Tech. Company Strategy Analyst Case

Question

Hi All,

I've been working on a case for a impending interview to present very shortly. The company presented me with a relatively small data set (17 columns x 18 rows). The question, likely on purpose does not fit within one clear framework. Without providing too much detail - decide where our company should build a new office. The prompt states they value access to engineering & sales talent, (numbers they provide to me over three years) then less so they value the ability to gain significant market share in that city.

Data presented gives me projected headcounts of sales & engineers on LinkedIn in each city, % college graduate rate, total # employed in high-tech software, competitor offices, average engineer and sales salary, then $/per square foot of rental space, average vacancy, corp. tax rate, 12 month recurring rev. and TAM (all in each city). My thought process is weight each component they value (1.access to talent, 2. ability to gain market share, 3. cost). Seems like a general Business Problem framework, perhaps supply demand, however I'm not entirely sure.

Any suggestions on how best approach the case and provide recommendation on where company should build their newest office?

Thanks for any help

Answer 1

if they provide you with the info how they value what, weighting those parameters by their value is definitely a very good approach to take.

Answer 2

Hello!

I agree with your approach of assigning a weight to each variable and have like this an "objective" procedure for decision-making.

However, I would not stop there and suggest, on top, couple other alternatives in case the client does not like this approach (e.g., using the data you were giving for forecasting both sales and people you will be needing to cover them, etc.)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,
Clara

Answer 3

Hmmm, when weighting, just make sure you don't lose your analysis.

So, when starting out with your presentation, make sure to highlight first the strongest places for engineering and sales talent.

Answer 4

Weighting the main KPI is a good approach to transform a complex decision in a quantitative one.

Best,
Antonello

Answer 5

This is another good example of solving a case doesn't always require a typical framework.
Yet, this case is actually very structured. It boils down to comparing the options (potential cities) side by side along those key dimensions. Agree with weighting.

2 points to note though:

(1) instead of ability to gain market share in a city, suggest to also consider the total market size they can achieve. Because 90% market share in a market of $1Million is not necessarily better than 50% market share in a market of $100M.

(2) Even though only talent and market share is mentioned in prompt, it makes sense to also consider costs. You can assign more weights to the first two, and when you present you can also clarify that you thought about the prompt, but you think with costs it makes a more holistic picture.

Best

Emily