The McKinsey Quarterly

2008

• March 2008 

  Dissecting global trends: An example from Italy

  Executives should examine the impact of trends on subindustries, segments, categories, and micromarkets before placing their bets.

• March 2008 

  Running a winning M&A shop

  Picking up the pace of M&A requires big changes in a company’s processes and organization—even if the deals are smaller.

  Includes:

2007

• December 2007 

  Deal making in 2007: Is the M&A boom over?

  Reports of the demise of the M&A boom may be greatly exaggerated. But to keep it going, companies must work even harder to ensure that deals create value.

  Includes:

• October 2007 

  When to break up a conglomerate: An interview with Tyco International’s CFO

  Chris Coughlin explains how spinning off some of the company’s largest businesses was the key to ensuring its long-term growth.

• July 2007 

  Preempting hostile takeovers

  Companies that stick to valuation basics can capture any value that would make them attractive for takeover bids.

  Includes:

• May 2007 

  The granularity of growth

  A fine-grained approach to growth is essential for making the right choices about where to compete.

  Includes:

• April 2007 

  Acting on global trends: A McKinsey Global Survey

  Executives see opportunities as well as risks in the global business landscape, yet many are not addressing them.

• April 2007 

  The elusive goal of corporate outperformance

  Few large global companies outperform their competitors on both revenue growth and profitability over a decade. Do those that do have anything else in common?

• April 2007 

  The new dynamics of managing the corporate portfolio

  As investors demand that companies actively manage their business portfolios, executives must increasingly balance investment opportunities against the capital that's available to finance them.

  Includes:

2006

• December 2006 

  Are companies getting better at M&A?

  The latest boom in merger activity appears to be creating more value for the shareholders of the acquiring companies.

  Includes:

• November 2006 

  A grassroots approach to emerging-market consumers

  By tapping into local networks, companies can serve low-income markets profitably, delivering significant value to shareholders while creating the essential market infrastructure for economic development in the neediest communities.

• July 2006 

  Habits of the busiest acquirers

  M&A executives at the most successful US companies understand not only how acquisitions create value but also how to enlist the support of the organization.

  Includes:

• March 2006 

  Balancing ROIC and growth to build value

  Companies find growth enticing, but a strong return on invested capital is more sustainable.

• February 2006 

  Making China your second home market: An interview with the CEO of Danfoss

  The head of the Danish industrial-controls company wants to make China one of its core markets.

2005

• November 2005 

  Beating the odds in market entry

  How to avoid the cognitive biases that undermine market entry decisions.

• August 2005 

  The do-or-die struggle for growth

  The largest corporations rarely sustain strong growth unless they compete in the right places at the right times.

• August 2005 

  What global executives think about technology and innovation

  A survey uncovers shared perspectives on the challenges now facing companies, but IT execs must still sell tech innovation to business leaders.

• May 2005 

  Seeing the elephant whole

  Partial perspectives may be true in themselves, but you must combine them to see the world as it really is.

• May 2005 

  What global executives think about growth and risk

  As the quickening pace of globalization creates both new markets and new competitors, hopes contend with fears.

• April 2005 

  How to escape the short-term trap

  Markets may expect solid performance over the short term, but they also value sustained performance over the long term. How can companies manage both time frames?

  Includes:

• February 2005 

  Balancing short- and long-term performance

  The benefits are many for corporations that can walk this tightrope.

2004

• November 2004 

  The McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives , November 2004

  The confidence of executives around the world has fallen during the past year, and they are dubious about the prospects for trade liberalization in a second Bush administration.

• February 2004 

  Learning to grow again

  Companies should ask three critical questions as they shift from cost-cutting to expansion mode.

2003

• November 2003 

  Running with risk

  It’s good to take risks—if you manage them well.

• August 2003 

  Managing for improved corporate performance

  Generating great performance requires a more dynamic approach to building and adapting a company’s capabilities than merely squeezing its operations.

2002

• June 2002 

  Rebuilding business building

  The new generation of corporate venturers might still be wet behind the ears, but they have shown that they can catalyze growth in the organization as a whole.

2001

• November 2001 

  Why mergers fail

  Is the belief that mergers drive revenue growth a delusion?

• August 2001 

  Creative destruction

  How can corporations make themselves more like the market? An excerpt from the best-selling book.

• August 2001 

  How fast is too fast?

  Speed in building a business is sometimes advisable, even necessary. But more often than not, it kills.

1999

• November 1999 

  Dialog: Can a company ever be too big?

  Some people believe that "it is different this time." Others don't.

1997

• May 1997 

  The growth philosophy of Bombardier

  An interview with Laurent Beaudoin, chairman and CEO, Bombardier Inc.

1996

• November 1996 

  Staircases to growth

  With revenue increases of 25 percent a year, how do the world’s best growth companies do it? A few steps at a time, each bringing options and new capabilities. No formulas, just astute bundling of competences, skills, assets, and relationships.

• May 1996 

  Beating high fail in high-tech

  Diversification into high-tech: focus on market value. External milestones remove commercial uncertainties. Marry your technology resources to the market knowledge of current players.

• May 1996 

  Growth through acquisitions: A fresh look

  LBOs outbid corporate buyers and then produce extraordinary returns. How do they do it? A study of over 800 acquisitions shatters some myths about the value of timing and leverage. Don’t do the deal if you can’t find the leader.

• May 1996 

  Managing growth options

  Digital technology, telephone deregulation, and home computing are opening up the possibility of exciting growth prospects in pay-TV, cable and wireless telephony, and network-based services. Yet investing in them is risky, since potential losses could be substantial.

• February 1996 

  Growing in the food industry

  For much of the 1980s, food and packaged goods companies could do no wrong. More recently, however, industry performance has come crashing back to earth.

• February 1996 

  Keys to profitable growth

  Why do so many growth strategies fail to realize their aspirations, yielding either far less growth than expected or growth that generates no profits? McKinsey highlights two requirements for profitable growth.

1995

• August 1995 

  The paradox of fast growth tigers

  Forty-one companies with sustained growth of over 20 percent. To understand them, forget diminishing returns and classical economics. Reinforcing loops and growth cycles.

• May 1995 

  Is your growth strategy your worst enemy?

  The brilliance of a strategy may lie in overcoming powerful secondary effects.