Managing Through the Economic Crisis

The New Imperative: Managing the Certainty of Uncertainty

By Mark Nadler and Dan Plunkett

As the recession continues, companies are experiencing multiple, simultaneous failures with consequences that are deep, long-lasting, and global. This white paper addresses the ongoing crisis and advised on critical imperatives for leaders to be aware of and act on.

Strategy Execution: Bridging the Gap Between Vision and Action

By Mark Nadler

Even in the best of times, few companies are consistently adept at implementing strategies. This paper addresses the specific challenges top leaders are facing in today's very difficult environment. The continuing struggle to effectively implement new strategies continues to place at or near the top of every CEO's list of concerns.

In a Downturn, Protect Pricing without Alienating Customers

By KK Davey, Martin Kon, and John Wenstrup

Risk Governance: Seeing the Forest for the Trees

By Andrew Kuritzkes

This paper examines the major failings of risk governance and regulation. It identifies three high-priority gaps in risk governance that senior management should address.

Thoughts for the Fireside: Leadership Lessons From a Tumultuous Year

By Mark Nadler and Janet Spencer

Corporate leaders should reflect for a moment and address ten revealing questions about themselves and their companies, in order to better navigate through this economic crisis in 2009.

Leading Through a Crisis: Getting Back to Basics

By Janet Spencer and Mark Nadler

In the midst of a worldwide economic downturn, senior executives have a major challenge in leadership. Based on conversations with top leaders of more than 60 major companies in the United States, Canada, and Europe, this paper outlines useful guiding principles to help leaders successfully navigate these uncharted waters.

Marketing Spend: How to Cut Where It Hurts the Least

By Krishnakumar Davey and Martin Kon

Marketers are now under pressure to reduce marketing spend, but across-the-board cuts can undermine a brand in the long term and sales in the short term. This note highlights the importance of understanding the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing spend and then using that information to cut or reallocate spend in the most effective way.

The Ownership Culture: Expanding Cost Management from an Event to a Mindset

By Janet Spencer and Mark Nadler

This paper outlines ways to create a cost-conscious mindset throughout an organization, creating a culture of ownership where everyone takes a substantial and personal stake in the company's performance.

Managing the Organization Dynamics of Downsizing

By Janet Spencer and Carlos Rivero

When managed effectively, downsizing can yield significant economic and organizational benefits. However, leadership also faces significant challenges in addressing the needs of employees, avoiding a constraint on future growth, and ensuring that communications are consistent with the company's values.

The Upside of Downsizing

By Mark Nadler

Downsizing – when undertaken as a strategic, carefully targeted process – offers enormous possibilities. It provides a unique chance to improve performance by fundamentally changing the size, structure, culture, and operations of an organization.

A Guide to Communicating in a Soft Economy

By Mark Nadler

From an organizational perspective, economic downturns represent one of the most difficult versions of major change. This paper outlines general principles and practical guidelines to help leaders communicate effectively, both within their companies and to outside audiences.

Risk Governance: Post - Crisis Priorities

By Nick Studer, Thomas Garside & Lucas du Croo de Jongh

The global financial crisis demonstrated that effective risk governance is critical. Moreover it is also key to weather the current business environment, and to emerge from this crisis competitive with the strategic freedom to manoeuvre. In short, effective risk governance will become a competitive prerequisite to participate in the banking business.

Banking Leadership: New Skills Required

By Scott McDonald

Scott McDonald, Managing Partner of Oliver Wyman Financial Services, offers critical suggestions for leaders in the global banking sector across wholesale and retail businesses.  Key elements discussed in this Point of View include: public policy, the role of the Board, governance, compensation, and the maintenance of ethical standards within an organization.

Credit where credit is due - the truth about bank lending during the crisis

By Michael Zeltkevic

One of the most frequent assertions made during the ongoing financial crisis has been that banks are not making credit available to households and businesses. Policymakers have frequently articulated their desire for banks to increase lending. In the twelfth paper of Oliver Wyman's "Points of View" series, Michael Zeltkevic surveys the evidence by parsing the credit market into demand and supply components in order to determine whether the assertion is valid. The author concludes that it is not.

Using Customer Behavior Analyses to Improve Bad-Debt Performance

By Alan Feibelman and Mark Hirschey

Economic recession raises the stakes for electric and gas utilities to understand their customer behavior patterns as they relate to collection of revenue. This article shows managers how to anticipate problems and respond before receivables deteriorate.

U.S. Managed Care’s Mandate for Change

By Tom Main, Chris Bernene, and Joanna Horsfall

Economic pressures could put health insurance out of reach for a broader cross-section of employers, creating coverage risk for over 13 million additional people and further justifying the need for government intervention. This article aims to illuminate the issues, stimulate debate, and motivate positive changes among the various constituents in order to improve the U.S. healthcare system.

Recession Agenda for the German Capital Goods Industry

By Lutz Jäde

Many German capital goods companies entered the recession in good financial shape and have an array of options at their disposal to survive the crisis and even profit from it. But they will have to address structural issues and prepare for the worst case.

Insights from the New Communications, Media, and Technology Consumer Spending Survey

By Mark Teitell, John Senior, and Dave Sovie

Manufacturing Perspectives: Managing Costs in a Time of Crisis

Contact: Pierre Deraed

These five brief essays offer useful insights on how an economic slow-down should cause managers in manufacturing to think differently about the nexus of costs, growth, and profit. They examine such issues as product cost reduction, working capital management, production relocation, and planning for crisis.

The Asian Century in Financial Services?

By Marc Intrater

A survey of the opportunities and priorities for Asian financial institutions in the current financial crisis.

The Role of Private Equity in Reshaping the Market Landscape

By John Romeo

This paper considers the role of private equity in reshaping the market landscape, identifying three priorities for private equity firms.

Round Two: Challenges for Hedge Funds in the Financial Crisis

By Brad Ziff

An analysis of the dynamic challenges faced by hedge funds in deciphering the current market context, focusing on de-risking, tighter regulation, investor withdrawals, governance and legal issues, and counterparty risk.

Structured Credit: Dominoes and Dynamite

By Barrie Wilkinson and Andy McGee

A consideration of the future for the structured credit market. A reappraisal of structured credit technology is required in order to ascertain what it can realistically deliver in the future.

Retail: Don’t Mortgage Your Future in the Downturn

By Paul Beswick and Matthew Isotta

As consumers tighten their belts, the pressure on retailers to find sources of short-term performance improvement is intensifying, yet many of the easiest tactics can seriously undermine a retail brand in the longer term. This note describes four quick and safe sources of short-term value.