Types of case interviews

Most cases are variations on four archetypes. Know the driver logic and the standard structure of each. And remember the warning in hypothesis-driven structuring: the standard structure is a starting scaffold you bend to the specific problem, never a template you recite.

(a) Profitability (the most common). "Our profits are falling — why, and what do we do?" This is the profit tree. Structure: isolate revenue vs cost; within revenue, volume vs price; within volume, market vs share; within cost, variable vs fixed; look for a mix story with a segment cut. Diagnose with a bridge, then move to levers. The classic trap is jumping to solutions before you have located the leak.

(b) Market entry. "Should Company X enter market/geography/segment Y?" Standard structure, four blocks:

1. Market attractiveness: size, growth, profitability/margins, structure (fragmented or concentrated).
2. Right to win (capability). Does X have the assets, brand, distribution, and cost position to compete here, or a real competitive advantage it can port over? A good market you cannot win in is a trap.
3. Entry economics and mode: build vs buy vs partner/JV vs license/franchise; the investment required, the breakeven, and a rough NPV or payback.
4. Risks and recommendation: regulatory, competitive response, execution; then a clear go / no-go / go-conditionally.

The signature insight of a market-entry case is separating a good market from a good position in that market. They are different questions, and the answer hinges on the second.

How do you structure an M&A case interview?

(c) M&A / acquisition. "Should Company A buy Company B?" Structure around four questions:

1. Strategic rationale. Why this deal? Scale, capability, market access, defensive? A deal without a rationale you can state in one sentence is usually a bad deal.
2. Standalone value + synergies. What is B worth on its own, and what incremental value does the combination create (cost synergies, revenue synergies), net of one-time cost-to-achieve?
3. Price and value creation. Value is created only if standalone value + net synergies > price paid. The control premium must be earned by the synergies; otherwise the acquirer overpays and the target's shareholders capture all the value.
4. Alternatives and risks. Could A build or partner instead? Integration risk, culture, over-optimistic synergy estimates. The dominant trap is synergy inflation: double-counting, ignoring dis-synergies, and assuming instant, costless capture. Worked example 5 puts numbers on exactly this.

How do you structure a pricing case interview?

(d) Pricing. "How should we price this (new) product?" Three lenses, used together:

1. Cost-based (the floor). You generally will not sell below variable cost; cost-plus sets a minimum, but it ignores what the market will bear.
2. Competition-based (the reference). What do substitutes and rivals charge? This anchors the customer's sense of "fair," but pure matching leaves value on the table.
3. Value-based (the ceiling and the real answer). What is the product worth to the customer, in money saved or made? Price captures a share of the value you create. For a drug that prevents a ₹1,00,000 hospitalization, cost-plus is irrelevant; value is the anchor.

Layer in price elasticity (how volume responds to price) and the revenue/contribution trade-off: a price rise lifts margin per unit but costs volume; the question is always whether the margin gained beats the volume lost. Worked example 4 works this through for a software product where marginal cost is near zero, the case where pricing power is most valuable and most mis-set.

Which other case formats come up?

Two more formats appear often enough to name. Growth strategy ("how do we double in three years?") wants a lever tree: same-store/organic vs new customers vs new products vs new geographies vs M&A. Operations/turnaround ("margins collapsed — fix them") wants a process/value-chain cut on cost and throughput. Both reuse the profit tree and the structuring cuts above.