Workshop Series#3 – Identifying the Achilles heel!

“Hey, I know what the answer is!!” said one of the gladiators. This was the first thing that was said after the usual exchange of greetings. We were trying to make full use of the workshops – it was peer learning at its best! The subject of discussion was the question with which the last workshop had ended. “If the profit of our own Bajaj Bistro declines how can we analyze it?” This session was dedicated to case analysis and the processes involved.

As we found, the steps in any case analysis are:

1. Start
2. Analyze and identify the problem at hand
3. Recommend a solution
4. Close the case.

So, to analyze, why the revenue of Bajaj Bistro would decline, we needed to structure the case. As Muru said to the relief of all of us, “There are four frameworks in which most of the common problems fit.”

For this problem, the best suited framework was quickly identified by the Gladiators.

Every Gladiator presented the logic in a client friendly manner. The session was like seeing, Future consultants in the making!

Here, we were exposed to the Two Pronged Approach to Tackling Business Situation Cases:
1. Learn how to be the InterviewER (very predictable)
2. Learn how to be the InterviewEE.

It was a great amalgam of team work and competitiveness promoted at the same time with the role play livening up the discussions.

We found that the revenue was not declining but the cost was increasing. The cost of the raw materials had gone up and with two additional recruits, the profit had decreased considerably. (All fictitious data as part of the assignment) The case was solved and closed with a copy of the solution sent to the team at Bistro!

It was once again, fun with learning as the example was something that all of us could relate to!

-Gaurav and Sonal

Workshop Series#2 – Improving the guesstimation skills!

The second of the workshops started with a recap of the first one.

Yes, you guessed it right! Starting from where we had left, we focused on one particular case category in the session- Guesstimation. These questions are usually asked in the interviews to test the logical and analytical capabilities of the interviewee. They do not have a definite answer but the interviewer often has a range for the answer in his mind. The answer doesn’t matter as much as the means of finding it and hence, whatever be the answer, it has to be backed by logic.

We started with the discussion on the self assignment question- What is the number of lights in the Great Lakes campus? The classroom resonated with various answers – 5000, 2750, 3111, 4570 and so on… As the answers began to die down, “There is nothing right or wrong but each answer should be backed by a step-wise estimation” said Muru.

“The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth” – François de la Rochefoucauld

It was amazing to see so many diverse explanations and varied logics to a simple question. But I think the best way to learn is by picking up an example from our daily lives.

As is the case with every class for our courses, so is the case with these workshops. Both share something in common and that is assignments!! This workshop ended with a case based question – “If the profit of our own Bajaj Bistro declines (the café in the Great Lakes campus), how can we analyze it?”

I believe it is these assignments that keep the students’ thinking. These workshops are proving to be a serious effort with clearly visible results. Learning is indeed fun!

-Gaurav and Sonal

Workshop Series#1 -Learning consulting in a simulated Environment

ConsultCom, the consulting committee at Great Lakes, is conducting a series of workshops, designed to help the students master the art and science of consulting. The workshops aim to provide a platform for intensive case discussions and enhanced peer-learning.

“Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.” – Denis Waitley

The gladiators (PGPM batch 2010-11) were in the same spirit when we met for the first time. The session began with Muruganandan, a fellow gladiator (known fondly as Muru) posing the questions –

“What is consulting? What are the skills required for consulting?”

“A Consultant should be a problem solver”, said someone. And the long list of adjectives – analytical, customer friendly, good communicator came forth…Muru in all his poise summarized everything with the basic rules of consulting.

Rule #1: “Often Right, Never Without Data-Driven Justification”

Rule #2: “It’s Not About Being Right, it’s About Being Right In A CLIENT FRIENDLY Way” HOW you’re Right Matters… A LOT

It looked like this was easy to absorb after a core course in marketing where everything centered on the customer.

Then the question

“What are the types of questions that are asked in the interview?” came up.

Are we supposed to know Kotler well or are we supposed to know finance well?

Isn’t a consultant a problem solver and hence, isn’t he expected to know something about everything? The real answer depends upon the case categories.

Two Categories of Cases:

1. Business Situation

2. Estimation Question

A detailed discussion followed on what each type of case is.  Minutes continued ticking by as the intensity of the discussion increased until it was collectively decided to continue the thought train in the next session of the workshop. However, we gave ourselves an assignment. Yes! Self-learning too involves assignments. It was about trying to find the number of bulbs in the Great Lakes campus…

- Gaurav and Sonal