Quick Hits As part of a proposed consent judgment to resolve an antitrust charge brought by the DOJ and several states, the NCAA agreed to drop its rule requiring certain Division I college athletes who transfer schools to sit out a year. The DOJ and the states alleged that the…
Since the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, we have been amazed that almost every conversation, whether business or casual, has turned to speculation and opining about the future of generative AI (G-AI). by Alva Taylor and Patrick Wheeler Views have ranged from a prediction of an AI-dominated Skynet/Terminator world where humans…
For most of this century, Big Tech has been allowed to operate with little scrutiny or oversight — to disastrous effects, in the form of social media harms, anti competitive practices, and more. Despite recent efforts to rein them in, a small handful of mega companies continue to wield enormous…
New online-privacy regulations and reduced use of online “cookies,” which track people’s movements on websites, have been lauded by online-privacy advocates—but they’ve made things tough for corporate marketers. It means that today, most marketers are finding it harder to measure the efficacy of their online campaigns with the level of…
If you think you know consumer behavior, think again. Middle-income consumers are feeling the squeeze and worrying about inflation but aren’t holding back on splurges. Rather than sticking to tight budgets in retirement, aging consumers are splurging too. Speaking of older shoppers, it turns out that the brand loyalty they’ve…
Posted June 10, 2024 Over the past decade, usage-based pricing has soared in popularity because it better aligns cost with value and allows customers to pay only for what they use. But that flexibility comes with operational pain points, especially when it comes to predicting revenue. With the right processes…
In this episode of Nevermind the Pain Points, join host Sophie Brazell-Ng and guest experts Sarah Partridge and Dr. Kristina Curtis for an insightful discussion about hybrid work models. Tune in for insights on what hybrid working means for leadership, employee retention, office culture, and creating a balanced, productive work…
The situation In a landscape where industry super funds are expanding their membership to the general public, a prominent superannuation fund, stood at the forefront of innovation and member service excellence. With an effective delivery, governance, and funding model for large projects, they adeptly managed risk for significant initiatives. However,…
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (“DORA“) applies to a wide range of financial entities and is focused on ensuring that these entities are able to respond effectively to unplanned information and communication technology (“ICT“) disruption, while minimising the impact on their business and customers. In this briefing, we consider the…
Quick Hits Effective July 1, 2024, Senate Bill (SB) No. 553 will require virtually every California employer to implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan. The new law does not have an implementation grace period. The new law applies to most California employers and employees, except corrections facilities, law enforcement…
A significant factor that could lead to escalation and potential direct confrontation between Russia and NATO is the possibility of military deployments of NATO troops on Ukrainian territory. Some Western political figures have discussed the potential for such a scenario, though their views have not been endorsed by the United…
Three recent trends illustrate significant recent changes in Europe’s chemical markets. First, high prices for natural gas and electricity are resulting in high production costs for energy-intensive chemicals. Second, a global oversupply of many chemicals is leading to depressed unit margins and lower volumes. And third, demand is shifting to…
Quick Hits On June 7, 2024, OFCCP published a CSAL that identified 500 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…
The recent accelerated rise in global interest rates, the fastest in decades, brought the curtain down on an extended period of cheap money but provided little clarity on the longer-term outlook. In 2024, competing forces of tepid growth, geopolitical tension, and regional conflict are creating nearly equal chances of higher-for-longer…
Private equity firms manage a wealth of sensitive data, making them prime targets for cybercriminals. With the growing number of sophisticated cyber threats, Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) must adopt a proactive stance to safeguard valuable data assets. However, despite the escalating risks, only a fraction of private equity firms have…
This conversation between Maya Chorengel, a managing partner at The Rise Fund, and Alexandra Nee, partner and co-lead of the Impact Investing Service Line for McKinsey’s Private Capital Practice, was recorded on November 10, 2023. It was part of McKinsey’s Women in Private Equity Global Forum, which was held virtually,…
Russia is ramping up malign disinformation campaigns against France, French President Emmanuel Macron, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. While Russia has a decades-long history of targeting the Olympic Games, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) has observed old tactics blending with artificial intelligence…
Productivity – the amount of output each worker produces – is the core of our shared global prosperity and as the world wrestles with shifting geoeconomics, it matters more than ever. Asia has experienced a productivity surge in recent years, but cannot afford to be complacent if the region’s economies…
Quick Hits Minnesota Governor Walz signed employment-related legislation that amends laws addressing consumer data privacy, drug and alcohol or cannabis testing, employee misclassification, pay transparency, and restrictive covenants. Leave-related provisions address earned sick and safe time, paid family and medical leave, pregnancy accommodations, and parental leave. Wage- and pay-related legislation…
Health systems around the world are facing a host of challenges, including rising costs, clinical-workforce shortages, aging populations requiring more care (for example, to treat chronic conditions), and increasing competition from nontraditional players. At the same time, consumers are expecting new capabilities (such as digital scheduling and telemedicine) and better…
8 June 2024By Christine LagardeThe ECB has cut interest rates. President Christine Lagarde explains why and sets out what still needs to be done to bring inflation back to 2% over the medium term.Two years ago, we started raising interest rates because inflation was far too high. Today, the situation…
The advent of steam power in the late 18th century utterly transformed manufacturing, transportation, and construction. A new kind of upheaval is already under way—one that will energize all language-based capabilities, including communication, reasoning, analysis, sales, and marketing. In this episode of the At the Edge podcast, Reid Hoffman, a…
A hand with bright yellow nails reaches for the handle of a blue suitcase.All aboard! After the pandemic upended life and leisure as we know it, travel is roaring back. The industry is set to make a full recovery by the end of 2024, after losing 75 percent of its…
When Yale SOM’s Jason Dana asks people to think about a consumer good that has gotten more affordable over time—say, televisions—they are confident they understand why: the underlying technology has improved and production is more efficient, so the product has come down in cost. But when he asks them whether…
Elections to the European Parliament are not able to resolve the problems and issues that have arisen before the EU in recent years. They are structural in nature and go far beyond the borders of even geographical Europe. The transformation of the political image of the European Parliament will be…
For several decades prior to the current state of affairs, Russia promoted the idea that we must look East. At the same time, however, a significant part (if not most) Russian international trade activity was still connected to the EU. Now the situation has changed (maybe forever), and for Russia…
Thursday, June 13, 20243:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Central1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Mountain12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific About the Program Workplace political speech poses unique challenges for employers, particularly in a polarizing U.S. election year, and amid political demonstrations worldwide. Employers must balance…
Quick Hits New Singaporean employment laws are in effect or will take effect this year. A new law extends the paid paternity leave benefit for two additional weeks, bringing the new leave allotment to four weeks of paid paternity leave. Singapore’s proposed Workplace Fairness Legislation, scheduled for passage in the…
Generative AI systems are made up of multiple components that interact to provide a rich user experience between the human and the AI model(s). As part of a responsible AI approach, AI models are protected by layers of defense mechanisms to prevent the production of harmful content or being used…
As part of the business program at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a session of the Valdai Club took place on June 6. The event’s participants explored the question of whether global and national development can occur without conflict and violence.Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the…
Most large corporations have annual processes to allocate capital and other resources across business units and for strategic initiatives enterprise-wide. The typical practice is to begin with a strategy or “strategic refresh,” develop a long-term (three- to seven-year) financial plan, and lay out a highly detailed budget for the first…
(This is a modified version of an article to be published in the China International Strategy Review) Summary: In 1945, humanity came together to create the Charter International System. It expressed the hope that after the most catastrophic war the world had yet seen, a superior system of international relations…
In this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Mike Borruso chats with Elspeth Kirkman, chief program officer at Nesta, about her new book, Decisionscape: How Thinking Like an Artist Can Improve Our Decision Making (MIT Press, March 2024). Kirkman draws parallels between how artists create and how we make…
Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader Sanyin Siang June 06, 2024 Reading Time: 2 min Topics Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader Leadership roles come with new personal and professional challenges — and Sanyin Siang, board and CEO coach, adviser, and author, is here to help with an advice column for top…
Quick Hits The New York State Assembly has passed and delivered the Retail Worker Safety Act to the state Senate. Under the legislation, retail employers would be required to have written workplace violence prevention programs and workplace violence training. Retail employers with 500 or more employees nationwide would also be…
How implementing a trust fabric strengthens identity and network Read the blog At Microsoft, we’re continually evolving our solutions for protecting identities and access to meet the ever-changing security demands our customers face. In a recent post, we introduced the concept of the trust fabric. It’s a real-time approach to…
For refugees fleeing troubled regions as disparate as Afghanistan and Ukraine, finding meaningful work in the United States is not only key to their own success, but also crucial for businesses navigating labor shortages.New research offers lessons for policymakers and employers learned from the final wave of migration after the…
This article is one of McKinsey’s contributions to the Global Lighthouse Network’s latest white paper, published on December 14, 2023. The first article in this series explored the evolution of AI and how leading manufacturers have harnessed it to propel leading-edge manufacturing from the learning phase to the doing phase of…
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge observed a very young galaxy in the early universe and found that it contained surprising amounts of carbon, one of the seeds of life as we know it.In astronomy, elements heavier than…
Mitesh Rao, co-founder and CEO of OMNY Health, joins Howie and Harlan to discuss his entrepreneurial journey and how his company is creating a common layer of data connecting healthcare providers and researchers. Harlan reports on a study showing how many lives could be saved by improving quality of care;…