Why Companies Get Agile Right—and Wrong
BCG conducted in-depth research with 127 companies worldwide regarding their experience with agile. Almost all (94%) had embarked on agile initiatives, and two thirds (66%) claimed successful agile transformations. But when we asked which agile practices they applied and what outcomes they achieved, we found that only about half (53%) could be considered truly agile, realizing their transformation targets and creating lasting change in their … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Benjamin Rehberg, Erik Lenhard, Jaap Backx, Michael Grebe, Nicolas Hunke, Nina Kataeva, Valerio Gardelli | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Best Practices, Management
To Accelerate Growth, Analyze Your Company Like an Investor
Private equity (PE) firms have a proven approach to identify areas for revenue growth, value creation, and cost reduction: due diligence. But companies rarely use this same approach in the execution of their own growth strategy. This is a missed opportunity. The same due diligence skills and tools can be found in most large companies, but they are usually siloed in the corporate development team … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Hoyoung Pak, Jason McDannold, Yale Kwon | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Best Practices, Management, Strategy
Today’s good to great: Next-generation operational excellence
Is tech accelerating your business operations—or getting in the way? To get lasting value from their tech investments, business leaders need a renewed understanding of operational excellence.
Content: Article | Authors: Erik Schaefer, Ian Colotla, Joris Wijpkema, Richard Sellschop, Ted Iverson, William Fookes | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Management, Operations
Five paths to TSR outperformance
It’s hard for companies to significantly beat long-term market TSR, harder still for the largest corporations, and hardest of all in the face of low growth. But industry endowment needn’t be destiny.
Content: Article | Authors: Pedro Catarino, Rosen Kotsev, Tim Koller, Zane Williams | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Management, Strategy
How high performers optimize IT productivity for revenue growth: A leader’s guide
New research offers business and technology leaders insights into the age-old challenge of improving IT productivity.
Content: Article | Authors: Alexey Ivanov, and Rahil Jogani, André Jerenz, Arsen Storozhev, Leorizio D’Aversa, Natalia Boksha, Naufal Khan | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, IT / Technology / E-Business
The seven habits of programmatic acquirers
Decades of research show the efficacy of programmatic M&A—and our latest findings make it even more clear. Whether external conditions are favorable or challenging, programmatic acquirers continue to invest in their M&A capabilities and demonstrably outperform companies that take a less strategic approach to M&A.
Content: Article | Authors: Cathy Lian, Patrick McCurdy, Paul Daume | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Mergers & Acquisitions
The triple play: Growth, profit, and sustainability
Revenue growth is good. Profitable growth is better. Profitable growth that advances ESG priorities is best. Here’s how outperformers who actively choose growth deliver the growth trifecta.
Content: Article | Authors: Anna Koivuniemi, Claudia Kampel, Lucy Pérez, Rebecca Doherty, Werner Rehm | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Social Responsibility (ESG)
Ten Lessons from 20 Years of BCG’s M&A Report
What does it take to succeed in M&A? For the past two decades, BCG’s annual M&A reports have explored the answers to this question. One constant in our studies is an emphasis on the elements that drive genuine, long-lasting deal success.
To mark the 20th anniversary of our M&A Report, we looked back at our rich history of analyses related to deal value creation. We refreshed … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Daniel Friedman, Dominik Degen, Georg Keienburg, Jens Kengelbach, Lianne Pot, Sönke Sievers, Tobias Söllner | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Best Practices, Mergers & Acquisitions
Cracking the growth code: The ten rules of growth explained
Experts behind the rules of value-creating growth discuss how leaders can apply these insights to their growth strategies.
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Rebecca Doherty | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Management, Strategy
Fear factor: Overcoming human barriers to innovation
Worries about failure, criticism, and career impact hold back many people from embracing innovation. Here’s how to create a culture that accounts for the human side of innovation.
Content: Article | Authors: Alex Morris, Erik Roth, Laura Furstenthal | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Innovation, Organizational Behavior
Growth rules: Which matter most?
Ten rules should guide how companies select pathways to profitable growth, but each rule’s impact on performance varies considerably.
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Jill Zucker, Rebecca Doherty, Tido Röder | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Strategy
Performance through people: Transforming human capital into competitive advantage
A dual focus on developing people and managing them well gives a select group of companies a long-term performance edge.
Content: Article | Authors: Anu Madgavkar, Bill Schaninger, Dana Maor, Hamid Samandari, Jonathan Woetzel, Kanmani Chockalingam, Olivia White, Sven Smit | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Human Resources, Training & Development
Unpacking 5 Myths About Management
In science the key question is “Is it true?” In management the key question is “Does it work?” But context is critical: Just because an idea works in a particular case does not mean it is a universal truth.
If you set a stretch goal, make sure that the organization has some stretch in it, or it will break. To execute a strategy, you need a … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Stephen Bungay | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Best Practices, Management
How one approach to M&A is more likely to create value than all others
Two decades of research show that, while large deals still have their place, programmatic M&A strategies continue to create gains in excess total returns to shareholders, at lower levels of risk.
Content: Article | Authors: Jeff Rudnicki, Liz Wol, Patrick McCurdy, Paul Daume, Tobias Lundberg | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Mergers & Acquisitions
Organizing for the Future: Nine Keys to Becoming a Future-Ready Company
Companies should embrace nine imperatives that collectively explain “who we are” as an organization, “how we operate,” and “how we grow.”
Content: Article | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Chris Gagnon, Elizabeth Mygatt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Management
Research: How Virtual Teams Can Better Share Knowledge
One of the stated reasons for trying to get workers back into the office is the chorus of concern around the difficulties of sharing knowledge and experience amongst remote co-workers. New research, however, suggests a method that could improve this process both in the office and remotely: guided meetings between coworkers, which can easily happen in person or remotely. Compared to monetary incentives (without guidance … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: Christopher Stanton, Jason Sandvik, Nathan Seegert, Richard Saouma | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Best Practices, Organizational Behavior
How Executives Can Help Sustain Value Creation for the Long Term
Companies create more shareholder value when executives and directors concentrate on long-term results. A new report highlights behaviors that allow them to maintain a long-term orientation.
Content: Article | Authors: Ariel Babcock, Kevin Sneader, Sarah Keohane Williamson, Tim Koller, Victoria Potter | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Management
Having a Clear Purpose Drives Performance
Does corporate purpose influence firm performance? More than two decades ago, the scholars Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal argued that purpose, not strategy, structure or systems, was the essential precursor to effective management. Since then, the public discourse on purpose has gone up substantially. And while there’s a growing body of research on related topics — from CSR to ESG — when it comes … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Claudine Gartenberg | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Best Practices, Management, Organizational Behavior
Why Your Next Transformation Should be ‘All In’
Improve the odds of a successful business transformation by going “all in” to kick-start performance and remake your portfolio.
Content: Article | Authors: Chris Bradley, Marc de Jong, Wesley Walden | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Management, Strategy
9 Habits of World Class Startups
Startups that grow into transformative companies do two things: (1) they nail the basics and (2) they cultivate the right habits (core operating principles).
The first is mandatory. If you don’t get the basics right, in all probability your company won’t succeed. A list of things we consider basics:
- Fundraising (don’t run out of capital)
- Ship (don’t just talk about it, ship it)
- Customer focus (live
Content: Article | Author: James Currier | Source: NFX | Subjects: Best Practices, Entrepreneurship, Management