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McKinsey Hard Strategic Decision

Water Provision Scheme

#Non-profit #Manufacturing
ProHub Comment

This is a complex public sector decision analysis case that combines quantitative financial modeling (NPV comparison) with qualitative strategic considerations. The case tests the candidate's ability to recognize when quantitative analysis alone is insufficient and to think holistically about implementation challenges in resource-constrained developing economies.

Estimated Time 36 minutes
Difficulty Hard
Source Duke
40 / 100

As of March 2021, the Education Ministry (EM) in India believes that more than 42,000 government schools across the country don’t have drinking water facilities and have no provision of water. Consumption of dirty water is detrimental to kids’ health; it can lead to many diseases and cause the students to drop out of school.

Each school has typically 100 students and each student typically consumes 200L yearly

The client wants your help to design a roadmap to serve the needs of the 42,000 schools and ensure that each school has potable drinking water by 2030.

Clarifying Information

  1. Objective: The EM wants to maximize enrollment of students by providing water in the most feasible way.
  2. Model: Due to India being a developing country, funding from the government is incredibly limited.
  3. Geography: All schools are located in rural India.
Mock Interview
Interviewer

As of March 2021, the Education Ministry (EM) in India believes that more than 42,000 government schools across the country don’t have drinking water facilities and have no provision of water. Consumption of dirty water is detrimental to kids’ health; it can lead to many diseases and cause the students to drop out of school. Each school has typically 100 students and each student typically consumes 200L yearly The client wants your help to design a roadmap to serve the needs of the 42,000 schools and ensure that each school has potable drinking water by 2030.

You

Thanks. Before analyzing, I'd like to clarify a few key questions...

Interviewer

Good question. Let me provide some background information...

You

Based on this, I suggest analyzing from these dimensions...

AI Score
Structure Analysis Communication Business Sense Quantitative
Practicing...
Score coming soon
Practice this case with AI Mock Interview

The Education Ministry in India seeks to provide potable drinking water to 42,000 rural schools by 2030 to improve student enrollment. Candidates must evaluate two water provision options (replenishable water cans vs. in-house treatment facilities), recognize their equivalent NPV, and then identify qualitative factors (water quality, reliability, accessibility) to differentiate the options before recommending a pilot state based on enrollment impact potential.

Key Insights:

  1. When quantitative metrics are equivalent, qualitative factors become critical decision drivers in public sector contexts
  2. Resource constraints in developing economies require balancing upfront capital investment against ongoing operational costs and maintenance reliability
  3. Multi-factor enrollment analysis requires calculating enrollment gains: (anticipated % - current %) × number of schools × students per school
  4. Infrastructure projects in rural areas must consider factors beyond the core service (water quality, accessibility, community engagement) for long-term sustainability
  5. Pilot state selection should optimize for both opportunity size and implementation likelihood rather than absolute scale