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Featured Public Sector, Management Article, interview with US Defense Department agency director
Boosting performance in public-sector IT: An interview with a US Defense Department agency director

July 2008

David Fisher talks about his experiences after he went from the private sector to the biggest organization in the US government.

Featured Public Sector, Management Article, new look at China's state-owned enterprises
Reassessing China's state-owned enterprises

July 2008

China’s state-owned companies, like China itself, are diverse. Many of them would make better partners for multinationals than some of their private-sector counterparts. Openness, not ownership, is the key.

Featured Public Sector, Management Article, national health system UK
A healthier health care system for the United Kingdom

February 2008

New research indicates that leadership by clinicians and talent management are the keys to making things better.

The Archive

2008
How investors can get more out of infrastructure

February 2008

Opportunities to invest in public infrastructure will increase during the next few years, but so will competition for deals.

A healthier future for India

January 2008

Affordable care, preventive medicine, and healthy behavior must be the pillars of India’s health care reform.

2007
Addressing Africa’s health workforce crisis

November 2007

Addressing Africa’s health workforce crisis is a formidable task. Yet McKinsey’s experience in the region suggests ways to make headway.

Creating a modern Indian city: An interview with Delhi’s chief minister

October 2007

Sheila Dikshit discusses the challenge of urban development in India.

Government as a business

October 2007

Ian Davis, managing director of McKinsey, talks about the public-sector productivity imperative.

Private-investment opportunities for public transport

April 2007

Public-private partnerships represent a significant opportunity for private investors—but pose worrisome risks as well.

2006
Building better partnerships for global health

December 2006

By correcting some flaws, global health partnerships can save even more lives in desperately poor countries.

Meeting the demand for improved public services

October 2006

Governments face a productivity imperative because the public wants better services, but not higher taxes.

Coping with competition in European postal markets Premium Content

July 2006

To fend off attackers, incumbent postal services must learn to act more like private businesses.

Applying lean production to the public sector

June 2006

Governments at all levels must deliver more for less. The principles of lean manufacturing offer surprisingly apt solutions.

Sweden's growth paradox Premium Content

June 2006

Productivity is rising, but the level of employment among working-age people actually declined from 1992 to 2003.

After the tsunami: Lessons from reconstruction

February 2006

Indonesia and Sri Lanka faced the monumental task of rebuilding once their immediate needs were met. Their experience could help other countries respond to disasters.

2005
National oil companies: The right way to go abroad Premium Content

November 2005

Deals with foreign partners can open the door to overseas profits.

A foundation for public health in India

September 2005

A renewed effort to train and attract public-health professionals will ease a chronic shortage and improve health care.

Tanzania's health care crisis

August 2005

The shortfall in qualified health care workers could be offset by higher productivity and better recruitment and training.

2004
Spurring performance in China's state-owned enterprises Premium Content

December 2004

The government must give a performance-based system space to take hold.

Boosting government productivity

November 2004

To pay for the care of the elderly, developed societies face plummeting levels of public services for everyone else—and soaring taxes. Productivity could be the answer.

Organizing for effectiveness in the public sector Premium Content

November 2004

Traditional public-sector organizations can be redesigned to perform more successfully—even when market forces are lacking.

A streetcar named productivity

August 2004

Bus and train systems habitually run at a loss. But public-transit agencies could lower costs and raise the quality of service by emulating best practices from around the world.

Battling AIDS in India

August 2004

The head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Indian initiative on AIDS explains the importance of creating a vast network of public-private partnerships to tackle the problem.

Building on China's construction boom Premium Content

May 2004

Foreign companies must carefully choose the projects they undertake in China if they hope to make reasonable returns.

2003
Healing Eastern Europe's hospitals Premium Content

December 2003

The region’s governments can’t afford to provide quality health care for everyone. Hospitals must get creative to make up for the shortfall.

How businesses can combat global disease

December 2003

Multinationals are directly affected by the global epidemic. It can’t be controlled without them.

European public transport at a crossroads

November 2003

Liberalization is coming and Europe needs to get ready—fast.

What transformation means for the defense industry Premium Content

August 2003

Warfare will surely be transformed. But how, and by whom?

2002
What's next for Eastern European telcos? Premium Content

December 2002

To survive in the European Union, telecom incumbents in Eastern Europe must streamline their operations on all levels.

The case for boutique health care

May 2002

By offering comfort and convenience to people willing to pay for them, nonprofit hospitals could finance better care for everyone.

2001
Mobilizing South Korea's women Premium Content

December 2001

If South Korea is to become one of the world’s most economically advanced nations, educated women will have to play a larger role in its workforce. The first step is getting the government to take childcare more seriously.

Vaccines where they're needed

December 2001

Governments and international organizations could reduce the financial risks borne by the developers and marketers of vaccines—and thereby make them cheaper and more plentiful.

Art for more than art's sake

July 2001

Public funding for the arts leads to more than just a vague cultural improvement; it yields concrete—and enormous—economic benefits.

Making welfare work

July 2001

A customer-focused reorganization of the Illinois Department of Human Services provides lessons for other public-sector and nonprofit agencies about how to improve efficiency and service.

Putting citizens on-line, not in line

June 2001

Electronic government can provide faster, more convenient, and more accurate services that will improve the lives of the people.

Agencies of change

February 2001

Many Europeans think that employment agencies help businesses circumvent strict employment protection laws and cannibalize permanent jobs. But a McKinsey survey found otherwise.

Better arms for fewer soldiers Premium Content

February 2001

Europe should spend less of its limited defense budget on recruiting and training troops and more on equipping them for modern warfare.

Catching the bus Premium Content

February 2001

Bogota is reforming its transportation system. All aboard!

2000
Rethinking Dutch healthcare Premium Content

June 2000

McKinsey’s Amsterdam office teamed up with health care experts to find a way of preserving the quality of Holland’s health care system while easing the great strains it faces.

1999
A strategy for European defense consolidation Premium Content

November 1999

The European record on joint defense procurement is weak, yet the arguments in favor of more collaboration are strong. The solution: projects should be led by industry, not by government.

1997
Deregulation on track? The transformation of European rail Premium Content

November 1997

Several industry structures are possible. Railroads need to shape, adapt, choose a niche, or sell out.

Germany and France: Confronting the costs of social policies

May 1997

A new study establishes the case for improving productivity. It’s time to recognize that regulation has not preserved incomes, provided access to services, or prevented job losses. An analysis of six industries: automotive, housing construction, telecom, retail banking, retail, and computer software.

1996
The future role of postal operators Premium Content

August 1996

The cozy monopolies that postal operators have so long enjoyed are gradually being prised apart by deregulation, while new forms of communication are starting to erode traditional markets.

1995
US public housing: Big room for improvement

November 1995

$400 million could be saved per year. Charleston, Richmond, and Omaha have shown how. Rather than regulate, the federal government could share best practice.

1994
Asian Management: The challenge facing China’s state-owned enteprises Premium Content

May 1994

At the level of individual business enterprises, the real work of reform in China has just begun.

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