McKinsey Quarterly - Q1 2011 - Constructing your 2011 agenda Author:Various Authors McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company. Our goal is to offer new ways of thinking about management in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. We aim to help business people run their organizations more productively, more competitively, and more creatively. Quarterly articles, written by McKinsey consultants, offer p... more »ractical ideas based on the firm's experience with the world's largest companies and on proprietary research and close ties to academic institutions.
In this first McKinsey Quarterly issue of 2011, we offer insights on three priorities that reflect the diversity of issues senior executives are dealing with in these still uncertain times: pressure testing their strategy, boosting supply chain flexibility, and enhancing personal productivity. For starters, we introduce ten tests that any leader can use to stir up strategic dialogue in his or her organization. In addition, four senior executives share the tough questions they like to ask. And UCLA management professor Richard Rumelt explains how kicking the tires on a company's strategic direction can help avoid what he calls "bad strategy." We also explore the importance of a flexible, nimbler supply chain configured to cope with rising levels of complexity and to hedge against uncertainty. Finally, we take a look at the perils of multitasking and offer solutions for executives on how to manage impossible demands. And in a related article, Babson College professor Thomas Davenport shows how to help knowledge workers cope with information overload. Also in this issue, we explore how to harness the power of social media, the early adoption of electric cars, the Web's 100 billion surplus, China's new pragmatic consumers, three steps executives can take to improve their top team, and, in an article by Gary Hamel, the future of management innovation. Finally, don't miss advice for the CEO's last 100 days.« less