10/20/08As the current economic turmoil unfolds, it’s easy to lose sight of the long-term implications. As more and more industries become affected by the financial crisis, Booz & Company experts have published a series of articles with their unique perspectives on the situation:
All sectors:
1. If you are a chief executive officer, a business unit general manager, or a line officer in any major company around the world, the events of October 2008 should cause you to rethink the strategy for your business. The purpose of this article is to explain why this is so important and what to do next.
Rethink Your Strategy: An Urgent Memo to the CEO
2. As global recession fast approaches, cost containment is returning to the top of the managerial agenda. More than short-term performance is at stake; the companies that are healthiest during the downturn will be best postioned to capitalise on the rebound:
Achieving Cost Leadership: A Sustainable and Pragmatic Approach
3. Booz & Company CEO Shumeet Banerji recently shared his views in a candid memo to our clients:
Navigating Through the Financial Crisis
4. Under the current financial pressures, one might imagine that CEOs will let talent management slip to the bottom of their priorities, except when faced with the daunting task of cutting costs and reducing head counts. But the reality is: no matter what the status of the economy and financial systems, companies will always need to maintain, recruit, and develop their best talent. In these tumultuous times, it takes a cool head to distinguish opportunities and challenges.
Managing Talent Challenges and Opportunities at a Time Of Crisis
Financial Services:
1. The life insurance industry is set to become the next victim of the credit crunch: so say the doomsayers. But the outlook is not as poor as it might at first appear and insurance companies may be resilient if they take action now:
The Future of Life & Pensions: Life-saving Solutions
2. Klaus-Peter Gushurst, Ivan de Souza and Vanessa Wallace comment on the impact on the financial services sector:
3. While a number of external factors have been blamed for the credit crisis, banks with better risk management discipline have prevented the huge losses seen by other financial institutions:
Bringing Back Best Practices in Risk Management
Consumer & Retail:
1. In the consumer sector, a new report demonstrates how consumers are changing their buying habits:
Economic Pressures Drive Consumers to "Inferior" Goods
2. Another paper describes how consumer companies can take the initiative:
Opportunities in The Crisis: Three Steps for Building a Consumer Products Powerhouse
Telecoms:
The economic storm will not spare the telecommunications operators. This paper describes how the worldwide financial crisis will have the most significant impact on four areas of the telecom business: M&A, operating costs and capital spending, core service revenue, and additional services for enterprises.
Weathering Economic Turbulence: A Telecom Perspective
Public Sector:
Austerity raises difficult and painful choices for the private sector, but microeconomic necessity will drive swift structural solutions. Unfortunately, the public sector half of the economy will likely take longer to get ‘match fit’ for the austerity game:
A Dose of Austerity: Can Public-Sector Institutions Swallow this Bitter Pill?
Energy:
In the context of the financial crisis, the global oil and gas industry is exposed to both a sharp drop in oil price and a credit squeeze. National Oil Companies (NOCs), International Oil Companies (IOCs), Oil Field services (OFs), and Engineering procurement Construction (EpC) companies are all feeling the impact and are re-positioning their resources to survive the storm and “live to tell the tale.”