She’s SaaSy
Which of the following was the first SaaS company?
Salesforce was founded in 1999, but SaaS and cloud computing have only truly come into their own more recently.
A - Myspace
B - Hotmail
C - Salesforce
SaaS it to me
What was the value of the global SaaS market at the end of 2022?
Between 2011 and 2018, the global software industry grew at double the rate of the overall market.
A - $300 million
B - $30 billion
C - $3 trillion
Truth as a service
Which of the following does TaaS NOT refer to?
Trucking as a service is replacing traditional truck ownership models as a way for businesses to pursue their emissions reduction goals. And fintechs offer trading as a service to banks that want to avoid maintaining their own trading capabilities.
A - Transport as a service
B - Trading as a service
C - Trucking as a service
Context clues
When ChatGPT was released in 2022, the large language model (LLM) on which it was built could only process a limited number of words at a time. How many?
Significant progress has been made since then. Today, Google’s Gemini model can process more than 3,000 pages of text at once.
A - 700 words
B - 1,000 words
C - 1,500 words
Consumed by longing
Which of the following is NOT a benefit of longer context windows?
LLMs with longer context windows are not a replacement for human tech talent. They can, however, support increased developer productivity.
A - Ingesting more data at once
B - Making use of multimodal data, such as video and audio
C - Replacing human developers with LLMs
I long for your context
Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that generative AI practitioners have been able to extend context windows?
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) made it possible to find the most relevant snippets. AI guardrails help ensure an organization’s AI tools reflect its values.
A - They employed AI guardrails to find more relevant snippets of information across a repository of documents.
B - They used fine-tuning to steer the model’s behavior with examples.
C - They used prompt orchestration to chain different prompts together.
Helping nature heal
By the end of this decade, how much carbon might natural climate solutions (NCS) potentially remove from the atmosphere per year?
NCS can potentially remove up to seven gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere per year by the end of the decade—that’s about one-third of the target required to achieve a 1.5° pathway.
A - One gigaton
B - Three gigatons
C - Seven gigatons
Into the woods
What is afforestation?
Along with reforestation, afforestation is a critical method of carbon removal—as well as an essential natural climate solution.
A - When forests are cleared to create farmable land
B - When forests are converted from carbon sinks into carbon emitters
C - When trees are planted on land that was not previously a forest
Feeling blue
What percentage of human-generated carbon have the world’s oceans absorbed since the industrial era began?
Coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows are deep carbon reservoirs, and marine ecosystems absorb and sequester greenhouse gases through the carbon cycle.
A - 40 percent
B - 60 percent
C - 80 percent
A new generation of software
Developers at IBM Software saw significant productivity jumps when they used generative AI (gen AI). How much more productive were they?
Gen AI can help software talent create better code faster.
A - Up to 15 percent
B - Up to 40 percent
C - Up to 55 percent
Contentment
Gen AI tools have more impact on content-heavy tasks (for example, synthesizing information) than they do on content-light tasks, such as visualization. How much more?
Gen AI technologies are already handling simple tasks, including basic coding and syntax, code documentation, and some graphic design tasks.
A - Twice as much
B - Five times as much
C - Ten times as much
Mission critical
Which of the following is NOT a key role for businesses aiming to operate like software companies?
While employees throughout the enterprise will need to learn new skills, leaders should pay special attention to engineers and product managers.
A - Engineer
B - Product manager
C - Design thinking specialist
Start spreading the news
By what year will visitors to New York City exceed prepandemic numbers?
More than 62 million people visited New York City in 2023, representing 93 percent of 2019 levels.
A - 2025
B - 2026
C - 2027
I couldn’t help but wonder
By how much have tourists’ visits to New York City parks increased since 2019?
Manhattan’s High Line park is projected to have seven million visits this year.
A - 6 percent
B - 10 percent
C - 27 percent
Melting pot
How many international travelers visited New York City in 2023?
International travelers spend, on average, three times as much as domestic travelers.
A - 4 million
B - 11 million
C - 29 million
A sporting chance
By how much did the sporting goods industry’s revenue grow in 2023?
This is a significant increase from 2022, when the industry’s revenue grew only 2 percent.
A - 4 percent
B - 6 percent
C - 8 percent
Hoisting the copa
In which region did sporting goods companies experience the strongest growth in 2023?
Companies in Latin America posted revenue growth of 22 percent in 2023, up from 20 percent growth in 2022.
A - Latin America
B - Asia–Pacific
C - North America
Everyone’s doing it
Which of the following is NOT a consumer behavior trend in sporting goods?
In addition to decreasing brand loyalty and interest in organized sports with fixed time commitments that require high levels of skill, consumers are pursuing sports that are more social and quicker to pick up, such as pickleball and paddle tennis.
A - Brand loyalty is declining.
B - Consumers are moving away from organized sports.
C - Consumers are increasingly interested in niche sports.
India’s decisive decade
Over the next decade, what is India’s target rate of GDP growth per year?
India aims to grow its GDP by 8 percent per year, bringing GDP to $19 trillion by 2047.
A - 4 percent
B - 8 percent
C - 12 percent
Getting to work
How many jobs does the Indian government aim to create by 2047?
Its interim goal is to create 90 million jobs by 2030.
A - 200 million
B - 400 million
C - 600 million
Zeroing in
India’s goal is to achieve net zero by 2050. How much annual investment is this expected to take?
It will be a big lift, but McKinsey analysis shows that the benefits of a well-ordered transition could outweigh the downsides.
A - $100 billion
B - $600 billion
C - $1 trillion
Wheels up
What is the projected timeline for the travel industry’s postpandemic recovery?
The industry is set to make a full recovery by the end of 2024, after losing 75 percent of its value in 2020.
A - The travel industry has already recovered
B - The end of 2024
C - The end of 2026
Bon voyage
Sixty-nine percent of travelers from which region said they planned to visit a famous sight on their next trip?
Only 20 percent of travelers from Europe and North America said the same.
A - China
B - Europe
C - North America
Close to home
Which of the following sectors is expected to account for the majority of travel spending by 2030?
By the end of this decade, domestic travel is set to represent 70 percent of travel spending.
A - International travel
B - Domestic travel
C - Space travel
Circle game
What is the primary goal of circularity?
Circularity is an alternative to the linear model of consumption, in which resources are extracted and used to create products, which consumers then throw away at the end of the life cycle.
A - To enhance both sustainability and economic efficiency
B - To optimize resource use and minimize waste
C - To speed up production and consumption cycles
Squaring the circle
Which of the following is NOT a principle of a circular economy?
A third goal of circularity is to make systems more effective by eliminating unintended negative consequences, such as pollution.
A - Preserve and enhance natural capital
B - Optimize resource yields
C - Increase consumer spending on new products
Full circle
How does circularity affect economic efficiency in modern industries?
Organizations in the fashion and luxury, electronics, home and living, sports, and consumer goods sectors stand to benefit the most from circularity.
A - By reducing waste and reusing resources, circularity enhances efficiency
B - By increasing operational costs, circularity decreases economic efficiency
C - Not applicable; circularity has no impact on economic efficiency
Free-falling
How much did the cost to train an image classification system (one that runs on deep learning models) decrease between 2015 and 2021?
The time required to train these systems improved by 94 percent during the same period.
A - 64 percent
B - 50 percent
C - 38 percent
Brainier than ever
Which type of neural network is inspired by the makeup of the brain’s visual cortex?
The visual cortex is the part of the brain that processes images.
A - Recurrent neural network (RNN)
B - Convolutional neural network (CNN)
C - Feed-forward neural network
Transform and roll out
Which of the following is NOT true of the relationship between transformer networks (a deep learning tool) and generative AI (gen AI) tools?
Large language models, such as ChatGPT, are trained on transformer networks to generate content in response to prompts.
A - Transformer networks let gen AI tools weigh parts of input sequences differently when making predictions.
B - Transformer networks enable gen AI models to learn relationships between words in a more flexible way.
C - Gen AI tools allow transformer networks to operate without human programming.
The next merge
What is a potential future method for humans to access AI and possibly AGI?
Experiments with implanted neurons, with the goal of allowing the person to control a computer purely by thought, are already under way.
A - Next-generation computer interfaces
B - Implanted neurons in the brain
C - Telepathy
Problem solvers
Which abilities will future hypothetical AGI systems need to diagnose and address problems?
AGI needs to achieve a level of common sense before it can be helpful in solving human problems.
A - Run simulations to determine possibility, plausibility, and probability
B - Learn from their environment and experiences and adapt accordingly
C - Perceive when a human is frustrated and needs help
Walking, talking, learning machines
How many robots were in use as of March 2024?
Every year, another 550,000 robots are deployed.
A - 3.5 million
B - 13 million
C - 35 million
Pencils down
How often will financial institutions with a proactive approach to risk management undertake mock exams?
These exams should take place two or three times a year, three to six months before an upcoming horizontal or topical exam.
A - Once a year
B - Two or three times a year
C - Every month
Save our ship
What has led to increased regulatory scrutiny of banks as of mid-2024?
After the collapse or rescue of high-profile banks in 2023, the regulatory gaze is especially strong on banks that haven’t had the same level of scrutiny as globally prominent banks.
A - Decrease in number of global financial transactions
B - Collapse (or rescue) of high-profile banks in early 2023
C - Increase in use of digital banking
Test prep
What’s the crucial first step in preparing for a mock regulatory exam?
A company should ensure that its risk identification processes are tailored to the current macroeconomic, geopolitical, and technological environment before it begins a mock exam.
A - Reviewing marketing strategies
B - Increasing the budget for regulatory-exam preparation
C - Evaluating current risk identification processes
Dawn of the machines
When was the term “machine learning” first coined?
Computer scientist Arthur Samuel was the first to use the term in 1959. He defined it as “a computer’s ability to learn without being explicitly programmed.”
A - 1959
B - 1974
C - 1999
Ghost in the machine
Which type of neural network has layers that can recognize increasingly complex features of data?
CNNs are a type of feed-forward neural network inspired by the organization of the brain’s visual cortex and are well suited to perceptual tasks.
A - Feed-forward neural network
B - Convolutional neural network (CNN)
C - Recurrent neural network (RNN)
Money machines
What is a major use of machine learning in the banking industry?
Neural networks can be trained to detect fraudulent transactions by using manually labeled data sets or a sequence of transactions, such as a credit card history.
A - Optimizing website layouts
B - Predicting fraudulent transactions
C - Replacing ATMs
They’re new money
In 2023, what proportion of the new CFOs at S&P 500 companies were first-time finance leaders?
In addition, more than half of the new CFOs in Europe were new to finance leadership.
A - One-third
B - Three-fifths
C - Two-thirds
Refresh the ranks
What proportion of FTSE 100 companies appointed new CFOs in 2023?
Nearly one-fifth of leading US consumer and financial-services companies did the same.
A - Almost one-quarter
B - Almost one-third
C - Almost one-half
You complete me
If the CEO serves as the visionary, what should the CFO’s paradigm be?
The relationship between the CFO and CEO is critical to successful corporate leadership.
A - The master of execution
B - The gatekeeper
C - The generalist
Raise the roof
What was the total global funding raised by fintechs in 2020?
This was a major increase from just five years earlier; in 2015, fintechs raised only $19.4 billion.
A - $10.8 billion
B - $25 billion
C - $33.3 billion
Fintelligence
How many US consumers used a fintech product in 2021?
These products were primarily peer-to-peer payments and nonbank money transfers.
A - One in four
B - One in three
C - One in two
Fiscal responsibility
What is the estimated potential global growth rate of fintechs compared with the overall banking industry between 2022 and 2028?
Emerging markets will fuel much of this growth, particularly in Africa, Asia–Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East.
A - Twice
B - Three times
C - Five times
The scope of the challenge
How many people were living in extreme poverty as of 2020, according to the UN?
People living in extreme poverty are deprived of basic human needs including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, healthcare, and shelter.
A - 4.7 billion
B - 1.3 billion
C - 730 million
Power up
Approximately what percentage of the global population is not economically empowered, based on the $12 per day PPP benchmark?
PPP, or purchasing-power parity, is a metric that compares standards of living in different countries.
A - 20 percent
B - 40 percent
C - 60 percent
Check, please
How much additional spending power would be needed before 2030 to meet the essential needs of the 4.7 billion people living below the empowerment line?
People living below the empowerment line may lack access to affordable, reliable healthcare, good nutrition, or decent housing.
A - $10 trillion
B - $37 trillion
C - $51 trillion
One token, one ride
What is tokenization used for in payments?
Tokenization helps prevent fraud by obfuscating the identity of the payment itself.
A - To prevent fraud
B - To increase accessibility
C - To break down data for easier pattern detection
Tokenpalooza
How much tokenized cash is already in circulation?
This cash is in the form of fully reserved stablecoins.
A - $120 million
B - $120 billion
C - $120 trillion
Character actor
What is character tokenization?
This kind of tokenization works well when dealing with languages that don’t have clear word boundaries or with handwriting recognition.
A - When a popular action figure is made into an NFT
B - Tokenization in logographic languages, like Japanese or Chinese
C - When each character in a word or text is made into its own separate token
Your prompt reply is appreciated
According to McKinsey estimates, what percentage of employees’ work today stands to be automated by gen AI and other technologies?
This is largely due to gen AI’s ability to predict patterns found in natural language.
A - 70 percent
B - 80 percent
C - 90 percent
Productivity time
How much annual global productivity growth could gen AI enable through 2040?
Productivity growth ultimately depends on how fast organizations are able to adopt gen AI technology and redeploy workers’ time.
A - 0.2 percent
B - 0.4 percent
C - 0.6 percent
Engineering new jobs
What percentage of organizations that use AI are already hiring for roles in prompt engineering?
Organizations are already making changes to their hiring practices that reflect their gen AI ambitions.
A - 3 percent
B - 7 percent
C - 11 percent
That’s a lot of looks
The global fashion industry was estimated to be worth how much in 2023?
But continued growth isn’t necessarily guaranteed. Sixty-two percent of fashion executives surveyed in 2023 cited geopolitical instability as the top risk to continued growth.
A - $17 billion
B - $117 billion
C - $1.7 trillion
What a waste
For every five garments produced each year, how many end up in a landfill or are incinerated?
Some estimates suggest that consumers discard the lowest-priced garments after only seven wears.
A - One
B - Two
C - Three
Fast—but make it fashion
What percentage of US consumers had shopped at fast fashion giants Shein or Temu in the past 12 months, according to McKinsey’s The State of Fashion 2024 report?
That share would likely be much larger if other fast fashion retailers were included.
A - 30 percent
B - 40 percent
C - 50 percent
Comeback kids
As of 2022, what percentage of leading companies had a COO?
That’s an increase since 2018, when only 32 percent of Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies had a COO.
A - 40 percent
B - 50 percent
C - 60 percent
Paths to glory
What percentage of CEOs in Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies were promoted from the COO role in 2021?
More CEOs were promoted from the COO role than from any other role.
A - 11 percent
B - 19 percent
C - 27 percent
Challenge accepted
What was the main challenge reported by a group of current and former COOs we interviewed in 2022?
Time allocation is the main COO challenge: our interviewees only spent about a third of their time on strategic planning.
A - Managing the unique needs of the workforce
B - Allocating time appropriately
C - Appeasing an expanding number of shareholders
Above all else
What is the highest-level goal of the global stocktake?
According to the global stocktake, the global community is not on track to stay within 1.5°C of preindustrial levels.
A - To keep global warming under 2°C while pursuing efforts to stay within 1.5°C
B - To achieve net zero by 2040
C - To get more UN member states to sign the 2015 Paris Agreement
Developing solutions
How much climate financing is needed for developing countries to achieve their climate goals by 2050?
The global stocktake identified a substantial gap in meeting this need.
A - $390 billion
B - $4.1 trillion
C - $5.9 trillion
Climate standards
Which of the following is not a recommendation made by the global stocktake to improve standardization of countries’ climate targets?
The global stocktake recommends standardizing evaluations across countries, with uniform benchmarks for assessing fairness and ambition.
A - Strengthen capacity building across all climate-action spheres
B - Create evaluations tailored to each country’s development level
C - Deploy existing cleaner technologies to support developing countries’ climate plans
A strong core
Which of the following is not one of the two core elements shared by the new class of HR operating models?
“Moments that matter,” such as onboarding, are given outsize resources in the employee-experience-driven model—but not in all new HR operating models.
A - A strong, consistent data backbone
B - A user-friendly, highly reliable service backbone
C - A focus on “moments that matter” in the employee experience
Workplace of the future
What percentage of today’s jobs can incorporate gen AI technology and capabilities into work activities, according to an estimate by OpenAI?
Chief human resource officers (CHROs) can play an important role in countering employees’ fears of replacement and loss.
A - 70 percent
B - 80 percent
C - 90 percent
Generating talent
Which of the following is not a way gen AI can shape talent management?
Managing people is a high-value leadership task that is usually done by middle managers personally.
A - It can augment the employee experience by helping to facilitate the training and upskilling process
B - It can help establish good relationships with job candidates, allowing for a more personalized approach
C - It can free up middle managers’ time by helping them to manage employees
Pulling toward net zero
By 2050, hydrogen energy could contribute to what percentage of annual global emissions reductions?
When used alongside other tech, hydrogen has the potential to decarbonize a whole host of industries, including some of the worst emitters of greenhouse gases.
A - More than 5 percent
B - More than 15 percent
C - More than 20 percent
In the way
What is the primary roadblock preventing hydrogen from meaningfully contributing to decarbonization?
Committing to a pathway to net zero will require additional direct investments in hydrogen of $460 billion by 2030.
A - Lack of infrastructure
B - Investment costs
C - Limited availability of hydrogen resources
Green with energy
What is green hydrogen?
Green hydrogen is created using electricity from renewable sources, so there are no greenhouse gas emissions.
A - Hydrogen derived from water, split from oxygen using electricity
B - Hydrogen derived from steam reforming
C - Hydrogen derived from fossil fuels like coal or natural gas
Role model
What is the role of a chief transformation officer (CTO) in a business transformation?
The CTO role is not only to model a new performance standard but also to inspire action and ownership.
A - To oversee day-to-day progress tracking
B - To stabilize the business during a crisis
C - To enable employees to contribute to substantial strategic changes
Tick-tock
What’s the ideal length of a CTO-led, action-oriented weekly meeting?
These meetings should be fast-paced, focused, and small. Attendees should include a sponsor for each area of work, initiative owners, and a tech and finance leader.
A - No more than 45 minutes
B - No more than 60 minutes
C - No more than 90 minutes
Transformative growth
What percentage of earnings improvement would be considered an ambitious enough goal in a business transformation?
A transformation is defined as an intense, organization-wide program to propel significant growth.
A - 15 percent
B - 20 percent
C - 25 percent
Good company
What percentage of people in a 2022 Harvard Business Review poll admitted they didn’t know what Web3 was?
More than 50,000 people participated in the poll.
A - 50 percent
B - 60 percent
C - 70 percent
First draft of the internet
Which of the following was not a common way for people to use Web1 in the 1990s and early 2000s?
Most people didn’t start creating their own content until Web2, which emerged in the mid-2000s.
A - To read web pages and chat with friends or strangers
B - To create their own content
C - To buy things from companies or one another
Crypto crash
How much value did the cryptocurrency market lose in 2022?
Other areas of the Web3 experience, including smart-contract blockchains and stablecoin payments, continue to push forward.
A - More than 50 percent
B - More than 60 percent
C - More than 70 percent
Within the remit
Which of the following is not typically the chief technology officer’s responsibility?
The CTO role needs to be configured to fit both the organization’s needs and the strengths of the individual.
A - Knowing which new, potentially disruptive technologies are surfacing
B - Grasping both the dangers and opportunities new technologies pose for the organization
C - Facilitating information and knowledge management within the organization
Support systems
Which of the following is a way CEOs and board members can support chief information officers?
Tech literacy at the CEO and board level is a strong driver of transformational success.
A - Focus on existing tech talent rather than attracting new people.
B - Trust CIOs to develop a complete understanding of their tech, and don’t interrogate their assumptions.
C - Build up their own technical literacy.
Generating opportunity
Which of the following is not one of the ways CIOs and CTOs can efficiently create value with generative AI?
Rather than start from scratch, CIOs and CTOs should take advantage of existing services or adapt open-source gen AI models.
A - Develop their own personal gen AI capabilities.
B - Develop a data architecture to enable access to quality data.
C - Create a centralized, cross-functional gen AI platform team.
Big money for lab meat
How much did cultivated meat start-ups cumulatively raise in 2021?
This is a major step up from the $400 million raised in 2020.
A - $1.2 billion
B - $1.4 billion
C - $1.8 billion
One expensive burger
How much did it cost to produce the first cultivated-beef burger?
Since this burger was produced in 2013, cultivated-meat companies have reduced production costs by 99 percent.
A - $250,000
B - $325,000
C - $500,000
Gassy cows
According to a UN estimate, the livestock industry as a whole is responsible for what percent of total greenhouse-gas emissions?
The UN also estimates that 26 percent of the planet’s ice-free land is used for livestock farming.
A - 10 percent
B - 12 percent
C - 15 percent
What’s your type?
High-growth companies are seven times more likely to have a specific type of CMO. Which one?
A “Unifier” CMO is a marketing executive who fosters robust, collaborative partnerships across the C-suite.
A - Unifier
B - Loner
C - Friend
Missed connections
One of a CMO’s responsibilities is to demonstrate a clear relationship between marketing and value. What percent of CFOs surveyed cited the lack of this clear relationship as the reason behind marketing cuts?
If the CEO is a CMO’s closest natural ally, the CFO is frequently their toughest critic.
A - 35 percent
B - 45 percent
C - 55 percent
Effective efficiency
How much impact can personalized connections with customers have on marketing spend efficiency?
These increases are driven primarily from deploying product recommendations and triggered communications within specific channels.
A - Up to 10 percent
B - Up to 20 percent
C - Up to 30 percent
Who among us?
What percent of people in the United States will experience a brain health condition in their lifetimes?
These conditions can range from mild, brief mood disturbances to severe, chronic health conditions.
A - 10 percent
B - 25 percent
C - 50 percent
Health is wealth
What is the annual estimated cost of brain health conditions to the global economy?
That number is projected to increase to $6 trillion by 2030.
A - $1 trillion
B - $2.5 trillion
C - $5 trillion
Not just a number
What is one key factor that increases the likelihood of someone having a brain health disorder?
Gen Z tends to report worse mental health, but the underlying causes aren’t clear.
A - Age
B - Gender
C - Occupation
They grow up so fast
By 2022, adoption of AI had grown by how much since 2017?
In 2017, companies using AI saw the most value in manufacturing and risk management. By 2022, they were seeing the most value in marketing and sales, product and service development, and strategy and corporate finance.
A - More than 1.5 times
B - More than 2 times
C - More than 2.5 times
Shifting gears
To scale up AI, organizations can make three major shifts. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
Organizations should shift from siloed work to interdisciplinary collaboration. AI is most effective when it’s being used by different teams with a range of varied talents to address broad business priorities.
A - Move toward a more direct collaboration between individuals and AI tools.
B - Empower frontline, data-based decision making.
C - Adopt and bolster an agile mindset.
A new kind of network
There are three types of artificial neural networks used in machine learning. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
Feed-forward, convolutional, and recurrent neural networks are all based on the ways neurons interact in the human brain, ingesting data and processing it through multiple iterations that learn increasingly complex features.
A - Feed-forward neural networks
B - Convolutional neural networks
C - Abbreviated neural networks
Do good, do well
The best CFOs approach sustainability measures as a growth play. How many C-suite leaders and investment professionals expect sustainability programs to contribute more shareholder value in five years than they do today?
Sustainability efforts should be tailored, based on an organization’s unique business model.
A - More than 60 percent
B - More than 70 percent
C - More than 80 percent
Collab for talent
The best CFOs collaborate closely with specific colleagues to prioritize talent. Who of the following is NOT typically one of them?
This collaboration should aim to direct capital toward attracting, teaching, and retaining talented employees.
A - CEO
B - CTO
C - CHRO
Getting involved
According to a recent McKinsey survey, what percent of senior executives (including CFOs) are directly involved in providing opportunities for employees to apply new skills?
That’s significantly less than the 64 percent of senior executives who are generally supportive of employee capability building.
A - 30 percent
B - 40 percent
C - 50 percent
Both ends of the candle
In 2022, McKinsey conducted a global survey of nearly 15,000 employees and 1,000 HR decision makers in 15 countries. On average, how many reported experiencing burnout?
Burnout was measured using the Burnout Assessment Tool, the result of a three-year research project at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
A - One in four
B - One in five
C - One in six
Feel better
Which of the following is NOT one of the four core symptoms of burnout?
The four core symptoms of burnout are cognitive impairment, emotional impairment, exhaustion, and mental distancing.
A - Physical impairment
B - Cognitive impairment
C - Emotional impairment
The big picture
Women senior leaders do more than their male peers to help employees navigate work–life challenges. What portion of women say that this extra work is reflected in compensation (a promotion, raise, or other)?
This extra work is described by McKinsey senior partner Lareina Yee as the “third shift.”
A - Half
B - One-third
C - One-quarter
Keys to the castle
What percent of a company’s total performance is typically under a CEO’s direct control?
Other C-suite officers and employees help execute strategy, but the CEO stands alone as the person ultimately responsible for its success or failure.
A - 25 percent
B - 35 percent
C - 45 percent
Against the odds
How many newly appointed CEOs live up to performance expectations in the first 18 months on the job?
Even for those who succeed, the road isn’t easy. Only one in 12 companies moves from being an average to a top-quintile performer over a ten-year period.
A - One in two
B - Three in five
C - Seven in ten
Allocation, allocation, allocation
Companies that reallocate more than 50 percent of their capital expenditure among business units over ten years create more value than their counterparts who reallocate less actively. How much more?
In our interviews for the bestselling book CEO Excellence, we didn’t speak to a single executive who felt they’d been too active in reallocating resources.
A - 30 percent
B - 40 percent
C - 50 percent
Financial basics
How many people living in emerging economies don’t have access to formal savings and credit?
These people pay for everything in cash, have no secure way to save and invest their money, and rely on informal lenders and personal networks for credit.
A - About 1 billion
B - About 1.5 billion
C - About 2 billion
Safety net
How many Americans (based on a survey of 25,000 people) would be able to cover their expenses for more than two months if they lost their job?
Just because the US is one of the world’s wealthiest countries doesn’t necessarily mean all Americans are financially secure.
A - Half
B - Two-thirds
C - Three-quarters
Open sesame
Adoption of open-data systems—the ability to share financial data through a digital ecosystem—could confer GDP gains in the United Kingdom, EU, and the US. By how much?
In India, open-data systems could confer a GDP gain of as much as 5 percent.
A - Up to half a percent
B - Up to 1 percent
C - Up to 1.5 percent
Junk drawer
Around how many pieces of human-created junk are currently in space?
This number only includes pieces of space junk that are trackable.
A - 30,000
B - 40,000
C - 50,000
Detritus
Which of the following is NOT a real piece of space junk?
The Andy Warhol drawing was left behind by the Apollo 12 mission in 1969.
A - A spatula lost by astronaut Piers Sellers in 2005
B - An Andy Warhol drawing
C - A bone that belonged to Laika, the Soviet space dog
Kaboom
How many pieces of space junk were generated by the highest-ever collision recorded in space?
Space junk ends up there due to accidents and rocket launches—or because no one bothered to bring down a decommissioned satellite.
A - More than 2,500
B - More than 3,200
C - More than 3,700
Not all bad
Greenhouse gases are naturally occurring gases, such as CO2, methane, and sulfur dioxide, that trap heat on Earth. Without greenhouse gases, what would be the average temperature on earth?
Greenhouse gases, in moderation, are needed for human life on Earth.
A - 89°F
B - 0°F
C - –18°F
Hold steady
By how much has the average global surface temperature already risen since the Industrial Revolution?
Most scientists agree that an increase of 1.5°C is the limit beyond which the effects of climate change would be the most dangerous and irreversible. COP participants agreed to pursue efforts to stay within 1.5°C at COP21 in Paris.
A - 1.2°C
B - 1.4°C
C - 1.6°C
Zero in
The pathways to net zero, identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, involve which of the following?
A net-zero gain of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would be achieved when annual greenhouse gas emissions drop to the amount removed each year.
A - Decarbonization
B - Carbon removal
C - Both
All about mindsets
Employees who report that their organizations invest substantially in leadership development are how much more likely to rate senior leaders as more inclusive?
McKinsey findings show that investing in leadership development at all levels of an organization cultivates the leadership behaviors that enhance psychological safety.
A - 44 percent
B - 54 percent
C - 64 percent
Planning for safety
Which of the following is NOT one of the main ways to cultivate psychological safety in the workplace?
Leadership-development experiences should be emotional and sensory—and lead to moments of realization.
A - Go beyond one-off training programs and deploy a scaled system of leadership development.
B - Invest in leadership-development experiences that are related to the business.
C - Build mechanisms to make people development a part of leaders’ day-to-day work.
I challenge you
When can a challenging leadership style—characterized by leaders asking people to reexamine assumptions about their work, among other things—strengthen psychological safety?
Once a safe and supportive environment is in place, challenging leadership styles have been linked with increased employee creativity and desire to improve.
A - Once a safe and supportive team climate has been established.
B - As soon as a new team member is brought on, to introduce them to the culture.
C - Never
Copy that
What percent of C-suite technology executives are already exploring and investing in digital twins?
Tech executives are excited about digital twins’ potential to deliver more agile and resilient operations.
A - 70 percent
B - 80 percent
C - 90 percent
Smart design
Consumer electronics manufacturers have found that using digital twins has helped reduce scrap waste. By how much?
Digital twins help manage waste by reducing the material used in a product’s design, as well as improving the traceability of a product.
A - Roughly 8 percent
B - Roughly 15 percent
C - Roughly 20 percent
Calling all Geminis
Organizations including Daimler, Emirates Team New Zealand, SoFi Stadium, and Space Force are already using digital twins. What is the market for digital-twin investments estimated to be worth by 2026?
This $48 billion estimate is spurred by rapidly advancing supporting technologies.
A - $4.8 billion
B - $48 billion
C - $480 billion
Organic growth
McKinsey estimates that bioengineering could have an economic impact of how much per year from 2030 to 2040?
That $4 trillion is spread across 400 use cases, almost all of which are scientifically feasible.
A - Up to $2 trillion
B - Up to $3 trillion
C - Up to $4 trillion
Biohacking
How much did synthetic-biology companies raise in the first quarter of 2021?
This is around four times the investment in the same quarter a year earlier.
A - Around $46 million
B - Around $460 million
C - Around $4.6 billion
Cellular investing
Cell therapy 2.0 can more precisely address diseased tissues or cells. What value is the cell therapy 2.0 market expected to reach by 2026?
Cell therapy 2.0 is just one of six bioengineering platforms attracting significant attention from investors.
A - $20 billion
B - $25 billion
C - $30 billion
Shifting boards
In the past, boards of directors have primarily been focused on the finances of a company. What is their core role now?
Boards are also playing increasingly large roles in the appointments and successions of other executives.
A - Crafting a strategy
B - Creating a fulfilling work environment
C - CEO succession
Board to be wild
What percent of corporate directors believe their organization is prepared for the next large crisis?
This is despite the trial-by-fire learning opportunities afforded by the pandemic.
A - 40 percent
B - 60 percent
C - 80 percent
Leaderboard
How can boards of directors role model a positive culture for the organizations they lead?
An organization’s culture is a key enabler of strategy and risk management.
A - Promoting people according to stated values and fostering lifelong learning
B - Delivering successful digital transformations
C - Crafting strategy that prioritizes returns over all else
Key indication
In digital transformations, KPIs usually fall into three categories. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
The third category of KPIs in digital transformations should be related to team health.
A - Value creation
B - Team building
C - Change-management progress
Joining forces
Which of the following leaders usually coleads a digital transformation with the CEO?
The CDO usually coleads the digital transformation, working with digital and AI technologies to create new digital experiences for users.
A - Chief Technology Officer
B - Chief Risk Officer
C - Chief Digital Officer
Shared competencies
A successful digital transformation requires the same three strong competencies as an AI transformation. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
The third competency that digital and AI transformations share is an operating model that is responsive and scalable.
A - A clear strategy
B - An in-house digital talent pool
C - A static operating model
Getting social
What percent of the world’s population uses social media?
As of June 2022, new users were joining social-media platforms at an average global rate of seven users per second.
A - 50 percent
B - 60 percent
C - 70 percent
Origin stories
Most people date the beginning of social media to the launch of SixDegrees, a social-networking site for making friends. When did it launch?
Personal blogs became popular with the launch of LiveJournal in 1999. The early 2000s saw the launches of LinkedIn and Facebook.
A - 1997
B - 1999
C - 2000
Can I speak to the manager
What percent of customers expect a brand to respond within an hour when they make a complaint on social media?
79 percent of customers expect a response within 24 hours of making a social media complaint.
A - 30 percent
B - 35 percent
C - 40 percent
Personal best
How much can good personalization reduce acquisition costs for companies?
Good personalization can also lift revenues by up to 15 percent and increase marketing ROI by up to 30 percent.
A - 50 percent
B - 60 percent
C - 25 percent
Personal growth
Companies with faster growth rates derive how much more of their revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts?
Personal experiences also drive up customer loyalty and a company’s gross sales.
A - 35 percent
B - 40 percent
C - 45 percent
Great expectations
What percent of customers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions?
What’s more, 76 percent of customers get frustrated when companies fail to deliver personalized interactions.
A - 67 percent
B - 69 percent
C - 71 percent
Talent show
What percent of respondents to a McKinsey survey who rated their company’s talent management as very effective also said they outperformed their competitors?
Only 56 percent of respondents who ranked their company’s talent management as other than very effective said the same.
A - 84 percent
B - 90 percent
C - 99 percent
Recipe for success
Survey findings indicate that three practices are most closely linked with effective talent management. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
The third effective talent-management practice is rapid allocation—that is, quickly moving people among strategic projects as priorities.
A - HR’s involvement in creating a positive employee experience
B - A strategically minded HR team
C - Keeping talented employees in roles they’re good at
On purpose
What percent of people say they define their purpose through work?
The third effective talent-management practice is rapid allocation—that is, quickly moving people among strategic projects as priorities.
A - 60 percent
B - 70 percent
C - 80 percent
Pump the brakes
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, auto sales plummeted globally. How much did they fall in Europe?
The resulting drop in automakers’ orders for semiconductors combined with other factors to eventually produce the famous semiconductor crisis of the early 2020s.
A - 70 percent
B - 80 percent
C - 90 percent
Conducting business
By 2030, McKinsey projects revenues from the semiconductor industry to climb to how much?
Technologies critical for our future run on semiconductors, including AI technologies and electric vehicles.
A - $1 trillion
B - $2 trillion
C - $3 trillion
Concentration
Just three industries—automotive, computation and data storage, and wireless—will spur how much of the semiconductor industry’s growth by 2030?
In automotive alone, McKinsey foresees a tripling in demand.
A - 55 percent
B - 68 percent
C - 70 percent
Another meeting?
What percent of executives in a recent McKinsey survey said they were considering or already implementing changes in meeting structure and cadence?
As of June 2022, new users were joining social-media platforms at an average global rate of seven users per second.
A - 80 percent
B - 85 percent
C - 90 percent
Support system
What percent of executives who consider themselves effective time managers also report receiving strong support in scheduling and allocating time?
Only 7 percent of ineffective time allocators said the same.
A - 65 percent
B - 75 percent
C - 85 percent
Stop the clock
Netflix has limited the duration of meetings to a maximum of how long?
The organization also bans meetings that involve one-way information sharing.
A - 20 minutes
B - 30 minutes
C - 45 minutes
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