Case analysis: applied practice: open practice pack: learner worksheet

1. case-analysis-applied-s01-q01

A case pack contains a market report, an internal sales sheet, and a customer survey. The brief asks whether the business should extend its opening hours. Where do you start?

1. The longest document, since it will contain the most information
2. The most recent document, since it reflects current conditions
3. Re-read the question to fix the decision and the criteria it should be judged on, then read each document for what bears on those
4. All three in the order they were provided

Answer:

2. case-analysis-applied-s01-q02

One document in the pack is a market-share analysis dated several years ago. The case is set in the present day.

1. Use it as evidence about the period it covers, and state explicitly any assumption you make in carrying it forward
2. Discard it; out-of-date evidence has no place in a current recommendation
3. Use it as though it described the current position
4. Average it with a more recent figure to smooth the difference

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3. case-analysis-applied-s01-q03

The pack includes a quotation from the chief executive: 'Our customers care about price above everything else.' A customer survey is also in the pack.

1. Accept it; nobody knows the business better
2. Reject it as opinion rather than evidence
3. Carry it into the recommendation as a fixed constraint
4. Treat it as a hypothesis and test it against what the survey in the pack actually says

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4. case-analysis-applied-s01-q04

Having read the pack, you conclude that two of the six documents have no bearing on the question asked.

1. Find a use for something in each document so no evidence is wasted
2. Note briefly that they do not bear on the decision, and set them aside
3. Leave them out silently
4. Include their contents for completeness

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5. case-analysis-applied-s01-q05

The same quantity appears in two documents with two clearly different values.

1. Check the definition and the period behind each figure before concluding either is wrong; they may be measuring different things
2. Use the larger figure, since understatement is the more common error
3. Use the figure from the more official-looking document
4. Take the average of the two

Answer:

6. case-analysis-applied-s02-q01

A board memo states the plant runs at 92% utilisation. The operations appendix reports 78% for the same year.

1. Use the memo figure; it is the more senior source
2. Look for the denominator each is using, scheduled hours against calendar hours would explain a gap of this size, and quote the figure with its basis
3. Report both figures without comment and let the reader choose
4. Use the lower figure, to be conservative

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7. case-analysis-applied-s02-q02

A site manager's interview describes a problem that the financial data in the pack does not show.

1. Rely on the financial data; numbers are less prone to bias than interviews
2. Rely on the interview; the person on the ground sees what reports miss
3. Set both aside as unreliable
4. Treat the contradiction as a finding in its own right: state both, say which you rely on and why, and say what would resolve it

Answer:

8. case-analysis-applied-s02-q03

Two forecasts in the pack reach different conclusions. The difference traces almost entirely to one assumption about demand growth.

1. Present both forecasts and let the reader weigh them
2. Adopt the more cautious of the two
3. Name the assumption, show how the conclusion moves as it varies, and say what evidence would settle it
4. Build a third forecast between them

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9. case-analysis-applied-s02-q04

One document in the pack is plainly written to argue for a particular option. It is a proposal from the division that would benefit.

1. Use its facts where they are checkable, discount its conclusions, and note the author's interest
2. Discard it, since it is advocacy rather than analysis
3. Treat it as a neutral source like the others
4. Give it the same weight as the independent documents

Answer:

10. case-analysis-applied-s02-q05

A figure you need to complete the analysis is not in the pack anywhere.

1. Estimate it plausibly and carry on
2. State the gap, show the range of values over which your conclusion does not change, and say what would be needed to narrow it
3. Decline to make a recommendation without it
4. Use the midpoint of the plausible range without drawing attention to it

Answer:

11. case-analysis-applied-s03-q01

A product line generates revenue of 800,000, has direct costs of 600,000, and carries an allocated head-office overhead of 250,000: a reported loss of 50,000. Should it be closed?

1. Yes: it loses money as reported
2. Yes, unless growth is expected to close the gap
3. No: revenue exceeds direct costs, so a line like this should never be closed
4. Not on this evidence: it contributes 200,000 towards overhead that would largely remain, so closing it worsens total profit unless that overhead is genuinely avoidable

Answer:

12. case-analysis-applied-s03-q02

Option A costs 100,000 and saves 40,000 a year. Option B costs 250,000 and saves 90,000 a year. Both run for five years and the budget allows either. Which is the stronger investment?

1. A, because it pays back in 2.5 years against B's 2.8
2. A, because it costs less and so ties up less capital
3. B, because over the five years it returns 200,000 net against A's 100,000, and both recover their cost well inside the period
4. Neither, without knowing the cost of capital

Answer:

13. case-analysis-applied-s03-q03

The pack includes a survey of 40 customers, conducted at one store on one Saturday afternoon. The chain has 120 stores.

1. Treat it as indicative of that store on that day, and say so. It cannot support a chain-wide conclusion
2. Treat it as representative; 40 responses is a workable sample size
3. Discard it entirely as worthless
4. Scale the findings up by the number of stores

Answer:

14. case-analysis-applied-s03-q04

A product sold at 100 with a unit cost of 75 had its price cut by 10%. Volume then rose by 12% and unit costs were unchanged. What happened?

1. The cut worked: revenue rose
2. The cut lost money: unit contribution fell from 25 to 15, so 12% more volume left total contribution well below where it started
3. The cut worked if it also gained market share
4. It cannot be judged without the competitors' response

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15. case-analysis-applied-s03-q05

This year's operating profit includes a one-off gain of 300,000 from the sale of a building.

1. Include it; the cash is real and it was earned this year
2. Include it, with a note that it was unusual
3. Exclude it from the underlying comparison and disclose it separately, because it will not recur
4. Restate the prior years to include an equivalent adjustment

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16. case-analysis-applied-s04-q01

How should a written recommendation be structured?

1. The recommendation first, then the two or three reasons that carry it, then the main risk and what would change your mind
2. The analysis in the order you carried it out, ending with the conclusion
3. Every option given equal weight, leaving the choice to the reader
4. The risks first, so expectations are set before the proposal

Answer:

17. case-analysis-applied-s04-q02

After the analysis you favour option A over option B, but only narrowly, perhaps sixty-forty.

1. Recommend neither, and present both fairly
2. Recommend A, say plainly that the decision is close, and name the one piece of evidence that would reverse it
3. Recommend the lower-risk option regardless of the analysis
4. Ask for more time before recommending

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18. case-analysis-applied-s04-q03

Your recommendation rests on an assumption that is reasonable but could turn out to be wrong.

1. Leave it unstated so the argument reads more strongly
2. Record it in an appendix for completeness
3. Present the recommendation without conditions and handle it if it arises
4. State the assumption where it is used, show how sensitive the conclusion is to it, and give the fallback if it fails

Answer:

19. case-analysis-applied-s04-q04

A colleague's case answer recommends a course of action but says nothing about cost, sequence, or who would do it.

1. That is fine; implementation is a separate exercise
2. That is fine as long as the strategic direction is right
3. It is incomplete: a recommendation that cannot be costed or scheduled cannot actually be decided on
4. That is normal for a strategy-level case

Answer:

20. case-analysis-applied-s04-q05

Having worked through the pack, you conclude that the evidence does not support any of the three options the brief offered.

1. Recommend the least bad of the three
2. Recommend the one the client appears to favour
3. Report that the evidence is inconclusive
4. Say plainly that none of the stated options is supported, say what the evidence does support, and define the specific work that would settle it

Answer: