How to Match Problem Solving Frameworks with Case Interview (Part 5 of 12) | caseinterview

Summary

本视频脚本深入探讨了案例面试中的问题解决框架。首先，介绍了案例面试的开场、分析、结尾的通用步骤，然后重点讨论了与特定案例情况相匹配的具体问题解决框架。脚本强调了利润问题、商业情境、并购以及供需框架这四种主要的案例类型，并提供了识别这些问题类型的关键信号。接着，详细解释了如何使用盈利性框架来解决利润问题，强调了在解决案例时需要考虑的数学因素和商业背景。此外，还讨论了如何根据案例的不同阶段灵活运用或结合使用这些框架，以及在面试中如何有效地展示和沟通解决方案。最后，提到了在准备案例面试时，练习的重要性，包括在白板上绘制和记录笔记的技巧。

Takeaways

• 📈 **结构化思维**：在案例面试中，首先需要对问题进行结构化，明确解决问题的方法。
• 🔍 **问题类型**：商业问题通常分为四类：利润问题、商业情境、并购情境和供需框架。
• 💰 **利润问题**：利润问题通常涉及收入下降、成本失控或价格问题，框架为利润=收入-成本。
• 🚀 **商业情境**：商业情境包括公司战略、新市场进入、新产品引入或竞争对手分析等。
• 🔄 **并购情境**：涉及是否应该收购某公司，通常容易识别，关键词为“并购”。
• ⚖️ **供需框架**：当提到“供应”或“需求”并给出相关数字时，可能需要使用供需框架。
• 🔑 **触发词**：识别问题类型的关键词，如利润、收入、成本、供应、需求等，以确定适用的框架。
• 📚 **框架选择**：根据问题的具体情况选择最合适的框架，有时可能需要结合使用多个框架。
• 🤔 **深入分析**：在数学计算的基础上，进一步分析问题的商业背景和市场环境。
• 🛠️ **实践应用**：通过练习，熟悉并记忆框架的步骤，以便在实际面试中灵活应用。
• 📊 **白板练习**：练习在白板上边讲边画，模拟面试时可能需要的实际操作。
• ✈️ **行业特点**：在高固定成本行业中，如航空业，供需问题尤为重要，因为它们影响着行业结构。

Q & A

什么是案例面试中结构化问题的方法？

在案例面试中，结构化问题的方法是定义我们如何解决问题的方式。这通常涉及到识别问题的类型，比如利润问题、商业情境问题、并购问题或供需问题，并匹配相应的问题解决框架。

利润问题通常涉及哪些因素？

利润问题通常涉及收入、成本和利润之间的关系。如果提到这三个因素中的任何一个，通常可以认为是一个利润问题，框架可以表示为‘利润 = 收入 - 成本’。

商业情境问题包括哪些类型的案例？

商业情境问题包括公司战略、进入新市场、引入新产品、竞争对手分析以及并购等。这些问题通常需要在市场环境、竞争对手、客户以及公司内部环境中寻找答案。

并购问题在案例面试中如何识别？

并购问题通常很容易识别，因为会直接提到‘合并’或‘收购’这样的关键词。问题可能是关于是否应该收购某特定公司，或者在一般意义上是否应该进行收购。

供需框架通常用于解决哪些类型的问题？

供需框架通常用于解决与行业产能相关的问题，如在高固定成本行业中，供需关系如何影响行业行为，或者在市场结构性变化时，是否应该增加或减少产能。

在案例面试中，如何确定应该使用哪个框架？

在案例面试中，确定使用哪个框架的关键是寻找触发因素，这些触发因素可以帮助识别问题的类别。例如，提到利润、收入或成本时，可能需要使用利润框架；提到合并或收购时，可能需要使用商业情境框架；而提到供应或需求时，可能需要使用供需框架。

为什么在案例面试中使用较少的框架是有益的？

使用较少的框架有助于减少关于使用哪个框架的争论，使得面试者能够更快地通过框架的初步阶段，专注于问题的实质。熟悉几个框架并能熟练运用它们，比记住很多框架但对它们的应用不够熟练要好。

在案例面试的准备过程中，为什么练习是重要的？

练习可以帮助面试者熟悉框架的步骤，提高对框架的记忆和应用能力。通过模拟实际面试的情况，比如使用白板和标记笔进行演示，可以增强面试者的现场表现和逻辑思维能力。

案例面试中，如何处理涉及多个类别的情境？

在案例面试中，如果情境涉及多个类别，通常首先识别为利润问题，然后通过数学方法找出问题所在，接着进入商业情境分析原因，最后可能需要考虑供需框架来评估行业变化对经济的影响。

为什么航空业在案例面试中经常被提及？

航空业经常被提及是因为它是一个典型的高固定成本行业，其供需关系和产能问题对于理解行业行为至关重要。航空业的例子有助于展示如何在案例面试中应用供需框架。

在案例面试中，如何处理那些看似简单但实际上包含复杂因素的案例？

在处理看似简单但实际上包含复杂因素的案例时，重要的是不要被问题的表面现象所迷惑。应该使用数据和框架来分析问题，即使是简单的案例，如柠檬水摊，也可能涉及到需求曲线和供应曲线等复杂的经济概念。

为什么在案例面试中，了解外部环境和内部环境对于解决问题很重要？

了解外部环境和内部环境对于解决问题很重要，因为这有助于面试者全面理解问题的背景和上下文。这包括市场状况、竞争对手的行为、客户需求以及公司自身的优势和劣势。这种全面的视角有助于制定更有效的解决方案。

Outlines

00:00

📈 案例面试概览与框架介绍

本段落介绍了案例面试的开场、分析、结束的通用步骤，并讨论了如何根据具体案例情况选择合适的问题解决框架。提到了案例面试的四个主要类别：利润问题、商业情境、并购以及供需框架。强调了利润等于收入减成本的基本框架，并指出了不同类别的案例可能需要不同的框架来解决。

05:01

🔍 商业情境与供需框架的深入分析

第二段落深入讨论了商业情境类别，包括公司战略、进入新市场、新产品引入以及竞争对手分析。同时，详细解释了并购案例的特点，以及如何通过供需框架来探索行业容量问题。强调了在确定问题类别时寻找触发点的重要性，并介绍了如何根据不同的商业情境选择合适的框架。

10:03

🎯 框架的灵活运用与案例实践

第三段落讨论了在案例面试中如何灵活运用框架，以及如何从利润问题过渡到商业情境，再到供需框架。提到了在实践中根据不同情况创造性地组合框架，以及如何在面试中使用白板和标记来展示思路。还提到了在高固定成本行业中，如航空业，供需问题的重要性和常见性。

Keywords

💡案例面试

案例面试是一种评估应聘者分析问题和解决问题能力的方法，通常用于咨询、金融等行业的招聘过程中。在视频中，案例面试被详细讨论，包括如何开启、分析和结束一个案例，以及如何准备和练习。

💡框架

在案例面试中，框架是指用于组织和分析问题的结构。视频提到了几种不同的框架，如盈利性框架、商业情境框架和供需框架，每种框架都适用于不同类型的商业问题。

💡盈利问题

盈利问题通常涉及收入下降、成本失控或利润减少。视频中提到，这类问题可以通过“利润=收入-成本”这一基本公式来分析，是案例面试中常见的问题类型之一。

💡商业情境

商业情境案例涉及公司战略、市场进入、新产品推出、竞争对手分析等。这类问题要求应聘者考虑市场、竞争对手、客户需求等多方面因素，是案例面试中非常普遍的类型。

💡合并与收购

合并与收购案例涉及两家公司是否应该合并或一家公司是否应该收购另一家公司。这类问题需要分析行业动态、公司战略和潜在的经济效益。

💡供需框架

供需框架用于分析行业产能、价格和成本等问题，特别适用于固定成本高的行业，如航空业。视频中提到，当案例中出现供应量和需求量的具体数字时，通常需要使用供需框架。

💡结构化

在案例面试中，结构化是指定义解决问题的方法。视频中强调了在开启一个案例时，结构化是至关重要的一步，它帮助应聘者明确如何系统地处理和分析案例。

💡触发词

触发词是案例中的关键词，可以帮助应聘者识别问题的类型并选择相应的框架。例如，提到“利润”、“收入”或“成本”时，通常意味着需要使用盈利性框架。

💡数学驱动

数学驱动的问题是指那些可以通过数学计算和分析来确定问题核心的问题。在案例面试中，如盈利问题，往往是数学驱动的，需要通过计算来找出问题的数值驱动因素。

💡灵活性

灵活性是指在案例面试中根据问题的不同特点，灵活运用或结合不同框架的能力。视频中提到，随着经验的积累，应聘者可以更加灵活地在不同框架之间切换，以适应不同的问题。

💡练习

练习是准备案例面试的重要环节。视频中提到了多种练习方法，包括使用白板、模拟面试情景和记忆框架步骤，以提高应聘者的案例分析能力。

Highlights

讨论了案例面试的四个通用步骤：开场、分析、总结和结束。

介绍了实际框架，即针对特定案例情况的具体问题解决框架。

强调了午餐休息时间和下午的安排，包括不同类型案例的讨论和面试准备。

提到了案例开场的最后一步是结构化，即定义解决问题的方法。

讨论了常见的案例类型，如利润问题、商业情境、并购和供需框架。

强调了利润问题通常是案例的起点，涉及收入、成本和利润的关系。

商业情境类别包括公司战略、新市场进入和产品引入等问题。

并购案例通常涉及是否应该收购某家特定公司的问题。

供需框架常用于探索行业产能问题，如航空业的高固定成本问题。

强调了识别问题类别的触发因素，以匹配相应的框架。

介绍了作者使用的三个主要框架：盈利性框架、商业情境框架和供需框架。

讨论了如何通过框架识别和解决利润下降、成本失控和收入下降等问题。

强调了在案例面试中，灵活性和创造性的重要性，以及如何将不同框架结合起来。

提到了在面试中可能会要求在白板上边讨论边画图，强调了实践的重要性。

讨论了如何识别和处理跨越多个类别的复杂案例。

强调了在高固定成本行业中，供需问题的重要性，如航空业。

提到了在服务业务中很少看到供需问题，因为供应可以很容易地扩展。

讨论了如何通过案例面试书籍中的框架，但强调了选择适合自己的框架的重要性。

提到了在案例面试准备中，如何使用手稿和提示卡来帮助记忆和组织思路。

Transcripts

all right we talked early on this

morning about the case interview

mindsets how to open analyze and close

the case what are the generic steps and

what we do now is talk about actual

framework so what I call out matching

specific case situations the specific

problem-solving frameworks we'll go

through each one demonstrate those that

will take sort of till lunch we'll break

a lunch at 12:15 be about an hour so

come back and afternoon finish up

different kinds of cases and then finish

off the day on how to practice and

prepare for interviews as well as some

final tips okay any other sort of

administrative questions okay okay so we

talked earlier about opening a case and

and the last step in opening a case is

structuring it which is defining how

we're going to approach the problem

solving of the case so when talk about

common case types my favorite frameworks

which cases go with which frameworks and

then we're gonna demonstrate all this

all right here sort of in terms of the

business situation cases you don't need

to write this down but you're welcome to

if you want to there's like a whole

bunch of business problems out there

okay the general thing is they sort of

fall into four categories it's more

important number the categories I'll

talk about in a sec the first one which

I talked a lot about this morning is a

profit problem it's a very common way to

start off a case you know profits are in

the tank what do we do you know cost out

of control what we do revenues down what

do we do okay and so you're going to

have a lot of variations on those if

it's an if it's like in a financial

services industry there's like different

terms for revenue so you want to clarify

what they mean by certain terms

sometimes it'll be sort of a pricing

driven problem so prices the declines or

a costs have gone up fixed costs have

gone up very cost have gone up but

basically there's a whole class of

problems around revenues and costs so I

always think of it the framework as

profit equals revenue minus cost if I

mention any of those three things you

know usually it's a it's a profitability

problem okay

the next category cues ation and I

should also mention that the frameworks

I use tend to be a lot different than

some of the things you see out there I

mentioned earlier a lot of ways to be

right this is not the only way it's

simply a way so I just want to put that

as a caveat you'll find that I tend to

like if you look at the case interview

books that are out there they have like

all kinds of ideas like a laundry list

of frameworks you could use I only have

like four and they're really only like

three and the reason I have three is

because I can't remember like ten and I

figure it's better to know three really

well and like sort of forget half of ten

and sort of you sort of caught off guard

the second category of cases is probably

the most common one and I just call it a

business situation and that incorporates

what's this company strategy what should

it be and incorporates entering a new

market incorporates you know your your

nephew asked you to start a new business

because you're some hotshot Harvard MBA

what you did you how do you build

eliminates dance okay I actually have

that his case that was the case I bombed

by the way the only one I really bombed

was lemonade stand and because I thought

it was like too simple and in fact they

had that the right answer had demand

curve supply curves and tired demand I

had like very complicated he an entire

model built behind a lemonade stand I

sort of assumed there was a simple one

so don't get caught off guard don't

assume you know Thanks

use the data in the case still got the

job we got that one so business

situations entering new markets

introducing a new product competitor

that is X should you do Y so any sort of

business situation type of case I I sort

of lump into business situations mergers

and acquisitions big company wants to

acquire a small company should they

acquire this particular small company ok

that's emergence and acquisitions it's

really a variation of a business

situation so you know the business

situation approach then emergent

acquisition works and then last one is a

supply demand framework also sort of

often used as sort of a way to explore

issues around industry capacity okay

so in a lot of industries with high

fixed costs so airplanes for example

the behaviors in that industry sometimes

seem crazy but it's because of this high

fixed cost and and we'll talk a little

about that but it's an interesting issue

they probably are listed in the order

that in the order frequency so you

probably see profit fairly often

business situation quite often as well

often times cases we'll start off as a

profit problem and then move right into

a business situation okay because this

is purely math right isolate

mathematically what's the numerical

driver of the problem but then you have

no business context so a business

situation is all about under in the

context of the market place competitors

customers as well as the companies up in

terms of supply demand sometimes the

supply demand or capacity type problems

are acquisition related okay if they're

trying to like acquire a company to like

eliminate it sometimes a big company

will eliminate by competitor just to

take the capacity off the market

sometimes because of the way the funny

way that the supply demand curves are in

that industry so if the acquisition is

driven by the diminishe you then you

would want to use a supply demand

framework it's more like we've decided

we're going to acquire somebody should

it be this company that company that's

more of like a business situation and

that's how I sort of define me to any

type of problem around building down

building up building or shutting down a

factory which adds capacity and then any

kind of capacity shift in response to

demand so if the issue is you know the

markets really sort of structurally

change its tracted by twenty percent

likely be contracted for a long time a

twenty percent should we shut down the

factory sort of sounds like a business

situation but it'll probably end up

being a supply demand okay so what

you're looking for what in this process

is you're looking for the triggers to

figure out which category of problem it

is so you know which framework to match

it to and and I'll just show you how to

go back and forth real fast here the

four court forms I have matched those

categories so I have a profitability

framework I'll show you business

situation mergers and acquisitions and a

supply demand frame

as well so I'll give you the telltale

signs the reason I use fewer frameworks

and criticize it's like less debate as

to which one to use

you know if they mention profit revenues

or cost I mean you never go on starting

with the profitability framework but

you'll find that you go through the

primer pretty fast if you know what

you're doing so usually it's like five

seven maybe ten minutes max if you've

never seen it before you don't only have

a business background you'll be in

profit and revenue minus class like all

day long because you won't realize

profit it's driven by Bevin your cost

and so on and so forth so that's the

easiest one because it's just pure pure

math okay and that's I mean complicated

math either business situations are all

as basically the default one if you

don't know what to do start with

business situations it helps you

understand the context of the external

environment the internal environment and

so forth mergers and acquisitions those

are very easy to tell because they'll

say merge will require hear the words

the keyword phrase it's emergent a

question case the only tricky one is

whether it's sort of like a a fit issue

so should we acquire this particular

company versus is is it a good idea to

acquire someone in general given

capacity constraint so that's the only

one that's sort of a little tricky and

then the other ones around supply and

demand are when they mentioned the word

supply when they mentioned the word

demand and they give you numbers that's

a big sign if they give you numbers

around supply that's usually a sign that

they want to do the math and a supply

demand curve and literally plot out a

curve an example might be your clients

I'll make it up your client is the mines

coal okay and their cost to produce is I

don't know 50 bucks per metric time I

have no idea that's even remotely close

and their nearest competitor has this

cluster they can produce a metric ton at

forty dollars per metric time okay they

start mentioning words like that $1.00

dollars to produce that's like a

capacity issue red flag you might start

thinking about supply and demand

okay that make sense any questions from

this morning I did Rick

all right let's you out see frameworks

here you should all have a handout we

don't the more handouts up front I'm

going to talk first about the

profitability framework so I'm going to

pull out your handout and the the five

pages in the handout are where

essentially my I don't my crib sheet if

you would things I would sort of

mechanically go through before I begin

to view it's what's having one of your

own welcome to use mine if it doesn't

quite work for you change it do you want

entirely different up to you it's good

to just have one thing and what I would

do is when I practice I would have it in

front of me so I could remind myself of

the steps and then I work on memorizing

the steps so I can throw it out okay so

it's an initial again I mentioned

earlier that if you're brand new to

cases it's very mechanical early on and

then you start getting more flexible and

by flexible actually a good example is

so someone who's mechanically good at

cases well I say oh that's a profit

problem I must use the profit framework

and I can only use the profit for I'm

looking I can't do anything else and

they're going to find that that has

limitations because the profit frame

only gives you the mathematical reason

why the business is sort of flailing but

not any context as to why okay so the

flexibility when you're sort of getting

a little more creative is in the middle

the profitability framework you realized

okay something like why are these why is

revenue is like why's pricing falling

through the floor

I know that's what is mathematically but

why and then all of a sudden you roll

into a business situation okay and it

might be as the process of going through

the business situation you might realize

well this industry has really changed a

lot they're these entire new growth

segments that the client is not in

participating at all maybe they ought to

acquire somebody okay and then the

question is what would that happen to

industry supply and will that shower

that change the economics of the

industry so then you roll into like a

supply demand framework so that's sort

of you know I wouldn't say the ants but

sort of medium to advanced is you start

intermingling between these two and I'll

like make up frameworks to I'll show you

how it's sort of a little bit how to do

that when nothing else fits yeah sure

you better you should it's impossible to

do it well without it also often you

want to UM do if you're using oh if they

want sometimes it's hurting the

interview will hand you a like a like a

dry erase board marker and start asking

you to sort of talk doing the case while

standing okay so you actually practice

like you know drawing on the whiteboard

taking notes and you won't have your pen

and paper there right so you want to

take your own notes so you're going to

have two white numbers on the side and

then you have to do that your notes on

one side and then the official

presentation if you would in the middle

so there's a lot of sort of just

logistical stuff you want to get used to

yes yes

moving having situations that sort of

span across categories types of cases

you'll see that in the first round last

one all kinds of nouns and the most

common one is really it's a profit

problem and then okay you figure out

mathematically what's wrong but you

don't know why it's wrong and then you

don't know what to do about it so then

you have to blow into business that's

sort of by far the most common one and

then the other ones much less common

sometimes you move into a supply demand

that tends to be by the way it tends to

be in really high fixed cost industries

it's another size so airplanes airlines

they do all kinds of bizarre stupid

stuff in their lives because the cutback

of the capacity structure and the high

fixed cost of that business is just

ridiculous I mean I find interesting

like I personally made more money than

the entire US airline industry in its

history of 50 years because I have have

at least net worth of a buck hey that

business has not made a dollar like in

half a century

that they have they keep going right

because of it and it's because of this

demand and supply issues so that's a

typical one if it's what if it sounds

like like big heavy things are involved

when it then that's like a high fixed

cost business and that's typically a

sign that it's likely to be supplied

north the possibility for it to be a

supply demand is likely you almost never

see supplied in any case for us service

of businesses so really high margin low

fixed cost and high variable cost

businesses

almost never have a supply manager

sometimes it's demand which is more of a

business situation but not really around

supply because because supply can scale

very easily in that business that's what

happens

you