China Actually Thanks Trump

China will not actively provoke Trump 2.0, but if Trump 2.0 continues to use trade wars, technology wars, or other containment strategies to counter China, China will definitely retaliate with more experienced and precise countermeasures. The ultimate result will remain the same: China will become stronger, writes Wang Wen, Executive…

America’s China Strategy Is Incomplete

Growing the U.S. economy is at the top of President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, and tackling the many challenges in the U.S.-Chinese trade and investment relationship will be central to realizing this objective. Much of Trump’s rhetoric has focused on the use of tariffs: tariffs to rebalance the bilateral trade deficit,…

Side Chats During Online Meetings: A Minefield for Leaders

Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images “One conversation in the room, please.” We’ve all heard, or said, something like this during in-person meetings. Hushing side discussions helps reinforce the best parts of face-to-face meetings: the opportunity to be attentive, be aware of eye contact and body language, and focus everyone…

Buy then Build: Be an Entrepreneur Without the Start-Up

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:4 mins read

Start-ups: innovation-driven venturesThe traditional start-up model typically emphasises disruptive innovation and rapid scaling, often requiring significant technological advantage and financial capital in its initial phases. It appeals to founders driven by a mission to revolutionise industries and solve problems in the market. To succeed, founders must not only develop a compelling solution…

When separating businesses, people are the key to unleashing value

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:11 mins read

Separations have become a widely adopted strategy for creating value, but their popularity does not mean these complex transactions are always effective. For instance, spin-offs—one of the main types of corporate separations, alongside divestitures and carveouts—have hit record numbers in recent years, but these deals are not guaranteed to create value…

Luis de Guindos, Frank Elderson: Why prudent projections are the backbone of sound stress testing

20 January 2025By Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, and Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECBStress tests are of crucial importance to assess banks’ resilience under adverse economic conditions. In previous stress tests, however, some banks…

‘Russia and India: Views on Security in Eurasia and Bilateral Relations’. The Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club and the Vivekananda International Foundation

The Russian-Indian Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club, organized in partnership with the Vivekananda International Foundation, will be held in Moscow from January 27, 2025 at 16/1 Tsvetnoy Boulevard in Moscow. The Vivekananda International Foundation and the Valdai Discussion Club are long-standing partners. The Memorandum of Understanding signed at the…

Asia’s emerging business corridors: New highways to growth

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:11 mins read

With global business corridors subject to geopolitical shifts and structural realignment, Asia’s companies stand at a new crossroads—where old formulas for success are stalling, and new highways to growth are emerging. Long-established global trade and investment patterns are reconfiguring in response to geopolitical tensions, a “just in case” rather than…

Can Artificial Intelligence be Dangerous?

Navigating the Risks of Artificial Intelligence: A Strategic Approach Businesses feel compelled to experiment with AI because of the perceived benefits it offers in terms of efficiency, innovation, customer experience, and competitive advantage. They are told that by integrating AI into their operations, they can unlock new opportunities, streamline processes,…

FCA Approach to AI

The FCA’s Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) update [1] shows the FCA’s approach to ensure safe and responsible use of AI within UK financial markets. Firms which operate in the financial services sector and use AI in their business should evaluate and understand the FCA’s approach and guidelines to avoid negative consequences.…

Improving refinery margins through value chain optimization

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:12 mins read

Over the past two years, interest in value chain optimization (VCO) has grown as downstream refining businesses come up against volatile market conditions, an emergence of “pure play” portfolios, and technological change. However, many organizations do not take a holistic approach when assessing their value chain; instead they look at…

Talking about the hard stuff: Where are we in the energy transition?

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:22 mins read

The world is faced with a dual imperative in the energy transition: the energy system has to be decarbonized, but much more energy is going to be needed in the future. In this episode, Janet Bush, executive editor at McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), talks to McKinsey experts Chris Bradley and…

NLRB GC Issues Memo on Harmonizing NLRA and EEO Laws

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:7 mins read

Quick Hits The NLRB GC issued a memorandum addressing potential employer concerns about complying with EEO laws prohibiting discrimination and harassment in the workplace and the NLRA’s protections for employees engaging in concerted activity. The memorandum emphasizes the GC’s view that the NLRA and EEO laws are complementary and “both…

Europe in the intelligent age: From ideas to action

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:5 mins read

Technology is increasingly shaping the prosperity and sovereignty of nations. The development of disruptive technologies such as AI, along with geopolitical events, is creating new arenas of competition, centered on investment in the innovation, production, and adoption of advanced technologies. However, large European corporations invested €700 billion a year—or €3,000…

A pop-up pub where everybody knows your name

Could a student-run pub add a new dimension to campus social life? A group of Stanford students tested this idea with a pop-up pub last month, and the result was a resounding “yes.” The Rough Draught Pub – which was run by students and supported by staff and the Associated…

Future Proofing Beauty: Digital Transformation

  • Post category:Skarbek Associates
  • Reading time:11 mins read

  Maximising value through digital transformation in beauty companies. Innovation is the key to sustained growth in the beauty industry. As consumer expectations evolve and market environments become more dynamic, the ability to innovate quickly and effectively has never been more crucial. At Skarbek, we understand the need for companies…

Daniel Yergin on energy and the new world order

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:10 mins read

Daniel Yergin explained the state of the world in his 1990 Pulitzer Prize–winning book, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. He did it again in 1998 with Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy and in 2011 with The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking…

What is SaaS?

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:13 mins read

Against a backdrop of light blue, three fluffy white clouds release a robust rain of blue pixels. Software as a service (SaaS) refers to cloud-based software programs delivered to users over the internet. You probably use SaaS products even if you don’t realize it; in fact, much of our online lives…

Maryland’s FAMLI Program, Part I: An Overview of The Law

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Quick Hits Maryland’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program provides most Maryland employees with up to twelve weeks of paid leave, with some eligible for an additional twelve weeks, starting July 1, 2026, funded by contributions from both employers and employees beginning July 1, 2025. The Maryland Department of…

Why CEOs Are Reaching Out to the New President

This commentary originally appeared in Time. With Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos joining the CEO of TikTok as guests of President-elect Donald Trump at Monday’s Inauguration, many have noticed how differently some tech titans are greeting the second Trump presidency. This follows the many CEOs racing to Mar-a-Lago…

Ten tests for nature strategy

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:24 mins read

In 2025, corporate action on nature has evolved from what was often seen as an environmental obligation into a strategic necessity. Taking action is not just about preserving our natural resources—it is a key element of business strategy. Nature plays a critical role as a foundation for the global economy,…

Learners with disabilities benefit from more complex reading instruction

Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) such as autism and Down syndrome are often left behind when it comes to literacy instruction – casualties of the misperception that at best, they could only read by learning to recognize common words by sight. But researchers are finding that students with…

Three Nonnegotiable Leadership Skills for 2025

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, factory floors used to spontaneously catch fire. Many industrial operations generated enough…

Six Essential Tips for Avoiding the Unlawful Influence of Government Actions

  • Post category:Seyfarth Shaw LLP
  • Reading time:6 mins read

In honor of the release of the 6th Edition of the Government Contracts Compliance Handbook, we are sharing six essential tips to help government contractors recognize and prevent the unlawful influence of government actions. Contractors working in the federal marketplace face unique challenges, from avoiding improper gifts to ensuring compliance…

New York City Publishes Updated FAQs for Earned Safe and Sick Time Act

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Quick Hits On September 26, 2024, New York City released updated FAQs for the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) to address the October 2023 amended rules and the January 2024 law allowing private rights of action for ESSTA violations. The updated FAQs clarify and provide guidance regarding the…

Unfinished business: A decade of data on women in Canadian corporate leadership

  • Post category:BLG law firm
  • Reading time:10 mins read

The number of women on TSX-listed issuers’ boards of directors has increased steadily from 11 per cent to 29 per cent in the last ten years. However, Canadian public companies have yet to collectively cross the widely touted target of having 30 per cent of women on boards. Considering recent…

Wellcome Discovery Award of £5m to fund pioneering research to combat deadly diarrhoea

Current meta-genomic epidemiology can be expensive, time consuming, and complex. As we set up our international hubs, we hope to train a new generation of scientists equipped with knowledge of genomic surveillance that will have impact beyond the lifetime of the grant.Professor Sam Sheppard, Ineos Oxford InstituteDiarrhoeal disease is responsible…

Thriving workplaces: How employers can improve productivity and change lives

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:58 mins read

As the world grapples with rapid technological advancements, demographic shifts, and evolving work paradigms, it is vital to invest in employee health. Why prioritize workforce health? Investing in employee health can substantially increase economic returns. Research by the McKinsey Health Institute in collaboration with the World Economic Forum indicates that…

Scientists reveal structure of 74 exocomet belts orbiting nearby stars

The crystal-clear images show light being emitted from these millimetre-sized pebbles within the belts that orbit 74 nearby stars of a wide variety of ages – from those that are just emerging to those in more mature systems like our own Solar System.The REASONS (REsolved ALMA and SMA Observations of…

Brits still associate working-class accents with criminal behaviour – study warns of bias in the criminal justice system

Research led by the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University, raises serious concerns about bias in the UK criminal justice system due to negative stereotyping of accents.These stereotypes, the researchers argue, can affect all parts of the system from arrest to sentencing, and undermine not only suspects…

Rewiring technology to better serve customers and the business

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:13 mins read

While consumer habits and technologies have changed rapidly, the technology function within organizations has tended to be slower to adapt. That realization—and the desire to create experiences that its customers expect—inspired Verizon Consumer and Business Group (Verizon Consumer Group) to make sweeping changes to its technology organization, from a focus…

Philosophy Eats AI

Generating sustainable business value with AI demands critical thinking about the disparate philosophies determining AI development, training, deployment, and use. Michael Schrage and David Kiron January 16, 2025 Reading Time: 32 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images In 2011, coder-turned-venture-investor Marc Andreessen famously declared, “Software is eating the world”…

The EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement: Is it time to revive talks on a Canada-Mercosur Agreement?

  • Post category:BLG law firm
  • Reading time:12 mins read

Context Reports out of Washington indicate that the United States is poised to impose “universal” tariffs (that is, tariffs on imports from all its trading partners) on health care and other “critical” goods on the basis of “national security”. This would or could – the situation remains “fluid/uncertain”, as reported…

Video AI Enhancing Physical Security While Preserving Privacy: Battery Leads Coram AI’s Series A

  • Post category:Battery Ventures
  • Reading time:5 mins read

Physical security is a universal requirement for all organizations, which in the U.S. alone deploy an estimated 85 million security cameras to monitor their premises against threats and crime.  Yet almost all the exabytes of video data generated by these cameras serve no purpose: They vastly exceed the attentive capacity…

Navigating the new geopolitical uncertainty

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:13 mins read

Business leaders today confront a changing world order: intensifying regional conflicts, rising instability, and potential shifts in trade relationships and policy. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Cindy Levy and Shubham Singhal, global coleaders of McKinsey’s geopolitics work, speak with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about how leaders can orient…

Sarah Soule appointed dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business

Sarah A. Soule, a scholar of organizational behavior who has held multiple leadership roles at Stanford, will be the next dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford Provost Jenny Martinez announced today.Soule, the Morgridge Professor of Organizational Behavior, has been a member of the GSB faculty since 2008…

Second Circuit Revives New York Reproductive Health Bias Law’s Notice Requirement for Employee Handbooks

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:5 mins read

Quick Hits The Second Circuit has revived a requirement that New York employers include in employee handbooks a notice informing employees of their right to be free from discrimination or retaliation based on their [the employees’] or their dependents’ reproductive health decisions. The ruling also revived a First Amendment challenge…