Business Case Study Challenges

Business Case Study Challenges Consulting: Case Study

Agenda Let’s get started Session overview Through the use of a case study you will 1. Getting Started think about issues such as food waste and the impact it has on a fictional company. – Introduction to the client You will research the industry and then 2. The Challenge consider the various options a business can take and how to evaluate them. – You will work as part of the PwC Consulting team producing the initial assessment of the client’s problems Objectives and possible recommendations to improve their food waste footprint in a short pitch. You will be able to: 3. Wrap up and reflection - Understand important environmental issues and learn why this is important to businesses. - Work in a team to present solutions to the fictional client Employability Skills Toolkit PwC 2

Introduction to the Case Study Company Overview 4 1 th Freshways Supermarket - is the 4 Sustainability - goal to reduce carbon biggest supermarket in the UK footprint by 20% in 5 years 5 2 Logistics - subcontracting online 12% decline in Market Share - delivery to regional haulage companies competition from budget options 6 3 Presence - 435 stores across the UK, Diversification - newly launched clothing with recent expansion into Dubai, Qatar range with ambitions to expand and Hong Kong. Employability Skills Toolkit 3 PwC

Client Background Company and Market Overview • The fourth biggest supermarket in the UK, with 12.5% of the market share and annual revenue of £17 billion in the last financial year. • 435 stores across the UK, and have recently expanded into the expat market, with trial stores opening in Dubai, Qatar and Hong Kong. • They do offer an online shopping facility, however they were the last of the large supermarkets to introduce this and subcontract their delivery service to smaller, regional haulage firms. • There has been a recent focus on enhancing their environmental credentials, and they have set a goal to reduce their carbon footprint by 20% over the next 5 years. • Since the growth in the UK of two leading budget supermarkets, Freshways have found that they are consistently losing market share and recognise the need for innovation in order to address this. Employability Skills Toolkit 4 PwC

Your challenge Last year Freshways wasted 11,000 tonnes of food across its store network. This reduced their profit by £300 million and significantly increased their carbon footprint. The majority of this waste is due to short life produce (like fresh fruit and veg) going off before they can sell it. Freshways want to become the leading supermarket in term of waste reduction, with the aim to eliminate it effectively by 2025. You will work as part of the PwC Consultancy team producing the initial assessment of Freshway’s problems and possible recommendations to improve their food waste footprint. In your teams, you will have to prepare a 3 minute presentation of your findings to the client that outlines: 1 2 3 What challenges is the client Consider what actions the Your key recommendation currently facing in relation client’s competitors are taking that the client should prioritise their food waste to reduce their waste to reduce their food waste Remember, you must also persuade them that your team would be the best consultancy firm to invest in to solve their problem. Employability Skills Toolkit 5 PwC

Team roles 1) You should first assign roles within your group to make sure you work effectively: Team leader Scribe Time keeper To facilitate the To take notes of the To ensure you discussion and make discussions and fill in complete the task in sure everyone is the relevant tables in time involved your booklet 6 2) After this, agree upon three ‘golden rules’ to make sure you work together well and produce the best work possible. Employability Skills Toolkit PwC

Research and background information 10 mins to read and discuss: • Optimisation problem – how can food waste be minimised while maintaining sales and minimising costs? • Shelf life of products – what other factors aside from the product affect shelf life? • Supply chain – how does this impact food waste? • Examples of food waste initiatives and solutions • News articles • UK Food Waste Statistics When suggesting recommendations, consider how your research will help your pitch. Team work approach: will you all read everything, or might you break the reading down into small groups and share what you have learnt? Which approach will you take? Employability Skills Toolkit PwC 7

Pitch Planning 10 mins to plan a 3 min pitch to the client: • Assess the problem the supermarket is facing using your background research and evaluate the potential solutions • Provide 1 key recommendation that the supermarket should prioritise to reduce their food waste. – What are the most important considerations for Freshways? – Which options might have the biggest impact on food waste reduction and why? – How might each option affect Freshways - financially and reputationally? • Why are PwC the best team to invest in? Team work approach: how will you make sure everyone contributes to the discussion? How will you make sure everyone is listened to? How will you manage any conflicts of ideas, or differences of opinions? Employability Skills Toolkit PwC 8

Pitch Delivery 10 mins to prepare a 3 minute pitch: • Think about who you are presenting to - the CEO of Freshways • Think about a beginning, a middle and an end (like an introduction, body and conclusion of an essay) • It is good to split out the pitch and let everyone speak • Delivery - Think about tone of voice - you want everyone to hear you • Confidence • Remember we are in a safe space so feel free to voice yourself • Being at ease and avoiding speaking too fast • Know your topic • Practise • Final Words - Have an impactful and convincing conclusion • Everyone must speak • Be prepared to answer questions afterwards Team work approach: how will you divide the pitch? How will you make sure the pitch is professional and persuasive? How will you make sure you have enough time to practice it out loud before delivery? Employability Skills Toolkit PwC 9

Deliver your pitch! You are all set to pitch to the CEO of Freshways. Best of luck! 10 Employability Skills Toolkit PwC

Wrap up and Reflection Employability Skills Toolkit 11 PwC

What employability skills have you developed in this session? Leadership Business Technical Global Relationships minded capabilities acumen • Teamwork • Quality in • Your knowledge • Seeking • Communication everything you of potential jobs new perspective skills • Problem solving do you could apply s • Building • Decision for • Improvement • Sharing ideas relationships making • What have you • Thinking • Coping with • Working with done that you commercially change others are proud of • Open minded • Ability to learn Employability Skills Toolkit PwC

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