“Business has been forced to adjust itself to staggering acceleration in the rate of change,” observed McKinsey, a consultancy, in a promotional pamphlet it published in 1940. “What period in history has ever presented more difficult problems for the executive?”...
CoRPORATE America’s profit engine has been remarkably robust over the past few years, even amid stubborn inflation and elevated interest rates. Faced with Donald Trump’s assault on global trade, however, it is starting to sputter. Companies from General Motors,...
A show called “Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures” might be expected to feature the world-famous cat more prominently than one of her lesser-known companions. In fact in its most-watched episode, “Kuromi’s Bad Day”, Hello Kitty plays a supporting...
America’s biggest technology companies are combining Silicon Valley returns with Ruhr Valley balance-sheets. Investors who bought shares in Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft a decade ago are sitting on eight times their money, excluding dividends. Spending on data centres means...
Few firms in America are more unloved than health insurers. As gatekeepers of the world’s costliest health-care system, their miserly response to claims is a constant source of patient unhappiness. Investors, by contrast, have long regarded them as soothingly...
Read the headlines and the easy conclusion is that big business has abandoned the fight against climate change. In the past two weeks BP, an oil giant, sold its American onshore-wind business; Jaguar Land Rover, a carmaker, has reportedly...
America’s tech giants are masters of the digital realm. Yet as they bet stupendous sums on artificial intelligence (ai), their ambitions are facing constraints in the physical world. Shortages of chips and data-centre equipment such as transformers and switching...
Louis Vuitton’s new 17,000-square-foot development in Shanghai is, quite literally, the luxury brand’s Chinese flagship. The structure, which serves as a store, restaurant, museum and billboard, is shaped like a giant boat, its hull emblazoned with Louis Vuitton’s unmistakable...
The promise of South-East Asia has long been obvious to venture capitalists. Its young and growing population of 700m is becoming richer and more urbanised. And they are poorly served by stodgy incumbents. After a pandemic-era frenzy, however, shares...
Mariners know that the sea can be harsh, unpredictable and sometimes destructive. After weathering a pandemic and attacks by Houthi rebels that all but closed the vital trade route through the Suez canal, container-shipping companies may have hoped for...
