Page 98 - Accelerating out of the Great Recession

CHAPTER 3

EVENINTHE

WORST OF TIMES

Recessions—and the ensuing period of low growth—affect
all companies. But it falls to a company’s leaders to define not
only how well the company gets through a difficult environ-
ment but also how its competitive position can be improved for
the future.
History shows that structural shifts in the pecking orders of
industries occur more often in difficult times—and these shifts
endure for a long time. So the fight to sustain company per-
formance during a downturn is not just about short-term sur-
vival—it is also about long-term positioning in the industry
hierarchy. This is clearly a battle worth fighting.
If we want to learn about how companies can thrive in the
damaged economy that follows a massive economic crisis, there
is no better place to look than the Great Depression. The 1930s
was a period of enormous disruption. The upheavals created

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