The opening of a case should leave you and the interviewer working on the same problem. You need to understand the decision, keep track of the facts that matter and explain how you will investigate it.
I would judge an opening by the usefulness of the plan it produces. A fluent summary followed by a generic framework is less helpful than a short, slightly less polished opening that identifies the real constraint.
Here is how to get from the prompt to an approach you can actually use.
Listen for the decision and the boundary
While the interviewer speaks, capture the client, the problem, the target, the time period and any restriction. Use fragments rather than complete sentences so that writing does not compete with listening.
Consider this fictional prompt:
A medical-device company sells monitoring equipment to hospitals. Its operating profit has fallen, and management is considering a price increase. It wants to improve next year’s profit without damaging its important hospital relationships. How would you advise the company?
Your notes might be:
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Client | Hospital monitoring equipment supplier |
| Decision | Whether and how to increase prices |
| Goal | Improve operating profit next year |
| Condition | Protect important hospital relationships |
| Missing | Size of required improvement; when prices can change |
The problem is a commercial decision about an existing product. You do not need to understand the device’s clinical engineering to begin. You do need to understand whether a higher price can reach the relevant sales within the target year.
If you miss a number, ask for it again. Guessing at a financial target creates a much bigger problem than a brief request to repeat it.
Restate the assignment without repeating the whole prompt
Give the interviewer a short confirmation:
“We need to assess whether a price increase can improve next year’s operating profit while protecting the company’s key hospital relationships.”
That sentence captures the decision and the condition. It also gives the interviewer a chance to correct a misunderstanding before you invest time in a structure.
Do not turn the restatement into an opening speech about the healthcare industry. Every extra claim creates another thing you may need to defend. At this stage, accurate understanding is enough.
When the prompt is already short and clear, the confirmation can flow directly into your first question. There is no need for a separate ritualised recap.
Ask the question that changes the plan
Two gaps deserve attention in this example.
“How much additional operating profit does the company need next year?”
The interviewer says £1 million.
“Can we change prices on existing sales immediately, or are they fixed until hospital contracts renew?”
The interviewer says contracts renew at different points in the year. About half of the annual sales value will be exposed to the proposed increase during next year, after accounting for renewal timing. Key accounts also need individual negotiation.
Use the answer immediately:
“Then I’ll assess the profit impact on the sales that can actually reprice next year, and test the customer response separately for key accounts.”
Notice how much this settles. You have a target, a realistic revenue base for the calculation and a reason to segment customers. “Customers, competitors, company” would not capture those consequences without further explanation.
For more practice choosing this kind of question, see clarifying questions.
Quick Case Opening Drill
A dental group wants higher profit next year and is considering opening its clinics on Saturdays. You are about to structure the decision.
- Clinics
- 12, all closed at weekends
- Routine check-up wait
- Six weeks
- Dentist contracts
- Monday to Friday only
Which clarifying question would most change how you structure the case?
Take a short pause and build the approach
Tell the interviewer you would like a moment to organise your thoughts. During the pause, write the decisions you need to resolve rather than every fact you might request.
For this case, I would organise the work around three questions:
- Can the proposed increase deliver £1 million next year? Calculate the eligible sales, the increase, the volume response and any implementation costs.
- Which customers can accept it? Compare the value of the equipment, alternatives and contract terms, paying particular attention to key accounts.
- How should the company implement the change? Decide whether to apply a broad increase, negotiate by account or adjust the offer, and identify what to monitor.
This covers economics, customer response and execution in the language of the decision. You can add detail as evidence appears.
I would start with the first question. If even a favourable price response cannot reach the target within the year, management needs to know that before spending the case refining a rollout plan.
Present the approach as a conversation
A clear spoken version might be:
“I’d start by calculating the maximum profit contribution from the sales we can reprice next year, then allow for customer losses and implementation costs. I’d next assess which hospitals are most likely to accept the increase, using the equipment’s value and their alternatives. Finally, I’d decide how to introduce the increase without putting key accounts at unnecessary risk. Could we start with next year’s eligible sales and the proposed increase?”
The final request follows from the plan. You have told the interviewer why that information is useful.
Do not read out all the subpoints on your paper. Give enough detail to make the reasoning visible, then let the conversation progress. Presenting a framework develops this further.
See how the opening prevents a wrong answer
Suppose the company expects £20 million of annual sales at existing prices and is considering a 5% increase. Half of that sales value is exposed to the new price during next year. Assume for the moment that volume and costs stay unchanged.
A quick calculation on the entire annual base gives £20 million × 5% = £1 million. That appears to meet the target.
The relevant calculation is different:
£20 million × 50% exposed sales × 5% increase = £500,000 additional profit.
Even before customer losses or rollout costs, the proposed increase delivers only half of the target. At unchanged volume and costs, the exposed sales would need a 10% increase to produce £1 million. That is an arithmetic requirement, not evidence that customers would accept 10%.
Your opening question caught the difference between a full-year price opportunity and the opportunity available within the client’s deadline.
If management insists on 5%, you should investigate additional profit improvements or challenge the target’s timing. You should not quietly apply the increase to sales that cannot reprice.
Quick Answer Repair Drill
A parcel firm must save £1 million in operating costs next year by replacing diesel vans with cheaper-to-run electric vans.
- Fleet size
- 500 diesel vans
- Saving per electric van
- £2,000 a year
- Vans replaced next year
- 150, all in January
A candidate says 500 vans × £2,000 meets the target. What is the strongest repair?
Adapt when the interviewer changes direction
You may be asked to analyse a chart before presenting a complete structure. Or the interviewer may say, “Let’s assume the price increase is acceptable. What else concerns you?”
Follow the new question. Keep the objective in view and organise the answer at the appropriate level. You can say:
“Under that assumption, I’d focus on how much of the increase arrives next year and whether the rollout creates additional costs.”
Your opening should make it easier to listen, explain your reasoning and respond to new information. Leave room to change direction.
If you realise your own interpretation was wrong, correct it plainly: “I treated this as a decision about all hospital contracts. You’ve clarified that only new contracts are in scope, so I’ll narrow the revenue base.” Then continue with the corrected problem.
Practise only the opening until the movement feels natural
Ask a partner to read an unfamiliar prompt once. Take notes, confirm the decision, ask a useful question and explain your plan. Stop there.
Have the partner change one detail and repeat the exercise: twelve months becomes three years; profit becomes cash; all customers becomes new customers. Your structure should change where that detail matters.
Review three things: did you capture the assignment accurately, did you use the answer you received, and did your first analytical request follow from your plan? These are more useful than timing a memorised speech to the second.
The senior-living case-opening drill gives you a fresh setting to practise the sequence. Begin with the client’s decision, establish the missing boundary and make your first analytical move.
Case setup drill
How would an MBB interviewer judge your case opening?
Senior Living Operator Occupancy Recovery
Set up a senior-living occupancy case. Practise with Casey and get feedback.
Frequently asked questions
Listening and restating the problem
What should I write down while the interviewer reads the case?
Capture the client, the problem, the target, the time period and any restriction. Write in fragments rather than full sentences so note-taking does not stop you listening. In a pricing prompt, for instance, a note such as 'profit next year, protect hospital relationships' records both the goal and the condition you must respect.
Should I repeat the whole case prompt back to the interviewer?
No. Give a short confirmation of the decision and any condition attached to it, such as assessing whether a price increase can improve next year's operating profit while protecting key hospital relationships. Avoid turning the restatement into an opening speech about the client. One clear sentence is enough to show you have understood the assignment.
Why restate the case at all if I already understand it?
Because it lets the interviewer correct a misunderstanding before you invest time in a structure built on the wrong problem. If you have misheard the target, the period or a restriction, a quick restatement surfaces it early, when fixing it costs seconds rather than an entire line of analysis.
Asking questions that matter
How many clarifying questions should I ask at the start?
Ask the questions whose answers would change your plan, rather than aiming for a set number. In the medical-device example, two gaps matter: how much additional profit is needed, and whether prices can change immediately or only when contracts renew. Questions that merely collect background facts slow the opening without improving your approach.
Why ask about contract renewals in a pricing case?
Because timing determines how much of the increase arrives in the target period. In the example, about half of annual sales are exposed to the new price next year. A 5% increase on the full £20 million suggests £1 million, but applied to the exposed £10 million it delivers £500,000, half the target, before any customer losses.
If my quick calculation meets the target, can I move on?
Not until you check its assumptions. A headline calculation may hold volume and costs unchanged and include sales that cannot be repriced within the period. A sound plan works out the eligible sales, then allows for the volume response and implementation costs. Treat a first calculation as the maximum available, then test what reduces it.
Building and presenting your structure
Is it acceptable to ask for time to think before giving a structure?
Yes. Tell the interviewer you would like a moment to organise your thoughts, then use the pause productively. Write down the decisions you need to resolve rather than listing every fact you might request. That keeps your structure focused on what the client must decide instead of becoming a long checklist of data.
Should I use a standard framework to open a case?
Only if it fits the real constraint. A fluent summary followed by a generic framework is less helpful than a short, slightly less polished opening that identifies what actually limits the client. In the pricing example, the useful structure asks whether the increase can deliver £1 million, which hospitals will accept it and how to introduce it.
How do I present my structure without sounding scripted?
Present it as a conversation that explains the order of your work. For example, say you would first calculate the maximum profit contribution from sales you can reprice, then allow for customer losses and costs, then assess which hospitals are likely to accept, and finally decide how to introduce the increase. Each step should visibly serve the decision.
What if the interviewer skips my structure or hands me a chart first?
Follow the new question while keeping the objective in view. If told to assume the price increase is acceptable, refocus on what still matters, such as how much of the increase arrives next year. Organise your answer at the level the question needs rather than steering the interviewer back to the structure you prepared.
Practising the opening
How can I practise case openings with a partner?
Practise only the opening. Ask a partner to read an unfamiliar prompt once, then take notes, confirm the decision, ask a useful question and explain your plan. Stop there rather than solving the whole case. Repeating this short sequence makes the move from listening to planning feel natural without the fatigue of full-length cases.
Why should my partner change one detail between attempts?
It tests whether your structure responds to the facts or is simply memorised. Have your partner change twelve months to three years, profit to cash, or all customers to new customers, then repeat. Your plan should change where that detail matters. If it stays identical, you are probably applying a template rather than reasoning about the decision.