Help! Tbh I have no idea how to approach this question. How would you solve it??
Case: How many elephants are there?
3 answers
Our Goal: #elephants
- #elephant = (elephant to human ratio) * (total human population)
- = 1 truck per 10,000 person (assumption) * 7B people
- = 7,000,000,000/10,000 elephants in total
- =70,000 elephants
- Life-span of elephants is approximately 70 years (in a poaching free forest)
- #elephants / lifespan
- = 70,000/70y = 1000/y (this is the #elephants dying every year)
- looks reasonable
- If you estimate how many elephants are born every year
- say we have a positive trend in elephant birth due to WWF's effort
- Approximately 5% per year, so 5% of the total amount will increase
- = 1000*5% = 50
- 1050 elephants take birth every year.
- The answer would be: there are 70,000 elephants in the world today and about 1050 take birth every year
This answer is far off from the real number, which is around 700K. Would the answer above still be accepted on the basis of having a well thought out structure behind it? — Gustavo on Dec 10, 2017
Always segment. You maybe able to segment by Wild vs Zoo...or segment by Continents vs percentage each continent has Elephants etc
42
Related BootCamp article(s)
Market Sizing
Market Sizing Cases are used to test your quantitative and reasoning skills. The interviewer evaluates your structure, numbers-handling and business sense.
21 Comment(s)Important Facts
It's essential to know some key figures regarding geographies, population, economies for your case interviews. We summarized them for you here.
9 Comment(s)Brain Teasers
Learn how to tackle brain teasers and what purpose they serve in consulting case interviews
2 Comment(s)Typical Question Types in Written Tests
Questions among all tests can be categorized in math, GMAT-style, chart reading and brain teaser questions. Each type needs to be approached differently.
4 Comment(s)Related case(s)
Your client, large automotive OEM WyCar, has developed its first fully electric vehicle (EV) and introduced it as a pilot on the Austrian market last year. However, sales have been far below the expected numbers. The management has engaged you to support them in understanding the reasons and advise ... Open whole case
You have inherited the “Old Winery” from your grandfather, a winery which has been family owned for five generations and can be dated back to the 16th century. Half of the eleven hectares are used to grow white grapes, the other half to grow red grapes. They are grown in the conventional way, i.e. ... Open whole case
Onlinestar, an online retailer of furniture and garden products (core business), has grown significantly in recent years as a result of an expansion of its product portfolio. The company mainly imports goods from Chinese manufacturers but also operates its own production of cat lavatories (special b ... Open whole case
Nutripremium is a very well-known premium nutrition food company in Europe (€1 billion revenue last year). It is based in Spain and has an excellent market share not only in its home country but also in Portugal, France, Italy and Germany. Nutripremium has two main lines of products: Vitamin-supp ... Open whole case
Beyer, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, just invented a very reliable vaccine against Chickenpox, a disease that affects children in the age from 2 to 16 years. Beyer came to you wondering what their potential sales in Europe in the first year would be if they launched this ... Open whole case
Similar questions
