COVID-19 Resource Hub
Helping you navigate the unknownWe are in the midst of a global crisis, one that is impacting organizations of all types across almost every industry. To help you as business leaders navigate this complex phase and the issues and opportunities around it all, our global industry experts have compiled a series of assets to assist in your journey ahead.
Cyber Security
The current crisis has forced almost everyone to become dependent on the internet, including collaboration tools and conferencing systems, like never seen before. In cyberspace, dependence creates vulnerability, and malicious attempts to exploit this sudden, unplanned societal shift online have proliferated. Law enforcement officials report that criminals are selling fake Covid-19 cures online, posing as health organizations in phishing emails, inserting malware into online resources, and trying to hack corporate data through the new home office employee. Best-practice procedures can also be side-stepped by employees as they adjust to life working remotely. Right now, organizations must maintain business continuity while adjusting and scaling up security programs to protect against the latest hidden cyber threats to ensure their organizations and employees are safe. In this Point-of-View, we explore some of the issues and opportunities ahead for top leadership.
Life Sciences
The current crisis will be a powerful agent of change across the industry in the months and years ahead. The entire value chain will be impacted, presenting a vast array of new opportunities and challenges for firms operating in this space. Innovation ahead will be driven by new technologies and advanced digital capabilities that will help accelerate speed-to-market and enhance areas like R&D, clinical trials and the global supply chain, to patient monitoring and regulatory affairs. Our life sciences team encompasses some of the industry’s brightest experts that are engaged in a number of strategic and operational programs across the top life sciences organizations. Please read their Point-of-View to learn more about the opportunities and challenges ahead for the industry.
Financial Services
The Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown have caused significant impact to the global economy, with stock prices tumbling and uncertainty becoming the standard of the day. Banks have been affected in varying degrees; for example, those with exposure to the worst hit industries (travel, retail, manufacturing etc.) have been impacted more than those with exposure in consumer goods and healthcare. The pace of economic revival will depend on multiple factors, including restoration of global supply chains, effectiveness of the lockdown and speed of medical advancements. With so many variables, banks will need to maintain enough flexibility to drive growth through both an economic downturn and the eventual recovery. This Point-of-View looks at the impacts of the current crisis on the financial sector and outlines the key remedial actions that banks should take in the short, medium and long-term in order to survive.
Also, be sure to read our piece HERE on the CARES Act and how financial institutions are playing a leading role ahead in the economic recovery.
Insurance
The insurance space is probably more impacted from the current crisis than any other. Firms large and small are grappling with how to ensure continuity of operations and keeping a strong financial foundation, while safeguarding the well-being of staff and customers around the world. As a result, number of companies are aggressively looking at how to redesign business processes with a heavy technology infusion as they prepare for a future less dependent on human labor. A number of other factors will play a major role in how insurers come out of the crisis and steer their organizations into the future. Our team of experts have compiled a short Point-of-View on the current landscape and how some top insurance companies are already responding.
Utilities
As providers of critical infrastructure, regulated utility firms will likely survive this crisis better than most. However a number of serious challenges in the short- to medium-term exist. Immediately, utilities’ focus has been primarily on ensuring the health and safety of workers, field staff, and customers. Utilities that had already invested in digital capabilities, such as a remote work infrastructure, automation and mobility capabilities, are better able to adjust to this new normal, and to provide better and safer service to their customers. A number of utility firms are already taking the next steps to enable their field force with automated processes and technology, including augmented reality/virtual reality and other advanced digital capabilities to minimize person-to-person contact. The current pandemic has underscored the importance of accelerating digital transformation opportunities for the industry to be better prepared for the future. Our experts have prepared an in-depth Point-of-View to help you navigate your path forward.
Oil & Gas
An industry ripe in resources and capital has suddenly been plunged into a reservoir of volatility as a result of the current crisis we are witnessing. The oil and gas industry is now engulfed in its fourth significant and unexpected downturn of the twenty-first century, as economic factors ranging from geopolitical tensions, to increasing climate irregularities, and the developing price parity of renewable energy resources have all further amplified the Covid-19 crisis. To understand how companies can prosper in today’s uncertain conditions, our team of experts analyzed how various industry participants responded to recent downturns in the last decades and explores how some of the latest technology innovations will play a key role in shaping the industry ahead.
Manufacturing
The manufacturing sector accounts for nearly 16% of the global GDP and is one of the biggest industries impacted from Covid-19. The current crisis is accelerating the change of global value delivery models, with unprecedented consequences for manufacturers and supply chains in virtually every market around the world. Mitigating the impact of Covid-19 on manufacturers and supply chains requires both new approaches and new forms of collaboration to increase overall resilience. In this Point-of-View, our team of industry experts share their outlook for the sector overall, and provide strategic advice around four key areas that companies can impact going forward.
Hi-Tech
Like many other sectors, the Covid-19 impact to the Hi-tech industry has been significant. The unique complexities of global supply chains that are critical to Hi-tech manufacturers’ success have caused short-term supply constraints, but have also triggered companies to re-evaluate their core operations processes and capabilities. We predict that a lasting legacy of today’s crisis will be how companies enable new ways of working and empowering their employees to drive collaboration, enable flexible policies and create a human-centric culture well after the pandemic is over. Our team of experts have compiled a short Point-of-View describing how the Hi-tech industry has been impacted, along with some of our recommendations and predictions for the future.
Retail
According to the National Retail Federation an estimated $430 billion in revenues will disappear over the next three months. These are testing times for retail organizations and brands alike. While grocery stores are dealing with an unprecedented spike in demand and inventing innovative solutions to manage restricted operations and contactless delivery, apparel and specialty stores have taken a heavy impact from store closures and unsold products on shelfs. The challenge is how to survive the present while re-imagining for the after-effects of the crisis. Our retail practice experts have compiled a Point-of-View on how the sector can rally for the future with 6 key steps to improve productivity and performance.
Telecom
The pandemic has cemented telecom’s place as a critical infrastructure around the world. Millions of users are now familiar with digital tools and remote working solutions. Organizations themselves are better equipped to manage a sudden rise and fall in network traffic. Industries such as healthcare and education that were under-investing in new tools such as telehealth are now aggressively doing so. Above all, this is an opportunity for companies to earn the long-term loyalty of their customers and partners. Our team of experts have created this Point-of-View to help you understand the various responses of major telecom players followed by recommendations on how telco leaders can approach different scenarios of recovery and renewal ahead.
The CIO Agenda
The role of the CIO is becoming even more elevated and critical with the current crisis. The technology chief has become central in ensuring a technology backbone that supports critical business dimensions and enables business continuity. Today’s CIO probably has more exposure and influence than ever, and we believe that CIOs who successfully guide their companies through this difficult first wave will be well-positioned to emerge from the crisis stronger and poised to capitalize on new market opportunities ahead. In this short Point-of-View, our CIO Advisory practice experts share their outlook and offer several ideas on how to plan for the new normal ahead.
