CEOs who place marketing at the core of their growth strategies are twice as likely as their peers to have greater than 5 percent annual growth, according to a recent survey McKinsey conducted with input from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). CEOs and chief marketing officers (CMOs) must work together closely for any marketing plan to flourish. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey partner Robert Tas joins…
Is the mark “Melbourne Bone and Joint Clinic” (the MBJC Mark) for medical and orthopaedic surgery type services in classes 35 and 44 registrable as a trade mark? In Melbourne Bone and Joint Clinic Pty Ltd v Registrar of Trade Marks [2024] FCA 53, the Federal Court of Australia found that the MBJC Mark was descriptive of the services offered thereunder and lacked the distinctiveness required for registration. Background…
Achieving subscription success was the theme in the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) market during and immediately following the pandemic. Traditional transactional approaches to product sales saw significantly less resilience than subscription models which were better at protecting cash flow. In the Business-to-Business (B2B) market the concept of ongoing contracts, facilitated via renewals, shows subscriptions have been established for some time. The recent boom in B2C has introduced more focus and innovation in…
By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Patrick D. Joyce, A. Scott Hecker, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Melissa A. Ortega and Taylor Iaculla Seyfarth Synopsis: This week we are attending the ABA Occupational Safety and Health Law Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The meeting includes representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Review Commission, the MSHA Review Commission, OSHA and MSHA Judges, and the Solicitor’s Office, as well as management, labor, and safety…
Quick Hits The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) was set up in 2006 by the Ministry of Manpower, the National Trades Union Congress, and the Singapore National Employers Federation, to promote the adoption of fair, responsible, and progressive employment practices in Singapore. Since its inception, TAFEP has slowly gained traction with employees and job seekers alike as an avenue for redress of concerns regarding harassment and…
This article was orginally published on Sept. 26, 2023 and updated on Jan. 17, 2024: On Sept. 26, 2023, we published an article (see below) regarding the amendments to the Canada Labour Code that would, among other things, greatly increase the individual termination notice entitlements of employees working for federally regulated employers. As a reminder, these amendments are coming into force on Feb. 1, 2024. It is to be noted…
In January, we updated our Microsoft Copilot product line-up to expand Copilot for Microsoft 365 to more businesses and announced no seat minimum for commercial plans. Now we’re excited to announce the expansion of Microsoft’s data residency capabilities by adding content of interactions with Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 to our portfolio of data residency commitments and offerings. We are expanding our product terms and Microsoft 365 data residency offerings…
Companies struggling with diversity, equity, and inclusion might be tempted to hide their workforce data. Why shine a light on a company’s limited progress—or worse, risk a public-relations headache?It turns out, all news is good news when it comes to letting customers know how diverse—or not—your workforce is, says a recent paper by Harvard Business School researchers. Even when a company’s numbers aren’t ideal, their transparency sends the message that…
Superstar talent brings the kind of wattage that can power a business to the next level, as recent high-stakes decisions facing soccer legend David Beckham show.Two new Harvard Business School case studies examine the questions Beckham and his team pondered as he transitioned from the world’s biggest sports stage to cementing a legacy as a businessman, entrepreneur, and club owner. What’s the best way to build a team around a…
When you pass on, it should hopefully be a time for your family to come together, mourn, and commemorate your life. However, there has unfortunately been a recent increase in the number of inheritance disputes, and cases are at a record high. From rising property prices to a surge in dementia diagnoses, there are several factors behind this trend. One of the best things you can do to limit the…
The software developers and systems engineers at Microsoft work with large-scale, complex systems, requiring collaboration among diverse and global teams, all while navigating the demands of rapid technological advancement, and today we’re sharing how they’re tackling security challenges in the white paper: “Building the next generation of the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL)”, created by pioneers of future software development practices. Two decades of evolution It’s been 20 years since…
Discover the AI innovations empowering lives on and off the athletic track Human sighted guides are instrumental in supporting blind athletes. They offer comprehensive instructions on adaptations, training, and methodologies. Today, much like a guide, Azure OpenAI Service is helping power Microsoft apps that help people accomplish their goals, no matter how large. Copilot for Microsoft 365 can automate tasks and generate content, Microsoft Translator can bridge linguistic barriers, and…
Inspiring leaders motivate their teams to embrace the opportunities and growth inherent in change, according to Neeti Bhalla Johnson, the president of Global Risk Solutions at Liberty Mutual Insurance (Liberty). Born in India and raised in Kenya, Bhalla Johnson is passionate about furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion at the insurer, cosponsoring a group for Asian professionals there and participating in its women’s networking and advocacy group. She spoke with McKinsey…
Barbara Karuth-Zelle, COO and board member of Allianz, is passionate about driving technology and AI innovation for a sustainable future. She’s spent more than 20 years at the insurer—including as CEO of Allianz Technology, its internal technology service provider—and is known for her ability to assemble diverse teams that get things done quickly. Karuth-Zelle spoke with McKinsey senior partner Jörg Mußhoff about generative AI (gen AI), digital transformations, sustainability, and…
International Women’s Day for 2024 has the important theme of Count Her In: Invest in Women. The UN talks about the importance of empowering women and investing in women in a range of ways. This includes accelerating women’s economic empowerment by recognising that when women entrepreneurs are successful, this can lead to more benefits. The topic of investing in women has been in the headlines in Australia, following the first…
Seyfarth’s Commercial Litigation practice group is pleased to present the fourth annual installment of the Commercial Litigation Outlook, which provides insights on litigation issues and trends to expect in 2024. Since its inaugural publication in 2020, Seyfarth’s Commercial Litigation Outlook has served as a beacon for legal professionals, providing invaluable insights and forecasting emerging trends. 2024 promises to be one for the history books — a vastly more robust regulatory…
By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Patrick D. Joyce, A. Scott Hecker, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Melissa A. Ortega and Taylor Iaculla Seyfarth Synopsis: This week we are attending the ABA Occupational Safety and Health Law Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The meeting includes representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Review Commission, the MSHA Review Commission, OSHA and MSHA Judges, and the Solicitor’s Office, as well as management, labor, and safety professionals. Day 2 started…
March is a meaningful month for me personally as we honor Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. Some of the most powerful role models in my own life are the women who raised me and the community of women who’ve provided the support and encouragement that continues to empower me to believe that I can be anything I aspire to. In security, this is particularly important because women are still…
This blog has been cross-posted from Seyfarth’s The Blunt Truth site. Federal trademark registration is typically unavailable for goods and services related to the sale of cannabis. But a combination of federal copyright registration and state trademark registration for these goods and services may provide an opportunity for cannabis companies to protect the substantial investments made in their brands and offerings. A recent case in California, The Holding Company LLC v.…
Jayne Plunkett, chief risk officer (CRO) of pan-Asian insurer AIA Group, has held leadership roles across the full spectrum of insurance products and services, including primary insurance, reinsurance, frontline underwriting, and risk management. In a conversation with Bernhard Kotanko, McKinsey senior partner and head of the firm’s Asia–Pacific insurance practice, Plunkett shared her perspectives on the role of insurance, her approach to risk management, and her personal journey as a…
Welcome to our Drive to Subscribe blog series, created to provide readers with insight into the world of subscriptions while drawing parallels with the world of Formula 1. In part four, we look at how to handle market volatility to ensure subscription performance is not affected. Formula 1 teams do everything in their power to maximise performance, but variables make performance unpredictable. The weather, other teams’ performances, and the car’s…
By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Patrick D. Joyce, A. Scott Hecker, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Melissa A. Ortega and Taylor Iaculla Seyfarth Synopsis: This week we are attending the ABA Occupational Safety and Health Law Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The meeting includes representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA Review Commission, the MSHA Review Commission, OSHA and MSHA Judges, and the Solicitor’s Office, as well as management, labor, and safety professionals. Tuesday, March…
Quick Hits The Supreme Court of Ohio issued a ruling confirming that Ohio municipalities did not violate the U.S. Constitution or the Ohio Constitution by taxing remote workers who lived outside of city limits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling applies only to a temporary state law applicable during the COVID-19 pandemic that has since been lifted. The Ohio Supreme Court held that the law did not violate the Due…
The Valdai Club youth conference on March 5 consisted of three thematic sessions and an open discussion. As during the closed-door workshops held on March 3–4, which you can read about here, the participants in the open session were guided by the image of the future presented in the new Valdai Club report “Charting the 2040: Younger Generation Insight on the World in the Making.” But if in previous days…
Last Friday, a federal court in Alabama ruled in National Small Business United v. Yellen that the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements established by the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) are unconstitutional. These CTA provisions, implemented through the BOI reporting rule promulgated by the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in September 2022, just started taking effect on January 1, 2024. Pursuant to the CTA and the…
The last two years have been a period of history with a multiplicity of conflicts. While the world has of course experienced conflicts before, we have not witnessed this many clashes with such high complexity since the fall of communism. There are currently three sets of confrontations taking place in the Indo-Pacific region, which we can view as a triangle of conflicts in the periphery of Europe and Asia. Two…
Applying thoughtful approaches to pronouncing an unfamiliar name can enhance inclusivity and belonging at work. Elisa S.M. Fattoracci and Larissa R. Garcia March 07, 2024 Reading Time: 7 min Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Anne Wojcicki, Indra Nooyi, Ginni Rometty, and Oscar Munoz are all distinguished Fortune 500 CEOs with something else in common: Their names are often mispronounced. They’re far from alone; in a poll by Namecoach, a…
Seyfarth Synopsis: With each passing year, the country’s patchwork of mandatory state paid family and paid family medical leave (collectively, “PFML” or “PFL”) laws continues to evolve and expand. Why is this existing patchwork so challenging for employers? Look no further than how varied these laws are in terms of their substantive and procedural components. The below graphic illustrates this complexity by highlighting four key PFML substantive areas – (1)…
Examples of Companies Using AI - Countless companies within the fashion industry have eagerly adopted AI to refine their products, services, and overall operations. These examples acutely demonstrate the seamless integration of AI across various dimensions in fashion, spanning from personalized styling and virtual shopping assistants to cutting-edge product design and the automation of retail processes: H&M: Incorporating AI in its recommendation engines, H&M provides personalized product suggestions to online…
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, control their own data and take advantage of technology opportunities in areas such as transportation, communications, commerce, entertainment and healthcare. AI, the most important technology of our time, is turbocharging innovation across every facet of society. It’s expected to generate trillions of dollars in economic dividends and productivity gains. Countries are investing in sovereign AI to develop and harness…
Though many customers value paying only for what they consume in usage-based pricing, that flexibility also makes it very difficult to predict how much of your product they’ll use. Accurately predicting usage—and therefore cost—is a major sticking point for buyers of usage-based software. We’ve heard from plenty of leaders who opt to build instead of buy because it makes it significantly easier to forecast their costs. The good news is…
Howie and Harlan are joined by Robert Rohrbaugh, professor of psychiatry and deputy dean for professionalism and leadership at the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss his work training doctors in antiracist practices and ensuring the wellbeing of clinicians during the pandemic. Harlan reports on the problematic history of medical journals promoting eugenics; Howie highlights a cyberattack that has paralyzed Change Healthcare, the country’s largest payments processing hub. Links: Antiracist…
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT: Tracee Davis and Grayson Moronta will Speak on Coalition of Women's Initiatives in Law Panel on the State of DE&I in Law Firms and Companies | Employment Law Lookout Skip to content
If you receive a bonus or a windfall, the temptation can be to spend a substantial chunk of it right away on something you’ve been eyeing for a while. However, unless the payment is truly life-changing, it can be wise to resist the urge to spend it on expensive non-essentials. Avoiding the lifestyle creep of gradually increasing your spending on non-essentials, and instead opting for more prudent financial choices, could…
Last week marked the celebration of Employee Appreciation Day! During this special time, many companies express their gratitude to their workforce, and one common way they do it is by giving out rewards. Reward systems are a crucial aspect of employee motivation and engagement in any organization. However, when implemented incorrectly, they can lead not only to a lack of improvement in employee performance but can also actively demotivate and…
As we approach the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine this Saturday, ask yourself a simple question: is Europe at war? When I put this to a room full of participants at the Munich security conference last Sunday, most of them raised their hands to say yes, Europe is at war. But then I asked a second question: do you think most people in your own country have…
Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader Sanyin Siang March 06, 2024 Reading Time: 2 min Topics Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader Leadership roles come with new personal and professional challenges — and Sanyin Siang, board and CEO coach, adviser, and author, is here to help with an advice column for top managers. More in this series I am considering new opportunities after recently stepping down from a leadership role. What used…
Seyfarth Synopsis: With DOL’s overtime exemption rule currently under White House review, we could see its publication sooner rather than later. We previously reported on the Biden Administration’s April 2024 target date to publish the DOL Wage and Hour Division’s (“WHD”) final rule on increasing the minimum salary level for white-collar exemptions, “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees.” An April release now…
Wednesday, March 13, 202412:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Central10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Mountain9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Pacific About the Program Today’s polarized environment presents many challenges for employers. One such challenge is how to respond to reports of employees’ off-duty conduct. Off-duty conduct – particularly when captured or reported online -- may affect the workplace and other employees, threaten the company’s reputation, or…
Quick Hits A federal district judge in Vermont ruled that the ADA does not protect medical marijuana usage. Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use” and therefore does not fall under the supervised use exception of the ADA. Marble Valley Regional Transit District terminated Ivo Skoric’s employment after he failed a random drug test. According to his lawsuit, Skoric has a medical marijuana prescription…