BCG in the News

Fortune

Why It's So Hard to See ROI from AI

Only 10% of companies report significant financial benefits from their AI investments, according to a recent report by MIT and BCG. BCG’s Shervin Khodabandeh tells Fortune and Forbes that firms need to undertake extensive structural changes and rethink how they integrate tech into their businesses for AI success. He explains that too many companies draw a false analogy between their adoption of AI and another technology that had a large impact on their business processes: enterprise resource planning. However, Khodabandeh says it is promising that 10% of companies have seen large gains from AI even without generalized and standardized AI processes.

Forbes

Working Remotely: Don’t Forget Boundaries

Today’s homebound workers often struggle to find clear boundaries when it comes to work-life balance, BCG’s Grant Freeland writes for Forbes. He says that working from home creates an atmosphere without a clear start and end to the workday. Freeland believes that although employee preferences for hybrid work indicate that remote work will continue after the pandemic, businesses need to help establish boundaries so their employees don’t feel pressured to consider “all day, all night” work to be the new reality.

Forbes

Humanitarian and Resilience Investing

Immediate action is needed to help vulnerable communities overcome the pandemic and prevent the reversal of decades of progress. So says BCG’s Wendy Woods—along with her coauthors, WEF Humanitarian and Resilience Impact Investing initiative cochairs—in an article for Forbes. This emerging initiative leverages private capital to benefit at-risk communities by investing in local resilience efforts and markets. The initiative will work during the next 12 months to accelerate the development of this market in three core areas: building resilience across public health systems, strengthening donors to catalyze private investments, and helping investors understand the deal and portfolio structures that are viable in fragile contexts.

Gulf News

Women and Wealth: It’s Time for a Customized Approach

In an article for Gulf News, BCG’s Mustafa Bosca writes that although women’s wealth will contribute significantly to the Middle East’s overall affluence in the coming years, the wealth management community has not fully realized this $786 billion opportunity. He believes that the Middle East needs to take significant steps toward promoting gender equality and encouraging social inclusion to eliminate biases against women that hinder wealth management opportunities. Bosca says it is time to help women meet their financial objectives and realize their potential.

Capital & Corporate

El mayor enemigo ante una crisis es hacer demasiado poco, demasiado tarde

La gestión de la crisis del Covid-19 dará paso a un periodo intenso de reestructuraciones durante los próximos dos años. Sin embargo, para Miguel Sánchez Arbeo, Managing Director y Socio Responsable de las prácticas de Turnaround y Private Equity de Boston Consulting Group en Iberia, el escenario de recesión generará también muchas oportunidades donde el private equity será el mejor posicionado para adquirir compañías en crisis y consolidarlas con sus participadas en estrategias de buy-and-build.

The Economist

The Future of Quantum Computing

Productivity gains by the end users of quantum computing could lead to incremental operating income of $450 billion to $850 billion annually by 2050, according to the BCG report, Where Will Quantum Computers Create Value—and When?. BCG’s Amit Kumar speaks to The Economist about the future of quantum computing and how this emerging technology can create real business value.

Forbes

A Personal Plea for Leaders to Help Parents, Especially Women, Juggle COVID, Family, and Careers

COVID-19 and school closings have forced working parents to reorder their priorities, BCG’s Grant Freeland writes for Forbes. BCG research has found that up to 15% of working parents are considering leaving their jobs due to the pandemic. Freeland emphasizes that company leaders must help their employees get through difficult times and suggests that they can achieve this by embracing flex-work, providing positive feedback and reinforcement, and considering subsidizing childcare. He says that leaders who do not proactively develop a caregiver strategy will lose not only their hard-won progress on gender diversity, but “may also lose some of [their] most valuable employees and future company leaders.”

Yahoo Finance

Rethinking the Model for Global Trade

BCG’s CEO, Rich Lesser, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the long-term implications of a business environment where geopolitics and global trade are increasingly intertwined. By 2023, trade between the US and China is expected to decline by 15%, according to a BCG report. Lesser believes that global trade must be fundamentally rethought, with more focus on resiliency, risk management, complexity, and technology.

Die Presse

Das stille Sterben der Autoindustrie

Die Zahl der Neuwagenverkäufe ist niedrig, Autohersteller sparen. Das trifft vor allem kleine Unternehmen, die reihenweise in die Pleite schlittern, schreibt Die Presse. Albert Waas erläutert, warum gerade die zunehmende Elektrifizierung Zulieferer vor besonders große Herausforderungen stellt.

Trend

Mit Optimismus aus der Krise

Im Rahmen des Europäischen Forum Alpbach diskutiert Lukas Haider mit Alumnus und Austrian Airlines-Chef Alexis von Hoensbroech, Berndorf-AG-Hauptaktionär Norbert Zimmermann und KfW-Vorständin Ingrid Hengster, wie das Comeback nach der Coronakrise gelingt. Die Pandemie werde die Welt noch lange beschäftigen, doch die Zeichen stünden gut, dass bald wieder Optimismus einkehre, schreibt das Wirtschaftsmagazin trend.

Forbes Thailand

Thailand Management Association (TMA) Organizes a Conference on Surviving the COVID-19 Crisis

As we prepare for the future in the wake of COVID-19, leaders are focused on digital transformation and enhancing national competitive advantage to survive beyond the pandemic. In partnership with TMA, BCG leveraged the Digital Acceleration Framework (DAI) to assess where Thai companies are at on this journey. At the TMA Digital Transformation Forum & Excellence Awards, BCG’s Isada Hiranwiwatkul discusses the findings of this study and what is needed to accelerate the digital transformation of the Thai economy.

Forbes

Will the 3+2 “Hybrid” Workplace of Home and Office Become the New Norm for Business

According to a recent BCG survey, 60% of people who currently work remotely would like the flexibility regarding when and where they work to continue after the pandemic. In his recent Forbes column, BCG’s Grant Freeland writes that COVID-19 seems to have solidified the already growing flex-work trend and changed the nature of work forever. He says, “we have an exciting opportunity to reimagine work around the new remote reality.”