PWC普华永道面试案例case整理(两个案例)

普华永道咨询：AC面经验首先是connective thinking 环节每人先可以有1分钟互相了解的时间以及30秒的正式自我介绍时间。

中英文都可以，但是最好用英文。

后两组各抽一个成语表演让对方组猜，可以提醒对方一个成语中的字。

比如以前有抽到的题闻鸡起舞、盲人摸象、千钧一发、如雷贯耳。

其次是case study（30min）& presentation（10min全英）Case是30分钟的准备时间，presentation准备时间是10分钟，然后一队准备一分钟提问，一队回答。

题目有：（1）苹果ipad的那个案例，就是支持ipad会改变整个pc产业。

（2）Nike的一个case：是说2010年世界杯，Nike没有作为主要的赞助商仍想分一杯羹，所以想出了一种名为“埋伏式营销”的手段从而深入人心，获取利润。

我们蓝队的任务是要说出“埋伏式营销”的不好之处，红队说的是好的地方。

（3）某外国化妆品公司收购了国内的XX，XX,XX牌化妆品，然后每人一页纸，大半是相同的背景和TASK介绍，小部分是给每人不同的信息，一组TASK是证明收购好，组员信息包括，客户的PRODUCT LINE收购后超过了竞争对手的，中国传统审美是客户可以开拓的新研发领域等等。

最后是M面（10-20mim）问题总结（1）觉得自己在刚才小组的表现怎么样。

（2）在学校有什么学生干部经历么（3）问了一下比赛有多少人参加之类的，办得怎么样（4）问了关于实习的（5）问审计是你的职业目标么有没有考虑其他行业（6）问问对Pwc， Rcs的一些认识（7）对简历上的一些东西进行交流（8）非会计专业以后在工作中遇到很tough的clients怎么办经验一：首先是connective thinking环节，大家先用英文30秒简单自我介绍，然后两组各抽一个成语表演让对方组猜，可以提醒对方一个成语中的字，很简单的放松游戏，负责看我们的Manager Jerry也很积极参与我们的讨论，呵呵。

.往届PWC面经时间：2013-10-31面试流程：30min的case study包括了阅读与discussion，结束之后直接present，然后接受另外一个team的提问，这个时间一共15min面试题目：1 . 问我对于刚才的ac评价2 . career plan3 . 问我intern的事情4 . Is there anyone below your team's average? Just tell me yes or no. cause it is hard for me to choose in your team.5 . 问我weakness是什么面试类型：群面面试题目：1 . 自我介绍2 . case study : 和DELL有关，在现有的条件下要不要把业务开拓到smart phone面试题目：1 . 说到了实习的事情2 . 学生会的事情3 . 专业的事情. 时间：2013-10-29面试题目：1 . 自我介绍2 . 为什么审计，为什么普华. 时间：2013-10-28面试题目：1 . case study , 一个关于M&A的例子2 . 遇到的困难3 . 问了一下实习经历的事. 时间：2013-10-28面试流程：5min 破冰游戏，30min Case study ，10min Pre ，5min Q&A ，20min 写作，15-20min 经理面一面类型：群面一面题目：1 . case study : 材料内容是关于随着互联网的发展，汽车的经销商/分销商的角色是否可以被互联网替代？二面类型：单面二面题目：1 . 平时作息规律是怎样的，有什么兴趣爱好2 . 问你为什么想做审计3 . 为什么来pwc，有没有考cpa4 . 实习中有做数据分析的工作么，实习有没有加班面试题目：1 . case study , 关于汽车销售的2 . 问了一下简历上的一些情况3 . 还有一些情景假设题面试题目：1 . 英文自我介绍2 . case study , 关于奇瑞要不要进军德国市场面试题目：1 . 自我介绍2 . case study , 我们的case是market develop strategy相关的一面类型：群面一面题目：1 . 自我介绍2 . case study二面类型：单面二面题目：1 . 你在活动中遇到的困难2 . 针对自我介绍问一些问题经验：1 . 早点到面试地点，可以多接触一些人，了解一下大致情况，楼主认为多和组员沟通是最重要的，前提是能遇到，因为人真的太多了，一下子可能找不到2 . case的时候一定要和组员多沟通自己的想法，讨论环节很重要，团队协作很重要，m会一直在旁边看的（case的内容m那儿都会有）3 . 利用多余的时间准备自己的pre，多组织一下语言，否则上去的时候真的会卡壳，思路也会乱的，把自己的内容说清楚最重要4 . m的时候准备几个有质量的问题，有个姐姐在这方面准备的很充分和m聊了好久呢5 . Q/A的环节尽量都说话吧，和同组队员商量下，不说话肯定不好，如果没有回答上的话就尽量问个问题，至少要有一个，楼主问问题的时候还闹了个笑话，唉。

【留学回国找工作】普华永道面试经历【背景】作者是非211，985的大三CPA学生，一年多以来一直在找四大的实习，但都以失败告终。

从大二下参加普华在学校办的比赛开始，经历了pwc两次比赛的失利、一次寒假实习笔试没过，dtt club ga面被刷，安永寒假实习没过网申、2015slp未收到最终邀请，kp连笔试都没进过。

最终在6月，实习季的尾声，收到pwc发来的暑假实习邀请邮件，真心感到非常的高兴和幸运。

【网申】【关于网申时间】普华的网申貌似是5月1号到10号，笔者在5月6号完成了网申。

综合自己历次四大实习网申的经验来看，个人感觉在申请时限的中后期递交网申成功率会比较高。

【关于OQ】pwc网申是有Open Questions的，印象中有问到最大的Challenge、解决矛盾的经历、团队合作的经历。

有人说这些HR都不会看，有人随便写了几句也通过了网申。

然而笔者觉得无论HR看不看这个部分，OQ都是要认真写并且用一个Word文档保存好的，因为这些问题，很有可能会在面试中以另外的形式出现。

如果能写上pwc-related的经历那就更好了。

具体的下面再说。

【笔试】【备战SHL笔试的心态】笔者在5月25日收到了笔试邮件，SHL的题目。

在这次笔试之前LZ已经做过3次SHL的笔试了，但笔者还是不敢掉以轻心，花了3天把之前整理的资料一题题过了一遍。

很多人说SHL的题目没什么难度，但笔者觉得越是这样的笔试就越危险，因为容错率非常低，多错1题可能你就被排除在面试名单之外（HR原话）。

所以建议大家在准备时要以全部做对的要求来训练自己。

【笔试内容】笔试有四部分内容：数学，语言逻辑，图形推理和性格测试。

【数学】数学要注意一道关于”世界银行指数“的题，个人认为那题在数学里是较难的。

还有就是要注意有些题目的正确选项是”无法判断“，所以审题要仔细吧。

时间肯定是够用的所以多读几遍题目以及用别的方法验算答案。

【语言逻辑】主要的问题在后附的文档里都有了，不过具体的问题会有变化，会有新的问法。

企业环境分析必备模型：1. PEST:分析宏观环境，考虑policy,economy,society,teconology 四个方面2. Porter's diamond:分析特定国家地区环境，如新进入某国市场，考虑factor conditions,demand conditions, supporting and related industry, firm strategy and structure 四个因素3. Market segmentation: 通常按地域、人口统计学、经济状况、心理、行为划分，也可按维护客户成本等因素划分4. 4P:分析市场组合，production,price,place,promotion5. convergence：分析所在市场环境，横轴分为供应商推动和消费者拉动两维度，纵轴为新旧技术可并存和新技术取代旧技术两维度6. Porter's five force: 分析所处竞争环境，new entrant, substitute, power of supplier, power of customer, rivalry 五因素7. life cycle: 分析产品或企业所处地位，introduction,growth,maturity,decline 四阶段8. BCG matrix 波士顿矩阵：分析产品或子公司增长速度和市场份额，可结合财务信息计算和life cycle 使用，分为problem child，star，cash cow，dog 四种9. SWOT：这个几乎适用于所有案例，但由于过于笼统，一般需要其他模型辅助10. Value chain:分析企业竞争优势，首要活动分为inbound logistics，operations，outboundlogistics，marketing，service，辅助活动包括infrastructure，HR，technology，procurement11.stakeholder mapping：分析对不同利益相关方的态度，企业社会责任问题中重点使用，分为interest 和power 两个维度企业发展战略选择：12. 赢得竞争三大策略：cost-leadership，differentiation，focus。

组中的自我介绍要简洁让大家记住名字即可。

同时，记住同事的名字很重要！另外，在做展示之前一定要给大家再介绍下自己，提名字即可。

男士要有风度：帮女士拉椅子，拉开门，帮忙搬黑板，为下一队擦黑板。

过程中：1、掌握时间和节奏。

一开始就明确由谁来做两个重要角色LEADER, TIME CONTROLLER时间控制很重要！适当地提醒团队时间。

2、先做时间安排再分工确定讨论的时间安排，比如五分钟看材料，十分钟分享信息，十分钟讨论怎么做（分工，整个展示分成几个部分，形式，基调）。

3、推进面试：比如“我们现在是不是要进行这样一个讨论”“我们还有*分钟，我觉得重点是所以我们是不是应该进入这个环节的讨论”4、presentation的程序：1、介绍自己（名字！）2、礼貌感谢，介绍团队，复述任务，提出刚要3、有请我的搭档（名字！）4、鼓掌，鼓励！气氛烘托，强调团队整体性。

重要的点：1、自己的角色定位（L OR VL）2、要倾听他人的论点，记录！反馈！（“我是不是可以这样理解您的看法？3、归纳总结！“现在我们的思路是：1、2、3、”强调逻辑性。

要和其他人交流4、照顾一些发言少的同伴“这位同学，请问你对这个问题和你的部分还有什么补充吗？”5、做presentation时语言简明（控制时间，其他人留时间）语言有逻辑（1、2、3、）、流畅脱稿感谢（在总结的时候能明确每个人的贡献更好）有请6、利用好黑板，写下自己部分的重要点（数字等）方便总结人用板书要简介缩写即可7、身位重要：保持正面面对组员，要和HR 有眼神交流8、不必张扬，但一定要有自己的贡献！9. 要向给客户做展示一样正式，要给人信任和专业感10、整队做展示的时候可以一起站着，节省时间。

11、站稳了才开始说话。

简洁关键：名字（介绍、记住、叫出），时间，倾听（反馈），总结，眼神交流，贡献另一个小组在做展示时一定要注意听：1、要尊重他人2、高效率思考他们的漏洞在哪，为提问辩论环节做准备。

普华永道PWC面试经历尽量早点出发,到了以后会提交一些证件,分组以后各小组的成员可以互相认识一下,有利于后来的合作。

需要提醒大家一点的是,可能你所在的小组会缺少一两个组员,因此,无论是在编故事环节还是做case study,时间都会很紧张,比较有压力,尤其是你对面的小组很强的情况下。

这个时候,希望大家一定要镇静,不要惊慌,内容都不是很难。

自我介绍：英文,差不多就只说了姓名、学校和专业编故事：每个小组随机抽三张纸,我们小组抽到的是buddha,at a child’s birthday party, violin 好像是5 分钟时间准备,然后做英文的presentation。

今天我们小组只有4个人,对面小组5个人,其中两个英语系的。

准备的不是很充分,表现也一般。

我认为在做presentation 之前,先把小组的三张纸给HR和对面小组展示一下,让大家大体有个数,知道你们将要讲哪方面的故事。

最好再讲一下角色分配。

这两点我们小组今天都没有做到,很是遗憾,毕竟第一次,所以,可能在表演的时候大家听得有点云里雾里的。

case study：每人一份英文材料,自行看5分钟,然后讨论交流,再做presentation,最后是对面小组提问和本组回答。

两个小组轮流。

由于少了一个人,我主动多承担了一份材料。

讲企业社会责任的东东,总分式的结构。

我们四个人先看了information2,3,4,5,多拿的那份是information1, 偏偏是最关键的部分,我还没有全部看完,就开始部分讨论,大家都有点茫然,所以沟通的不是很好。

后来我加紧看了最后一份材料才终于把整个材料的意思弄明白,刚刚跟大家讲了不一会,时间到,presentation开始了！少一个人还是很寒阿！在做presentation的时候大家一定要掌握好时间,不要前面讲的太多,后面没时间讲了。

这个环节一定要逻辑性非常强,用简洁明了的语言向大家讲明白即可。

由于每个人讲不同的部分,注意之间过渡时候的承上启下的语句。

【海外人才招聘会】普华永道面试真题续休息片刻，一个个单面MA，我是小组最后一个，以至于面完后出来只剩下我和pwc的员工了……全中文的面试，MA很nice，很有礼貌，大致就我专业、OQ的问题问了一下，接下来就是我的提问时间。

我事先没有特别设计问题，所以就当天的讨论和ma的背景提问。

1、ma是什么专业的？一开始毕业时职业的设想和如今有什么差异？2、就今天讨论的case 中，当处于employee和profit的dilemna的情况下会怎么抉择？3、就毒奶粉事件牛根生的反应询问看法。

4、国务院4万亿的促进内需对我国经济走势的影响。

小结，ma的回答其实是有个framework的，而我当时没有注意到，所以问题的提出不是那么专业，往往很泛，不够有sense。

一些常规的经典问题还是应该提一下，也让ma可以有点轻松发挥的余地。

踏出湖滨的时候已经5点40 分，面试真的很考验体力。

虽然越到后面面par的几率就越小，但还是很感激有这样一次经历。

觉得需要注意的地方和大家分享下1、邮件里写提早半小时，其实不是硬性规定的，大概提早15分钟机房才会开，所以不用太赶。

2、一共三部分，先是中文的阅读，17分钟32个题；再是中文数字，22分钟20道题；最后是30分钟的英语写作200字。

3、前两部分难度适中吧，但时间还是要控制下，我数字题没做完。

4、作文的话还是有话可说的，感觉和TOFEL非常像，有时间可以下一点来看看找找感觉。

大概就这么多了，希望大家都顺利。

看到已经有拿到offer的同学，先恭喜下:81) ，顺便沾点喜气:110) 。

虽然之后ac面越来越少，但还是总结一下，为自己也为可能会看到的同学:83) 提前三天收到通知，16号下午，上海。

提早了半个小时上去居然上午的一场还没面完，就又坐电梯下楼:80) 等。

查资料、填表格、找队员，人齐了后开始迫不及待地商量队名，未料进room做好自我介绍后，被告知直接画图（可能上午结束得太晚或者我们这批是waitinglist的关系）。

Case study1、2010年世界杯，Nike “埋伏式营销”上半部分是这个公司背景的介绍每个人拿到的都一样我们的case是nike 在世界杯阶段ambush marketing, 下半部分每个人的不一样我拿到的是nike 的对手adidas 在世界杯期间的销售数据以及他们的经营策略我们组有有的拿到的是nike这段时间具体的收入和盈利有的人拿到的是nike ambush marketing的操作方法比如通过facebook传播transmit\spread\disseminate好处：降低reduce\take from\depress宣传成本、提高advance\improve\enhance\heighten知名度popularity\fame\ 从而避开昂贵的赞助费sponsor，以低成本实现品牌知晓和品牌形象impression\image\推广的。

地位status\position\ credit rating信誉度Deficiency不足、欠缺坏处：道德morality\ moral problem\Business ethics问题产生了。

对埋伏式营销的道德谴责accuse\censure主要来自两方面，一是事件组织者，他们认为非赞助公司从未付费事件中获益，这威胁到他们事件的整体性；二是事件的官方赞助商，当赞助商付了一大笔钱以获取一个被规定为专营权利的特权时，发现其他人主张特权免费，这对赞助商将产生极大的负面影响。

Opponent\competitorHarmonious\justice2、说可口可乐有一个our happiness program。

5份内容分别涉及到，slogan口号标语, financial data, experts怎么说，brand value的变化怎么样，还有就是他们CEO认为这个Program给可口可乐带来了什么。

lz是蓝队，是doubt这个东西的有效性。

.今天我们组抽到的案例是关于proprietary trading (自营交易)的~如果小伙伴们有在投行实习过的话这个case应该很简单~大致就是说日本有一家历史悠久的商业银行想开展他们投资银行新的业务线, 也就是自营交易. 但是自营交易存在着诸多的风险性, 所以企业里正在争论是否应该开展这条新的业务楼主的小组是红方对以前描述持有反对态度楼主对方的小组是蓝方持有支持意见大家拿到手的是一张A4纸, 关于case本身的描述大约有一张纸的2/3那么多. 这2/3的内容, 组里的5个人大家是一样的, 剩下1/3每一个人的内容都是不一样的.楼主自己抽到的是Chinese Wall "长城" (职能分管制度: 简单来讲就是说投资银行部和销售部或交易部人员之间的隔阂, 以防范敏感消息外泄, 从而构成内幕交易)大家读完自己的case以后, 需要把自己与他人不一样的信息和他人分享, 并且迅速设计出思考问题的框架, 以便一会儿presentation楼主的建议是, 用intro, point 1/2/3, conclusion的形式, 每一位组员说一个部分. 这样做一来时间分配比较足够, 二来每一个人自身的压力不大.因为整个case study的时间非常紧张, 所以楼主之前才建议大家早些来报到并迅速和同组的小伙伴打成一片.楼主的另外一条建议是, 尽量不要使用SWOT, 五力, profit breakeven这一类管理咨询相关模型, 只会把原本很简单的case越来越复杂化.总的来说, 楼主认为case真正的考点并不是每一个小组可以给出一个怎样的solution, 而是在做出solution过程中, 大家是怎么团队协作的!!!请大家谨记这一点!!第一点：比较喜欢整理，校对，做事情有条理，喜欢做计划。

加上三年来专业的学习累积的对数据的sense。

用FANCY的话来说就是我是一个静得下心来做事情的人。

PWC普华永道面试案例case整理（两个案例）PricewaterhouseCoopersCASE DISCUSSIONBUSINESS CASEInterview Case Study #1Roane & Hickey, Inc.You have been recently hired into the Strategic Change (SC) group, a business unit of PricwaterhouseCoopers. SC is the strategy thought leader in PwC. The engagement partner in Consumer Products has come to SC to help develop a strategy for Roane & Hickey, Inc. (R&H). This engagement has the potential of positioning PwC to R&H and its parent conglomerate for the next five, possible ten years.Company BackgroundR&H is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a multi-national conglomerate. The conglomerate owns ten companies operating in the . R&H is the largest of the ten. R&H is a consumer goods company distributing well-known branded products through grocery, drug, mass merchant and club channels. With $4 billion in revenues in the ., R&H is one of the top three players in the consumer goods industry. The company has been marginally profitable over the past ten years. Last year the company made a profit due largely to an accounting change.Although R&H only operates in the ., it owns several manufacturing and distribution facilities around the world to support its production and distribution systems. R&H takes advantage of lower labor costs in Mexico, Canada and Southeast Asia to lower its manufacturing costs. R&H still maintains three plants in the . Because of the over-capacity that R&H hasexperienced, R&H has negotiated deals with sister companies overseas to manufacture and direct-ship product.R&H has four market segments that operate as profit centers. The market segments are: Personal Hygiene, Consumer Tissue, Soaps and Detergents and Personal Care. Even though the revenues are roughly evenly divided among all four market segments, Personal Care contributes 90% of the company's profits. In Personal Care, R&H owns the two top branded products, in the other categories the company has the number two brand, and in one segment, number three. R&H has committed to building a consumer franchise through aggressive advertising and in-store merchandising support.Industry TrendsIn the ., brands are under attack from private labels, who are now competing on both price and quality. Brands are looking to justify their price premiums. The value of being the number one brand cannot be taken lightly. The return on sales of the top brand is almost twice that of the number two brand. The return on sales for the number two brand is twice that of the number three brand.The power of the retail industry in the . has increased dramatically over the past five years. The retailers are driving additional costs upon manufacturers. With established products, retailers are demanding a minimal level of turns per year. With new products, retailers are demanding slotting fees and ever-increasing promotional support. Product managers are forced to achieve current product revenue and market share goals while stimulating demand for new products. Many industry experts feel that there will be consolidation of brands within many of the market segments in which R&H competes and, as a result of thisbrand consolidation, that R&H will lose critical sales mass and become a major casualty.In the last two years the allocation of marketing dollars has changed dramatically; trade promotion has risen to 40% of total marketing spending, consumer promotion has climbed slightly and advertising has declined. Industry analysts have pointed to R&H's trade promotion strategy as being the catalyst for the growth in trade promotion in the industry as competitors have been forced to respond.R&H is widely regarded as a retail-oriented company. With a sales force that is twice the size of anyone else's in the industry, R&H has forged great retail relationships over the years. R&H traditionally had the best order fill rate in the business; however, recently some of the efforts to reduce inventory has caused shortages in key promoted products.R&H OrganizationThere are six Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs) in R&H responsible for functional areas. All the EVPs report to the President, who is also CEO. The Executive Vice Presidents represent Marketing, Sales, Finance, Manufacturing, Engineering and Human Resources. The EVP of Finance has responsibility for financial reporting and analyses as well as managing Procurement, Deployment, Scheduling and Logistics. All the market segment managers report directly to the Executive Vice President of Marketing.Much of the blame for the performance of the company over the last ten years fell on the shoulders of the former president. It was whispered that he was from the "old school" and could not change his ways. The new president of R&H, an American, joined the company six months ago. He was the Executive Vice Presidentof an important European division of a sister company. The conglomerate has always prided itself on being able to leverage itsmulti-national resources.Current SituationVenn Teldren, the Executive Vice President of Finance, is considered to be a brilliant man by many in the industry. Born and raised in Europe, Mr. Teldren rose quickly through the organization. However, because of his outspoken nature, he angered enough senior level executives ("showed up" as Mr. Teldren would say) that he has never received a position of president, even though his name is mentioned every time an opening appears.Recently the vice chairperson of the conglomerate responsible for the group in which R&H is a member, sat down with the R&H President and EVPs. The vice chairperson stated that the company needed to improve performance within one year. He offered a couple of scenarios of what the conglomerate was considering in the event that the management failed to improve profitability.Scenario 1: Drop unprofitable brands and reduce the size of the companyScenario 2: Merge the company with a sister company that has similardistribution requirements and have proven profitabilityRecent InitiativesR&H has recently taken part in an industry-wide study called Efficient Customer Response or ECR. The study found that an industry-wide effort to develop more efficient trade practices and delivery systems could save an aggregated $30 billion dollarsa year. PwC assisted R&H in this study. All the EVPs agree that there are huge dollar savings that can be achieved with efficiency improvements.Venn believes that the supply chain ., Procurement, Manufacturing, Deployment, Scheduling, Logistics, and Warehousing) can become a strategic advantage for the company if it can outperform its competitors. PwC studies have shown that improvements cannot be made without the input or the support of all the functional areas of the company, especially Marketing and Sales. The EVPs from Marketing and Sales do not always see the Supply Chain as key players; in fact, the EVPs of Marketing and Sales see the Supply Chain as only a vendor to them.Venn knows that the results of the ECR initiative may not be enough to rally support among the EVPs. Venn knows that whatever strategy is accepted needs to define the roles of each of the EVPs and to provide an outlet for each EVP to demonstrate his and her skills. He is also aware that the other EVPs are very conscious of the growth of Venn's power. Each EVP will initiate a project with the assumption that the architect of the solution to R&H's current situation will be in position for the next presidency.The EVP of Human Resource has championed the need to implement a whole new way of envisioning the company working together. She has envisioned a flatter organization and has spent years developing studies with another leading consultancy to support her vision. She has a strong supporter in the EVP of Sales. The present EVP of Sales was originally from Human Resources. Her vision has always entailed an extensive re-structuring and re-training effort.The EVP of Engineering feels that the company needs toinvest in its new product capability. The strategy is to acquire smaller, regional companies that are producing differentiated products. "We can absorb them into us and stimulate our new product pipeline," he stated. "With these new, regionally proven products, we can fill capacity and leverage our distribution and sales strength. I can also energize my area with fresh ideas. It's win-win, no doubt about it."The EVP of Manufacturing is sick and tired of hearing that manufacturing is the problem. He points to the fact that they re producing and shippingthree times the product they were five years ago with the same number of people they had eight years ago. If things don't change in other areas, then things won't change in Manufacturing, other than the inability to support the orders coming in.The EVP of Marketing believes that a combination of re-structuring and acquisition is needed. He wants to reduce the salesperson's role with the retailer and focus on consumer spending behind a "high quality" message grounded in tangible product benefits across all product segments. He wants to broaden the product mix with new products from acquisition.The EngagementVenn has mentioned to Gary Forstman, the PwC engagement partner, that he is willing to devote the necessary resources in his functional areas to prove out the right strategy to the other EVPs. Venn has also indicated that the company is willing to devote significant resources and capabilities to the right effort. "All the EVPs know," he said, "that there will be whole-scale changes if the company doesn't turn itself about."Mr. Forstman has called Grady Means, ISS SBU leader andpartner, and said, "This i s PricewaterhouseCoopers’ first major engagement with R&H after several years of smaller engagements where we were able to demonstrate our ability to implement solutions. Now we have an opportunity to really shine. The company is re-evaluating its strategic position and has asked several consulting firms to talk to them." Grady discussed the situation with ISS partner, Michael Hanley, and they agreed that you would be a great person to work on this project. You receive a call from Grady. Hello, How are you doing After exchanging pleasantries, Grady explains the situation to you. "We need some dynamic thinking on this one. I know Venn Teldren from years ago. Venn is going to be all over us if we don't get this right. What's important is that we show Venn that we have a vision of where the company needs to go, how the parts fit together and how they are going to get there. What is important is that our analysis is fact-based. We need to be ready to say to Venn, "This is the situation, this is the problem, this is the solution and this is step one, step two, step three on what you need to do tomorrow." This is a big opportunity for us and I'm counting on you. See what you can come up with by this time next week. Feel free to call Michael or myself with any questions. Okay, talk to you soon.Questions1. What is your assessment of the present situation2. What are the key areas for change Why do you believe so3. What do you envision your product to be in a week4. What type of additional information would you want5. What type of analysis do you believe needs to be performed6. Do you have an idea concerning the analytical structure7. What type of framework might you envision for thisstrategy8. What are the key elements you would include in designinga strategy9. What are the key elements you would include in implementing a strategy10. What is your assessment concerning R&H's ability to implementa strategy11. What are some key performance indicators that you would suggest12. What are the key issues between the Supply Chain and other areas of the company(such as Marketing and Sales) that must be addressed13. What are some ways that improvements in the Supply Chainwill impact the other areas of the company, especially Marketing and Sales14. How does Supply Chain effect the value of the company's brands15. What are the risks that the PwC team faces in this engagementPricwaterhouseCoopersCASE DISCUSSIONBUSINESS/STRATEGYInterview Case Study #2Telekenesis Inc.PricewaterhouseCoopers has recently proposed on, and appears to have won, a major engagement to create an information technology strategy for Telekenesis. PricwaterhouseCoopers has worked for Telekenesis in the past,but has not done any significant work for over a year and a half. This is PricwaterhouseCoopers' first substantial engagement with the company.Company BackgroundTelekenesis was formed in 1992 by executives from four former Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) and two principals in Silicon Valley technology start-ups. One of the principals is from a start-up company that pioneered a new kind of wireless propagation technology.Telekenesis was founded on the principle that the current telecommunications industry is populated with companies who are almost congenitally incapable of optimizing their form of organization and culture to meet the competitive challenges of the 1990s. The founders believe that local loop technology, which relies on communication devices which are peers in a large technology community, where every device has a permanent and unchangeable identification, is the silver bullet of the telecommunications industry, and that the RBOCs are not ready or willing to exploit it. Local loop technology (LLT) is considered by RBOC management to be radical, unproven and unreliable.Telekenesis Inc. is modestly profitable, with $131,000,000 in sales and approximately 200,000 customers spread out over four adjacent, mostly rural geographies. Approximately 90% of its sales come from four small local telephone companies. The company's strategy is to use the operating experience and customer positioning of the four local telephone companies to develop and implement local loop wireless service or LLWS (often pronounced "laws"). The concept behind this service is based on the fact that the current phone companies control wiring to and from a central office facility. This facility is in effect a big switchingbox. The central office acts like a big hub with many spokes radiating from it. LLWS eliminates the central office and substitutes simple, unobtrusive, premises wireless relay equipment. There is at least one local loop server facility that is somewhat analogous to a central office but not needed to maintain service. The server facility is used to monitor quality and provide a trap for billing.Local loop wireless services are fully integrated. They include telephonic communication as well as cellular, pager, on-demand video, and "highway" services. Highway services permit companies within the local loop to communicate with each other as if they were on a large universal local area network. Computers located in both home and office are immediately interconnected by the local loop. Importantly, there are literally no wires involved in any of these services (except of course for plugging into the wall to getelectricity). Physical customer hook-ups are non-existent. Customers are granted access, and services and information are secured through software interfaces in LLWS devices, such as television sets, laptop computers, pagers, etc. Telekenesis has a number of arrangements with software and hardware vendors to create LLWS devices.Understandably, the industry discounts LLWS as another "high tech California fantasy." Bell Core engineers, while acknowledging the future potential of local loop technology, dispute Telekenesis's claims that the bandwidth and quality is actually present in production, commercially available products to be installed in the real world.Telekenesis' doctrine is to completely convert all 200,000 current subscribers of the four local phone companies at once,with no phase in. Each of the four local companies will be converted separately.Telekenesis bought the four local phone companies in order to have large scale pilot sites for local loop wireless services. Telekenesis' fundamental business proposition is that the changing regulatory landscape will allow it to compete with local Bell telephone companies, providing a higher performance, lower cost alternative to the existing local phone companies for local and long-distance telephone service, paging, cable ., and cellular phones.Industry TrendsThe early 1980s were a time of turmoil for the telecommunications industry. For the first time in history, AT&T was deregulated and lost its monopoly status. This meant competition for AT&T where none had existed before. Long-distance was the arena of competition."Telecommunications" includes much more than simply making a phone-call. It encompasses cable television service and network connectivity which brings interactive television, shopping forums, education and information services into the home. The phone lines that the telecommunications companies control enable computers to communicate from remote locations, and can gather information from databases and news services around the world within seconds.The possibilities for profits in this arena are practically limitless, and the sphere of competition is expanding. Up to 1994, only long-distance carriers were in competition, but local calling areas are going to be opened up for competition in the late 1990s.Telekenesis OrganizationThere are currently three business units: 1) residential, whichis divided into the "plain vanilla" customers that have only one phone line into the house and no add-ons such as cellular phones, pagers, additional lines, etc. and 2) residential customers who have add-on services and are good candidates for taking advantage of the new technology; and 3) small business. Each of Telekenesis's business units has a President who reports to the CEO. In addition, R&D and Technology Assurance, essentially a quality management program, also report directly to the CEO. Telekenesis is tightly controlled by the principals who founded the company and all the senior positions just described are held by the founders.There are really no Corporate functional areas such as Finance, Purchasing, Distribution, and Human Resources. These functions exist in the original phone companies as they did before the companies were acquired. An outsider with the title of Chief Financial Officer runs the Corporate functional area. She had a brief tenure as the CFO of an RBOC. The Technology Assurance Group helps support the existing communications and networking infrastructure.Telekenesis Current SituationPricewaterhouseCoopers was retained because of their knowledge of the RBOCs and an audit relationship with the four local phone companies. They were retained by Telekenesis for special start-up services, legal and regulatory counsel and assistance in dealing with obtaining additional venture capital financing. Because of the technology nature of Telekenesis, the PricwaterhouseCoopers Financial Advisory Services partner contacted IT Strategic Services. The Firm has now been asked to deal with the operational dimensions of Telekenesis as it commences detailed tactical planning for LLWS activation.Another management consulting firm is providing some business strategy consulting to Telekenesis.PricewaterhouseCoopers has been asked to propose on three major stages of work: 1) process vision; 2) tactical doctrine;3) infrastructure and value. These are meant to give Telekenesis "process efficacy." This is their language.The current company is, in effect, the combination of the four small southern telephone companies that were acquired and are now operated by Telekenesis. However, except for top management, the vast majority of employees of the telephone companies were retained, as were the administrative and operational support systems. Some of those employees are very excited to be able to participate in this opportunity, but a lot of the old timers are dubious and apprehensive.All telephone company processes and functions are essentially the same as before the acquisition by Telekenesis. Telekenesis concentrated on establishing a simple, "no frills" system for collecting financial and operating information on the telephone companies but did virtually nothing to change the actual operations of the companies.Marley and Cratchet (the two silicon valley entrepreneurs) expect that the consultant selected will be able to bring fresh creative ideas to the process of what they term is "...creating a 21st Century company for a 21st Century business." Included in their definition of process efficacy is the notion of "enterprise extensibility," or put more simply put the capability to seamless team with external suppliers in a variety of value-adding, integrative relationships that can be episodic or persistent. Particularly important is the aspect of Telekenesis strategy in which vendors will provide LLWS compatible devices tocustomers who will pay a one-time $15 fee for the equipment.All four Telekenesis executives expect that the process efficacy initiatives will include information systems and technology strategy and planning. They want the consultant to provide a guaranteed "operational profile" that states that the recommended configuration of hardware and software, costing $xx and operational by 19yy will be able to support the local loop wireless service business.There are four distinct flavours of legacy systems across the four companies. Hardware and software is different, with three of the companies having an IBM mainframe in addition to other computers. Telekenesis installed IMRS on a high end x486 computer to provide financial consolidation and reporting of the four companies. Spreadsheet disks prepared at month end are FedExed to Telekenesis home office in Bernardsville, New Jersey and loaded into IMRS.QuestionsDo you believe you have enough information to develop an Business/IT strategy for this client If no, what additional information would you requireWhat skills would the consulting team need to successfully complete this engagement How would you structure the work for this engagementWhat are the risks that Telekenesis facesShould PwC guarantee an "operational profile" If so, should there be any caveats included in the guaranteeWhat types of business processes will be neededHow would you integrate the processes of the four existing local phone companies and TelekenesisWhat kinds of information systems will the company requireWhere can PwC add the most value in the engagement ., of all the items that Telekenesis requested assistance with, where should we focus)。