Hello there,

Generally, the most distinct cases draws out a combination of multiple case types, e.g. profitability, market sizing, business case situation (customer, company, competitior, product), marketing strategy (product, price, place, promotion), while also includes specific aspects of a particular industry.

The latter part typically involves disaggregating value chains of the sector such as increasing profitability of pulp & paper manufacturer by figuring out ways to reduce the increasing cost of dyes utilizied in the coloring process, in which case the high cost compared to the industry average is due to sub-optimal supplier portfolio. This particular aspect might varies depending on specific practices that the firm is recruiting for.

These types of cases test prospective candidates logical flow and the ability to shift fluidly between different strategic aspects, differentiating the average ones who are simply using singular frameworks to get through interviews with the strong ones who are able to structure their thoughts on the fly and invent their own approach to the issue at hand.

As consultants, cross-functional work is something of a norm.
Hence, these cases emulate practical situations at work and provide assurance on the capability fit of candidates that are able to excel on such cases.

Kind regards,
Nathan