In the past three global recessions, nearly a fifth of companies didn’t survive. Of those that did, 80% hadn’t regained their pre-recession growth rates for sales and profits three years later. Over two-thirds of CFOs and 59% of economists believe a recession will hit by 2020. CEOs should be worried.
In turmoil, however, lies opportunity. During the last slowdown, 20% of companies in the bottom quartile leapfrogged to the top by recession’s end. They did so not by falling into a cost-cutting trap like others, but by increasing productivity before the downturn hit.
