What will the world economy look like post Covid pandemic?

There are a number of economic commentators looking nervously into the future crystal ball and seeing things that are starting to give them the serious concerns.We have USA indulging in massive monetary expansion partly in response to the economic shock caused by the pandemic, but also in response to a government social agenda, we have China currently in an economic  re-structure in the infrastructure sector, and all this coupled with the fact the developed world is indulging in a rapid expansion of renewable energy without the investment in energy storage, causing a spikes in energy costs.

All of these activities taken in isolation might not cause concern. However, taken as a collective, there is serious potential for significant global economic disruption. Thinking back to when I was in short pants, and the world has stagflation, this is a scary thought.

So, my question to business, are we prepared? What are we doing from a business perspective to develop strategies that improve our balance sheet, reduce supply chain stress and risk, improve the regional skills base and prepare for a changing world?

To assist with this strategy, businesses should be conducting internal analysis of business performance to improve resource use efficiency, improve profit margins, diversify both supplier and customer markets, and finally conduct a serious risk analysis to identify potential risk exposure and to establish a risk mitigation strategy.

There are a number of ways to do this analysis. Firstly, conduct a situation analysis, where is the business now, and how is it performing, commence a strategy of product, customer and supplier diversification, and finally if appropriate, draft a ISO31001 risk management planning document.

Capping this off, a business should have a strategic plan that doesn’t just look 3 to 5 years into the future. Asian economies have a far longer horizon for their strategic planning (I remember reading a book about 30 years ago on business planning, and Japanese businesses were then looking to develop a 50-year strategic plan). If Australian businesses are to compete, we also need to look at these horizons.