In almost every conceivable dimension, the COVID-19 crisis is fundamentally challenging companies’ assumptions about how they do business. The scale of the pandemic’s impact and the uncertainty about its future course and consequences are forcing changes in organizational structure, decision-making processes, technology, and operations, from manufacturing to sales and marketing. As discussed in an earlier article, many companies have already undertaken major shifts in these areas. They have reconsidered ways of working, organizational structures, and talent. The common factor in these changes has been increased operational and decision-making speed in an unprecedentedly dynamic environment. And it is already clear that this requirement is here to stay. The question facing companies in all sectors is how to move from adrenaline-based speed to speed by design—in other words, how to build increased speed into their operations on a permanent basis.In McKinsey’s recent Global...
learn more
