Deloitte Case Studies Interview Process

About Deloitte

Deloitte is leading global company in accounting and consulting, having presence in 100+ offices throughout the globe. Deloitte has 5 main business areas working in different industries.

1. Audit & Assurance
2. Consulting
3. Financial Advisory
4. Risk Advisory
5. Tax & Legal

We will be covering case study interview round of Deloitte in this article.

Deloitte Interview Process

Please visit Deloitte interview process for complete information on Deloitte hiring stages, syllabus and preparation tips.

Deloitte Case study interview process

What is case study?

Case study is a research method involving an in-depth and detailed study of a particular business case, taking care of viewpoints of different stakeholders and impact areas, and come up with viable approach to solve a particular business problem.

Case study methodology is used by leading consulting companies to see the logical, practical, problem solving approach and judgmental skill of the candidates on deciding on a particular business problem. In case of Group discussion, it is also important on how candidate work in collaboration of others to come up with workable solution of the case.

Tips to crack case study interview

• Understand the issue; ask clarifying questions as needed
• Identify the underlying assumptions
• Summarize specific issues and findings
• State your recommendations
• Outline next steps and expected results/impacts

These above points are shared on Deloitte official website to solve any business case.

It is important that candidate need to have thorough case discussion with other candidates (if in group) or with interviewer. He/she need to explore on various angle, should check with interviewer on possibilities, and should take logical assumptions (for example: Finding ice cream sales in Delhi in month of April). There are often no right answer of a case, but the logical approach and thought process is important.

Best practices in solving case study

• Take notes throughout the case exercise
• Be sure you understand the case question
• Ask clarifying questions, but don’t use them as a crutch—we’re interested in how you connect the dots, not in painting the picture for you
• Develop and articulate a framework and the initial hypothesis that you intend to explore
• Take time to compose your thoughts–don’t just start talking
• Structure your analysis into a clear, logical story
• Walk the interviewer through your thinking and explain your assumptions
• Don’t panic—engage the interviewer in a business conversation
• Identify metrics that are relevant to your recommendation
• Come up with best solutions. There may be multiple solutions based on case solving approach.
• Mention potential risks and mitigation plans
• Make a final Recommendation

See also:

• How to crack Deloitte technical interview round
• How to crack Deloitte HR interview round
• How to crack Deloitte JAM interview round

Sample case studies for Deloitte interview process

Case study  1 (Source: Deloitte Case Study)

Big Bucks is a US-based bank which is facing an increased pressure from its competition. Based on customer surveys and analysis, Big Bucks’ biggest pain point has been identified as the help desk service.

The help desk was created to be a convenient 24×7 alternative to an in-branch visit, where a customer could dial in and ask questions. However, the help desk quickly became more of a headache than a “convenient alternative”. The help desk receives around 15,000 calls per day and the callers lucky enough to get through can expect an average wait time of 40 minutes before speaking to a customer service agent. Additionally, the help desk does not have the capability to track who called, when, or why, so every interaction with Big Bucks feels like the first time all over again.

The bank has hired Deloitte to help assess and potentially implement a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for managing their interactions with current and future customers (including helping to track and prioritize customer issues).

Big Bucks understands that in order to improve customer service, they need to create/implement a CRM system.  Big Bucks’ board has given the IT department a one month window to make a “build vs. buy” decision. The CIO (Chief Information Officer) has hired Deloitte to serve as an advisor throughout the analysis. Deloitte quickly ruled out the feasibility of a custom built solution, considering Big Bucks’ unprepared and inexperienced IT department.

Deloitte and Big Bucks must now choose between Hero CRM and CRM Action as the help desk solution. Hero CRM is more expensive, but comes with a variety of features necessary to improve the call center and deliver a full, 360 degree profile of a customer. CRM Action is a cheaper option with all the core functionality necessary to track call center activity. In addition to vendor selection, Deloitte is hoping to continue with Big Bucks and help with the implementation.

Case study 2 (Source: Deloitte Case Study)

Our client, Club Co., is a warehouse club retailer with revenues of $10 billion in the latest fiscal year. Club Co. operates 200 warehouse clubs in 15 eastern and midwestern states and currently services 10 million members who pay for access to Club Co. stores. Club Co.’s value proposition is offering high quality, brand name products at the lowest possible price; they also focus on selection, offering almost twice as many products as competing warehouse clubs.

Based on a recent strategic review of their electronics category, Club Co. has prioritized offering members mobile phones, service, and accessories. Club Co. will partner with a third party who will manage the wireless business inside each of Club Co.’s 200 stores. The third party will occupy a kiosk in Club Co.’s electronics space and sell wireless products, services, and accessories to Club Co.’s members. The partner will manage all staff inside the kiosk and own the relationships with the wireless carriers.

Club Co. and the third party have identified two business models:

• Model A would entail offering one wireless carrier’s products and services
• Model B would entail offering three carriers

In both models, Club Co. would earn a set commission for every phone sold with a two-year activation as well as a percentage commission on every wireless accessory sold (e.g., cases, Bluetooth headsets, etc.).

Club Co. has asked Deloitte to help assess each option and determine how lucrative each would be.

Case study 3 (Source: Deloitte Case Study)

Top Engine is a United States based manufacturer of airplanes with an estimated revenue of $85 billion in 2016. Top Engine has won a government grant to deliver a new project – ‘Clear Sky’. The goal of this project is to build the first ever airplane with electric engines that would produce zero emission. Top Engine has partnered up with multiple other vendors to meet the project deadlines. Top Engine will be the lead contractor on the engagement and all contractors involved in ‘Clear Sky’ will be required to share procurement, operations, and financial data with them.

Deloitte has been engaged to partner with Top Engine in developing a solution that addresses the requirements of project ‘Clear Sky’, a portal for receiving and sharing external data, in addition to supporting additional reporting needs.

The CFO of Top Engine has raised concerns regarding Top Engine’s existing reporting systems. The Top Engine reporting systems will have to integrate supply chain and financial information of other contractors in the ‘Clear Sky’ project so that the company can report back to the government. However, today Top Engine’s own quarterly financial statements are not balanced and multiple versions of the truth exist across business areas which need to be manually reconciled each time.

The information gathered from all contractors must be used to support a number of Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”) set by the US Government which will be shared across the alliance and are critical in determining whether this ambitious program is on track.

Case study-4 (Source: Yale School of Management)

In 2015, MYbank launched the Flourishing Farmer Loan program, an effort to extend financial services to rural China. Because the bank’s program targeted customers who had no experience with banking, MYbank looked to determine credit-worthiness by using big data from internet transactions to create a nationwide credit-rating system for individuals and small enterprises. Credit-scoring was new to China and the bank’s pioneering efforts could pave the way for economic development in rural areas.

MYbank was an offshoot of the Alibaba internet empire founded by Jack Ma (Chinese name Ma Yun). Ma had built Alibaba’s online platforms to bring buyers and sellers together in China. Having found success in facilitating online transactions, Alibaba began offering financial services. In time, these financial service units were spun out from the Alibaba group, first organized under Alipay and then rebranded under the name Ant Financial Services Group. By 2013 Ant Financial consisted of Alipay and Alipay Wallet, two services that facilitated online transactions (similar to PayPal); Yu’eBao, a money market fund with 570 billion yuan ($93 billion) under management; Zhao CaiBao, a third-party financial services platform; and micro-loan provider Ant Micro. Each of Ant Financial’s units had cooperative arrangements with Alibaba’s online platforms, providing data for business transactions and facilitating the transfer of funds.

In March 2014, Ant Financial received regulatory approval to create an online bank, MYbank. MYbank was among the first of five privately owned banks to be granted approval by the China Banking Regulatory Commission. MYbank was initially authorized to make loans, but not to accept deposits. Besides looking at models of private ownership, the regulators were evaluating the implications of online banking services. While cautious, the China Banking Regulatory Commission welcomed new banking models that could increase available capital for private entrepreneurs and encourage economic growth in a way that the state-owned banks were not set up to provide. Regulators were also eager to see if private banks could support economic growth in rural regions far from main cities.

There was much riding on the success of the Flourishing Farmers loan program. An effective program could convince regulators to allow online banking for all banking services. Better access to credit could not only reduce the cost of loans for individuals and small businesses but also expand the potential market for financial and internet services.

Bank officials had designed the Flourishing Farmer Loan program to use the internet to communicate with loan applicants in rural areas and judge their credit-worthiness. To make the program sustainable, MYbank faced a number of challenges. Could MYbank’s big data and algorithmic approach identify good credit risks for small loans without incurring the expense of multiple loan officers and bricks and mortar branches? Was the rural customer base for online banking robust enough to create a profitable program at scale? What did MYbank have to do to make a national credit-rating system for small enterprises successful?

Case Study 5 (Source: Yale School of Management)

A global leader in the insurance and asset management business, AXA had risen to the top ranks in terms of corporate responsibility (CR) as well. In 2014, the French-based insurer led the industry on a number of corporate social responsibility and sustainability indexes. Not content to rest on these laurels, AXA transferred its CR team from the department that included the Communications function to a newly created department combining the Strategy, CR, and Public Affairs functions together, to further integrate CR into the core of the business.

AXA’s business had grown rapidly over the previous decades. The company was formed in the 1980s through the merger of a few mid-sized French insurance firms. From the beginning, AXA’s CEO Claude Bébéar aspired to build the first global insurance brand. The company made a series of acquisitions in the 1990s, including companies in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia. AXA was hailed in the business press for savvy deal-making. The company took over struggling franchises and utilizing its strong balance sheet, technical expertise and abilities in product innovation, managed to turn around their acquisitions. Over time, AXA also branded the companies under the AXA banner, assembling a global brand piece by piece. While Henri de Castries replaced Bébéar as CEO in 2000 and the company faced economic headwinds, AXA continued to produce strong returns.

In 2010, the company announced Ambition AXA, a five-year strategic plan to grow the company. The plan called for harvesting slow-growing businesses in mature markets, investing in emerging markets, and reducing the company’s overall cost of operations. Under the strategy, AXA made significant acquisitions and deals in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The company became the leading foreign insurance provider in China and a player in the Indian market. By 2014, AXA employed 157,000 people across the globe, serviced over 100 million clients, enjoyed a €50 billion market cap, and managed over €1,000 billion in assets. According to Interbrand, AXA’s was the leading global brand name in insurance, and also the leading “green” insurance brand.

Throughout its growth, AXA’s leadership had maintained an interest in corporate social responsibility, and many AXA employees believed that CR was in the DNA of the organization. During 1980s, Bébéar set up a number of organizations to bring business leaders together to tackle social problems and engage in philanthropy. Inside AXA in 1990, the company created AXA Atout Coeur (“Hearts in Action”) to encourage and support community engagement by employees, and in 2001 it established the Group’s first “sustainable development” function.

But it wasn’t until 2008 that the company created a formal CR strategy. Following an internal study that argued that corporate responsibility was a key strategic area for the company to pursue, AXA’s first global CR action plan was launched. Under the direction of Alice Steenland, AXA’s CR team created a proprietary CR metric for the company, which was adapted for each of the company’s major operating activities. This metric allowed AXA leadership to assess the company’s CR work and provided a framework for individual units to formulate their own CR goals. The CR team’s work also helped AXA become more visible within the larger CR community and led to the company’s success on ratings metrics constructed by various outside organizations.

In September of 2014, the CR team’s success led AXA leadership to transfer it from the department that included the Communications function to the department comprised of the Strategy and Public Affairs functions. This new integrated department was baptized “Strategy, Sustainability, and Public Affairs.” The reorganization inspired a reconsideration of how AXA monitored and measured its CR efforts. The metrics Steenland and her group had constructed were adapted from outside ratings agencies, notably using the Dow Jones Sustainability Index methodology created for investors. As part of the company’s strategy apparatus, Steenland and her team were now looking to create new CR metrics that tied CR work more closely to AXA’s operations and growth. To do so, Steenland would have to identify CR issues of particular concern to the company, examine how addressing these CR issues would add value to the company (e.g. by fostering innovation, by reducing costs), and then create metrics that would capture a business unit’s success or failure in addressing the CR issue.

Creating new metrics was a tall order, but would be another step to establishing CR inside AXA. Eventually, the company aspired to produce an “integrated report” that would define the Group’s next strategy for the 2020 time horizon, measured by a set of metrics reflecting in an integrated way the financial, but also the social and environmental, value created by the company.

End note

In this article, we have shared detailed strategy to prepare for case study interview rounds in Deloitte recruitment process.

The above mentioned cases are taken from Deloitte career section and Yale School of Management website.

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