How to Govern, Manage, and Work Amid COVID-19

Description

What should businesses be doing during the coronavirus pandemic? That’s a tough question, and few of us imagined the challenges we face while being isolated from friends, family, and colleagues. Any crisis will serve up some market opportunities to help consumers adjust, and business leaders should seize them. While doing this, it is important to note that the role of corporations was already under pressure to change prior to the pandemic. Ensuring your business does its part as a good corporate citizen isn’t just the right thing to do. When the dust settles, consumers will remember how organizations acted. Former Ivey Professor Christine Pearson recommends executives focus on the following actions: hope for the best, prepare for the worst; make your role model proud; create a superb crisis management team; treat your employees right; and model healthy self-care. Ivey Professor Andreas Schotter advises multinationals to ensure they keep track of all vulnerabilities as they scramble to maintain operations because retreating from globalization is not a viable long-term strategy. Ivey instructor Eric Janssen recommends that early-stage ventures try to increase revenue; move to collect receivables; delay payables; cut non-essential spending; and consider temporary layoffs. To maintain morale, Ivey faculty member David Wood suggests end-of-week team parties on Zoom or similar platforms to give employees a virtual meeting that they can enjoy. Finally, Ivey Professor Paul Beamish notes that everyone in business should maintain perspective—the type of setback they experience as a hassle of doing business often manifests in poor countries as a life-or-death situation.