ISB Class of 2014 aspirants.

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@srm85 said:
Hey puys.... Here is my interview debriefMy profile:4+ yrs total work ex (as on 31st Mar). 3.5 yrs in Pharma R&D;GMAT: 720Acads: B.Sc. 66%, M.Sc. 74%, few more courses under my belt with 70-80% scoresEC: DecentSubmitted my app on 30th Nov. Both reccos on 5th Dec. Got verification mail on 18th Dec. Interview invite on 27 Dec.Interview Date: 05 Jan. Time: 3:30 PM@SN11 The interviews were delayed by almost an hour. I arrived at 2:30, but my interview started at 5:00. One candidate was interviews before me because he had a flight. ISB is very accommodating in this matter. So I would say that if your interview is at 3, then take a flight after 8 pm to be safe. In any case if there is a delay, ISB will try to accommodate your interview accordingly. Congrats and Good Luck!!@dipzgupta My interview was at 3:30. I was given the 1 word essay at 3:00. The topic was "Perfect". I think "Reality" word was also given earlier to someone. Congrats on ur invite. ATB!!Here goes my experience:I was interviewed by a 3-member panel. Mr. Kannan and 2 alums. All of them were very pleasant and were smiling. The whole interview was like a conversation (just like a gazallion ppl have reported before me). It lasted about 40 min (same as previous 2 candidates for my panel).The questions:1. Have you visited ISB before? Where did you go? What did u like/didnt like? (I think this Q was just to settle me down)2. Did u try to join Air Force? (my father is in IAF)3. Why MBA?4. What are your 2 biggest contributions in your previous 2 organizations that you are most proud of? (I switched companies recently, that's why 2 orgs. I thought they will ask why did i make the switch recently, but they didn't - I already covered that in my essay, so probably they didn't want to ask)5. Question on a recent SC ruling regarding clinical trials. (I work in Clinical Research). They wanted to know my position on the issue and there was a lot of cross-questioning. (went on for about 5 min)@Phoenix10 I don't know if anyone else was asked questions on current affairs. I was asked this question because this happened just 3 days back and directly impacts my industry.6. Guesstimate Question. Estimate the market value of contact lenses in India. (went on for 15+ min)I was really surprised by this. I thought that they ask such questions only for those who want to get into consulting. So puys, please prepare for such questions.I was clearly told that there is no right or wrong answer. We want to see ur approach. You can ask us as many questions as you want. I started thinking aloud. They told me to take a min and note down what information I need and how I want to go about it.Once I started talking everybody joined in. After that it was like a conversation and they were helping me at every step. They questioned me on how I came to a particular figure/estimate. They wanted to know my logic behind it. Ultimately I came up with a highly inflated figure. They said do you really think this is the number. They they asked me where I might have gone wrong. Some more conversation then... We are done...7. Any questions for us? (I asked 2 questions regarding Healthcare Management)Overall, a very pleasant experience. No stress questions. There was a lot of laughter and smiles from the panel. So I felt easy throughout the interview.Some things that I learned from previous candidates from other panels:One guy had 2.5 yrs of exp. He was asked formulae from his B.Tech. Don't know what kind. He was vague. 2nd guy had mentioned investment banking as his career goal in essays. He was from banking sector and was questioned on every aspect of IB. One of the alums in his panel had lot of exp in IB. So this guy was thoroughly grilled.Hope it helps All the Best
A very interesting debrief. The guesstimate questions are for everybody to prepare !! But I like the fact that they kind of even help you solve the question. Just the logic has be ours.

Wish you all the very best for 15th Feb ! Hope you make it !
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@Phoenix10 Thank you. They help out a lot.
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@saicharantej said:
@srm85Hey..Thanks a lot for the reply!! I guess I forgot to stress this point..It is a single coat which can be used in all the 3 seasons..Not three coats which can be worn in 3 seasons respectively..
I meant cost of the best Summer Coat + Rain Coat + Winter Coat. Logic being what would be the cost if you bought 3 separate coats for each season. You add that cost and charge 60-80%. List price 80%, after discount 60%. That's just my way of looking at it. Others might give you a different answer.
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@saicharantej said:
Hi Puys..Let me share a case I came across recently..Would love to hear your responses regarding how to proceed with the case like what questions does first come to your mind, what information would you ask the interviewer and generally how do you go about it:Case : Our client has developed a "Coat" which is self-adaptable. You wear it in summer, it cools your body; In rainy season it protects you from rain and in winter, it keeps your body warm. It has selected India as the country where it first launches the product. I want you to tell me how you would price the coat.
I would say it would be the (cost of a sweater + a coat to use in summer + a rain coat) * 1.5

My logic is quite simple. Developing such a coat incurs loads of R&D; cost and you need to recover all that amount. With the varied use of a single coat it maintaining and using is at a better ease when compared to three different coats so the price definitely must be marked higher than all the three coats combined when you have certain core advantages.
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@srm85 That's a chilled out experience man. And I feel that you rocked it! All the very best for the final result dude :)
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So how many people on Pagalguy got interview calls for Jan 13 and beyond? I remember seeing only three such confirmations, correct me if I am wrong.

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@kumarPritam EXCELLENT THOUGHT BRO...I am in...Lets gear up and see what cadre of thinkers are here.
Cheers
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@saicharantej said:
Hi Puys..Let me share a case I came across recently..Would love to hear your responses regarding how to proceed with the case like what questions does first come to your mind, what information would you ask the interviewer and generally how do you go about it:Case : Our client has developed a "Coat" which is self-adaptable. You wear it in summer, it cools your body; In rainy season it protects you from rain and in winter, it keeps your body warm. It has selected India as the country where it first launches the product. I want you to tell me how you would price the coat.

The price of the coat would vary on various factors. Well, to keep my profitability in place (assuming a chain of retail stores), I would price the coat in such a way that the cost is around 30 - 35 % of the MRP. Around 25% covers my store rentals, overheads, marketing, logistics etc. There is a scope of 10 - 20% discounting.

Now, The cost of product will depend on the following factors:

1. Raw material: As the raw material seems to have a special finish or a special property, it is going to cost not less than Rs 300 / metre. To make a long coat, you will require atleast 3 metres. Rs 900 is the raw material cost.

2. Cut make trim would be close to Rs. 500

3. Excise duty = 5 % of MRP (Approx)

4. In case the product or fabric is getting imported, you need to incur import duty.

5. A lot also depends on the scale of the product launch. I mean the volume of the product. If you can play with economies of scale, costs will reduce.

6. We also have to pay VAT to the govt of you sell the product. Thus additional 5%.

Considering these factors, I think the cost would be close to Rs 1800. Hence the MRP would be around 6000. In case there are no established competitors and if I am an established brand, I would price it at Rs 7000. After all functionally, there are two jackets at the price of one !
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@raghupro Thanks bro!!
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@srm85 Brother, I believe you have a more than fair chance. Good job!


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@waterman Thanks man. I hope so too. But it's ISB. You never know. How's ur prep going?
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So, what triggered this discussion about this amazing new coat.....

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@saicharantej Great Case.

Our client has developed a "Coat" which is self-adaptable. You wear it in summer, it cools your body; In rainy season it protects you from rain and in winter, it keeps your body warm. It has selected India as the country where it first launches the product. I want you to tell me how you would price the coat.

I think, we would have to first answer some basic questions before pricing it.
1. As the pricing is driven by supply-demand as well. Considering we have enough supply, how much is the demand of such coats?
2. Next, to be able to answer the first question, we will have to answer many questions such as
2.1. Why do people buy coat?
2.2. Do people buy coat only for its feature (The coat, in the case, is feature rich) or for its style as well?
2.3. Will people want to use the same coat (same style) throughout the year?
3. What's the durability of such coat, since customer will be wearing it not for one season but through out the year.
4. Do we have competitors, who are selling the similar coats in this category?
5. Of course, we will look at the manufacturing cost, distributing cost, marketing cost and other costs involved.

By answering above questions including any followup questions, and analyzing the data, we should be able to price this coat.

What do you think?
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@saicharantej said:
Hi Puys..Let me share a case I came across recently..Would love to hear your responses regarding how to proceed with the case like what questions does first come to your mind, what information would you ask the interviewer and generally how do you go about it:Case : Our client has developed a "Coat" which is self-adaptable. You wear it in summer, it cools your body; In rainy season it protects you from rain and in winter, it keeps your body warm. It has selected India as the country where it first launches the product. I want you to tell me how you would price the coat.
In a traditional approach, I would get my questions cleared before jumping onto the case solving.

What is the current market position and reputation of the client?
What is the client's near term and long term target?
What is the production cost of each coat?
How is the market competitiveness?
Is this a novel product? This has overlapping with the previous question.

After we have the prima facie questions answered, we proceed to estimate the price based on conviction and available information (not facts)

Price shall be..
Higher than other jackets available in the market but shall depend on the target market segment. If the cost of production is more than 50$ (Considering it is a foreign client) then we may have to target only upper middle class and higher segments. And price will be around 150$ (As mentioned above, import duty, local state duty, dealer margin, logistics, advertisement cost etc inflate the price to at-least thrice the production cost).

If the client targets other segments, then we need to consider local production feasibility and position the price accordingly.

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never mind..... The coat's USP is its multi-functionality in all seasons. I would do a sample market survey to gauge the initial response to the coat and depending on the analysis, position the coat as a niche segment premium goods targeting a specific demographic initially to gain market entry. Price: Price of high end Branded coats in the market * 1.4

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@srm85 said:
@waterman Thanks man. I hope so too. But it's ISB. You never know. How's ur prep going?
@srm85 I am just trying to calm myself first :)

Well, I am gathering possible questions at this point in time and then trying to develop reasonable answers. Any advice from you will be appreciated :)..
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@waterman Dude I prepared a 7-page doc with my best answers. But they didn't ask anyth out of that. Of course Why MBA question was there, but they heard just 1 line and jumped to the next question.

So my advice would be... Prepare your answers well, but don't keep the punch line in the end. It should be your 1st line in response. Coz u nvr kno when they might cut u off and ask the next question. You should not regret that you didn't say your best line.

Open your answer with your best words and then support it with examples. I felt that if they were convinced with my reply, they cut me off and asked me another question.

Keep your answers short. There will be a lot of cross-questioning. You may not get the luxury of time to elaborate. That's my 2 cents
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Awesome...I am glad to see how each of us approached the problem differently. All different approaches brought something important, new and different perspective on pricing the magic coat.


Now, if we put all our thoughts and approaches together, we could come up with a really good estimate on how would we price the coat and may be what exactly should be the price of this magic coat.
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any re-applicants in here????

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@punters11 I don't think this coat is for premium segment. Premium buyers would generally prefer to have 3 different coats instead - style factor, variety etc etc ... Moreover most of them will have other alternatives to prevent themselves from rain, winters, summer - car, ac, heaters etc .. Also the pain of maintaining/carrying 3 coats is not that significant since we are talking about seasons and its a pretty long duration wherein u will be carrying just 1 coat.
The coat is more about serving a need - single piece for all 3 seasons so that you don't have to spend on multiple coats. So i think with this the target should be low income segment and the price will be lower than combined price of 3 coats....

All these are just thoughts, I might be wrong.