Accelerating the diffusion of technology-enabled business practices

New research highlights some of the most important actions available to executives. McKinsey research has long demonstrated the wide gap between productivity levels in different countries. Research in 2015, for example, suggested that if the degree of productivity dispersion among the bottom 75 percent of UK firms matched that of Germany, the United Kingdom would be more than £100 billion better off annually as measured by incremental gross value added (GVA). This analysis also showed that a major reason for that discrepancy is the United Kingdom's relatively slower diffusion of digital technologies and proven business practices among the bulk of its business population. We set out recently to investigate what drives, and holds back, the diffusion of technology-enabled business practices, using a mix of academic literature, studies from multinational organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Economic Forum, and in-depth interviews with business leaders and other experts.