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McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company.

featured Organization, Change Management article, public sector reform

June 2009 

Reforming the public sector in a crisis: An interview with Sweden’s former prime minister

Göran Persson has lived a story that should encourage leaders around the world: how to stay in power while pursuing a harsh crisis program that requires sacrifices throughout society.

Recent Thinking

The Archive

2009

  • March 2009 

    Cutting sales costs, not revenues

    Courageous companies can use the downturn to make their sales operations not only less expensive but also more effective.

  • March 2009 

    High tech: Finding opportunity in the downturn

    In past downturns, high-tech companies that made these five kinds of moves emerged as leaders of the pack when the economy improved.

    Includes: Audio
  • February 2009 

    Six ways to make Web 2.0 work

    Web 2.0 tools present a vast array of opportunities—for companies that know how to use them.

    Includes: Audio
  • January 2009 

    Market rebels and radical innovation

    In this adaptation from Hayagreeva Rao’s book, he explains the role of activists in making or breaking new markets, products, and services.

    Includes: Audio Video

2008

2007

2006

2005

2003

  • June 2003 

    Managing your integration manager

    An integration manager can help make a merger more successful, but only if the top team knows how to choose and install one.

  • June 2003 

    Refining Shell’s position in Europe

    Two senior executives of Europe’s largest fuel marketer explain how it experienced a huge reorganization.

  • June 2003 

    The psychology of change management

    Companies can transform the attitudes and behavior of their employees by applying psychological breakthroughs that explain why people think and act as they do.

  • June 2003 

    Untangling underperformance

    Don’t try to fix problems before you understand the complex relationships among them—and their causes.

  • February 2003 

    Asia’s banking maverick

    The CEO of South Korea’s largest bank discusses his plans to turn it into a world-class financial institution.

2002

  • November 2002 

    Helping employees embrace change

    Managing change is the responsibility of everyone in the corporation—from senior managers on down.

  • November 2002 

    Riding the pharma roller coaster

    In an industry in which many mergers have failed to create value, Fred Hassan has used them to take Pharmacia into the pharmaceutical big leagues. Here he explains how.

2001

  • February 2001 

    An outsider takes on Japan

    Just a year after its biggest loss ever, Nissan Motors reported the largest net profit in its history. Read our interview with the man who led Nissan’s spectacular 19-month turnaround, Carlos Ghosn.

2000

1998

  • May 1998 

    Managing Metamorphosis

    Must all companies eventually vanish? Ideas borrowed from evolutionary theory can help companies survive and thrive.

  • February 1998 

    Why are service turnarounds so tough

    Because you are trying to balance customer satisfaction, employee morale, and shareholder returns. It’s very easy to start a vicious cycle of deteriorating performance. Taking out the right costs.

1997

1996

  • February 1996 

    Is simulation better than experience?

    The school of "hard knocks" doesn’t teach much if cause and effect are blurred. Collapsing time and space may be the best way to change people’s understanding and behavior. New software makes it easier to design games.

  • February 1996 

    Real change leaders

    Change leaders might not be who you think they are. While most good managers try to keep things under control, real change leaders are determined to shake things up.

1995

  • November 1995 

    Designing change programs that won’t cost you your job

    To transform performance, first know yourself. Most leaders of change are imperfect and far from objective. There are three kinds of levers you can pull. Setting up chain reactions that release rather than use energy.

  • May 1995 

    Shaping a strategy for change

    Creating a strategy for change before selecting individual change initiatives raises the odds of success in corporate transformations.

1994

1993

1992

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