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BCG Online Case: Practice Case

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

Instructions
During our recruiting process you will experience BCG's online case. Like our case interviews, it is
an opportunity for you to better grasp the types of issues we address with our clients and for us to
assess a number of key skills such as business judgment, logical reasoning, and quantitative
aptitude. The online case takes 45 minutes to complete and consists of more than 20 questions
based on several documents describing one business scenario. Some of these documents will only
become available at a later stage of the case. You will be able to move forward and backwards
through the case as needed, and you may change your responses before time runs out. Here is an
example of the screen you will see during the actual test:

This booklet contains an example to help you prepare for the online case. It consists of 23
questions and you should complete it in no more than 45 minutes. In this practice case, there is one
(and only one) answer for each question. You can use a basic calculator, but no other calculating
tool (e.g. spreadsheet). You may also use scratch paper to help you with your calculations. Do not
hesitate to skip a question that you find too difficult in order to save time for others.
The practice case starts on the next page. Once you have completed it, you can check your answers
at the end of this booklet. To determine your overall score, please award yourself 3 points for each
correct answer, 0 points for each unanswered question, and deduct 1 point for each incorrect
answer.
Good luck!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

Med-Lines case
BCG has been contacted by the CEO of Med-Lines. Med-Lines is a ship owner which operates
ferries in Greece. The CEO has asked BCG to investigate opportunities to increase the company's
revenues. BCG's internal Knowledge Team provided you with a synthesis of the Greek tourism
industry (document 1).
Document 1

Greek tourism industry is growing

Three major tourist destinations
in the Aegean Sea
Passenger traffic in the Aegean is mainly
between Athens and 3 island destinations
Crete tourism consists mainly of
lower spending, young tourists
Rhodes has been traditionally a
destination attracting older, wealthier
tourists
Mykonos has a mixed profile even
though rising accommodation prices
have discouraged low-spenders.
Foreigners far outweigh Greek
tourists in all major destinations,
particularly Mykonos
Aegean
Sea

Travel services revenues rising fast

Airline travel
Ferry line revenues
Hotel, restaurants
Overall tourist arrivals expected to
increase in 2008 driven by remarkable
growth in inbound tourism from Russia
In 2008, Russian tourist arrivals to
increase by 35% year over year
Also in 2008, increase in arrivals
from Romania forecasted to reach
13%, from Bulgaria 15%, from the
US 12%, from China 15% and
from Italy 6% year over year

Passenger traffic is on the rise

in the Aegean
A recent study has revealed a strong
correlation between Greek GDP and the
passenger traffic in the Aegean. The total
number of tickets sold to and from major
ports in Athens, Crete, Mykonos and
Rhodes appears to follow closely the GDP
of Greece over the past years and the
trend is expected to continue
Greek GDP (B)

Tickets sold (indexed1)

200

150

132
100

108

150

120
100

100

Athens
Mykonos

50

Rhodes

136

149

163

125

2000

2002

2004

2006

Crete

50

Tickets sold
Greek GDP

1. Using the relation total tickets sold in 2000 equals 100

Copyright BCG 2008

Adriatic
Sea

Most tourism-associated
industries are growing

One of your team members also gave you the following document (document 2).
Document 2

Med-Lines operates fleet of ferries between major Greek ports

Our client is Med-Lines, a medium-sized ship

owner which operates a number of ferries between
the 4 major ports in Greece

Med-Lines operates at least 2 ferries between all

routes during the summer months, with each ferry
operating 2 round-trips. Year-long, Med-Lines is
obligated by the regulatory authorities to operate
all routes on a minimum basis (at least 1 roundtrip per day)

An individual ferry operates continuously for

11 months and then enters maintenance
for 1 month per year

Departures & arrivals for major ports

(2007)
The following data lists all arrivals and departures
between the 4 major ports in the Aegean Sea
Port

Departures (K)

Arrivals (K)

Athens

4500

4500

Mykonos

3000

3000

Crete

1500

1300

Rhodes

500

500

Other

500

700

A. All routes to/from Rhodes go through Mykonos

B. Passengers arriving at Mykonos stay at least 1
night on the island before they move on to another
destination due to connecting route limitations
C. Mykonos is connected by ferry only to Athens
and Rhodes
D. All arrivals in Other ports originate in Athens

Copyright BCG 2008

Med-Lines is a medium-sized ferry

operator

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

1. Greek GDP is expected to reach 198B in 2008, owing to productivity improvements and
investments paying off across industries. Based on this forecast, as well as the available
data on Greek GDP evolution between 2000 and 2006, what is the total growth of Greek
GDP over the period from 2000 to 2008?
a.
b.
c.
d.

58%
38%
30%
63%

2. Based on the information provided, what would you expect the indexed number of tickets
to be in 2008?
a.
b.
c.
d.

132
144
Over 60% higher than in 2000
None of the above

3. Which of the following statements are true based on the information provided?
1. The tourism industry in Rhodes is becoming increasingly focused on wealthier tourists
2. Greek tourists avoid Mykonos over the summer months
a.
b.
c.
d.

Only statement 1 is correct

Only statement 2 is correct
Neither of the statements is correct
Both statements are correct

4. Which of the following statements are true based on the information provided?
1. Arrivals from Russia account for 35% of total arrivals growth
2. Tourist arrivals from Bulgaria and China are growing at the same rate in 2008
3. In 2007, Greece registered 35% fewer arrivals from Russia compared to 2008
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

All statements are correct

Only statements 1 and 2 are correct
Only statements 2 and 3 are correct
Only statement 2 is correct
Only statement 3 is correct

5. Based on the information provided to you in document 2, how many tickets are sold to
passengers traveling from Athens to Mykonos?
a.
b.
c.
d.

2M
2.5M
3M
3.5M

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

6. Which of the following is supported by the data provided on departures and arrivals in 2007?
1. 1M passengers visited Rhodes
2. 200K passengers who arrived in Athens by ferry leave by plane
3. 500K passengers left from Rhodes for Mykonos
a.
b.
c.
d.

Only statement 1 is correct

Only statements 1 and 2 are correct
Only statements 2 and 3 are correct
Only statement 3 is correct

7. Based on the information provided, which of the following statements is correct?

1. 20M tickets were sold in 2007
2. 1.5M passengers traveled from Athens to Crete in 2007
3. 15M tickets were sold over the 3 summer months of 2007
a.
b.
c.
d.

Only statement 1 is correct

Only statements 1 and 2 are correct
Only statements 2 and 3 are correct
None of the statements are correct

8. Which of the following is supported by the information available to you?

a.
b.
c.
d.

10M foreign tourists visited Greece in 2007

10M passengers traveled between major Greek ports in 2007
45% of all passengers who used the ferry lines went through Athens
15% of all departures were registered in Crete

9. What were total passenger ticket revenues in 2007 given the data provided on departures
and arrivals in 2007? Med-Lines has provided us with the following average yearly oneway ticket prices: 10 for Mykonos-Rhodes and Rhodes-Mykonos, 20 for AthensMykonos and Mykonos-Athens, 30 for Athens-Other, Other-Athens, Athens-Crete and
Crete-Athens.
a.
b.
c.
d.

210M
230M
250M
280M

10. Based on the information provided, which of the following is true?

a. Med-Lines must operate at least 365 round-trips per route per year
b. Med-Lines must operate at least 1,460 round-trips in total per year
c. Med-Lines must operate at least 1,900 round-trips in total per year
d. Med-Lines must operate at least 450 round-trips in total per year
e. None of the above

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

11. Med-Lines is considering a joint-venture with a tour operator. During discussions, MedLines has discovered that about 150K foreign tourists per year who fly into Crete directly
from their home countries would also be interested in visiting Mykonos and Athens. The
tour operator would then fly them out of Athens to their home destinations directly. Given a
proposed average ticket price of 15 for the Mykonos-Crete route, what is the expected
ferry ticket revenue from this venture?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

2M
2.25M
3M
5.25M
Not enough information to decide

You now also have access to the following document (document 3).
Document 3

There are 3 main sources of revenue for a typical ferry

Passenger
tickets

A typical small-sized ferry has a capacity of 600 passengers

500 are deck tickets and 100 are cabin tickets
In the summer months, cabin tickets cost 50% more than deck tickets
In the summer months, cabin tickets are always sold out
In the summer months of June, July, and August, a typical ship reaches an occupancy rate of
90%. The rest of the year it averages ~30%

Food &
drink sales

Selection of food & drink items at the cafeteria is rather limited

Sandwich = 4
Soda or water = 1
Prices of these standard items are regulated and cannot be increased without approval by
the government, but the operator can charge less
On an average trip, 50% of all passengers have a sandwich and a soda, 30% only a soda,
and 20% nothing
The ship cafeteria is licensed to an external operator based on an annual contract. MedLines gets 20% of total cafeteria sales
Ferries carry 2 types of vehicles: passenger and commercial trucks
A typical ferrys hull can hold 100 passenger vehicles or 20 trucks
An average truck takes as much space as 5 passenger vehicles
An average passenger vehicle ticket is 20, regardless of the month

Copyright BCG 2008

Vehicle
transport

12. What is the average food & drink revenue per passenger for a typical ferry trip?
a.
b.
c.
d.

2.40
2.80
3.20
3.60

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

13. What is the food & drink revenue per trip for a typical trip during the summer months?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

1,296
1,440
1,512
1,680
1,728

14. From the information available to you, which is the most likely course of action for the
ferry operator to increase its own revenue from food & drink sales?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Increase prices for the items already sold in cafeterias

Decrease prices for the items already sold in cafeterias
Decrease passenger ticket prices
Increase variety of items sold in the cafeterias
Renegotiate the contract with the cafeteria operator
None of the above

15. During the summer months, you can assume ferries utilize 100% of their vehicle transport
capacity. If a truck ticket costs 10 times as much as a passenger vehicle ticket, which of the
following is most likely true?
1. Minimum revenue from vehicle ticket sales is around 2,000 per trip
2. Maximum revenue from vehicle ticket sales is around 4,000 per trip
3. In the case where 60% of available vehicle capacity is taken by passenger vehicles, total
vehicle revenue is about 2,800 per trip
a.
b.
c.
d.

Only statement 1 is correct

Only statements 1 and 2 are correct
Only statement 3 is correct
All statements are correct

16. For a typical summer trip from Athens to Mykonos, what is the ratio of revenue from deck
tickets to revenue from cabin tickets?
a.
b.
c.
d.

5:1
4.4:1
3.3:1
2.9:1

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

Med-Lines has now provided us with information regarding the 3 types of ferries on the AthensCrete route (document 4).

Data collected for 3 Med-Lines ferries on the

Athens-Crete route (2007)

Document 4

Ferry type 2

Ferry type 3

Round-trips (2007)

200

200

300

Total revenue (indexed)

100

220

150

Passengers (K)

320

420

270

Vehicles (K)

50

200

50

Capacity (passengers)

1200

1800

600

Fuel consumption (liters/mile)

150

350

200

Crew

100

120

60

Maximum speed (knots)

24

32

40

Copyright BCG 2008

Ferry type 1

17. Which of the following statements are supported by the information provided?
1. Combined, the 3 ferries transported 300K passenger vehicles in 2007
2. The type 3 ferry had the highest total revenue per passenger
3. The type 1 and 3 ferries had similar total revenue per trip
4. On an average trip, a type 3 ferry has the fewest crew members per passenger on board
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Only statements 1, 2 and 3 are correct

Only statements 2, 3 and 4 are correct
Only statements 2 and 4 are correct
Only statements 2 and 3 are correct
All statements are correct

18. Assuming the type 1 and type 2 ferries have 100% and 200% higher total cost per trip than
the type 3 ferry, which ferry was likely to be the most profitable per passenger in 2007?
a.
b.
c.
d.

The type 1 ferry

The type 2 ferry
The type 3 ferry
Not enough information to decide

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

19. Which of the following factors, if true, would affect passenger traffic on the Athens-Crete
route?
1. Customs procedures and road infrastructure have significantly improved, increasing
freight transport by road
2. Total European GDP growth has been slowing down in the past half decade
3. Three new companies have applied for hydroplane licenses to provide service on the
Athens-Crete route
4. New management tools such as dynamic pricing and loyalty programs are being
introduced in the passenger ferry industry
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Only statements 1 and 2 are correct

Only statements 2 and 3 are correct
Only statements 3 and 4 are correct
Only statements 1 and 4 are correct
All statements are correct

20. Med-Lines expects the combined number of tickets sold to increase by 10% per year for the
next 4 years. What is the expected increase in total number of tickets sold during this period?
a.
b.
c.
d.

40%
44%
46%
48%

You now have access to the following document (document 5).

Document 5

Med-Lines is considering expanding its fleet of ferries

Global ship-building market

Global ship-building activity booming

Med-Lines has been considering adding 2

ferries to its existing fleet. In this regard, it has
been looking into the ship-building market
and has collected the following information:

Overall value of vessel deliveries including

merchant ships, cruise ships, and ferries has
been on the rise and is forecasted to continue
growing

Traditionally, European shipyards have been

focused on cruise ships and ferries, taking
advantage of specialized legacy equipment
and know-how in design

However, order book percentage for cruise

ships & ferries has been decreasing

100

23%
14%

22%

25%

24%

23%

27%

30%

34%

38%

51%

45%

42%

39%

2002

2004

2006

2008

50

63%

Copyright BCG 2008

On the other hand, Asian shipyards are

generally younger in age and equipped with
more modern technologies. This has allowed
Asian shipbuilders to take the lead in large
merchant and specialized vessels (e.g. oil
tankers, container ships)

Global order
book (%)

0
2000

Specialized vessels
Merchant vessels
Cruise & ferries

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

21. The graph on the right-hand side of document 5 shows the global order book for
shipbuilding in the recent past. The order book is the value of total orders for new ships
received by shipbuilders globally.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most likely explain the order book data?
a.
b.
c.
d.

The recovery of airline travel after 2003

The cost of fuel has been rising since 2004
The economies of India and China have been booming during this period
Shipbuilding capacity has been shifting to Asia from Europe

22. Instead of adding new ferries to its fleet, Med-Lines has decided to consider acquiring a
player with existing ferry operations. A potential acquisition target, Italian Seaways,
operates conventional ferries on routes in the Adriatic Sea between northwest Greece and
southern Italy. Total revenue per trip for Italian Seaways is fairly constant throughout the
year. Trips during March register the lowest revenue whereas trips in August the highest.
However, the total revenue of August trips is only ~20% higher than that of March. Which
of the following statements, if true, would explain this?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Southern Italy is a big producer of watermelons and other summer fruits

On-board food sales in August are 20% higher than in March
Southern Italy has the least congested ports in the winter months
Italian Seaways has locked in long-term contracts with the largest wholesale exporters of
winter fruits in Italy
e. Italian Seaways has raised ticket prices in the winter months to account for the drop in
tourist travel during this period
23. Historically, passenger traffic on the Greece-Italy route has been correlated with
international tourist arrivals in Greece. In the past few years, this correlation has been
decreasing. Which of the following, if true, would best explain the decrease in correlation?
a. The increasing share of airlines as mode of transport for tourist travel
b. The largest part of the growth of tourist arrivals to Greece will come from markets
outside North and Central Europe
c. Competition from other tourist destinations in the Adriatic (e.g. Croatia) has been
increasing
d. All of the above

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

10

Answers
1. a
Total growth of Greek GDP between 2000 and 2008 is defined as the ratio between 2008
and 2000 GDP values minus 1. 2008 GDP is 198B, as mentioned in the question, 2000
GDP is given on the graph of document 1 (125B). Total growth is therefore:

2. d
Number of tickets sold appears to closely follow GDP. Therefore, total growth of tickets
sold from 2000 to 2008 should be approximately 58%. If the indexed number of tickets
sold in 2000 is 100, then the indexed number of tickets sold in 2008 could be calculated as
follows:

3. c
According to document 1, Rhodes has been "traditionally" attracting wealthier tourists vs.
Crete, it is not a recent trend; therefore statement 1 is not correct.
The document also mentions that there are many more foreigners in Mykonos than Greek
tourists, but this does not mean that Greek tourists avoid Mykonos (as an extreme example,
Greek tourists could go only to Mykonos as a destination and still be outnumbered by
foreign tourists); therefore there is no information to support statement 2.
4. d
Document 1 provides all of the information regarding trends in foreign tourist flows from
2007 to 2008, but there is no information supporting the fact that arrivals from Russia
account for 35% of total growth. The actual number of foreign tourists would be needed to
make such a calculation; therefore statement 1 is not correct. The growth rate of tourist
arrivals from Bulgaria and China is 15% in both cases; therefore statement 2 is correct.
Using the data provided, foreign tourist flow increased by 35% for Russia, which can be
illustrated by the following equation:

We can calculate the relative number of tourists from Russia in 2007 compared to 2008 as:

Therefore, in 2007, there were ~26% fewer arrivals from Russia in Greece than in 2008:
statement 3 is not correct.

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

11

5. b
All routes from Rhodes go through Mykonos (statement A) so you have 500K arrivals to
Mykonos from Rhodes. Knowing that you have overall 3M arrivals to Mykonos and that
(statement C) the only other port connected to Mykonos is Athens, tickets sold for AthensMykonos are:
You can sketch a simple drawing to illustrate the different flows:

Crete

Others

1.5M

500K

1.3M

700K
Athens

2.5M

2.5M
Mykonos

500K

500K
Rhodes

6. d
There are 500K arrivals to Rhodes, so there cannot be 1M passengers visiting the island;
therefore statement 1 is not correct. There is no information regarding the means of
transportation to leave Athens that could support statement 2. As Rhodes is only connected
to Mykonos (statement A), you know that the 500K passengers leaving Rhodes all go to
Mykonos; therefore statement 3 is correct.
7. d
The number of tickets sold in 2007 is the sum of the departures tickets or the sum of
arrivals, i.e.:
Therefore statement 1 is not correct. It is only possible to travel from Athens to go to Crete,
so the number of passengers traveling from Athens to Crete is the number of arrivals
(1.3M); therefore statement 2 is not correct. There is no information regarding seasonality
of tickets sold that could support statement 3.

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

12

8. d
In the previous question we calculated that there were 10M tickets sold in 2007, but these
tickets are not only sold to foreign tourists; therefore answer a is not correct. A tourist can
also buy different tickets (for example, if you want to go to Rhodes from Athens, you need
to buy 2 tickets: Athens-Mykonos and Mykonos-Rhodes), so there are actually less than
10M passengers per year traveling between major Greek ports; therefore answer b is not
correct and there is not enough information to confirm answer c. There were 1.5M
departures from Crete from a total of 10M departures; therefore answer d is correct.
9. b
To answer this question, you can use the drawing sketched earlier to answer question 5.
Revenue for 2007 can be calculated as follows:

10. b
Regulatory authorities require Med-Lines to operate at least 1 round trip per day for each
route. The drawing we sketched earlier shows that there are 4 routes; therefore Med-Lines
must operate:

11. d
150K foreign tourists will arrive by plane to Crete. Since they fly back from Athens, the
tour operator would sell them a ticket to go from Crete to Mykonos (15) and then from
Mykonos to Athens (20). Expected ferry ticket revenue is therefore:

12. b
On average, 50% of passengers have a sandwich (4) and a soda (1), 30% only a soda and
20% nothing, therefore the average food & drink revenues per passenger is:

13. c
The food & drink revenue per trip is the average food & drink revenue per passenger (2.8)
multiplied by the number of passengers. During the summer months, occupancy is 90% for
a 600-passenger ferry. Therefore, the food & drink revenue per trip is:

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

13

14. e
The prices of food & drink items cannot be easily increased (government approval needed)
so the answer would not be a. Decreasing the price would actually reduce the ferry
operator's revenue (though we do not know the potential volume effect) so the answer is not
b. Answers c and d could potentially increase revenue (passengers could tend to consume
slightly more if they have more variety or if their ticket was cheaper) but there is not
enough information to prove it would actually be effective. Renegotiating the contract with
the cafeteria operator is much more likely to be effective, especially because the current
share of revenue (20%) is quite low. Therefore e is the correct answer.
15. d
A truck ticket costs 10 times as much as a passenger vehicle ticket and a truck only takes as
much space as 5 vehicle tickets, so it is much more profitable to sell truck tickets.
Maximum revenue will be obtained if only truck tickets are sold (20 tickets) and minimum
revenue if only passenger vehicle tickets are sold (100 tickets). Knowing that a truck ticket
costs 10 times as much as the 20 passenger vehicle ticket, we can calculate:

Therefore statements 1 and 2 are correct.

If 60% of capacity is used by passenger vehicles, 40% of capacity will be available for
trucks, i.e. 8 trucks
). Total revenue will be:
.
Therefore statement 3 is also correct.
16. d
In the summer months, cabin tickets are sold out and cost 50% more than deck tickets, so
revenue from cabin tickets is:
Revenue from deck tickets is the price of a deck ticket multiplied by the number of deck
tickets sold. Knowing that the occupancy rate is 90%, the number of deck tickets can be
calculated using the following equation:
Therefore the number of deck
tickets is 440. So revenue from deck tickets is:
The ratio of revenue from deck tickets to revenue from cabin tickets is therefore:

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

14

17. d
Data provided in document 4 show that, combined, the 3 ferries transported
50+200+50=300 vehicles in 2007, but these vehicles can be passenger as well as trucks;
therefore statement 1 is not correct.
The revenue per passenger can be calculated by dividing the total revenue by the number of
passengers, i.e.:

Therefore, statement 2 is correct.

Likewise, revenue per round-trip can be calculated as follows:

Therefore statement 3 is correct.

18. c
Type 1 and type 3 ferries have the same revenue per trip and type 1 ferry has a higher cost
per trip, therefore the answer cannot be a.
Type 2 ferries have
higher revenue per trip than type 1 ferries and
200% higher cost per trip, therefore c is the correct answer.
19. c
Statement 1 does not affect the Athens-Crete route traffic as roads cannot be used as an
alternative to travel between the 2 locations. Statement 2 is a past fact; the future traffic will
only be impacted by future GDP growth. Hydroplanes could be an alternative to ferries for
tourists; therefore statement 3 is correct. Pricing and loyalty programs are usual market
drivers that have an impact on traffic; since they are being implemented, the effect is
expected in the near future, and therefore statement 4 is also correct.
20. c
The total growth for year n can be calculated as
-1 where x is the annual growth
rate; therefore total growth in 4 years with a 10% annual increase is:

BCG Online Case: Practice Case

15

21. c
Data from document 5 shows that the proportion of merchant vessels has increased,
especially in the 2000-2002 period. These vessels are used to transport goods worldwide so
answer c is the most likely statement explaining the trend (India's and China's booming
economies translated into increased exports). Answers a and b are focused on events
following 2003. Answer d mentions the capacity production, which is the supply side of the
market, and a consequence of the order book (demand).
22. d
Italian Seaways seems to have relatively high activity in winter compared to what could be
normally expected for a ferry company. A possible explanation would be that Italian
Seaways transports winter fruits between Italy and Greece, for example via long-term
contracts (answer d). Answer a would tend to increase revenues in the summer, not in
winter. Total revenue per trip is constant throughout the year, so answer b is not correct.
Answer c only shows that activity in winter is lower than in summer, which we already
know. By raising prices, there is a high risk that volume of tickets sold will steeply
decrease so answer e is not correct.
23. d
All else being equal, if more and more tourists switch from ferries to airplanes, traffic on
the Greece-Italy route will decrease without any link to international tourist arrivals;
therefore answer a is a possible explanation for correlation decrease. If more and more
tourists arriving in Greece come from outside North and Central Europe, this means that
less come from Italy in proportion, meaning that the traffic on the Greece-Italy route will
not increase proportionally to international arrivals; therefore statement b is correct. If more
and more tourists arriving in Greece tend to go less to Italy, the correlation between ItalyGreece ferry route traffic and international tourist arrivals will also decrease; therefore,
statement c is also correct.