CAREER EDGE

LET'S SOLVE A
CONSULTING CASE
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
You are an Associate at a Consulting
firm.You have noticed that a partner at
your firm has recently been coming late
to the office.
You need to figure out why.
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Interviewer: Okay. How does he come to the office?

How long has this been happening?

Interviewee: He comes to the office by car. This has

been happening for about a week now.

Interviewer: Has such an event happened before?

Interviewee: No. He is generally regularly comes to

the office and very particular about punctuality.

Interviewer: There could be two reasons why he

could be late. Either he is leaving home late, or
there is a delay on the way. Do we know which one
of these is the reason?

Interviewee: He leaves at the same time every day.

There is a delay on the way.
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Interviewer: Since time = distance/speed, either he is

taking a different, longer route to the office or his
speed has reduced.

Interviewee: He is taking the same route.

Interviewer: Hence, there is a delay because his

average speed has been reduced. Reasons could be
internal or external. External causes refer to issues
like traffic, while the interior would be issues related
to the car, or he or the driver is generally driving
slowly. Has any of these factors changed recently?

Interviewee: His driver drops him at the office, but no

changes in his driving speed. The car is also fine.
Okay. Shall I ignore internal factors and deep dive
into external factors?

Interviewer: Sure, go ahead.

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Interviewee: Since average speed is reduced, but the

driver is driving at the same place, can I assume that
they stop somewhere on the way, and the time there
has increased?

Interviewer: Yes, you can assume that. Can you

figure out why?

Interviewee: Generally, people stop at petrol pumps

or tolls.

Interviewer: Yes, that is correct. Which one of these

do you think would be the reason?

Interviewee: I think tolls could be the reason. People

generally don’t stop at petrol pumps every day, so
being late every day for a week would not be for this
reason.
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Interviewer: Yes, that is right. Since last week two

toll booths have not been functioning, and he has
taken much time to cross them, which is the reason
for his delay. Well done!

Interviewee: Thank you!

Summary:
I had to figure out why the partner at a consulting
firm was late to the office for a week. He used to
pass by a toll every day, and after a week, two of the
booths had shut down, due to which it was taking
much time for him to cross it.
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FRAMEWORK
TIME

AVERAGE SPEED DISTANCE

INTERNAL EXTERNAL

INCREASE IN STOP TRAFFIC ON THE

TIME WAY DRIVER CAR

TOLL PETROL PUMP

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