Cases, also known as case studies, are business problems that a candidate is presented with during a case interview at a management consultancy. The challenge is to solve it under pressure and in a structured way.
Practice With Cases on Various Topics
Baby Formula
BabyformulaCo is a leading producer of baby formula with a 30% market share in the US that is looking for ways to increase their market share without significantly lowering profitability. Recently, a Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) for low-income women and their children was introduced, which provides vouchers to purchase baby formula.
The client is interested in bidding for the tender contracts but needs help in determining the appropriate bidding price.
Russell University - Fresh Attacker on the Online Education Market (McKinsey 1st round)
Russell University, located in the United Kingdom, is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world. They have been educating students for more than two centuries and provide a variety of undergraduate and graduate STEM-focused courses.
In an effort to increase revenues and expand their reach, the university has recently begun offering three online postgraduate qualifications. Despite the quality of teaching and effort spent in developing these courses, the response from students in terms of sign-up rates has been modest. Russel University executives believe they are acting too slowly since other prestigious universities, particularly in the US, have successfully leveraged their brand to offer short and affordable online courses to a variety of people.
Russell University has hired us to determine whether they should acquire Eduline, a well-established platform that offers STEM-related short courses to its subscribers. The university intends to use Eduline to offer courses on a subscription basis and will then issue online certificates to individuals who successfully complete its courses.
MBB - Climate Change Operations
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 Info:
- Our client’s objective is to maintain long-term profitability
- Our client’s factories are located throughout the US
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Note: Once you have solved this case, make sure to solve the 2nd version of this case: MBB - Climate Change Operations - Part 2 | PrepLounge.com
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.
To learn more about how to use case leadership to navigate dynamic cases, please read here: Candidate-Led Cases: What to Expect With Example Cases
Practice Cases with Peers That Are Currently Looking for Interview Partners.
Hara Coffee Co's innovative coffee subscription model
Our client, Hara Coffee Company, is a large coffee chain with over 200 locations in the United Kingdom. They import beans from numerous regions and batch-roast them in the UK, offering customers a vast selection of premium blends. In addition to serving delicious coffee, our client offers freshly made sandwiches, pastries, and salads of the highest quality. Hara Coffee Co. is also one of the most socially and environmentally responsible coffee brands in the United Kingdom, and their value proposition heavily relies on customers paying a premium for delicious products that do not compromise on sustainability metrics.
The rising cost of living has significantly reduced the revenue of coffee chains throughout the United Kingdom over the past year. People are increasingly choosing to brew their own coffee at home, with beans delivered by subscription. The CEO of Hara Coffee Company is intrigued by the expansion of coffee subscription models in the UK. They requested that our team investigate whether their chain could also introduce a coffee subscription model, in which customers pay a fixed monthly fee and receive a certain number of coffees throughout the month.
GlowMobile Goes Digital (McKinsey first-round)
GlowMobile is a leading telecom operator with a strong presence in Southeast Asia. They sell regular products and services that any telecom operator would offer in their retail stores: cell phones, SIM cards, subscriptions, etc.
Even though the number of digital customers in the region has grown exponentially, currently GlowMobile does not have an online presence and customers must go in person to retail stores for every interaction with the operator. In the past years, they have been losing a lot of customers due to bad customer experience.
GlowMobile has asked our team to improve customer satisfaction through digitization. Specifically, they want us to help improve and digitize their operations and prepare a proof of concept for a digital customer journey for customers.
The CEO believes that opening their digital channel would minimize the loss of customers due to bad customer experience and solidify their position as market leader. Right now, a digital journey does not exist.
The Jaywalking Case
The Government of Spain has tasked the City of Barcelona to increase their revenue generated from the City.
Thus, in order to generate more revenue, the Local Government of Barcelona has engaged our firm to examine the viability of passing a new law imposing a fine on jaywalking violations.
How should we approach this?
McKinsey 1st Round Case - Party Burger
Our client is Party Burger, a restaurant chain in the US serving premium burgers and salads for lunch. They rely on the quality of their products to attract customers, and they are usually fully booked. However, reviews have pointed out that the service offered could be improved. Our client is concerned this could impact their sustainability long term.
MBB 1st Round Case - Hazella Light
Our client is an Italian multinational manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products. One of their most popular products is Hazella, a hazelnut spread.
Despite its worldwide popularity, Hazella is considered to be high in calories by some customers. For this reason, our client has developed a new version of the spread, Hazella Light, and is assessing whether they should launch it in the Italian market.
Kearney First Round Case - Top Chemicals
Our client is the US-based biotech company Top Chemicals. They have just developed a fertilizer that is waiting to get approval for commercialization. They hired us to identify the best price for it.
Bain/BCG - Hunger Warriors
Our client is Hunger Warriors, a non-profit with ambitions to solve world hunger. While approximately one tenth of the human population goes to bed hungry, Hunger Warriors aims to bring this number to zero. One of their primary initiatives is to reduce food waste, which represents $1.5 Trillion in lost value per year. They have tasked us with identifying the major sources of food waste and determining the best course of action to reduce this.
Clarifying questions:
- You can think of them as similar to the WHO or the UN in their scope and reach
- All options are on the table to reduce food waste
- We do not have a set budget = this is dependent on the donations and funding we are able to get
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BoxxFitness Gyms
Our client is the CEO of BoxxFitness - a leading gym chain in the US with over 1,500 gyms. BoxxFitness is a premium gym concept with an annual membership fee that is 2-3x higher than most mainstream gyms. Each gym has a limited number of membership slots. Each member gets a dedicated locker, unlimited personal training, unlimited classes, and unlimited equipment usage. In the last 3 years, the chain has seen a decline in its profit margin.
Can you identify the potential reasons for this decline?
Zero Carbon Mine (McKinsey 1st & 2nd round)
Client goal
Our client is an international mining company Global Mining Corp (GMC) that focuses on copper mining and is interested in the possibility of producing and selling “green copper”, which is the same product as normal copper but with a certified zero carbon footprint for its entire life cycle until sale. The client engaged your team to help determine the prospects for achieving net zero for their Chilean and Australian copper mines in the next 10 years and decide whether they should pursue this path.
Description of situation
The client operates open pit copper mines mostly in remote areas of Chile and Australia. In most cases, the copper ore is blasted with explosives and turned into rubble, which is then collected by heavy bulldozers in big piles, loaded by power shovels onto haul trucks, which transport the material over several kilometers to the processing site. Mobile equipment is diesel operated and very heavy, up to 400 tons for a fully loaded haul truck. During processing, a series of mechanical operations take place to break down the rubble further before chemical processes like acidic leaching are used to produce the final product: copper cathodes. This material is then transported by trucks and rail to the nearest port where it can be shipped to its final destination, depending on the customer.
Poliglot Language App Needs Users
Let’s assume our client is Poliglot, a popular language app. Poliglot is five years old, originally from the US, but available worldwide. The app currently offers the possibility of learning over twenty languages for free, with extra benefits (e.g., no ads, additional exercises) available to premium members.
Historically, the app has been very successful and has seen significant growth over the past few years. However, over the past year, the app noticed a stagnating usage and app adoption. Considering that the market is very competitive, the client expects a decline in the customer base unless the root causes are identified and addressed.
As a consequence, the CEO of the company that owns the app asked us to support them in figuring out the reasons for the decline and laying out a plan for growth.
Market entry: Disrupting the New York - Boston railway industry
Currently, there is only one train company operating the Boston – New York route: AMTRAK. The option of traveling by train between the two metropolis is gaining traffic, particularly in winter times, during which it´s the best way to avoid weather-related delays. Furthermore, it´s the most environmentally friendly of all available options.
Your client is a powerful investor who is assessing business options in the US (with investment sizes averaging 100M$), and has approached you for advice on starting a new train operation company to compete against AMTRAK.
In particular, she wants to start by opening a new service between New York and Boston. Should the investor go ahead and launch the business?
Swiss Coffins – The Death Business
Your client is the CEO of a coffin manufacturing company based in Geneva, Switzerland (Europe).
The company has existed with little changes to the business model for three generations, manufacturing high-quality, hand-crafted coffins, with a highly skilled and specialized labor force. The industry has been recently disrupted by new technologies that no longer need human manufacturing: machines can manufacture faster and cheaper.
Your client needs your help in deciding whether to invest in this technology and transform his business, or remain in the hand-manufactured business for coffins
*Note: On top of this initial question that focuses on the strategy and should be tackled by the candidate with an issue tree, the case includes more questions that can be found in the "Detailed solutions" and "Difficult questions" boxes below, with the correspondent proposed answers.
Merger of two beer manufacturers
Our clients are two beer manufacturers from a well-developed country who just decided to merge. We can call them Company A and Company B. The decision about the merger has already been taken and our clients are certain it will soon be approved by regulators.
What is expected from you is to help them with two objectives: Firstly, they would like you to help them decrease the costs of their post-merger operations. Secondly, they would like you to help them develop a new marketing strategy.
How would you like to go about helping our clients?
Bain 1st Round Case – BlissOttica
Our client is a BlissOttica, an Eyewear Manufacturer that is looking to reach a 10% increase in profits. How would you help our client?
Caribbean Island – MBB Final Round
A wealthy client has recently bought an island in the Caribbean. She has engaged us to identify possible uses for her new island.
MBB Case: JimboTel
Our client is JimboTel, an African mobile telecom company with operations in four West African countries: Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone. JimboTel has experienced revenue declines in the last two years.
How can JimboTel grow its revenues organically in the next year?
Case with a twist: Chinese Alloy Wheels – US Market Entry
Our client is an alloy wheels manufacturer based in China. The client is contemplating entering the US market. At this point of time, the client sells the wheels in the China market. In order to make the wheels for the US market, he will have to expand its production capacity. As a result, whether to enter the US or not is a high-stake decision. He has hired BCG to advise him on this issue.
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Consulting interviews are among the most competitive and difficult job interviews that exist. Interviewers use cases as an indicator to test whether you have what it takes to become a successful consultant. In order to pass, you need to ace the case interview part. And in order to ace the case interview part, you need to be well-prepared. Thus, practicing cases is one of the most important aspects of interview preparation in consulting. During different rounds of interviews you will have to solve cases again and again to prove your structured and analytical thinking as well as your communication skills.
You can practice cases on your own and go through them to get a first feeling for the structure. Afterwards, you should go into a real interview environment and practice cases with other members on the platform. You will find more than 50 mock-interview requests on the Meeting Board every day, which you can easily accept. If there is nothing suitable on the Meeting Board, you can also use the Candidate Listing. Here you can find active members on the platform and send them a direct meeting request. If you want to take your case practice to the next level, we recommend you to schedule coaching sessions with our coaches who have many years of experience in helping candidates receive their dream job offer.
In an interviewer-led case interview, the interviewer leads through the conversation. This means that the interviewer asks specific questions and also controls the time you have to analyze and answer different questions and therefore the depth of your analysis. In contrast, the candidate-led style (which is more common) is about you taking the initiative as a candidate. The initial problem is given to you by your interviewer. Afterwards, you have the freedom to structure the case according to your ideas and to ask questions proactively in order to find a solution to the problem.
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A Vast Selection of Management Consulting Cases
Our selection of case studies mirror the wide variety in real case interviews. Thus, you can solve challenging problems around market sizing, market-entry, pricing, or operations strategy. Moreover, all provided cases are marked with a level of difficulty and the respective case style. This will allow you to filter for interviewer-led (as used by McKinsey) and candidate-led cases. In addition, some of our corporate partners granted some great original cases that have been used in real interviews. Check them out to get some authentic insights about the real application process of top firms like Bain, Roland Berger, and many more. These cases are clearly indicated by the firm's logo.