What business students can learn from how businesses have handled the recession

The actions taken by successful businesses during the UK recession provide a rich source of guidance for students wishing to improve their analysis and evaluation skills.

The good news for business teachers is that there is plenty of evidence from surveys and media case studies which can be used to help explain the functional and strategic decisions that have been taken during the downturn.

Take, for example, a survey published by the Barclays Take One Small Step Campaign. There are lots of useful insights in there.

Perhaps most surprisingly, 61% of UK small businesses feel the recession has made their business more efficient, and experience other positives including a greater focus on customer service (34%).

The research reveals the unexpectedly mixed impact of the recession. While a perhaps unsurprising 43% of the UK’s businesses have seen their working hours increase, and 17% have seen recession-related redundancies, a quarter (25%) of businesses are reporting improvements to their business strategy.

According to Barclays:

“This research gives us the clearest understanding yet as to how small businesses are coping with the recession and, clearly, businesses are finding the upside of adversity wherever they can. UK firms have taken a pragmatic approach by tackling head-on the big challenges such as improving their business strategy, increasing innovation and focusing on their employees.”

When asked to rank the potential impact of a raft of changes on their business rather than consider wage reductions or job losses, there was a clear focus on recovering debts and receiving prompt payment of invoices.

When asked how they would spend a hypothetical £100K cash injection, businesses responded as follows:

- 30 per cent of business owners said they would move or expand to new facilities, possibly taking advantage of low property prices

- 25 per cent would focus on clearing debts

- 22 per cent would love to increase their marketing spend

Regional figures reveal attitudes towards the recession in some of the UK’s largest towns and cities. Liverpool and Bolton overall felt least negatively impacted. In fact, 38 per cent claim either no ill effects or a positive experience of the recession. This is compared to Swansea and Cardiff where the figure drops to 14 and 18 per cent respectively.