Company Core Questions

Question 1

What are the core Company questions?

Answer 1

Company Core Questions:

1. Profit & revenue trends
2. Customer segmentation
3. Product mix
4. Production capabilities and capacity
5. Brand
6. Distribution Channels
7. What constitutes success (WCS)

Question 2

Company: Why is understanding profit and revenue trends important?

Answer 2

To get a feel for the size of the company and how it’s been doing.

Bonus: ask if the company is publicly traded or a private company.

Question 3

Company: Why is understanding customer segmentation important?

Answer 3

To craft a strategy, need to understand the company’s customer base.

Question 4

Company: Why is understanding product mix important? What is most important to know about product mix?

Answer 4

1. Need to understand the costs and margins associated with each product.
2. Need to understand whether there have been recent changes to the company’s product mix.

Question 5

Company: Why is understanding the company’s brand important? What is most important to know about brand?

Answer 5

1. How strong is the brand?
2. Is the company a market leader?
3. Has the brand strength faded?

Question 6

Company: Why is understanding distribution channels important? What is most important to know about distribution channels?

Answer 6

1. How are the product or services currently distributed to customers?
2. In general, the more distribution channels the better, so is it possible for the company to expand its channels?

Question 7

Company:

Why is understanding costs and margins important?

Answer 7

1. Help us understand our most profitable products / revenue streams.
2. Allows us to benchmark against other companies in our industry to determine if there is room for improvement.

Question 8

Company: Why is understanding production capabilities and capacity important?

Answer 8

Helps us understand if the company has the ability to expand without additional investment. Also let’s us understand if there is unused capacity and, if so, helps us explore why it isn’t being used.

Question 9

Company: How is asking “what constitutes success” different from identifying the objective of the case?

Answer 9

WCS adds quantifiable metrics to the objective.

• The objective is a high-level goal we are trying to achieve (e.g., enter a new market: yes or now; achieve profitability).
• What constitutes success is a more granular definition of the objective or goal (e.g., entering a new market means capturing at least 10%; achieving profitability means at least 20% net margin).