Operations have to be streamlined, competitive advantages of the corporation and competitors have to be identified, non-value added activities junked, costs reduced and resources conserved. This is not only beginning to happen, it's going to become the order of the day. Next, get your organisation in fighting trim. The buzzword is 'reconfigurable' or 'flexible organisational structures based on project teams built around business processes. Team members can be successfully redeployed and reconstituted around new opportunities and new sources of competitive advantage, explains Anand Mahindra.
Information needs to move across the hierarchy, and fast.
It's also great opportunity for taking hard decisions, cutting flab, costs, improving operational efficiencies, and quality, making assets more productive and harnessing and husbanding every resource available, mainly human and financial. One needs to have strong financial fundamentals, which means that cash flows should be positive, says Shekhar Datta, president and managing director, Greaves India. Naturally, this implies strict cost-controls, improved productivity and making the best use of technology. Planning, naturally, is crucial to managing an uncertain environment - corporations are quickly beginning to realise the importance of planning for contingencies. We'll see more companies spending time and resources on tracking the external environment, and on strategic planning, says Amitava Guha Ray, partner, Price Waterhouse.