Market Entry - Structure issue tree

Question

Hello everyone! I have seen two market entry cases with completely different answers structure-wise. I know that every case is different but I think that these two cases are different in structure except for the competition part. Could anyone explain why in one case they mainly talk about “Sales/pricing/Demand” while the other case is simply the 3C's model with distribution channel added?

My second question is: How can I know with a market entry case when I should incorporate Market size/profitability and when not?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi there,

They have to be different structures as they refer to different problems in different industries (one about expanding into an adjacent market; the other one about using a new channel).

Having said this, I am afraid to say that both structures are quite weak, as they are generic, not MECE and not that much focused to the problem at hand.

On the first case, it doesn't even understand the real problem it is trying to solve. The case is about a company that already is present in baby related products and wants to enter a new category.

So the case is not only about the market being attractive (big, growing, high margins, low entry barriers)
But also about leveraging the specific strenghts the company has in other categories into baby clothing (what do customers value, and does the company have a specific advantage in their value proposition vs. current competitors).
Afterwards, you need to look into ability to place your product in retail stores / relevant channels (you have to assess your value proposition to retailers as well…)
And to make sure you can do it in a profitable way.

Now when you look into this structure, you can confirm it is specific to the problem at hand, and I am 100% confident you could not use it to the beer problem. This is a good sign. You seem to be looking for the opposite - a structure that you can use regardless of the problem unique features. I strongly advise against that.

Now I won't provide a solution for the second case - but with what I've shown above, you should be able to understand the difference and try to come up with a good structure on your own. What I am doing there is actually being objective-driven. No buckets, but instead “what needs to be true” so that they are successful in entering the new product category, and considering the specifics of the situation.

Feel free to reach out if you want specific coaching on how to improve your structuring skills in order to make them more specific to the cases.

Answer 2

Hi Tom,

You might want to take a seat…there are “infinite” Market Entry frameworks. Same goes for Profitability, Growth, M&A, etc.

There are so many types of case prompts within each of these topics. Please stop memorizing singular frameworks for each of these and learn how to actually think through the problem in a structured way!

Just some examples of Market Entry types (all with different “frameworks”:

Should we enter x geography?
Should we launch x product?
How should we enter x geography?
How should we launch x product?
We've determined x market is big/growing and we want to enter. Should we?
We are assessing 3 markets to enter - which one should we enter.
We are looking to partner with x firm to enter x market. Is this a good idea?

And the list goes on!

Answer 3

Hi, here some tips and tricks as well as explanations of what the interviewer expects: 1. General Approach to Struc... (read entire answer)

Hi, here some tips and tricks as well as explanations of what the interviewer expects: 1. General Approach to Structuring a Problem Instead of relying on rigid structures, I e... (read entire answer)