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An electricity utility wants to address the issue of losses in their network.
Our client just bought an ore mine. You have to help him to identify how many trucks and how many excavators he has to buy to run the mine.
IF ASKED by the candidate, the following information is available: - Mine is located in Canada - Time horizon is 1 year - 15.5m tons of ore can be extracted each year - Everybody is working around the clock (3 shifts of 8 hours each) - Each truck can carry up to 100t (costs of about €1m per truck) - Excavators have a capacity of 100,000t/day - Excavators extract ore and load it on the trucks. Then the trucks have to drive around 6km to the unload the ore and then drive back to the mine. Our Client is an Asian Producer of Trucks (BE Lorries) who is particularly big in Indonesia called TruckCorp. Among the many investigations our team was asked to perform, one of them was into aftersales.
How would you go about sizing the market for truck aftersales in Indonesia? Here are the magic opening statements to any strategy case:
"IF ... WOULD" and "IF ... THEN" For instance: "I would hypothetize that this problem could be due to a working capital issue. If so, then I would like to look at the evolution of DSO / debtors' ageing here, here and there." or: "My hypothesis is that this could be due to an opex problem (or SG&A, or...). If revenues are rising while profits are disappearing, then I would need to have a closer look at this, this and that." and then the caveats: "Having said that, it could still be another problem, such as this and that. I would also like to examine this, this, and that." Remember : "if ... would." The US's second-largest manufacturer of steel filing cabinets is nearing the end of a four-year rolled steel contract expiring at the end of Year 7. The contract was signed in Year 4 and the company consumes 12,000 tons of steel per year. Does it make sense to stockpile two years' worth of steel at the end of the contract at Year 4 price or sign a new contract at Year 8 price ?
How many meters does a pair of jeans travel ?
How many windows are there in New York City ?
How many piano tuners are there in Paris ?
How many taxis are there in Frankfurt ?
Size up the market, in terms of units and revenue, for ties in France per year.
The Ministry of Transportation is considering the introduction of a subsidy for carpooling to mitigate the cost of traffic jams.What is the current cost of traffic jams ? What would be the cost of this subsidy ? Comment on the feasibility of this initiative.
A team of engineers has found a way to cut the electricity consumption of motors by 10%. How much could global industry save ?
We hope you will enjoy the dozens of cases which are posted here for free, courtesy of major consulting firms and interviewees. We hope you will find these cases intellectually stimulating, and we hope they will help you to look beyond numbers, and develop a structured thought process.
In the end, however, it's all about ... soft skills. The basic question is : what kind of person are you ? Are you someone blunt, arrogant, overaggressive-- in a word: are you a fool? Or are you someone who can gather precious, hard-to-find information, win over a-priori hostile stakeholders, and tell a client that he's wrong, without causing him to lose face ? In the end, it's all about your EQ ! The major strategy consulting firms typically use five or six types of interviews to evaluate potential recruits.
Type # 1 is the « odd question » genre, for example : « how many chimpanzees can you fit in a stadium ? » There is no shortage of seemingly weird or off-beat interview questions to ask potential management consultants. These questions are aimed at creating a dialogue and moving the you away from rehearsed answers. They are also meant to see how you react to the unexpected. Just bear in mind that there is no perfect answer to these questions. The only wrong answer, in fact, is « I don’t know. » Just to make sure, we’ll be rehearsing some of these questions together anyway. Type # 2 is a less offbeat, yet still ambiguous question, such as : « They’ve been bleeding money for three years, how do you fix this issue ? » You will need to : - Specify the terms used by the interviewer. For instance : « what do mean by ‘bleeding money’ ? Negative operational earnings ? Negative earnings after taxes ? Or negative free cash flows ? ». Do not hesitate to prod for more specific information. - De-construct the problem into sub-sets of questions. - Analyze each sub-set. - Develop hypotheses (could it be due to operations ? DSO ? other cash issues ?) - Ask for specific data that will help you challenge these hypotheses. - Provide options. - Conclude. Type # 3 is a mathematical problem solving test, aimed at testing judgement involving numbers, along with some numbers-crunching, and in some instance, some spreadsheet-building ability. McKinsey calls this the PST (a.k.a. Problem Solving Test. Expect some questions regarding break-even analysis, and free cashflow computations, among others. Do expect that some figures will be missing. You will be expected to ask for more specific data. Type # 4 is called the interviewer-led interview. In this type of interview, the interviewer asks you to look at one issue after another. It is more directive that the other types of interviews and you will need to go through each stage as directed by the interviewer. Type # 5 is a group interview where several candidates (all in the same room) are presented with a strategy case. You are expected to work as a team, use collaboration and constructive criticism and jointly solve the case – not eliminate the other candidates. modifier. You are advising a well-funded middle eastern fund whose CEO wishes to know whether he should open a new five-star, or even a new six-star hotel, in Paris. What is your answer ?
Question : estimate the number of checking accounts in the US.
Southwest Airlines is a US-based low-cost carrier headquartered in Dallas, Texas. As of November 2012, Southwest Airlines operates scheduled service to 78 destinations in 39 states. The airlines does not use the more traditional “hub and spoke” flight routing system of other major airlines, preferring instead the “Point to Point” system. Therefore, it has notably large operations in certain airports. Recently the President and CEO of Southwest Airlines has hired Seabury Group to evaluate a promotional campaign for one of its routes, both in terms of the economics and risks involved. The promotion aims to offer full fare passengers a complimentary ticket for one child under the age of 14 on the same flight. Should they implement this promotion? What are some of issues that must be considered?
How many horses are there in the USA ?
Lipitor, a medicine marketed by American multinational pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) as a calcium salt, is a member of the drug class known as statins, used for lowering blood cholesterol. As one of the best selling drugs in pharmaceutical history, the sales of Lipitor since it was approved in 1996 have exceeded USD $125 billion as of 2012, and the drug has topped the list of best-selling branded pharmaceuticals in the world for nearly a decade.
Question: what do you think is going to happen after the 2012 US presidential election if Governor Mitt Romney wins and drug re-importation from Canada is legalized? If the impact is negative, how can Pfizer mitigate it? Chicago Bridge & Iron Company is a conglomerate engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company specializing in projects for oil and gas companies. Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, US, within the Houston–The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area, their revenues are about USD $5.5 Billion a year (2012). As a holding company, Chicago Bridge & Iron doesn’t really have a unified portfolio, but basically places bets on companies it acquires. It is now looking at an auto parts manufacturer, and trying to get an idea of whether it should acquire the auto parts manufacturing company. Is the acquisition a good idea?
Boeing Defense is the third largest defense contractor in the world and is responsible for 50% of the parent company’s total turnover. One division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security manufactures the Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters for military operations. The AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. These helicopters are fully equipped with guns and ammo when delivered to the client. The AH-64 Apache is armed with a 30-millimeter M230 Chain Gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft’s forward fuselage. It has four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons, typically carrying a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods. Boeing is considering setting up a new plant to meet increasing demand in the attack helicopter space. The client has considered three sites to set up operations – Brazil, France and the US, and needs your help in deciding which one to choose.
It’s noon, and a professional thief in downtown Manhattan has to decide which one of the three stores is the most profitable for him to rob: a bakery, a flower shop, or a luxury chandelier store. Assume that the thief won’t be caught, which store should he choose? What factors should he consider in making the decision?
The Houston Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas and surrounding areas. HPD has hired us determine how many Police Officers they will need next year.
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Strategy Consulting
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