知名咨询bcg面试实例

BCG面试实例在管理咨询公司的面试中,通常有一种被称为“商务问题”的面试方法，您的考官向您提供一种场景，然后要您提出解决问题的建议。您需要像一个顾问一样向考官问一些关键问题，通过这些关键问题反映您的思维逻辑，同时通过这些问题发现解决方案。下面是一个实例，请注意：同样的一个场景，基于您分析问题的逻辑将有无数种进展方式，绝对没有统一的答案或问题。场景YourclientisthelargestdiscountretailerinCanada,with500storesspreadthroughoutthecountry.Let’scallit“CanadaCo.”Forseveralyearsrunning,CanadaCohassurpassedthesecondlargestCanadianretailer(300stores)inbothrelativemarketshareandprofitability.ThelargestdiscountretailerintheUnitedStates,"USCo,"however,hasjustboughtoutCanadaCo'scompetitionandisplanningtoconvertall300storestoUSCostores.TheCEOofCanadaCoisquiteperturbedbythisturnofevents,andasksyouthefollowingquestions:"ShouldIbeworried?HowshouldIreact?"HowwouldyouadvisetheCEO?Ｑ：Well,beforeIcanadvisetheCEOIneedsomemoreinformationaboutthesituation.Firstofall,I'mnotsureIunderstandwhata"discountretailer"is!Ａ：Adiscountretailersellsalargevarietyofconsumergoodsatdiscountedprices,generallycarryingeverythingfromhousewaresandappliancestoclothing.Kmart,Woolworth,andWal-MartareprimeexamplesintheU.S.Ｑ：Oh,Isee.ThenIthinkitmakessensetostructuretheproblemthisway:First,let'sunderstandthecompetitionintheCanadianmarketandhowCanadaCohasethemarketleader.Thenlet'slookattheU.S.tounderstandhowUSCohasachieveditsposition.Attheend,wecanmergethetwodiscussionstounderstandwhetherUSCo'sstrengthintheU.S.istransferabletotheCanadianmarket.Ａ：Thatsoundsfine.Let'sstart,then,withtheCanadiandiscountretailmarket.Whatwouldyouliketoknow?Q：AreCanadaCo's500storesclosetothecompetition's300stores,ordotheyservedifferentgeographicareas?Ａ：Thestoresarelocatedinsimilargeographicregions.Infact,youmightevenseeaCanadaCostoreononecorner,andthecompetitionontheverynextcorner.Ｑ：DoCanadaCoandthecompetitionsellasimilarproductmix?Ａ：Yes.CanadaCo'sstorestendtohaveawidervarietyofbrandnames,butbyandlarge,theproductmixissimilar.Ｑ：AreCanadaCo'spricessignificantlylowerthanthecompetition's?Ａ：No.ForcertainitemsCanadaCoislessexpensive,andforothersthecompetitionislessexpensive,buttheaveragepricelevelissimilar.Ｑ：IsCanadaComoreprofitablejustbecauseithasmorestores,ordoesithavehigherprofitsperstore?Ａ：Itactuallyhashigherprofitsthanthecompetitiononaper-storebasis.Ｑ：Well,higherprofitscouldbetheresultoflowercostsorhigherrevenues.Arethehigherper-storeprofitsduetolowercoststhanthecompetition'sortheresultofhigherper-storesales?Ａ：CanadaCo'scoststructureisn'tanylowerthanthecompetition's.Itshigherper-storeprofitsareduetohigherper-storesales.Ｑ：Isthatbecauseithasbiggerstores?Ａ：No.CanadaCo'saveragestoresizeisapproximatelythesameasthatofthecompetition.Ｑ：Ifthey'resellingsimilarproductsatsimilarpricesinsimilar-sizedstoresinsimilarlocations,whyareCanadaCo'sper-storesaleshigherthanthecompetition's?Ａ：It'syourjobtofigurethatout!Ｑ：IsCanadaCobettermanagedthanthecompetition?Ａ：Idon'tknowthatCanadaCoasacompanyisnecessarilybettermanaged,butIcantellyouthatitsmanagementmodelforindividualstoresissignificantlydifferent.Ｑ：Howso?Ａ：Thecompetitor'sstoresarecentrallyownedbythecompany,whileCanadaCousesafranchisemodelinwhicheachindividualstoreisownedandmanagedbyafranchiseewhohasinvestedinthestoreandretainspartoftheprofit.Ｑ：Inthatcase,IwouldguessthattheCanadaCostoresareprobablybettermanaged,sincetheindividualstoreownershaveagreaterincentivetomaximizeprofit.Ａ：Youareexactlyright.ItturnsoutthatCanadaCo'shighersalesaredueprimarilytoasignificantlyhigherlevelofcustomerservice.Thestoresarecleaner,moreattractive,betterstocked,andsoon.Thecompanydiscoveredthisthroughaseriesofcustomersurveysitadministeredlastyear.Ithinkyou'vesufficientlycoveredtheCanadianmarket—let'smovenowtoadiscussionoftheU.S.market.Ｑ：HowmanystoresdoesUSCoownintheU.S.,andhowmanydoesthesecondlargestdiscountretailerown?Ａ：USCoowns4,000storesandthesecondlargestcompetitorownsapproximately1,000stores.Ｑ：AreUSCostoresbiggerthanthoseofthetypicaldiscountretailerintheU.S.?Ａ：Yes.USCostoresaverage200,000squarefeet,whereasthetypicaldiscountretailstoreisapproximately100,000squarefeet.Ｑ：ThosenumberssuggestthatUSCoshouldbesellingroughlyeighttimesthevolumeofthenearestU.S.competitor!Ａ：Close.USCo'ssalesareapproximately$5billion,whereasthenearestcompetitorsellsabout$1billionworthofmerchandiseＱ：IwouldthinkthatsalesofthatsizegiveUSCosignificantcloutwithsuppliers.Doesithavealowercostofgoodsthanthecompetition?Ａ：Infact,itscostofgoodsisapproximately15percentlessthanthatofthecompetition.Ｑ：Soitprobablyhaslowerprices.Ａ：Rightagain.Itspricesareonaverageabouttenpercentlowerthanthoseofthecompetition.&&&&Ｑ：SoitseemsthatUSCohasbeensosuccessfulprimarilybecauseithaslowerpricesthanitscompetitors.Ａ：That'spartlyright.Itssuccessprobablyalsohassomethingtodowithalargerselectionofproducts,giventhelargeraveragestoresize.Ｑ：HowdidUSCogetsomuchbiggerthanthecompetition?A：Itstartedbybuildingsuperstoresinruralmarketsservedmainlybymom-and-popstoresandsmalldiscountretailers.USCobetthatpeoplewouldbewillingtobuyfromit,anditwasright.Asitgrewanddevelopedmorecloutwithsuppliers,itbegantobuyoutotherdiscountretailersandconverttheirstorestotheUSCoformat.Ｑ：SowheneverUSCobuysoutacompetingstore,italsophysicallyexpandsit?Ａ：Notnecessarily.Sometimesitdoes,butwhenIsaiditconvertedittotheUSCoformat,Imeantthatitcarriesthesamebrandsatpricesthatareonaveragetenpercentlowerthanthecompetition's.Ｑ：WhatcriteriadoesUSCouseindecidingwhetheritshouldphysicallyexpandastoreit'sjustboughtout?Ａ：Itdependsonalotoffactors,suchasthesizeoftheexistingstore,localmarketcompetition,localrealestatecosts,andsoon,butIdon'tthinkweneedtogointothathere.Ｑ：Well,Ithoughtitmightberelevantintermsofpredictingwhatitwilldowiththe300storesthatitboughtinCanada.Ａ：Let'sjustassumethatitdoesn'tplantoexpandtheCanadianstoresbeyondtheircurrentsize.Ｑ：OK.IthinkI'velearnedenoughaboutUSCo.I'dliketoaskafewquestionsaboutUSCo'sabilitytosucceedintheCanadianmarket.DoesUSCohaveastrongbrandnameinCanada?Ａ：No.AlthoughmembersoftheCanadianbusinesscommunityarecertainlyfamiliarwiththecompanybecauseofitsU.S.success,theCanadianconsumerisbasicallyunawareofUSCo'sexistence.Ｑ：DoesUSCocarryproductssimilartoUSCo's,ordoestheCanadianconsumerexpectdifferentproductsandbrandsthantheU.S.discountretailconsumer?Ａ：Thetwocompaniescarrysimilarproducts,althoughtheCanadaCostoresleanmoreheavilytowardCanadiansuppliers.Ｑ：HowmuchvolumedoesCanadaCoactuallysell?Ａ：About$750millionworthofgoodsannually.Ｑ：IsthereanyreasontothinkthatthecostsofdoingbusinessforUSCowillbehigherintheCanadianmarket?Ａ：Canyoubemorespecific?Ｑ：Imean,forexample,arelabororleasingcostshigherinCanadathanintheU.S.?Ａ：Canadadoeshavesignificantlyhigherlaborcosts,andI'mnotsureaboutthecostsofleasingspace.Butwhatareyoudrivingat?Ｑ：Iwasthinkingthatifthere'sahighercostofdoingbusinessinCanada,perhapsUSCowillhavetochargehigherpricesthanitdoesintheU.S.tocoveritscosts.Ａ：That'sprobablytrue,butremember,CanadaComustalsocopewiththesamehighlaborcosts.CanyouthinkofadditionalcostsincurredbyUSCo'sCanadaoperationsthatwouldnotbeincurredbyCanadaCo?Ｑ：USComightincurhigherdistributioncoststhanCanadaCobecauseitwillhavetoshipproductfromitsU.S.warehousesuptoCanada.Ａ：Youarepartiallyright.CanadaCoisadvantagedindistributioncosts,sinceitsnetworkspanslessgeographicareaanditgetsmoreproductfromCanadiansuppliers.However,sinceCanadaCocontinuestogetagooddealofproductfromtheU.S.,theactualadvantagetoCanadaCoisnotgreat—onlyabouttwopercentofoverallcosts.Ｑ：AllthissuggeststhatUSCowillbeabletoretainasignificantpriceadvantageoverCanadaCo'sstores:ifnottenpercent,thenatleastseventoeightpercent.Ａ：Iwouldagreewiththatconclusion.Ｑ：ThenIwouldtelltheCEOthefollowing:Inthenearterm,youmightbesafe.YourstoreshaveamuchstrongerbrandnameinCanadathanUSCo’s,andtheyseemtobewellmanaged.However,asconsumersgetusedtoseeingpricesthatareconsistentlyseventoeightpercentlessatUSCo,theywillrealizethatshoppingatUSComeanssignificantsavingsoverthecourseoftheyear.Althoughsomeconsumerswillremainloyaloutofhabitorbecauseofyourhighlevelofservice,itisreasonabletoexpectthe"discount"shoppertoshopwherepricesarelowest.Moreover,overtimeyourbrand-nameadvantagewillerodeasUSCoesmorefamiliartoCanadianconsumers.YoucertainlyhavetoworryaboutlosingsignificantsharetoUSCostoresinthelongterm.Youshouldprobablydosomethingaboutitnow,beforeit'stoolate.Ａ：CanyousuggestpossiblestrategiesforCanadaCo?Ｑ：Maybeitcanfindwaystocutcostsandmaketheorganizationmoreefficient,soitcankeeppriceslowevenifitscostofgoodsishigher.Ａ：Anythingelse?Ｑ：Itmightconsiderinstitutingsomethinglikea"frequentshopper"program,whereconsumersaccumulatepointsthatentitlethemtofuturediscountsonmerchandise.Ａ：Whatmightb