Strategic reaction to the UK recession - notes and observations

Looking back through the archive of special features in the FT during 2009, I’m struck by the excellent depth of insights into the effects of, and reaction to the recession from a strategic perspective. I’ve jotted down some notes from several articles and I’ll add them here as I read through the articles…

Corporate Strategy as Businesses Emerge from the Recession (Charles Baden-Fuller, Cass Business School, Nov 2009)

Key points:

- The recession came as a significant external shock to big businesses - many of which had become complacent
- They had been able to compete without being particularly innovative
- The economic climate had been benign for a long time - the so-called NICE decade (non-inflationary, continuous expansion)
- Distribution channels had become bloated; businesses were carrying too much stock and product ranges were too complex
- Many firms had not properly exploited the rapid changes in technology that occured before the recession (e.g. using Web 2.0 as a way of reaching consumers more effectively)
- Innovative, smaller businesses with less complicated (and costly) organisational structures were already enjoying greater growth that big companies. The recession highlighted those big company weaknesses even more.
- The recession meant that it was no longer “business as usual”...and for many firms, it became “no business at all”