Supply chain ‘goes rouge’: Inside Coty’s makeover

Among tens of thousands of products, millions of customers, and an infinite number of outside forces shaping demand, how does one identify the next “it” beauty product—and get it in shoppers’ hands as quickly as they want it? While those questions were top of mind for Coty before the COVID-19…

The ‘evergreen economy’: Harnessing the power of healthy longevity

The majority of people can now expect to grow older. By 2050, 1.6 billion people will be over the age of 65. The challenge—and opportunity—that comes with increased life expectancy is ensuring that those extra years are as healthy and productive as possible. It’s an attainable goal, asserts British economist…

What to read next: McKinsey’s 2024 annual book recommendations

As publishers of insights, we believe that reading books can be a powerful tool for learning, growing, and navigating the landscape of today’s complex business environment. And books can both illuminate and provide moments of respite from the demands of daily life. McKinsey Global Publishing leader Raju Narisetti returns with…

Navigating shifting risks in the insurance industry

Today’s insurers are exposed to multiple risks, from financial risks, such as shifting interest rates, changing costs and sources of capital, and increasing claims levels due to consecutive years of significant inflation, to an array of nonfinancial risks, including extreme climate events and generative AI (gen AI). This uncertain environment…

Embracing generative AI in credit risk

Some technologies are so compelling that they quickly take on a life of their own. Generative AI (gen AI) made the leap from the laboratory to the mainstream in late 2022, when Open AI launched a public beta of its ChatGPT service. Within two months, it had more than 100…

Global Economics Intelligence executive summary, May 2024

Consumers and businesses looking forward to the fillip of an interest rate cut may have to wait a little longer. Among our surveyed economies, only Brazil’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) cut its policy rate in May—but by just 0.25 percentage points, taking the Selic rate to 10.50%.Hopes of imminent interest…

Europe’s new resilience regime: The race to get ready for DORA

Digitalization of the financial sector has brought significant benefits but has also exposed businesses to rising technology risks, including cyberattacks, system outages, and third-party information and communications technology (ICT) failures. To ensure financial institutions (FIs) remain resilient in the face of these threats, the European Union’s Digital Operational Resilience Act…

Generative AI and the future of work: A Singapore perspective

To explore how generative AI (gen AI) could transform the future of work globally, and in Singapore particularly, McKinsey partner Sanjna Parasrampuria, an expert in data, artificial intelligence and generative AI,  talked to Terence Chia, assistant chief executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore, and to Kathryn…

The ups and downs of global productivity

Demographic, regional, and technological shifts all influence the current story of global productivity. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Chris Bradley and Olivia White join editorial director Roberta Fusaro to discuss how best to measure productivity, what’s behind reduced productivity numbers, and what can be done to ramp…

The state of GCC banking: An exceptional operating environment

Following a record showing in 2022, the global banking sector continued to exceed expectations during 2023. Global return on tangible equity reached 13 percent in 2023, its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. Meanwhile, the worldwide Tier 1 ratio hit a ten-year high of 13.4 percent, and net interest…

Anaplan CEO: How decision excellence drives enterprise performance

Since it was founded in the United Kingdom close to two decades ago, enterprise software company Anaplan has been built around the core concept of what it has dubbed “connected planning.” For customers who had long dealt with a messy patchwork of different systems and manual processes, this has meant…

Private capital in insurance 2.0: Building the flywheel

Over the past decade, private-capital firms and insurers have built a symbiotic relationship. Private-capital firms, which typically raise money from institutional investors such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, encompass multistrategy private-market firms, private-credit firms, private equity firms, and real estate firms. Tie-ups with insurers have allowed private-capital firms…

Building a superpower: What can we learn from the Magnificent Seven?

The stock market offers daily lessons in animal spirits and, occasionally, something more. Every so often, investors become obsessed with a small group of companies, and clever analysts give them a name that resonates with the investing public. In the ’60s, we had the Nifty 50; in the 2010s, we…

At a crossroads: New York’s status as a global fashion capital

The changeable nature of fashion extends well beyond its seasonal changes of what to wear. In recent years, one of the industry’s most dramatic changes involves New York City’s position as a global fashion capital. Within the United States, New York City has the country’s highest concentration of fashion sales,…

A radical approach to cost reduction at climate tech companies

Soaring temperatures, shrinking glaciers, and rising sea levels provide a constant reminder that climate change is intensifying. Many governments, corporations, and individuals have already attempted to reduce emissions by adopting new green tech and want to expand these efforts to prevent a humanitarian crisis. The McKinsey Platform for Climate Technologies…

From ripples to waves: The transformational power of tokenizing assets

Tokenization, the process of creating a unique digital representation of an asset on a blockchain network, has reached a tipping point after many years of promise and experimentation. The benefits—including programmability, composability, and enhanced transparency—can empower financial institutions to capture operational efficiencies, increase liquidity, and create new revenue opportunities through…

Decarbonizing logistics: Charting the path ahead

As global organizations chart a path to net zero, many are looking to the next frontier of emissions reduction: “Scope 3” emissions. These emissions are not directly produced by a company’s operations, but embedded in its supply chain. They account for the vast majority of companies’ emissions, and a significant…

Securing competitiveness in India’s chemical industry

For a decade, the Indian chemical industry has been a global outperformer in demand growth and shareholder wealth creation. However, global headwinds have recently interrupted this momentum. Chemical companies in India could navigate these challenges and enhance their future prospects by boosting their competitiveness. Indian chemical industry: Interrupted momentum Indian…

Advanced semiconductors for the era of centralized E/E architectures

The next generation of electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture for software-defined vehicles (SDV) is evolving toward centralization. By 2032, McKinsey analysis estimates that 30 percent of all vehicles produced globally will have E/E architectures with zonal controllers (Exhibit 1). Importantly for the semiconductor industry, this shift will require centralized, high-performance compute units.…

Netherlands advanced: Building a future labor market that works

For many years, the Netherlands has enjoyed a robust economy and strong workforce. With a vast active workforce of 9.6 million people (out of a population of 17.6 million), the country has one of the highest employment rates and workforce productivity rates in the European Union. Globally, it ranks fifth…

The ‘inside out’ leadership journey: How personal growth creates the path to success

Thousands of hours spent working closely with CEOs and other leaders of top corporations and nonprofits have revealed a fascinating business phenomenon: many leaders who have mastered all the right executive skills, including financial acumen, strategic and operational management, and system thinking, still struggle to link their aspirations with the…

Six imperatives for credit unions to secure their future

Credit unions in the United States are at a crossroads. Their membership ranks are aging, and young people don’t always see credit unions’ offerings as a good value. That means credit unions need to work harder to attract younger members, or risk fading into irrelevance. (For more details on credit…

Delivering services to the public—digitally—with Jennifer Pahlka

Jennifer Pahlka is the founder of Code for America, served as the United States government’s deputy chief technology officer, and is author of the book Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better. Jenn joins us to share her personal reflections of…

Scott Johnston on designing and building scalable platforms

In this episode of McKinsey on Building Products, a podcast dedicated to the exploration of software product management and engineering, McKinsey partner Rikki Singh spoke to Scott Johnston, CEO of Docker. They discuss the importance of continual experimentation and adaptation in scaling platforms, the role of internal tools and infrastructure,…

What is circularity?

A vine of green ivy growing from an aluminum sardine tin on a light blue background. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve consumed products in largely the same way. A company will extract or collect the resources to create a product, which consumers then buy, use, and ultimately throw away.…

A new itinerary for the tourism industry

McKinsey spoke with more than 5,000 travelers across geographies and generations as part of a recently published survey that reveals clear differences in behaviors, motivations, and expectations among a diverse set of tourists. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey’s Margaux Constantin and Jasperina de Vries speak with editorial director Roberta…

Tech services and generative AI: Plotting the necessary reinvention

Through most advances and innovations in enterprise technology, IT or technology services providers (also known as system integrators [SIs] or managed services providers [MSPs]) have, for the most part, been able to rely on one constant: their customers continuing to look outside their four walls for help stitching together and…

After the surge: Tien‑Tsin Huang on the future of payments

New challenges await payments providers, now that the pandemic-related surge in adoption of digital payments has leveled off. Among them are questions about how the technology and use cases are likely to develop. In this episode of Talking Banking Matters, payments industry expert and McKinsey partner Roshan Varadarajan talks with…

Revolutionizing procurement: Leveraging data and AI for strategic advantage

In today’s tumultuous business landscape, where price volatility, geopolitical tensions, and sustainability imperatives converge, one function stands at the forefront of navigating these complexities: procurement. In this context, the procurement function will act as a strategic lever for value protection and creation. Procurement sits at the confluence of huge quantities…

What it takes to rewire a CPG company to outcompete in digital and AI

There’s a race on to capture value from digital and AI, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are in danger of falling behind both retailers and consumers. It’s not for lack of trying. Like most sectors, CPG companies have been on some form of digital and AI transformation journey. But…

Managing the risks around generative AI

Generative AI (gen AI) is an advancement that has seized the attention of governments, the public, and business leaders. But it presents unique challenges to the professionals tasked with managing gen AI’s existing and potential threats. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, Ida Kristensen, coleader of…

Unlocking the power of price transparency data

After a slow start, hospitals and payers are making progress toward complying with federal price transparency rules that require them to publish online the pricing information about items and services they provide. As part of a trend of rising consumerism in healthcare, consumers express a high willingness to “shop” for…

Rescuing the decade: A dual agenda for the consumer goods industry

The consumer goods industry was an investor darling for decades, delivering a reliable formula of more than 5 percent growth at healthy, stable margins. Over the past ten years, however, topline growth has faded away. While consumer packaged goods (CPGs) have searched for it, they have ended up scrambling to…

The case for doubling down on refinery reliability now

Refinery reliability issues have impacted product prices in recent times, and the ongoing reliability issue is creating both challenges and opportunities for refiners. As the wider industry continues to struggle with unplanned outages, refiners can invest to improve reliability and capture value. Operators can do this by revamping fundamental processes…

State of the Consumer 2024: What’s now and what’s next

If you think you know consumer behavior, think again. Middle-income consumers are feeling the squeeze and worrying about inflation but aren’t holding back on splurges. Rather than sticking to tight budgets in retirement, aging consumers are splurging too. Speaking of older shoppers, it turns out that the brand loyalty they’ve…

Positioning for success in the chemical markets of the future

Three recent trends illustrate significant recent changes in Europe’s chemical markets. First, high prices for natural gas and electricity are resulting in high production costs for energy-intensive chemicals. Second, a global oversupply of many chemicals is leading to depressed unit margins and lower volumes. And third, demand is shifting to…

Banking on interest rates: A playbook for the new era of volatility

The recent accelerated rise in global interest rates, the fastest in decades, brought the curtain down on an extended period of cheap money but provided little clarity on the longer-term outlook. In 2024, competing forces of tepid growth, geopolitical tension, and regional conflict are creating nearly equal chances of higher-for-longer…

Maya Chorengel on building the impact investing industry

This conversation between Maya Chorengel, a managing partner at The Rise Fund, and Alexandra Nee, partner and co-lead of the Impact Investing Service Line for McKinsey’s Private Capital Practice, was recorded on November 10, 2023. It was part of McKinsey’s Women in Private Equity Global Forum, which was held virtually,…