The Shortlist For The 2020 Business Book Of The Year Award

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Financial Times And Mckinsey & Company Announce The Shortlist For The 2020 Business Book Of The Year Award

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The 2020 Business Book Of The Year Award

23 September 2020: The Financial Times and McKinsey & Company today publish the shortlist for the 2020 Business Book of the Year Award. Now in its sixteenth year, the Award is an essential calendar fixture for authors, publishers and the global business community. Each year it recognises a work which provides the ‘most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues’.

This year’s shortlisted books, selected by the eight distinguished judges (see below) are:

  • Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, by Anne Case and Angus Deaton, Princeton University Press (UK) & (US)
  • No Filter: The inside story of how Instagram transformed business, celebrity and our culture, by Sarah Frier, Random House Business (UK); Simon & Schuster (US)
  • No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer, WH Allen, Penguin Random House (UK); Penguin Press (US)
  • Reimagining Capitalism: How Business Can Save the World, by Rebecca Henderson, Penguin Business, Penguin Random House (UK); PublicAffairs (US)
  • If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future by Jill Lepore, John Murray Press (UK); W.W. Norton (US)
  • A World Without Work: Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond, by Daniel Susskind, Allen Lane (UK); Metropolitan Books (US)

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the Financial Times, said: “We enjoyed a robust debate at today's judging meeting and it was hard to separate six finalists from a particularly strong field.  But in a year marked by disruption and uncertainty, the judges have selected a shortlist, which addresses critical business issues, from the future of work to the importance of technology, in original, enjoyable and provocative ways.”

Dame Vivian Hunt, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company, said: “In a year when books were often an escapist respite and as many business ideas felt abruptly outdated, the 2020 shortlist reflects a rich diversity of mainstream books that not only look back, but also offer enduring and relevant lessons in resilient leadership; they are potential guides on how to rewire companies, organisations and societies for the post-pandemic next normal.”

The judging panel, chaired by Roula Khalaf, comprises:

  • Mitchell Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Mozilla Corporation; Chairwoman, Mozilla Foundation
  • Mohamed El-Erian, President-elect of Queen’s College, Cambridge, and Chief Economic Advisor, Allianz (BBYA Winner, 2008, When Markets Collide)
  • Herminia Ibarra, The Charles Handy Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School
  • Randall Kroszner, Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics and Deputy Dean for Executive Programs, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Dambisa Moyo, Global Economist and Author, Non-Executive Director, 3M Company and Chevron
  • Raju Narisetti, Global Publishing Director, McKinsey & Company
  • Shriti Vadera, Chair, Santander UK; Chair-elect of Prudential

The Financial Times and McKinsey & Company winner of the 2020 Business Book of the Year Award will be announced on 1 December at a digital event, co-hosted by Roula Khalaf and Kevin Sneader, Global Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company.The winner will receive £30,000 and the author(s) of each of the remaining shortlisted books will be awarded £10,000. The guest speaker will be Laxman Narasimhan, Chief Executive of Reckitt Benckiser.

Previous Business Book Of The Year Winners

Previous Business Book of the Year winners include: Caroline Criado Perez for Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (2019); John Carreyrou for Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (2018); Amy Goldstein for Janesville: An American Story (2017); Sebastian Mallaby for The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan (2016); Martin Ford for Rise of the Robots (2015); Thomas Piketty for Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2014); Brad Stone for The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon (2013); Steve Coll for Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power (2012); Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo for Poor Economics (2011); Raghuram Rajan for Fault Lines (2010);Liaquat Ahamed for The Lords of Finance (2009); Mohamed El-Erian for When Markets Collide (2008); William D. Cohan for The Last Tycoons (2007); James Kynge for China Shakes the World (2006); and Thomas Friedman, as the inaugural award winner in 2005, for The World is Flat.

To learn more about the award, visit ft.com/bookaward and follow the conversation at #BBYA20.

Notes to editors on The Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award

Entry forms and details of the terms and conditions are available from www.ft.com/bookaward. The annual award aims to identify the book that provides the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues, including management, finance and economics. The shortlist of six titles was chosen from a longlist of 15. The winner will be announced at a digital event on 1 December 2020.Submissions are invited from publishers or bona fide imprints based in any country.

Eligibility

Books must be published for the first time in the English language, or in English translation, between 16 November 2019 and 15 November 2020. There is no limit to the number of submissions from each publisher/imprint, provided they fit the criteria, and books from all genres except anthologies are eligible. There are no restrictions of gender, age or nationality of authors. Authors who are current employees of the Financial Times or McKinsey & Company, or the close relatives of such employees, are not eligible.


About the Financial Times

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of more than one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.

www.ft.com

About McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm committed to helping organisations create Change that Matters.

In more than 130 cities and 65 countries, our teams help clients across the private, public and social sectors shape bold strategies and transform the way they work, embed technology where it unlocks value, and build capabilities to sustain the change. Not just any change, but Change that Matters – for their organisations, their people, and in turn society at large.

www.mckinsey.com/thenextnormal