Case Type: new business; business competition.
Consulting Firm: A.T. Kearney final round job interview.
Industry Coverage: energy industry; utilities; telecommunications.
Case Interview Question #00352: Our client NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) is an American energy company and utilities provider headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. NRG Energy offers gas and electricity services to New Jersey and some surrounding areas. The company owns and operates one 
of the industry’s most diverse generation portfolios (including nuclear, wind and solar power) that provides nearly 26,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, or enough to support nearly 21 million homes. NRG’s retail businesses, Reliant Energy and Green Mountain Energy Company, combined serve more than 1.8 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers.
With recent deregulation, our client NRG Energy is considering getting into the lucrative telecommunications market. You have been hired by the senior management of NRG to advise them on their planned market expansion. Should the client do it or not? Why?
Possible Solution:
My approach to this “start a new business” type of cases was a basic industry analysis of the telecommunications market (size and growth), and then a four C’s analysis: our competitors, our competencies and how they would apply to this market, the cost of playing in this market, and finally, the different customers and their needs.
Basic Industry Analysis: What is the telecommunications market like today, in terms of market size and growth trend?
