Business, Management, Marketing, Money, Tax, Law, People

The innovation challenge: Good ideas are harder to find Innovation has been the driver of the extraordinary progress from which humankind has benefited for a couple of centuries, but it faces a largely hidden threat: Innovation is becoming harder and more expensive. Innovation is an enabler of human progress It’s instructive here to take the long view. For most of recorded human history, improvements in human welfare from generation to…

Technology has emerged as a critical priority for businesses, not just for IT. As a result, tech leaders’ responsibilities are expanding into areas outside IT, including customer experience, innovation, operations, procurement, and strategy. But how well CIOs and other tech leaders can forge effective relationships with leaders outside the tech function has become as important as the technology decisions themselves. It’s never just tech. In this interview, Nancy Avila, current…

India is on a strong growth trajectory, with its share of global GDP rising from 1.9 percent in 2008 to 3.4 percent in 2023. The Government of India is now targeting an 8 to 10 percent share of global GDP by 2040. Achieving this level of growth requires a shift from incremental progress to targeted breakthroughs in sectors that hold the potential for significant growth and dynamism—what the McKinsey Global…

Leading a public department or agency is famously difficult, and it’s only getting harder. In a McKinsey survey of over 800 senior public sector leaders worldwide, we identified the trends that are most likely to disrupt delivery of government missions—from tighter budgets to tougher competition for talent to technological change (see sidebar, “About the research”). The good news is that many leaders are rising to these challenges and navigating the…

At a glance The global trade system is in flux. Since 2017, economies have traded less with geopolitically distant partners. Recent announcements on tariffs, trade, and industrial policy have deepened uncertainty. Trade will grow by $12 trillion by 2035 in a baseline scenario. The trade increase would boost today’s global trade value by about 35 percent, to $45 trillion. In a diversification scenario (in which companies seek new sources of…

Imagine the weekly meeting of a company’s executive team. The chief marketing officer (CMO) reports that all marketing metrics are on the rise. Brand awareness and web traffic are strong due to the latest ad campaign, which is loved by consumers and the press alike. Everyone is feeling good—until later in the meeting, when the CFO shares the latest financial results. Sales and market share are declining, and last quarter’s…

Choosing where to invest and seek funding are among the most fundamental decisions business leaders make. Recent geopolitical shifts are complicating the analysis, however. Across the globe, governments are increasingly regulating investment flows into and out of their territories and industries. While countries have long applied constraints on inbound foreign direct investment (FDI) to advance their economic and national security interests, the use of investment laws has increased significantly and…

The 2025 edition of the Aerospace Industries Association’s (AIA) annual aerospace and defense (A&D) workforce study was written as part of an ongoing collaboration with McKinsey that included a survey of AIA member companies and their executive leaders. The survey revealed that persistent core talent shortages and high attrition rates threaten to limit future progress of the A&D industry, which continues to grow at a robust 4.8 percent year over year. A&D…