The operations case interview is a unique subset of the management consulting interview process that is vital in a candidate's interview preparation process. To best position themselves for the operations case interview, aspiring candidates must prove their proficiency in analyzing complex operational processes to propose process improvements for a client. In this article, we will guide you through the convoluted aspects of this interview type that often challenge even the most seasoned management consulting candidates!
What Is An Operations Case Interview?
The operations case interview is a specialized case interview in consulting recruitment that focuses on a candidate's ability to analyze and optimize the functions that operate a company. In a nutshell, the operations case interview necessitates an elevated understanding of how a client runs its internal operations. In this interview process, interviewers will introduce candidates to client challenges involving various inefficiencies from supply chain and production lines to attrition, turnaround, and customer service inefficiencies. Because the challenges are widespread, operations case interviews require a thorough understanding of creative problem-solving, quantitative knowledge, and industry knowledge of operations and supply chain.
Candidates can expect to be asked to evaluate the manufacturing process of a client, improve project management, delivery times, and / or customer satisfaction. To effectively address these challenges, a candidate will be expected to consider industry and quantify factors like the cost of inputs and raw materials, labor capacity, and quality control. The objective for the candidate should be to develop a framework that points to a feasible recommendation leveraging the operational, technical, and strategic context of the case.
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What's The Overall Process?
The operations case interview will begin with the interviewer presenting a client's operation challenge. Following this, candidates are expected to engage in a Q&A session where you will be presented with an opportunity to relay your understanding of the client situation and to ask clarifying questions to help bolster your framework. This stage of the interview process is vital because it builds the foundation for how you will develop your recommendations and analysis.
Now that the problem and scope has been defined, the candidate will be prompted to break down the client's operational challenge into key drivers. This could include buckets that examine performance data, bottlenecks, manufacturing, etc. . This presents an opportunity for the candidate to formulate a creative and insightful framework.
Once the candidate has presented their framework to the interviewer, they will be presented with opportunities to examine quantitative and qualitative data (e.g exhibits, charts, data sets) where they will be asked to brainstorm and calculate before finally presenting a conclusion and recommendation to the client.
How To Solve A Operations Case Interview
To effectively solve an operations case interview, candidates should proactively familiarize themselves with optimization, supply chain, and process improvement. The most successful candidates in an operations case interview are keen on identifying the niche objective of the client so that they are able to develop a process improvement plan that is insightful and exhaustive. While there is no one-size-fits-all framework to solve an operations or optimization case, a successful framework will identify drivers that map out the client's current processes, utilization, bottlenecks, identify each step of the operations process, and present an opportunity to quantify or anticipate gains / results from optimization.
Operations Case Interview Examples
There are four operations case interview types that candidates should familiarize themselves with and these include: Cost-cutting cases, capacity planning cases, process improvement, and production optimization cases
Cost-Cutting:
Cost-cutting operations cases are cases in which the client is seeking a profitability strategy uniquely by reducing expenses. The most prepared candidates for a cost-cutting case will make distinctions between expenses relevant to the core businesses and discretionary spending that could be cut from the business's budgeting.
An example of a cost-cutting case: A national retail chain specializing in home goods has seen its profitability decline over the past two years. The CEO has set a target to reduce overall operating costs by 10% without affecting customer experience or employee morale negatively and is seeking your assistance to develop insightful cost-cutting measures.
Capacity Planning:
Capacity planning operations cases are cases where the client is looking to estimate a quantity of product or inventory they should produce or hold. To successfully navigate these cases, a candidate should be familiar with demand estimations, underage and overage costs, and how to calculate or optimize production and inventory in various industries.
An example of a capacity planning case: A regional hospital is looking to optimize its bed capacity to handle an anticipated increase in patient admissions due to seasonal illnesses and a recent expansion of services offered. The hospital aims to maximize patient care without incurring unnecessary costs from overcapacity. The hospital has consulted the firm to ensure the hospital can effectively manage the expected influx while minimizing wait times and cost.
Process Improvement:
Cases that position the client to improve processes like manufacturing, delivery, handling, etc. are identified as Process Improvement cases. An effective way to approach these cases is to ensure one's framework prioritizes performance measurement, adopts the PPT framework (people, process, and technology), and dissects every step of the current process.
An example of a process improvement case: A major telecommunications company has been experiencing a high volume of customer complaints regarding its service hotline. The average wait time is above the industry standard, and customers report that issues are not resolved on the first call, necessitating multiple follow-ups. The client has consulted you to develop a strategy to enhance its customer service hotline operations.
Optimization:
A product optimization case concerns how a client can improve its output over time in a production process. To solve these cases, it is vital a candidate familiarize themselves with how to calculate output, utilization, and capacity.
An example of a product optimization case: A leading consumer electronics company has been facing challenges with its current supply chain model. The company has been experiencing delays in product delivery, which has led to customer dissatisfaction and lost sales and has consulted the firm to improve this process and customer satisfaction.
Operations Case Framework
Unlike traditional market entry or profitability cases, operations cases do not often have a one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, depending on the type of operations case a candidate is presented with [see above], the candidate will be expected to build one tailored to that question type. An effective operations case framework will seek to understand every step of the process and core business model to anticipate where bottlenecks or losses are coming from. Additionally, the framework is an excellent opportunity to benchmark against competitors and industry standards. Candidates should familiarize themselves with lean management principles, capacity utilization models, and six sigma to better understand the methodologies for addressing operational challenges for a client.
Common frameworks include: The Input-Process-Output (IPO) model, Theory of Constraints model, and the Total Quality Management or TQM model.
Operations Case Interview Prep
To prepare for the operations case interview, candidates should spend meaningful time understanding operations management principles, drilling operations questions and frameworks with peers and other aspiring consultants and familiarize themselves with the quantitative formulas and problems they are likely to encounter in an operations case interview (throughput, utilization, capacity). Quantitative analysis will include assessing the impact of process changes on the client's overall process.
Conclusion
All in all, the operations case interview is an assessment of a candidate's ability and knowledge of how to drive long-lasting improvements for processes in a client's core business. A candidate's success will require a blend of creative problem solving, analytical thinking, practical and industry-level knowledge, and the ability to communicate complex processes in a structured yet concise manner. With commitment to practice, preparation, and a strategic mindset, candidates will excel in these interviews and demonstrate what they can offer to future employers in the management consulting realm.