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Tag: "brainstorming questions"
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brainstorming questions

    Brainstorming - prioritisation vs creativity

    brainstorming brainstorming questions Case Interview
    Most recent answer on Feb 10, 2021
    <p>Hi all,</p> <p>In brainstorming questions in case interviews, is it generally better to give a few (2-3) good ideas that cover the most important points, or more (6-8+) ideas that are a bit more creative, but perhaps not that relevant and might miss the main key ideas. </p> <p>I realise that both versions need to be structured and grouped cohesively, and also realise that there isn't a strict trade-off between the two options I've suggested, but within the context of a case where you might get 30 seconds to come up with ideas, I feel myself not sure which one to lean towards.</p> <p>Any ideas would be much appreciated, cheers!</p>
    Hi, I would recommend following a step-by-step approach to impress the interviewer without knowing their intention to ask this brainstorming question. Sometimes the interviewers want to evaluate your creativity, somet ... (read entire answer)
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    on Feb 10, 2021
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    McKinsey Round 1 December 2020 Case - Dispatch Radius

    brainstorming brainstorming questions case structure case study
    Most recent answer on Feb 09, 2021
    <p>Hello community, curious to know how would you attempt the following problem. Cheers.</p> <p>One of the fundamental elements of e-hailing is the setting of a dispatch radius:</p> <p><img alt="" src="/uploads/qa/questions/9226/images/Grab%20-%20Strategy%20&amp;%20Projects%20Analyst.jpg" style="height:181px;width:602px;">The example above is a rudimentary representation of how a dispatch radius works:</p> <ul> <li> <p>A passenger makes a booking</p> </li> <li> <p>A net is then cast out to look for drivers to be allocated to the passenger</p> </li> <li> <p>The size of the net (i.e., dispatch radius) is limited to a certain distance factor (e.g. net with a radius of X km)</p> </li> <li> <p>If there are drivers found within the net, the "best” candidate one would be allocated to them</p> </li> <li> <p>If there aren’t any drivers found within the net, the passenger will have to book again</p> </li> </ul> <p>​​How would you go about? </p> <ol> <li> <p>Setting an optimal dispatch radius</p> </li> <li> <p>Identifying the best candidate</p> </li> </ol>
    Hi there, This is a great question. The #1 way to help yourself with any problem is think "what is my objective"? I.e. what is my target variable? What does good look like? I should prompt you for this, but I'll g ... (read entire answer)
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    on Feb 09, 2021
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    When to ask which questions: Which questions do you ask before you come up with a structure and which do you ask after?

    asking questions brainstorming brainstorming questions Case Interview case study Clarifying questions Interview issue tree MBB order of operations preparation rule of thumb Structure
    Most recent answer on Dec 31, 2020
    <p>After a few mock cases, I found that I have difficulties deciding which questions to ask before I come up with a structure and which questions to ask after I come up with a structure. </p> <p>I keep wanting to ask all the questions I have as soon as I hear the explanation of a case, but then I find myself already starting with the analysis by asking relatively specific questions.</p> <p>Is there a rule for this?</p>
    Pre-structure questions 1) Clarify the business model. Even if you think you understand it, try to repeat it to make sure that you understand in correctly. 2) Clarify the objective. Here make sure that your goal is: ... (read entire answer)
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    on Dec 31, 2020
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    How can I improve my performance on brainstorming? How to develop “our-of-the-box” thinking?

    1st round interview BCG brainstorming brainstorming questions MBB McKinsey
    Most recent answer on Nov 08, 2020
    Hi, Great question. Strong brainstorming approach is something that can add a lot to your performance and separate you from other candidates. There are typically 3 stages of any brainstorming exercise at MBB: 1) P ... (read entire answer)
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    on Nov 08, 2020
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    Is it okay to ask for a minute during the middle of the interview when the interviewer asks a brainstorming question?

    brainstorming questions
    Most recent answer on Sep 08, 2020
    Hi, Always take: 1-2 min for initial structure. But the faster the better. 1.5 looks fine 30 sec to analyze the graph / table. Very often you can come up with more than one conclusion from the graph / table(e.g. ... (read entire answer)
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    on Sep 08, 2020
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    What question should I ask interviewer(s)?

    brainstorming questions Interviewer
    Most recent answer on Sep 07, 2020
    <p>Hi all</p> <p>Do you have any ideas on what could be potentially good questions to ask interviewer?</p>
    Hi Anonymous, relevant questions at the end are a great way to show your interest in the company and get additional points. Ideally, your questions should respect the following criteria: Should not be related to s ... (read entire answer)
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    on Sep 07, 2020
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    Going back to a clarifying question

    brainstorming questions Clarifying questions
    Most recent answer on Aug 13, 2020
    <p>Hi all,</p> <p>I was wondering about what you can do if you find out that you have forgotten to ask a relevant clarification question. So for example, we have the Case "How can the company double its revenue over the next five years through geographical expansion". You have asked some clarification questions and the goal is clear, and you lay down your structure e.g. "Possible markets -&gt; Our capabilities -&gt; How to enter". While presenting your structure, you find out that you have not yet asked where the company is currently "playing", which is in my opinion really relevant since it is easier to double your revenue if you are currently the market leader in Switzerland than in the US, because you most certainly have to enter a larger market. Do you "go back" and ask the question right out of nowhere or do you wait until it gets "urgent", since you should not jump around and use a structured approach?</p> <p>Thanks</p>
    Hi Anonymous, if you understand you forgot to clarify a point when presenting the structure, I would recommend to ask the question at that stage, ideally connecting with some parts of the structure itself, in order to ... (read entire answer)
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    on Aug 13, 2020
    Last Activity

    How many clarifying questions are appropriate and when should they be asked?

    Actively preparing for interviews at McKinsey and BCG asking questions BCG BCG Case Interview brainstorming brainstorming questions Candidate-led interviews Case Interview case question case questions case structure case study Clarifying questions Interview interviewer led issue tree MBB McKinsey Open question order of operations preparation questions rule of thumb Structure timing
    Most recent answer on Aug 06, 2020
    <p>I have received conflicting feedback regarding how many clarifying questions are appropriate and when I should be asking them.</p> <p>Some say I can ask questions as long as they clarify main points and help understand the context and client objectives without asking for any actual data (i.e. no fishing for answers).</p> <p>However, I've also been told that I should only clarify any points I didn't understandin the prompt and our clients objective, then leave all other questions for when I'm going through my structure (e.g. Who are our customers?, What are our products? How is this market doing relative to our client?)</p> <p>Perhaps there is a middle-ground between the two sets of feedback I've received?</p>
    Hi Anonymous! You touch on an important point here. Many candidates don't understand what distinguishes the clarifying questions at the start from later analysis-related questions (asking for market data. financials, ... (read entire answer)
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    on Aug 06, 2020
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    Structure of non-conventional cases

    BCG Bain McKinsey brainstorming questions Structure
    Most recent answer on Jul 18, 2020
    <p>Hey Preplounge community, I'm preparing for my Mckinsey first round and BCG final round. As per my understanding of the case structure, which is a criterion that you apply in order to answer or reach the main question or objective. </p> <p>One thing that is confusing me during cases is the interviewer is looking for a structure on how to solve this case that involves different known steps(ex: revenue case, known steps), but frequently in non-conventional cases, the structure is just a pool of ideas that might be causing the main issue without an obvious endpoint to answer this quesiton. How would you go about knowing which type of model to use in terms of writing this structure? Pool of ideas vs known steps </p> <p>A hypothesis that I have is that the structure in the Mckinsey Style cases is usually relied upon less after presenting it thus it would allow you to pool ideas and not have a solid criterion to answer the question vs candidate led where you have to make sure that the structure at the beginning can lead you to answer the case</p> <p>Thank you!</p>
    Hi! Not sure I understand you correctly, but it seems you are referring to brainstorming questions ("How can we achieve XYZ?", "How should we react to ABC?", "What could be reasons for CDE?"). Here, you always need ... (read entire answer)
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    on Jul 18, 2020
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    Hello! How should I approach brainstorming questions during McK interviewer led cases?

    BCG Bain McKinsey BCG McKinsey and Bain brainstorming brainstorming questions Cases consulting MBB MBB Cases Practice cases
    Question edited on Jul 11, 2020
    Hi, There are typically 3 stages of brainstorming potential solutions to a problem during McK interviewer led cases: 1) Prepare a long list of potential solutions to a problem You need to create a MECE list of rel ... (read entire answer)
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    on Jul 11, 2020
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    Brainstorming: being structured vs. being realistic

    brainstorming questions
    Most recent answer on May 23, 2020
    <p>I am wondering whether it's always important to have a structure when being asked a specific brainstorming question? Although having a structure is important, I feel like my thoughts will be less practical or creative when I try to think in a "well-structured" perspective.</p> <p>Is it okay to answer the question by listing 3 main key points, instead of trying to use rigid structures such as internal/external, financial and non-financial factors, etc?</p>
    There is no conflict here actually. A good structure doesn't need to be rigid - it doesn't have to follow the internal/external, financial/non-financial, or other typical ways. What matters is you capture the key aspe ... (read entire answer)
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    on May 23, 2020
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    How can you brainstorm in a structured way during a case study interview?

    brainstorming questions Case Interview Creative Interview MBB McKinsey MECE
    Most recent answer on Apr 29, 2020
    Brainstorming creatively in a structured/MECE way when under pressure is one of the hardest things to do. Let's have a look at a basic example: "how can client X gain market share?". A great start to answering the que ... (read entire answer)
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    on Apr 29, 2020
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    Not structured enough in brainstorming session..always ask for time to think?

    brainstorming questions
    Most recent answer on Mar 02, 2020
    <p>I have got the feedback that my thoughts (especially the brainstorming part) are not structured a few times. I would like to hear some advice on:</p> <p>(1) Is it okay to "always" ask for time to structure thoughts whenever there is a brainstorming question? In real interviewers, there are much more "brainstorming" type of questions to test candidates' reaction. What would be a reasonable frequency to "ask time to structure thoughts"?</p> <p>(2) I understand it is important to think in a "structured" way to answer brainstorming questions. But without being given time to "structure my thoughts", is it possible to answer the questions instantly in a structured way? How could I train this skillset?</p>
    Hi! I have a clear opinion here: (1) Yes. Always! This is also what is expected from you on the job! There is nothing more dangerous than a young consultant on the team who doesn't properly think before talking to c ... (read entire answer)
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    on Mar 02, 2020
    Last Activity

    Brain Storming and Market Sizing

    brainstorming questions Market sizing mckinsey style
    Most recent answer on Feb 08, 2020
    <p>Hi everyone, recently I have done a case called "organ donation" (McKinsey Style).</p> <p>I have several questions to seek your advice:</p> <p>1. For McKinsey style cases, would the interviewer usually ask you to do a case structuring, just like candidate led case? If the interviewer directly starts from the first question, is it okay to ask for time to think about case structure and share with the interviewer?</p> <p>2. For McKisney style cases, is a hypothesis required in the beginning?</p> <p>3. One question of the case is to ask the key factors that impact organ donation rate. Should I treat it as a brainstorming question (where I could provide more quantitative ideas), or a market sizing question (where I need to list down a math function)?</p> <p>4.Following the 3rd question, suppose it is a brain storming session, is it okay to mention qualitative factors that are hard to quantify (such as religious belief)? Or I should only mention factors that could be quantified and listed as a math function?</p> <p>Thanks a lot!</p>
    Hi, First of all - McKinsey has both Interviewer and Candidate led cases. Please be prepared for both. Candidate led cases are even harder. 1) Yes. Absolutely, you should take time to make a structure 2) I will ad ... (read entire answer)
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    on Feb 08, 2020
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    Guestimate: How would you estimate the number of commercial properties in a given city?

    brainstorming questions case question estimate estimation estimation market sizing guess-estimates market estimation Market sizing
    Recent activity on Apr 26, 2019
    Anonymous gave the best answer on Apr 26, 2019
    <p>Would you approach this question from the population or the land size point of view? Or is there a better angle to approach the question</p>
    I would use the population although it will be very sensitive to many assumptions. It looks very difficult to make meaningful assumptions in terms of land size. Cheers Serhat
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    on Apr 26, 2019
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    AT Kearney mock question

    brainstorming questions
    Recent activity on Mar 17, 2019
    <p>Hi, I'm having a problem with one of the AT Kearney mock exam questions. Can you please suggest a solution and your rationale? Thanks!</p> <p>Question: At a school fair, Ana sells cookies prepared by her mother. Ana buys the cookies for 115% of the costs her mother pays to make them. Ana’s profit margin is 30%. What share of her mother’s cost is Ana’s profit?</p>
    What share of her mother’s cost is Ana’s profit? => Her mothers costs are 100%. We need to find Ana's Profit relative to those 100%. Ana’s Profit (relative to her mothers cost) = Revenue - Cost = Revenue - 115% ... (read entire answer)
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    on Mar 17, 2019
    Last Activity

    Case

    brainstorming questions
    Recent activity on Mar 08, 2019
    Anonymous gave the best answer on Mar 08, 2019
    <p>Hi, I took part in a interview and there was only one question:</p> <p>1. One company has two factories one located in Italy and another one in Germany. Each factory has the same equipment but the equipment in Italy has a much better performance than in Germany. What are the possible factors that lead to this difference?</p> <p>I got the feedback that I should have listed more causes. How would you approach this case and could you provide the reasons that you would mention? Framework (People, process, Perfoamcen, 6M?)?</p>
    Hello,I would start by clarifying what performance exactly means, as this has a huge impact on your approach. One way of looking at it could be to measure performance as the output of good product per hour. In that ca ... (read entire answer)
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    on Mar 08, 2019
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    Candidate-Led turning Interviewee-led: when to ask for minutes to gather thoughts?

    BCG brainstorming questions Structure
    Recent activity on Feb 07, 2019
    <p>Dear all,</p> <p>What would you recommend a candidate to do in a partner case interview when the partner starts asking one question after another even though it is an interviewee-led case type (and it starts like that): should you always ask for a moment to gather thoughts or just answer questions straight up? The problem with the first approach is that you run out of time to ultimately solve the case, the second one saves time but seems unstructured. </p> <p>This happened to me at Oliver Wyman where I had to calculate the profits of an airline flying from Frankfurt to Bejing. In the end I did not finish the case and was very surprised by all these detailed question. He told me that the goal of the case was not to solve the case, but to test my logic/ math skills - I hope he was sincere about it and I just not completely fucked it up and he wanted to be nice^^.</p> <p>Anyway, I struggle with such of nowhere questions when I'm solving the case and these questions have nothing to do with the part of the case I'm solving. </p> <p>Thanks a lot in advance!!!</p>
    Hi Anonymous, I would always recommend to take an instant to identify all the possible elements of an answer to a specific question. Coming up with immature thinking is far worse than being a bit slow! Speed is usuall ... (read entire answer)
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    on Feb 07, 2019
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    Asking questions under brainstorming questions

    brainstorming questions
    Recent activity on Oct 12, 2018
    <p>Hi!<br> In the case you have got a brainstorming question, and realize that you do not know enough about the industry or particular issue at hand to discuss all potential sides of the question: Is it ok to ask questions about how part of the industry works to gain knowledge about that part of the industry?</p>
    Hi, Usually, you have brainstorming questions in the middle / end of the case when you should already know a lot about the objective / business industry. Thus you should be asking the right clarifying questions at the ... (read entire answer)
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    on Oct 12, 2018
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    Brainstorming

    brainstorming questions
    Recent activity on Oct 10, 2018
    <p>Do anyone have any tips for improving answers on brainstorming type of questions?</p>
    Hi, a couple tips: Always ask if you can take ~30 seconds to structure your thoughts. Just because it's a brainstorm, doesn't mean it shouldn't be nicely structured. Worst case, they say you shouldn't take a break, ... (read entire answer)
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    on Oct 10, 2018
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