McKinsey Quarterly

Although Dan Ariely is an academic by trade, he is a pragmatist at heart. The Duke professor and best-selling author brings his theories to light through practical applications and behavioral experiments, where irrationality is almost always certain. Ariely has written two books on the subject--The Upside of Irrationality and Predictably Irrational. In February 2011, he sat down with Olivier Sibony, a director in McKinsey's Paris office, to share his insights into human behavior that can help companies make better decisions.

How the exponential growth of technologies will transform business and society.

McKinsey's managing director, Dominic Barton, and other partners discuss global trends and the ways companies can act on them.

A panel of regional business leaders discusses its prospects.

Recent years have seen an unprecedented breakdown in public trust of business, spurred in no small part by instances of unethical behavior at some of the world's most powerful institutions. Mary Gentile, director of business curriculum at Babson College, says the real challenge for business students, employees, and executives isn't knowing what's right, but knowing how to act on those convictions within an organization. In this June 2010 McKinsey video podcast, Professor Gentile shares insights and experiences on how to do that, gathered through her work developing the Giving Voice to Values curriculum and her book by the same name.

PR expert Richard Edelman explores corporate reputation and trust.

Protecting the natural environment isn't the whole story: companies must consider their social, economic, and cultural impact as well.

Business history is littered with examples of companies that missed important trends; think digitization and the music industry. Yet this history also shines with examples of companies that spied the forces changing the global business scene and used them to protect or contribute to the bottom line. The fact is, trends matter. Systematically spotting and acting on emerging ones helps companies to capture market opportunities, test risks, and spur innovation. In this video podcast, McKinsey Director Peter Bisson discusses the value of tracking global forces and how to build them into corporate strategy.

As China gains dominance on the world stage, more and more multinational corporations will need to rethink their assumptions about competing under its state-capitalism model--one in which the government is the principal economic driver. So says Ian Bremmer, president of the political-risk consulting firm Eurasia Group and author of the upcoming book The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations? In this video interview, Bremmer discusses the fundamental distinctions between state capitalism and free-market economies, as well as the strategic implications this has for Western companies and governments alike. McKinsey Publishing's Rik Kirkland conducted the interview in New York.

Andrew Gould, CEO of oil-field services giant Schlumberger, presides over 80 offices worldwide and a company that, as he describes it, has no national identity. In this video from the McKinsey Quarterly, Gould shares his views on why leading such a global company successfully requires a belief in meritocracy and equal opportunity across geographies, why oil production will remain strong despite the rise of alternative energies, and why science and innovation form the bedrock of Schlumberger. Ivo Bozon, a director in McKinsey's Amsterdam office, conducted the interview.

Council on Foreign Relations’ president on ties between government and business.

Stephen Roach discusses dramatic changes for the region the next two decades.

The CEO of the social-justice organization Sojourners discusses the imperative for rethinking values in the wake of the economic downturn.

Stanford's Garth Saloner on MBA education in a world of companies without borders.

Tour a pilot project in Namibia's capital, where simple, scaleable actions are saving mothers' lives.