing account other demographic considerations as well
Interview Round: Round 1 (like age, family size etc.). Then I was asked if there
were alternative ways to do it, and I suggested a
supply-side method by looking at number of drivers
and serving capacity of each driver.
Felt I was well-structured in presenting the solution, and went
N/A into some detail while coming up with my guesstimates.
I could have presented an alternate way of doing the
guesstimate at the start itself.
82
Growth
Salesforce
AgriTech - Market Sizing Market Sizing| Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - Agritech company would like to increase revenues, how will you go about devising a solution? Do not ask scoping
questions, I am interested only in approach; What is the market size in punjab?; Why is the actual market size lower than this number?
None
Candidate Name: Rajiv Chandrasekhar 1. I said I would look at the distributors data across
Interviewer Name: Avinash Goyal, different geographies and size of distributors. This
Senior Partner would give an idea of the situation (is there a supply
Type of Case: Guesstimate / Market constraint, are we scrambling for shelf space, is there
Sizing a price/awareness issue?)
Interview Round: Round 2 2. I first structured the guesstimate: total arable
land--> different harvest seasons--> type of crops
grown in each season-> amount of agro chemicals
required per crop in INR. The partner liked the
structure, and gave me data for each of this. From
Recommendations Reflections there the quant was pretty straightforward
Practice staying calm- it's hard to fake I showed presence of mind by inferring that the industry was all 3. I said it could be because of low awareness+ low
in an interview. In both my interviews, about non-differentiated commoditized products, when the income. Innovative idea: partner with night literacy
certain inferences I drew from data partner said the company had the 3rd highest market share at schools in rural areas. These typically see good
would not have happened if I was 16%, while the 1st had a share of 20%. I added that price and farmer turnout. Use pictures with our branding
stressed. Understanding and awareness is possibly the tipping point in purchases. while teaching about the use of agro chemicals and
interpreting data shows presence of it's benefits in terms of higher output. This will raise
mind. When I was asked for 1 innovative idea, I took over a minute to awareness, while also increasing farmer income- and
think and ensured that the answer was actually innovative we will capture most of the market.
83
Growth
Salesforce
Automobile - Market Entry Market Entry| Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - Your client is a traditional automobile manufacturer. They want to enter the EV market in 5 years, how would you go
about it?
Conventional questions like 3CP etc. I was the last interviewee
Candidate Name: Hrithik Modi so we had limited time, he rushed and told me no more 1. Conveyed my 4-step approach (conventional one
Interviewer Name: Avinash Goyal, questions after a couple of them from casebooks)
Senior Partner 2. Had read about EVs so kept throwing additional
Type of Case: Market Entry information throughout
Interview Round: Round 2 3. He asked a mathematical question in the end to
close the case
Took my time although time was rushed. Kept interviewer on
N/A the hook
84
Growth
Salesforce
Airline industry - Guesstimate Guesstimate| Interview | Mckinsey
PI -introduce yourself/take me through the resume type question.
Problem Statement - Guesstimate the number of planes in the air at any given point.
Not much scoping was done.
Candidate Name: Adithya Ravishankar This round didn't go too well; I tried estimating the
Interviewer Name: Nitika same from a supply-side perspective by using
Nathani, Partner number of planes taking off from a runway at any
Type of Case: Guesstimate / Market given point. But I didn't arrive at a proper solution.
Sizing
There was some structure to how I presented my thoughts, but
N/A ultimately it didn't go too well.
Could have thought of a better way to estimate the same, and
gone into some detail while maintaining some coherence.
85
Growth
Salesforce
Mining company - Case Growth Strategy | Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement – A mining company want to grow its business by growing its supply. How should it go forward?
Candidate Name: Dolly Bajaj Partner told me that the scope is flexible. The interview started with a 15 minutes of PI about my passion
Interviewer Name: Abhijeet Kulkarni, Think everything possible and my role models. He and I really connected in our conversation.
Partner Post which we did a case on growth strategy for the next 15
Type of Case: Growth Strategy minutes.
Interview Round: Round 2 Since the problem statement was quite open ended and he
explicitly asked me to not use case frameworks, I wanted to make
sure I am not just shooting everywhere. I directly jumped into
basic supply value chain out of nervousness but he guided me to
think broader as this step will come much later in growth strategy.
So I started with organic and inorganic growth breakup and listed
Recommendations Reflections ways from there to growth the supply of the company. He
Partner explicitly asked me not to use confirmed that I am going the right way. After hearing my views
Most partners do not like until I reached the value chain, he stopped me and confirmed my
framework-y answers. So it’s frameworks and that made me a little
nervous. I could have taken a broader approach.
always advisable to take the first
thinking approach. Practice cases approach rather than taking hints for
and solve them intuitively instead frameworks.
of blindly following frameworks The first 15 minutes connect really helped
me as we connected well and that built a
positive atmosphere
86
Growth
Salesforce
Digital Lending - Case Growth Strategy | Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement – An FI company (bank) has launched a digital lending loan product. We need to drive volumes. What will be the top interventions?
Candidate Name: Pratyush Bhardwaj 1. Geography I considered the growth framework as a base and used first
Interviewer Name: Partner 2. Targets principle approach to go about the case.
Type of Case: Growth Strategy 3. More on the product
Interview Round: Round 2 4. Competitors and target consumers
Summarizing the interventions Round 1 was already covered above in the
properly at the end helped me profitability section (UK Insurance company
since my approach was a bit case). The interviewer went into some
detailed details around some points of my approach,
so I took a few seconds at the end to
summarize everything and avoid confusion
87
Growth
Salesforce
Financial Services - Case PE | Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - Your client is a PE which is considering investing in a financial services firm (example Zerodha). How would you evaluate this?

None as the case was from my resume
Candidate Name: Hrithik Modi I went a little mechanical and laid out my approach
Interviewer Name: Abhijit as an investment banker. The interviewer heard me
Kulkarni, Partner and appreciated but corrected that I need to look at
Type of Case: Abstract / Growth this from a consultant's lens. Should follow the broad
Interview Round: Round 1 PE structure (from co'22) for this.
I was very sharp to the case (though my approach wasn't the
Will never recommend discounting best). I had the answers for the PI which covered up for the
PI questions or leaving it for the slack in case. One must convey the approach up front. We were
last-day. Start 2 weeks in advance. having a conversation about my work experience and the case
was asked more like a casual question, I misjudged and gave my
entire IB pitch.
88
Growth
Salesforce
Indian Steel Company - Case Abstract | Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - You are consulting an Indian Steel Company that had a capacity of 30 Mn Tons of Steel per year. With the Indian economy growing, the
company wants to increase its capacity to 100 Mn Tons by 2030. The Indian steel market is expected to grow from 120 Mn Tons to 250 Mn Tons by 2030
Objective (increase capacity in the next 8 years), Any cash
Candidate Name: Samridh Nangia constraints (to be considered as we go across the Used growth framework initially and eventually
Interviewer Name: Abhijit case), Geography (10 MT in North, 10 MT in South, 10 MT in merged it with the market entry framework. Started
Kulkarni, Partner West), Value Chain (RM sourced from 3rd parties, Processing off with Demand and Supply side of things to tick off
Type of Case: Abstract / Growth in house, Distribution through 3rd parties), Customers (B2B that Demand would not be an issue. On the Supply
Interview Round: Round 1 only - both direct and through distributors), Product Side, RM and Distribution were not concerns - hence
(homogenous steel product), Competitors (3 large players - we only need to focus on increase production capacity.
are 3rd largest, top 2 have 70% market share), Regulations (no Broke down expansion methods into organic vs
impediments and no incentives from Govt) inorganic and went into a deep-dive into organic
methods. Then shifted to understanding the financial
metrics to be considered and whether the client feels
Recommendations Reflections they can hit the metrics (no calculations involved).
The interview was extremely conversational, and Abhijith made Finally went into the ways to expand (expand current
Be comfortable moving around me feel relaxed right from the get-go. He was also clear on plants, new plants | organic, acquire, JV, Import steel
frameworks and being fluid. The what his expectations were at each part of the case and kept - and the qualitative CBA associated with these
partners know that you have done giving reassurances when I got the answer he was looking for. I choices)
case prep and are expecting a also had a basic understanding on the Steel industry, which
conversations/ non-rehearsed helped. Brownie points for calling out things like the growth
interview experience. from 30-100 MT is faster than the industry growth from 120-
250 MT and therefore competitive pressures need to be
evaluated
89
Growth
Salesforce
NBFC Loans - Case Abstract | Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - Client is the CEO of a NBFC. They want to start a new lending business in the commercial vehicles segment. The ask is to create a credit
decision model - take any single customer and walk through how to evaluate and decide whether + how much of loan to give the customer
NA - asked to dive into the case directly. Was
Candidate Name: Samridh Nangia however given information about the The case was a combination of common sense and quant. I made
Interviewer Name: Siddharth customer - a driver who wants to buy a up a framework: Sourcing customers > evaluating cash flows > loan
Gupta, Partner Tata Ace to transport marble from a factory to disbursals > loan collection. Was asked to only evaluate case flows;
Type of Case: Abstract / Growth its warehouse. The customer has a guaranteed was asked 3 specific questions: (1) what are the different aspects
Interview Round: Round 2 contract from the marble company of the customer to evaluate (cash inflow/ outflow, interest rate
to transport the marble along this 75km this person can afford, timeline for collections, other covenants/
stretch each day guarantees), (2) how to get cash flow information (formal sources
like income tax returns, validation of the contract, past loan
history, etc. and informal/ alternate sources like social media
posts, neighbor interviews, etc.), (3) can the customer afford to
Recommendations Reflections pay off the loan (details are: Ace cost is 6L, 5 years to payback, 10%
simple interest, 1L will be paid by the customer itself = EMI of
Be comfortable moving around N/A 12500. Contract is for 6 days a week as Sundays are off, flat fee is
frameworks and being fluid. The 3000 per day = income of 75000 pm. Professional costs: fuel of 100
partners know that you have done per liter, 10km per liter and maintenance cost of 5000 per
case prep and are expecting a month. Personal costs: rent 5000 per month, education of 2000
conversations/ non-rehearsed per child for 2 children, other expenses of 10000) Income - All
interview experience. costs - EMI = 1000 which is a very small buffer. Hence should not
lend
90
Growth
Salesforce
Ecommerce – Food Delivery - Case Abstract | Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - Guestimate the number of Swiggy orders placed in Hyderabad. Assume you have a minute to present your solution in front of a board
meeting. How would you go about it?
Candidate Name: Tanvi Garg 1. Swiggy food or instamart orders? - Just food Population of Hyderabad > Smartphone and
Interviewer Name: Shwaitang orders. internet penetration > segmentation into
Singh, Partner 2. Time period? - 1 month. different classes of consumers - 30% frequent
Type of Case: Abstract/ Guesstimate 3. Demand side approach or supply side (atleast one order per day), 30% semi-frequent
Interview Round: Round 1 considering the number of delivery guys? - (one order per week) and 40% others (atleast 12
Demand side approach assuming no orders per year) > math calculation and justifying
constraints on supply. the numbers at every step
Presenting the solution confidently A structured approach to all the questions helps in communicating the thought process clearly to the
and not messing up the math interviewer. For example - I was asked which food delivery app I liked? I responded Swiggy and gave
calculation went well. Smiling reasons for the same. Then, I was asked whether food delivery or Instamart would be a competitive
occasionally and making it edge for Swiggy? Then I mentioned parameters basis which I would compare both the services and
conversational helped to ease the which service seemed to win. The interviewer seemed satisfied with this approach.
interview pressure.
91
Growth
Salesforce
Healthcare - Case Abstract | Interview | Mckinsey
Problem Statement - A hospital in Gurgaon has witnessed profit stagnation. Assess the maximum profit increase that can be achieved and how (expected the case
to have qualitative aspects at this point, but it turned out to be purely calculation based)
From the first round, I had figured that the "Was asked to calculate profitability. The interviewer straight up
Candidate Name: Shivangi Amba standard 3CP approach was not appreciated by asked me what data points I might need. Broke down cost and
Interviewer Name: Dr. Chirag, Partner interviewers. So, I kept it very organic, and revenue for in-patient vs. out-patient. He asked me to focus on in-
Type of Case: Pure Quant (calculate stopped after 1-2 very generic questions about patient for the moment and later allocate 25% of revenue and cost
profitability in different scenarios) the hospital, competition etc. The interviewer's to outpatient later.A few data points I asked for-# hospital beds, avg
Interview Round: Round 2 response made it clear that scoping was not going occupancy, days of operation, revenue / bed.I was given data on #
to really benefit in the solving so, I moved on. hospital beds, occupancy, revenue / bed / year, total fixed cost and
variable cost / bed. At this point I was asked to break down costs
qualitatively as well.The interviewer kept changing numbers and
assumptions. I was asked to calculate on my feet and did make a few
errors. The interviewer then asked me to re-calculate and tell him
Recommendations Reflections my mistake. I was honest to accept a flaw in my assumption and was
Be prepared with PI as you never Tried my best to stay calm through the able to come up with correct numbers in all the scenarios that he
know what the interviewer might pressure (both PI and case). Was honest with threw my way after this point. The calculation required allocating
ask and be honest and genuine my PI answers and accepted my mistake in fixed costs to each bed and then extrapolating for changing
with your answers. Be aware of the calculation. occupancy scenarios which required a lot of data recollection
interviewer's tone / body through the process. Suggestion: Every few minutes I was asked to
language. Pick those clues and recall the previous assumption taken so, note down assumptions
make changes in your approach and numbers the interviewer mentions very neatly on your sheet."
accordingly.
92
Growth
Salesforce
Retail chain - Case Abstract | Interview | Mckinsey
PI - 1. Tell me about yourself?
Problem Statement - Your client is a retail organisation in Europe. The CEO wants to know if they should expand into digital channels or focus on retail.
1. What products do we sell? - we sell
Candidate Name: Somya Sharma everything- apparel, shoes, suitcases etc. 2. To understand if our client should expand digitally, I compared
Interviewer Name: Aarti Subramanian, Any plans to expand globally? - we are still digital and retail on 5 metrics - customer needs and preferences,
Partner majorly in Europe but are expanding globally. accessibility, customer experience, market attractiveness (size,
Type of Case: Abstract 3. Do we currently have any digital presence? - share, growth) and financial feasibility (benefits and costs). I used
Interview Round: Round 2 no. 4. Do we want to develop an app or my own knowledge of the European consumers to explain each of
website to both - both. 5. Where are we these metrics and took a buy-in on each of these from the
placed compared to competitors? - we are interviewer. We eventually decided that the consumer should
market leader in retail. Competitors have expand into digital channels. The interviewer then asked me if our
started moving to digital. client can use tech for something else. I broke down the value
chain - raw material, transportation, storage, stores, marketing,
Recommendations Reflections after sales service and discussed tech initiatives under each of
these. Lastly, the interviewer shared her screen and asked to me
After the previous case, this The interviewer really liked the initial metrics I
to do some simple math based on the numbers on the screen.
interview helped me regain my chose to compare digital and retail channels.
confidence. I was immediately given The interviewer also liked the conversational
the offer after this interview. style of the interview.
93
Class of 2023 Growth Salesforce
Profitability Market Entry Pricing M&A PE & VC Abstract
Malaysian Telecom - Case Profitability | Interview | BCG
PI – Discussion about work experience. Discussion over things I had mentioned in my resume. Why consulting.
Problem Statement - Malaysian telecom co. sources cables from various vendors through invite-only tenders. How can company can reduce cost & boost profitability
- Value Chain After scoping, we discussed about the pros and cons of invite-
Candidate Name: Mairu Jain
- Services offered by the company only tender and whether the company should open up the
Interviewer Name: Siddharth, Partner
- Process of tenders and products tender and diversify vendors.
Type of Case: Profitability
(different kind of cables) sourced through
tenders
- Bidders for the tenders
- Competitors
- Had a good conversation over PI
N/A questions which formed considerable part
of the interview
- Could have asked more about Malaysian
market
94
Growth
Salesforce
Automobile Industry - Case Market Entry | Interview | BCG
Problem Statement - An Indian automobile company has set up a tyre manufacturing unit in India but later realise that it would want to enter tyre markets outside
India rather than in India. Which markets should it consider and why?
1. Company details: Brand strength and
Candidate Name: Mairu Jain Export Capabilities Based on scoping, I bifurcated markets into
Interviewer Name: N/A 2. Product: Tyres for what kind of vehicles, emerging markets (India, SE Asia, China, Africa)
Type of Case: Case Interview any new technology, cost and pricing and established markets (US, Europe, Russia).
Interview Round: Round 2 3. Consumer: what kind of consumers (B2B The interviewer then asked me to focus on
or B2C) are they targetting Europe, US, China and Africa. Then I explained
4. Any particular market that they have what parameters I would focus on to compare
been successful in these markets. We discussed about regulations,
customs, export costs, demand and competitors
in each market. Thereafter, I eliminated
markets where growth was stagnant or had
little scope as compared to others. Based on
I intended to use the typical market entry I could have explained as to why I chose 2 the information about the given markets,
framework but did not force fit gauging the interest markets, and they could have been bucketed instead of choosing one favorable market, I
of the interviewer. Kept it conversational. under broader terms recommended that we choose two markets
Highlighted important data on my worksheet (Africa and USA) to enter and explained the
because a lot of information for each market kept rationale. Finally, we discussed about the mode
coming in. This helped not lose track of important of entry and concluded the case.
facts.
95
Growth
Salesforce
Defense Sector - Case Market Entry | Interview | BCG
Problem Statement - Our client is a defense public sector manufacturer in India. They need to achieve a revenue of INR 1200 Cr by 2032. How would you go about
this? Also explain the constituents of the INR 1200 Cr in detail
1. Current Revenue? Then calculated CAGR
Candidate Name: Pratyush Bhardwaj required to reach the target. Is that I used first principles to go about the case. Got
Interviewer Name: Partner CAGR high/low basis our defense sector to know eventually that the interviewer needed
Type of Case: Case Interview average growth at least 10 interventions to define the
Interview Round: Round 1 2. Revenue lines and the % split constituents for the target revenue, so was not
3. Competitors very direct. I started with the existing revenue
4. Consumers streams, any domestic vs international contract
5. A basic industry landscape split. Instead of solely growing the client’s
6. International contracts? majority revenue stream, I also focused on the
minority, even though competition was a lot,
but most of it was MSMEs, and the potential of
growth seemed huge. To reach to the 10
I never paid complete emphasis on the frameworks I was conversational during the entire round interventions, I again leveraged first principles.
since they make your thinking narrow. I went about and didn’t take very long pauses to ensure
this case using the first principles as it wasn’t a that the interviewer thinks that I am
straight-forward growth strategy case. brainstorming with him on this
96
Growth
Salesforce
Airline Catering - Case Abstract | Interview | BCG
Problem Statement - Our client is an airline catering company. The client is facing an issue where the cost of their ingred rice cost per meal is 15% higher than the
competitors. Can you help solve the issue?
1. Geography
Candidate Name: Pratyush Bhardwaj 2. More about the rice product and other Did an end-to-end value chain analysis of the
Interviewer Name: Partner ingredients product, from sourcing to selling. I got to know
Type of Case: Case Interview 3. Competitors that the sourcing is from an empanelled vendor
Interview Round: Round 2 (for each competitor) where a rate card is
refreshed every quarter. Eventually, got to the
answer (timelines of purchase and quality of
rice).
Stay calm, even if you think you are not able to I was able to figure out the partial answer
figure out the solution. Asking the right questions and took some time to figure out the other
always helps. part of the answer. The partner was patient
but I could feel some tension building up
within myself. However, I stayed calm and
didn’t let that out in any way.
97
Growth
Salesforce
Toll Booth Highway- Case Abstract | Interview | BCG
Problem Statement - You have been hired by the government to construct a toll booth on a highway. What are the major things you will have to look about?

1. What's the location
Candidate Name: Akshita Bansal 2. The area it is supposed to cover Started by listing down the main things that are
Interviewer Name: N/A 3. What kind of highway are we looking at important for building a toll booth. The
Type of Case: Case Interview 4. How busy would the route be? interviewer wanted the case to be broken down
Interview Round: Abstract into a profitability framework and from there
focus on revenues, that is how can we increase
the revenues.
Be calm and do not worry even if you feel the
interview could have gone better - just give your I could have asked better scoping questions
best and prepare for such weird problem and should not have held back whatever is
statements making sense and should speak out as at
times that is exactly what the interviewer is
looking for
98
Growth
Salesforce
Work from Home - Case Abstract | Interview | BCG
PI - Tell me about yourself?
Problem Statement - Your client is a pan-India public sector bank. They are losing money in fee payout on ATM channels.
1. What do you mean by fee payout? My first scoping question gave me an
Candidate Name: Riya Sehgal 2. Time period and magnitude of the loss
Interviewer Name: Ishan Jangwa, Partner understanding that the client is losing money on
3. Any particular location where ATM fee ATM interchange fee. This made me conclude that
Type of Case: Abstract payout losses are more?
Interview Round: 1 customers are using other banks’ ATMs more than
4. Industry wide issue or specific to the that of client’s. To assess this issue I divided
client? customer’s ATM journey into 3 buckets- pre, at,
and, post atm. I gave broad pointers on possible
reasons in every bucket. Was asked to focus on ‘at
the ATM’ experience. After some discussion and
number crunching I solved the case with the
Recommendations Reflections solution that waiting time at the client’s ATM is too
Clearly ask questions if you are unsure of the long because their customer base is more than the
The case went pretty smooth as I was able to
meaning of certain terms. Such cases can be easily number of ATMs available. He added another issue
structure and bucket the problems
solved if you put yourself in customer’s shoes. of long ATM machine maintenance time. Got to
effectively at every point. Ishan was quite
know that machines are repaired on-site through
appreciative of how I cracked the problem in
vendors. I made a vendor journey - communication
the first part which gave me confidence for
to vendor, time to reach ATM site, repair time.
the remaining bit of the case.
Concluded the case with reason that vendors are
limited in number, thus take a long time to reach
the site.
99
Growth
Salesforce
Problem Statement - Your client is a TV producer and wants to launch a dance reality show. Define the concept for it.
1. Objective of the TV producer I didn’t get any clear answers or concrete info
Candidate Name: Riya Sehgal 2. Geography
Interviewer Name: Ankush Wadhera, Partner through my scoping questions. He kept pressing
3. Channel - TV/OTT on the point that the client is looking for some
Type of Case: Abstract 4. Previous experience and current
Interview Round: 2 out of the box concept which can gain immense
shows of the producer popularity. Thus, I threw some random ideas that
5. Target audience came in my mind but it didn’t go well with the
6. Participants - Celebrity dance show or interviewer as they were not structured. I then
common man gathered my thoughts and tried to breakdown
‘concept’ of a dance reality show into buckets
like - participants, target audience, judges, dance
Recommendations Reflections styles, media platform, viewership - Under each
Don’t lose confidence if you are not bucket I discussed the conventional ways we
I got the case after waiting for ~2hrs (technical
on the right track from the start of have seen and how the client can break the
problems) and the stress reflected in my
the case, you can still get through. clutter in them. We then discussed OTT vs
performance. I felt I could have solved it using a
Getting a hold on the case in such conventional TV. Entire case went more like a
market entry framework but got carried away in
situations earns more points. conversation than an interview.
defining new ideas. He said he had a nice
conversation with me, though I was not happy with
how I solved the case. But I got an offer at the end.
100
Growth
Salesforce
Bank- Growth Abstract | Interview | BCG
Problem Statement - A bank that caters to only NRI customers is having high customer acquisition cost through offline medium. The bank wants to explore digital
medium for customer acquisition. How would you go about it?
1. What offline mediums has the bank
Candidate Name: Shreyan shrivastava tried currently? I suggested all the digital marketing mediums
Interviewer Name: Partner 2. What do you mean by high customer where NRI customers can be found like
Type of Case: Case Interview acquisition cost? Asked a ballpark LinkedIn, facebook, Google, Custom Audiences,
Interview Round: Growth number for it etc
N/A
• I was able to show my niche knowledge
of digital marketing
• Better MECE structure while articulating
the suggestions
101
Growth
Salesforce
Bank- Growth Abstract | Interview | BCG
Problem Statement - A traditional bank wants 10% of new account opens should come digital medium (i.e. customers login to the website and open bank account
rather than walking to the bank branch). How would you go about it?
• What is meant by digital medium?
Candidate Name: Shreyan shrivastava • What is the Geography? Applied AIDA funnel but in digital marketing i.e.
Interviewer Name: Partner • How old is the bank? Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action
Type of Case: Case Interview • Does the bank has any online presence
Interview Round: Growth right now?
• How much % of marketing budget is
spent of digital mediums?
N/A
Scoping questions were relevant and partner
was impressed
Since the time was running out, partner did
not let me summarise the case
102
Growth
Salesforce
Problem Statement - Me and you are going to meet the talent head of a IT firm and discuss about work from home and work from office

Given it was a very abstract case. I was not
Candidate Name: Shreyan shrivastava able to come with clear and concise scoping Started the case by dividing the employees in
Interviewer Name: Partner questions, but i still managed to ask a few two categories - willing to wfh and willing to
Type of Case: Case Interview details about the company and the wfo and then further elaborated the pros and
Interview Round: Growth workforce cons from the company's perspective. After
having some discussion he stopped me in the
middle and asked me to design a platform
where employees can do some extra work and
earn within the help of the company than doing
another job outside. I took a pause and
recollected my thoughts. I then started
explaining how the platform/website could look
To be better prepared for such random problem like. After this he asked me to prepare an
statements I was able to explain the platform well and elevator speech to given to the CEO explaining
Whatever be the problem statement, just think on give a good elevator pitch is what I think I did why do we need that platform. He was
your feet and ask some questions to get a better well surprising me back to back with very random
clarity on the problem statement cases and questions.
103
Growth
Salesforce
Hotel Chain - Guesstimate Guesstimate | Interview | BCG
Problem Statement - Your client is a hotel chain in Jaipur. Estimate the usage of bottled water/ drinking water in a year.
1. Number of rooms in the hotel Divided the bottled water usage into parts: Guest
Candidate Name: Aashna Khattar 2. How many hotels in Jaipur/ Rest of
Interviewer Name: NA water consumption, staff consumption, cooking
India purposes and water bottled placed at gyms, spas
Type of Case: Guesstimate/ Abstract 3. Average Occupancy Rate
Interview Round: 1 etc.
Calculate water consumption for each part
Was asked to solve case post these questions separately. For guest consumption I divided the
year into high rush, mid rush and low rush
season.
Similarly, for employee consumption I divided
staff into management staff, waiters, chefs and
Recommendations Reflections other staffs. Estimated their numbers basis the
N/A occupancy rate and number of rooms and then
Make sure you mention assumptions in case you
estimated their water consumption.
are not able to cover all scoping questions
104
Growth
Salesforce
Sugar Manufacturer - Case Profitability | Interview | Bain
PI: Tell me about yourself.
Problem Statement – Your client is an Indian sugar manufacturer and has been seeing reduced profitability.
Since this was a profitability issue, I jumped straight to costs which the
1. How many plants does the client have? - 1, 2. Where interviewer liked. I broke down costs by value chain > Raw material, Inbound
Candidate Name: Somya Sharma do we sell? - Pan-India, 3. What does the distribution logistics, Processing, Storage, Distribution, Customer. The interviewer asked
Interviewer Name: Jayesh look like? Do we sell ourselves or we have distributors? me to focus on processing costs. I broke down processing further into > Staff,
Jhunjhunwala, Manager - Client sells through 5 Pan India distributors, 4. How do Utilities, Consumables (note - no machinery/depreciation costs here since we
Type of Case: Profitability source raw material? - from farmers directly, 5. Are are concerned with EBITDA). Interviewer asked me to focus on utilities which I
Interview Round: Round 1 competitors also facing this issue? - competitors earn broke down further into water and electricity. I asked the interviewer for the
15% EBITDA margin whereas we earn only 10%. 6. Is client's source of electricity and got to know that we have an integrated sugar
this a recent trend? - we have been facing reduced power plant. I asked about our costs and the competitors cost of electricity
margins since 5-6 years. and got to know that in-house electricity is more expensive. The interviewer
then asked me to do some math on whether we should continue the power
plant and use power in-house or sell to the market. We eventually figured out
that the main business of our client was power - which contributed to most of
Recommendations Reflections the profits. The interviewer then asked me to focus on packaging costs. I
asked some scoping questions here - what is the size of each bag - 50kgs,
The interview was very conversational. Structure - knowing what to focus on what is the material we use to pack - plastic, has there been any change
Don't try to force fit frameworks or over and what to ignore. In most cases, the recently - the client is now using colored bags which has also increased costs. I
structure the problem. I approached the interviewer will help you but focusing on asked why they made this change and was told that the CEO wanted to
case as solving with the interviewer the right things does help you stand out. differentiate our product. I then enquired if this was based on any evidence or
rather than solving on my own. More streamlined scoping questions.could recommendation to which the interviewer asked me what I would do to
have been asked by me evaluate the effectiveness of this change. I suggested: 1. Pilot test in a limited
area to see if sales increase, 2. Understand the broader market – do
customers really care about packaging for a product like sugar and are any
other competitors doing the same?
105
Growth
Salesforce
Specialty Chemical - Case Profitability | Interview | Bain
PI – Introduce yourself
Problem Statement – Client is the CEO of speciality chemical company who wants the profitability to go up in the next 4-6 months to improve the ratios by year end.
Asked about the company, the clients, After scoping I tried to go on the usual Profitability framework but
Candidate Name: Vibhav Sharma the value chain and the competition. was stopped and asked to discuss aloud what I am thinking. It
Interviewer Name: Devanshu Kakkar, Our client was a manufacturer of turns out that issue was in the product mix. Our sales from
Senior Manager Adhesive and Fragrances which were different segment were 30%, 30%, 20%, 20% from paint, paper,
Type of Case: Profitability used as inputs in Paint, Paper, Leather leather, textile respectively. On further scoping it turned out 70%,
Interview Round: Round 2 and Textile industries. Every product 60%, 45% and 45% of the sales from the respective segments were
had 3-5 other competitors. We had of SKUs which had negative contribution. On calculating the overall
around 400 SKUs with around 500cr level, around 60% sales were of negative contribution SKUs.
sales. Interviewer asked me to think why the company was selling those
even when they were contributing negatively to which I had 2
Recommendations answers. First, the company doesn’t realize that majority of its
To improve profitability, the first obvious suggestion was to remove/reduce loss leaders. Interviewer wanted me to SKUs are negatively contributing or second, there are strategic
think on more ways. I asked if we want me to think of creative ways to increase profit or go in a structured manner reasons for selling them. Interviewer asked what reasons there can
to cover all bases. He said I can do whatever I want. I replied and said I can do both and take whatever he wants to be, to which I replied with following possible reasons 1. Loss
judge me on. He smiled and said let’s think of a few broader buckets and then think creatively on that. We had a Leader (Gave Gillette example), 2. Complimentary goods, 3.
long discussion and then he stopped me and asked what ways can be to increase the prices the client artificially. I Competition is supplying those, and we might lose sales of all SKUs
gave 4 ways to do that, 1. Product Bundling (Selling multiple products together), 2. Value added Services (doing by not supplying negative SKUs, 4. Negatively contributing SKUs
some mixing, processing beforehand), 3. Transporting directly to factories, 4. Offering stricter credit and financing are produced from wastes of other goods or use idle machine or
terms. man hours which otherwise would have gone waste. He really
Reflections liked my reasons and complimented me on them.
By the end of the interview, we both had developed a very informal and friendly relationship. I was very
comfortable to think of creative suggestions and even asked on what basis is he judging me on. We shared
multiple smiles throughout the interview. I was given an offer 10 minutes after the end of this round.
106
Growth
Salesforce
Hotel rooms - Guesstimate Guesstimate| Interview | Bain
Problem Statement – Estimate stock of hotel rooms in India (provide a general approach) and explain how you'd monetize it for a startup that partners with
motels/hotels and improves their operations.
Candidate Name: Adithya Ravishankar Guesstimate part didn't really have much PI was really a casual chat; the interviewer and I did our undergrad
Interviewer Name: Megha Chawla, scope for preliminary questions, and for the from the same college, and it just felt like she was trying to get me
Partner monetization part, just asked some basic to be comfortable.
Type of Case: Guesstimate / Market details about the business model, geography I followed a demand-side guesstimate analysis, taking into account
Sizing where they operated etc. income levels and focusing on urban areas. For the monetization
Interview Round: Round 2 part, I looked at what type of areas the service can target, what
metrics they can look at to target which type of hotel/motel to sell
their services to.
N/A I think the interviewer was testing

me on the expansiveness of my
thinking, which I did well to some
extent.
Could have been a little more
structured.
107
Class of 2023 Growth Salesforce
Profitability Market Entry Pricing M&A PE & VC Abstract
Groceries market - Case and Guesstimate Growth | Interview | Bain
PI – General questions about the sector I had worked in.

Problem Statement – 1. Market size for groceries in the Tricity (Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula); 2. Why 24x7 stores in Delhi saw a stagnation in no. of customers in '15
1. Laid out filters for guesstimate and kept After scoping, we discussed whether we should look at the footfall or
Candidate Name: Mairu Jain confirming whether the filters I am using are spending per customers. We went ahead with the number of customers.
Interviewer: Associate Partner relevant. Then I used the 'awareness, accessibility, affordability and customer
Type of Case: Growth experience' framework. Had a discussion around potential reasons for
Interview Round: Round 1 2. For case, my scoping questions were around stagnation in general and arrived at the problem.
customer segment, competitors, product mix and
geography
- Constantly explaining my thought process and
N/A logic behind assumptions
- Keeping calm and focusing on discussion, rather

than solutions
- Math could have been better
108
Growth
Salesforce
IT solutions provider - Case M&A | Interview | Bain
PI – Brief introduction
Problem Statement – Synergies after a large conglomerate has acquired a smaller IT solution provider in order to venture into IT solutions industry
- Current and targeted customer segment of both It was a discussion about motivation behind entering IT market for the
Candidate Name: Mairu Jain companies conglomerate and synergies such as cost, employee structure, ease of
Interviewer: Partner penetration in the new market and bringing in skilled workforce.
Type of Case: M&A - Competitors
- Competitive advantage of both companies
- Objective
- Kept the interview conversational
N/A - I could have built a structure
109
Growth
Salesforce
Growth Equity Fund - Case Profitability | Interview | Bain
PI: 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why Bain? 3. What is one thing you like and dislike about Bain? Problem Statement – Your client is a growth equity fund looking to
invest to in a ed-tech company. You have to advise your client on whether this is a good business to invest in.
1. Is there any specific metric for determining good To evaluate if this is a good business to invest in, I considered 3 things - 1.
business for the client? - profitability in the long term, Market attractiveness (market size, market share, growth), 2. Competition, 3.
Candidate Name: Somya Sharma
2. What kind of investments does our client usually Financial feasibility. I was asked to focus on market attractiveness and
Interviewer Name: Prabhav Kashyap, make? - tech companies, 3. What is the investment compare which of the two segments (K12 and test prep) was more attractive.
Partner horizon? - typical 5-7 years, 4. Is the company the client The interviewer did not go into any numbers, and this was mostly a discussion
Type of Case: Private Equity is looking to invest in similar to BYJUs? - yes, you can on the metrics we would look at, some of which I had mentioned earlier in my
Interview Round: Round 2 assume it is BYJUs, 5. Can I assume BYJUs is mostly K-12 framework. The catch here was to understand the nuances of the industry -
coaching? I know they have recently ventured into JEE like consumers in K-12 tend to stick to neighborhood tutors for many years
and NEET coaching as well - got many details about and maybe less inclined to join BYJUs.
both businesses. K-12 is mostly offline, JEE and NEET
mostly online. I did not ask questions on geography and
competition since that is common knowledge.
I was calm and confident throughout the interview. The
This was my 6th and last interview for
interviewer was not looking for a right answer but just
the day so I was very tired. I
wanted to see if I can think through the problem and
communicated this to the interviewer as
have a strong rationale for my suggestions.
well jokingly which he took in good
I could have structured the case solution better and
spirit. Being myself helped me the most
brought out the nuances upfront.
in this interview.
110
Growth
Strategy
Salesforce
Effectiveness
Investing in Real Estate - Case Abstract | Interview | Bain
PI: Resume walkthrough majorly focused on Work ex, why ISB, why MBA, what would I do differently at work after getting an MBA
Problem Statement - How would I go about investing in a real estate in Worli and Bandra and which one would i choose
Geography of the two real estates, builder
Candidate Name: Avanti Palekar details and history, other competiting The case was from the real estate industry. The
Interviewer Name: Senior Partner properties in Worli and Bandra, timeline of interviewer asked me to give a brief summary of how I
Type of Case: Case Interview the investment, type of real estate would go about comparing real estate in Worli and a
Interview Round: Abstract competing real estate in Bandra. The answer I gave
was a mix of PESTEL framework and some aspects of
3C. He then probed me further upon which I switched
gears to the financial aspects and that I would look at
the NPV of each property. He probed further on the
NPV and discount rate as to what all would go into
getting a reasonable discount rate. After this
discussion I was asked to do a quick calculation on
To be better prepared for such random problem getting the NPV for both properties. The discount rate
The interviewer liked my scoping and the overall NPV
statements was given, and I made certain cash flow assumptions.
analysis+ assumptions to get a discount rate
Whatever be the problem statement, just think on Could've been more confident, the interviewer Since time period was less, the calculation didn't
your feet and ask some questions to get a better sensed that I was a little nervous in the beginning. require a calculator. Finally, I was asked my personal
clarity on the problem statement But after a few minutes, (fortunate) the stress opinion on whether I'd solely take the decision based
disappeared. The case was a little unusual so upon NPV, wherein I then brought up aspects of
thinking on the feet and imagining myself in the payout period, terminal growth rate fluctuations etc.
shoes of a real estate investor helped.
The interviewer looked satisfied
111
Growth
Salesforce
Skiing resort- Case Abstract | Interview | Bain
Problem Statement - A ski-ing resort is facing declining profitability with revenues falling very sharply

Where is the resort located? -Switzerland Alps
Candidate Name: Nikhil Portluri How seasonal is the business? Is there any Broke down the problem into revenue and costs.
Interviewer Name: Senior Manager element of seasonality in the decline of Started with the revenue side with interviewer buy-in
Type of Case: Case Interview revenues? -Good question, seasonality exists since majority of the profitability issue seemed to be
Interview Round: Profitability but decline is not due to any seasonal reasons from revenue side. Broke down revenues into avg.
What's the mix of domestic and international rev/customer x no. of visits per customer x no. of
visitors? -That's a good question, its largely customers. There was a sharp decline in the number of
skewed towards international visitors customers. Broke down decline in customers to
internal and external factors. Problem was in the
external factors-broke down external factors to one-off
factors and seasonal external factors. Once I was told it
was one-off factor, broke down further into one-off
• Undertake branding effort and highlight the • Initial scoping questions helped me narrow down factors affecting skiing such as avalanches, accidents,
safety measures in place for ski-ing the problem to international visitors doing less snowstorms, etc. Was told that an accident happened
• Go for an additional external certification ski-ing in the Swiss resort. during ski-ing leading to bad publicity for the resort.
highlighting the safety of ski-ing • Maintained a MECE structure throughout the case On probing further, discovered that it was Michael
analysis which helped me narrow down to the
Schumacher's ski-ing incident. That also led to
issue really quickly
• Could have given sharper recommendations increased costs for the resort with respect to PR
campaigns to show safeness and other public relations
efforts.
112
Growth
Salesforce
Premium retailer- Case Abstract | Interview | Bain
Problem Statement - High-end retailer in India facing declining revenues

Interviewer said no scoping questions
Candidate Name: Nikhil Portluri Standard growth framework. Broke it down to users,
Interviewer Name: Partner uses and usage. There was a problem with repeat
Type of Case: Case Interview customers-fewer customers reordered from the
Interview Round: Growth retailer. On further probing, realised that quality of
vegetables (only vegetables, other products were
doing well) was a problem which was why fewer
customers were doing repeat purchases
N/A
• Talked in-depth about my startup experience
which helped me build a good connect with the
interviewer
• Was able to think on the feet and come up with
MECE structures after the initial framework
113
Growth
Salesforce
CPG Technology - Case Abstract | Interview | Bain
PI: Introduce Yourself. Why did you leave ISRO? Why consulting?
Problem Statement – Use a technology you have worked with in ISRO and devise a strategy to monetize that technology in the CPG industry
The PI went on for a long time as I could leave many loose ends, which the
Me: Can I use any relevant technology which I used, or do partner picked up and asked me questions on. I was asked if I wanted to do a
Candidate Name: Aprameyo Roy you have something specific in mind? traditional case or something exciting like building up something from scratch,
Interviewer Name: Ravi Swarup, to which I answered the latter.
Partner Partner: Any
Type of Case: Abstract Structure:
Interview Round: Round 1 Me: Do I need to take into account the funding aspects of
the company, if I were to build a company from scratch? 1.) Technology that I wanted to monetize needed to be selected. I chose a
computer vision algorithm that I had worked on in ISRO to improve the quality
Partner: No of satellite and launch vehicle images taken from space.
Recommendations Reflections 2.) Patent: I would patent the algorithm

Keeping the most relaxed demeanor and being as
Relax and always keep a smile on. conversational and real as possible. It turned out to be a 3.) Company: It would be SAAS company, and we would make APIs that can
free flowing conversation rather than an interview. I was be directly used by big CPG companies to deliver customized, high-quality
able to point out unconventional risks such as - the cloud images of consumer products on apps and websites. This means that when a
based platform on which our software would run is a customer opens a website/app to buy products based on search history and
single point failure which was appreciated. The Partner the things they like, ex. a cup, the image of cup, personalized according to
asked me to size the market which I failed miserably their taste, will occur on the page.
because sizing this is equivalent to estimating how much
delta in sales we would be able to generate for a massive 4.) Monetization: Enterprise plans to be sold to big CPG firms. Metrics such as
CPG company just by the introduction of this software. I CTR can be used to assess performance.
blabbered something. After seeing that I was struggling,
the Partner laughed and said I was just pulling your leg.
114
Growth
Salesforce
Sports Fantasy League - Case Abstract | Interview | Bain
Problem Statement – Our client is an HNI and plans to set up a Sports Fantasy League. You’ve been hired to find if the market is attractive and form a GTM Strategy
for the same.
After scoping I went for the first objective which was finding if the market is
– Asked about the motive of the client, attractive. Did a long guestimate which involved a lot of discussion and inputs
Candidate Name: Vibhav Sharma the way the business needs to be setup, from Aditya. He was interjecting at almost every assumption of mine and
Interviewer Name: Aditya Shukla, the geography targeted, the sports and trying to show that my assumption was wrong. I felt he was trying to stress
Partner current competition. Was informed to me out but even knowing that this is deliberate, I started getting nervous. The
Type of Case: Abstract keep the discussion in India and app- Guestimate went on for 10 mins where I took the demand approach and
Interview Round: Round 1 based business-like Dream 11. Multiple broke the population into urban males of a targeted age bucket and then took
sports can be targeted, and the current their affinity towards sports. My actual answer came 20x of Dream 11’s
competition is Dream 11 and MPL. current turnover which I defended as saying that there’s a big headroom in
the industry and Dream 11 has only reached 5% of the market potential.
Recommendations Reflections Additional details
He was leading the structure and directly asking me Talked to the interviewer a lot. At no I felt my interview didn’t go well as he was showing dissatisfaction at every
questions one after other. He then asked me how to point of time were we not talking. It assumption or statement, I made but I also feel he was doing it deliberately.
make people join our app over Dream11. My was a comprehensive brainstorming He didn’t let me take any structure or follow the usual market entry steps
suggestions were to introduce gamified non-monetary session to which both of us were since he was dictating what we discuss.
rewards too further I suggested to make a higher contributing. I couldn't hold a structure
winning money and a lower winning probability. He was as he was changing the discussion were
still bent on finding how we can make people switch to frequently. Could have done better on
which I replied that we don’t necessarily want people to that front.
switch since consumers can easily be a user of 2 such
apps, we just must make our offering better so that with
time they use our app more. He liked this and closed the
interview.
115
Growth
Salesforce
Alcohol Retailer- Case Profitability | Interview | Kearney
PI: Introduction, questions about work (few specific questions about analytics experience, modelling)
Problem Statement – Alcohol retailer declining revenues, find out why?
Candidate Name: Pranil Chandra Standard scoping questions around customer, Drilling down into supply, few retail stores with decent sales
Interviewer Name: competition, pricing etc.. Analyzed form volume got closed on highway owing to government regulations.
Type of Case: Profitability supply demand angle as well
Recommendations could have It was good to eliminate all the
been better had there been more potential options and think out of
time , so important to pace your the box for external factors.
case as the interviewer may or
may not have a lot of time.
116
Growth
Salesforce
Accidents on Highways- Case Profitability | Interview | Kearney
Problem Statement – How will you build emergency response team to service accidents on highways (considering a new set of roads being built under government
push). What is the approach to estimate how many trauma centers, ambulances, optimal service level (time required to service accident) and how will you minimize
costs.
Candidate Name: Pranil Chandra It’s important to clarify all aspects of question Talked abut an analytics driven approach taking each of the sub
Interviewer Name: Manish Bindal, before proceeding. Apart from standard parts of the question. There was no perfect answer but interview
Partner scoping questions, pick up phrases from was focused more on approach
Type of Case: Profitability question that you dont fully understand to re - Structuring response based on factors/ data points needed to
Interview Round: Round 2 affirm your understanding. For ex: what solve the problem helped bring clarity ( and factors ( # of people
exactly is a trauma center (has a role to play in travelling highway, residential areas, vehicle type, speed limits,
the estimation) accident rates, available ambulance inventory etc.. )
Structuring into MECE buckets could have
Its easy to panic when the case is been better, here there were too may
complex. Try to calm down and moving parts in the question. Also it might
pick cues or guidance from the be good to prep for such operations driven
interviewer by asking relevant cases for kearney (senior partners here have
questions strong foundations in this practice area) so
you can think in that direction for a holistic
solution
117
Growth
Salesforce
Neom Project - Guesstimate Guesstimate | Interview | Kearney
PI - Qs for us (which the other two also asked). We spent a lot of time on Qs for us here, diving into what my day-to-day would look like!
Problem Statement - You are the tech lead for the Neom project, a city on the east coast of SA, 170 km long, 200 m wide "Line". Estimate the demand for Si chips on line (based on my
work-ex). Be abstract and bucket
Get to the case, don't scope
Candidate Name: Hurshvardhan Shrivastava Broadly categorize intor Public & Private. Public can
Interviewer Name: Sudheer Sethumadhavan, then be broken down into Defense, Transit services,
Sr. Partner healthcare, Education etc. Private into homes,
Type of Case: Guesstimate/ Market Sizing; automotive etc. Roughly estimated chip usage for one
Interview Round: Round 3 car, this can then be scaled for other uses. Was then
asked to recommend another method: i went with
comparable city (i.e city with similar overall size &
usage)
N/A The PI portion went well, we had already

spoken a few times before. it became clear to
me in this round that they wanted me
Needed a few prompts for breakdown
118
Growth
Salesforce
Telecom Ops - Case Growth | Interview | Kearney
PI - Work-ex, Why transitioning back to India from the US?, Why Kearney? Why Analytics Consulting? Problem Statement - You are consulting a Telecom Ops
company with 5-6 holdings/subsidiaries across functions such as gaming, real estate etc. You are required to provide recommendations for growth?
1. Geography: Middle-East; 2. Type of
Candidate Name: Hurshvardhan Was asked for possible services that could fuel organic growth: 1.
services offered: Digital Bank; 3. Metric for E-commerce, 2. Digital payments for offline goods & services, 3.
Shrivastava success: ROE; At this point, the interviewer Other Financial products such as ForEx, Insurance, Mutual funds
Interviewer Name: Partner smoothly transitioned to the crux of the case & Loans. After being reasonably satisfied, the interview provided
Type of Case: Growth and so this may seem a little abrupt but will the following context: We are looking to expand upon a super-
Interview Round: Round 1 happen in most of your D-day case app designed for a semi-rural place in the middle-east called
interviews Baladeh (or Baladi or something else idk). Provide
recommendations on growth avenues. Currently, the app is quite
under-developed and requires significant revamp. 1. Extent
of growth required: Currently 3 mn, expand to 16 mn transaction
volume 2. After basic clarifications, I first classified the
Reflections possible services into larger buckets: Healthcare, Hospitality,
Recommendations Services, E-commerce, Construction (specific to Baladeh since the
Be calm and relax. interviewer clarified that excavation was a major business there),
I think this was more a test of my ability to Anciliary. Was then asked to provide 1-2 services in each
breakdown and communicate rather than a segment: • Healthcare: Telemedicine, Medicine delivery •
full-fledged case Hospitality: Travel bookings: Hotels, trains, flights
Improvement - As you can see, everything is etc, Entertainment bookings: Movies, Fairs, Concerts etc •
Services: B2B services akin to Urban-clap •
not MECE :) :P
Construction: Cement orders, waterproofing
services etc • Ancillary: Info on nearest EV charging stations,
petrol pumps, transit services etc
119
Growth
Salesforce
2 friends meet - Puzzle Abstract | Interview | Kearney
PI - Tell me about yourself, why Kearney etc.

Problem Statement - 2 friend decide to meet at a certain location. If each of them independently arrives at a time uniformly distributed between 5 and 5:30 PM,
find the probability that the first to arrive has to wait longer than 10 minutes

Candidate Name: Pratyush Bhardwaj NA A relatively tough puzzle for a B-school interview. I
Interviewer Name:
made mathematical equations and tried to solve
Type of Case: Abstract (Puzzle)
the question on a graph. I was able to come up with
an answer close to the actual one, but it took some
time.
If you get such puzzle questions, then maybe luck NA
isn’t with you.
120
Growth
Salesforce
Central Financial Institute - Case Abstract | Interview | Kearney
Problem Statement - Your customer is the central financial institute that is looking for recommendations to reduce financial fraud in GCC countries.

Scoping qs: 1. What constitutes Financial Fraud?
Candidate Name: Hurshvardhan When a person or entity knowingly or unknowingly 1. Brokedown fraud into components: Payment Xns,
Shrivastava performs a transaction they didn’t intend to. It has Loans, Investments, Insurance 2. Was prompted to
two layers: a) Complaint registration, b) Investigation focus on Socially Engineered Fraud: scams used by criminals to
Interviewer Name: Senior Manager
2. Volume: Currently 40-50 mn/month exploit a person's trust in order to obtain money directly or
Type of Case: Abstract obtain confidential information to enable a subsequent crime 3.
(Nov 2022), up from 10 mn/month (Jan 2021) 3.
Interview Round: Round 2 Reasons for increase: Increased use of Broke that down into 5 broad buckets (think of
FinTech 4. Present across geographies & payment journey): Impersonations, Faulty gateways, Bogus links,
industries 5. More prevalent on online platforms Advance requests, Improper delivery/no returns 4. How
to perform analysis: Logistic regression with Fraud (1/0) based on
reports of each of these. 5. Impersonation fraud was found to
be the key driver. Was asked to jump to recommendations: a.
Reflections First, Identify commonalities (e-mails, area codes
Recommendations etc). This can be another regression analysis. Can also use text
This was the only detailed case interview I had with analysis for commonalities b. On the fraudee side: Identify “at-
Kearney. The rest were as they say, "lite" Was analytics focused and so, could dive into risk” populations. Then encourage truecaller like apps, perform
the mechanics of the logistic regression when weekly check-ins, awareness notes while using the app c. On the
probed frauder side: Ensure fraud data refresh frequency is maximized,
Could have clarified the fraud breakup use voice identification & writing identification d.
Recommended by interviewer: Provide in-house
methodology first before diving into details
fintech toolkits to individual companies to prevent use of mass
services
121
Growth
Salesforce
Central Financial Institute- Case Abstract | Interview | Kearney
PI: This interview required very little input from me: Just a background check. The rest was the Sr. Partner giving me insight into life at Kearney
Candidate Name: Hurshvardhan Shrivastava N/A N/A

Interviewer Name: Sr. Partner, Chicago office
Type of Case: PI
N/A
N/A
122
Growth
Salesforce
Airlines- Case Abstract | Interview |Deloitte
Problem Statement – Approach to merge Air India with other airlines of TATA Sons group
Candidate Name: Baskaran K 1. Asked if there will be consolidation in Gave a broad categories to look into and dived deep into details.
Interviewer Name: Karan routes - response no (was stopped mid way and moved to next round)
Type of Case: Abstract
structured initial response followed detailing of approach in beginning could
by details and clarification questions have been better
123
Growth
Salesforce
Financial Services industry - Case Abstract | Interview |Deloitte
Problem Statement – Approach to merge Air India with other airlines of TATA Sons group
Candidate Name: Shubhansh N/A 1. Within Financial Services, which specific business do I like the
Anupkumar Dubey most?
Interviewer Name: N/A 2. Within FinTech, which space do I find the most interesting?
Type of Case: Abstract 3. What is the biggest challenge in MSME and generic lending?
Interview Round: Round 1 4. What can be done to overcome this challenge?
5. Will NeoBanks replace traditional Banks?
6. What are NeoBanks bringing to the table?
7. Is NeoBanking a sustainable business?
8. Will NeoBanks ever become profitable?
9. Why should they hire me for a role in the Financial Services
Recommendations Reflections industry?
N/A I could have been a little more well-read
about the performance of NeoBanks in
India.
124
Growth
Salesforce
Steel Company - Guesstimate Market Entry | Interview | KPMG
Problem Statement - Client is a steel company and wants to enter Vietnam! Explain how you would go about it? Q2. Client is an Indian Health Insurer and wants to
enter Thailand. Help them plan their entry
Used 3CP and also poked continuously to get N/A
Candidate Name: Nikhil Paryani industry deepdive
Interviewer Name:
Type of Case: Guesstimate/ Market
Sizing
Ask as many questions you want to! Do not assume Spent a lot of time structuring my thoughts
anything (unless it is very obvious) on paper before talking and taking time gave
me a lot of clarity
125
Growth
Salesforce
Software development - Case Pricing| Interview | PWC
PI - Undergraduate technical events details, details for tech innovations at work place, hobbies
Problem Statement - We have developed a software for a particular client. How do we price the same for them and further for the industry
Case Details Scoping Questions
What products or services does the company offer, and how are they currently priced? What is the company's target
Candidate Name: Ronit Agarwal market, and how do customers perceive the company's prices compared to competitors? What are the company's
Interviewer Name: Ramesh Gupta, pricing objectives, and how are they measured (e.g., revenue, profit margins, market share)? What data does the
Talent Acquisition Manager company have on customer behavior and preferences, and how can it be used to inform pricing decisions? What is the
Type of Case: Pricing company's cost structure, and how do costs affect pricing decisions? What pricing strategies has the company used in
Interview Round: Round 1 the past, and how effective were they? What are the company's competitors' pricing strategies, and how does the
company's pricing compare? What external factors may affect pricing decisions, such as regulatory issues, economic
conditions, or industry trends? What pricing experiments or market research has the company conducted in the past,
and what were the results? What are the potential risks and trade-offs associated with different pricing strategies, and
how can they be mitigated or managed?
Problem Breakdown
Here's what I suggested: After asking the scoping questions, we would
Go to the call thinking that its a The case and the guesstimate went really need to analyze the company's pricing strategy, customer behavior,
casual conversation. We ended up well. market trends, and competition to identify opportunities for
talking about general hobbies and F1 Could have done better on behavorial optimization. Now, we may recommend pricing strategies such as
for 30 min and just make the questions. The interviewer caught me off dynamic pricing, value-based pricing, cost based pricing, bundling, and
interview look like every other guard a good number of times and out of promotional pricing to help the company achieve its sales and
conversation. Makes you look nervousness, might not have able to profitability goals. Additionally, I suggested as a conclusion that that
confident, relaxed and calm articulate my answers that well the team may conduct pricing experiments or market research to
validate the effectiveness of different pricing strategies.
126
Growth
Salesforce
Pharmaceutical industry - Case Abstract | Interview | PWC
Problem Statement - A drug needs to be launched in an urban city market (e.g. Delhi). Estimate the market size. Should we enter the market or not based on 2
price points?
Candidate Name: Ankur Dubey 1. Assuming the drug is not generic? Any guesstimate structure - Age, income level, class
Interviewer Name: 2. Has it been newly developed?
Type of Case: Guesstimate
Be prepared for basic small cases or Structure of the guesstimate could have
guesstimates questions along with a been better.
couple of behavioral questions.
127
Growth
Salesforce
Telecom Company - Case Profitability | Interview | Accenture
Problem Statement – Your client is a telecom company in Philippines facing declining profits. Find out the reasons why and provide recommendations.
PI Round 2 - Why consulting, why MBA, what was the biggest learning you got from ISB, why accenture. As I came had a finance background, during MD round, I was
asked technical questions such as : 1) How to value a private company - lever, unlever beta, cash flows, wacc, premium, etc. 2) Pros and cons of DCF. 3) Return on
equity. 4) If your client is facing declining profits compared to its competitors, what will be the first step you would follow to identify the issue and provide
recommendations.
Always understand every single word in problem statement first. I followed profitability framework. I asked the interviewer whether I
As my scoping was long and covered a lot of points; the case should focus on revenues or costs. He asked me to proceed with
Candidate Name: Tanisha Agrawal didn't take long to finish. Questions asked: 1) Duration of decline. costs, but to mention the revenue function too. As I had already
Interviewer Name: Team Lead 2) Are competitors facing this issue? 3) Percentage of decline. 4) scoped decline was from broadband business, my cost function was
Type of Case: Profitability Services provided by our client. 5) As I wasn't aware about based on the same. I started with forming a client journey - starting
Interview Round: Round 1 dynamics of Philippines, I asked question in and about the with production, employee, setup box, servicing, travel costs - as on
country, and found out that its a country comprised of many islands, etc. This helped me understand that setup costs, travel costs
islands, and our client has towers over many such islands. 6) I and customer services were leading to increase in costs. Setup box
mentioned few revenue streams, and asked if declining profits is costs going up was pretty straight forward, as the client had started
from a particular stream, the interviewer responded from giving free setup boxes to increase the client base, whereas its
broadband business. competitors were still charging for the same. For travel box the issue
was customers were facing more connectivity issues; hence,
Recommendations Reflections company executives had to travel to and from islands to fix up the
issues. The third problem being that as it was an island country, it led
My first interview was a stress interview, The interviewer was most concerned with the structure. So
to increased connectivity issues and hence, increased number of calls
as the interviewer had a straight face even though i wasn't able to get this one particular
to helpline number, leading to increase calling charges and more
throughout the interview, so even recommendation he was looking for, he was satisfied with the
employees being hired. Recommendations were the key to the entire
thought he case was not difficult, i did structure. 2) Scoping well. 3) Keeping the interviewer in loop
case, the interviewer wanted to see if I am able to get the correct
fluster a bit in the start. But then within throughout the case. 4) Not taking very long pauses.
recommendations. Few of the recommendation I provided was : 1)
few minutes, I eased into the case. Reading in-depth about technological solutions that Accenture
Relooking into setup box productions costs. 2) Having local service
provides to clients across industries.
providers, so the travel costs reduces.
128
Growth
Salesforce
Wheels - Guesstimate Guesstimate | Buddy Interview | Accenture
PI - Education, background, interest in Accenture and consulting

Problem Statement - Number of wheels in privately owned vehicles in Delhi

N/A N/A
Candidate Name: Rhea Anand
Type of Case: Guesstimate/ Market Sizing
Be as detailed as possible in a guesstimate. The PI portion went well, we had already

spoken a few times before. it became clear to
me in this round that they wanted me
Needed a few prompts for breakdown
129
Growth
Salesforce
Supply Chain - Case Case | Buddy Interview | Accenture
Problem Statement - How to make supply chain more sustainable for a homecare product manufacturer

1. What all products are manufactured Break down the problem into value chain parts: from
Candidate Name: Aashna Khattar
2. Time frame for implementing changes raw material sourcing to dispatch to supplier.
Type of Case: Abstract
Interview Round: Round 1 3. Any details/ limit on spending
Point out short term and long term changes that can
be implemented to make supply chain sustainable
N/A Make sure to keep the interviewer engaged
130
Growth
Salesforce
Pigeons - Guesstimate Guesstimate | Buddy Interview | Accenture
PI - Tell me about yourself and some generic PI questions

Problem Statement - Estimate the number of pigeons in Delhi
N/A Two ways to approach every guesstimate- I picked
Candidate Name: Aashna Khattar
the bottleneck approach for this one: Where do
Interviewer Name: Shruti, Managing
Mention any assumption you are using for pigeons reside.
Director
your approach here Divided Delhi into Forest, Mid forest and residential
Type of Case: Guesstimate;
area to calculate number of pigeons in each region
N/A Be thorough with the calculations
131
Growth
Salesforce
Human Resource and GTM - Case Abstract | Interview | Accenture
Problem Statement – Create a L&D model for a HR tech company,/Launch a GTM for vaccines in India
Candidate Name: Samyak Bardia 1. Objective Laid down the steps involved and decision criteria at each step
Interviewer Name: NA 2. Timeline
Type of Case: Abstract 3. Scope of Engagement
Approach the case very calmly, Could have tuned the PI answers to what
involve the interviewer throughout. they want to hear rather than what I have I
Prepare behaviourial questions well want them to hear
and strike a conversation with the
interviewer
132
Growth
Salesforce
Electric Vehicle charging company – Case PI & Market Entry| Interview | Accenture
PI Round 1 – Started with "Tell me about yourself". Questions from Resume points. I was asked to describe a particular project. Why consulting? She evaluated
my interest level and knowledge in Operations and Supply chain
PI Round 2 - Tell me about yourself. Why consulting? Are you ok with travel?
Problem Statement - I was asked to evaluate Market Entry for an Electric vehicle charging company.

Where are they planning to enter? Ans. Hyderabad; Started with Guestimate to find rough number of EVs
Candidate Name: Lashmanan PL What is their current footprint? Ans. Indian Startup - currently and forecast next 5 years. Then evaluated
Interviewer Name: NA Operating in Bangalore and other cities. What part of competencies of the company in meeting the demand.
Type of Case: Market Entry the value chain do they operate in? Ans. They design,
Evaluated competitive landscape. Then options for entry.
Interview Round: Round 2 build and install EV chargers. They import components
from other countries. What are the vehicles that can Finally gave recommendations
be charged? Ans 2W & 4W
Do a lot of cases. And unstructured ones. In all my I had like 5 minutes total to solve the case. And
case interviews this year (Deloitte, Accenture, PwC) interviewer did not take any questions after initial
I did not have a clean case discussion like in our scoping questions. He was held up in another call! So I
case books. They were either unstructured or the just quickly listed all of the possible options
interviewer just wanted us to go through all the (framework) and "things to consider“
options instead of answering any questions. Be I panicked a little when making the guestimate. But
calm and be focused. Interact with the interviewer interviewer helped to get back on track.
on how you are proceeding with the case, as in
online mode, they cannot see what you are writing.
133
Growth
Salesforce
5G Smartphones in 2025- Guestimate Market Entry| Interview | ADL
PI - Tell me about yourself and some generic PI questions
Problem Statement - Number of 5G Smartphones in 2025 in India
Average cost of 5G phone, Expected penetration of
Candidate Name: Dominic John internet access, Do people have more than 1 phone Initial details were provided by the Interviewer.
Kuriakose I followed up with my scoping questions. Based
Interviewer Name: Barnik Chitran on the information received, the necessary
Maitra, Managing Partner calculations were made to arrive at the
Type of Case: PI ;Guesstimate/ Market guesstimate
Sizing;
The Scoping questions were detailed and extensive. The
N/A interview was similar to a stress test and the
Interviewer was constantly trying to berate me to try
and make me lose my cool. Therefore it was essential to
keep level headed and continue with your scoping
questions
I was informed by the Interviewer that I had a tendency
to overcomplicate and overthink the factors impacting
the guesstimate.
134
Growth
Salesforce
Qatar World Cup - Guestimate Abstract | Interview | ADL
Problem Statement - You are a car rental company by the name Qatar Cab Rentals. The Qatar govt has asked you to arrange the minimum number of cars that
will be required to serve the customers coming via the airport to watch the FIFA world cup happening in Qatar
1. Started with the demand side approach
Candidate Name: Mayank Sethia of the number of seats in the 1 single While taking a supply side approach, I first
Interviewer Name: Senior Consultant stadium Qatar has, followed by matches calculated the number of air terminals and the
Type of Case: Guesstimate daily etc. number of airlines landing per hour. This would
Interview Round: Round 1 then be multiplied by the number of hours the
2. Was asked to take a supply side approach airport was functional to calculate the number
BASIC Questions on number of terminals, of passengers landing in Qatar in a day.
number of airplanes landing per her, However, an important consideration to take
operational hours, passenger per flight etc. here would be that not all passengers landing in
Qatar would be leaving the airport, some would
have hopping flights and thus this number
needs to be reduced from the total number of
Sometimes the interviewer might want to test you passengers.
on different approaches and having frameworks in Practice Guestimates properly for ADL This number then needs to be divided by the
mind can really help in such cases. It is also interviews and make sure your analysis is maximum capacity per car, to get the minimum
important to consider the corner cases to come to comprehensive , MECE and you don't leave number of cars required to serve
the closest possible answer. Ask crisp and relevant out the corner cases. all passengers.
questions in a guestimate. Asking too many
questions can piss off the interviewee and portray
you as someone who is not well prepared.
135
Growth
Salesforce
Smart Phones in 2025- Guestimate Abstract | Interview | ADL
Problem Statement - Estimate the number of smart-phones in India in 2025. Can ask only 3 scoping questions

1. Current Number of Smart Phones
Candidate Name: Mayank Sethia Firstly, we need to see what is the current
Interviewer Name: Mr. Barnik, Partner 1. Growth rate in smart phone penetration number of smart phones in India. Then we need
Type of Case: Guesstimate to consider the growth rate in segment
Interview Round: Round 2 1. Lifetime of a smart-phone (to calculate and extrapolate it till 2025. Thirdly we need to
re-purchase rate) see what is the lifetime of the smart-phone, this
would help to determine the repurchase rate.
For e.g.: If the lifetime is 5 years, then a
percentage of users who had purchased the
phone from 2017 onwards will re-purchase it in
2022 and so on
This was a stress interview, and the Partner was
looking at how much composure you can maintain. While I prepared a lot of cases, I didn't
In the start of the interview, I was asked what are prepare a lot of abstract guestimates. Such
the 3 things you should know to answer this questions can become stress interviews and
question. So, it is important to take your time and one must practice them thoroughly
think of all the possible things one would require to to improve their chances of acing such
answer such a question and only then answer the 3 interviews
most important things here.
136
Growth
Salesforce
EdTech Expansion - Case Guesstimate| Interview | LEK
Problem Statement - Our client is an EdTech company that wants to expand in Germany. How should we go about it?

All the usual market entry questions
Candidate Name: Pratyush Bhardwaj The usual market entry approach, also had to
Interviewer Name: do market sizing
Type of Case: Market Entry
Interview was quite engaging and seemed like
NA
we were solving it together.
137
Growth
Salesforce
CE Manufacturer - Case Guesstimate| Interview | LEK
Problem Statement - The MDP asked me about my top 3 projects at my previous company and basis my answers, gave me a case on the spot. A global
Construction Equipment company wants to enter India. What should be the strategy?

All the usual market entry questions
Candidate Name: Pratyush Bhardwaj The usual market entry approach, but the case
Interviewer Name: MDP took multiple turns as the interviewer tried to
Type of Case: Market Entry gauge my approach and thinking process. So,
Interview Round: Round 2 the framework helped for a start.
It was critical to approach this case from the
Whenever you think that things
first principles thinking as the interviewer
aren’t going right, ask the right
changed the case multiple times and got into
questions.
each detail and aspect of whatever I spoke. This
helped me sail through the case and I could feel
both him and I were satisfied with the solutions
at the end.
138
Growth
Salesforce
Helicopter rides - Guesstimate Guesstimate| Interview | LEK
PI – General questions on personal background basis what I had mentioned in the CV and Cover Letter--including educational background, and work experience. Was
a friendly conversation and did not seem like an interview. Additionally discussed the firm, and why it was one of my top preferences.
Problem Statement - Estimate the number of helicopter rides from a hypothetical Uber type service servicing riders from the Bombay Airport to Nariman Point.
Drilling down and making the initial question
Candidate Name: Aakash Sahai provided more specific--such as who will it Keeping the case conversational while asking
Interviewer Name: Akanksha, Principal / serve, what kind of price point, what all areas scoping questions, constantly taking the
EM will it service, if the relevant infrastructure is interviewer through your thought process, and
Type of Case: PI ;Guesstimate/ Market available etc. Further, tried to determine providing multiple approaches such as from a
Sizing; what the interviewer was looking for-- supply and a demand perspective. Additionally,
Interview Round: Round 1 whether it was a growth/market telling the interviewer what your objective was
entry/guesstimate. and providing them a high-level thought
process before diving into a line of analysis kept
Reflections the interview crisp and limited any deviations.
Recommendations
Being dynamic with the case, understanding the
N/A requirements, quick back of the envelope math,
and continuously trying to reach a solution by
trying different approaches even when the
initial approach did not work.
PI Round 2 – It was less of an interview and more of a conversation. While initially the idea was that the Partner will have brief introductions and then run through a quick case
with me within 30 minutes, the initial introductions spilled over to an hour covering my educational experiences, life at ISB, placements experience so far, discussing the firm,
people management and my expectations from LEK. Having prior context about the firm through pre-placement talks, CV reviews, Case Prep, and having general conversations
with the people at the firm played a crucial role and helped during the interview to have that conversation.
139
Growth
Salesforce
Voucher/Subsidizing in private schools in Saudi - Case Abstract | Interview | LEK
Problem Statement - Saudi government has set a target to increase from 14 to 24% share of students going to private sector schools. Would providing
vouchers/subsidizing help?
Current structure of school, Differentiating
Candidate Name: Rishika Rathi factor, Timeline, voucher amount. Response - First went ahead with breaking down why the
Interviewer Name: general differentiation that is private has situation exists in the first place? Then 4A
Type of Case: Abstract better quality, objective is to make private framework - awareness, accessibility,
Interview Round: Round 1 sector grow and make economy more affordability and availability and then dwelled
competitive, voucher provided to anyone deeper into each. Then was given numbers such
and full sponsorship as average income and basic expenses in a year.
The voucher would not have helped because
there was no need of it given average
household was earning sufficient enough to
send their children to private school
N/A Breaking down of the problem into the four

criteria and beginning with why does the
problem exist in the first place. This approach
went well
I focused on other factors first such as
awareness and availability. Could have started
with affordability given it was about voucher
140
Growth
Salesforce
PE/VC- Case Abstract | Interview | LEK
Problem Statement - A PE firm wants to acquire an indoor playground equipment manufacturer. Size the market for them and conduct due diligence.
Candidate Name: Soumitra Das A. Questions about PE firm: B. Questions about target 1. Identified use cases for indoor playground
Interviewer Name: Kunal Jogani 1. Objective of investment company equipment
Type of Case: PE/VC 2. Industry focus of fund 1. Product portfolio 2. Interviewer asked to proceed with the
Interview Round: Round 1 3. Geographies involved in 2. Customer segments following- malls, quick service restaurants, and
4. Portfolio 3. Value chain of operations dedicated entertainment centres
5. Target rate of return 4. Competition in industry 3. Interviewer provided for number of
6. Exit period 5. Geographic location establishments of the 3 types in the US
7. Fund capacity 4. Factored in penetration rates
5. Factored in market growth rates
6. Accounted for replacement demand
Recommendations Reflections 7. Arrived at potential number of
N/A establishments of the 3 types that could be
N/A potential customers
141
Growth
Salesforce
B2B additives producer- Case Profitability | Interview | EY Parthenon MENA
Problem Statement – A global producer in B2B business based out of Scotland sells additives for consumables & non consumables (e.g. texture modifier / colour) is
seeing decline in profits. They work across 3 industry verticals: Pharma, Beauty, Food. They provide tag labels on the product using additives & have successful
patents.
The interviewer gave a detailed problem I broke down the problem into revenue and costs. He
Candidate Name: Dolly Bajaj statement so not many scoping questions explicitly asked me to name all the cost heads. I took the
Interviewer Name: Faysal Taher, Senior were required. Moreover, he wanted me to value chain approach and listed the cost heads. It looked
Manager directly jump into breaking down the like he wanted a different approach so he asked me to
Type of Case: Profitability problem and so I could not ask more than break down production costs further. I missed
Interview Round: Round 1 two: management costs – IT, Legal, HR etc so on this he
1. How long has the issue been seen? commented that going down the FC/VC route is better
2. How does the competitive landscape and MECE. Further he asked me to look into revenues and
look like? mentioned that the average price has gone down which
confused me a bit and after 3 rounds of to-and-fro I
Reflections realized that the product mix might have changed to
Recommendations
The interview started with introductions and so which he said that the price is sub-optimal. Then he gave
The interview was stressful for me even though it me some numbers of the company and a competitor and
the first 5 minutes helped a lot to ease down
started well. The key was to keep your calm and asked me to calculate the price charged for additives in
the tension and create a positive atmosphere.
grab clues whenever the interviewer is helping you soft drink. This I did quickly after which he asked me to
The different roadblocks made me nervous
and not get scared. I believe my learning attitude suggest negotiation strategies to bring up the price for the
given this was my first ever interview. But I still
helped me even though I got stuck at the easiest of company. Here using frameworks from the NEGA class did
tried to maintain my composure and accepted
parts of the problem. not help and going the intuition route would have been
his suggestions. This might have worked for me
as I got an email after two days that I have my better as I spent time to suggest different ways but could
2nd interview scheduled soon not reach the answer which he told at the end
142
Growth
Salesforce
Personal Interview PI | Interview | EY Parthenon MENA
Problem Statement – There was no case interview. Partner asked me questions on PI and we spend 60 minutes just talking.

None He gave a short introduction of himself and then asked
Candidate Name: Dolly Bajaj me his questions. I believe we spent 35 minutes on me
Interviewer Name: Thomas Bradtke and the rest 25 minutes he talked about his varied
, Partner experiences.
Type of Case: PI He asked me about my background, my experience at the
Interview Round: Round 2 previous firms especially about my experience of working
with consultants at BCN. Then, he asked various questions
on my experiences in ISB and how those have been
relevant. I candidly gave all the answers making sure that
there is structure in my answers (e.g. I learned 3 things at
Reflections ISB which really helped me….. ). He seemed really
Recommendations
interested in the conversation. But he opened up further
These interviews happened much before day 0.1 for This interview was one of my favourite as it had in the last 25 minutes when I curiously asked him about
me and other candidates so make sure you are me calmed down from the very beginning his experiences – in his previous firm, his current project,
prepared 2 weeks in advance for interviews. Even if although I was a little nervous talking to a experience of working in MENA after working in the west.
you are not, take ample time to prepare yourself senior partner from Harvard. I genuinely He shared experiences of working with the PM in India.
before these interviews. showed interest in his journey which made him
On the day of the interview, be confident and say that he would have liked to talk more if we
curious. If you leave things on a positive note, had time.
results will also be positive. On day 0.1, I got my offer from the CAS team
143
Growth
Salesforce
School attendance - Case Abstract| Interview | Samagra
Problem Statement - Improving school attendance in a State

N/A N/A
Candidate Name: Arusha Gupta
Interviewer Name:
Type of Case: PI; Abstract
Confidently giving the interview and having
UPSC background
N/A
I could have been more prepared for social
impact cases
144
Growth
Salesforce
Solar energy - Case and Guesstimate Market Entry | Interview | Kepler Cannon
PI – Stock that you want to invest in if you had a million dollars. Questions on resume. Why Kepler Cannon. Questions on retail banking and future of fintech.
Problem Statement - A co. is currently engaged in thermal power production but wants to enter into solar energy production in India. Suggest ways to go forward
1. Are skill of personnel involved in thermal power 1. Market attractiveness- Market sizing, Market share and profitability
Candidate Name: Aman Madhogarhia transferrable to solar energy production? analysis
Interviewer Name: Sonny Ajmani, 2. What is the motivation of entering into solar
Partner energy? 2. Operational and financial constraints- NA
Type of Case: Market Entry 3. Competitive scenario in India
Interview Round: Round 2 4. Commercial or residential segment? 3. Value Chain setup
5. Supply chain arrangements of the firm
Interviewer's reaction was satisfactory, and I received
a good feedback for scoping
N/A Market sizing was well approached. I took out the
market size and did a sanity check with the units
of electricity consumed in India in a year which
actually checked out.
I could have covered the aspects of value chain

such as distribution and financing in more details,
but due to lack of time these did not make much
difference in the interview.
145
Growth
Salesforce
Market Size of tyres - Guesstimate Market Entry | Interview | Bain Capability Network
Problem Statement - Estimate the market size of tyres sold in Mumbai in 2021

Asked whether car tyres or for all vehicles, he
Candidate Name: Rudreshwar Malkani clarified that only tyres for passenger cars Took the population of Mumbai as 20 million
Interviewer Name: and divided it by 4 for households, as cars are
Type of Case: Guesstimate/ Market bought by households. Then I segregated
Sizing households by income and estimated the
Interview Round: Round 1 total number of cars based (High - 1m x 1.5
cars; Middle - 2m x 0.5 cars; Low - 2m x 0
cars). After this, I estimated new cars sold
(10% growth), and multiplied by 5 to get the
number tyres (4 wheels + 1 spare), and the
number of burst tyre replacements (1 every
year).
Keep calm and write down all the info you get, He like my structure and approach, and said I
don't be afraid to clarify things in the scoping, and scoped well
keep a dialogue going while you're solving. It should I forgot at the end to convert the number of
feel like a conversation. tyres sold into the market size i.e. multiply by
price, but he told me not to worry.
146
Growth
Salesforce
Machine Manufacturer- Case Market Entry | Interview | Bain Capability Network
PI – General stuff about my prior workex, nothing out of the box
Problem Statement - A manufacturer of machines that manufactures low cost sanitary pads wants to enter the market
Clarified that the person wanted to set up in
Candidate Name: Rudreshwar Malkani tier 3-4 cities, and would sell to Started with demand focused approach by
Interviewer Name: entrepreneurs in the area. Revenue target of taking the female population and focusing on
Type of Case: Guesstimate/ Market 70 cr. rural areas. Segregated by age (as 14< and
Sizing >50 generally don't have periods), and
Interview Round: Round 2 preference (as some prefer tampons, cloths,
or other devices) and multiplied by monthly
demand, estimating about 6 uses per month.
Then used the capacity of each machine to
estimate number of machines required and
halved that to reflect that there were already
manufacturers with existing machines. Total
Just keep the conversation flowing and don't He liked my approach and that I kept things size and revenue was much higher than 70
hesitate to take a pause and think things out before simple cores so I recommended it
continuing. If you forget a scoping question, better I should have realised the preference issue a
to ask in the solving stage than make an arbit little earlier, he had to prompt me for that
assumption or go off on a wrong tangent.
147
Growth
Salesforce
Increasing Market Share for Udaan - Case Market Entry & Growth | Interview | Udaan
Problem Statement - How would you look to increase revenue share from Tier 2+ cities in India ?

1. Analytical thinking
Candidate Name: Sandeep Kumar M 2. market sizing Briefed on TAM , SAM , SOM along with
Interviewer Name: 3. MVP marketing strategy
Type of Case: Market Entry, Growth
Be confident on case structure and listen to N/A
what interviewer wants you to focus on
148
Growth
Salesforce
Salon finances - Guesstimate Market Entry | Interview | Mastercard
PI - Why Mastercard? Why the switch (since I came from an entrepreneurial background)
Problem Statement - 1. Estimate the sales of a salon in Banjara Hills 2. Estimate the cost of the salon 3. How would you increase profitability
Avoided scoping (for guesstimate) and
Candidate Name: Vanshita Khanna mentioned them as assumptions and asked if Did gender split and average spend per
Interviewer Name: the interviewer was ok with the assumptions customer wrt gender (detail of how I arrived
Type of Case: Guesstimate/ Market stated at the average-based on prices of
Sizing services*avg no of services taken by each
Interview Round: Round 1 customer), average occupancy-weekday vs
weekend, Working hours, Time spent per
customer (detailed avg etc). Costing part was
split between fixed and variable overheads-
came to a reasonable profit margin of 33%,
Solved growth part by evaluating topdown
and bottom-up approach at which point the
Even if the problem statement looks easy and I ensured that I was detailed in my approach and interviewer specified that they were looking
obvious break it down and structure your thoughts- tried to add in numbers to show them I was at increasing only revenues-solved as per
comfortable using numbers-eg profit margins,rent
they are not evaluating the solution but your per squarefoot and to ensure that I was not coming
framework
thought process up with random numbers. Tried to benchmark
numbers as well
Could have been more interactive with the
interviewer on zoom and juggle between solving and
talking
149
Growth
Salesforce
Launch co-branded cards - Case Market Entry | Interview | Mastercard
PI - What kind of projects interest you at Mastercard consulting? (I had attended their pre placement talk and takeaways from there helped)
Problem Statement - Mastercard wants to launch co-branded cards with an airline company. How will you proceed?
Regular scoping and clarifying questions.
Candidate Name: Vanshita Khanna Spoke about my understanding of co- Put down my thought process and the
Interviewer Name: branded cards and confirmed about the approach I planned to take-the interviewer
Type of Case: Market Entry accuracy of understanding. Objective, by guided me and nudged me in the direction
Interview Round: Round 2 when etc he wanted to take-picked up on those and
built on the solution accordingly
Buddy cases and case group prep was very helpful. Case solution was well structured and tried
Try to do cases from every industry to be to MECE at each stage.
comfortable with various industries Could have had a deeper understanding of
the card/fintech industry. The interviewer
does not expect in-depth industry knowledge
though
150
Growth
Salesforce
Credit Card Launch - Case Market Entry | Interview | Mastercard
PI – Tell me about yourself, probe into why podcast
Problem Statement - Credit card launch for HNI
Comparables, Definition of HNI, Geography,
Candidate Name: Ruchira Singh Select geography on parameters, understand
Interviewer Name: how credit cards make revenue, structured
Type of Case: Market Entry + Growth like typical market entry and growth case
Was similar to a buddy case, had read up on the Linking HNI cards with luxury partners, Good
FinTech industry, what kind of cases they actually quality recommendations - relevant, unique
solve with analytics solutions, Used BFSI terms
although not from that domain
151
Growth
Salesforce
Global PE Fund investment in baby & kids vertical - Case PE & VC| Interview | Analysys Mason
Problem Statement - A global fund wants to invest in the baby and kids e-commerce vertical. Help them analyze the proposition

About the fund, current investments Discussed the structure of PE case. He wanted
Candidate Name: Pallavi Agarwal (nothing in this category), product of interest to dive into market sizing and told me to
Interviewer Name: Anisha, Aprajita, Senior (they wanted to focus on clothing), market assume all numbers but questioned every
Consultant competition (amazon, flipkart) assumption i made.
Type of Case: PE case + market entry + market
sizing + DCF;PI ;
I did not lose myself in the numbers even
Try to solve guesstimate in millions with whole
though i was exhausted from giving 3 back to
numbers, they hardly care about the numbers but
back quant case interviews. I made a mistake
logic behind assumptions is important
in assumption of the % in the age group but i
wasn't afraid to correct myself when he
pointed it out and accepted my mistake.
They were impressed that i wasn't fazed by it
and recalculated the estimate
152
Growth
Salesforce
Global PE Fund investment in a telecom company- Case PE & VC| Interview | Analysys Mason
Problem Statement - A global PE fund wants to invest 300 cr in a telecom company like Vodafone-Idea and breakeven by year 3. Help the client in deciding if they
should invest
About the client, target consumer, market Explored Investing decision through framework-
Candidate Name: Pallavi Agarwal share, fund size, portfolio type, objective 1. market attractiveness 2. financial feasibility
Interviewer Name: Anisha, Aprajita, Senior 3. Synergies 4. Operational feasibility 5.
Consultant Barriers. The interviewer gave yearly subscriber
Type of Case: PE case + market entry + market numbers and price/subscriber for 5 years and
sizing + DCF;PI ; asked to calculate the market size. After that
Interview Round: Round 2 she asked questions how the telecom company
can increase its customers, what are the various
costs involved for a telecom company. She
gave numbers to calculate FCFF for a 5year DCF
model.
The case was very number intensive, it
Have good industry knowledge- revenue, cost
helped to take things steadily and not lose
drivers, competition etc. for TMT industry. Reading
calm amid all the numbers. Kept noting
about 5G news helped in striking up a conversation.
everything on paper and clarified all numbers
before solving. They wanted to see if i lose
track of the case between the numbers.
153
Growth
Salesforce
Explosion in London- Case Abstract | Interview | Analysys Mason
Problem Statement - There has been an explosion in London and the city needs to be evacuated. Advise the Prime minister of the country on an immediate plan of
action
About the country, population, demographic, Decided to break the problem by identifying
Candidate Name: Pallavi Agarwal area of impact, current infrastructure, critical areas of concern post the explosion: safe
Interviewer Name: Senior Consultant relationship with neighboring countries location to move the people, mode of
Type of Case: Abstract transport, securing food and water, military
Interview Round: Round 1 aid/security to avoid further incidents. The
interviewer liked that i was able to quickly
outline the major areas and told me to focus
only on transport. I identified various modes of
transport- road, air, waterway, trains but was
asked to rule out trains due to security
concerns. I went further to focus on airways as
Since it was an abstract case, there was no the most efficient and quickest way of
This company has a very structured interview evacuation. Airways could be further broken
defined course. I was confident with my
process. 5 mins for introduction, 20 mins for the down into domestic passenger planes,
approach and took the interviewer's
case in round 1 and 5 for question/answers. Very international passenger planes and cargo
direction. He was guiding me through the
important to be in the zone and not waste any time planes (the interviewer was impressed with this
solution and liked that i was comfortable
lingering on thoughts. 5 mins for one). He then asked to guesstimate how much
with the numbers
time it would take to evacuate the entire
10million population through carbo planes by
estimating the number of airports, runways,
take on/off time etc.
154
Growth
Salesforce
Establish a school for violinists - Case Abstract| Interview | Mastercard
PI – Tell me about yourself, Picked up lines from resume and grilled in depth about each Pre-MBA Internship/Project and each extracurriculars, I had sent a cover
letter (optional) - she asked me why did I do that and to summarise what I had written
Problem Statement - How will you establish a school for violinists in India - market sizing, pricing, revenue streams, growth strategy once established (picked up
from resume line about playing the violin)

Geography, age group of students, Business
Candidate Name: Ruchira Singh model - rent violins/ buy them 1. Market Sizing - Used knowledge of my
Interviewer Name: Partner hometown and extrapolated to get a number
Type of Case: Abstract (incl Market for India, was asked to cross-check by using
Entry, Growth, Profitability) alternate method of coming up with
Interview Round: Round 2 numbers; For pricing - she wanted school to
buy violins, hire teachers across 8 grades of
music, age no bar - estimate fees using
Recommendations Reflections inflation rate and the fees I used to pay,
Did not get rattled even though, she kept segmented based on difficulty level; Do
To have some estimation numbers ready about own
saying she has no data to provide and wanted profitability analysis listing cost sources
extracurriculars
me to come up with methods to cross-check my (inflation adjusted costs of violins etc);
own work; The level of detail of questions and Growth Strategy - Alternate streams of
solutions, given this was my extracurricular revenue once established
domain, estimation and justification of the
same -adjusting costs for inflation
Market Estimation could have been better
structured
155
Growth
Salesforce
Industry Primers
Deep Dive
156
Class of 2023
Airline Industry Industry Primers
Airlines Asset Management Automobiles Banking Cement E-commerce Electronics FMCG Food Processing Healthcare
Hospitality Insurance Iron & Steel IT & ITES Logistics Media NBFCs Oil, Gas & Energy Pharma Real Estate Retail Telecom
Inbound Logistics Operations Outbound Logistics Marketing & Sales Service

• Route Selection • Ticket Counter/ Kiosk • Baggage System • Promotion/ Advertising • Lost Baggage Service
• Yield Management • Gate & Aircraft Operations • Flight Connections • Frequent Flyer • Complaint Follow-up
• Fuel • Onboard Services • Rental Car & Hotel • Travel Agent Programs • Support Centre
• Flight/Crew Scheduling • Baggage Handling • Reservation System • Group Sales
• Aircraft Acquisition • Ticket Offices • Electronic Tickets
• Aircraft Lease
Key Performance Indicators Sector Composition Key Market Trends
• Departure Punctuality • Seat Load Factor Activity in AAI Airports – FY20 • Robust Demand: Rising working group and widening
100% middle class demography is expected to boost demand
• Regularity • Arrival Punctuality
• Opportunities in MRO: Expenditure in Maintenance, Repair &
• Delay reasons • Misconnex Quota 50%
Overhaul (MRO) accounts for 12-15% of the total revenues
Porter’s Five Forces – it is the second-highest expense after fuel cost. By 2028, the
0% MRO industry is likely to grow over $2.4 billion from $800 million
• Rivalry Among Existing Competitors (High): There is limited Aircraft Freight Traffic Passenger
in 2018
product differentiation and economies of scale and Movemen Traffic
significant exit barriers t • Policy Support: Foreign investment up to 49% is allowed under
Domestic
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers (High): Powerful labor unions Internationa the automatic route. Under Union Budget 2021-22, the
control operations. Aircraft and engine producers are Cost Drivers
l Revenue Drivers government lowered the custom duty from 2.5% to 0% on
concentrated oligopolies components or parts, including engines, for manufacturing of
• Fuel: ~40% • Ticket revenue: ~60% aircrafts by the MoD.
• Bargaining Power of Buyers (High): Air travel seen as • Rental of Flight Equipment, • Cargo: ~20%
standardized product with low switching costs for most hangar cost ~15% • Other revenue (baggage fee, • Increasing Investments: Investment to the tune of INR 420- 450
customers • Maintenance & Overhaul: F&B, seat selection): ~20% billion is expected in India’s airport infrastructure between FY18-
~10% 23
• Threat of Substitutes (Medium): Fast trains offer
competition. Business travelers are increasingly opting for • User Charges: ~10%
web-conferencing • G&A Expenses: ~7% • UDAN: Under this regional connectivity scheme, airfare for a one-
hour journey of 500 km has been capped at INR 2500
• Threat of New Entrants (High): There are limited • Crew Salary & Expenses: ~5%
incumbency advantages and low switching costs • Depreciation & Amortization: • Public-Private Partnerships: $3 billion investment in
~3% greenfield airports in Navi Mumbai and Goa
157
Class of 2023
Asset Management Industry Industry Primers
Asset allocation Research & analysis Portfolio construction Reporting Regulatory compliance
• Fund managers decide the • Experts study the market, • Based on analysts’ research & • Provide unitholders with • Report fund
asset allocation basis the micro & macro- economic investment objectives, the information that has a direct performance as per
investment objective of the aspects, & report to the fund fund manager chooses impact on their mutual fund statutory requirements
scheme manager. securities to buy / sell holdings & scheme specification
Key Performance indicators Porter’s 5 forces Key Market Trends

• Emerging Trends:
• Alpha– Risk-adjusted measure of the performance. It takes a • Bargaining power of suppliers (+)– Human resources and
security or fund portfolio's volatility (price risk) and compares securities, major supplies in industry; low to medium power • Increasing high net worth individuals and
its risk-adjusted performance to a benchmark index • Bargaining power of buyers (-) – Substitutes available emergence of sovereign wealth funds
• Beta- Measure of a security or portfolio's volatility, or (traditional banks), low differential advantage in specialized • Higher demand for alternative asset classes versus
systematic risk, compared to the entire market. Beta is products traditional ones
calculated using regression analysis and represents the return • Threat of new entrants (+) – Low customer loyalty, high brand • ESG share of assets continues to grow
tendency of an investment to respond to market movements equity along with regulatory requirements required for entry • Focus: Individual investors have grown significantly and
• Standard Deviation- Measures data dispersion from its • Threat of substitutes (+) – Low perceived product now command nearly 58% of AUM
average. In essence, the more data is distributed, the higher differentiation, low threat from substitutes • New products: REITs and InvITs emerging as new
the difference from the norm. Standard deviation in finance • Competitive rivalry (-) Highly competitive within market alternative investment products (Listed REITs include
is applied to an investment's annual return rate to assess its segment (MFs, Pensions) due to low differentiability Embassy, Mindspace, etc.)
volatility (risk) • Key challenges: Regulatory compliance, Cybersecurity
• Sharpe Ratio- Measures performance that is risk-adjusted. It Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers threats & Margin pressure
is calculated by subtracting the risk-free rate of return for an
investment from the rate of return and dividing the outcome
• Employee expenses • Management charges Industry Metrics
by the standard deviation of the return of the investment • Communication & IT Infra • Profit sharing
• Branch operations • Entry load & others • Industry Size: Rs 37 Trillian AUM in Mutual funds
• Net Profit Margins: 50% of revenue; 2% AUM for mutual
funds
• Prominent players: SBI Mutual funds, ICICI Prudential AMC,
HDFC AMC, Mahindra AMC
• Industry Characteristic: Fragmented (>40 AMCs)
158
Class of 2023
Automobile Industry Industry Primers
R&D and product design Raw materials Product assembly Logistics & transport Marketing & Service
• Skilled Labour Process/Product • Raw materials: Aluminium, • Body/Chassis • Warehousing • Advertising
Innovation Iron, glass, plastic, rubber • Casting, machining • Distribution Dealership • Finance, Insurance
• Warehousing • and welding Management • Used Cars, Rentals
• Engine/Battery • Quality Testing • Service, Spares
• Suspension and braking • Auto Expo
Key Performance Indicators Industry Facts Key Market Trends

• Production Efficiency: Measures the ratio of actual production • 7% Share in India’s GDP & 4.3% in India’s Exports • Transitioning towards electric vehicles: Market size valued
output to the maximum potential output, indicating how • $118 bn industry expected to reach $300 bn by 2026 at USD 5 billion in 2020, and it is expected to witness a
effectively the manufacturing process is running. CAGR of 44% by 2026
• Cycle Time: The time it takes to complete one full production • Bharat Stage (BS) - VI norms: India aims to reduce its
cycle, reflecting the efficiency of the production process. carbon footprint by 33-35% by 2030
• Defect Rate: The percentage of produced units that have • Positive GST impact: Reduction in the overall cost structure
defects or require rework, indicating the quality of the of Indian Automobile industry
manufacturing process. • Policy Support: Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, Automotive
Mission Plan 2026 to promote manufacturing, export-
Porter’s Five Forces
linked fiscal incentives, Voluntary Vehicle Fleet
• Barriers to entry (High): capital costs, distribution network, Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers Modernization Programme, FAMEII policy for EV adoption
and availability of automobile components. • Market Developments: Organized pre-owned car market,
• Bargaining power of suppliers (Low): stiff competition • Raw material • Automobile sales
shared mobility ecosystem
Bargaining power of customers (Very high): due to availability • Labor • After sales services
• Covid Impact:
of options. • Advertising • Financing services • Shortage of raw material and semi conductors
• Threat of Substitutes (Medium): Increasing shared mobility • shifting of production to other countries, liquidity
options and improving public transport
crunch
• Rivalry (High): Competition from established international
• Preference for private ownership of vehicles
and domestic brands
• shrinkage in consumer demand due to WFH
159
Class of 2023
Banking Industry Industry Primers
Marketing Sales Product & services Transactions

• Advertisement • Offerings Funding : Investing : Services : • Payment Clearing
• Branding and Promotion • Acquisition Deposits & securities Credit, Securities & Account & asset • Settlement
• Retention financial products mgmt., IPO/Issuance • Trading
Key Performance indicators Porter’s 5 forces Key Market Trends

• Emerging Trends:
• Customer relationships: Customer-centric approach • Bargaining power of suppliers (•) – Market dependent given
necessary in the competitive space, banks increasing use of capital is the primary resource, bank need to maintain • Focused Customer relationships with API and AI
APIs and AI to provide a seamless and value-add service to borrowing, and withdrawal needs of its customers solutions
customer • Bargaining power of buyers (•) – Low threat by Individuals/ • Buy Now Pay Later as a form of consumer lending
• Buy Now Pay Later as a form of consumer lending: With rise firms, however low switching cost can be a threat with • Digitization and a fast-emerging new ecosystem
of fintech companies, it has emerged as a new form of switching easier with internet banking • Net banking (banks without any branches) system
lending, banks extend credit in interest free or spaced-out • Threat of new entrants (+) – Low risk specially on account of rising
installments trust, market is largely dominated by large public sector banks • Policy change:
• Digitization and a fast-emerging new ecosystem: Changing and few private sector banks- HDFC, ICICI, Axis (~82% of • Implementation of Basel 3 capital capital
consumer behavior, rise of UPI, concerns rising regarding advances) framework
data sharing and privacy, account aggregation framework • Threat of substitutes (+) – Low risk, however Insurances, • Account aggregation framework
introduced Mutual Funds, NBFCs are other players providing financial • Aggregation of Public Sector Banks
• Account aggregation framework: Being developed, financial services
data sharing system that would empower individuals with • Competitive rivalry (-) High competition from established
control over financial data across institutions, which currently players, customers usually have account in multiple banks
Key Facts
remain in silos • Gross Bank Credit: 118.9 lakh crore (Mar’22)
• Neo-banking: Banks without any branches are a cost-effective Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers • Credit Growth rate (SCBs)– ~9.9% CAGR (2015-2022)
alternative to traditional banks, providing very convenient
• Interest expense • Interest on lending • Sector wise credit (SCBs): Personal (28%), Industry (27%),
and user-friendly financial services. However, these are
currently not licensed in India, and they count on bank • Services (26%), Agriculture (12%), Others (7%), (Mar’22) •
• Labour • Investment activities
partners (Jupiter, Fi, etc.) NPA ratio: 5.9% for all SCBs (Mar’22)
• Advertising • Deposits with RBI
160
Class of 2023
Cement Industry Industry Primers
Procurement Manufacturing Distribution Sales & marketing

• Long term lease of lime quarries • Process: Limestone → Clinker→ (grinding • Major freight cost (higher in rainy seasons) • Strong relationships with contractors and
• Plant located close to quarries and additives) → Cement • Rail-road mix used developers
• Long term supplier contracts for other RM • High Automated setups • Warehouse network • Distributor-dealer network for sales
• Imp: Economies of Scale High start-up • Large orders directly to dealers/customers • Bulk orders are cheaper
costs
Key Performance Indicators Growth drivers Covid impact

• Capacity utilization • Lockdown measures and economic uncertainty weakened
• Increasing foreign investment -> New construction
• Cement factor - qty of cement contained in a unit construction activity. This had a knock-on effect on the
• Record-low interest rates -> New Housing+renovation
volume of concrete or mortar (in kgs.) demand for construction materials including cement.
• Rapid urbanization -> New urban construction
• Clinker factor - percentage of clinker in cement • Higher selling prices were observed due to the tighter
• Government spending on infrastructure
EBIDTA/ton supply of raw materials following production disruptions in
the mining industry.
Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers • Lower energy prices, particularly during the first half of
Porter’s Five Forces
2020, have mitigated that, improving profit margins for
• Supplier Power (Low): Companies opt for backward Capex • Sales of cement construction material manufacturers.
integration, weakening supplier power • P&M • Interest income
• Barriers to entry (High): High capex, fixed costs and need for • Land Players
economies of scale
• Captive power plant
• Threat of substitutes (Low): No product exists to date that • LafargeHolcim Ltd – largest player – based in Switzerland –
can substitute effectively for cement. Only qty can be varied. Costs supplier of cement and aggregates
• Buyer Power (Low): Low substitutability, oligopolistic market • Transportation cost • Ultra Tech Cement Ltd– 2nd largest player in the market
• Rivalry (Moderate): Concentrated market. • Power & fuel • Ambuja Cements Ltd Ltd – 3rd largest player – Indian
• Material cost Company
161
Class of 2023
E-commerce industry Industry Primers
Inbound logistics Inventory Operations Marketing & sales Service

• Sourcing • Demand forecasting • Owned logistics handling • Discounting • Delivery planning
• Vendor contracts • Warehousing • Technology platform fees and • Advertising, promotion • Third Party Logistics
• Quality testing • Assortment planning maintenance • Exclusive strategy • Omnichannel fulfillment
• Mass customization • Working capital management • Order management • Customer retention Market • Return Management
research • Redressal and customer support
Key Performance Indicators Segments Key Market Trends

Key Facts
• Order to Deliver – How soon customer gets the product after Apparels Consumer electronics
• Industry value - $30bn in 2020, expected $100bn in
clicking purchase. Food, grocery & Jewelry Others
• Glance View – No of times the product description page is • 2024 and $200bn in 2027.
visited • CAGR 27% growth rate
• Out of Stock – Percentage stock out for a product • Active internet users – 624mn
6%
• CLV – Cust Lifetime Value, measures total spend of customer 14% • Annual online shoppers – 190mn (11% of pop)
40%
on the platform • Key Players – Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Myntra
40% • • Growth Drivers- Growing internet users, shift to digital
• payments, hyper local logistics, analytics driven customer
Ecommerce types engagement and advertisements
• E-Retailing: Online sale of products such as clothing, mobile Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers Growth Opportunities –
handsets, electronics and home products. Buying food and • Tier 2&3 consists 90% YoY incremental growth
movie tickets also belongs to this. • Production/Factory cost • Seller commissions
• Apparels growth leading – serviced to 97% pin codes. 40-
• Online Travel: Customers buy tickets, book hotels and • Warehousing/Inventory costs • Product availability and pricing 50% new u ’ first purchase item.
purchase tour packages online. • Technology platform fees • Private labels strategy • Policy Support – 100% FDI allowed in B2B E-com
• Classifieds: Portals connecting buyers and sellers by providing • Marketing • Customer retention • Global Investment - FB, Google($4.5bn) invested in Jio
classifieds can advertise their products • Future Trends – Omni- channel presence, inclusion of
• Shipping and Returns
• Digital Media: Paid music, videos and games download regional language in interface, mass customization
• Financial: Mobile Wallets, Online sale of insurance, loans and • Covid impact – Consumer behavior shift due to lockdowns,
mutual funds grocery and pharmacy gain momentum
162
Class of 2023
Electronics manufacturing Industry Industry Primers
Product development RM& components Manufacture & assemble Distribution & retail Reverse logistics
• Research • RM: Metal, silicon, • Warehousing • Retailers • Reverse logistics
• Product design polycarbonates, glass • Refining and smelting • Wholesalers • E-waste collection
• Conceptualization • Active (e.g., batteries, diodes) • Assembly of components • Distribution planning and • Processing
• Software development and passive (e.g., transformer) • Mass production forecasting • Recycling
• Product engineering components
Types of players Segments Key Market Trends

Current market trends
• OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) - design products • Consumer electronics & home appliances (TVs, video gaming • Electronics manufacturing is one of the fastest growing
based on the buyer’s specification and own the rights; systems, mobile phones) industries globally. India is on its way to becoming a hub
outsource manufacturing • Industrial electronics (industrial robots, automation and control with 3% market share
• ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) - designs and systems, electronic testing)
• Heavy stimulus by the Indian government to endorse ease
manufactures products on their own • Networking and Communications equipment (Routers, LANS, of doing business.
• EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) - design, assemble, Wans, switchboards)
• Potential challenges include recovery from the economic
produce, and test electronic components for original equipment • Medical devices (X-ray machines, ultrasound devices) •
contraction during the pandemic, rise in e-waste and
manufacturers (OEMs) Computer/ office equipment (servers, mainframes)
disruptive innovations
Porters 5 forces • Policy- Production Linked Incentive Schemes for
Cost Drivers • manufacturing ACC Battery ( 50 GWh ) in 5 years
• Bargaining power of suppliers (Low): Low product Revenue Drivers
Covid Impact
differentiation, low switching costs • Materials (Electronic • New product development • Underutilized plants, unavailability of labour has impacted
• Bargaining power of buyers (High): High availability of components) • Technology licensing the core manufacturing of electronics in India
information for comparison
• Manufacturing facility • After-sales service • Temporary closure of technology-oriented firms in the US
• Competitive rivalry (High): Small points of differentiation and
• Labor • Outsourcing and Europe disrupted production due to the high
innovation increases rivalry
• Rent, Utilities, Insurance dependence on foreign R&D
• Threat of new entrants (High): Capital intensive and presence
• Sharp increase in raw material prices due to the disruption
of economies of scale. • Quality control
in global transportation and logistics
• Threat of substitutes (Medium): Frequent innovations pose a
threat
163
Class of 2023
FMCG Industry Industry Primers
R&D Procurement Manufacturing Distribution Sales/Marketing

• New Products • Sourcing raw material • Production • Distribution centres and • Branding
• Improvements in existing • Quality test and release • Packaging warehouses • Advertising
products • Storage • Quality/grammage testing • Distribution channel – • Promotion
• Storage distributor, retailer, e- • Complaints and
commerce feedback
Industry Metrics Sector Composition Key Market Trends

• Industry Size: $110B (2022); To grow at 13-18% CAGR to • Emerging Trends:
$220B (2025) – Supply chain digitisation
Household and – Boom in E-commerce, extending to rural India
– Net Profit Margins: 15-18% 19% Personal Care
– Prominent Players: HUL, P&G, ITC, Dabur, Marico – Emergence of D2C Brands (MamaEarth, Bombay Shaving Co)
– Industry Characteristic: Fragmented Healthcare – Greater technology intervention for customer interaction
50%
31% • Government Policy Change:
Porter’s Five Forces Food and – PLI Scheme
Beverage
• Bargaining power of suppliers (Low) – Small and fragmented – 100% FDI in cash & carry segment and single-brand retail;
suppliers, low bargaining power 51% in multi-brand retail
• Bargaining power of buyers (High) – High bargaining power
due to large availability of options and low switching costs Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers • Focus: Rural demand (Currently 45%) to grow at faster than Urban
• Threat of new entrants (Low) – Huge investments in • Raw Material and processing • New products
• Products: Preference towards branded products on rise
• establishing national brand and distribution network cost • E-Commerce
• Threat of substitutes (High) – Low product differentiation • Distribution • Rising per-capita incomes • Challenges:
leading to high substitutability • Promotion – Inflation
• Competitive rivalry (High) – High competition from – Multi-Channel
established MNCs and upcoming D2C brands – Understanding customer demand
164
Class of 2023
Food Processing Industry Industry Primers
Raw Materials Warehousing Processing Packaging and Transport Distribution & Retail
• Producers – Farmers, • Cold storage • Cleaning, sorting • Grading • Carry and Forward agent
Breeders, Fishermen • Collection agents • Mixing, grinding • Quality control • Depots and Stockists
• Inputs: Agri produce, fruits and • Cooperatives, FPOs • Pulping, juicing • Packaging • Wholesalers
vegetables, meat and poultry, • Direct sourcing • Pasteurization • Cold storage • Retail stores and ecommerce
marine, milk • Logistics • Dehydration, powdering • Food and Dairy corporation International export
Industry Challenges Sector Composition Key Market Trends

• Supply chain gaps: Inadequate primary processing, storage and Meat, Fish, Fruits Grain Mill • India is largest milk and buffalo meat producer and second
distribution facilities. largest producer of fruits, vegetables, eggs, goat meat.
Beverages Dairy Products
• Market Size: Gross value addition of FPI in FY21 was USD
• Seasonality: High seasonality in operations leading to low- 288.28B. Agriculture and allied sector contributes 20.2% to
capacity utilizations. the GVA of total economy. 58% organized sector and 42%
5%
Porter’s Five Forces unorganized sector.
25% 40% • Industry Growth: FPI is expected to grow at 10% CAGR to
• Bargaining power of suppliers (Low): Big companies control
pricing, fragmented commodity supplier 11% USD 528.26B by FY27.
• Bargaining power of buyers (High): Low switching cost • Increasing Investment: GOI has continued the umbrella
• Threat of new entrants (Moderate): Investment in PMKSY scheme with an allocation of USD 0.58B till FY26.
distribution network, promotions, advertising Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers 100% FDI allowed under automatic route in FPI. FDI equity
flow in FY22 is USD 710M. Total FDI flow is USD 11B.
• Threat of substitutes (High): Narrow product differentiation, • Production (53%) • Sale of byproducts
price war • Growth Strategies Adopted: Increasing business and
• Processing (12%) • Sale of food and beverage product innovation, low-cost pricing strategy, and joint
• Competitive rivalry (High): Highly fragmented, strong brands
• Distribution (7%) produced ventures and tie ups with private and public players.
at a discount
• Import: India imported USD 21B worth processed food
which was 5.3% of total imports in FY21.
• Export: India exported USD 2.14+ to countries like USA,
UAE, Malaysia, Nepal.
165
Class of 2023
Healthcare Industry Industry Primers
Consulting Diagnostics Admission Treatment Post Treatment

• Patients approach hospitals • Medical history • Emergency section • Equipment • Treatment Charges
and independent clinics as per • Symptom-based screening • OPD, IPD • Quality of doctors • Payment Ease,
awareness and accessibility • Pathological tests to diagnose • Ease of onboarding • Medical supplies insurance claim
diseases • Referral cases • Treatment processing
• Selecting care team • Sharing updates • Follow-on check ups

• ARPOB – Average Revenue Per • Occupancy Ratio - % Bed Hospitals • Shift from communicable to lifestyle diseases: 50%
Occupied Bed utilization spending on in-patient beds for lifestyle diseases has
Pharmaceuticals increased demand for specialized care.
• ALOS – Average Length of Stay Medical Devices • Increasing penetration of health insurance: Gross
Insurance and Diagnostics healthcare insurance premium has been growing at a CAGR
Porter’s Five Forces of 25%.
• Bargaining power of suppliers (High): High bargaining power • Technological Initiatives: Digital Health Knowledge
7%
9%
because quality and timely delivery of supplies is a necessity 13% Resources, Electronic Medical Record, Mobile Healthcare
• Bargaining power of buyers (Low): Bargaining power of 71% • Rising Adoption of AI: Enabling people to talk directly to
customers is low because of nature of service provided lack of doctors, physicians, and expertise for the best treatment
availability of quality options Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers • Emerging Trends: Post pandemic the demand for home
• Threat of new entrants (High): High risk of new entrants healthcare treatment is expected to boom
given the push given by government • Employee Salaries • Rising Tourism – India remains a preferred decision for Medical Value
• Threat of substitutes (Low): Lack of quality inexpensive • Professional fees • Rising FDI Treatment
substitutes in the industry • Prescription drugs • Medical Tourism – Pandemic propelled rapid advancement in technologies
• Competitive rivalry (High): Increasing number of private • Govt policy change: In the recent budget, close to $11.28
players has led to increasing competition billion was allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare
– Indian government is planning to introduce a credit
incentive program worth Rs 500 billion to boost health care
infrastructure
166
Class of 2023
Hospitality Industry Industry Primers
Procurement Training Operations Marketing Distribution

• Food & beverage • Service training for employees • Reservations • Promotional offers • Websites
• Fuel and management • Services and feedback • Advertisements • Online Travel Agents
• Essentials • Membership deals

• E-Visa Facility (Foreign Tourism) • Workcations and hotel workspaces: Due to the pandemic a
large number of companies have provided the flexibility of
• UDAN Scheme (Domestic) Independent/Unbr WFH. Hospitality venues are increasingly being used as
10% anded
• Reduction in GST 10% make-shift offices for workcations.
Branded/Chains • Digitized guest experiences: Apps are increasingly
Porter’s Five Forces becoming important in the way hoteliers manage the
• Rivalry Among Existing Competitors (High): Lots of 70% Start-ups (Oyo services provided. Customer-facing services (such as
competitors across all segments etc) receptionists) are being substituted by e-check ins
• Asset management strategy: Asset light model is becoming
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Low): No over-powered
increasingly prevalent. Hoteliers are now increasingly
monopolistic suppliers in any aspect
Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers separating the management and operation of real estate
• Bargaining Power of Buyers (High): Low switching costs, assets.
consumer wants the cheapest alternatives • Salaries: ~40% • Room Tariffs: ~60%
• Threat of Substitutes (High): Low switching costs and large • Consumables: ~30% • Food and beverages: ~35%
number of alternatives from new age startups like Oyo, • Maintenance: ~10% • Events and Others: ~10%
Airbnb etc.
• Threat of New Entrants (Low): High CAPEX, fixed costs and
need for economies of scale.
167
Class of 2023
Insurance Industry Industry Primers
Sales & Marketing Underwriting Product & Pricing Claims Service

• Channel Mgt. • Underwriting Assessment • Actuarial analysis • Assessments • Customer Relationship
• Lead Generation • Risk Management • Analytics • Fraud Management Management
• Distribution Mgt • Asset Management • Product Development • Claims payout • D2C & Agent Based
• Adjudication

• Lack of organised data makes underwriting difficult which could • New Distribution Channels: Bancassurance (Bank &
lead to improper pricing Insurance Providers partner), NBFCs, and Online Insurance
8% have widened their reach. App based insurance – PhonePe
• Low insurance penetration to tier 2+ cities 9% Life insurance & Paytm
Motor insurance • InsurTech Startups: 110+ startups in India. Global funding
Porter’s Five Forces 7x in last 5 yrs. Emergence of New Customer Segments
• Rivalry Among Existing Competitors (High): with over ~70 Health (Tier 2+, women, SMEs etc.), enhanced customer
75%
players in the industry; Higher exit barriers compared to entry experience, Data & Analytics. Indian unicorns - Acko, Digit
barriers Insurance, PolicyBazaar
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Moderate): Large IT firms • Ease in Regulatory Environment: In Budget 2021,
supporting tech; Limited number of re-insurers Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers Government has increased FDI limits in insurance sector
from 49% to 74%.
• Bargaining Power of Buyers (Moderate): Individuals & SMBs • Claims paid • Premiums collected • IRDAI now allows launching health & most general
have low power. Larges businesses & orgs have some
• Product Development, mkt and • Investment income (interest insurance products without prior approval. Govt & IRDAI in-
• Threat of Substitutes (Low): No real substitutes; Investment- sales support income) discussions to lower capital entry requirement from current
oriented customers have other avenues • Operating and IT support ₹100cr
• Threat of New Entrants (Moderate): Other financial
companies can enter; ed FDI limits; But regulated
industry
168
Class of 2023
Iron & Steel Industry Industry Primers
Raw Material Iron Production Steel Production SCM/Logistics Sales

• Iron ore– haematite • Small component as plant is • Oxygen Furnace: Molten iron • Inbound, outbound • Pricing of all products
• Coal Coke set close to limestone quarry and oxygen • Demand Planning • Sales team efficacy
• Limestone • Rail/roadways used for other • Electric Arc Furnace: Steel • Service & Delivery • Key A/C management
• Scrap materials making from scrap • Warehouse Mgmt. • Customer Service
• Ocean/Rail/Road • Support Tools

• Financing: Highly capital-intensive sector, high cost of financing Construction Capital goods • India is Second Largest producer of crude and finished steel
coupled with cyclical demand preceding to China. Steel Industry contributes 2% to
Automotives and railways Intermediate Products nation’s GDP.
• Logistics: Primary raw material (iron and coal) are bulky in • Market Size: Steel production capacity is 150 MT in FY22.
nature which makes logistics challenging and costly. Expected to reach 300 MT by FY31. Finished steel
Porter’s Five Forces 11% consumption 86.3 MT
12%
• Rivalry Among Existing Competitors (High): Entry of 15% 62% • Growth in Per Capita Steel Consumption: Per capita steel
exporters can further escalate it consumption expected to grow from 74.7 kg to 160 kg by
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers (High): Due to limited iron ore FY30. Rural per capita consumption to increase from 19.6
reserves. Companies opt for backward integration, weakening kg to 38 kg by FY30.
supplier power. Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers • Increasing Investment: Government allocated USD 6.2M to
MoS. 100% FDI allowed through automatic route in steel
• Bargaining Power of Buyers (Low): Low substitutability, only • Cost (45%) • Sale of steel for construction & industry. Indian metallurgical industries attracted FDIs of
few major player. automotive parts
• Power & Fuel costs (10%) USD 16.1B in FY21.
• Threat of Substitutes (High): Growing demand and use of • Salaries & Wages (5%) • Sale of steel for Railway Parts • Innovation: India-Russia MoU to carry out research in steel
aluminum in automotive. • Sale of Semis & Byproducts sector. 26 R&D projects approved by govt with financial
• Threat of New Entrants (Low): High capex, fixed costs assistance of USD 25M.
and need for economies of scale • Import: India imported 4.31MT of finished steel in FY22.
• Export: India Net exporter. Exported 12.22MT to Belgium,
Italy, Turkey, Spain, Hongkong, Vietnam.
169
Class of 2023
IT & ITES Industry Industry Primers
Inbound logistics Operations Outbound logistics Marketing & Sales Service

• Product vision and research • Product development • Decide type of subscription • Online / usage based billing • Billing & subscription
• Selecting development • Data gathered and used as • Customer Onboarding & RM • Customer retention management
platforms & software input for product service • Platform integration • Analytics to measure • Support / Upgradation
engagement • Maintenance
• Warranty

• Other ITEs destinations such as China, Philippines • Global Delivery Model: Indian IT companies such as TCS
are now opening service hubs closer to larger onshore
• Increased local and global competition eCommerce customers in UK and USA to expand their global footprint.
13%
• Rising labour costs • SMAC: Companies are increasingly looking to derive more
BPM
16% 46% value from their IT investments and are now seeing their
Porter’s Five Forces ER&D next big opportunities in digital transformation in the
• Rivalry Among Existing Competitors (High): Differentiation is 24% Social, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud verticals
very minimal, pushing them to compete on costs IT • Cyber Security: Governmental policy to combat cyber
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers (High): Specific suppliers of threats from foreign entities is being structured, with IT
licenses and other public cloud providers hold very high companies playing a large role in collaborations for their
bargaining power. Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers expertise
• Bargaining Power of Buyers (High): Services are now • PE-VC, FDI Investments: This sector continues to be very
increasingly modular, and buyers can assemble a suite of • Cost of Revenue: These are • Volume or the total number of attractive for investors, attracting $70B in FDI over the last
services from different vendors and can switch out too expenses incurred by the person hours worked. 10 years, $12.4B in PE investments in addition to offshore
company in delivering core • Pricing determines the rate at hub development by Google, Microsoft et. al.
• Threat of Substitutes (High): Philippines emerging as viable revenue. An example of this which each hour is charged to
alternative to India for outsourcing. Automation is also are the salaries and travel cost. the client
rendering support services redundant • Selling, General & • Utilization is the ratio of the
• Threat of New Entrants (Low): Projects are quite large Administrative: These are costs total billed hours divided by the
for commoditized services, and learning effects make a over and above the CoR. total billable hours available
considerable difference in service quality and cost across the company
170
Class of 2023
Logistics Industry Industry Primers
Inbound Packaging Transportation Warehousing Delivery

• Goods received at customer • Damage-proof packaging • Multiple Transport • Clustering of packages • Delivery time
service centers / picked up • Material handling & • Modes: Road, Rail, Water, Air, • Allocation for delivery intimation
from customer location movement Pipelines • Last-mile delivery
• Product labelling • Scheduling (IT) • Value-added services
• Feedback

• Volatile fuel prices Road Railway Waterway Air • Industry size: Indian logistics sector is valued at 215 Bn
USD; forecasted to grow at CAGR 10.5% (2019-25)
• Driver shortage • Rank: India’s rank has gone up from 54 in 2014 to 44 in
• Sustainability 3… 2018 in the World Bank’s LP Index (overall logistics
7% performance)
Porter’s Five Forces • Improved connectivity: Sagarmala, Bharatmala, & UDAN
35% 55%
• Rivalry Among Existing Competitors (High): Due to low projects aimed at improving connectivity and reach, greater
differentiation & presence of global players there is intense opportunities
rivalry on price and quality parameters • Warehouse Automation: Market valued at Rs 20,200
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Low): As suppliers are crores; evolution of technologies like AI, IoT, AGV and
abundant and are hence chosen on differentiated prices Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers Blockchain
• Bargaining Power of Buyers (High): As minimum • Emphasis on cold supply chain: Set to grow at CAGR 17-
differentiation and low switching costs due to abundance give • Transportation costs such as • Domestic transportation 18% till 2022, primarily driven by pharma sector
fuel
high bargaining power to buyers • Import and Export • Growth in 3PL & 4PL providers as manufacturing grows: to
• Warehousing and packaging • Value Added Services (same- provide agility, speed and mobility
• Threat of Substitutes (Low): The only substitutes are offered
for transportation, but it has extra costs attached to them • Shrinkage day delivery • Green logistics: Implementation of sustainable practices
• Labor, order processing and due to technological evolution
• Threat of New Entrants (Low): Asset light start-ups are administrative
utilizing latest tech to offer attractive rates and meet
customer needs • Inventory
171
Class of 2023
Media Industry Industry Primers
Procurement Production Product packaging Technical production Distribution

• Procurement of Content • Creation of Written Content • Editorial Tasks • Infrastructure of transmission • Transmission
• Advertising Acquisition • Movie Filmmaking • Dispersion • Printing • Portals
• Film Purchase • Compilation of Content • Management of distribution • Sales
• Placement of Advertisements
Key Performance Indicators Growth drivers Key Market Trends

• Audience engagement • Digital media and OTT platforms New Developments:
• Deployment of 5G technology and the Metaverse's impact on the
• Ad revenue • Metaverse, AR-VR digital landscape.
• Net promoter score • Online gaming • Increase in the number of Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms for
streaming content.
• Customer lifetime value • Government support and initiatives
• Digital advertising platforms drawing revenues away from
Porter’s Five Forces Market segments traditional advertising sectors.
Government Initiatives:
• Bargaining power of suppliers (High): Depends on • Television – 36% • Enhanced Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap from 74% to 100%
backward integration, high for sport and top movie rights in line with the National Film Policy.
• Digital media – 31%
• Bargaining power of buyers (Moderate-High): Moderate for ad • Establishment of Centers of Excellence for Animation, Gaming,
media, high for OTT • Print media – 12% Visual Effects, and Comics.
Significant events:
• Competitive rivalry (Moderate): Many players, similar • Online gaming – 11%
• Formation of a major merger between ZEE and Sony, positioning
offerings, low fixed costs
them as the second-largest entity after Disney.
• Threat of new entrants (Low): Economies of scale and Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers • Consolidation in the cinema industry through mergers involving
high supply costs • Content acquisition • Advertising PVR and INOX.
• Threat of substitutes (High): Piracy, illegal streaming, • Operating costs • Licensing of content (movies, • Acquisition of a 50% stake in Madhouse by WPP in 2018.
in-house marketing, social media shows, etc.) • Competitive bidding for rights, including those for the Indian
• Subscriptions Premier League (IPL) and ICC T20 events.
172
Class of 2023
NBFCs Industry Industry Primers
Marketing Sales Disbursement Collection Regulatory compliance

• Based on type of loan, multi- • Offline branches, mobile apps • Cash/non-cash disbursement • Mostly automated; includes • Report NPAs to RBI
channel marketing is done top channels for loan sales for different types (non-cash collection of interest and • Report other financial
for EMI loan, cash for personal principal amounts performance reports to
loan) regulatory bodies
Key Performance Indicators Distribution by AUM Key Market Trends

• NPAs • Capital adequacy Emerging Patterns:
• Non-Deposit – 15%
• Utilization of AI-driven predictive financing - leveraging both
• Liquidity • Governance/compliance • Deposit – 2% internal and external customer data to offer valuable financial
• Net interest margin • ROE • Systematically important – 83% solutions.
• Voice and vernacular digital innovations - enabling businesses to
• Earning asset yield effectively engage with previously underserved segments of the
population.
Porter’s Five Forces Growth Drivers Challenges • Implementation of alternative credit scoring - a necessity to
• Bargaining power of suppliers (High): Investors have • Internet penetration • Rising cost of funds address the financial needs of those without traditional banking
various options to invest funds elsewhere • Increased digitization access.
• No option to refinance
• Bargaining power of buyers (High): Easy to switch from one • Embedded financing • Adherence to regulatory
Government Policy Transformation:
provider to another; not very differentiated offerings compliance
• Implementation of Scale Based Regulation - Establishment of a
• Competitive rivalry (High): Many players, similar offerings regulatory framework with four tiers based on NBFC size,
• Threat of new entrants (Moderate): Easier to get NBFC operations, and perceived risk (2021).
Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers
license compared to bank license
• Funds cost • Interest on loans Strategic Focus:
• Threat of substitutes (Moderate): Private lenders and
• Branch operations costs • Processing and other fees and • NBFCs now contribute to approximately 25% of the credit volume
private/public banks are other alternatives
charges handled by banks, achieved by targeting sectors where banks
• Digital/tech infrastructure cost
exhibited inefficiencies.
173
Class of 2023
Oil, Gas & Energy Industry Industry Primers
Extraction Production Transportation Storage Refining and marketing

• Surveys to assess potential • Sanctioning of the project • Crude is transported by • Ground tanks used for crude • Transform crude into
• Identification of suitable site • Infrastructure creation tankers, pipelines, trucks and and finished oil products petroleum products
• Field Development Planning • Strike Oil rail roads. • Underground spaces • 3 Stages – separation,
• Extract and split oil, water and • Natural Gas is shifted by (reservoirs) used for natural conversion & treatment
gas pipelines and LPG tankers gas • Marketed: B2C & B2B
channels
Key Performance Indicators Growth drivers Key Market Trends
• Exploration and production output • Overall economic growth • Growing Demand: India is the world’s third largest energy
consumer. Diesel demand is expected to double by 2029- 30.
• Lease operating expenditure • Rapid technological advancements Refining capacity is also expected to double by 2030.
• Capital Project efficiency • Increased exploration of unconventional gas resources • Rapid Expansion: GOI plans to invest ~ INR 7.5 Trillion in oil and
• Increased usage of petrochemical products gas infrastructure in next 5 years. ~ USD 25 Billion investment is
expected in exploration and production by 2022
Porter’s Five Forces Market segments • Policy Support: GOI has allocated funds worth INR 12480 Cr
• Bargaining power of suppliers (Medium): Despite few • Transportation (Major segment; Consumes ~55-60%) for direct benefit transfer of LPG. OALP has provided
players, there are certain delays by govt in payments opportunities to increase investments.
• Industrial uses (Heating, Chemicals, plastics, Fertilizers are
• Bargaining power of buyers (Low): Customers are price few of the major industries; consumes ~30-35% ) • Supportive FDI guidelines: 100% Foreign Direct Investment is
takers. Accept the prevalent prices. allowed in upstream and private sector refining projects. FDI
• Residential and other usage (Consumes ~5-10%) limit for public sector refining projects has been raised to
• Competitive rivalry (Low): One – two players operate in
each of upstream, downstream segments. 49% without any dilution/ disinvestment of equity in the
existing PSUs
• Threat of new entrants (Low): Capital intensive and Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers
presence of economies of scale. • Natural Gas Boom: There have been significant gas hydrates
• RM consumed • Crude Oil: ~75% discoveries in the KG Basin. Feasible extraction may lead to a
• Threat of substitutes (Low): Renewable energy sources are • Transportation costs • Natural Gas: ~20% boom in natural gas production
yet to gain more traction. • Employee expense • Others: ~5%
174
Class of 2023
Pharmaceutical Industry Industry Primers
Research & Development Testing & Approval Mfg./Formulation Logistics Marketing & Sales
• Collaborative research • Testing on animals • Batch production • Storage, transportation • Promotion through
• Drug Discovery and • Pre-clinical, clinical trials • Process inspection & quality • Wholesalers and distributors medical
formulation • Focus group testing assurance • Pharmacies, hospitals representatives
• Formula adjustment • Approval and patents • Packaging • Online platforms • Free samples:
• Drug and facility compliance • Waste Management physicians
• Doctor referrals
Key Performance Indicators Opportunities Key Market
• Trends
Medical conferences
• Return on Research Capital Ratio: R&D is the major cost for all • Technology plays a critical role in enhancing the outreach of • Industry Growth: Projected to reach $65B in 2024 and potentially
pharma companies and not all drug trials result in success medical facilities (e.g., telemedicine) $120-130B by 2030, with a 22.4% CAGR.
• Profitability Ratio: Operating & net margin determine • Increasing Insurance coverage • Pharma Production: Ranks 3rd globally by volume, 14th by value,
investment into future research projects and also account for backed by 3,000 companies and 10,500 units.
the high marketing expenditures in the competitive • Advanced Analytics across the value chain
pharmaceutical industry • Strategic M&As to enhance company portfolio • Exports: Rose to $24.44B in FY 21 from $20.7B in FY 20.
• Liquidity and Debt Coverage Ratio: R&D expenditures are • Improving operational efficiency to enhance bottom-line • Healthcare: Hit $372B in 2022.
mostly financed by debt. Hence, monitoring these ratios will
• R&D: Indian firms allocate ~8% of turnover, with Rs 2663 Crores
help analyze the health of the company Industry challenges for research in FY 22.
Porter’s Five Forces • Generic segment growth plateauing in the US due to competition. • Manufacturing Advantage: 33% lower costs yield high-quality,
• Threat of New Entrants (Low): high barriers to entry, high R&D • Heavily imports bulk drugs (~25% of Indian market). cost-effective medicines; supplies 40% of US generic demand, 25%
costs, govt regulations and distribution network need of UK medicines.
• Pharma sector requires consolidation to boost funding and
• Bargaining power of buyers (Low-Moderate) enhance research scale.
• Internal Competition (High): large no of drugs going off-patent Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers
• Substitutes (Low): Ayurveda, homeopathy • R&D: ~30% • Drug sales: ~70%
• Distribution: ~30% • Licensing of patents: ~20%
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Moderate): difficulty in
procuring raw materials like APIs • Promotion/marketing: ~40% • Insurance premiums: ~10%
175
Class of 2023
Real Estate Industry Industry Primers
Land acquisition Design construction Sales & Marketing Asset management Property lease/resale
• Land movement from supply • This step involves plan design • Involves selling of property • Assets are transferred from • Moves assets from service
of land to acquisition to sale for construction and building assets from sub-developers to sub-developers into the providers to customers in the
from owner to master infrastructure final customers primary market for customer secondary market
developer availability
Key Performance Indicators Market segments Key Market Trends

• Sales volume • Average commission per Industry magnitude:
• Residential housing – 56% • Warehousing – 6%
deal • The real estate sector in India is projected to attain a value of US$
• Cost of asset acquisition • Commercial – 22% • Hotels – 4% 650 billion, constituting around 13% of the country's GDP by the
• Lead conversion rate year 2025.
• Time to market • Retail – 12%
• Cost per square foot
• Average days on market Government Initiatives:
• Noteworthy governmental measures encompass the RBI's interest
Porter’s Five Forces Growth Drivers Challenges rate policy conducive to low home loan rates, the establishment of
• Bargaining power of suppliers (High): Large firms have • Growing infrastructure • Rising costs of land Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs), and the
high influence on sector, consumers as well as banks • Urbanization • Uncertain regulatory endorsement of 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for
environment township and settlement development projects.
• Bargaining power of buyers (High): High availability of local • Increasing office space demand
options • Quick availability of finance Other key trends:
• Competitive rivalry (High): Many players, unequal influence • Metros fueling commercial space demand due to service sector
on policies and concessions expansion, Tier II city office needs, and MNC requirements.
Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers • Retail sector poised for robust growth, driven by consumerism,
• Threat of new entrants (Low): High land acquisition and
building costs; brand value of existing players • Land acquisition costs • Property sale profits MNC entry, and 25-30% annual rise in organized retail.
• Property maintenance costs • Rental income • Niche segments like flex spaces, healthcare, senior housing, small
• Threat of substitutes (Low): Government provided
offices, and service apartments offer lucrative prospects.
housing • Legal costs • AMC
176
Class of 2023
Retail Industry Industry Primers
Inbound Logistics Operations Outbound Logistics Marketing & Sales Service

• Sourcing (demand forecast, • Transforming inputs into the • Order processing • Communication • Delivery
vendor ops) final products • Inventory management • Discounts • Installation
• Network optimization • Allotment and • Warehousing • Pricing and promotions • After-sales
• Material handling • scheduling to stores • Distribution • Store operations
• Warehousing • Transportation • Salesforce management
Key Performance Indicators Revenue and cost drivers Key Market Trends
Market Size:
• Sales per square foot • Conversion rate Cost
• India's retail sector was estimated at USD 883 bn in 2020
• Gross margins return on • Foot traffic and digital traffic and is projected to reach ~USD 1.5 tnby 2030. It
investment (GMROI) Fixed Variable contributed ~40% to India’s consumption and close to 10%
• Inventory turnover of India’s GDP as of early 2020.
• Average transaction value
• Shrinkage (loss of inventory) Direct
• Customer retention Rent Advertising Depreciation material Market Trends:
• Robust Demand –The retail industry achieved 96% of pre-
COVID sales in Sept’21 with consumer durables and QSR
Industry segments Direct labour
increasing by 15% and 18% respectively.
1% • Increasing investments –Cumulative FDI inflows in the retail
6%
Apparel & Footwear sector stood at USD 3.61 bn between April 2000 and June
8%
28% Consumer Durables & IT Revenue Growth 2021. India’s retail sector attracted USD 6.2 bn from various
Sales Margin Rising income level PE and VC funds in 2020.
11% Jewelry & Accessories • Policy –100% FDI is now allowed in single-brand retail
Health & Entertainment Digital innovations trading and 51% in multi-brand retailing
Advertising & marketing
Home Décor & Furnishings
Beauty & Personal Care Loyalty & rewards Increasing foreign Covid Impact:
20% • Covid-related disruptions have dealt a major blow to the
programmes participation & investments
26% Others
retail sector which is estimated to have lost more than USD
1 bn (INR 75 bn) of sales due to the lockdown.
177
Class of 2023
Telecom Industry Industry Primers
Tower infrastructure Network equipment Technology provider Network operators Consumers

• Forms framework of telecom • Manufactures hardware, • Software Technology (4G, 5G) • LTE Services to end • Recharge Plans
operations routers, modem, fiber optical • Sterlite Technology, customers • Customer Care Centre
• GIL Infrastructure, Indus • Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens Mahindra, Qualcomm • Other services such as voice,
Towers messaging and internet.
Product/service
Consumer journey Pre-sales Support Purchase Support Delivery and Activation Account Management
Offering Design
Key Performance Indicators Cost Drivers Revenue Drivers Key Market Trends
• Call Completion Ratio • Spectrum costs • Internet and voice services • Growth in Rural Demand: Tele-density of rural subscribers
• Average Revenue per User • Network infrastructure and • Cross provider calls reached 59.33% in September 2021, from 58.96% in September
equipment • Affiliations (data 2020
• Average Call Duration • Operating costs monetization, device tech.) • State Investment: In 2021-22, the Department of
• Idle Time on Network Telecommunications has been allocated $ 8Bn and the union
Growth Drivers Major ISPs (market share) budget allocated US$ 1.9 for telecom infrastructure
• Tele-density
• Growing mobile penetration • Reliance Jio – 36.98% • Government Initiatives: 100% FDI, satellite based Narrow band
• Churn
• Increasing rural penetration IoT, and the Phased Manufacturing Programme
• Bharti Airtel – 29.82%
• Network Operating Cost and internet access • Vodafone Idea – 23.15% • Development opportunities: India's 5G subscriptions to have 350
• Subscriber Acquisition Cost • Relaxed FDI norms million by 2026. accounting for 27% of all mobile subscriptions
• Reduced license fee
178
Class of 2023
Guestimates
Cheat sheet | Approach | Practice Questions
179
Class of 2023 Approach Cheat Sheet Examples Practice Questions
What are Guesstimates?
• Process to estimate a number using a rational and structured approach

• Several ways to solve – the process/rationale for solution is more important than the number itself
Key Evaluation Parameters
Critical Important Others
• Structured Thought Process • Articulation of Assumptions (general • Sanity/Hygiene Checks

• Logic and Rationale observations, industry knowledge) • Basic Understanding and Common
• Comfort with Basic Math and Numbers • Presence of Mind Sense
(BODMAS, Ratios, %ages) • Asking for Help
• Communication Skills
180
Types of Guesstimates
General Estimates Data Driven
• Top Down/Start Big: Use main equation as the starting point • Set of data is provided
and split it into sub-parts • Understand and absorb all data before attempting a solution
• Bottom Up/Start Small: Use a segment or unit to extrapolate the • Do not make assumptions in case data is missing
whole (commonly used when there are constraints on the number to • Take hints for segmentation from the given data
be estimated) • Examples: Amazon ACE quiz, McKinsey PST questions
• Example: Estimate the # of white cars in Delhi
Market Sizing Abstract Estimations
• Estimate the $-value or unit volume of the market • Do not follow a particular structure
• Estimate price and quantity to get final market size • Not frequently asked but good to practice
• Can use top down and bottom up approaches simultaneously • Frame equation(s) to solve
• Example: Estimate size of pet insurance market as: # of Pets * • Break the problem into smaller pieces and solve accordingly
Insurance Penetration * Average Premiums • Example: Grains of grass on a cricket field
Class of 2023
181
Approach Cheat Sheet Examples Practice Questions
Stepwise Approach to Solve Guesstimates
Construct & Deconstruct the

Define the problem State Assumptions & Solve
Problem
1. Define the problem as granularly as 4. Express problem as an equation or set 8. Clearly state assumptions & proxy
possible of equations information to be used
2. Confirm understanding with the 5. Construct the problem from a larger 9. Use logical justification to substantiate
interviewer point of view all assumptions / proxies
3. Make modifications, if required 6. Deconstruct the problem into specific 10. Plug information into the main
sub-components equation and solve
7. Make minor corrections / adjustments
towards the end of the process
Example: How many people have you interacted with in the last year?
Assumptions: Number of interactions in last year = Number Based on sub categories defined; estimate the
• Year under consideration: July’22 – of interactions pre-ISB + Number of numbers for each sub categories and plug-in
Jun’23 interactions post-ISB
• Assuming interactions to be number of
Eg: Deconstructing pre ISB people into personal
unique people that you have interacted
interactions (further divided into family and
with
friends), professional interactions (team colleagues,
• Interactions are limited to verbal form off sites, work friends etc.), miscellaneous like
(both face to face and online house help etc.
182
Common Filters to Know
Population Split by Gender Split by Income
Urban/Rural Divide Split by Marital Status Split by Age
Average Household Size Internet Penetration Smartphone Penetration
Life Expectancy
183
Guesstimates Cheat Sheet
Mobile >1bn cellphone users
1.3bn people 60% Penetration >220mn smartphone users
= 1300 000 000 70%

80% Income Spread
= 130 crore Literacy Rate
Higher Income
Age Spread Middle Income

Assume uniform distribution with 0 – 65 year
average lifespan Lower Income
50+ years
= 1 300 000 000/65 Below Poverty Line
= 20mn people per “year” 25 - 50 years
15 - 25 years
Number of people in 25-42 age bracket? 0 - 15 years People who spend less than Rs. 27.2 in
rural & Rs. 33.3 in urban areas/day
Employment
= (25-42+1)*20mn by sector
10% 20% 30%
DELHI Area: 1,600 km2

40 km
29%
Gender Spread Geography Spread
Population: >25 mn 50%
40 km Urban
49% 30% 21%
202,000 ATMs
800 – 1,000 flights/day
from IGI Airport 51% Rural 70% 8000 – 10 000 notes X Rs 2000
Agriculture
Manufacturing
=≈ max Rs. 160-200 lakh
Services
184
Guesstimate 1 (1/2)
Q: Estimate the Number of messages exchanged between ISB students in a day

• Preliminary Questions?
Q: Which qualifies for “messages” – WhatsApp, Telegram, Handwritten Notes, etc.?

A: Let’s restrict to WhatsApp and Telegram
185
Guesstimate 1 (2/2): Number of messages exchanged between ISB students in a day
Number of messages sent/day: Number of Users x Number of Messages/Hour x Active Hours, across user segments
• Both campuses are considered
• Population: ~900 students
Initial Assumptions • Message means one message where the user presses the send button or hits enter regardless of the length
of the message; sent both on a group or in one-to-one setup
• Platforms covered: Telegram and WhatsApp with 100% penetration
• Types of users: Heavy (10%), Medium (80%) and Low (10%)
• Number of messages/hour by user type (assumptions basis general observation):
o Heavy: 60 (average of 1 message/minute)
Approach o Medium: 20 (average of 1 message/3 minutes)
o Low: 10 (average of 1 message/6 minutes)
• Students are active for 12 hours/day
Formula to estimate number of messages sent/day by a user type: Number of users x Number of messages/hour x 12 hours
• Total number of messages/day by user type:
o Heavy: (10%*900) x 60 x 12 = 64,800
Calcs and Answer o Medium: (80%*900) x 20 x 12 =
1,72,800
• o number of
Total Low: (10%*900)
messages: x 10 x=12~2,50,000
2,48,400 = 10,800
186
Guesstimate Practice Problems
Problem Statement 1:
Identify the number of people wearing a white shirt in Delhi on any particular day
Identify the number of beers sold in Goa in one day
How many people have you interacted with in the last year
187
#1 Identify the number of people wearing a white shirt in Delhi on any particular day
Assumptions People wearing WS =
#People in Delhi X (% of people wearing shirts) X (% of people wearing white shirts)
• Population of Delhi = 30 M; assuming only Delhiites
• It is 2 PM of a working weekday; thus, all institutions are open Total number of people wearing white
(for e.g., schools, colleges, offices, etc.) shirts in Delhi on any particular day = 3.12
• It is a summer season; thus, one person is wearing one t-shirt in a Population of Delhi (30 M) M
day
0-5 (Toddlers) 5-18 (School) 18-21 (College) 20-59 (Working) 60+ (Retired)
(10% = 3 M) (20% = 6 M) (25% = 7.5 M) (35% = 10.5 M) (10% = 3 M)
(Assuming capital will have high
school-going proportion) Professional
Assuming very Unemployed Female Male
courses such Other Employed
low % of 90% go to 10% do not go (30% (50% = 1.5 M) (50% = 1.5 M)
as Law, courses do (70% = 7.35 M)
toddlers wear school to school = 3.15 M)
shirts. Mostly = 5.4 M = 600 K Hospitality not require
Working Retired
wear diapers, Management, uniform Male Female Given personal (20% = 300
(95% = (80% = 1.2
t-shirts. So, 0% etc. require (70% = (30% = Rarely wear a experience of K)
Rarely wear a M)
wear WS School uniform 7.125 M) 5.145 M) 2.205 M) shirt; assume noticing
shirt; assume
uniforms are (5% = 375 K) 0% wear WS grand-mothers
0% wear WS Dressing 0K
generally Dressing assuming very Assuming all
0K Assuming options: Shirts
white, blue, options: less % wear of them
0K uniform to be Assuming and T-Shirts; Dresses, 0K
beige, WS wear shirts
WS very less % 50% wearing Blouses,
others. with White,
will wear shirts = 2.57 M Formal T-
So, assuming Blue, Black,
shirt; Shirts, Shirts;
25% wear 375 K 0K Grey &
assuming White, Blue,
white 25% wearing Others. So,
10% will Black, Grey &
shirts 20% = 60 K
wear a WS Other Colors;
= 551 K
20% WS = 514
1.35 M
K White, Blue,
712 K Black, Grey &
Other Colours;
20% WS = 110
K
188
#2 Identify the number of beers sold in Goa in one day
Assumptions Beers sold = Adult population in Goa X (% of people who

Total number of beers sold in
• Goan Locals = 1.5 M drink alcohol in a day) X (% of people who drink beer in a
Goa in one day = 530.2 K
• It is a weekend during peak tourist season
Adult population in day) X Average quantity of beer consumed per person
Goa
• Focusing only on legal sales of the beer
Goan Locals (1.5 **Travel mode by tourists: Air (50%) and Non-air
Tourists**
M) such as road, rail, water (50%)
(105 K)
(Since Goa is a tourist destination,
=> ½ x total tourist = tourists travelling by air
assuming only 5% business travellers)
0-18 (Kids) 18-30 (Young 30-60 (Old 60+ (Retired) => Total tourist = 2 x tourists travelling by air
(30% Working Class) Working Class) (10%
= 0.45 M) (20% = 0.3 M) (40% = 0.6 M) = 0.15 M) Business Leisure (95% = Calculating # of tourists travelling by air:
(5% = 5.25 K) 99.75 K)
Below legal 60% consume 60% consume 20% consume # of flights:
age alcohol = 180 K alcohol = 360 K alcohol = 30 K 40% family tourists = 60% bachelor Assume 1 flight arrives in Goa / 2 hours
Assuming
40K tourists = 60K => 12 flights arrive at a gate in a day
Assuming 40% 70% consume
Assuming 20% Assuming 20% (assume average (since top bachelor Assume airport has 20 gates => 10 for arrival
0K prefer beer (out alcohol = 3.7 K
prefer beer (out prefer beer (out family size of 4) destination => 12 x 10 = 120 flights arrive per day
of beer, gin,
of beer, gin, of beer, gin, Assuming 30% 90% adults = 54 K
vodka, whisky, 50% family Flight capacity and tourists flying in:
vodka, whisky, vodka, whisky, prefer beer = (other 10% - school
others alcohol Members adult = 20 K
others alcohol others alcohol 1.1 K kids/trips) 30 rows & 6 seats per row = 180 seats/flight
options) and
options) options) Assume 90% occupancy = 180 x 90% = 162
beer is pocket- Assume 90% on flight are tourists (since peak
= 72 K =6K ~2 pints
friendly = 72 K 50% consume alcohol 80% consume alcohol
consumed in a season)= 162 x 90% = ~145 tourists
= 10 K = 43 K # tourists flying in per day x # of flights arriving
~4 pints day
~2 pints ~2 pints per day = 145 x 120 = 17.4K tourists/day
consumed in a 30% prefer beer 30% prefer beer
consumed in a consumed in a 2.2 K
day (2 per meal =3K = 13 K
day day Total # of tourists:
excl. breakfast)
Total tourists = 2 x tourists flying in = 17.4K x 2 =
~2 pints consumed in ~6 pints consumed in 34.8 K
288 K 144 K 12 K a day a day (B/L/D)
Assume average trip duration 3 days => tourists
6K 78 K in Goa on a given day = 34.8K x 3 = ~105 K
189
#3 How many people have you interacted with in the last year?
Number of interactions in last year = Number of interactions pre-ISB + Number of interactions post-ISB
Assumptions
Sanity Check: Total interactions in last year/365 = 785/365 = ~2 interactions per day
• Year under consideration: July’22 – Jun’23
• Assuming interactions to be number of unique people that you have Total number of people you have
interacted with interacted with in the last year = 785
Interactions in last year
• Interactions are limited to verbal form (both face to face and online)
Pre-ISB Interactions (Jul’22 – Mar’23: 9 months) At-ISB Interactions (Apr’23 – Jun’23: 3 months)
Professional Personal Miscellaneous Staff Alums Academic Faculty Students
Team Members Family Members Fixed Interactions O-week interactions

Within section ~ 70
Maid/Cook, Laundry, Newspaper, - Sarovar ~ 4 with alums across
Assuming 4- Assuming 4- (Interacted with almost
4 5 - Juju's ~ 3 events; on avg. = 10 Total subjects till term
member team member 4 Security Guard, Grocery everyone in class at
- Laundry ~ 2 3 (incl. LEAD)
household size = 15 least once)
Support functions Dynamic Online Interactions - Housekeeping ~ 2 Interaction with alums in
- Guards ~ 2 Avg. # of people
Friends Food (E.g., Zomato, etc) club/CAS sessions; on
72 - SEAL/CAS/IT ~ 2 interacted with (Prof. +
IT, HR, Finance, assuming 2 deliveries/week avg. = 4 With other sections:
5 AA) = 2
Legal, Others Total # of interactions
Grocery (E.g., Big basket, etc)
School and 36 = 15 x 2 - During O-week
assuming 1 delivery/week 14
college close- 15 - Quaddies
Offsites Other orders (E.g., Amazon, etc)
friends’ 18 - Section Wars
Smaller groups groups; 10 assuming 1 delivery in 2 weeks - Club Events
due to covid 50 Assuming 4-5
Commute* 216 30 Assume ~50%
protocols friends per
group students interacted
Cross Department Other Interactions with = ½ x 210
Interactions *Commute includes going to office, going out on weekends, etc.
Assuming events, ISB Mixers 25 Assuming you went out for 20 days in a month X 2 (to-and-fro commute)
15 ⇒ Commuted 40 times in a month 175
trainings, etc
Alums/Career Counsellors 3 Assuming cabs used (20% time) Assuming other transport (80% time)
Colleagues 🡪 8 cabs per month 🡪 32 times per month
Random Leisure Trips 10 🡪 Assuming new driver per
interactions, 3 cab, so 8 new interactions • Interacted with others (e.g., car pool): (50% time) 🡪 16
coffee, etc Going out (E.g., Restaurants, Staff, new interactions per month
72
Parking, etc) assuming 2 times/week
Work friends • Did not interact with others (e.g., metro, busses, etc.):
(50% time) 🡪 16 times per month
Confidantes 3
190

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ISB Consulting

Consulting Club, ISB

From President's Desk

Consulting Club, ISB

Consulting Club Core Team,

Consulting Club, ISB

Expert Advice Problem Solving Value Creation

Consultants offer specialized Consultants analyze complex Consulting optimizes processes,

Strategy Operations Human Resources Financial Advisory Technology

Corporate Strategy Process Management Organisational Change Corporate Finance IT Advisory

Type of Consulting Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy

Type of Consulting Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Advisory

Particulars ZS Associates Diamond Dalberg Seimens FTI Consulting

Type of Consulting Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Advisory

Policy advisory &

Particulars Deloitte KPMG EY PWC Infosys

Type of Consulting Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy

Business Dev Exe,

Exposure to a wide range Helps in developing skills Working with industry

Adapting to quick learning Instant network Opportunities to travel

Consulting interviews test following in a candidate

• Ability to structure information

• Clear Communication and leadership skill.

Term 1-2 Term 3 Term 4 Term 5

Case Group Formation

Case Preparations with groups and buddies

Step 1: The first draft !

Work Experience Show experiences and achievements separately by company/role

Step 2: Revising drafts by focussing on ‘Spikes’ on resume

Education Work experience Extra-curriculars

Spike in academics Spike in work experience Spike in extra-curriculars

Step 3: Quick Tests to check your CV’s effectiveness

Step 4: Prepare the final Draft

Best practices to observe while writing a cover letter -

Customize your cover letter:

Use Specific Examples:

The best way to form & utilize case groups:

In the event a person is not able to form a case group:

Case interview preparation

Collaborate, not compete:

Situation: Set context

Goal • Do you have a final statement?

• What does “success” mean to you?

Management • What is your management philosophy?

Strengths / • Why should we hire you?

• Competitive Strategy Frameworks

• Operations Management / Strategy

• Accounting & Corporate Finance (Valuation etc.)

• Mergers and Acquisitions

Price Volume Product mix

(find bottle neck

Internal External Awareness Preference/likeability Availability

OR take the customer journey approach

Product mix changed Costs (fixed vs. variable)

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Scoping / Look at growth avenues Evaluate an Prioritize

Organic Growth Inorganic Growth

# of Items Revenue per item Related Unrelated

• Avg. price/unit (check sensitivity) • Horizontal Integration • Joint Venture

Existing Markets New Market

Market Penetration Product Development Market Development Diversification

A Cost B Value based C Competitor Based Pricing

Synergies Post-merger integration

Monetary Non-monetary Internal External