Deloitte Consulting LLP

Caseprep 101
Session 2 & 3

Pro$itability Case 2 (For the Batch)

CASE: TAXI DRIVER IN MUMBAI (BCG)

A taxi driver in Mumbai wants to increase his revenue and prots. The driver is
the owner of the taxi and operates during the day <me. The driver starts his day
at the railway sta<on and works for 10-12 hours daily.

The Case Interview Process

Applicants to consul-ng firms can expect to undergo several
interviews (typically three to four), each lasting 20-45 minutes
20-30 min

Start

30-45 min

Personals and
Guesstimate

Case Interviews

Resume and Prole

Tell me something
about yourself
Why consulAng?
What makes you t for
consulAng?
---
---
---
GuessAmates

The most vital part of

the enAre interview
process. There can be
mulAple case interview
rounds that the
candidate will be
required to clear
This is the most
conclusive proof of the
candidates thinking
ability and potenAal

5 min

Case
PresentaCon

Visual
representaA
on of the
case solving
process
basically
what you
write on
paper

5 min

Wrap Up

Summary of
your thought
process and
your
recommenda
Aons and
suggesAons

End

How to prepare for case interviews?

Peer-to-peer Case Solving Approach

What?
Quizzing each other
on case interviews
One person becomes
the interviewer and
the other the
interviewee
Turn-around time of
~1.5 hours per
game
Interviewing skills++

How will we
help?

How?

Form case groups

Help each other to
help yourselves
Dont be competitive
Dont practice with
the same person
again and again
Casebooks etc.

Case-groups
Case talks
Doubt sessions
Case mentors
Interview
experiences
Material

and much more

Todays Session

Asking relevant quesAons. A how-to guide.

Profitability Framework

The most important framework which candidates should know like the back of ones hand. Profitability is the underlying issue that
drives all possible client problems and this framework can be a useful tool for opening up the case and gather desired information.

Profit

Revenue

Quantity

Cost

Price

Problems generally focus on revenues or cost and rarely delve

upon both. Ones ability to quickly eliminate one and start
making inroads into the other is always appreciated

Fixed Cost

Variable Cost

The framework helps you identify the cost drivers/ revenue

drivers that one should focus on to solve the problem

Opening the Case

Asking clarifying ques-ons and seDng the context of the case

Case ques<ons are oEen brief and ambiguous

Firm / Client

Industry
Growth Rate
Market Shares

In the
business of

Who are a
part of

XYZ Products

CompeCtors

serving

Customers
Price elas<city,
<ers, etc.

Also

through

served by

these
Channels

How to ask relevant questions?

Improvisa-on: Across the various stages of protability case-solving, the following
frameworks can be helpful

The 4Cs Framework

The 4Ps Framework

Porters Five Forces

SWOT Analysis

The 4C Framework
Ques-ons around the following aspects can help
to beIer understand revenue problems, can also
Four Cs Framework
be used in some cost scenarios

Company
PorUolio, market
sen<ment, product quality

The Four Cs framework, is useful in understanding the source or cause of broad business problems including marketing or internal
performance issues.

CompeCCon
Profit
PorUolio, growth
share,
pricing, customer feedback

Company

Revenue

Cost

FC
Price
Customer
Missing target groups,
missing geographies
Quantity

Collaborators [1]

VC

If you are stuck at any of the

above four points use 4 Cs

Competitors

Customers

The framework is generally used in conjunction with the

profitability framework to get a better view of the problem at
hand

Collaborators
Issues with suppliers,
distributors or any other
collaborators
Say using the profitability framework you have understood that
the profitability of the firm is going down as the variable costs
istributors
are going up. This may be because[1]
theSuppliers,
productionDcost
(Company) are going up or the supplier costs (Collaborator) is

The 4P Framework
Useful when evaluating a product or marketing strategy ; Can be used to determine the cause of an increase or decrease in
sales ; It can also help in identifying new opportunities to market new or existing products.
Product

Does the product satisfy customer needs?

Is the product differentiated?

Price

Place

Promotion

At what price are the customers selling the their products?

Has their been any recent changes in the price of your products?

Prot

Revenue

QuanCty

FC

Price

Cost

VC

Where have you traditionally sold your products?

What markets do you think ideal to launch new products?
What are different promotion strategies followed by the client?
Based on your segmentation what should be the ideal positioning
of the product/brand?

Company

Collaborator
C
rs

The frame work is helpful in revenue problems. In cases where the company is losing
market share it is usually one or more of the Four Ps that is the reason.

Helpful across various domains

Compe<tors

Customers

Porters Five Forces Framework

Used to assess the attracCveness of an industry; can be used to evaluate market entry and M&A opportunities.

Porters Five Forces Framework

Used to assess the attracCveness of an industry; can be used to evaluate market entry and M&A opportunities.

New Entrants
Poten<al, barriers

New
Entrant

Customers / Buyers
Missing target groups,
missing geographies
Suppliers

Competition

Customers
/ Buyers

CompeCCon
PorUolio, growth share,
pricing, customer feedback
SubsCtutes
Switching costs, availability

Substitute

Suppliers
Importance, rela<ve power,
compe<<on within etc.

Porters is an extremely powerful framework that can be used in protability as well as in cases where market evaluation or
industry evaluation is required.

SWOT Analysis
Useful in assessing a business environment for a market entry (geography, new product lines, etc.) or business opportunity

Strength

Weakness

Threats

Revenue

Cost

Internal Factors

Opportuni<es

Prot

QuanCty

FC

Price

VC

External Factors

Company

Collaborator
C
rs

SWOT helps in cases where one needs to evaluate a company either as an M&A
target or in cases you are to propose a entry strategy in a new market

Compe<tors

SWOT Analysis is a powerful company analysis tool but needs lot of detailing to arrive at acceptable solutions

Customers

The Value Chain

Used to look at acCviCes throughout organizations, supply chains and distribution networks; to understand the workings of a n
organization; to determine where value is added and to identify weaknesses or bottlenecks within an organization.
Example from a typical manufacturing set-up

Research
work and
approval

Sourcing the
required
materials and
services
required for
production

R & D

Inputs

Production
process to
packaging
ready to be
sold

Production

Logistics
planning and
product
distribution
strategies

Distribution

Marketing
strategy,
sales force
training,
push vs. pull
strategy

Marketing &
Sales

Post sales
support,
repairing,
sales return

Service

Prot

Revenue

QuanCty

FC

Price

Company

Cost

VC

Collaborator
C
rs

The framework is useful to solve cost

problems. Say you have understood that
it is the variable costs that are going up.

it is a good practice to break down the

entire manufacturing process and find
out the component that is the cause

Compe<tors

A very simple yet powerful framework and is almost always helpful cracking cost cases

Customers

Demo Case 1

CASE: PAYPHONE MANUFACTURER (Case in Point)

Our client is a major player in the pay phone industry. Despite a
20% increase in market-share, the manufacturer has
experienced a decline in prots. The CEO wants to know why
and what can be done about it.

Demo Case 2

CASE: AUTO MANUFACTURERS DECLINGING PROFITS

(Accenture)

Our client is an automobile OEM who has seen a decline in
prots, the CEO would like you to iden<fy the issues for the
same and help him with this.

Selection Process for General Management Roles

Psychometric
Test

Form Filling

Hand wriaen

Clear and legible

Mostly HR
ques<ons to be
answered

Avoid over thinking

and giving a biased
response

No prepara<on
required as such

To familiarize
yourself with the
format, try some
tests online

Chairmans
GD

Role of a Chairman:
To give a structure
to the discussion,
pitch in which
intelligent points as
and when necessary
and also to control
the discussion from
going astray.

Interview

Most
important: HR
ques<ons

Interviews can
take widely
dierent forms
depending on
the direc<on to
steer them into

Role of a member:
To pitch in with
suitable points,
construct and build
on the ongoing
discussion.

The steps and the +low of the process varies from company to company

What you can do now for GenMan roles?

HR Ques<ons

Make sure that your

strengths are visible from
your stories
Prepare answers to these;
Get them reviewed before
nalizing
Take each answer as an
opportunity to showcase
your uniqueness, strengths,
skills

Types of ques<ons
1.
2.
3.

General Awareness quesCons

Stress QuesCons
HR QuesCons

Interview

Chairmans GD

Ground rules: In addiCon to

the expectaCons from a
candidate during a normal
GD, two essenCal pointers:
Never cut the Chairman, or
any lady in the group
Try to replicate behavior that
you think would be in a
boardroom environment

HR quesCons
The quesCons can vary from
an in-depth interview of the
answers wriaen in the form
to basic general knowledge
quesCons.
A background preparaCon of
the company, its dierent
verCcals, the most prot
making product etc. are the
relevant areas one should
pay aaenCon to.

For the batch

CASE: MIDDLE-EAST RETAIL BANK (McKinsey)

A well-known local retail bank in the Middle East is losing market
share in a growing market. Its technology and service levels are
just as good as any of its foreign compe<tors. The CEO wants to
know why this is happening and what else they can do.

Consulting Club Contacts

President

Rishabh Gupta

rishabh.g17@fms.edu

+91 97423 74162

ExecuCve Members

Shankhanath Raychaudhari
Meet Bhalavat
Sahil Kochar
Eshita Razdan

shankhanath.r17@fms.edu
meet.b17@fms.edu
sahil.k17@fms.edu
eshita.r17@fms.edu

+91 70423 74534

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Deloitte Consulting LLP

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