There is no crystal ball to provide business leaders with insights into a potential economic meltdown. Yet, market volatility and the threat of financial uncertainty are prompting some experts, including the, to suggest businesses need to be better prepared for a global recession.
I read a report from Deloitte where the company studied the dot-com bust that started in 1999 and the Great Recession that came along in 2007, as well as how individual organizations emerged from those periods. Theconcludes that companies need to prepare for periods of rapid change, and they must be ready to invest and innovate, even in the midst of economic upheaval.
Three key strategic levers underpinned what the top quartile of companies did pre-recession to increase agility. These were “balance sheet flexibility,” “operating flexibility,” and “flexibility of product offering.” I would argue that such levels of agility are not being achieved by all companies. There are both cultural and technological reasons for this.