Adapting your business model to the (post-covid) future
Am I in the right business? Am I doing it right? With the right people? Three difficult questions that need to be answered before going to the "new normal". What follows are some interesting statements and opinions on these issues. We hope they will help you towards the right path, too.
The Harvard Business Review is always an instructive source of inspiration in these types of matters. In an article dedicated to sketching out a post-covid business plan, the platform draws a first lesson, namely that[1] “conventional strategic thinking hasn’t helped companies to plan for the next ‘new normal’. Instead, the best answers have come from a hybrid approach: one that combines traditional business strategy with the latest thinking from social science and innovation theory.”
The need for an external critical eye
Ultimately, planning for a post-pandemic world means, according to Harvard Business Review, answering three questions: “How does your business really make money? Who do you depend on to drive the business?” And the third one: “What will people’s behaviors look like after the pandemic?” The article goes deeper into the (sustained) changing behavior of various stakeholders, and in particular the mechanics, motivators and pressures that can influence these behaviors.
This reinforces our idea at ADM that enabling a temporary external and non-biased expert can be very useful in these cases. He or she will help you answer the three questions with a critical eye.
Reinventing for everyone’s wellbeing
In its annual report dedicated to Human Capital Trends 2021, Big Four Accounting Organization Deloitte believes that people will become increasingly central and that making the shift from ‘survive to thrive’ depends on an organization becoming distinctly human at its core—a different way of being that approaches every question, every issue, and every decision from a human angle first[2]. The emphasis will be on the possibility of reinventing oneself as a person or company, with an emphasis on the wellbeing of the employees.
For some, though, the time will have come to stand on their own feet to find a new balance. At ADM, we strongly believe that work stability is less essential than the opportunity to grow and gather experiences working on different assignments, be it in various companies and for a limited amount of time.
Key assets for success
David Springsteen, HLB Global Tax Leader, defines a series of International business models for a post COVID-19 world[3]. According to HLB, future business models will need to be more mobile, cloud-enabled and with a more flexible workforce. He numbers some key assets companies will have to have to guarantee success: strategic workforce planning, including flexible contracts, crisis response and containment policies and procedures, financial resources to unexpected events, cloud-enabled IT infrastructure.
We are convinced that the flexibility of work in the “new normal” will become increasingly important, together with a further digitalization and the crisis resilience of companies. Many of these tasks can be temporarily/regularly conducted by external high profile people.
Time to reinvent
Finally, The World Economic Forum reflects on How to transform business models for a post-COVID future[4]. According to the Forum, transforming business models will be key to unlocking new value for business, customers and society in a post-COVID world.
It is particularly interesting to read their opinion on the important difference between the digitalization of the existing business model versus a digital transformation towards a new business model. Furthermore, transforming business requires new leadership and backing from the Board. In conclusion, “reactionary management is not strategic leadership and hope is not a business model”, so The World Economic Forum’s key message is: “It is time to reinvent.”
[1] https://hbr.org/2021/01/creating-a-post-covid-business-plan
[2] https://www2.deloitte.com/be/en/pages/human-capital/articles/human-capital-trends.html
[3] https://www.hlb.global/international-business-models-for-a-post-covid-19-world/
[4] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/transform-business-model-post-covid-future/
