Since my last post, the Movement Control Order (MCO) has been extended twice by the Malaysian Government. We will need to stay at home until 28th April 2020 in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 which has been infected more than 1.6 million people worldwide and claims more than a hundred thousand lives.
Yes, we can understand that there is a big economical impact on businesses worldwide and many people now lost their jobs due to the closure of factories and operations. People are not allowed to go out and it directly affects the consumptions. If we look at the model of National Income, consumptions and productions are highly affected now which leads to a sharp decline in Gross National Income, or we like to measure in the form of Gross Domestic Production (GDP).
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| We can make it and back to where we stopped before the pandemic. |
But come to think about it. what is really happening in a business organization? When a business cannot operate for a period of time for the safety of everyone, is this going to be the end of the world or the world economy will just collapse, dead and that's it? You mean ALL companies will be dead?
Of course not!Similar to the pandemic of COVID-19 which infected millions of people. Despite the high mortality rate in some countries, it didn't kill everyone. There are thousands of recovered cases around the world. So why some managed to recovered and some not? Medical reports show that patients with health complications have a high mortality rate and those who are healthier have a higher chance of recovery. It means if we are healthy and more strengths to fight with this virus, we may recover but if we are weak and with health issues, we have a lower chance of survival.
Moment of Truth
This is the moment of truth for all the bosses and management teams out there. If a company now needs to cut pay or even close down, it means a lot about the health and sustainability of this company. A well-managed business should have anticipated the threats of macro-environmental factors (PESTLE) and continuously built the strengths or minimizing its weaknesses. The same goes for governments and individuals. This pandemic is a real test to examine our sustainability and survival.
Think about SWOT analysis, blue ocean strategy, competitive advantage, financial sustainability, portfolio management, risk management, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and even corporate governance. At a time like this, we will know which companies have been practicing strategic management effectively and which did not. Eventually, those that are poorly managed before the pandemic will be struggling now to sustain and most probably, they will still suffering even without COVID-19. This is the time for us to identify which companies have strengths to turn the threats into opportunities and which are just too weak to be taken over or have to be disinvested.
We can continue to worry and find ways to cut costs or even closing down businesses, or we can choose to think positively and move forward to start a paradigm shift. Cutting staff or salary is not the only way to survive. If we managed to survive this pandemic, we need to have a drastic change. Management must reflect on how they have been managing their team and businesses in the past, which leads to sustainable issues now... Do not penalize your staffs due to MCO, think of what you have done all these while!
