Inside the Strategy Room

Major League Baseball’s Chief Operating and Strategy Officer Chris Marinak speaks with McKinsey innovation leader Erik Roth about how the league is using fan feedback, experimentation, and data to change a game steeped in tradition and culture to reach the next generation of fans. This season, MLB implemented rules changes that fundamentally altered the pace and action of the game and continues to...

Many executives believe making growth  sustainable and inclusive  requires inscrutable trade-offs, forgoing revenue and profit for the sake of society and the planet. That is not always the case. Our new analysis indicates financially successful companies that integrate environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) priorities into their growth strategies outperform their peers—provided the...

The role of chief transformation officer (CTO) is often linked with cost-cutting. In this episode, we discuss how this is a misleadingly narrow view and explain why and how CTOs should correct that misconception and redefine the role. Our guests are Kevin Carmody , a senior partner in our Chicago office, AD Bhatia , a partner in our New Jersey office, and Emily Rizzi, an associate partner based in...

We speak   Brian Vickery and John Spivey , two authors of the 2023 McKinsey Global Private Markets Review . Brian and John join us to explore recent trends in private markets. They analyze why the markets have enjoyed strong tailwinds since the depths of the Global Financial Crisis and look at the origins of the recent slowdown. Will private markets continue to face headwinds? How did private mark...

In this episode, we explore the core principles of a successful investor relations strategy.  We're joined by Werner Rehm , a partner in our New Jersey office, Jay Gelb , a partner in our New York office, David Honigmann, a senior expert in our London office, and Karl Mahler , a senior adviser to McKinsey based in Zurich who brings over 30 years of experience as a healthcare executive, including a...

Our guest is Eric Lamarre , a senior partner in our Boston office and coauthor of the new book, Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI . Eric and his coauthors, fellow senior partners Kate Smaje and Rodney Zemmel, based their book on the results of more than 200 large-scale digital transformations, creating a detailed guide for companies seeking to outcompete in t...

In this episode, we explore why and how business leaders, and CFOs in particular, should try to see their businesses as investors see them.   We're joined by Chantal Lorbeer , a partner in our Munich office who advises global chemicals companies on their strategy, growth transformations, as well as their operating models and portfolio moves. Chantal co-leads our Strategy & Corporate Finance Pr...

In this latest episode in our Committed Innovator series Erik Roth speaks with Harley Finkelstein , an entrepreneur and innovator who is president of the multichannel commerce platform, Shopify . Their conversation is essential listening for anyone interested in learning how to create and build a business that scales. Harley and Erik speak about what it means to be an entrepreneur, why starting a...

The finance function and CFO's rope are evolving rapidly as digitization accelerates the pace of change amidst continuing economic and geopolitical volatility. Two expert colleagues join us to discuss how CFOs can help build world-class finance functions capable of withstanding external shocks and staying ahead of the competition.  Bjørnar Jensen  is a senior partner in our Zurich office, and Liz...

In this episode we talk about corporate venture capital: Why should you do it? How should you do it? And what should you expect from it?   Traditionally, established corporations have tended to view start-ups as undisciplined and naive, while start-ups might dismiss incumbents as stodgy and behind the times. It’s (mostly) not like that anymore, as both sides increasingly recognize each other’s str...

Today's episode focuses on how companies can manage risks and seize opportunities emerging from shifting geopolitical trends. We’ll talk about why organizations need to strategically invest in capabilities, people, processes, structures, and technology to navigate the risks arising from an evolving and fraught geopolitical landscape. Joining us is  Ziad Haider , McKinsey's global director of geopo...

Joining us for this episode is John Horn, author of the new book Inside the Competitor's Mindset . John’s book analyzes how businesses can better understand their competitors and maximize the value of their competitive insights. He is a Professor of Practice in Economics at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. We also have Emma Gibbs with us. Emma is a partner in our Lon...

Juvencio Maeztu is Deputy CEO and CFO of Ingka Group. Ingka Group is IKEA’s primary retail organization and represents roughly 90% of its global sales. Juvencio joined IKEA in 2001 and prior to starting his current role, he led IKEA India as CEO for over 6 years. Juvencio sat down with Sean Brown in London to discuss the company's triple bottom line: successfully meeting customer needs, achieving...

The road to becoming CEO is a difficult ascent for even the most seasoned leaders. We discuss the four keys to making that journey a success with Carolyn Dewar and Vik Malhotra, two of the authors of the New York Times bestseller, CEO Excellence .    Carolyn is a senior partner in our San Francisco office who founded and co-leads our CEO Excellence Practice. She works directly with Fortunate 100 c...

PepsiCo's design chief Mauro Porcini talks about the role of humanity and authenticity in driving innovation. In today’s episode, Mauro Porcini speaks with senior partner Erik Roth as part of our Committed Innovator series of discussions. Mauro is an enthusiastic innovator and design evangelist. He recently published The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People where he de...

The chief strategy officer’s role has expanded significantly over the past decade. We look at what it takes to be a successful strategist today. In this episode we discuss the ways in which strategy leaders’ responsibilities have expanded significantly over the past decade, with many adding other functions to their roles. Sean is joined by Emma Gibbs, a partner in our London office who leads our S...

In today's episode,  Teradata ’s chief financial officer, Claire Bramley , discusses the evolving role of finance leaders with McKinsey CFO, Eric Kutcher . Today, being a CFO requires harnessing the power of the “and” across many mandates: Playing offense and defense, leading the finance function, partnering with the broader C-suite, navigating short-term budget reallocation, and investing in stra...

New research shows that programmatic M&A helps companies outperform peers more than ever, creating value and resilience, even during a pandemic. In this episode the authors of our recent research on M&A discuss their latest findings that programmatic M&A—doing many small and midsize deals—helps build resilience in addition to outperformance over peers. Jeff Rudnicki and Tobias Lundberg...

In this second episode of our Voices of CEO Excellence interview with Ken Frazier, the former executive chairman and CEO of Merck candidly reflects on how he managed past crises. Frazier discusses his decision-making process around the litigation trial concerning Merck’s pain-relief drug Vioxx, and how his employees ensured that a potentially crippling cyber attack did not stop production of criti...

As CEO of Merck, Ken Frazier gained the respect of his employees, shareholders, and the broader community - both through the company’s performance during his 11-year tenure and also through his handling of several tests of his leadership. Now Merck’s former executive chairman, he recently shared how his experience growing up during the Civil Rights Movement shaped his career, how he ensured that s...

Congratulations, you’re a new CFO—now hit the ground running with these seven key mindsets and practices that effective CFOs adopt from day one. Joining Sean for this episode is Andy West , the global co-leader of McKinsey's Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice, Ankur Agrawal , a partner based in our New York office who leads our CFO and Capital Markets Practice in the Americas, Christian Grube...

What does purposeful growth look like in the retail sector? In this episode, McKinsey’s Brian Gregg speaks with two former senior executives at Nike, Christiana Shi and Stuart Hogue, about the strategies that enabled them to lead productive teams in the retail sector. The conversation touches on the importance of nurturing talent, building diverse teams, and identifying opportunities for individua...

Today's episode comes directly from our recent European M&A Conference in London, which we co-hosted with Goldman Sachs. Sean spoke with the global leaders of our M&A practice after the conference to get their read on the climate for mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Mieke Van Oostende is a senior partner based in Brussels whose client work is focused on financial institutions, and...

As volatility persists, companies need to be ready for a range of macroeconomic scenarios.  Three authors of a recent article on the economic outlook for 2023 and beyond discuss how businesses can prepare for what may be a challenging couple of years. Michael Birshan is the global co-leader of McKinsey’s Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice and serves on the McKinsey Global Institute Council. E...

Corporate innovators often turn to Israel and its vibrant start-up ecosystem to meet their goals. In this episode, we continue our Committed Innovator series on Israel, talking with innovators from three large organizations about how they approach their relations with start-ups. Roi Bar-Kat is head of Intel Capital in Israel, Neta-Li Meiri is chief of global tech innovation for the Israeli food co...