Management Consulting Techniques Tools And Frameworks

Basic tools – introduction Preview 01:48

In the second section I will discuss the main tools that you can use to analyze and understand a business. We will talk about things like: issue tree, bottom-up approach, top-down approach, backward reasoning, 80/20 rule, benchmarking, cost drivers, opportunity tree and many, many more

Bottom-up approach Preview 07:53

In this lecture you will get to know our favorite method for first rough estimation – the bottom-up method. We give you also 2 examples with Excel calculation how to use it.

Top-down approach Preview 03:45

Top-down is the little brother of bottom-up approach – not used that often but still very useful for re-segmenting the market (niche an low cost strategy)

Ceramic tile market – Case Introduction Preview 00:17

Le'ts use the Bottom-up approach to estimate a ceramic tile market

Ceramic tile market - case to be solved Preview 01:29

Here I present you the case. You will be asked to estimate the market for ceramic tiles 

Ceramic tile market - solution Preview 03:13

In this lecture I will show you the logical structure to the case presented in the previous lecture

Ceramic tile market - solution in Excel Preview 04:35

Once you are done with the logical structure you should build the analysis in Excel on the basis of it

Ceramic tile market - Presentation in Power Point Preview 01:09

The data you have gathered will be used in your business analysis. You can also fill in the slides prepared in the very beginning and modify it if needed

Backward logic / backward reasoning Preview 02:43

In this lecture I show the backward thinking /induction. This approach enables you to design the whole process, company on the bases of the expected outcome

Backward logic based decisions – Case Introduction Preview 01:03

Let’s try to put the backward reasoning to practice. In this case study we will use it to decide what effort has to be done to 10x the current business. A few information about the retailer

• He has currently 100 stores. Each store sales are equal to EUR 2 M

• He wants to 10x the business up to Year 5

• Estimate what LFL growth he must get and how many stores he must open

• Assuming EUR 1 M per store estimate the Capex

• Estimate how many people he has to recruit assuming 6 people per store

Backward logic based decisions – Solution Preview 04:10

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures 

Backward logic based decisions – When it makes sense to use it Preview 02:14

Backward logic can be used in many situations. Below some of them

• You have a clear goal in the future but not a clear path towards it

• You want to estimate the pace needed to reach the goal

• You want to check the implications for you or your department

• You want to see what are the limitations preventing you from reaching the goal

• You want to see whether the goal is not too ambitious

• You want to see whether the goal does not require too big resources

Compounded effect Preview 01:52

In many cases you can get high end result from compounding effect in time or by getting small improvements in many areas. In this lecture I will explain the concept

Compounded effect – Case Study Introduction Preview 01:34

Imagine that you have to help content agency estimate what will be the effect of increasing the number of posts produced by 10% every month. Use the compounded effect to estimate it

Compounded effect – Available Data Preview 02:26

Here we will have a look at the Data Available that will help you with solving the case study introduced in the previous lecture

Compounded effect – Solution Preview 03:58

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

Issue tree – Introduction Preview 01:44

Issue tree is a simple yet powerful concept used in consulting for structuring discussion and picking the right topics to concentrate on. In this lecture I will show you the principles of using it as well as a practical example

Issue tree – Examples Introduction Preview 00:53

In this lecture, I will summarize what kind of examples of issue trees we will present in the next few lectures.

Issue tree – Logistics Preview 01:42

Here I will show example of an issue tree in Logistics

Issue tree – Retail Preview 03:46

Here I will show example of an issue tree in Retail

Issue tree example for a FMCG firm Preview 04:41

Here I will show you an example of an issue tree in FMCG

Low hanging fruits Preview 02:43

In this lecture we will talk briefly about applying the low hanging fruits in practice. I will show you the principles of using it as well as a practical example

Low hanging fruits – Case Studies Preview 00:18

Now let’s see on a bit more advanced case study how to apply the low hanging fruit in practice.

In the next lecture we will develop a modification of low-hanging fruit framework to cost reduction. We will also apply it to a drugstore chain that has 4 000 stores and want to reduce it costs to survive the recession.

Enjoy the case study and as always if you have any questions please let me know

Quick wins for cost reduction Preview 02:49

Let’s look how the quick win framework looks for savings. We will look at 2 dimensions:

• What is the potential savings we can achieve

• How easy it is to implement it?

We will have thanks to 4 categories of projects that we can consider:

• Cow savings – easy to kill and big

• Elephant – difficult to catch yet big

• Chicken savings – easy to kill yet you need to kill a lot of them not to be hungry

• Bat savings – small and difficult to catch

Quick wins for cost reduction – Remarks on Pontetial Savings Preview 03:49

Remember that the potential reduction in costs depends on 2 elements: potential percentage cost reduction and the cost starting point:

• Potential % cost reduction

• Cost starting point

We will discuss this in this lecture

Quick wins in Drugstore – Case Introduction Preview 00:57

Imagine that you have to identify quick wins in cost reduction for an international chain of drugstores. We know their cost structure

• A few information about the firm that we will be analyzing

• They have 4 000 stores

• We have their cost structure

• They have send us a list of projects that will help them reduce costs

• Estimate the potential and group them using the quick wins framework

Quick wins in Drugstore – Cost Structure Preview 02:59

In this lecture we will solve the previously introduced case

Quick wins in Drugstore – Cost Reduction Preview 03:06

In this lecture we will solve the previously introduced case

Quick wins in Drugstore – Summary Preview 02:39

In this lecture we will solve the previously introduced case

Management Consulting Tools, Techniques, Frameworks Overview Preview 00:39

We cover in this course the most essential techniques, tools, and frameworks.

We know that sometimes is difficult to decide which technique, tool or framework you should use for solving a specific problem.

Therefore, we have created a cheat sheet that will narrow down your search. Below a link to the overview of all tools:

Management Consultant Tools Overview

Go to the sheet “Finder” and pick on the left the problem you want to solve.

On the right, the most useful techniques, tools, frameworks for a specific problem will appear. You can use one of them or in some cases all of them. This will depend on the context. A lot of those methods we cover in this course.

I hope this will help you with using the content of this course in practice afterward.

If there is a problem that you are facing that we did not cover please let me know. We will be updating this tool using your feedback.

So enjoy the rest of the course!

Setting Priorities Preview 04:19

Without setting the right priorites to tasks you may end-up concentrating on the wrong things.In this lecture we will discuss the ways in which you can set priorities to tasks that you have to perform. At the end I will apply them in an example to show you the difference in outcome

Benchmarks – external and internal Preview 03:16

In this lecture I will discuss the role of external and internal benchmarks. They are a powerful help in business and will help you boost your productivity yet have to be used with caution.  At the end I will apply them in an example to show you the difference in outcomes.

80/20 rule in practice Preview 03:04

In this lecture I will show you how to use in practice 80/20 rule also known as Pareto principal

Set SMART goals Preview 05:50

Goals are good as long as they are SMART. In this lecture we will talk briefly about applying this useful concept in practice. I will show you the principles of using it as well as a practical example: some of them general and one specific for consulting

Opportunity Tree Preview 03:19

Opportunity tree is a tool that you can use to generate new ideas to improve your business by looking at main drivers of your business

Cost drivers Preview 02:32

If you want to understand well a business you have to be able to identify the cost drivers that shape the business model. In this lecture I will show you how to do that

KPIs and business drivers – Introduction Preview 02:53

Key Performance Indicators are extremely important to understand and manage a business. In this lecture, I will show you how this is achieved. In the next lectures I will show You using an example of a cinema company how to apply KPIs in practices

Introduction to the KPIs for cinema case Preview 00:52

In the next few lectures I show how to estimate the potential improvement in a cinema

KPIs for cinema – case to be solved Preview 00:33

In this lecture I will show you the case you have to solve. As a first step you will have to define the KPIs that matter in the cinema business

KPIs for cinema – solution Preview 01:53

In this lecture I will show you the logical structure to the case presented in the previous lecture

KPIs for cinema - solution in Excel Preview 05:15

Once you are done with the logical structure you should build the analysis in Excel on the basis of it

KPIs for cinema - Presentation in Power Point Preview 01:57

The data you have gathered will be used in your business analysis. You can also fill in the slides prepared in the very beginning and modify it if needed

KPIs for marketplace – Problem Preview 00:37

In this case study you will be asked to define the drivers and KPIs for the marketplace / 2-sided business model

KPIs for marketplace – Solution Preview 02:57

In this lecture I will discuss the KPIs that you should concentrate on in marketplace business model

KPIs for marketplace – Alternative Solution Preview 01:55

In this lecture I will discuss the KPIs that you should concentrate on in marketplace business model

KPIs for a FMCG business model – Problem Preview 00:49

In this case study you will be asked to define the drivers and KPIs for the FMCG business model

Main drivers for FMG business model Preview 01:52

Here we will discuss the main drivers for the FMCG business model

KPIs for a FMCG business model – Solution Preview 03:36

Here we will discuss the main drivers for the FMCG business model

KPIs for SaaS – Problem Preview 00:57

In this case study you will be asked to define the drivers and KPIs for the SaaS business model

Examples of SaaS businesses Preview 02:03

Here I will show you some examples of SaaS businesses. This will help you to understand the nature of the business and define proper drivers and KPIs

KPIs for SaaS – Solution Preview 02:40

In this lecture I will discuss the KPIs that you should concentrate on in SaaS business model

Excel – basic rules for every Management Consultant Preview 04:22

Here I show basic rules for Excel that you should flow

Resources that will help you master Excel Preview 01:01

Here we will briefly discuss what you should learn when it comes to Excel

Power Point – how it should be used by business analyst Preview 05:47

Power Pointe presentation is the second most important tools to be used by Business Analyst in his work. After all it is not only important to analyse data and draw conclusions but also to show them in a nice manner to decision makers. Here you will learn basic rules on how to build your Power Point deck in fast and easy manner. You will see also some examples of good and bad slides. There are many advanced tools for presentation (i.e.) Prezi. Still Power Point is the most often used and widely accepted

Basic tools – Summary Preview 01:37

Here we will summarize all the methods we have learnt in this section

Intermediate tools – Introduction Preview 02:07

In this section I will discuss more advanced techniques such as: rankings, scenario analysis, representative element analysis, decision tree, OEE, OLE, theory of constraints, Critical Chain and many, many more

Rankings – Introduction Preview 03:27

Quite often you have options that you want to somehow compare and rank them. Thanks to the ranking you not only give points but you can sort them from the most wanted to the least desired. In this lecture I will show you how to use rankings and when

How to expand the brand – Introduction Preview 02:38

Let’s have a look at a milk producer that wants to expand its product range. In this case, you will be asked to analyze and find the best candidates for brand expansions. 

How to expand the brand – Solution – Part 1 Preview 03:29

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.

How to expand the brand – Solution – Part 2 Preview 02:57

In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.

Expansion strategy into other countries - intro Preview 02:48

Creating an expansion strategy requires you to do a number of things. I will show you in this lecture how to approach this subject

Expansion strategy into other countries – Case Introduction Preview 02:17

In this lecture I will start the case study that we will be solving for the next few lectures. Imagine that you are a Spanish fashion retailer and you want to figure out which countries you should enter. Therefore, you prepare a ranking of countrires that show attractivness and the size of each and every market.

Expansion strategy into other countries – Data for the case study Preview 03:44

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

Expansion strategy into other countries – Which function to use Preview 04:53

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

Expansion strategy into other countries – Solution in Excel Preview 03:32

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

Expansion strategy into other countries – Solution in Power Point Preview 02:30

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

Rankings – Other examples Preview 00:52

Scenario analysis – Introduction Preview 03:21

The future is pretty difficult to figure out. You don’t know what will happen. In those cases, it is a good idea to consider a few different scenarios. One of the ways to face it is via scenario analysis. I will show you how to use it in practice

Which price formula is the best for my profits – Introduction Preview 02:47

Price formula in B2B services can drastically impact the margins and net profit. In this lecture, we will go through a case that will show you how to approach the analysis of the price formula with uncertainty on the scenario that will happen

Which price formula is the best for my profits – Solution – T&M and fixed fee Preview 03:47

In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures

Which price formula is the best for my profits – Solution – Mixed Options Preview 02:37

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures

Scenario analysis – How to shorten the lifespan of a product Preview 00:16

To help you understand the scenario method let’s have a look at another cases study.

Imagine that you work for a ceramic tile producer that wants to increase the demand for his service.

He is considering 3 different scenarios. In the next few lectures I will show you how you can approach this sort of case studies.

Enjoy and if you have any questions please let me know

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – Case Introduction Preview 01:59

Imagine that you are working for a ceramic tiles producer that wants to change the frequency at which customers are remodeling its houses. Your task is to analyze and decide which way is the best

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – General rules Preview 03:49

There are some standard ways to make people shorten the lifespan. In this lecture we will discuss them

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – Current Situation Preview 02:46

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – Fad Preview 02:35

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – Lower Costs Preview 01:46

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – Simplify Exchange Preview 01:23

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – Parameters Preview 02:24

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – Comparison Preview 01:22

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

How to shorten the lifespan of a product – Solution in Power Point Preview 01:56

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

Scenario Analysis – Other Examples Preview 00:58

Here I show you more examples from scenario analysis

Representative element analysis – Introduction Preview 02:35

In many cases there are a lot of options that you can consider. For simplicity you want to limit the options and get down to 1-5 representative elements. In this lecture I will show you how to use this technique in practice

Convenience stores - Analysis of tariffs – Introduction Preview 03:38

This case will show you how to compare the non-comparable. I will show you what to do in situation when you have different tariffs and straightforward comparison is virtual impossible

Convenience stores - Analysis of tariffs – Tips how to do it Preview 04:36

In this lecture we will give you some tips how to approach the case and show you the usage of the proper Excel functions

Convenience stores - Analysis of tariffs – Solution Preview 02:27

In this lecture we solve the case with you, show you the outcome, interpret it and give you examples how the results can be presented in terms of Excel and slides

Decision Tree Analysis – Introduction Preview 03:12

Quite often you have to make important decisions faced with uncertainty. In those situations, it is very useful to apply the so-called decision tree. In this lecture, I will show you how to use this technique.

Decision Tree Analysis – Solution Preview 02:30

Quite often you have to make important decisions faced with uncertainty. In those situations, it is very useful to apply the so-called decision tree. In this lecture, I will show you how to use this technique.

OEE and OLE Preview 03:10

We show here how to use the so called OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) Analysis that shows you how efficient you are in using your resources. It is very useful for checking whether you use well machines and equipment

Theory of constraints and bottlenecks Preview 03:14

In every company, you have bottlenecks that limit your ability to go forward and deliver more goods and services. Here I will show you how to estimate what is the impact for the whole system and how you can remove improve them. I will use a simple production example to show you the effect on the whole system. You will see how the bottleneck can shift from 1 shift to another. You will also learn how to prioritize where it makes sense to invest to get the best results.

Before doing this lecture I strongly encourage you first to take the OEE lecture – we use the OEE concept here so if you are not familiar with it please start with the OEE lecture as a warm-up.

Removing bottlenecks - Case Studies Preview 00:36

In the previous lectures, you have learned the concept of OEE & Bottlenecks. In the next few lectures, we will use those concepts to remove bottlenecks, increase productivity, and  as you may have guess generate more money

We will first start with a case study of a content marketing agency

Later on, I will show you how you can apply it in a production firm as well.

Enjoy the case studies and as always if you have any questions just let me know

I am always happy to help :)

Removing bottlenecks - Content marketing agency – Introduction Preview 01:29

Your friend Ivan works in a content marketing agency and wants to improve the work of his team. Help him by using the bottleneck framework

Removing bottlenecks - Content marketing agency – Solution Preview 02:17

In every company, you have bottlenecks that limit your ability to go forward and deliver more goods and services. Here I will show you how to estimate what is the impact for the whole system and how you can remove improve them.

Removing bottlenecks – Example from production – Case Introduction Preview 01:18

Now imagine that you were asked to increase the production capacity of a factory. Try also to calculate the financial impact of the proposed scenarios. Before we look at specific scenarios we have to discuss 2 issues

• What the production capacity depends on?

• How to calculate the monthly production capacity

What the production capacity depends on? Preview 04:15

First, let’s see what the production depends on assuming there is just 1 production stage

How to calculate the capacity for the whole month Preview 04:21

We said that the production generally speaking depends on 3 drivers. Now let’s see how it looks like for the whole month

Removing bottlenecks – Example from production – Scenarios – Part 1 Preview 03:25

Here we will discuss the scenarios that we will analyze later.

Removing bottlenecks – Example from production – Scenarios – Part 2 Preview 01:24

Here we will discuss the scenarios that we will analyze later.

Removing bottlenecks – Example from production – Available Data Preview 02:31

Here we will discuss the available data that we will use to solve the case study

Removing bottlenecks in Production – Solution Preview 03:48

In every company, you have bottlenecks that limit your ability to go forward and deliver more goods and services. Here I will show you how to estimate what is the impact for the whole system and how you can remove improve them. I will use a simple production example to show you the effect on the whole system. You will see how the bottleneck can shift from 1 shift to another. You will also learn how to prioritize where it makes sense to invest to get the best results.

Before doing this lecture I strongly encourage you first to take the OEE lecture – we use the OEE concept here so if you are not familiar with it please start with the OEE lecture as a warm-up.

Removing bottlenecks – Example from production – Graphs Preview 02:00

In this lecture, we will see how you can present the result of the analysis in a form of graphs

Critical Chain Preview 03:16

One of the biggest problem for efficiency is the so called Parkinson’s Law – Work expand so as to fill the time available for its completion. People when asked to evaluate the time certain things will take build in buffers. One of the ways to deal with it is the so called Critical chain. Here I will show you what it is

Intermediate tools – Summary Preview 01:22

Here we will summarize everything we have learnt so far in this ection

Advanced tools – Introduction Preview 01:28

In this lecture we will discuss advanced consulting techniuqes that you should find useful

Simulation analysis – Introduction Preview 03:10

In this lecture, I will discuss further more advanced techniques such as: simulation analysis, decomposition analysis, feasibility analysis, and sensitivity analysis 

What will be the effect of the price increase – Introduction Preview 02:09

The future is pretty difficult to figure out. You can use scenario analysis or you check ALL the potential options and see which is optimal. I will talk about this technique in this lecture and when to apply it. The impact of the price change on your profit will depend on a few factors. I will discuss in this lecture what you should take into account and how to calculate it.

What will be the effect of the price increase – Solution – Impact on coffee only Preview 04:01

In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.

What will be the effect of the price increase – Solution – Full impact Preview 02:34

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures

Juice Producer - Simulation - Introduction Preview 04:28

In this case, we will do the simulation of the whole logistics system and show you how to choose from many options

Juice Producer - Simulation - Tips how to do it Preview 08:23

Here we will give you tips on how to calculate the cost of the whole system and how to prepare for the simulation

Juice Producer - Simulation - Solution Preview 08:33

We present here the final solution to the case. We show how to do the simulation of logistic costs for 8 different options in 5 minutes

Decomposition of effects analysis – Introduction Preview 02:48

Decomposition analysis shows you what are the components, driving forces behind certain phenomena. I will talk about this technique in this lecture and when to apply it.

LFL analysis – Introduction Preview 02:36

I will show you here how to analyze Like for Like sales (Same-store sales - LFL, L4L)

LFL analysis – Solution – Part 1 Preview 03:06

LFL analysis is an example of decomposition analysis. LFL analysis is the analysis of the change in revenues for stores that have been at least for 12 months. In this analysis through decomposition we try to pinpoint the most important aspects. I will talk about this technique in this lecture and how to apply it

LFL analysis – Solution – Part 2 Preview 02:58

In this lecture, I will show the solution to the case study introduced in the previous lectures

LFL analysis – Solution – Power Point Preview 02:14

In this lecture I will show the solution to the case study introduced in the previous lectures

Feasibility analysis – Introduction Preview 01:43

In feasibility analysis you want to check whether something is possible or what are the limitations that you have to consider. I will talk about this technique in this lecture and when to apply it

How to increase the net profit by 10% – Introduction Preview 01:22

There are plenty alternative ways on the sales side to boost profits. Here I will show you how to analyze it and what should be the way forward

How to increase the net profit by 10% – Solution – Current Level of costs Preview 03:44

In this lecture I will show the solution to the case study introduced in the previous lectures

How to increase the net profit by 10% – Solution – Analysis of different options Preview 03:57

In this lecture I will show the solution to the case study introduced in the previous lectures

Sensitivity analysis – Introduction Preview 02:02

Once you come up with an optimal solution you want to see how sensitive it is too small changes in underlying assumptions. The solution can be pretty stable…. … or the contrary very volatile. The sensitivity analysis helps you check that. I will talk about this technique in this lecture and when to apply it 

Sensitivity analysis – Solution In Excel Preview 05:43

In this lecture, I will show the solution to the case study introduced in the previous lectures

Sensitivity analysis – Solution in Power Point Preview 01:18

In this lecture, I will show the solution to the case study introduced in the previous lectures

Overview of segmentation methods Preview 00:18

Bonus Lecture Preview 01:14