Presencia digital

Name Nishant Kedia

Company The Boston Consulting Group

Interviewer Navneet Vasishth, Partner (Director)

Round Round 1 Interview 1

Personal Interview Questions Jumped straight to case after exchanging pleasantries Comments on PI Interview NA

Case Question An IT company has two businesses – one premium (Engineering products) and another commodity (Service). It is facing increasing costs in both the businesses. On the other hand prices of products and services are reducing owing to competition. What should the firm do?

Scope of the case It was a profitability case

Case Analysis I started by understanding more about both businesses – industry wise trends, duration of this trend, any specific organization changes, magnitude of change in prices and costs, break-up of increase in various components, what is the target etc.

Navneet told me that the effect is more prominent in Engineering business wherein we have fallen much below the average industry profitability.

I focused on the Engineering business and understood both revenue and costs parameters. Based on the discussion it became evident that pricing power does not lie with the firm and it cannot differentiate its products much to price them higher.

Moving on to cost part, I laid out all possible costs an IT organization has and discussed each in detail. It is at this part, wherein I got struck as I asked a few irrelevant questions to which interviewer asked me to take time to think. I added a few more cost heads and we had further discussion.

It seemed that the interviewer was checking my ability to think 360 degree on what can possibly raise costs in an organization.

After a few hicupps I was able to point out that manpower costs has increased because of the organizational structure of the company, wherein the organization had become top heavy.

Final Recommendation/ Summary Recommendations included:

- Increase in variable and reduction in fixed component of compensation

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- Change in organizational structure

- Acquisition of other firms with bottom heavy organization structure

- Reshuffling of manpower between businesses (A few more which I am unable to recall)

What went right? I was able to find a way whenever I reached roadblocks. Listening to interviewer and understanding his expectations is a must before commencing any analysis. Whenever, ideas stop to come by, just think from the absolute basics and sub-divide everything into smaller parts. Also, thinking aloud helps interviewer guide you whenever time is scarce and you are going down the wrong path.

What could have been done better? I became blank in the middle of case, hence took a bit more time to solve the case.

Outcome of the interview Not disclosed. Attended the pre-scheduled second interview.

Name Nishant Kedia

Company The Boston Consulting Group

Interviewer Sachin Kotak, Principal

Round Round 1 Interview 2

Personal Interview Questions Tell me about yourself?

Describe very briefly what you have done in ITC What are you most proud of?

Why Consulting?

Comments on PI Interview Sachin is known to be a stress interviewer. He looked

disinterested for most part of the PI. He interrupted a couple of times in between asked me to be concise. Knowing about him well, I maintained my cool and kept replying confidently.

Altogether I was satisfied by my performance.

Case Question A friend of yours wants to enter the car hire market. What would you advise him?

Scope of the case It was basically a market entry case, turned into an open ended case by the interviewer.

Case Analysis Initially I enquired about primary objective of the entry, current business of my friend, why car hire market only? etc. Sachin told me that your friend is a working professional, who just wants to start-up and has made mind to enter the car hire market. So, I didn’t evaluate the attractiveness of the car hire market. From then it was clear that it was a problem relating to the entry strategy: mode of entry and resources required.

I laid out a comprehensive framework:

- Resources required o Financing

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o Technology

o Consumer Knowledge o Manpower

o Infrastructure etc.

- Mode of entry o Own o Franchise o M&A o JV

I also mentioned a matrix to evaluate which of the mode of entry is best suited. Sachin looked quite displeased with my approach as he described it as too mechanical. I further enquired if something important is missing. He asked me to think like an entrepreneur.

I was puzzled as I felt I had covered everything. I mentioned that financing, customer know-how, exit options and a good team are the most important. He nodded and asked me to think more.

I said that a value proposition needs to be decided – luxury cars, comfort, cost effectiveness, etc. That will define the operational strategy – new cars vs refurbished cars, car accessories, customer segments to be targeted etc.

Sachin kept pushing me to think further, which led me to come up with a lot of other considerations (which I don’t remember now).

Final Recommendation/ Summary It was an out and out stress interview, wherein the interviewer will negate most of the things you say and will keep pushing you to think harder. I guess I was prepared for this and did reasonably well.

What went right? Keeping cool under stressful situation and thinking out of the box helps perform well in a stress interview.

What could have been done better? I don’t know yet!

Outcome of the interview Called for Round 2.

Accepted an offer from McKinsey by then, hence didn’t attend the interview.

Name Sarvesh Rathi

Name of company interviewing with The Boston Consulting Group Name and designation of the

interviewer

Bitan Dutta, Project Leader (PL) Interview round (first/second/third) First

Personal interview questions (please Tell me about yourself

126 write the questions only)

Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)

Your first interview will be usually case focused. Having said that, prepare well (rehearse it a few times) for the basic interview questions like tell me about yourself, why a particular firm, why consulting and the like. Not answering these questions

appropriately would most certainly impair the interview.

Case question (as narrated by the interviewer)

A Company manufacturing hand tools have not been able to meet their revenue targets

How did you define the scope of the case

Was not a very open ended question. I discussed with Bitan about the background of the Company and established that the Company entered the market 4 years back and have consistently been missing their revenue targets.

Case Analysis presented by you I started the question by asking questions to understand the company and its product lines. From further discussions I gathered that the market was competitive and fragmented with the top 3 players having close to 40% market share. Our client was the 2^nd largest player in the market. It was also established that the industry was growing and industry growth was in line with our expectations. From here on I started to lay down the structure for the case.

Told him that the inability to match budgets could have been on account of three factors:

 Ambitious budgets

 Internal factors like product / service / distribution / promotion related problems (share of voice * share of mind * share of distribution)

 External factors like macro economic factors / declining industry / substitutes / change in preferences

We quickly ruled out factors like ambitious budgets, product, service and promotion related problems. I figured out that the product offerings were much superior to customer expectations and competitor offerings. I recommended that the Company could explore the option of reducing product quality to industry or slightly better than industry levels because hand tools are a commodity and better than industry quality / brand do not make a difference to the buying decision. The recommendation was in line with blue ocean strategy – to reduce features that the customers don’t value.

We started discussing about distribution related issues. Bitan highlighted that the Company’s offerings were available across all channels and stock outs were not an issue. This left us with the issue of aligning distributor / retailer interests with that of the Company. We ruled out the possibility of profit margins being an issue – profit margins were in line with what

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competitors offered. I felt like I had hit a dead end here. Bitan prodded me in the right direction and asked me to think about what the distributor / retailer looks for while pushing a

Company’s product. I replied revenue potential leading to higher profitability and return on capital employed.

Bitan had given me my hint – while the profit sharing ratios were similar, capital deployment required to stock the Company’s products were higher. Upon further discussion, I discovered that the Company required its distributors to make payments with 2 weeks as against the industry standard of 1 month, thereby doubling capital requirement and reducing ROCE. At this point Bitan smiled, indicating that I had reached a logical conclusion. I recommended that the Company should relax its credit policy.

However this meant higher capital deployment for the Company.

This is where the recommendation about reducing product quality to industry standards / customer expectations came in handy (Please note that it doesn’t always pay to have the best product in the market especially for commodities. Meeting market-standards is sufficient). I pointed out that enhanced profit from higher sales and also from reducing product quality would more than take care of interest costs if any from the additional capital deployment.

Bitan then questioned me about what could be a potential M &

A strategy the Company could pursue. I highlighted that while buying out the biggest company was an attractive option, it would come at a significant premium. In a highly fragmented &

competitive industry, it might be difficult to justify the deal.

Buying the insignificant (smaller) players would bring no capabilities to the Company (the smaller players typically have limited brand presence and brand loyalty is also insignificant.

Hence a viable strategy could be to try and acquire the 3^rd largest player in the market. My background as an investment banker came in handy here.

Final recommendation / summary As stated above What do you think went right while

solving the case?

 Was able to lay down a coherent MECE structure

 I had interviewed with Deustche Bank’s investment banking practice before I attended the BCG interview. That interview went very well and gave me a lot of confidence for all other interviews. I was not a bundle of nerves when I started my interview process with BCG.

What do you think could have been done better while solving the case?

In the hindsight it seems very obvious that a distributor will try to optimize his capital requirements. I should have highlighted this possibility without Bitan having to prod me in that direction.

128 Outcome of the interview (optional) Next interview

Name Sarvesh Rathi

Name of company interviewing with The Boston Consulting Group Name and designation of the

interviewer

Burjor Dadachanji, Principal Interview round (first/second/third) Second

Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

 What other interviews do you have today?

 Tell me something about yourself that I wouldn’t know from your resume

 Why do you want to move from investment banking to consulting, when most people try to move from consulting to investment banking?

Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better)

The interview didn’t really start on a positive note. Burjor has been an investment banker with JP Morgan in his previous life. I told him that I had interviewed with Deustche Bank’s IB team before coming here. He put me on the back foot saying that I would take up DB’s offer and ditch BCG. From here on it was an uphill task to convince him that BCG was indeed my first choice.

The interviewer wanted to be sure that I was serious about BCG and he did push me to ascertain that.

The above questions were not asked one after the other. They were asked during the case discussion, thereby making the personal interview section a stress interview. You will have a stress interview at some point. So watch out and be prepared.

Case question (as narrated by the interviewer)

A serial entrepreneur with excess cash (to the tune of INR 50 crs) wants to invest in the call taxi business. Advise.

How did you define the scope of the case

I asked questions about which city was the entrepreneur targeting, what were his strengths and the investment timeframe. Also does the client want us to advise him about whether he should enter the business or not or also about how he should enter the business.

Burjor clarified that the entrepreneur was looking to invest the entire amount within one year and the client was seeking our advise on both counts. The client was good at obtaining licenses and managing man power intensive businesses.

By now it was clear that it was a market sizing and market entry case.

Case Analysis presented by you I listed down the entire structure of a market sizing and market entry case and started with market sizing.

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I split the market into the following divisions:

1. Within the city trips 2. Trips outside the city

I further sub divided trips within the city as follows:

1. Airport to office / home drop and pick up

2. Railway station to office / home drop and pick up 3. Home to office drop and pick up

4. Other applications

Basis the above classification, we went ahead to size the market (determine the number of cars that the market can profitably accommodate) and decided that the market was attractive enough. We further proceeded to understand the total number of cars available in the market and the supply shortfall that could be fulfilled by the entrepreneur.

We proceeded through the market entry frame work where we spoke about our strengths vis-à-vis competitors, customer decision making factors and attitudes, risks involved (PESTLE) and mode of entry.

However we figured out that though returns were attractive, the supply shortfall (that our client could fulfill) would not consume the entire INR 50 crs the client wanted to invest. This would mean that he would have to identify additional avenues to deploy his cash. Hence we decided that while the call taxi market was attractive, the client should continue to look for other options (in a time bound fashion) and could take up the call taxi option if no other attractive investment opportunity comes up.

Final recommendation / summary As stated above What do you think went right while

solving the case?

Be prepared to answer PI questions / discussions while solving the case. Most importantly, you should be able to go back to the case without forgetting where you left the case conversation. It’s a way to test your capability to manage yourself under stress.

It helped that I had noted most of our case discussion on the white sheets provided to me (in an organized fashion). Hence even when I was interrupted by PI questions, I was easily able to go back to the case facts and pick up from where we left the case conversation.

The interview went on for about 65 minutes (standard

interviews are about 45 minutes). It helped that I didn’t lose my cool when the interviewer told me that he was convinced that I wouldn’t take up an offer from BCG.

What do you think could have been None that I can think of

130 done better while solving the case?

Outcome of the interview (optional) Next round

Name Sarvesh Rathi

Name of company interviewing with Boston Consulting group Name and designation of the

interviewer

Suresh Subudhi, Partner Interview round (first/second/third) Third

Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

Tell me about yourself Comments on the PI rounds (please

elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer)

A cement manufacturer wants to increase channel sales. Advise How did you define the scope of the

case

I didn’t know the meaning of channel sales and I didn’t ask Suresh what it was. This effectively meant that my case analysis was on a complete tangent to the question

Case Analysis presented by you Final recommendation / summary What do you think went right while solving the case?

What do you think could have been done better while solving the case?

Case interviews are more like discussions and the recruiters are looking of problem solving skills. They don’t expect you to know everything. In the hindsight I should have asked Suresh what channel sales meant. IF YOU DON’T KNOW SOMETHING – ASK!

Outcome of the interview (optional) Sent for one more interview

Name Sarvesh Rathi

Name of company interviewing with Boston Consulting group Name and designation of the

interviewer

Navneet Vashisth, Partner Interview round (first/second/third) Fourth

Personal interview questions (please write the questions only)

There was no personal interview. We got started with the case immediately. This was my last round and being administered only a case meant that all I needed to do from now on was to crack the case!

Comments on the PI rounds (please elaborate on what went right and what could have been done better) Case question (as narrated by the interviewer)

An IT major’s profitability is lower than its peers. Advise How did you define the scope of the

case

Upon further discussion, Navneet clarified the following:

1. The Company is engaged in provision of IT services 2. All contracts are time and material based

3. Profitability is lower in percentage terms

4. I was expected to advise on why the profitability was lower and what could be done to set it right

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Case Analysis presented by you Upon further questioning, Navneet indicated that the Company’s profitability was 2% lower than its peers. Profit % could be lower on account of lower billing rates (revenue issues) or on account of higher costs (in percentage terms). Navneet smiled and said that indicated that the Company was billing its clients at industry rates.

So we moved to costs and did a quick comparison of the common size cost statement (individual costs as a % of total revenues) of the Company and its peers. It resulted that the issue lay in employee costs. Upon further discussions, Navneet indicated that salary & employee costs per employee were in line with industry standards. This clearly indicated that the issue lay in employee efficiency (leading to over staffing on projects) or in bench strength or both. Navneet quickly clarified that efficiency standards were on par with industry. This meant the issue lay in bench strength. Navneet smiled and said yes. On further discussion, I figured out that overstaffing issues existed both at the engineers and management level. Navneet asked me to identify the reasons for why they were overstaffed.

It turned out that the Company was overstaffed at the lower levels because the employees on the bench had a set of

specialized skills but the Company was not able to sign contracts which called for those skills. At the management level, the Company promised all its clients greater involvement of the senior management in all projects.

Final recommendation / summary I recommended that the Company should provide training to its employees at the lower levels so as to make them fungible

Final recommendation / summary I recommended that the Company should provide training to its employees at the lower levels so as to make them fungible

In document Programa de Comunicación Corporativa para Centro Educativo Los Tréboles (página 117-122)