Operations

Transforming strategy into lasting success

Operations are the connection between your organization’s strategy and its lasting success. Now, more than ever, companies that use operations to move fast and build new capabilities at scale are gaining competitive advantage.

McKinsey’s Operations Practice sits at the intersection of strategy, technology, and transformation to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth. We connect boardroom strategies to the frontline—infusing technology where and when it matters and rapidly delivering lasting transformations enabled by capability building.

How we help clients

Capital Excellence

Helping organizations achieve higher and faster returns by deploying best-in-class thinking across the capital projects portfolio and project delivery value chain

Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Creating a lasting impact in global manufacturing and supply-chain operations

Product Development & Procurement

Product and service design and transformation to capture the full value in your portfolio

Service Operations

Transforming customer experience, and enterprise efficiency and effectiveness

Featured video

For Operations, the time is now

Learn more about our adaptive, evolving approach that sits at the intersection of strategy, technology, and operational capabilities.

Learn more about the leadership agenda for Operations

Our Approach

Great operations transform strategy into success. And deliver holistic impact—fast.

Your organization’s specific needs, culture, and challenges are central to our work with you—focused through a practical, hands-on partnership that delivers sustainable, inclusive growth. We help you ensure the transformation sticks—working with your people to reach their full potential with hands on coaching and structured learning programs.

Our global network of market-leading experts and coaches solve operational challenges to meet boardroom aspirations. Proven problem-solving approaches combined with data, algorithms, benchmarks, and expert insights will help you achieve a new operating model that delivers both long-term competitiveness across the value chain, and the flexibility to respond quickly to a changing world that requires environmental sustainability.

Your transformation is enabled by technology. We’ll help you choose the best tools for your needs, pulling from a rich ecosystem of our own solutions and partnerships with leading providers. And we’ll show you how to reap the full rewards of digitization, drawing game-changing insights from the data produced.

900+

Operations partners worldwide

7,500+

Operations consultants

14,000

Operations projects in the last 5 years

Operations Transformation

Transformations that unlock the full potential of operations are sustained by building institutional capabilities and adding agility.

Environmentally sustainable operations

Environmental sustainability is moving from aspiration to expectation for all stakeholders, from investors to clients, customers, and employees. Read our latest thinking on using environmentally focused operations as a source of competitive advantage.

Resilience & Reimagination

Success in the next normal demands resilience throughout the entire value chain, from the application of advanced analytics to improved supply chain visibility. Learn more about how we’re helping companies reimagine their operations.

Case Studies

New Horizons: Laying the foundation for outsized growth

Through agility and grit, New Horizons Baking Company successfully navigated the disruptions fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic. They partnered with MIBA to focus on building resilience and a stronger foundation for a competitive advantage and outsized growth.

How a manufacturing moonshot was made

– During COVID-19, the global respiratory medical-device pioneer Vyaire faced an extraordinary demand situation. With partnership from Spirit AeroSystems and McKinsey, they reached unprecedented new production heights.

How a global components manufacturer built an ambitious carbon reduction roadmap

– Danfoss is working to decarbonize the supply chain for some of the world’s most emission-heavy sectors with the help of McKinsey.

Featured insights

Article

Stepping up: What COOs will need to succeed in 2023 and beyond

– COOs are increasingly important to corporations, but what skills will they need to perform at their best? Business leaders weigh in.
Book - Featured Insights

The Titanium Economy

How industrial technology can create a better, faster, stronger America
Article

Value, speed, and scale: A new era for operations in Asia

– CEOs are embracing radical new approaches in business operations to rapidly scale growth. And Asia will be a dynamic proving ground.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Here comes the 21st century’s first big investment wave. Is your capital strategy ready?

– A surge of investment in hard assets will pressure already strained supply chains and project delivery systems. CEOs who transform... their capital strategy fast—and first—may win a competitive edge.

Related

Operations Blog

Short, sharp insights on all aspects of operations

McKinsey Talks Operations Podcast

Cutting through the noise to transform strategy into lasting operations success

Featured capabilities

McKinsey’s Digital Capability Centers for Operations

Our Digital Capability Centers are advanced tech-enabled innovation and learning hubs that guide the imagination and realization of an organization’s digital future.

Go & See

The McKinsey Go & See program creates opportunities for organizations considering a large-scale transformation program to learn from peers at other organizations who have undertaken a similar journey. These visits may focus on topics such as embarking on a new digital strategy, agile at scale, data and analytics, and reimagining customer journeys, among others.

McKinsey Inclusive Business Accelerator

McKinsey Inclusive Business Accelerator’s mission is to advance racial equity and economic empowerment of Black communities by providing support to small and medium-sized Black-owned businesses.

Our People

Anna Herlt
Partner, Munich
Advises companies as they seek to optimize the value of their research and development investments, particularly within the automotive...
Axel Karlsson
Senior Partner, Stockholm
Leads the Operations Practice in Europe and is a co-convener of the practice globally, drawing on his expertise in technology,...
Daniel Swan
Senior Partner, Stamford
Co-leads McKinsey’s Operations Practice globally, and helps manufacturing and service companies transform their operations performance...
Joseph Tesvic
Senior Partner, Sydney
Leads McKinsey’s Asia-Pacific Operations Practice, working across industries and helping clients achieve results through operational,...
Katy George
Senior Partner and Chief People Officer, New Jersey
Oversees all people functions across the firm, including diversity and inclusion, and leads client transformation and research...
Kimberly Borden
Partner, Chicago
Serves clients in the Aerospace & Defense and Automotive & Assembly Practices, focusing on strategy, operations, and transformational...
Kweilin Ellingrud
McKinsey Global Institute Director and Senior Partner, Minneapolis
Leads insights and discussions on future of work, gender equality, racial equity, and productivity. Serves clients across strategy...
Laurie Lanoue
Partner, Montréal
Advises companies on successfully leading major transformation programs at scale, with a focus on operations, manufacturing, and...
Marco Ziegler
Senior Partner, Zurich
Serves companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and advanced industries, with a particular focus on operations, digital transformations,...
Robert Hiroshi Mathis
Senior Partner, Tokyo
Brings global industry expertise to support automotive and assembly companies in achieving aspirational performance goals and...
Dr. Ruth Heuss
Senior Partner, Berlin
As global leader of McKinsey Sustainability, serves companies in the automotive and machinery industries on future mobility, decarbonization...
Rob Loughlin
Partner, Boston
Serves clients in the consumer-packaged-goods and retail sectors, focusing on strategy, operations, and transformational change

Careers

Interested in a career in Operations?

A career within our Operations Practice offers the opportunity to work with the biggest companies in the world, on projects that transform their core business and build resilience for the future. We are continuously seeking the best talent at all levels and for all types of roles, and are particularly keen to talk to experienced professionals looking for their next challenge.

Operations Excellence Program

To build the expertise of our own teams and to better support our clients, we established a competence center: the Operations Excellence Program (OEP), designed to build the expertise of new joiners and those in the early stages of their careers.

#explore McKinsey Operations

The #explore program gives students and professionals across Europe unparalleled access to McKinsey's Operations Practice and the opportunity to build a network of other passionate future leaders in operations.

Connect with our Operations Practice