Case structure workshop
Consulting frameworks:
worked case examples.
A framework is useful when it tells you what to investigate next—and how the answer could change your recommendation.
Build a profit diagnosis, test a market-entry decision and catch an overlapping customer split. Compare your reasoning with the open answers below.
All examples and answers on this page are open. Continuing in the Caselane app requires an account.
Start with the decision. Then choose the structure.
Consulting frameworks organize a problem into questions you can investigate. MECE tests how those questions fit together; profitability and market-entry structures organize particular decisions; Five Forces and 7S examine industry competition and organizational alignment.
They are starting points. McKinsey’s interview guidance emphasizes tailored solutions, and Bain’s guidance describes logical, structured thinking alongside creativity. Neither makes a memorized template the objective.
“The client needs to decide ___, with success defined as ___, over ___.” Fill those gaps before drawing boxes. Ask for the objective, time horizon and constraints if the prompt leaves them unclear.
01 / Check the split
MECE: do your branches overlap or leave a gap?
Mutually exclusive means an item belongs in only one branch at that level. Collectively exhaustive means the branches cover the defined scope. Specify the unit you are dividing: customers, transactions, revenue or costs.
Try it: segment a retailer’s sales
A candidate proposes “online customers, store customers and students.” What goes wrong? How would you split last month’s transaction revenue instead?
Compare a cleaner split
Students can shop online or in a store, and one customer can use both channels. The proposed customer groups overlap.
For transaction revenue, allocate every transaction once to online, store or another explicitly defined channel. Reconcile the channel sum to total revenue. Treat student status as a separate attribute. Agree how returns, click-and-collect and other edge cases are assigned.
The point is a consistent accounting rule, not a claim that every dataset arrives perfectly classified.
02 / Worked diagnosis
Profitability: locate the change before prescribing a fix.
Fictional client Daymark Workspaces sells monthly desk memberships. The owner wants to restore monthly operating profit to $30,000. There are no other revenue streams in this simplified exercise.
| Driver | Previous period | Current period |
|---|---|---|
| Paid memberships | 800 | 900 |
| Average revenue per membership | $200 | $180 |
| Variable cost per membership | $50 | $60 |
| Fixed operating costs | $90,000 | $90,000 |
Your task: calculate the profit change, then choose what to investigate first. Higher membership volume is not sufficient evidence that the business is healthier.
Reveal the calculation and profit bridge
Previous profit: 800 × ($200 − $50) − $90,000 = $30,000. Current profit: 900 × ($180 − $60) − $90,000 = $18,000. The gap is $12,000 per month.
One exact bridge, changing volume first: +100 memberships × $150 previous contribution = +$15,000; then 900 × −$20 average revenue = −$18,000; then 900 × −$10 additional unit cost = −$9,000. Net: −$12,000. Other bridge orders allocate interaction effects differently; state the order you use.
Revenue quality
Split memberships and realized prices by plan and cohort. Did a discounted plan change mix, or did existing customers receive lower prices?
Cost to serve
Split variable cost by driver. Did utilization, supplier rates or service mix change? Check how “variable” costs were classified.
Capacity and constraints
Check occupied desk-hours, peak demand and service quality before assuming further memberships have the same cost.
What should the first data request test?
Request a price, membership and contribution breakdown by plan for both periods. Hypothesis: growth came from a lower-contribution plan. This could explain volume growth and a lower average contribution.
If every plan’s price and mix are unchanged, that hypothesis fails: investigate billing adjustments and the definition of the averages. If the change is concentrated in one plan, compare retention and incremental contribution before removing it.
At 900 memberships and $60 unit cost, restoring $30,000 requires approximately $193.33 revenue per membership, if volume and costs stay fixed. That is a sensitivity, not evidence customers will accept a price rise.
Profit here is the simplified operating measure above. It excludes tax, financing and unlisted costs. An average can conceal important differences.
03 / Worked decision
Market entry: is the opportunity attractive for this client?
Fictional client Loop Repair is considering mobile bicycle repairs. Management estimates 60,000 paid repair visits per year in its service area. The service would charge $80 per visit, incur $45 variable cost per visit and add $210,000 annual fixed operating costs.
The client requires $70,000 annual operating profit. The team can deliver at most 8,000 visits per year. All figures are uncertain teaching assumptions. Initial investment, working capital and ramp-up losses are not yet included.
- Demand: which customers, needs and channels produce the 60,000 visits? How often, at what price and with which alternatives?
- Economics: what contribution, break-even volume and target volume follow from the assumptions?
- Ability to serve: can technicians, routing, tools and spare parts deliver that volume at the stated cost?
- Entry choice: pilot, partner, build or decline? What must be true to proceed, and what observation would stop the plan?
Your task: find the volume and share needed for the profit target. Does capacity leave room for error?
Reveal the economics and a conditional recommendation
Contribution = $80 − $45 = $35 per visit. Operating break-even = $210,000 ÷ $35 = 6,000 visits, or 10% of the assumed market. The target requires ($210,000 + $70,000) ÷ $35 = 8,000 visits, or 13.33% of the market—exactly the stated capacity.
At a 10% lower price ($72), contribution falls to $27. At full capacity, annual profit is 8,000 × $27 − $210,000 = $6,000. The target would require roughly 10,371 visits, above capacity.
A defensible answer is test demand and delivery cost in a limited pilot before a full launch. The base case has no capacity cushion and excludes investment returns. Request evidence of paid demand at $80, jobs per technician-day, travel time and acquisition cost.
Before investing, add startup cash, working capital, seasonality, safety and legal requirements, cannibalization and the client’s return hurdle. Total market size alone does not establish a profitable entry.
Practice estimating demand with the open market-sizing exercise. Keep total market, reachable demand and client capacity separate.
For more estimation practice, try the six worked market-sizing questions, including replacement cycles, charging capacity and segmented demand.
04 / Competition
Porter’s Five Forces: explain pressure on industry economics.
The forces are rivalry, new entrants, substitutes, supplier power and buyer power. They organize questions about competition and how participants divide economic value. See the Harvard Business School Institute’s explanation.
For Loop Repair, ask whether customers can switch to a shop or repair bikes themselves; whether workshops could offer mobile service; whether scarce technicians or parts suppliers have leverage; and whether fleet buyers can negotiate lower prices.
Make it decision-useful: translate a force into a test. If fleet buyers demand a 10% discount, use the $72 sensitivity above. Naming “buyer power” without an economic consequence does not resolve the decision. Industry attractiveness also does not prove this client can win.
05 / Execution
McKinsey 7S: check whether the organization can deliver.
The classic seven elements are strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style and staff. The model examines how organizational elements fit together. McKinsey discusses the classic model and its evolution in its operating-model research.
For the repair launch, connect a same-day promise (strategy) with technician allocation (structure and staff), route scheduling (systems), diagnostic capability (skills), escalation behavior (style) and the service standards the team protects (shared values).
Investigate a specific inconsistency, such as sales promising same-day service while dispatch optimizes weekly utilization. This lens helps investigate execution; it does not replace demand estimates or unit economics.
Combine the branches that could change the answer.
Loop Repair starts as an entry decision. Profit math defines the hurdle; competition informs price and share assumptions; an operating check tests whether the client can serve the volume. You do not need five separate presentations to investigate those three questions.
“I would test the launch in one service zone, because the target needs full stated capacity. I would validate willingness to pay and jobs per technician-day first. If contribution is below $35 or capacity below 8,000 annual visits, I would revise the model before committing.”
That is reasoning from these assumptions, not the only acceptable answer. A different objective or investment hurdle can change the decision.
A quick framework-selection guide
| Question | Starting point | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Why did profit fall? | Profit bridge, then price, mix, volume and cost drivers | Equating revenue with profit |
| Should we enter? | Reachable demand, economics, capabilities and entry options | Recommending entry from market size alone |
| Why are margins under pressure? | Five Forces linked to price, cost and investment | Listing forces without evidence |
| Why is execution failing? | Organizational alignment; 7S can organize the investigation | Treating the organization chart as the whole explanation |
| Does my analysis cover the scope? | MECE check at each level | Overlaps and gaps |
Put your structure to work
The open coffee-chain case adds exhibits, channel switching and a recommendation. The case-math collection includes calculations and printable questions and answers. Both are open before signup.
Continue in CaselaneAccount required. This workshop is independent of the app; no specific framework module or interview result is promised.
Questions about using frameworks
How long does it take to learn consulting frameworks?
There is no verified universal timetable. Learn the equations, then practice explaining why each branch matters and what evidence would change your view. Review the reasoning rather than counting memorized templates.
Which framework should I use in a case interview?
Start with the client's objective and decision. A profit decline needs a revenue and cost diagnosis; a launch decision also needs demand, economics and execution tests. Choose the branches that could change the recommendation. A framework name alone does not justify the structure.
Are these frameworks useful outside interviews?
Yes, as organizing tools for a business question. Their outputs depend on evidence, assumptions and context. Use real customer, financial and operating data before an actual investment decision. The fictional exercises here are teaching examples.
What are common mistakes when using frameworks?
Listing categories without connecting them to the decision; counting a customer twice; mixing monthly and annual amounts; confusing revenue with profit; and continuing to analyze a branch after it can no longer change the decision. State the purpose of each branch and check units.
How can I practice building a case structure?
State the objective in one sentence and sketch the branches that could resolve it. Choose the first data request and explain why. Reveal a worked answer, compare reasoning and revise your structure. The exercises here and our open worked case need no account.
Does AI replace the need to structure a problem?
You still need to define the question, check assumptions and judge whether an answer follows from evidence. For preparation, compare alternative structures and verify calculations yourself. Follow the employer's rules during assessments and interviews.
Should the structure change by industry?
Yes. Adapt the operating drivers and constraints. A service business may be limited by staff hours; a factory by equipment capacity; a subscription business by acquisition, retention and recurring revenue. These are prompts to investigate, not claims that every company in an industry behaves alike.