McKinsey Guidelines for Case Preparation

Kellogg students who participate in McKinsey & Companys Case Interview

Workshops are usually asked to bring a prepared case to be used in breakout
sessions during the workshop. These guidelines are distributed in advance to aid
participants in their case preparation.

WHAT IS A CASE INTERVIEW?

A case is a description of a real business problem. Case interviews are designed
to test problem-solving skills. A case interview typically lasts 20 to 30 minutes
and is a verbal exchange between the interviewee and the interviewer. During a
case interview, the interviewee asks the interviewer questions to get enough data
to recommend a solution; the interviewer provides the information that is asked
for and helps the interviewee stay on track to develop an approach. At the end of
the interview, the interviewee should be able to recommend a solution to the
original problem presented by the interviewer. Understand that the interviewee
is not often expected to find a solution to the problem; a logically structured, factbased recommendation is usually enough.
Remember, the case interview is designed to mimic a typical McKinsey client
engagement: clients hire McKinsey to make a recommendation about a problem
that they are having. The objective of the interviewee is to identify the key issues
of the problem, develop potential approaches to making a recommendation, and
if possible, hypothesize a solution.

HELPFUL GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING YOUR CASE

The following sections provide guidelines developed by McKinsey & Company
to assist you during your case preparation.

Selecting Your Case

McKinsey interviewers choose their cases based on past business experiences.
When developing your own case, we suggest, if possible, that you do the same.
Try to draw on real-world experiences or business problems that you have been

exposed to as part of your Kellogg courses. These experiences and problems

provide a great foundation for a case. You can also pick an interesting situation
being covered in the media (e.g. BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, etc.).

Kicking-off Your Case Interview

Most cases start out with a phrase such as A CEO of a hockey equipment
manufacturer has asked McKinsey to... You are the Associate on the team and we
need to get back to the CEO with our preliminary answer to his or her question
within the next half an hour.
The following questions pose typical problems that you could expect in case
interviews. The case you develop for the workshop might involve the solution to
a similar question. Keep these types of questions in mind when developing your
case content.
? How should Company X respond to significant environmental changes?
? What products and to what customer segments should a company sell?
? Should Company X add capacity?
? How should Company X react to a new competitor?
? Should Company X enter/exit a new/old market?

Case Content & Delivery

As mentioned earlier, the meat of a case is a dialogue between the interviewee
and interviewer. The interviewee asks a series of questions to gather data
necessary to solve the case. The interviewer will ask probing questions, or
redirects the conversation if the interviewee becomes stuck or heads in a wrong
direction while approaching the problem.
To effectively deliver a case, it is critical that the interviewer has a deep
understanding of the facts and background of the case. Thus, most of our
interviewers have a background sheet(s) to refer to during the course of the
interview. Some interviewers take this one step further and prepare summary
charts of the key data the interviewee may need to solve the case.
Background sheets should contain all the information that the interviewee will
need to logically solve the case. We suggest that you prepare a background sheet
for your practice case, but please do not feel obligated to go into great detail. A
solid understanding of the problem, the relevant business issues, and possible
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solutions will be sufficient. Below, we have summarized some major categories

of information you might want to compile for your practice cases.

Element

Description

Problem definition

Be very clear in the problem that the client has asked

you to solve.

Industry

Understand what industry the client competes in and

what industry we are helping to evaluate (if different).

Competitive
environment

Understand the environment, including how

concentrated the industry is and why it has been
growing, shrinking, or staying the same.
Understand the relevant changes to the competitive
environment including changes in regulation, pressure
from new competitors, impact of technology, impact of
demographic trends, etc.

Customers segments

Understand the size, profitability and growth of the

key customer segments.

Competitors

Understand the market share, growth, profitability and

strategic starting points of our leading competitors.
Understand what the best players in the industry do
and why this is successful for them (you should also
understand why these strategies would work or fail for
your client).

Clients strategic
starting point

Understand the clients distinctive competencies and

capabilities.

Economics of business
decision

Have detailed support of the revenues, costs for the

company, major business units and customer segments
as necessary.
Have detailed support of the revenues, costs, capital
expenditures and potential NPV of any business
strategy alternatives.
Understand the breakdown of revenue and costs (e.g.
fixed versus variable).

This list is by no means exhaustive, but we hope it gives you a good start. If you
have difficulty preparing your case, please call Chuck Baren at (312) 551-3909 for
guidance.