Wrenfield Home: client workday
Calder & Finch · Associate Consultant · Workday simulation · client: Wrenfield Home · due 2:00 PM (simulated)
Manager kickoff (Maya Okafor)
Hi, welcome to Wrenfield! Can you send me a short recommendation by 2:00 PM for our 2:30 with Helen (CFO) and Tom (Stores)? Four parts: key finding, supporting evidence, recommended action, one risk. Context: revenue up $50M ($400M → $450M) but operating profit down $13M ($40M → $27M). Helen wants a plan that gets profit back on track and keeps the growth story. The financial summary, Leo's preliminary findings and Monday's meeting notes are in Docs.
Planted AI error
Assistant's prepared answer: “Summary of the preliminary findings: the main controllable driver is store rent, which rose about 20% after lease renewals (≈ −$6M to operating profit), on top of the longer Spring Sale (−$18M) and free shipping (−$10M), partly offset by online growth (+$20M). Suggested lead action: renegotiate leases at renewal. [Source: Preliminary findings (L. Park), section 2 Findings, citing the real-estate dashboard]”
Contradicted by Client financial summary, FY25 vs FY26: Store rent 30 → 31
Pressure beat
“Quick one before 2:30: can you confirm it's rent? A one-liner for the board would help.”
Manager challenge
“Thanks, useful start. One new constraint from Helen's team: merchandising has already committed to suppliers for a Spring Sale of at least 4 weeks next year (shorter than 6 is fine, just not below 4), and the free-shipping terms are locked with the marketing partner until Q3. Given that, what's your recommended action, roughly what does it get back, and what changes in your draft?”
Constraint the live manager must introduce: Helen's team says merchandising has already committed to suppliers for a Spring Sale of at least 4 weeks next year (shorter than this year's 6 is fine, but not below 4), and the free-shipping terms are locked with the marketing partner until Q3 (changes are possible from Q3). State both limits exactly like this; do not say the sale cannot be shortened.
People (5)
Maya Okafor · Engagement Manager, Calder & Finch
Leads the Wrenfield engagement. Asked the candidate for a short recommendation (key finding, supporting evidence, recommended action, one risk) by 2:00 PM for the 2:30 PM client meeting with Helen Ward (CFO) and Tom Becker (Head of Store Operations). In a client workshop 1:10-1:25 PM.
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about the deadline, the format or what the recommendation should contain
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about what the client prioritises (margin recovery this year vs protecting growth), or what to do if those conflict
Tom Becker · Head of Store Operations, Wrenfield Home
Runs the 50 stores and works with merchandising on the Spring Sale. Wants to know what to bring to the 2:30 PM meeting and whether the Spring Sale will be on the table.
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about the Spring Sale, promotions, discounts or markdowns
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about stores, rent, leases or store traffic
Sam Ortiz · Finance Analyst, Wrenfield Home
Prepared the FY26 close pack the financial summary was built from.
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about the G&A line, the Q3 adjustment, one-off items, write-offs or reclassifications
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about shipping, fulfillment or online order economics
Leo Park · Research Analyst, Calder & Finch
Wrote the preliminary findings draft in Docs this morning.
Wrong belief: Believes rent rose about 20% because of the real-estate dashboard.
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about where the 20% rent figure came from, its source or how fresh it is, or why it differs from the financial summary
Helen Ward · Chief Financial Officer, Wrenfield Home
Client CFO. Board meeting Friday; the 2:30 PM client meeting today is where she wants the story and a plan.
Wrong belief: Believes rising rent is the problem because landlords 'hiked us'.
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about what she prioritises next year (margin recovery vs growth) or what to do if they conflict
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about free shipping commitments or whether free shipping can change
- • Private fact, shared only if asked about the board meeting, the 2:30 meeting or the real deadline
Exhibits (3)
Client financial summary, FY25 vs FY26
| Revenue | 400 | 450 | +50 |
| of which stores | 350 | 350 | 0 |
| of which online | 50 | 100 | +50 |
| Product cost (COGS) | 240 | 270 | +30 |
| Promotional markdowns | 6 | 24 | +18 |
| Gross profit | 154 | 156 | +2 |
| Store rent | 30 | 31 | +1 |
| Store labor | 50 | 50 | 0 |
| Shipping & fulfillment | 10 | 20 | +10 |
| Marketing, G&A & other | 24 | 28 | +4 |
| Total operating expenses | 114 | 129 | +15 |
| Operating profit | 40 | 27 | −13 |
| Operating margin | 10.0% | 6.0% | −4.0 pts |
Preliminary findings (draft): what moved operating profit
| Gross profit on extra online sales | +20 | +$50M online × 40% product margin |
| Longer, deeper Spring Sale | −18 | Markdowns 6 → 24 |
| Free shipping on online growth | −10 | Shipping 10 → 20 |
| Store rent | −6 | Assumed +20% after lease renewals (real-estate dashboard) |
| Marketing, G&A & other | −4 | Not broken down yet |
| Unreconciled | +5 | Probably timing; to check |
| Total | −13 | Ties to P&L (40 → 27) |
Client meeting notes: Wrenfield steering group, Mon
| Helen Ward (CFO) | Board is unhappy: margin went from 10% to 6% in a year we grew 12.5%. I need a clear story and something we can act on next year. My gut says the landlords hiked us. |
| Tom Becker (Store Ops) | Online is where our growth is; we can't go backwards there. The longer Spring Sale drove a lot of traffic and online orders. |
| Sam Ortiz (Finance) | Close pack is final. There's a Q3 adjustment in G&A; flag before anyone trends that line. |
| Action | C&F: short recommendation for Wednesday 2:30 PM (owner: Maya's team). |
| Open | Helen to confirm what next year's plan should prioritise. Not settled in the room. |
Automated checks
Structure (24/24)
- ✓ Role "manager" is a person in the case
- ✓ Role "pressure" is a person in the case
- ✓ Role "analyst" is a person in the case
- ✓ Role "finance" is a person in the case
- ✓ Role "operations" is a person in the case
- ✓ Deliverable goes to a person in the case
- ✓ Person ids are unique
- ✓ Person names are unique
- ✓ Channels only list people in the case
- ✓ Every inbound message comes from a person in the case
- ✓ Manager's kickoff message arrives at the start
- ✓ Pressure beat message exists
- ✓ At least one supported hypothesis
- ✓ Trap hypothesis exists and is not marked correct
- ✓ Verification exhibit exists
- ✓ Rubric has the 4 dimensions
- ✓ Simulated due time is after the start
- ✓ Assistant has a quick-ask chip for the planted answer
- ✓ Stakeholder "cfo" is a client person the candidate can write to (COMMUNICATE)
- ✓ Stakeholder "ops" is a client person the candidate can write to (COMMUNICATE)
- ✓ Clock: assessment length matches the simulated day
- ✓ Clock: mid-point check-in is at the halfway point (±5 min)
- ✓ Clock: every inbound message arrives before the deadline
- ✓ Midpoint check-in falls between start and due
Answer-key arithmetic (30/30)
- ✓ fy25: revenue = stores + online
- ✓ fy25: product cost = revenue × (1 − product margin)
- ✓ fy25: gross profit = revenue − product cost − markdowns
- ✓ fy25: opex = rent + labor + shipping + other
- ✓ fy25: operating profit = gross profit − opex
- ✓ fy25: operating margin %
- ✓ fy25: shipping = 20% of online
- ✓ fy25: rent = stores × rent per store
- ✓ fy25: markdowns match the promotion calendar
- ✓ fy26: revenue = stores + online
- ✓ fy26: product cost = revenue × (1 − product margin)
- ✓ fy26: gross profit = revenue − product cost − markdowns
- ✓ fy26: opex = rent + labor + shipping + other
- ✓ fy26: operating profit = gross profit − opex
- ✓ fy26: operating margin %
- ✓ fy26: shipping = 20% of online
- ✓ fy26: rent = stores × rent per store
- ✓ fy26: markdowns match the promotion calendar
- ✓ Bridge: online growth × product margin
- ✓ Bridge: markdowns
- ✓ Bridge: shipping
- ✓ Bridge: one-off
- ✓ Bridge: rent
- ✓ Other-cost change is the one-off
- ✓ Bridge sums to the operating-profit change
- ✓ Answer key: underlying profit excl. one-off
- ✓ P&L exhibit: revenue matches
- ✓ P&L exhibit: operating profit matches
- ✓ Cost exhibit: total opex matches
- ✓ Cost exhibit: shipping matches
Planted AI error (10/10)
- ✓ Assistant's prepared answer names the trap ("rent")
- ✓ Exhibit row "Store rent" holds the true values (30 → 31)
- ✓ The exhibit contradicts the assistant's figure (assistant says ~20%, exhibit shows 3.3%)
- ✓ The trap item is a minor driver in the bridge
- ✓ Analyst's findings doc exists (doc_findings)
- ✓ Analyst's flagged line "Store rent" is in the doc
- ✓ Analyst's flagged line contradicts the financial summary (analyst -6, summary -1)
- ✓ Analyst's total ties to the operating-profit change
- ✓ Analyst's other drivers match the answer-key bridge (20, -18, -10)
- ✓ The assistant's summary repeats the analyst's flagged line
Reveal paths for private facts (17/17)
- ✓ Maya Okafor → em_due: shared when asked about the deadline, the format or what the recommendation should contain
- ✓ Maya Okafor → em_priority: shared when asked about what the client prioritises (margin recovery this year vs protecting growth), or what to do if those conflict
- ✓ Tom Becker → ops_promo: shared when asked about the Spring Sale, promotions, discounts or markdowns
- ✓ Tom Becker → ops_stores: shared when asked about stores, rent, leases or store traffic
- ✓ Sam Ortiz → fin_oneoff: shared when asked about the G&A line, the Q3 adjustment, one-off items, write-offs or reclassifications
- ✓ Sam Ortiz → fin_ship: shared when asked about shipping, fulfillment or online order economics
- ✓ Leo Park → an_stale: shared when asked about where the 20% rent figure came from, its source or how fresh it is, or why it differs from the financial summary
- ✓ Helen Ward → cfo_priority: shared when asked about what she prioritises next year (margin recovery vs growth) or what to do if they conflict
- ✓ Helen Ward → cfo_ship: shared when asked about free shipping commitments or whether free shipping can change
- ✓ Helen Ward → cfo_deadline: shared when asked about the board meeting, the 2:30 meeting or the real deadline
- ✓ Scored fact "fin_oneoff" is held by someone
- ✓ Scored fact "an_stale" is held by someone
- ✓ Scored fact "ops_promo" is held by someone
- ✓ Scored fact "fin_ship" is held by someone
- ✓ Scored fact "cfo_ship" is held by someone
- ✓ Client-priority fact "em_priority" is held by someone (CLARIFY)
- ✓ Client-priority fact "cfo_priority" is held by someone (CLARIFY)