【正文】 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. Case Workbook 2 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. 5 14 26 29 16 3 Table of Contents ? What is a Case Interview? ? The Case Interview Process ? ―Soft‖ Evaluative Criteria ? Types of Case Interviews ? Sample Frameworks and Applications ? Practice Cases 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. What is a Case Interview? 4 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. What is a Case Interview? ? A case interview is a type of job interview, used most frequently by strategy consulting firms, that allows an applicant to demonstrate his/her ability to solve a given business problem. During a case interview, an interviewer presents a situation or case and then asks the applicant to explore the underlying causes of the problem and suggest remendations to remedy the problem. The cases given tend to be real business situations, often drawn from the interviewer’s actual project experience. Case interviews typically last from thirty to fortyfive minutes and an applicant can expect to have several in the interview process at any given firm. ? Your success in a case interview will not depend on identifying the ―correct‖ answer, but rather on how clearly you define the problem, how logically you structure your analysis, and how well you municate your thoughts to the interviewer. Strategic consulting firms are looking for intelligent people who can approach business situations in an analytical fashion, think under pressure and maintain a professional presence with clients. A case interview provides excellent insight into how well you would perform in a strategy consulting situation. ? The purpose of this guide is to familiarize you with the process of a case interview, introduce you to some potential methodologies, and provide you with sample cases to practice. Learning about case interviews is also a helpful means to determine if strategic consulting is right for you, as these cases reflect the types of business situations and structured thinking strategy consultants encounter on a daily basis. 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. The Case Interview Process 6 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. Common Misconceptions about Case Interviews There are many misconceptions about the case interview and what the interviewer is looking for. Myth ? There is one right answer or approach to the case ? The interviewer expects you to get the right answer ? Industry knowledge is required to do well on the case Fact ? Usually there are several credible approaches and solutions ? The interviewer expects a thoughtful, structured response ? The interviewer expects you to be effective with the knowledge you have and make hypotheses based on sound mon sense 7 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. Case Interview Success Factors Case interview success depends on providing a thoughtful and structured response to the case problem ? Understand the case situation and what is being asked ? Analyze the case issues and potential solutions in a structured manner ? Make certain your thought processes are transparent to the interviewer ? Be creative, yet practical use your business judgment and give specifics ? Listen for suggestions and hints from the interviewer ? Engage the interviewer it is okay to ask for direction and clarification ? Manage time effectively maintain your momentum, don’t get bogged down on one point 8 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. The Case Interview Process: Structured Problem Solving ? The process of a case interview parallels that of a consulting engagement. First, you will be given a description of a case problem by the interviewer. This description may be as short as one sentence or as long as a page of detailed information. Once given the case description, you will need to understand the problem by asking wellthought out questions of the interviewer. The answers to these questions should allow you to develop an approach (framework) that you can use to analyze the situation. ? After you lay out the framework for the interviewer, you should discuss the analyses you would perform to determine potential solutions to the business problem. The interviewer may ask you to perform simple analyses to test your hypotheses. Finally, you should summarize your methodology with any remendations you may have. Listen to Case Clarify Problem Depose Problem Test Hypothesis Summarize Findings State Hypotheses 9 169。 20xx Accenture All Rights Reserved. Clarify the Problem Goal: Articulate Key Case Problem Activities: ? Ask clarifying questions ? Probe for additional information ? Assess case facts ? Pause to structure your thinking ? Summarize issues for discussion Clarify the Problem ? In consulting, understanding the client situation is fundamental to developing solutions to important problems as well as remendations for how a business could be run more effectively. A case interview models this by presenting you with information, asking you to make sense of it, and develop potential solutions. Clarifying the nature of the business issue (., declining profitability, loss of market share, or new petitive threats) is an important