Trump changed the approach to China both at the doctrinal level and at the level of practical policy. In doctrinal terms, Trump exacerbated all the comments that were previously made about the PRC in a cautious and delicate manner: China is an authoritarian country with a communist regime that has little in common with American values. The rise of the PRC is a problem and a challenge for the United…
Standing still is not an option on your fitness journey – but standing still in business is less so. Aligning a growth mindset with the ability to adapt permits the continuous evolution that supports business growth. Just as you tweak your gym regime to ensure results, so you can adjust your business strategy, product or service to ensure business growth. Use positive, enabling language. Talk up the solution, not the…
Clear, well-defined strategy is essential for a business’s success. Without a detailed, thoughtful strategy, a business can wander through the wilderness. Within the domain of well-defined strategy, there are three uniquely different and crucial strategy types: These three different strategies are crucial for a business’s success. While they are distinct entities, it is worth noting that a common […] The post 3 Essential Types Of Business Strategy & How To Apply Them appeared first on Accelare.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) applies to certain large EU companies and non-EU companies operating within the EU. In-scope companies will be subject to due diligence obligations related to adverse environmental and human rights impacts with respect to companies’ own operations, those of their subsidiaries and their chains of activities. In-scope companies will also be required to adopt and implement a climate transition plan. Companies in Scope The…
A careful reading of the Iranian new president’s political positions demonstrates that he is seeking for an “accommodation” in foreign policy through constructing a political consensus in the domestic politics, bridging the reformist and conservative forces, Kayhan Barzegar writes. On July 5, 2024, Masoud Pezeshkian was elected as the 14th President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. During the presidential champions, he emphasized that he would try to remove the…
In a significant development for H-1B visa hopefuls, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has completed a second lottery for the Fiscal Year 2025 H-1B cap. The H-1B program enables U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers for roles that typically require at least a bachelor’s degree in the specific specialty, or its equivalent. These specialty occupations span a wide range of industries. Why a Second Lottery? The second…
Quick Hits At least six federal courts have issued injunctions barring enforcement of the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 Title IX rule, which applies to complaints of sex discrimination occurring on or after August 1, 2024. Many of the injunctions lack clarity as to which institutions are covered. The Department issued guidance specifying the states and schools subject to the enforcement injunction due to a student or parent’s membership in…
Earlier this year, we reported that the Illinois Senate passed Senate Bill 2979 with a vote of 46 to 13, and the Illinois House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 2979 with a vote 81 to 30. This bill addressed concerns arising from recent legal interpretations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA,” 740 ILCS 14/ et seq.), particularly following the Illinois Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Cothron v. White Castle System Inc., in which the Court…
US banks’ deposit operations have experienced a difficult few years, with total deposit balances declining 7 percent between the first quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023. In 2022, the US Federal Reserve began pursuing quantitative tightening (QT), or reducing its balance sheet by not reinvesting all the proceeds of maturing securities. It also started rapidly raising interest rates. Consequently, banks’ funding costs have risen, ratcheting up pressure…
With between 79 and 98 percent of jobs in Australia predicted to be automated by 2030, enabling vast productivity gains, how will this change the nature of work? Generative AI (gen AI) will have different effects on different sectors; however, early adopters in any sector can drive positive change—at the company and employee level—not only in productivity but also in the quality of work. Top-down thinking will be critical for…
Matt Chinworth/theispot.com In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, organizations are grappling with how best to harness its transformative power. Some are choosing to create a new senior management position with enterprisewide oversight of AI activities. In March 2024, for example, the Biden administration mandated that all U.S. federal agencies appoint a chief AI officer (CAIO) to oversee AI activities and minimize related risks. An August 2023 survey of…
It is not often that the government has the opportunity to regulate and oversee an entirely brand new market; and, in the case of California, when it legalized recreational cannabis for adult-use, it decided to mandate involvement of labor unions in the state’s emerging cannabis industry, through implementation of a Labor Peace Agreement (“LPA”) requirement. Because this fundamental choice by the state has posed headaches and dilemmas for licensees, cannabis…
Quick Hits Texas reached a $1.4 billion settlement with a social media company over technology that allegedly unlawfully captured the facial geometry of millions of users in the state. The settlement comes after a $650 million settlement for similar claims under Illinois law in 2021. The settlements point to a broader trend of increased scrutiny and enforcement of privacy laws concerning biometric information. On July 30, 2024, Texas Attorney General…
When it comes to creating a more sustainable future, the construction industry has a great role to play. On top of fulfilling critical economic and societal needs for offices, housing, hospitals, and infrastructure, the industry can help meet net-zero goals by 2050 by developing and executing the needed projects, including renewables, low-carbon activities, infrastructure, building insulation, and more.The construction industry could thus be on the brink of remarkable expansion: in…
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey tracked fire activity over the past 150 years by measuring carbon monoxide trapped in Antarctic ice. This gas is released, along with smoke and particulates, by wildfires, cooking and communal fires.The findings, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveal that biomass burning has been more variable since the 1800s than had been thought. The new…
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Many companies have yet to tap into the growing “longevity economy” — the economic value of the over-50 population as consumers and workers. Businesses often overlook this demographic even though it holds about 80% of U.S. household wealth and is responsible for half of consumer spending.1 People who are 50-plus contribute $8.3 trillion annually to the U.S. economy, and that figure is expected to…
Quick Hits Effective January 1, 2025, all employers that have thirty or more employees in Minnesota will be required to provide salary ranges and a general description of benefits in job postings—seemingly, including Minnesota recruiting and staffing companies seeking workers to work for employers in other states. The law is silent as to general solicitations and positions with low base salaries but high potential commissions. Under Minn. Stat. 181.173, included…
Microsoft Copilot can help you tackle many back-to-school tasks quickly and efficiently. Whether you need a starting point for a welcome back letter or enhancements to existing lesson plans, Copilot is ready to assist. As the new school year kicks off in many places across the northern hemisphere, hallways and classrooms buzz with the excitement of welcoming students back. Whether you’re beginning the new school year, starting a new term,…
In the past few years, you’ve likely seen news stories about higher interest rates and how they might affect your finances. For example, if you’re a homeowner, you may have experienced a sharp increase in your monthly mortgage costs. Indeed, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average monthly cost of a new mortgage rose by 61% in the year to December 2022. Yet, while high interest rates…
Turkey has successfully promoted its own multilateral format, the Organisation of Turkic States, which has gradually grown from a platform for dialogue into a full-fledged organisation promoting close cooperation in a wide variety of areas. Turkey has set quite ambitious goals for itself — turning it into a Turkic-speaking analogue of the EU. Turkey seeks to implement the concept of “Great Turan”, uniting the Turkic peoples around itself under the…
While AI continues to influence the way we work in exciting new ways, it is crucial for organizations to apply guardrails to keep it safe. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Alexander Sukharevsky and Lareina Yee dig into new research on AI adoption, with editorial director Roberta Fusaro. In our second segment, how do you muster the courage to talk about something uncomfortable at work? Senior partner Sherina Ebrahim has two tips.…
In this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Raju Narisetti speaks with McKinsey senior partners Dana Maor, Kurt Strovink, and Ramesh Srinivasan and senior partner emeritus Hans-Werner Kaas about their new book, The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out (Portfolio/Penguin Group, USA, September 2024). Through the lens of CEOs who have mastered invaluable leadership lessons and insights from McKinsey’s Bower Forum and other CEO…
Around one in 200 people in Europe every year will suffer concussion. In the UK, more than 1 million people attend Emergency Departments annually with a recent head injury. It is the most common form of brain injury worldwide.When a patient in the UK presents at an Emergency Department with head injury, they are assessed according to the NICE head injury guidelines. Depending on their symptoms, they may be referred…
Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Contrapower harassment, a seldom-discussed form of workplace harassment, turns traditional power dynamics on its head. This scenario, in which individuals with less authority target those in higher positions, challenges the notion that only those in power can be harassers and…
Quick Hits In Perez v. Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc., the Ninth Circuit joined the Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth Circuits in holding that an employer’s right to obtain a second opinion is permissive, not mandatory, under the FMLA. A jury may consider an employer’s nonmedical evidence in determining whether an employee had a “serious health condition” under the FMLA. Background In Perez v. Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc., the Ninth Circuit…
Microsoft Research is the research arm of Microsoft, pushing the frontier of computer science and related fields for the last 33 years. Our research team, alongside our policy and engineering teams, informs our approach to Responsible AI. One of our leading researchers is Ece Kamar, who runs the AI Frontiers lab within Microsoft Research. Ece has worked in different labs within the Microsoft Research ecosystem for the past 14 years…
This commentary originally appeared in Time. Having studied leadership across sectors for nearly a half century, I’ve found that power sharing at the top is often harder than delegation and execution down the hierarchy of command. Leadership partnerships across sectors that work well have a secret recipe—which Kamala Harris seemed to understand but which Donald Trump seems to have missed, given their recent selections of running mate. Barack Obama and…
The pace of change in technology has created many opportunities—and raised as many challenges. Overcoming the challenges to grasp the opportunities requires tools and processes that nurture an engineering culture, build stable foundations for resilient technology operations, and manage complex cloud costs. Driving this shift requires modern technology leaders to expand from their traditional role as “guardians of IT” to become closer partners with the business. So says David Pedreira,…
In an effort to introduce a fully digital immigration system, the UK Government has announced that Biometric Residence Permits (BRP) and Biometric Residence Cards (BRC) will be phased out, and that as of January 1, 2025, they will no longer be in circulation. To address some concerns for employees and our clients, we have created the following Fact Sheet: All UK BRP/BRC cards have an expiration date of December 31,…
Quick Hits On July 31, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed into law legislation requiring Massachusetts employers with twenty-five or more employees to disclose pay ranges. Employers with one hundred or more employees and subject to EEO-1 reporting obligations will be required to report aggregated wage data by race, ethnicity, sex, and job category annually as a supplement to the EEO-1 report to the state. Compliance failures could result in penalties…
We are thrilled to announce the launch of OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-4o Next. We are thrilled to announce the launch of OpenAI’s latest model on Azure. This new model, officially named GPT-4o-2024-08-06, brings innovative features designed to elevate developer experiences on Azure. Specifically, the new model focuses on enhancing productivity through Structured Outputs, like JSON Schemas, for the new GPT-4o and GPT-4o mini models. Azure OpenAI Service Build your own…
Since the major part of Iran’s trade with Russia takes place with the western, more densely populated part of this country, including the cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Rostov and the North Caucasus, the main route of trade and transit between the two countries necessarily passes through the Republic of Azerbaijan. Given these circumstances, the lack of a direct rail route has had a very negative impact on the…
Medical criticality refers to the clinical value of a drug. Life-saving drugs should always be considered high criticality (e.g. insulin, blood thinners, antibiotics for the treatment of sepsis, etc.), while drugs that improve lifestyle tend to be low in medical criticality. Other criticality factors include the number of people dependent on the drug and whether good substitutes exist. The other dimension, supply chain risk, captures the likelihood of mismatches between supply and…
After nearly two years of debate, the verdict is in: generative AI (gen AI) is here to stay, and its business potential is massive. We’ve already witnessed an exponential rate of gen-AI-related innovation, which promises to accelerate automation and enhance productivity, innovation, and the quality of work, as well as the employee and customer experience. The companies that fail to act and adapt now will likely struggle to catch up…
Quick Hits OFCCP updated its guidance on protected veterans hiring obligations and affirmative action policies encouraging contractors to provide apprenticeship opportunities to protected veterans. OFCCP said protected veterans must be provided equal opportunity to participate in apprenticeship opportunities and that providing such opportunities can help contractors meet their obligations to recruit and hire protected veterans. The guidance comes after OFCCP set the national veteran hiring benchmark at 5.2 percent on…
Azure Data Box offline data transfer solution allows you send petabytes of data into Azure Storage in a quick, inexpensive, and reliable manner. Azure Data Box offline data transfer solution allows you send petabytes of data into Azure Storage in a quick, inexpensive, and reliable manner. The secure data transfer is accelerated by hardware transfer devices that enable offline data ingestion to Azure. We’re excited to announce several new service…
For many leaders, assuming the role of CEO is a key career goal and the culmination of decades of hard work. The CEO role is also among the most challenging and demanding positions in any organization—particularly during times of uncertainty and upheaval.About 100 CEOs have passed through the McKinsey Center for CEO Excellence (MCCE) leadership program since it launched in mid-2022 (for more information on the MCCE, see sidebar, “About…
Quick Hits DHS recently added Environmental/Natural Resources Economics to the STEM list of qualifying fields of study. More F-1 nonimmigrant students will be eligible for the twenty-four-month extension of their post-completion OPT. The STEM Designated Degree Program List is “a complete list of fields of study that DHS considers to be science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) fields of study for purposes of the 24-month STEM optional practical training extension.”…
Immigration will be a central issue in the upcoming US presidential election, just as it motivated the recent snap elections in France. After all, the number of migrants rose 27 percent to 281 million globally in 2020, compared with 2010, according to United Nations estimates. The number of individuals displaced by natural disasters could surge to 1.2 billion by 2050, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. Beyond the…
AI-generated deepfakes are realistic, easy for nearly anyone to make, and increasingly being used for fraud, abuse, and manipulation – especially to target kids and seniors. While the tech sector and non-profit groups have taken recent steps to address this problem, it has become apparent that our laws will also need to evolve to combat deepfake fraud. In short, we need new laws to help stop bad actors from using…