The price of civilisation
As the scientist Amory Lovins once observed, people don’t want energy; they want hot showers and cold beer. But basic pleasures come at a price in carbon dioxide emissions. CO2 is emitted when we burn fossil fuels (oil, gas, and coal) to produce energy, as well as in nonenergy processes (such as deforestation, or the reduction of iron ore to make steel). Based on current accounting methodologies, energy production makes up about 83 percent of CO2 emissions.
To read the article, see “The net-zero challenge: Accelerating decarbonization worldwide,” January 25, 2022.
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Across industries, live conversations between customers and customer-service agents still represent the majority of all incoming call-center volume, and projections suggest that these calls aren’t going away anytime soon. Companies that invest in capturing, extracting, and analyzing voice data have a real opportunity to substantially improve customer experience.
To read the article, see “From speech to insights: The value of the human voice,” January 21, 2022.
B2B still ordering in analog
Consumers are accustomed to getting nearly anything they want online thanks to the proliferation of e-commerce. Not so for the B2B portion of the value chain, which remains largely dependent on in-person sales. Players in “eB2B,” offering digital portals and apps to fragmented retail outlets—small grocers and shops—could capitalize on this USD 2.8 trillion global sector if they identify the right pain points. Click through the interactive to see which parts of the world have the largest share of fragmented trade retailers.
To read the article, see “Digital disruption: The rise of eB2B in fragmented retail,” January 14, 2022.
Banks get bypassed
In the new edition of McKinsey’s Global Annual Banking Review, we look at the industry’s great divergence. Traditional banks, which rely on balance sheet business, are valued similarly to utilities. Financial specialists (especially in payments) and fintechs, which are more focused on origination and sales, are valued more like tech companies in other industries. Read the report for more on the sources of divergence and a playbook for laggards to catch up.
To read the report, see “McKinsey’s Global Banking Annual Review,” December 1, 2021.
Our survey of 3000 US workers finds that diverse employees at all income levels are more likely to say they do not qualify for or are not sure if they qualify for major benefits, such as health insurance, ancillary insurance, employee assistance programs, leave policies, and wellness benefits. A big problem is communication: when companies partner with vendors such as insurers to make benefits easy to understand and navigate, employees are more likely to receive the care they need.
To read the article, see “Income alone may be insufficient: How employers can help advance health equity in the workplace,” December 3, 2021.