Companies must become more flexible and lean, as well as deploy capabilities to secure their competitiveness in both the short- and long term. Addressing SG&A costs as a lever to increase productivity and secure improved cash flow is a battle-tested measure to deploy.

The challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic are affecting companies in all industries. Stagnating revenues, furloughs, and organizational uncertainties have paved the way for a challenging future. A new baseline is forcing businesses to swiftly review both their current strategic focus and operational structure to adapt to an unstable economy and a changing market environment.

Company tenures are declining due to the increasing pressure from globalization, increasing M&A activities, accelerated growth of disruptive start-ups and digitalization. This establishes an increasingly competitive and unpredictable business environment, requiring companies to become more responsive and adaptable.

Markets are becoming increasingly volatile due to a long list of factors such as climate change, geopolitical issues, tariffs/trade, and health pandemics. These all cause significant supply chain issues and disruptions resulting in changing lead times, supply shortages, and financial impact both internally and externally at suppliers.

In early 2020, Applied Value and the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York embarked on a study looking to gain useful insight and guidance on the role of cultural differences as pertains to management, organizational styles and decision making for businesses active in and between the shores of Sweden and the United States.

Around the world, COVID-19 has transformed everyday ways of living. Societies globally have altered how they shop, gather, and work, trading in human interactions for digital ones and adopting new precautionary behaviors. As these short-term changes to society and the economy become more familiar, COVID-19’s long-term consequences remain unknown. While some believe the novel coronavirus may carry positive change for the planet, others fear the enduring social and economic repercussions.