Hello there. Anyone out there with experience of consulting case studies in procurement for the likes of GEP , Efficio,etc. Need some help.
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Consulting Case Study Prep - Procurement
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Hi Anthony,
Short answer: yes!
Now, remember that the Efficio, GEP, etc. are unlikely to just case you on procurement. More likely that they'll case in Operations overall.
In terms of Procurement Preparation
Remember for procurement/supply chain, first you need to ask objective. In general this will either be "Reducing Costs" or "Fixing/Optimizing Production"
Within Reducing Costs, this could be contract renegotiation, finding new supplies, locking in futures contracts, automating processes (replace labor), changing transport methods, etc.
Within Optimizing Production, this could be a lot of the same i.e. automating processes, finding new suppliers, changing transport methods
Generally, you'll want to segment the supply chain/procurement process to identify problems (i.e. where taking the longest or costing the most).
For Practice Cases Try The Following
1) Search on Operations here (already done): https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases?language=en&topic[]=8&sort=real-case-desc&page=1&perPage=20
2) Google and casebooks are your friend. For example (https://managementconsulted.com/case-interview/case-interview-examples-master-list/)...go to Accenture, Amex, AT Kearney, Deloitte, and LEK sections which specifically call out operations.
3) Send me a message and I can provide you with a few good ones and/or case you in them!
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Hi Anthony,
I've worked with candidates applying for Procurement roles but there's no procurement case database that I could direct you to.
Aside from checking out the case library here on PrepLounge, I would recommend you go to McKinsey's Procurement Practice website and check out some of their recent releases. They typically write articles that give an indication of the state of the industry. You might find these to be a more helpful learning experience than doing cases from within this area.
Sharing below a couple of cases of my own (not from procurement, but they contain detailed interviewer notes which you might find useful for your case practice):
- https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/interviewer-led-mckinsey-style/intermediate/mbb-second-round-codewave-employee-turnover-challenge-304
- https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/candidate-led-usual-style/advanced/mbb-first-round-soy-technologies-303
- https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/interviewer-led-mckinsey-style/intermediate/element-mobile-expands-into-refurbished-phones-mbb-2nd-round-302
Best,
Cristian
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Hi there,
The industry and functional context of your interviews do not matter/matter very little.
Consulting firms evaluate people's problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills in a case interview, not domain-specific expertise.
Hence, you need to start learning about the right habits for a case, e.g.
1. How to ask questions.
2. How to break down any problem into a MECE, hypothesis-driven framework.
3. How to analyze charts and data in a case context.
4. How to perform swift and directionally correct math operations in a case.
5. Using hypotheses to guide you through the case.
6. Communicating your insights properly.
…
All of this is completely unrelated to the case context or firm you are interviewing with.
→ Adjust your focus to what matters!
All the best,
Florian
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There isn't a lot of material around procurement.
My suggestion is to 1) focus on profit improvement cases and 2) read about most relevant topics in procurement optimization.
Procurement optimization is closely related to supply chain optimization and supply chain objectives, so make sure to have a broad view on supply chain objectives as well.
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