Here’s why human-centric innovation is necessary
Even a great idea or mission can be crippled by design that doesn’t put people first. Why should human considerations—such as their needs, wants, and dreams—only come into the conversation later? By centering empathy and understanding in design research, companies can both reduce risk in the idea-generating stage and ensure people are at the heart of the process, write senior partners Ewan Duncan and Kevin Neher. These needs also include the needs of the planet, society, and what matters to us as human beings. Explore our insights to learn more about human-centric design, including how to balance designing for individuals versus everyone, why first-hand research can change the game, and why it’s important to innovate for the needs of future people too.
January 22, 2023
Even a great idea or mission can be crippled by design that doesn’t put people first. Why should human considerations—such as their needs, wants, and dreams—only come into the conversation later? By centering empathy and understanding in design research, companies can both reduce risk in the idea-generating stage and ensure people are at the heart of the process, write senior partners Ewan Duncan and Kevin Neher. These needs also include the needs of the planet, society, and what matters to us as human beings. Explore our insights to learn more about human-centric design, including how to balance designing for individuals versus everyone, why first-hand research can change the game, and why it’s important to innovate for the needs of future people too.
Author Talks: PepsiCo’s Mauro Porcini talks meaningful design and mentorship
CX without design only gets you halfway
Innovation: Your solution for weathering uncertainty
Beyond contactless operations: Human-centered customer experience
Human-centered design: A win for real-estate stakeholders
Author Talks: Design your future
The future of the high-rise: Creating people-centric spaces
The rebirth of workspace design: An interview with Gensler co-CEO Diane Hoskins
Fear factor: Overcoming human barriers to innovation
Combining human expertise with state-of-the-art logistics technology
Is your pricing strategy cutting it?
February 5, 2023
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced another interest rate hike—albeit its smallest since last March—as it pushes to rein in prices. In the meantime, companies are still grappling with if and how they should adjust their pricing to offset continued inflation without jeopardizing future revenues. Re-pricing is necessary to sustain margins in a period of rising costs, write partner Alex Abdelnour and senior partner Emily Reasor. And when done the right way, recovering your cost of inflation on a case-by-case basis can even strengthen relationships and overall margins. Explore these insights to understand why your company should take nuanced approaches to pricing in today’s inflationary environment.
Five ways to ADAPT pricing to inflation
Pricing during inflation: Active management can preserve sustainable value
Winning the race with inflation: The pricing opportunity for industrial companies
Countering inflation: How US P&C insurers can build resilience
Implementing inflation response strategies at defense companies
How Europe’s CPG leaders can navigate inflation
Hitting the mark: Why markdowns matter more than ever
Four ways to achieve pricing excellence in retail marketplaces
Defying cost volatility: A strategic pricing response
The dos and don’ts of dynamic pricing in retail
Pricing and promotions: The analytics opportunity
Pricing: The next frontier of value creation in private equity
Digital pricing transformations: The key to better margins
Building business ecosystems that support Black entrepreneurs
February 4, 2023
Despite the ingenuity and striving of generations, Black Americans have found their opportunities systematically limited by racial inequities in virtually every aspect of society and the economy, write senior partner Shelley Stewart and senior partner emeritus James Manyika. Dismantling the barriers that have kept Black Americans from fully participating in the US economy could unleash a wave of growth, dynamism, and productivity. In a four-part series, we’ll dive into the critical gaps Black Americans face in their roles as entrepreneurs, workers, consumers, and residents. In this first collection, check out our research on Black business ownership—and the opportunities to build more supportive ecosystems. Be sure to bookmark this page for more insights from the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility throughout #BlackHistoryMonth.
A guide to impact investing in Black economic mobility
Expand diversity among your suppliers—and add value to your organization
Building Black-owned brands to accelerate prosperity
Building supportive ecosystems for Black-owned US businesses
Black representation in the beauty industry
The Black unicorn: Changing the game for inclusivity in retail
Black-owned businesses face an unequal path to recovery
More from McKinsey:
McKinsey commits USD 15 million to support Black-owned businesses and help fuel economic development
What will it take to build more Black-owned businesses?
The world of work is still evolving
January 29, 2023The workplace we once knew—but arguably never really loved—is no longer. The pandemic propelled remote work, virtual transactions, and adoption of digital technologies. Then came the Great Attrition: Craving flexibility, employees quit their jobs in droves, taking time to tend to their personal lives or embarking on sabbaticals. HR professionals continue to rethink how they manage their people and the best way to do so, and new HR operating-model archetypes are emerging in response to dramatic changes in business and in the world, write partners Neel Gandhi, Asmus Komm, and Florian Pollner. To say the world of work has been flipped upside-down in recent years is an understatement. Explore these insights to see where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.
Workplace rituals: Recapturing the power of what we’ve lost
Reimagining HR: Insights from people leaders
European talent is ready to walk out the door. How should companies respond?
Women in tech: The best bet to solve Europe’s talent shortage
The Great Attrition is making hiring harder. Are you searching the right talent pools?
Talent in a changing market: What now?
Quiet quitting and performance management
This time it’s personal: Shaping the ‘new possible’ through employee experience
(Extremely) out of office: Let nature boost your team’s creativity and performance
Addressing employee burnout: Are you solving the right problem?
Race in the workplace: The frontline experience
How to become a tech-forward business
January 28, 2023In the face of a business environment plagued with uncertainties, organizations are turning to technology to help lower costs and optimize productivity, and with good reason. Among McKinsey-surveyed companies in 2020 that were able to successfully undergo a tech transformation, 50 percent reported moderate to significant impact on realizing new revenue streams, almost 70 percent reported impact on increasing existing revenue streams, and 76 percent reported impact on reducing costs. But modernizing technology requires companies do multiple things well to capture all the value that’s there for the taking, write partners Anusha Dhasarathy and Thomas Elsner, and senior partner Naufal Khan. Dive into these insights to understand how to compete and succeed in a digital world.
The Tech:Forward recipe for a successful technology transformation
Prioritising technology transformations to win
McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2022
Seven lessons on how technology transformations can deliver value
Managing the fallout from technology transformations
Tech-enabled business transformation: The trillion dollar opportunity