Preparing for the World after Corona

Excerpt

The Covid-19 pandemic represents a major challenge for the automotive industry. In addition to swift and determined responses to the sudden crisis, the protection of lives and health of people, and the securing of financial resources, companies need to develop an appropriate long-term strategy. Indeed, success in the long run will depend on a long-term strategy that takes account of five stages: resolve; resilience; return; re-imagination; and reform. Nearly all of the big players in the automotive industry have successfully completed the first stage of crisis management by demonstrating resolve. Moreover, lessons learned from past downturns offer valuable guidance when it comes to crisis resilience. Companies that have a healthy bottom line going into a downturn, that retain their capacity to make fundamental decisions, and that maintain organic sales growth tend to manage crises better than others. A return to pre-crisis production activities, however, is sometimes more difficult than suspending production activities. The task of resuscitating supply chains requires a structured approach. Given the complexity of today's global supply chains, coordinated approaches to ramping up production are crucial. The Coronavirus pandemic will force us to reimagine the way we live, work and use technology. So it is no surprise that many enterprises are attempting to initiate or accelerate structural changes, whether these efforts come in the form of go-to-market strategies, cooperations and alliances, novel work-design projects, alternative geographic orientations, or cost shifting. …