Cases oder auch Fallstudien genannt, sind unternehmerische Problemstellungen, die ein Kandidat in einem Bewerbungsgespräch bei einer Unternehmensberatung vorgelegt bekommt. Die Herausforderung hierbei ist es, den Case unter Druck strukturiert zu lösen.
Übe mit Cases zu unterschiedlichen Themen
Kearney First Round Case - Top Chemicals
Our client is the US-based biotech company Top Chemicals. They have just developed a fertilizer that is waiting to get approval for commercialization. They hired us to identify the best price for it.
Bain/BCG - Hunger Warriors
Our client is Hunger Warriors, a non-profit with ambitions to solve world hunger. While approximately one tenth of the human population goes to bed hungry, Hunger Warriors aims to bring this number to zero. One of their primary initiatives is to reduce food waste, which represents $1.5 Trillion in lost value per year. They have tasked us with identifying the major sources of food waste and determining the best course of action to reduce this.
Clarifying questions:
- You can think of them as similar to the WHO or the UN in their scope and reach
- All options are on the table to reduce food waste
- We do not have a set budget = this is dependent on the donations and funding we are able to get
BoxxFitness Gyms
Our client is the CEO of BoxxFitness - a leading gym chain in the US with over 1,500 gyms. BoxxFitness is a premium gym concept with an annual membership fee that is 2-3x higher than most mainstream gyms. Each gym has a limited number of membership slots. Each member gets a dedicated locker, unlimited personal training, unlimited classes, and unlimited equipment usage. In the last 3 years, the chain has seen a decline in its profit margin.
Can you identify the potential reasons for this decline?
Übe Cases mit Peers, die gerade auf der Suche nach Interview-Partner:innen sind.
Zero Carbon Mine (McKinsey 1st & 2nd round)
Client goal
Our client is an international mining company Global Mining Corp (GMC) that focuses on copper mining and is interested in the possibility of producing and selling “green copper”, which is the same product as normal copper but with a certified zero carbon footprint for its entire life cycle until sale. The client engaged your team to help determine the prospects for achieving net zero for their Chilean and Australian copper mines in the next 10 years and decide whether they should pursue this path.
Description of situation
The client operates open pit copper mines mostly in remote areas of Chile and Australia. In most cases, the copper ore is blasted with explosives and turned into rubble, which is then collected by heavy bulldozers in big piles, loaded by power shovels onto haul trucks, which transport the material over several kilometers to the processing site. Mobile equipment is diesel operated and very heavy, up to 400 tons for a fully loaded haul truck. During processing, a series of mechanical operations take place to break down the rubble further before chemical processes like acidic leaching are used to produce the final product: copper cathodes. This material is then transported by trucks and rail to the nearest port where it can be shipped to its final destination, depending on the customer.
Poliglot Language App Needs Users
Let’s assume our client is Poliglot, a popular language app. Poliglot is five years old, originally from the US, but available worldwide. The app currently offers the possibility of learning over twenty languages for free, with extra benefits (e.g., no ads, additional exercises) available to premium members.
Historically, the app has been very successful and has seen significant growth over the past few years. However, over the past year, the app noticed a stagnating usage and app adoption. Considering that the market is very competitive, the client expects a decline in the customer base unless the root causes are identified and addressed.
As a consequence, the CEO of the company that owns the app asked us to support them in figuring out the reasons for the decline and laying out a plan for growth.
Market entry: Disrupting the New York - Boston railway industry
Currently, there is only one train company operating the Boston – New York route: AMTRAK. The option of traveling by train between the two metropolis is gaining traffic, particularly in winter times, during which it´s the best way to avoid weather-related delays. Furthermore, it´s the most environmentally friendly of all available options.
Your client is a powerful investor who is assessing business options in the US (with investment sizes averaging 100M$), and has approached you for advice on starting a new train operation company to compete against AMTRAK.
In particular, she wants to start by opening a new service between New York and Boston. Should the investor go ahead and launch the business?
Swiss Coffins – The Death Business
Your client is the CEO of a coffin manufacturing company based in Geneva, Switzerland (Europe).
The company has existed with little changes to the business model for three generations, manufacturing high-quality, hand-crafted coffins, with a highly skilled and specialized labor force. The industry has been recently disrupted by new technologies that no longer need human manufacturing: machines can manufacture faster and cheaper.
Your client needs your help in deciding whether to invest in this technology and transform his business, or remain in the hand-manufactured business for coffins
*Note: On top of this initial question that focuses on the strategy and should be tackled by the candidate with an issue tree, the case includes more questions that can be found in the "Detailed solutions" and "Difficult questions" boxes below, with the correspondent proposed answers.
Merger of two beer manufacturers
Our clients are two beer manufacturers from a well-developed country who just decided to merge. We can call them Company A and Company B. The decision about the merger has already been taken and our clients are certain it will soon be approved by regulators.
What is expected from you is to help them with two objectives: Firstly, they would like you to help them decrease the costs of their post-merger operations. Secondly, they would like you to help them develop a new marketing strategy.
How would you like to go about helping our clients?
Bain 1st Round Case – BlissOttica
Our client is a BlissOttica, an Eyewear Manufacturer that is looking to reach a 10% increase in profits. How would you help our client?
Caribbean Island – MBB Final Round
A wealthy client has recently bought an island in the Caribbean. She has engaged us to identify possible uses for her new island.
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MBB Case: JimboTel
Our client is JimboTel, an African mobile telecom company with operations in four West African countries: Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone. JimboTel has experienced revenue declines in the last two years.
How can JimboTel grow its revenues organically in the next year?
Case with a twist: Chinese Alloy Wheels – US Market Entry
Our client is an alloy wheels manufacturer based in China. The client is contemplating entering the US market. At this point of time, the client sells the wheels in the China market. In order to make the wheels for the US market, he will have to expand its production capacity. As a result, whether to enter the US or not is a high-stake decision. He has hired BCG to advise him on this issue.
Launching Caskets in North Africa - 1st Round BAIN case
Our client is Easywood, a furniture maker based in North Africa. Easywood serves the local market and sells mainly bedroom furniture. Last year, Easywood had a revenue of around $10m and a profitability of around 20%. Though Easywood is not concerned about the growth and profitability, they are worried about the cyclicity in the business. During the festival time, the business is good, however, at other times, the period is very lean.
The CEO is considering entering into the market of caskets. He wants your opinion on whether entering the Casket market would be a good idea for Easywood.
MBB Case: COVID-19 Vaccine
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed millions of people worldwide and led to devastating economic impact. A vaccine is one of the biggest hopes for stopping the pandemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with multiple stakeholders to ensure groups at higher risk of becoming infected and dying (e.g. elderly people and healthcare workers) receive a safe an effective COVID-19 vaccine in the next six months.
The WHO’s Director-General asked your help to build a plan to achieve this goal. What should be included in this plan?
MBB Final Round Case – Non-Profit Museum Revenue Increase
Your client is ‘Muse 19’, a Museum in Paris with a large collection of 19th century artifacts, predominantly paintings and sculptures. The museum is run by a non-profit organization based in France. The museum is quite popular amongst students, artists and tourists. Last year the museum attracted almost 2 million visitors. Despite this, the museum’s revenue has been declining for the last three years. Surprisingly, other museums of similar nature have been doing much better than Muse 19. The museum director has approached you for advice.
Veränderungen im Kekse-Markt
Ihr Kunde ist ein in den USA ansässiger Hersteller von selbstgebrandeten Marken-Keksen, Gumbread Inc. Der Kunde hat festgestellt, dass sein Umsatz in den letzten Jahren zurückgegangen ist. Der Kunde möchte wissen, was er tun soll, um den Umsatz wieder zu steigern.
Grain Co-operative – Brand Launch
MeGrain is a co-operative of 5000 farmers in the central part of India. As a co-operative, the farmers came together to sell the grains to retailers and wholesalers. They are the 3rd largest grain sellers in India and sell 10million quintals of grains annually. They have operations in 4 regions in India, and head office in Mumbai.
MeGrain mainly deals in 3 types of grains. Viz. Rice, Wheat, and Maze. The grains are collected from the farmers attached to the co-operative. The grains are sorted, packed, and stored at storage facilities spread across towns in the region. MeGrain sales team brings orders by visiting retailers and wholesalers across the country and abroad. The grains are dispatched directly from the storage facilities to the customers. Customers make the payment to the MeGrain co-operative, which then is forwarded to the bank accounts of the individual farmers.
MeGrain management has observed that the FMCG market, including foodgrains, is changing rapidly in India. Mom and pop stores have given ways to supermarkets. Consumers are adopting branded products rapidly. Although there is no branded grain product yet, the management believes that there is a huge scope for a branded product in the grain market as well. Management is contemplating about launching a MeGrain branded grains in the Indian market. They have called you to advise them whether they should launch their own brand in the Indian market.
CoffeeWorks reusable cups
CoffeeWorks is one of the leading coffee retail chains in the UK. The client is planning to introduce reusable cups with an aim to decrease the consumption of single-use disposable cups.
The main goal of the client is to enhance their brand image as a sustainable retailer without harming current profitability levels. Thus, they approached us to check whether they should go ahead with their plan.
MBB-Case - Beratungsprojekt mit einer Regierung
Unser Kunde ist die Regierung eines imaginären Landes, das unter starken Protesten und Unruhen seiner eigenen Bevölkerung leidet. Der Kunde möchte den Grund für diese Proteste verstehen. In einem zweiten Schritt möchte der Kunde, dass Sie Verbesserungsvorschläge machen, um diese Proteste zu beenden. Welche Faktoren würden Sie bei der Beantwortung dieser beiden Fragen berücksichtigen, um Ihre mögliche Empfehlung abzugeben?
Car rental market entry strategy
The client is CarRentalCo, a global car rental company present on the European and North American markets. In Europe, it is present in most EU countries but has not yet entered the Baltic countries. CarRentalCo has asked us to determine whether or not they should enter the Baltic (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania being here considered as one market) and, if so, what should their entry strategy be.
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Die Vorstellungsgespräche bei Beratungsunternehmen gehören zu den umkämpftesten und anspruchsvollsten Interviews, die es gibt. Interviewer verwenden Cases als Indikator, um zu testen, ob Du das Zeug dazu hast, ein erfolgreicher Berater zu werden. Um zu bestehen, musst Du den Teil des Vorstellungsgesprächs mit Bravour meistern. Und damit das auch klappt, musst Du gut vorbereitet sein. Daher ist das Üben von Cases einer der wichtigsten Aspekte der Interview-Vorbereitung in der Beratung. In verschiedenen Gesprächsrunden wirst Du immer wieder Cases lösen müssen, um Dein strukturiertes und analytisches Denken sowie Deine Kommunikationsfähigkeiten unter Beweis zu stellen.
Du kannst die Cases selbstverständlich zuallererst alleine üben und durchgehen, um ein erstes Gefühl für den Aufbau zu erlangen. Danach solltest Du Dich allerdings in eine wirkliche Interview-Umgebung begeben und Cases mit anderen Mitgliedern auf der Plattform üben. Hierzu findest Du auf dem Meeting-Board täglich mehr als 50 Mock-Interview Anfragen, die Du ganz einfach annehmen kannst. Sollte nichts passendes auf dem Meeting-Board dabei sein, bietet sich aber auch das Kandidatenverzeichnis an. Hier kannst Du aktive Mitglieder auf der Plattform finden und ihnen eine direkte Meeting-Anfrage senden. Wenn Du Deine Case-Interview Vorbereitung auf das nächste Level bringen möchtest, empfehlen wir Dir, Coaching-Sessions mit unseren Coaches zu vereinbaren, die langjährige Erfahrung darin haben, Kandidaten zu ihrem Traumjobangebot zu verhelfen.
In einem Interviewer-led Case-Interview führt der Interviewer durch das Gespräch. Dies bedeutet, dass der Interviewer gezielt Fragen stellt und auch die Zeit steuert, die Du zur Analyse und Beantwortung verschiedener Fragen hast und damit auch die Tiefe Deiner Analyse. Im Gegensatz dazu handelt es sich bei einem Candidate-led Case-Interview darum, dass Du als Kandidat die Zügel in die Hand nimmst. Die Problemstellung wird Dir von Deinem Interviewer vorgegeben. Danach hast Du die Freiheit den Case nach Deinen Vorstellungen zu strukturieren und proaktiv Fragen zu stellen, um zu einer Lösung des Problems zu kommen.
Bei den echten Cases in der PrepLounge Case-Sammlung handelt es sich um Cases, die von Unternehmensberatungen eingereicht wurden und im Unternehmen auch so behandelt wurden. Sie wurden aus dem echten Interviewprozess zur Verfügung gestellt. So kannst Du tiefe Einblicke in die Anforderungen im Case-Interview bei den jeweiligen Top-Beratungen (wie z.B. Bain & Company, Roland Berger, Deloitte, Web, Oliver Wyman, etc.) bekommen. Wir haben diese Cases mit dem entsprechenden Logo des Unternehmens gekennzeichnet.
Die Expertencases auf PrepLounge wurden von unseren PrepLounge-Coaches eingepflegt und beinhaltet meist Problemstellungen, mit welchen die Experten in ihrem Leben als Berater bereits selbst zutun hatten oder Cases aus tatsächlichen Vorstellungsgesprächen, an denen sie teilgenommen haben. Durch die verschiedenen Themen, Schwierigkeitsgrade und Stile bieten sie Dir eine optimale Vorbereitung. Und das Beste ist: Wenn Du Fragen zu den Cases hast, kannst Du sie direkt an die Autoren stellen.
Bei Video-Case Lösungen handelt es sich um Cases, bei denen wir Dir als Hilfestellung einen Lösungsweg per YouTube-Video zur Verfügung stellen. Damit wollen wir Dir helfen Lösungswege noch besser nachvollziehen zu können.
Jedes Mitglied hat die Möglichkeit einen Case zu bewerten und Feedback zu dem Case zu hinterlassen. Damit kannst Du zum Einen die Cases filtern und lösen, die in der Community besonders beliebt sind. Zum Anderen erlaubt es uns, die Cases kontinuierlich zu verbessern, um Dir so das bestmögliche Übungsmaterial zur Verfügung stellen zu können.
Welche Cases für Dich am interessantesten sein können hängt natürlich von Deiner persönlichen Präferenz sowie von Deinem Wissensstand ab. Solltest Du gerade erst mit der Case-Interview-Vorbereitung beginnen sind Anfänger-Cases wohl die interessantesten für Dich. Darüber hinaus hast Du auch die Möglichkeit nach verschiedenen Kategorien zu filtern, wie beispielsweise Personal Fit, Marktanalyse oder auch Brainteaser, um genau die Themen anzugehen, die für Deine Bewerbung am relevantesten sind.
Übe Case-Interviews - Durchstöbere unsere umfangreiche Case-Sammlung
Lade entweder andere Kandidaten zum Interview ein oder löse den Case alleine. Um Deinen Lösungsansatz zu überprüfen, kannst Du Dir auch die Musterlösung anschauen.
Eine vielfältige Auswahl an Cases
Die Auswahl unserer Case-Studies spiegeln die tatsächliche inhaltliche Vielfalt im Case-Interview wider. So kannst Du zum Beispiel Fragestellungen zur Marktgröße, einem Markteintritt, Pricing oder Operations bearbeiten. Darüber hinaus haben die bereitgestellten Cases unterschiedliche Schwierigkeitsstufen und unterscheiden sich nach der Art des Interviewstils. So sind Cases im Interviewer-led-Stil (wie von McKinsey genutzt) und im Candidate-led-Stil verfügbar. Von unseren Partnerunternehmen wurden uns zudem Cases aus dem echten Interviewprozess zur Verfügung gestellt. So kannst Du tiefe Einblicke in die Anforderungen im Case-Interview bei den jeweiligen Top-Beratungen (wie z.B. Bain, Roland Berger, Deloitte, zeb, etc.) bekommen. Wir haben diese Cases mit dem entsprechenden Logo des Unternehmens gekennzeichnet.