If it does not have to be action-oriented, what structure would you suggest for the conclusio?
If it does not have to be action-oriented, what structure would you suggest for the conclusio?
I had this happen to me at a BCG R1 (I did clear it to R2, fyi). I had a very interesting pharma case where there was a particular question the partner had that no one could solve that day (it was a MBA recruiting event so all of us chatted after to discuss). Just one of those things. I was 1 of only 3 to clear R1 and here's what I did in terms of recommendation:
1. I recommended the company "do nothing" -- yes. I told them the data we had analyzed and understood so far was not enough to do anything in either direction. People forget that "not doing something" is also a strategy.
2. I then justified it via: 1) lining up the cost of doing X, Y, or Z (e.g. sell assets, or new drug trial, etc) + oppty costs. 2) Fact that nothing jumped out means the problem isn't severe enough just yet -- if doctors can wait to diagnose a disease when signs are clearer, why not consultants? 3) There are other peripheral things we can do in the meantime (for this firm, I recommended a few basic cost-cutting measures I Was able to ID).
3. I skipped risks -- there are no "new" business risks in doing nothing, but I did mention we need to revisit the problem in 2-3 Qs.
Hope this helps. This won't work for everyone, but it did for me.
Hi Thierry,
yes, you should still keep an action oriented conclusion; quoting a previous answer, the structure could be the following:
Best,
Francesco
Hi,
You'll face this situation in 90% of the cases. Basically, consultants are testing you on 2 things:
Here is how you can mitigate this:
In the last bullet, you simply provide a list of what else you need to check to be comfortable with the solution
Good luck!