Preparation for Case Work!

1. AIESEC Business Case
Challenge
Pre-work Research Assignment
Innovators

2. What’s in this Document?
Introduction &
Objectives
Pre-work
Assignment
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3. Introduction
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are John McGarr and David Brown from Fresh Squeezed Ideas, a market
research based strategy company. Our job is to help companies solve their
most pressing strategy, marketing, and innovation challenges by helping them
develop a deeper understanding of their stakeholders.
We are very excited to be invited to help out with your business case challenge.
Our job will be to provide you with a couple of simple tools and directions that
you will use to develop your own solutions for these “clients”.
Your representatives from AIESEC have done a great job of lining you up with 4
cool sponsors to serve as the basis of this challenge. From here on in,
consider them your clients.
To get you started, there are two assignments that you’ll need to work on.
Please read the pages that follow closely.
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4. The Objective
On May 9th, you and your team will be tasked with
developing a new solution for your client. Like all
organizations trying to stay relevant, they need to
explore new ways to stay connected to people in
your generation – The Millennial Generation.
Equipped with the knowledge and insight from your
pre-work assignments, and based on the briefing
that your client gives you, you and your team will
generate a new solution. This could be a new
product or service, a new marketing or
communication campaign, or an innovative new way
to do business.
You’ll be competing against other teams also vying
for the client’s business, so it will be important that
you and your team work well together and put
together a strong presentation in the time you’ll
have available. You won’t have much time, so your
pre-work is vital!
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5. Pre-work Research Assignment
There are two parts of the pre-work research assignment, which
you will need to build better solutions for your client..
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Learn what you can about your
client’s business, the products
and services it delivers to the
market, and the conditions of
the industry it is in.
Speak directly with other
Millennials. Find out what
matters most to them, what their
needs are, and what obstacles
they face in life in the context of
your client’s business.
Part 1:
Industry Research
Part 2:
Stakeholder Research

6. Part 1: Industry Research
The first thing you need to do is to find out
everything you can about your client and their
business. The more you know about what they do,
the better you will be at helping them identify new
value. Here’s how to go about it:
o Search their website. Explore their history, their
policies, best practices. Where in the world do they
have business interest?
o Download their investors or stakeholder reports.
You don’t have to be an accountant, but it’s good to
get a high level read on the numbers. Is it a $50
million or $50 billion company? Is it a publicly
traded company or a non-profit organization?
o Finally, do some general web searching. What are
other people saying about your client? What kind of
social media presence do they have?
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7. Part 2: Stakeholder Research
This part is a bit more tricky – equal parts
art and science. The idea is that you find at
least 2 friends who are Millennials (people
between 18 and 30 years old). Ask them if
they would mind sitting down with you for
about a half an hour research interview.
During this discussion, you want to learn as
much as you can about them, what they
think of your client’s industry, and their point
of view on your client’s
company/organization (if they have one).
We call this qualitative market research.
Unlike quantitative research, which involves
surveys and large sample sizes, qualitative
research really focuses more on human
dialogue and stories.
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8. Part 2: Stakeholder Research
• These questions are just guides. You’ll have
to find your own questions to ask.
• General open-ended questions are better than
specific closed ended.
• Defer judgment. There are no right or wrong
answers, and if they feel you are judging them,
they might not be as open with their real
opinions.
• Keep it casual and let the discussion unfold
naturally. They should do most of the talking.
Ask follow up questions, like “what about that
is important?” and “tell me more”.
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• What do you know about laptop computers?
• What experiences have you had buying and
using laptop computers?
• Tell me about a time that you had a really good
experience buying a computer? What about a
bad story?
• If a friend were to ask you for advice about
buying a computer, what would you say?
• What are some computer companies that you
are familiar with? What do you know about
them? Are there some that you prefer over
others?
On the left, we’ve offered the kinds of questions that you could use.
As an example, we’ve used computer shopping. So, you’ll have to
adapt these for your client. On the right, are some guidelines that
you can keep in mind as you moderate your interview.
Sample Discussion Questions Tricks of the Trade

9. 9
Pre-work Assignment
Take Notes – Capture the key findings and
insights from both of your industry research.
Bring your notes on May 9th.
Keep an Open Mind – Start forming opinions,
but remember that you will need to work with
your team to develop a solution together.
The more you put into this, the more you’ll get
out. Your client will be able impressed by the
depth of insight you bring.
Hopefully, you’ll enjoy your research experience
and we’re looking forward to seeing what you
guys come up with.
See you all on May 9th!

10. Liberty Village, Toronto
(416) 235-0909
info@freshsqueezedideas.com
www.freshsqueezedideas.com