The McKinsey Quarterly

2011

• January 2011 

  Have you tested your strategy lately?

  Ten timeless tests can help you kick the tires on your strategy, and kick up the level of strategic dialogue throughout your company.

• January 2011 

  How we do it: Strategic tests from four senior executives

  Former Merck CEO Raymond Gilmartin and three other leaders share their approaches to testing strategy.

• January 2011 

  Making the most of the CEO’s last 100 days

  For the sake of their companies—and their legacies—departing chief executives should leave things in the best possible shape. Here’s how.

• January 2011 

  Recovering from information overload

  Always-on, multitasking work environments are killing productivity, dampening creativity, and making us unhappy.

2010

• October 2010 

  How centered leaders achieve extraordinary results

  Executives can thrive at work and in life by adopting a leadership model that revolves around finding their strengths and connecting with others.

  Includes:

• August 2010 

  Why good bosses tune in to their people

  Know how to project power, counsels Stanford management professor Bob Sutton, since those you lead need to believe you have it for it to be effective. And to lock in your team’s loyalty, boldly defend their backs.

• June 2010 

  Letter to a newly appointed CEO

  McKinsey’s former managing director Ian Davis offers to new CEOs advice distilled from his experience supporting executives during their transitions into the role.

• June 2010 

  My transition story

  The head of Juniper Networks discusses his strategy for making the transition into the CEO role.

• May 2010 

  How to choose the right nonexecutive board leader

  It’s time to use a structured process for selecting the nonexecutive leader of the board. Defining the role is a good start.

• May 2010 

  How to test your decision-making instincts

  Executives should trust their gut instincts—but only when four tests are met.

• April 2010 

  Taking the bias out of meetings

  Managing bias effectively can help lessen the impact it has on your company’s strategy.

  Includes:

• March 2010 

  How we do it: Three executives reflect on strategic decision making

  Sir Martin Sorrell, Randy Komisar, and Anne Mulcahy describe how they balance the importance of timely action with the need for thorough, unbiased decision processes.

• March 2010 

  Strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut?

  Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and psychologist Gary Klein debate the power and perils of intuition for senior executives.

• February 2010 

  Planning for your next CEO

  It’s high time for boards to get succession planning right.

• January 2010 

  When your calendar is a moral document: A conversation with Reverend Jim Wallis

  The CEO of the social-justice organization Sojourners discusses the imperative for rethinking values in the wake of the economic downturn.

  Includes:

2009

• October 2009 

  McKinsey conversations with global leaders: Paul Polman of Unilever

  Unilever’s chief executive reflects on lessons learned at three major consumer goods companies, including how to manage people in a global context, the obligations corporations have to society, and why you should never waste a good crisis.

  Includes:

• July 2009 

  Leadership lessons for hard times

  A series of interviews with 14 CEOs and chairmen of major companies sheds light on the foundations of corporate leadership.

• July 2009 

  McKinsey conversations with global leaders: Dan Vasella of Novartis

  The CEO and chairman of Novartis AG shares his personal approach to management and leadership and discusses health care reform, the economic downturn, and executive compensation.

  Includes:

• July 2009 

  McKinsey conversations with global leaders: Jeroen van der Veer of Shell

  The former CEO reflects on the oil industry’s future, as well as management lessons learned over a long career.

  Includes:

• April 2009 

  The irrational side of change management

  Most change programs fail, but the odds of success can be greatly improved by taking into account these counterintuitive insights about how employees interpret their environment and choose to act.

• March 2009 

  A Chinese view of governance and the financial crisis: An interview with ICBC’s chairman

  Jiang Jianqing discusses the need for balance within an effective governance model and the ways the financial-services industry will change in China in the wake of the global economic crisis.

• March 2009 

  Women and leadership: Learning from the social sector

  Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund, shares lessons in leadership from her work in venture philanthropy.

  Includes:

• February 2009 

  The crisis: Mobilizing boards for change

  To meet the challenges of the economic crisis, corporate boards must change the way they work.

2008

• December 2008 

  A fresh look at strategy under uncertainty: An interview

  Although even the highest levels of uncertainty don’t prevent businesses from analyzing predicaments rationally, says author Hugh Courtney, the financial crisis has shown us the limits of our tools—and minds.

• December 2008 

  Leading through uncertainty

  The range of possible futures confronting business is great. Companies that nurture flexibility, awareness, and resiliency are more likely to survive the crisis, and even to prosper.

• November 2008 

  Turning around a struggling airline: An interview with the CEO of Malaysia Airlines

  Idris Jala led the state-controlled carrier from the brink of bankruptcy to record-breaking profits. Now he wants it to become what he calls a “five-star value carrier.”

• September 2008 

  Transforming a South Korean chaebol: An interview with Doosan’s Yongmaan Park

  Yongmaan Park discusses the forces that changed the company’s core business and led to South Korea’s largest foreign acquisition.

• August 2008  

  Making a remarkable career: Women discuss how they approach work and life

  In a series of vignettes, professional women highlight traits that have made them successful.

  Includes:

• July 2008 

  How corporate China is evolving

  China’s business landscape is changing rapidly. So must the way we comprehend it.

• March 2008 

  Addressing consumer concerns about climate change

  Businesses must act on global warming and other issues to narrow a general trust gap between them and the public.

• February 2008 

  A political education for business: An interview with the head of the Council on Foreign Relations

  Richard Haass says that businesses have much to learn from government as they compete in an increasingly complex global landscape.

2007

• December 2007 

  Building a competitive finance function: An executive roundtable

  By focusing on talent development, new roles for finance, and creative benchmarks, CFOs can deliver a competitive advantage to their companies.

• November 2007 

  Assessing the impact of societal issues: A McKinsey Global Survey

  Executives place the environment and climate change in a class of their own when evaluating the impact of societal issues on shareholder value. They also indicate that companies are getting a little better at managing sociopolitical issues and understanding what the public wants.

• November 2007 

  Crafting a message that sticks: An interview with Chip Heath

  The key to effective communication: make it simple, make it concrete, and make it surprising.

• October 2007 

  CEOs on strategy and social issues

  Business leaders are now more inclined to incorporate society’s expectations into their core strategies but face many challenges when they do.

• May 2007 

  Exploring business’s social contract: An interview with Daniel Yankelovich

  A founding father of public-opinion research explains why shareholder value isn't enough.

• May 2007 

  Investing in sustainability: An interview with Al Gore and David Blood

  The former vice president and his partner in an investment-management firm argue that sustainability investing is essential to creating long-term shareholder value.

• May 2007 

  The trust gap between consumers and corporations

  Sixty-eight percent of executives say that large corporations make a generally or somewhat positive contribution to the public good. Yet only 48 percent of consumers agree.

• May 2007 

  What consumers expect from companies

  Companies must gain a better understanding of consumer perceptions and expectations about corporate social responsibility if they are to win the public's trust.

• April 2007 

  What society expects from business

  Ian Davis, McKinsey’s managing director, explains why building social issues into corporate strategy is a key challenge for business leaders.

  Includes:

• February 2007 

  Coaching innovation: An interview with Intuit’s Bill Campbell

  A veteran Silicon Valley CEO and mentor of CEOs talks about his years in high tech.

• February 2007 

  Governing China’s boards: An interview with John Thornton

  The ex-president of Goldman Sachs talks about his experiences as a reformer of board governance in China.

• February 2007 

  The CEO’s role in leading transformation

  The CEO helps a transformation succeed by communicating its significance, modeling the desired changes, building a strong top team, and getting personally involved.

• February 2007 

  The halo effect, and other managerial delusions

  Companies cannot achieve superior and lasting business performance simply by following a specific set of steps.

• January 2007 

  CEOs as public leaders: A McKinsey Survey

  US business executives say they should play a much greater role in shaping debate about sociopolitical issues and leading efforts to effect change.

2006

• December 2006 

  Leading change: An interview with the CEO of Deere & Company

  Bob Lane details the steps his company took to engage the whole organization in an operational and cultural transformation.

• November 2006 

  Building the global bank: An interview with Jamie Dimon

  The CEO of JP Morgan Chase discusses postmerger integration, risk, and leadership.

• October 2006 

  Creating value: The debate over public vs. private ownership

  A panel of executives explores why private equity has been giving public ownership such a run for its money.

• October 2006 

  The new rules of corporate credibility

  Dr. Hans-Joachim Körber, former CEO of METRO Group, discusses the importance of gaining public trust at a time when big businesses are under increased scrutiny.

  Includes:

• August 2006 

  Who should—and shouldn't—run the family business

  Family-owned companies run by eldest sons account for a good deal of the managerial-quality gap between the countries in a study.

• May 2006 

  "Soft" leadership in business

  To address business and sociopolitical issues, CEOs will have to draw on a different set of skills.

• May 2006 

  Recovering from crisis: An interview with the CEO of McKesson

  John Hammergren discusses his strategy to revive a wounded company.

• May 2006 

  When social issues become strategic

  Executives ignore sociopolitical debates at their own peril.

  Includes:

• March 2006 

  The misguided practice of earnings guidance

  Companies provide earnings guidance with a variety of expectations—and most of them don't hold up.

  Includes:

• February 2006 

  Shaking up the labor movement: An interview with the head of the Service Employees International Union

  Andy Stern discusses his ideas for reversing the long decline of US organized labor.

• January 2006 

  The McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives: Business and Society

  Executives say they face a host of worries about society's expectations of their companies, which can—and must—do better.

2005

• September 2005 

  Public-private partnerships as a development engine

  Business and government should be partners, not rivals—let alone enemies.

• August 2005 

  A guide for the CEO-elect

  The days, weeks, or months between taking the job and assuming power are precious. Put them to good use.

• August 2005 

  What is the business of business?

  By building social issues into strategy, big companies can recast the debate about their role in society.

• February 2005 

  Leadership as the starting point of strategy

  Even the best strategy can fail if a corporation doesn’t have a cadre of leaders with the right capabilities at the right levels of the organization.

2004

• November 2004 

  Splitting chairs: Should CEOs give up the chairman’s role?

  It takes two, says Jack Creighton, a veteran of many top executive jobs.

• May 2004 

  Asia's governance challenge

  Corporate governance in Asia has improved, but implanting new forms of behavior will take time.

• May 2004 

  Chairman and CEO—one job or two?

  Trust in business is low. Reinforcing the independence of corporate boards by separating the positions of chairman and CEO could help rebuild it.

• February 2004 

  Corporations as global citizens

  Global corporations and the developing countries where they invest actually have symbiotic objectives.

2003

• August 2003 

  Numbers investors can trust

  What counts isn’t the bottom line but rather how it is calculated.

• June 2003 

  Organization: Helping people pull together

  In even the largest and best-managed companies, hundreds of organizational muddles take place every day. Throughout the economy, they add up to a staggering waste of our national resources.

  Includes:

• May 2003 

  Company philosophy: ’The way we do things around here’

  Basic principles should be the underlying and overriding component of a company’s system of management.

  Includes:

2002

• November 2002 

  A case for the family-owned conglomerate

  The president and CEO of the Philippines’ largest and most conservative family conglomerate expounds on the value of financial discipline, trust, and good governance in a volatile market.

• November 2002 

  Controversy Incorporated

  Companies that address the social concerns surrounding contentious markets may well find the effort rewarding.

• June 2002 

  Time for CFOs to step up

  As investors home in on business fundamentals and credible accounting, the CFO’s traditional oversight of planning and performance takes on new urgency.

1997

• November 1997 

  Developing leaders in a business

  In his book The Will to Lead, Marvin Bower, McKinsey’s managing partner from 1950 to 1967, urges senior managers to abandon command-and-control structures and adopt a program to develop leaders, starting with themselves. In this excerpt, he explores the attributes of leadership.

1996

• November 1996 

  The trivialization of management

  An excerpt from Management Redeemed: Debunking the fads that undermine our corporations.

1995

• August 1995 

  Leading from the front

  High-performing companies share six defining management characteristics. This discussion explores those traits and the companies that embody them.

• May 1995 

  Young lions, high priests, and old warriors

  Most companies lack the leadership they need to fulfill their ambitions, but there are ways to quickly build a company's leadership capacity.

1994

• May 1994 

  Managing CEO transitions

  A leader’s best chance to lock in new organizational norms is usually during the first few months on the job.

1993

• February 1993 

  Leading organizational transformations

  The leader's role is to turn separate initiatives into a balanced, integrated program of change.