Reprinted with permission from McKinsey Quarterly. As consumers increasingly interact digitally with companies, competitive advantage lies in understanding the range and complexity of those touch points. The past 15 years have created a very different business environment, which has empowered consumers, commoditized many products and services, and dramatically compressed margins. Not surprisingly, these changes have forced

Printed with permission from McKinsey Global Institute. Their behavior since the downturn contrasts sharply with that of their US neighbors. As the country’s economy rebounds, many of these differences will probably persist. Mexican consumers have been hit harder than their US counterparts by the downturn since 2008, but they are more optimistic about their country’s

Printed with permission from McKinsey Quarterly. As the economic spotlight shifts to developing markets, global companies need new ways to manage their strategies, people, costs, and risks. Managing global organizations has been a business challenge for centuries. But the nature of the task is changing with the accelerating shift of economic activity from Europe and North

Printed with permission from McKinsey Quarterly The Russian car market is on track to recover from the financial crisis shortly. Where is the growth coming from? And who will benefit? In 2008, the passenger car market in Russia hit a historic high, with more than 2.7 million units sold. Then came the worldwide financial crisis,

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Posted with permission from McKinsey Quarterly The great rebalancing As the center of economic growth shifts from developed to developing countries, global companies should focus on innovation to win in low-cost, high-growth countries. Their survival elsewhere may depend on it. As the center of economic growth shifts from developed to developing countries, global companies should

The world’s largest social-media market is vastly different from its counterpart in the West. Yet the ingredients of a winning strategy are familiar. Reprinted with permission from McKinsey Quarterly No Facebook. No Twitter. No YouTube. Listing the companies that don’t have access to China’s exploding social-media space underscores just how different it is from those of

Printed with permission from McKinsey Global Institute. By 2025, annual consumption in emerging markets will reach $30 trillion—the biggest growth opportunity in the history of capitalism. To compete for the prize, companies must master ten key disciplines. The Industrial Revolution is widely recognized as one of the most important events in economic history. Yet by many

Reprinted with permission from McKinsey Global Institute. Banks in Eastern Europe have had a roller coaster ride over the past decade.1 After dizzying growth between 2000 and 2007, when shares in the region’s top financial institutions performed better than those of their counterparts around the world, asset values slumped by two-thirds as the credit crisis of

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