McKinsey & Company

What is humanity’s greatest innovation of the industrial age—the steam engine? Penicillin? The internet? These are all good candidates, yet without the productivity gains from another crucial innovation, the modern business company, it’s hard to imagine how these inventions could have improved the world at the same scale. The trouble is that few industrial organizations have truly cracked the productivity code to maintain high performance over the long run. A…

SEKO launched in 1976 with one office, in Chicago. The logistics, transportation, forwarding, and warehousing firm now boasts 150 locations in more than 60 countries. It serves as a global end-to-end logistics partner for its customers, aiming to turn supply chain strategy into a competitive advantage.Akhil Nair, based in Hong Kong, is SEKO’s senior vice president for global ocean freight. McKinsey spoke with Nair about ongoing disruptions to supply chain…

Airlines around the world are committing to ambitious decarbonization goals to reach the industry target of net-zero emissions by 2050. Among potential decarbonization measures, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will make the biggest contributions—up to 50 percent of abatement, depending on the airline. Sustainable fuels, which are already certified for use in today’s jet engines, produce about 80 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil kerosene. The SAF industry is still…

It isn’t easy to forecast the next two to three years when macroeconomic conditions and business dynamics are profoundly complex. Yet as technology races ahead—a major (but by no means only) driver of disruption—many companies continue to build models with the same flawed approaches they’ve been using for years. Even when their forecasts do approach the bull’s-eye, critical data points and assumptions are unclear, inconsistent, or missing entirely. The mark…

Organizations are grappling with unprecedented workforce challenges, including labor market shortfalls and evolving generational needs. Talent management has become a primary concern for business leaders, with industry experts offering valuable guidance on shaping a future-ready workforce. They examine the impact of technology on operations, the importance of leadership and development opportunities in retaining talent, and innovative approaches to flexibility and career advancement within the manufacturing sector.In this episode of McKinsey…

For airlines around the world, fleet maintenance is increasingly challenging. In the United States, for instance, airlines have endured a 15 percent increase in maintenance costs over the past five years. Meanwhile, there’s been a 14 percent increase in the share of flights delayed. This has raised the pressure on already thin margins in a competitive industry. Although maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) organizations endeavor to provide efficient aircraft maintenance…

Almost two centuries ago, Lewis Tappan and John M. Bradstreet illustrated the potential for turning data into a profitable product. At the time, businesses and merchants were expanding their operations and needed a reliable way to determine the creditworthiness of potential partners. Bankers and investors were eager for more consistent, objective information in this burgeoning economy to guide their lending and investment decisions. Tappan and Bradstreet established firms dedicated to…

Although the relentless rise of generative AI (gen AI) has many fearing for the loss of their livelihoods to machines, it may actually end up benefiting management and workers alike. Ironically, this most advanced of technologies doesn’t require technical skills to use, and instead puts a premium on very human qualities such as experience, judgment, and wisdom. In this episode of the At the Edge podcast, former Fortune CEO and…

The aerospace industry is pivotal to connecting the world for economic growth and global security. But while other industrial supply chains have recovered from the shocks from the pandemic, aerospace continues to grapple with significant operational challenges: persistent shortages in key commodities, uncertainty of future demand, supply chain consolidation, and a workforce in transition. All of these put procurement leaders in a precarious position. Commercial aerospace leaders must rethink their…

The job market in the United States may have grown stronger in the past few months, but a closer look at the data suggests retailers face difficulties. As of May 2024, there were about 2.5 million more job vacancies than job seekers. That spells trouble for retail executives, who continue to see higher-than-average attrition rates within their frontline workforces. Based on responses from more than 1,000 US frontline retail workers,…

The global aerospace and defense (A&D) sector is booming. The return of air travel to prepandemic levels is one factor behind soaring demand. Another is greater geopolitical instability, which has led to growing national defense spending (in Europe, for example) and rising demand for ammunition. Order volumes across products have increased significantly, and a burst of talent recruiting is under way in the sector. However, headwinds persist. Matching the growing…

Despite challenging overall market conditions in 2023, continuing investments in frontier technologies promise substantial future growth in enterprise adoption. Generative AI (gen AI) has been a standout trend since 2022, with the extraordinary uptick in interest and investment in this technology unlocking innovative possibilities across interconnected trends such as robotics and immersive reality. While the macroeconomic environment with elevated interest rates has affected equity capital investment and hiring, underlying indicators—including…

Electrifying heat production is not just good for the planet; it is also technically feasible and increasingly cost competitive. However, enduring perceptions of industrial heat as “difficult to electrify” have hindered progress toward the decarbonization of heat. Electrification can be an accessible and viable option to decarbonize most low- and medium-temperature heat needs across multiple sectors, including food and beverages, manufacturing, and chemicals. High-temperature heat electrification is also ongoing, as…

Africa is both heavily dependent on nature and experiencing rapid nature loss. Some 62 percent of African GDP is moderately or highly dependent on the services that nature provides and 70 percent of communities in sub-Saharan Africa depend on forests and woodlands for their livelihoods. In parallel, momentum is building in the African financial sector in response. This new joint report by McKinsey Sustainability and FSD Africa consolidates the findings…

Founded in 2013, Flexport is a global supply chain technology platform and logistics provider. Flexport describes its technology platform as providing services “from factory floors to customer doors,” helping cargo owners manage and monitor end-to-end shipments via sea, air, rail, and road, with customs brokerage, direct-to-consumer fulfillment, wholesale distribution, and other services. In 2023, a year in which Flexport’s technology and services were used to move more than $32 billion…

Revenues from embedded finance (EF)—the delivery of financial products by nonfinancial entities within their broader offerings—could surpass €100 billion in Europe by the end of the decade, according to McKinsey forecasts. The distribution of financial products and services, such as loans and insurance, in third-party channels is gaining importance as technology and data allow for instant and seamless customer journeys, and customers increasingly expect to find financial services when and…

Only 36 percent of the 500 largest companies in the United Kingdom are publicly listed, a marked shift that has been under way for many years, so a thorough understanding of today’s UK corporate landscape requires looking beyond the “UK plc”. Our research, which goes beyond publicly listed companies to consider the entire UK corporate landscape, indicates that top performers are more adept and purposeful in creating the conditions to…

The CFO is a company’s “connector in chief.” No one else in the organization is more important for ensuring that strategy, financial controls, stakeholder management, technology, and personal development link together for value creation. Marjorie Lao, who served as the CFO of the LEGO Group—and before that, as CFO of the Norway-based public company Tandberg (now part of Cisco Systems)—managed these connections for more than a decade and is now…

Assisting management in navigating today’s geopolitical complexity has become one of boards’ most important and difficult tasks. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, Ziad Haider, Celia Huber, and Jon Huntsman Jr. discuss how boards can address this challenge. Huntsman spent nearly two decades in US public service at the state, national, and international levels in roles including deputy assistant secretary of commerce for Asia and US ambassador…

Alistair Brownlee, two-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time triathlon world champion, three-time Ironman winner, and bestselling author, isn’t one to shy away from making a mantra his own: “If you want to achieve something no one has achieved before, you have to approach the challenge in a way no one has before.” In a keynote fireside chat at the Unleashing Disruptive Growth event in Barcelona, Alistair sat down with McKinsey’s Philipp…

With the coming of age of Gen Z—both as customers and new workforce entrants—customer demands are evolving. At the same time, generative AI (gen AI) is transforming how contact centers respond to these demands. Forward-thinking leaders must explore the latest trends, emphasize cohesive support strategies, and take actionable steps to enhance their customer care functions, addressing challenges such as service improvement, cost reduction, and sales function integration.In this episode of…

Data and AI leaders have been working feverishly on generative AI (gen AI) use cases for more than a year. Their experience has provided promising glimpses of the considerable value at stake in gen AI but has also exposed a variety of challenges in getting to scale. Managing data remains one of the main barriers to value creation from gen AI. In fact, 70 percent of top performers in a…

A shareholder activist tends to improve a company’s stock price during its campaigns—and sustains those gains for three years after the campaign is announced. But when one considers the period after an activist has exited its position, the picture becomes murkier. We examined almost 170 shareholder activist campaigns worldwide over the past ten years and found that after an activist had exited its position, three-year excess total shareholder returns (TSR) were…

3D image of people forming the shape of India and organized based on their clothing color creating the pattern of the national flag. India is a place of superlatives. It’s home to the world’s fifth-largest economy. Its population, at over 1.4 billion people, has surpassed China’s to become the largest in the world. And that population is young: at a median age of 27.6, Indians are on average more than…

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 pandemic, the company first had to contend with stagnating revenues, inefficient operations, and runaway costs. The international beauty business—which owns…

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 Andrew J. Scott, if the global focus shifts from the notion of an aging society to that of a longevity…

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 McKinsey’s 2024 annual book recommendations list—a McKinsey Global Publishing tradition—featuring suggestions from 50-plus CEOs and global leaders in media, nonprofit,…

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 has spurred leaders to be more cautious but also more innovative in a way that still supports a path to…

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 million users, making it the fastest-growing product in human history. By the first quarter of 2023, big technology companies were…

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 rate reductions among the major economies are receding (Exhibit 1) except perhaps in the eurozone, where expectations of a June…

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 (DORA) sets out detailed requirements for EU-based FIs to protect their key business processes (see sidebar “DORA’s scope”). While DORA…

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 Kuhn, an alumnus of McKinsey’s Digital Practice. The conversation led to the conclusion that collaboration is vital to ensure that…

At a glance Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for women. Cardiovascular conditions in the United States make up at least a third of the women’s health gap because of inequities between women and men in care delivery, efficacy, and data availability. Addressing heart health at every life stage can improve a woman’s quality of life and overall health. It could lead to at least 1.6 million…

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 up productivity rates again.In our second segment, McKinsey senior partner Tania Holt explores the challenge that Europe faces in filling many…

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 margins rose to 2.4 percent, snapping a decade-long contraction. Despite the remarkable overall performance of global banking, several challenges that…

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 having a single platform to enable integrated planning and forecasting for everything from finance and sales to supply chain and…

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 to expand their supply of permanent capital—investment funds that do not have to be returned to investors on a timetable,…

At a glance Labor markets in advanced economies today are among the tightest in two decades, not merely a pandemic-induced blip but rather a long-term trend that may continue as work forces age. Tightness means forgone economic output. We estimate that GDP in 2023 could have been 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent higher across these economies if employers were able to fill their excess job vacancies. Companies and economies will…

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 had the FAANGs; and today we have the Magnificent Seven and the Granolas. The Magnificent Seven are tech companies, by…

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, talent, and employment. Activities related to fashion—which we define as fashion retail, wholesale, and distribution, along with textile, apparel, footwear,…