About Richard

Richard Dobbs is a director of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), McKinsey's business and economics research arm, and a director (senior partner) of McKinsey based in Seoul.

From 2004 to 2009, Richard co-led McKinsey's Corporate Finance Practice, where he was also responsible for research and development. He has served clients around the world in a variety of industries, ranging from high tech and financial services to petroleum, utilities, and the public sector.

Richard has written numerous articles about the implications of the financial crisis for companies and managing in a downturn. At MGI he has led research on global economic trends, including urbanization, resource markets, capital markets, and productivity and growth, with a focus on Asia. Other research has focused on performance management and measurement, mergers and acquisitions, valuation, capital markets strategy, and utility regulation. He was a co-author of Value: The Four Cornerstones of Corporate Finance, and his work has appeared in several books, including Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies; in other business and academic journals such as the McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey on Finance, and Corporate Finance; and on the opinion pages of leading newspapers and business publications.

Richard is a frequent speaker at international conferences and is an associate fellow of the Said Business School at Oxford University, where he has taught the valuation elective.

Before joining McKinsey in 1988, Richard obtained a first-class degree and won the Metal Box and Lubbock Prizes at Oxford University. He was sponsored by Shell UK during his studies and worked for Shell’s North Sea exploration and production business. He was a Fulbright scholar at Stanford Business School and graduated from this course as an Arjay Miller scholar and won the Robichek Award for Finance.

Selected published work

China's e-tail revolution,” McKinsey Global Institute, March 2013

Financial globalization: Retreat or reset?,” McKinsey Global Institute, March 2013

Infrastructure productivity: How to save $1 trillion a year,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2013

Manufacturing the future: The next era of global growth and innovation,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2012

The archipelago economy: Unleashing Indonesia's potential,” McKinsey Global Institute, September 2012

Beyond the boom: Australia's productivity imperative,” McKinsey Global Institute, August 2012

The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies,” McKinsey Global Institute, July 2012

Urban world: Cities and the rise of the consuming class,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2012

The world at work: Jobs, pay, and skills for 3.5 billion people,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2012

Trading myths: Addressing misconceptions about trade, jobs, and competitiveness,” McKinsey Global Institute, May 2012

Urban America: US cities in the global economy,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 2012

Sustaining Vietnam's growth: The productivity challenge,” McKinsey Global Institute, February 2012

Debt and deleveraging: Uneven progress on the path to growth,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2012

The emerging equity gap: Growth and stability in the new investor landscape,” McKinsey Global Institute, December 2011

Resource revolution: Meeting the world’s, energy, materials, food, and water needs,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2011

South Korea’s role in global recovery,” Korea Times. October 9, 2011

Navigating Asia's new urban jungles: Selling into fast-growing cities will pose new challenges but bring big rewards,” Wall Street Journal Asia, April 13, 2011

Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities,” McKinsey Global Institute, March 2011

The era of cheap capital draws to a close,” Financial Times, February 2011

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