Strategy & Corporate Finance: Special collections

Browse our lasting insights on important topics in strategy and corporate finance, from resource allocation to transactions, digital strategy, and more

Activist investors

Like it or not, hedge-fund activism is now a feature of the corporate landscape. This collection details how executives and board members can work with—rather than against—activists to improve performance.
Download the collection
Interview

What CEOs can learn from activist investors

– Leaders don’t have to think of activist investors as the enemy. In this exclusive look at McKinsey’s internal video series, global managing director Dominic Barton and principal Tim Koller discuss what activism means for CEOs.
Article - McKinsey on Finance

How activist investors are transforming the role of public-company boards
Interview

Dealing with activist investors: A conversation with Larry Kanarek
Article

Preparing for bigger, bolder shareholder activists

Business strategy

Radical cost innovations and rapid changes in technology are shifting value like never before. This collection details how to develop and deliver highly-calibrated, data-driven strategies that beat the market in the midst of disruption.
Download the collection
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The strategic yardstick you can’t afford to ignore
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Mastering the building blocks of strategy
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Have you tested your strategy lately?

Board Governance

To capture value companies must have an effective board and keep a keen eye on corporate governance. This collection of insights will assist CEOs and directors seeking to harness the strategic potential of boards.
Explore the collection

Digital Strategy

How do you make sense of digital disruption? This collection makes the case for digital reinvention and provides guidance on developing strategies in a digitally disrupted world.
Download the collection
Article

The case for digital reinvention

– Digital technology, despite its seeming ubiquity, has only begun to penetrate industries. As it continues its advance, the implications for revenues, profits, and opportunities will be dramatic.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

An incumbent’s guide to digital disruption
– Incumbents needn’t be victims of disruption if they recognize the crucial thresholds in their life cycle, and act in time.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The economic essentials of digital strategy
– A supply-and-demand guide to digital disruption.

External Affairs

We live in an age of transparency where successful companies understand that reputation is no longer about spin; it’s who you really are. This 3-article collection is for executives seeking to manage risk and unlock value by engaging effectively with governments, regulators, and other external stakeholders.
Download the collection
Survey

How to reinvent the external-affairs function
Survey

External affairs at a crossroads
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Rebuilding corporate reputations

Growth and Innovation

Moderated growth has made it more important for companies to take a granular approach when deciding where and how to compete. This 4-article collection will help executives develop a detailed perspective on growth and a systematic approach to delivering innovation.
Download the collection
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Disrupting beliefs: A new approach to business-model innovation
Survey

Growing beyond the core business
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The eight essentials of innovation
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The granularity of growth

Resource Allocation

Winning strategies need to be backed by resources in order to succeed. This collection makes the case for dynamic reallocation of resources within companies and explains how managers can overcome the inevitable challenges.
Download the collection

Breaking down the barriers to corporate resource allocation

Most companies do far too little resource reallocation. In this video, McKinsey directors Stephen Hall and Conor Kehoe explain why, and urge executives to do more.

How nimble resource allocation can double your company’s value

Avoiding the quicksand: Ten techniques for more agile corporate resource allocation

Never let a good crisis go to waste

How to put your money where your strategy is

The Role of the CFO

The CFO role continues to expand to include more non-financial demands. This collection investigates how CFOs can build the new skills they need for the future of the finance function.
Download the collection
Article

Why CFOs need a bigger role in business transformations
– CFO involvement can lead to better outcomes for organization-wide performance improvements.
Survey

Are today’s CFOs ready for tomorrow’s demands on finance?
– Survey results show that as their role expands to include ever more nonfinancial demands, CFOs know they must build new skills... to lead.
Interview

Profiling the modern CFO: A panel discussion
– Seasoned finance chiefs explore revamping business models and coping with new competitors, currency risks, and changing capital... structures.
Article

Building a better partnership between finance and strategy
– The growing strategic role of CFOs may create tension with top strategists. That’s a missed opportunity for teaming up to... improve company performance.

Trends and global forces

Powerful global forces are reshaping the context in which leaders set strategy. This collection shines a spotlight on the extraordinary opportunities available to those who can convert complexity into opportunity by rethinking their strategies in the context of these forces.
Download the collection
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The global forces inspiring a new narrative of progress
– Growth is shifting, disruption is accelerating, and societal tensions are rising. Confronting these dynamics will help you craft... a better strategy, and forge a brighter future.
Survey

Geostrategic risks on the rise
– In a new survey on globalization, the share of executives identifying geopolitical instability as a very important business trend... has doubled in two years.
Book Excerpt - McKinsey Global Institute

The four global forces breaking all the trends
– The world economy’s operating system is being rewritten. In this exclusive excerpt from the new book No Ordinary Disruption,... its authors explain the trends reshaping the world and why leaders must adjust to a new reality.

Transactions

Even the most experienced corporate leaders face challenges when evaluating and executing complex deals. This collection focuses on building sustained growth and getting greater value through mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures.
Download the collection
Article

Making sense of Chinese outbound M&A
– Misperceptions of Chinese deal making can undermine otherwise good deals. Here’s a closer look behind persistent myths.
Article

The artful synergist, or how to get more value from mergers and acquisitions
– Keeping your deal team small ensures confidentiality, but pinpointing synergies requires bringing more people on board. Here’s... how to strike the right balance.
Interview

Strategic portfolio management: Divesting with a purpose
– Tying portfolio decisions to a company’s distinctive capabilities can help identify which businesses to divest.
Article

Negotiating a better joint venture
– As important as it is to secure the right terms for a shared enterprise, it is just as critical to form a sustainable relationship.
Survey

How M&A practitioners enable their success
– Companies that are best at transactions approach M&A differently—but there’s room for improvement across the board.