ISB Consulting Club Blog shifted to ISB Official Blog

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ISB Consulting Club blog has been shifted to the Official ISB Blog. Henceforth, all posts will be available on the ISB Blog's Consulting Club page.

The Link to the new webpage is ISB Official Blog

Shadow Alum Initiative - McKinsey Delhi Office visit

McKinsey’s Delhi office is located in Sector 32, Plot No. 4 in Gurgaon. The office visit was scheduled for 12:30pm to 3pm on the day of our visit. Ours was a small group of just 4 people (Neha, Piyush, Swati and Vaibhav). We were greeted by Ruchi Kalra and Amit Jain. Below is a list of all the alums whom we met.

Amit Jain (Class of 08, HLL 4 yrs)
Neha Kalra (Class of 08, ITC 3 yrs)
Neha Mittal (Class of 08, Deloitte 2 yrs)
Sambit Sathapathy (Class of 03, ITC 11 yrs)
Vikas Chadha (Class of 07, L&T 6 yrs, Sharp 6 yrs)
Lav Agarwal (Class of 2005, HLL 5 yrs)
Raj Kamal (Class of 03, IAS 8 yrs)
Ruchi Kalra (Class of 07, Evalueserve 2 yrs)
Saket Pradhan (IIMA PGPX, 10 yrs)

I feel that the highlight of the visit was getting to know the work culture more closely instead of the usual projects or the life of a consultant at McKinsey.

Life at McKsiney
Our conversation started around trying to understand the work-life balance at Mckinsey. We spoke at length about different support systems available at McKinsey that help employees cope with their work mixed with travel and their personal lives. We got a first person account of this from Bharati, who is the recruiting coordinator at McKinsey. Since joining McKinsey, she had to quit the firm 3 times for personal reasons and was able to join back again. She also told us how flexible McKinsey was, and that the company was willing to work with her and gave her the option of working part time when she had to quit for personal reasons. Our conversation also revolved around the up-or-out policy that most of us are familiar with. It was pleasantly surprising when our alums told us that they know of no one who had been asked to quit. They admitted that on a day to day basis, work does get stressful, but that there are excellent support systems available to help employees to cope with it and the firm makes all possible efforts to retain its people.

Experiences of Alums
The alums shared some of their experiences with us and their motivation for being a part of McKinsey. A theme that resonated across all of them was the opportunity that McKinsey provides for individual development and personal growth. Each of them related a unique memorable experience at McKinsey. Besides this, Ruchi walked us through the different phases involved in a typical client engagement and answered some of the questions we had. The alums also highlighted McKinsey’s role in ensuring implementation of its recommendations after the consulting phase is over in order to ensure the client’s success.
Office tour
We also had a quick office tour where we got to know about the facilities available to employees. The office does not have cubicles for every employee since most people travel often. It instead has team rooms where different consulting teams work together on their projects. The McKinsey office also houses a Gymnasium and a cafeteria. There is also VA (Visual Aids) group dedicated exclusively to the Delhi office. This group provides support to the consulting teams by helping the teams with their PowerPoint and any other form of communication document that they want to present to the client. We also had a quick chat with a partner who shed some light on the clients served out of the Delhi office. The Delhi office serves clients in various sectors including power, healthcare, retail, infrastructure, real estate, technology, government, public sector, non-profit, media, etc.
Life after McKinsey
Towards the end we also talked about some exit options that consultants have. The alums were very open about discussing this topic. Around 20% of people leaving McKinsey go on to become entrepreneurs. Most others go on to join PE firms or some top management position in the industry, depending on the position from which they leave the firm. Quite a few of them also opt to work in the development sector with NGOs.

Case prep by Group - "Crackers"

Case Prep – Group “Case Crackers (Ankita Gupta, Chandrakanth Chereddi, Manish Lunia, Pragati Lodha and Karthik Chaitanya) has been kind enough to share their insights about case preparation

A. The Problem – Please refer HBS Case Book – Practice Case 9 (Wheeler Dealer) http://atrium:14825/ConsultingClub/Placement%20Prep/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fConsultingClub%2fPlacement%20Prep%2f04%20Casebooks%20of%20Other%20B%2dschools&FolderCTID=&View=%7bBFFFA453%2dEF26%2d4B81%2d8ABC%2d3582A5CEFF76%7dacement%20Prep%2f04%20Casebooks%20of%20Other%20B%2dschools&FolderCTID=&View=%7bBFFFA453%2dEF26%2d4B81%2d8ABC%2d3582A5CEFF76%7d
One approach
1. The first thing to do when you get a case like this is to figure out the kind of structure you need to bring to the problem.

2. We prepared a simple 2x2 without trying to force fit any sort of strategy model. This case is simple and starting with a simple case will help you construct mental models that will help you understand how to break down further complicated cases.

3. You already know that the chain was profitable before the expansion. So the first segregation is temporal. Something has obviously gone wrong with the new sets of stores.
4. The first question to ask could be “are there multiple categories of products sold at the stores?” This will help you build the horizontal axis or the Line of Business segregation.
5. Now you have 4 quadrants to work with and this presents your first structure. Your line of thinking is now immediately channeled into a more productive mode.
6. First set of questions focus on inter-LoB differences. Are quadrants I & III (Services) different from II & IV in terms of their demand model and customer segments served (the revenue drivers), profitability, topline growth etc. etc. You get the drift.
7. The next questions should focus on intra-LoB difference – i.e. between quadrant I and III.
8. The recommended solution in the case book will help you through the questions that could be asked. We felt that drawing a structure like the one above easily stimulates a lot of the questions.
9. Once you understand that quadrants II and IV are traditionally low on margins, you get an indication that the problem probably lies in the quantum of customers from each LoB the new stores are attracting. This will help you question the geographical location since you will get an indication during points 6 and 7 that the customers arriving at the Services LoB are smaller than they should be.

B. The Problem – Please refer Wharton 1996 Case Book –Case 1 (Cable Television) http://atrium:14825/ConsultingClub/Placement%20Prep/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fConsultingClub%2fPlacement%20Prep%2f04%20Casebooks%20of%20Other%20B%2dschools&FolderCTID=&View=%7bBFFFA453%2dEF26%2d4B81%2d8ABC%2d3582A5CEFF76%7d
1. This was also an important case for us from a learning standpoint. We applied a different structure to this

2. Apply a structure that suits you. But force yourself into some sort of structure (not framework). This is what all firms look for.

C. Summary of Kellogg Case Book Tips on Case Preps

USING FRAMEWORKS
1. Usage of Frameworks à Important to help you summarize and synthesize in between and the end of the interview. Should not be relied on completely. Thinking should be flexible since every case is unique.
2. Avoid saying “I’m going to use the 4 Cs framework for this case.” Instead, say.. “In order to understand whether or not the acquisition of Firm B by Firm A is a good idea, I’m going to examine Firms A and B in terms of their competencies and cost structures (Company), get a sense of the existing players in the market (Competitors and Collaborators), and understand who they sell to (Customers).Uncovering this information will help me to determine whether or not enough strategic synergies exist between Firm A and B to justify an acquisition.”
3. Common Frameworks à
a. Porters 5 Forces,
b. 5C,
c. Consonance Analysis – Benefit & Cost Drivers,
d. Profit=Revenue-Cost,
e. Value Chain,
f. 4P,
g. Market Segmentation & SPSG (Size, Profit, Share, Growth),
h. Internal / External,
i. Microeconomics,
j. Cost/Benefit,
k. NPV and Cost of Capital
4. Run through 2-3 frameworks on one case to get a better handle on the frameworks.

ATTACKING THE CASE
1. Cases à Either has very little initial information, meaning it will be vague and open à Lots of information will be given up front à Case given as handout prior to interview itself
2. Listen carefully à Make notes à Summarize problem so that on same page à Will have tons of obscure information, focus on main points à Clarify issues à Take a brief pause (ask interviewer if ok – up to a minute)
3. Once you have clarified and understood à Think of some framework that can be applied (market entry – Porter & Internal/External, profitability – Profit=Rev-Cost etc.) à Don’t obsess over the framework, use it to guide you through to prioritize and ask the right questions
4. Initial information à takes you down certain paths à prioritize the paths using frameworks à ask questions to either accept or deny the paths
5. Formulate the hypothesis or the central problem with the case/firm eg. The firm is selling more low profit, high volume products which has reduced the average profit per SKU
6. Not getting to the right hypothesis at first try is not a disqualification, you can always go back to the central issue and try a new path à However losing track of the available paths could create an issue
7. The question is whether you must form a hypothesis right at the beginning of a case or based on asking some more information à Depends upon the approach interviewing firms take in their real life consulting methodology
8. Articulate in a manner that represents structure thinking à Think aloud and let the interviewer hear your thought process à Also write down your thinking and frameworks à Sketch out your thoughts and let the interviewer see what you are doing, they are graphic thinkers
9. Explain all your calculations to the interviewer à Asking all logical questions will help the interviewer guide you through the interview
10. Rather than saying, “”Could you tell me about the company’s products?”, a better approach is to say:“”I know that product mix can often affect profitability. I’d like to explore this issue with respect to Company A. I’d like to know, for instance, what products the company offers and if this has changed over the last few years”.
11. Keep getting unstuck à Always identify the root problem you are solving in the case and keep homing in back there when you are stuck
12. To that end, if time runs out before you can finish your analysis and can make a recommendation, summarize where you are, what you have learned, where you would go next, and make a preliminary recommendation. For example, “Given that I know X, Y, and Z, I would recommend the firm do [action] at this point. However, I would still want to investigate A, B and C to complete my analysis.” A preliminary recommendation beats no recommendation, and the interviewer may very well ask for one.
13. Reserve a corner of notepad for noting down key findings of the case interview so that it will help you identify summary in case you need to end your case interview quickly

BCG – Demystifying Recruiting and Discussion on Applied Strategic thinking | 13th October 2008

BCG made its third official visit to the campus. It was represented by very senior people from Mumbai office. The following people came down to ISB for the presentation

- Arvind Subramanian – Partner and MD, Mumbai office
- Ashish Iyer – Principal, Mumbai Office
- Rohit Ramesh – Consultant, Mumbai Office
- Yash Erande (Co2006) – Consultant, Mumbai Office

- Ankush Wadhera (Co2008) – Senior Associate, Mumbai Office

The session was structured around two guiding themes:
- Make the recruiting process completely transparent
- Discuss strategic approaches to dealing with business situations

Arvind informed that BCG looks for three basic qualities when they recruit candidates:
1 Analytics and Insight
2 Effectiveness and Impact
3 Communications and presence

When BCG recruits a candidate they look for Partner potential in a recruit. This means that utmost care is taken while recruiting and long term potential of the candidate is meticulously considered. Arvind then went on to define the role of a CV
- It helps in getting shortlisted
o Does the candidate have the required skills?
o How is the candidate different from others?
- Forms a basis for discussion in the interview
o What can the interviewer expect from this person?
o What topics can be discussed to make the interviewee comfortable?
o Are there aspects the candidate needs to be specifically tested on?
A well written CV is one where the candidate has thought through 2 to 3 key issues that he wants to highlight.

CV short-listing process is rigorous and exhaustive
- Independent short-listing by 3-4 senior people
- CVs are put in 3 categories Definitely in, Maybe and Definitely out
- This process consumes several hours of discussion in order to sort out differences of opinion between different evaluators

CVs are evaluated on 6 factors
- Academic performance
- Work experience
- Extra curricular activities
- Co-curricular performance
- Positions held
Finally BCG looks for the “X Factor” or the USP of the candidate. “X factor” refers to attributes of a person that don’t necessarily get captured in the earlier 5 factors but make the CV “sizzle”. E.g. someone taking an year off from his/her life to launch a rock band / become a trainer in mountaineering in the Himalayas. Such actions go well beyond what normally gets captured in the “extra curricular activities” section. In fact, such actions represent a level of drive which needs special recognition.

Some of the dos and don’ts while making the CV
Dos
- decide the 2 or 3 points that differentiate you
- have some talking points for the interview
- take inputs from friends/alums before finalizing CV
- use legible font size and heep the overall page clean and free from clutter
- do a spell check – not using MS word

Donts
- mention interests and hobbies that you cannot carry an intelligent conversationon during the interview
- try to paint a super-human picture of excellence
- provide a list of All the projects that you did at ISB

What happens on the interview day
Pre interview
- read and re-read candidate CVs
- identify areas to discuss
- prepare for a long day

Interview
- meet the candidate
- discuss a case
- answer the questions posed by the candidate

Integration
- discuss performance on various parameters
- debate relative performance
- decide

Each interview usually lasts around 30-45 minutes. There are two interviews in each round. Arvind told the audience that BCG doesn’t conduct stress interviews. There are some warm up questions for initial few minutes of each round to make the candidate comfortable. This is where CV can play an important role. Communication skills and presence of the candidate is usually tested during this time. A case interview is conducted subsequent to that. Typically, problem solving capabilities are tested during the case interviews.

During the first few minutes of the interview, the stage is handed over to the candidate. A great interviewer grabs this opportunity to steer the conversation in pre-determined direction. Therefore, it is critical for the candidates to think through at a great level of detail and specificity the manner in which they would like to use the first few minutes.

Some of the evaluation criteria that are tested are:
- Problem solving and insight
o Structure, judgment, rigor, creativity and synthesis
- Effectiveness and impact
o Independence, team contribution, substance, learning and achievement
- Communications and presence
o Presence, precision, active listening and relationship management.

The second part of the session was covered by Ashish. This part of the session helped in conveying the thought of how to think strategically in case interviews and in any business situation.

Ashish began by describing what Strategy means. He said that “Strategy is an integrated set of choices that positions a firm to win an disproportionate share of future profits in its industry. The definition of profit also changes depending on the nature of the organization. In the most general term profit can be equaled to “utility”.

He then led the audience through the evolution of strategy over the ages. Ashish told the audience that there are two schools of strategic thought.
- Outside-In/Macro View
o This school of thought postulates that “structural biases / positions” determine the extent of success of a firm
- Inside-Out/Micro View
o This school of thought postulates that “internal capabilities” determine the extent of success of a firm

The real power of the idea is unleashed if the outside-in and inside-out views are considered in concert. Specifically, while dealing with a business situation, one needs to consider the “structural biases / positions” and “firm capabilities” simultaneously.

However, this is the traditional view of strategy. Ashish is part of an initiative within BCG called “the future of strategy” which is trying to design new intellectual property on strategy. It has been observed as part of this effort that the traditional tools of strategy belonging to the outside-in and inside-out schools of thought are insufficient to generate competitive advantage. Today all new bases of competitive advantage occur at the boundary of the firm.

Therefore, in addition to marrying “positions” and “capabilities”, modern strategy is about effectively exploiting 6 additional bases of competitive advantage in concert, they are:
- system advantage
- adaptive advantage
- simulation advantage
- people advantage
- social advantage
- signal advantage

Ashish and Arvind later went on to demonstrate strategic thinking through 2 real life case examples.

While there were several take-aways for the students, the key take-away was that while providing an answer to any business problem one must assess whether the following aspects are covered by the solution:
- Choices: Have the choices been made based on a sound assessment?
- Integration: Are the choices integrated (do the choices fit) with the rest of the company’s activities?
- Positions: Have the limited resources been deployed in the most important areas – maximize bang for the buck?
- Winning: Is the solution going to generate a “competitive advantage” over others as against mere parity?
- Long-term disproportionate share of profit: Is the solution going to position the firm to gain disproportionate share of profits over the long-term? Is the solution likely to remain relevant in the long-term?