Global Case

Competition
2023
GCC Case File

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Content
01 Letter from The Founder 3

02 Executive Summary 4

03 Your Mission 5

04 Case Questions 6

05 Introduction to High Bridge 7

06 High Bridge’s Current Offering 8

07 Exploring the B2B Space 9

i Summary 9

ii Overview of B2B Space in EdTech 9

08 Context 10

i Employability Skills 11

ii Gamification 12

iii Peer-to-Peer Learning 13

iv Onboarding training types 14

09 Closing Remarks 16

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Letter From
The Founder
Dear students,

With great excitement I welcome you to the High Bridge Your hard work spent conquering these challenges will
2023 Global Case Competition (GCC)! inevitably lead to your growth.
Case competitions are tough, and the High Bridge GCC is no You get out what you put in.
exception.
Through it all, you can expect to hone business acumen,
This year, you will be challenged by a new business scenario sharpen your analytical skills, and possibly attain a shining
that will require you to reflect upon your own future needs as title as one of the competition finalists, making you stand
you enter into a world of work yourself. out to recruiters globally.
It doubtlessly takes a singular kind of student with a knack for With that said, I hope you are excited to take on the case
problem-solving, a taste for challenges, and an irrepressible questions we have for you below.
passion for consulting to knowingly take this on.
I eagerly await to be impressed by the innovative ideas and
Therefore, no matter the end results, for the fact that you perspectives you conjure up for the future of High Bridge!
are here, I salute you!

Kind regards,
Flavio Soriano, Founder
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Executive Summary
High Bridge is a management consulting academy founded by Flavio Soriano, with the virtual
bootcamp at the heart of its offering.

Until now, the bootcamp has targeted the B2C market with notable success and has been
responsible for the graduation of a growing global pool of consulting talent.

Now, a new business opportunity unfolds for High Bridge.

Presently, an increasing number of businesses are facing a “talent gap” in new hires,
necessitating additional training during the Onboarding process.

To assure quality but reduce costs, many businesses are turning to EdTech providers for a
solution.

To address this need, the academy plans on launching a B2B venture.

Through enterprise offerings, the academy will offer Onboarding training services to businesses.

However, to stand out within the fiercely competitive market, the attractiveness and
effectiveness of its curricula offerings need to be assured first.
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Your Mission
With creativity and rigour, design a feasible entry product for
the High Bridge B2B venture: a general work skills Onboarding
Training targeted at junior recruits from Gen Z.

This training should not at all be limited to Consulting recruits,

but suitable for any juniors assuming business and even tech
positions in all industries.

The work skills in scope of this Onboarding training should be

general and timeless, and therefore, useful for virtually any
professional.

Back up your recommendations with data as much as possible,

including primary research with potential users of this product
(e.g., interviews, surveys) to impress the judges.

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Case Questions
Training Curriculum Learning and Cost
Engagement
Which topics/skills are the most How to make the learning Estimate the full costs of training 1
critical for High Bridge to teach in experience more interactive and cohort of 50 junior recruits in your
the Onboarding Training and why? engaging? What should be the suggested Onboarding Training
Don’t be generic (“Soft specific combination of delivery (fixed and variable costs).
Skills…Communication Skills…”) but formats and channels to make the
provide deep insight on the best use of hybrid/blended
specific skills juniors currently learning? Recommend specific
struggle the most with at work. techniques/features/delivery
channels/teaching dynamics.
What should be the length and Evaluate your answer: “is this a
overall schedule of the training, so training that I would love to take
it delivers the maximum value but myself?”
also fits the typical work schedule
and is acceptable by the recruits How to ensure the learnings are
and managers? retained and applied at work?
Again, we expect you to share
specific recommendations

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Introduction to High Bridge

Erroneous case strategies. Scarce business expertise. Monotonous resumes.

Flavio witnessed these mistakes all too often at the start of his career as a case interview coach,
after having left a prosperous career at McKinsey in 2017.

Frustrated, Flavio made it his mission to help ambitious professionals flourish in the most
prestigious consulting firms.

In 2019, Flavio took it one step further by founding the High Bridge Academy, a global consulting
school.

Through its alliance of 50+ ex-MBB consultants with over 200+ years of combined consulting
experience, it provides a meticulously crafted program combining live classes, drills, and
assignments to develop and sharpen on-the-job skills.

So far, the academy has helped transform more than 500 young talents into star professionals at
top consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain, and BCG to name a few.

With only more and more students seeking mentorship from High Bridge, the academy is well on
the way to becoming the #1 career partner of high-achievers and a world-class pool of talent for
elite organisations.

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High Bridge’s Current Offering

Currently, High Bridge targets aspiring consultants in the B2C space through its online
consulting bootcamp, which is structured into 3 modules

01 02 03
Immersive Case Consulting Readiness Consulting Leadership
Interview Course Program School
70+ hours of case interview live 60+ hours of intensive training 40+ hours course equips
workshops, besides 100+ hours to acquire the consulting students with leadership and
of additional training and skillset and complete the MBB decision-making skills to enable
assignments using proven Project Experience Lab them to make the most of a
methods team’s potential

Payment Terms
High Bridge aims to minimise the financial barriers to all students through scholarships and
the Income Sharing Agreement (ISA) that allows students to pay only when they land a job
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Exploring the B2B Space

Summary Overview of B2B Space in EdTech

With an increased demand for Market State

employee training from • As revealed by a study from Udacity more than 60% of businesses from across all
businesses, Flavio is industries are still facing a “talent gap” in the post-pandemic market, resulting in the
considering expanding the prevalence of inexperienced hires unfit for demanding roles.
academy’s services into the
• Without a well-developed training infrastructure or significant investment in
business-to-business (B2B)
education, higher churn rates and lower ROI/hire will inevitably result.
market space.

Though the foreseeable risks

are considerable, the
Market Trends
prospective benefits to • A shortage of readier talent has boosted the demand for training in the EdTech
stakeholders make this decision market.
worth further exploration • Companies are outsourcing training to EdTech providers to improve efficiency, reduce
costs, and better meet learners’ needs.
• With a report by GlobalData estimating the global EdTech market to have a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 16% and to reach a value of over US$410.2
billion by 2026, every EdTech provider is vying to set the next industry trend.
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Context
In this section, you will find some themes
to get acquainted with to start your
exploration.

Do not limit yourself to the content

presented here.

Instead, use it as a springboard for your

comprehensive research.

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Employability Skills
Importance of employability skills in the workplace
• The possession of employability skills benefits both the employee and the employer.
• For example, strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills help employees come up with solutions, which in turn helps a company stay competitive.
• Conversely, a lack of employability skills can lead to lower productivity, higher training and development costs, as well as increased turnover

The Gap in Employability Skills

• Employability skills are seen as prerequisites for junior employees to have in order to be selected by recruiters.
• However, in recent years, an increased number of young professionals are lacking the essential set of employability skills, leading to a discrepancy between
the requisite knowledge of a position and their actual knowledge.
• With more than 50 percent of the 108 countries surveyed reporting a skills mismatch in a survey by UNICEF, and youth unemployment rate expected to reach
14.4% in 2023, it is evident that the root cause of the issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
• Universities’ inadequate skill preparation is one of the root causes, as they leave young talents unprepared for the real-world with a lack of industry-ready
skills.
• Some reasons for this gap include:
1. Limited Resources: Universities may not be able to offer all of the programs or courses to the students needed to acquire practical skills and industry
knowledge
2. Changes in the Job Market: emerging technologies, job market disruptions and changes in skill-demand can be difficult for universities to adapt to;
3. Lack of hands-on experience: the curriculum’s focus on theory may not provide students with practical and corporate exposure

Closing the Gap

• According to a report by the World Economic Forum, around 54% of employees around the world will need to upskill or reskill by 2024 to meet the changing
demands of the job market.
• Addressing this gap requires a combination of education and training, staying updated on current trends and continually improving skills.
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Gamification
Gamification in EdTech Application in Businesses
• Though the threat of Covid has now passed, the scramble There is a diverse array of gamification tactics that each
for more tools to capture student engagement in a digital capture engagement by stimulating basic human desires for
environment continues for EdTech providers. challenge, feedback, and rewards, including:

• With more than 76% of U.S. kids playing video games • Implementation of a virtual “currency” system to a
weekly [ESA], it comes as no surprise one of the most series of activities, then offering prizes for the exchange
effective tools for capturing student engagement is of the currency
“Gamification”.
• Incorporating a storyline into learning outcome
• Gamification, when implemented on compatible activities progression, thereby improving retention of materials as
in creative ways, can be effective in stimulating multiple well as motivation for progression
sources of engagement within the student.
• Addition of interactive, game-like activities to teach
• Through the innovative and combinative use of hands-on skills and knowledge, making the experience
gamification tactics, there will be no limit to improvement personalised and memorable.
possibilities in online student engagement

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Peer-to-peer learning
P2P in Edtech Impact on Learning
• The EdTech industry has discovered a valuable tool in Peer-to-Peer (P2P) • When implemented effectively, peer-to-peer learning yields a diverse
learning during the Covid quarantine period, used to enhance the online array of benefits.
learning experience for students
• From an academic perspective, it facilitates more diverse experiences
• A Peer-to-Peer learning environment facilitates decentralised learning and perspectives, content retention and higher-order thinking, and
between students, as opposed to centralised learning from instructors. leadership skills.

• It encourages students to actively engage, hence making the learning • From a well-being perspective, poster more collaborative interactions,
experience more rewarding than passive individual learning. develop a sense of community, and improve interpersonal skills.

• Overall, peer-to-peer learning can be a valuable addition to adapt an • If the commitment to P2P environment contributing factors is
online experience to different student needs, and provide an additional imbalanced, students may suffer potential costs including negative
effective way of learning, but it is important to dedicate resources to emotions that can spawn when there exists an inequality of knowledge,
ensure its success factors are fulfilled, otherwise the potential costs may and dependencies may grow between students, leading to a lack of
very well outweigh the gains. development.

Factors for Effective Implementation

• Factors that contribute to the overall effectiveness of such an
environment include, facilitator support, community, student choice and
activities.

• Examples of effective implementation include breakout rooms for

discussion, shared documents for real-time collaboration, and open-
access forum/community.
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Onboarding Training Types

Onboarding Training: Delivery Formats and Channels Limitations to In-Person Onboarding Training
• Onboarding is the first course of training that employers provide for fresh • It is not uncommon for companies to overestimate in-person
recruits, and arguably the most important. training’s effectiveness, and underinvest in the design,
development, and delivery. Common shortcomings include:
• The rise in popularity of online onboarding training is accompanied by a
gradual sophistication of its delivery into two main approaches. 1. Unsuitable time constraints: too short, compromising
understanding; or too long, extending employee downtime
− Synchronous training delivers content in real-time
2. Misjudged training scope: too specific, leading to limited
− Asynchronous training facilitates learning in employees’ own time cooperation with other teams; or too broad, leading to a lack of
engagement
• These two approaches can be implemented through a variety of channels 3. Unsuitable preparation: too structured or scheduled too far in
that deliver the learning material to the student, including in-person, advance, limiting flexibility; or insufficiently prepared, leading
virtual, and hybrid learning channels. to disorganisation and confusion
• By strategically straying from the convention of in-person or self-guided 4. Disregarding engagement: lecture format limits interaction,
training, organisations can lower costs whilst improving training quality. discussion, and hands-on learning, compromising information
retainment
• Ultimately, this can improve new hire retention by up to 82% ensuring a
fulfilling and productive work experience for its employees from hire to
retire, as well as improved profitability and growth in the long term.

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Onboarding Training Types

Limitations to Self-Guided Training Virtual and Hybrid Alternatives
• On the opposite side of the costs spectrum, a popular • Since the onset of the pandemic, organisations’
alternative is self-guided training, where pre-recorded onboarding training has seen a shifting trend towards
training content is provided for the self-paced learning of virtual mediums improving a myriad of aspects, including
new recruits. locational accessibility, progress accountability,
interactive engagement, and cost-effectiveness.
• These have their own share of shortcomings, such as lack
of structure, limited support and connection, • On the other hand, Hybrid training, which involves a mix
incompatibility with certain training needs, lack of of virtual and in-person instruction, offers similar
accountability benefits of flexibility and customizability but allows for
more interaction and engagement at a slight increase in
costs.

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09

Closing Remarks
Teams must submit their solution via typeform
here by 8:00 am CET on January 21, 2023.

• 4 am | Sao Paulo
• 7 am | London
• 8 am | Berlin
• 12:30 pm | New Delhi
• 3 pm | Singapore

If you have any questions, please reach out to

us via email at

[email protected]

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Good Luck from High Bridge
Management Academy!

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