IIM A

Consult Prep Book 

2020-21

1
Issue details and copyright

Prepbook, Consult Club, IIM-A, 7/e

© 2020, Consult Club, IIM-A. All rights reser

reserved.
ved.

Notice
No part of this publication may be reproduced
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means  – electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording or any information storage and retrieval system  – without permission in writing from the Consult Club, IIM Ahmedabad.

First edition: July 2014

Second edition: August 2015
Third edition: September 2016
Fourth edition: September
Septembe r 2017
Fifth edition: September
Septembe r 2018
Sixth edition: August 2019
Seventh edition: September 2020

(C) Consult Club, IIM Ahmedabad 2020-21 Page 2

Introducing the IIMA Consult Prep Book 
This year the Consult Club, IIM Ahmedabad is proud to present the Consult Prep Book, an all-in-one document that bundles all key resources
required to ace consulting interviews as one ready-to-use document.

The IIMA Case Book, now in its 7th edition, aims aims to give the reader a comprehensive
comprehensive view of the type of cases that form a significant part of
consulting interviews. The document is a careful curation of real interview
inter view experiences of candidates with leading consulting firms. These
interview experiences are collected, analyzed, sanitized, and then bolstered using relevant frameworks. By relying on this book, thousands of
students, across numerous institutes,
institutes, ha
have
ve been able to achieve success in their case
ca se interviews over the past six years.

To make the case preparation experience seamless, we have added Panorama Reports, a collection of analyses of 16 industries highly
relevant for consulting
consulting interviews. Even though these interviews test first-principled thinking
thinking which is industry-agnostic, aspirants are often
concerned about grasping the nuances of cases across multiple sectors and testing their understanding across them. These reports, aimed to
do just that, are presented
presented in a digestible fashion so that the reader can supplement their case preparation with industry-specific learning.

As part of the appendix, we have also added our first-ever Consulting Primer . This is to help the uninitiated reader develop a basic
understanding of consulting, including
including what a career in consulting entails. We hope that this adds to your perspective about consulting.

We’re making this document available in the public domain with a goal to help consulting aspirants, irrespective of campuses
campuses and levels of
information access, step closer to their professio
professional
nal goals. We hope that we’ve
we’ve been able to help you in doing so. If you
you any
any feedback
feedback for us,
pleasee do not hesitate
pleas hesitate in rreachin
eachingg out.With
out.With this,
this, I wish
wish you the
the best!
best!

Kishan Kashyap
Coordinator, Consult Club, 2020-21

(C) Consult Club, IIM Ahmedabad 2020-21 Page 3

Acknowledgements

IIMA
IIMA Case
Case Book 
Book 

We ar
aree gr
grat
atef
efu
ul to all
all the
the pe
peo
opl
plee that
that ha
havve he
hellpe
ped
d by sha
hari
rin
ng thei
theirr ca
case
sess an
and
d int
nter
ervi
view
ew ex
exp
peri
erien
encces
es,, whi
hich
ch ha
hass en
enab
able
led
d us to pu
putt to
toge
geth
ther
er a
comprehe
compr ehensi
nsive
ve prepa
preparati
ration
on re
resou
sourcrcee for
for the futur
futuree bat
batche
ches.
s.

We woul uld
d li
likke to than
thankk Akan
kanshu
shu Verm
erma, Dha haiirya
rya ShShri
riva
vast
staava, Pri
Priya Changngan
ani,
i, and
and Vineneet
et Mall
all (PG
PGP P 20
201 19-
9-221) fo
forr lead
eading
ing th
thee Case
ase BoBoook 
init
initia
iati
tive
ve and
and putt
puttin
ingg toget
togethe
herr this
this ed
edit
itio
ion
n of the
the IIMA
IIMA Case
Case BoBook
ok.. We wouould
ld also
also like
like to ackn
acknowowleledg
dgee th
thee ef
effo
forts
rts of Avan
Avantitika
ka Math
Mathur
ur,, Rink
Rinkes
esh
h
Bina
nani
ni,, an
and
d Shu
hubbha
hamm Goya
Goyall (PGP 20 2020
20--22
22)) for he
helplpin
ingg the
the cl
club
ub pu
putt toge
togeth
ther
er th
thiis Case
ase Bookok.. They have en enssur
ured
ed br
brea
eadt
dthh and
and dep
epth
th in th
thee
ca
case
sess to gi
give
ve the
the re
read
ader
er a comp
comprrehehen
ensi
sive
ve vi
view
ew of thethe kind
kind of cacase
sess they
they ma
mayy be ad
admi
mini
nist
ster
ered
ed..

Panoram
Panorama
a Reports
Reports

We woulould lik
ikee to than
thankk Aa
Aayu
yush
sh Gu
Gup pta,
ta, Shr
hreey Ban
anka
ka,, an
andd Sri
Srishti
shti Bhag
ager
eriia (PGP 20 201 19-
9-2
21) for lead
leadin
ingg th
thee Pano
anorma
rma Repor
eports
ts init
initiiati
ative andand
putt
puttin
ingg to
toget
gethe
herr this
this reva
revamp
mped
ed ed
edit
itio
ion.
n. We woul
wouldd al
also
so lilike
ke to ac
ackn
know
owle
ledg
dgee th
thee ef
effo
forts
rts of Aada
Aadarsrsh
h Agar
Agarwa
wal,
l, K R Rama
Ramakr kris
ishn
hnan
an,, an
and
d Sris
Srishthtii Ja
Jain
in
(PGP 202 020-
0-22
22)) for hel
elpi
ping
ng the
the cl
club
ub puputt this
this toge
togeth
ther
er.. They have ensuensurred th
that
at th
thee anal
analys
ysiis of all
all major
ajor indu
indust
stri
ries
es relev
elevan
antt for coconsnsul
ulti
tin
ng
prepa
preparat
ration
ion are prese
presente
ntedd in a thoro
thorough
ugh,, yet
yet easy-t
easy-to-
o-und
underserstan
tand
d man
manner
ner..

Consulti
Consulting
ng Prim
Primer 
er 

We would like to thank Srishti Bhageria (PGP 2019-21) for leading the Consulting Primer initiativ
initiativee and ensuring that aaspirants
spirants are able to

gain an unbiased perspective about consulting.

We would like to thank Kshitij Jain, Head, Publications, Consult Club (PGP 2019-21) for lead
eading all these initiat
atiives with thorough
prof
profess
essio
ional
nalism
ism and del
deliv
iveri
ering
ng this
this int
integr
egrate
ated
d output
output..

We would also like to ex

exttend a special ac
ackknowledgement to the contributors of the previous editions of the IIMA Case Book as well as
nu
nume
mero
rous
us Cons
Consul
ultt Cl
Club
ub al
alum
umni
ni wh
whos
osee feed
feedba
back
ck,, ov
over
er the
the year
years,
s, has
has shap
shaped
ed th
this
is do
docu
cume
ment
nt.. We wouould
ld also
also lik
like to th
than
ankk st
stud
uden
ents
ts of th
thee PGP
PGP
2019
2019-2
-21
1 and
and 2020
2020-2
-22
2 batc
batche
hes,
s, many
many of whos
whosee subm
submis issi
sion
onss have
have adde
addedd unma
unmatc
tche
hedd rich
richne
ness
ss to th
thee Prep
Prep bo
book
ok.. (Det
(Detai
ails
ls on page
page 21
213)
3)

(C) Consult Club, IIM Ahmedabad 2020-21 Page 4

 IIM A
Case Book 
2020-2021