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Chatbot-style online case

Chatbot-style online case with a spoken close, strong and weak

A timed online case with no going back, a typed recommendation and a spoken close of about one minute, run twice: once calmly, and once by a candidate who forgets fixed costs, runs out of time and records a recap instead of an answer.

A written example. Not a recording of a real candidate.

Before you read

The case: an Australian maker of premium dog food wants to enter Japan and can build its own sales team, partner with a distributor or buy a local brand. A table gives the interviewer's estimates. The market is about 30 million bags a year, the board has capped the entry budget at JPY 2,000 million, and if the company builds or partners, year one sells a third of the year-three volume and year two sells two thirds.

The format: a chatbot-style online case. Here the interviewer is an automated screen: timed questions in a fixed order with no going back, a typed recommendation, and a spoken close of about one minute. It is a practice format like the ones some firms describe publicly, not any firm's test.

Study the worked case: An Australian pet-food maker enters Japan: build, partner, or buy?

  1. 1. Question: what do you need?

    What the interviewer is looking for: Can the candidate tell which analyses answer the client's question? Picking everything, or picking something that does not decide the choice, loses points.

    Strong run

    1. Interviewer: The client asks which way to enter Japan. Which of these do you need to answer? Choose all that apply. A: three-year cash for each mode. B: whether the share each mode assumes is realistic. C: the advertising budgets of the leading dog-food brands. D: what happens to cash if share comes in lower. E: the price of buying a local brand against the entry budget.

    2. Candidate: A, B, D and E. C would not change the choice between modes.

      Structuring 5 of 5: Picks the four analyses that decide the choice and says in one line why the fifth does not.

    Weak run

    1. Interviewer: The client asks which way to enter Japan. Which of these do you need to answer? Choose all that apply. A: three-year cash for each mode. B: whether the share each mode assumes is realistic. C: the advertising budgets of the leading dog-food brands. D: what happens to cash if share comes in lower. E: the price of buying a local brand against the entry budget.

    2. Candidate: A, C and E.

      Structuring 2 of 5: Includes a detail that does not decide the mode and leaves out the downside, the check that decides this case.

  2. 2. Question: read the table

    What the interviewer is looking for: Pull the right numbers quickly and turn them into the measure the question asks for.

    Strong run

    1. Interviewer: Three ways to enter Japan, with the interviewer's estimates. Build own sales team: one-time cost JPY 400 million, contribution JPY 900 per bag, local fixed cost JPY 300 million a year, 1.2 million bags in year three. Partner with a distributor: one-time cost JPY 100 million, contribution JPY 700 per bag, fixed cost JPY 120 million a year, 1.0 million bags. Buy a local brand: one-time cost JPY 15,000 million, contribution JPY 900 per bag, fixed cost JPY 500 million a year, 3.0 million bags. What share of the market does the build plan assume in year three?

    2. Candidate: 4 percent: 1.2 million bags out of 30 million.

      Exhibit reading 5 of 5: Right, fast, and shows the two numbers it came from.

    Weak run

    1. Interviewer: Three ways to enter Japan, with the interviewer's estimates. Build own sales team: one-time cost JPY 400 million, contribution JPY 900 per bag, local fixed cost JPY 300 million a year, 1.2 million bags in year three. Partner with a distributor: one-time cost JPY 100 million, contribution JPY 700 per bag, fixed cost JPY 120 million a year, 1.0 million bags. Buy a local brand: one-time cost JPY 15,000 million, contribution JPY 900 per bag, fixed cost JPY 500 million a year, 3.0 million bags. What share of the market does the build plan assume in year three?

    2. Candidate: 1.2 percent.

      Exhibit reading 2 of 5: Reads the bag count as a share. 1.2 million of 30 million bags is 4 percent.

  3. 3. Question: year-three profit

    What the interviewer is looking for: A clean calculation with nothing left out. In a timed screen there is no interviewer to catch a missing step.

    Strong run

    1. Interviewer: If the company builds, what is its year-three profit, in JPY million?

    2. Candidate: 780. 1.2 million bags at JPY 900 is 1,080 of contribution, minus 300 of fixed costs.

      Math 5 of 5: Right, with the working shown in one line.

    Weak run

    1. Interviewer: If the company builds, what is its year-three profit, in JPY million?

    2. Candidate: 1,080.

      Math 2 of 5: Stops at contribution and forgets the JPY 300 million of fixed costs. The answer is 780.

  4. 4. Question: three-year cash

    What the interviewer is looking for: Both modes over three years, with the ramp, the yearly fixed costs and the one-time cost, inside the time.

    Strong run

    1. Interviewer: What is the cumulative cash after three years for building and for partnering, in JPY million?

    2. Candidate: Build: 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 million bags is 2.4 million bags at JPY 900, which is 2,160, minus 900 of fixed costs and 400 up front: 860. Partner: 2 million bags at JPY 700 is 1,400, minus 360 of fixed costs and 100 up front: 940. Partnering gives more cash.

      Math 5 of 5: Both figures right, with every cost included and the comparison stated.

    Weak run

    1. Interviewer: What is the cumulative cash after three years for building and for partnering, in JPY million?

    2. Candidate: Build: 2,160 minus 400 is 1,760. Partner: [no answer; the timer ran out].

      Math 1 of 5: Leaves out three years of fixed costs, so building gives 860, not 1,760, and runs out of time before the partner figure, which is 940.

  5. 5. Question: the downside

    What the interviewer is looking for: Judge the choice on the numbers that answer the question, not on the most eye-catching column.

    Strong run

    1. Interviewer: If share comes in a quarter lower for both modes, which keeps more cash over three years?

    2. Candidate: Partner, about 590 against 320 for building, because its fixed costs are low.

      Synthesis 5 of 5: The answer, both numbers, and the reason in one sentence.

    Weak run

    1. Interviewer: If share comes in a quarter lower for both modes, which keeps more cash over three years?

    2. Candidate: Build, because it earns more per bag.

      Synthesis 1 of 5: Answers from one column instead of the downside figures: partnering keeps about 590 against 320.

  6. 6. Question: buying

    What the interviewer is looking for: Use every fact the case gave, including ones that are not in the table.

    Strong run

    1. Interviewer: Is buying the local brand an option?

    2. Candidate: Not now. At JPY 15,000 million it is seven and a half times the JPY 2,000 million budget, even though about 6.8 times yearly profit could be a fair price.

      Exhibit reading 5 of 5: Uses the budget from the case facts, not only the table, and still judges the price fairly.

    Weak run

    1. Interviewer: Is buying the local brand an option?

    2. Candidate: Yes. It sells the most, 3.0 million bags.

      Exhibit reading 2 of 5: Takes the biggest number in the table and misses that the price is far above the JPY 2,000 million budget.

  7. 7. Typed recommendation and spoken close

    What the interviewer is looking for: Both are judged on the same things: the answer first, reasons with numbers, the main risk and a next step, inside the time. The spoken close is also judged on pace and clarity.

    Strong run

    1. Interviewer: Write your recommendation to the client. Then record a spoken close of up to one minute.

    2. Candidate: Typed: Enter Japan through a distribution partner. It gives about JPY 940 million of cash over three years against 860 for building, for a quarter of the one-time cost; it holds up better if share is a quarter lower, at 590 against 320; and buying costs seven and a half times the budget. Risk: building earns about JPY 200 million a year more at full volume, so the contract should let us take over distribution later.

      Synthesis 5 of 5: Answer first, three reasons with numbers and the main risk with a way to manage it.

    3. Candidate: Spoken: My recommendation is to enter Japan through a distribution partner. Three reasons. It gives the most cash in the first three years, about 940 million yen against 860 for building. It is safer: if share comes in a quarter lower, it still gives about 590 million, against 320. And buying is out, at seven and a half times the budget. The main risk is that building earns about 200 million yen a year more once volume is full, so I would sign a contract that lets us take over distribution later, and first test the brand and price with dog owners in Japan.

      Communication 5 of 5: About one hundred words, well inside the minute, signposted and calm.

    Weak run

    1. Interviewer: Write your recommendation to the client. Then record a spoken close of up to one minute.

    2. Candidate: Typed: We looked at the three options in the table. Building has the highest contribution per bag and buying has the most volume. Partnering is cheaper. Each has pros and cons, so the client should think about which matters most.

      Synthesis 1 of 5: No answer. It hands the decision back to the client.

    3. Candidate: Spoken: So, first we looked at the table, and there were three options, build, partner and buy. Then we worked out the share, which was, sorry, 4 percent, and then the profit for building, which was... [The recording stopped at the time limit, before any recommendation.]

      Communication 1 of 5: Retells the steps, runs out of time and never gives an answer. Start with the answer and the minute is enough.

The interviewer's scorecards

Each criterion is scored from 1 to 5, the same scale as the Partner mode rubric, for a total out of 25.

Strong run

24 of 25

Strong performance

Structuring5 of 5
Chose the analyses that decide the case and knew why the fifth did not.
Math5 of 5
Every figure right, with fixed and one-time costs included, inside the time.
Exhibit reading5 of 5
Read the table quickly and used the budget from outside it.
Synthesis5 of 5
The same clear answer typed and spoken.
Communication4 of 5
Calm and inside the minute. The typed answer could open with the cash figure to match the spoken one.

Verdict: Strong: accurate under the clock, and the spoken close would stand on its own.

Weak run

7 of 25

Early stage: focus on the lowest criterion first

Structuring2 of 5
Picked a detail that does not decide the choice and missed the downside.
Math1 of 5
Left out fixed costs twice and ran out of time on the partner figure.
Exhibit reading2 of 5
Read a bag count as a share and took the biggest number as the best.
Synthesis1 of 5
No recommendation in either the typed or the spoken answer.
Communication1 of 5
The spoken close was a recap cut off by the timer.

Verdict: Early stage: practice timed calculations with every cost included, and rehearse a close that starts with the answer.

What separated the two runs

  • A timed screen has no interviewer to catch a missing step. Both math slips in the weak run were fixed costs left out.
  • The weak run lost time on the calculations and paid for it at the end. Keep a steady pace and do not reread the table for every question.
  • A spoken close of about one minute fits one answer, three reasons and a risk. Starting with a recap uses the minute up.

Now try it