Practice With Intermediate Cases on Various Topics
Oliver Wyman Case: Full Electrons Ahead
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 them on how to adjust the product offering.
Roman Roads – Launching Autonomous Taxis in Italy
UrbanAI Mobility is a European venture-backed startup specialising in autonomous vehicle (AV) software and fleet management.
The company is now evaluating its first consumer-facing market entry. Italy has been shortlisted due to its high urban density, significant tourist traffic, and a regulatory framework that recently authorised Level 4 AV trials in designated city zones. Rome has been identified as the priority launch city, given its combination of high ride-hailing demand, international tourism, and a mayoral administration publicly supportive of smart-city initiatives.
The competitive landscape includes established ride-hailing operators (FREE NOW, Uber), traditional licensed taxis (approximately 14,000 in Rome), and two European AV startups that have announced intentions to launch in Southern Europe within 18 months.
“UrbanAI is considering launching an autonomous taxi pilot in Rome. Should they do it and if so, how should they approach the market entry?”
PE Aurora Capital - Possible aquisition of Nordstock Exchange Group
Aurora Capital Partners is a European investment fund. Aurora is considering acquiring NordStock Exchange Group (NEG), a publicly listed company that owns and operates a Nordic stock exchange and related services.
NEG earns revenue from four main activities:
1. Equity listing fees (companies paying to list their shares)
2. Cash equities trading (fees on buying and selling shares)
3. Derivatives trading (options, futures, etc.)
4. Market data & analytics (selling data feeds and analytics to banks and investors)
NEG was historically seen as a solid, predictable business. However, over the last five years it has grown more slowly and is less profitable than some competing European exchanges. Its share price has also underperformed.
Aurora believes that, under new ownership, NEG could:
- Improve its technology and reduce outages
- Launch new derivatives products
- Grow its higher-margin data & analytics business
- Streamline operations and increase profitability
Aurora has asked you to:
1. Assess whether NEG looks like an attractive acquisition
2. Identify key performance gaps vs. peers
3. Estimate, in simple terms, how much profit could increase under an improvement plan
4. Suggest actions and a recommendation
Practice Cases with Peers That Are Currently Looking for Interview Partners.
UrbanBrew Coffee Roasters
Our client is UrbanBrew Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee roaster and café chain that currently operates five locations in Denver, Colorado. UrbanBrew is known for ethically sourced single-origin beans and a community-oriented café experience. UrbanBrew has been saving up capital to launch a new flagship location in Chicago, as they have been facing competitive saturation in Denver, and they believe there is a larger serviceable addressable market in the Chicago metro area.
UrbanBrew has brought in your firm to help them understand the answers to two main questions:
1. Which neighborhood within Chicago is the most desirable?
2. How should UrbanBrew go about increasing their profitability as a business?
BCG Round 1 Case: Telecommunication Troubles
Your client, Convo Telco, is a leading national telecommunications player in a developing country. They offer both mobile and fixed (e.g. broadband, internet) products across the country. Over the past few years, they have been facing declining profitability and have asked you to help them identify what is the problem
Chemical Merger Synergies
Two global chemical companies announced their intent to merge. Senior management of the two companies called your firm the day after the merger was announced. The client needs a more in-depth understanding of the benefits from the merger for its board and would like your firm to help out. In short, 2 questions to solve: (1) what are some of the financial benefits from the merger? (2) how much are these benefits worth?
MBB First Round - StayPro - Consumer Growth Strategy
Your client is StayPro, a San Francisco based technology company that develops and sells wearable and mountable action cameras. StayPro’s CEO believes that the company’s growth has stagnated and has hired you to remedy that issue.
Grocery Wholesaler
GroceryWholesaleCo is a leading international grocery wholesaler that sells, markets, and distributes food products, equipment, and supplies to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments, and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Historically, the client was able to ensure sustainable growth; however, profits have plummeted over the last three years.
As a result, GroceryWholesaleCo wants to discover the reasons for this decline in profitability and identify strategies to turn the situation around.
Opportunity Assessment: Alternative Revenue Streams for a Salt Mine
Salty Boy Inc. is an underground salt mine in Texas whose new leadership are supporters of the circular economy. Circular economy provides a pathway towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns – CE introduces circularity to many areas of production cycles and encourages using renewable, regenerative inputs (e.g., energy) and minimizing systematic leakage (e.g., waste).
After decades of extracting salt form the earth, Salty Boy’s new leadership find themselves in possession of a network of empty, temperature and moisture stable tunnels located conveniently near major fiberglass waste sources and logistics networks. As a result, Salty Boy sees the potential for an alternative revenue stream. Their rationale is that they have ample and well-located storage capacities in their tunnels that they could use to position themselves well for an emerging recycling trend that could turn fiberglass waste into an eco-friendly and valuable raw material. Salty Boy is looking for your help to assess this potential opportunity.
Bain Final Round Case - Streaming Services [NEW]
Our client is a large American music company with a 40% market share and $20 billion in revenue. During the last holiday season, the client released fewer new tracks onto music streaming services compared to the year before. We would like you to figure out what could be causing this and possible solutions to the problem.
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Bain 1st Round Case – AirService [NEW]
Our client today is AirService – a service provider for a number of airlines and airports. Their management recently realized a decrease in profits that is linked to increasing costs.
Accordingly, they have engaged our firm to help address this issue. How would you approach this problem?
MBB Case - Sierra Springs
Our client is Sierra Springs, a top 3 spring water producer in the U.S. The company owns the entire bottled-water production supply chain, including water sourcing, production of water-based products, bottling and packaging and distribution to retail outlets. Sierra Springs also leads its own brand design, marketing and sales efforts.
Sierra Springs has several brands across still and sparkling water drinks, 3 large bottling plants throughout the country and distribution agreements with most major retailers.
Sierra Springs is evaluating the launch of a new product, a flavored sparkling bottled water called Berry Fizz. The company’s Chief Marketing Office has asked us to help analyze the major factors surrounding the launch of Berry Fizz and its own internal capabilities to support the effort.
Car Convenience (McKinsey 1st & 2nd round)
CLIENT OBJECTIVE
Our client is Convenio, a US based company that operates a number of micro convenience stores and vending machines throughout the country. Convenio is considering the launch of a new product to enable convenience in passenger transportation and is seeking McKinsey’s help to determine whether or not that’s a good idea to grow their convenience business.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Convenio’s new value proposition is a mobile convenience store that is installed in the middle console of taxis, or private cars for ridesharing, called 'Moove'. It's a transparent box that is typically stocked with small snack items, such as chewing gums, chocolate bars, cooled drinks, but also non-food items such as personal hygiene products or phone chargers. The customer purchases an item by scanning a QR code, selecting the item, and completing the transaction via the Moove platform online. The driver then receives a confirmation and hands the article to the rider, earning a commission with each sale. Drivers will carry limited stock of products in their trunk and re-stock in selected locations through Convenio’s existing supply chain network. The CEO of the company is seeking McKinsey’s help in determining the attractiveness to pursue this business in the US.
Market Sizing WITH SOLUTION - Coffee Shop Revenue
Estimate the daily revenue of your nearest coffee shop.
Clarifying information:
- You can pick any coffee shop of your choice
- We would like a “typical” day (i.e. weekday)
- All revenue (all purchases)
Winter Wall Revival: Advising Knight’s Watch Municipality on Public Sector Strategy
Your client is the Knight’s Watch Municipality. Their governor, John Snow, has engaged you, explaining that an evil army composed of White Walkers plans to destroy all of Westeros. He tells you that the Northern Kingdom is the only fortress capable of stopping this force. However, the wall is severely damaged from previous battles. Governor Snow needs our help determining what steps to take in repairing the wall before the White Walkers arrive.
Pedal Pals' Financial Fitness Challenge: Cost Optimization Consultancy
Pedal Pals is an interactive fitness platform with millions of members, offering connected, technology-enabled fitness classes that utilize its proprietary hardware, the Pedal Pal stationary bicycle. Pedal Pals generates strong recurring revenue from its members, who pay subscription fees to access Pedal Pal's Connected Fitness products. Additionally, they have strong sales of the hardware product. Pedal Pals has an admired brand for high quality and sustainability.
Recently the company has been challenged by a large, activist investor. The activist investor is citing the plummeting stock price impacting shareholder returns. The activist has attributed the issue directly to poor cost control throughout Pedal Pals. Pedal Pals CEO has hired your organization to determine how to manage its cost issue.
ProfitWizardry: Maximizing Hogwarts University's Magical Margins
Your client is Hogwarts University. Their President, Dr. Albus Dumbledore, is concerned with the university’s profitability and needs your help in determining the best course of action.
MBB - Climate Change Operations - Part 2
Note: If you have not already done so, first work through the 1st part of this case: https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/candidate-led-usual-style/intermediate/mbb-climate-change-operations-285
This case is designed to show you how a case can evolve/change based on new information. The first half of this case is the same, but diverges once data and $s are provided.
Prompt
A mid-sized manufacturing company is concerned about the potential impacts of climate change on its operations. The company has a number of factories located in coastal regions that are vulnerable to flooding and other weather-related events, and it is concerned about the potential financial and reputational risks associated with these events. The company's leadership team has asked your consulting firm to help them understand the risks they face and develop a plan to mitigate those risks.
Clarifying Information
- Our client’s objective is to maintain long-term profitability
- Our client’s factories are located throughout the US
BCG + Bain - Vets2U - Healthcare Based Case WITH VIDEO SOLUTION
Our client, Vets2U, a well-established organization that runs ten Mobile Veterinary Clinics (MVC) in the US, has witnessed a concerning trend of stagnant revenues of $100M over the past few years. In light of this issue, the CEO of Vets2U has brought us in with the goal of increasing revenues by 25%.
Element Mobile expands into refurbished phones (MBB 2nd round)
Our client, Element Mobile (EM), is the largest German telecommunications provider, with an impressive supply chain comprised of dozens of suppliers, six distribution centres, and hundreds of stores. EM offers a variety of products to its 20 million customers, including sim cards, broadband, phones, and accessories, through its two sales channels, e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores.
Recently, Element Mobile noticed a decline in the sale of their device bundles. These bundles include a SIM and a phone, which are paid for in 24 equal monthly instalments. Since SIM plans are typically purchased as part of a device bundle, and accessories and broadband packages are usually sold as add-ons, the decline in device bundles has a significant impact on our entire business.
The CEO of Element Mobile believes that this decline is due to a combination of market and consumer preferences, including the reduced discretionary income of consumers and a longer device ownership trend for environmental reasons. The CEO believes that one potential solution to their declining demand is to invest in a phone refurbishing facility that would allow them to offer affordable used devices as part of their phone packages. Such recycling programmes involve the collection, refurbishment, technical inspection, and repackaging of devices.
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