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Since Johan Rockström and a team of internationally renowned scientists first proposed the planetary boundaries framework in 2009, it has become a key reference in global sustainability efforts. The framework seeks to track the planet’s ability to support human life and development, and it focuses on nine systems and processes that govern the stability of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, and ecosystems. Climate change and its cascading impacts are…

Middle management was already a tough gig. Then generative AI (gen AI) entered the fray. A year after the publication of their book Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work (Harvard Business Review Press, July 2023), McKinsey partners Bryan Hancock and Emily Field join global editorial director Lucia Rahilly to revisit whether and why middle managers matter, what leaders could do differently to make more…

As vital as the life sciences and healthcare ecosystem is to human health, so too is its decarbonization to the health of both humans and the entire planet. Accounting for 4 to 5 percent of total global emissions, this sector is aware of the need to address its environmental footprint and accelerate its transition to net-zero emissions. Roughly one-fourth of emissions from pharmaceutical companies can be attributed to the manufacture…

The transformative power of generative AI (gen AI) will likely reshape the healthcare industry over time, and organizations are beginning to take action. In our Q1 2024 survey, more than 70 percent of respondents from healthcare organizations—including payers, providers, and healthcare services and technology (HST) groups—say that they are pursuing or have already implemented gen AI capabilities (see sidebar, “Research methodology”). The Q1 2024 survey, which included 100 US healthcare…

Building a business is hard, and doing so in a start-up or scale-up context is even harder. Building a successful start-up is akin to building a rocket ship: the team setting the direction (market and product–market fit), growth engines (go-to-market [GTM] strategy and product), crew (talent and leadership), and capabilities (strategy and planning) are essential to helping the start-up reach new heights. Another critical element is the engine room: the…

The decline in post-pandemic logistics funding continues. After reaching an unprecedented $25.6 billion in 2021, venture funding for logistics start-ups fell to just $2.9 billion in 2023—a two-year plunge of nearly 90 percent, and the lowest level of funding since 2015. A number of factors are driving this sharp pullback by investors, including high interest rates (which curb venture investment in general), a global slowdown in the shipping industry (as…

Over the past couple of years, the world has marveled at the capabilities and possibilities unleashed by generative AI (gen AI). Foundation models such as large language models (LLMs) can perform impressive feats, extracting insights and generating content across numerous mediums, such as text, audio, images, and video. But the next stage of gen AI is likely to be more transformative. We are beginning an evolution from knowledge-based, gen-AI-powered tools—say,…