strategy and operations case study

Address issues or roadblocks diligently to prevent them from escalating into more significant problems

Review daily progress and check for any critical issues or bottlenecks

Continuously monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) statuses

Review resource allocation and workload distribution so teams are balanced, and no one is overloaded

Evaluate new risks that have surfaced during the week and update

about task progress and their experiences

Analyze progress against project timelines, budgets, and objectives

Host post-project reviews or to document lessons learned from completed projects for future reference

Consider long-term resource planning and workforce development needs based on the evolving

Verify that ongoing and upcoming projects align with the organization’s overall strategic goals and priorities

Collect and analyze customer and stakeholder feedback on project outcomes and performance

Assess whether projects are on track to meet their objectives and make any necessary adjustments to

Review project budgets and financial performance

1. What were key operations milestones of McDonald’s over the past 50 years?

2. What are the new challenges McDonald’s faces in the 2000s and beyond?

3. What are the lessons for operations strategy from McDonald’s?

1. How does a company make decisions in each of the areas of operations?

2. What are Zara’s decisions in facilities, capacity, vertical integration, HR, product generation process and production planning?

1. How would you characterize BYD’s strategy? How is it different from its competitors? How could it justify entering this industry with such a strong set of competitors from Japan?

2. How consistent are its decisions among the various decision categories?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of its manual processes? How might process design be different in a manual system?

4. The production process for BYD’s Japanese competitors relied on several robotic arms per line, with each arm costing RMB 800,000 (approximately US $100,000). How many workers would a robotic arm need to replace for BYD to justify its purchase?

5. Should BYD buy Qinchuan? Can the company’s capabilities be applied to automobiles? To other areas?

1. In light of value chain dynamics, how do we reconsider the concept of an “operations strategy”?

2. Similarly, how should we define and identify “excellent” operations?

3. What companies particularly impress you with their operations? Why?

4. What’s the “recipe” for a winning operations strategy?

1. How would you describe the key accomplishments of Henry Ford and Alfred Sloan and Taiichi Ohno? Think partly in terms of the product, process, and supply chain (3–D concurrent engineering in ) that each firm engineered.

2. Do you think the Tata Nano (or others like it) could have a disruptive effect on the industry and furthermore, on the current industry leader, Toyota?

3. How might Tata drive such a disruption?

4. What is the role of operations strategy in your suggested approach?

1. Describe the traditional business model, operations strategy, and enterprise architecture of Southwest. What was the role of the airplane turnaround process in the operations strategy?

2. In what sense was the Southwest business model disruptive?

3. What is your assessment of the evolution of the Southwest model and the decisions Southwest has made over the past decade?

4. What would you recommend to Southwest regarding the opportunity to add slots at LaGuardia airport? Why?

1. What are the key features of the existing fulfillment process at CVS? What parts are in the greatest need of redesign?

2. Does pharmacy fulfillment process improvement represent a significant (financial) opportunity for CVS? How might you assess this?

3. What changes would you recommend to CVS’s pharmacy fulfillment process?

4. What IT changes, if any, would be required to implement your changes?

5. What general principles would you propose for process redesign based on your analysis of the CVS system?

1. What are the implications for both cost and flexibility of automation? Do you agree with the assertion made by one of the managers in the case: “If you automate, you stagnate?”

2. What are your recommendations regarding the issue of standardizing process technology across all plants? Are there motives behind this proposal, other than those stated in the case?

3. As Juergen Geissinger, how would you go about implementing your recommendation? How would you overcome resistance from the plants? As Steve Dickerson, the plant manager at Asheville, North Carolina, what line of reasoning would you use to convince senior management that full automation is the less desirable alternative?

4. As Klaus Lederer, what option would you like to see pursued? How do various options fit into the broader corporate strategy of ITT Automotive?

5. When can the concept of “copy exactly” be applied to a network of plants?

1. How much capacity will Genentech need in 2010 and 2015 for Avastin and the other products listed in exhibits 3 and 4.

2. How do you deal with uncertainty? Assuming a normal distribution and that one standard deviation of demand is 25 percent of demand how much capacity will they need to reach the 85th percentile? How reasonable do you think the normal assumption is? Is the 85th percentile a reasonable approach?

3. Assuming no additional contractor capacity, do you need ccp3? If so what size tanks do you recommend? What if the estimates on page 10 (first pg in the section on “capacity expansion options”) are doubled?

4. What do you recommend on location and what in general do you recommend for how they should proceed in meeting Avastin demands?

1. Compare the performance of Applichem’s 6 Release-ease plants.

2. Why were some plants “better” performers than others?

3. How would you advise Joe Spadaro to configure his worldwide manufacturing system?

1. What is Amazon’s strategy and its approach to IT?

2. Do you agree that creating AWS makes strategic sense for Amazon?

3. Why or why not is it consistent with its strategy?

4. What does Amazon need to do to be successful with Web Services?

5. What recommendations would you make to Amazon regarding AWS?

1. What are Delamere’s strengths and weaknesses? What does it deliver to customers that other vineyards do not? What does it take to be outstanding in the wine business?

2. What types of uncertainty does Richardson face?

3. What does quality mean in winemaking?

4. What principles and concepts should one apply to improving a production system such as winemaking?

5. What should Richardson do? How will his personality and experience shape his decision?

1. What are the key elements of the New Balance business strategy? What are the key elements of its operations strategy? How well does the operations strategy fit the business strategy?

2. How well do the Lean operations and the Toyota Production System translate to the New Balance environment? How realistic are the NB2E goals?

3. How should the company respond to the Adidas-Reebok merger? Should it change (e.g. less domestic production) or continue the current strategy?

4. Assuming some reasonable value for domestic labor cost (to establish the value of pair of shoes) what is the premium for domestic manufacturing? Given the significantly shorter lead-time, however, this will also yield inventory savings. What would these inventory savings be as compared to New Balance stocking these warehouses based on 9-week lead-time from Asia? What are the implications of this in terms of realistic?

1. What are the causes and consequences of BMW’s quality problems with newly launched products? What should be done to improve “launch quality”?

2. What are your recommendations to Carl Peter Forester concerning the R-series prototypes? What should he do regarding future development projects?

3. What changes would you recommend in the way BMW develops new models? What attributes of newly launched products would you expect to improve as a result of these recommendations? Which attributes might deteriorate?

4. What recommendations would you make to Chairman von Kuenheim regarding BMW’s strategy to compete against new Japanese entrants into the luxury car market?

5. Compare and contrast Apple’s approach to the iPhone development to the development process of BMW. What hypotheses are generated by the comparison?

1. Why is the industry structured the way it is? Could it be structured differently? What are the roles of the other value chain members (e.g., mortgagelenders)?

2. Where are the opportunities for disruptive change?

3. Finally, assuming that United Building Supply brings a solid commitment and a lot of financial muscle to the task, what must they do to disrupt and transform this industry? What should the end game look like? What are the critical success factors they should focus on? Is this task insurmountable?

4. What might Henry Ford or Alfred Sloan or Taiichi Ohno do? Or does industry require a very different vision and model?

1. What has been the historic strength and strategy of Li & Fung?

2. How sustainable is this model?

3. What are the weaknesses or vulnerabilities of the model?

4. How did they react to the arrival of the Internet? Did it strengthen them or weaken them? Why?

1. What strategies can a manufacturing or services company follow in the era of outsourcing? When and how can any company stay in a high-cost location

2. What is the likely endgame in manufacturing for high cost countries, such as the U.S.?

3. What are the global macroeconomic effects of off shoring (e.g. Major parts of certain industries going offshore)?

1. What were the strategic motives of Global and Chengdu, respectively, for entering the joint venture? Were either of these strategies obviously faulty, ex ante?

2. How would you judge the launch of CSL? What did the partners do right? What did they do wrong?

3. What is your assessment of the negotiating positions of each company, once they got into unexpected territory? Should either party have anticipated these problems?

4. What are the lessons for global joint ventures and working in China?

1. Should you accept the offer from the OEM for an exclusive contract for iPhone 4?

2. If you are an OEM would you accept an offer from Flextronics for an ODM phone?

3. What are the opportunities and risks for Flextronics as it progresses from state to state as a CM, CDM, and ODM? What are the opportunities and risks for an OEM as it does business with Flextronics at each stage?

4. Would you aggressively pursu_e_ the strategy of being an ODM ?

Question bank | Full case examples | Prep tips

If you've ever been defeated by a case in a management consulting interview, know that many others, including me, have too.

The good thing about having been in those interviews is that you have experienced a case interview and have a sense of what a case interview looks and feels like. It's an experience that's to your advantage as you approach case interviews in strategy & operations (stratops) interviews.

The stratops case interview is an interactive conversation between you and your interviewer(s). To succeed, structuring your thoughts and thinking aloud are key. These help your interviewer understand your thinking pattern, especially how you prioritize, as many stratops case questions involve selecting the best path for a company from several competitive alternatives.

Similar to a consulting case, some stratops cases require developing a framework and structure with which to explore the issue faced by the company. Others, however, are free-form conversations. However, unlike consulting cases, Strategy & Business Operations cases are more specific to a company and their actual problems and are less likely to go into graphs, charts, and math. Below are some sample questions that demonstrate the types of cases you could get. These are company and industry agnostic so feel free to add in the additional lens of the company or industry you are applying to.

If this feels new to you, feel free to refer to the sample walkthroughs to get a sense of how to frame your thinking and your answer. There is no one answer but make sure to stay structured and answer all parts of the question.

Sample Strategy & BizOps case questions (Top)

Example question #1: our company is interested in investing more money in new online and offline marketing channels to drive growth. how would you go about determining how much to spend and evaluate the effectiveness of new campaigns, example question #2: we currently make operational and financial plans on an annual basis. however, we are hoping to start looking more long term and you have been asked to put together a 5 year and a 10 year forecast, what are the key metrics that you hope to forecast and how would you go about it, example question #3: our company currently works solely on a cost per click model where we make money every time a user clicks on a link to a client’s good. it is heavily dependent on user traffic and we are now thinking about building out new revenue models that would allow us to grow revenue. what are potential models you would suggest, what data do you need, and how would you go about making a decision, example question #4: our company is hoping to grow by moving more downstream of our existing product and owning more of the customer pipeline. to make the move, would you suggest a buy, build, partner or multi pronged strategy, example question #5: we currently have a large set of suppliers that we work with who do not all perform at the same level. moving forward, we hope to differentiate them by coming up with a global partner program to highlight our best partners. how would you go about implementing the program- sample walkthrough provided below., example question #6: our company is interested in opening a new office location with a physical building, how do you go about selecting the city, example question #7: we want to launch a new product but have not been able to find enough external data to help us size the market. what would be your plan of attack to help size the potential market and what types of customer tests would you build to help collect data, example question #8: after a reorg, you’ve been tasked with creating a cohesive team culture and bringing together the teams under one roadmap, what is the structure you would propose including meetings and materials for alignment, example question #9: the company has decided to invest more in competitive research and wants a regular review of the competitive landscape. how do you go about putting together the analysis and what information would you choose to bring in, example question #10: the company is hoping to establish a monthly business review to bring together leaders from different departments and review key metrics. your team has been tasked to take on the project and bring it to life. how would you set up a monthly business review what teams would you involve, what types of metrics would you track, and how would you go about presenting it to get buy in, example question #11: our company really values feedback from frontline teams that work with clients, however, there are too many pieces of data for any one person to sort. how do you go about collecting these ideas and completing the feedback loop to ensure that the ideas are getting to the right product teams and clients feel heard, example question #12: the sales team has been missing their targets for the last two quarters and you have been asked to dig into what could be going on. what are some of the key factors that you would look at to evalue where the problem is.

💡 Tip: Our biz ops interview prep can help

Full Strategy & BizOps case examples (Top)

Below, are answers to two Strategy & BizOps interview questions from Jessie Wang , a McKinsey Associate who previously managed strategy and analytics teams at Indeed and Expedia.

1. Our company is interested in investing more money in new online and offline marketing channels to drive growth. How would you go about determining how much to spend and evaluate the effectiveness of new campaigns?

Step 1: Understand our existing landscape

Key questions to ask:

• What channels do we use today?
• What is our channel mix? Are we focused on online (e.g. SEO, SEM, targeted ads etc) or are we primarily offline (e.g. radio, print etc.)?
• How are our current campaigns performing? How many new users are we acquiring? What is their average spend? How long are they spending with us? What is their overall lifetime value? What is the average ROI for our existing campaigns?

Step 2: Determining how much we should spend

• Meeting break even - We need to understand the customer lifetime value by different segments of customers. Customer segments could include customers by acquisition channel and then segmented for different geographies or campaigns. Once we know the average value the customer will generate in their lifetime, this is the max amount that we can spend to acquire them. The customer lifetime value can be thought about as how much the customer will spend with your company before they churn.
• Strategic value- We can also consider spending over the lifetime value of the customer if there are key competitors in the space or the market has significant market size that we want to go after. At this point, it is an investment.

Step 3: Evaluate the effectiveness

• An effective campaign is one where we have high ROI on customer spend compared to customer acquisition cost. We need to measure this on a per campaign level if possible. If attribution is too difficult at this level, we can also evaluate based on channel or at a geographic level.
• Other measures of success could include driving up the customer lifetime value over time if the campaign is bringing in better customers than what we have today.

Feel free to list the questions that you would need to answer to do more- Because you won’t know the ins and outs of the company, the expectation is more that you would know what questions you want to ask rather than come up with numbers or a correct answer. The interviewer will provide you with more information if they want you to provide more detailed analysis.

Make a primary recommendation and then add in secondary considerations- Your primary recommendation should be what you think the answer is but there are likely other considerations or risks that make your answer more holistic.

2. We currently have a large set of suppliers that we work with who do not all perform at the same level. Moving forward, we hope to differentiate them by coming up with a global partner program to highlight our best partners. How would you go about implementing the program?

Step 1: Understand the program value proposition

• Help us as a company prioritize the partners we should devote more time to and allow us incentivize good marketplace behaviors
• Help our customers understand which partners to work with and how they are performing as not all partners may be equal
• Help our partners gain more recognition and business by standing out from competitors

Step 2: Define the different approaches that we could take

• Tiered approach with guidelines and qualifications at each level
• Key questions to answer include: How often do we review performance and redefine tiers? What metrics do we measure? Do we need a different scale based on partner location, size, focus etc?
• Ranked approach based on a scoring rubric with a clear top and bottom
• Key questions to answer include: Are there enough differentiating characteristics? Does a hierarchy bring more value to the table or does it add confusion? Can all customers access all partners or do partners have specific focuses?
• Badging system for different qualifications
• Key questions to answer include: What are the badges worth including? What is the right number of badges? What scale or threshold should we set to receive a badge?

Step 3: Rollout and go to market

• Determining the criteria - First, we need to work with partners to determine the key criteria and make sure that differences in size, scope, geography are taken into account. These criteria and thresholds also need to be announced publicly to allow new entrants or people who are not our partners today a chance to participate.
• Grace period - After we have defined the criteria, we need to give partners time to meet the standards that we set before we announce.
• Pre-announcement - Before we go to launch, we should check with partners to ensure that there is alignment on the data and results of each criteria and that partners are aware of where they wil be in our partner program. This is also a chance to create joint marketing and communications around what the new title will mean.
• Announcement - Once we are live, we need to continue to update our partner program and create benefits to incentivize our partners to improve in the areas we want.

Relate this to what you know - If you’ve ever used a site like Poshmark or Amazon, you know that sellers often have differentiators that the platform has assigned based on their performance. Poshmark has Ambassadors and Amazon has Best Seller. While these examples may be more consumer focused, the intention is similar to hte partner program mentioned in this case so don’t be afraid to leverage what you may have seen work for other companies!

One step at a time - Candidates often jump to implementation without considering the purpose of the program and the different ways the program could work. By starting from the basic building blocks, it will give you better insights in your go to market strategy.

Case interview prep tips (Top)

Adequate preparation is essential to successfully scaling case questions during your interviews. As you navigate the interview process, these 5 tips will come in handy.

1. Practice, practice and practice

It is almost impossible to wing a case interview. Like Dave Chapelle recently said on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman on Netflix, "it's easy to do something if you've seen it before." A case interview is definitely not something you want to tackle in an interview the first time you see it.

2. Context matters

Case interviews at stratops interviews are nowhere near as difficult as those for management consulting interviews, as they are more straightforward and involve fewer twists than you'd see in a consulting case interview. In fact, while generalist consulting interviews may expect you not to be an expert in the field in which the case is set, for stratops interviews, many companies expect you to have knowledge of the business or industry in which they operate. There is only so much "creativity" you can show about a business for which you are unfamiliar before you end up completely in the weeds with no hope of redemption! Before your interview, get familiar with the industry - trends, challenges, key players - and find out who the company's direct competitors are.

3. Be organized

The interview may take twists and turns, and you will need to find your way back to where you started from to give a good summary and final recommendation. Typically, your responses to the initial case questions lead to subsequent questions. Figure out a system of compiling your responses to each section, so that you can give a cohesive and holistic final response. The worst thing you can do is to contradict your initial stance with your final response.

4. Engage your interviewer

Approach your interview as a conversation rather than as an exam. Have a back and forth going with your interviewer - ask clarifying questions and incorporate the interviewer's responses as you work through the case. Avoid getting into "exam mode" - working on your own and then presenting your interviewer with a final solution.

5. Quantitative skills are important

Depending on the company and the department in which the stratops role reports into, your case interview may include a quant assessment. It could be in the form of mental math questions or a request for you to demo your Excel or SQL capabilities. Brush up and get comfortable with your numbers prowess!

To wrap up, the case questions you can expect to receive during the interview will likely be around a current problem the company is facing - growth strategy case, new business or market entry or just about anything the interviewer feels would give a good sense of your stratops skills. While the difficulty level of the stratops cases is on the medium scale when compared with management consulting interviews, you should approach your preparation, and indeed your interview, with the same diligence and professionalism as you would a management consulting case interview!

P.S. Are you preparing for Strategy & BizOps interviews?

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How Could Harvard Decarbonize Its Supply Chain?

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Hacking the Case Interview

If you are interviewing for a business strategy or operations role at Google, there is a high chance that you will be given at least one case interview or case study interview. Roles at Google that have case interviews as part of the interview process include:

• Strategy & Operations
• Product Management
• Business Partnerships
• Business Analyst

In order to land these jobs at Google, you will need to pass every single one of your case interviews. While Google case interviews may seem ambiguous and intimidating at first, know that they can be conquered with the right preparation and practice.

If you are unfamiliar with how to solve or prepare for Google case interviews, we have you covered. In this comprehensive Google case interview guide, we’ll cover:

• What is a Google case interview
• Why Google uses case interviews
• The 6 steps to ace any Google case interview
• Google case interview examples and answers
• Google case interview tips
• Recommended Google case interview resources

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land tech and consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

What is a Google Case Interview?

Google case interviews, also known as Google case study interviews, are 30- to 45-minute exercises in which you are placed in a hypothetical business situation and are asked to find a solution or make a recommendation.

To do this, you’ll create an overall framework that shows what approach you would take to solve the case. Then, you’ll collaborate with the interviewer, answering a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions that will give you the information and data needed to develop an answer. At the end of the case, you’ll deliver your recommendation.

Case interviews have traditionally been used by consulting firms to assess a candidate’s potential to become a successful consultant, but many companies with ex-consultants now use them to assess an interview candidate’s capabilities. Since Google hires so many former consultants in its business roles, you’ll likely encounter at least one case interview in your interview process.

The business problems that you’ll be given in a Google case interview will likely be real challenges that Google faces today:  

• How can Google increase its revenues from enterprise businesses?
• How can Google reduce costs among its customer service call centers while maintaining customer satisfaction?
• Google has seen a steep decline in the number of Google searches in Japan. What is causing this decline and what should Google do to address this?
• How can Google improve customer retention among small and medium-sized businesses?

Depending on what team at Google you are interviewing for, you’ll likely be given a business problem that is relevant to that specific team.

Although there is a wide range of business problems you could possibly be given in your Google case interview, the fundamental case interview strategies to solve each problem is the same. If you learn the right strategies and get enough practice, you’ll be able to solve any Google case interview.

Why does Google Use Case Interviews?

Google uses case interviews because your performance in a case interview is a measure of how well you would do on the job. Google case interviews assess a variety of different capabilities and qualities needed to successfully complete job duties and responsibilities.

Google’s case interviews assess five major qualities:

• Logical, structured thinking : Can you structure complex problems in a clear, simple way?
• Analytical problem solving : Can you read, interpret, and analyze data well?
• Business acumen : Do you have sound business judgment and intuition?
• Communication skills : Can you communicate clearly, concisely, and articulately?
• Personality and cultural fit : Are you coachable and easy to work with?

Since all of these qualities can be assessed in just a 30- to 45-minute case, Google case interviews are an effective way to assess a candidate’s capabilities.

The 6 Steps to Solve Any Google Case Interview

In general, there are six steps to solve any Google case interview or case study interview.

1. Understand the case

Your Google case interview will begin with the interviewer giving you the case background information. While the interviewer is speaking, make sure that you are taking meticulous notes on the most important pieces of information. Focus on understanding the context of the situation and the objective of the case.

Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions if you do not understand something. You may want to summarize the case background information back to the interviewer to confirm your understanding of the case.

The most important part of this step is to verify the objective of the case. Not answering the right business question is the quickest way to fail a case interview.

2. Structure the problem

The next step is to develop a framework to help you solve the case. A framework is a tool that helps you structure and break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components. Another way to think about frameworks is brainstorming different ideas and organizing them into different categories.

For a complete guide on how to create tailored and unique frameworks for each case, check out our article on case interview frameworks .

Before you start developing your framework, it is completely acceptable to ask the interviewer for a few minutes so that you can collect your thoughts and think about the problem.

Once you have identified the major issues or areas that you need to explore, walk the interviewer through your framework. They may ask a few questions or provide some feedback.

3. Kick off the case

Once you have finished presenting your framework, you’ll start diving into different areas of your framework to begin solving the case. How this process will start depends on whether the case interview is candidate-led or interviewer-led.

If the case interview is a candidate-led case, you’ll be expected to propose what area of your framework to start investigating. So, propose an area and provide a reason for why you want to start with that area. There is generally no right or wrong area of your framework to pick first.

If the case interview is interviewer-led, the interviewer will tell you what area of the framework to start in or directly give you a question to answer.

4. Solve quantitative problems

Google case interviews typically have some quantitative aspect to them. For example, you may be asked to calculate a certain profitability or financial metric. You could also be asked to estimate the size of a particular market or to estimate a particular figure.

The key to solving quantitative problems is to lay out a structure or approach upfront with the interviewer before doing any math calculations. If you lay out and present your structure to solve the quantitative problem and the interviewer approves of it, the rest of the problem is just simple execution of math.

5. Answer qualitative questions

Google case interviews will also typically have qualitative aspects to them. You may be asked to brainstorm a list of potential ideas. You could also be asked to provide your opinion on a business issue or situation.

The key to answering qualitative questions is to structure your answer. When brainstorming a list of ideas, develop a structure to help you neatly categorize all of your ideas. When giving your opinion on a business issue or situation, provide a summary of your stance or position and then enumerate the reasons that support it.

6. Deliver a recommendation

In the last step of the Google case interview, you’ll present your recommendation and provide the major reasons that support it. You do not need to recap everything that you have done in the case, so focus on only summarizing the facts that are most important.

It is also good practice to include potential next steps that you would take if you had more time or data. These can be areas of your framework that you did not have time to explore or lingering questions that you do not have great answers for.

Google Case Interview Examples and Answers

Example #1:  What differences would you take into account when selling a product to a client in India versus a client in Argentina?

Sample solution: To answer this, create a framework that shows the most important characteristics or qualities of each country that you would want to look into. For example, one potential framework may look into the customer needs and preferences, the competitive landscape, market trends, and Google’s capabilities across the two countries.

Example #2:  If you were a Google Search competitor entering a new market and had a small market share, how would you convince advertisers to advertise with you?

Sample solution: To answer this question, you should be familiar with Google Search. You can create a framework that outlines the product’s strengths and weaknesses so that you can identify gaps in customer needs. 

At a high level, the strengths of Google Search is that it has the widest reach since it is the most used search engine. It also has high targeting specificity since it has lots of data on long-tail keywords. However, the main drawback is how competitive and expensive it can be for advertisers to use. Customer service can also be slow for smaller customers given the number of customers Google services. Finally, the product can be complicated for advertisers to set up initially.  Therefore, when entering a new market as a Google Search competitor, it may make sense to target customers with smaller budgets and sell them on low-prices, fast customer service, and ease of set up.

Example #3:  What are three areas that Google should invest in?

Sample solution: To answer this question, it may be helpful to clarify what Google’s primary objective is. Are they looking to increase profits, revenues, or number of users? The ideas that you brainstorm may vary depending on their actual goals.  Next, develop a framework to organize your ideas. You may want to think about areas of investments as short-term investments, medium-term investments, and long-term investments.

Example #4:  If you were the CEO of AdSense, what would be your strategy to improve the product?

Sample solution: As always, create a framework to help you organize your ideas in a clear and easy to follow way. To improve AdSense, you can think about improving the product for advertisers, improving the product for search users, and improving the product for Google’s profitability. Using a framework like this one will help you consider all of the different ways that AdSense can be improved.

Example #5:  How much money do you think YouTube makes daily from ads?

Sample solution: This is an estimation question. Before doing any math calculations, make sure to lay out a structure or approach for how you would estimate this figure. 

You may want to start by estimating the number of people in the world, the percentage that use YouTube, the percentage that use YouTube on any given day, the average amount of time spent on YouTube in a day, the number of ads seen for that period of time, and then estimating the amount YouTube earns per ad that is shown. Multiplying all of these figures will give you your answer.

Example #6:  How would you set the price for the YouTube masthead? The YouTube masthead is a digital billboard placed on YouTube’s homepage for 24 hours, reaching about 60 million people.

Sample solution: In general, there are three ways to price a product: pricing by the cost to produce the product, pricing by the economic value the product provides customers, and pricing by the price of competitors’ similar products.

Since the cost of putting up a digital billboard is minimal, the first pricing strategy is not helpful. Looking at the second pricing strategy, you can price the digital billboard based on how much it would have cost the potential customer to get 60 million ad impressions. Looking at the third pricing strategy, you can look into how much other types of advertising that reach a similar number of people costs. For example, you could look into how much Super Bowl ads cost.

Example #7:  How would you market the Google Ads product to a potential client?

Sample solution: To develop an effective marketing strategy, you may want to look into the client’s needs, competitor offerings, and Google Ads’ features or benefits. Exploring these three areas will help you identify the features or benefits of Google Ads that are superior to competitor products that the client values.

Example #8:  How would you estimate the market size of Google display ads on websites?

Sample solution: This is another estimation question. As always, outline a structure before you begin doing any math calculations. 

You may want to start by estimating the global population, estimating the percentage that have internet, estimate the average number of sites visited per day, estimate the percentage of websites that have ads, estimate the percentage of these websites that use Google display ads, estimate the revenue Google generates per ad. If you multiply the product of these figures by 365 days in a year, you’ll get an estimate of the market size of Google display ads.

Example #9:  How would you determine the number of staff members needed in the customer support team next year?

Sample solution: One potential approach for solving this question could look like the following. 

Start with Google’s annual revenues and estimate the average revenue generated per customer to determine the number of customers Google services. For each customer, estimate the frequency in which they call customer support and the average length of a support call. Assuming that a staff member works eight hours per day, you can estimate the number of staff members you’d need to meet the volume of support calls.

You may need to grow this number by Google’s historical growth rate to account for expected revenue growth next year.

Example #10:  If you were setting up a new ecommerce business, what are the things you would look at?

Sample solution: This is a market entry case. Potential areas you should consider looking into in your framework include: the attractiveness of the market, the competitive landscape, the company’s capabilities, and the expected profitability.

Example #11 : How should YouTube deal with spam?

Sample solution: There are many different ways to deal with spam. To ensure that you brainstorm ideas in a clear and comprehensive way, develop a framework to categorize all of the different ways of dealing with spam. You may want to think about this as: preventing spam from being posted, detecting spam, and removing spam.

Example #12 : Let’s say that Google is considering acquiring iRobot, a company that builds consumer robots, such as the Roomba. What would you consider when deciding whether to make this acquisition?

Sample solution: This is an acquisition case. To determine whether or not this is an attractive acquisition, you may want to look into: the attractiveness of the consumer robots market, the attractiveness of iRobot as a company, the potential synergies from the acquisition, and the financial implications of the acquisition.

Example #13 : Estimate the time it takes a Google Street View car to collect footage in a city.

Sample solution: To answer this question, first clarify which city the interviewer is talking about. Then, outline your approach for how you would do this calculation. 

You might want to start by estimating the length and width of the city area. Then, estimate how wide a street is and the average distance between streets. If you think of a city as a grid that consists of vertical and horizontal lines, you can use these estimates to calculate the total street length in the city.

Afterwards, estimate the average speed of a Google Street View car, taking into traffic and stoplights. Dividing the total street length by the average speed of a Google Street View car will get you an estimate of how long it would take to collect footage.

Example #14 : How would you define the strategy for YouTube over the next 5 years?

Sample solution: This question is very similar to Example #3. Before answering, it may be helpful to clarify what YouTube’s primary objective is. Are they looking to increase profits, increase number of users, or increase user engagement? You may want to think about strategy as short-term strategy and long-term strategy.

Example #15 : Let’s say that Google is considering getting into the ride share business. What should they consider when making the decision on whether or not to enter?

Sample solution: This is a market entry case and the approach is similar to Example #10. Potential areas you should consider looking into in your framework include: the attractiveness of the ride share market, the competitive landscape, the company’s capabilities, and the expected profitability.

Google Case Interview Tips

Below are eight of our best tips to help you perform your best during your Google case interviews.

1. Familiarize yourself with Google’s business model

If you don’t understand Google’s business model, it will be challenging for you to do well in their case interviews. Therefore, you should know that Google makes the majority of its revenue by selling advertising and you should be familiar with the products and services that Google offers for the specific team you are interviewing for.

2. Read recent news articles on Google

Often, the cases you’ll see in a Google case interview are real business issues that the company faces. Reading up on the latest news on Google will give you a sense of what Google’s biggest challenges are and what major business decisions they face today. There may be a good chance that you’ll be given a case that is similar to something that you have read in the news.

3. Verify the objective of the case 

Answering the wrong business problem will waste a lot of time during your Google case interview. Therefore, the most critical step of the case interview is to verify the objective of the case with the interviewer. Make sure that you understand what the primary business issue is and what overall question you are expected to answer at the end of the case.

4. Ask clarifying questions

Do not be afraid to ask questions. You will not be penalized for asking questions that are important and relevant to the case. 

Great questions to ask include asking for the definition of an unfamiliar term, asking questions that clarify the objective of the issue, and asking questions to strengthen your understanding of the business situation.

5. Do not use memorized frameworks

Interviewers can tell when you are using memorized frameworks from popular case interview prep books. Google values creativity and intellect. Therefore, make every effort to create a custom, tailored framework for each case that you get.

6. Always connect your answers to the case objective

Throughout the case, make sure you are connecting each of your answers back to the overall business problem or question. What implications does your answer have on the overall business problem?

Many candidates make the mistake of answering case questions correctly, but they don’t take the initiative to tie their answer back to the case objective.

7. Communicate clearly and concisely

In a Google case interview, it can be tempting to answer the interviewer’s question and then continue talking about related topics or ideas. However, you have a limited amount of time to solve a Google case, so it is best to keep your answers concise and to the point.

Answer the interviewer’s question, summarize how it impacts the case objective, and then move onto the next important issue or question.

8. Be enthusiastic

Google wants to hire candidates that love their job and will work hard. Displaying enthusiasm shows that you are passionate about working at Google. Having a high level of enthusiasm and energy also makes the interview more enjoyable for the interviewer. They’ll be more likely to have a positive impression of you.

Recommended Google Interview Resources

Here are the resources we recommend to land a Google job offer:

For help landing interviews

• Resume Review & Editing : Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple interviews

For help passing case interviews

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
• Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.
• Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

For help passing behavioral & fit interviews

• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.

Land Multiple Tech and Consulting Offers

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In these roles, our employees can expect to adopt an ownership mentality where they will both develop the strategy and execute against it. About the Team Our Strategy & Operations team focuses on launching new geographies and products, while building and testing the strategic plans at every step. At our core, we are operators, which in practice means that we’ll get to the lowest level of detail to ensure the business is set up for success. There are three main attributes that we continue to see from our very best S&O teammates: Intellectual curiosity There is so much to know about our business, from how our Merchants prepare orders to how our assignment logic works in Deep Red, and how Dashers perceive the value of a Dash. Great operators want to know why our systems work the way they do, and the top performers question the status quo and look to make 1% better enhancements. Operational excellence at the 1-foot and 50K foot levels Our business operates in both the short and long-term (i.e., high quality orders need to be fulfilled today and how the space we are operating in changes over the next 12 months). Operators need to easily flex between both of those mindsets. Great operators can tie their work back to the business to improve our platform overall. There are a new set of challenges you’ll face everyday, and just when you think you have a hold on the state of the world, it changes. Great operators understand that no problem is too big or too small, and our top performers are customer obsessed, breaking through any barrier to do the best for our Customers, Merchants, and Dashers. Our S&O Structure Marketplace s&o. Grows DoorDash in the US through in-app experiences and accelerates growth across the platform through DashPass, selection, affordability, regional growth, etc. New Verticals S&O Builds new operating capabilities and delivery channels to expand DoorDash’s local commerce platform to new growth areas. Merchant S&O Helps merchants grow their business profitability, build new sales channels, and operate on DD efficiently. For consumers, acquires and onboards the best merchant selection at affordable prices and with great quality. Additionally, drives merchant operating efficiencies to reinvest in merchant and business needs. Drive S&O DoorDash Drive is our hyper-growth fulfillment platform serving restaurants, grocers, and retailers on a global scale. Ads and Promotions S&O Builds digital solutions to help advertisers reach all of DoorDash’s audiences. Dasher and Logistics S&O Ensures every delivery is completed with speed, accuracy, and a positive Consumer, Merchant, and Dasher experience. Owns initiatives touching all parts of the Dasher lifecycle. DoorDash for Work S&O Develops solutions to unlock growth opportunities in multiple categories and products through DoorDash for Work and drives profitable growth for Merchants. Strategy & Operations Jobs We’re hiring across the u.s. & canada. Nothing we do is one-size-fits-all – and the way we work is no different. We know that teams have unique needs depending on the nature of work, location of team members, and overall dynamic. That’s why at DoorDash, each team has the freedom to decide how they interact and achieve their goals. Virtual Interview Process Recruiter phone screen. In the first step of the process, you will speak with our recruitment team in a 30-minute call about what you’ve worked on, level expectations, and other key factors. You’ll also learn about DoorDash and our interview process during this time. Take-Home Analytics Exercise In this round, you will have a take-home analytics exercise that assesses your analytical ability. Note: For director-level roles, there will be a live working session instead. In this round, you will meet with 2-3 members of the business who will be assessing both behavioral skills as well as problem-solving skills. In this round, you will meet with 2-4 additional team members who will continue to assess your skill set. This round includes behavioral interviews, leadership interviews as well as case study/problem-solving interviews. Additional Rounds Based on job level and role, processes may differ and additional rounds may be incorporated. Our Values In Action Our values guide the way we work, inform everything we do, and make us unapologetically DoorDash. Be An Owner No problem is too big, too small or outside of our scope. We all jump in and help. Dream Big, Start Small We take small ideas and help them grow, using data and rigorous testing. Choose Optimism, And Have A Plan Positive thinking brings people along and helps us achieve ambitious, often unreasonable goals. We choose optimism, especially when things are tough. Bias For Action In a fast-paced world, the only way to predict the future is to invent it. We launch solutions quickly, test them and make changes as needed because growth compounds. Operate At The Lowest Level Of Detail We aspire to know the lowest level of detail so we can make progress on the things that are critical to our business and our Consumers. And, Not Either/Or We’re not satisfied picking between options or sacrificing one thing for another, rather we engineer a way to do both. We’re not afraid to dig in and uncover the truth, even if it’s scary or inconvenient. We use data and common sense to solve problems. 1% Better Every Day Our goal isn’t perfection; it’s constant and never-ending improvement. We look for opportunity, share feedback and celebrate a growth mindset. Customer-Obsessed, Not Competitor Focused We focus on our Consumers and our performance, staying connected to the people we serve and learning from them every day. Make Room At The Table We’re committed to growing and empowering a more diverse and inclusive community. We believe that true innovation happens when everyone has the tools, resources and opportunity to thrive. Think Outside The Room We strive to be as inclusive as possible and consider those who may not be in the room when making decisions. One Team, One Fight We’re in this together, and both success and failure are shared. We are intentional about creating a high-accountability, no-blame culture. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) When everyone feels welcomed, supported, and valued, we’re able to achieve more than we ever thought possible. To help empower equal outcomes and “make room at the table” for everyone to participate, we have company-wide strategies and a holistic action plan in motion as we build a workforce reflective of our communities, our customers, and our values. We’re proud of how far we’ve come, but our work is never done. Employee Resource Groups One of the ways we’re fostering a greater sense of belonging is through our employee resource groups (ERGs). They provide opportunities for us to connect and learn from one another, plus help us transform the way we think. Click each logo below to learn more about our ERGs. AAPI@ DoorDash Able@ DoorDash Black@ DoorDash Indigenous@ DoorDash Parents@ DoorDash Pride@ DoorDash Unidos@ DoorDash Veterans@ DoorDash Women@ DoorDash Recent blogs, melissa puskar shares lessons learned in growing alongside the dashmart business, learn how to build your brand in strategy & operations @ doordash, how i built this with tony xu, stay connected. Be the first to hear about our latest job openings, recruiting events, and exciting breakthroughs. © 2024 DoorDash Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share through Email Developing Your International Strategy: 9-Step Process For Success Looking to expand your business abroad? Use this article to help you understand what options are available, challenges you'll likely face, and some best practices. There comes a time in many an organization’s development when they start looking beyond their home country to take advantage of opportunities in international markets. If this is you, then you’ve come to the right article. Use this as a starting point to help you launch your international strategy. What Is An International Strategy? An international strategy is a plan or approach that a company adopts to conduct its business operations outside its home country. It covers the ways an organization markets and manages its products, services, and operations across different countries. What Are The Benefits Of An International Strategy? Market expansion and growth. A primary reason for international expansion is to increase sales and revenue by tapping into new customer bases. A popular example is Apple, whose expansion into the Asia-Pacific market now generates about a third of its revenue. Reduced risk Related to the above, spreading operations across multiple countries reduces dependence on a single market, mitigating risks such as local economic downturns, market saturation, wars, or natural disasters. Access to new talent pools Expanding internationally allows companies to access a broader talent pool of skilled workers from around the globe who can also provide knowledge about their home market. A prime example of this is Google. Google has established R&D centers in various countries, including India, Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.  These centers allow Google to tap into local expertise and innovations , fostering a diverse and dynamic working environment. To make international hiring easier, it’s now increasingly common practice to use an employer of record. These take on the legal responsibility of employment and help with admin and compliance. You can read more in our article what is an employer of record . Reduced business costs Opening operations in new countries can help organizations reduce costs through: Access to new manufacturing facilities and methods Cheaper labor More affordable raw materials Tax incentives Regulatory savings Improved supply chain efficiency. Of course, organizations looking to save costs must be careful to abide by local regulations and behave ethically or risk fines and reputational damage. Creating An International Strategy: 9-Step Process So now you’re convinced of the benefits of an international strategy, how can you go about it?  1. Define Your Business Objectives Set clear goals : First things first, establish what you aim to achieve with your international expansion. This could include increasing or diversifying revenue, accessing new talent, or reducing costs. Align with corporate strategy : Ensure that your international business objectives align with your overall strategy and long-term vision. 2. Conduct market research Identify potential markets : Assess various international markets to identify where your needs might be met. A common framework used here is the PESTLE (political, economic, sociological, technological, legal, and environmental). Understand local regulations and cultural norms : As part of your research, seek to understand local laws, employment regulations, and cultural practices that could impact business operations.  Identify potential risks : Asses economic, political, legal, and cultural risks in potential markets (again, PESTLE can help). 3. Assess internal capabilities and resources Evaluate internal resources : Assess your company's readiness in terms of finances, human resources, and operational capabilities. Identify skill gaps : Determine if existing employees have the necessary skills for international operations or if additional training or hiring is required. 5. Develop entry strategies Choose your mode of entry : Decide whether to enter through exporting, licensing, franchising, joint ventures, or setting up a subsidiary (more on these shortly). Local partnership considerations : If opting for joint ventures or partnerships, choose local partners wisely, considering their market knowledge and business reputation. Develop risk management strategies : Create strategies to mitigate identified risks, including contingency plans. 6. Adapt your products, services and operations Customization : Adapt your products or services to meet local preferences, regulations, and cultural nuances. Pricing strategy : Develop a competitive pricing strategy that reflects local market conditions, purchasing power, and competitor pricing. Develop Global HR Policies : Create HR policies that are globally consistent yet adaptable to local laws and cultural nuances. Talent management : Plan for talent acquisition, development, and retention in the new market. This may include expatriate management, local hiring, and training programs. 7. Develop a marketing and sales strategy Brand positioning : Position your brand in a way that resonates with local consumers and differentiates you from competitors. Marketing campaigns : Create targeted marketing campaigns that leverage local media, social media, and other channels to reach your audience effectively. Sales channels : Determine the most effective sales channels for your products, whether it be direct sales, online platforms, or retail partnerships. Get weekly insights and how-tos on leadership and HR’s biggest and most pressing topics—right to your inbox. Your email * By submitting this form, you agree to receive our newsletter, and occasional emails related to People Managing People. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more details, please review our privacy policy . We're protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. 8. Ensure compliance and risk management Regulatory compliance : Put measures in place to ensure that your business complies with all local laws and regulations, including labor laws, tax requirements, and trade regulations. Legal protections : If possible, protect your intellectual property and ensure you have the necessary legal agreements in place. 9. Monitor and evaluate performance Key performance indicators (KPIs) : Establish KPIs to measure the success of your international strategy, such as market share, sales growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction. Regular reviews : Conduct regular performance reviews to assess progress and make adjustments as needed. Feedback loops : Collect feedback from local teams, customers, and partners to continuously improve your strategy and operations. What Are The Modes Of International Expansion? Above I alluded to the different ways organizations can choose to enter new markets. I’ll now go into these in a bit more detail: Direct exporting : Selling products directly to customers in the target market without intermediary partners. This method is straightforward and requires minimal investment. Example : A manufacturer selling its products online to international customers. Indirect exporting : Using intermediaries such as agents, distributors, or trading companies to sell products in the target market. This reduces the complexity and risk associated with entering new markets. Example : A company partnering with a local distributor to sell its products abroad. Licensing and franchising Definition : Granting a foreign company the rights to produce and sell the company's products in exchange for royalties or fees. Licensing allows for rapid market entry with low investment. Example : A software company licensing its technology to a foreign firm to develop and distribute the software locally. Joint ventures  Definition : Partnering with a local company to create a new business entity jointly owned by both parties. Joint ventures combine resources and expertise while sharing risks and profits. Example : A car manufacturer partnering with a local automaker to produce and sell vehicles in a new market. Strategic alliances Definition : Forming a partnership with a local firm to collaborate on specific projects or activities without creating a new legal entity. Strategic alliances can provide market access, technology sharing, and resource pooling. Example : A technology company collaborating with a local firm to develop and market new products. Wholly owned subsidiaries Definition : Setting up a fully owned branch or subsidiary in the target market. This method provides full control over operations and is often used when the company seeks a significant long-term presence. Example : An electronics company establishing its own sales and service office in a foreign country. Piggybacking Definition : Partnering with another company that already has a presence in the target market to leverage their distribution networks and market knowledge. Example : A smaller brand using a larger company's distribution channels to enter a new market. Definition : Selling products directly to consumers in foreign markets through online platforms. E-commerce allows companies to reach international customers without a physical presence. Example : An apparel brand selling its products globally through its website or online marketplaces like Amazon. Foreign direct investment (FDI) When it comes to direct invest, organizations have a couple of options: Greenfield investment : Establishing new operations, such as manufacturing plants or subsidiaries, in the target market from scratch. This method involves significant investment but offers complete control over operations. Example : A pharmaceutical company building a new production facility in a foreign country. Acquisition : Purchasing an existing company in the target market. Acquisitions provide immediate market access and established customer bases but may involve higher risks and integration challenges. Example : A beverage company acquiring a local drink manufacturer to enter a new market. Definition : Merging with a company in the chosen market(s) to combine operations, assets, and management to form a new, larger entity. Both companies typically share ownership and control of the newly formed entity. Example : In 2000, Vodafone, a UK-based telecommunications company, merged with Mannesmann, a German telecommunications and engineering company. The merger allowed Vodafone to significantly expand its presence in the European market, leveraging Mannesmann’s established infrastructure and customer base in Germany and other European countries. Brownfield investments Definition : The purchase and development of existing assets, such as buildings, factories, or businesses, in a foreign market. This can include refurbishing, upgrading, and modernizing the facilities to meet the company’s standards and operational needs. Example : In 2008, Tata Motors, an Indian automotive company, acquired the British luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. The acquisition provided Tata Motors with access to established manufacturing facilities, advanced technology, and a strong brand presence in the global luxury car market. International Strategy Challenges Of course, like most new initiatives worth doing, there are risks and challenges involved and history is littered with international forays gone awry. Here’s what intrepid organizations typically have to contend with: Cultural adaptation Understanding Local Culture : Adapting products, services, and marketing strategies to align with local cultural norms and consumer preferences can be challenging. Communication Styles : Differences in communication styles and business etiquette can lead to misunderstandings and miscommunication. Employee integration Managing diverse teams : Integrating employees from different cultural backgrounds requires effective cross-cultural management and communication skills. For guidance, check out our article on managing remote teams . Workplace norms : Different workplace norms and practices can affect team dynamics and productivity.  Regulatory and legal compliance Compliance with local laws : Ensuring compliance with varying labor laws, tax regulations, environmental standards, and business practices in different countries can be complex and costly. Intellectual property protection : Protecting intellectual property rights in foreign markets, where enforcement may be weak or inconsistent, can be challenging. Intellectual property (IP) infringement and theft are widespread in China , for example. Political and regulatory risk : Political instability and changes in government policies or regulations can impact business operations and profitability. Operational challenges Logistics and distribution : Managing complex logistics and distribution networks across multiple countries, each with its own infrastructure and regulatory requirements, can be a headache. Supply chain disruptions : Dealing with potential supply chain disruptions due to geopolitical issues, natural disasters, or transportation challenges. Maintaining standards : Ensuring consistent quality of products and services across different markets with varying production and operational standards. Local sourcing : Managing the quality and reliability of locally sourced materials and components. Financial challenges Exchange rate risk : Managing the financial impact of fluctuating exchange rates on revenues, costs, and profitability. Hedging strategies : Implementing effective hedging strategies to mitigate currency risks. Cost structures : Understanding and managing different cost structures, including labor costs, materials, and operational expenses, in various countries. Budgeting and forecasting : Accurate budgeting and forecasting in a dynamic and uncertain international environment. Strategic alignment Global vs. local strategy : Balancing the need for global consistency with the need for local adaptation in products, services, and branding. Decentralization : Deciding the extent to which decision-making should be centralized or decentralized to local management. Risk management Geopolitical risks : Navigating geopolitical tensions, trade wars, and sanctions that can affect business operations and market access. Economic fluctuations : Dealing with economic instability and recessions in different markets that can impact consumer spending and business growth. Technological challenges Technological integration : Integrating technology systems across different countries with varying levels of technological infrastructure and maturity. Data security : Ensuring data security and privacy compliance with different regulations, such as GDPR in Europe. International Strategy Best Practices With the above challenges in mind, what best practices can you use to ensure the success of your international strategy? Align with corporate objectives Strategic fit : The Northstar of any new initiative, the international strategy must align with the company’s overall corporate strategy and long-term vision. Clear goals : Define specific, measurable objectives for the international strategy, such as revenue targets, market share goals, and brand recognition metrics. Conduct thorough market research In-depth analysis : Perform comprehensive research to understand economic conditions, cultural differences, consumer behavior, regulatory environment, and competitive landscape in the target market. Get local insights : Engage with local experts and stakeholders for detailed insights and validate assumptions about the market. Choose the right market entry strategy Entry methods : Select an appropriate market entry strategy, such as exporting, licensing, franchising, joint ventures, acquisitions, or greenfield investments, based on resources, market conditions, and risk tolerance. Adaptability : Be prepared to adjust the entry strategy based on market feedback and initial experiences. Develop a robust localization strategy Product customization : Adapt products and services to meet local preferences, cultural norms, and regulatory requirements. Localized marketing : Tailor marketing campaigns to resonate with local audiences, using culturally relevant messaging and local media channels. Build strong local partnerships Strategic alliances : Form partnerships with local businesses, distributors, and suppliers to leverage their market knowledge and networks. Joint ventures : Consider joint ventures to share risks, resources, and expertise with local partners. Invest in talent and leadership Local talent : Hire and develop local talent who understand the market and can effectively drive business operations. Global leadership : Foster a leadership team with international experience and cultural sensitivity to manage global operations effectively. Ensure regulatory and legal compliance Legal due diligence : Conduct thorough legal due diligence to understand and comply with local laws, regulations, and industry standards. Compliance programs : Implement robust compliance programs to manage legal and regulatory risks. Monitor and Adapt Performance Metrics : Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor the success of the international strategy and track progress against goals. Feedback loops : Create feedback loops to gather insights from local teams, customers, and partners, and use this feedback to make informed adjustments to the strategy. 11. Foster cross-cultural understanding Cultural training : Provide cross-cultural training for employees to improve communication, collaboration, and cultural sensitivity. Inclusive culture : Promote an inclusive culture that values diversity and leverages the strengths of a diverse workforce. More Articles 10 benefits of using an employer of record service, hr software market size and analysis 2024, the 7 hr pillars: a complete guide, 12. manage risks proactively. Risk assessment : Conduct regular risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential political, economic, operational, and market risks. Contingency planning : Develop contingency plans to address potential disruptions and ensure business continuity. 13. Focus on sustainability and corporate responsibility Sustainable practices : Implement sustainable business practices that align with local and global environmental standards. Corporate responsibility : Engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives that support local communities and enhance the company’s reputation. International Expansion Case Study: Starbucks A prime example of a successful international expansion strategy is the case of Starbucks .  Hate it or love it, the ubiquitous coffee chain has successfully expanded its operations globally while maintaining a strong brand presence and adapting to local markets.  Here are some key points from Starbucks' international expansion strategy: Strategic partnerships and joint ventures In many instances, Starbucks formed strategic partnerships with local companies to navigate regulatory landscapes and leverage local expertise.  For example, Starbucks partnered with Tata Group in India to form Tata Starbucks, allowing it to penetrate the Indian market effectively. In China, Starbucks initially entered through a joint venture with local partners (it later bought them out), which helped it understand and adapt to the local market. Customization and localization Starbucks adapted its menu to cater to local tastes and preferences. For example, in China, it introduced beverages like green tea lattes and red bean frappuccinos to appeal to local palates. The organization leverages local knowledge by encouraging local teams to develop new products that it sometimes takes to other markets. The company also designs its stores to reflect local cultures and aesthetics, creating a unique yet familiar environment for customers. In Japan, for instance, Starbucks opened a traditional Japanese tea house-style store in Kyoto. Consistent training and development Starbucks offers comprehensive training and development programs to all its employees, known as “partners.” These programs include the Starbucks Leadership Experience, which focuses on developing leadership skills and company values. High-performing employees are given opportunities to take on leadership roles in different regions, promoting career growth and international experience. Local sourcing In some markets, Starbucks sourced ingredients locally to reduce costs and support local economies. For example, in India, Tata Starbucks sources coffee beans from local plantations. Join The People Managing People Community For more advice on international strategy, join our supportive community of HR and business leaders sharing knowledge and expertise to help you grow in your career and make greater impact in your org. Automation has reached its tipping point for omnichannel warehouses Never before has the competition for warehouse and fulfillment labor been so fierce, strongly driven by sustained growth in B2C channels. In the United States, for example, employment levels across distribution centers are at all-time highs and wages have risen to well above $18 an hour, yet attracting and retaining warehouse employees remains elusive. In the short term, strategies such as bonuses, accelerated pay raises, and tuition reimbursement are helping. But the long-term implications of a high reliance on labor are clear: automation in warehousing is no longer just nice to have but an imperative for sustainable growth. About the authors This article is a collaborative effort by John Barbee, Alan Davies, Raoul Dubeauclard, Tim Lange, and Christoph Lennartz, representing views from McKinsey’s Consumer & Retail Practice. Fueled by venture capital over the past five years, the automation industry has seen increased availability of new warehouse-automation innovations, supply chain as a service (SCaaS) models, and technology that integrates multiple solutions to help retailers address some of these challenges. For instance, the adoption of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), technology that eliminates significant nonproductive walking time in warehouses, has progressed from early-stage pilots about four years ago to multiple at-scale deployments today. For example, DHL rolled out 1,000 Locus Robotics AMRs and will deploy up to 2,000 robots by 2022. 1 Steven Crowe, “Locus Robotics scaling AMR deployments with DHL supply chain,” The Robot Report , June 2, 2021, therobotreport.com. These technologies aren’t just for larger companies. German toy retailer Rofu Kinderland built a new warehouse that includes 57 robots retrieving 3,500 different products from more than 28,000 bins, increasing efficiency and delivery speeds. 2 Melanie Wack, “E-Commerce: AutoStore für Spiel-, Schreibwaren und Dekorationsartikel,” Logistik Heute , November 12, 2020, logistik-heute.de. Innovators are gaining momentum as well. For example, Alert Innovation developed a microfulfillment-center technology platform for Walmart to handle the demands of grocery e-commerce. The proof-of-concept pilot system is now in full operation. Automation capabilities will play an influential role in the future size and scale of omnichannel networks. To successfully navigate the many choices for automation, retailers must have an informed perspective on where automation can create value, reduce risk, and improve reliability across an increasingly complex network of fulfillment nodes. Retailers should then use a three-step process—strategy, design, and implementation—to translate their vision into an optimal automated warehouse. The changing face of the warehouse-automation industry Investments from retailers in automation are poised to fuel significant industry growth: the warehouse-automation market is forecast to reach $51 billion by 2030, a CAGR of 23 percent. 3 David Edwards, “Revenues from robotics in warehouses to exceed $51 billion by 2030,” Robotics and Automation News , August 19, 2021, roboticsandautomationnews.com. The wave of innovation in warehousing has been fueled disproportionately by venture-capital funding for new start-ups, whose solutions increasingly influence the future of the omnichannel warehouse. In addition, private equity has provided a significant tailwind for key companies. For example, SoftBank invested $2.8 billion in AutoStore, an automation provider geared to the e-commerce and grocery industries. 4 Sam Shead, “SoftBank invests $2.8 billion in Norwegian robotics firm AutoStore,” CNBC, April 6, 2021, cnbc.com. Many of these technologies—for example, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) or the next level of automation AMRs as unmanned transport next to warehouse employees—have proved their effectiveness at scale in addressing the challenges of traditional e-commerce warehouses, such as labor shortages, SKU-complexity growth, and increasing service expectations. Increased M&A and investment Marketplaces and platform players have long recognized the importance of automation and have been rapidly acquiring robotics companies. Several at-scale investments have grabbed headlines. In 2019, the online marketplace Shopify spent $450 million to acquire automation provider 6 River Systems, with the goal of extending its AI-enabled fulfillment network. 5 Emil Protalinski, “Shopify acquires 6 River Systems for $450 million to expand its AI-powered fulfillment network,” VentureBeat, September 9, 2019, venturebeat.com. Amazon is developing proprietary automation solutions via Amazon Robotics to improve warehouse productivity and lessen the labor burden. Zalando has partnered with multiple automation partners to accelerate consumer-delivery times and improve operating efficiencies. Several retailers have publicly committed significant capital toward their automation strategies. For instance, Walmart plans to allocate nearly $14 billion for warehouse automation and other business areas, 6 Tonya Garcia, “Walmart to invest nearly $14 billion in automation and other business areas in fiscal 2022,” MarketWatch, February 22, 2021, marketwatch.com. and ASOS announced $100 million in spending to expand the capacity and productivity of its warehouses. 7 “Retailer ASOS to spend $100M to automate Georgia warehouse,” U.S. News, July 12, 2021, usnews.com. These moves are indicative of an industry-wide focus on automation, now even further accelerated as a response to changing market conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. 8 “Warehouse automation investment up due to COVID-19,” Material Handling and Logistics, July 13, 2020, mhlnews.com; Mark Dunaway, “Why are so many companies investing in warehouse automation?,” Modern Materials Handling, January 10, 2020, mmh.com. Larger players in the warehouse-automation industry have sought to create distinctive and integrated capabilities through acquisition. For instance, Toyota Material Handling has acquired integrators including Vanderlande and Bastian Solutions, Kion Group has acquired Dematic and software company Digital Applications International, and Honeywell has acquired Intelligrated and Transnorm. Acquirers are seeking to develop more end-to-end solution sets rather than point technologies as they seek to unlock greater value through integrated solutions. The automation market remains concentrated, with the top five automation and material-handling players still accounting for more than 50 percent of current market share. 9 “Warehouse automation market,” LogisticsIQ, 2021, thelogisticsiq.com. Beyond the top ten in each region, players mostly are specialty and niche automation providers. Automation in action Leading retailers are aiming to make warehouses responsive, resilient, and reliable to accommodate the ever-growing e-commerce market and incorporate lessons from the global pandemic. Along with improving existing warehouse capabilities and enabling new nodes of fulfillment (such as urban fulfillment centers), they view warehouse automation as an important part of the solution. In a recent McKinsey survey of 50 retailers across apparel, grocery, and other key sectors, more than 80 percent of respondents indicated they intend to increase automation investments over the next two to three years. 10 For more, see “ Retail speaks: Seven imperatives for the retail industry ” on McKinsey.com. And it’s worth it: some retailers have cracked the code and have begun rolling out ambitious upgrades. As part of a €500 million initiative, Edeka invested €93 million to expand its existing warehouse in Berbersdorf, increasing the total number of SKUs from 2,900 to 12,700 while adding a 300,000-square-foot, partially automated picking-and-storage area. 11 Stefanie Schmitt, “EDEKA Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen erweitert Logistikzentrum in Berbersdorf für rund 93 Mio. €,” EDEKA, March 12, 2021, verbund.edeka. Leading retailers are aiming to make warehouses responsive, resilient, and reliable to accommodate the ever-growing e-commerce market. Navigating automation choices Multiple technological advancements have pushed the boundaries of what is possible in warehouse automation. As part of an overarching automation strategy, retailers that develop an end-to-end vision for the warehouse of the future have to identify the specific use cases and unlock value (Exhibit 1). Navigating the choices has become more complex, with new providers entering the market and larger conglomerates and venture-capital funds pursuing consolidation in an effort to build an integrated portfolio of solutions for clients. Acquisitions within the automation-provider landscape will continue, significantly increasing the pressure on automation companies to offer warehouses end-to-end solutions. We envision three warehouse archetypes that will inform the design of automation systems: dedicated, shared, and integrated omnichannel (Exhibit 2). These archetypes can help retailers narrow down the set of use cases and solution sets and better understand the complex choices among automation providers, integrators, and start-ups. Dedicated warehouses This archetype consists of warehouses specifically designed for a given channel (such as e-commerce), product flow (for example, consolidation), or product type (apparel versus hard goods). Generally, dedicated warehouses solve for scale and cost efficiency in the network. Distribution formats can range from large-scale facilities that cover national distribution needs (more than one million square feet) to smaller, urban-based fulfillment centers (less than 20,000 square feet) that balance same-day and next-day speed with cost efficiency. Given the specific focus of these distribution formats, integrated and specialized end-to-end automation concepts generally work best. These warehouses benefit from improved space efficiency, greater labor productivity, faster four-wall cycle time, 12 Cycle time from entering until exiting the warehouse. and downstream efficiencies (such as store-friendly pallets). Examples of dedicated warehouses include retail fulfillment (Amazon Go stores), national e-commerce fulfillment (Zara), store replenishment (such as Albertsons and Carrefour), delivery centers for small parcels (Post), and category-specific facilities (such as Reckitt Benckiser and Zalando). Shared warehouses Warehouses serving multiple channels or product segments, which may include wholesale and direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels or ambient and perishable-product segments, make up this archetype. While these warehouses exist under the same roof, the operations and inventories are independently managed by channel. This archetype offers greater flexibility than a dedicated warehouse in that multiple channels and categories may be served under one roof or in a campus setting. The multipurpose structure has several benefits: more efficient use of distribution space, cost savings from consolidated labor and overhead, and external advantages such as inbound consolidation. The systems technology and automation may need to support specific flows, handling requirements, and order profiles of each channel. As a result, individual warehouses still operate mostly independently. Automation solutions can still be integrated, but they may combine various fit-for-purpose technologies to address unique channel needs—for example, a retail-store warehouse could be on the side of the building (with automated pallet and case storage where store replenishment orders are prepared), while the e-commerce warehouse could be on mezzanines where individual units are picked with a multishuttle or autostore. Integrated omnichannel warehouses Omnichannel warehouses seamlessly serve all channels in the network and generally have the technology and systems to handle inventory across a mostly common stock pool (for example, the same picking locations or an automated storage system). These facilities offer the greatest flexibility in the network and reduce systemwide inventory-carrying costs, but retailers may have to make trade-offs on cycle time, dedicated capacity, and productivity. The set of automation solutions, which may be a hybrid of the capability or shared archetypes, could allow convergence in upstream warehouse processes such as inbound and storage. Distribution operations may have different requirements for fulfillment-execution processes to meet the needs of individual order profiles and channels. For example, online consumers might order small quantities and request a lead time of less than 24 hours, while stores might accept 48-hour or longer lead times with larger volumes being picked and shipped. Hence, the requirements in warehouse operations need to be matched along the steps across channels, balancing the trade-offs of solution benefits. This archetype, which is best suited for stores that order in eaches 13 A unit of measure where each individual piece is tracked by the computer system. (an approach many apparel and electronics retailers take), can support a shared picking location between stores and online. It provides two benefits: First, it allows inventory pooling and the more efficient use of space. Second, it enables increased scale for automation and the better use of system capacity, with the ability to handle stores and online channels with different seasonality and peaks. Because each type has its own advantages, identifying and implementing the optimal solution requires an informed decision-making process. Selecting the right automation solutions In response to a rapidly changing marketplace, many retailers are moving away from a single solution or turnkey provider and building a portfolio of solutions to fit their network. Traditionally, partnering with a turnkey provider offered advantages, such as integration across multiple solutions and pricing transparency. While this still holds true, the pace of innovation in solutions continues to accelerate, and innovations in technology and operating models provide compelling reasons to explore a multipartner strategy. For instance, along with technological innovation, many new robotics and automation providers have innovated as-a-service models (XaaS), such as robotics as a service (RaaS) and fulfillment as a service (FaaS). These solutions alleviate the traditional hurdles of up-front capital risk (RaaS helps retailers overcome ROI hurdles such as a payback of two to three years) and offer retailers a variable cost structure better aligned to testing and learning across new technologies and concepts. Because of lower investment levels, retailers are now able to test and learn with selected partners, building up their automation capabilities. Companies can excel in innovation by replacing their tried-and-true approaches to warehouse automation with in-house capabilities to explore earlier-stage implementation. For example, companies can conduct a pilot with AMRs that assist picking operations alongside employees on site. The benefits of this experimentation can be significant—for example, progressing from proof of concept to large-scale implementations. The range of design and implementation choices varies considerably depending on strategy. An AMR project may require six to eight weeks to pilot, whereas case multishuttles can take 12 months or more to accommodate infrastructure procurement and build-out. In our experience, a three-step process can help retailers determine the right approach to warehouse automation. Traditionally, retailers might take a site-by-site view of their automation strategy. This exercise includes both establishing criteria for prioritizing automation opportunities and defining business cases to evaluate fit-for-purpose use cases and potential partners for a new or existing operation. We find the more innovative retailers are taking an end-to-end view of their network, developing scenarios for both productivity and short- and longer-term labor risks. A balanced approach to use cases may open up a variety of solutions, while the site-to-site approach focuses solely on payback for individual locations. In this step—segmented into preconceptual, conceptual, and detailed design—retailers conduct a financial evaluation, create optimized warehouse designs, and select providers by stress testing simulations. The design workshops include retailers, joined by their chosen automation suppliers; beyond them, an objective, informed, third-party perspective—for example, via consultancy—is essential to reach the optimal design. The design process goes beyond the selection of automation to encompass warehouse analytics, strategic network effects, and much more. Implementation Where necessary, retailers can identify and select a warehouse-automation system integrator or can orchestrate across a set of partners to build the case-specific automated warehouse. Some companies may also select a logistics service provider to operate the new warehouses and orchestrate the warehouse launch, based on a case-by-case evaluation. This process has repeatedly captured substantial value because even small decisions (for example, initial product-segment growth assumptions that, in the end, significantly influence automation-picking capacities) have a major impact on projects of this scale. By following this holistic approach, retailers can create a compelling business case for automation and gain buy-in for investments. The rise of e-commerce in omnichannel has elevated the demand for warehouse automation across industries. Retailers that innovate in this space can keep pace with high consumer expectations for service and personalization. A structured approach helps to pinpoint their current status, identify available and suitable options, and implement warehouse automation and utilization—including harnessing analytics enabled by warehouse automation. With these insights, companies can select the optimal automation for their warehouses. John Barbee is a partner in McKinsey’s Atlanta office, Alan Davies is a senior expert in the Miami office, Raoul Dubeauclard is a senior expert in the Lyon office, Tim Lange is a partner in the Cologne office, and Cristoph Lennartz is a consultant in the Düsseldorf office. The authors wish to thank Lucas Clement, Katharina Hauck, and Michael Kalt for their contributions to this article. Explore a career with us SUGGESTED TOPICS The Magazine Newsletters Managing Yourself Managing Teams Work-life Balance The Big Idea Data & Visuals Reading Lists Case Selections HBR Learning Topic Feeds Account Settings Email Preferences How AI Can Change the Way Your Company Gets Work Done Marc Zao-Sanders Using AI to help you carry out tasks better and faster can fuel new growth in your organization. AI offers many ways to enhance a company’s overall internal capabilities and skills. AI can be used to infer skills from employee profiles and their activity. AI can be used to classify learning content and make it more applicable and accessible for the whole workforce, as well as making learning more personalized to each individual. AI can be used to summarize, recommend, and augment learning content. GenAI, in particular, can be used by the world’s billion knowledge workers to boost performance, right in the flow of work. Research shows that GenAI can get knowledge work done 25% faster and 40% better. This article covers several ways that corporations, teams, and individuals can drive internal growth by enhancing organizational capabilities. Early signs are that double-digit growth via GenAI is eminently possible. Most growth models and strategies — such as the Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey’s 7S Framework — are focused on external expansion: Grow by launching new products, by entering new markets, and by doing both at once. Yet growth can also come from within, by developing internal  capability. Marc Zao-Sanders is CEO and co-founder of filtered.com , which develops algorithmic technology to make sense of corporate skills and learning content. He’s the author of Timeboxing – The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time . Find Marc on LinkedIn or at www.marczaosanders.com . Partner Center Pardon Our Interruption As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. There are a few reasons this might happen: You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser. You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed. You've disabled cookies in your web browser. A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article . To regain access, please make sure that cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page. 232 IMAGES Case Study Strategy and Strategic Management Operations Strategy Operations Strategy ⇉Operations Strategy at Galanz Case Study Essay Example Operations strategy Solved Case Study: Operation Strategy A leading tier-1 VIDEO Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations Why PVR Food🍿is EXPENSIVE💰? CEO explains Log-hub OpMachs' "Operations Case Study Competition" Part I Case Solution Nissan Recovering Supply Chain Operations 3 Mistakes by Founders, still got a DEAL🤯 #dhandakafunda #ashishsoni #business #shorts #sharktank Log hub OpMachs' "Operations Case Study Competition" Part II COMMENTS Operations strategy Strategy& was tasked with reshaping the company starting from product-market-strategy, developing the organizational structure and optimizing the entire process and operations landscape. An overall restructuring concept based on two pillars was developed: 1) Urgent short-term actions focusing on firefighting to ensure customer satisfaction and ... Case Studies: How Companies Are Succeeding With Strategic Operations These case studies illustrate the transformative power of strategic operations in driving success across various industries. From fostering collaboration and optimizing supply chains to enhancing ... Use Our Resources and Tools to Get Started With Your Preparation! In an operations strategy case, you will have to look into how the organization allocates resources, how costs can be minimized and how to make the product more effective. The overall business strategy should be taken into account, as well. In case of doubt, you can always have a look at our detailed case solution. Operations strategy The Case of the Machinists' Mutiny. "You can't be serious!". Mike Trail, the president and fourth-generation owner of Trail Manufacturing, stared at five older men standing uncomfortably ... Operations consulting McKinsey's Operations Practice sits at the intersection of strategy, technology, and transformation to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth. We connect boardroom strategies to the frontline—infusing technology where and when it matters and rapidly delivering lasting transformations enabled by capability building. Walmart's Operations Management: 10 Strategic Decisions & Productivity Walmart Inc. successfully addresses the strategic concerns in the 10 decision areas of operations management, optimizing efficiency and productivity. (Photo: Public Domain) Walmart Inc.'s operations management involves a variety of approaches that are focused on managing the supply chain and inventory, as well as sales performance. Operations Strategy: Elements & Examples of Operational Strategy How to Build the Elements of an Operational Strategy Into Project Plans. Step 1: Define what the operations strategy will impact or transform. Step 2: Identify and secure the essential resources required for successful strategy execution. Step 3: Co-create an action plan to secure the flow of materials, information, and resources. Operations strategy Strategy& was tasked with reshaping the company starting from product-market-strategy, developing the organizational structure and optimizing the entire process and operations landscape. An overall restructuring concept based on two pillars was developed: 1) Urgent short-term actions focusing on firefighting to ensure customer satisfaction and ... Operations Case Studies Improving material availability. A national power utility company was witnessing a significant demand surge owing to unprecedented growth in both the residential and commercial sectors. read more >. Case studies of consulting services provided by Strategy& to the leading businesses in the Operations sector in the Middle East. Operations Management Operations Management. Browse operations management learning materials including case studies, simulations, and online courses. Introduce core concepts and real-world challenges to create memorable learning experiences for your students. Study Questions This section provides study questions to guide course readings and case write-ups, and to introduce fundamental ideas that will be discussed in class. ... Part IV: Globalization, Outsourcing and Other Critical Issues in Operations Strategy and Policy in the 21st Century: 20 Models for gaining advantage in a global environment; How to position ... Strategy & Biz Ops case interviews The stratops case interview is an interactive conversation between you and your interviewer (s). To succeed, structuring your thoughts and thinking aloud are key. These help your interviewer understand your thinking pattern, especially how you prioritize, as many stratops case questions involve selecting the best path for a company from several ... Operations: Articles, Research, & Case Studies on Operations How Transparency Sped Innovation in a $13 Billion Wireless Sector. by Jay Fitzgerald. Many companies are wary of sharing proprietary information with suppliers and partners. However, Shane Greenstein and colleagues show in a study of wireless routers that being more open about technology can lead to new opportunities. 18 Jun 2024. A Review of Case Study Method in Operations Management Research This article reviews the case study research in the operations management field. In this regard, the paper's key objective is to represent a general framework to design, develop, and conduct case study research for a future operations management research by critically reviewing relevant literature and offering insights into the use of case method in particular settings. Microsoft: A Case Study in Strategy Transformation HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world's top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week. Operations Case Interview: Step-By-Step Guide Operations case interviews, also known as operations case study interviews, tend be much more quantitative and numerical than strategy cases. Expect to be working with a lot of numbers and performing a lot of math calculations. There are four types of operations cases you may encounter in your consulting interviews: Operations Management Case Studies Back to Case Studies. Teaching Resources Library. Operations Management Case Studies. Teaching Resources Library A Background Note on "Unskilled" Jobs in the United States - Past, Present, and Future Teaching Resources Library Boeing's 737 MAX 8 Disasters Operations strategy and analysis of competitive criteria: a case study This study is a single embedded case study. Data were collected through interviews with ten customers of each business unit (BU). ... Keywords: Operations strategy; Competitive criteria; Customer ... PDF Strategic Analysis Of Starbucks Corporation across the globe and maintain a 36.7% market share in the United States (Appendix 1) and has operations in over 60 countries. Starbucks is also the most recognized brand in the coffeehouse segment and is ranked 91st in the best global brands of 2013. 8 Starbucks effectively leverages its rich brand equity by merchandizing Google Case Interview: Strategies, Examples, and Answers Google Case Interview: Strategies, Examples, and Answers. If you are interviewing for a business strategy or operations role at Google, there is a high chance that you will be given at least one case interview or case study interview. Roles at Google that have case interviews as part of the interview process include: Strategy & Operations. Strategic choices and operations strategy: A multiple cases study Paiva and Vieira (2011), in their multiple cases study, assess the development of Operations Strategy in global value chains. The authors' findings indicate that strategic choices and changes do ... Operations Management Case Studies Representing a broad range of management subjects, the ICMR Case Collection provides teachers, corporate trainers, and management professionals with a variety of teaching and reference material. The collection consists of Operations case studies and research reports on a wide range of companies and industries - both Indian and international, cases won awards in varies competitions, EFMD Case ... operations strategy Case Type: new product; operations strategy. Consulting Firm: Mars & Co. first round full time job interview. Industry Coverage: food & beverages; tobacco & alcohol. Case Interview Question #01358: Your client the Boston Beer Company is an American brewing company founded in 1984 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Strategy & Operations The Strategy & Operations (S&O) team is the engine that drives DoorDash forward, owning everything from building the initial hypotheses about a business to the final implementation and optimization. ... This round includes behavioral interviews, leadership interviews as well as case study/problem-solving interviews. Additional Rounds. Based on ... How To Develop Your International Strategy: 9-Step Process For Success International Expansion Case Study: Starbucks. A prime example of a successful international expansion strategy is the case of Starbucks. Hate it or love it, the ubiquitous coffee chain has successfully expanded its operations globally while maintaining a strong brand presence and adapting to local markets. Tech and regionalization bolster supply chains, but complacency looms The digital-planning revolution. Our Supply Chain Pulse Survey has tracked a technological revolution in supply chain management. The application of advanced digital tools to plan and operate supply chains was underway well before 2020, but the pandemic was the catalyst for a dramatic acceleration in the adoption of new technologies. Optimizing warehouse automation for retailers The design process goes beyond the selection of automation to encompass warehouse analytics, strategic network effects, and much more. Implementation. Where necessary, retailers can identify and select a warehouse-automation system integrator or can orchestrate across a set of partners to build the case-specific automated warehouse. How AI Can Change the Way Your Company Gets Work Done AI offers many ways to enhance a company's overall internal capabilities and skills. AI can be used to infer skills from employee profiles and their activity. AI can be used to classify learning ... UX Strategy Blueprint: My Latest Case Study Project Case Study: Hemisphere Freight Service (HFS) In my recent project with Hemisphere Freight Service (HFS), I embarked on a transformative journey to redesign the header section of their website. This endeavour aimed to resolve critical UX issues, enhance user engagement, and align the design with both business and user goals. Week 5 The case underscores the necessity for strategic leadership, as articulated by Ireland, Hitt, and Sirmon (2003), to navigate the complexities inherent in balancing educational objectives with the operational demands of running a food truck, making Munchiez a compelling study in the confluence of education and entrepreneurship. assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis