应届生求职--面试攻略案例真.docVIP

- 中国最先进的大学生互动求职平台 案例面世真题1:HELP! OUR PROFIT MARGINS ARE SHRINKING!You are the consultant to a company that produces large household appliances. Over the past three years, profit margins have fallen 20 percent and market share has tumbled to 15 percent of the market from 25 percent. What is the source of the companys problems?This is an example of the type of question an undergraduate student (or an MBA studentin an early interview round) might receive. The interviewer has done you the favor of defining the problem - your client is in something of a slump! This dialogue illustrates how you, the perspicacious candidate, might drill down into the core of the woes besetting the firm.You: How would you characterize the current marketplace for these products? Emerging?Mature?Interviewer: The product line is considered mature.You: How would you characterize your manufacturing process relative to your competition?(Youre looking to see if the company has a strategic advantage.)Interviewer: Can you be more specific?You: Do you benefit from an advantage in technology, economies of scale, exchange rates,or other manufacturing element over your competition?Interviewer: We have not updated our manufacturing process since 1988. We manufacture our products exclusively in the United States. As one of the oldest manufacturers ofthese products, we have a reliable customer base and a good reputation. As for price,we are one of the lower-priced in the market, though not the lowest.You: Do any of your competitors manufacture overseas?Interviewer: Our number one competitor produces all of its appliances in Indonesia.(Heres your clue - manufacturing outside the country significantly lowers costs.)You: It probably suffices to say that some of your decline in profit can be attributedto the increased costs you are facing relative to older manufacturing techniques and higher costs associated with manufacturing domestically. This is especially toxic in a mature market where consumers are mostly aware of the product category and the product may be considered a commodity. (A commodity marketplace is one in which customers make their purchasing decisions largely on price. For example, toilet paper is largely a commodity market, where consumers buy whatevers on sale.)Lets talk about market share now. Can you tell me about any recent market research you have regarding the strength of your brand, price, your products position, and any promotional activity you have had?Interviewer: Our market research department has told us that consumers are confused about the product category, that they do not understand the differences between our brand and our competitors brands. We sell to all major appliance retailers in the U.S. We promote aggressively twice a year, and have smaller promotions once a quarter. (This is consistent with the description of a commodity product. The ways of breaking out of commodity markets include promotions and making value-added differences in the brand - like, in the case of toilet paper, introducing new designer colors and specially quilted cotton-blend paper.)You: What form does your promotional activity take?Interviewer: We offer a price discount to consumers twice a year. We regularly advertise in major magazines targeted to our consumer, and we have an active outdoor campaign underway.You: It would appear you are competing in an undifferentiated marketplace and there may be anopportunity to capture additional share through an aggressive brand differentiation effort. I believe itwould also be worth investigating the efficacy of your current promotional programs, relative to yourcompetition. The consumer may be responsive to other types of promotions that havent been utilizedby the company as of yet.案例面世真题 2:COST-SAVINGS ANALYSIS FOR FOOD SERVICES COMPANYCost-savings analysis for food services companyIn this case, we will provide you with information regarding a client situation andask you questions regarding the case issues. After you submit your answer, wellprovide a detailed Bain answer that you can compare with your ideas.Remember, in case interviews there is no right answer: interviewers look forproblem-solving skills, creativity and common sense. You will not be able to skipquestions in this online case, so take your time and have fun!Question 1The client situation:A large fast food chain has hired Bain to improve the companys profitability.Youre about to have an initial brainstorming session with your team around yourclients options, and you want to collect your thoughts first.How would you begin to tackle your clients profitability problem?Your answer:Bain recommended answer:Your interviewer wants to know that you have a structure in mind. An appropriatestructure for this case would be the profit equation. Be sure to state that to yourinterviewer.For example:Profit is: total revenue total cost.Where Revenue = Price * Quantity and Costs = Fixed Costs + Quantity * (VariableCosts).In order for the company to improve its profitability, management needs toincrease revenues and/or decrease costs.So to begin tackling my clients profit problem I am going to look at these twosides of the equation: Could the client increase prices? How would customers react? Could the client sell more meals, either at existing branches or throughopening new ones? Are there other creative ways to grow revenue (enter into large-scalecatering contracts, for example)? Could the client decrease our fixed costs by selling some of our branches orreal estate? Could the client reduce the quantity of products they buy, such asingredients for their meals? How else could they reduce their costs?Question 2At your case team meeting, your manager informs the team the customer is pricesensitive, the market is fairly saturated, and that the fixed costs are pretty stable.Thus Bain and the client agree that the team should focus on lowering variablecosts. Specifically the client wants to reduce their spending on purchased items(items the client buys from others and then uses or offers to their customers, likethe meat in the hamburgers or the ketchup packets).Without knowing much more about the situation, what would yousuggest are some ways to do so? Which ideas seem the most attractiveand why?Your answer:analyse the supplier of purchased items to see if there exist the space to reducethe purchaseing cost. Then contacting several similar suppliers, and get thereasonable price of raw materialsBain recommended answer:Purchased goods in this business fall primarily into 2 categories: food andpackaging. Variable costs are a function of: price and volume. Therefore, the clientneeds to reduce volumes purchased or negotiate lower prices.Food: We could negotiate lower food prices with our suppliers (consolidate ourpurchasing, etc.). We could look for cheaper ingredients. This sounds risky because it couldlower the quality of the food that we sell. We could reduce the volume used. For the same reason, this sounds riskybecause it would change our recipes, one of our competitive advantages inproducing winning recipes.Packaging: We could negotiate lower prices with our suppliers or look for cheaperalternatives. We could reduce the volume used.Recommendation: Most attractive ideas are: negotiating lower food prices or packagingprices, looking for cheaper packaging materials, or reducing the volumeused.Question 3At this point in the brainstorming session, the VP adds that two years ago, thecompany launched a program to centralize purchasing and successfully negotiatedmuch lower prices. Therefore, it is critical to determine if you could reduce thevolume of goods that the client purchases. How could you reduce the volumeof purchased goods?Your answer:11Bain recommended answer:Some good creative answers here include (but are in no way limited to): Can the client change the shape or size of food containers? Can the client packaging for families be consolidated? Can the client reduce the weight of the packaging while still protecting thefood? Can the client reduce other qualities of the packaging including degree ofcolor or logo prevalence without sacrificing their brand? Can the client lock bathrooms so that non-customers do not waste toiletpaper and towels? Can the client charge for extra condiments? Can the client reduce the size or number of napkins they purchase?Question 4Bain focuses on components that make up large portions of a companys costs:reductions in these areas will have the largest impact on a clients overall costs.Bains philosophy is to always focus on where the value is. At first glance, napkinswould not appear to fall within this category because they are so low cost. Butthere is a new napkin dispensing technology on the market that you have heardabout and think could save the client some money. You decide to investigate.One way to reduce volume is to reduce how many napkins a customer takes.Customers in fast food chains often take many more napkins than are needed forthe meal, or actively hoard them to take home. One action some chains havetaken to combat this is to switch their napkin dispensers from small metaldispensers (from which you pull napkins out in bunches) to larger plasticdispensers (from which you pull napkins one at a time, like a reverse Kleenexbox). These dispensers are produced by major paper manufacturers.Lets assume your chain came to you with the following question: How much money could we save per year in the US from using the newtype of napkin dispenser in all restaurants?What information would you like to know from the company? (Do not takeinto account the cost of the dispensers for now.)Your answer:number of customers per day, the average paper usage per mealBain recommended answer:Key information that would be necessary includes: Number of restaurants Number of customer visits per store per year Number of napkins used per customer now Number of napkins used per customer after the switch Price per napkinQuestion 5As you talk through the data points that you would need to gather with yourcolleagues, you learn from a fellow AC who worked for a local restaurant that acase of 6000 napkins cost his client $28. Thus, a reasonable price per napkin isabout $0.005.Conduct your estimates as if your client is similar to McDonalds in terms of thenumber of outlets.Your manager calls you for a quick estimation of the market size beforegetting the actual data from your client. Use creative approaches tohypothesize values for each of the above pieces of information and thencalculate the estimated savings.Your answer:10000*365*100*(3-1)*0.005=3650000Bain recommended answer:The interviewer is not looking for you to know the values of each of these buckets,however it is important for you to make reasonable estimates and be able todefend your answer. Were your estimates near these, or did you at least takesimilar approaches?Number of restaurantsActual answer: 12,000 McDonalds in the US.One estimation approach:Think of your hometown: How many McDonalds are there for the number ofpeople? Assume there is a McDonalds for every 20-25,000 Americans, with apopulation of 275 million people in the US, that would be 11-13,750 McDonalds.Other approaches: Estimate the entire fast food market and then estimate McDonalds share Estimate the area covered per McDonalds across the United States.Note: With this approach, be careful to account for population differencesbetween 10 square miles of NYC and 10 square miles of Utah.Number of customers per restaurant per dayActual answer: Fast food restaurants expect around 1,500 customers a day.One estimation approach:Assume the 20,000 people per McDonalds visit an average of twice a month,thats 24 times a year per customer or 480,000 visits / 365 days = 1,315customers per day.Other approaches: One might take this a step further during a case interview and attempt tosegment these customers. For example, one might assume 50% of therestaurants customers are drive-through and 25% of the remaining taketheir food to go. Drive-through customers do not take, but are givennapkins. To go customers may be more likely to hoard napkins as theycan not go back to the counter for more.Note: This would influence potential answers to the next question - but fornow, assume you did not take this step and all customers are the same.Number of napkins used per customer per visitActual answer: Five napkins with old dispensers and two napkins with prohibitivedispensers for a savings of three napkins per customer.One estimation approach:During a case interview you would most likely just use personal experience here -how many napkins do you take or see others take when youre at a fast foodrestaurant?Other approaches: Bain would send people to the chain to watch napkin taking behavior or callfast food restaurants with both kinds of dispensers to find out how manynapkins they go through a day.Calculations$0.005 per napkin * 3 napkins * 1500 customers * 365 days per year * 12,000restaurants = $98.6M dollars saved in napkin purchases.Question 6Does this estimate sound reasonable? How would you go about feeling comfortable with this figure andpressure checking your assumptions? What would you want to flag for your manager as factors thatmight significantly alter the answer?Your answer:11Bain recommended answer:To check the magnitude of the overall number some options include: Looking at a comparable companys operating income to see whatpercentage of the expense napkins account for. Find out what your client currently spends per restaurant per year onnapkins.Keep in mind that with a company of this size any small changes in assumptionswill significantly alter your answer. Some things to flag for your manager: The chain you work for probably gets a significantly better deal on napkinpricing due to the magnitude of their orders (in contrast to thesingle-location restaurant napkin price estimate you received) Up to 50% of customers are drive-through and their napkin behaviorshould not change. This would reduce the savings by up to 50% The three napkin reduction estimate needs refining. Perhaps a pilotprogram would need to be done to see if the dispensers really have thedesired effectQuestion 7Assume you would need 10 dispensers per store for a total of 120,000 dispensers.Also note that napkins in these dispensers cost more at a price of $.01 per napkin(remember it is the paper companies that make the new dispensers).At what price per dispenser would the investment not be worth doing?Your answer:11Bain recommended answer:120,000 * cost of dispenser + 2 napkins * .$01 per napkin * 1,500 customers *365 days * 12,000 stores = 5 napkins * .005 per napkin * 1,500 customers * 365days * 12,000 stores120,000 * cost of dispenser = $32.85MThe most you would be willing to pay per dispenser would be $273.Note: In an actual case interview you can use round number estimates so thatmental math is easier.Question 8The actual cost of these dispensers is around $50. Can you see any other factors your client should consider beforemaking a decision? What other advantages and disadvantages might there be to thisswitch? (Impact on costs and customers.) How might you evaluate the impact of the extraneous factors?Your answer:11Bain recommended answer:Some potential ideas include:Advantages: Fewer napkins used per day leads to less restocking which may meanbetter customer service or lower labor cost. Better relationship with paper manufacturer (potential for better pricing).Disadvantages: With the new dispenser locking you into a paper provider you may losebuyer power. There is the potential for additional napkin price increases inthe future. Customer reaction: Will a customer find this to be poor service? What if heor she needs to grab a handful of napkins after a spill?Implementation: Management will need to negotiate a contract that includes limits on futurepricing. Bain will need to do customer research and pilot programs to evaluatecustomer reaction.And many, many more! As you can see, the keys to a good case interview arelogical assumptions, creative thinking, and basic quantitative ability. Take time tothink through problems and share your thought process with your interviewer andyou will do great.案例面世真题 3:MARKET SIZINGDuring your case interview, you may be asked to make estimates or solve a problem. Youll find twoexamples below that will help you think through the process of arriving at reasonable estimates. Thethird question is a brainteaser a reminder to think creatively when tackling any case interview problem.Q: How many pay phones are there on the island of Manhattan?A: A logical place to begin your analysis might be to ballpark the number of pay phones on Manhattanstreet corners. If you think of New York City as a grid of streets, you might guess it is about 300 streetslong (north to south) by ten streets wide (east to west), so it has approximately 3,000 intersections. Youmight then assume there is one pay phone for every two intersections, for a total of about 1,500 payphones.If youre feeling really creative, you might subtract the number of intersections that are “invalidated”because they fall in the area of Central Park. Say Central Park is ten blocks long by two blocks wide, or20 intersections. Using your one-pay-phone-for-every-two-intersectio