2015 Mini Case

Competion Case
Solving Workshop
JHGCC Case Competition Committee
Nov. 10, 2015

Outline of the Event

3 hours to design strategy for a real world
business situation
1 round present to a closed panel of judges from
McKinsey, LEK, ClearView and IMS
1 hour to edit slides between 1st and 2nd round
5 teams will be selected as finalists, present to
open audience

What Judges are Looking

For
Structure
Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive (MECE)

Analysis
Identified factors with the biggest impact
Use data and assumptions to support recommendation

Recommendation
Answers the question and so what?

Presentation
Clarity, concision, slides, figures, charts

Structure
1. Provides precision in communicating the
message
Forces the writer to be explicit about analyses and
conclusions
Provides clarity to the reader

2. Makes case solving more efficient

Issues can be analyzed in parallel
Discerns issues necessary to test hypothesis and
reveals gaps in logic

Building an Issue Tree

Governing Thought:
States the answer to the question
raised in the readers mind
(hypothesis)

Explains how
or why

Key Line:
Major points which, taken
together prove the answer

Support:
Data and facts which
support the key line

Adapted from Deloitte U of T

Developing your
Hypothesis
A limited amount of unstructured research will
be required to come up with a hypothesis

After this data gathering, take your best guess

at what your answer is. Use your intuition and
business sense.

A hypothesis is an answer to the question that is

presently not supported by data. It must be
testable.

Dividing up Analysis
Hypothesis

Key
Line:

Manufacturing
Manufacturing costs
costs are
are
100%
100% lower,
lower, resulting
resulting in
in
break
break even
even point
point for
for new
new
factory
factory of
of 11 year
year

Team Member
1

Company
Company XX Should
Should
outsource
outsource its
its
manufacturing
manufacturing of
of product
product
YY to
China
to China

Company
Company XX can
can leverage
leverage
its
its experience
experience with
with existing
existing
factories
factories in
in China
China to
to
maintain
maintain operational
operational
efficiency
efficiency and
and quality
quality of
of
product
product YY

Team Member
2

Manufacturing
Manufacturing technology
technology
in
in China
China is
is on
on par
par with
with the
the
US
US and
and will
will allow
allow Company
Company
XX to
to keep
keep pace
pace with
with
competitors
competitors as
as technology
technology
advances.
advances.

Team Member
3

Adapted from Deloitte U of T

Dividing up Analysis
Hypothesis

Key
Line:

Manufacturing
Manufacturing costs
costs are
are
100%
100% lower,
lower, resulting
resulting in
in
break
break even
even point
point for
for new
new
factory
factory of
of 11 year
year

Team Member
1
Slides
2-4

Company
Company XX Should
Should
outsource
outsource its
its
manufacturing
manufacturing of
of product
product
YY to
China
to China

Company
Company XX can
can leverage
leverage
its
its experience
experience with
with existing
existing
factories
factories in
in China
China to
to
maintain
maintain operational
operational
efficiency
efficiency and
and quality
quality of
of
product
product YY

Team Member
2
Slides
5-7

Slide 1

Manufacturing
Manufacturing technology
technology
in
in China
China is
is on
on par
par with
with the
the
US
US and
and will
will allow
allow Company
Company
XX to
to keep
keep pace
pace with
with
competitors
competitors as
as technology
technology
advances.
advances.

Team Member
3
Slides 810
Adapted from Deloitte U of T

Consider Quantitative and

Qualitative Evidence
Quantitative
Often the hard justification for a decision.
Ex. Increase in Revenue, decrease in cost,
increase in market share
Qualitative
Supports the explains the practical applications of
quantitative data
Ex. Higher costs due to decrease in worker
productivity, decrease revenue due to lower brand
perception, loss of market share due to inferior
technology

Some tips for time

efficiency
Prepare slide templates ahead of time
Saves time on making slides, which can add up

Understand business basics

How to read an income statement
Terminology Ex. Revenue, costs, market share, scale

Collect relevant resources ahead of time (industry will be

released at 6 pm night before)
Market reports, market trends, census data, financial information,
major movements in industry

Become comfortable with ambiguity

Your answer will not be 100% irrefutable, but must be defensible
Make reasonable assumptions, consider only the most important
factors

A good recommendation
Addresses the question that was asked
Contains qualitative and quantitative justification
Considers major risks
Considers so what?. Eg. Customers will demand
the new technology, which releases in 2016. So
what? What does that mean for us? What do we
do?
Remember this is not a market report or SWOT
analysis, the purpose is to recommend a strategy

Presentation Pointers
Be concise, minimize text, convey only what is
necessary to arrive at the conclusion
Remember to communicate how this relates to the
recommendation. Dont make the reader work.
Good rule of thumb is to tell me what youre going to
tell me, tell me, then tell me what you just told me

Neat professional slides help the reader follow along

Practice your presentation
Confidence, enthusiasm and professionalism enhance
your message

Example from Last Year

Situation
Tesla is a electric car manufacturer with the goal of
increasing adoption of electric vehicles

Complication
Tesla plans to build a $5 Billion Gigafactory to
produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles and
other applications

Questions
What should Tesla do to maximize profitability from
the Gigafactory?