Throughout human history, crises have been pivotal in developing our societies. Pandemics have helped advance health-care systems, wars have fuelled technological innovations and the global financial crisis he … like Uber and Airbnb. The present coronavirus pandemic will arguably not be an exception; entrepreneurs can be expected to rise to the challenge.
Businesses play a key role both in helping society get through an economic crisis and in creating innovations that shape society after a crisis. So one key question is: how will the ongoing crisis influence future society?
While it’s hard to predict the future, we can develop an understanding of what is ahead by analyzing current trends.
Businesses show citizenship, resourcefulness
The global pandemic and associated policies restricting people’s movements have caused major disruptions to many businesses. We’ve already observed major shifts in business practices. Working from home is the new norm, while many personal meetings and conferences have been replaced by video meetings and other virtu … rms of communication.
Some businesses —especially restaurants, tourism operatorsand movie theatres —have come to a complete stop. Others, like manufacturers of consumer goods, have seen a sharp drop in demand as consumers are either unable to visit shops or lack the spare cash for nonessential purchases.
The short-term impact is likely di … the long-term impact. Consumers may simply postpone the purchase of a new car or washing machine —but they may not want to buy the same types of services in the future.
Many firms have initially responded to the crisis not only by cutting costs but by engaging in new entrepreneurial activities. Around the world, we see examples of resourceful responses to the crisis: Distilleries in the United States, Canada and Australiastarted to produce hand sanitizers.
Courtesy of by Klaus Meyer, Carsten Lund Pedersen and Thomas Ritter, The Conversation