Winning in Challenging Times

Some executives have used a downturn as an opportunity to improve business performance. They have embraced customers rather than distancing them with cost-cutting measures, and scooped up acquisitions at bargain prices to continue to grow the business.

Our research reveals that the market can spot good management. Savvy executives change their company's competitive position and create value by managing downturns effectively. How do they do this? Winning companies use a downturn to:

• Highlight their company’s distinctiveness.
• Strengthen the initiatives they were already considering/pursuing.

Many companies are also facing pressure to manage, retain and develop their workforces effectively during the economic downturn. A critical lesson learned from the 1990s recession is that organizations that acted proactively to transform the management of their workforces produced better returns on investment once the economy recovered.

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