Practice With Cases on Various Topics
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Ledgerline Software (McKinsey)
CLIENT OBJECTIVE
Our client, Ledgerline, a US provider of accounting software for small businesses, wants to know whether and how it should move its customers from one-time licenses to a monthly subscription.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Ledgerline's desktop software handles invoicing, bookkeeping and tax preparation for small businesses such as shops, tradespeople and agencies. Customers buy a license once and use it for several years, until a new version or a tax rule change prompts them to upgrade. Many also pay for an annual support plan. Ledgerline sells through its website and through independent accountants, who recommend it to their clients and earn a referral fee. Cloud-based competitors are growing fast with monthly plans, automatic bank connections and mobile apps. Ledgerline's customers are loyal, but its customer base is aging and new customers increasingly choose cloud tools. Investors value recurring revenue, but the board worries about upsetting long-standing customers.
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Lumen Cinemas (McKinsey)
CLIENT OBJECTIVE
Our client, Lumen Cinemas, an Italian cinema chain, has seen its profit decline and wants McKinsey's help to understand why and how to restore it.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Lumen runs multiplex cinemas in mid-sized Italian cities. It earns money from ticket sales, from food and drinks such as popcorn and soft drinks, and from advertising shown before the films. A share of every ticket goes to the film distributors. Most of Lumen's other costs, such as rent, staff, energy and maintenance, don't change much with the number of visitors. Since the pandemic, films reach streaming services sooner, and audiences come back mainly for big releases. Lumen's sites are older than those of a premium chain that has been expanding with large halls and reclining seats. The CEO wants a clear view of what is driving the decline before deciding what to do.
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Nordhavn Seafood (McKinsey)
CLIENT OBJECTIVE
Our client, Nordhavn, a Norwegian seafood company, wants to know whether it should acquire Patagonia Salmon, a family-owned salmon farmer in southern Chile.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Nordhavn farms Atlantic salmon in Norway's fjords and sells it fresh and frozen across Europe and Asia. Farming sites in Norway are limited by regulation and expensive to obtain, so Nordhavn's growth at home has stalled. Chile is the world's second-largest salmon producer, with lower costs in some areas, but the industry has a history of biological crises: algal blooms, sea lice and a virus outbreak that once destroyed a large part of the country's production. Patagonia Salmon owns hatcheries, sea farming sites and a processing plant in the Los Lagos and Aysén regions. It sells fresh fillets by air to the US and Brazil and frozen products to Asia. The founding family wants to sell, and Nordhavn has been invited to bid.
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BCG X - Forward Deployed AI Scientist / Engineer - AI-Enabled Fraud Detection for a Digital Bank
Your client is NovaBank, a fast-growing European digital bank offering current accounts, debit cards and credit cards.
Over the past year the value of fraudulent card transactions has increased significantly. NovaBank relies on a rule-based fraud system, for example blocking transactions above certain amounts or coming from unusual locations. The system has two problems: it misses many sophisticated frauds, and it blocks a large number of legitimate customer payments.
NovaBank is considering replacing or complementing its rules with a machine-learning model, and has asked BCG X to assess whether machine learning can materially improve fraud detection, how the solution should be designed, what value it could generate, and how to roll it out without damaging the customer experience.
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AltaVia Elevators
Your client is AltaVia Elevators, a Vienna-based elevator manufacturer and the number 4 player in Europe. The company has two businesses:
New equipment: AltaVia sells about 20,000 new elevator units per year to construction projects, generating about EUR 1.6 billion in revenue.
Service: AltaVia maintains about 400,000 units under paid service contracts, generating about EUR 960 million in revenue. Every installed elevator legally requires certified maintenance, and new units include two years of free maintenance by AltaVia. When that period ends, the building owner decides whether to sign a paid AltaVia service contract or switch to a third party. Paid service customers can also leave AltaVia later.
New equipment sales have just reached a record high and the order book is full. Yet group operating profit has declined for the third year in a row. Over the same period, LiftServ, a PE-backed independent service group, has been buying small maintenance firms across Europe and prices standard maintenance about 30% below AltaVia.
The CEO wants to know: why is profit falling despite record sales, and what should AltaVia do about it?
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Gulf Coast Fuel Stops
Your client is Gulf Coast Fuel Stops, a family-owned company operating 200 fuel stations across the Houston metropolitan area. Each station sells fuel and runs a small convenience shop. The business generates about USD 2.5 billion in revenue. Two years ago it earned about USD 108 million in operating profit; this year it will earn about USD 72 million, a decline of one third.
Over the same period, MegaMart, a large grocery chain, has opened 15 hypermarkets with their own cheap fuel pumps around Houston. MegaMart’s fuel is currently about 10 cents per gallon cheaper than Gulf Coast’s at nearby stations.
The CEO has asked your team to diagnose the profit decline and recommend how to restore profitability.
MBMC Case: AMG | Turning the most affluent prospects into loyal clients
Mercedes‑AMG stands for uncompromising performance, engineering excellence, and emotional driving experiences. Yet recently, AMG’s top management has become concerned that while the product itself continues to exceed customer expectations, the moment of purchase no longer does.
The trigger for this case was a concrete incident: a highly affluent customer configured an AMG top‑end vehicle in detail, was technically convinced, but ultimately decided against the purchase, stating: “It’s a fantastic car – but it didn’t feel special.” For the CEO of Mercedes‑AMG, this statement raises a critical question. In the luxury and performance segment, emotional differentiation at the point of decision is as important as horsepower or technology.
Against this backdrop, AMG is exploring new ways to elevate the buying experience for its most valuable customers. One idea under discussion is the introduction of AMG Individualization Hubs – exclusive physical spaces where customers would finalize their vehicle together with AMG experts in a highly personalized and immersive setting.
The management now asks you and your Consulting Team to assess this idea holistically:
How can AMG strengthen emotional differentiation during the purchase decision, and do Individualization Hubs represent a strategically sound and economically viable solution? The objective is to develop a clear recommendation that balances brand impact, customer experience, and profitability.
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GlobalAccess Health – Funding the Next Million Diagnoses
GlobalAccess Health (GAH) is a UK-based international non-profit focused on tuberculosis (TB) and other infectious diseases. It develops and distributes low-cost diagnostic tests to public clinics, NGOs, and private laboratories in low- and middle-income countries.
Historically, GAH has been funded almost entirely by large foundations and bilateral donors. Donors now want GAH to become more financially sustainable and have set a target that, within 5 years, at least 60% of GAH’s annual operating budget should be covered by earned income (fees from tests and related services).
GAH’s annual operating budget covers staff, training, logistics, and overheads and is USD 25 million, independent of volume within the ranges discussed in this case. Assume that manufacturing and shipping costs for the tests themselves are covered by a separate restricted grant for the next 5 years;
GAH has recently introduced modest prices for some partners, but earned income currently covers only about 40% of annual operating costs. Leadership is considering moving to a much more aggressive, tiered pricing and growth strategy, but is concerned about potentially undermining its mission to reach the poorest and most vulnerable populations.
GAH has hired your consulting team to advise whether and how it should pursue this more aggressive earned-income strategy while remaining true to its mission.
BCG Beginner Case: Fashion startup
Your client is a D2C (direct to customer) online fashion business in a developing country. It is a new brand, launched about 2 years ago and founded by ex-investment bankers. Their brand focuses on trendy, edgy design that is less main-stream (versus big brands like H&M, Uniqlo, Zara etc) for adult men. While they have been growing fast, they want to understand how they can further improve their sales.
McKinsey Unconventional Case: Inclusive Cafes
Your client is a leading retail coffee chain. They are present in several countries globally and are a popular brand in most of the markets that they operate in, with several thousands stores in operation.
A key focus of the company currently is diversity & inclusion. In their biggest market which is the US, 1 in 4 people have some sort of disability. One realization the client has had is that their retail stores are not as inclusive to individuals with disabilities.
McKinsey has been brought on to help them design more inclusive spaces in their retail stores.
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Revolut Mock Interview: Strategy & Operations
You are part of the Strategy & Operations team at Revolut.
Revolut has had significant growth over the past couple of years, with customer base growing 20-30% per year. Our apps have also been highly rated in the various app stores - be it GooglePlay or on the Apple store.
Revolut's current customer strategy is to segment customers based on their subscription tiers/plans.
- Standard: Free
- Plus: $3.99/mth
- Premium: $7.99/mth
- Metal: $14.99/mth
- Ultra: Ultra $55/mth
Key differentiation between the plans are in the pricing and features. Namely, the more expensive tiers like Metal and Ultra have additional features such as personalized and premium card design, free access to lifestyle apps (e.g. Financial Times, Class Pass etc), better FX rates and priority customer support.
It's great that Revolut has been expanding rapidly, but we are starting to see some stresses on our existing operations and processes. One key area of concern is in customer service, our satisfaction scores have started to trend down and call center headcounts and costs have been increasing in recent years, but we are struggling to handle the load of incoming requests and tickets.
You have been tasked to lead a project to solve this problem without ballooning costs.
CleanWave – When the Suds Settle
CleanWave is a leading branded manufacturer of dishwashing products in Germany, primarily selling dishwashing tabs and liquids.
During the Covid period (2020–2021), the company experienced unusually strong growth in revenues and profits. Since 2022, however, CleanWave’s revenues and profitability have declined significantly.
Management believes this is mainly driven by weaker consumer demand and increased price pressure.
You are asked to:
- Estimate the size of the German dishwashing market
- Analyse the drivers of CleanWave’s declining revenues and profits
- Understand the impact of Covid and post-Covid market dynamics
- Develop strategic recommendations for CleanWave going forward
SET Case: Your own Management Consultancy
As one of three management consultants with many years of experience, you have SET yourself the goal of founding your own management consultancy. The topics, contents and solution offering with which you can advise and support potential customers are clear. The legal company is already founded and registered in the commercial register. Now you must pitch your business plan to the banks to get the necessary start-up financing!
Especially the banks are interested in the underlying rationale of the SET Management Consulting business model. Your goal is to think of relevant financial KPIs and be prepared to explain the underlying revenue and cost streams in more detail.
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BCG Platinion Case: ERP strategy & S/4HANA migration for “DekoKonzept”
Our client is the company “DekoKonzept”, which primarily sells home accessories and small furniture. DekoKonzept generates approximately €700M in revenue and operates mainly in Germany, with some presence in other European countries. The company is particularly represented through physical stores in major German cities and downtown areas but is also expanding its online shop significantly.
A variety of outdated and often self-developed IT systems are currently used for core processes such as procurement, warehousing, and point-of-sale operations.
DekoKonzept is also facing the challenge that its ERP system (SAP ECC 6.0) will soon no longer be officially supported by SAP. Therefore, they aim to migrate to the successor system SAP S/4HANA as soon as possible. This migration presents an opportunity to review, standardize, and harmonize many of the existing processes and systems. The next step is to further assess and evaluate the impact on costs, budget, and scope.
Note: This case is interviewer-led. The cases in our interviews are more candidate-led. In this case, you take the lead and manage the entire case from start to finish. So be prepared for this when you apply to us.
DHL Consulting Case: Local Commerce
DHL aims to create a new E-Commerce business model that combines:
- A DHL-owned online marketplace.
- Participation limited to local retailers.
- Same-day parcel delivery services by DHL.
The strategic goal is to strengthen the stationary retail sector as an important customer group. The DHL Consulting team is tasked by the DHL Business Unit "Post & Parcel Germany" (P&P) with identifying a suitable German city for a pilot project and estimating the potential revenue in that city.
MBMC Case: Exploring the future of automotive mobility
As a consultant at Mercedes-Benz Management Consulting (MBMC), you are actively shaping the future of automotive mobility. While you are contributing to decisive projects that design the future of the world’s No.1 premium carmaker, you also develop your own career path, and you have the unique possibility to build your personal brand and cultivate relationships with the top management.
Your client on your current project is the head of product strategy who reports directly to the CEO. She asks you to explore new profit pools and business opportunities regarding innovations and monetarization strategies.
Initially, you shall structure and explore potential business models, and discuss necessary conditions and implications of these business models. In a next step, you shall quantitatively analyze possible options and prepare them for decision. And of course, the client is interested in your recommendation.
E.ON Inhouse Consulting Case: E-Mobility
Climate change has become one of the biggest challenges in the 21st century, and with roughly 75% of all CO₂ emissions coming from energy, this sector plays a key role in the transition to a reduced carbon footprint. E.ON has taken up on the challenge to promote more sustainable and efficient energy solutions throughout its whole customer spectrum. Correspondingly, a shift towards more sustainable energy consumption is noticed across the globe with many cities having set themselves ambitious climate targets, among those are:
- Copenhagen -100% CO₂ emissions by 2025
- Amsterdam -60% CO₂ emission by 2030
- New York -40% CO₂ emissions by 2030
With E.ON focusing entirely on the “new” energy world, we have become the partner of choice for solutions propelling the energy transitions. Mr. Jensen, the mayor of Essen has come to E.ON requesting our help to accelerate the transition for his city.
Essen is a city with about 600,000 inhabitants and prides itself as a forward-thinking one with lots of ambitions to become green itself. The economy is well and with his freshly won election the mayor looks forward to put its promised big initiatives into real projects.
E.ON Inhouse Consulting Case: Heating Systems
The European Union pursues the target of lowering the CO₂ emissions of their residents. Therefore, the EU introduced a CO₂ tax to create incentives for consumers to switch to more climate friendly alternatives and stabilize carbon dioxide emissions.
Accordingly, and as E.ON’s strategy focuses on creating a better tomorrow for its customers, E.ON is investing significantly to grow its ‘Customer solutions’ area with climate-friendly solutions, including its heating solutions business.
You have recently joined E.ON Inhouse Consulting and E.ON’s Head of Heating Solutions has hired you to conduct an analysis concerning the European CO₂ tax. Specifically, you are asked to assess whether the EU uses the right tool to steer consumers towards more climate-friendly heating systems.
BCG Platinion Case: Digital transformation of an entire corporation
The CIO of a major insurance company needs your support to renew the company's IT landscape as a starting point for their digital transformation.
The IT landscape of the client is highly fragmented and integrated. Most IT applications are "legacy" monolithic custom developments (running on Mainframe) and are hosted on-premise.
There are issues with stability and scalability of applications plus IT costs are ever increasing "Time-to-market" to release new functionalities is too high, due to constraints of current architecture.
You are asked to quickly assess the status quo, identify main areas of intervention and measures to address the pain points and renew the IT landscape.
Note: This case is interviewer-led. The cases in our interviews are more candidate-led. In this case, you take the lead and manage the entire case from start to finish. So be prepared for this when you apply to us.
DHL Consulting case: Bike Shop
You have been hired to support the owner of a bike-shop as a business consultant. The bike-shop has suffered a significant revenue decline during the last year, and now the owner would like you to assess the situation and options for the way forward.
They want to know last year’s profit, i.e. how it was affected by the revenue decline, and what the priority actions are to survive the next year. (short term)
In addition they would like to understand the strategic competitive position of the shop better and how to increase revenues again mid- to long-term.
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