Consulting case study examples, 12 cases to practice

1. Published story

   A firm's write-up of a project

   A short article on a firm's site: the client, the problem, what the firm did and the result. You see the outcome and little of the analysis, so read it as marketing and as material for why-this-firm answers.

2. Interview case

   A problem you solve live

   You hear a short prompt, ask questions, build a structure, get data only when you ask for it, do the math and recommend. Nobody hands you the answer.

1. Prompt

   The client and the question

   A paragraph or two. Write down the client's goal in its own words, because every later step answers to it.

2. Clarify

   Two or three questions

   What success means, the time frame, and anything that changed. Skip what you can work out yourself.

3. Structure

   A split that fits this client

   Three or four branches, said out loud, and where you would start.

   How to build a structure

4. Analyze

   Exhibits and math

   Read the chart or table for the one thing that matters, then do the math step by step with units.

5. Recommend

   Answer first

   The decision, the number behind it, the main risk and what you would do next.

A grocery chain with 60 stores is deciding whether to put self-checkout kiosks in every store. Management approves projects that pay back in under 4 years. Should it go ahead? An invented case, written for this page. Try the structure before you read on.

1. Structure

   Payback, store by store

   Payback is the upfront cost divided by the net yearly benefit. The benefit is labor saved, minus kiosk upkeep, minus anything the kiosks make worse. Ask whether the stores differ before you multiply by 60.

2. Data

   What you get when you ask

   20 large stores sell $35 million a year each and 40 small ones $12.5 million. A kiosk costs $25,000 installed and $3,000 a year to maintain. A large store gets 8 kiosks and closes 3 staffed lanes, a small one gets 4 and closes 1. Each lane uses 4,500 staff hours a year, the kiosk area needs one attendant for 4,500 hours, and staff cost $16 an hour. 30% of sales move to the kiosks, and theft and scanning losses on those sales rise by 0.5% of their value.

3. Large store

   Pays back in about 3.0 years

   8 kiosks cost $200,000. Closing 3 lanes frees 13,500 hours and the attendant uses 4,500, so 9,000 hours at $16 save $144,000 a year. Upkeep is $24,000, and extra losses are $35 million × 30% × 0.5% = $52,500. That leaves $67,500 a year, and $200,000 ÷ $67,500 is about 3.0 years.

4. Small store

   Never pays back

   4 kiosks cost $100,000. The one closed lane frees 4,500 hours and the attendant uses all of them. Upkeep is $12,000 and extra losses are $18,750, so each small store loses $30,750 a year.

5. Roll it up

   All 60 stores: about 67 years

   Kiosks in every store cost $8 million and return $1.35 million from the large stores minus $1.23 million lost in the small ones, $0.12 million a year, a payback of about 67 years. The 20 large stores alone cost $4 million and return $1.35 million, so they pay back in about 3.0 years.

6. Recommend

   Large stores only

   “Install kiosks in the 20 large stores, which pay back in about 3.0 years, inside the 4-year limit, and leave the small stores as they are. The number I trust least is the extra losses. If they top about 0.67% of kiosk sales, a large store takes longer than 4 years.” The blended answer says no and one segment says yes, which is why you ask how the stores differ first.

A firm's case study gives you the result and skips the reasoning. Work it backwards.

1. 1

   Write the prompt

   Turn the client's problem into one question, as an interviewer would ask it.

2. 2

   Close the page

   Spend five minutes on a structure, out loud.

3. 3

   List your data asks

   Name the three or four numbers you would want first.

4. 4

   Compare

   Reopen the page and check your levers against what the firm says it did.

Case 1 below, in the order the case runs. The steps name the parts, not what you find in them.

1. Goal and structure

   Restate, then split

   Restate the goal with the pledge as a limit, and lay out a profit tree.

2. Exhibits

   Say what each one shows

   Describe each exhibit in a sentence before you use it.

3. Profit math

   Work from the case data

   Do the math one step at a time, with units.

4. Ideas

   Group them

   Brainstorm fixes in a few groups, with the pledge as a limit.

5. Recommend

   Decision first

   Then the size of it, the risks and the next steps.

   Profitability framework and a free case

1. 1. Structure

   Read one prompt, then cover the page

   Give yourself two minutes and say your structure out loud. Then open the case's line on how to start and compare.

2. 2. Free case

   Work a full sample case, no sign-up

   A full case with a timer and a worked answer. Each case type page has its own.

   Free sample caseProfitabilityMarket entry

3. 3. Drill the math

   Speed up the arithmetic

   Most of these cases need one or two calculations done fast and right. Timed drills and a sizing builder help, both free.

   Case math drillsMarket sizing builder

4. 4. Out loud

   Run the full case with an AI interviewer

   Every case on this page is in Soreno's question bank under the same client name. Sign up free, then pick it there.

Profit fell, and the client wants the cause and a fix.

1. 1

   Crispfield Greens sells bagged salads to supermarkets. Six months ago it switched its bags to a compostable film to keep a public pledge. Since then, chargebacks for spoiled bags have soared and monthly profit fell from $900,000 to $200,000. What is driving the drop, and what should Crispfield do without going back on the pledge?

   Crispfield Greens · Agriculture and food · Easy · Interviewer-led

   Show how to start

   There is one known change here and a pledge to respect. Lay out how profit breaks down, then say what you would check first.

2. 2

   Ridgeway Cold Storage owns six refrigerated warehouses in the Midwest. Three years ago it made $24 million of operating profit on $120 million of revenue. Revenue is still $120 million, but profit is down to $15 million. Why, and what should Ridgeway do?

   Ridgeway Cold Storage · Industrial · Medium · Candidate-led

   Show how to start

   Revenue is flat and profit is falling. Build a profit tree you can explain line by line, and state a hypothesis early.

A client weighs a new market or a new service.

1. 3

   SwipeNode processes card payments for about 50,000 mid-sized B2B merchants in the US, mostly wholesalers and distributors. Many pay suppliers abroad by bank wire. SwipeNode could launch cross-border supplier payments over a digital-token settlement network: the merchant pays in dollars and the supplier receives local currency in its bank account the same day. Should SwipeNode enter, how should it price the service, and will merchants switch from wires?

   SwipeNode · Financial services · Easy · Candidate-led

   Show how to start

   You have three questions in one prompt. Agree on the order with the interviewer, then structure the first one fully.

2. 4

   Vestiura, a fast-fashion retailer, has had flat revenue for two years, and more shoppers say they want to buy fewer new clothes. It ran a six-month pilot of a monthly clothing rental subscription in one city. Would launching it be profitable for Vestiura as a whole, and how should it be positioned so it doesn't hurt the stores?

   Vestiura · Retail and consumer · Medium · Interviewer-led

   Show how to start

   Profit comes first in the CEO's question and positioning second. Ask what the pilot measured and how, since the rest of the case rests on it.

A client wants to buy a company and asks whether the deal works.

1. 5

   Halvern Machinery makes excavators and loaders. Most of its diagnostic sensors come from one supplier, Kestrom Sensors, which earns $20 million of operating profit on $80 million of revenue. Halvern's CEO wants to buy Kestrom for $200 million to secure supply and keep that 25% margin. Does the deal make financial sense?

   Halvern Machinery · Industrial · Easy · Interviewer-led

   Show how to start

   Write down the two reasons the CEO gives for the deal, then ask for the data that would test each one.

2. 6

   StreamWave, a video streaming platform, has agreed in principle to buy Loudhaven, a network of about 50 podcasts, for $250 million. Loudhaven makes $50 million a year of ad revenue and $20 million of operating profit. Before signing, the CEO wants the main risks in this price and what to do about them.

   StreamWave · Media and entertainment · Easy · Interviewer-led

   Show how to start

   The CEO is asking about risk in a price. Test what today's profit depends on before you accept the multiple.

The client has to set or change a price.

1. 7

   HorizonDevelop sold 80 of the 100 condos in its luxury tower quickly. The 20 penthouses have sat at $5 million each for a year with no sale. The sales team wants to hold the price and sell over about three years. The CFO wants a 15% cut to sell fast. Which price recovers the most money?

   HorizonDevelop · Real estate · Hard · Candidate-led

   Show how to start

   Decide what "recovers the most money" should measure before you compare the two plans.

2. 8

   Prairiestead Seeds has bred a corn seed that keeps most of its yield in a drought and yields the same as standard seed in a normal year. It will launch in three regions at a premium per acre. The CEO wants the premium to reflect the value farmers get, but that value only appears if a drought happens. How should Prairiestead price it?

   Prairiestead Seeds · Agriculture and food · Hard · Interviewer-led

   Show how to start

   Value-based pricing starts on the farm. Ask how the seed changes a farmer's harvest and income, and talk about price only after that.

One growth bet and one operations choice.

1. 9

   CruiseQuest runs 10 ships on 7-night Caribbean cruises, each stopping at three public ports. Fares are under pressure, and the CEO wants at least $100 million a year more profit without raising them. One idea is to buy and develop a private island to replace one port stop on every cruise. Would the island pay off?

   CruiseQuest · Travel · Easy · Interviewer-led

   Show how to start

   Set the CEO's $100 million as the bar, then lay out what the island would earn and cost each year.

2. 10

   Brightrack Systems assembles servers in the US from parts made in Asia. Each month one shipment of chips and one of chassis and power supplies arrive by sea, 30 days door to door. Air would take 3 days, but the freight quotes are ten times the sea rate. Should Brightrack switch to air, and for what?

   Brightrack Systems · Technology · Medium · Candidate-led

   Show how to start

   Agree on what "cost" should include before you compare air and sea.

A market estimate tied to a launch, and a city's emergency choice.

1. 11

   OrthoNova has built a portable robotic arm for outpatient knee replacements. Each arm is sold to a facility, and every surgery uses a single-use attachment that only OrthoNova makes. The board will launch only if the US market is at least $250 million a year. How would you size it?

   OrthoNova · Healthcare · Medium · Interviewer-led

   Show how to start

   Say which way you will size it and why. The board's $250 million bar means the number feeds a yes or no, so keep it in view.

2. 12

   A cold snap will keep nights far below freezing for 14 days. About 400 people without homes are sheltering in 10 subway stations at night. The mayor wants warm places for them to sleep, quickly, humanely and at a reasonable cost, without disrupting morning service. The options are two leased warehouses or idle city buses parked at the stations. What do you recommend?

   NexaCity Transit Authority · Public sector · Easy · Interviewer-led

   Show how to start

   Turn the mayor's goals into criteria you can score both options on, then ask for data.

• Revenue where profit was asked

  Options compared on sales alone. Bring costs in before you pick one.

• Fixed costs left out

  A healthy margin per unit can still lose money once the yearly overhead comes off.

• The whole market

  Size the part the client can actually serve or sell into.

• A no with nothing after it

  If the plan fails, offer another way to reach the client's goal.