McKinsey Quarterly

The ethanol challenge for the United States

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:45:14 PST

The US biofuels industry must address midstream ethanol distribution bottlenecks if it hopes to deliver next-generation ethanol in a cost-effective manner.
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Are you still the best owner of your assets?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:05:19 PST

As companies rethink their portfolios for the post-crisis world, they should ask themselves if they are still the best owners of their assets.
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Corporate Finance

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A new segmentation for electric vehicles

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:00:00 PST

Many carmakers design electric vehicles intended to satisfy the needs of almost all customers. Instead, they should embrace a radical new form of market segmentation.
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	Automotive
	Climate Change
	Energy, Resources, Materials

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The use and abuse of scenarios

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:01:00 PST

Although it is surprisingly hard to create good ones, they help you ask the right questions and prepare for the unexpected. That is hugely valuable.
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Strategy

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Economic Conditions Snapshot, November 2009: McKinsey Global Survey results

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:00 PST

Executives’ optimism about the economy continues to climb, especially in emerging markets and in developed economies in Asia. Executives are a little less sure about their companies’ prospects and say low consumer demand is the biggest barrier to growth.
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Time to raise the CIO's game

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:50:00 PST

For executives who run major IT organizations, the implications of the current downturn—marked by persistent uncertainty, tighter credit, lower consumer spending, and greater government involvement in business—are clear: they will have to make the IT function dramatically more productive, use IT more effectively to meet larger company goals, and embrace disruptive technologies that will shape the new economic terrain.

In this new normal, the successful CIOs will be the ones who search for value through experimentation with customers and partners.
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	Europe
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Motivating people: Getting beyond money

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:34:00 PST

The economic slump offers business leaders a chance to more effectively reward talented employees by emphasizing nonfinancial motivators rather than bonuses. A recent McKinsey survey indicates that executives find some nonmonetary rewards motivate employees better than cash bonuses do. See what they are, then let us know what's working in your organization.
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The promise of multichannel retailing

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:19:00 PST

In a year of doom and gloom for retailers, the continued emergence of online sales has been a bright spot. Why then do so few companies get true multichannel retailing right?
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	Marketing
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Tackling sociopolitical issues in hard times: McKinsey Global Survey results

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:00:00 PST

The financial crisis has increased the public's expectations of businesses' role in society. Most companies have maintained or increased their efforts to address sociopolitical issues, and many have already derived better-than-expected benefits from doing so.
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China's retail revolution: An interview with Wal-Mart's Ed Chan

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:06 PST

Wal-Mart China's CEO outlines the strategy of the world's largest retailer in the world's most populous nation.
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	Asia-Pacific
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A better way to cut costs

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:45:40 PDT

Cutting costs equally across company units may seem fair, but it doesn't make strategic sense. The authors of this article argue that targeting cuts can leave room to build capabilities, too. Read what they have to say and then let us know what's working in your organization.
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Organization

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Leadership through the crisis and after: McKinsey Global Survey results

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:55:00 PDT

A new survey investigates how individual leaders lead and how that has changed in the past year. Respondents say that during the crisis they have seen far more leaders focus on monitoring individual performance—even though they see that as one of the least helpful ways of managing the crisis. Rather, the kinds of leadership behavior that executives say will most help their companies through the current crisis, such as inspiring others and defining expectations and rewards, are the same ones they say will help their companies thrive in the future.
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Video: McKinsey conversations with global leaders: Paul Polman of Unilever

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:15:49 PDT

Paul Polman took on the role of CEO of Unilever in January 2009, during the eye of the financial storm. After holding high positions at both P&G and Nestlé, Polman’s move to Unilever gives him the rare vantage point of one who has served as an executive at three of the world’s largest fast-moving consumer goods companies. In this video, the latest in our interview series McKinsey conversations with global leaders, Polman reflects on the opportunities and challenges of being a new CEO in volatile times, the importance he places on corporate social responsibility and values-based management, and the future he sees ahead for the consumer goods industry. Adam Bird, a director in McKinsey’s Munich office, conducted this interview in London in September 2009.
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	Governance
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Mastering sales force integration in a merger

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:05:00 PDT

Companies can seize the opportunity in mergers by involving employees and customers in the integration process, retaining critical staff, generating momentum by quickly winning key accounts, and serving the right customers in the right way.
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Consumer electronics gets back to basics

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:20:30 PDT

For years, consumer electronics companies have competed primarily through technology, by cramming ever more features into products in a race to offer consumers the latest and greatest. But most people don’t use advanced—and expensive—new features. An attractive market is emerging for easy-to-use consumer electronics products, with features that reflect user demand, priced 30 to 50 percent lower than standard offerings.
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Centered leadership through the crisis: McKinsey Survey

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:40:00 PDT

Leaders who master the art of leading from their core are likelier than others to be passionate about their work, effective as leaders, and satisfied with their lives.
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Organization

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Stephen Roach on The Next Asia

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:05:02 PDT

Asia’s next two decades will bring changes even more dramatic than those of the recent past. In this video interview, Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and author of The Next Asia: Opportunities and Challenges for a New Globalization, discusses prospects for greater consumer participation and closer cooperation among the economies of China, India, Japan and other regional players.
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Using the crisis to create better boards

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:15:00 PDT

Boards should view the current crisis as an opportunity to review the way they function. Indeed, any board that expects creative responses and extra performance from its management team must show that it too can raise its game. A healthy self-assessment is a good start and can go a long way toward improving a company's performance.
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Governance

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The CEO as diplomat: An interview with Richard Haass

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:30:31 PDT

It's often said that government should learn from business, but what should business executives learn from government? In this video interview, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations discusses what corporate managers have in common with cabinet members and describes ways to get multiple stakeholders to collaborate on common goals.
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Bulding private-sector diplomacy: An interview with Richard Edelman

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:30:23 PDT

In this video interview, public-relations expert Richard Edelman discusses the “private-sector diplomacy” necessary to help companies rebuild trust in the wake of the financial crisis. Edelman describes ways that companies can successfully engage consumers in a realm of two-way communication and mutual social responsibility.
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How innovators are changing IT offshoring

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:00:00 PDT

Despite the global downturn, the IT offshoring and outsourcing industry has continued to grow, though at a slower pace. The recession’s main effect has been heightened competition among the hundreds of IT service providers that handle a variety of tasks for global corporations. Now, a small group of winners is emerging from the fray, threatening to erode the offshore franchise of major suppliers in countries such as India, the Philippines, and Russia.
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	India
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Risk: Seeing around the corners

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:45:31 PDT

Risk-assessment processes typically expose only the most direct threats facing a company and neglect indirect ones that can have an equal or greater impact.
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	Corporate Finance
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Enduring Ideas: Portfolio of initiatives

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:30:25 PDT

In this interactive presentation, McKinsey director Lowell Bryan talks about the origins of the portfolio-of-initiatives framework. Developed to address the need for strategy in a more fluid, less predictable environment, this approach treats strategies as actions that require continual monitoring and evaluation.
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What shape will the wireless Web take?

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:00:07 PDT

The era of the nomadic Web is upon us. But questions still remain as to how a wireless world will actually play out. Will the mobile Web resemble, more or less, the current wired version—in terms of performance, accessing content, and pricing models—or will it produce new and unexpected hybrids? In this article, the author raises questions that provide some guideposts for thinking about the next evolution of the Internet should the wires indeed be cut.

This article is a Conversation Starter. Read what the author has to say, then let us know what you think.
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An Indian approach to global M&A: An interview with the CFO of Tata Steel

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:25:00 PDT

Koushik Chatterjee discusses the Indian multinational’s approach to outbound M&A—and its response to the global financial crisis.
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	Asia-Pacific
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	India

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A CEO's guide to reenergizing the senior team

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:30:44 PDT

In today's tough and fast-changing environment, CEOs must help their top leaders to work through fear and denial and to learn new rules.
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Think regionally, act locally: Four steps to reaching the Asian consumer

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:00:00 PDT

Asia’s emerging economies are leading the world out of recession, and the region’s consumers are taking the baton from their overextended counterparts in developed countries. Are the largest global consumer enterprises ready for this momentous shift? McKinsey’s experience suggests that even the most sophisticated multinationals must change significantly if they are to realize Asia’s growth potential.
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How managers should approach a fragile economy

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:46:12 PDT

The financial markets, pundits, and policy makers think the global economy is out of the woods, but executives aren’t so sure. Our research suggests that the executives are right—and that to cope, companies must adopt some new approaches to management.
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Global capital markets: Entering a new era

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:45:44 PDT

A new report by the McKinsey Global Institute highlights the impact of the global financial crisis on global capital flows.
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The new financial power brokers: Crisis update

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:45:56 PDT

The financial crisis of 2008 altered the fortunes of four large groups of investors—oil exporters, Asian sovereign investors, hedge funds, and private-equity firms—described in a 2007 report from the McKinsey Global Institute as “the new power brokers.” Now, new research by MGI suggests that their paths have diverged: petrodollar and Asian sovereign investors are more influential than ever, while the rapid growth of hedge funds and private-equity firms has halted abruptly.
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Taming demand variability in back-office services

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:16:00 PDT

Managers in many back-office processing environments can make them more flexible and remove waste by organizing transactions or activities according to their variability.
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	Financial Services
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How Russia could be more productive

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:00:00 PDT

The global economic slowdown hit Russia hard. Boosting productivity can help the country get back on its feet. A photo essay looks at challenges in five key sectors.
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Interview: the US's national intelligence officer for warning

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:55:20 PDT

Kenneth Knight shares lessons from a career spent analyzing and preparing for the unknown.
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Survey results: The crisis--one year on

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:45:25 PDT

A year after the global economic system nearly collapsed, many companies are finally finding ways to increase profits under the new economic conditions. But almost as many expect profits to continue falling, and executives also indicate that their broader economic hopes remain fragile. Many expect more government involvement in economies and industries over the long term.
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How to optimize knowledge sharing in a factory network

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:50:41 PDT

Designing a manufacturing network entails devising and managing flows of innovation and know-how—not just determining what to produce and where—and organizing the resulting logistics flows.
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	By Invitation
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Evaluating the potential of solar technologies

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:20:49 PDT

Solar power is poised to grow into a reliable alternative energy source, promising lower carbon emissions and decreased dependence on fossil fuels. What technologies are currently jostling for leadership in the market? This interactive offers a snapshot of the leading contenders in solar technology and evaluates the advantages and long-term economic potential of each—as well as the likely challenges ahead.
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Rethinking the model for offshoring services

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:30:20 PDT

BPO providers can mitigate unnecessary risks by operating from more locations and providing a greater variety of services within centers.
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Business and Web 2.0: An interactive feature

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:55:00 PDT

A new multimedia tool lets you explore and compare three years of data from McKinsey’s Web 2.0 survey results. You can track the performance of each technology through the years or customize the view to compare particular technologies side by side. The interactive feature provides a moving snapshot of important trends in businesses’ Web 2.0 adoption.
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How companies are benefitting from Web 2.0: McKinsey Global Survey Results

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:55:00 PDT

Over the past three years, McKinsey has tracked the rising adoption of Web 2.0 technologies. This year’s survey reveals the extent to which businesses’ investments in the Web are paying off—69 percent of respondents report measurable benefits, from more effective marketing to higher revenues. Our survey results highlight the range of Web 2.0 benefits and uses and examine the common characteristics shared by companies harnessing these technologies successfully. An accompanying audio interview with McKinsey consultant Michael Chui goes inside the research to summarize and analysis this year’s key findings.
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Japan's luxury shoppers move on

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:42:00 PDT

Japan sits on one of the largest luxury markets in the world—worth $15 billion to $20 billion—second only to the United States. Yet, the Japanese consumer’s seemingly insatiable appetite for luxury goods has declined. Indeed, the current crisis has not only reduced the discretionary spending of consumers but also accelerated fundamental shifts in their attitudes and behavior. And while these changes are likely not temporary, the market will remain very large and attractive. Luxury players must adjust their strategies if they hope to succeed in such an environment.
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