Oxford-Said 2019

Consulting Careers Student Case Book
Career Development Centre 2019-2020

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre
Contents I. Introduction 3 V. Advanced challenge level cases:
II. Personal case progress log 7 11. Holland energy co 65

12. Fair Labour Chocolate 71
III. Beginner challenge level cases:
13. Ferryco 76
1. Filmweb 11
14. Futuropolis city 84
2. Edtech 15
15. Bebank 90
3. Salvadora 21
4. RoastHouse 27 VI. Blank pages for case practice 97
5. No more cold 34
IV. Medium challenge level cases:

6. Morefriends Social Media 38
7. Overstock tea farm 43
8. High-speed railway 48
9. Purple pox 52
10. Auto 58
© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre

Welcome to the Oxford Saïd Career Development Centre’s Consulting Careers Case Book.
When embarking on a career transition into a consulting firm, one of the most challenging
aspects is how to prepare and refine your case interviewing skills. The Consulting Careers
team has built a robust case skills development pathway to take you from case novice to case
guru. From your pre-arrival online learning thorough our on-campus workshops and finally, into
one to one practice interviews with our excellent Industry Advisor team, you will become more
capable and confident.
Introduction
This case book brings together not just a suite of practice cases; it also includes a log to
—Welcome monitor your progress from case to case and to track your focus areas for the next time. We
recommend you use this book in conjunction with the wider programme and resources we
provide, such as PrepLounge, an extensive case library, which also offers additional one to
one practices.
The cases build in challenge level, using the models and process described in the Consulting
Development Programme module “Developing your consulting skills”. They cover a broad
range of sectors and case styles. We believe there is something in this book for everyone,
whether you are seeking a generalist or specialist consulting role, an internal consulting role or
a social impact one.
So, what are you waiting for? Dive right in.
Sarae Pratt
Head of Consulting Careers
SBS Consulting Careers Team (L to R):
Maria Dooley Contact details
Career Coach & Employer Engagement Manager Drop in and see us at the Career Development Centre at
Park End Street.
Sarae Pratt
Head of Consulting Careers
James Nugent Or reach us via:

Career Coach & Employer Engagement Manager consultingcareers@sbs.ox.ac.uk © 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 3
How to use this book
It is most useful to practice cases with someone else. The person giving the case, called “the
interviewer”, does not have to be someone with consulting experience as the cases include
instructions and answers.
Do not look at the cases unless you intend to give one as a case interview to someone
else, also known as “the candidate”. If you intend to do the cases yourself with an interviewer,
Introduction reading them before will provide you with the answers and will limit your learning.
—Book Guide If you are interviewing someone, read the case thoroughly before giving it. Assume the role of
an interviewer in a consulting firm, sometimes this means pretending to be the client in the
case. Let the candidate lead you through the case and it is okay for a candidate to struggle a
bit, even a few minutes, but help them and provide them with guiding questions or answers
when they are too stuck.
If a candidate asks questions for data or information that is not provided in the case, it is
generally okay to say, we do not have that information, as this is also often reality with
consulting clients. As an interviewer, another good question to ask in that situation is: why do
you want to know that? Then guide the candidate by saying, interesting point, but this is not an
important focus for this case.
Levels of challenge
Beginner cases are of an easy challenge level, include simple math, and are a good
introduction for candidates who have done less than 5 cases. Medium cases introduce new
frameworks and include conceptual challenges in addition to extended math and analyses.
These cases are a good level for candidates who have done at least 5 cases, but no more
than 10. Advanced cases are the most complex, not necessarily in math, but are more difficult
to solve and require a confident structured approach. These are best for practice after having
done at least 8 cases.
© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 3
Case format
The cases in this book generally contain these sections:

• Cover page: has summary information about the case and shows whether the case will be
interviewer led—where the interviewer leads what will be analysed or discussed by asking
questions during a case; or candidate led—where the candidate leads the entire case from
beginning to end
• Background: introduces the case and presents the first question to ask the candidate
• Suggested structure: provides an example of what a framework could be for this case, but
Introduction does not always mean that structure is the only right answer
—Book Guide • Data: to be provided verbally or through a handout to the candidate, if asked for
• Findings after first analysis: gives the interviewer the answers the candidate should get
• Additional data: to be provided verbally or through a handout, if asked for, and is usually
asked for due to a finding in the first analysis
• Findings after additional data and analyses: provides the answers for the interviewer on
analyses the candidate does after receiving additional data
• Conclusion: candidate is expected to present their conclusion in a concise and clear
manner with creative recommendations. The conclusion is there for the interviewer
• Handouts: these can be found at the end of the case, but are referred to in bold in the text
when they are needed
• Blank pages: at the end of the book are blank pages for you to use during case practice
Colour scheme
• Light blue box in a suggested structure: the right hypothesis to solve the case. If the entire
suggested structure has grey boxes, then the entire structure is needed to do analyses and
to solve the case, i.e. with some market sizing cases
• Yellow box with arrow end: question, or optional question, to ask candidate; optional
questions are to be asked if the candidate is fast in solving the case
• Blue rectangle box with white text: information or data to be given verbally to the candidate
• Key insights: they are underlined and are big clues to be shared with the candidate if asked
for or can be shared if the candidate struggles, but are needed to solve the case
Personal Case Progress Log
Use the personal case progress log to track the cases you have done and to follow your
development. Always do feedback at the end of the case with your interviewer or candidate.
Ask the candidate how they think they performed: what went well? What would you do the
same next time? What are areas for improvement? Note the feedback in the log and have a
look at the log before you do your next case so you remember the areas to focus on. There
Introduction are extra rows to note additional cases you have practiced outside of this case book.
—Progress and PrepLounge

PrepLounge How to access additional unlimited case interview support with PrepLounge:
Getting started is easy – just 4 simple steps:

a) Go to http://www.preplounge.com/en/uni/sbs
b) Register with your university email address ending either @said.oxford.edu or
@sbs.ox.ac.uk. (We are providing free premium access to these two domains only – using
your personal address will not access our subscription)
c) Go to your inbox and verify your email to activate your premium membership
d) Start using the services!
Once you have registered, you can:

• access case materials (from firms and individuals),
• review a range of training materials and utilise skills development tools (mental maths and
brain teaser)
• use their Q&A forum to get specific advice on different firms’ approaches, methodologies
and models
• book live interviews with a range of current and former consultants, around the globe in
various languages at a time to suit your commitments

Oxford Saïd Personal Case Progress Log
Skills tested /
# Case name Challenge Sector What did I do well? What can I do better next time?
category
Digital
1 Filmweb Beginner
subscription
2 Edtech Beginner Education
Online retail /
3 Salvadora Beginner
digital
4 RoastHouse Beginner Retail
5 No more cold Medium Pharmaceutical
Global
Morefriends
6 Medium Industries /
Social Media
Technology
Overstock tea
7 Medium Agriculture
farm
High-speed
8 Medium Transportation
railway

Skills tested /
category
9 Purple pox Medium Social Impact
10 Auto Medium Automotive
Holland energy
11 Advanced Energy
co
Fair Labour
12 Advanced NGO Food
Chocolate
Finance PE /
13 FerryCo Advanced
Transportation
Government /
14 Futuropolis city Advanced Transportation /
city planning
Fintech / start-
15 Bebank Advanced
up
16

Skills tested /
category
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Skills tested /
category
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

1. Filmweb
• Level of challenge: beginner
• Sector/industry: subscription based digital business
• Skills tested: profit – revenue, quantity and pricing
• Type: candidate led

Oxford Saïd Case 1: Filmweb
Background
• Our client is an online digital streaming platform for films and series, called Filmweb
• They have been around for about a decade and are the number 2 platform in the market in North America and Western Europe
• The amount of viewings have been exponentially increasing on the platform in the past 2 years, but revenue growth is not in line
with the increase in viewings
1. How can our client Filmweb increase revenue?
• The candidate should draw a framework focused on revenue, that structures the problem logically, while covering important details
Suggested structure
• The candidate should use a similar structure, preferably more detailed, and should ask for data after drawing the structure
• Key insights:
• both the price for the subscription as well as the quantity are the reason for revenues to grow at a slower rate than by how much
viewings have increased
• The price is significantly lower than what people would be willing to pay
• Members with a subscription are allowed to use the platform on 6 different devices and are lending it out to family members and
friends for free
# of renewed
subscriptions
Quantity or #
of members # of new
subscriptions
Revenue
Filmweb
Price per Price
subscription increase
Data
• After drawing the structure, the candidate should ask for data, this can be shared verbally if asked:
• Total revenue last year: £6Bn

• Total revenue two years ago: £5.76Bn
• Number of members with subscriptions last year: 50Mn
• Number of members with subscriptions two years ago: 48Mn
• Total viewings last year: 500Mn hours a week of content
• Total viewings two years ago: 125Mn hours a week of content
• Price for a subscription: £10 per month
Findings after first analysis

• The candidate should analyse and see that viewings have increased by 400% or 4x the viewing level 2 years ago, whereas the
number of subscriptions have increased by about 4.17% or 2/48
• Candidate should dive into why viewings have increased a lot more than subscriptions and ask if there is any information on how
many devices a member can use the account on
• The candidate should also ask about price elasticity and if there is any information on the consumer’s willingness to pay
Additional data
• Members can use their login account on 6 devices simultaneously: laptops, tablets, and smartphones
• On average members share their login details with 3 other friends or family members for free
• There is only 1 subscription option: £10 per month
• Consumer research shows that if we increase the price to £12 per month, a 20% increase, volume decreases by 0.1%, beyond
£12 volume decreases more drastically

Findings after additional data and analysis

• The candidate should see that the amount of devices that members have access to has caused the increase in viewings, but low
increase in revenue
• Extensive analyses and calculations for the increase in viewings are not necessary, guide the candidate to state the finding and
remind them to also focus on a possible price increase if they forget to cover that
• Additionally, price can be increased to £12 per month, which will mean a small volume decrease of 0.1% or a loss of 50,000
members with subscriptions
• It still means a significant increase in revenue: £12 x 12 months x 49,950,000 members = £7,129,800,000, or about £7.130Bn
• Before revenue was £6Bn
Conclusion
• If the candidate keeps on analysing and wanting to do more calculations when having solved the case already, guide them to
conclude with the following optional question:
3. How would you summarise your findings and suggestions to the client?
• The candidate should conclude that the 6 device allowance per subscription is leading to oversharing of the account to new users,
without Filmweb gaining revenue and that also pricing is low compared to what the market is willing to pay
• Recommendations:
• Limit the amount of devices to 3 per subscription
• Offer a premium membership option that allows for more devices
• Increase the subscription price to £12 per month
• Offer a basic, premium, and premium plus subscription option to capture other segments of consumers

2. Edtech
• Sector/industry: education
• Skills tested: market sizing, break-even analysis, math, use of
data handout
• Type: interviewer led

Oxford Saïd Case 2: Edtech
Background
• Your client is the European start-up, Edtech. Edtech’s primary product is a software tool that can correct students’ assignments
using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology
1. What is Edtech’s current market penetration in France?
• Market penetration here means a percentage, specifically the number of school classes currently using the service out of the total
number of potential relevant school classes in France that could use the service
• The candidate should structure the problem and ask for relevant information to identify what variables and number assumptions to
use
Suggested structure
• The candidate should draw a similar structure, before jumping into making assumptions and doing calculations
• The numbers in this suggested structure have been added for the interviewer’s ease but are not expected to be drawn in and
calculated immediately by the candidate; the numbers can be found and further explained in the next blue data box
Classrooms that use Population size

the service (20,000) (65Mn)
Market penetration %
(5.13%)
Potential classrooms % target 6-18 age
in France (390,000) group (15%)
Average classroom
size (25)
Data
• Data in the blue box can be provided verbally to the candidate if asked for and the candidate may round off numbers
• The service is used by a school class, i.e. a teacher subscribes to the service on behalf of the class. Individual students do no
subscribe to the service
• Currently 20,000 school classes use the service in France
• It can be assumed that there are 25 students in each class in France
• The service is fit for elementary, middle and high school. The service is not fit for University level education. This means that
relevant students are between 6 and 18 years old
• It can be assumed that all children in the relevant age bracket are in school
• The French population can be assumed to be 65Mn
• By assuming a maximum age of 80 years old and equal proportions or distribution of all ages, then 6-18 years old is 12/80 = 15%
of the population

• With the assumptions made here, the estimated potential number of target classrooms in France is 390,000. This gives a current
market penetration of 20.000/390.000 = 5.13% or about 5%
2. At what market penetration will Edtech be profitable?
• Revenue is generated through a subscription model, where a classroom subscribes to the service
• An annual subscription costs €50
• Sales are automated online and Edtech does not incur a cost when making a sale. Customer service is automated with Chat Bots
• Last year, total costs were €1.1Mn. Most costs will stay the same, but the CEO would like you to use the new staffing plan in the
break-even calculation → Share handout 2A


• The following can be calculated based on handout 2A
Function Old staffing New staffing Monthly salary Old staffing plan, New staffing plan,
plan, FTEs plan, FTEs monthly salaries monthly salaries
Founder & CEO 1 1 € 10,000 10,000 10,000
Software developers 3 6 € 8,000 24,000 48,000
Marketing / sales 2 6 € 7,000 14,000 42,000
Strategy & BD 0 2 € 8,000 0 16,000
Interns 2 9 € 1,000 2,000 9,000
Total annual salaries 8 24 600,000 1,500,000
• Costs will increase by €0.9Mn. Meaning that total cost will be €1.1Mn + €0.9Mn = €2Mn
• With €50 per classroom, it requires 2.000.000/50 = 40.000 classroom to break even. This is 100% more than current number of
classrooms
• This requires a 40.000/390.000 = 10.26% market penetration instead of the current 5.13% market penetration Edtech has

Conclusion
3. Please summarise your findings to the CEO of Edtech
• With the new staffing plan, the client will need to double its revenues in order to break-even
• We have found that current market penetration in France is 5.13% This can be achieved by doubling the market penetration in
France from currently 5.13% to 10.26%. The French market is hence large enough for the company to potentially break-even in
• Creative recommendations to achieve this:

• Run a discount campaign based on referrals from teacher to teacher, e.g. a discount is released if 3 referrals sign-up
• Maybe target whole schools and not classrooms
• Start targeting universities or standardised test organisations like SAT or GMAT

Show to candidate when relevant
Handout 2A: Staffing plan
Function Old staffing New staffing Monthly salary

plan, FTEs plan, FTEs
Founder & CEO 1 1 € 10,000
Software developers 3 6 € 8,000
Marketing / sales 2 6 € 7,000
Strategy & Business Development 0 2 € 8,000
Interns 2 9 € 1,000

3. Salvadora
• Sector/industry: technology / digital
• Skills tested: profit – revenue, math, use of data handouts

Oxford Saïd Case 3: Salvadora
Background
• Salvadora is a European fashion e-commerce company. It sells a variety of established fashion brands through its online store.
They want to explore strategies to achieve further growth
1. What are Salvadora’s options for growing revenue?

• The candidate should draw a framework focused on revenue, that structures the problem logically, while covering important details
Suggested structure
• One approach is to use a framework like the one below and challenge the candidate by asking “what else” and by encouraging the
candidate to propose specific strategies for each component of the framework
Suggested structure Potential initiatives
• Entering new geographical market
Increasing traffic • Introducing new products
Increasing # of • Better Search Engine Optimisation
orders
• Better user flow
Increasing • Better recommendations
conversion
• Better loyalty programmes
Increasing revenue
• Bundling
Increasing items / • Other incentives (conditional free shipping)
order
Increasing order
size • Price-segmentation
Increasing value of
• Changing product mix
items
• Promotion of high-value items

• Share handout 3A with the candidate. If needed, clarify that traffic is annual number of webpage visitors, footfalls are visitors not
making a purchase and purchases is the number of purchases of any value
2. By how much would revenue increase if the conversion rate increased to the benchmark level?
• Salvadora’s average order size is €80.00
• Current conversion rate is 950,000/24,500,000 = 3.88%. This is not vital to calculate exactly, but the candidate should see that
currently Salvadora’s conversion rate is lower than the benchmark level of 5%
• At 5% conversion rate, the number of purchases is 1,225,000. This is an increase of 1,225,000-950,000 = 275.000. Multiplied by
average order size of €80 gives 22,000,000
• Revenue would increase by €22Mn
• Optional follow-up question you can ask the candidate if they are performing well and going through the case fast:
Why do you think benchmark competitors have a higher conversion rate?
• Reasons may include segment differences in conversion rates, better user interfaces, more returning customers

• Share handout 17B with the candidate
3. What does the collected data tell you about attractiveness of different segments?

• If the candidate is stuck, ask them to calculate the total % growth from year 0 to year 4 (not CAGR) for purchases and average
order value in each segment. Growth rates are shown below:
Growth % year 0-4 Purchases Average order size

Clothing 11% 12%
Shoes 33% 0%
Bags & Accessories 33% 12%
• Clothing will continue to be the largest segment. The clothing segment is strictly larger than the two others in terms of both
purchases and average order size. At all projected periods, clothing is greater than the two other segments combined
• Bags & Accessories will show the highest growth. Candidates should realise that Shoes and Bags & Accessories show the
highest growth in number of purchases, while Clothing and Bags & Accessories show the highest growth in terms of average order
size
• Focusing on Bags & Accessories is particularly attractive, since it may be easier to upsell another order with accessories
than with shoes. Assuming that some accessory items have smaller price points than e.g. shoes
Conclusion
4. Please summarise your findings
• Our analysis reveals an opportunity of growing revenues by €22Mn, by increasing the conversion rate to the level of the key
competitors, 5%. Salvadora could improve their website recommendations and user flows to achieve this
• Further, to achieve high growth the Bags & Accessories should be prioritised over the Shoes segment, as the former shows the
highest projected growth rates. Also, focus should be on the Clothing segment which will continue to be the largest segment in the
coming years

Handout 3A: Salvadora and benchmark conversion data

Salvadora conversion data Top 3 competitor benchmark conversion data
Note: Traffic is annual number of webpage visitors, footfalls are visitors not making a purchase and purchases is the number of
purchases of any value

Handout 3B: European market projections
Market sales projections

Million units
Years from now
0 1 2 3 4
Clothing 270 280 285 290 300
Shoes 150 158 170 180 200
Bags & Accessories 150 160 170 180 200
Market average order size projections

€ / order
Years from now
0 1 2 3 4
Clothing 250 250 260 270 280
Shoes 60 60 60 60 60
Bags & Accessories 50 51 53 55 56

4. RoastHouse
• Sector/industry: retail
• Skills tested: profit – cost, also pricing, math, use of data
handouts
• Guidance: the case includes a first part about identifying the root
problem and a second part about potential solutions, focusing
mainly on pricing. While the case is candidate-led, guide the
candidate to the next relevant step, when needed

Oxford Saïd Case 4: RoastHouse
Background
• The client is a coffee chain, RoastHouse, offering a small assortment of different types of coffee. The company’s profits have
decreased, and the client has hired you to assess why and to propose relevant strategies
1. What caused the fall in profits?
• The candidate should structure the problem and ask for relevant information to identify the cause
Suggested structure
• The candidate should draw a similar structure, preferably more detailed, and should ask for data after drawing the structure
• Key insight: a shift in product mix towards lower margin products has caused profits to decline, despite no change in level of
revenue
Revenue
Profits Fixed costs
Product mix
RoastHouse (FC)
Costs
Variable VC / unit for
costs (VC) each product
Quantity

Data
• RoastHouse sells 4 types of coffee: Americano, Latte, Iced Americano, Iced Latte
• All products are sold for £2.00
• Variable costs per unit are £0.4 for coffee beans, £0.2 for paper cups, £0.1 for lids and £0.45 other costs (includes fixed costs) for
all types of coffee. For Latte variants there is an additional cost of £0.15 for milk
• Per unit costs of iced and regular variants can be assumed equal
• The per unit costs have not changed over time
Irrelevant data, but may be asked by the candidate:

• Fixed costs are stable and have not changed and are covered in the variable cost per unit
• Profits last year was £1.475Mn and the year before it was £1.625Mn
• If the candidate asks for sales figures, share handout 4A

• Sales volume and price points are unchanged
• Variable cost per unit is £1.30 for Lattes, which on a price of £2.00, means a profit margin of £0.70
• Variable cost per unit is £1.15 for Americanos, which on a price of £ 2.00, means a profit margin of £0.85
• Product mix has changed. Iced Latte takes up a large share of sales
• The profit margin on Latte variants is 35%, which is lower than on Americano drinks, which is 42.5%
• The candidate should conclude that the declining profit margin is caused by this change in product mix

New analysis
• If the candidate does not start discussing potential solutions spontaneously, ask the following question:
2. What can be done to increase profits again?
• Potential solutions include sales or marketing efforts to change product mix, change of recipes, new product introductions, cost
reductions, and pricing
• When the candidate has discussed potential strategies, tell the candidate that the client would like to explore new pricing strategies
for the Latte variants and share handout 4B. Below is the table from the handout with additional calculations:
Price of Latte, £ Expected annual quantity demanded Expected annual revenue, £ Expected annual profit, £
1.5 1,750,000 2,625,000 350,000
2 1,500,000 3,000,000 1,050,000
2.5 1,250,000 3,125,000 1,500,000
3 1,000,000 3,000,000 1,700,000
3.5 750,000 2,625,000 1,650,000

• Key insight: £225.000 can be added in profit if the price of latte products is raised by £1.00 to £3.00. This will more than offset the
initial decline in profit
• The price of Latte that optimises profit, £3.00, is higher than the price that optimises revenue, £2.50
• Good candidates may recognise the risk that a large price increase may be harmful to RoastHouse’s reputation and that the
reduced demanded quantity also decreases the opportunities of upselling, e.g. also selling cookies, bottled water, etc.

Conclusion
3. How would you summarise your findings and suggestions to the CEO?
• The decline in profit is caused by change in product mix related to the introduction of new iced product variants
• The price of Latte variants should be increased to £3 to increase profits

• It is important to note the risk that the price increase will have a harmful effect on RoastHouse’s reputation. It should consider
only increasing the price to £2.5
• Additionally, it could be interesting to investigate the potential of introducing additional products that would complement coffee,
such as cookies, bottled water, juice, fruit, other snacks, etc.

Handout 4A: Sales development
Sales volume Revenue

Units sold £
-
-
1,000,000
500,000
1,250,000 2,500,000
1,500,000 3,000,000
250,000 500,000
250,000 500,000
250,000 500,000
2017 2018 2017 2018
2018 new product

Americano Latte Iced Americano Iced Latte introductions

Handout 4B: Pricing study
Price of Latte, £ Expected annual quantity demanded
1.5 1,750,000
2 1,500,000
2.5 1,250,000
3 1,000,000
3.5 750,000
Note: this total quantity demanded for Latte variants is based on the assumption that Americano prices are not changing

5. No more cold
• Sector/industry: pharmaceuticals
• Skills tested: market sizing, math

Oxford Saïd Case 5: No more cold
Background
• The client, Next Pharma, has recently developed a breakthrough discovery: they have invented a pill that vaccinates patients
against colds
• Vaccination means it prevents patients from getting colds for a certain amount of years
• Although the drug has not yet passed the trials needed to be launched, Next Pharma has requested help to develop the launch
strategy for this new drug in the U.S.A.
1. How many pills should Next Pharma expect to sell in the U.S.A. the first year after launch?
• The candidate should structure the problem and ask for relevant information
Suggested structure
• The candidate should use structured reasoning and a combination of provided data and assumptions based on their own experience
to estimate the market base and should use a structure similar to the one below
• The numbers in this suggested structure have been added for the interviewer’s ease but are not expected to be drawn in and
calculated immediately by the candidate; the numbers can be found and further explained in the next blue data box
US population (350Mn)
# annual treatable
Share of population 10
occurrences
years+ (7/8)
(306,250,000)
Pills / year (183,750,000) Pills per occurrence (6) Pills / day (3)
Adoption rate (10%) Days of treatment (2)

Data
• Data in the blue box can be provided verbally to the candidate if asked for and the candidate may round off numbers in their
assumptions
• Patients take the drug 3 times a day for 2 days to be vaccinated

• The drug should not be given to children less than 10 years old
• The drug can be assumed to be considerably more effective than any other product currently on the market
• When taken once, the patient will be vaccinated for 10 years
• Based on information from previous product launches, it can be assumed that the first-year adoption rate is 10%

• With the assumptions shown here, the candidate should find that Next Pharma should expect to sell 3,675,000,000 pills in the first
year
2. This drug is a vaccination. What does that mean to sales in the following years?
• This is a vaccination that lasts 5 years
• Since this is a vaccination that lasts 5 years, Next Pharma should not expect the same patients who received the drug in the first
year after launch to use it again in the coming 5 years
• This question does not expect extensive analyses and calculations, but aim is for the candidate to discuss what it would mean
conceptually. Therefore if needed, tell the candidate to explain the analyses and discuss their thinking, instead of calculating it out
• One should expect that a certain fraction of each generation turning 10 will use the drug in any given year
• Again, since not the entire population who could receive the drug in year 1 will adopt it, there will continue to be room for increasing
the adoption rate
Conclusion
3. Which approach would you take to determine the price of this product?
• There are several good ways to approach this question. The candidate may start with outlining the three main approaches to
pricing: cost-based, competition-based and value-based pricing
• Since there are no direct competitors, a competition-based approach cannot be applied. Good candidates should note that the
price could still be benchmarked against the price of other drugs for non-fatal diseases, such as painkiller or antibiotics
• While cost-based pricing may ensure a positive contribution margin, it may still result in suboptimal prices, as one does not
consider the customers’ willingness to pay
• Value-based pricing is arguably the best approach. This can be carried out through focus group interviews or surveys. This
approach can be supplemented by the previously mentioned approaches
• Optional follow-up question you can ask the candidate if they are performing well and going through the case fast:
What do you think determines the value a patient would assign to this vaccination?
• This is an open-ended question that should test the candidate’s creative abilities
• The value may differ between segments:

• To busy career-oriented people, it may depend on lost working capacity. Candidates may note that it would be interesting to
investigate if the vaccination could be sold through employers, who may assign higher value to the vaccination due to paid sick-
leave
• To parents it may be valuable to vaccinate their teenage children and the candidate would have to mention what a parent may
be willing to pay. It can also be interesting to sell it through high schools, as colds are contagious and it could be worth it for a
school to vaccinate the student population in order to decrease classes missed by students due to the cold

6. Morefriends Social Media
• Level of challenge: medium
• Sector/industry: Social Media, technology
• Skills tested: market entry, math

Oxford Saïd Case 5: Morefriends Social Media
Background
• Our client is the CEO of the Social Media platform: Morefriends, it is the number two Social Media platform in Europe and North
America
• It currently has 200 million users, with most of the users being between 15 to 30 years of age
• Users make a personal profile, can post messages, photos or stories, and the platform is growing rapidly
• The CEO is considering entering Asia next and wants to enter a new country there next year
Should Morefriends enter China or the Philippines, both or neither, next?
Suggested structure
• The candidate should draw a similar structure as the suggested structure, before jumping into making assumptions and doing
calculations
• Key insights:
• If the candidate asks for cost data mention that Morefriends expects investment cost and operational costs to be costs they can
cover and could break even within a few years, as long as the potential market has at least 1 million new users
• If they want to know how much the investment cost will be per country, tell them we do not have the exact information, but as
previously stated, this is not a concern area for Morefriends
• Beyond calculating the possible revenue per country, the candidate should have in their structure points on policy or
governmental hindrances and the potential revenue based on demographic match and cultural fit

Total potential social • Demographic match

media users and cultural fit
Potential % market share

# users
Morefriends from total
Potential revenue per • Expected advertising

Revenue per user income per target user
user
Analyse China and

Costs Operational costs
the Philippines
Any policy or
Investment cost
governmental challenges
Data
The Philippines
• The population of the Philippines is about 105 million
• 35% of the population is under 15 years
• 30% of the population is between 15-30 years
• Tagalog and English are the official languages
• No government policy hindrances
China
• The population of China is about 1.3 billion
• 15% of the population is under 15 years
• 20% of the population is between 15-30 years
• Standard Mandarin is the official language
• Government policy would insist on control over user data and backscreen access to user data and information

Revenue Morefriends data:

• Morefriends expects, based on past market entry, to gain 20% of the potential market within the first year of entering the
Philippines
• Morefriends expects to gain 1% of the potential market within the first year of entering China, due to cultural differences and being
a new player is a disadvantage, as well as strong competition from local Social Media platforms
• Morefriends earns on average $10 per user per year from advertising
• 99% of current users are between 15 and 30 years of age

• The Philippines, the candidate should calculate that the target population market is:
• 15-30 years = 30% x 105Mn = 31.5Mn; would mean x $10 = $315Mn
• Morefriends’ # users would be 20% x $315Mn = $63Mn
• Possible future target users, under 15 years = 35% x 105Mn = 36.75Mn
• Key insight: the Philippines has a large youth population proportion and culturally is the better match with English being one of
the official languages, additionally, the target users for additional future growth in users is 35% of the population
• China, the candidate should calculate that the target population market is:
• 15-30 years = 20% x 1.3Bn = 260Mn; would mean x $10 = $2.6Bn
• Morefriends’ # users would be 1% x $2.6Bn = $26Mn
• Possible future target users, under 15 years = 15% x 1.3Bn = 195Mn
• Key insights:
• China is facing an aging population despite having the higher number of target population, both current and future
• Current revenue potential for the first year is $26Mn, which is lower than the Philippines and makes it a less attractive country
to enter
• Even if Morefriends could gain a higher % of Chinese users than 1%, like 20%, it would mean 52Mn users or another
$520Mn, which is a huge business to absorb in one country and Morefriends may not be ready to grow to that scale yet
Conclusion
• If the candidate keeps on analysing and wanting to do more calculations when having solved the case already, guide them to
conclude with the following optional question:
How would you summarise your findings and suggestions to the client?
• The candidate should conclude that Morefriends should enter the Philippines next
• The revenue possibilities and market size are more attractive for the Philippines, culturally as an organisation and target user
• The Philippines is a better fit and has an initial market potential of $63Mn and a total market potential of $315Mn, not to mention
the future youth under 15, which is 35% of the current population
• Additionally, there are governmental policy hindrances that make it hard for Morefriends to enter China
• Creative recommendations:
• Enter the Philippines with a youth focused marketing campaign
• Consider moving into another Asian country of similar size and cultural fit demographic and target user-wise, before re-
considering entering China

7. Overstock tea farm
• Sector/industry: agriculture
• Skills tested: supply and demand, math, use of data handout
• Guidance: the case requires the candidate to identify the concept
of supply and demand as used for cases and they will have to
apply it as a structure in order to solve it. If the candidate
struggles to realise this, guide them and give them hints and
answers, as it may be difficult for the candidate to think of, if they
have never done a supply and demand case before

Oxford Saïd Case 7: Overstock tea farm
Background
• The client owns a tea farm in Sri Lanka
• Each year after harvest, about one fifth of his crop ends up in overstock in storage and goes bad
1. The tea farm owner wants to know, what in general causes overstock?
• The answer is a mismatch in supply and demand
Suggested structure
2. He has 3 fields, and each year, each field yields 10,000kg of tea leaves, he has 30 labourers, is that
enough to get rid of the overstock?
• Key question the candidate must ask is about the process of harvest: they pick leaves, then clean them and package them
• Key insight: the left over crop, becomes overstock, meaning it is chopped down and thrown unprocessed into storage and it goes
bad within 2 weeks. OVERSTOCK IS NOT A GOOD THING here
• The candidate should use a similar structure, preferably more detailed, and should ask for data after drawing the structure
30,000kg tea
Demand
leaves
Tea farm overstock Labour capacity

that goes bad
Equipment
Packaging
Supply
materials, etc
Data
• The candidate should ask for data related to labourers, the harvest season, and how many kilograms a labourer can pick and
package per week. Provide the data below verbally if asked:
• 30 labourers, each operates 8 hours a day, 5 days a week = 1200 hours

• Each labourer can pick and package 100kg of tea leaves a week
• The harvest season is 12 weeks
• Candidate’s calculation should add up to: 100 x 30 x 12 = 36,000kg

• The candidate should conclude with the first data there is an oversupply of labourers and there should not be an overstock
• Candidate should then ask for more detailed information, such as data on the labourers or how the fields are managed
• Hand candidate handout 7A, if they ask for the right data
• Main points to draw from new data in handout 7A :

• Make sure to share the key insights with the candidate as they assess their findings from the data
• Each field of labourers varies, but that is due to varying positions, slopes, and sizes and shapes of the field – not entirely
relevant
• 10 of the labourers are used for patrolling around the fields, which means they are security, during the 12 weeks of harvest
season
• Actual labourer times are significantly less


• Key insights:
• the labourers patrolling cannot be redistributed to picking and packaging leaves as security is a must per field, those are the
minimal amounts of security needed, otherwise tea plants are vandalised or stolen - share this with the candidate when they
ask or suggest to redistribute the labourers
• there is a labour shortage in the region, share this with the candidate when they ask or suggest to add more labourers
• Candidate should find that in reality, based on the new data, he has less labourers actually picking and packaging the tea leaves
• The following can be calculated based on handout 7A:
• 20 labourers, each operates 8 hours a day, 5 days a week = 800 hours
• Each labourer can pick and package 100kg of tea leaves a week and the harvest season is 12 weeks
• Candidate’s calculation should add up to: 100 x 20 x 12 = 24,000kg
• It is indeed 6000kg less than what his fields yield: 30,000 – 24,000 and it is why the 6000kg ends up in overstock and goes bad
Conclusion
3. Please sum up your findings in a conclusion and provide the tea farm owner with a recommendation to
fix the overstock of unprocessed and unpackaged tea
• Security requires extra labourers; however, with a labour shortage in his region, potential other solutions are, but not limited to:
• To change one fifth of his land into a different crop that can produce an off cycle harvest
• Build or buy a freezer unit so he can freeze the unprocessed and unpackaged tea leaves and process and package them after
the harvest
• Sell the unprocessed and unpackaged tea leaves if possible – aiming for the organic unaltered food trend, or supplying nearby
tea farmers who can use his overstock to supplement their harvest
Handout 7A: Field labourer information
Field 1:
• 2 teams of 3 labourers picking and packaging tea leaves
• 2 teams of 2 labourers patrol around the field
Field 2:
• 3 teams of 3 labourers picking and packaging tea leaves
• 1 labourer patrols around the field
Field 3:
• 1 team of 3 labourers picking and packaging tea leaves
• 1 team of 2 labourers picking and packaging tea leaves
• 1 team of 5 labourers patrol around the field

8. High-speed railway
• Sector/industry: transportation
• Skills tested: market sizing, break even analysis

Oxford Saïd Case 8: High-speed railway
Background
• An infrastructure investment firm is considering investing in a high-speed railway in the USA, between Boston and Washington
D.C. They would like to know whether to pursue this investment or not
1. What is the size of the potential market?

• The candidate should verify whether the estimate should be in terms of number of tickets or revenue
• The total addressable market size should be estimated in terms of annual tickets sold by making reasonable assumptions
Suggested structure
• One reasonable approach is to take airplanes flying between the two cities as a starting point and use the structure below or
something similar
Daily trips (6)
Trips / plane / year

Days per year (350)
(2100)
Tickets / year Relevant customers /

Business class seats (40)
(1,344,000) plane (32)
Planes in pendulum (20) Load factor (80%)

Data
• Encourage the candidate to come up with justifiable assumptions, but assist with the following, if needed:
• The trip will take 1 hour. The trains will depart and arrive from central locations
• It takes about 1.5 hours to fly between the two cities and about 8 hours to drive
• The trains tickets will sell for $1,000 dollars each
• It can be assumed that primarily business class customers would be interested in the high-speed train because of the high price
• 20 airplanes fly in pendulum between the cities with 3 flights each way per day, 300 days per year. The airplanes have 200 seats,
40 of which are business class. The average load factor is 80%

• Due to the high ticket price, mostly business travellers would be interested
• 1,152,000 or 1.152Mn passengers in the relevant market, if using the suggested framework and assumptions
• The candidate may use a different approach and structure, which can be okay, as long as their answer calculation does not deviate
too much from around a million passengers
2. How large a share of this market is needed to break even in 5 years?
• Infrastructure investment: $2.6Bn

• Investment per train: $1.4Bn
• Number of trains needed: 6
• VC of a train trip: $50,000
• The train tickets will sell for $1,000 dollars each. There is no costs associated with selling a ticket
• The train will operate 300 days a year with 36 daily departures


• Total investment: 2.6Bn + (6 x 1.4Bn) = $11Bn
• With 5-year break-even period, this can be considered a $2.2Bn annual fixed cost
• Annual VC: 50,000 x 300 x 36 = $0.54Bn
• Total annual cost: $2.74Bn
• Break even number of tickets: 2,740,000,000 / 1000 = 2,740,000 or 2.74Mn tickets
• Depending on the assumptions applied in the market sizing, the candidate may find that the break even volume is greater than the
market-size. In this case the break even volume is greater. With the assumptions used here, the break-even market share is
237%, which is clearly impossible. This should lead the candidate to conclude that the investment appears very unattractive
3. What would you investigate to determine if the project can be changed to be more attractive?
• Since investment in trains is more than 75% of the total investment, it would be logical to investigate how the line would operate
with fewer trains. Other answers may include reducing the infrastructure investment, price segmentation, and reducing variable
costs by reducing the number of departures
Conclusion
4. Please summarise your findings to the client
• Recommend not to pursue investing in the project in the current set-up, as one should not expect the project to break-even on a 5
year period. The project requires considerable investment and will only serve a niche market
• It would be interesting to investigate if costs could be reduced by investing in fewer trains
• Also analysing the possibility for reducing the infrastructure investment, price segmentation, and reducing variable costs by
reducing the number of departures would be interesting
• Finally, perhaps the train line would receive even higher demand if a stop was added in New York. This would also be a relevant
future analysis to do as a next step for the client
9. Purple pox
• Level of challenge : advanced
• Sector/industry: social impact
• Skills tested: value chain, use of data handout
of value chain as used for cases and they will have to apply it as a
structure in order to solve it. If the candidate struggles to realise
this, guide them and give them hints and answers, as it may be
difficult for the candidate to think of, if they have never done a
value chain case before

Oxford Saïd Case 9: Purple pox
Background
• The client is the local government of the fictitious state Kona in the fictitious African country called Nili
• In Kona, local health facilities provide vaccinations against the (fictitious) disease, Purple pox, or PP
• Unfortunately, the local facilities frequently experience a stock-out, meaning that they each provide 600 vaccines fewer than
needed
• The stock-out problem can be summarised by a 50% stock-out ratio on PP vaccines in the local facilities
1. What causes the vaccine stock-out?

• Stock-out is measured as the number of vaccines not given due to stock shortage divided by the number of vaccines given. Explain
this to the candidate, if asked
• This definition combined with the data given should lead the candidate to conclude that 100% / 50% x 600 = 1200 vaccines are
given each month at each local facility and that each local facility needs 1800 vaccines each month
Suggested structure
• The candidate should quickly recognise this as a value chain case. The candidate should either ask for an overview of the different
components of the value chain before drawing a structure or use a generalised value chain framework and then ask for details
• The ideal framework should look like the chart on handout 9A and as seen below
• If candidates go for a supply and demand structure, guide them towards a value chain framework, by asking them which problems
they hypothesise that may emerge when transporting vaccines to rural areas in a developing country? Another guiding question can
be: what do you think the journey is for a vaccine from a national level to local facilities?
National storage State storage Area storage Local facilities

Data
• If asked for a more detailed overview of the value chain / supply chain after drawing it, share handout 9A with the candidate and
share the data in the blue data box verbally if asked
• Each local health facility provides 1200 vaccinations each month

• The local facilities are placed in rural areas
• There are 1000 local health facilities in the state
• The national storage supplies several states with vaccines
• Stock-out ratio at each warehouse in the value chain is:
• 60% at national storage
• 2% at state storage
• 0% at area storage

• The candidate should conclude that the 60% stock-out at the national level is irrelevant in this case, as the 2% stock-out at state
level proves that there is no bottleneck between the national and state storage
• One hypothesis for the high national storage stock-out ratio is that while the national storage can supply the Kona state with
vaccines, it fails to fully supply other states, resulting in a high reported stock-out ratio
• The 0% and 2% stock-out ratios at the area and state storage mean that they virtually never run out of vaccines and can be
ignored for further analyses
• Whenever vaccines need to be transported to the local facilities, the area storage has enough vaccines
• This shows that the problem is rooted at local facilities or at the transport of vaccines to the local facilities
Additional data
• It takes 1 day to transport vaccines from area storage to a local facility
• The local facilities operate 30 days each month
• A local facility can give 60 vaccines each day, if there is enough inventory
• Each local facility has stock capacity to keep 400 vaccines
• When the local facility inventory is empty, the person in charge of giving vaccines will drive the motor cycle to the area storage to
bring back vaccines. No vaccines can be given on the day where new vaccines are being fetched
• The driver can carry 120 vaccines on the motor cycle
• Since it takes 1 day to fetch new vaccines, and vaccines cannot be given on that day, when new vaccines are being fetched, no
vaccines can be given on one full day each time a local facility experiences a stock-out
• Since there are at no time more than 120 vaccines stored at a local facility, the local facility inventory is heavily under-utilised
• With 60 vaccines given each day, the 120 vaccines brought back on the motor cycle is enough for 2 days
• Every 3rd day, there will not be any vaccines given, since new vaccines need to be fetched
• Therefore on 20 days each month, there will given 60 vaccines each day in each local facility, or a total of 1200. On 10 days each
month there will no vaccines given, resulting in the stock-out
• This should lead to the conclusion that the stock-out is caused by the inefficient transportation of vaccines from the area storage to
the local facilities

Conclusion
2. Please sum up your findings and provide recommendations to fix the problem
• Potential solutions include:
• Hiring additional staff at local facilities, so they will not have to close when new vaccines are being fetched
• Arranging dedicated transportation in trucks or other more efficient means of transportation with greater capacity
• Data-driven inventory management. Currently new vaccines are being fetched when the inventory is used up. Ideally,
inventory should be monitored so new vaccines can be delivered in advance, prior to running out
• Good candidates will realise that it needs to be checked if the increased run-rate of vaccines used (increase from 1200 to 1800
each month) at the local facilities will result in a possible stock-out at the area storage level

Handout 9A: Overview of value chain / supply chain
National storage State storage Area storage Local facilities
# of entities: • 1 • 1 • 50 • 1000
Mode of • Air-cargo • Truck • Motorcycle

transportation

10. Auto
• Sector/industry: automotive
• Skills tested: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

Oxford Saïd Case 10: Auto
Background
• Your client is the German automotive company, Auto. In recent years, the electric cars segment has seen rapid growth. Although
Auto has dedicated many resources to R&D in this field, their only launched electric car failed commercially and its production
has been discontinued
• Auto is considering acquiring the 10-year old Texan car company, Elektro. Elektro designs, produces and sells a small range of
popular electric cars
1. Which factors would you investigate to determine if Auto should make the acquisition?
Suggested structure
• The candidate should present a structure that includes synergies, cultural fit and Auto’s capital resources
• Challenge the candidate on the specific ways in which synergies may be realised
• Guide the candidate away from actual valuation analysis such as multiple-analysis or a net present value (NPV) analysis
• Share the data from the next blue box verbally, if the candidate asks for it
• The candidate should present the structure but not continue into the actual analysis. Guide the candidate forward by asking
question 2, after discussing the structure

Acquisition price
Economic value Stand-alone value

Decreased costs
Synergies
Increased sales
Competition law
Attractiveness of
Feasibility Auto’s capital resources
the acquisition
Elektro up for sale?
Organisational structure
Cultural fit Leadership
Values
Data
• The deal has been approved by the relevant competition authorities
• Elektro has 1 model of electric cars. It sells for between $50,000 and $100,000 depending on the specifications
• Auto is an 80 year old German company
• Auto is structured with 11 levels of hierarchy
• Once the candidate has established a structure that includes the relevant variables and is ready to conduct analyses, share
handout 10A with the candidate and ask them question 2
2. What does this tell you about the global automotive industry and the attractiveness of making the
acquisition?


• The electric car market is growing faster ($300Bn-$200Bn) / $200Bn = 50%; than the overall automotive market ($1.8Tn-$1.6Tn) /
$1.6Tn = 12.5%
• Auto is expected to grow slower ($250Bn-$240Bn) / $240Bn = 4.17%; than the overall automotive market at 12.5%
• Elektro is currently the market leader in electric cars with a 40% market share ($80Bn/$200Bn)
• Elektro is expected to grow slower at ($100Bn-$80Bn) / $80Bn = $25%; than the overall electric car market at 50%
• Competitor #1 is catching up and will have the same market share as Elektro next year $100Bn / $300Bn = 33%
• The key competitors in the overall automotive market are also prevalent in the electric car market
Additional data
3. If making the acquisition, Auto is considering using some of its own factories to produce Elektro’s cars
in order to reduce production costs. How much would this save?
• Elektro plans to produce 2Mn cars next year

• Auto would produce 0.5Mn of these cars
• It costs on average $30.000 to produce a car at Elektro’s facilities
• It is expected that a car can be produced for $28.000 at Auto’s facilities
• Shipping and selling costs are expected to be the same
• Elektro would be able to reduce production overhead by $100Mn
• Auto would need to increase production overhead by $300Mn


• Auto would produce 500,000 cars. For each car there would be a $2,000 saving
• This brings a saving of 2,000 x 500,000 = $1,000,000,000 or $1Bn
• Total overhead would have a net increase of $200,000,000 or $200Mn
• Total saving would be $800,000,000 or $800Mn annually
Conclusion
4. If Auto makes the acquisition, it is considering which parts of Elektro should be integrated into Auto
and which should remain independent. What are your hypotheses on what should and what should not
be integrated?
• This question should lead to a conversation of a few minutes, not additional math. The candidate should highlight risks, assess
cultural fit, and state which parts to integrate, but answers are not limited to that, some example answers:
• There is a major risk of integration due to cultural differences. Cultural differences is a key reason why M&As fail
• In particular, R&D should not be integrated. Elektro is a young Texan company, while Auto is an old German company.
Integration may harm Elektro’s innovation capabilities
• Sales could potentially be integrated to allow for upselling to wholesale customers and potentially negotiate better channel
margins
• Elektro’s management should remain mostly autonomous. Hierarchies are often detrimental to innovation and preserving
autonomy is therefore important
• Production may be integrated as the previous analysis showed that there could be a major savings potential
• If the candidate solves the case quickly and answers all questions fast, there is another optional question on the next page
that can be asked

• Ask only if the first parts of the case have been solved quickly, optional question:
The acquisition price is considerably higher than what valuation models consider to be the intrinsic value
of Elektro. What is your recommendation to Auto?
• This is an open-ended question without a right or wrong answer, however the candidate should provide an answer with logical
reasoning to support it
• Reasons for not making the acquisition include:

• Making the acquisition would destroy shareholder value. Acquisitions have to be based on solid economics, and despite the
synergies the price cannot be justified
• Due to cultural differences, there is considerable risk involved in making the acquisition. If the culture clash is too big, talent
and knowledge may leave Elektro fast
• Reason for making the acquisition can be:

• If not, it may take Auto several years to develop the capabilities to compete in the rapidly growing electric car market.
Developing the right technology has already failed once, so counting on this is as well risky

Handout 10A: Market development and market shares
Global automotive market Global electric automotive market

$ Billion $ Billion
300
250
250 100
240
230
200
180 80
160 100
150
130
140
120 50
40
20
500 550 20 25
10 15
20 20
This year Next year This year Next year
Other Competitor #5 Competitor #4 Other Competitor #4 Competitor #3
Competitor #3 Competitor #2 Auto Competitor #2 Competitor #1 Elektro

Edison
Competitor #1

11. Holland energy co
• Level of challenge: advanced
• Sector/industry: energy
• Skills tested: profit – revenue, corporate finance, math – ratios

Oxford Saïd Case 11: Holland energy co
Background
• The client is the energy company, Holland energy co (HE)
• HE consists of two business units: an oil unit, that extracts and sells oil from its own reserves, and a wind energy unit, that holds
and operates wind farms
• Its credit rating recently received a major downgrading because of a sharp decline in profit and an increase in debt
1. Which factors may have caused the declining profits?
• The candidate should draw a profit-tree, preferably with a high level of granularity. Ask “what else” and challenge the candidate on
the structure of the framework
• Although the entire case relates to the debt/profit ratio, the candidate should realise that this question only concerns profit
Suggested structure
• The candidate should use a similar structure as the suggested structure on the next page
• The candidate should ask for data after drawing the structure; however, since the case is interviewer led, do not share any data yet
• Guide the student to complete the structure by saying for example, let’s focus on the factors that could have caused the decline in
profit before collecting data and let’s complete the structure before moving on

Capacity
Quantity
Capacity utilisation
Revenue
Market supply
Price
Market demand
Profit Holland
energy co Labour
(HE) Depreciation
FC
Rent
Costs Utilities
Other
Transportation cost
VC
Extraction costs
Brokerage fees
Other
Data
• After the candidate has drawn a similar structure, share the information from the blue data box on the next page and then ask the
next question

• The fall in profit was caused by a sharp decline in the oil price, which in turn was caused mainly by an expansion of the global oil
supply
• This combined with debt-financed investments destabilised HE’s capital structure, increasing the debt/profit ratio to increase to an
unstable level
2. What strategies should be considered to decrease debt/profit in the short-term?
• Potential solutions include cost-cutting programs, divestments and capital injections
• Good candidates should realise that growth strategies are unlikely to have an impact on the debt/profit ratio in the short term
• When the candidate has answered the question, share the additional data and ask the next question
Additional data
• Currently, profit is €10Bn and debt is €40Bn
• The client is considering divesting assets to repay debt and decrease the debt/profit ratio to 2.5.
• Share handout 11A
3. Which assets should the client divest?
• Key insight: only divesting oil fields will improve the debt/profit ratio, since their valuation multiple is above 2.5x (it is 5x). Divesting
wind farms will not improve the debt/profit ratio since their valuation multiple is below 2.5x (it is 2x)
• Selling one oil field allows for paying off €2.5Bn (5 x €0.5Bn = €2.5Bn) in debt and reduces profits by €0.5Bn
• Divesting 12 oil fields allows HE to pay off 12 x €2.5b = €30b in debt and reduces profits by 12 x €0.5Bn = €6Bn. This means the
debt/profit ratio will be (40-30) / (10-6) = 10/4 = 2.5. Therefore HE should divest 12 oil fields

• This is found most easily by trial-and-error, but can also be shown algebraically by solving for x in the following equation:
• (40 - 2.5x) / (10 - 0.5x) = 2.5
• Good candidates may note that oil fields could potentially be leased back to HE to maintain some of the profit. This should,
however, not be taken into account in the calculation
• An optional follow-up question for the candidate can be:
Why may oil fields sell at a higher multiple than wind farms?
• Reasons may include market expectations of increasing oil prices, lower risk due to older technology and asset lifespan
Conclusion
4. Please summarise your findings and provide HE with a recommendation to decrease the debt/profit
ratio
• The decline in profits is caused by a fall in the oil price
• By divesting oil fields it is possible to decrease the debt/profit ratio to 2.5, since the oil fields sell at a higher multiple
• It would in the future be interesting to investigate whether oil fields should be leased back to continue operations
• Also, investigating the ROI on further investments in wind mills could be valuable, since divesting further oil fields could finance
such investments, while maintaining a healthy capital structure

Handout 11A: Overview of client’s assets
Wind farms Oil fields

Annual profit per asset €0.5Bn €0.5Bn
# of assets 6 14
Valuation multiple: 2x 5x
Market price / profit

12. Fair Labour Chocolate
• Sector/industry: non-profit
• Skills tested: value chain, conceptual problem solving
of value chain as used for cases and they will have to apply it as a
structure in order to solve it. If the candidate struggles to realise
this, guide them and give them hints and answers, as it may be
difficult for the candidate to think of, if they have never done a
value chain case before

Oxford Saïd Case 12: Fair Labour Chocolate
Background
• Our client, ‘Fair Labour Chocolate’ (FLC) is an NGO that strives to make all chocolate sourced through fair labour only, in Africa
and South America, where most chocolate is farmed
• They have been working mostly in marketing fair labour chocolate through campaigns to consumers in Western Europe, but have
had limited impact on the fair labour practices in Africa
How can FLC increase impact?
• The candidate should start with clarifying questions to understand what the NGO does, questions they should ask:
• What does FLC, the NGO, do exactly? Answer: they only run marketing and advocacy campaigns in Western Europe,
targeting consumers to buy fair labour chocolate
• What are these campaigns? Answer: giving a stamp or sticker to companies like Unilever, where they can place it on their
chocolate wrapping if it is chocolate sourced from fair labour chocolate farms in Africa or South America
• How does the NGO check that chocolate comes from fair labour chocolate farms? Answer: they conduct spot checks twice a
year that fair labour chocolate farms follow fair labour practices established by the UN
• Why doesn’t the NGO work together with local government or politicians? Answer: they tried, but corruption and instability
prevents proper enforcing of policy on fair labour practices and it is not a big priority for local governments in those countries
• You may have to guide the candidate to ask the right clarifying questions as they may dive into drawing a structure, but they need
the above information in order to draw a structure that will help them solve this case. The most important question the candidate
needs to ask to understand they need to draw the value chain is:
• What is the journey chocolate goes through from farm to end-consumer? Answer: great question, why don’t you walk me
through what you suspect that journey is and ask me questions about parts in the chain you are unsure of

Suggested Structure
• After asking several clarifying questions, the candidate should realise that they have to draw out the value chain and collect data
on each step in the value chain to determine what player in the value chain has the most influential power
• The answer is the commodity traders, but let the candidate arrive at that conclusion
• If the candidate starts by drawing a non value chain like structure, it is alright to let them start with that, but challenge the candidate
on the structure and ultimately guide them to the value chain
• Candidate should use the value chain structure drawn below, it is quite granular, therefore a more bare bones version or something
similar is fine, words connected by arrows is enough to indicate a value chain structure, as long as the commodity traders are in
the value chain
Cacao
Cacao is
bought by
grown and Some
firms like Cacao
harvested Cacao Cacao Cacao They apply the
Unilever, shipped to
in Africa beans bought and shipped to convert Fair Bought by
Mondelez, Unilever, Shipped to
and South stored in sold by a local cacao into Labour end-
and many Mondelez, retailers
America by cannisters commodity warehouse chocolate stamp consumer
other etc,
farmers or bags traders in Africa products when
wholesale factories
and earned
and private
labourers
buyers
Key insight: FMCG’s End-
Commodity handle consumers
traders 60% of the in W.
handle world’s Europe
90% of the produced purchase
world’s chocolate 35% of the
produced world’s
chocolate chocolate
Data
• After drawing the value chain, the candidate should ask clarifying questions to understand that commodity traders handle the
most volume of chocolate in the world and thus have the most influence
• Push and steer the candidate towards commodity traders and this may take more than one push. Example questions to ask the
candidate are: How important do you think commodity traders are in the value chain? Why aren’t you focusing on that part of the
value chain?
• Analytics and math are not necessary in this case, but if asked for numbers or data, here is what can be shared with the
candidate verbally, if asked for:
• The chocolate market in total globally is $100Bn

• $35Bn of that is sold in retail in Western Europe or 35% of all chocolate sold globally
• Commodity traders purchase 90% of all chocolate produced globally
• FMCG players such as Unilever, Mondelez, Nestle, etc, purchase 60% of chocolate produced globally
• Currently, only about 25% of farmed chocolate is farmed in accordance with fair labour practices
• The FMCG players care about fair labour sourced chocolate, but they simply cannot buy chocolate from only
fair labour sources as their demand and sales are higher than what these farms produce
• Therefore, only half of the chocolate they sell in retail has the fair labour stamp
• As this case does not have math to calculate, focus the majority of the case around an open conversation around the value chain
• If the candidate asks for data or information that is not provided, ask why they want to know that or say that we do not have that
data

Conclusion
• The candidate should conclude that the commodity traders have the most power to have an impact as currently fair labour
chocolate is only targeting end-consumers in Western Europe who only see 35% of all chocolate sold globally
• Partner with commodity traders to get them to only buy and sell fair labour sourced chocolate and use pressure from the
FMCG’s whom FLC already works with. This could be a marketing campaign that the commodity trader can use to advertise
their social impact policy of only buying fair labour sourced chocolate and can create a new branding position for the firms
• Get FMCG players to buy chocolate directly from the source, bypass commodity traders
• Help local farmers set-up their own selling platform to sell the cocoa they harvest and use increased revenue to improve labour
practices

13. Ferryco
• Sector/industry: transportation
• Skills tested: profit, revenue and cost, private equity

Oxford Saïd Case 13: Ferryco
Background
• Your client, Turnaround PE, is considering acquiring Ferryco, a ferry operating company. The client will acquire Ferryco, if it can
reach €4Mn in profits within 2 years by cutting costs
Should Turnaround PE acquire Ferryco?
Suggested Structure
• The candidate should use the suggested structure below, or something similar and ask for data. It is useful to first calculate
profit/loss per ferry line and then propose relevant strategies
• The candidate should not conduct any valuation of the company. If the candidate asks for specifics on the acquisition deal, guide
them towards assessing whether the stated profit target is attainable or tell them not to focus on valuation
• The candidate should realise that the 2 year time horizon only allows for strategies that are implementable in the short run
SG&A
FC for operating each

FC vessel
# of vessels in operation
Costs
# of departures
VC
VC per departures
Data
• The client has sufficient funds to make the acquisition
• Ferryco operates 3 lines: Line #1, Line #2, Line #3
• Both Line #2 and Line #3 sail to the island, the Weather Island. Line #1 mainly transports commuters
• There are no direct competitors to any of the lines
• Currently, Ferryco is operating at a loss of about €1Mn per year
• Revenue is currently at €35.7Mn per year. Revenue has not changed for the past 4-5 years
• Last year, a €3Mn government subsidy was removed
• Next to the costs of operating its vessels, Ferryco has Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (SG&A) at €1.5Mn per year
• It can be assumed that SG&A cannot be decreased, since the previous owner has recently automated most administrative and
sales processes
• Ferryco will not be able to cut operational expenses per departure
• If asked for sales data for each ferry line, share handout 13A
• If asked for further information on costs, share handout 13B

• Based on the data in handout 13A and handout 13B the candidate should analyse the performance of each ferry line
• Calculations based on the handouts are shown in the table on the next page
• If needed, guide the candidate towards calculating profit and capacity utilisation for each line

Line #1 Line #2 Line #2

Total capacity 1000 500 500
Daily departures 8 8 8
Total daily capacity 8000 4000 4000
Daily tickets 2400 2000 3600
Capacity utilisation 30% 50% 90%
Ticket price 18 10 10
Daily revenue 43,200 20,000 36,000
Annual revenue 15,552,000 7,200,000 12,960,000
FC 6,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000
Variable cost per departure per vessel 4,000 1,600 1,600

4000x8x360 = 1600x8x360 = 1600x8x360 =
VC
11,520,000 4,608,000 4,608,000
Profit (1,968,000) (2,408,000) 3,352,000
• It is clear that Line #1 and Line #2 are both operating at a loss and both have very low capacity utilisation
• Closing Line #1 and Line #2 would not bring enough profit
• If asked for more information on capacity utilisation, share handout 13C with the candidate


• From handout 13C it is evident that several of Line #1’s departures are in low demand, resulting in low capacity utilisation
• The candidate should calculate the gross profit for each departures for Line #1 (revenue minus variable costs per departure) and
find:
Departure 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00
Gross profit € 10,400 1,400 -3,100 -3,100 -3,100 -3,100 1,400 10,400
• Closing down departure 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00 will result in 4 x 3,100 = 12,400 in incremental daily profit and 4,646,000
in incremental annual profit. Subtracting the FC of Line #1, this brings a total annual profit of 2,496,00 by closing these
departures
• Since Line #2 is unprofitable at all departures the candidate should conclude that the line should be closed down, bringing an
incremental €2,408,000 in annual profit
• Since these initiatives are implementable in the short-run and are expected to bring the required amount of profit, the candidate
should recommend Turnaround PE to acquire Ferry Inc.
• Good candidates will point out that divesting or leasing out the ship operating line #2 may bring in additional cash
Conclusion
• Turnaround PE should acquire Ferryco, since it can expect to reach over €4Mn in profit within two years.
• This can be achieved by reducing the number of departures on Line #1 to ensure profitability and by closing down Line #2, since
it cannot be turned profitable in the short run
• Since Line #3 is profitable and in high demand, Ferryco should continue operating this line and seek to grow its revenue in the
future. Since Line #3 is highly demanded and running at almost full capacity utilisation, it would be interesting to investigate if
additional departures should be opened and if additional ships should be acquired in the future. Potentially the ship operating
Line #2 could be divested, leased out or used to increase the capacity at Line #2
Handout 13A: Ferry Line Information
Line #1 Line #2 Line #3
Time 90 minutes 45 minutes 45 minutes
Vessel type Seaways E1000 Seaways E500 Seaways E500
Ticket price € 18 € 10 € 10
Daily # of passengers
2400 2000 3600
(total)
Daily # of departures 8 8 8
Note: each line operates 1 ship, sailing in pendulum. All lines operate 360 days per year

Handout 13B: Vessel information
Seaways E1000 Seaways E500
# of vessels owned
1 2
Passenger capacity
1000 500
Annual total Fixed Cost incl

€6Mn €5Mn
SG&A and for all vessels
Variable cost per departure per
vessel €4,000 €1,600

Handout 13C: Ferryco average occupancy rates throughout the day
Average occupancy throughout the day

%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 Average
Line #1 80% 30% 5% 5% 5% 5% 30% 80% 30%
Line #2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
Line #3 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90%

14. Futuropolis city
• Sector/industry: government, transportation, city planning
• Skills tested: budgeting

Oxford Saïd Case 14: Futuropolis city
Background
• The mayor of Futuropolis city has a big objective and priority of turning her city into a green, emissions reduced, innovative city
• Specifically, she is considering turning the city centre into a car-less city centre in the short term, meaning within the next 3 years
• However, Futuropolis earns a good amount on parking revenue in the city centre
• The mayor worries that this big amount of parking income cannot be missed as no other revenue increases are possible or
feasible in the short term
Without parking revenue from the city centre, how can the city still maintain a balanced budget?
Suggested Structure
• The candidate should use a similar structure, with a similar level of detail or more, and should ask for data after drawing the
structure
• Key insights:
• The candidate should focus on cost opportunities/savings as all other revenues will stay the same and will not change
• A split on fixed and variable cost will make it very difficult to solve the case, instead the candidate should focus on cost
categories for a city government and most importantly they should include costs related to transport
• It is okay to tell the candidate to include a transport cost box in their structure if they are missing it

Road
infrastructure
build, repair and
Costs related to maintenance
roads, transport, Staff subsidy
and traffic
Public transport
subsidy spend
Cost spend on Infrastructure
culture, education subsidy
Costs for energy

and utility related
Costs need
to be
managed
Overhead: staff
and office costs
Budget
Futuropolis
city
Other revenue
stays the same
Revenue is
decreasing
Losing parking
income from city
centre

Data
• 25% of city parking revenue comes from parking in the city centre only
• The city earns €100Mn on parking per year total
• All other revenues remain the same for the next five years and cannot be increased feasibly

• The candidate should calculate that revenue from parking in the city centre is €25Mn
• As revenues cannot be increased, an exploration of costs should be the focus
• Key insight:
• guide the candidate to focus on transport costs and subsidies, tell them quickly all other costs cannot be decreased so that
the candidate does not spend too much time on other cost buckets
• share that the government subsidises public transport and perhaps there is an option there
• The candidate should ask clarifying questions to get data and information on what the public transport subsidy means
Additional data
• The public transport subsidy means that the government subsidises public transport in the city
• The subsidy pays for the staff costs of all tram conductors working in public transport
• The public transport system in the city is electric trams that run on green energy
• These government subsidies cannot be reduced unless the public transportation tram company has a cost reduction itself
• The public transport company is planning on going completely conductor-less, meaning driver less, in the short term and will no
longer need any tram conductors


• The candidate should see that if the tram public transportation company goes conductor-less that reduces staff costs significantly
• The candidate should ask for public transport tram conductor cost data
• There are 520 tram conductors working for the tram public transport company
• They are paid on average €38,500 per year
• The candidate should calculate that conductor costs are €20,020,000 or about €20Mn, which means with a reduction of 520
conductors, Futuropolis city can reduce the subsidy of €20Mn
• This would mean a cost saving of about €20Mn, but the city is losing €25Mn of income or revenue, which means it still has a
profit decrease of €5Mn
• Key insight: the candidate should ask if the €5Mn unbalanced part of the budget is a small enough gap to go for a carless city
centre anyway. If the candidate asks this and they are solving the case fast, ask them the optional question, before they conclude
• If there is not enough time, then tell the candidate it is a valid point and to conclude the case and include what they think about it
• Optional question:
If you were the mayor, do you think in a €2Bn budget, that €5Mn is a reasonable gap, considering the
investment here?
• This should not lead to further math or calculations, but should be a discussion with the candidate. Different answers are possible
here, the candidate should choose an answer and support it with logical reasoning

• An argument why it is a reasonable gap:
• The big objective and priority is to turn the city into a green, emissions reduced, innovative city. This could be policy/regulation
driven, with certain green deadlines, which means it is a must to invest in projects like this and comparatively in a €2Bn
budget, the €5Mn gap is a small gap to meet those goals
• An argument why it is not a reasonable gap:

• It is a city budget, not a for profit company, which means the gap may affect tax payers or local inhabitants of the city who
provide most of the budget. Can mean that regardless of the priority and innovativeness of the project, in a governmental
budget perspective, any gap, especially one of several million, may be deemed unacceptable
Conclusion
• The candidate should conclude that the mayor of Futuropolis city should still change the city centre to be carless, as:
• it can reduce its costs by not spending the public transport subsidy of €20Mn as the trams are going to be driver less, or
conductor-less
• however this is not enough to cover the revenue loss, there remains a €5Mn budget gap
• therefore, the city should look into more options to reduce costs to make up for it. It is also likely that they will save money on
maintenance and repair of roads in the city centre, once it is car-less
• Change only part of the city centre into car-less initially, then as revenue increases in the budget, transition the rest of the city
centre into car-less
• Future revenue streams could be increased by implementing a higher green tax for inhabitants for initiatives like this carless
city centre or similarly, an additional green tourist tax could be increased
• A carless city centre should lead to increased revenues in the long term, due to increased footfall and more tax income from a
carless city centre

15. Bebank
• Sector/industry: fintech, start-up
• Skills tested: profit tree—revenue, Corporate Finance
• Guidance: this is a very complex case, due to the relatively new
sector of fintech. This case includes an ICO, blockchain, and
cryptocurrency. As the case is interviewer led, the interviewer or
the candidate do not need to have extensive knowledge, but as it
is relevant subject matter, both should do additional research to
understand the concepts covered in this case

Oxford Saïd Case 15: Bebank
Background
• Client is the founder of a fintech; specifically, a decentralised trading platform called Bebank
• She founded the platform 5 years ago
• They have grown 100% every year
• In order to further growth, they need more funding to cover their operational costs
1. What are the funding options?
• The candidate should draw a structure to capture the different funding options
• This is a complex case, as fintech is a relatively new sector; however, funding options, as for any other start-up can still be
structured in a simple manner
Suggested Structure
• Candidate should use the suggested structure drawn below, or something very similar and ask for data and clarifying questions
before proceeding
• The answer to this case is an ICO, which the candidate may not add to the structure initially, as long as through clarifying
questions they realise the other options are unfavourable
• Key insight: starting the structure with debt and equity is okay; however, for this case that approach does not cover all the funding
options, as grants, peer-to-peer lending, rewards crowdfunding, and an ICO cannot be placed under either of those buckets.
Therefore, challenge the candidate to be more granular in their structure and guide the candidate by asking them if they use that
structure, if it covers all forms of funding options

Own money or grants
Private funding Bank loan
Angel investors or VC’s

Cryptocurrency?
Bebank needs funding
ICO
Value?
IPO
Public funding
Peer-to-peer lending
Other crowd funding ways
Data
2. Before diving into what funding option to go for, the founder wants to know, are profit levels strong
and attractive for funding?
• The candidate should ask at least 5-6 clarifying questions in order to understand what the trading platform does, before asking for
specific data
• Information to give verbally if asked for in clarifying questions, is in the blue data box on the next page

• It is a fintech decentralised trading platform that specialises in cryptocurrency and uses blockchain technology
• It has a reputation of being one of the more successful cryptocurrency trading platforms
• 2 years ago it raised $3Mn in funding, but due to increased growth, funding is running out to cover its operational costs
• Went from 10-20 employees in the past 2 years and doubled the energy usage bill, due to advancing the trading platform with
blockchain technology
• Software and platform were developed in-house
• Growth projections are to double every year in trading values
• So far it has met those growth projections
• The founder has invested all her personal savings into the fintech already
• Since funding is based on revenue and cash flow, the candidate should focus on, revenue and volume data the most and should
also see if the fintech is profitable
• Currently the estimated trading value that happens on this platform per month is valued at $1Mn; trading value means the sum
of all transactions
• They earn a 10% commission on all cryptocurrency values traded
• Currently has 20 employees who cost $50,000 per year
• Remaining costs are for energy bills due to the blockchain technology used and other administrative costs like rent and rented
office materials
• Monthly costs today, including staff, are $150,000
• Monthly revenue is $100,000
• Staff costs annually are 20 x 50,000 = $1Mn, or $83,333.33 per month
• Monthly costs are $150,000 or $1.8Mn annually, it means all other costs are $150,000 - $83,333.33 = $66,667 monthly
• Currently it has a negative EBIT and is not profitable, monthly earnings are $100,000 and costs are $150,000 per month
• Candidate should ask if there are any possibilities to lower costs or increase revenue, or what the growth projections are
• With a relatively low investment of 2 extra software engineers at $50,000 annual costs each and an additionally energy capacity
cost of $48,000 per year, they can reach a doubling in trading growth, or trade $2Mn per month
• costs would be $1.8Mn + $100,000 + $48,000 = $1.948Mn annually or $162,333.33 per month, but revenue would be $200,000
per month

• The candidate should conclude with the first data that the fintech is currently not profitable and that it is operating in an extremely
risky market, but there are growth opportunities that can easily make it profitable and due to past and projected growth levels, it
remains an interesting investment opportunity
3. Seeing as Bebank is not profitable, the founder of Bebank saw a competitor raise funds through an ICO
last year, should they do the same?
• The candidate should ask clarifying questions about blockchain, cryptocurrency, and the competitor’s raised funds, but they should
also assess that all “standard” venues of funding are not feasible:
• Own private money: not possible, the owner has none left
• Bank loan: high interest rates due to the risk and volatility of cryptocurrency
• Angel investors or VC’s: giving up too much equity due to the risk and volatility of cryptocurrency
• Rewards crowdfunding: very complex idea to explain for crowdfunding
• Grants: unlikely to receive them due to the riskiness and volatile market

• IPO: level of risk and uncertainty are too high
• Peer-to-peer lending: would provide too low a cash injection for what is needed to grow
• This leaves the option of an ICO, which stands for an Initial Coin Offering
• The candidate should ask for more clarifying questions and competitor data in order to decide how much can be raised
• The definitions of the variables are in the blue data box below and can be given to the candidate, but if the candidate already has
an understanding and does not ask for them, they do not need to be provided
Additional data
Cryptocurrency:
• is an unregulated digital currency or token that operates independently from a central bank; encryption techniques are used to
regulate the generation of units; bitcoin is the most famous example
ICO:
• an unregulated way by which funds are raised for a new blockchain venture. It is used by fintechs or start-ups using blockchain
technology to bypass the stringent regulated fundraising process required by investors or banks. In an ICO, a token is created
and a limit is often set for investors to purchase the new token, the new token is usually purchased with bitcoin
Blockchain
• a computer technology that allows the transfer of value from one entity to another without the need of a central intermediary, i.e.
a bank. Blockchain is not overly relevant here; it is the technology used to be a decentralised platform
• Cryptocurrency and blockchain have yet to be proven properly and have yet to be understood both in legitimacy and value
• Owning the token as an investor is not the same as owning shares or equity! An ICO in that sense is almost better explained as
a form of rewards crowdfunding, i.e. Kickstarter, as the value of the fintech is hardly proven, but slightly different to rewards
crowdfunding, the investors buy and thus get some of the newly launched token
• This similar competitor to Bebank, raised $100Mn in an ICO last year, they were trading the value of $2Mn per month

• If the candidate over-focuses on blockchain or cryptocurrency after providing the definitions, guide them towards the ICO as the
funding solution. Suggest further research to the candidate after the case, if it is clear they struggle with these concepts
• Key insight: to avoid overcomplication, as ICO valuations are complex, the candidate can use a similar gauge based on the
competitor and assess that the ICO max value should be $50Mn, half of what its competitor raised, as current revenue is also
half
Conclusion
• Bebank should raise funding through an ICO, but the client should be aware this is not a guaranteed way to raise funds, as is the
case with any other form of fundraising
• They should cap the ICO, when releasing their unique token, at $50Mn
• The candidate should highlight the risks when presenting their conclusion and recommendations:
• Highly volatile market
• ICOs are mainly unregulated, but what if regulation catches up
• A funding round paid out in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency, means the cash you raise is in Bitcoin and depends on the
value and liquidity of Bitcoin how much cash your fintech has on hand
• Suggestion for a next step is to analyse in which jurisdiction the client should do their ICO as legislation at the moment for
ICOs differs per country and there are certain regulators who are more accommodating for ICOs
• Creative recommendation is to join fintech communities, partner with other fintechs on knowledge sharing and network into
the right crypto communities and with expert fintech people in order to raise the desired funding during the ICO

Blank pages
—Case practice Blank pages are provided in the back of this case book for you to use during your case
practice. Some of the pages contain a suggested format on how to write your notes on the
page during the case. This is just a suggestion and there is not a right answer on how to best
take notes during a case in order to solve it.
Do not be scared to use several pages of paper. Avoid trying to cram your entire case and
additional calculations and writings onto one page. For extended analyses and calculations,
start a new page so you have enough space to do all the needed math.

Introduction Problem Statement
Structure
New Information

Introduction Problem Statement
Structure
New Information

Acknowledgements
a special thank you to the writing team:
Rebecca Kersch and Sophus Rosendahl
Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford blends the best of new and old. We are a vibrant and innovative business school, but
yet deeply embedded in an 800-year-old-world-class university. We create programmes and ideas that have global impact. We educate
people for successful business careers, and as a community seek to tackle world-scale problems. We deliver cutting-edge programmes
and ground-breaking research that transform individuals, organisations, business practice, and society. We seek to be a world-class
business school community, embedded in a world-class university, tackling world-scale problems.
Saïd Business School

University of Oxford
Park End Street
Oxford, OX1 1HP
United Kingdom
www.sbs.oxford.edu
© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre Second Edition Oxford, the United Kingdom 102

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Consulting Careers Student Case Book

Career Development Centre 2019-2020

II. Personal case progress log 7 11. Holland energy co 65

IV. Medium challenge level cases:

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre

So, what are you waiting for? Dive right in.

James Nugent Or reach us via:

The cases in this book generally contain these sections:

—Progress and PrepLounge

Getting started is easy – just 4 simple steps:

Once you have registered, you can:

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 6

2 Edtech Beginner Education

4 RoastHouse Beginner Retail

5 No more cold Medium Pharmaceutical

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 7

9 Purple pox Medium Social Impact

10 Auto Medium Automotive

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 8

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 9

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 10

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 11

1. How can our client Filmweb increase revenue?

• Total revenue last year: £6Bn

Findings after first analysis

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 13

Findings after additional data and analysis

• Before revenue was £6Bn

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 14

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 15

1. What is Edtech’s current market penetration in France?

Classrooms that use Population size

Findings after first analysis

2. At what market penetration will Edtech be profitable?

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 17

Findings after additional data and analysis

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 18

• Creative recommendations to achieve this:

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 19

Function Old staffing New staffing Monthly salary

Founder & CEO 1 1 € 10,000

Software developers 3 6 € 8,000

Marketing / sales 2 6 € 7,000

Strategy & Business Development 0 2 € 8,000

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 20

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 21

1. What are Salvadora’s options for growing revenue?

Findings after first analysis

• Salvadora’s average order size is €80.00

• Revenue would increase by €22Mn

Why do you think benchmark competitors have a higher conversion rate?

Findings after additional data and analysis

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 23

Growth % year 0-4 Purchases Average order size

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 24

Handout 3A: Salvadora and benchmark conversion data

© 2019 Saïd Business School Career Development Centre 25

Handout 3B: European market projections