1166 Posts found for Source: McKinsey Quarterly

Some people say, “Strategy is important, but it’s really about execution.” That’s silly. That’s like saying, “We have a military strategy, but our soldiers are too fat to walk.” Execution is part of strategy, of course. Strategy is about what is important and the challenges you face. If one of these challenges is that the organization is dysfunctional, then that’s strategic. If your managers are … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard Rumelt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Execution, Management, Strategy

[Strategy] has to do with a focus of strength against weakness. In business, it’s a focus of strength against opportunities or problems. That focus of strength is essential. If you focus resources on a weak point, even if it’s a great opportunity, you are not acting strategically.

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard Rumelt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy

This gap between action and ambition is where most bad strategies come from. Bad strategy is almost a literary form that uses PowerPoint slides to say, “Here is how we will look as a company in a year or in three years.” That’s interesting, but it’s not a strategy.

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard Rumelt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy

Many companies treat strategy as a way of presenting to the board and to the investing public their ambitions for performance, and they confuse that with having a strategy. Some of it is the victory of finance as the language of business because we talk about shareholder return as the ultimate measure of success. Executives end up saying, “Our strategy is to achieve these results,” … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard Rumelt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy

More than half of employees report being relatively unproductive at work. New research into six types of employees shows how companies can re-engage workers while amplifying the impact of star performers.

Content: Article | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Angelika Reich, Bill Schaninger, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

Geopolitical uncertainty is forcing global companies to take a hard look at the decades-long strategy of geographic expansion.

Content: Article | Authors: Andrew Grant, Michael Birshan, Olivia White, Ziad Haider | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: International

Organizations that follow a progression of steps to achieve excellence in digital delivery may see improvements in effectiveness, productivity, and performance, as well as significant increases in speed.

Content: Article | Authors: Dan Gardner, Lauren McCoy, Moid Mohammed, Rishi Markenday, Santiago Comella-Dorda, Vik Sohoni | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Management, Organizational Behavior

Several trends are creating a new imperative for strong portfolio management of businesses. Companies need six capabilities to build and manage a winning portfolio, using M&A strategically.

Content: Article | Author: Marc Augustin | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Mergers & Acquisitions, Strategy

The most ancient and still crucial element of strategy is focus. In military terms, it is the concentration of force on an opponent’s weakness. More generally, it is the coordinated application of resources and effort to an important yet addressable challenge. Strategic focus means bringing sources of power to bear on a selected target. If the power is weak, nothing happens. If it is strong … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard Rumelt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy

To execute strategy well, one must consider the logic of challenges instead of wished-for end states. At a moment in time, a properly configured strategy is a mixture of policy and action designed to surmount a high-stakes challenge. (Were the challenge not high stakes, it would not be called strategic.) It is not a financial goal, or a plan for hitting a financial goal, or … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard Rumelt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Strategy

Forward-looking companies think carefully about communications—not just in terms of what resonates with investors, but with a range of stakeholders; and not just communications for the sake of announcing to others but in order to learn, become smarter, and improve as an organization. Employees are a key constituency and are invariably an important source of insight. Companies can also continuously improve by engaging through trade … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Dame Vivian Hunt, Donatela Bellone, Hamid Samandari, Lucy Pérez, Robin Nuttall | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior, Public Relations

Forward-looking companies recognize that they cannot be distinctive by pursuing every initiative that qualifies as ESG. To the contrary: because they have a clear understanding of their strategy, and their own strengths and gaps, they focus on identifying initiatives that matter most to their business models. ESG is an essential strategic concern, which means it affects how and where a company competes.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Dame Vivian Hunt, Donatela Bellone, Hamid Samandari, Lucy Pérez, Robin Nuttall | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Social Responsibility (ESG)

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 huge impact of culture on M&A performance means that culture should be factored into integration planning from the start. We recommend focusing on five cultural attributes.

Content: Article | Authors: Emily O’Loughlin, Jocelyn Chao, Kameron Kordestani, Rebecca Kaetzler | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Mergers & Acquisitions

This article consolidates insights from around 100 senior leaders on five common dilemmas that complicate their ability to lead in the face of competing priorities.

Content: Article | Authors: Gautam Kumra, Janice Koh, Jennifer Chiang, Joydeep Sengupta, Mukund Sridhar | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Corporate Governance

Automation and artificial intelligence are poised to reshape the finance function. Knowing what to automate and managing the disruption can lead to a new era of productivity and performance.

Content: Article | Authors: Frank Plaschke, Ishaan Seth, Rob Whiteman | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Finance, IT / Technology / E-Business

There are things the company needs to do. Those things are activities. Those activities convert to tasks. Previously, those tasks probably were grouped together into a set of responsibilities. We called that a role and drew a box around it. Now, we’re questioning all the tasks and asking what skills we need to feel confident that a person can accomplish the task. That’s matching task … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Bill Schaninger | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

A digital talent marketplace creates more transparency and visibility into open opportunities. Additionally, we know that it can reduce bias. As we think about this from the diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] lens, we know that women are much less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t meet the qualifications. We often hear that a man will apply for a job if he has … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Emily Field | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Diversity, Human Resources

At companies with top-performing cultures, there’s actually slightly more tension because they’re turning toward problems together. In bad cultures, a problem comes up, and people kind of turn away from it, right? In good cultures, they get super interested and turn toward it. They will have vibrant arguments about which idea is best because those arguments are taking place in the bounds of safe connection. … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Daniel Coyle | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Culture, Organizational Behavior

McKinsey research suggests that society is a key source of meaning for employees, along with company, customer, team, and individual. Together, they make up a collective, integrated whole that leaders can address.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Tera Allas | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Motivation, Organizational Behavior