The 48th annual McKinsey Awards

Longtime readers of Harvard Business Review will know that the McKinsey Awards, now in their 48th year, recognize the articles most likely to have a lasting influence on management. Every year, a panel of judges—distinguished leaders from business, the nonprofit sector, and the academy—select the two best articles out of a field of around 90.

“Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility”

Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer

December 2006

First-Place Winner.

Corporate social responsibility has become an inescapable priority for business leaders across the globe. Governments, activists, and the media now hold companies accountable for the social consequences of their actions, and favorable publicity is often bestowed on companies with prominent CSR programs. Yet for all the hype surrounding CSR efforts, they are frequently counterproductive.



“The Why, What, and How of Management Innovation”

Gary Hamel

February 2006

Second-Place Winner

To most people, innovation means new products, new ways of marketing, and new technologies. But management itself, writes Gary Hamel, is a fertile ground for innovation. In fact, Hamel argues, managerial innovations like brand management or the divisionalized corporation have created greater value and longer-lived competitive advantage than anything that came from a focus group or a laboratory.