Case Interview Question #00621: Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa with

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Question:

Case Interview Question #00621: Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa with a population of about 24 million (as of 2010). The capital and largest city is Accra, with an estimated urban population of 2.3 million as of 2012. Ghana is ranked as a Lower–Middle Income Economy by the World Bank. In 2011, 27% of Ghana’s population were living on less than $1.25 per day.

Ghana’s capital city of Accra boasts about 500 internet cafes. Our client isBusy Internet, the largest internet cafe in Accra and in Ghana. Recently, Busy Internet is experiencing a decline in profit. The Managing Director of Busy Internet, Ms. Estelle Akofio-Sowah, has hired your consulting firm McKinsey to asses the problems. In addition to identifying the cause of declining profits, you also need to give recommendations and assist them through the implementation process. How would you to about this case?

Additional Information: (to be given to candidate if requested)

Besides the regular product/service provided by an internet cafe (like emails, web surfing, video games),

Busy Internet also offers a range of other related services: a business incubator service

ISP, Internet Service Provider (broadband, dial-up, wireless, satellite, and radio connection)

Copy Center, equipped with printers, copiers, scanners, etc.

Conference Room

Office Renting

Suggested Approach:

The purpose of this case is to asses the candidates’ analytical skills and his/her abilities of gathering information through appropriate questions. A good understanding of the Ghanaian business climate is important but not a must. A good structure to answering the case is necessary. The interviewee should suggest a possible framework and a solution but he/she should have a clue about the major problems of implementing changes in a non-traditional business environment like Ghana.

Gathering information in Ghana is extremely difficult, and managers tend to flood consultants with information. Therefore a good structure, the ability to prioritize and navigate through useless or cloudy/ambiguous information is important. For these reasons, the interviewer can give upfront useless information and hide the important ones.