Rethinking operations in the next normal

14/06/2021

Regionalization has been accelerated by the pandemic, as countries closed their borders and protected their supply chains. Globalization was already under strain before the pandemic: the intraregional share of global goods trade increased by 2.7 percentage points between 2013 and 2018, according to an analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). Regionalization is most apparent […]

The future of the $1.5 trillion wellness market

11/06/2021

The concept of wellness has been around for a long time. Remember Jane Fonda workout tapes, neon legwarmers, and the “cookie diet”? These days, consumers view wellness through a much broader and more sophisticated lens, encompassing not just fitness and nutrition but also overall physical and mental health and appearance. They also have more choice in […]

Is the Stock Market Accurately Valuing Your Company?

10/06/2021

Traditionally, price discovery — determining a company’s fair value price — is based on the interactions of buyers and sellers in a marketplace. The publicly quoted share price demonstrates how capital markets value a company, and it’s the basis upon which the company issues debt and equity. It also helps determine how the company allocates […]

A Map of the Online World in Incredible Detail

09/06/2021

The internet is intangible, and because you can’t see it, it can be hard to comprehend its sheer vastness. As well, it’s difficult to gauge the relative size of different web properties. However, this map of the internet by Halcyon Maps offers a unique solution to these problems. Inspired by the look and design of […]

From survival to renewal: Transforming the consumer-goods industry

08/06/2021

Prolonged lockdowns because of COVID-19 outbreaks have acted as an accelerant for a number of trends, such as the dramatic shift to e-commerce and evolving consumer behaviors and preferences. Another big visible trend is the increased scrutiny from multiple stakeholders on sustainability issues that affect product strategy, sourcing and supply chain, and access to capital. […]

How Workplace Culture Enables Investment Firms to Do Better

07/06/2021

In today’s highly competitive business environment, workplace culture is becoming increasingly recognized as a source of competitive advantage. What does this mean for the investment industry, and how can asset managers use it to improve performance? The Top Cultural Edges to Develop Workplace culture was gaining traction for several years prior to COVID-19, but after […]

How Inclusive Is Your Leadership?

02/06/2021

America is housing a racially traumatized workforce. Many managers are ill-equipped to lead and connect with Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) employees. The physical traits, values, behaviors, and workplace identities of BIPOC employees continue to be compromised, minimized, and excluded. The reality is that professionalism has become the pseudonym for assimilation. Until white […]

Mapped: The Greenest Countries in the World

01/06/2021

  From widening wealth disparity to the environmental ramifications of economic development—the growing focus on global sustainability is a clear sign of the times. Research reveals that when a sustainable ethos is applied to policy and business, it typically bodes well for economies and people alike. By providing benchmarks for those decisions, indexes like Yale’s […]

What Psychological Safety Looks Like in a Hybrid Workplace

31/05/2021

“Our office policy is that people should come into the office once per week. Now they are organizing a team meeting with 15 people. I guess some people seem to feel comfortable with that, but I’m not; I have a young family at home and we have been very careful. I can’t say that though.” […]

A Visual Guide to Human Emotion

28/05/2021

A Visual Guide to Human Emotion Despite vast differences in culture around the world, humanity’s DNA is 99.9% similar. There are few attributes more central and universal to the human experience than our emotions. Of course, the broad spectrum of emotions we’re capable of experiencing can be difficult to articulate. That’s where this brilliant visualization […]

Ransomware Attacks Are Spiking. Is Your Company Prepared?

27/05/2021

With the migration to remote work over the last year, cyberattacks have increased exponentially. We saw more attacks of every kind, but the headline for 2020 was ransom attacks, which were up 150% over the previous year. The amount paid by victims of these attacks increased more than 300% in 2020. Already 2021 has seen […]

When an Iconic Founder Overshadows the Family Business

26/05/2021

Sometimes a founder’s image is so publicly associated with his or her company, one rarely stops to ask, “Who is that person?” A few, such as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Henry Ford, and Ralph Lauren become something even more than that; they become “iconic.” For many family businesses, having an iconic founder has […]

To Make Lean Startups Work, You Need a Balanced Team

21/05/2021

The lean startup approach has taken the entrepreneurship world by storm. Even established companies such as Dropbox, Slack, and General Electric have embraced it as a way to rapidly test and refine ideas for products or businesses. But is lean startup all it’s cracked up to be? In a recent Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal article, we […]

Mapped: The Top 10 Billionaire Cities

20/05/2021

  Mapped: The Top 10 Billionaire Cities in 2020 In 2020, the world gained 493 new billionaires—that’s one every 17 hours. For the last seven years, New York City has been home to more billionaires than any other city in the world. However, last year marked a monumental shift in the status quo. Beijing has […]

Childcare Is a Business Issue

19/05/2021

When the Covid-19 pandemic removed the safety net of schooling and employee-paid child care for working families, the damage was cataclysmic. Without a stable form of childcare as part of the business infrastructure, the world stopped working for the vast majority of working parents around the world. One third of the U.S. workforce, or an […]

How Accountable Teams Drive Performance in Challenging Times

18/05/2021

The future of work is changing, and new rules are being written before our very eyes. Teams are more important now than ever before, but many of them are struggling to step up and drive high performance when it matters most. Accountable Leaders Build Accountable Teams Weak, mediocre teams demonstrate behaviors that can breed a […]

10 Proactive Questions Every Board Member Should Be Asking

17/05/2021

Being a board member isn’t easy. You have responsibility for a company but limited means to really understand it — and that understanding is often mediated by management. How aware are you of what’s really happening in the company you’re responsible for governing? What did board members at Boeing, Carrillion, Wirecard, and Theranos know about […]

How Leaders Get in the Way of Organizational Change

15/05/2021

I received a call from the chief transformation officer of a midsize financial services company. Their company-wide change effort to shift from a product company to a services company was in shambles after being underway for nearly two years. “We thought we’d done everything we needed to do to keep this transformation from derailing,” he […]

How Leaders Get in the Way of Organizational Change

15/05/2021

I received a call from the chief transformation officer of a midsize financial services company. Their company-wide change effort to shift from a product company to a services company was in shambles after being underway for nearly two years. “We thought we’d done everything we needed to do to keep this transformation from derailing,” he […]

Fact Check: The Truth Behind Five ESG Myths

14/05/2021

Fact Check: The Truth Behind 5 ESG Myths In 2021, investors continue to embrace environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments at record levels. In the first quarter of 2021, global ESG fund inflows outpaced the last four consecutive quarters, reaching $2 trillion. But while ESG gains rapid momentum, the CFA Institute shows that 33% of […]

Fact Check: The Truth Behind Five ESG Myths

14/05/2021

Fact Check: The Truth Behind 5 ESG Myths In 2021, investors continue to embrace environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments at record levels. In the first quarter of 2021, global ESG fund inflows outpaced the last four consecutive quarters, reaching $2 trillion. But while ESG gains rapid momentum, the CFA Institute shows that 33% of […]

How Midsize Companies Can Maximize Growth and Efficiency

13/05/2021

A few months into 2021, middle-market companies are eager for growth and sense unique opportunities, including the chance to profit from pent-up demand and the momentum of a rebounding economy — and, for some, to take share from or acquire a weakened rival. The International Monetary Fund is forecasting U.S. economic growth at 6.4% this […]

6 Leadership Paradoxes for the Post-Pandemic Era

03/05/2021

The pandemic has accelerated a trend that has been unfolding over the last decade. As the world has grown more digital and complex, the range of decisions that leaders need to make has broadened, spanning from big picture strategic thinking to careful execution, to advancing technology roadmaps and upskilling and engaging employees. And decision-making criteria […]

Here’s What $1,000 Invested in Vaccine Stocks Would Be Worth Now

30/04/2021

  The Briefing Three of seven COVID-19 vaccine stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 since the beginning of the global pandemic Novavax is the highest performing vaccine stock, returning 1,549% to shareholders Vaccine Stocks During a Pandemic It’s often said that with every crisis comes great opportunity. While such catastrophes do create upheaval and uncertainty […]

The Surprising Power of Nostalgia at Work

29/04/2021

Many people assume that nostalgia is purely entertainment, a feeling individuals enjoy because it takes them back to the more carefree days of their youth. Some view it as maladaptive fixation on the past, perhaps indicating a fear of change. I’ve heard business analysts and leaders argue that, although nostalgia may help some companies sell […]

Mapped: The 25 Poorest Countries in the World

28/04/2021

Mapped: The 25 Poorest Countries in the World Having looked at the richest countries in the world, which nations are at the bottom of the list in terms of GDP per capita, in nominal terms? This map looks at the world’s 25 poorest countries by this metric. Country  GDP per capita (USD) 🇧🇮 Burundi $263.67 […]

Mapped: The 25 Richest Countries in the World

27/04/2021

  The Briefing The richest country in the world is Luxembourg with a GDP per capita of over $109,000 The world’s 25 richest countries are located across North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania Mapped: The 25 Richest Countries in the World Which are the richest countries in the world, by nominal GDP per capita? This […]

How Much Does Big Tech Make Every Minute?

23/04/2021

  The Briefing The FAATMAN stocks have a collective market cap of $8.3 trillion On average, these Big Tech companies generate a whopping $416,768 of revenue each minute Big Tech Just Keeps Getting Bigger It’s becoming increasingly difficult to wrap your head around just how massive some big tech stocks are getting, especially since they […]

Defining a Post-Pandemic Channel Strategy

23/04/2021

While consumers sheltered in their homes during the pandemic, more economic activity moved online. “In many markets, the surge in e-commerce has compressed the equivalent of several years of growth into just a few months,” McKinsey noted in a report  in August 2020. Now, with vaccinations proceeding, CEOs and others who allocate resources face a […]

Which Asian Economies Have the Most Sustainable Trade Policies?

22/04/2021

Which Asian Economies Have the Most Sustainable Trade Policies? To say that Asia has benefited from international trade is an understatement. By opening its economies to the rest of the world, the region has become a leading exporter in many of today’s most important industries. Trade has also improved Asia’s quality of life, lifting over […]

Have We Taken Agile Too Far?

21/04/2021

The idea of “agile” thinking or innovation, along with its close cousin “lean,” has spread far beyond its product development and manufacturing roots. It’s not uncommon now to hear about the agile approach to budgeting, talent management, or even running a family meeting. Agile is a powerful process for product development, but many organizations are […]

The Ballooning Valuations In Private Equity Deals

20/04/2021

The Briefing Private equity (PE) deal valuations by EV/EBITDA are increasingly rich and are hitting higher double-digit figures 2021 is expected to be another home run year for PE, with 20% of buyouts estimated to be priced above 20x EV/EBITDA The Ballooning Valuations In Private Equity Deals Private equity is getting increasingly expensive. As a […]

3 Ways to Help Your Team Recover from Disruption

19/04/2021

Many organizations wrestle with how to excel in rapidly changing times. At some point or another, they encounter challenges that force them to modify the ways they do things so they can continue to meet expectations. Some do it better than others, and it usually comes down to how confident they feel about their teams’ […]

The World’s Top 10 Hedge Fund Managers by Earnings

16/04/2021

The Briefing The top 10 hedge fund managers take home an average of $1.3 billion a year in earnings The hedge fund industry manages over $3 trillion in assets Hedge funds often have a two-and-twenty fee structure, charging 2% on all assets under management (AUM), and 20% on profits The Top 10 Hedge Fund Managers […]

How Midsize Companies Can Adapt to Changing Demand

15/04/2021

Because they’re smaller than large companies and less encumbered by bureaucracy, midsize companies have an opportunity to take advantage of the market changes that will persist post-Covid (some permanently). The ones that delay risk permanently losing their market position. Big companies can inadvertently stymie innovation, whereas midsize firms have an ideal mix of sufficient financial strength, […]

Visualizing Earth’s Global Ice Loss Between 1994-2017

14/04/2021

The Briefing Due to global warming, 28 trillion tonnes of ice have melted in just over two decades Over half (58%) of this global ice loss occurred in the Northern Hemisphere Visualizing Earth’s Global Ice Loss Between 1994-2017 Nearly 70% of the Earth’s freshwater is locked up in glaciers and ice caps, ground ice, and […]

Research: Joint Ventures that Keep Evolving Perform Better

13/04/2021

Successful companies actively manage their businesses through periods of economic growth, downturn, and recovery. They do so by innovating, making strategic shifts, rewiring existing operations, reallocating resources, entering new business lines, and restructuring existing ones. For most companies, joint ventures and other partnerships are a critical part of the equation. Companies like Amazon, GlaxoSmithKline, Lockheed […]

The Secret of Adaptable Organizations Is Trust

30/03/2021

In the last year, many companies have been pushed to the limits of their capabilities, and in many cases, to the edge of insolvency. With severe pressure on operations, supply chains, and demand, their processes have collapsed, and any idea of teamwork within their ranks has been thrown to the wind. Or have they? My […]

Visualizing Top 50 Most Valuable Global Brands

29/03/2021

For many brands, it has been a devastating year to say the least. Over half of the most valuable global brands have experienced a decline in brand value, a measure that takes financial projections, brand roles in purchase decisions, and strengths against competitors into consideration. But where some have faltered, others have asserted their dominance […]

Use Art to Reignite Your Team’s Motivation

26/03/2021

As we reach the one-year mark of working from home, remote teams are at risk of losing motivation. By drawing on techniques used by creatives, business leaders can revitalize teams and spark fresh momentum and innovation. For example, studies show that jazz musicians’ improvisational skills are achieved via heightened sensory activity in the brain alongside a […]

The Crazy World of Stonks Explained

25/03/2021

View the full-size version of this infographic here You may have seen diamond hands, rockets, and r/wallstreetbets rallying cries in the past few weeks—but what does it all mean? In this graphic we explain the events that led to an explosive rise in GameStop’s share price, along with the Reddit revolution fueling it. Gamestop’s stock […]

How to Step In as an Interim Leader

15/03/2021

Your boss has left the organization and you’re named interim replacement. Congrats! Well, sort of. It’s not a given that you’ll become the permanent replacement. What’s the best way to maximize the chances that you’ll get the full-time job? How should you manage the team so they respect your authority and support your candidacy? And […]

Visualizing Countries by Share of Earth’s Surface

12/03/2021

Visualizing Countries by Share of Earth’s Surface There are over 510 million square kilometers of area on the surface of Earth, but less than 30% of this is covered by land. The rest is water, in the form of vast oceans. Today’s visualization uses data primarily from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) to rank […]

What to Do When Your Employee Is Totally Checked Out

11/03/2021

It’s frustrating when a member of your team has mentally checked out. In some cases, this person does only the bare minimum. In other cases, they fail to meet important deadlines, or they drop the ball on critical projects. How can you determine what’s going on? What can you do to address the issue when […]

Ranked: The Most Valuable Nation Brands in 2020

10/03/2021

Can you remember a year more life-changing than 2020? Over a million lives were lost in the pandemic, oil prices turned negative, and protests swept the streets. At the same time, 10 years of technology advancements seemed to happen in mere months—and now vaccinations are rolling out at a record speed. Below, we round up […]

How to Plan Your Life When the Future Is Foggy at Best

08/03/2021

The year 2020 did not turn out as we planned. Unemployment rates in the U.S. are close to twice what they were in February of 2020, and the number of people furloughed is still towering over February averages. Plus, with the profound shakeup of our daily lives, a lot of folks are asking, What do […]

How Long Can a Company Thrive Doing Just One Thing?

26/02/2021

In a year of many changes and shakeups in the technology world, the recent news that Salesforce would acquire Slack for $27.7 billion (!) definitely raised eyebrows. What, exactly, did the veteran customer relationship management (CRM) company want from the breakout chat application? Why did Slack, which had seen record growth this year, sell? And […]

Visualizing the Most Populous Countries in the World

25/02/2021

  Visualizing the Most Populous Countries in the World   India’s population is projected to surpass China’s as soon as 2022.   While this is consequential on a global economic level, it also leaves other population trends overlooked. For instance, Nigeria is projected to have more people than the U.S., the world’s third-largest country by […]

How to Capitalize On the Coming M&A Wave

24/02/2021

Well-capitalized companies will soon face a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make acquisitions and consolidate power. As the Covid-19 crisis continues and the full brunt of its economic impact becomes clear, weaker players that had been given some breathing room by temporary government support programs or by falling back on their cash reserves, are likely to experience […]

Global Stars: The Most Innovative Countries, Ranked by Income Group

23/02/2021

The Most Innovative Countries, Ranked by Income Group Innovation can be instrumental to the success of economies, at macro and micro scales. While investment provides powerful fuel for innovation—the relationship isn’t always straightforward. The 2020 ranking from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reveals just that. The above map breaks down the most innovative countries […]

Giving Critical Feedback Is Even Harder Remotely

19/02/2021

Delivering constructive feedback is nerve-wracking in the best of times — most managers don’t want to crush their employees’ spirits. These tough conversations are even harder to have as multiple crises and their side effects wear on, which can make the negativity bias that often accompanies them even worse. To top it all off, a […]

The World’s Most Searched Consumer Brands

18/02/2021

  Strong brands create an emotional link with consumers, and tech brands are no exception. In fact, Google, Amazon, Netflix, and even eBay rank as some of the most searched consumer brands worldwide. It’s hard to imagine life without these household names, but how do brand preferences shift and change across internet searches worldwide? This […]

The path forward for sustainable retail

18/02/2021

Retail is undergoing an unprecedented transition. The internet has led to new sales channels and new opportunities to reach out to customers, and globalization has opened markets and introduced new competitors. Then COVID-19 happened, rocking the industry to its core, as stores around the world closed and consumers had no choice but to order online. […]

The Secret to Building Resilience

17/02/2021

An anesthesiologist we’ll call Jacob used to describe his job as “90% boredom, 10% horror.” With a few exceptions of challenging surgeries and managing a department of several hundred physicians and nurses, most of the time, Jacob’s role was routine. But that was before the Covid-19 pandemic. Since anesthesiology is not a specialty that can […]

The CEO agenda for companies in advanced industries

16/02/2021

  CEOs and corporate leaders are awash with uncertainty due to the persistent transmission of COVID-19, shifting regional dynamics, fluctuating customer demand, and transformational technology disruptions. For industrial companies—those within advanced electronics, aerospace and defense, and automotive and assembly—the decisions made today about their strategy, products and services portfolio, and sustainable performance transformations could have […]

WFH Doesn’t Have to Dilute Your Corporate Culture

12/02/2021

The pandemic pushed many organizations to become fully remote, and the experience has been better than many imagined. As a result, a hybrid working model that embraces the best of both remote and office-based work awaits many workers and companies on the other side of the crisis. Adapting to this new working model might seem […]

Transformation in uncertain times: Tackling both the urgent and the important

10/02/2021

In ordinary times, successful leaders continually strive to master the balance between the urgent and the important, both in their organizations and their daily schedules. But today’s CEOs face unprecedented financial, health and safety, and operational challenges. For them, the problem isn’t balancing the urgent with the important. It’s that most everything is both urgent […]

Reimagining the Balanced Scorecard for the ESG Era

09/02/2021

In August 2019, the U.S. Business Roundtable, the leading gathering for Fortune 500 CEOs, stated that “each of our stakeholders is essential. We commit to deliver value to all of them, for the future success of our companies, our communities and our country.” This re-orientation acknowledges widespread concerns that companies who focus only on their […]

Boards Are Obstructing ESG — at Their Own Peril

05/02/2021

The list of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues that can pose financial risks to corporations exploded in 2020: climate change, water scarcity, pollution, #metoo, #blacklivesmatter, worker welfare, employee diversity, corruption, human rights abuses, supply chain scandals…not to mention Covid-19. Yet while many investors and chief executives now take ESG seriously in their decision making, […]

How to Support an Employee with a Chronic Health Condition

03/02/2021

In the United States, 60% of adults have at least one chronic health condition: illnesses or conditions like chronic pain and fatigue that last at least one year and require ongoing management or restrict an individual’s activities. These numbers don’t include Covid-19 “long-haulers,” or the 10% of those who experience lingering symptoms, such as difficulties with […]

Your Star Employee Just Quit. Will Others Follow?

01/02/2021

Movement of talented employees across firms is inevitable, but if you’re in a leadership role, there are things you can do when a star employee leaves to prevent their departure from becoming a stampede to the exits. Ask Questions, Then Listen Perhaps the most important thing you can do when someone leaves is to listen […]

How to Set Up an Ethics Advisory Board

29/01/2021

In the face of an ever-growing array of ethical dilemmas, many organizations may benefit from establishing an Ethics Advisory Board, or EAB. While EABs are still a new concept (and they don’t always work out), they can provide very real value, offering crucial perspectives from diverse, external stakeholders on ethically fraught decisions pertaining to anything […]

How incumbents can lay the foundations for hypergrowth

28/01/2021

Even with considerable resources available, many big organizations find it challenging to achieve double-digit revenue growth for new products and services—a range that for many start-ups and scale-ups would be dangerously low. But established companies can expand the market reach of their new businesses quickly and effectively by gaining an understanding of how scale-ups and […]

7 Strategies to Build a More Resilient Team

27/01/2021

Announcing Q4 results that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, Apple CEO Tim Cook identified resilient, high-functioning teams as a key element that fortified the company in the midst of the pandemic’s unprecedented challenges. “Even though we’re apart, it’s been obvious this year that around the company, teams and colleagues have been leaning on and counting on […]

How procurement can boost business growth post-COVID-19

26/01/2021

As economies begin their transition to the next normal, crisis management is evolving into recovery, with a few signs of growth starting to return. Our conversations with procurement leaders have identified a common theme: of newfound energy to apply hard-won lessons learned from an extraordinary time. These executives’ new focus is on reimagining the procurement […]

Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?

25/01/2021

If you want to silence a room of executives, try this small trick. Ask them, “Why would anyone want to be led by you?” We’ve asked just that question for the past ten years while consulting for dozens of companies in Europe and the United States. Without fail, the response is a sudden, stunned hush. […]

It’s Time to Replace the Public Corporation

21/01/2021

The public corporation is no longer fit for purpose, and its popularity as an ownership model is declining. Why It Happens In today’s capital markets, the model incentivizes executives to manage in tiny, short-term windows, thus failing to satisfy the primary needs of its critical stakeholders: retirement investors and knowledge workers. How to Fix It […]

Mental health in the workplace: The coming revolution

20/01/2021

Three weeks prior to his resignation, suffering severe depression, Mendonca had checked into a hospital for an overnight stay. But, acting in his position of great responsibility, in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, Mendonca had “told myself and my team that we all have to operate at 120 percent. . . . This meant […]

How the Gender Balance of Investment Teams Shapes the Risks They Take

19/01/2021

Women are more risk averse than men on average — at least that’s what research and received wisdom seem to suggest. Women take fewer risks when picking stocks, investing in venture capital, and making acquisitions, for example. There are various explanations for these differences in appetite for risk. The most common one holds  that in […]

Build a Family Business That Lasts

15/01/2021

The Paradox Family businesses are famous for power plays, backstabbing, and dramatic implosions. Yet some are among the most enduring companies in existence. Why It Matters Family-controlled firms represent some 85% of the world’s businesses. In the United States they employ 62% of the workforce. The Keys to Longevity The owners of a family business […]

The next normal arrives: Trends that will define 2021—and beyond

14/01/2021

Businesses have spent much of the past nine months scrambling to adapt to extraordinary circumstances. While the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet won, with a vaccine in sight, there is at least a faint light at the end of the tunnel—along with the hope that another train isn’t heading our way. 2021 […]

Worried You Might Be in a Dying Industry?

13/01/2021

Any business in any sector is ultimately vulnerable to disruption or obsoletion if it doesn’t plan and adapt for the future. Technological progress creates lots of opportunities but also leaves destruction in its wake. Much of that destruction exacts a human cost in the form of jobs that are lost as one company or industry […]

How Did Business’s Role in Society Change in 2020?

12/01/2021

The year 2020 was incredibly rough, but with one big bright spot at the end. A once-in-a-century global pandemic — an unfathomable tragedy — devastated lives and economies. But in a miraculous display of scientific prowess, Pfizer, Moderna, and other pharmaceutical companies produced what appeared to be highly effective Covid-19 vaccines by December. After a year of […]

What Will the U.S.-China Relationship Look Like in the Biden Era?

11/01/2021

The sight of Hangzhou’s railway station packed to the rafters during China’s Golden Week holidays in early October was a powerful symbol of the country’s swift recovery from Covid-19. With mobility restrictions long lifted, more than 600 million Chinese crisscrossed the country to visit family and friends — providing an important boost to domestic consumption […]

Cross-Team Meetings Don’t Have to Be a Waste of Time

08/01/2021

There is a frustrating familiarity about meetings with other departments, with an outcome you can predict even before the conversation begins: Heads will nod, there will be vague statements or a call for more data, and then unfailingly, you’ll repeat the same conversation repeated next time. Eyes roll, progress stalls, yet no one calls out […]

With vaccines on the horizon, here’s how business leaders can plan ahead |

10/12/2020

Still, many questions remain and in all my years of scenario planning, I’ve never seen uncertainty like that which has arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders are in need of guidance as to how to plan for the months ahead. Salesforce has been tracking the many uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 since March and developed a range […]

What Inclusive Leaders Sound Like

09/12/2020

Illustration by HBR Staff When leaders commit to building an inclusive organization, they tend to start with the company mission, vision, values, and a promise to ensure everyone in the organization has a voice. But if they don’t change the way they communicate every day with their employees, leaders are missing a crucial piece. In […]

Poor diets making children shorter, according to new study

08/12/2020

“Our findings should motivate policies that increase the availability and reduce the cost of nutritious foods, as this will help children grow taller without gaining excessive weight for their height,” said Dr Andrea Rodriguez Martinez, the study’s lead author. “Household poverty and food insecurity rates have increased. Essential nutrition services and supply chains have been […]

How to Actually Encourage Employee Accountability

07/12/2020

Fewer words in corporate vernacular induce a tighter wince than “accountability,” and for good reason. Companies and leaders have grappled with what it is and how to achieve it effectively for decades. Ask anyone if they look forward to their performance evaluation or periodic check-in with their boss, and most will give an emphatic “no.” […]

Consumers with food allergies: A growing market remains underserved | McKinsey

04/12/2020

Around the world, half a billion people, including close to 85 million in the United States, avoid allergens when shopping for food and beverages. The number of American children who experience food allergies has been growing about four times faster than the population has for at least 20 years. They aren’t alone: evidence suggests that […]