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The Shortlist for the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year

September 26, 2018

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Six finalists for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year have been announced.

For the past fourteen years, The Financial Times (first with Goldman Sachs, and now with McKinsey & Company) has been handing out its yearly honor to "a work which provides the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues." 
 
On September 14th, FT & McKinsey announced the shortlist for their 2018 Business Book of the Year Award, whittling down their longlist of fifteen books to a final six. Writing of the finalists, FT management editor Andrew Hill (the author of a terrific book, Leadership in the Headlines, himself) stated that the very "future of capitalism … dominates the shortlist for this year’s Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year."

The six books that made the final cut are: 
 
 
 
It's a impressive list. The judging panel, chaired by FT editor Lionel Barber, is impressive, as well. It includes:
 
  • Mitchell Baker, Chairwoman, Mozilla
  • Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor, Allianz, (BBYA Winner, 2008, When Markets Collide)
  • Herminia Ibarra, The Charles Handy Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School
  • Rik Kirkland, Partner and Director of Publishing, McKinsey & Company
  • Randall Kroszner, Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Dambisa Moyo, Global Economist and Author, Non-Executive Director, Barrick Gold, Barclays and Chevron
  • Shriti Vadera, Chairman, Santander UK; Senior Independent Director, BHP Billiton and Non-Executive Director, AstraZeneca

 Of the judges' deliberations and final decision, Andrew Hill writes: 

 

Lionel Barber, FT editor and chair of the judges, praised the finalists … for making “complex ideas accessible with riveting narrative, fine writing and in-depth research.” He said this year’s books posed “hard questions, from the boardroom to the shop floor”.


Rik Kirkland, McKinsey partner and a member of the judging panel, said: “What’s striking is how varied both the voices and topics on this year’s shortlist are …. [The books] should help political and corporate leaders struggling with the good, the bad, and the ugly of creative destruction.”

 
          
The winner of the Business Book of the Year Award 2018 will be awarded £30,000, with £10,000 going to the authors of each of the remaining books on the shortlist. 
 
Previous Business Book of the Year winners include:
 
 
To learn more, visit ft.com/bookaward.

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