Numbers on Exhibit 1 - are they incorrect?

Question

On exhibit 1 for this case, you see a waterfall chart that segments the population by geography and income group.

However, if you look at e.g. the rural segment, the total should sum up to 80 million but adding the individual breakdowns on the right, the sum is 6 + 60 + 28 = 94 million.

Am I missing anything here or is this exhibit showing false numbers?

Answer 1

Hi there!

Yes, there seems to be an error.

It's good to highlight these things so they can be corrected. It's virtually impossible to build error-free cases, so it's always great if the community here chips in to improve them.

Sharing two other cases you might want to consider trying that are based on recent MBB interviews:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/candidate-led-usual-style/advanced/mbb-first-round-soy-technologies-303

https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/interviewer-led-mckinsey-style/intermediate/element-mobile-expands-into-refurbished-phones-mbb-2nd-round-302

Best,
Cristian

Answer 2

Dear,

I had a look at the Exhibit 1 you mentioned and I agree with you that there seems to be a glitch with the split of the total between urban and rural in the 3 categories (i.e., the numbers do not speak to each other).

Good catch ;)

Antonio

Answer 3

I think you're right, the numbers don't make sense here! Well spotted!

Answer 4

Hi there,

You're exactly right - nice catch!