Case Library
Browse our collection of real consulting case interview scenarios.
US Household Debt
Estimate the total US household debt.
Mobile Usage in Spain
How many minutes of mobile phone calls are made each day in Spain?
Heathrow Airport
The client is BAA group - the owner of London Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s busiest international airports. Estimate the number of passengers that travel through Heathrow per year.
High Quality Bottles
After successfully servicing large beverage companies over the last 20 years, our client, the CEO of High Quality Bottles (HQB), a small plastics manufacturing and bottling company, wants to expand into the hospitality and leisure space. Specifically, she wants HQB to supply local hotel chains with bottled toiletries like shampoos, conditioners, body wash, and lotions. HQB already has the interest of local hotels in their hometown and they need your help in identifying the potential size of this business and deciding if it is worth pursuing. How would you approach finding the market size for the first year in this expansion?
Styrofoam Situation
Your client is the CEO of Cup Co, a national supplier of Styrofoam cups to restaurants. While profit has been steady, she is worried about the influx of cheaper products from China by a new competitor (Chalice Inc) and has called you in to give a recommendation on how to ensure continued profitability.
Fire Proof
The CEO of Fire Proof Inc. wants to find new ways to diversify her revenue and product line. Currently, Fire Proof only sells fire resistant jackets, gloves, hard hats, and tools to government sponsored fire departments nationwide. The CEO believes the company can expand their operations to make equipment for other industries. How would you advise Fire Proof Inc.?
National Logistics
Your client is National Logistics; a large transportation and logistics company that delivers freight to all areas of North America. Over the last five years, the company has experienced rising costs due to increases in wages resulting from a shortage of truckers. The client is now looking to reduce operational costs in the business. How would you advise the client?
Rubber Bumper
Rubber Bumper Co. is a small family owned producer of rubber products. It prides itself on producing a limited range of products but producing the highest quality on the market. In general, new products are introduced after much deliberation and careful market study. The company has recently appointed a new President who noticed decreasing profits over the last couple of years.
To Automate or Not
After returning from a trade show, the CEO of a large grocery distribution center calls you. He enthusiastically describes a new technology which could be used to automate part of his company’s process. He asks whether you think this would be a good idea for his business. Knowing that this CEO is a tech-enthusiast who loves innovation for the novelty of it, you ponder the implications. How would you tackle this problem?
Maxicure
Your client, Maxicure, manufactures and sells an over-the-counter cough and cold medicine. Their sole plant in Kentucky is aging, and its increasing maintenance costs are leading to low margins on their products. How would you advise Maxicure proceed to solve this problem?
Copier Co.
Copier, Co. is a national distributor of office equipment, particularly commercial-grade copiers. The firm sells the equipment directly to companies for use in their offices, as well as provides regular service including maintenance, repairs, and replacing disposable parts. Recently, the company has experienced declining profit margins; we have been hired to determine why this is happening and what to do to reverse the trend.
Lonely Gas Station
Our client is the owner of a gas station between towns A and B – 10 miles to each town. He is wondering if it would make sense to add a convenience store to the gas tation.
Transportation Tech Co.
Our client, Transportation Tech Co., is a key player in the transportation technology space. Recently, the client developed an innovative GPS fleet tracking device which it believes could prove valuable to K-12 schools in the US. We have been engaged to help our client determine whether this product should be rolled out as a school bus tracking device.
Canyon Capital Partners
Your client is Canyon Capital Partners (CCP). CCP is a long-established hedge fund headquartered in Hartford, CT. Hedge funds make money mainly out of management fees and carried interests. Over the past two years, CCP’s profits have been declining. Its CEO and founder has hired you to help her understand why profits are trending down and what she should do to restore the firm to a more profitable route.
Conservation Forever
Our client is Conservation Forever (CF), a conservation-focused nongovernmental organization (NGO). CF has asked McKinsey to help prioritize restoration and conservation efforts.
Shops Corporation
Shops Corporation has recently created full-time, director-level roles to lead a number of inclusive affinity groups and has engaged McKinsey to help Shops Corporation with their diversity and inclusion goals.
Talbot Trucks
The CEO of Talbot Trucks has approached McKinsey to help determine the attractiveness of an investment in eTruck manufacturing for its European market.
Transforming a National Education System
Loravia is a fictional country located in Eastern Europe with a population of 20 million. The government of Loravia wants to make major improvements in both the quantity and quality of education for its children. Because McKinsey has great deal of global knowledge and expertise in the education sector, the Loravian department of education has asked McKinsey to advise on how it can achieve this transformation of its school system.
Electro-Light
SuperSoda’s vice president of marketing has asked McKinsey to help analyze key factors surrounding the launch of Electro-Light and its own internal capabilities to support that effort.
Diconsa
McKinsey has been asked to investigate and assess the possibility of using the Diconsa network to provide a set of basic financial services to supplement the limited number of state-owned bank branches. This would start with dispensing benefit payments and would gradually grow to include savings accounts, bill payments, insurance, loans, and other financial products.
Beautify
Our client is Beautify. Beautify has approached McKinsey for help with exploring new ways to approach its customers. Beautify’s president and COO engaged McKinsey to help evaluate if training the majority of beauty consultants to use virtual channels to connect with customers could be profitable for the company.
Capital One - Manufacturing Plant
Assess the financial feasibility and operational strategy for investing in a manufacturing plant.
Capital One - Paper Mill
Exploring a pricing strategy to achieve a 10% sales increase at Paper Mill Plus by analyzing customer purchasing behavior, competitor reactions, and demand elasticity.
Capital One - Fitness Studio
In this scenario, you'll explore the viability of investing in a boutique fitness studio by evaluating financial metrics and testing strategic alternatives.
Capital One - Magazine Subscriptions
Assess the financial viability of launching a new magazine by analyzing key market factors, revenue potential, cost structures, and strategic opportunities.
Quo vadis, customer?
The bank "His Earlship Charles", a domestic retail and private bank is in a difficult situation. Profits have been declining over the past years due to the ongoing low interest rates set by the central bank. Additionally, the bank is suffering from a decreasing number of customers. The board of directors is worried about digitalization and wondering, whether the bank is adequately prepared for it. Please analyze the situation of the client and develop means to sustainably increase profits. Consider the worries expressed by the board of directors.
BCG Platinion Case: Digital transformation of an entire corporation
This scenario involves a case interview focused on transforming an insurance company's fragmented IT landscape. The candidate must identify strategic levers for digital transformation by assessing the current application architecture, addressing pain points, and optimizing costs.
EY: Virtual Marketplace
In this scenario, an online real estate marketplace is experiencing stagnating sales and seeks strategic insights to identify growth opportunities and optimize their revenue model. Participants are to analyze the business model, understand revenue drivers, and propose actionable growth strategies.
Portfolio Optimization of a Holding Company
Your client is a holding company that has three larger companies in its portfolio. The successful portfolio has developed very dynamically over the last two years and the companies are facing different challenges. The management takes this situation as an opportunity and wants to carry out a portfolio optimization. As a consultant, you are first asked to carry out a portfolio analysis and then to prepare recommendations for action for the portfolio decisions.
Bain Case: Old Winery
You have inherited the “Old Winery” from your grandfather, a winery that has been family-owned for five generations and can be dated back to the 16th century. Half of the eleven hectares are used to grow white grapes, the other half to grow red grapes. They are grown in a conventional way, i.e. they are not organically farmed and certified. The vine stocks are in a good condition regarding age and care. Overall, the only ¼ of the harvest is made into wine by the winery itself; the rest is sold. Your grandfather never wanted to change the image of the winery and left the managerial and administrative task to a young and energetic wine-maker. Due to the not so well-known brand, the demand for the “Old Winery” wine is currently rather low. You do not intent to run the winery operatively, given your limited knowledge of winemaking, but find the idea of owning a winery exciting.
Mercedes AMG: Turning the most affluent prospects into loyal clients
Company case by Mercedes-Benz Management Consulting
Camilla's Pets
Industry: Retail Case Type: Profitability Difficulty: Medium Concepts Tested: Strategic Analysis
SunFury
Our client, SunFury, is a publically traded solar developer and the largest builder of utility scale solar projects across the US. They have experienced incredible growth over the last 6 years, due largely to the rapidly falling solar module prices from China and the consistent US tax credit forsolar projects. In 2017 the Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) will drop from 30% for all solar to 10% for utility and 0% for residential, forcing the industry to compete more closely with cheap coal and natural gas. It is August 2015, and SunFury has decided to expand their operationsinto the residential arena to better capture the ITC while it still exists. They have asked us to (1) estimate the potential value at stake, and (2) determine whether they should go ahead with their residential launch in 2016.
DevCo
Industry: Healthcare/Medical Devices Case Type: Market Entry, Product Strategy Difficulty: Medium Firm (if applicable): Deloitte
Comfort Foam
Industry: Manufacturing Case Type: Profitability Difficulty: Medium Concepts tested: market segmentation, market sizing
Avicenna Health
Industry: Healthcare Case Type: Profitability Difficulty Level: Hard Concepts Tested: Market Analysis, Opportunity Assessment
Consumer Products Strategy
Industry: Consumer Case Type: Difficulty: Hard Concepts Tested: Market Entry, Profitability, Data Analysis Firm (if applicable): BCG
Berry Chill Frozen Yoghurt
Industry: Consumer Products Case Type: Growth Difficulty: Easy Concepts tested: growth strategy, product development
Coffee Co
Your client is a small Berkeley-based café chain called CoffeeCo. CoffeeCo has four café locations in and around the UC Berkeley campus. CoffeeCo has been experiencing declining profit margins over the past several years. The owner of the store wants to know why this is happening and what they can do about it. The chain has invested a lot in store expansions, opening one new store in each of the past two years.
YachtCo
YachtCo, a well-established luxury yacht manufacturer, faces declining profitability and seeks strategic and operational remedies. Industry: Luxury Goods Difficulty: Easy
HrdwrSoftwr
Industry: TMT Case Type: Market Entry Difficulty: Medium Concepts Tested: Operations, Growth Strategy
Cackalacky Construction
Industry: Infrastructure Case Type: Market Entry, Growth Strategy Difficulty: Medium Concepts Tested: Market Sizing, Competition Analysis
Off-Broadway Blues
Industry: Media & Entertainment Case Type: Growth Strategy, Cost Optimization Difficulty: Medium Concepts Tested: Strategy
Pharmaceutical Rare Disease Business Growth
Industry: Pharmaceuticals Case Type: Growth Strategy Difficulty: Medium Firm (if applicable): BCG
Goodbye Horses
Industry: Healthcare Case Type: Growth Strategy Difficulty: Hard Concepts Tested: Corporate Finance, Valuation, Risk, Strategy, Prioritizaiton
Procore SE Case Study
Industry: Construction, Technology Case Type: Sales, Product Strategy, Market Entry, GTM Difficulty: Hard
Jamaican Land
Our client is thinking about buying a piece of land in Jamaica for $3000 and has asked us to determine whether or not this is a good idea.
Surfboard Wax
Industry: Manufacturing, Sporting Goods Case Type: Market Analysis/Strategy Difficulty: Medium Firm (if applicable): Accenture
MexTell
Our client is a major U.S. cell phone service provider with $45 billion in revenues. They have recently been buying companies in an attempt to expand their network, and have been notified of a potential window to acquire MexTell, a Mexican Cellular network. They’ve determined the deal will be worth the trouble likely to come from activist investors if MexTell is worth more than $6 billion. Should they acquire?
Steel Corp
Our client, Steel Corp, is a privately held automotive flatsteel producer serving North American automotive OEMs. The steel industry as a whole has experienced steady growth over the last decade due to increased North American auto production. In the past, Chinese and Brazilian steel imports have taken a significant portion of North American market share, however recently the markets have seen a more stable distribution. Steel Corp has asked us to develop a strategy that would allow them to reach 30% market share by 2035. (Currently 2025)
Life Renew
Industry: Pharma Case Type: Market Entry Difficulty: Hard Concepts tested: market sizing, customer segmentation, pricing
FoodXperts
Industry: Healthcare Case Type: Growth Strategy, Product Strategy, Profitability Difficulty: Medium
To Flush or Not to Flush: The Toilet Paper Dilemma
This is a comedic/troll case study designed to simulate a real case interview but with absurd twists. Your goal is to play it completely straight, as if this is a high-stakes strategy project. Your client will be Wipe Co. Enjoy :)