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Estimation
Questions
1. How
many
gas
stations
are
there
in
the
US?
2. How
many
garden
hoses
were
sold
in
the
US
last
year?
3. How
many
pairs
of
boxers
are
sold
in
the
US
each
year?
4. How
much
does
a
747
weigh?
5. How
many
NetFlix
DVDs
get
lost
in
the
mail
each
year?
6. Estimate
the
size
of
the
bubble
gum
market
in
the
US.
7. There
were
165,000
American
children
born
with
autism
last
year.
What
%
of
the
babies
born
that
year
are
autistic?
8. Estimate
how
many
shoes
are
sold
in
the
U.S.
each
year.
9. Estimate
the
number
of
gallons
of
gasoline
the
typical
gas
station
pumps
in
a
given
weekday.
10. Estimate
the
total
industry
wide
sales
of
lipstick
in
the
U.S.
11. Estimate
how
many
tires
are
sold
in
the
U.S.
each
year.
12. Estimate
how
much
time
it
would
take
a
single
average
size
dump
truck
to
move
an
average
size
mountain
from
one
location
to
another
one
located
1
mile
away.
13. How
many
hair
salons
are
there
in
Japan?
14. How
many
light
bulbs
are
in
this
building?
15. How
many
cars
are
in
Los
Angeles?
16. How
many
airplanes
takes
off
from
JFK
airport
each
day?
17. Estimate
the
frozen
banana
market
in
NYC.
18. What
should
it
cost
to
rent
Central
Park
for
commercial
purposes?
19. How
many
cases
of
Red
Bull
are
sold
in
San
Francisco
each
day?
20. What
is
the
size
of
the
market
for
disposable
diapers
in
China?
21. How
many
golf
balls
are
sold
in
the
U.S.
in
one
year?
22. How
many
hot
dogs
are
sold
on
the
corner
of
76th
and
Lexington
in
NYC
on
a
Wednesday
in
August?
23. How
many
golf
carts
are
in
the
US?
24. How
long
does
it
take
a
Starbucks
to
serve
enough
coffee
to
fill
the
gas
tank
of
a
Hummer?
25. Having
fallen
on
hard
times,
your
consulting
firm
has
decided
to
serve
a
notorious
bank
robber.
He
has
asked
you
to
determine
how
many
briefcases
he
must
bring
with
him
in
order
to
steal
$10MM
in
cash,
all
$100
bills,
in
bundles
of
1,000
bills
each.
26. How
many
unique
horse
jockeys
ride
in
races
in
the
United
States
on
an
average
Sunday?
27. How
many
fire
trucks
are
sold
every
year?
28. How
many
personal
computers
are
used
in
the
U.S.
today?
29. You
have
been
retained
joint
by
a
disposable
diaper
company
and
a
federal
commission
on
waste
management.
Estimate
the
volume
percentage
of
disposable
diapers
in
the
total
U.S.
household
garbage.
Business
Case
Questions
1. An
asteroid
is
going
to
hit
the
earth
and
destroy
100%
of
it.
You
have
several
options:
create
a
missile
to
destroy
it
(blowing
it
into
several
particles
which
will
still
impact
the
earth
but
destroy
only
50%),
or
create
a
missile
to
push
it
out
of
the
way
(this
only
has
a
50%
chance
of
working
though).
Which
alternative
do
you
pick?
2. My
grandfather
had
just
died
and
left
me
an
oil
tanker.
I
need
a
valuation
and
I
have
hired
you
to
tell
me
what
its
worth.
3. Your
client,
a
U.S.
firm,
owns
a
meat
packing
plant
in
Spain.
Over
the
last
few
periods
profits
have
steadily
declined,
despite
the
fact
that
sales
are
growing.
You
have
been
hired
to
figure
out
why.
4. A
corn
feed
company
has
eight
manufacturing
plans
located
in
the
Midwest.
These
plants
services
the
entire
U.S.
Their
plant
in
Ohio
is
in
need
of
refurbishing.
The
company
has
four
possible
options:
refurbish
the
existing
plant,
build
a
larger
plant
at
the
current
location,
build
a
similar
size
plant
at
a
new
location,
and
build
a
larger
plant
at
a
new
location.
5. I
was
sitting
in
one
of
Chicagos
new
specialty
Cigar
Bars
around
the
end
of
August
with
a
friend.
It
was
a
Saturday
night
and
the
weather
was
fair.
While
enjoying
one
of
the
bars
finest
stogies
and
sipping
a
cognac,
I
asked
my
friend
how
much
he
thought
the
bar
was
worth.
On
the
back
of
the
envelope,
how
would
you
go
about
determining
the
value
of
this
bar?
6. Supplies
Mate,
a
distributor
of
office
supplies
in
Central
London,
has
experienced
declining
profitability
over
the
past
five
years.
How
can
the
distributor
address
this
profitability
trend?
(Accenture)
7. The
general
manager
of
a
popular
ski
resort
has
called
on
you
to
help
her
figure
out
why
her
resort
has
been
experiencing
declining
profits
over
the
past
three
years.
How
would
you
help
her?
8. Your
client
is
a
large
agricultural
equipment
manufacturer.
Their
primary
product
line,
farming
tractors,
is
losing
money.
What
questions
would
you
ask
of
your
client
to
help
them
solve
their
profitability
problem?
9. How
would
you
determine
a
pricing
strategy
for
a
hotel
chain?
10. Should
Great
Burger
acquire
Heavenly
Donuts?
11. How
can
Magna
Health
improve
its
financial
situation?
12. Your
client
is
an
energy
company
that
has
both
an
upstream
and
downstream
business.
Their
upstream
business
consists
of
exploration
and
production
while
their
downstream
business
includes
refining
and
marketing
&
distribution.
They
receive
20%
of
their
revenue
and
90%
of
their
profits
from
the
upstream
side,
80%
of
their
revenue
and
10%
of
their
profits
from
the
downstream
side.
This
is
the
first
meeting
youve
had
with
them
and
the
focus
is
on
getting
the
engagement.
Keys
Why
does
upstream,
with
a
small
portion
of
revenues,
generate
nearly
all
the
profits?
Upstream
and
downstream
business
run
as
separate
entities
and
enjoy
no
special
advantages
through
their
relationship.
(AT
Kearney)
13. Your
client
is
a
financial
services
firm,
specifically
the
Treasury
services
department.
This
division
has
its
own
software/IT
group
that
created
a
breakthrough
Web
case
management
system
that
has
netted
awards
and
new
clients.
Your
firm
recently
merged
with
larger
firm
that
made
this
platform
the
enterprise
standard.
All
current
clients
must
migrate
to
this
system
while
requirements
from
older
clients
form
a
serious
backlog.
Finally,
the
new
firm
is
losing
market
share
in
its
ForEx
currency
trading
operations
due
to
technology-based
issues
and
has
fallen
from
1st
place
to
4th
worldwide.
How
do
you
prioritize
these
demands
and
how
do
you
restructure
to
successfully
meet
demand?
What
impact
will
your
recommendations
have
on
the
Treasury
Services
department
and
on
clients?
(AT
Kearney)
14. Your
client
is
a
large
electric
utility
that
serves
Louisiana,
Arkansas,
Mississippi,
and
Texas.
You
have
2
large
nuclear
plants
and
are
one
of
the
nations
largest
natural
gas
buyers.
The
new
Chief
Procurement
Officer.
(your
client)
serves
4
divisions
his
own
(Procurement)
and
the
Nuclear,
Fossil
Fuels,
and
Transmission/Distribution
divisions.
He
wants
to
know
how
we
can
use
IT
to
improve
procurements
and
thus
the
overall
competitive
position
of
the
enterprise.
(AT
Kearney)
15. There
is
a
steel
industry
and
it
was
the
dominant
player
till
10
years
ago.
Now
market
has
opened
up
and
competitors
have
entered.
It
has
four
plants
each
headed
by
a
manager
and
two
divisions
of
marketing
and
planning
which
are
run
by
managers
as
well.
All
managers
are
independent
decision
makers.
Marketing
gets
an
order,
gives
it
to
planning
and
then
planning
decides
which
plant
to
give
it
to.
The
problem
being
faced
is
that
inventory
is
going
up
and
delivery
time
is
going
up
thus
causing
customer
dissatisfaction.
What
do
we
do?
(BCG)
16. One
of
the
local
telephone
companies
(Bells)
had
a
regional
monopoly.
They
charged
a
rate
that
the
government
deemed
fair.
However,
the
technological
boom
of
the
mid-90s
showed
that
the
Bells
had
become
choke
points
and
were
inefficient.
The
government
decided
to
open
up
the
market
to
competition
and
tipped
the
scale
in
favor
of
new
competitors
in
3
ways.
1)
They
get
to
choose
which
segments
to
serve
whereas
the
local
Bell
must
serve
everyone.
2)
They
can
charge
any
price.
3)
They
can
lease
the
local
Bells
lines
at
a
price
the
government
deems
fair
so
they
dont
have
to
invest
in
building
infrastructure.
The
CEO
of
your
client
saw
this
as
an
opportunity
to
enter
other
local
Bells
markets
and
started
a
new
division
with
this
goal.
The
new
division
grew
its
customer
base
to
1
million
over
2
years,
but
has
lost
money
the
whole
time.
The
CEO
now
wants
to
shut
down
the
division.
Is
this
the
right
thing
to
do?
(BCG)
17. A
new
product
that
can
be
used
by
firms
which
lay
fiber
optic
cable
over
both
short
and
long
distances
to
cut
costs.
Visual
information
was
provided
to
show
how
the
product
works
and
also
to
show
how
existing
methods
(PVC
pipe
instead
of
the
firms
new
product)
work.
What
is
the
viability
of
this
technology
compared
to
other
existing
alternatives?
What
different
markets
should
be
entered?
Should
the
product
ultimately
be
pursued
by
our
firm?
(BCG)
18. A
steel
company
in
another
country
was
experiencing
large
amounts
of
inventory
and
customers
which
complained
about
long
wait
times
for
orders.
Company
used
to
have
a
monopoly
however
deregulation
had
allowed
for
competition
starting
10
years
ago
and
the
firm
now
had
40%
market
share.
Firm
had
four
plants,
two
made
mostly
flat
steel
products
and
two
made
pipe
like
steel
products.
For
all
plants
half
the
products
were
specialized
and
half
were
standard.
What
should
be
done
to
solve
the
problems?
(BCG)
19. Your
client
is
a
non-profit
hospital.
They
serve
both
insured
and
uninsured
patients
but
their
revenue
comes
from
insured
patients
only.
They
are
concerned
because
the
number
of
uninsured
patients
using
their
services
has
been
increasing.
Theyve
hired
2
Patient
Financial
Advocates
whose
responsibility
is
to
contact
these
patients
to
set
up
payment
plans.
They
receive
daily
reports
with
data
on
uninsured
patients
treated
in
the
last
7
days.
However,
they
dont
have
enough
time
to
contact
patients
on
this
list
because
they
are
barely
able
to
handle
patients
being
referred
to
them
each
day.
What
should
the
hospital
do?
20. Soybeans
are
a
commodity
product.
Your
client
is
a
soybean
manufacturer,
which
processes
soybeans
for
food
and
energy.
80%
of
production
is
for
food,
20%
is
for
energy.
The
soybeans
your
client
processes
are
in
North
America,
but
majority
of
energy
demand
today
is
in
Asia/Pacific.
The
CEO
has
hired
you,
the
consultant,
to
understand
what
is
the
most
efficient
method
of
delivering
the
product
to
Asia.
You
need
to
decide
whether
to
process
all
in
North
America
and
then
ship
to
Asia/Pacific,
or
ship
raw
to
Asia/Pacific
and
then
process
(McKinsey)
21. Client,
Private
Equity
Co.
(PEC),
is
looking
to
acquire
Personal
Care
Co.
Personal
Care
Co.
offers
a
diversified
product
line
of
health
&
beauty
products
into
several
market
segments.
PEC
would
like
to
sell
the
acquisition
in
2-3
years
for
a
profit.
The
new
management
team
PEC
would
put
in
place
is
unsure
where
to
focus
Personal
Care
Co.s
growth
efforts
and,
therefore,
which
segments
to
target
with
new
product
launches.
PEC
is
asking
Bain
to
provide
guidance
to
help
them
decide
to
purchase
this
firm
or
not.
They
also
expect
Bain
to
tell
them
where
to
focus
their
efforts.
22. Your
client
is
going
to
build
a
skyscraper,
but
is
not
sure
how
many
stories
to
build,
how
should
he/she
decide?
23. The
NBA
is
contemplating
a
bigger
expansion
into
China,
should
it?
24. A
copper
mining
company
is
losing
money.
The
CEO
asks
you
to
figure
out
why
and
what
to
do
about
it.
25. A
ski
resort
is
having
a
poor
revenue
year
due
to
light
snowfall.
Should
it
invest
in
snow
making
equipment?
The
CEO
asks
you
to
figure
out
why
and
what
to
do
about
it.
26. For
a
gas
station
convenience
store,
what
is
the
optimal
layout
for
where
different
types
of
goods
are
arranged
within
the
store?
27. A
steel
manufacturer
is
contemplating
buying
one
of
its
competitors.
Should
it?
28. A
bank
is
considering
offer
loans
to
sub-prime
borrowers,
should
it?
29. The
CEO
of
a
retail
store
client
is
losing
money
and
asks
you
for
help.
What
do
you
do?
30. The
year
is
1980,
your
client
has
invented
a
new
piece
of
office
equipment
called
a
fax
machine.
They
are
debating
whether
or
not
to
invest
in
manufacturing
and
marketing
this
product.
What
factors
should
they
consider
and
should
the
launch
it
or
not
launch
it
and
why?
31. Your
nephew
is
running
a
lemonade
stand
during
his
spring
break.
The
stand
will
only
be
open
for
the
5
days
of
his
spring
break.
On
Monday,
he
only
sold
3
cups
of
lemonade.
He
asks
you
for
help
to
increase
sales,
what
do
you
do?
32. A
leverage
buyout
firm
is
considering
buying
a
company
that
owns
proprietary
database
of
real
time
Federal
Aviation
Administration
database
on
every
commercial
flight
in
America
and
its
current
flight
status.
Should
they
buy
the
company?
33. Your
client
is
a
car
manufacturer,
and
its
revenues
are
declining.
What
is
the
problem,
and
how
would
increase
revenues?
34. An
electronics
stores
profits
are
declining.
Determine
what
the
problem
is.
35. A
city
mayor
hires
you
as
a
consultant,
his
city
population
is
declining.
Describe
your
preparation
for
the
analysis,
the
analysis,
and
approach.
36. Every
three
minutes
an
American
woman
is
diagnosed
with
breast
cancer.
How
many
American
women
will
be
diagnosed
this
year?
37. American
Express
is
facing
stiff
competition
from
a
host
of
new
credit
cards
that
have
no
annual
fee
and
low
interest
rates.
In
response,
American
Express
is
considering
dropping
its
$50
annual
fee.
What
are
the
economics
of
dropping
the
$50
fee?
38. Your
client
manufactures
hair
products.
Its
thinking
about
entering
the
sunscreen
market.
Is
this
a
good
idea?
39. Your
client
is
a
retail
bank
in
the
U.S.
There
has
been
no
growth
over
the
last
couple
of
years
in
the
domestic
market
so
you
are
considering
pursuing
growth
overseas
in
emerging
markets.
How
would
you
evaluate
whether
or
not
you
should
enter
a
given
country?
What
is
the
potential
market
in
the
US?
40. Your
client
is
an
international
manufacturer
of
electronic
equipment
for
industrial
customers.
The
R&D
department
has
developed
a
new
product
a
device
that
could
replace
all
energy
costs
(electric,
gas,
etc.)
using
solar
technology.
The
estimated
price
to
the
customer
would
be
$5,000/house,
with
a
pay
back
in
2
to
3
years.
The
R
&
D
department
says
the
estimated
investment
is
$100
million.
Should
they
launch
the
product?
41. A
major
furniture
retailer
has
experienced
declining
profits
for
four
quarters,
yet
that
same
time
period,
it
has
experienced
a
25%
growth
in
sales
and
has
opened
many
stores.
Why
are
profits
declining?
42. A
fast
food
company
is
thinking
about
putting
a
franchise
in
an
airport.
They
hire
you
to
see
if
they
should
do
so.
43. A
bread
division
of
a
large
food
company
is
facing
increasing
competition
in
its
market
and
wants
to
know
if
it
should
exit
the
market.
44. A
car
company
is
interested
in
developing
a
new
car.
What
marketing
related
issues
should
it
consider
before
doing
so?
45. What
factors
influence
the
revenue
potential
of
a
new
pharmaceutical
product?
46. Citibank
is
considering
purchasing
another
credit
card
company.
If
the
acquisition
is
made
Citibank
will
gain
access
to
100,000
new
cardholders.
What
is
the
estimated
value
of
this
acquisition?
47. A
commercial
bank
is
re-evaluating
the
number
of
branches
it
operates,
and
whether
they
should
increase
the
number
of
branches
or
close
some
down.
How
would
you
suggest
they
go
about
it?
48. A
large
conglomerate
company
is
facing
declining
profits
in
its
railroad
company
division
and
is
considering
shutting
it
down.
You
have
been
hired
to
determine
if
this
is
the
right
course
of
action
and
identify
potential
alternatives.
49. New
York
City
has
hired
you
to
determine
what
optimal
route
or
what
destination
taxi
drivers
should
go
to
when
they
do
not
have
a
customer.
50. Our
client
is
thinking
of
acquiring
a
diversified
company
that
has
products
in
three
different
industries.
One
of
those
industries
is
entertainment.
Our
client
knows
nothing
about
the
entertainment
industry
and
has
asked
us
to
do
an
analysis.
What
do
we
analyze?
51. Ben
&
Jerrys
is
buying
a
mid-size
cream
cheese
manufacturer.
Does
this
make
sense?
What
should
they
be
thinking
about?
52. Our
client
has
developed
a
new
biodegradable
product,
which
is
both
a
soft
drink
and
a
car
wax.
What
should
they
be
thinking
about?
53. Our
client
has
developed
a
new
Hollywood
screenwriting
software
package.
How
are
we
going
to
price
it?
Whats
our
strategy
and
why?