Resource revolution: Gathering force

Meeting increasing global demand requires dramatically improving resource productivity. Yet technological advances mean companies have an extraordinary opportunity not only to meet that challenge but to spark the next industrial revolution as well.

The head of the Environmental Defense Fund describes how the rise of big data and sensing technologies could improve the bottom line for companies and the environment.

The global energy expert and Pulitzer Prize–winning author expects an energy landscape rife with innovations—and surprises.

As costs fall, the importance of solar power to senior executives is rising.

Lean-production techniques have been revolutionizing operations for 50 years. Advances in technology, psychology, and analytics may make the next 50 even more exciting.

Amazon’s former head of global operations explains why the company was a natural place to apply lean principles, how they’ve worked in practice, and where the future could lead.

The combination of advanced analytics and lean management could be worth tens of billions of dollars in higher earnings for large manufacturers. A few leading companies are showing the way.

Beset by rising costs, resource-intensive manufacturers are applying lean-management thinking in new ways to reduce the amount of energy used in production, to increase resource productivity—or both.

A retired Toyota executive describes how to overcome common management challenges associated with applying lean, and reflects on the ways that Toyota continues to push the boundaries of lean thinking.

Anyone who pulls the organization in new directions must look inward as well as outward.

New research suggests that the performance payoff from organizational health is unexpectedly large and that companies have four distinct “recipes” for achieving it.

Directors should spend a greater share of their time shaping an agenda for the future.

The cofounder of Pixar Animation Studios recalls how a serious organizational rift led him to a new sense of mission—and how it helped Pixar develop a more open and sustainable creative culture.

A survey finds that when it comes to reallocating R&D expenditures, more isn't necessarily better.

Directors report that they have a greater impact as they move beyond the basics.

Research by McKinsey and the World Economic Forum points to a widening range of technology vulnerabilities and potentially huge losses in value tied to innovation.

McKinsey’s survey of global executives finds that corporate culture and a lack of convinced engagement by male executives are critical problems for women.

The latest wave of innovation could greatly improve production and lower costs.

More companies are discovering that an application programming interface can turn their data into new revenue streams.