McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company.
December 2011
In our sixth annual technology survey, executives say their companies are boosting IT spending and adopting new technology platforms to support innovation.
In an interview, Coop Centrale CEO Massimo Bongiovanni explains IT’s role in the future of retailing.
November 2011
Explore, track, and customize five years of survey results on how businesses use new Web technologies and tools.
Our fifth annual survey on the way organizations use social tools and technologies finds that they continue to seep into many organizations, transforming business processes and raising performance.
CEO Robert McDonald wants to make the consumer goods giant the world’s most technologically enabled company. Here’s how.
October 2011
Radical customization, constant experimentation, and novel business models will be new hallmarks of competition as companies capture and analyze huge volumes of data. Here’s what you should know.
CEOs should shake up the technology debate to ensure that they capture the upside of technology-driven threats. Here’s how.
Companies are learning to use large-scale data gathering and analytics to shape strategy. Their experiences highlight the principles—and potential—of big data.
Digitization is creating a second economy that’s vast, automatic, and invisible—thereby bringing the biggest change since the Industrial Revolution.
September 2011
Executives who won a contest McKinsey cosponsored with Gary Hamel’s Management Innovation eXchange (MIX) and the Harvard Business Review highlight myriad ways Web 2.0 is improving communication among employees at all levels.
August 2011
New McKinsey research estimates the impact of Internet search in the global economy, pinpointing the sources of value and the beneficiaries.
In a global operating model, IT must deliver the efficiencies of standardization but respect local business needs. Xiaoyan Wang describes her strategy.
June 2011
Eliminating threats is impossible, so protecting against them without disrupting business innovation and growth is a top management issue.
May 2011
A new report explores the explosive growth of digital information and its potential uses.
March 2011
Emerging technologies could spark product innovations that change the way the industry serves customers. But insurers must match technologies with strategic goals.
David Cooper discusses revamping siloed IT systems that were raising costs, hurting customer service, and dampening growth opportunities.
February 2011
Two-time Jeopardy! champ Greg Lindsay knew that beating IBM’s quiz show–playing computer would be hard. What he didn’t expect was how much it would change the way he played.
Knowledge workers’ information needs vary. The key to better productivity is applying technology more precisely.
IBM computer scientist David Ferrucci and his team set out to build a machine that could beat the quiz show’s greatest players. The result revealed both the potential—and the limitations—of computer intelligence.
January 2011
The inventor, businessman, and author explains how the exponential growth of technologies will transform industries and pose new opportunities—and hurdles—for business and society.
Many mergers don’t live up to expectations, because they stumble on the integration of technology and operations. But a well-planned strategy for IT integration can help mergers succeed.
December 2010
A new model for managing IT combines factory-style productivity to keep costs down with a more nimble, innovation-focused approach to adapt to rapid change.
McKinsey’s new survey research finds that companies using the Web intensively gain greater market share and higher margins.
Shelley Leibowitz left a top Wall Street CIO post for a chance to modernize IT at a global institution. She shares lessons learned from applying her private-sector experience.
November 2010
In our fifth business technology survey, executives say they want more immediate value from IT and forward-looking strategies from technology leaders that support growth and innovation.
Top companies in our survey grind down costs by consolidating IT and rationalizing processes. They’re growing faster as well.
August 2010
Advancing technologies and their swift adoption are upending traditional business models. Senior executives need to think strategically about how to prepare their organizations for the challenging new environment.
Mandated upgrades to health care IT will demand heavy investments by providers but will help them minimize waste and standardize best medical practice. However, the providers will have to take a radically new approach to IT.
A volatile new health care environment is emerging in the United States. These are times of trouble—and opportunity—for the payers’ CIOs.
June 2010
The global economy is becoming increasingly interconnected, and innovative businesses are harnessing the power of this network.
March 2010
Shell’s executive vice president and CIO talks about the company’s never-ending transformation process.
Core banking systems dating from the 1970s are compromising bank performance. However, updating them is becoming less costly and risky.
More objects are becoming embedded with sensors and gaining the ability to communicate. The resulting information networks promise to create new business models, improve business processes, and reduce costs and risks.
January 2010
Chief information officers have a chance to expand their influence as the mediators between business requirements and IT capabilities.
December 2009
Xie Qin explains how he used service-oriented architecture to create a smarter, more efficient system.
Recession or no recession, corporate and IT leaders continue to see a key role for IT, especially in regard to capturing efficiencies across the enterprise. Many expect IT investments to grow soon.
November 2009
Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way companies do business. But can these tools help them achieve their goals?
In the ‘new normal,’ successful CIOs will search for value through experimentation with customers and partners.
October 2009
The era of the nomadic Web is upon us. But questions still remain as to how things will play out in a wireless world.
September 2009
The heaviest users of Web 2.0 applications are also enjoying benefits such as increased knowledge sharing and more effective marketing. These benefits often have a measurable effect on the business.
July 2009
Companies should prepare now for the day when Web 2.0 morphs into Web 3.0.
May 2009
The IT organization and the business units should be much more in tune. Here’s one way to make that happen.
CIOs and CTOs should take the lead in explaining how IT infrastructure creates business value—especially in challenging times.
March 2009
Grasping the business value from IT is challenging. CIOs who are successful in this endeavor broaden their scope of action beyond the technical sphere and traditional IT levers.
February 2009
The year 2009 will be challenging for CIOs. Here’s how to play your hand.
December 2008
Distributors may hold the key to high-tech sales growth in many markets.
October 2008
Information and communications technologies will become a major source of greenhouse gas emissions but can abate far more of them.
September 2008
How the Internet will change the nature of competition, innovation, and company operations.
Looking to slash your IT investments? Consider the possibility that targeted ones might generate savings and revenues exceeding what you could save through cost cutting.
July 2008
David Fisher talks about his experiences after he went from the private sector to the biggest organization in the US government.
Companies are using more Web 2.0 tools and technologies than they were last year, sometimes for more complex business purposes, according to McKinsey’s second annual survey on Web 2.0. Companies that are satisfied with their use of these tools are starting to see changes throughout the enterprise.
Filippo Passerini is bringing the back office into the boardroom.
June 2008
The creation of knowledge, products, and services by online communities of companies and consumers is still in its earliest stages. Who knows where it will lead?
January 2008
The company’s chairman and former CEO explains the power of the participatory, open-source model of collaboration.
December 2007
Eight emerging trends are transforming many markets and businesses. Executives should learn to shape the outcome rather than just react to it.
June 2007
Merrill Lynch has combined operations with IT in a single unit. Diane Schueneman, the head of the company’s Global Infrastructure Solutions, explains how she is changing both to focus on the customer.
May 2007
IT executives say that they are now helping to shape business strategy but need to improve their ability to tap innovation.
March 2007
By and large, executives are satisfied with their previous investments in Internet technology, and most are investing in trends that promote automation and networking online.
Information technology is so crucial for the success of India’s top private bank that K. V. Kamath says he oversees it himself.
September 2006
Companies must govern IT as they govern their businesses: with different rules and metrics for different parts of the organization.
June 2006
The offshoring of IT infrastructure—machines and networks and the people who manage them—has been relatively slow to develop. But this is changing as leaders show how to offshore it effectively and vendors step up to meet a growing opportunity.
May 2006
Offshoring becomes a powerful tool for business transformation once companies combine labor cost savings with other productivity and revenue-generating levers.
January 2006
Pharma's health will depend on a dose of IT to improve efficiency and innovation.
December 2005
The chairman of the largest publicly traded US health benefits company discusses the industry's future.
August 2005
Many business managers don't understand IT costs, but explaining them can help forge a true partnership between IT and the business.
A survey uncovers shared perspectives on the challenges now facing companies, but IT execs must still sell tech innovation to business leaders.
May 2005
Allan Loren explains how he delivered double-digit earnings growth during each of the past four years and raised the company's value by more than 300 percent.
February 2005
Shaygan Kheradpir talks about where IT fits into convergence, innovation, and cost cutting.
The days of building to order are over. The time is ripe for an industrial revolution.
November 2004
Companies should beef up their management practices before focusing on technology.
July 2004
The second McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives finds that corporate leaders are still confident—especially about hiring, IT spending, China, and India—though they’ve tempered their earlier enthusiasm.
November 2003
IT’s critics say that it lacks strategic importance. So why does technology keep getting in the way of good strategy?
August 2003
Executives in France are taking a more proactive approach to ensure their IT investments bear fruit.
May 2003
Smart IT investing doesn’t require a return to the spendthrift ways of the late 1990s.
February 2003
To simplify a company’s information systems, look beyond them.
All three drivers of productivity—innovation, demand, and consolidation—must be exploited to achieve the full benefit of each.
Differences in IT spending are not the root cause of the gap between US and European productivity. Europe's basic problem is inappropriate regulation that hinders innovation.
December 2002
IT will rise again—but only if the providers learn how to help their customers make money.
For companies to get the most out of their IT investments, technology and business strategy must go hand in hand.
Business leaders—that’s who.
June 2002
Is AI finally ready for business?
August 2001
Even during the present slowdown, networked companies are outperforming conventional ones. They are likely to go on doing so.
February 2001
Computers have transformed work. They could also transform education.
February 1998
It’s getting tougher and tougher to calculate costs and estimate benefits. No methodology can substitute for judgment. A new approach: total value of ownership.
Research indicates the greatest potential for IT lies in product development and sales. Moving from laggard to star will take two to three years. Seven highly effective habits.
November 1997
The datacom market is booming—and new entrants could grab two-thirds share. Next up: using the Internet for phone calls. “It’s the packets, stupid.”
Like it or not, you should know the truth about your investment in information technology. It’s also time to face facts about how your organization made these expensive decisions. Then put the business side on the hook to deliver results.
August 1997
The 1990s have been a time of great advances in information technology. So why are companies struggling with their systems? How a few are getting big payoffs from IT.
May 1996
Increasing attention is being paid to the economics of networks and the strategies of network-based businesses, both in traditional and emerging businesses. Four unique characteristics mean they have to be managed differently from most service and manufacturing ones.
November 1995
Reengineers plan for years—the right timeframe is months. Line managers in the lead. “We didn’t reach far enough.”
November 1994
How rebalancing the mix of human and machine skills processes can create competitive advantage.
August 1994
Hands-on advice for getting an essential, value-added conversation back on track.
August 1993
The leader’s role is to turn separate initiatives into a balanced, integrated program of change.
February 1993
Effective redesign programs balance tightness of focus with lofty ambitions for performance improvement.
Getting the full value from core process redesign means being able to tell—early—when efforts wander off course.
A report from the new front lines in the battle to improve organizational performance.
May 1992
In a complex world, to "design" means to rethink the logic of cause and effect.
JANUARY 2012
DECEMBER 2011
NOVEMBER 2011
Use this HTML code to embed the video on your blog or site:
Your e-mail address* Send me a copy.
Recipient e-mail address* (Separate multiple e-mail addresses with commas. Limited to 20 addresses.)
Subject
Message ( characters remaining)(maximum length reached) Type your letter here.
*Required
The e-mail addresses that you supply to use this service will not be used for any other purpose.