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anybody have any good recommendations on textbooks/books on analysis of different industries?

industry_analysis
New answer on Oct 05, 2020
4 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on Oct 04, 2020

anybody have any good recommendations on textbooks/books on analysis of different industries?

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Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Oct 04, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

You can leverage any of the initial chapters of the case prep books of the main business schools.

However, tbh, I would not focus too much on this. The key thing to solve cases is the skillset, not industry knowledge. In fact, industry knowledge does not give you extra help (only, if so, for coming up with risks, but not even). I would better take that time for extra practice :)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

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Oscar
Expert
updated an answer on Oct 04, 2020
It's all about creativity ! I will give tools to become more creative on your case

I believe that you should check textbooks that are less international and more local depending on the country you are applying. Beside an obviouse choice of reviewing articles of Top reades of Mckinsey/BCG from different sectors I always checked the latest governement reports on the sector. Per example the Main Financial Committion in my country provide nice reports around banks situations every quarter (slides types). I guess you could try the same. Good luck !

(edited)

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Ian
Expert
Content Creator
updated an answer on Oct 04, 2020
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

The following casebooks have good industry outlines (in order of thoroughness).

  • Darden
  • Ross
  • Fuqua (Duke)
  • Stern

-------------------------------------------------

That being said, in order to learn them more effectively, you should research them yourself!

I have a template, so feel free to reach out if interested!

Some key tips:

  1. List all the major industries that you'll need to learn
  2. Create a template that you can fill in with research. This would include things like
    1. Industry summary
    2. Total market size
    3. Major players
    4. Cost drivers
    5. Revenue drivers
    6. Major trends
    7. etc.
  3. Fill in the template for each industry one by one. Use google to find the relevant information and piece it together. Over time, you'll get more and more efficient as you see which sites are good for what

(edited)

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Henning
Expert
replied on Oct 05, 2020
Bain | passed >15 MBB interviews as a candidate

There are a number of good sources out there - but few textbooks as this is changing quickly. Search for XX Industry primer to get to some good and updates resources.

One recommendation though: Don't spend too much time on researching random industries. If you know the industries that the office you're interviewing for (or even your interviewers) specialize in, fine. But everything else is an overkill and the time is better spent on building your general case skills.

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