Companies response I The coronavirus outbreak has been one of the worst nightmares for the global industry. It has put companies in an awkward position (one they are not ready to face). The problems faced by the firms are fairly unique as a heavily globalized world instantly shifted towards anti-global frameworks and as a result trade, economy and businesses were majorly affected. Hence, the situation demands the companies and firms to act proactively in dealing with this crisis.Â
There are many problems, one being the gap between the academic understanding of the virus and the actual exponential case count. It is getting a lot of managers in a critical situation as they are not experienced to devise policies to deal with this crisis.
Secondly, the policies chosen are not cautious and involve a lot of areas that could actually contribute to its spread. The nature of the virus and the sickness being ambiguous (asymptomatically transferred) makes it even more complex to handle for companies to screen their employees to make their workspace safer. Questioning the need for Work-from-home strategy while ignoring certain segments of employees, making the situation worse.
Moreover, the subsection of the companies that completely rely on customer services and communication are not under an organized system under changing circumstances.
Lastly, the crisis is dealt with an immediate short-term action but It lacks a framework for the long-term robust policies that incorporate future aspects, outcomes, and possibilities related to this crisis.
However, analyzing new frameworks and devising proactive long-term policies can prove very critical for the survival of companies in the pharma industry. Firstly, the integration of the leadership is important to Deeply analyze the situation along to devise an organized action plan for all workstreams.
Moreover, Addressing Protection at workplace is also very important. The companies response could ensure devising effective workplace policies and building a multi-channel communication system. It could also benefit a lot by Initiating work from the home support and managing stakeholders responsibly at this time.
The business could not survive without the supply chain stability; Hence, the inventory and demand management should be structured to incorporate suppliers and logistics systems in the existing circumstances.
Further, Customer engagement would be another challenge since the disruption of the virus has caused major damage to it. Transparency in business to business interactions centered around the protection of customers and having a proactive approach in outreaching the customers could be really useful for the companies.
Lastly, the stabilization of the financial stress amongst this crisis is very crucial. The company can adapt to new scenarios economically and epidemiologically by testing their financial stress across different scenarios.
The corona outbreak has forced a lot of companies to be efficient in sorting out a long-term plan considering all the future aspects instead of focusing on the initial shock caused by it. It should be done to protect their employees address new business challenges and risks, and help to curb the outbreak.
