Managing your business in a volatile climate

It is often said that, “The only predictable thing about life is its unpredictability.” Change is also a feature of business life— it’s what drives businesses forward; it acts as a spur to organizations to achieve even greater heights. But the last decade has seen unbridled change and volatility on a scale that is unprecedented, punctuated every so often by a mixture of man-made and natural events of breathtaking proportions.

Even technology is adding to the unsettled picture. The networked economy, hastened by the rapid rise of social networks, mobile, and cloud computing, has brought opportunities, but it has also given rise to unexpected sources of competition as technology lowers the barriers to entry and new business models pop up at a moment’s notice.

So, how should companies respond to volatility, and what steps can they take to enhance their competitiveness, financial performance, productivity, and responsiveness in a period of unprecedented and unpredictable change?