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📘 Case Interview:
Diconsa
Instructions:
👥 Find a Partner: These cases are meant to be practiced live with a casing partner.
🎭 Decide on Roles: One person acts as the "interviewer," and the other as the "candidate."
📋 Review the Process: The interviewer should review the full case in advance, including prompts, data, and sample answers. The candidate should not review the case beforehand. The interviewer presents the case, guiding the candidate through each section and taking notes. At the end, the interviewer provides feedback and shares the full case document for the candidate to review. Both parties identify areas for improvement, such as structuring, math, communication, and synthesis.
📝 Interviewer Guidance: Read out the question prompts as you transition between sections. Only share interviewer notes and data exhibits when appropriate, and answer candidate questions only when asked.
💡 Candidate Guidance: Do your best and have fun! Note moments you'd like to review with your interviewer. Focus on improving key skills like structuring and math.
About this case:
Client goal
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a private organization with vast ambitions; one of its goals is to reduce extreme poverty worldwide. The foundation has asked McKinsey to design a basic financial-services offering for residents in remote communities in Mexico.
Situation description
The majority of Mexico’s rural population is relatively poor, relying in part on government benefits for their livelihood. Since they tend not to have bank accounts, they usually collect those benefits in cash from a limited number of state-owned bank branches. These branches are often a long way from where the recipients live, so it can take a lot of time and effort to collect benefits. In addition, while traveling to the branches, people can be at risk of falling victim to crime.
The Mexican government also owns and operates a chain of 22,000 stores throughout Mexico, called Diconsa, which provide basic food, clothes, and other essential goods to rural populations. These stores are supplied through a network of central and regional warehouses and several thousand delivery trucks.
McKinsey study
McKinsey has been asked to investigate and assess the possibility of using the Diconsa network to provide a set of basic financial services to supplement the limited number of state-owned bank branches. This would start with dispensing benefit payments and would gradually grow to include savings accounts, bill payments, insurance, loans, and other financial products.
What you'll need:
✏️ Paper and Pencil: To jot down key notes, make calculations, or sketch out frameworks during your case interview practice.
👥 A Partner (Optional): If you'd like to simulate a real interview, consider practicing with a partner for feedback and a more interactive experience.
⏳ 25 Minutes of Focused Time: Set aside a solid 25-minute block to immerse yourself fully in the practice session. Time yourself to replicate the interview environment!