The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

Women Want More

In the book Women Want More: How to Capture Your Share of the World’s Largest, Fastest- Growing Market, authors Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre, partners at BCG, explore the rise of the “female economy.”

One billion women participate in the workforce worldwide, and over the next several years they will spend an incremental $5 trillion or more on goods and services—a sum that is bigger than any country’s bailout package. Yet women still find themselves undervalued in the marketplace, underestimated in the workplace, and underappreciated at home. The companies that really get women and respond to their unmet needs with skill, nuance, and genuine engagement will enjoy breakaway growth, unprecedented customer loyalty, and category dominance.

Learn more about the book:

- Visit the Women Want More Web site
- Meet the authors
- Check out the Book in Brief
- Take the survey yourself
- Order the book on Amazon.com
- Become a fan of the book on Facebook

The 2009 Value Creators Report—Searching for Sustainability: Value Creation in an Era of Diminished Expectations

The key value-creation challenge in today’s postdownturn economy is sustainability: an approach to shareholder value that allows a company to deliver above-average returns consistently and over relatively long periods of time. This report defines four pathways to sustainable value creation, based on analysis of the world’s top sustainable value creators. It also describes practical steps executives can take to define their own strategy for sustainable value creation, using a new BCG tool known as the TSR sustainability matrix. Read more.

From Gray to Green: How Energy-Efficient Buildings Can Help Make China’s Rapid Urbanization Sustainable

China’s rapid development has meant new opportunities for millions of Chinese. But it has also prompted concerns about the byproducts of growth, in particular the strain on China’s natural resources and environment. This White Paper deals with an effective remedial measure: increasing the energy efficiency of China’s buildings, which collectively represent one of the country’s largest drains on energy. The paper identifies and speaks to the role of each stakeholder group; it also suggests key action steps. Read more.

Be Daring When Others Are Fearful: Seizing M&A Opportunities While They Last

The global financial and economic crisis creates opportunities for acquisitive businesses to reshape industries and create new leaders. BCG’s fifth annual M&A report analyzes more than 5,200 M&A transactions since the start of the subprime crisis in the late summer of 2007, with a special focus on distressed M&A. It shows that some of the best opportunities have been acquisitions of fundamentally healthy but financially distressed companies and presents the key ingredients of success for both buyers and sellers. Read more.

IT Advantage, Fall 2009

This report, the second in BCG’s ongoing IT Advantage series, is a collection of articles focused on the topic of how the IT organization can maximize its contribution to the company—and how the company can optimally leverage IT’s capabilities. The articles comprise a mix of news, viewpoints, conversations, and hard data about best practices. Read more.

Delivering on the Client Promise: Global Wealth 2009

The wealth management industry is well placed to take advantage of the crisis and the eventual upturn. The industry’s reputation may have been scarred, but its services remain vital. And even though client relationships are somewhat tenuous and profitability and revenue margins are suffering from the decline and reallocation of wealth, assets will continue to flow largely within (not out of) this sector. Well-prepared wealth managers will emerge from the crisis in a much stronger position, primed for sustained growth. Read more.