Good - But good enough?

How did the project come about? You know, it was another Swiss thing! Thanks to IMD, this medium-sized company (where I am on the board of directors) was able to draw on the knowledge of outstanding MBA students from all over the world – and the whole thing was organised within two weeks. It was an outstanding experience for the participants and very beneficial for Agathon. Is there a core set of recommendations on what a company can and should do during this crisis? It seems to me that we need to look much more closely at our customers and their needs, as well as at how we can make our products and innovations visible to a broader potential pool of customers, rather than just relying on representative internal or external customers – in other words, a broader approach to the marketplace. This is something that applies to many companies. At IMD, we need to charge our brands with positive aspects such as leadership and innovation, so that when a topic in our field of business comes up, people immediately think of us. In the SEF.Interactive initiative, participants expressed their scepticism about the Swiss economy over the next 12 months, and yet the same respondents were also optimistic about their own future. How do you explain this contradiction? It has to do with the innovations that many companies have begun, as well as the new products, new market segments, and new approaches that have developed. That’s why business leaders are assuming a steep growth curve for themselves. But when you see the slump in sales that many have experienced, it will take a lot to get back to previous sales targets. If they had just sat around for six months, they would certainly not be so positive today. The underlying feeling at SEF.Interactive was that the crisis could also provide a boost in terms of agility and the speed of change. Do you see things the same way? There are no studies on the current situation, but Swiss companies have been under pressure for years to justify their premium positioning. Throughout this coronavirus crisis, one difference has been that we have had time. Previously, everyone was at their limit, then suddenly nothing was selling and you had time to think about how to approach customers in the future. You need a clear head for innovation, so the coronavirus period was very beneficial in that respect. I myself found this to be the case – I was out hiking in the mountains at six in the morning, looking out over Lake Geneva, before virtual meetings later in the day where suddenly some really great ideas came up. It was a highly productive time for me to think in completely different ways!

46 “We have to be much more responsive to our costumers’ needs”