Innovation & Growth

Consistent growth requires a commitment to strategy, innovation, and marketing and sales excellence.
Interview

‘Fast action’ in fast food: McDonald’s CFO on why the company is growing again

– Kevin Ozan became CFO of McDonald’s in 2015. Since then, the restaurant chain has had a string of successes. Here’s his take on what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next for the iconic brand.

Growth Strategy

Discussion Paper - McKinsey Global Institute

‘Superstars’: The dynamics of firms, sectors, and cities leading the global economy
– Is there a superstar effect? McKinsey Global Institute research uncovers the dynamics of superstar firms, sectors, and cities... in the global economy.
Collection

The new growth game: Beating the market with digital and analytics
A guide to how market beaters have embraced the Growth PASS: Precision, Agility, Speed, Scale.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Choosing the right path to growth
– To boost organic growth, most companies need a diverse set of initiatives—and how you sequence them matters.
Interactive - McKinsey Quarterly

Five Fifty: Flooring it
– Are you a market leader? It may be time to start doing things faster. 

Marketing & Sales

Article

Growing faster than the market: Three questions the C-suite should ask
– Leaders who are most successful at driving growth in their organizations are deliberate, persistent, and disciplined in the way... they go about it.
Article

Seven rules to crack the code on revenue synergies in M&A
– Companies pursuing revenue synergies can’t take them for granted. Leaders need a clear grasp of where those synergies lie—and... the persistence to capture them.
Article

No customer left behind: How to drive growth by putting personalization at the center of your marketing
– Successful personalization at scale requires four elements working in tandem. Here’s how marketing leaders build the operating... model to make that happen.
Article

What the future science of B2B sales growth looks like
– Companies that lead in B2B sales follow a three-pronged strategy to drive above-market growth.

Voices on Innovation & Growth

Article

Start up & scale up: A conversation with Box CEO Aaron Levie

– The cloud-service cofounder and CEO talks about innovation, disruption, and harnessing the next big thing.
Podcast - McKinsey Quarterly

Microsoft’s next act
– CEO Satya Nadella talks about innovation, disruption, and organizational change.
Commentary - McKinsey Quarterly

Learning innovation in the digital age
– As the workplace changes, so must education and training. Exciting experiments are under way—but are they enough?
Commentary

Innovating at the speed of the 21st century in pharmaceuticals
– The CEO of Eli Lilly offers perspectives on accelerating change in the industry.
Podcast

Setting an agenda for organic growth in the digital age
– Business leaders can focus on three mind-sets to drive growth in their companies and sustain that growth for the long term.

Innovation at scale

Podcast

How to take the measure of innovation
– By combining two simple metrics, companies can gain valuable insights into their innovation performance.
Interactive - McKinsey Quarterly

Five Fifty: Getting your story straight
– Emotional stories help innovative ideas attract attention—and get funded. Here are the narratives that help good ideas break... through.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Telling a good innovation story
– Appealing to people’s emotions helps new ideas cut through the clutter.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Taking the measure of innovation
– Don’t overlook the insight that two simple metrics can yield about the effectiveness of your R&D spending.

Fast-growth tech

Article

Grow fast or die slow: The role of profitability in sustainable growth

– How can software and online-services companies determine the right balance between growth and profitability?
Article

Grow fast or die slow: Why unicorns are staying private
– Technology companies worth more than $1 billion—and many worth $10 billion—have fewer reasons to go public than they did in the... past. Here’s what that means for them and their investors.
Article

Grow fast or die slow: The double-edged sword of M&A
– Our latest research on growth in software and online-services companies has some surprising findings about the benefits and risks... of buying growth.
Article

Grow fast or die slow: Pivoting beyond the core
– Turbocharged initial growth is essential to surviving in the software industry. But what comes next? Here are four lessons so... leaders can write their organizations’ second act.