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Hacking the Case Interview

Where can I find MBA Consulting Casebooks?

Below, you will find links to download MBA consulting casebooks from 23 different business schools. These casebooks will provide you with over 700 practice cases that you can use to hone your case interview skills. These cases are a great supplement to the practice cases that consulting firms provide .

The year indicates when the consulting casebook was published. Some consulting clubs publish a new casebook each year while others may use the same casebook for multiple years. Therefore, even the older casebooks can still contain valuable practice cases.

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly,  enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

• Australian Graduate School of Management (2002)
• Booth (2005)
• Columbia (2007)
• Darden (2019)
• ESADE (2011)
• Fuqua (2018)
• Goizueta (2006)
• Haas (2019)
• Harvard Business School (2012)
• Illinois (2015)
• INSEAD (2011)
• Johnson (2003)
• Kellogg (2012)
• London Business School (2013)
• McCombs (2018)
• Notre Dame (2017)
• Queens (2019)
• Ross (2010)
• Sloan (2015)
• Stern (2018)
• Tuck (2009)
• Wharton (2017)
• Yale (2013)

What are Consulting Casebooks?

Consulting casebooks are documents that MBA consulting clubs put together to help their members prepare for consulting case interviews. Consulting casebooks provide some case interview strategies and tips, but they mostly contain case interview practice cases.

While consulting casebooks contain tons of practice cases, there is quite a bit of variety in the sources and formats of these cases.

Some practice cases are taken from actual consulting interviews given by consulting firms. These are the best types of cases to practice with because they closely simulate the length and difficulty of an actual case interview. Other practice cases may be written by the consulting club’s officers. These cases are less realistic, but can still offer great practice.

The formats of the practice cases in consulting casebooks also vary significantly.

Some practice cases are written in a question and answer format. This type of format makes it easy to practice the case by yourself, without a case partner. Other practices cases are written in a dialogue format. These cases are better for practicing with a case interview partner.

How do I use Casebooks to Practice Case Interviews?

How you should use consulting casebooks depends on whether you are practicing cases by yourself or practicing cases with a case partner.

Practicing Cases by Yourself

If you are trying to practice cases by yourself, you will need to find cases that are written in a question and answer format. Only in this format can you read the question, answer it, and then move onto the next question without getting any case spoilers.

To practice cases by yourself, read the case background. Then, summarize the case information out loud, verify the objective to yourself, and then ask clarifying questions out loud.

You likely won’t be able to answer any questions that you have by yourself, but talking to yourself out loud is good practice because it simulates what you would do in a real case interview.

Afterwards, take a few minutes to write out your case interview framework. Treat this like a real case interview, so don’t give yourself unlimited time to think about how you would structure your approach. When you have your framework written out, talk through it like you are explaining it to an interviewer.

Next, move onto the first case question. For each case question, talk through your thinking out loud as if you were in a real interview. If there is math involved, make sure you talk through your calculations out loud.

Once you have finished answering each case question, provide your final recommendation out loud. Make sure to suggest potential next steps.

Now that you have finished the case, you can review your answers and compare them to the sample answers. Try to identify areas of improvement or things that you could have done better.

For a comprehensive guide on how to practice case interviews by yourself, without a case partner, read this article .

Practicing Cases with a Case Partner

If you are practicing with a case partner, decide who is going to be giving the case and who is going to be receiving the case.

If you are giving the case, read the entire case information carefully. It may be helpful to read through everything twice so that you are familiar with all of the information and can answer any question that your partner asks you to clarify.

As the person giving the case, you need to be the case expert.

You should become familiar with the overall direction of the case. In other words, you should know what the major questions of the case are and what the major areas of investigation are. This will help you run the mock case interview more smoothly.  

Depending on whether you want the case interview to be interviewer-led or candidate-led, you will need to decide how much you want to steer the direction of the case.

If your partner gets stuck and is taking a long time, you may need to step in and provide suggestions or hints. If your partner is proceeding down a wrong direction, you will need to direct them towards the right direction.

Caveats to Using MBA Consulting Casebooks

In general, MBA consulting casebooks are great resources because they are free and provide tons of practice cases to hone your case interview skills. However, there are several caveats that you should be aware of.

1. Similarity to Real Case Interviews

Some cases in MBA consulting casebooks are not representative of actual case interviews because they are written by consulting club officers instead of interviewers from consulting firms.

For example, some cases may be too short or too long in length. Some cases could also be too technical or may require you to have specialized knowledge. If you come across a case that is way too complicated or way too simple, keep in mind that the case may not be representative of an actual case interview.

2. Quality of Sample Answers

While consulting casebooks provide sample solutions, these answers are often not the best or highest quality answers. If you use the answers in casebooks as your benchmark for what a great answer looks like, you may not be learning the best way to answer case interview questions.

3. Ease of Use

Consulting casebooks are all written in different formats and by different people. Therefore, it can be challenging to find cases that you can consistently use to practice cases by yourself or with a partner.

Case information may be written in an unorganized way. The main questions of the case may be hidden in the case background information or in the answers. You’ll have to learn the best way to read and digest each case in each casebook.

Recommended Consulting Interview Resources

Here are the resources we recommend to land your dream consulting job:

For help landing consulting interviews

• Resume Review & Editing : Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple consulting interviews

For help passing case interviews

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
• Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.
• Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

For help passing consulting behavioral & fit interviews

• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.

Land Multiple Consulting Offers

Complete, step-by-step case interview course. 30,000+ happy customers.

Read more on INSEAD case studies 

Creating Value with Blockchain & NFTs: Arianee Leading the Transition to Web3.0 with Digital Product Passports

By Frederic Godart,  Katia Kachan Published 14 Mar 2024 Reference 6866 Topic Strategy Industry Internet,  Luxury Goods and Jewelry Region Europe Length 19 page(s) Language English Summary The case focuses on Arianee – a France-based scale-up at the forefront of the...

Infosys: Digital Innovation and Tennis – Transforming Traditional Sports Partnerships

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Damien Hirst: From Sharks to NFTs, and the Luxurification of the Art World

By Frederic Godart,  Nancy J. Brandwein Published 15 Jan 2024 Reference 6848 Topic Leadership & Organisations Industry Arts and Crafts Region Europe Length 12 page(s) Language English Summary In October 2022, the British artist Damien Hirst, renowned for defying...

Olivier Rousteing at Balmain: From Instagram to NFTs, Digital Leadership in Style

By Frederic Godart,  Brian Henry Published 10 Jan 2024 Reference 6853 Topic Leadership & Organisations Industry Luxury Goods and Jewelry,  Apparel and Fashion Region Global Length 11 page(s) Summary This case is about the transformation of a luxury French fashion...

Identifying and Evaluating Opportunities for Analytics and AI

By Anton S. Ovchinnikov,  Ilia Tsetlin Published 19 Dec 2023 Reference 6860 Topic Operations Length 10 page(s) Language English Summary Despite advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), a shockingly high percentage of such projects fail. This...

The Crurated Revolution: Connecting People with Fine Wines Through Blockchain Technology

By David Dubois,  Lidia Martin Garcia Published 22 Jun 2023 Reference 6822 Topic Marketing Industry Luxury Goods and Jewelry Region Global Length 12 page(s) Summary Crurated, a start-up founded in 2019, combines various technologies to address previously unmet needs...

The Rebirth of a Giant: Microsoft’s Pivot to “Mobile First, Cloud First”

By Chengyi Lin,  Benjamin Kessler Published 11 Apr 2023 Reference 6816 Topic Leadership & Organisations Industry Human Resources Region Global Length 5 page(s) Summary Microsoft offers a rare example of an incumbent that has survived the era of digital...

Rising to the Challenge of “Twin Transformation” Schneider Electric’s Evolution from Conventional Products to Sustainable Solutions

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One Ring to Rule Them All? (B): Forging Immortality Technology

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Case collection: INSEAD

About INSEAD

As one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD offers participants a truly global educational experience. With campuses in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore) and Middle East (Abu Dhabi), INSEAD's business education and research spans three continents.

The School’s 154 renowned faculty members from 40 countries inspire more than 1,400 students in its degree and PhD programmes. In addition, more than 11,000 executives participate in INSEAD's executive education programmes each year. 

About the collection

Pedagogical materials at a leading business school must be renewed constantly to ensure that they are relevant to the changing needs of the market. INSEAD is among just a handful of schools that invest heavily in case writing, and they are proud that their case studies on international management have long contributed to management education in their programmes and around the world.

INSEAD also offer a number of free cases.  Browse here

Case websites

INSEAD’s innovative new case websites offer educators free access to previously unavailable original materials for teaching. Each one provides direct and free access to a wealth of additional information and audiovisual resources.

Blue Ocean Strategy and Shift

The INSEAD case collection also includes cases and supplementary materials from the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute .

Collection contact

For any queries related to the INSEAD case collection, please contact:

e   [email protected]

Browse the full collection Browse prize-winning cases

Available from The Case Centre

The entire INSEAD collection of over 2,600 cases, and their accompanying instructor materials, software and videos, is available from The Case Centre.

INSEAD materials are also available as part of our Undergraduate Case Teaching Licence and discounted pricing scheme for members in developing countries . 

See what's available

There are restrictions on the distribution of some items. To see any restrictions login to our site (or register if you've not already done so) and use our online search to find the item you're interested in. Any restrictions will be shown alongside the product.

www.insead.edu

Top 10 bestselling cases

Browse the top 10 bestselling cases from INSEAD in 2023.

Browse the full collection

View all case collections

Learning with cases can be a challenging experience.

Our interactive study guide takes students through the process, providing practical tips, tricks and tools.

Discover more

07 Nov 2022

New Cases - October 2022

newcases , Capron , Shipilov , Chattopadhyay , Chen Guoli , Ma Juan , Bennedsen , Almeida Costa

We are pleased to share the latest INSEAD case studies, published in October 2022!

Four out of seven are set in Asia and examine various concepts, such as family business, charity and competitive strategy, in Japan, Taiwan and India.

Professor Morten Bennedsen has published two new cases on dynastic-controlled family business that shed light on the role of adult adoption in Japan and Taiwan. They explain how dynastic control differs from ownership of a firm and why control of the board is important for family-owned companies.

Recently, Morten Bennedsen, Hsi-Mei Chung, Yi-Chun Lu and Brian Henry rewrote their first collaborative case on a family business company in Taiwan " Ruling from the Grave: A Family Succession Controversy at the Taiwanese Evergreen Group " first published in 2018. The revised case has been updated.

A new case by Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay showcases the challenges facing Janani, a pioneer of contraceptive social marketing and clinical family planning services in eastern India, in deciding to transform from an NGO to a self-sustaining social enterprise. Responsibility is the second most frequently treated topic in his cases, a list of which is available here .

Professor Juan Ma published her first INSEAD case, which describes the history of a New Delhi-based start-up in Ayurveda industry NirogStreet, its macro environment, business model, growth trajectory, other industry players, and the opportunities and challenges ahead. The case was co-authored with Professor Guoli Chen who regularly publishes strategy cases about Asian companies and has written a new book “ Seeing the Unseen: Behind Chinese Tech Giants’ Global Venturing ” that deciphers the meteoric rise of Chinese tech companies across the world and offers lessons in understanding their global strategy and its implementation. Read more about the book in this article .

Back in Europe, Professor Laurence Capron ’s new case examines the strategic rationale for the acquisition of The Body Shop – from the perspective of the buyer (Natura) and the seller (L’Oréal) – with an emphasis on strategic fit, synergies and integration challenges.

Professor Luis Almeida Costa has readers stepping into the shoes of a new Strategic Director of PayPal to assess the factors underlying the choice between retail investing and developing a super app.

In his new case, Professor Andrew Shipilov opens a discussion of the value-chain activities that drive Dyson's competitive advantage. In 2019, he put together a strategic overview of Dyson Ltd in the case study “ Dyson Ltd: From Vacuum Cleaners to Electric Vehicles ” co-authored with Professor Peter Zemsky .

Read a 'scene setter’ for each of the new cases below.

The Body Shop: Makeover with the Right Parent? by Laurence Capron , Adrian Buss , Jean Wee

Topic: strategy ; industry: cosmetics ; region: europe.

The case examines the strategic rationale for the acquisition of The Body Shop – from the perspective of the buyer (Natura) and the seller (L’Oréal) – with an emphasis on the study strategic fit, synergies, and integration challenges. In particular, it requires students to think about whether the various characteristics of the parent affect the success of the target company, and whether the target can be value-accretive to the parent. Discussion can go deeper into the notion of parenting styles and value added by reflecting on the challenges faced by The Body Shop under its former owner, L’Oréal, and the pros and cons of the new Brazilian parent, Natura. The financial analysis allows students to assess the “fair” value of The Body Shop – again from the perspective of the buyer and the seller. The case allows for a DCF-based company valuation (excluding and including synergies) as well as for a Multiples-based valuation. Students are able to compute the opportunity cost of capital (WACC) for The Body Shop based on case facts and the CAPM (as well as beta un- and re-levering). This can lead into a discussion about how the characteristics of different buyers (e.g., a strategic buyer vs. a private-equity firm) might affect the firm’s valuation, and, indeed, might have affected the outcome of the auction.

PayPal: Maintaining Market Leadership in Digital Payments by Afonso Almeida Costa , Luis Almeida Costa ,  Alessandro Pappalardo , Carina Vogel

Topic: strategy ; region: global.

Shortly after Rich Hagen joins Paypal as Strategic Director in 2021, the CEO Dan Schulman asks for his input to choose between two promising directions for the business: venturing into retail investing or launching a super app. As a brokerage sector veteran, Hagen is intuitively inclined to favour online trading, but Schulman makes a strong case in favour of the super app. To prove himself in his new position, Hagen needs to weigh both options and make an informed recommendation.

Dynastic Control of Suzuki Motor by Morten Bennedsen , Vikas Mehrotra , Yupana Wiwattanakantang , Brian Henry  

Topic: family business ; region: global.

The case study is about the Japanese carmaker Suzuki. The 100-year company was founded at the peak of Japan’s silk-production industry in the early 20th century. Michio Suzuki (1887-1982), a gifted inventor, started tinkering with weaving looms and in 1920 founded the Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company in the coastal village of Hamamatsu. The case is an example of dynastic control – where the family control its strategic direction but own an insignificant number of shares – as well as an illustration of the role played by adult adoption in family businesses in Japan. When adopted son-in-law Osamu Suzuki retired in 2021 and his son took over as chairman, it was the first time the top job had gone to a natural heir since 1957, when the founder retired. The narrative follows the transformation of the small car company into a global player via a partnership strategy. Osamu was able to expand sales in North America following a tie-up with GM in 1981 (that lasted until 2008). Even more significant was his decision to enter the Indian car market in partnership with Maruti, a poorly performing state-owned carmaker, which would ultimately make Maruti Suzuki the biggest brand in India.

NirogStreet: A Digital Platform for Ayurveda Healthcare by Juan Ma ,  Guoli Chen ,  Yi Peng ,  Anjali Pathak

Topic: strategy ; industry: health, wellness and fitness ; region: asia.

Lack of trust and transparency had long plagued the Indian Ayurveda industry. NirogStreet, a New Delhi-based start-up, seeks to mitigate this problem through its tech-enabled platform that offers digital solutions to Ayurveda practitioners and patients. The case study describes its history, macro environment, business model, growth trajectory, other industry players, and the potential opportunities and challenges ahead. It helps students understand how the macro environment affects a business, how a platform business gains competitive advantage from its internal resources and capabilities, and how to achieve rapid growth through value innovation and lean start-up process.

Janani: The Rocky Road from Charity to Social Enterprise by Amitava Chattopadhyay , David J. Olson

Topic: responsibility ; region: asia.

Janani – an affiliate of the US-based NGO, DKT International – offers reproductive health products and services to low-income consumers from its base in Patna, Bihar. It has grown tremendously, expanding its coverage from 8 to 25 states — almost the whole of India. Donor funding is critical to Janani’s success, but donors are scaling back their funding as the economy flourishes and incomes increase. Two of its big three donors will expire in 2020. Despite its efforts to become a sustainable social enterprise, in 2019 40% of the annual budget is donor-dependent. The challenge for Janani is to become self-sustaining by embracing market opportunities while staying true to its mission: improving reproductive health among lower/lower-middle income consumers in India.

TECO: Too Old to Rule or Too Young to Succeed by Morten Bennedsen , Hsi-Mei Chung , Yi-Chun Lu , Brian Henry

Topic: family business ; region: asia.

The case is an example of how a family can control a large conglomerate – TECO Electric & Machinery, a Taiwanese engineering business – yet with almost no ownership stake. Founded by five prominent business families in 1956, TECO has been run by Mao-Hsiung “Theodore” Huang for the past 50 years, the son in law of the former CEO and co-founder, who married into the dominant founding family and rose up the ranks. Theodore’s eldest son, Eugene, is impatient take over the reins. However, he makes a discovery just before the Annual General Meeting in 2021 and reaches the conclusion that at 83, his father simply does not want his son to take over the leadership, and will control the company from behind the scenes via non-family professionals he has installed in the executive suite. The case highlights a dilemma facing many Asian family-owned companies dominated by octogenarians who don’t know how to retire gracefully. It also addresses some of the ambiguities of bringing in non-family professionals when perhaps the ulterior motive is to avoid a change of leadership.

Wearables: Can the Dyson Zone Break Into a New Market? by Andrew Shipilov , Brian Henry

The case is about the future of Dyson’s foray into wearable technology with the planned introduction of the Dyson Zone that enables people to breathe purified air while tuning out unwanted noise. Since no other device like it yet exists on the wearables market, its inventor Jake Dyson is stepping into unknown waters - another risk for a company that has taken several, including James Dyson’s failed attempt to diversify into the automobile market with the introduction of an electric vehicle in 2017. Will the Dyson Zone be different? The case does not pretend to answer this question but rather looks at the business strategy of a firm that has a reputation for developing innovative products.

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26 Feb 2024

INSEAD Sets New Record with 101 Awards: 3 Professors honoured by the Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2024

INSEAD, the business school for the world, announced today that three of its professors have been recognised in the Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2024. This takes the school’s total tally to 101 awards, an historic achievement as INSEAD becomes the first school to surpass 100 awards since the annual competition began in 1991.

The Case Centre Awards and Competitions celebrate worldwide excellence in case writing and teaching at business schools around the world, and are considered the case method community's annual 'Oscars'.

The Case Centre, Awards, Chen Guoli, Dubois David, Tepla Lucie

16 Oct 2023

Six INSEAD Professors feature in The Case Centre's Top 50 Best-Selling Case Authors of 2022-2023

Six INSEAD faculty have achieved recognition in The Case Centre's prestigious ranking of the top 50 best-selling case authors for the academic year 2022/2023, published today. The ranking is based on the volume of sales from the preceding academic year, showcasing the enduring impact and strength of INSEAD faculty case work.

The Case Centre, Mauborgne, Kim, Ulaga, Chandon, Petriglieri, Chen Guoli

05 Dec 2022

New Cases - November 2022

We are pleased to share the list of new INSEAD case studies published in November 2022.

All the cases are great illustrations of collaborative work between faculty, staff, students and alumni.

newcases, Zeisberger, Atasu, Vissa, Stabile

01 Aug 2022

New Cases - July 2022

We are pleased to share the latest INSEAD case studies, published in July 2022!

They span multiple management challenges and opportunities encountered across a variety of industries: music, sport, fine wine, healthcare and cement production.

newcases, Monteiro, Greve, Carrick, Chick, Stern, Kivleniece, Ridhima Aggarwal

05 Jul 2022

New Cases - June 2022

We are pleased to share the list of our new case studies published in June 2022!

The star topic of the past month is  Entrepreneurship . Three cases (out of seven on the list) explore subjects as varied as -

newcases, Kireyev, Kuwabara, Smith, Bikard

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Faculty & Research

Private Equity in Action: Case Studies from Developed and Emerging Markets

Private Equity in Action takes you on a tour of the private equity investment world through a series of case studies written by INSEAD faculty and taught at the world's leading business schools. The book is an ideal complement to Mastering Private Equity and allows readers to apply core concepts to investment targets and portfolio companies in real-life settings. The 19 cases illustrate the managerial challenges and risk-reward dynamics common to private equity investment.

The case studies in this book cover the full spectrum of private equity strategies, including:

Carve-outs in the US semiconductor industry (LBO) Venture investing in the Indian wine industry (VC) Investing in SMEs in the Middle East Turnaround situations in both emerging and developed markets. Written with leading private equity firms and their advisors and rigorously tested in INSEAD's MBA, EMBA and executive education programmes, each case makes for a compelling read.

As one of the world's leading graduate business schools, INSEAD offers a global educational experience. The cases in this volume leverage its international reach, network and connections, particularly in emerging markets.

Claudia Zeisberger

Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise

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