Launching a management consulting career is a daunting task due to the competitive nature of the profession. Applying for a job entails completing online questionnaires, writing cover letters, and undergoing psychometric assessments before you are even invited for an interview. There is also a large pool of applicants for managing consulting jobs in the developing […]
Author: Oduor Ochieng
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China’s Role in Africa
In a mere two decades, China has become Africa’s biggest economic partner, surpassing the United States and EU member states. This is driven by China’s increasing participation in the global economy. According to a McKinsey report, China is one of the top economic partners for Africa across five dimensions: trade, level of foreign direct investment […]
Making a shift into the consulting world may feel daunting, especially if you have no prior exposure to the industry. As such, learning how to be as confident as a consultant presents a conundrum. How are you supposed to be confident when you do not have a consulting background? Case interviews are synonymous with consulting […]
According to Business Insider, the odds of getting hired by McKinsey & Company are less than 1%, although this is not unique to McKinsey. To secure a final round interview at Bain, you would have to be in the top 3% of applicants for that office. No one enjoys being turned down, especially in the […]
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Mental Models: Maps of Meaning
A mental model is simply a representation of reality. The world is complex, and so we cannot account for every moving part and keep all the details in our brains. In the words of the famous physicist Richard Feynman: “You only think you know, as a matter of fact. And most of your actions are […]
What are Mental Models? Becoming a better thinker requires you to understand the way you think, how you view the world, and developing a way of approaching problems that allows you to see things through multiple lenses. We refer to these lenses as ‘mental models’. Mental models are tools for the mind that are built […]
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Combatting COVID-19 in Emerging Markets
When the COVID-19 crisis became evident in South Africa in mid-March, the South African government put strict lockdown measures in place, including school closures and store lockdowns which were accompanied by reducing the output of production facilities. The government implemented a number of policies including social distancing, curfews, mandatory facial masks, and stay at home orders. […]
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Making Unbiased Decisions
Despite increasing levels of educational attainment, one of the things that remains consistent across time are the biases that influence the decisions that we make when faced with questions and challenging problems. While this is nothing new, the issue is gaining renewed interest (due to the increasing use of artificial intelligence systems) that automate decisions […]