https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHzw2rNn5kw
“Right now, strategy is much harder to conceive and decide upon, but at the same time it is much more necessary,” said Dr. Xavier Gimbert—a professor and consultant, author of the book *Strategic Management* (Ediciones Deusto, 2021), former director of ESADE Latin America and of the graduate program at the Universidad del Pacífico (Peru)—during the online conference “Strategic Management in the Age of Uncertainty.”
The event, organized by the Graduate School of Business (EPN) at Universidad ORT Uruguay, took place on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. It was part of the Management and Business Lecture Series.
Decide on a strategy
“In 2020, in the wake of the coronavirus, the world changed. This has a significant impact on organizations’ strategies,” the expert noted. “We are in a time of disruption. ‘Turbulence’ and ‘disruption’ are words we’ve been using for many years now, but it was in 2020 that we truly learned what a disruption of life in every sense really meant.”
“We have been faced with abrupt, sudden, and unpredictable changes, and while it is true that some sectors benefited, in most cases these changes were for the worse. Right now, it is much harder to formulate and decide on a strategy, but at the same time, it is much more necessary. If you don’t make a decision, you’ll go under.”
“The company’s board of directors is responsible for setting the strategy. But it cannot operate in an ivory tower, isolated from the world, because it will lack information. The strategic vision must be present at every level. It is vital that the entire organization remain attuned to the external environment, because that is where we can detect potential major changes,” added Gimbert.
“Highly hierarchical, bureaucratic, and inflexible structures are becoming obsolete. The charisma, vision, ability to listen, communication skills, and trust that a leader conveys are factors that take on much greater importance during times of disruption.”
Without passion, there is no excellence
Gimbert also emphasized the importance of having a mission statement that is in tune with today’s world. “If a company has an outdated mission statement, what it really has is a coffin. It has to act before the mission statement becomes obsolete, because if it acts too late, it’s like giving a blood transfusion to a dead person.”
“Vision is another very important concept. If a company isn’t clear about what it wants to be and isn’t living up to that vision, it won’t work and won’t be successful. Furthermore, motivation is key. Without passion, there is no excellence. That passion must be present throughout the entire organization.”
Gimbert concluded: “We have to manage, because otherwise we won’t make it to tomorrow, but we also have to innovate. In other words, we need to seek out new business models and new ways to satisfy our customers. Our business model will eventually become obsolete. If we focus on innovating as well as managing, we’ll be preparing ourselves for that moment.”