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Making government more productive offers substantial rewards for the public. A McKinsey study across 42 countries found that if public services could reach the productivity levels of the leading performers in their peer groups, the improvement would be worth an estimated $3.5 trillion per year. Since then, governments have spent more on public services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Allowing for this increase and inflation, the productivity gap could be…

By 2040, Asia could contribute 42 percent of global GDP, be home to 60 percent of the Fortune Global 500 companies, and have 55 percent of the world’s total workforce. These factors form a favorable macro backdrop for Asian companies, driving the emergence of what we call Asian global players. Asian companies are making rapid advances in areas such as digital services, fintech, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy. Their…

We have finally left 2024 behind us and are looking forward to what the new year 2025–the Year of the Snake–will bring for China consumption. Looking back at 2024, we’ve seen a steep contrast between perception and reality. Consumer and business sentiment remains at an all-time low, and there is no evidence that this will change anytime soon. At the same time, China yet again delivered 5.0 percent gross domestic…

Trade relationships are continuing to reconfigure, and changing geopolitics is a major reason. The United States has continued to shift trade away from China and toward other economies such as Mexico and Vietnam. In some cases, this is due to these economies forming an intermediate step in trade flows between China and the United States. European economies have moved away from trade with Russia and increased trade with other partners,…

With the energy transition gathering pace, businesses are prioritizing cleaner energy sources and electrification to meet decarbonization goals and reduce energy costs. They are taking a more active role in managing their energy supply with the associated services, for example, through the direct procurement of clean energy via power purchase agreements (PPAs). This is being achieved by generating and managing on-site energy as “prosumers” and optimizing equipment and installations that…

In this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Alexandra Mondalek chats with McKinsey senior partners Kweilin Ellingrud, Lareina Yee, and María del Mar Martínez about their new book, The Broken Rung: When the Career Ladder Breaks for Women—and How They Can Succeed in Spite of It (Harvard Business Review, March 2025). The “broken rung” is the missing step on the career ladder that keeps women from reaching their first…

Access to cash is critically important for medtech companies. Cash allows medtech leaders to acquire emerging technologies and develop their own new products, which in turn drives the kind of innovation that improves patient outcomes and boosts shareholder value. But many medtech organizations have too much of their cash tied up in excess inventory on shelves in too many locations. Typically, medtech companies hold as much as three times more…

When companies embark on transformations, they naturally focus on the big picture: how a transformation will allow them to perform better through cost-out measures or how they can implement high-impact growth strategies to become bigger, leaner, and better. In companies’ rush toward change, however, they often end up overlooking or deprioritizing the impact that improving their net working capital can have as they begin the transformation journey, potentially thwarting early…

US auto retailers have embraced multiple new technologies over the past decade, from next-generation core systems to AI and digital sales platforms. Yet, despite sometimes significant investments, dealer productivity has remained stuck in a rut, with vehicle sales per employee averaging between 14 and 16 each year. To boost technology’s impact, a new playbook is required—one that shifts the focus away from point solutions and toward collaboration and deeper tech…