Corporate reinvention now more important than ever
From the ashes fly corporations who have mastered the art of renewing their business when circumstances change.
The phrase rise like a phoenix from the ashes is based on a story that goes back thousands of years. The phoenix, a mythical bird from Greek mythology, was a feathered creature of great size with talons and wings, its plumage radiant and beautiful, who lived for 500 years before it built its own funeral pyre, burst into flame, and died, consumed in its own fiery inferno. Soon after, the mythical creature rose out of the ashes, in a transformation from death to life.
As the stock market nosedives amid the tragic outbreak of Covid-19, companies and industries are under immense pressure to survive. Over the long-term, it is businesses that can reinvent themselves that will prosper. We take a look at how businesses are pivoting and who will emerge from the ashes after this adversity has been overcome. Innovation is now essential for survival.
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” — George Bernard Shaw
Take for instance the independent brewer, BrewDog, who has begun making hand sanitiser at its distillery in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, amid shortages driven by coronavirus fears.
The firm said it would be giving away the “punk sanitiser” for free to those that need it.
BrewDog’s founder, James Watt, announced on social media that the company had started producing sanitiser to help with shortages. “We are determined to do everything we can to try and help as many people as possible stay safe.”
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind SpaceX and the electric-car company Tesla, offered to manufacture breathing machines for sufferers of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
“We will make ventilators if there is a shortage,” Musk said via Twitter on Wednesday (March 18).
The hospitality industry has been dealt a heavy blow with people social distancing and self-isolating. Some owners are fighting back by operating a drive-through service, with patrons pulling up and a member of staff leaves the food in the boot or on a table, careful to avoid close contact. Other restaurants have repurposed into grocery stores with boxes of produce on tables for shoppers.
When things are bad, it’s the best time to reinvent yourself.” — George Lopez
The entertainment industry has also shifted online. On March 12th, the Berlin Philharmonic gave one of the strangest concerts in its history. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Berlin, along with other major cities, has called a halt to all large gatherings. The Philharmonic went ahead with its scheduled program albeit in a vacant hall streaming the event over the Internet. Luckily for the Philharmonie, the facilities were already in place: Berlin’s Digital Concert Hall, with its crisp sound and elegant camera work, has long held pride of place in the world of online classical music. Ordinarily, you have to pay a substantial fee for the service, but the Philharmonic offered this concert without charge, and for the next month its entire archive will be free to all.
Keeping contact to a minimum — or even ministering to patients when they are self-isolating — is the key advantage of new software that was turned around in just four days to help doctors take care of their sick patients remotely during the crisis. The move to telehealth has accelerated as a result of the crisis with new online portals popping up that allow primary care providers to offer patients a range of services, including online bookings, a video consultation service, secure messaging and even form completion to assist in prioritising the most in need of intensive care.
Indeed what people don’t think about is the many chronic patients who will struggle to get care during the capacity crunch. However, there is an opportunity now for patients to have scheduled teleconsultations to avoid face-to-face clinic visits and hence minimise their risk of exposure to COVID-19. Many in-clinic visits with mild acute respiratory infection can be followed up very closely, almost on a daily basis.
Chronic medicine can also be delivered to a patient’s residence. Should there be any changes in their clinical state, appropriate actions can be taken immediately. Telemedicine provides a 24/7 lifeline for patients to connect to their providers. This offers great comfort and assurance to the patients in these testing times.
App and medical devices are surging in popularity as healthcare providers and patients adapt to the new dynamic of social distancing and attempt to use data to minimise the time physicians need for face-to-face consultations. While many people prefer speaking directly to a doctor about private health matters, this is no longer possible in many cases. As a result, patients are feeding detailed information such as symptoms into apps and medical devices and receiving instant feedback, which will prompt them to seek immediate attention if their health status is critical.
“The reinvention of daily life means marching off the edge of our maps.” — Bob Black
In this time of great uncertainty, businesses need to stay close to their customers. Companies that navigate disruptions often succeed because they invest in their core customer segments and anticipate their behaviours and unmet needs. While consumer demand is down overall, many sectors have shifted toward online shopping for all types of goods, including food and produce delivery. Many digital platforms are emerging and companies are investing in online and digitalisation as part of their push for multichannel distribution; this includes ensuring the quality of goods sold online.
Customers’ changing preferences are not likely to go back to pre-outbreak norms. Once exposed to the convenience of platforms, apps, and online channels, they will never go back. But equally, if they have a bad experience there may be long-term reputational damage.
If you are: an innovator 💡 entrepreneur ⚖️ a policymaker 💼 a business leader … who’s driven to make a positive impact on the most pressing climate and health issues — we’d love to work together.
joinfightback.com
