LEADERSHIP THOUGHT COVID-19: The Pit Stop for a Better Performance and Beyond

Introduction

The emergence of a pandemic is one of the greatest threats to business continuity. It imposes a limit on the employees, partners, shareholders, communities as well as consumers. Millions of casualties across the world lead to an adverse effect on the global business as several workers tend to fall ill, the supply chains get fragmented and failure of services takes place. However, on the other hand, Covid-19 pandemic can be utilized as a pit stop for better business outcomes. There are many things that can be done to ensure the continuity of a business and further improvement (Guan et al. 2020).

Business Strategies to achieve Better Performances

The business needs to be looked at differently during this time and the short-term gains must be prioritized instead of the long-term plans. The first concern which needs to be looked upon is related to the earning statements. If money is not earned at this point, one may not be able to bear the long-awaited result of his labor. A very good instance of this matter applies to the restaurant business. They have been offering various packages of food items and even discounts on their takeaway services. The economic strength of the business is the most important factor and serves the purpose of a fuel gauge in the crucial hours (Ioannidis 2020). The trip becomes shorter due to the lack of fuel in the tank. Therefore, it is extremely important to shift the focus from the statement of income to that of cash flow. The choke points and opportunities for improvement can be identified and to provide better visibility of the cash flow analysis. It is also very important to address the potential changes in a pandemic and get a better understanding of the business, the employees as well as the customers. Identification of the changes is essential as they can be temporary or possibly permanent (Hudecheck et al. 2020).

At the same time, one needs to address any mitigation plans for shoring up a business in this situation along with plans for future recovery. Multiple customers are experiencing issues related to the supply chain which can be resolved with a little help in the hard times. This is an excellent opportunity for improving the business relationship with the consumers in a pandemic scenario. It does not refer to the opportunistic exploitation of customers but building a relationship through compassionate and collaborative assistance (Zhu et al. 2019). In the case of employees, the company needs to address and resolve the difficulties they face during this difficult time. The employees are considered as the most valuable resource and the responsibility to protect them must be a priority for the organization. For that, the HR policies need to be revised and changes need to be made on a temporary or permanent basis to overcome the pandemic related problems. In the present time, business revolves around teamwork and with the help of shared assets of knowledge that comprises files, documents, reports, rich media, structured and unstructured data, and spreadsheets (Boxell et al. 2020).

So, the organization needs to provide access to productivity, collaborative or communicative tools, and a line of business applications. An organization should also try to convert the fixed costs into variable costs wherever possible. It is a vital thing to preserve the core business while maximizing the flexibility of the fringes (Pereira et al. 2020). Certain tools can be considered by the company such as third-party warehousing, leasing the transport fleet, and many more. When the whole world is under lockdown, it is extremely important to send out reliable and relevant messages to the customers while maintaining the brand image of the company. Alterations in business strategy and creating wiser investment decisions is important to help in combating the drop in sales. Making smarter decisions include providing zero-contact deliveries, introducing a web store and development of easy installment purchases, which in turn will encourage the consumers to buy the products or use the services in a safe and secure method. This is the crucial time to rethink the strategy and reflect on the present scenario. It is also the time to restructure the business profile, discover new frontiers, and create value innovation (Barry et al. 2020).

Conclusion

The turbulence occurring from the Covid-19 has taken aback the world. While some organizations have faced severe difficult situations, some companies have been blessed with extraordinary opportunities even during this hard time. While fighting against the hardships, some organizations have got the golden opportunity to learn numerous things regarding the redevelopment of management and business strategies. It requires more than double-checking the durability and integrity of the existing plans of business continuity. It is definitely a pit stop for bringing better performance and being prepared for similar circumstances in the future.

References

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Boxell, Levi, Jacob Conway, Matthew Gentzkow, NBER Michael Thaler, and David Yang. "Polarization and Public Health: Partisan Differences in Social Distancing during the Coronavirus Pandemic." (2020).

Guan, Wei-jie, Zheng-yi Ni, Yu Hu, Wen-hua Liang, Chun-quan Ou, Jian-xing He, Lei Liu et al. "Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China." New England journal of medicine (2020).

Hudecheck, Michael, Charlotta Sirén, Dietmar Grichnik, and Joakim Wincent. "How companies can respond to the Coronavirus." MIT Sloan Management Review (2020).

Ioannidis, John PA. "A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data." Stat 17 (2020).

Pereira, Vijay, Yama Temouri, Swetketu Patnaik, and Kamel Mellahi. "Managing and preparing for emerging infectious diseases–A multi-stakeholder strategic partnership approach towards avoiding a catastrophe." Academy of Management Perspectives (2020).

Zhu, N., Zhang, D., Wang, W., Li, X., Yang, B., Song, J., Zhao, X., Huang, B., Shi, W., Lu, R. and Niu, P., 2020. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. New England Journal of Medicine.