What will it take for working women to rise?

Change can be challenging—and slow. Case in point: a decade of research on Women in the Workplace, conducted by McKinsey in partnership with LeanIn.Org, discloses several areas where women still lag behind their counterparts. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Alexis Krivkovich and Lareina Yee speak with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about where women’s experiences have improved, stalled, and even worsened over the past ten years, as…

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  • Reading time:22 mins read
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Award-winning broadcaster Hannah Fry joins Cambridge as Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics

Fry brings outstanding experience to the role of communicating to diverse audiences, including with people not previously interested in maths. She will follow in the footsteps of giants of public engagement with mathematics, including David Spiegelhalter and the late Stephen Hawking as she joins the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP).“I’m really looking forward to joining the Cambridge community,” said Fry, “to those chance encounters and interactions that…

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Building a Consistently Excellent Culture: Bain’s Manny Maceda

Topics Culture Champions Building a healthy culture is one of the most important — and hardest — leadership jobs. These articles, based on a webinar series and research by Donald Sull and CultureX, share actionable advice from leaders whose cultures produced exceptional business results and a world-class employee experience. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Aleksandar Savic The strongest corporate cultures have a handful of core values that are…

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OFCCP Releases FY 2025 Corporate Scheduling Announcement List and Scheduling Methodology

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) issued its FY 2025 Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (Release 1) (“CSAL”) today.  This list provides advance notice of 2,000 compliance reviews, which OFCCP plans to schedule although the exact timing is unclear.  Federal contractors and subcontractors should review the list to determine whether they have been selected for an upcoming compliance review. OFCCP has posted its FY 2025 CSAL identifying the…

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  • Reading time:4 mins read
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Defying the odds to find fintech app success: A conversation with Nays’ Ceyda Yalçın

When İşbank decided to design a daily banking experience for the next generation, it found itself in a sector with more than 600 fintechs already competing to capture an exploding market with the tens of millions of young, digitally savvy customers. The bank assembled a team and challenged them to develop a banking app in just six months. The team delivered, and only three months into the pilot launch of…

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  • Reading time:17 mins read
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Ethiopian wolves reported to feed on nectar for the first time

New findings, published in the journal Ecology, describe a previously undocumented behaviour of Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis). For the first time, these have been reported to feed on the nectar of Ethiopian red hot poker flowers (Kniphofia foliosa) – the first large carnivore species ever to be documented feeding on nectar. In doing so, the wolves may act as pollinators, perhaps the first known plant-pollinator interaction involving a large carnivore.…

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New study reveals the explosive secret of the squirting cucumber

The squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium, from the Greek ‘ekballein,’ meaning to throw out) is named for the ballistic method the species uses to disperse its seeds. When ripe, the ovoid-shaped fruits detach from the stem and eject the seeds explosively in a high-pressure jet of mucilage. This projectile launch – lasting just 30 milliseconds- causes the seeds to reach speeds of around 20 metres per second, and land at distances…

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Vintage Big Game fashion makes a comeback

Stanford student traditions have helped define campus life since the university’s founding. But, as senior Sydney Kaminski learned this quarter, not all have had staying power.“There are a lot of Stanford traditions that have been lost to time,” she said.For months, the art history student has been investigating a Big Game tradition that faded out decades ago. In the process, she has uncovered connections to the histories of Asian immigrants…

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Professor Anthony Harnden appointed as the new Chair of the MHRA

Professor Anthony Harnden has been appointed as the new Chair of the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).Anthony is a Professor of Primary Care in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, having first joined the department in 1992. Until the end of December 2024, he is a registrant Council member of the General Medical Council and Chair of the Renumeration Committee. Anthony…

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Five Ways Leaders Can Get People to Speak Up

Behind every failure is a team of people who were afraid to dissent and debate. But research shows that leaders can take specific actions to elicit constructive challenges. Celia Moore and Kate Coombs November 20, 2024 Reading Time: 7 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images The Research A team of researchers at Imperial College Business School conducted a field study within a financial institution that included the recording of…

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OFCCP Issues First FY 2025 CSAL, Targeting 2,000 Establishments of Supply and Service Federal Contractors and Subcontractors for Audits

Quick Hits On November 20, 2024, OFCCP published a CSAL that identified 2,000 establishments of federal supply and service contractors and subcontractors for compliance reviews. The CSAL operates as a “courtesy notification” to a contractor that an OFCCP compliance review will be undertaken; the compliance review process begins when the company establishment receives a scheduling letter from OFCCP. OFCCP published the methodology it used for developing the November 2024 CSAL,…

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Unlocking Opportunities in the Age of Digital Finance

Emerging technologies like big data, AI and blockchain are reshaping finance. New products, such as platform finance, peer-to-peer lending and robo-advisory services, are examples of this transformation. These developments raise important questions: How concerned should traditional financial institutions be? What strategies can fintech and “techfin” (technology companies that move into financial services) disruptors adopt to secure their place in this evolving landscape?There are two main threats to the traditional finance…

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  • Reading time:6 mins read
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Post-Election Chaos: 3 Ways to Keep Psychological Safety Intact

According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, nearly 70% of Americans view political discourse as a significant source of stress, and workplaces are no exception. In fact, SHRM reports that political and social tensions have driven workplace incivility to an all-time high this year. No wonder, the ripple effects of political divisiveness can mean conflicts, disengagement, and heightened stress levels—creating a chaotic environment that’s difficult to manage. Amid…

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The true cost of methane abatement: A crucial step in oil and gas decarbonization

Methane emission abatement and flaring reductions are central to global decarbonization, especially for the upstream oil and gas (O&G) sector. Upstream O&G accounts for roughly 7 percent of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and half of that comes from methane.Since 2021, when many O&G players committed to the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), the call to cut methane emissions has only grown stronger. Regulatory, corporate, and social pressures are mounting…

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Lifting Sanctions: The Chinese Option

Modern literature on economic sanctions focuses on the effectiveness of their application. Scholars and practitioners are interested in the extent to which sanctions help achieve certain political goals – force a political change, cause damage, limit the development of the target country, etc. Much less attention is paid to the issue of lifting or easing sanctions – why do countries that initiate sanctions reduce them? How long-term and sustainable is…

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Is China geared up to deal with the Trump onslaught?

In September, the governor of China’s central bank was first to announce a series of monetary easing measures, triggering high levels of market volatility as initial enthusiasm about the eagerly awaited response from the authorities gave way to disappointment over the lack of a fiscal component. The measures announced, mainly targeted at the real estate sector, included a cut in the reserve requirement ratio for banks, a reduction in residential…

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  • Reading time:9 mins read
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Digital twins: The key to unlocking end-to-end supply chain growth

The post-COVID-19 era has created lasting fissures in the supply chain. Amid increasing globalization, rising customer expectations, and double-digit shipping growth, supply chain organizations—not just manufacturers and suppliers but also the warehouses and transporters they rely on—are under duress. They grapple with issues related to operational efficiency, demand forecasting, inventory management, and fulfillment. This complexity affects every part of the supply chain in every industry: retail, technology, automotive, industrial, food…

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  • Reading time:17 mins read
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How AI Changes Partner Collaboration

Explore six steps for using AI with external partners in new ways to drive product and business model innovations. Margherita Pagani and Thomas H. Davenport November 20, 2024 Reading Time: 8 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images In a time of constant change and evolving customer expectations, the ability to innovate quickly is no longer an option but a strategic necessity. Innovation is driven by creativity — the ability…

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What is organisational health? Insights from Oil and Gas HSE podcast

Jen Gramolt, Partner of Q5 on building safer, more efficient workplaces Explore the early November Oil and Gas HSE podcast episode where host Russell Stewart interviews Jen Gramolt, Partner at Q5. They discuss the concept of organisational health, its impact on safety and efficiency, and practical strategies for fostering a resilient workplace culture. This episode is essential for leaders in energy and beyond. Reading time: 2 minutes What is organisational…

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Announcing Microsoft SQL Server 2025: Enterprise AI-ready database

The increasing adoption of AI technologies is presenting new challenges for our customers’ data estate and applications. Most organizations expect to deploy AI workloads across a hybrid mix of cloud, edge, and dedicated infrastructure, with privacy and security being more important than ever. Microsoft SQL Server 2025, now in preview, is an enterprise AI-ready database from ground to cloud that tackles these challenges by bringing AI to customers’ data. This…

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  • Reading time:8 mins read
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How AI enables new possibilities in chemicals

It has been nearly two years since the launch of ChatGPT and other generative AI (gen AI) tools that revolutionized the way AI is perceived and consumed by industries, businesses, and other users. In that time, McKinsey experts estimate the capabilities unlocked by gen AI have helped accelerate levels of human performance by a decade, on average.No industry remains untouched by the impact of gen AI, but adoption levels vary…

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  • Reading time:23 mins read
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Arm donates £3.5 million for Cambridge PhD students to study computer architecture and semiconductor design

The first three students to be supported by the Arm donation will begin their studies at the new research centre in the autumn of 2025. They will be followed by another three students each year for the following four years.  Arm – the company building the future of computing with its global headquarters in Cambridge – is the first organisation to donate to the new CASCADE Research Centre, part of…

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Research Confirms It: Great Managers Need Great Managers

A growing body of research, including our own, has conclusively demonstrated that today’s managers find themselves squeezed between the strategic demands of senior leadership and the day-to-day needs of their teams. Perceptyx’s Center for Workforce Transformation special report, How to Build a Better Boss: What Leaders (and Their Teams) Need Now to Thrive, sheds new light on this pressure-cooker environment and reveals some surprising shifts in manager effectiveness and well-being.…

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  • Reading time:10 mins read
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The cognitive research behind AI’s rise

When federal agencies issue a research grant, they never know if their investment will reap rewards for society. This was almost certainly true in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research funded projects by James “Jay” McClelland, David Rumelhart, and Geoffrey Hinton to model human cognitive abilities.Yet that investment led to a cascade of research progress: a neural network model…

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Cutting Last-Mile Delivery Costs

Frontiers New tactics can boost profitability and satisfaction with subscription services. Stanley Frederick W.T. Lim November 19, 2024 Reading Time: 8 min  Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series Neil Webb/theispot.com Costco and Amazon subscription services were just the beginning. Consumers can now subscribe to a pickle-of-the-month club, monthly shipments of coloring books, bimonthly boxes of survival tools,…

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EEOC Posts Its Internal Scorecard: Insights For Employers

By: Adam Rongo, Andrew Scroggins, and Christopher DeGroff Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 15, 2024, the EEOC released its Agency Financial Report (“AFR”) for Fiscal Year 2024. The AFR is intended to provide a description of the Agency’s financial management and offer high-level performance information. This year’s edition marks the sixth version of the publication, following the release of the inaugural AFR in FY 2019. In years past, the EEOC has…

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How to Effectively Utilize the MSHA Closeout Conference

Quick Hits Value of closeout conferences: Close-out conferences provide valuable insights into the basis for the violations and gravity cited, which are crucial for preparation and decision-making regarding future actions. Preparation and participation: Management may want to discuss observed conditions and issued citations, before and during the conference, and focus on listening, asking questions, and providing accurate facts to challenge allegations without antagonizing the inspector. Effective strategy: Focusing on well-supported…

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‘Manifest’ is Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year

“Manifest” was looked up almost 130,000 times on the Cambridge Dictionary website, making it one of the most-viewed words of 2024.  The word jumped from use in the self-help community and on social media to being widely used across mainstream media and beyond, as celebrities such as singer Dua Lipa, Olympic sprinter Gabby Thomas and England striker Ollie Watkins spoke of manifesting their success in 2024.  Mentions of it gained traction during the…

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What works—and doesn’t—in performance management

Much has been written on performance management. Why do so many employees still find it bureaucratic and unfair? On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, talent experts Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle speak with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about new research on what drives performance: what motivates employees most, what matters less than you think, and the changes organizations need to make to ensure their feedback, ratings, and review processes are…

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  • Reading time:17 mins read
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Northerners, Scots and Irish excel at detecting fake accents to guard against outsiders, study suggests

People from Belfast proved most able to detect someone faking their accent, while people from London, Essex and Bristol were least accurate.The study, published today in Evolutionary Human Sciences found that the ability of participants from Scotland, the north-east of England, Ireland and Northern Ireland to tell whether short recordings of their native accent were real or fake ranged from approximately 65% – 85%. By contrast, for Essex, London and…

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Global Insurance Report 2025: The pursuit of growth

For an industry focused on mitigating risk and providing protection, the world’s insurers are enduring a particularly volatile age. The macroeconomic picture is mixed, with inflation stubbornly high and interest rates uncertain. Consumer confidence remains shaky, even though the economic growth cycle appears to have bottomed out. Geopolitical instability remains a perceived threat to global growth, and trade patterns are shifting amid signs of protectionism. Yet McKinsey’s Global Insurance Report…

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Why Influence Is a Two-Way Street

Gary Bates/Ikon Images The Research The authors’ survey data was gathered from 2015 to 2023 via a questionnaire to which approximately 1,400 executives, representing 500 companies across industries and global regions, responded. Not all respondents replied to all questions. The authors also conducted 500 individual interviews at 45 companies in the same time period. The ability to wield influence is essential to getting things done in today’s complex, often matrixed…

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Election 2024 Labor & Employment Special Report: Navigating the Path Forward

During the second Trump administration, we anticipate that the EEOC’s routine enforcement and litigation activities would continue, as would policy initiatives capable of garnering bipartisan support. Indeed, the vast majority of the EEOC's day-to-day enforcement and litigation activities are politically uncontroversial and enjoy strong bipartisan support. However, the EEOC is unlikely to move forward with policy initiatives or new litigation filings perceived as advancing Republican priorities, because the EEOC is…

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New Jersey to Require Employers to Disclose Pay and Benefits in Job Postings, Promotion Opportunity Notices

Quick Hits The New Jersey governor signed legislation that will require employers to provide the “hourly wage or salary, or a range of the hourly wage or salary” in postings for new jobs or transfer opportunities. The law will also require employers to make “reasonable efforts” to advertise promotion opportunities to all current employees “in the affected department or departments of the employer’s business.” The law is set to take…

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Toyota is deploying AI agents to harness the collective wisdom of engineers and innovate faster

Toyota City, Japan – Cars are going through some of the most rapid engineering shifts in their 100-year history, putting intense pressure on global automakers to innovate more quickly. That includes the Toyota Motor Corporation, which last year sold more than 10 million vehicles, more than any other automaker in the world. At its headquarters in Toyota City, an hour’s drive east of the industrial hub of Nagoya, the carmaker…

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How upcoming Inheritance Tax changes could affect your estate plan

On 30 October 2024, chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her much-anticipated Budget to parliament. Prior to the announcement, the government had repeatedly spoken of a £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances and hinted at tax rises. As you saw in our recent Budget update, the chancellor revealed several changes that could affect your finances, including an overhaul of certain Inheritance Tax (IHT) rules. Consequently, you may need to rethink…

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A peek inside the box that could help solve a quantum mystery

Appearing as ‘bumps’ in the data from high-energy experiments, these signals came to be known as short-lived ‘XYZ states.’ They defy the standard picture of particle behaviour and are a problem in contemporary physics, sparking several attempts to understand their mysterious nature.But theorists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia, with colleagues from the University of Cambridge, suggest the experimental data could be explained…

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Flexibility Is Also the Trump Card in the Age of AI

Since the launch of ChatGPT at the latest, artificial intelligence has become part of everyday life for the general public. In a survey of computer users, 61% of respondents stated that they use the technology for their work (Deloitte 2023). In the first part of this blog series, we examined the impact of AI on different professional groups in Switzerland. We differentiated between four types of professional groups: those who…

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  • Reading time:11 mins read
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Groundwater pumping drives rapid sinking in California

In briefli]:su-m-0">Overpumping groundwater has caused land in parts of the San Joaquin Valley to sink by over one foot per year in many years since 2006.Rapid and uneven sinking has forced multimillion-dollar infrastructure repairs and exacerbated water supply issues for one of the world’s most agriculturally productive regions. California has enough surface water available to replenish key aquifers in the San Joaquin Valley to stop the sinking.A new study shows…

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Trump’s China Policy: Twice in the Same River?

On November 5, 2024, Donald Trump was chosen to become the next president of the United States. An analysis of the activities of the first Trump administration (2017-2021) and his statements during this year’s election campaign allow us to outline the possible contours and dominant features of American policy towards China over the next four years. They, it seems, will not differ substantially from what we observed during his first…

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