Black Cats FC

Case Study Prompt

Your client is Black-Cats FC, a professional soccer club from northeast England. The club, whose history dates to the late 1880s, has a rich history of achievements in English and European tournaments. However, the club is currently playing in the English League-3, the third-highest division after two consecutive relegations from English Premier League and English Championship, which are the highest and the second-highest English leagues, respectively.

At the beginning of June 2020, the company was sold to an American owner based in Miami. The Owner seeks to restore the club’s status as an English Premier League club. After 1/3 of a season (beginning of December) the club is in 2nd place and in line to be promoted back to the Championship next year.

Nonetheless, in a recent anonymous survey about work satisfaction among back-office employees, over 80% of employees claimed that they were unmotivated, with 50% of them claiming that if not for COVID-19, they would have been looking for a new job.

The CEO of the club has approached our company for help in approaching this problem. Where would you start?

Case Study Overview

In this EY human capital case study, you’ve been tasked to help the owner of an English soccer club solve an employee satisfaction issue. A high percentage of employees are unmotivated in their jobs. Your role is to help diagnose the root cause and design a strategy to overcome the problem.

When it comes time to build your structure for the case, get creative, think through the problem logically, and apply your business acumen towards creating the best possible structure for this case.

There is 1 math diagram to interpret in this case. Overall, it’s a fairly difficult case designed for a final round interview.

EY Interview Tips

What does Ernst & Young look for in its case interview candidates? Flexibility.

The firm is looking for talent that is able to adjust on the fly to changing circumstances, as well as work on a variety of different projects.

In this case, focus on coming away with 1 key takeaway / area to improve.

For expert, out-loud practice, book time with one of MC’s ex-MBB interview coaches.