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Case Type Hypothesis

Hi All,

What are some of the typical hypotheses for New Product launch, Market Extry, Capacity Expansion, etc. Cases?

Thanks

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Coach
on Aug 9, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

The major mistake of the candidates is that they start using the hypothesis and neglect having a proper structure. 

There are two ways to use the hypothesis:

First - presenting a structure using the hypothesis. For example, if you are having a PE (private equity) case, you should do the following:

1) Make classic structure (market, company, competitors, feasibility of exit)

2) Make subpoints (e.g. in market: size, growth rates, profitability, segmentation, etc)

3) Present your 1st level Hypothesis:

  • - "In order to understand whether we should invest in Company A, I would like to check a number of hypothesis - that the Market is Attractive, the Company is Attractive, the competition is favorable and we have good opportunities for of exit" 

4) Present the main 2nd level Hypothesis: 

  • "In the market, I would like to make sure that the market is big enough and growing;
  • In the company I would like to find additional opportunities for growth;
  • In competition I would like to check that the market is fragmented enough;
  • Finally, I would like to check if we have potential buyers and can achieve desired exit multiples"

Another way to use hypothesis is using the hypothesis to prioritize your analysis:

1) Make a structure: "Problem in sales may be related to Sales Motivation, Sales Strategy, Sales Coverage, and Sales Process:

2) Prioritize a part of the structure based on your knowledge / common sense / available data: "Taking into account that motivation is the core problem of the sales organization, I would like to prioritize this part of the analysis"

Good luck!

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