Which case type is this?
Signals that point to each case type, common mistakes, and ten practice prompts.
Key takeaways
- Listen for the decision or the question: "why did profit fall" is profitability, "should we enter" is market entry, "how many" is a guesstimate, "should we buy" is M&A.
- Common triage mistakes: Choosing the type from the industry instead of the question (a hospital case can be pricing, capacity, or M&A).
- "Profit fell" or "margins are down": profitability, or P&L if you are given a statement.
- "Should we enter" a place or segment where the company is absent: market entry.
- "How can we grow": growth strategy. "What should we charge": pricing.
Before you structure, name the main question the client needs answered. The case type follows from that question, not from the industry. Many cases mix types (a market entry with a sizing step, a profitability case with a pricing question), so name the main type first and the sub-questions second.
Key idea
Listen for the decision or the question: "why did profit fall" is profitability, "should we enter" is market entry, "how many" is a guesstimate, "should we buy" is M&A. The industry only changes the details.
Signals and the case type they point to
- "Profit fell" or "margins are down": profitability, or P&L if you are given a statement.
- "Should we enter" a place or segment where the company is absent: market entry. A nearby space it partly serves: market expansion.
- "How can we grow": growth strategy. "What should we charge": pricing.
- "Should we buy this company" or "a fund is looking at": M&A and due diligence.
- "Should we launch": new product launch. "A rival did X": competitive response.
- "Too slow" or "queues": operations. "Can we meet demand": capacity and supply chain. "Cut cost by X percent": cost cutting.
- "Is this project worth it": investment. "Tell me about this industry": market study. "Sales keep falling": turnaround.
- "A charity or ministry wants": public and social sector, or government and economic development for national targets.
- "Use AI" or "digital": digital and AI transformation. "Emissions" or "net zero": sustainability.
- "Drug", "hospital", or "insurer of health": healthcare. "Loses money per order", "churn", or "CAC": unit economics.
- "Bank" or "insurer" profit: financial services P&L. "Too many managers" or "after the merger": organization and integration.
- "How many" or "how big": guesstimate. Anything else: non-standard, so build from first principles.
Why the type matters: it tells you which goal maths to write
- Profitability or P&L: profit = revenue minus cost.
- Market entry or expansion: value = market x share x profit per unit, minus fixed and entry costs.
- Growth: revenue = customers x purchases per customer x price, plus any new revenue lines.
- Pricing: profit = (price minus variable cost) x volume, with value to the buyer as the ceiling.
- M&A: most we should pay = value on its own + net synergies, compared with the price.
- Operations and capacity: output = the lower of demand and the slowest step.
- Investment: NPV = yearly cash in today's money minus the upfront cost.
- Guesstimate: size = buyers x units each buys x price.
- Public sector: outcome = people reached x effect per person, per unit of money.
- Anything else: write the simple equation that describes the system, then let the business tell you which part matters.
Choosing the type from the industry instead of the question (a hospital case can be pricing, capacity, or M&A). Missing the second question inside the case. Announcing the type out loud instead of using it quietly to build a tailored structure.
Practice: classify these ten prompts
1. "Our client's profit fell 15 percent last year while revenue grew. Why?"
2. "A Japanese retailer asks whether to open stores in the UAE, where it has no presence."
3. "How many electric-vehicle chargers will Germany need by 2030?"
4. "A rival cut prices 20 percent. What should we do?"
5. "A private-equity fund is considering buying a chain of dental clinics in the UK."
6. "A ministry wants 30 million visitors a year by 2030. How many hotel rooms are needed?"
7. "A bank's profit fell after interest rates dropped."
8. "A food-delivery app is growing fast but loses money on every order."
9. "A steelmaker must cut its emissions 40 percent by 2030 at the lowest cost."
10. "A hospital's emergency department has six-hour waits."
Find the client's main question first; the case type, and your structure, follow from it.
Sources for this lesson (1)
- Recognized public explanations of case-interview concepts and terms
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