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.

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