Interviewers grade a tree that fits this client, not whether you can recite a named framework. Use this hub to pick the right article, then throw the name away in the room if the tree is cleaner without it.
Last full pass: 24 August 2026.
The ones that earn their keep
| Situation | Guide | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Profits fell, or you have to choose a lever | Profitability | Revenue vs cost, then the one driver that moves the P&L |
| The interviewer asked if your buckets overlap | MECE | Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive — a test, not a slogan |
| Enter a country / segment / channel | Market entry | Attractiveness, capability, how to enter, risks |
| Buy or merge | M&A | Standalone value, synergies, price, integration |
| PE / diligence flavour | PE due diligence | Returns, risks, and whether the thesis survives a number |
| Pricing a product | Pricing cases | Willingness to pay, cost floor, competitor reaction |
| Cost / ops | Operations cost | Fixed vs variable, utilization, make vs buy |
| New product | New product launch | Demand, capability, channel, unit economics |
| Grow revenue (not just “more marketing”) | Revenue growth | Volume, mix, price, new vs existing |
Named strategy tools (use as a lens, not a speech)
- 3Cs — company, customers, competitors
- 4Ps — product, price, place, promotion
- Porter's five forces — industry structure, not a 20-minute tour
- Ansoff — new vs existing product and market
- BCG growth-share matrix — portfolio language; rarely the whole case
- Value chain — where cost or differentiation actually sits
- McKinsey 7S — org cases; do not force it onto a pricing prompt
- STP / segmentation
- Full walkthrough: case interview frameworks
How to practice a framework without sounding like a textbook
- Read the one article that matches this week's case type.
- Run a structure drill with the prompt hidden from the article.
- Sit a full case and notice whether you named the framework. If you did, you probably over-indexed.
A framework that does not produce a hypothesis in the first two minutes is decoration.