How to structure a case and be more MECE

Hi,

Only pure mathematical structures (e.g. profitability) can be 100% MECE. But MECE is not a requirement and it can not always be applied.

You should build a structure using your previous experience, based on:

• Objective (Should have a metric and time-frame)
• Context
• Type of the case

E.g market entry cases can have completely different objectives:

• Should we enter the market?
• Which top 3 markets out of 10 we should enter?
• Can we get xx% market share on the new market?
• Can we get xx ROI if we enter this market?
• etc

Depending on the Objective and the Context you should come up with a proper structure to address the problem. Of course, you may use the patterns that you've learned while solving the other cases.

There is a number of ways how you can approach the structure:

1. Mathematical issue tree (e.g. Total time spent on cleaning operation = # of people x Frequency x Hours per cleaning per person) or formula (e.g. output rate = total number of people being served / time to serve one person) or common industry drivers (e.g. revenues = # of customers x av. check) (e.g Passengers on the plane = capacity x Load Factor) or the industry revenue streams (Fuel revenues / non-fuel revenues for the gas station)
2. Drivers (e.g. drivers influencing the birth rate in a country)
3. Buckets structures (e.g. for the problems in sales : Sales strategy / sales people and allocation / motivation / sales process). Very often it's a real framework used by the consultants (e.g. the famous Bain Cap framework for PE due dills: Market / Competitors / Company / Feasibility of exit)
4. Frameworks (e.g. People / Process / Technology) (e.g. The famous McKinsey framework - People don't want to do smth / they can't do smth / smth prevents them from doing that). Even academical frameworks in the rare cases (e.g. Product / Distribution / Price / Marketing (Also known as 4P))
5. Value chains / Customer Journey / Process steps
6. Consecutive Steps of the project (Analyzing cost structure / Benchmarking to calculate the cost savings potential / Analyzing the processes to reach the potential / Calculating costs and benefits)
7. Etc

There is no magic pill to learn building the MECE issue trees. It comes with a lot of Practice and reflection and building proper industry and functional knowledge.

Best!