Reckitt Benckiser’s CEO reflects on his experience transitioning into the leadership role and driving strategic change during the global pandemic

63. Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, on corporate purpose during a crisis

We talk with McKinsey partners and corporate executives on the challenges they face creating lasting strategies in a fast-changing world. We also examine the different ways these executives approach these challenges and the new and innovative ways they think of creating a vision for their enterprises.

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M&A; dealmakers have been on a wild ride. From the pandemic-fueled rout in 2020 to 2021’s record-breaking recovery, followed by a steep decline in 2023, the global M&A; market has offered something of a masterclass in volatility. In this episode, we are joined by senior partners Jake Henry, Mieke Van Oostende, and Andy West to discuss the trends in the global M&A; environment in 2024 and what they mean for business leaders. Jake and Mieke recently published a report on McKinsey.com, Top M&A; trends in 2024: Blueprint for success in the next wave of deals, which forms the basis for our discussion.
The report also includes a compendium of articles analyzing deal activity in the chemicals, tech media and telecom, life sciences, financial services, consumer goods, and transport and logistics industries in 2023. 
  Discover our latest insights and join more than 90,000 influential professionals who are part of our LinkedIn community.: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/ See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

202. Charting Your M&A Course for 2024

Private equity firms have a well-earned reputation for elevating the performance of the companies they invest in. A cornerstone of their strategy is a relentless pursuit of operational excellence to drive efficiency and productivity. In this episode, we analyze what public company CEOs can glean from the private equity playbook to enhance their own company's performance. Our guests are John Kelleher and Radhika Ray.   
John is a senior partner in our Private Equity Special Operations group and serves as an interim in-house executive helping companies execute large PE-style transformations. John has served in multiple executive roles in the private equity industry—including as CEO—and is co-founder of the PE-CEO Alpha Institute, a partnership between McKinsey and Harvard Business School to train private equity portfolio company CEOs. 
Radhika is a partner in our Private Equity group and has over 15 years of experience in the private equity sector. She helps our clients with large-scale transformations and oversees the service line, implementing rapid labor productivity improvements.

 Discover our latest insights and join more than 90,000 influential professionals who are part of our LinkedIn community.: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/ See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

201. Seven CEO insights from private equity

CEOs and CFOs are redefining their interactions with the board to ensure success in an era of rapid change. Joining us to delve into this growing trend of collaboration between CEOs, management teams, and boards are Celia Huber, leader of our North American board services practice, along with Michael Birshan and Andy West, the co-leaders of our Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice. 
 

Related reading: 
The board’s role in building resilience https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-boards-role-in-building-resilience
Five ways to increase your board’s long-term impact https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/five-ways-to-increase-your-boards-long-term-impact
The role of the board in preparing for extraordinary risk https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-role-of-the-board-in-preparing-for-extraordinary-risk
  Discover our latest insights and join more than 90,000 influential professionals who are part of our LinkedIn community.: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/ See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

200. A genuine partnership with the board

Innovation in a not-for-profit context involves measuring success in terms of returns on mission rather than returns to shareholders. In this episode, McKinsey innovation expert Erik Roth talks with Sajit Joseph, the chief innovation officer of the American Red Cross, about how the 142-year-old institution began and continues to carry out its innovation journey.

Explore other episodes of The Committed Innovator: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/inside-the-strategy-room-podcast/innovation
Join our Strategy and Corporate Finance  LinkedIn community 
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199. Bringing innovation to a not-for-profit setting

Fewer than one in four companies outpace their industry peers on revenue and profit growth. We discuss new research that reveals the six mindsets and strategies that set these growth outperformers apart.
We're joined by Rebecca Doherty, a partner in our Bay Area office and co-leader of our Strategic Growth and Innovation practice, Jill Zucker, a senior partner who co-leads our global growth transformation work, and Kate Seigel, a partner in our Detroit office who advises clients on growth strategy and execution using M&A; and organic approaches.


Related reading: 


Courageous growth: Six strategies for continuous growth outperformance

Join our Strategy and Corporate Finance  LinkedIn community and follow us on X at @McKStrategy.  Discover our latest insights and join more than 90,000 influential professionals who are part of our LinkedIn community.: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/ See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

63. Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, on corporate purpose during a crisis

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