The McKinsey Quarterly

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The McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company. Register now for immediate access to hundreds of articles.

The crisis: A new era for management

  • Strategy, Strategic Thinking, Leading through uncertainty

    DECEMBER 2008

    Leading through uncertainty

    The range of possible futures confronting business is great. Companies that nurture flexibility, awareness, and resiliency are more likely to survive the crisis, and even to prosper.

  • Strategy, Strategic Thinking, Strategy in a structural break

    DECEMBER 2008

    Strategy in a 'structural break'

    During hard times, a structural break in the economy is an opportunity in disguise. To survive—and, eventually, to flourish—companies must learn to exploit it.

  • Strategy, Strategic Thinking, A fresh look at strategy under uncertainty

    DECEMBER 2008

    A fresh look at strategy under uncertainty: An interview

    Although even the highest levels of uncertainty don’t prevent businesses from analyzing predicaments rationally, says author Hugh Courtney, the financial crisis has shown us the limits of our tools—and minds.

  • Marketing, Sectors & Regions, downturn new rules for marketers

    DECEMBER 2008

    The downturn’s new rules for marketers

    The old recession playbook won’t work this time around.

  • Economic Studies, Productivity & Performance, Economic conditions snapshot survey November 2008

    NOVEMBER 2008

    McKinsey Global Survey Results: Economic conditions snapshot, November 2008

    In a survey in the field from November 5 to November 10, executives from around the world indicate that many companies are surviving the global economic turmoil fairly well. And though executives are quite pessimistic about broad economic trends, some say their companies are finding opportunities. Respondents also spell out what they think governments should do to help.

Editors’ Choice

Innovation Matters

Show us where you see innovation.

Our forthcoming publication, What Matters, is a collection of short essays by leading thinkers on big topics, such as climate change and the credit crisis. We'd like to invite you to send us digital images of things that represent innovation in your part of the world. We will reproduce a broad sampling of these images in What Matters, as a photo essay, and make them available online.

Data Points

  • $1.4

    Amount in trillions that new net borrowing by US households has declined from mid-2007 to mid-2008.

  • 17%

    Share of companies seeking external funding after mid-September that couldn't get it.

  • 70%

    Proportion of manufacturing companies that can't satisfactorily forecast sales.

Measuring Innovation

A recent McKinsey Global Survey shows that companies are satisfied, overall, with their use of metrics to assess innovation portfolios—though many findings suggest that they shouldn’t be.

Economic Studies

  • Economic Studies, Country Reports, Why baby boomers will need to work longer

    NOVEMBER 2008

    Why baby boomers will need to work longer

    Most US baby boomers are not prepared for their retirement, and neither are the US and world economies. Boomers can help mitigate the consequences by remaining in the workforce beyond the traditional retirement age.

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Interviews

Conversation Starter

The Long Tail and Power Curves

Chris Anderson, the author of The Long Tail, takes up recent discussions of Long Tail theory in two McKinsey Quarterly articles. "Powerlaws may indeed create bigger fish, but the Long Tail is all about the bigger pond." Read Chris's blog post, then read the article and watch the interview to which he refers.

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