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1、BCG面试实例 在管理咨询公司的面试中, 通常有一种被称为“商务问题”的面试方法，您的考官向您提供一种场景，然后要您提出解决问题的建议。您需要像一个顾问一样向考官文一些关键问题，通过这些关键问题反映您您的思维逻辑的思维逻辑，同时通过这些问题发现解决方案解决方案。 下面是一个实例，请注意：同样的一个场景，基于您分析问题的逻辑将有无数种进展方式，绝对没有统一的答案或问题。场景Your client is the largest discount retailer in Canada, with 500 stores spread throughout the country. Lets call
2、it “CanadaCo.” For several years running, Canada Co has surpassed the second largest Canadian retailer (300 stores) in both relative market share and profitability.CanadaCo是加拿大最大的折扣零售集团，拥有遍及全国的500家连锁店。经过几年的运营，它在市场占有率及盈利方面都已远远超过了拥有300家连锁店的第二大零售公司。它是本公司的客户之一。The largest discount retailer in the United
3、 States, US Co, however, has just bought out Canada Cos competition and is planning to convert all 300 stores to USCo stores. The CEO of CanadaCo is quite perturbed by this turn of events, and asks you the following questions: Should I be worried? How should I react? How would you advise the CEO? US
4、 Co是美国最大的折扣零售集团。它收购了第二大的零售公司，准备将其拥有的300家店全部改造成US Co连锁店的形式。 CanadaCo集团的CEO对此深感忧虑，他向你这样问到：“我应该对事态的发展担忧吗？应该如何应对呢”你怎样向这位CEO提出你的建议呢？（应聘者）：Well, before I can advise the CEO I need some more information about the situation. First of all, Im not sure I understand what a discount retailer is! （考官）：A discount
5、 retailer sells a large variety of consumer goods at discounted prices, generally carrying everything from housewares and appliances to clothing. Kmart, Woolworth, and Wal-Mart are prime examples in the U.S. （应聘者）： 在我向他提出建议之前，我必须对情况作进一步的了解。首先，我不太明白什么是“折扣零售店”。（考官）： “折扣零售店” 以折扣价格销售各种各样的商品，包括家庭用具、服装等等，
6、象美国的沃尔玛超市就是这样的例子。：Oh, I see. Then I think it makes sense to structure the problem this way: First, lets understand the competition in the Canadian market and how CanadaCo has become the market leader. Then lets look at the U.S. to understand how USCo has achieved its position. At the end, we can mer
7、ge the two discussions to understand whether USCos strength in the U.S. is transferable to the Canadian market. ：That sounds fine. Lets start, then, with the Canadian discount retail market. What would you like to know?Q：我知道了。我认为问题接下来应该这样分析：首先，我们应了解加拿大市场的竞争情况，以及CanadaCo是如何成为这个市场的领先者的 ；其次，分析美国市场及USCo
8、的情况；最后，我们将二者结合起来分析，看USCo在美国成功的经验及其优势是否能移植到加拿大市场来。A：对加拿大折扣零售市场，你希望了解一些什么情况呢？Q：Are CanadaCos 500 stores close to the competitions 300 stores, or do they serve different geographic areas? ：The stores are located in similar geographic regions. In fact, you might even see a CanadaCo store on one corner,
9、and the competition on the very next corner. Q： CanadaCo的500家连锁店与其竞争对手的300家店是位于不同的地区还是相距很近呢？：两个集团的零售店基本上位于相同的地区，甚至你在某个角落里看见CanadaCo的商店，就会在不远处发现其竞争对手的零售店。：Do CanadaCo and the competition sell a similar product mix? ：Yes. CanadaCos stores tend to have a wider variety of brand names, but by and large,
10、the product mix is similar. ：Are CanadaCos prices significantly lower than the competitions? ：No. For certain items CanadaCo is less expensive, and for others the competition is less expensive, but the average price level is similar.： CanadaCo与其竞争对手销售同样的商品组合吗？：是的。 CanadaCo销售的部分商品含有更多的品牌，但总体上，两家公司销售的
11、商品组合是相同的。： CanadaCo销售商品的价格比起竞争对手低很多吗？：不。有的商品价格便宜一些，有的也高一些。在总体价格水平上同竞争对手是相当的。：Is CanadaCo more profitable just because it has more stores, or does it have higher profits per store? ：It actually has higher profits than the competition on a per-store basis.：Well, higher profits could be the result of l
12、ower costs or higher revenues. Are the higher per-store profits due to lower costs than the competitions or the result of higher per-store sales? ：CanadaCos cost structure isnt any lower than the competitions. Its higher per-store profits are due to higher per-store sales. ： CanadaCo的的盈盈利利超超过过对对手手，仅
13、仅仅仅是是因因为为它它拥拥有有更更多多的的连连锁锁店店呢呢还是因为每家店的利润都更高？还是因为每家店的利润都更高？：实际是因为它每家店的盈利能力都比对手强。：实际是因为它每家店的盈利能力都比对手强。：较较高高的的利利润润里里意意味味着着较较低低的的成成本本或或较较高高的的收收益益。那那我我们们是是在在哪哪方面优于竞争对手呢？方面优于竞争对手呢？： CanadaCo的的成成本本结结构构并并不不占占优优势势。每每家家零零售售店店的的高高利利润润来来自自于于较大的销售量。较大的销售量。：Is that because it has bigger stores? ：No. CanadaCos aver
14、age store size is approximately the same as that of the competition. ：If theyre selling similar products at similar prices in similar-sized stores in similar locations, why are CanadaCos per-store sales higher than the competitions? ：Its your job to figure that out! ：那适应为它的店面更大吗？：不是， CanadaCo零售店的平均规
15、模与其竞争对手不相上下。：那它们在相同的地点、以同样的价格出售相同的商品，为什么CanadaCo的销售量更大呢？：这正是你的任务呐！：Is CanadaCo better managed than the competition? ：I dont know that CanadaCo as a company is necessarily better managed, but I can tell you that its management model for individual stores is significantly different. ：How so? ：The comp
16、etitors stores are centrally owned by the company, while CanadaCo uses a franchise model in which each individual store is owned and managed by a franchisee who has invested in the store and retains part of the profit. ：是 CanadaCo 管理得更好吗？：我不知道作为一个集团，CanadaCo的管理是否更好，但它对零售店的管理模式是与竞争对手完全不同的。与竞争对其连锁店的集中
17、管理不同， CanadaCo 采取的是特许经营的方式，谁投资谁经营，谁享有利润分享权。：In that case, I would guess that the CanadaCo stores are probably better managed, since the individual storeowners have a greater incentive to maximize profit. ：You are exactly right. It turns out that CanadaCos higher sales are due primarily to a signific
18、antly higher level of customer service. The stores are cleaner, more attractive, better stocked, and so on. The company discovered this through a series of customer surveys it administered last year. I think youve sufficiently covered the Canadian marketlets move now to a discussion of the U.S. mark
19、et. ：那我认为CanadaCo 的零售店应该管理得更好，因为每个店主都会拥有更强烈的利润最大化的动机。：正是如此。 CanadaCo连锁店更大的销售量主要来源于优质的顾客服务水平 ，它们店面整洁，商品排列有序。这些结论都是通过去年进行的一系列顾客调查获得的。我想你对加拿大市场已经获得了足够的了解，让我们可以转到美国市场吧。：How many stores does USCo own in the U.S., and how many does the second largest discount retailer own? ：USCo owns 4,000 stores and the
20、second largest competitor owns approximately 1,000 stores. ：Are USCo stores bigger than those of the typical discount retailer in the U.S.? ：Yes. USCo stores average 200,000 square feet, whereas the typical discount retail store is approximately 100,000 square feet. ： USCo 在美国拥有多少家连锁店？第二大的集团呢？： USCo
21、 有4000家零售店，位于第二位的它的最大的竞争者有1000家商店。： USCo 的零售店比一般的折扣零售店更大吗？：是的。 它们的零售店平均有200000平米，而一般的只有100000平米大小。. ：Those numbers suggest that USCo should be selling roughly eight times the volume of the nearest U.S. competitor! ：Close. USCos sales are approximately $5 billion, whereas the nearest competitor sells
22、 about $1 billion worth of merchandise：I would think that sales of that size give USCo significant clout with suppliers. Does it have a lower cost of goods than the competition? ：In fact, its cost of goods is approximately 15 percent less than that of the competition. ：这些数据是否意味着USCo的销售量使其最大的竞争对手的8倍！
23、：差不多。 USCo 的销售额为50亿美元，而其最大的竞争对手为10亿。：我想如此大的规模使USCo 在于其供应商的关系中处于非常有利的地位。它的金或成本是不是比起竞争对手低呢？：低15%。：So it probably has lower prices. ：Right again. Its prices are on average about ten percent lower than those of the competition. &：So it seems that USCo has been so successful primarily because it has lowe
24、r prices than its competitors. ：Thats partly right. Its success probably also has something to do with a larger selection of products, given the larger average store size.：那么它出售的商品价格就较低。：对，价格低10%左右。：那就是说USCo的成功主要在于它提供的较低的价格。： 这是一部分原因。还有就是它的店面更大，商品的种类也更多。：How did USCo get so much bigger than the comp
25、etition? A：It started by building superstores in rural markets served mainly by mom-and-pop stores and small discount retailers. USCo bet that people would be willing to buy from it, and it was right. As it grew and developed more clout with suppliers, it began to buy out other discount retailers an
26、d convert their stores to the USCo format. ：So whenever USCo buys out a competing store, it also physically expands it? ：Not necessarily. Sometimes it does, but when I said it converted it to the USCo format, I meant that it carries the same brands at prices that are on average ten percent lower tha
27、n the competitions. ： USCo的规模为什么能这么大？A：它最早是在乡村地区开办超市，之前这些地区只有一些小的零售点和家庭小卖部。 USCo认为这些地区的人会愿意从超市购买商品，后来证明这一判断是正确的。USCo开始扩张，与供应商建立联盟，逐渐购并了其它的一些零售商，将它们归入USCo旗下。： 是不是每次USCo收购了一家竞争者的商店，都会将它扩充？A：并不是每次都需要这样。对于收购过来的有些商店，它只需要以低于竞争对手10%的价格出售商品，并贯上自己的品牌就可以了。：What criteria does USCo use in deciding whether it sh
28、ould physically expand a store its just bought out? ：It depends on a lot of factors, such as the size of the existing store, local market competition, local real estate costs, and so on, but I dont think we need to go into that here. ：Well, I thought it might be relevant in terms of predicting what
29、it will do with the 300 stores that it bought in Canada. ：Lets just assume that it doesnt plan to expand the Canadian stores beyond their current size. ：那它在决定哪些商店需要扩充、哪些只是收购过来的时候，有什么标准呢？：这取决于很多种因素，比如商店已有的规模、当地市场的竞争情况、地产的价格等等。我认为这些对我们的问题不重要。：我是觉得这些有助于我们预测它将会对收购的这300家商店做怎样的安排。：我们就假定它不会扩充这些商店的规模。：OK. I
30、 think Ive learned enough about USCo. Id like to ask a few questions about USCos ability to succeed in the Canadian market. Does USCo have a strong brand name in Canada? ：No. Although members of the Canadian business community are certainly familiar with the company because of its U.S. success, the
31、Canadian consumer is basically unaware of USCos existence. ：那我已经对USCo有了足够的了解了。我想在为几个关于USCo是否具有在加拿大市场成功的能力的问题。 USCo在加拿大拥有很强的品牌吗？：不。虽然加拿大一些商业企业知道它在美国市场成功，但加拿大的消费者并不知道这个公司。：Does USCo carry products similar to USCos, or does the Canadian consumer expect different products and brands than the U.S. discou
32、nt retail consumer? ： The two companies carry similar products, although the CanadaCo stores lean more heavily toward Canadian suppliers. ：How much volume does CanadaCo actually sell? ：About $750 million worth of goods annually. ： USCo 出售商品的品牌和USCo一样吗？或者加拿大的消费者喜欢一些与美国的小给这不同的产品和品牌？： 虽然CanadaCo更倾向于选择加
33、拿大的供应商，但两个公司卖同样品牌的商品。： CanadaCo的销售量是多少？：每年75亿美元左右。：Is there any reason to think that the costs of doing business for USCo will be higher in the Canadian market? ：Can you be more specific? ：I mean, for example, are labor or leasing costs higher in Canada than in the U. S.? ：Canada does have significa
34、ntly higher labor costs, and Im not sure about the costs of leasing space. But what are you driving at? ：有没有什么原因会使 USCo在加拿大营业的成本会更高呢？：能具体一点吗？：比如劳动力成本及租金等会比在美国高？：加拿大的劳动力成本要高得多，租金则不一定。问这些是要得出什么结论呢？：I was thinking that if theres a higher cost of doing business in Canada, perhaps USCo will have to charg
35、e higher prices than it does in the U.S. to cover its costs. ：Thats probably true, but remember, CanadaCo must also cope with the same high labor costs. Can you think of additional costs incurred by USCos Canada operations that would not be incurred by CanadaCo? ：我想如果USCo在加拿大的运营成本较高的话，它对商品的定价也会比在美国高
36、一些。：也许。但CanadaCo也需要承受这些更高的运营成本呐。你能不能想到USCo在有些成本方面会比CanadaCo高一些呢？：USCo might incur higher distribution costs than CanadaCo because it will have to ship product from its U.S. warehouses up to Canada. ：You are partially right. CanadaCo is advantaged in distribution costs, since its network spans less g
37、eographic area and it gets more product from Canadian suppliers. However, since CanadaCo continues to get a good deal of product from the U.S., the actual advantage to CanadaCo is not greatonly about two percent of overall costs. ： USCo在运输成本上可能会比CanadaCo高，因为它需要从位于美国的仓库运货来加拿大。：你只对了一半。 CanadaCo在运输成本方面
38、会有一些优势，因为它销售网络的地域跨越性较小，它也较多的从加拿大的供应商处进货。 但是，CanadaCo也有很多商品来自美国。因此，她的总成本只有2%的优势。：All this suggests that USCo will be able to retain a significant price advantage over CanadaCos stores: if not ten percent, then at least seven to eight percent. ：I would agree with that conclusion.：这意味着USCo 会比CanadaCo的零
39、售店拥有价格上的优势，即使达不到10%，也大概会有7-8%。：我同意你的结论。：Then I would tell the CEO the following: In the near term, you might be safe. Your stores have a much stronger brand name in Canada than USCos, and they seem to be well managed. However, as consumers get used to seeing prices that are consistently seven to eig
40、ht percent less at USCo, they will realize that shopping at USCo means significant savings over the course of the year. Although some consumers will remain loyal out of habit or because of your high level of service, it is reasonable to expect the discount shopper to shop where prices are lowest. Mo
41、reover, over time your brand-name advantage will erode as USCo becomes more familiar to Canadian consumers. You certainly have to worry about losing significant share to USCo stores in the long term. You should probably do something about it now, before its too late. ：我会这样建议这位CEO：公司在短期不会有什么问题。在加拿大它拥
42、有比USCo更好的品牌，而且它的运营情况也不错。但是，一旦消费者看到USCo的商品总是更低（7-8%），他们会知道在USCo 购物会在长期内省很多钱。虽然一部分会消费者会由于你们提供的高质量的服务而对公司保持忠诚，但这些购买打折商品的消费者会更注重价格的高低。随着人们对USCo的逐渐熟悉，你们的品牌效应也会削弱。你却是应为公司的市场占有率被USCo夺走而担忧，并及时采取适当的行动扭转这种趋势。：Can you suggest possible strategies for CanadaCo? ：Maybe it can find ways to cut costs and make the o
43、rganization more efficient, so it can keep prices low even if its cost of goods is higher. ：Anything else? ：It might consider instituting something like a frequent shopper program, where consumers accumulate points that entitle them to future discounts on merchandise. ：你能给出一些战略上的建议吗？：可以通过削减成本、精简机构来降
44、低出售商品的价格。还可以采取类似“贵宾卡”等活动来使那些经常光顾的人获得累计的积分，从而的带更多的折扣。：What might be a potential problem with that? ：Well, it might not be that cost-effective, since it would be rewarding a significant number of shoppers who would have continued to shop with it anyway. ：Any other suggestions?：It might want to prepare
45、 a marketing or advertising campaign that highlights its high level of service. It might even institute a CanadaCo Service Guarantee that surpasses any guarantees offered by USCo. ： Assuming the only way to keep customers is through competitive pricing, is there anything CanadaCo can do to appear co
46、mpetitive to the consumer? ：这会有什么潜在的问题吗？：这可能不利于降低成本，因为它给与较大一部分顾客更低的折扣。：还有什么建议吗？：还应该伴随一些宣传其优质服务的促销及广告活动，甚至还应建立“CanadaCo服务保证”，提供超过USCo所有承诺的服务。：It might want to consider offering fewer product lines, so that it can consolidate its buying power and negotiate prices with suppliers that are competitive wi
47、th USCos. It might lose some customers who want the variety of product that USCo has, but it may be able to retain the customer who is buying a limited array of items and is just looking for the best price. ：All of your suggestions are interesting, and you would want to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each in more detail before making any recommendations to the CEO. ：它还可以减少商品的种类，这样可以巩固其购买力及其与供货商的谈判能力，以此获得竞争优势。这样会使其失去一些追求多样化的顾客，但会保留一些只购买少量品种商品、并且寻找最低价格的顾客。A：你的建议都很有意思。在向CEO提出建议之前，你需要进一步对每种方案的优势及劣势进行深入的分析。
