The Practice Research group consists of teams dedicated to providing services to most of McKinsey's industry and functional practices. They are integrated with their respective regional or global practices. Some of the industry practice teams include Financial Institutions, Telecommunications, High Tech, and Pharmaceuticals, while the functional practice teams include Business Technology, Purchasing & Supply Management, Corporate Finance, and Manufacturing.

These teams assist our consultants with value-added research and analyses that require domain expertise. This is done through off-site and sometimes on-site support for specific knowledge projects. They also execute on their practice's knowledge agenda by developing cutting-edge proprietary knowledge.

Some of these research teams have been deepening their expertise over time and have evolved into Centers of Competence (CoCs). CoCs exist in areas like Purchasing, Manufacturing, Outsourcing & Offshoring, Business Technology, and Corporate Finance. In addition to research and knowledge development, these CoCs are developing and delivering specialized services. They are already helping to a great extent, in having an impact on the knowledge and client delivery of their respective practices.

	Research Problem: A consulting team was serving an insurance client with the objective of doubling their revenues over 3 years and wanted to a build a set of growth options for the client. Response: The Insurance Research team helped in conducting an outside-in analysis on the current state of business of the client, clearly identified their strengths and improvement levers. They also conducted a detailed growth potential and profitability analyses for various lines of business in the property and casualty market in the client’s home region. These two analyses helped the consulting team generate ideas on potential growth opportunities for the client.
	Knowledge Development Problem: With developed markets for high-tech products saturating rapidly, there was an urgent need for our firm to have a perspective on how high-tech companies should approach and be successful in emerging markets. Response: The High-Tech Research team helped create a valuable knowledge document that offers an approach to high-tech companies that want to capture customers in developing countries. The document explains why markets such as India and China have an enormous potential for high-tech companies, while identifying the challenges that must be overcome. The document also discusses six principles that companies should follow to succeed in these markets – principles that focus on creating demand and ensuring both the affordability and accessibility of high-tech consumer goods.
	Specialized Services Problem: With multiple and competing purchasing diagnostic frameworks in McKinsey, there was a need to create a standardized diagnostic with links to existing commodity databases with sector specific functionalities. Response: The PSM Centre of Competence, developed a Turbo-Charged Purchasing Diagnostic. With this industrialized approach/toolkit, our team supports CST's to assess an organization's existing purchasing practices, identify key gap areas, and size the improvement opportunity in a 1-2 week time frame. Speed, depth, and expertise in execution, make this diagnostic service line distinctive.