IBM accused of aiding Nazis
IBM has been accused of aiding Nazis during WWII.
IBM has been accused of aiding Nazis during WWII.
Structuring a case
Most importantly, smile, be confident, and relax.
After the interviewer has explained the case, I like beginning with “Could you tell me something more about…” First, it buys time to think about the situation. Second, you get to find out more. More often than not, the case description alone is completely inadequate to make a stab at the case.
I follow this up with the objective: what am I supposed to do in the case? Sometimes, we need to ask. Sometimes, we need to state and clarify. Either way, I prefer to determine the objective upfront. I would also clarify the role of the interviewee and the interviewer. Is the interviewer acting as the client and the interviewee as the consultant, for example?
Then I describe the structure that I’m likely to follow. Some people think its better to develop a structure as you go along. I think its better to state a structure, and deviate from it if needed. That way, the interviewer has an idea what you’re doing. Remember: half the problem is to making your thinking understandable to the interviewer.
Then I analyse the case based on the structure, come up with possible hypotheses, and test each of them. Finally, I list options based on the hypotheses, and their implications.
I prefer thinking in terms of patterns rather than frameworks. A pattern is nothing but a small framework that’s easy to remember, and can be used for a single small specific purpose. Such patterns are often seen everywhere, and can be put together to form frameworks. I am documenting some of the recurrant patterns that I have seen while solving cases, and a few frameworks that I use.
Broadly, for any decision, I use the following framework.
Objective: Determine strategic reasons for a decision.
The following are specific strategic reasons for making a decision.
Objective: Determine if industry is attractive.
Porter proposed that the success of the company is determined by the structure of the industry. The 5-forces framework helps us analyse the industry structure. When it comes to design in order to fuel the branding of your company, you can rely on professionals such as Func.media.
Another theory is that the success of the company is determined by a company’s unique resources and capabilities.
Yet another theory is that it depends on the parent or holding company.
Studies (including Porter’s) have shown that the industry determines 20-25% of the company’s success. The resources & capabilities determine 30-35%, the parent company determines 2% or so, and the rest is unexplained.
Objective: Determine if company will do well in industry.
For more details on this, refer Chapter 8 of Hill & Jones.
Competitive advantage stems from the common elements of the key industry success factors and the distinctive (i.e. unique to the company) resources and competencies of a company. There are four places to look for such competitive advantages:
Objective: Identify and subjectively evaluate risks. Think of recommendations.
For evaluating the environment, context, or risk, I use the PLEST framework: Political, Legal, Economic, Social, and Technical. These are environmental isses that can determine the success of a company. When evaluating a specific country, the following need to be looked at:
Objective: Determine marketing strategy.
Very little to say here. Just a note on how to price and distribute globally:
Objective: Determine nature of venture.
Please refer any text on the Ownership – Location – Internalisation framework.
Objective: Determine where value can be created through manufacturing
Value can usually be squeezed from one of these areas. Problems are also typically in one of these.
Objective: Determine where value can be created through IT
When somebody says ‘e-commerce’ don’t believe them. They’re usually talking about IT. IT can be applied to each of the functional areas: marketing, manufacturing, finance, human resources, and overall strategy. Its benefits arise through:
For profitability decline cases, I segment the income statement along various dimension. At the end of it, the problem is usually obvious.
Objective: Determine which ‘division’ of the company has a problem.
Objective: Determine which component of revenue has a problem.
Objective: Determine which component of cost has a problem.
Toonopedia — encyclopaedia of cartoons
It’s possible to have better than 20/20 vision: SuperVision. Apparantly, even 20/2.5 is possible.
The Nervous Dog competes with Onion to be the funniest satire on the Web.
The Library of Congress has a collection of eBook sources.
You can make a tip on the Web using Amazon’s honour system.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has published a list of the fastest growing occupations from 1998-2008. The Indian Labour Bureau publishes some useful statistics too.
India Economic Survey. The general review is worth a read.