Gas Station Profitability

Case Intro

The client is an international conglomerate. It runs business across the whole value chain of oil/gas industry, including exploration, refining, gas station, etc.

However, the client had problems with their gas station business unit. This BU has been making even profit in last 5 years, but since last year, its profit has declined.

The CEO of our client hired McKinsey to help her determine why the decline in profit and whether they should spin off the Gas Station BU.

McKinsey Case Study Overview

In this McKinsey case study, the client is an international oil/gas conglomerate. The company has a business unit (gas stations) that has barely made a profit, and in the last year, has had declining profit. You have been brought in to help determine the cause of the decline, and if the company should sell off the gas stations business unit.

The Profitability Framework is a good place to start when developing your structure for the case, but don’t limit yourself to the basic frameworks. Use your creativity and structuring know-how to build a custom framework for the business situation in the case.

Prepping for a second round interview? This McKinsey case study, with a qualitative difficulty score of 2/4, is a case you would more likely see in a McKinsey 2nd round.

Interview Tips: McKinsey

McKinsey values candidates that are structured (read: organized) throughout the entire casing process. In this case, focus on maintaining structure in your analysis, in your notes, in your framework, in your communication, and in your math.

One final thing to focus on in this McKinsey case study: overall communication and polish. Interviewers will be looking for that in the final round.

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