Find your essential: How to thrive in a post-pandemic reality

This is a unique opportunity to assess your situation. COVID- Whether the 19 repercussions fade or linger, 2020 will be seen as a watershed moment. Never before has the entire globe changed its behaviour at the same time, enacting lockdowns, quarantines, and social isolation. The IBM Institute for Business Value conducted its most comprehensive Chief Executive Officer study initiative yet to better understand this pivotal moment. The IBV gathered thoughts from over 3,000 CEOs and the most senior public sector officials across the economy and around the world, augmenting its extensive experience with that of Oxford Economics, a leading research firm.The IVY's exclusive survey of 3,000 global CEOs unearthed clear priorities that span key areas: 

• Perform with deliberate agility.
• Make technology more important.
• Take advantage of new regulations.

Three essential questions which need to be addressed:

• How can a remote workforce achieve intentional agility?
• Is technology being used to its greatest potential?
• What influence may regulation have on our strategy?

This clearly reflects a growing assertiveness on the part of governments in the areas of privacy, data, commerce, and—as COVID-19 has amplified—health. Lockdowns and quarantines have established a new precedent for the government's authority over industry, and at least one out of every two CEOs is watching their backs.

When the IBV compared the replies of the Outperformers and the Underperformers, it discovered significant discrepancies. In five crucial areas, research identified discrepancies between Outperformers and Underperformers:

• First and foremost, there is leadership.
• Technology is more than a means to an end.
•  It's impossible to take the hybrid workplace—or its employees—for granted.
• With open innovation, you can win as a team.
• Cybersecurity establishes a solid basis.

Our research went a step further to uncover even more precise insights, keeping in mind CEOs' increasing emphasis on establishing particular advantages. The IBV detected three natural categories among the 3,000 respondents using a data-driven segmentation analysis:

•  Customer-focused
•  Product-focused
• Operations-focused

Three crucial issues for the customer-centric business

• Are we delivering a unique client experience?
• What role does technology play in our decision-making process?
• Is consumer trust a top priority for us?

Three crucial questions for a product-focused company

• Is spare capacity in our supply chain a top priority for us?
• Is our marketing obfuscating a product flaw?
• Are we keeping track of how remote employment affects creativity?

Three critical issues for the operations-driven company

• Are we looking at new technologies before time?
• Is sustainability a key component of our overall strategy?
• Do we have a long-term trusting relationship with our employees?

CEOs should constantly analyse five questions that assist them identify their basics in order to succeed in the years ahead.

• What is the most important strategy we have?
• What is the most important technology we have?
• That are the people who make up our critical workforce?
• Who are the key figures in our society?
• What are the most critical dangers that we face?