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The consumer goods industry was an investor darling for decades, delivering a reliable formula of more than 5 percent growth at healthy, stable margins. Over the past ten years, however, topline growth has faded away. While consumer packaged goods (CPGs) have searched for it, they have ended up scrambling to generate the earnings growth they need through cost reduction.But investors love a growth story. Industry shareholder returns have dropped from…

Refinery reliability issues have impacted product prices in recent times, and the ongoing reliability issue is creating both challenges and opportunities for refiners. As the wider industry continues to struggle with unplanned outages, refiners can invest to improve reliability and capture value. Operators can do this by revamping fundamental processes and using digital tools, such as generative AI (gen AI), to drive further improvements in their systems. In this article,…

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 long been known for is a thing of the past. And young consumers in Asia and the Middle East are…

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 sustainable chemicals. For these reasons, many European players are focusing on how to rapidly improve their margins, typically via cost…

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 benchmark rates and rapid cuts. In the banking industry, this uncertainty presents both risks and opportunities. But in the absence…

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, with an audience of 140 women investors from more than 60 firms across North America. The following is an abridged…

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 are to continue closing the gap with their advanced counterparts.Recent McKinsey Global Institute research, Investing in productivity growth, shows that…

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 experiences from health systems across their end-to-end care journeys. In response, health systems are increasing their focus on digital and…

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 partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners, and cofounder of LinkedIn and Inflection AI, speaks with McKinsey’s Lareina Yee about…

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 value in 2020. Much of this has been so-called “revenge travel,” or people embarking on international or bucket list trips…