“The only reason you use a framework or issue tree is to test a hypothesis!” — Victor Cheng Hypothesis Copy Share Image
“A variable cost changes, typically linearly, with the number of units sold.” — Victor Cheng Change Copy Share Image
“Remember, using the framework is not the goal. Testing the hypothesis is.” — Victor Cheng Goals Copy Share Image
“A fixed cost doesn’t change as the number of units sold changes.” — Victor Cheng Change Copy Share Image
“Based on this, my working hypothesis is that Omega & Omega must participate more effectively in this market segment if it wants… — Victor Cheng Investing Copy Share Image
“Never, ever propose a solution to a case until you’ve isolated and defined the problem. Then and only then can you propose… — Victor Cheng Problem Copy Share Image
“Competitor behaviors (customer segments, products, pricing strategy, distribution strategy, brand loyalty)” — Victor Cheng Brand loyalty Copy Share Image
“The overall mix between the two types of analysis is 70/30: 70 percent quantitative and 30 percent qualitative.” — Victor Cheng Quantitative Copy Share Image
“In this example, being “accurate enough” gets the job done in four weeks, whereas being “precisely accurate” requires six weeks.” — Victor Cheng Job Done Copy Share Image
“the easiest way to define the problem is to isolate the problem by using the process of elimination to identify what the… — Victor Cheng Problem Copy Share Image
“If your client isn’t winning in the marketplace, ask, “What is the competitor doing that we aren’t?” — Victor Cheng Competitor Copy Share Image
“Disaggregating Costs You need to break down (segment and isolate) cost into its component parts, and you can do this in many… — Victor Cheng Different ways Copy Share Image
“This structure synthesizes what you know, indicates what else you need to know, and lays out your plan to address those remaining… — Victor Cheng Approach Copy Share Image
“If you isolate the problem exceedingly well, usually the answer is extremely obvious, so stating your recommendation is just a formality, because… — Victor Cheng Interviewer Know Copy Share Image
“If your case or hypothesis necessitates a better qualitative understanding of your client’s company, you might use the section of the business… — Victor Cheng Business Copy Share Image
“Sometimes there’s more than one type of customer, so you need to identify not only the customer but also the key customer… — Victor Cheng Customer Segments Copy Share Image
“I was able to get to this much more specific point in a minute or two just by asking some of the… — Victor Cheng Answer Copy Share Image
“The Business Situation Framework The business situation framework is useful for developing a conceptual and qualitative understanding of a client’s business, market,… — Victor Cheng Investing Copy Share Image
“Product Analysis In the product branch of the framework, you look to understand the product at a qualitative level. I use this… — Victor Cheng Analysis Copy Share Image
“Candidate: Aha! Interesting. So industry growth is really being driven by a single segment that is offsetting flat and declining sales in… — Victor Cheng Growth Copy Share Image
“many clients’ companies lose money, and typically one of a dozen or so common reasons can explain why. Thus, one commonly used… — Victor Cheng Money Copy Share Image
“There are two ways to handle this: Say, “Now that I’ve analyzed sales, I’d like to analyze costs next.” Say, “I can… — Victor Cheng Profit Problem Copy Share Image
“Candidate: Because digital advertising is the only segment that’s growing, we need to understand more about what’s going on with customers, so… — Victor Cheng Customer Copy Share Image
“If you’re doing the analysis correctly, you are constantly drilling down one branch, discovering it’s not valid, revising your hypothesis (and often… — Victor Cheng Analysis Copy Share Image
“if the product category is emerging, with decades’ more growth ahead of it, making a strategic move within the market rather than… — Victor Cheng Computers Copy Share Image
“I recently took a client through this process, and one of the team members said to me, “It was very interesting that… — Victor Cheng Team Members Copy Share Image
“In addition, if senior clients don’t follow your argument, they might not tell you they’re confused. Instead, they’ll nod their heads as… — Victor Cheng Tell Confused Copy Share Image
“Based on the initial analysis, I recommend that the company expand Program B in the short term for the following reasons: Currently,… — Victor Cheng Business Copy Share Image
“Candidate: I sense we’re just missing something critical. Something is causing this to happen. Either customers have changed in a way that… — Victor Cheng Asking questions Copy Share Image
“organizational structure can be useful to analyze in cases that involve an execution aspect. Most cases deal with a big strategic decision—not… — Victor Cheng Business Copy Share Image
“When a consultant delivers a well-synthesized recommendation, she usually has done two things well. First, she has put the recommendations in context.… — Victor Cheng Connecting the dots Copy Share Image
“Here are the types of questions I consider asking during product analysis: What is the nature of the product? (What are its… — Victor Cheng Ask questions Copy Share Image
“What Are Each Segment’s Distribution Channel Preferences? A distribution channel, or sales channel, is a company’s means of reaching and selling to… — Victor Cheng Business Copy Share Image
“The most common M&A cases center on either strategic value or cost savings. The premise of a strategic value deal is that… — Victor Cheng Business Copy Share Image
“Questions on the following topics can help you identify helpful information about the company that you can then use to refine your… — Victor Cheng Brand loyalty Copy Share Image
“In the market you’re analyzing, it’s useful to know if there are a lot of small customers or only one or two… — Victor Cheng Customer Copy Share Image
“(sometimes it makes sense to buy a competitor in order to shut it down) as a way to boost industry prices.” — Victor Cheng Customer Copy Share Image
