It is no news that the coming crisis could be disastrous. After the end of the pandemic, with an increasingly uncertain date despite the start of the vaccination campaigns, the effects of the recession are incalculable at this point, with serious doubts as to whether the recovery will really be as fast as experts believe. In the same way, the business community will be affected by the coronavirus, and so must adapt to the new times that come.
According to the World Bank, extreme poverty will increase for the first time in 20 years and the number of people living on less than $ 1.90 in the world will increase by at least 50 million by 2021. Likewise, Oxfam has recalled that the pandemic will lead Spain to unprecedented levels of poverty, leaving one million more people below the poverty line and reaching 10.9 million people.
Wafa Khlif, Professor of Management Accounting at TBS in Barcelona and head of the business school’s research lab, in exclusive statements for ‘Bolsamanía’, has no doubts that an unprecedented recession is looming: “This crisis is expected to be the most violent since World War II.” “The effect on business will be almost immediate,” he adds.
With the most recent data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), company turnover decreased by 9.4% in November, which equates to nine consecutive months negative. These data underscore the problem facing the industry, with the greatest collapses Services (-18.6%), Trade (-9.4%) and electricity and water supply (-6.9%), while
In this sense, Khlif believes that the Arabic saying of “one man’s disaster is another’s chance” is put into perspective. For example, companies belonging to the hospitality and small businesses have collapsed ‘compared to others that have thrived’, such as those related to the pandemic, health issues, and others indirectly related, such as consultancies or alternative transport.
CUSTOMIZATION OR REVERSE?
The TBS professor appreciates that, through the application of adaptation strategies, companies’ have made efforts to adapt their behavior in order to create or strengthen competitive advantages. that guarantee a satisfactory level of performance“The problem arises when this process is carried out” without past knowledge, existing models and socio-political speculation. “
Therefore, he confirms that all of this is no longer useful because of “the future adaptation strategy must be based on breaking and sacrificing“, two requirements for which companies” are unfortunately not prepared at the moment. “
He explains about the business models that will succeed in the future the democratic component is essential, where people are central to the debate: “What can we do together?” He clarified that in this context, companies should “value skills and not start firing people to cut costs”.
It also indicates that there are two labor aspects that have been consolidated with the pandemic. On the one hand, companies were focused on the individual and based on psychology, wellness, medicine or sustainability; and on the other, those focused on pure technology, such as automation, the internet of things or finance. In general, “all professions where people or technology are at stake”.
Khlif estimates that, however both ends could destroy themselves at any time in the face of current and future uncertainty. To solve this, “a redefinition of the notion of responsibility must be central to our policies”, about how to relearn how to live and work together.
THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS, IN THE SKY
Months of uncertainty await in the economy, and the decisions people make are more exposed than ever to risk and doubt. Khlif thinks that the fundamental problem is learning, based “primarily on superficiality and technicality.” “Citizens are rediscovering that learning doesn’t stop with graduation and that coexistence is mainly to debate and respect the other in their difference,” he adds.
Investments are another prominent part of tomorrow’s corporate finance, and the professor suggests it is “based on a belief system.” In this regard, he confirms that “the best investments are still responsible and diversified investments, even though they really depend on everyone’s level of risk aversion, “in the same way that”cannot be passively saved and expects a double digit return on investment. “
However, with these predictions, Wafa Khlif believes that no one knows what the future holds for business. “The best way to deal with uncertainty is to be open to everything, even the collapse of the current system.” That is why he asks that companies “must accept change, recover, face their fears and mistakes and face new challenges”.