文档介绍：案例面世真题 1:Help! Our Profit Margins are Shrinking!
You are the consultant to a company that produces large household appliances. Over the past three
years, profit margins have fallen 20 percent and market share has tumbled to 15 percent of the
market from 25 percent. What is the source of the company's problems?
This is an example of the type of question an undergraduate student (or an MBA student in an
early interview round) might receive. The interviewer has done you the favor of defining the
problem - your client is in something of a slump! This dialogue illustrates how you, the
perspicacious candidate, might drill down into the core of the woes besetting the firm.
You: How would you characterize the current marketplace for these products? Emerging? Mature?
Interviewer: The product line is considered mature.
You: How would you characterize your manufacturing process relative to your competition?
(You're looking to see if the company has a strategic advantage.)
Interviewer: Can you be more specific?
You: Do you benefit from an advantage in technology, economies of scale, exchange rates, or
other manufacturing element over your competition?
Interviewer: We have not updated our manufacturing process since 1988. We manufacture our
products exclusively in the United States. As one of the oldest manufacturers of these products, we
have a reliable customer base and a good reputation. As for price, we are one of the lower-priced
in the market, though not the lowest.
You: Do any of your competitors manufacture overseas?
Interviewer: Our number one competitor produces all of its appliances in Indonesia. (Here's your
clue - manufacturing outside the country significantly lowers costs.)
You: It probably suffices to say that some of your decline in profit can be attributed to the
increased costs you are facing relative to older manufacturing techniques and higher costs
associated with manufact