McKinsey Quarterly - most popular 2008 articles

1. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Eight business technology trends to watch
As they transform many markets and businesses, management should learn to shape the outcome rather than just react to it.

2. ORGANIZATION
Making talent a strategic priority
The War for Talent never ended. Executives must constantly rethink the way their companies plan to attract, motivate, and retain employees.

3. ORGANIZATION
Centered leadership: How talented women thrive
A new approach can help women become more self-confident and effective business leaders.

4. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The next step in open innovation
The creation of knowledge, products, and services by online communities of companies and consumers is still in its earliest stages.

5. ENERGY
The economics of solar power
Don’t be fooled by technological uncertainty and the continued importance of subsidies and regulations; solar will become more economically attractive. (A podcast interview with one of the authors is also available.)

6. STRATEGY

Enduring ideas: The GE–McKinsey nine-box matrix
A carefully constructed change agent program is essential for success in any operational transformation. This narrated animation—one of several the Quarterly produced in 2008—explains the origins and significance of the framework.

7. STRATEGY
Leadership and innovation
McKinsey research reveals a wide gap between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute. Organizational structures and processes are not the solution.

8. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Building the Web 2.0 enterprise: McKinsey Global Survey Results
Companies are using more Web 2.0 tools and technologies than they were in 2007—and sometimes for more complex business purposes, according to McKinsey’s second annual Web 2.0 survey, conducted in June 2008. Companies that are satisfied with their use of these tools are starting to see changes throughout the enterprise.

9. STRATEGY
How chief strategy officers think about their role: A roundtable
CSOs from several high-profile companies discuss the complexities and challenges of the job.

10. CORPORATE FINANCE
The new role of oil wealth in the world economy
Regulators may worry when stakes in Western companies are purchased by petrodollar investors, yet their vast resources kept down interest rates and buoyed financial assets. What’s the broader effect of the surge in petrodollars?