SCQA

Sonic Wu

P-SCQA
Protagonists Who should be responsible for the problem? Speculate the tension / interest conflicts among protagonists Situation Describe what is the current situation As IS Many useful tools: 3C (Consumers, Competitors or competition, Company), Five Forces Model, 4P, PEST, BCG Matrix Complication Describe the tension / issue in the situation Focus on what changed the current situation Ask WHY WHY WHY and SO WHAT to find the real problem Question Describe the question in response to the issue / tension Answer Suggest answer to ease out or mitigate the issue / tension

Case: L&G seafood

Stuck with excess inventory, Lockhart & Gartner Seafood is toying with the idea of launching a second, inexpensive product line. But if Lockhart & Gartner stoops to conquer, rivals might retaliate with price cuts, and the new line might end up cannibalizing the old.

Whats the problem? What are your hypotheses? What are root causes? Whats your proposal?

Apply P-SCQA
Protagonists Cary, Marketing Director Alicia, Sales Director Possible Causes of Conflict: KPI As a consultant, having the sense of politics helps your work. Situation Seafood, high-value food Price elasticity probably is high (?) Consumers can tell the quality difference and are willing to pay premium for excellent quality. (?) L&G is in upmarket of seafood industry Market share=4%, a fragmented market (?) On average, L&G canned products have 30% higher price point than other brands. L&G has three product segments, each of them contributes 1/3 of total revenue. It seems like L&Gs market share and higher pricing didnt generate good profits. Complication Law, foreign competitors, and new technologies significantly change the competition. Question How to face industry-wide over capacity? Will it happen soon? Will price war come very soon? Can new technologies become entry barrier? Will the competition follow the same trajectory of wine industry under the pressure of over supply? How to solve current inventory issue? Is it urgent? Is it important? Does poor market prediction cause this? Does bad inventory management cause this? Does sell old ships solve the problem? Is it necessary to launch 2nd brand to eliminate inventory?
4

Answer

Apply P-SCQA: Problems

Protagonists Cary, Marketing Director Alicia, Sales Director Possible Causes of Conflict: KPI As a consultant, having the sense of politics helps your work. Situation Seafood, high-value food Price elasticity probably is high (?) Consumers can tell the quality difference and are willing to pay premium for excellent quality. (?) L&G is in upmarket of seafood industry Market share=4%, a fragmented market (?) On average, L&G canned products have 30% higher price point than other brands. L&G has three product segments, each of them contributes 1/3 of total revenue. It seems like L&Gs market share and higher pricing didnt generate good profits. Complication Law, foreign competitors, and new technologies significantly change the competition.

Gap b/w current status (AS IS) & ideal state (TO BE) Back To The Good Old Times Precautions

Question How to face industry-wide over capacity? Will it happen soon? Will price war come very soon? Can new technologies become entry barrier? Will the competition follow the same trajectory of wine industry under the pressure of over supply? How to solve current inventory issue? Is it urgent? Is it important? Does poor market prediction cause this? Does bad inventory management cause this? Does sell old ships solve the problem? Is it necessary to launch 2nd brand to eliminate inventory?

Answer

Back to the Good Old Times

I have a Vision

Apply P-SCQA: Hypotheses

Protagonists Cary, Marketing Director Alicia, Sales Director Possible Causes of Conflict: KPI As a consultant, having the sense of politics helps your work. Situation Seafood, high-value food Price elasticity probably is high (?) Consumers can tell the quality difference and are willing to pay premium for excellent quality. (?) L&G is in upmarket of seafood industry Market share=4%, a fragmented market (?) On average, L&G canned products have 30% higher price point than other brands. L&G has three product segments, each of them contributes 1/3 of total revenue. It seems like L&Gs market share and higher pricing didnt generate good profits. Complication Law, foreign competitors, and new technologies significantly change the competition. Question How to face industry-wide over capacity? Will it happen soon? Will price war come very soon? Can new technologies become entry barrier? Will the competition follow the same trajectory of wine industry under the pressure of over supply? How to solve current inventory issue? Is it urgent? Is it important? Does poor market prediction cause this? Does bad inventory management cause this? Does sell old ships solve the problem? Is it necessary to launch 2nd brand to eliminate inventory?
6

Answer

Try to propose more hypotheses and test them

Apply P-SCQA: Answers

Protagonists Cary, Marketing Director Alicia, Sales Director Possible Causes of Conflict: KPI As a consultant, having the sense of politics helps your work. Situation Seafood, high-value food Price elasticity probably is high (?) Consumers can tell the quality difference and are willing to pay premium for excellent quality. (?) L&G is in upmarket of seafood industry Market share=4%, a fragmented market (?) On average, L&G canned products have 30% higher price point than other brands. L&G has three product segments, each of them contributes 1/3 of total revenue. It seems like L&Gs market share and higher pricing didnt generate good profits. Complication Law, foreign competitors, and new technologies significantly change the competition. Question How to face industry-wide over capacity? Will it happen soon? Will price war come very soon? Can new technologies become entry barrier? Will the competition follow the same trajectory of wine industry under the pressure of over supply? How to solve current inventory issue? Is it urgent? Is it important? Does poor market prediction cause this? Does bad inventory management cause this? Does sell old ships solve the problem? Is it necessary to launch 2nd brand to eliminate inventory? Answer

Preemption, expansion, collaboration,

Operational excellence

Growth Strategy: Segmentation, Diversification, Vertical integration, internationalization