To fight or flee, cash flow in turmoil, shops closed, quarantine in effect, restless staff, committed expenses. This has been the constant reverberation from the ground since the pandemic has shut out the doors of commerce. While some nations have progress to lift restrictions, some are still dealing with the onslaught caused by COVID-19.
Coming out recently from a survey of 460 top global executives, there could be opportunities lurking to be uncovered in moments of fragility. (Watkins & Yaziji, 2020). The survey entitled looking for opportunities in the midst of crisis draws on the observation that larger public traded companies will be in a better position to cope with the storm in comparison to smaller privately owned companies. Nonetheless, it’s the onus of the leadership to drive and set the tone to path find a solution.
The authors suggest that extreme conditions will breed longer term opportunities if leaders are able to seek those out. Some examples cited are acquiring competitors at a fraction of a price. Merger or acquisition or reversed take overs are probable options available today. Industry consolidation such as the merger of airlines are being mooted across the globe. Besides consolidation, acquiring new human talent is also a viable approach as job cuts, layoffs provide high quality talents looking out for a lifeline.
Taking a lead from the above, I have interacted with numerous businesses of late and truly most of the discussions has been focus on survival. Fortunately, I have also observed some business leaders making bolder decisions in pivoting their business models. For example, while physical stores are closed, investments in e-commerce has doubled. The catalyst for change suddenly was evident and speed to market is the new mantra. I have seen daily sharpening of their e-commerce approach and digital approach. They have re-evaluated their supply chain and begin to experiment new product and services complementing their existing range. For the bolder one, they have even started a new business spin off.
The human spirit is incredible during times of adversity. Dive shop operator started selling fresh seafood produce, out of work gym instructors providing manual labour in wholesale markets, fresh graduates offering rubbish collection services, recently retrenched workers going into online business. Defying setbacks with a right dose of optimism is critical now.
Solving problems during a crisis demands speeding up innovation by repurposing the knowledge, resources, and technology you already have at hand.”
(Krogh, et al., 2020)
(Krogh, et al., 2020)
Repurposing appears to make bigger sense of things these days. Ultrafast innovation sprung up in matter of weeks. LVMH, Nivea and L’Oréal started manufacturing hand sanitizers to meet demand. Dyson, a world leader in innovative household appliances decided to use their deep air compression technology to make ventilators. Following these footsteps both Jeff Bezo and Elon Musk, the eccentric billionaires of Blue Origin and Space X respectively have begun building ventilators too.
How did this organization launch seamlessly into these noble efforts? Krogh, et al. (2020) suggested the following areas to address.
- Find out what is the innovation problem
- Identify your inhouse resources (Knowledge and Asset) to solve it and address the gaps from acquisition or collaboration
- Encourage open and cross discipline collaboration
- Integrate feedback loop
- Use technology when possible
The concept of repurposing with ultrafast innovation provide a glimmer of hope of businesses to rethink on their approaches.
Echoing back to the earlier piece on continual investment during this period, the following questions should be addressed to assist in our evaluation adapted from (Watkins & Yaziji, 2020)
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What is likely to change permanently as a result of the crisis?
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What existing trends is the crisis likely to slow or accelerate?
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Do these sorts of changes create opportunities and/or threats postcrisis that can be capitalized on if we rapidly and effectively pursue the right actions?
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If so, what needs to happen to lay the groundwork to do this?
Based on the above approach, I have applied these questions into the line of business we are in. We have noticed a sudden surge of digital online webinars sprouting everywhere from mostly do it yourself range to slightly sleeker professional edits. Acknowledging we may not have inhouse capability to address this, we decided to collaborate and to reach out to others who has. Applying both ultrafast innovation and understanding future permanent trends, we have managed to offer webinar production to our partners as value add services in matter of weeks.
The above is just a simple example. In conclusion, continue investing even though its miniscule. Applying middle term investment outlook with ultrafast innovation repurposing will certainly shift us into better position in the coming days. While expressing this, let’s not forget that staying engaged with your teams and offering greater empathy should be top of the agenda.
References
Krogh, G. V., Ben-Menahem, S. M. & Kucukkeles, B., 2020. MIT Sloan Management Review. [Online]
Available at: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/lessons-in-rapid-innovation-from-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[Accessed 6 June 2020].
Watkins, M. & Yaziji, M., 2020. MIT sloan Reivew. [Online]
Available at: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/looking-for-opportunity-in-the-midst-of-crisis/
[Accessed 3 June 2020].
author
Doh Hau Goh
Goh Doh Hau is in the leadership team of Garganto, a boutique style digital marketing agency and ecommerce builder. He enjoys marrying evidence-based research with observation insights to curate gems of practical information. He is a MBA graduate from Sydney Business School (University of Wollongong)
author
Doh Hau Goh
Goh Doh Hau is in the leadership team of Garganto, a boutique style digital marketing agency and ecommerce builder. He enjoys marrying evidence-based research with observation insights to curate gems of practical information. He is a MBA graduate from Sydney Business School (University of Wollongong)