McKinsey & Company

The European Union (EU) has set ambitious decarbonization goals for all member states: at least a 55 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and at least a 42.5 percent—although aiming for 45 percent—share of renewable energy consumption based on the Renewable Energy Directive III (RED III). To achieve these targets, major changes are required in Spain’s energy consumption. Alongside other levers such as…

In the fifth installment of the McKinsey Action 9 Fireside Chat series, McKinsey partner Darius Bates chats with Byron Auguste, cofounder and CEO of Opportunity@Work, to discuss how the organization is changing the talent marketplace to enable workers, who are skilled through alternative routes (STARs) rather than four-year college degrees, to access higher-paying jobs. They are joined by McKinsey partner Carolyn Pierce, who leads McKinsey’s collaboration with Opportunity@Work. Here are…

As companies in all sectors work to shrink their carbon footprints and hit their decarbonization targets, the path to reducing Scope 3 emissions is often anything but straightforward. For some, decarbonizing Scope 3 emissions can be more like navigating a particularly byzantine maze. Such is the case for retailers. For the average retailer, Scope 3 metrics capture emissions generated upstream and downstream within the value chains of every SKU it…

Greece has held a prominent place in shipping for many decades. What makes this more significant is that the country’s considerable role on the international maritime stage is disproportionate to its size. The capacity of the Greek merchant fleet, at more than 5,000 vessels, makes Greece the largest shipowning nation, and its shipping sector (including ships that are Greek owned and Greek managed) collectively accounts for 20 percent of global…

John Engel says his tenure as CEO at Wesco International has been bookended by crises. After joining Wesco in 2004 as COO, he stepped into the CEO role in 2009 during the Great Recession. He says the company managed well through that period and has now come through one of the most challenging periods in human and business history with the COVID-19 pandemic. As an essential business, Wesco continued to…

Has the cycle of monetary easing begun? After the Banco Central do Brasil, the European Central Bank (ECB) has become the second major central bank to cut rates. This might bring some much-needed relief to companies and households and could revive the construction market. But there might be more. As our most recent economic survey showed, global sentiment has slightly shifted south, adding to uncertainty amid possible weakening growth. In that…

Since Johan Rockström and a team of internationally renowned scientists first proposed the planetary boundaries framework in 2009, it has become a key reference in global sustainability efforts. The framework seeks to track the planet’s ability to support human life and development, and it focuses on nine systems and processes that govern the stability of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, and ecosystems. Climate change and its cascading impacts are…

Middle management was already a tough gig. Then generative AI (gen AI) entered the fray. A year after the publication of their book Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work (Harvard Business Review Press, July 2023), McKinsey partners Bryan Hancock and Emily Field join global editorial director Lucia Rahilly to revisit whether and why middle managers matter, what leaders could do differently to make more…

As vital as the life sciences and healthcare ecosystem is to human health, so too is its decarbonization to the health of both humans and the entire planet. Accounting for 4 to 5 percent of total global emissions, this sector is aware of the need to address its environmental footprint and accelerate its transition to net-zero emissions. Roughly one-fourth of emissions from pharmaceutical companies can be attributed to the manufacture…

The transformative power of generative AI (gen AI) will likely reshape the healthcare industry over time, and organizations are beginning to take action. In our Q1 2024 survey, more than 70 percent of respondents from healthcare organizations—including payers, providers, and healthcare services and technology (HST) groups—say that they are pursuing or have already implemented gen AI capabilities (see sidebar, “Research methodology”). The Q1 2024 survey, which included 100 US healthcare…

Building a business is hard, and doing so in a start-up or scale-up context is even harder. Building a successful start-up is akin to building a rocket ship: the team setting the direction (market and product–market fit), growth engines (go-to-market [GTM] strategy and product), crew (talent and leadership), and capabilities (strategy and planning) are essential to helping the start-up reach new heights. Another critical element is the engine room: the…

The decline in post-pandemic logistics funding continues. After reaching an unprecedented $25.6 billion in 2021, venture funding for logistics start-ups fell to just $2.9 billion in 2023—a two-year plunge of nearly 90 percent, and the lowest level of funding since 2015. A number of factors are driving this sharp pullback by investors, including high interest rates (which curb venture investment in general), a global slowdown in the shipping industry (as…

Over the past couple of years, the world has marveled at the capabilities and possibilities unleashed by generative AI (gen AI). Foundation models such as large language models (LLMs) can perform impressive feats, extracting insights and generating content across numerous mediums, such as text, audio, images, and video. But the next stage of gen AI is likely to be more transformative. We are beginning an evolution from knowledge-based, gen-AI-powered tools—say,…

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,…