GUESSTIMATES AND

CASE INTERVIEWS

SOCRATES
KT SESSION 2
20th July 2017
 Strategy
Consulting

HR Management
Consulting Consulting

Types of
Consulting

Operations IT
Consulting Consulting
FORMAT OF CASE INTERVIEWS
ONE ON ONE FORMAT

No case data is revealed before the interview. Only the

problem is stated

Example: Lets say there is a restaurant with falling

profits. What do you do?

Final Result is not important. Process is more important

How to Solve?

Find the Find ALL Find the

Root Cause root root cause
reason, NOT causes fast and
just the reasons efficient
symptoms
FORMAT OF CASE INTERVIEWS
ONE ON ONE FORMAT Non root cause:
Provide pain killer
medicine to the
Find the patient
Root Cause
reason, NOT
just the Root Cause:
symptoms Run test to find what
is causing the pain

Find ALL root

Breaking down the Mutually Exclusive and
causes
problem in MECE way Collectively Exhaustive
reasons

International Female 1. Cannot overlap

USA
IND 2. All together has to
Students Students
be equal to the
problem
Students Body Students Body
FORMAT OF CASE INTERVIEWS
ONE ON ONE FORMAT

Bad Method: 1. HR Policies

Directly listing 2. Weak Sales
down the reasons 3. Increasing
Competition

Decreasing
Good Method: Break down each
Sales Revenue avenue further in
Listing down the
Increasing Costs
avenues each branch

HOW DO WE CONISTENTLY DO THAT ?

Case interview Frameworks

Profitability Framework Used for profitability

M&A Framework Used for Mergers and Acquisitions
Porters Five Forces Used for Market Entry
4Cs , 4Ps etc For general Cases
FORMAT OF CASE INTERVIEWS
ONE ON ONE FORMAT

Prioritise which small

HYPOTHESIS
Find all root piece or root causes to go
cause FAST deeper into
& EFFICIENT
But How do we priotize?

An Hypothesis is an educated guess of where the root cause might be and therefore
going into branches that are more likely to contain the root-cause

Hypothesis should be based on the information provided in the case

FLOW OF CASE INTERVIEWS

Candidate Driven Interview

Interview Driven Interview
M & A FRAMEWORK
Helps find out if the M&A is a good one or not

STAND ALONE VALUE SYNERGY OTHER FACTORS

Hows the targeted Together is the
Feasibility
company doing whole better than
Regulations
presently the sum of each
Cultural Fit
Whats their values, individual company
Legal Issues etc.
core strengths & If yes, in what
weaknesses process and systems
Strategic Fit Deal Economics Risk Assessment
Basic deal rationale Valuation (Know basic Capability test Has the
Revenue, Technology, DCF) company done M&A before
Cost, response to comp. (Value = PAT / r)
Type of deal Vertical, Synergies Cost and Organizational cultures -
Horizontal, Revenue, New firm Value compatibility
Diversification
New Value > Deal Price Post merger integration (PMI)
MINI FRAMEWORKS
1. Internal and External Analysis
When to Use: When you need instant structure or when you are not sure which
approach to use
Internal External
The company itself
Anything outside of that entity
Individuals
A department
Any Entity

2. Cost and Benefit Analysis All types of quantifiable and non

When to Use: Particularly quantifiable costs
helpful in decision making
The value derived by doing the activity

3. Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis

When to Use: Reasons and evaluations

Example: Find out the standalone value of a firm?

PROFITABILITY FRAMEWORK
Keep Drilling
What is driving the decline ? down till you
find the
solution
Gather Information (Preliminary)

Analyse using profit equation

Revenue Cost

Price Volume Product Mix Fixed Cost Variable Cost Unusual Costs

Product Added Raw Material Write Offs

Portfolio Capacity? Costs? Law Suits
Profitable Items
BCG Matrix
PORTERS VALUE CHAIN
Example: A Banks Profitability is declining. What should you do?
3C AND P FRAMEWORK

CUSTOMER PRODUCT

Who is the customer? Nature of product

- Identify segments (segment size, growth rate, % of total
market)
Commodity good or easily
What does each customer segment want? differentiable goods
- Identify keys needs Identify complimentary goods
What price is each segment willing to pay? Identify substitutes
- Determine price points and price elasticity/sensitivity Determine product's lifecycle (new vs.
- Distribution channel preference for each segment almost obsolete)
Customer concentration and power Packaging

COMPANY COMPETITION

Capabilities and expertise Competitor Concentration* &

Distribution channels used Structure
Cost structure Competitor behaviors
Investment cost Best practices (are they doing things
Intangibles we're not?)
Financial situation Barriers to entry
Organizational structure Supplier concentration
Life-cycle of industry
4C FRAMEWORK
SWOT ANALYSIS
PORTERs 5 FORCE ANALYSIS
4P ANALYSIS
BCG MATRIX
PORTERs VALUE CHAIN
GE Mckinsey Matrix
SUMMARY OF VARIOUS FRAMEWORKS

Profitability
Framework

4C Framework

SWOT Porters 5 Value Chain

4P
Analysis Forces

BCG GE-Mck
Case Our Client is a large Telecom Operator. They have been
recording losses. Find out why?
Guesstimates
Step 2 + Step 3
 Things to remember
Analyze all possible uses of the subject.
For example, while estimating the number of tennis balls in India, one should
consider balls being used in tennis, cricket and all other sports which are potential
users of tennis balls.

Keep population of your country, state and city on finger tips.

As population is the most common proxy for many case studies, such numbers give a
good starting point.

Draw neat diagrams to show the segmentation.

This not only helps do calculations quickly but also makes it easier to redo the
calculations on the segment level if required.
 Things to remember - Proxies
The following numbers can be memorized for your country (here India)
Only ballpark figures are mentioned

GDP = 1.8 trillion USD

Population = 1.2 billion ~ 1 billion
Land Area = 3 million km^2
GDP growth rate = 5%
Average size of a family = 3.6 ~ 4
Number of households = 330 million ~ 300 million
Population growth rate = 1.5 %
Rural: Urban population = 70:30
Population Distribution by Age: India has a young population. It has more than 50% of its
population below the age of 25. 0-15: 30 % 15-25 : 20 % 25-50 : 30 % 50+ : 20%
Population Distribution by Income: Upper Middle Class (>32,000 pm): 10% Middle Class
(16,000-32,000 pm): 30% Lower Middle Class (8000-16,000 pm): 40% Below poverty line
(<8000pm): 20%
Mumbai population = 20 million Kolkata, Delhi population ( Take Approx same for all
metros ) =15 million
Estimate the number of cigarettes
consumed monthly in India
FROM CONSUMERs PERSPECTIVE
Estimate the number of tennis balls
bought in India per month
 Quick Activity

Estimate the number of Whatsapp

downloads from Google Play Store
Case GDs
What are Case GDs?

Case studies are some sort of business problems faced by a person or a

corporation. It could be a real case or a fictitious one specially designed
based on what the moderators want to test

The details mentioned in a case study may include, but are not limited
to:
Information about a company, industry, or project
Problems encountered and Objectives that may need to be
established

The group has to discuss and come up with a solution or some

recommendations to the problem
How to Approach case GDs?
Read the case carefully and make notes; do not read it like a story
Put yourself in the protagonists position and analyse the case
In your analysis and discussion, always be ethical
Even when you are not speaking, listen carefully
Summaries in a case study are more common than in a normal
GD
The Structure of Solving a Case GD
Identify the major players involved in the case

Identify the major players

involved in the case

Identify the
problem

Identify the objective of

the case discussion

Evaluate a solution

Suggest
recommendations
Thank You