Australian Financial Review
How Luxury Brands Are Revamping the VIP Experience
In the Australian Financial Review, BCG’s Sarah Willersdorf describes how luxury brands are rethinking the way they retain VIP customers as a potential recession looms. As brands turn to top clients to drive revenue, Willersdorf says that investing in exclusive events, private transportation, and couture fashion shows, among other unique experiences, is key to improving engagement and the bottom line.
Forbes
In 2023, Let Us Not Bury Tech Too Fast...
In his Forbes column, Sylvain Duranton, global leader of BCG X, explains why the tech sector is poised for growth in 2023 despite recent weak earnings performance and industry-wide layoffs. According to BCG research, 60% of global executives want to increase their investments in digital technology and AI. Since companies that invest in AI and digital outperform their peers in times of volatility and uncertainty, Duranton argues that now is the time to double down on digital transformation efforts.
Yahoo Finance
Optimism Takes Center Stage at Davos
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, BCG’s Global Chair Rich Lesser reveals the optimistic attitudes of the attendees of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, regarding the potential economic recession. CEOs face a challenging world, says Lesser, with geopolitical tensions, technological advancements, and changes in global trade at the forefront. “I think it puts a premium on resilience, a premium on agility—a requirement to make investments that allow one to navigate those new sources of data faster,” he says.
BQ Prime
Southeast Asia’s Promising Future
In conversation with BQ Prime at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, BCG’s Neeraj Aggarwal describes how Southeast Asian nations have the opportunity to grow amongst global economies as the world shifts geopolitically. To do so, however, they must also grapple with fundamental issues like the ease of doing business and depth of talent. Overall, he says, trade flows, capital flows, and talent flows are all in Southeast Asia’s favor.
Arab News
Why Financial Institutions Are Key to Achieving Net-Zero Goals
In Arab News, BCG’s Shelly Trench and Aytech Pseunokov explain that financial institutions will become the key source of funding for Middle Eastern countries to achieve their energy transition targets. According to a BCG report, the United Arab Emirates still faces a $500 billion funding gap to reach its decarbonization goals, despite already investing $163 billion. A possible solution, Trench says, is to establish carbon prices that adequately reflect the cost of greenhouse gas emissions and international carbon price levels.
Bloomberg
High Inflation Curbs Global Trade
In Bloomberg, BCG’s Nikolaus Lang discusses the slowing growth of international trade over the next decade. According to a BCG report, global trade’s annual expansion rate will average 2.3% each year through 2031, compared to a 2.5% annual increase in global gross domestic product (GDP) over the same period. “As the world adjusts,” Lang says, “we expect inflationary pressures to reduce; but overall, through 2023 and 2024 we will continue to see higher-than-normal inflation through this period of adjustment.”
The Wall Street Journal
Amidst Recession Fears, CFOs Slow Capital Spending
Commenting in The Wall Street Journal, BCG’s Hardik Sheth describes the shift from post-pandemic increases in capital spending to a current slowdown as CFOs grapple with the uncertainty of inflation and high interest rates. Facing weaker customer demand and a potential recession, many companies are being careful with their capital expenditure (capex) investments and waiting until the second half of the year to be more certain of impending macroeconomic factors and risks, notes Sheth.
Business Day
Heat on Banks to Reimagine Customer Experience amid Digital Revolution
Writing for Business Day, BCG’s Tijsbert Creemers explains how retail banking in South Africa is becoming increasingly competitive as digital players disrupt traditional business models. Referencing a BCG study, he says that 80% of South Africans want to conduct their banking digitally. As a result, retail banks will need to rethink and modernize their approach and systems to meet customers’ evolving demands and expectations.
Gulf News
Energy Networks Can Do a Better Job at “Vegetation Management” – and by Cutting Down Fewer Trees
Writing in Gulf News, BCG’s Ferdinand Varga asserts that energy networks can optimize their vegetation management systems by leveraging advanced analytics and data to reduce costs and risks, and improve employee performance. Varga encourages energy networks to adopt a “bionic approach” that will help companies make more informed decisions with regulators, customers, and employees.
Fortune
How Female-Founded Businesses Can Overcome Shifting Investor Preferences
In Fortune, BCG’s Kedra Newsom Reeves explains how recessionary concerns are impacting investments in female-founded consumer goods companies. As venture capital investors turn towards tech and B2B startups, she says that female founders must develop business integration strategies and supplier diversity programs to aid their businesses. Hope is not lost, however, according to Newsom Reeves: “What gives female founders an upper hand is that they bring unique perspectives and lived experiences in serving historically underserved markets.”
Fortune
Why Great Managers Are the Best Answer to the Labor Shortage
Writing in Fortune, BCG’s Julia Dhar, Deborah Lovich, Nick South, and Sebastian Ullrich assert that the most effective strategy for companies seeking to retain key talent is to invest in making great managers. A BCG survey of nearly 5,000 “deskless workers” whose jobs require their physical presence found that workers who were dissatisfied with their managers were 50% more likely to feel burned out, three times more likely not to recommend their employer as a place to work, and twice as likely to leave their job within a year. Based on the survey results, the authors explain how companies can develop day-to-day managers who help attract and retain essential talent.
Fox Business
The Trillion-Dollar Opportunity in Climate Technology
BCG’s Global Chair, Rich Lesser, joins Fox Business to discuss investing in climate tech and building long-term energy security and resilience. Referencing a BCG study, he outlines six technologies that have the potential to play a major role in the energy transition and which alone represent a $9 trillion to $10 trillion domestic market opportunity over the next three decades. Lesser also shares his perspective on rising inflation and the potential recession, commenting, “For business leaders in this environment, even if you’re optimistic about the economy, the need to be resilient and agile as a company could not be higher right now.”
Live Mint
Sustainability Now Seen as a Value Driver for Private Equity
In Live Mint, BCG’s Benjamin Entraygues and Kanchan Samtani discuss private equity’s shift towards viewing climate and sustainability as value drivers rather than just compliance and reporting requirements. They explain that discussions between general partners (GPs) and limited partners (LPs) around the energy transition and climate and sustainability, whether they’re about “grey-to-green” transitioning or sustainability as an advantage, have accelerated significantly over the past two to three years. Entraygues and Samtani assert that private capital has the potential to be “a powerhouse” in the transition to net zero and positively impact the climate.
Forbes
ChatGPT: Let the Generative AI Revolution Begin
In his first column for Forbes, Sylvain Duranton, global leader of BCG X, weighs the benefits and risks of generative AI, such as content generator sensation, ChatGPT, on businesses. While this emerging technology can optimize an organization’s processes, generative AI also raises some important ethical questions. Duranton asserts that generative AI will cause a profound disruption to industries and may ultimately aid in solving some of the most complex problems facing the world today.
Fortune
Why Finance Functions Need More Women Leaders
In Fortune, BCG’s Juliet Grabowski and Anna Oberauer assert that addressing gender inequality in the finance function is imperative not only to promote equity—but also to boost corporate growth, returns, and market valuations. According to a recent BCG analysis of the top 150 public and private companies in the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, only 13% have a woman chief financial officer. Based on BCG’s study, Grabowski and Oberauer outline how to advance more women into financial leadership roles in 2023.