McKinsey’s Top 10 Articles of 2Q-2009

As an entrepreneur, I am always looking to learn more about strategy, trends, etc so I came across the top ten articles from McKinsey Consulting in the second quarter of 2009.  Representative topics include:

1. STRATEGY

Strategic planning: Three tips for 2009<
Even in these tumultuous times, strategic planning doesn’t have to be an exercise in anxiety—or futility.

2. CORPORATE FINANCE
Timing is key as companies weigh whether to make strategic investments now or wait for clear signs of recovery. Scenario analysis can expose the risks of moving too quickly or slowly.

3. STRATEGY
In this interactive presentation—one in a series of multimedia frameworks—McKinsey director Rob Latoff offers insight into the industry cost curve, a business school classic for understanding pricing. By bringing discipline and a practical set of definitions to bear, this framework can be applied to real-world, competitive markets.

4. ECONOMIC STUDIES
Surveying the economic horizon: A conversation with Robert Shiller.  In this video interview, the noted economist explains and explores the downturn’s root causes—and possible ways forward.

5. CORPORATE FINANCE
What next? Ten questions for CFOs
As companies shift their attention from fighting the crisis to getting the most from the recovery, CFOs must keep executives focused.

Pork Spending: This makes me sick!

WASHINGTON TIMES – When House Democratic leaders were rounding up votes Friday for the massive climate-change bill, they paid special attention to their colleagues from Ohio who remained stubbornly undecided.

They finally secured the vote of one Ohioan, veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, the old-fashioned way. They gave her what she wanted – a new federal power authority, similar to Washington state’s Bonneville Power Administration, stocked with up to $3.5 billion in taxpayer money available for lending to renewable energy and economic development projects in Ohio and other Midwestern states.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat, included the Kaptur project in a 310-page amendment to the legislation unveiled at 3 a.m. Friday, just hours before the bill was to be debated on the House floor. The amendment was packed with other vote-getting provisions, both large and small, that had been sought by dozens of wavering Democrats.

The wheeling and dealing proved successful. Mr. Waxman and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, backed by the personal lobbying of President Obama, won over enough lawmakers to pass the bill narrowly Friday evening, 219-212.

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