{"id":40042,"date":"2020-09-19T10:17:27","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T02:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=40042"},"modified":"2020-09-19T10:17:27","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T02:17:27","slug":"what-is-business-resilience-in-the-new-never-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2020\/09\/19\/what-is-business-resilience-in-the-new-never-normal\/","title":{"rendered":"What is business resilience in the new never normal?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Anna Tan<br>Head of Apps, Oracle Philippines<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>COVID-19 won\u2019t be the last of the disruptions businesses must contend with. It\u2019s important for them to re-evaluate and rebuild their business models to be more resilient. Yet resilience is no longer about having the cash reserves and resources to weather disruption right now \u2013 it\u2019s about building an infrastructure that is flexible, cloud-based and automated to deal with constant, unrelenting change.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The paradox of resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Enterprise resilience comes in two parts. It\u2019s about having the foresight to identify areas of risk and causes of disruption. But it\u2019s also about having the agility to quickly transform operations to adapt to what\u2019s coming down the track. The mantra is expect the unexpected, respond and adapt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However the pursuit of resilience is full of challenges, especially today.&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cranfield.ac.uk\/som\/case-studies\/organizational-resilience-a-summary-of-academic-evidence-business-insights-and-new-thinking\">BSI and Cranfield School of Management recognise<\/a>&nbsp;that businesses face a host of different tensions that pull them in different directions. They need to walk a tightrope, balancing the need to protect the business and progress it through innovation. Too much weight on either side, and the business is in danger of being blindsided by a challenge it didn\u2019t predict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The paradox of a resilient organization is that it needs to be both flexible and firm under pressure. That\u2019s at all levels \u2013 including the people and systems that make up the company. To accomplish this, companies need an empowered workforce supported by a flexible and integrated infrastructure \u2013 leveraging the Cloud, big data, automation, AI and machine learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A bottom-up revolution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When times are difficult, a company is only as resilient as its people. A truly strong business is a resilient community of employees, customers, partners and suppliers, able to adapt quickly when faced with disruption. Resilience isn\u2019t the CFO\u2019s job or the CHRO\u2019s job \u2013 it\u2019s everyone\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That being the case, the organizations that will thrive and survive will be the ones that devolve responsibility \u2013 putting power in the hands of ordinary employees, suppliers and customers. They have to be able to make decisions on the frontlines of disruption \u2013 and to do this they need tools that give them the insight and ability to make decisions with confidence. With the right support, every employee becomes an agent of change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Investing in technology is one of the best ways for organizations to create a resilient, adaptable community and foundation for their business. Technology is the great enabler for people, processes, and systems to understand new demands and transform to meet them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Data is key to every decision, giving frontline actors an overarching view of the health of the organization and unrivaled insight into the changing market context. It should be widely available at all levels and among all partners. Digital applications and cloud solutions give them access to credible data that can be used to pivot in real-time. From streamlining processes to identifying new opportunities, data can help direct the company\u2019s decision making at the key moments that matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this context, cloud-based applications like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Human Capital Management (HCM) are very important. These systems provide insights and improved control over factors like inventory and value chain management, allowing for rapid changes and resolutions for problems detected in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The benefit of cloud-based applications is that they integrate systems and information so that data becomes transparent and accessible to everyone. Not only do employees have easier access to data, but customers can expect a joined-up customer experience tailored with information from both the front and back offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Resilience in action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When supported by the right technology and insight, people can do incredible things to boost resilience in the face of disruption. Lines of business can utilize a single pool of shared insight to collaborate and rapidly transform how the business operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Delivery companies were heavily disrupted at the onset of the pandemic, with supply chains buckling under the weight of unprecedented demand and many vulnerable drivers unable to perform deliveries.&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oracle.com\/customers\/fedex.html\">FedEx Services<\/a>&nbsp;was in the process of transitioning its financial infrastructure directly to the cloud. Yet instead of pausing plans and relying on the legacy system, the company accelerated its schedule to gain greater financial visibility into the crisis. Over 30,000 employees now use cloud analytics tools for data-driven decision making and automation, which has proven essential to helping the company navigate the disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Resilience is a team effort<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Resilience isn\u2019t merely a buzzword. It\u2019s more important than ever to look at the flexibility and adaptability of every system, process, and team in your ecosystem, from how you engage with customers and employees to how you work with suppliers and manage your finances. Preparing your organization for the unexpected not only mitigates risk, it helps you stay ahead of your competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COVID-19 won\u2019t be the last of the disruptions businesses must contend with. It\u2019s important for them to re-evaluate and rebuild their business models to be more resilient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":39168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[290,96,2727],"class_list":["post-40042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","tag-oracle","tag-technology","tag-technology-adaption"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}