This interview is part of the Inside the Mind of the CxO series, which explores a wide range of critical decisions faced by chief executives around the world. In May 2025, two of the most talked-about ...

The good news for business leaders is that research and experience point toward sound approaches to the delivery and positioning of sustainable products. Working in tandem, PwC and the Center for ...

The last few years have brought real change. Balance sheets today have significantly more nontangible assets—intellectual property and digital capability, for example—than ever before. And a series of ...

A version of this article appeared in the Autumn 2021 issue of strategy+business. The mythology of corporate boards goes something like this: put a group of high-achieving, experienced, ...

For companies willing to reimagine the traditional transactional nature of their B2B relationships, a loyalty program represents an important growth opportunity. But in this regard, B2B customers can ...

A version of this article appeared in the Summer 2021 issue of strategy+business. In the blink of an eye, COVID-19 disrupted the business environment and illuminated a profound, sometimes overlooked ...

A few years ago, leaders at the Gates Foundation reached out to see if I could help them improve their culture. They already had a strong culture of performance: They hired world-class scientists and ...

A version of this article appeared in the Summer 2021 issue of strategy+business. Kristian Ebbesen Fjelde and his team knew that the executive committee meeting scheduled in mid-2019 to discuss the ...

Jamil Zaki’s The War for Kindness wasn’t always a war. When the Stanford University psychology professor started writing his acclaimed book, which asserts that empathy is a skill that can be built, it ...

A version of this article appeared in the Winter 2020 issue of strategy+business. In 1945, a U.S. defense contractor employee was working on the magnetron, a microwave-emitting tube used in radar ...

Many would chalk up these differences to culture, the seemingly nebulous and hard-to-control factor that contributes to business success. Our work over the last three decades has centered on culture.

It’s easy to see why cheap, sturdy, and lightweight plastic quickly became a convenient, even innovative, packaging option for consumers. The popularity of plastic skyrocketed in developed countries ...