Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 16:01) > Successful mergers and acquisitions require more than just a strong M&A strategy and target list. They also demand well-planned execution, communication, and integration. We talk with two of our leading experts on transactions. Kenneth Bonheure, a senior partner based in Antwerp, leads our merger management work in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Senior partner Peter Kenevan, who is based in Tokyo, is the lead...
Feb 25, 2020•16 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 30:41) > Beth Comstock, former vice chair of GE, and McKinsey senior partner Erik Roth discuss how a tolerance for risk, patience, and thinking small (where funding is concerned) can lead to innovation breakthroughs. Beth is an innovation leader who spent almost three decades at General Electric, where for a time she headed GE Business Innovations that developed new businesses, markets and service models. She recently publi...
Jan 30, 2020•31 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 35:07) > Senior partner Andy West and partner Jeff Rudnicki, two of McKinsey’s most seasoned M&A experts, discuss what they have learned from their recent work with clients of the Synergy Lab, a new initiative aimed at understanding how to most effectively capture synergies in M&A deals. In their conversation with communications director Sean Brown, they share seven insights, some of which surprised even them. Support the s...
Jan 27, 2020•35 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 41:41) > Today we’re talking with two McKinsey senior partners about a dilemma that many new CEOs face: should they focus on showing quick results or invest in the company’s long-term future, even at the expense of short-term returns? Carolyn Dewar and Michael Birshan help new leaders grapple with the dual imperatives of producing immediate results while establishing the foundation for lasting success. In their conversation...
Jan 13, 2020•42 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 16:46) > With digital technologies unleashing ever more change in industry structures and company business models, mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures are an important way for companies to reposition their organizations to compete in the digital age. In today’s podcast, Cam MacKellar, a McKinsey contributor, talks with Simon Blackburn, a senior partner in our Sydney office, about the role of M&A in adapting to digital d...
Dec 30, 2019•17 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 24:13) > At our CFO Forum in London, senior partners Celia Huber and Vivian Hunt led a discussion on corporate diversity, sharing insights from McKinsey’s ongoing research and answering questions from attendees. This episode is an edited recording of the session. Celia begins with an introduction of McKinsey’s work with LeanIn.org and theWall Street Journal surveying the state of diversity in the corporate world. Support th...
Dec 20, 2019•24 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 39:45) > In this episode you’ll hear from the co-authors of a recent McKinsey Quarterly article, “The drumbeat of digital: How winning teams play.” Tanguy Catlin, a senior partner in our Boston office, and Laura LaBerge, a member of our digital strategy team, will share their research on how fast and boldly companies need to move to win in the digital era. They will also describe some common pitfalls in digital strategy, wa...
Dec 02, 2019•40 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 44:03) > In this episode Ruth De Backer and Eileen Kelly Rinaudo take us through a detailed masterclass on ways to manage business partnerships successfully. In their conversation with Strategy & Corporate Finance communications director Sean Brown, they discuss the four key principles that help partners in joint ventures and alliances thrive, which they wrote about in a recent article. Support the show: https://www.linkedi...
Nov 19, 2019•44 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 31:33) > We talk with two of our experts about their new research on corporate resilience and what differentiates companies that emerge from economic downturns stronger than they were going in. We'll share insights on preparing your organization for macroeconomic crises and why the next downturn may be very different from earlier ones. Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance...
Nov 04, 2019•32 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 25:27) > We continue our discussion on the factors that most affect a strategy’s odds of success. In our two previous podcasts we discussed how social dynamics and biases can undermine strategy development and explained the Power Curve of economic profit, which shows how well—or how poorly—the strategies of the world’s largest companies are performing. We also heard about the most important strategic moves companies can mak...
Oct 28, 2019•25 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 22:39) > We continue our discussion with three senior partners about their research on the factors that most affect a strategy’s odds of success and the moves companies need to make to boost corporate performance. In our last podcast, we discussed the authors’ Power Curve model, which graphs the world’s largest companies’ performance and shows that the middle 60 percent of them make little, if any, economic profit. Today we...
Oct 21, 2019•23 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 19:31) > In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, McKinsey senior partners Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, and Sven Smit speak with communications director Sean Brown about their book, Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick. In this first of three podcasts, the co-authors discuss the Power Curve of economic profit and how this empirical analysis can help companies calibrate their performance aspirations and cut throug...
Oct 14, 2019•20 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 16:41) > The demands on CFOs are rising, along with the scale and influence of the role. Today’s podcast was recorded at our 2019 CFO Forum, where thetheme was “Reinventing the CFO.” The Forum was hosted by Kapil Chandra, a senior partner in our London office, and Matt Stone, an associate partner also based in London. Jonathan Turton, a McKinsey contributor, sat down with Kapil and Matt after the forum to gather their refle...
Oct 02, 2019•17 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 36:00) > In this episodewe share McKinsey global managing partner Kevin Sneader’s recent address to a gathering of CFOs in London. The conference’s theme was around reinventing the role of the CFO and how digital and analytics are helping drive this reinvention. Kevin’s remarks focused on macro disruptions and the implications for business and society. He sets the stage with a historical perspective on the pace of disruptiv...
Sep 30, 2019•36 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 25:20) > Senior partners Tanguy Catlin and Kate Smaje discuss their recent work on digital reinventions at established companies and the role CFOs should play to help them succeed. In their conversation with communications director Sean Brown, they share their insights from recent research on the factors that separate digital winners from the also-rans. Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&...
Sep 20, 2019•25 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 22:30) > While economic downturns are impossible to predict, it is never too early to start thinking about how to weather the next downturn—whenever it comes. Two of our senior partners, Cindy Levy and Martin Hirt, recently talked about how executives can think about this challenge and how this applies not only when there is concern about a downturn but also in the normal course of business. Support the show: https://www.li...
Aug 13, 2019•23 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 13:46) > When we talk about organizations we often think in terms of their performance and their overall health. Gender diversity tends to be a subject that many relate to the health part of that equation. But new research has uncovered a fascinating correlation between gender diversity and corporate performance. Joining us today to discuss this research are Paula Ramos, a partner with our New Jersey office and Tom Meakin, ...
Jul 15, 2019•14 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 32:07) > As the pace of social, economic, and technological change accelerates, organizations everywhere must make increasingly complex decisions in the face of an uncertain future. This is why the value of creative and strategic thinkers capable of solving complex problems has never been higher. Today’s episode features a conversation between Chris Bradley, a senior partner in our Sydney office, and Rob McLean, a Director ...
Jul 10, 2019•32 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 31:13) > Most CEOs understand that innovation is a team sport. The challenge leaders face is identifying and nurturing the right combination of people within an organization who are capable of developing winning products and taking them to market. Erik Roth and Matt Banholzer join us to share their perspectives on what it takes to field high-performing innovation teams. Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mc...
Jun 25, 2019•31 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 24:03) > Andy West on recent trends in mergers and acquisitions and the importance of aligning your transaction strategy with your overall strategy. How do you know when it's the right time to divest? What strategies do top M & A performers employ to gain a competitive advantage? How do you align the board and management team around what businesses you want to be in and why? Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showca...
Jun 04, 2019•24 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 21:17) > CFOs are playing an increasingly pivotal role driving change in their companies. How should they balance their traditional responsibilities with the new CFO mandate? Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/ See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information...
May 29, 2019•21 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 9:34) > Management teams who engage positively with attackers may find activist campaigns bring ideas that create value and improve shareholder performance. We investigate the levers activists pull to improve the performance of target companies, activist investor trends globally, and how companies can respond positively when they are approached by activists. Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strat...
Apr 30, 2019•10 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 34:39) > Innovation is critical to driving growth. Today we are talking about how large companies can take innovation plays from startups' play books to make them more competitive. We will hear from entrepreneurs and McKinsey experts about the techniques they use to go to market and scale quickly with limited resources. We'll see how larger companies can emulate some of that behaviour. And we will discuss how large companie...
Mar 07, 2019•35 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 14:03) > Shiny new initiatives can distract you from paying attention to other good but mundane projects and investments. In this episode McKinsey partner Tim Koller, professor of business strategy at the University of Sydney Dan Lovallo, and Sean Brown, discuss why people underinvest in so-called unremarkable projects and how to remedy this bias to ensure all projects receive the resources and attention they deserve. Suppo...
Feb 27, 2019•14 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 15:13) > It’s common for companies to hang on too long to a number of projects or parts of the business that are underperforming but just won’t die. These projects and business units linger because of emotional or legacy attachments that executives have toward them. In this episode McKinsey partner Tim Koller, professor of business strategy at the University of Sydney Dan Lovallo, and Sean Brown, discuss two effective techn...
Feb 20, 2019•15 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 18:38) > Anchoring bias can hold back the budgeting process and influence your targets despite your best efforts. Address it and refocus difficult conversations. In this episode McKinsey partner Tim Koller, professor of business strategy at the University of Sydney Dan Lovallo, and Sean Brown, discuss how to tackle anchoring bias and refocus difficult budget conversations. Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase...
Feb 13, 2019•19 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 22:05) > Despite their best intentions, executives fall prey to cognitive and organizational biases that get in the way of good decision making. In our new Bias Busters series, McKinsey partner Tim Koller and Dan Lovallo, an alumnus of McKinsey’s San Francisco office and professor of business strategy at the University of Sydney, will highlight some of the biases that hold sway in the strategy room. They will also offer eff...
Feb 05, 2019•22 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 11:56) > Companies that focus on the long-term outperform their shorter-term peers on a range of economic and financial metrics including revenue and earnings, market capitalization, and job creation. In this episode, Sean Brown is joined by Bruce Simpson, a senior partner in our Toronto office who recently co-authored a chapter in the book, Reimagining Capitalism. Also joining the conversation are Jonathan Godsall and Jack...
Dec 19, 2018•12 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 25:35) > Michael Bender is the global co-leader of McKinsey Digital and Analytics. He spoke with Sean Brown in London about the role CFOs can play in driving digital transformations, the nature of digital transformations more generally, how digital and analytics go hand in hand, and the challenges companies can face when working to adopt both. Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate...
Dec 12, 2018•26 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 10:41) > Working capital is often an under-appreciated source of cash and value creation. Associate partner Matt Stone speaks with Sean Brown in London about how leading companies are unlocking value by implementing effective working capital strategies and world-class advanced analytics and machine learning solutions. Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/ See www.mckinsey...
Nov 28, 2018•11 min
