Practice session: case studies
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Practice session: case
studies
Hiba Dabis & Lewis Humphreys
LSE Careers
26.10.2023
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Session objectives
• To increase understanding of different types of case study
• To practise the ‘initial steps’ when first presented with a case -> CaseCoach
video
• To familiarise yourself with the application of structure to a business problem
• To practise numerical analysis
• To encourage peer practice as a key preparation for consulting interviews
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Housekeeping
This is a two-hour session with
three exercises
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Overview and key points
• A case study interview involves a business or
organisational problem the company may
have faced, and is a chance to
demonstrate your analytical, reasoning
and communication skills.
• Often relate to market sizing, market entry,
profitability, or feasibility.
• Also, brainteasers (‘how many tennis balls
can you fit inside a limousine?’)
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How to Approach…
• Clarify questions and information given
• Devise a structure for your answer (but don’t force frameworks)
• Talk through your thought process and calculations
• If in doubt, think basically and broadly
• Make assumptions and estimates where necessary but try to
make these from a sensible reference point.
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Click icon to add picture
Today’s cases
1. Oliver Wyman – ‘The Times’
brainteaser
2. JJ’s diner – profitability
3. REI Coffee – market entry &
profitability
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Oliver Wyman – ‘The Times’
brainteaser:
Q: How many words are in the daily
edition of The Times?
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Oliver Wyman – ‘The Times’
brainteaser
To break down the problem, what
questions could we ask?
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Oliver Wyman – ‘The Times’ brainteaser
What assumptions can you make?
 Number of text-only pages in a standard copy, combined with number of words per text-only page
How can you simplify the problem?
 Exclude text in adverts, diagrams
 Exclude additional supplements
How can you break the problem into sub-questions?
1. On average, how many pages are there in the daily edition, excluding supplements?
2. How much of the paper is taken up by adverts?
3. What fraction of news story pages is taken up with images or diagrams?
4. What is the number of words on a text-only page?
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Oliver Wyman – ‘The Times’ brainteaser
1.
On average, how many pages are there in the daily Times, excluding supplements? 65
2.
How much of the paper is taken up by adverts? 20%
3.
What fraction of news story pages is taken up with images or diagrams? 25%
4.
What is the number of words on a text-only page?
(no. of columns) x (no. of words per column line) x (no. of lines per column): 5 x 6 x 100 = 3000
Bonus: taking into account space taken up by headlines: a third of a page - 65 x 80% x 75% x 3000 * 2/3 = 78000
And using a confidence interval of +/-5%:
A copy of The Times might typically contain 75000 to 80000 words
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JJ’s Diner –
Profitability
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JJ’s Diner – Profitability
• Your client is JJ’s Diner, an American style diner that offers
premium-quality American burgers & fries, milkshakes and
waffles. JJ’s is a 30-year-old company, with 12 diners in
London.
• Traditionally JJ’s has targeted teenagers and young adults
offering meal deals and weekday promotional
• Over the past year, the client has seen profits in their
London West End stores drop by more than 10%.
What may have caused this reduction in
profits?
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If profitability has fallen…
For JJ’s this might be…
Average Price 
Revenue 
Sales Volume 
Profitability 
Fixed Costs 
(e.g, admin)
Costs 
Variable Costs 
(e.g., materials)
Reduced price for
promotions
Reduced to match
competition
Increased competition in West
End
Outdated offering
Customers buying less
products / eating healthier
Rental prices have gone up
Required new machinery
Increase in national
minimum/ national living
wage
Higher energy bills
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REI – Market Entry
and Profitability
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Question 4
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Question 4b
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Example market entry framework:
Example:
Enter new market
External factors
Industry
Competitors
Internal factors
Customers
State of business
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Your Structure vs. Frameworks:
Structure & headings
Frameworks – don’t force
• Profitability: P = R – C
• Porter’s 5 forces
• Enter market:
• 4 Cs
 Financials
• Kotler’s 4 Ps
 Market growth
 Competition
 Government/regulation
 Execution
• Cost benefit analysis
• SWOT
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Feedback, reflection, debrief
Structure – did you:
• Devise a framework or way to tackle the problem at the outset? (Don’t force frameworks!)
• Have to adapt this at any point?
Communicate – did you:
• Keep your interviewer informed of what you were doing/thinking?
• Ask clarifying questions?
• Develop a rapport with your interviewer?
Recommendations – did you:
• Come up with suitable estimates when asked?
• Work towards a conclusion with supporting evidence?
• Clarify or support an opinion?
What was easy? What was hard?
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Preparing for case studies
• Brush up your maths (formulae,
percentages)
• Key populations
• Market basics (profit, loss,
competition…)
• Practice with others – interview,
evaluate each other (the more you
practise, the better you get)
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Tips from consultants
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Structuring, maths, synthesis alone might get you to final
round but not guarantee the job
You should build a connection with the interviewer;
convince them you would be good with clients
Be aware of the frameworks but do not force the wrong
framework to a case
Be solutions-driven. “I’m not sure about this point, but this
is what I think/ how I would go about evaluating it..”
Bring your personal experiences to the case → be unique
Think of the case as if it is real. Show interest for the
business
Admit to and recognise mistakes and keep calm
throughout the case
Remember that the interviewer might be doing this case 100
times and having a long day!
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Resources
One-to-one case practice interviews! (book through CareerHub)
Case Coach and Vault– free subscription through LSE
LSE Careers:
Case interviews
Assessment Centres
Interviews
Other resources:
Watch L.E.K sample case video
Caseinterview.com (Victor Cheng)
Case In Point (a book by Mark P Cosentino)
Consulting Case 101 (for previous case examples)
PrepLounge
Hacking the case interview articles
Also, company’s own practice cases
Student societies:
LSESU Consultancy, Enactus, 180 Degrees Consulting,
Castore Consulting
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Thank you for your
participation!
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