It’s a clichéd staple of commencement speeches and family dinners: “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” This advice is particularly resonant in a culturally individualistic country such as the U.S., where the idea of “following your passion” guides many young people as they choose their educational path and subsequent career. But new research suggests that this advice could have different consequences for women…
The study, published today in Nature Medicine, is the first time that the impact of using whole genome sequencing in current NHS practice has been assessed. It was led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, Wellcome Sanger Institute and Great Ormond Street Hospital.The team analysed the use of routine genome sequencing, through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, at Cambridge University Hospitals, where such tests…
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,…
Legal regulation of IT by the AU In 2014, the AU approved its own Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection similar to the CE document. The AU was certainly based on the European experience but it also took into consideration its own record and African realities. This explains why the African Convention includes 38 articles grouped into four large chapters, whereas the European Convention has only 27 articles…
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…
A bit of retail therapy can feel like harmless fun. Yet getting a great deal on a new shirt or pair of shoes may come with a hidden price tag: greenhouse gas emissions, resource depletion, and the mistreatment of workers and animals. The average cotton T-shirt, for example, requires about 700 gallons of water to make. A fast-fashion polyester top is made from petroleum, sheds microfibers, and may spend decades…
Leaders face tough choices on whether and how their businesses should take a public stance on current events. Today’s conflicts may be particularly precarious to navigate. Cynthia E. Clark July 01, 2024 Reading Time: 3 min Topics Leadership Corporate Social Responsibility Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Growing concern over polarizing culture wars points to the need for leaders to understand when it makes sense for their company to speak…
In December 2022, the world watched in awe as Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappé lit up the World Cup final. Playing at a top international tournament for their national team is the pinnacle of any footballer’s career. But what happens when they returned to their club, where their teammates are often their rivals on the international stage? Can team members who compete in another context resume their initial levels…
On June 4, 2024, we introduced the latest milestone in our journey towards modernizing customer engagement: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, a Microsoft Copilot-first contact center solution that delivers generative AI to every customer engagement channel. This standalone Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solution enables customers to maximize their current investments by connecting to preferred customer relationship management systems (CRMs) or custom apps. Dynamics 365 Contact Center A complete…
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…
Artificial intelligence rapidly changed the ways that companies screen applicants for positions, and now job seekers themselves use generative AI to navigate this evolving career landscape. According to Sean McGowan, director of employer relations at Carnegie Mellon University’s Career and Professional Development Center(opens in new window) (CPDC), generative AI can be a speedy and powerful tool in the job search process — when used ethically and responsibly — yet traditional approaches…
In addition to ultra-fast charging times, the batteries developed by Nyobolt – which was spun out of Professor Dame Clare Grey’s lab in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry in 2019 – do not suffer from the degradation issues associated with lithium-ion batteries.Tests of the first running Nyobolt EV prototype will be used to validate the company’s battery performance in a high-performance environment. Cambridge-based Nyobolt has used its patented carbon…
In the largest study of its kind to date, an international team led by researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, studied the DNA of around 800,000 women from Europe, North America, China, Japan, and Korea.Published today in Nature Genetics, the researchers found more than 1,000 variants – small changes in DNA – that influence the age of first menstrual period. Around 600 of these…
This year, Russia will be hosting the BRICS summit in October in Kazan. Our governmental circles, our ministries and our NGOs are all preparing for the summit. It is considered the key foreign policy event in Russia this year. The top political question, as I personally see it, could be with regards to greater solidarity between the BRICS countries in the wake of the enlargement, and as new members have…
In a landscape where big and small decisions can have meaningful impacts on an organization’s strategic and cultural direction, building intentional and healthy decision-making habits is essential. What makes for “healthy” habits is determined by the company’s growth stage and current needs. For mid-size companies, the balance between rapid growth and operational efficiency can be particularly challenging. Changing roles, evolving leadership expectations, and shifting customer demands put pressure on the…
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22nd May 2024 To what extent can product packaging be an illicit look-alike of a competitor’s product packaging? A ruling by the Court of Turin provides some guidance on look-alikes and trade dress protection. Look-alikes are deemed to contravene Italy’s unfair competition rule. Consequently, the Court granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the applicant. This case provides an insight into how Italian courts will assess infringing products of this nature. The…
Throughout her life, philanthropist and businesswoman Melinda French Gates has navigated difficult transitions, including career changes, having children, and losing a close friend. In each case, she felt terrified that life as she knew it would end." hroughoutThroughout her life, philanthropist and businesswoman Melinda French Gates has navigated difficult transitions, including career changes, having children, and losing a close friend. In each case, she felt terrified that life as she…
Quick Hits Minnesota’s new ban on the use of nonsolicitation agreements by service providers or staffing agencies takes effect on July 1, 2024. The law will prohibit service providers from restricting in any way its employees from being solicited or hired by user companies. The law will render such provisions void and enforceable. The new law, which was contained in Minnesota’s Labor and Industry Policy Omnibus bill signed by Governor…
2024 has been called “the year of elections” with an estimated 2 billion people around the world heading to the polls. Voters in the UK will have their say on 4 July. Now that each of the main parties has published their manifestos, here’s what the 2024 general election could mean for your finances. Conservatives – more National Insurance cuts and the “triple lock plus” Having already reduced National Insurance…
In today's business landscape, sustainability and environmental consciousness have become paramount. However, it is crucial for businesses to avoid making misleading or exaggerated claims about their green initiatives, a practice known as greenwashing. How can businesses navigate the complex world of sustainability claims and maintain their credibility? To shed light on this important topic, the firm's Intellectual Property team recently hosted a multijurisdictional Lexology masterclass webinar on avoiding greenwashing and…
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…
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang on Friday encouraged Caltech graduates to pursue their craft with dedication and resilience — and to view setbacks as new opportunities. “I hope you believe in something. Something unconventional, something unexplored. But let it be informed, and let it be reasoned, and dedicate yourself to making that happen,” he said. “You may find your GPU. You may find your CUDA. You may find your…
Quick Hits The Superior Court of Arizona ruled Arizona municipalities cannot set prevailing wage ordinances. The court struck down prevailing wage ordinances enacted by Phoenix and Tucson affecting construction contractors. On June 21, 2024, the Superior Court of Arizona Maricopa County ruled in favor of three trade associations challenging the Phoenix and Tucson prevailing wage ordinances. The court found the state’s 2006 Minimum Wage Act did not effectively repeal the…
When you think about what you want the future to look like, it’s probably not the value of your assets that comes to mind first. Instead, you might think about the experiences you want or your loved ones Yet, to build the life you want, money is usually an important factor. While you often hear the saying “money can’t buy happiness”, the reality is that your financial circumstances are likely…
On June 28, the Valdai Club held a discussion dedicated to the presidential elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the potential for the development of Iranian-Russian relations. The event was moderated by Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Club. Vitaly Naumkin, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academic Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that the political system of…
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…
On May 17, 2024, the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) published a notice summarizing the District of Columbia’s current policy regarding the recordation and transfer tax treatment of an assignment of a lease, including a ground lease, with a term of at least 30 years (including renewals). This is the first official statement by OTR regarding the taxation of assignments of long-term leases, including ground leases.…
You probably read the predictions. For a decade, they peddled the same sunny promise: Someday AI will help make medicine smarter and faster. Someday has dawned. Nearly 80% of health care organizations now use AI. In fact, AI is already helping to reduce repetitive clinical tasks and enable more precise treatments. This month, we’re sharing a progress note on the confluence of tech and medicine, detailing how certain solutions are…
According to research from Scottish Widows, more than three-quarters of retirees could be missing out on potential investment returns by accessing their pension before their retirement date. Understanding the implications of withdrawing money from your pension could help you to make a decision that’s right for you. Read on to find out some of the areas you might want to consider before you access your pension for the first time.…
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…
From 2024, the UK’s Environment Act requires planning applications to demonstrate an overall biodiversity net gain of at least 10% as calculated using a new statutory biodiversity metric.The researchers trialled the metric by using it to calculate the biodiversity value of 24 sites across England. These sites have all been monitored over the long-term, allowing the team to compare biodiversity species data with results from the metric. Plant biodiversity at…
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…
Quick Hits Act No. 273 modifies La. Rev. Stat. § 23:921, Louisiana’s noncompete statute, to limit the noncompete restrictions allowed in contracts with physicians. Any contract that restrains a primary care physician from practicing medicine expires three years after the effective date of the contract and all other physicians five years after the effective date of the contract. Any subsequent contract may not include a noncompete provision. The noncompete agreement…
At Microsoft, we’re doing deep research into AI adoption at work—what's working for people, what challenges are emerging, and how organizations can move from early experimentation to broad business transformation. Today we’re surfacing new data from Copilot customers that shows which job functions are gaining an early AI advantage. To do that, we looked at one of the first ways people report value from AI: time savings. Let’s have a…
It’s the new way of comparison shopping in the age of large language models (LLM): Tapping into AI-driven search engines for research and advice on which products to buy. But can consumers trust the recommendations to be impartial?New research finds that companies can subtly manipulate the LLM into favoring their own products by adding a carefully crafted short text sequence to online product descriptions. The study explores whether marketers “can…
When you’re accessing your pension, it’s important to consider the sustainability of your withdrawals. You might have heard of the “4% rule”, which provides a seemingly simple way to calculate how much you can access each year. However, for modern retirees, applying this rule to your pension could be risky. The 4% rule was first articulated by William Bengen, a retired US financial adviser. The rule essentially suggests you can…
Several top Democrats have reportedly issued strong warnings to Joe Biden to challenge Trump’s friendly ties to corporate America when the two face off on Thursday’s presidential debate, and less time talking up his legislative accomplishments. The news reflects continued pressure on Biden to lean more into populist, anti-corporate appeals. But that would be a huge mistake. Wealthy political advisors keep trying to tell Biden how to speak to the…
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…
On June 27, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion on the confiscation of Russian assets abroad. The moderator, Ivan Timofeev, highlighted that a new development has emerged in this regard. While previously, the emphasis was on freezing assets, the current concern involves the dispossession of property rights. He went on to state that these measures are gradually evolving and suggested that this is not the final stage. Dmitry Timofeev, Director…