Business as Unusual Survival Traits: Operational excellence, low cost and transparency

The most common trait of companies that are prepared for “business as unusual” is that they are a low cost provider. Their core competency is end-to-end efficiency, enabled by not rooting out cost for its own end, but by focusing on activities that fulfill customers’ expectations whilst continuously eliminating inefficiencies that compromise that delivery. While there may be a relatively low margin business at the core, front-to-back efficiency enables scale and/or scope via massive customer bases or broad capabilities. Operational excellence builds moats that make it difficult for competitors to out-deliver on behalf of customers, and are quite costly to replicate.

Eric DorreJuly 6, 2020innovation, operationalexcellence, strategy, transparency

Business As Unusual: Immediate Innovators, Stallers and Washouts

Innovating through a crisis is critical. It’s well known that innovation is required to stay relevant amidst ongoing technology disruption and through up-and-down economic cycles. But it’s even more critical in response to exogenous political or public health crises that can upend entire industries and ripple through the whole economy in a matter of weeks, not months or quarters.

Eric DorreJune 22, 2020businessasunusual, innovation