TABLE 1: FOLLOWING THE RECESSION PLAYBOOK

Action Role

Budget freezes or cuts

Hiring freezes

Determined at strategic level

Determined at strategic level; communication of motivations and future plans key

Communicated and implemented by finance director/manager

Communicated and implemented by finance director/manager

Buy-in from CEO; internal communications to deliver message constructively

Buy-in from HR and managers of relevant verticals

Conservatism in investments

Determined at strategic level; communications of priorities key

Streamlining product offering Determined at strategic level

Forecast and model recession scenarios Range of scenarios determined by CFO

Restructure according to shifting demand

Target resilient markets and stimulate demand

Manage accounts receivable and payable

Adjust pricing strategy to preserve revenue

CFO has key role in “selling” any restructure to other key decision makers

Guide strategic direction and build flexible culture

Determined at strategic level

Ultimate decision maker; top-down communication of goals critical

Finance managers triage existing investments for return on investment (ROI)

ROI of product suite determined by finance managers

Treasury department/finance controllers gather data and build models

Finance managers identify what to restructure and implement resources accordingly

Finance director to allocate budget for reinforcing success, cut budgets where prudent

Corporate treasurer manages incoming and outgoing payments

Finance managers contribute to determining how best to preserve margins

Product and delivery teams “on the ground” communicate what is working and what isn’t

Product teams test current offer to find “weak links”

Operations, product teams, and marketing all play a role in providing information

Buy-in for any serious restricting from CEO and board

Marketing builds strategy to reinforce or generate demand

Support from procurement teams

Sales teams’ feedback on customer tolerances tion opportunities in the broader market? See Table 1 for an overview of the recession playbook.

Embrace Technology

In a recent survey of financial decision makers across key global markets, financial technology company Taulia discovered that 37% of businesses are investing in either automation or supply chain technology in response to concerns over inflation and a potential recession. Of the respondents, 43% of U.S. companies reported prioritizing investment in automation, while 41% are putting first either cutting costs or implementing new supply chain management technology. Meanwhile, companies in Singapore were more likely to invest in supply chain management technology (46%) or automation (44%) than they were to prioritize cutting costs (37%).

What does this embrace of technology actually deliver? Companies don’t pursue updated technical solutions for their own sake. Very often, technology can act as a source of or conduit for better information reaching an organization’s leaders. And better information means better decisions.

Good data and good analytics enable more efficiency in your operations, greater visibility across your entire supply chain, and the identification of fluctuations in supply and demand before they occur; it’s no exaggeration