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Insights & Research
Generating novel thought leadership that advances the global dialogue around our key areas of focus is a critical component of our work. Learn more about some of our selected insights below
Our Latest Insights
Cyber threats to energy infrastructure are no longer an abstract risk. They are direct threats to business continuity, revenue, and customer trust. With ransomware and state-sponsored attacks accelerating in 2025, decentralized grids and digital infrastructure have created a growing web of vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, the number of susceptible points to cyber-energy attacks increases by roughly 60 per day. If left unchecked, these disruptions can halt operations, trigger regulatory scrutiny, and draw investor attention.
Cyber threats to energy infrastructure are no longer an abstract risk. They are direct threats to business continuity, revenue, and customer trust. With ransomware and state-sponsored attacks accelerating in 2025, decentralized grids and digital infrastructure have created a growing web of vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, the number of susceptible points to cyber-energy attacks increases by roughly 60 per day. If left unchecked, these disruptions can halt operations, trigger regulatory scrutiny, and draw investor attention.
As the U.S. ramps up tariffs on everything from electric vehicle and semiconductors to solar panels and medical goods, domestic manufacturers are preparing for a wave of new challenges and business opportunities. These policies, aimed at reshoring supply chains and boosting U.S. industry, are expected to redirect procurement away from China and other low-cost manufacturing centers and toward American suppliers.
But while tariffs may open the door to new contracts, they also come with higher expectations. As global corporations shift sourcing to the U.S., they are bringing with them the same environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards that were previously required of international partners. This is where tools like EcoVadis, a global platform for supplier sustainability assessments, are quickly becoming essential for U.S. suppliers.
Real estate leaders are navigating return-to-office (RTO) policies by balancing financial impacts, employee preferences, and market trends. This shift presents both risk and opportunity. RTO will reshape energy consumption patterns, tenant expectations, and retrofit planning. Real estate leaders must think beyond tenant demand and navigate the environmental, social, and governance implications of a workplace landscape in flux.
Economic warfare is no longer a distant concept — it is here now, shaping the environment in which companies operate. It spans commodity blockades, cyber coercion, financial retaliation, and increasingly volatile tensions in a multipolar world.
Management teams need to build readiness into their operations. That means stress-testing scenarios, building financial and cyber resilience, diversifying supply chains, and creating agile operating models that can respond to sudden policy changes. With AI-assisted readiness and better intelligence, companies can decode geopolitical moves, strengthen supply chains, and protect both financial performance and ethical standing.
In an era of mounting regulatory scrutiny and intensifying stakeholder activism, legal exposure is no longer confined to the boardroom. Senior management across legal, compliance, sustainability, risk, finance, operations, and technology are now on the front lines of litigation risk. What began as a primarily enterprise-level concern has evolved into personal legal exposure — particularly for executives navigating cybercrime, sustainability and ESG commitments, regulatory reporting, and geopolitical disruption.
Although landmark cases assigning personal financial penalties remain rare, enforcement and litigation mechanisms are increasingly targeting individuals where negligence, misrepresentation, or oversight failures are evident.
As sustainability becomes baseline expectation for doing business, many small and mid-sized manufacturers are encountering EcoVadis for the first time. Once seen as a niche tool, EcoVadis has quickly become the global standard, used by more than 1200 global procurement teams, to assess supplier performance on environmental, social, and ethical issues.
EcoVadis can be confusing for those who are new to it. From whom it’s really for to how it works and what’s expected, many suppliers enter the assessment with mistaken assumptions that can lead to missed opportunities or underwhelming scores.
To help you navigate it more effectively, here are five of the most common misconceptions about EcoVadis and what your company really needs to know.
As the U.S. ramps up tariffs on everything from electric vehicle and semiconductors to solar panels and medical goods, domestic manufacturers are preparing for a wave of new challenges and business opportunities. These policies, aimed at reshoring supply chains and boosting U.S. industry, are expected to redirect procurement away from China and other low-cost manufacturing centers and toward American suppliers.
But while tariffs may open the door to new contracts, they also come with higher expectations. As global corporations shift sourcing to the U.S., they are bringing with them the same environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards that were previously required of international partners. This is where tools like EcoVadis, a global platform for supplier sustainability assessments, are quickly becoming essential for U.S. suppliers.
Real estate stands at a pivotal juncture, profoundly impacted by intensifying climate risks. Climate change is no longer an abstract scenario—it is an immediate strategic imperative. Climate risks could reduce annual returns for real estate portfolios by up to 40% by 2030 and climate-related impacts could cost the global real estate sector approximately $559 billion by 2050. Investor scrutiny is also intensifying, with 78 % of U.S. real-estate investors now identifying climate risk as a material financial concern. As climate costs mount and investor scrutiny intensifies, are you preparing your portfolio to be a climate liability or a future-proofed opportunity?
Quantum computing is no longer just a theoretical promise — it’s becoming a real factor in business strategy. In 2024, global venture funding for Quantum tech hit $2.6 billion, with $1.7 billion flowing to U.S. companies. Multinationals across industries — from tech to pharma to energy — are running pilot programs and assessing how Quantum will affect their operations, especially around encryption risk. If fully commercialized, analysts estimate Quantum could drive a $2 trillion economic impact by 2035.
So the question is: what’s your company’s position in this emerging landscape?
As global supply chains fracture and geopolitical tensions rise, India has emerged as a serious contender for global business expansion. Its appeal is no longer hypothetical: with a population of 1.4 billion, a surging middle class, ambitious government reforms, and a strategic opening with the U.S., India presents a rare convergence of market growth and global alignment.
For management teams across industries — from consumer goods to manufacturing, tech, and energy — the message is clear: India is no longer a future bet. It’s a current imperative. But succeeding in India takes more than enthusiasm or economic forecasts. It requires precision, adaptation, and a sharp understanding of operational realities on the ground.
As the U.S. ramps up tariffs on everything from electric vehicle and semiconductors to solar panels and medical goods, domestic manufacturers are preparing for a wave of new challenges and business opportunities. These policies, aimed at reshoring supply chains and boosting U.S. industry, are expected to redirect procurement away from China and other low-cost manufacturing centers and toward American suppliers.
But while tariffs may open the door to new contracts, they also come with higher expectations. As global corporations shift sourcing to the U.S., they are bringing with them the same environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards that were previously required of international partners. This is where tools like EcoVadis, a global platform for supplier sustainability assessments, are quickly becoming essential for U.S. suppliers.
Real estate leaders are navigating return-to-office (RTO) policies by balancing financial impacts, employee preferences, and market trends. This shift presents both risk and opportunity. RTO will reshape energy consumption patterns, tenant expectations, and retrofit planning. Real estate leaders must think beyond tenant demand and navigate the environmental, social, and governance implications of a workplace landscape in flux.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the landscape of higher education—from the research lab to the admissions office. Its potential to transform learning, research, and campus operations is undeniable. But with that promise come pressing questions about equity, energy use, institutional control, and the strategy needed to harness AI wisely.
In President Trump’s second term, sweeping policy reversals have reshaped the federal landscape on climate, energy, and sustainability. Key clean energy incentives have been paused or rescinded, the Paris Agreement abandoned, and environmental enforcement agencies weakened. But despite the U.S. policy reversal, global expectations around sustainability are rising and so is pressure from investors, regulators, and stakeholders. For management teams, this creates a dual challenge: adjust to political volatility while maintaining progress on financially material climate, social, and governance issues. ESG is still here, but its language, structure, and strategic integration are changing fast.
The passage of The Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) on Friday, July 4th, marks a decisive recalibration of U.S. clean-energy policy and incentive structure—elevating urgency, compliance, and strategic flexibility for corporations. The upending of financial incentives create a real-time operational challenge. Boards must respond by aligning capital schedules, fortifying supply chains, and taking out cost from their decarbonization strategies. How should enterprises evolve their capital allocation for operational effectiveness, ESG targets, and financial return?
Recent shifts in U.S. trade policy—particularly the return of tariffs under President Trump—are more than a political issue. They’re a material business risk. Higher input costs, reduced demand, and overall macroeconomic uncertainty are forcing multinational companies to revisit financial projections and stress-test their assumptions. One area now under pressure: impairment testing for non-financial assets such as property, plant, and equipment (PP&E), intangible assets, and goodwill.
Despite recent headlines, global corporations continue to implement their sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs, including building sustainable, transparent, and resilient supply chains. As a result, suppliers of all sizes and across all sectors are increasingly being asked to demonstrate their ESG performance.
Months into the new administration, campus sustainability efforts continue to face heightened scrutiny and shifting political headwinds. For university leaders, the question isn’t whether this work still matters—it’s how to continue advancing it amid the risks and pressures. Some institutions have chosen to keep a lower profile. Others are rebranding or reframing their efforts to stay aligned with changing expectations. In this environment, strategy - not silence - is the key to staying on course.
The U.S. power grid is straining under the weight of aging infrastructure, extreme weather, and surging demand from AI, EVs, and electrification. Real estate, which consumes the 75% of U.S. electricity, is going to be directly impacted. What was once a stable utility is now a strategic risk—and potentially, a competitive advantage. The question isn’t whether grid disruption will affect your portfolio, but how you’ll lead through it.
President Trump recently announced the Golden Dome project – his equivalent to his second term’s moonshot with a goal of completion by 2029. The $175 billion project is envisioned to be a multi-layered defense architecture to shield the U.S. from advanced threats, including hypersonic and space-launched missiles. While certain defense and aerospace contractors—the likes of SpaceX, Palantir, Lockheed Martin, Boeing—remain obvious winners, industrial and CPG companies should consider the ramifications for their sectors over this decade-long investment. With the rise of national security investment, what will be the financial opportunities and operational complexities?
With the reorientation of manufacturing to the U.S. in response to President Trump’s trade policy, multinationals focus on potential site evaluation and selection. Be it Hyundai in Indiana, Apple in Texas, or Toyota in North Carolina, global companies have made public commitments to bring back parts of their complex supply chains to the U.S. While a myriad of factors must be considered – talent pools, state incentives, land availability, access to first-tier supplies—an underrated question is that of physical climate risks. As manufacturing returns, management teams will have to ask their teams what climate-driven risks—water shortages, extreme heat, or flooding—will these new sites face? Where will climate-related hazards pose the greatest threat to business continuity and long-term profitability? Is it enough to reconsider our site location?
The roll-out of President Trump’s tariff regime has ignited an international response, with markets reeling, inflation risks escalating, and projections for a recession increasing. China’s tariff rate has been increased to 145%, while most other countries remain under a 90-day pause on most high tariffs. As the world waits and sees where the trade policy will land, management teams are working with their boards in identifying strategies to reduce their immediate economic losses. To do so, large multinationals with global supply chains are leveraging tariff engineering to modify products or their classification to reduce import duties.
As tensions between D.C. and Beijing escalate, management teams are looking to better understand and reduce their exposures to the U.S.-China trade war. As of mid-April 2025, we offer a review of China’s non-tariff countermeasures that target the U.S. With an unclear off-ramp for either side, management teams will have to further build scenarios that offer greater supplier optionality in the short-term while also re-evaluating long-term enterprise strategy. Overall, the cost of doing business in and with China will increase for U.S. business and will likely have lasting impact. How can businesses manage through China’s escalating retaliation?
With global trade tensions escalating, supplier diversification has been embraced as the leading antidote to mitigate short-term risks. Thus, rapid pushes for multi-sourcing, local-for-local, component substitution, stockpiling, and scenario planning have engulfed executive teams. CPG companies are accelerating years of work in nearshoring and onshoring suppliers and production. While the financial benefits of supplier diversification seem straightforward, the risks posed to an enterprise without a robust know your supplier program will expose new threats to reputation, operations, customer interfacing, and more. How should executive teams re-imagine due diligence during Trump 2.0 and global trade upheaval?
After a week of wild swings in markets and growing demands from investors, President Trump’s trade war may be coming into clearer focus with Wednesday’s (4/9) pause on most reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. With stocks surging on Wednesday, many are hoping that his goal is clearer – China containment. President Trump cited talks with foreign nations in explaining the reversal, but said China would not be included after Beijing announced further retaliations. While the China angle is feasible, we also offer a spectrum of scenarios to help decision-makers play-out risks and opportunities. How will executives assess their risks and re-conceptualize their strategies – supply chain, CapEx, de-valuation, and more?
Real estate companies are navigating RTO policies by balancing financial impacts, employee preferences, and market trends. The rise of remote and hybrid work has led to underutilized office spaces and changes in tenant demand, prompting management teams to explore repurposing, flexible leasing, and strategic property acquisitions. To retain talent, companies are adopting hybrid work models while carefully planning space utilization. Companies are also capitalizing on market downturns by acquiring discounted office properties to adapt to evolving business needs. As the landscape continues to shift, the question is whether management teams are being bold enough to rethink the traditional office model, or are they merely reacting to short-term trends?
In the past, political risk has been a specific category of risks that management teams and their boards reviewed quarterly and managed through insurance policies. Acute issues were handled by task forces or crisis management teams. Now, under President Trump’s second administration, political risks are blurring and broadening to include: protectionist trade policy, sanctions, tariff retaliation, export/import bans, cyber-attacks, regional strife and conflict, border security, human rights, international terrorism, failed multilateral cooperation, increasing influence of populist governments, and more. With many of these themes presenting themselves weekly and daily, how do companies recast their political risk management under Trump 2.0?
As President Trump ramps up his tariff policies in an effort to protect U.S. industries, key trading partners—including Canada, Mexico, the European Union (EU), and China—have announced retaliatory measures. These responses range from reciprocal tariffs to export restrictions on critical raw materials and industrial goods, posing significant risks to U.S. businesses. Understanding these developments and their implications is crucial for corporate executives navigating supply chain disruptions, pricing volatility, and international trade negotiations.
In 2024 alone, over 3,000 trade restrictions were implemented globally. This global trend is reflected predominantly in President Trump's protectionist trade agenda. With their complex international footprint, global companies like Caterpillar, Komatsu, Unilever, Nestlé, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota will either face the impact of tariffs or retaliatory measures. While President Trump's policies create cost and uncertainty, they also call for adaptation, domestic investment, restructuring, joint ventures, automation, and process innovation. Finally, new climate-related compliance requirements add more complexity to global trade flows with China and Europe.
Headlines have proliferated on corporate rollbacks of promises, goals, and investment in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and Sustainability—in the U.S. and globally. This can be a range of topics – be it emissions reduction goals, waste reduction goals, and, most dramatically, Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI). We are seeing an intensifying pressure on U.S. corporate leaders to limit their legal exposure to concepts that were only recently championed as critical to their success.
In February 2025, President Trump reinstated the full 25% tariff on steel imports and increased aluminum tariffs to 25%, eliminating all previous exemptions and alternative agreements. This action expanded the tariffs to include key downstream products and terminated all general approved exclusions. Analysts expect these tariffs to lead to price hikes in vehicles, canned and other consumer products, and construction projects especially. But, if the first round of steel and aluminum tariffs are indicative, U.S. producers generally saw economic gains, job creation, while international companies faced increased costs and market uncertainties. For CPG, Industrial, Automative, and Construction sectors especially, proactive agility and consistent monitoring will be necessary to reduce exposure to global supply chain volatility and increased costs
With the EU’s deforestation laws coming online this month, business leaders will need to ensure that commodities in their supply chains do not contribute to deforestation. The broad range of commodities scoped into the regulation include wood, rubber, palm oil, soy, beef, cattle, and/or cacao. In advancing this regulation, the EU aims to minimize its contributions to global deforestation and, in turn, reduce its impact on climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss. Companies will have to quickly adapt their commercial operations to ensure compliance and think strategically to gain a competitive edge in doing so.
With national security central to Trump’s policy agenda, sanction compliance will be a critical topic for all management teams to reassess. Especially so, as nearly one third of all countries are impacted. As stewards of the company, business leaders must ensure responsible and ethical operations, which include strict adherence to sanctions. Failing to comply can expose the company to significant legal and reputational risks, which will ultimately harm shareholders' and company interests.
With an “America First” philosophy, President Trump will bring structural shifts to U.S. domestic economy and America’s approach to trade, foreign policy, and investment flows. As Trump takes office today, he and his team will push aggressively. Business will feel immediate pressure and have to navigate peripheral clatter . This will be especially true for businesses that are resource- and knowledge-intensive with global operations. Expect greater deregulation, sweeping tax reform, enhanced competition with China, and a reconfiguration of global supply chains due to broad tariffs, levies, duties, and import/export bans. Business leaders will have to ensure readiness to absorb major policy shocks and redirects in Q1 and well beyond.
Uncontrolled wildfires continue to menace and destroy communities in Los Angeles under a rare red flag warning. Even with the deadly fires still raging across a large swath of Southern California, the estimated damages have made the fires the region’s worst natural disaster in decades. The issues mount – lack of water, cascading electrical outages, un-insurability, privatization of first responder support, finger pointing between local, state, and federal levels. With all of this in mind, the LA fires demonstrate a new vulnerability for Americans. Residents and business leaders alike must call into question closely held assumptions on normalcy in one of the biggest and most prosperous U.S. cities
While companies have set ambitious decarbonization goals, there is still work to be done to integrate decarbonization strategies across sourcing, assembly, production, transportation, and product marketing. Regulators and customers are pushing for greater transparency for both emissions disclosures and other ESG metrics (embodied carbon, recyclability, biodiversity, fair trade, human rights, etc.). This pressure has started in Europe and continues to grow in North America, Australia, Singapore, and beyond. Executives should understand key drivers around this trend and determine how their organizations should manage reputational and greenwashing risk with carbon labelling.
Elon Musk’s influence transcends the domains of technology and business, extending into regulatory frameworks and geopolitical dynamics. As the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures, Musk has actively shaped industries ranging from renewable energy to space exploration. His outspoken advocacy for deregulation and his ventures' geopolitical implications have both catalyzed innovation and sparked controversy. Elon Musk’s influence on policy, could be shaped by his personal relationships with political figures, including President-elect Donald Trump. But, it doesn’t come without material risks.
The "America First" agenda under President Trump’s second term, particularly its trade and tariff policies, will significantly impact China's economy, trade dynamics, and geopolitical strategy. As China retaliates, management teams must stay informed and proactively develop strategies that will serve their companies' interests in the short- and long-term. Moreover, with the changing global landscape and supply chain strategies, companies should consider the intersection of natural security with ESG, Sustainability, and Climate.
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares for his second term, industrial and materials companies will face significant challenges and opportunities stemming from his aggressive trade policies. Corporate executives must anticipate potential changes to tariffs and trade strategies and plan accordingly to navigate these shifts.
Other Featured Insights
Economic warfare isn’t hypothetical—it spans commodity blockades, cyber coercion, financial retaliation, and increasingly violent tensions in a multi-polar global landscape. Boards must proactively integrate such threat vectors into strategic oversight by stress-testing scenarios, building financial and cyber resilience, diversifying supply chains, and cultivating agile governance. Through AI-assisted readiness and improved intelligence, boards can better decode geopolitical moves, reinforce supply chains, and safeguard both financial and ethical standing.
Audit committees have long been the mandated nexus of corporate financial reporting, internal controls, and risk management. Even though these committees face a full slate of topical oversight and compliance – financial, internal audit, AI, cyber, ESG, Sustainability, DEI – 2025 has also brought forward a new suite of risks. Namely, trade and tariffs, and geopolitical conflict. With so much responsibility across a broad spectrum of issues, have audit committees become the “kitchen sink” of corporate boards?
With multinational businesses stretched by intensifying geopolitical conflict, macroeconomic shocks, and global trade tensions, CEOs will need expert counsel from their corporate boards more than ever. Yet, new data shows that only one-third of CEOs say they are highly confident in their board’s ability to help them navigate the challenges facing their organization. What’s missing? What are CEOs not getting from their boards and how can the confidence gap be overcome?
Central to the health of the domestic and global economy, business executives have a responsibility to understand the dynamic energy landscape both in the U.S. and globally. 2025 will bring tensions of oversupply, price increases, deregulation, and restructured incentives for renewables. This will lay on top of an already complex web of geopolitical conflict, tariffs, trade restrictions, export bans, and more. With the climate crisis intensifying, an increased focus for all corporates should be on decarbonization, energy security, and system resilience. Perhaps most succinctly put, the headline on energy in 2025 is that there is no easy headline.
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Reports issued by the McKinsey Global Institute are often cited in international media, and MGI authors frequently contribute to leading business publications.
