McKinsey Quarterly Magazine

Current Issue

‘Great Attrition’ or ‘Great Attraction’? Leaders, the choice is yours

– Spotlights why employees are quitting—and offers tips for companies hoping to stem the tide of the Great Resignation; also, strategy for a digital world, making stakeholder capitalism work, and building value through M&A.

In this issue

‘Great Attrition’ or ‘Great Attraction’? The choice is yours
– A record number of employees are quitting or thinking about doing so. Organizations that take the time to learn why—and act thoughtfully—will have an edge in attracting and retaining talent.

Strategy for a digital world
– A winning digital strategy requires new twists to familiar moves.

How one approach to M&A is more likely to create value than all others
– Two decades of research show that, while large deals still have their place, programmatic M&A strategies continue to create gains in excess total returns to shareholders, at lower levels of risk.
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2021 issues

Issue

Making sense of the return from remote
– Explores the disconnect between companies (who want a full return to the office) and employees (who prefer remote and hybrid options); and highlights ways that companies can build on the gains they made during the pandemic.
Issue

Race in the workplace
– Identifies ten thorny challenges that companies must resolve to reverse the profound inequities facing Black workers; and offers lessons for improving both the well-being and productivity of individuals, teams, and organizations.
Issue

Time to redefine the next normal. Again.
– Looks at how the pandemic is redefining operating models; also, mental health in the workplace, how leaders can instill purpose through an organization, and a thorough look at the future of Asian companies, with many interviews of top CEOs.

2020 issues

Finding meaning in difficult times
– Examines the role leaders play in helping their employees find meaning and purpose in times of crisis, makes the clear business case for dynamic portfolio management, and offers advice for CEOs around three important, technology-fueled trends.

The CEO moment: Leading toward the next normal
– Examines the shifting role of the CEO in the wake of COVID-19, explores what a postpandemic organization could look like, and explains why inclusion and diversity are especially important during a crisis.

Climate: Shared risk. Shared response.
– Highlights the increasing threats of climate change, explores how today’s leaders can mitigate the more critical effects, and looks at how different industries are charting their own sustainability journeys.

Playing for the long haul
– Explains why companies that take a long-term view of value creation thrive, highlights the technology-driven business changes on the horizon, and takes a close look at the future of work.  

2019 Issues

Transformation
– Explores why companies should go “all in” on transformations, looks at innovation and performance, and explains how... talent is key to digital transformations.

The drumbeat of digital
– Looks at why companies should up the pace of digital-change efforts, explores the keys to successful M&A, and highlights the... importance of shifting the mind-sets and behaviors that hold back organizations.

Resilience
– Addresses business resilience and how companies can prepare for the next economic downturn, explores the ins and outs of effective... decision making, and takes a hard look at talent in the workplace.

Reimagining mobility
– Explores the future of mobility and what shifts mean for cars, business, and society. The issue includes perspectives from participants... shaping the coming mobility revolution.

2018 Issues

The new enterprise DNA
– Looks at how data, technologies, and design are changing the makeup of today’s companies; why it’s essential to have... a bold, agile digital strategy; and how to help your employees find more meaning in their work.

Data culture
– Explores how leaders can build a corporate culture in harmony with analytics efforts, suggests how to unleash agile teams, and... discusses the importance of maintaining employees’ health and well-being.

Taking aim with talent
– Asks what it takes to lead a people-first organization, shows how senior executives can get more comfortable with complexity,... and explores digital tools to link top talent with a company’s strategic opportunities.

Games in the strategy room
– Shows how companies can unlock big strategic moves to boost their odds of success, why competing in the digital age demands an... agile organization, and how to navigate advances in artificial intelligence.

2017 Issues

Artificial intelligence takes shape
– Examines AI-driven automation and how it will transform the economy, discusses why lifelong learning should be a corporate priority,... and lays out the health imperative for organizations.

Competing in a world of sectors without borders
– Explores how digitization will shape global industries, discusses how to make better decisions, provides an action plan for workplace... automation, and suggests ways for companies to improve HR.

Global forces
– Connects the dots among global trends that are reshaping your strategic context, offers advice for CEOs on how to become more... successful leaders, and explores three cases of digital reinvention.

Reinventing the core
– Lays out why companies should seize new opportunities in light of digitization, discusses fresh research on consumer decision... journeys, and examines firms making strides on board-level gender diversity.

2016 issues

Does your data have a purpose?
– Explores how executives can ensure they’re putting their data to good use, the future of China’s business environment,... the art of transforming organizations, and why leadership requires reason and emotion.

Elevating the customer experience
– Includes the CEO’s guide to customer experience, new research on the technical feasibility of automating jobs, and an incumbent’s... guide to digital disruption.

Digital strategy: The economics of disruption
– Examines the economic essentials of digital strategy, Pixar’s approach to continuous innovation, the future of performance management,... and China’s e-commerce landscape.

Organizing for the future
– Explores the implications of workplace automation, the power of sleep and meditation, Ericsson’s recent HR transformation,... and more.

2015 issues

Agility
– Explores the paradox of combining speed and stability to achieve agility. Also, describes how Chinese leaders are navigating the... country’s shifting economic environment.

Raise your Digital Quotient
– Introduces McKinsey’s metric for a company’s digital maturity: the Digital Quotient. Also examines a new approach... to business-model innovation, simple rules for breakthrough ideas, and a guide to machine learning.

Thriving at scale
– Offers strategies to help companies operate successfully at scale in areas including innovation, R&D, and human resources.... Also explores technology’s role in building efficient global operations and increasing productivity across organizational lines.

Marketing and sales: New & improved
– The five elements of success in marketing’s new golden age, including interviews with the chief marketers of Daimler and Google.... Also, how B2B customers make decisions now, a virtuous cycle for top-line growth, and the power of emerging advanced analytics for HR.

2014 issues

Competing on the digital edge
– Explores how digitization is transforming everything from the flow of goods, services, and talent to the auto industry to China’s... corporations. Also examines ongoing gender-equality efforts around the world, as well as the four essential behaviors of successful leaders.

Management: The next 50 years
– Our 50th anniversary edition examines the future of management, including long-term capitalism, leadership in an era of machine... learning, next frontiers for strategists, and global productivity.

Resource revolution: Gathering force
– Explores how technological advances are revolutionizing resource productivity, the future of lean, why leaders of organizational... change must examine their own behavior, how to manage shareholder activists, and the rising risk of cyberattacks.

Shaping the future of manufacturing
– Examines the future of manufacturing, how senior executives should spread best practices, why leadership-development programs... fail, taking data analytics to the next level, and Starbucks’ Indian expansion.

2013 issues

Strategy to beat the odds
– Examines how to make wise strategic choices, mobilize the C-suite to take advantage of big data, use social technologies to engage... employees and transform organizations, and build vibrant communities with help from companies.

China’s next chapter
– The next chapter in China’s economic evolution, from the emergence of the middle class to greater product innovation and a more... sophisticated manufacturing sector. Also, the investment environment and the talent the country needs to forge ahead.

On-demand marketing
– How emerging technologies are radically personalizing the consumer experience. Also, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, how companies... can develop a big-data plan, the benefits of encouraging giving within organizations, and a new approach to solving problems.

Putting time to work
– Learn the art of time management and how it can drive personal and professional success. Also, how boards and senior-management... teams can engage with each other more effectively; making work more meaningful; and social-media skills leaders need.

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