Marketing Case Study

A case study on marketing could focus on entering a new market, or tackling the influx of cheaper competing services or foreign competition, or working on the optimal pricing for the existing products of a consumer goods company.

Finance Case Study

Finance case studies could talk about evaluating the cash flow status for a company and defining a strategy to improve the accounts receivable (AR) policies, or one might be thinking about the best mix of debt and equity for the company.

Operations Case Study

Case studies on operations may include improving the efficiency of a manufacturing unit, working on the right mix of inventory and finished goods, or the decision to re-engineer the supply chain management system and reduce the dependency of global raw materials.

Strategy Case Study

In strategy case studies, the problems and the potential solutions can span across domains from finance to marketing and everything in between.

Business Ethics Case Study

Case studies can also be based on ethical problems faced by an organization or business. Such case studies deal with malpractices such as compromising business policies, corporate non-governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination etc.

The case study method is a style of evaluation used both in group discussions and personal interviews as a part of the job placement and admission process. It focuses on the student as a decision maker. The value of the case study method is that it simulates a real environment and puts the students in a real life like business situation that they could face in their future careers. The candidates are then tested by employers for their ability to make quick decisions that are sound and good for the company. Employers also test the ability of the participants to utilize their analytical and communication skills, two crucial qualities of leadership, in order to produce viable solutions.

Case studies are used as a method of competency measuring. Competency methods can focus on technical abilities, social and behavioural skills, or a combination of the two. The premise behind administering a case study as an assessment method is that it offers a level playing field, to some degree, by allowing shortlisted candidates to demonstrate their abilities and personal qualities irrespective of past experience and qualifications.

Case studies enable interviewers to see the strengths and weaknesses of candidates in action, including:

• Engaging in logical and analytical reasoning
• Thinking creatively and generating innovative solutions
• Problem-solving
• Working under time pressure
• Effective communication skills, including presenting in front of one or several interviewers and using a whiteboard to express concepts

Reducing the risk of a bad hire

It is well-established that the costs of a bad hire for a business are huge, especially in leadership roles where it can affect the performance of the whole team.

The hard costs of a bad hire are estimated to range between 50% and 200% of the first-year salary. In management consulting, a bad hire cannot only affect the internal team – a poor client experience can have significant impacts from a brand and billing perspective.

Finding ways to reduce the number of bad hires isn’t easy; case studies have been developed to provide additional data points to make a more informed hiring decision. Using competency modelling methods such as case studies, it has been shown to increase success in hiring decisions, with the most significant improvement stemming from a better culture fit.

Case studies are used both during GDs as well in personal interviews to assess the fit quotient of candidates. Below is a list of parameters used by the panellists to assess participants:

• Analysis

Employers look for employees who can interpret data, identify patterns and integrate new information for making fruitful decisions for the organization. They expect the candidates to be able to brainstorm possible solutions and back up their recommendations with logic and present solutions with conviction.

• Quantitative Ability

A lot of case studies are quantitative in nature and are centred on lots of data and numbers often presented in the form of tables, graphs, pie charts etc. In such a situation, quick back-of-the-napkin calculations to present the relevant figures for the group will make you stand in very good light with the evaluator.

• Flexibility

Employers value open mindedness because in practice, solutions to problems are often compound solutions i.e. a mixture of good options recommended by multiple team members. A flexible candidate should consider all opinions during a case based group discussion without any personal prejudice. Hence, the ability of the candidate to consider the opposite point of view in light of the facts/figures presented in the case is valued by the panel.

• Leadership

The panel values candidates who can take charge of the case based group discussion by steering it in the right direction and achieving a consensus which incorporates all viewpoints. This requires good listening skills and assertiveness.

• Communication

Communication is the glue that binds the team together and enables it to work as a unit. Everyone on the team has a unique point of view and how it fits into the bigger picture. Only through communication can the diverse points-of-view be brought together into an accurate and comprehensive perspective regarding the same. Often disagreements can arise among team members in problem solving discussions. Using good communication skills can help remove ambiguity and help the group find solutions. Remember that good communication includes both speaking and listening effectively.

• Behaviour

The behavioural traits that are evaluated during case study based GDs and interviews are emotional maturity, sociability, conduct, team work, cogency, enthusiasm and assertiveness.

• Goal Orientation

This parameter is evaluated through the ability of a candidate to harness the information shared during the GD to arrive at an cogent solution. Those with a strong sense of goal orientation will be able to accurately judge the effects of reaching the goal as well as the ability to fulfil that particular strategic or tactical goal with current resources and skills.

The nature of Case Study that you will be required to analyse, whether individually or in a group setting will depend on whether you are seeking an admission or a job offer. In both cases, the level of education or requirements of the job position will be the main deciding factor for the type of Case Study given to you by the panel.

For marketing, finance and operations centric case studies which require a candidate to make data-based decisions, the following formulae can come in really handy:

Profit	Revenue = Quantity * Price
	Total Variable Costs = Quantity * Variable Costs
	Cost = Total Variable Cost + Fixed Cost
	Profit = Revenue – Costs  Profit = (Price – Variable Costs) * Quantity – Fixed Costs
	Contribution Margin = Price – Variable Cost
	Profit Margin = Profit / Revenue
	Gross Profit = Sales – Cost of Goods Sold
	Gross Profit Margin = Gross Profit / Revenue
	Operating Profit = Gross Profit – Operating Expenses – Depreciation – Amortization
Investment	Return on Investment = Profit / Investment Cost
	Payback Period = Investment Cost / Profit per Year
	Return on Assets = Profit / Total Assets
Operations	Output = Rate * Time
	Utilization = Output / Maximum Output
Market Share	Market Share = Company Revenue in the Market / Total Market Revenue
	Relative Market Share = Company Market Share / Largest Competitor’s Market Share

A good place to begin is by asking clarifying questions to actively seek pieces of information from the interviewer which can help you understand the client and the problem faced by the client’s company in a better way.

Let’s understand this with the help of an example:

Say, you have been presented with the following problem by the interviewer: “Our client’s company, ‘General Goods Ltd.’ has lost 15% of its profits. What recommendations can you make to reverse the problem?”

 

Preliminary Questions:

1. Which industry exactly is our client a part of?
2. Is our client a manufacturer of goods?
3. What kind of goods/products/services do they offer to their clients?
4. When exactly did our client see a dip in its profits?
5. What were our client’s profits in the last 5 years? etc.

These may look like a lot of questions to ask the interviewer, but they will consume very little time in reality. This is because for many of these questions, you’ll receive a simple Yes/No in response from the interviewer. Remember that querying the interviewer at this point will reveal a lot of useful information which can be used to quickly progress through the case and reach a solution. That is a win-win situation for all!

Once you are satisfied that you have done your ground work by asking the required initial questions, the next step should be to convey on overall strategy as well as sub-strategies to solve the case problem.

What is an Overall Strategy?

An Overall Strategy is to the Case Interview what a Table of Contents is to a book. After agreeing with the interviewer about the scope of the problem, laying out an overall strategy will convey to the interviewer how you plan to solve the case.

Let’s say that the case problem presented to you during the interview is about a company wanting to launch its expensive luxury watches in the Indian market.

Once you have completed the step of asking preliminary questions, you can present the overall strategy by saying the following:

“I will begin by estimating how much profit our client will be able to make if it enters the Indian market.”

“Once I have calculated the potential profit and I am convinced that an entry into the new market will be profitable, I will move to the next step which will be to find out if it’s feasible to set up the entire value chain i.e.

Production -> Distribution -> Retailing”

“My final step will be to throw some light on the challenges that our client might face in a tough market like India, after which I will make my final recommendation and lay the case to rest”

What is a Sub-Strategy?

Once the interviewer and you have agreed upon a strategy, it is time to go a step further and tackle each checkpoint of the main strategy.

Let’s understand this by using our earlier example of the client’s company wanting to launch luxury watches in India. Say, that you successfully calculated the potential profit that the company would make by selling its watches in India and you concluded that it will be a profitable venture.

The next step is to check the feasibility of establishing a value chain in India. Before moving on, you can give a mini-synthesis of what you have achieved so far in the interview by saying:

“According to my calculations, the client’s company can earn a profit of $5M within the first year of its launch. This is significantly above the break-even point that we had established for entering the market”

[Sub-Strategy]:

“My next step is to discuss how can the client set up a value chain in India. For that I would like to talk about the following things:

• Manufacturing the luxury watches
• Import of luxury watches
• Distribution channels
• Retail & Marketing options”

As you move from one sub-strategy or checkpoint to another, lay out your inferences from each sub-strategy i.e., what were your insights and what sense did you make of the information in hand.

At times, you might even engage in a healthy debate with the interviewer if he/she is not in agreement with some part of your strategy. This should not discourage you. In fact, you should view this as an opportunity to use your skills of conviction and make the interviewer look at things from your perspective. However, if you are wrong, accept it gracefully and make the required changes.

Without identifying the source of the issue, it is not possible to offer an effective solution. The following tools will help you to weed out the problem in a systematic and logical manner:

Segmentation

Segmentation is breaking down a problem into smaller parts. It is an indispensable tool for case interviews because it helps you to narrow down a broader problem into a more nuanced and specific problem.

Keep in mind that the segmentation should be:

• Simple
• Reasonable
• Done in a way such that the information of component parts is easily obtainable

Company or Industry Specific?

Say, you are analysing a problem of reduced profits that your client is facing. It’s important to know where to look by narrowing down the scope of the given issue. Finding out whether the profit problem is specific to the company or whether all companies that exist in that industry are also facing a similar dip in their profits can significantly help in simplifying things for you as a problem solver.

Hypothesis Driven Approach

Sometimes during case interviews, the interviewer will ask you to use a Hypothesis Driven Approach to crack the case. This simply means that if the cause of the problem is X, Y or Z, then you must first assume that X is the problem and check whether that is true or not.

Then you do the same for Y and Z. In the world of business consulting, an outcome is presumed and then the presumption is validated or invalidated.

Speed Tools

The following tools will help you to quickly filter out possible outcomes and drill down to the solution faster. They will also help you to understand how to prioritize and give your attention to the most probable cause first.

• 80/20 Rule
• Benchmarking
• Business Acumen