BCG in the News

Forbes

Flexing the Hybrid Work Muscle

In Forbes, BCG’s Deborah Lovich encourages companies to find a balance between “fully flexible” remote work and full-time in-office work—or what she calls a “structured hybrid” policy. Although many old-school executives believe that a fully in-office structure is required to build team culture, her research with hybrid work software firm Scoop finds that structured hybrid workers have higher culture ratings. “There’s a lot of new muscle that leaders need to build to make sure they manage well in these different modalities,” says Lovich.

Bloomberg

Newfound Optimism Among UK Business Leaders

In Bloomberg and Reuters, BCG’s Raoul Ruparel elaborates on new research from BCG’s Centre for Growth, which finds that 80% of business leaders surveyed think that the UK business environment will remain the same or improve by the end of 2024. Despite cautious optimism, businesses continue to face obstacles like the costs of energy and of simply doing business in the UK. “These are all very long-term problems, and they require long-term solutions,” Ruparel says.

The Wall Street Journal

There’s a Time and Place to Utilize GenAI

In The Wall Street Journal, BCG’s François Candelon explains how to maximize the value of GenAI, based on a study from BCG, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Warwick. In an experiment with over 750 BCG consultants, performance in creative product innovation was 40% higher among those using GPT-4 than those without the tool. However, when participants used the technology for business problem solving, they performed 23% worse than those without GPT-4. “For companies, it is important to understand where you can use [GenAI], where you cannot use it, by experimenting,” Candelon explains.

Financial Times

Opportunity and Obstacles for Rental Fashion

In the Financial Times, BCG’s Jocelyn Wilkinson explains that there is high demand for fashion rental services, but the process must be convenient for consumers. Rental fashion gives consumers greater access to luxury brands, while allowing them to shop sustainability or within their financial constraints. While demand for rental fashion is strong, the business model faces a unique set of challenges to become a profitable market. “The challenges with sizing, infrastructure, and the right inventory have hampered reputations and then consumer confidence in the storyline,” says Wilkinson.

Fortune

Workplace Disability Inclusion Must Extend to Everyone

In Fortune, BCG’s Hillary Wool explains that providing employee-centric programs, mentorships, and accommodations improves the workplace for those with disabilities. BCG research finds that 27% of white men and 33% of white women with disabilities in the US report experiencing discrimination and harassment at work, compared to 41% of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) men and 39% of BIPOC women with disabilities. “Business leaders cannot afford to be losing out on the diversity of talent that’s going to be needed to drive towards the future [and] towards the ambitious visions that leaders have,” Wool says.

CNBC Africa

Green Mining Opportunities for African Countries

On CNBC Africa, BCG’s Rudi van Blerk speaks about the rise of foreign investment in Africa’s green mining opportunities. Blerk explains that utilizing clean energy to explore the minerals Africa has to offer is critical to future partnerships. “Buyers of minerals are demanding that cleaner energy is being used to produce these minerals,” Blerk says. He hopes that what were previously vague discussions between key stakeholders will become concrete partnerships and projects coming out of the Africa Mining Indaba conference held earlier this month in South Africa.

Fortune

How Your Company Could Be Tomorrow’s Surprise GenAI Leader

In Fortune, François Candelon, Philip Evans, Leonid Zhukov, and David Zuluaga Martínez write that the B2B GenAI industry will move towards smaller and more cost-efficient models with specific business purposes rather than large generalist models. BCG research reports that 85% of business leaders plan to increase spending on AI and GenAI in 2024, but cost of use may delay widespread adoption. High-performing specialist models can offer better data in their specific domain at lower costs. “These smaller models can, collectively, decouple performance from the cost of inference, unleashing GenAI adoption at scale,” the authors write.

Financial Times

High Construction Costs Take a Toll on the UK

In the Financial Times, BCG’s Raoul Ruparel explains why the UK faces higher infrastructure construction costs than its European peers. Research from BCG’s Centre for Growth finds that UK projects, including even basic flat road construction, are significantly more expensive than in France, Germany, and Spain. Ruparel identifies decades of under-investment and increasing demand for larger and more complex infrastructure projects as drivers behind high costs. “The focus needs to be on how we can improve right across every stage of delivery of large infrastructure projects. Pushing more money into the pipeline alone won’t address much of the root causes,” Ruparel says.

Forbes

How (And Why) to Become Irreplaceable at Work

In her column for Forbes, BCG’s Deborah Lovich details five tips for employees to become irreplaceable at work, including being proactive about going above and beyond in one’s role to thinking about the bigger picture in order to be a helpful thought partner. Her last two pointers aim to help readers adapt to the ever-evolving workplace: invest in yourself and invest in others. These final two steps can be achieved by continuously learning new skills and building relationships with colleagues. “You are only as good as the people you work with, so invest in your team,” Lovich asserts.

The Wall Street Journal

Sustainability Was Top of Mind at Davos

In The Wall Street Journal, BCG’s Global Chair Rich Lesser explains why climate conversations during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos focused on how to be a catalyst for systemic change. Lesser encourages executives to make decarbonization easier for customers, collaborate across industries to advance key technologies, and work productively with governments to be a bold yet pragmatic partner.

Fortune

Rapid—Yet Responsible—Deployment of Generative AI

In Fortune, BCG’s Vladimir Lukić explains that companies want to invest in AI but are unsure of where to begin and how to do so responsibly. A BCG report found that 90% of CEOs are either waiting for GenAI to move beyond the hype currently surrounding it, or are experimenting with it in small ways. Lukić highlights why CEOs need to establish a GenAI game plan now: “The gap in efficiencies and customer experiences that early adopters will create will be significant and hard to overcome or to catch up with.”

CNBC-TV18

Reasons for Optimism in 2024

On CNBC-TV18, BCG’s Neeraj Aggarwal shares that geopolitics was a big topic of conversation at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. Aggarwal believes that the recasting of geopolitical relationships will allow certain countries to grow stronger and seize new opportunities. He adds that while the global growth rate is forecast to be just 3%, many emerging markets like India expect rates closer to 7%. “I feel the world is carrying more momentum into 2024 than I felt they were carrying into 2023,” Aggarwal says.