Mckinsey Mind in Business strategy research

I am interested to apply the Mckinsey problem-solving process to the academic strategy research, for every fresh phd candidate, one of the most challenge part of research is coming from defining and gauging the research questions associated with its methodology choice, theoretical foundation, data collection, etc
it's much more relaxed to play the research in the framework of Mckinsey mind instead strictly following the rules of research, it might stir some inspiration from the perspective you have not yet experienced..
business need: research question from angles of competitive, organizational, financial, and operational
analyzing: framing the problem,defining the boundaries of the problem,breaking into component elements to allow initial hypothesis as solution, followed by gathering data and interpreting the results
presenting: structure your communication and generate buy-in from audience
managing: managing yourself to meet the expectation of prof
implementation: not that matters to phd research(cynically)
use structure to strengthen your thinking: what is the problem? what are its dimensions? what are we going to do? bring order out of chaos
the logic tree, a hierarchical listing of all components of a problem, and moving aggressively downward, also good strategy to implement for research
hypothesis-making
an initial hypothesis will make your decision making more effective
find the key drivers--look at the big pic--dont boil the ocean--sometimes you have to let solution come to you.