Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Consulting Frameworks 4
Consulting Frameworks 4
Casing
The Frameworks
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Common mistakes
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Note:
To estimate $ / diaper I assumed that diapers are sold in packs of 24 for ~ $14 = 14/24 ~$0.60
each rounding up
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• Bottoms Up Approach
– Develop and state assumptions starting at a lower level of detail
– Talk the interviewer through your assumptions as you make them and let them know why you are using the numbers you
pick.
– Follow cues from the interviewer!
– Do gut check with final number before committing to it
Note:
To estimate $ / diaper I assumed that diapers are sold in packs of 24 for ~ $14 = 14/24 ~$0.60
each rounding up
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Possible Solution:
Talk the interviewer through your assumptions step by step as you go. Follow
their cues and clue them in as to why you are using the numbers you are using!
# of US HH’s Average # of Assume TV Assume
Other potential TV’s per HH replaced once Average TV
users of TV’s every 10 years costs $500
Households 100 MM 2 TV’s; 200M x (1/10) 20M x $500
=100MM x 2 = =20 M TV’s =$10B
200 MM TV’s annually
Rank these based
Hotels
on assumed
contribution (i.e.
Hotels would Businesses
have a large
number of TV’s Hospitals
replace them
more often than
the other Schools
institutions
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10 * 4 peak hrs = 40 transactions / stand / day 3 * 20 off peak hrs = 60 transactions / stand / day
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Suppliers
• Supplier concentration
• Importance of volume
• Differentiation of inputs
• Impact of inputs on cost or differentiation
• Switching costs of firms
• Substitute inputs
• Threat of forward integration
• Cost relative to total input purchases
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Buyers
• Bargaining leverage
• Buyer volume
• Buyer information
• Brand identity
• Price sensitivity
• Threat of backward integration
• Product differentiation
• Buyer concentration
• Availability of substitutes
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Substitutes
• Switching costs
• Buyer inclination to substitute
• Price vs. performance trade-off of substitutes
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New Entrants
• Barriers to entry
• Cost advantages
• Access to inputs
• Government regulations
• Economies of scale
• Capital requirements
• Brand identity
• Switching costs
• Access to distribution
• Expected retaliation
• Proprietary products
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Rivalry
• Exit barriers
• Industry concentration
• Fixed costs
• Industry growth
• Diversity of rivals
• Corporate stakes
• Product differences
• Switching costs
• Brand
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The Three Cs
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The 3Cs
• Customers
• Competition
• Company
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Customers
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Competition
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Company
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Profitability Tree
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Profitability
Therefore:
Profit = (Price*Volume) – Fixed Costs – Variable Costs
If profits are going down, then:
– Revenues are decreasing
and/or
– Costs are increasing
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Profitability Tree
Profit
Revenue Cost
( Price X Quantity
) ( — Fixed + Variable )
• Changes in pricing • Customers • Capital equipment • Labor
structure • Market growing or • Land • Materials
• Price discrimination shrinking? • Buildings • Distribution
• Viability of pricing over • Changing demands • R&D?
time • Segmentation:
• Discounts or couponing New/existing
• Competitor’s pricing Loyal/ switchers
• Competitors
• New entrants
• New competitive action
• Company
• 4P’s: Product, price,
place, promotion
• Strengths/weaknesses
• Channel restrictions or
temporary disturbances
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Value/Supply Chain
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Example: Doritos
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2. Internal
Allows analysis of activities within a given firm to create value and establish
competitive advantage.
Firm Infrastructure
Primary Activities
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3. External
Here the value chain is broken down into the companies involved in creating the
value. Each company may perform one of more of the steps.
Resources Product/Service
Focal
Supplier Customer
Firm
$$ $$
Integration
Forward - When a firm takes over an activity that is closer to the end customer (ex: supplier takes marketing)
Backward – When a firm takes over an activity that is further away from the end customer (ex: focal firm takes
manufacturing)
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Value Creation
$
Willingness-to-Pay
Price
Value received by
supplier Supplier
Opportunity Cost
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We’ve seen a value chain for an edible consumer good. Map out
value chains (as steps in the process of creating value) for the
following goods and services:
• Movies
• Healthcare Laboratory Tests
• National Security
• Office rental
• Insurance
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• Google
• Southwest
• Dell
• Apple
• Coca-Cola
• McKinsey
• Others?
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A firm that can create the most value in a chain can capture the
most value, meaning it will be more profitable than its competitors.
Customers will choose their product or service over their
competitors’, and suppliers will need to work with them.
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The Four Ps
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• Product
• Pricing
• Placement
• Promotion
The 4Ps are used as a follow up or lead in with the 3Cs analysis.
They are often used to assess marketing possibilities.
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Product
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Pricing
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Placement
• How is the product positioned in the market and how large is the
market?
• How is it distributed?
• How much contact do we have with the end consumer?
• Who are the intermediaries and what are their margins?
• What is the time to market?
• How effective is our sales force?
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Promotion
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BCG Matrix
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BCG matrix
Star ?
High
?
Industry
Growth Rate Cash Cow Dog
Low
High Low
Market Share
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The Seven Ss
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The 7Ss
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M&A
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Issues to Consider:
• Would the merger be successful?
– Is the objective for the acquisition/merger logical and possible?
• Enter a new market (new customers or products)
• Achieve greater economies of scale
– What are the synergies in the costs and revenues, as well as the core competencies of
the firms?
– What are potential issues of conflict that the client needs to manage (i.e. different IT
systems or corporate cultures)? Consider what problems it might encounter to cause
the integration to take more time/money than expected.
• Integration Approach
– How would you layout the strategy for Business Unit integration?
– What are the options for integration? What would you ask to assess the options?
– How would you measure success/failure of the projects?
• Technical Integration Approach
– Similar theme as above, might come up with firms with more tech emphasis (such as
IBM, DiamondCluster)
– Discussing project and program management issues
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Useful formulae
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NPV
Is the project a good investment?
1 - Estimate Future Cash Flows
– Revenues - Costs
2 - Estimate Discount Rates
– Look at comparables
– Often, the interviewer may provide this
3 - Attain Net Present Value (NPV)
– Discount future cash flows at appropriate discount rate
4 - Consider Other Synergies
– Reasons to go ahead despite negative NPV
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NPV
Is the project a good investment?
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Breakeven Point
This equation will present you with the volume that is necessary to
cover those fixed costs.
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Inventory Turnover
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Replenishing Inventory
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– For example, if you were to use both Porter’s Five Forces and the
3C’s, and you named all eight buckets, you would be repeating the
Customer / Buyer buckets, as well as Competitors / Rivalry buckets.
This is not mutually exclusive!
– Likewise, if you were to only use Porter’s Five Forces you may be
missing internal company information (competitive advantage, how
it works, costs and revenues). This is not collectively exhaustive!
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• If you start to hit a wall with the “typical“ buckets, the problem
may lie in external market factors.
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Tying It Together
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Declining Profitability
Example Case:
A Taiwanese manufacturer of lab test kits for laboratories in hospitals and
clinics has seen its annual profits decline from $78 m to $61 m over the
past three years. The company has hired you to determine what is
happening and to find a solution.
Steps:
1. Identify part(s) of Revenue that is falling or Costs that are increasing
(could be both)
2. Recommend a solution to address the falling revenue or increasing
costs.
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Declining Profitability
Profit
Revenue Cost
( Price X Quantity
) ( — Fixed + Variable )
• Changes in pricing • Customers • Capital equipment • Labor
structure • Market growing or • Land • Materials
• Price discrimination shrinking? • Buildings • Distribution
• Viability of pricing over • Changing demands • R&D?
time • Segmentation:
• Discounts or couponing New/existing
• Competitor’s pricing Loyal/ switchers
• Competitors
• New entrants
• New competitive action
• Company
• 4P’s: Product, price,
place, promotion
• Strengths/weaknesses
• Channel restrictions or
temporary disturbances
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Example Case:
A regional auto insurance company recently discovered from a market
survey that their market share was declining significantly. Why did this
happen and what can be done?
Steps:
1. Determine whether:
The client’s volume is falling.
or
The market size is increasing with competitors capturing that new market.
or
Both.
2. Drill down to find the causes.
3. Recommend a solution.
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Profit
Revenue Cost
( Price X Quantity
) ( — Fixed + Variable )
• Changes in pricing • Customers • Capital equipment • Labor
structure • Market growing or • Land • Materials
• Price discrimination shrinking? • Buildings • Distribution
• Viability of pricing over • Changing demands • R&D?
time • Segmentation:
• Discounts or couponing New/existing
• Competitor’s pricing Loyal/ switchers
• Competitors
Consider these frameworks:
• New entrants
• New competitive action •internal/external with some Porter’s
• Company 5 forces on the external side
• 4P’s: Product, price,
place, promotion •3 C’s
• Strengths/weaknesses
• Channel restrictions or •4P’s
temporary disturbances
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Market Entry
Example Case:
A national provider of in-home health care services is considering
purchasing a regional managed care facility with 250 physicians. What
factors should our client consider in making this decision?
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Market Entry
Issues to Consider:
• Attractiveness of Market
– Market size and growth potential
– Competition: # of key players, their market share (later: their price/cost positions,
differentiation)
– Barriers to entry (costs to enter, competitive reaction)
– Customers’ needs/desires?
• Client’s potential for market share/competitive advantage
– Internal resources/capabilities to meet customers’ desires
– Competitive strategy: Low cost or differentiation
– Where in the value chain will the client gain advantage and offer more value to customer
• Options for Market entry
– Build internal capability
– Establish a strategic partnership
– Acquire/merge
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Acquisition/Merger
Example Case:
A company of chocolate and confectionery products is considering
acquiring a regional soft drink manufacturer. Are the distribution
synergies sufficient enough to justify an acquisition?
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Acquisition/Merger
Issues to Consider:
• Would the merger be successful?
– Is the objective for the acquisition/merger logical and possible?
• Enter a new market (new customers or products)
• Achieve greater economies of scale
– What are the synergies in the costs and revenues, as well as the core competencies of
the firms?
– What are potential issues of conflict that the client needs to manage (i.e. different IT
systems or corporate cultures)? Consider what problems it might encounter to cause the
integration to take more time/money than expected.
• Integration Approach
– How would you layout the strategy for Business Unit integration?
– What are the options for integration? What would you ask to assess the options?
– How would you measure success/failure of the projects?
• Technical Integration Approach
– Similar theme as above, might come up with firms with more tech emphasis (such as IBM,
DiamondCluster)
– Discussing project and program management issues
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Pricing
Example Case:
How should a major retailer price its services in the electronic and
appliance service business?
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Market Strategy
Example Cases:
How can Boeing and Airbus each compete in the airplane market?
Apple has taken over the personal music player market, which Sony
created with its introduction of the Walkman in 1979. How can Sony
combat Apple?
• Objective
– Define a competitive advantage for each player.
• Issues to consider
– SWOT for each
– Differentiation vs. low cost
– What are customer needs? Are there different customer segments?
– Where in the value chain does each player add value to its customers?
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