Monthly Highlights
An easy-to-scan monthly roundup of our newest, most distinctive insights
Securing a successful net-zero transition
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Though momentum has been meaningful, the world is still not on track to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which include limiting the rise of global warming to well below 2.0°C (and ideally to no more than 1.5°C) relative to preindustrial levels. How can stakeholders reduce the odds of initiating the most catastrophic impacts of climate change? As global leaders gather for COP28, the United Nations’ annual conference on climate change, check out this month’s first featured story from McKinsey’s Mekala Krishnan, Sven Smit, Humayun Tai, Daniel Pacthod, Tomas Nauclér, Blake Houghton, Jesse Noffsinger, and Dirk Simon.
The state of women at work: Progress and opportunities
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While women have been making strides in the C-suite, workplaces have a long way to go before achieving true gender parity, according to the latest Women in the Workplace report, coauthored by McKinsey’s Emily Field, Alexis Krivkovich, and Lareina Yee, in partnership with LeanIn.Org.
Building an empowered workforce with gen AI
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Gen AI may be in its nascent stages of development, but the technology is only going to get more intelligent. How can organizations do more than just “keep up”?
2023 is generative AI’s breakout year
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According to a recent McKinsey survey, one-third of respondents said their organizations are using generative AI regularly in at least one business function, and 40 percent of respondents noted their organizations will increase their investment in AI overall.
The top trends in tech
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The first half of 2023 has seen a resurgence of enthusiasm about technology’s potential to catalyze progress in business and society—and generative AI (gen AI) deserves much of the credit for this revival.
The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier
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Generative AI is poised to unleash the next wave of productivity. We take a first look at where business value could accrue and the potential impacts on the workforce.
Ushering in a new era of leadership
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What does leadership look like in an era where turbulence and disruption are the norm? It’s not the model we’re used to.
How to prepare for the CEO role
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Starting with the 2008 financial crisis, CEOs have had to deal with one game-changing external disruption after another. To manage through constant volatility, CEOs of the future will need nimble courage, write senior partners Celia Huber, Ishaan Seth, and Kurt Strovink.
Actions the best CEOs are taking in 2023
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Senior partners Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra, authors of CEO Excellence, along with senior partner Kurt Strovink, asked the world’s top-performing CEOs which trends will have the biggest impact on how they lead their business in 2023 compared with past years.
The resilience agenda: Long-term solutions for a disrupted world
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In the past year, leaders have been confronted with a lifetime’s worth of disruption and crises: global conflict, energy uncertainty, food shortages, accelerating inflation, and severe climate events. Natural and human-made disruptions will only persist. To enable long-term, sustainable, and inclusive growth, today’s business leaders and policy makers must strengthen resilience beyond a survival capacity.
Where does the world go from here?
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The first month of the new year is in the rearview, and we didn’t quite get the fresh start we were hoping for. Between geopolitical stress, climate change, and macroeconomic uncertainty—topics that were front and center at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos—the business environment remains turbulent in 2023. Where does the world go from here?
Zooming in on human development around the world
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As much as we’d like to leave the turmoil of 2022 behind, much of it will endure into the new year. The world is still reeling from shocks in geopolitics, economics, and energy. But amid the challenges and uncertainty, hopeful prospects remain.
Six priorities for CEOs in turbulent times
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Managing complex organizations is much harder today than it was just a few years ago, write Homayoun Hatami, McKinsey global leader of capabilities practices, and Liz Hilton Segel, McKinsey global leader of industry practices. How can CEOs decide what needs to be done now and what can wait?
Is the world transitioning to the next era?
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Today’s events—a global pandemic, energy scarcity, rapid inflation, and geopolitical tensions—might feel like a cluster of earthquakes that is reshaping our world. Are we in the early throes of a seismic shift?
Addressing the other crisis in Europe: The corporate and technology gap
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Recent seismic events in Europe—including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy and cost-of-living crisis—underscore the importance of building long-term resilience in the region. But unless Europe addresses its technology gap, the region will be vulnerable across all sectors on growth and competitiveness, as well as security and strategic strength.
The why and how of ESG
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This month, our featured stories look at the why of ESG (that is, why ESG matters to companies), as well as the how of ESG (that is, how companies can take a more systematic and rewarding approach to ESG).
Employees are still quitting; here’s how employers should respond
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This month, our featured stories look at the five crucial employee personas that companies must understand to solve the attrition and attraction problem for the longer term, as well as the value of internal mobility among workers.
Here’s how work experience adds to the value of human capital
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As humans, we each have a unique living, breathing set of capabilities. We also have an innate set of fears: in the workplace, this can translate to fear of criticism, fear of uncertainty, and fear of harming one’s career.
The war in Ukraine is changing the world
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As the war in Ukraine persists, disruptions on a range of fronts are gathering force, and could reshape industries and economies. This month, our featured stories dive into the potential strength and direction of these shifts and their effects on lives and livelihoods, as well as the war’s possible ramifications on the key requirements for a more orderly net-zero transition.
What is the metaverse, and what does it mean for your business?
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What exactly is the metaverse, and why should your organization be paying attention to it? This month, our featured stories dive into this developing phenomenon as well as the realities facing companies looking to hire—and keep—top tech talent.
The war in Ukraine and navigating an uncertain future
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This month, our featured stories offer an initial framing of the challenges caused by the war, a perspective on the short- and midterm disruptions, and scenarios for the potential impact on livelihoods in the eurozone.
How the best CEOs lead
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This month, our featured stories offer leadership lessons from 67 CEOs of some of the world’s most successful companies and lay out the shared character traits that enable the best leaders to navigate inevitable storms.
How to get a grip on unnecessary interactions at work
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This month, our featured stories look at why high-quality collaboration is key to getting work done, as well as why women in corporate America are exhausted, stressed, and burned out—and what leadership can do to avoid a talent crisis.
The rapid growth in global wealth
December 4, 2021 - While economic growth has been sluggish over the past two decades in advanced economies, balance sheets and net worth that have long tracked it have tripled over the same period.
How to create a future that's sustainable, inclusive, and growing
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This month, our featured stories explore how corporate, government, and society leaders can achieve growth that's sustainable and inclusive and growing, as well as how stakeholders need to evolve to manage COVID-19 as an endemic disease.
A record number of employees are quitting—here’s how organizations should respond
October 2, 2021 - A record number of employees have left their jobs since April, and organizations are jumping to well-intentioned quick fixes that fall flat.
Using adaptability to thrive in a volatile world
September 4, 2021 - Organizations normally face uncertainties of varying consequence, but in times of crisis, uncertainty can reach extreme levels.
The truth about hybrid work
August 7, 2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic has urged us to rethink norms around how—and where—we work.
Which tech trends matter most?
July 10, 2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified existing trends, surfacing challenges to many long-held beliefs about how organizations should operate.
How can your organization prepare for the future of work?
June 12, 2021 - The pandemic has changed how we live and work, but most organizations don’t have a detailed vision in place for the hybrid working model of the future.
Here’s how to get reskilling right
May 8, 2021 - For organizations planning for their post pandemic future, employee satisfaction and skill building should be top of mind.