Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 36:58) > In this episode, we are joined by Juergen Esser, the chief financial, technology and data officer of multinational food company Danone–the company behind global brands like Evian water and Danone Yogurt. Juergen assumed his current role in February, 2021 after a 20-year career with the French company. He recently spoke with Clarisse Magnin, the managing partner of McKinsey’s Paris office, during a session that was ...
Jul 27, 2022•37 min
Over the past three years, Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, has led a transformation of the 150-year-old insurance and investment management company, a journey that has also spanned the entire pandemic. He joins Dame Vivian Hunt, a senior partner in our London office, to talk about how he grounded Prudential’s transformation in the firm’s purpose. Follow McKinsey's Strategy and Corporate and Finance practice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strateg...
Jul 20, 2022•32 min
Our friends at the Future of America podcast recently published a conversation between IBM CFO and senior vice president Jim Kavanaugh, and McKinsey senior partner and CFO Eric Kutcher. Jim and Eric’s discussion focused on how CFOs and other business leaders can continue to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth in the current challenging environment. They discussed the importance of resilience, and imperatives for today’s business leaders around talent, recruitment, and retention. It's our pleas...
Jul 14, 2022•31 min
American economist and author John A. List joins us to discuss his new book, ‘The Voltage Effect: How to make good ideas great and great ideas scale’. John is the Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. His research includes over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and several published textbooks. He has also worked both in government and the private sector as chief economist for Uber, Lyft, and now Walmart. His book argues that scaling is sub...
Jun 30, 2022•43 min
We discuss what’s commonly referred to as The Great Resignation–a phenomenon sweeping through many industries and countries. As the pandemic has made many of us rethink what matters most in our lives and careers, workers have been leaving their roles in record numbers. What strategies can employers implement to retain their talent? Can they actually turn this challenge into a talent recruitment opportunity? To answer these questions, we’re joined by Bonnie Dowling and Bryan Hancock. Bonnie is an...
Jun 23, 2022•41 min
In this episode of Inside the Strategy Room, Roger Crandall, chairman, president, and CEO of MassMutual, speaks with Pradip Patiath, a leader in McKinsey’s digital financial services practice, about embracing the disruption that’s transforming the insurance industry. Roger reflects on the changes in the industry, the risk environment, and the CEO role. Follow McKinsey's Strategy and Corporate and Finance practice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-financ...
Jun 16, 2022•34 min
In the second part of our conversation with James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s chairman and CEO, is joined again by Vik Malhotra, a McKinsey senior partner. James reflects on his management style, his relationship with the board, as well as how he nurtures the talent pipeline­–including the “two Cs” that guide his decisions about people. You can find more interviews with the world's top-performing leaders in the acclaimed bestseller, CEO Excellence: The six mindsets that ...
Jun 02, 2022•30 min
Vik Malhotra and Asheet Mehta, McKinsey senior partners, talk with James Gorman, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley about how he reshaped the global financial firm's strategy following the global financial crisis. James also discusses how being an expert poker player helps him think through resource allocation. You can find more interviews with the world's top-performing leaders in the acclaimed bestseller, CEO Excellence: The six mindsets that distinguish the best leaders fro...
Jun 02, 2022•23 min
Pradyumna Agrawal is managing director for blockchain and venture building at Temasek , and as such is very active in searching out new use cases for blockchain and forming partnerships that can help bring products for this to market. Prady talks with McKinsey’s innovation leader Erik Roth about how he approaches his work bringing blockchain-based companies to market. Subscribe to The Committed Innovator podcast series: https://link.chtbl.com/Temasek ...
May 31, 2022•27 min
Spin-offs can give both companies more freedom and improve their performance if executives systematically consider the growth strategies, operations, talent, and cultural changes that each entity will require for a win–win scenario. Four experts join Sean Brown to explain how to best ensure spin-offs create value. Andy West is a senior partner in our Boston office and co-leads our M&A work globally. He is joined by Jan Krause , a partner based in Cologne who leads our M&...
May 19, 2022•44 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 32:40) > Bill Osborne, the president of New Zealand Rugby and celebrated All Black player, is one of the few sports stars who later succeeded at translating their skills to the field of business. He went on to serve in senior roles at New Zealand Post and Quotable Value New Zealand. He also served on corporate and not-for-profit boards, including the 2 Degrees telecommunications company, CoreLogic New Zealand, and the Maori...
May 03, 2022•33 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 42:53) > The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a proposed a new rule that, if adopted, would require public companies to provide detailed reporting of their climate-related risks, emissions, and net-zero transition plans. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, four McKinsey experts explain the ramifications of the proposal for CFOs and other senior leaders. Laura Corb leads the Sustainabili...
Apr 29, 2022•45 min
Sean Brown is joined by the three co-authors of a recent article that articulates the scope and potential solutions for one of the biggest challenges of our times: fostering economic growth for the good of all. Tracy Francis, a member of McKinsey’s global leadership team, leads the firm’s consumer packaged goods and retail work across Latin America. Anu Madgavkar is a member of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and leads work on labor markets and human capital, technology&rsq...
Mar 24, 2022•42 min
Disruptive food start-ups have increasingly grabbed headlines and the attention of large consumer packaged goods companies. The plant-based keto snack company Keho is continuing this trend by offering its savory “real food” bites to a health-conscious market that includes athletes at one end of a spectrum, and people looking to resolve health problems with diet change on the other. Keho founder and McKinsey adviser Tekla Back has long been a food and keto enthusiast, and started the ...
Mar 03, 2022•31 min
The pandemic has been a stark reminder for many organizations that they are insufficiently prepared for crises that could not merely destabilize them but put them out of business. In this episode of our board perspective series , we look at the board’s role in ensuring readiness for such existential risks. Nora Aufreiter is an experienced director, and a McKinsey senior adviser. Celia Huber leads McKinsey’s board services work in North America, and Ophelia Usher works in McKinsey&rsq...
Feb 24, 2022•42 min
In the upcoming book, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best CEOs from the Rest, three McKinsey senior partners offer leadership lessons from 67 CEOs of some of the world’s most successful companies. In this second episode, we discuss culture, managing stakeholders, and how the pandemic has impacted the CEO role. Carolyn Dewar and Scott Keller, who co-lead McKinsey’s global CEO Excellence practice, are joined by Vik Malhotra, former chair of our firm’s Ameri...
Feb 15, 2022•24 min
In the upcoming book, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best CEOs from the Rest, three McKinsey senior partners offer leadership lessons from 67 CEOs of some of the world’s most successful companies. In this episode, the first of two, we will discuss some of the insights from their book, including some great stories from their interviews. We also discuss how exceptional chief executives rally their teams around the vision and how they engage the board of directors...
Feb 11, 2022•24 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 28:15) > We hear from Brendan Whitworth, Chief Executive Officer of Anheuser-Busch and Zone President North America of global brewing giant AB InBev. He was appointed to his role in July 2021 after leading sales in the US. Brendan shares his vision for the brewer’s next phase of growth. He spoke with Ed Little, a senior partner in our Dallas office, who serves clients in the consumer goods industry. Support the show: https:...
Feb 01, 2022•28 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 25:01) > Two experts discuss programmatic M&A, an approach to mergers and acquisitions that over many years has proven to be the most successful at delivering results—provided you execute it right. Robert Uhlaner, who co-led McKinsey’s Strategy and Corporate Finance practice until his retirement this summer, and Liz Wol, the global leader of McKinsey’s work on M&A capability building and programmatic M&A strategy, explain w...
Jan 13, 2022•25 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 31:31) > While environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues increasingly dominate the executive agenda, not all three elements get equal attention. This episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast—one of three exploring the various challenges around ESG—delves into the element that is most often overlooked, but has been put into a sharp focus by the pandemic: the “S.” Senior partner Dame Vivian Hunt and Bruce Simp...
Dec 16, 2021•32 min
“Stakeholder capitalism” is the buzzword du jour for business practices that strive to achieve more than profits and a high stock price. But what does benefitting all stakeholders really entail? What trade-offs do companies have to make? And how do business leaders put the aspiration into practice? In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast—the second in a series on meeting the challenges of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) demands—two ex...
Dec 09, 2021•36 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 33:46) > Purpose and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues represent critical challenges for both boards and executive teams. They have become particularly salient since the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced corporations to scrutinize their responsibilities and role in society. In this episode—one of three exploring the various challenges around ESG—two experts who have long studied the connection betwe...
Dec 02, 2021•34 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 24:41) > Frank D’Amelio has been the CFO of Pfizer for 14 years, but the past 18 months have been like unlike any other. In this episode, he relates how the company addressed the most urgent and massive challenge in its history: developing a vaccine for COVID-19. Working in partnership with BioNTech, Pfizer accomplished that feat in record-breaking time, helping to alleviate the biggest global health crisis in living memory...
Dec 01, 2021•25 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 32:41) > When Kevin Hostetler took the reins of Rotork, a UK-based company that makes industrial flow-control equipment, he immediately launched a multi-year transformation to help the company benefit from trends transforming the industries it serves. In this episode he talks with Anna Koivuniemi, co-leader of McKinsey’s work on growth strategy, about the progress Rotork has made and the challenges of changing the culture. ...
Nov 11, 2021•33 min
As organizations increasingly grapple with digital transformations, large technology investments, and shifts to the cloud, these issues regularly appear on board agendas. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, Steve Van Kuiken, global leader of the McKinsey Technology practice and co-author of a recent article about ways boards can shape the cloud agenda, speaks with two experienced directors about the implications of such a move. David Court sits on the boards of pension inves...
Oct 28, 2021•46 min
In this episode, we explore how digital analytics is revolutionizing strategy. Nicholas Northcote, who for years led McKinsey’s research on strategic decision making, is joined by Sagie Davidovich, the co-founder and CEO of SparkBeyond, a McKinsey partner company that operates an AI-driven analytics platform, and Sasha Vesuvala, who leads much of McKinsey’s work in applying advanced analytics to strategy and growth-related questions. Our conversation is based on the recent McKinsey.c...
Oct 20, 2021•24 min
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 50:13) > Companies looking to bring breakthrough innovations to life need the right organizational structures and incentives in place. In his book Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries (St. Martin’s Press, March 2019), Safi Bahcall, a former biotech CEO who now helps organizations innovate, explains what that requires. In this episode, he talks with Erik Roth, leade...
Oct 14, 2021•50 min
What responsibilities does business have to society and what benefits do companies deliver to stakeholders and society at large? In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, two authors of a new McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report share recent research on how the value companies bring to economies, societies, and households has changed over the past quarter century. Michael Birshan is the global co-leader of the Strategy and Corporate Finance practice while Clarisse Magnin-Mallez ...
Oct 07, 2021•34 min
In business, breaking up is hard to do. While divesting businesses in a timely manner is an essential aspect of effective portfolio management, companies tend to struggle with separation decisions. In this episode, three experts discuss how to determine which businesses to strengthen and which to divest and explain how to make your M&A strategy nimble enough to keep up with increasingly dynamic markets. Obi Ezekoye, a leader in the Strategy and Corporate Finance practice, and Anthony Luu, an...
Sep 09, 2021•38 min
As companies prepare for the recovery from the pandemic, many leaders hope innovation will set them up for the next phase of growth. In this episode, Laura Furstenthal, whose client work focuses on healthcare organizations and innovation transformations, and Erik Roth, leader of McKinsey’s global innovation practice, explain how to establish a sustainable innovation process . Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/ See www.mckinsey.com/pri...
Aug 24, 2021•27 min
