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April 23, 2025 In business education, there is often a reluctance to engage in what a recent post described as "uncomfortable conversations" with students. But what do these uncomfortable conversations entail? In this context, they refer to discussing subopti...

When reviewing your budget, a key factor to consider is whether the valuation of the investment makes it valuable to the company. It's important to assess whether the amount of money being allocated makes sense. Often, you will need to evaluate different recom...

One tool that isn’t utilised enough is the concept of core competencies. It’s essential to build a plan that leverages these core competencies. In a classroom setting, business students often discuss core competencies, but when it comes to case competitions or...

Another idea to explore is storytelling. There are many ways to approach storytelling, but in this discussion, I want to focus on the five Ps, which are essential building blocks of a good story. These five Ps can help you think about how to construct your nar...

We want to focus on the concepts of personas, customer journeys, and product journeys. In this discussion, I'll primarily concentrate on personas and customer journeys and how we can help the judges understand these concepts from a customer’s perspective. Sta...

What I want to discuss here is how we start to build the Pyramid—specifically, how to construct a mental pyramid that helps in the thinking process. When we explore the concept of the "Idea Pyramid" or the "Mental Pyramid," we find that at the top is a summary...

One of the things we want to examine is the methods we use to assess company valuation. Typically, we employ three main approaches: discounted cash flow analysis, comparable company analysis, and precedent transactions. In this process, we consider the capi...

Another key element is the valuation of a company. In this piece, I want to discuss the various types of valuations you can conduct. These include asset-based, market-based, earnings-based, and cash flow-based methods. The choice of method often depends on the...

One of the big questions I often get asked is, "What should a financial analysis look like?" To provide an overview, financial analysis involves reviewing any statements you have received and making a note of any significant changes. It's also important to inc...

Another essential skill is estimation, which involves thinking critically about how to start estimating values and incorporating them into your analysis. When it comes to building market sizing or budget estimates, the first step is to state your assumptions. ...

One of the most important aspects of presenting your story is to make it conversational. This can be quite challenging in a case-solving situation since you're typically delivering a monologue, and you're trying to create a dialogue. However, traditional rules...

One common question that teams often ask is about budgeting: how do we develop a budget for the solution we are considering? The main focus of this discussion is budget forecasting, as you will frequently be asked about the costs associated with your recommend...

In terms of financial literacy, comparative analysis is a significant component that we need to consider. So, what is comparative analysis? It involves examining how your organisation compares to other organisations both within and outside of your industry, as...

On the financial literacy side, we analyse both situational and comparative aspects. Here, I want to focus on the situational analysis. This involves examining financial statements to extract valuable information. We begin by reviewing existing financial state...

One of the questions I often get asked is how to approach reading a case and what a typical case looks like. I want to discuss the common structure of a case and the information typically presented within it. While this structure may not apply to every case, m...

What I want to explore is the concept of Personas in the customer journey in a bit more detail. We’ll start with an example of a role-based Persona, which we will discuss shortly. First, let's cover how to create a Persona and the elements that comprise one. ...

In recent workshops I've conducted, I was asked to discuss the process of resolution research and provide some insights on how teams can develop their research pieces. I believe that this is a crucial aspect of pre-competition preparation, which has significan...

I would like to discuss how we can effectively use SWOT analysis, and one method to enhance its application is by conducting a TOES analysis. This approach builds upon SWOT and helps us develop strategic alternatives for guiding our solutions. So, how does th...

Many of my team members ask me about how to effectively tell their story and the elements involved in doing so. The key here is to discuss how to set up the story you will use in your presentation. Good stories help the audience make important connections an...

I want to quickly discuss a tool that is often underutilised but can significantly enhance your presentations, making them more visual and memorable compared to your competitors: mock-ups. Mock-ups are powerful visual tools that illustrate what a dashboard, a...