Roundel

Implications Of Coronavirus On Business, According To Top B-School Deans

Implications Of Coronavirus On Business, According To Top B-School Deans
Stanford GSB dean Jonathan Levin says coronavirus has severe implications on the business landscape

We asked deans from Stanford, Oxford Saïd, Cambridge Judge and six other top business schools, to explain the business implications of the coronavirus pandemic

18/04/2020

Business schools might become more relevant than ever as the world adapts to the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic. Fundamental change in everything from global supply chains to remote working brings with it the opportunity to rethink traditional ways of working. 

In this period of rapid change, business leaders will need to navigate complex, uncertain environments. There is also a sense that leaders need to step up to actively shape the future of business. 

Who better then to unpack how the coronavirus, or COVID-19, crisis will reshape the world of business than the deans of the world’s top business schools?


Business implications of coronavirus 


Opportunities for business leaders

Jonathan Levin, Stanford Graduate School of Business 


The global pandemic has shaken our everyday lives and disrupted every aspect of how we conduct business. Something as basic as human touch and face-to-face interaction have become potentially dangerous, exposing stark realities in the definition of ‘essential business’. jonathan levin stanford dean

Some sectors—for example, healthcare, medicine, protective equipment manufacturing—are strained to the breaking point. Yet others—travel, tourism, performing arts—have screeched to a halt, laying waste to businesses large and small and leaving communities devastated.

In the wake of the pandemic, uncertainty exacts the heaviest toll. In the months and years ahead, the world will need leaders who can chart a path through the chaos to bring stability to their organizations—a daunting task to be sure. Yet, there are opportunities for business leaders to rethink the role of the corporation and their accountability to society. 

As the economy reboots, several elements will become increasingly clear.

Science and medical discovery are crucial to economic recovery. Has the coronavirus been eradicated? Has a vaccine been developed? Can people safely go back to work? Knowing the answers to these questions is key to getting the economy back on the rails. Knowledge and independent research are vital, and with it the role of educational institutions.

 The economy is interconnected and global. Countries must cooperate to contain the spread of the virus, develop and deploy a vaccine around the world. Moreover, policy-makers must be held to account as they work with business leaders at all sectors of the global economy, at organizations large and small, to assure the health and well-being of society. Economic recovery depends on it.


Three key trends 

Franz Heukamp, IESE Business School


dean iese business school coronavirus


It still remains to be seen what the 'new normal' really means for business after this crisis.  However, there are three trends that I think we can already see will have a big part to play in this:

1. More scrutiny and emphasis on purpose

Many businesses are doing their part to try to help society during this pandemic; this is very positive. Companies that are transparent in their communications with their employees and are trying to do right by them and wider society - even when hard decisions have to be made - will come out with renewed loyalty from employees, customers and clients. Once the public health aspect of this crisis subsides, the focus on purpose and thinking beyond the bottom line will be more important than ever. Especially as, in straightened economic times, people will be thinking more carefully about which companies and brands they choose to support.

 2. A focus on entrepreneurial agility

The economic and societal impact of this crisis is huge. As such, we need agile businesses who are able to spot opportunities and innovate quickly in light of a new playing field in terms of both supply and demand. As a global crisis, recovery will not be quick nor even, and a changing economic and societal context means a change of consumer tastes and needs.

3. An increase in the trend for remote work, as well as virtual meetings and events

While many companies have been moving towards allowing employees to work remotely, never before has so much of the workforce, at all levels, been required to do so at any one time. All types of companies have thus been forced to put in place new tools that allow them to manage employees remotely and learn how to do it well. As such, once the crisis subsides, it will be much easier to make the case for more remote work.

At the same time, while I expect business travel and face-to-face gatherings or events to pick up again post-crisis, it is likely the quantity will be reduced. Instead, businesses will be moving many of these interactions online, and only concentrating on meeting in person when there is a clear value added by doing so.


Need for transparency

Bill Boulding, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business


bill boulding coronavirus predictions duke fuqua


As I’ve been speaking to our faculty, students, staff and alumni about the implications of COVID-19 on business, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the importance of leadership in this moment, specifically the need for transparency. I believe this has always been an essential leadership quality but is more important than ever in this challenging moment. 

A business leader’s job is to instill a sense of common purpose across a team to achieve the mission. The leaders who are most successful in creating common purpose have a combination of IQ (intelligence) + EQ (emotional intelligence) + DQ (Decency Quotient). DQ means a leader is genuinely trying to do right by others and is looking out for team members.

As teams are working remotely with an extremely high-level of anxiety in the world, DQ is absolutely vital. Transparency is a key part of decency. A leader with high DQ will naturally be transparent to provide reassurance to his or her team when appropriate, but also be honest about challenges of the moment and a company’s pathway forward.  

Leaders who exhibit DQ will continue to retain their team’s trust and the team will give their best to find solutions to support the company through turbulent times.

Beyond leadership , I also believe the COVID-19 pandemic will change how people think about what can be done online versus face-to-face. We are living in a real-time experiment in which suddenly we find ourselves engaging in ways we never have before online. Many people are finding an upside to online engagement and that will carry over when we have a vaccine and can again safety interact.

I believe remote work will likely become more common after the pandemic. However, I think we’ve also learned there are some interactions that greatly benefit from face-to-face contact and I think you’ll see the business community value those opportunities in ways they may have taken for granted in the past.


New kinds of leadership

Peter Tufano, Oxford University Saïd Business School 


dean peter tufano oxford mba coronavirus


This is not a time for business as usual. This is a time for business unusual. We need to think about not only the world in which we find ourselves, but also the world that we want to build when we emerge from this pandemic, economic and humanitarian crisis. We are going to have to collaborate and act in new ways. We are going to have to be mindful not only of the present, but of the future.

This calls for leadership that can not only deal with the realities of disrupted supply chains and cash flow constraints, but also the longer-term goals of creating a better economy and society. I’m an amateur student of history and I’ve studied wartime as part of the work that I’ve done. In wartime you need to win the war—but then you have to win the peace. Both of those are important. This calls for leadership and new kinds of leadership in extraordinary times.


Innovative online experiences & responsible consumption

Ding Yuan, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)


dean ding yuan ceibs coronavirus


The fact that more than one billion Chinese people stayed at home during the coronavirus outbreak in China will create lasting impacts on both society and the economy in terms of changing consumer sentiment and behavior. 

As cloud gatherings, fitness sessions, Douyin short videos and virtual museum visits gained popularity among the younger generation, many middle-aged people took time to reflect on their life and consumption habits, as well as focusing on how to maintain a high-quality parent-child relationship. 

The median age in China is 38.4 years and 61% of the population is urban as of 2020. Given the size of Chinese consumer market and the already-underway transition towards a consumption-driven economy, one likely post-pandemic trend is the desire for innovative online experiences, more-responsible consumption and more healthy lifestyles. 

This will reinforce the need for companies to provide clear, detailed information on their processes and products, as well as on their environmental, social and governance credentials. This trend also makes it a necessity for companies to develop a comprehensive online strategy to facilitate both online and offline customer service.

We hope that a new movement of companies to lead such trends will soon emerge, and help bring about healthy economic recovery both in China and the rest of the world.


New challenges for business leaders

Fiona Devine, Alliance Manchester Business School


fiona devine alliance manchester coronavirus


The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted how important it is for businesses to be led effectively through periods of uncertainty. Collecting information—often now big data—and stepping back and reflecting on the big strategic issues at stake, the risks to be taken or not, while remaining cognizant of the importance of ongoing operational success are key attributes of the best leaders and their teams. 

Even in unpredictable times, there are opportunities to be had which might be internal to an organization, like increasing the pace of planned changes in practices, or/and external opportunities such as the opening up of new markets. 

While the task of leaders usually involves making difficult decisions, unpredictable times can make some decisions, like closing weak units down, easier to make as long-standing challenges are now plain to see. A key quality of leaders will be those who reflect on what aspects of a business might change and what might stay the same.  

With so many commentators foretelling the future as if they knew what the future holds, a humility that acknowledges we do not know everything and not everything is in our control is important. The best leaders will understand that continuity and change co-exist and how they coexist will be revealed both quickly and slowly.


Global to local & digital revolution

Federico Frattini, MIP Politecnico di Milano Business School


federico frattini on coronavirus mip politecnico di milano


From the Covid-19 emergency, we will see a rebalance in globalization processes with a rediscovery of the value of local offerings, specificities, business partners. 

This will take place to minimize risks of travels across geographies which will be impacted differently over time by possible new manifestations of Covid-19 pandemic processes. It will be an important action in terms of risk management. As a result, value chains will become more complex, with the need to properly balance global-local needs and processes.

Moreover, I think that there will be much more acceptance and investment into digital technologies to support business processes. Throughout this pandemic we have all become incredibly reliant on technology, to work remotely, to communicate with each other, and to continue learning and education. We have proved that these approaches are viable and effective. 

Digitalization will become a new normal and I think that companies across the globe will make use of smart working approaches to a bigger extent. Accordingly, cyber security will become even more important than it already is, fueling investments and training in the field. With all of our data moving online at a rapid pace, security will be something that all businesses need to consider seriously if we are to be fully mobile and protected online.


Finding a new, innovative approach

Christoph Loch, Cambridge Judge Business School


christoph loch cambridge judge coronavirus


The upheaval posed by coronavirus to every organization, including business schools, has forced a reexamination of traditional ways of doing business—in our case how we teach and interact with students and our other communities. 

[But] these changes do not invalidate the need for business education. Broadly educated leaders of business and other organizations large and small who are able to see the organization holistically and in the context of their surrounding societies are more needed than ever. 

Businesses have an imperative to find new and innovative approaches through the current situation. Organizations must be flexible and take hard decisions in order to keep functioning in situations where their products are no longer in demand, or their customers have no money, the buying criteria change, or the supply chain needs to be reconfigured. 

But once the organization has stopped the bleeding, it needs to seek opportunities from the changes, innovation potential that unlocks different value it can create. The organization that only cuts costs will inevitably spiral down; the organization that cuts and then finds novelty will thrive anew.

In all of this, business schools and the business world share an obligation to get through the current crisis not by being selfish, but by keeping in mind that the basis for long-term success is creating true value, not just financially, but for the society that surrounds us. 


Being comfortable with the uncomfortable

Tai-Yuan Chen, HKUST Business School (Associate Dean)


tai-yuan chen hkust associate dean coronavirus predictions


The COVID-19 outbreak has brought us to a new reality. It sends the whole world online and reshapes some of the traditional business models. The increasing reliance on the internet for daily necessities and leisure items due to limited mobility has prompted many business to rethink the way that they do business and, shift their capabilities to fulfil these new unsatisfied needs. 

The onset of digital transformation has brought unprecedented challenges to business leaders. Digital competence and business acumen have become the essential professional qualities that large corporates are looking for.

During recent disruptions, it is imperative for business practitioners to evolve with time. Specialization gives competitive edge but a holistic business understanding and the ability to speak the language of different business units are equally important. 

If you are considering to equip yourself with new skill sets, aim at those that offer you flexibility, so that you can evolve with time, intellectually and professionally, and adapt to changes when required, giving you a much stronger foothold in the ever-changing economic environment.

The coronavirus crisis prompted us to rethink the objective of our education. Instead of just preparing students for normal times, we should take the opportunity to empower their professional knowledge, skills and mentality for crisis as well.  


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