
In this article, Ian Brumwell of Atlantic Insight outlines his recommendations to prosper in these uncertain times: have a clear strategy, be forensic and clinical, invest wisely, and act boldly to successfully navigate the current economic crisis.
Every day businesses are featured in the news as they slash costs and reduce their investments in R&D, Capex and M&A to conserve cash.
In every economic crisis and heavily disrupted marketplace there are always going to be winners and losers. So why will certain businesses succeed in navigating the current pandemic to stronger competitive positions in the longer term?
I would like to suggest four actions that we have observed being taken by businesses that have successfully position themselves to thrive after economic crises.
1. Develop clarity of purpose
We have often been engaged by businesses that had historically taken a slash and burn approach to cost reduction that might have satisfied short term imperatives, but with the benefit of
hindsight, it was at the expense of severely compromising future growth. Furthermore, this risky approach tends not to cut in the right places and deeply enough.
Successful change is vision and mission-led, and during a crisis this is even more critical; the strategy to achieve the post pandemic business needs to be quickly and clearly defined to inform cuts and investment. This requires the impact on the business / product / service portfolio to be quickly determined by evaluating metrics such as sector attractiveness, market share, profitability, capability strength and potential for growth. A targeted portfolio ensures that future investment is aligned to the business strategy and injects the confidence into management to take wise and bold decisions that result in long term success.
2. Use a forensic, clinical approach
Once the strategy and the optimum business portfolio have been defined, effective execution is critical. Invest in those businesses, products and services that have the best chance to
successfully deliver high returns and enhance competitive advantage. Divestment should be considered for those products and services with poor economics operating in unattractive markets
(low growth / declining
addressable markets and low industry profitability).
3. Invest wisely
Funding wisely Growth businesses is critical to securing long term success. It is essential to invest based on a well-defined strategy and targeted product portfolio. Adopt a portfolio management
approach to capex and R&D to deliver the best returns over the long term. Cash rich businesses can also pursue inorganic growth through M&A.
4. Act boldly to reap the rewards
We have supported businesses that have adopted the above principles to deliver strong returns following the financial crisis of 2009. Not only did they dramatically enhance the profitability (one
client doubled profitability every 2 years on average over 6 years) of the Legacy business, but they also built a new Services and Solutions business with the potential to achieve $bn revenues. As we navigated
the transformation, the business initially resisted the need to cut as deeply as recommended only to have to cut again as the predicted market trends started to materialise. The business and its
excellent leadership team benefited from a clear strategy and targeted product portfolio, and a commercial and operational excellence improvement programme which significantly contributed
to the funding of smart R&D, capex and M&A plays in high growth sectors.
In my next article, I will outline how operational excellence can contribute to delivering the strategy’s targeted outcomes.
Ian Brumwell is a Partner at Atlantic Insight.
At Atlantic Insight, our mission is to help customer-facing organisations achieve sustained improvements in operational effectiveness and customer engagement. We would be delighted to help you improve performance. If you think we can help you, please email us at hello@atlanticinsight.com, or call us on +44 (0) 203 086 8004
Contact Us
Please contact us if you would like to partner with us to identify and deliver improvements to your operation.
Email hello@atlanticinsight.com
Call +44 (0) 203 086 8004
Office: 130 Old Street, London EC1V 9BD