crack the case
.pdfClark & Gable Shoes |
I |
Pack: 008 page 7 of 29
Interviewer Fact Sheet
CaseCaseQuestion:Question:ClarkClark&&GableGableShoes,Shoes,aa$$300M300Mshoeshoemanufacturermanufacturerandandretailer,retailer,hashasaa7070--yearyeartraditiontraditionofof makingmakingfinefinemen’smen’sdressdressshoesshoes.. InInthethelastlasttwotwoyearsyearssalessaleshavehavebeenbeengraduallygradua lyslipping,slipping,mainlymainlydueduetotothethe
businessbusinesscasualcasualtrendtrendandandC&G’sC&G’slacklackofoflesslessformalformalshoesshoes.. ToTofillfi lthethegapgapininitsitsproductproductlinelineandandputputsomesome
energyenergyintointothethebrand,brand,C&GC&GenlistedenlistedLuigi,Luigi,aawellwe lknown,known,avantavantgardegardeItalianItaliandesigndesignfirmfirm.. AfterAftersixsixmonthsmonthsofof sales, management wants to review the results of the ten shoes in their Everyday Style line and eliminate four sales, management wants to review the results of the ten shoes in their Everyday Style line and eliminate four “dogs”“dogs”totomakemakewaywayforforLuigi’sLuigi’ssecondsecondwavewaveofofshoesshoes.. ManagementManagementwantswantsyouyoutotorecommendrecommendwhichwhichsixsixstylesstylesofof
shoesshoestotokeepkeepandandtotodiscussdiscussthetheimplicationsimplicationsofofeliminatingeliminatingfourfour..
AAFewFewTipsTipsfromfromDavidDavid
•This case is very straight forward: look at the data and eliminate four out of ten products. It requires a quick ability to integrate data from many sources.
Star candidates build a logical solution quickly.
•Since most people will have not trouble coming up with a recommendation, push hard to understand the flaws in the logic. At the end ask, “If you had to eliminate two more, which ones would you pick.”
IntroIntro FactsFacts
(Tell(Te lthetheCandidateCandidateififAsked)Asked)
•Revenue targets: None. Management is more interested in knowing how the launch of these ten shoes compares to previous successful launches. The second wave of Luigi designed shoes is certain.
•Distribution channels: All shoes are sold through C&G’s stores, catalogs or online store. For this case, the focus will be on the new line and how it is performing, not on improving the distribution channels. Not using third party retailers means that more profit will hit C&G’s bottom line.
•Cost structure: Not a focus of this case. The main discussion around costs will center on why some shoes cost more to make than others, resulting in lower gross margins.
•Competitors: Most have casual lines. C&G is a laggard.
•Suppliers, government and legislation:
No issues.
On-Track Indicators
Focused on finding the “dogs” – looks to understand which shoes are the worst performers
Pulls out insights – identifying four shoes to eliminate is not very hard. Moving to insights and implications about the future is more difficult.
Creative – asks about and discusses new opportunities to increase revenue
Keyey InsightsInsights
(Do(DoNotNotTellTe lthetheCandidate)Candidate)
•Product elimination: Eliminating the following four shoes is the best solution for Clark & Gable: Everyday Camel, the Sierra, the Randy and Neuman.
•Gross Margin: The four eliminated shoes do represent 1/3 of gross margin from 6 months, which is less than the 4/10 they would provide if all 10 shoes were equal.
•Unit Sales – All previous successful new product launches have had one critical element in common; baseline sales of 2,950 units over the first 6 months. The four shoes above do not meet this threshold.
•Product Appeal – These 4 shoes have not shown much appeal with our most loyal customers.
•Product Line Gaps – After removing the products, there will be a gap in the offering, namely the “beach” category.
Off-Track Indicators
Creativity first – thinks and talks primarily about loyal customer reaction to the product rather than focusing on the data
Avoids the math – to gain insights from the data, you must round numbers and do some “quick and dirty” calculations
Avoids putting a stake in the ground–
After making an an initial cut of some shoes, you can look at the implications. You need the stake first.
Purchase additional cases and the book Crack the Case: How to Conquer Your Case Interviews at www.consultingcase.com. |
008 - Clark & Gable Shoes 7 |
Copyright © 2004 Turtle Hare Media |
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Clark & Gable Shoes |
I |
Case at a Glance
Pack: 008 page 8 of 29
Part
A
1
2
3
Typical Case |
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question. Candidate |
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Candidate takes notes, |
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takes notes, asks for a |
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asks for a minute, forms |
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questions. These may |
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come up after you read |
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the question or later. |
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Clear connections |
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between each part of the |
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plan and an |
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What are you thinking |
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understanding of how |
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make him explain |
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about here.” or “Tell |
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each part contributes to |
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anything you do not fully |
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me how the parts of |
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your structure link to |
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how this plan will get |
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some answers. |
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Data &
Answers to
Provide
See Intro Facts on the Interviewer Fact Sheet.
No data. Ask questions about his approach.
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"What is the most |
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"Looking at historical |
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Give the candidate |
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efficient way to |
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results would be a start. I |
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Handout A. Ask, "Which |
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determine which |
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would want to know how |
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products have |
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products are going to |
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products have performed |
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contributed the most in |
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succeed long term?" |
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in terms of sales and |
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terms of gross margin |
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volume." |
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dollars?" |
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Let the candidate start |
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where he likes. To solve |
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Give the candidate |
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the case he will need |
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We might be able to |
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Handout C, historical |
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data on units, revenue |
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"What role would |
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understand sales |
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product launches. Ask, |
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and gross margin. Your |
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historical data play?" |
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patterns or see which |
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"What can you infer |
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main goal with giving this |
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products did well over a |
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about previous launches |
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case is to eventually get |
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long period of time. |
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and their ability to |
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all 4 slides in front of the |
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succeed." |
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candidate. Only then will |
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you test his ability to |
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synthesize all the facts |
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Give the candidate |
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into the right answer. |
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"How would you gather |
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"You could do follow-up |
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Handout B, purchases of |
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Here are four typical |
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data around |
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polls or surveys. |
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highly loyal customers. |
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paths with prompting |
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preferences for certain |
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Another way might be |
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Ask, "How does this data |
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questions you can give |
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product types over |
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customer satisfaction |
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align or disagree with |
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others?" |
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results." |
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other information you |
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general just keep asking, |
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may have?" |
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"What else would you |
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look at?" |
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"We need to have a |
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Give the candidate |
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"What other |
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variety of styles to |
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appeal to the most |
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Handout D, qualitative |
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considerations do you |
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important customers. |
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description of the product |
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need to account for |
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We don't want to cut |
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lines. Ask, "Where is our |
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when reducing a |
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products that appeal to |
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product line weak and |
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product line?" |
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important customer |
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strong today." |
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segments." |
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Purchase additional cases and the book Crack the Case: How to Conquer Your Case Interviews at www.consultingcase.com. |
008 - Clark & Gable Shoes 8 |
Copyright © 2004 Turtle Hare Media |
|
Clark & Gable Shoes |
I |
Case at a Glance
Pack: 008 page 9 of 29
5
Part
A
6
Part
B
Typical Case |
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Interviewer |
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Candidate |
Data & |
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Comments |
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Assess now how well |
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"I would focus on actual |
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he can integrate the |
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units sold and revenue." |
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"Now that you have all |
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information. |
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or |
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Answer the questions |
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At this point, the |
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the data, how do you |
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“I think that the decision |
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and keep pushing the |
candidate should have |
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link it together and |
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would be based revenue |
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candidate to select the 4 |
received all four slides |
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determine which ones |
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and gross margin as well |
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shoes. |
either through your |
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to cut?" |
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as the type of niche the |
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prompting or direct |
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shoe type fills.” |
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questions. |
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Insight Checkpoint (Redirect the discussion to these areas if necessary)
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• Company Philosophy: Clark & Gable has tough standards, shown by its willingness to “cut bait” or |
~0:12 min. |
eliminate new product lines only after 6 months of data. Given their long, successful history they must |
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have some kind of insight into the timing and data necessary to make such quick decisions. |
•Units and Gross Margin: Unit sales and gross margin percentages vary widely, but revenue is roughly in the same range for the ten products. About 7 of the 10 shoes provide gross margin dollars of over $100 each. (Handout A)
•Historical Success: All shoe lines that succeeded in the last 25 launches exceeded unit sales of 2952 in their first six months. (Handout C)
•Customer Feedback: Loyal customers indicate that 4 shoes tend to be not liked as much: Neumann, the Randy, the Berks and Everyday Camel.
•Style: Most of the products are focused on the office casual, club and hip factor styles. Removing certain products may leave holes in the portfolio.
The candidate needs to integrate these insights into a selection process. Staying data driven is the best course of action so the candidate should calculate the bottom line implication of his choice. A good conclusion will make sense mathematically and logically. If he is struggling to make a firm selection, ask “Which four shoes would you recommend removing and why?” Followed by, “What would be your immediate next steps.”
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Math Zone – Solving for Product Sales Required to Meet Investor Demands |
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Rounded |
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1. Use a logic rule to make your selection. In this case sticking to |
Shoe |
~GM $ |
UNITS |
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Totals (K) |
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the unit sale requirements is a good method. Four shoes do not |
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make the historical cut-off of 2952 for the first 6 months. Knowlton |
EC |
100 |
1200 |
120 |
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150 |
3300 |
500 |
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is close enough and carries a large GM dollar contribution so |
SULT |
75 |
3500 |
260 |
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you would probably want to keep it. |
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B |
75 |
2900 |
220 |
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2. Check the downside. From a total, 6 month gross margin dollar |
K |
100 |
2950 |
300 |
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comparison, these four are good choices. Neuman rivals several |
SIE |
125 |
1500 |
200 |
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D |
100 |
3200 |
320 |
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others that were not selected, but loyal customers do not like it. |
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B |
100 |
3150 |
315 |
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3. Consider the gaps. Beach will not be covered with these choices. |
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1420 |
110 |
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Next steps should include reviewing the portfolio coverage. |
N |
100 |
2450 |
250 |
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Purchase additional cases and the book Crack the Case: How to Conquer Your Case Interviews at www.consultingcase.com. |
008 - Clark & Gable Shoes 9 |
Copyright © 2004 Turtle Hare Media |
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Clark & Gable Shoes |
I |
Handout Guide
Pack: 008 page 10 of 29
A |
6 Month Results |
Revenue/GM per Unit and Units Sold in 6 Months |
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Product Name |
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Units Sold |
Everyday
Camel 1,200
Pierceton 3,300
Sulton 3,500
Breakers 2,900
Knowlton 2,950
The Sierra 1,500
Dulsulty |
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3,200 |
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Berks |
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3,150 |
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The Randy |
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1,420 |
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Gross Margin |
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Neuman |
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2,450 |
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Revenue |
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Revenue and Gross Margin in US$
Predicted Purchases of “Highly Loyal” Customers
Revenue and Gross Margin in US$
100% |
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80 |
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60 |
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B 40 |
Definitely |
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Will Not |
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Highly Likely |
Will Purchase |
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Unsure |
0 |
N R B D S K B S P EC |
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Product Name |
Historical Profile of Last 25 Launches
Shaded bars indicate shoe lines that succeeded
Unit Sales Over 6 Months
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5,000 |
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4,415 |
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4,000 |
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4,133 |
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3,911 3,980 |
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3,913 |
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3,493 |
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3,609 |
3,572 |
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3,363 |
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3,346 |
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3, 243 |
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3,268 |
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C |
3,000 |
2,952 |
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2,725 |
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2,771 |
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2,647 |
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2,636 |
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2,441 |
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2,328 |
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2,212 |
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2,000 |
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1,000 |
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25 59 91 |
21 57 |
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16 83 43 |
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72 63 22 68 26 38 70 |
Product Number
Weak |
Office |
Wear |
“Hip” |
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Medium |
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Casual |
Formally Beach |
Clubs Factor |
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Strong |
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Neuman |
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The Randy |
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Berks |
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Dulsultry
D KnowltonThe Sierra |
Breakers
Sulton
Pierceton
Everyday
Camel
Candidates: Do you have any sales data? Interviewer: Here’s what we know about the six
month launch in terms of unit volume. Revenue and gross margin per shoe are also shown.
You Might Ask: Which products are contributing the most in gross margin dollars?
Main Insight: Revenue per shoe varies quite a bit, but a majority of the shoes contribute $100 in gross margin per sale.
Candidate got the insight?: |
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Yes |
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No |
Candidate: Do customers like the products? Interviewer: We polled our most loyal customers
with pictures and prices of each new shoe. Here’s what they said.
You Must Ask: Which shoes seem to be most disliked? Which ones are the favorites?
Main Insight: Three shoes rated poorly: Neuman, The Randy, and Everyday Camel. People either loved or hated Berks.
Candidate got the insight?: |
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Yes |
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No |
Candidate: Do we have any historical benchmarks for product launches?
Interviewer: C&G has tracked their last 25 launches.
You Might Ask: What can you infer from the data about the minimum required for success?
Main Insight: Previous launches that succeeded all had sales of at least 2,952 units in their first six months.
Candidate got the insight?: |
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Yes |
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No |
Candidate: Do you have any descriptions of the shoes and how they differ?
Interviewer: Here is a qualitative style map. This depicts the niche each shoe fills.
You Must Ask: What would be the implications of removing the shoes you are considering eliminating?
Main Insight: Gaps will occur as a result of removing some shoes. Wave 2 from Luigi will need to fill these gaps.
Candidate got the insight?: |
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Yes |
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No |
Purchase additional cases and the book Crack the Case: How to Conquer Your Case Interviews at www.consultingcase.com. |
008 - Clark & Gable Shoes 10 |
Copyright © 2004 Turtle Hare Media |
|
UnitSales