The McKinsey Quarterly

2009

• April 2009 

  R&D in the downturn: McKinsey Global Survey Results

  Despite the economic downturn, many companies are reluctant to cut R&D activities, viewing them as a source of competitive advantage. Companies that gain the greatest benefit from R&D are actually expanding their programs.

• February 2009 

  Upgrading R&D in a downturn

  Cutting research costs across the board in a recession isn’t smart. Companies should use R&D as an opportunity to make themselves more competitive.

2008

• November 2008 

  Lessons from innovation’s front lines: An interview with IDEO’s CEO

  Tim Brown, whose company specializes in innovation, distills the lessons of his career.

• June 2008 

  The next step in open innovation

  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?

• May 2008 

  Daniel Kahneman on behavioral economics

  In an interview, the Nobel Laureate says organizations should think of decisions like any other product, and apply quality controls.

  Includes:

2005

• June 2005 

  Reducing waste in the auto industry

  Carmakers and parts suppliers can capture huge savings, but only by working together more closely.

2003

• August 2003 

  A product is born

  It’s time for product development to enter the information age.

• August 2003 

  The future of product development

  By focusing on better information management rather than processes, companies can dramatically boost their product-development performance.

• August 2003 

  The IT factor in mobile services

  Mobile-telecom companies must redraw their IT architecture if they hope to market new services quickly and cheaply.

2000

• June 2000 

  Delivering value to customers

  In many cases the customer—not the competition—is the key to a company's prospects.

1997

• May 1997 

  Packaged goods: It’s time to focus on product development

  The best performers organize around four separate development missions. New products and line extensions require different processes and different performance metrics. A common mistake: not setting priorities across product groups.

1995

• November 1995 

  Going slow to go fast

  Want to get new products to the market fast? Don’t troubleshoot. A common mistake: setting aggressive commercialization targets. Development is not a process. It’s a system with subtle feedback loops. The lure and danger of “best practice.”

• May 1995 

  Increasing the value of product development

  Companies can improve the way they develop and commercialize new products and processes with the help of a new diagnostic tool that enables senior management to link value drivers with the creation of shareholder value.