The McKinsey Quarterly

2010

• February 2010 

  Using behavioral science to improve the customer experience

  By guiding the design of customer interactions, the principles of behavioral science offer a simple, low-cost route to improved customer satisfaction.

• January 2010 

  A hospital-wide strategy for fixing emergency-department overcrowding

  A sustained reduction of emergency-department wait times requires not only an end-to-end transformation of multiple hospital processes but also a change in hospital culture, stronger staff skills, better performance management, and visible leadership.

• January 2010 

  Using knowledge brokering to improve business processes

  New applications of open-innovation principles allow progressive companies to enhance not only their products but also their core internal business processes.

  Includes:

• January 2010 

  What worked in cost cutting—and what’s next: McKinsey Global Survey results

  Companies were able to cut costs effectively through the crisis, executives say, but they’re less confident of their ability to contain or continue to cut them. Some companies are positioning themselves for longer-term success by planning the next round more strategically.

• January 2010 

  Why don’t back-office efficiency drives stick?

  A granular look at back-office operations shows why across-the-board cuts make no sense.

2009

• September 2009 

  How to optimize knowledge sharing in a factory network

  Designing a manufacturing network entails devising and managing flows of innovation and know-how—not just determining what to produce and where—and organizing the resulting logistics flows.

• September 2009 

  Taming demand variability in back-office services

  Managers in many back-office processing environments can make them more flexible and remove waste by organizing transactions or activities according to their variability.

• August 2009 

  A leaner public sector

  Through lean and Six Sigma initiatives, public-sector agencies can improve performance and productivity—but the impact won’t stick if they ignore the “soft” side of making operational change happen.

• August 2009 

  Unlocking the potential of frontline managers

  Instead of administrative work and meetings, they should focus on coaching their employees and on constantly improving quality.

• August 2009 

  When citizens are your customers

  Optimization techniques using noncontroversial metrics such as customer satisfaction can help government agencies improve their service levels.

• April 2009 

  Maximizing efficiency in pharma operations

  By matching the productivity of top drugmakers, average ones could enjoy labor and unit-cost savings worth five to six percentage points of earnings before interest and taxes.

2008

• December 2008 

  Freeing up cash from operations

  As the economy slows, companies should avoid the impulse to batten down their operations indiscriminately. Taking short-term steps and a balanced view of operations can keep cash flows healthy.

• November 2008 

  From lean to lasting: Making operational improvements stick

  By focusing on the “soft” side of lean and Six Sigma initiatives, leading global companies gain substantial, scalable, and sustainable advantages.

• August 2008  

  Adapting lean for customized bank processes

  Even steps that require customization and expert judgement can be streamlined effectively.

• July 2008 

  Managing capital projects: Lessons from Asia

  Some Asian companies are better at executing capital projects than are rivals elsewhere. What lessons can others learn from them?

  Includes:

• June 2008 

  Can North American auto suppliers create value?

  The automakers have vastly more power than the North American companies that supply them. To create value, the suppliers must redress the balance.

  Includes:

• June 2008 

  Managing capital projects for competitive advantage

  Investment in capital projects is rising. First-rate contracting will help companies to get a significant leg up on their rivals.

• May 2008 

  Daniel Kahneman on behavioral economics

  In an interview, the Nobel Laureate says organizations should think of decisions like any other product, and apply quality controls.

  Includes:

• February 2008 

  How investors can get more out of infrastructure

  Opportunities to invest in public infrastructure will increase during the next few years, but so will competition for deals.

2007

• November 2007 

  Anticipating customer queries in call centers

  An effort to determine the value of specific kinds of customer inquiries shows how companies should decide which channels are best for dealing with each of them.

• November 2007 

  Bringing best practice to China

  As the country merges into the world economy, best practice in China will become best practice globally, products developed in China will become global products, and industrial processes developed in China will become global processes.

  Includes:

• November 2007 

  Building an effective change agent team

  A carefully constructed change agent program is essential to any successful operational transformation.

• November 2007 

  Managing for quality: An interview with Armand V. Feigenbaum

  A noted quality expert discusses how the underlying principles of quality improvement still hold true.

• September 2007 

  Improving quality in pharma manufacturing

  For pharmaceutical and medical-product companies, adopting world-class manufacturing processes can create a competitive advantage by reducing regulatory risk and production costs.

• August 2007 

  Beyond manufacturing: The evolution of lean production

  Many nonmanufacturing sectors are rapidly adopting lean techniques. Soon they will no longer be a differentiating factor in themselves; the important thing will be how well you implement them.

• July 2007 

  Improving field service productivity

  Real-time information can help companies manage “invisible” employees.

• June 2007 

  Focusing on the customer: An interview with the head of Merrill Lynch’s operations and IT

  Merrill Lynch has combined operations with IT in a single unit. Diane Schueneman, the head of the company’s Global Infrastructure Solutions, explains how she is changing both to focus on the customer.

• June 2007 

  How to build top-performing auto dealerships

  Automakers and dealers should learn to collaborate more. Both parties would benefit.

• May 2007 

  Applying lean to application development and maintenance

  To make application development and maintenance more productive, IT managers are getting lean.

• May 2007 

  Improving operations and IT in Latin America's banks

  To go on growing, these institutions must raise their productivity by streamlining the back office.

• April 2007 

  Preparing for the next downturn

  In a buoyant economy, the next recession seems far off. But managers who prepare during good times can improve their companies' chances to endure—or thrive in—the eventual downturn.

  Includes:

• February 2007 

  Improving productivity in product services

  Services operations are variable, and measuring their performance is complex. But a company can raise their productivity by managing demand, assigning tasks by the cost of resources, and increasing labor's efficiency.

2006

• December 2006 

  Better operating models for financial institutions

  Banks and brokerages frequently can reduce operating costs by adopting one or two performance improvement measures. Bigger rewards await those that can conceptualize a broader redesign.

• December 2006 

  Leading change: An interview with the CEO of Deere & Company

  Bob Lane details the steps his company took to engage the whole organization in an operational and cultural transformation.

• December 2006 

  Merging bank operations across borders

  Cross-border mergers and acquisitions are more likely to succeed at banks that have a robust and flexible operating model.

• November 2006 

  A call center's last line of defense

  All save desks are not created equal: the best help companies to cut their churn rates, become more profitable, and even develop new products.

• November 2006 

  Finding the right level of call center staffing

  Regression analysis can help companies pinpoint the number of agents they need to increase profits.

• October 2006 

  Better manufacturing in China: An interview with two of PLP's top executives

  Bill Haag and Wu Yu explain the lessons of a lean transformation at the Chinese factory of a manufacturer based in Cleveland.

• July 2006 

  Benchmarking India's business process outsourcers

  A new methodology for measuring the performance of remote providers shows that while clients are mostly satisfied, there is significant room for improvement.

• June 2006 

  Applying lean manufacturing in China

  It's no longer enough just to be in China. Companies—domestic and foreign—that make goods there are now feeling the same efficiency pressures that beset companies elsewhere.

• June 2006 

  Applying lean production to the public sector

  Governments at all levels must deliver more for less. The principles of lean manufacturing offer surprisingly apt solutions.

• May 2006 

  Running a customer service center in India: An interview with the head of operations for Dell India

  Romi Malhotra shares insights on recruitment, retention, and developing talent.

• May 2006 

  Using call centers to boost revenue

  Many companies can turn their inbound call centers into powerful engines for growth.

• April 2006 

  Toward a leaner finance department

  Borrowing key principles from lean manufacturing can help the finance function to eliminate waste.

  Includes:

• March 2006 

  Using IT to boost call-center performance

  Call centers, making targeted improvements involving more cost-effective technologies, are finally saving money and improving revenues with IT.

• February 2006 

  Measuring performance in services

  Services are more difficult to measure and monitor than manufacturing processes are, but executives can rein in variance and boost productivity—if they implement rigorous metrics.

• February 2006 

  The link between management and productivity

  It's official: a company's economic success rests on the quality of its managers.

2005

• May 2005 

  Managing overhead costs

  To sustain improvements, companies must have an integrated perspective.

2004

• February 2004 

  When your competitor delivers more for less

  Value players will probably challenge your company. How will you respond?

2003

• November 2003 

  How to make after-sales services pay off

  For manufacturers, service plans can be a valuable second string, but only if they are properly designed and priced.

• November 2003 

  The hidden value in airline operations

  In other process-, labor-, and capital-intensive industries, superb operators win. Why should airlines be different?

• November 2003 

  What high tech can learn from slow-growth industries

  To drive productivity, high-tech executives should focus not just on technological innovation but also on business process innovation.

• 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.

• August 2003 

  Streamlining global overhead

  While a multinational company’s scale is important for capturing overhead cost savings, standardizing tasks among offices can be even more valuable.

• August 2003 

  What power consumers want

  Most customers are satisfied with the reliability of their electric service. So why are power distributors still making huge infrastructure investments?

• May 2003 

  Drilling down to store level

  One key to improving the performance of retail chains is finding a better way to disseminate more appropriate best practices.

2002

• December 2002 

  Banking behind the scenes

  World-class banks manage their back-office and IT activities as a portfolio of individual operations, each demanding a unique solution.

• December 2002 

  How to rescue CRM

  Even dysfunctional CRM systems may be well positioned for future success. The trick is to step back and think about your real goals.

• December 2002 

  Managing a sprawling service business

  Executives no longer have to rely on rules of thumb to manage geographically dispersed service networks. A new set of tools provides solutions for individual markets.

• November 2002 

  Helping employees embrace change

  Managing change is the responsibility of everyone in the corporation—from senior managers on down.

• November 2002 

  How good management raises productivity

  Effective management has long been thought to make companies more efficient. Here’s proof.

• August 2002 

  The secret life of factory service centers

  For a lucrative new source of revenues, profits, and market information, manufacturers need look no further than their own repair shops.

• June 2002 

  Loosening up: How process networks unlock the power of specialization

  Cutting-edge companies are swapping their tightly coupled processes for loosely coupled ones—making themselves not only more flexible but also more profitable.

2001

• November 2001 

  Better UK productivity: An inside job

  Poor labor productivity may turn UK manufacturing companies into easy targets for foreign buyers. Modern management techniques could be the answer.

• May 2001 

  Building blocks for capital projects

  The makers of the New Beetle and the Walkman have a lot to teach the builders of oil rigs and chemicals plants.

2000

• May 2000 

  A second wind for ERP

  Implementing enterprise resource-planning systems can be intensely painful, and once you have them up and running they may seem to interfere with the speed and nimbleness required for electronic business. Are they a waste? No, but the real benefits aren’t always obvious.

1998

• November 1998 

  First National Toyota

  Raising banks' productivity will take more than one-time cost cuts.

• February 1998 

  Manufacturing’s use and abuse of IT

  Research indicates the greatest potential for IT lies in product development and sales. Moving from laggard to star will take two to three years. Seven highly effective habits.

1997

• May 1997 

  Serving your customer’s customer: A strategy for mature industries

  The concept is simple: help 20 to 30 customers serve their customers better. Most of the improvement potential is not in sales (or pricing) but in logistics and technology. By focusing on innovation and growth, a company can change its self-image and ability to attract talent.

• May 1997 

  The growth philosophy of Bombardier

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

1996

• November 1996 

  Beyond benchmarking: How core-based redesign can yield high rewards

  How do companies pull away from the pack once their performance already matches best practice? The answer to superior performance may lie within existing technologies.

• August 1996 

  Quality is not a black and white issue

  Many companies have embraced Continuous Improvement as a means of ensuring that a product or process is performing satisfactorily. Yet many also fail to reap its benefits because the quality measurements they still employ are too crude.

• August 1996 

  Virtual vertical integration: The key to success

  Reasons for success in the machinery industry are changing with astounding speed. What now differentiates the leaders from the laggards is their relationships with their customers and their suppliers.

• February 1996 

  Order to payment

  More and more, this process distinguishes winners. The challenge is to link material, information, and monetary flows. Building “microcosms” with an action perspective may be the answer.

1995

• August 1995 

  Are you going out of fashion?

  PC and fashion producers face the same key challenge: balancing the cost of lost sales and obsolescence. Milanese fashion houses and Silicon Valley have made remarkable improvements.

• February 1995 

  Strategic outsourcing

  By assessing the relative costs and risks of making or buying, companies can leverage their skills and resources for increased profitability.

• February 1995 

  The wrong decisions cost

  When does a technology’s ability to differentiate demand in-house production? The big opportunities: outsourcing entire systems, design-to-cost, sole-sourcing.

1994

• February 1994 

  Does quality pay?

  An empirical study of the automotive supplier industry in Europe and Japan uncovers wide differences in management practice—and in results.