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Staying competitive amid uncertainty in global economy

Of those expecting to increase their overall investment by five per cent over the next two years, two-thirds identify research, innovation and technology as their main priority. It is the key not just to improving productivity and keeping costs down, but also to protecting customers and providing the service they want.

Noel P. Quinn (The Jakarta Post)
Premium
Singapore
Wed, October 2, 2019

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Staying competitive amid uncertainty in global economy In our most recent survey of more than 2,500 firms around the world (July 2019), nearly four times as many companies saw more opportunities than threats in the years to come. Many recognize that they will need to completely transform their business over the next two years to capture these opportunities, and are acting now to make that happen. (Shutterstock.com/create jobs 51)

J

ust a few months after I started my banking career in 1987, the Dow Jones suffered the biggest one-day percentage slide in its history. Known as “Black Monday”, the losses were double that of the worst day of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. At the time, it was difficult to look forward with great optimism. Yet, with hindsight, opportunity was on the horizon.

Prosperity was rising in the developed world and the middle class was growing. After 40 years of Cold War, relations between the Soviet Union and the West were beginning to thaw. China was emerging as an economic force, and the world was on the brink of the internet age.

My early interactions with clients back then have stuck with me to this day. They taught me that, while there are cycles of economic headwinds and tailwinds, opportunity never goes away for those with a clear vision and a laser focus on the needs of their customers.

This is a perspective that many businesses share. In our most recent survey of more than 2,500 firms around the world (July 2019), nearly four times as many companies saw more opportunities than threats in the years to come. Many recognize that they will need to completely transform their business over the next two years to capture these opportunities, and are acting now to make that happen.

Unsurprisingly, technology is at the heart of their plans. Of those expecting to increase their overall investment by five per cent over the next two years, two-thirds identify research, innovation and technology as their main priority. It is the key not just to improving productivity and keeping costs down, but also to protecting customers and providing the service they want.

 

[...] the maxim of focusing on what customers need [...] has not changed at all

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