1、BUSINESS TRANSFORMATIONThe TransformationParadox:How to GrowWhen the Growing GetsToughBy Tuukka Sepp,Kristy Ellmer,Andreas Holmbom,Dominic C.Klemmer,PaulCatchlove,Martin Reeves,Ulrich Pidun,Gabe Bouslov,and Adam JobARTICLE APRIL 16,2025Business leaders can no longer rely on a tailwind to boost growt

2、h.They face encroachingconstraints on all fronts:trade wars are eroding the globalization premium businesses haveenjoyed over the past 30-plus years;the era of essentially free capital,which Western firms had2025 Boston Consulting Group1enjoyed for more than a decade,has ended;and,with the ongoing d

3、emographic shi,automaticpopulation-driven growth is no longer a given in most of the developed world.Consequently,in the first quarter of 2025,GDP growth forecasts were revised downward for the USand EU.Achieving growth in this environment will require a dedicated efforta growthtransformation.Unfort

4、unately,such transformations have low odds of success:our analysis of1,700 transformations globally over the past 20 years shows that only about one-third accelerategrowth in a value-accretive way.(See Exhibit 1.)Successful growth transformations tend to share some common factors,our research shows.

5、(See“The Ten Success Factors.”)Companies that deployed five or more of these key factors saw nearlydouble the success rate compared to those that applied none.Just as significantly,our research reveals that the current economic environment shouldntdissuade leaders.Transforming for growth may seem li

6、ke an audacious undertaking todaybutweve found that the success rate for such transformations is actually higher in times of low growththan in other years.The upshot?Company leaders have the chance to turn slowdown into renewal.Three Paradoxes of GrowthTransformationThe very idea of transforming for