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YodaPhone
Topic Difficulty Style
Operations strategy Intermediate Candidate-led (usual style)

Case Prompt

Our client is Yoda's Phones, a national telecommunications company. They have embarked on a
three-year, multi-million dollar digitization program. Unfortunately, two years into the
program, they realize they are significantly behind schedule and over budget.

You have been brought in to right the ship and ensure the digitization program is delivered
as planned.

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

Page 1
Additional Information

Note for Interviewer

The information in this case can be provided in a fluid manner. While it is described below
linearly, the candidate may ask for information in a different order. This is perfectly
acceptable, and you can provide the information as they ask for it.

Note for Interviewer

Exhibit I can be provided if the candidate asks whether we know how much effort/time is
required across the workstreams.

You may also tell them that we currently have 10 teams, that each cost $100,000 per month.

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

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For clarification, you can also tell them that the measurement “team months” means that 1
team would take 1 month to complete 1 unit of work.

If they ask, you may also clarify that teams can work at the same time on the same
workstream.

If the candidate asks about/proposes time/cost/scope related items, let them know:

Time – The project is unwilling to accept a project delay as they have made public
announcements as to the digitization program timeline.
Cost – The project is also unwilling to incur extra costs, as they have already been
approved for extra budget and reached their maximum allowance.
Scope – The project is unwilling to reduce quality, as its reputation is on the line, but not
all work pieces are essential.

Note for Interviewer

You should guide the candidate towards realizing that scope has to be cut. If they
initially brainstorm solutions other than this (particularly around gaining efficiencies), that is
fine (and even desired). However, you still need to counter. For example:

1. Bring in more resources = we have maxed out our budget and cannot
2. Restructure teams = Teams have already been restructured multiple times to no
effect (and any additional restructure would be disruptive)
3. Institute agile methodologies = Agile methodologies are already being used and
teams are working as efficiently as possible
4. Sacrifice some quality standards = We cannot sacrifice quality due to both industry
regulations and our own company’s reputation/brand.

The major pieces of work in the digitization piece involve:

Improving the customer experience

Improving internal processes
Leveraging data analytics to drive value

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

Page 3
Note for Interviewer

Have the candidate brainstorm how/why we might be gaining benefits from each
workstream.

Note for Interviewer

Exhibit II can be provided if the candidate asks whether we’ve estimated how much value
these workstreams will bring to the business.

Note for Interviewer

Ask the candidate to calculate the marginal monthly benefit of these workstreams across our
products.

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

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If the candidate doesn’t understand: Clarify that they need to look at the Net Present Value
(NPV) of each work piece compared to the months of work remaining for that workpiece.

Note for Interviewer

To finish the case, the candidate needs to figure out how many teams we need, and what
our ultimate savings and benefits will be. If they don’t come to this conclusion
themselves, prompt them to think about our case prompt/issue. Ask them if we still need all
10 teams. Or, ask them what happens to the teams that were working on the scope we need
to cut.

If needed, specifically ask them to calculate how many teams we’ll need for each
remaining piece of work.

Note for Interviewer

If the candidate hasn’t taken the initiative to calculate benefits, ask them what our total
savings from scope cutting will be, as well as our total realized benefits.

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

Page 5
I. Workstream timeline analysis

Additional Information

Note for Interviewer

The information in this case can be provided in a fluid manner. While it is described below
linearly, the candidate may ask for information in a different order. This is perfectly
acceptable, and you can provide the information as they ask for it.

Note for Interviewer

Exhibit I can be provided if the candidate asks whether we know how much effort/time is
required across the workstreams.

You may also tell them that we currently have 10 teams, that each cost $100,000 per month.

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

Page 6
For clarification, you can also tell them that the measurement “team months” means that 1
team would take 1 month to complete 1 unit of work.

If they ask, you may also clarify that teams can work at the same time on the same
workstream.

If the candidate asks about/proposes time/cost/scope related items, let them know:

Time – The project is unwilling to accept a project delay as they have made public
announcements as to the digitization program timeline.
Cost – The project is also unwilling to incur extra costs, as they have already been
approved for extra budget and reached their maximum allowance.
Scope – The project is unwilling to reduce quality, as its reputation is on the line, but not
all work pieces are essential.

Note for Interviewer

You should guide the candidate towards realizing that scope has to be cut. If they
initially brainstorm solutions other than this (particularly around gaining efficiencies), that is
fine (and even desired). However, you still need to counter. For example:

1. Bring in more resources = we have maxed out our budget and cannot
2. Restructure teams = Teams have already been restructured multiple times to no
effect (and any additional restructure would be disruptive)
3. Institute agile methodologies = Agile methodologies are already being used and
teams are working as efficiently as possible
4. Sacrifice some quality standards = We cannot sacrifice quality due to both industry
regulations and our own company’s reputation/brand.

Solution

In this phase, the candidate needs to determine that we need to cut scope. We have
more scope than our teams can handle in the 12 months remaining, and we cannot hire
more teams.

The candidate should recognize the following:

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

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 1. The teams are currently costing $1M / month in total, and will end up costing $12M by
the end of the project.
2. We would need 11.5 teams to finish the digitization program on time, with the current
scope.

Solution:

The candidate should brainstorm ideas for resolving this situation. A good candidate will recognize
that, when it comes to project planning, only two of the following 3 items can hold constant:
Time, Cost, Scope. In other words, something has to give; you have to accept project delays, pay
more, or reduce scope (includes quality reduction).

The candidate should realize that scope needs to be cut, and we should investigate the
current scope of the digitization effort.

II. Scope analysis

Additional Information

The major pieces of work in the digitization piece involve:

Improving the customer experience

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

Page 8
 Improving internal processes
Leveraging data analytics to drive value

Note for Interviewer

Have the candidate brainstorm how/why we might be gaining benefits from each
workstream.

Note for Interviewer

Exhibit II can be provided if the candidate asks whether we’ve estimated how much value
these workstreams will bring to the business.

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

Page 9
 Note for Interviewer

Ask the candidate to calculate the marginal monthly benefit of these workstreams across our
products.

If the candidate doesn’t understand: Clarify that they need to look at the Net Present Value
(NPV) of each work piece compared to the months of work remaining for that workpiece.

Solution

In this phase, the candidate needs to determine that some work is worth doing and
other work isn’t worth doing. They need to identify which work pieces should be
continued versus dis-continued.

The candidate should clarify what work we are embarking on as part of this digitization program.

Brainstorm how/why we might be gaining benefits from each workstream. A good answer would
include the following:

Customer experience – a better customer experience means more customers will buy our
products/services, ultimately providing a revenue uplift
Process improvements – by improving our internal processes across products (i.e.
handling complaints, processing new orders, etc), we can reduce the time taken across
activities, thereby requiring a smaller workforce and reducing costs
Data insights – by leveraging our customer and system data, we can run predictive
analytics to improve marketing campaigns, recommend additional products to customers,
solve issues before they appear, etc. This provides both a revenue and a cost uplift

Upon reading the exhibit, the candidate should note that some workstreams are worth more
than others. Furthermore, benefits don’t necessarily correlate with time remaining.

Key insights:

Data insights – generally have a lot of effort/time remaining, but don’t provide much
value
Process improvements – do take a lot of time, but they also provide the most benefits
Customer experience – is somewhere in the middle effort and benefit-wise, but is much
more valuable for Mobile Phones than for the Internet

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

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 Marginal monthly benefit of these workstreams across our products

The candidate should understand that we are figuring out the monthly benefit of each
piece of work (i.e. if it takes 10 team-months and is worth $1M, it’s worth $100,000 per
team-month).

The candidate should recognize that, because we have the monthly cost of each team,
we’re effectively figuring out what scope will actually see a positive ROI. A
benefit of <$100,000/month is not worth completing, because our teams cost
$100,000/month.

Answer (cells in green are scope worth completing. Red cells are scope we should
cut):
calculation
Hide
III: Team allocation and cost savings

Additional Information

Note for Interviewer

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

Page 11
 To finish the case, the candidate needs to figure out how many teams we need, and what
our ultimate savings and benefits will be. If they don’t come to this conclusion
themselves, prompt them to think about our case prompt/issue. Ask them if we still need all
10 teams. Or, ask them what happens to the teams that were working on the scope we need
to cut.

If needed, specifically ask them to calculate how many teams we’ll need for each
remaining piece of work.

Note for Interviewer

If the candidate hasn’t taken the initiative to calculate benefits, ask them what our total
savings from scope cutting will be, as well as our total realized benefits.

Solution

To finish the case, the candidate needs to figure out how many teams we need, and what our
ultimate savings and benefits will be.

How many teams we’ll need for each remaining piece of work

By dividing the remaining work matrix by 12 (number of months remaining), we can

calculate the # of teams required for each piece of work.

Answer:

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

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 calculation
Hide
The candidate should note that we only need 5.5 teams in total. That means 5 full-time teams
and 1 half-time (or full-time for first 6 months) team.

An excellent candidate will understand/note the following:

We could actually keep all 10 teams and allocate them across the 6 work pieces until
completion. This would let us:
Realize benefits earlier
Finish the digitization program early (good for publicity/morale)

Total benefits realized after costs

Total cost savings (team reduction): $5.4M (4.5 teams X 12 months X

$100,000/month)

New State Total benefits realized: $14.1M

New State Costs (team costs): $6.6M

Total benefits realized after costs: $7.5M

calculation
Hide
ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

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Further Questions

What teams would you cut? (Candidate should explain their logic/structure)

Solution

It would be beneficial to rank teams by efficiency and profficiency. The teams that have proven
to complete work the fastest AND have the skillsets/experience required for the remaining
work pieces (i.e. process improvement and CX exptertise), should be retained.
Additionally, the teams already allocated to the in-scope work pieces should likely be
retained, as they have built up knowledge of what's required and what has been done. Teams
already allocated to out-of-scope work pieces would likely need to pass under a brighter
light.

ashutoshs.2022@mm.smu.edu.sg

Page 14