COVID-19 pandemic marks another evolution for businesses across the globe | SavOfNS

Evolution predicted our existence long before we exist, so do life-changing situations to businesses and our way of life.

If Charles Darwin were a businessman, he wouldn’t have applied his theory (Natural Selection) on evolution any different. Not just because businesses are “living organisms of distinct species” in human society, but the responsiveness of a company’s cells, tissues, organs and systems are a ‘sine qui bus’ to its survival.

Darwin would have built on that, he would go on to warn organisations and its leaders to stay agile, flexible, collaborate, and not remain resistant to change. Telling them how susceptible they are to changes and viruses (one as lethal as the coronavirus pandemic). “They are fragile species,” he would say.

In an article titled; “How the Pandemic Will End,” ED YONG, a staff writer at The Atlantic, wrote, “pandemics can also catalyze social change. People, businesses, and institutions have been remarkably quick to adopt or call for practices that they might once have dragged their heels on, including working from home, conference-calling to accommodate people with disabilities, proper sick leave, and flexible child-care arrangements.”

Hitting 178 countries, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused businesses to shut down, stock markets have plummeted, terrible demand and supply. Aside from its impact on business, our lifestyle may be reshaped as we expect more changes.

While the curve is getting flattened in some countries, there are slow signs of control in several developed countries.

Taking preventive psychological measures amid coronavirus pandemic

For organisation leaders, it is another evolution. An opportunity to change cultures, mode of operation and ideology. We should all expect a tough but adaptable climate in the business ecosystem and a New World Order.

Supported by James Crabtree, an associate professor in practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, he opines that the most important of the pandemic will be the effect of companies rethinking vulnerabilities and model of globalisation.

What lies ahead

Companies that depend solely on profit will spend more on what loyalty can buy: the business of business is business. But, smarter businesses see goodwill as a catalyst capable of boosting bottom-top strategic innovation and competitive edge.

Expect companies who are focused on building goodwill, communities and solution-driven invention to be in a better position. Companies who aren’t responsible socially will die a natural death.

The social enterprise will attract more interest: investors and mega-corporations will develop a keen interest in alleviating social challenges. Hence, there will be more interest in sustainable earth.

More businesses will be driven by SDGs and what comes after. This I describe as human interest capitalism.

Companies will change mindset: expect rigid companies to succumb. Organisations with a linear model of operation will come to a compromise, build contingencies and run open systems.

Get serious with action against climate change: in an article, I discussed climate change as the greater evil that is yet to come.

While some experts have discussed coronavirus pandemic and climate change, the cause and its impact on our climate, expect more companies to show some concerns about life on earth. Many of them will consider action against climate change as a viable strategy.

More support systems for employees: companies will create enabling platforms for highly skilled employees.

Expect more flexibility, health packages and less bureaucracy. More employees will be allowed to work from home, especially in the service sector.

Global collaboration: as the COVID-19 weakens global health care, businesses and supply chains. Governments across the world will assess global foreign policies to get answers to global concerns. Multinational corporations will cooperate to tackle global challenges and achieve common interest.

Governments will make informed decisions based on collaborative negotiations and the balance of state and global interest.

More government control: as capitalism comes under severe attacks in democratic systems. Expect capitalism to come under serious scrutiny- don’t anticipate a socialist-capitalism, but a highly regimented capitalist economy.

Isabel V. Sawhill, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution and author of The Forgotten Americans: An Economic Agenda for a Divided Nation, when asked about capitalism, argued that “Capitalism is the right way to organize an economy, but it’s not a good way to organize a society. Markets do a good job of allocating resources, fostering dynamism, and preserving individual choice, but they cannot solve climate change, too much inequality, or the plight of workers whose jobs have been destroyed by trade or technology. When governments fail to address these or other systemic problems, democracy begins to lose its legitimacy.”

Similarly, while the government strive to create an investment-friendly economy, especially for companies investing in areas where it has its comparative advantage, this must be done to benefit citizens.

From assets based development, expect governments to intervene in more sectors and areas where they have been silent.

Soft skills get more expensive: as the companies regain stability, soft skills will be needed by organisations who seek to gain a competitive edge in the future to come. Hence high value will be placed on soft skills. Creative thinking, analytical thinking and problem-solving skills will cost more to get.

Afterall there are just a few people capable of thinking outside the box.

Science and Technology to get more scrutiny: more discussion and legislation will involve building ethical technology apparatuses and scientific solutions.

In the future to come, responsive companies will displace the outmoded. In the words of Charles Darwin, “it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives, but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.”

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.Tomori Uriel is the Lead Consultant, Savofns.

Originally published at https://savofns.net on March 31, 2020.