What are the main features of the changing global market during COVID-19 that companies should pay special attention to?
Are you familiar with the term VUCA? It stands for volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (economy, in our case). VUCA acronym was first used in 1987 by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus in their leadership theory. Today it describes precisely the context we’re living in, though raising more questions than giving answers.
How to survive or grow in today’s ‘VUCA’, the pandemic? What new challenges should the companies be ready for and adapt to?
According to the recent IDC survey*, “93% of agile organizations reported growing profits between 3Q19 and 2Q20, only 68% of static organizations reported the same.”
This shows clearly that agile-driven companies outperform their ‘static’ competitors in the constantly changing environment, and COVID-19 has only proved this trend to be true.
And it’s not the profitability indicator only that is taken into account, but customer satisfaction and talent development, as well.
Most executives agree to the vital role of Agile for their success, but how many of them practice it? The nearest future will reveal the survivors, moreover, the winners of the game.
So, what features has the market gained in the pandemic? Let us take a look at the five major game-changers that will form the new rules:
1. Digital transformations.
Some call it a “tech tsunami”, obviously because of the rapid “invasion” of information technology and digital reality into the global economy in the last decades. Ignoring this trend leaves little, if no chances to stay in the market.
2. New customer expectations.
Customer behavior has changed dramatically in the pandemic. That relates to working conditions, buying habits, or even lifestyles! It’s hard to imagine sober-mind leaders ignoring the new customer expectations. The paradigm shift demands a different look on product development and delivery, meeting up-to-date customer expectations, inventing new revenue generation streams.
3. Social changes.
Gender and race equality, global warming, and similar issues became major concerns for society. Special attention to these issues will be required for creating new business models or PR strategies for sustainability.
4. Political situation.
The political realm has become more unstable and unpredictable recently. And it impacts the global economy greatly. Agility must help the companies to adapt to political changes, as well.
5. Growing debts
“Spendonomics” would probably be the best term to describe the “borrow from the future” trend among the companies striving to survive in the pandemic. However, the question remains open: how quickly will they be able to generate income to pay back?
To conclude, organizations that want to succeed in the present-day market, need to pay special attention to these five game-changing features.
They need to be agile as they redefine their business model, learn to quickly adapt to unpredictability, and “keep pace with the race.”
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* Sources:
1. Giulia Carosella, Philip Carter. IDC White Paper Agility: The Strategic Imperative to Survive and Thrive in Volatile Times, November 2020.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org.
3. Agile Manifesto, https://agilemanifesto.org.
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