Hi,

My candidates had 3 types of cases for these roles:

• Cost-cutting cases with layoffs, outsourcing, shared service center, etc.
• M&A deals integration
• M&A deals synergies with the focus on people

1) Here is a basic structure for cost cutting cases:

Structuring:

• What is the cost composition and what are the biggest costs
• Benchmarking of the biggest costs to find the improvement potential
• Process improvements to meet the benchmarks
• Costs and benefits of the proposed initiatives

The key concepts that you have to learn:

• Internal / external benchmarking
• Idle time
• Core processes (usually are optimized) and the supporting processes (usually are cut)
• Math structures (Frequency of operations * time per operation)
• Other useful structures (e.g. people - process - technology)

2) For M&A integration cases it was about understanding what should be the approach to Merging the companies. Make sure you cover:

1. Real reasons for the deals (Make sure you cover it in clarifying questions). Criteria for success
2. Integration focus and new org structure
3. Top management team composition
4. Integration plan across different entities
5. Communication to the employees and the clients.
6. Early wins and potential integration risks

3) For Synergies cases focused on people typically you use a value chain structure tailored to the industry (e.g. supply-production-distribution-marketing-after sales support) to calculate the overlaps and savings on people. Think of outsourcing and shared services as well. Also add Risks - major risks that can decrease the synergies (tip: don't underestimate the merging companies culture factor)

Good luck!

Feel free to reach me for further help with these cases.

Best