MAL39:20 | Page 83

The fear , panic and the screams from the crew on board ! This is the story of many individuals and businesses across the globe .
There is no doubt that many businesses were rocked by turbulence of unimaginable magnitude emanating from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic . At the micro-economic level it meant some families hardly affording to put meals on the table due to massive job losses , drastic pay cuts witnessed globally from first world to the third world or closure of businesses ; dozens of households roofed on rented premises could barely afford rent leading to huge accumulated rent arrears ; The education sector was the manifest of inequality in wealth distribution as learning institutions with Students from middle income family backgrounds switched to online learning platforms while their peers from poor backgrounds stayed home with no formal learning activity taking place .
At the macro-economic level , many sectors such as hospitality , entertainment , education , tourism , aviation amongst others suffered catastrophic setbacks ever witnessed in the last century . Many closed shop and from the look of things some may never marshal the financial muscles to reopen their doors . This meant that a huge chunk of productive work force was rendered jobless and the taxman wasn ’ t achieving the revenue collection targets .
In our personal lives and corporate management perspective , what lessons can we learn from this turbulence ? Whereas interpretation will be different

The pessimists saw doom and gloom ahead ; the optimist saw the dawn of a new world order loaded with opportunities to unpack while the pragmatist reconciled the fears and the opportunities presented by the scenario at hand and purposed to weather the storm albeit cautiously .

What management lessons can we extract from the companies that experienced massive growth during the pandemic ? In the words of Roald Amundsen “ Victory awaits him who has everything in order - Luck people call it . Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time ; this is called bad luck ”.

from one individual to the next based on the experience , there are a few universal takeaways : Tenacity which is the quality of being determined or persistence is a persona we must possess during times of turbulence . If we lose grip of our mantra , we fall ; we must always therefore remain committed to our core objectives . The strategies of achieving the goals may change but the goal remains the same .
Remember also that the only constant ‘ K ’ in life is change , we must embrace it lest the forces of change define for us the ragged path in a very distasteful fashion . For spiritual guidance , refer to the Biblical Pauline letters to the Philipians 4:6-7 which says ‘’ Do not be anxious about anything , but in every situation , by prayer and petition , with thanksgiving present your requests to God ’’.
The Lucky Ones
Despite the havoc experienced by many individuals , families and businesses globally , there are those who have had a rosy year , the pandemic showered them with super normal profits . Perhaps it would be wise to profile in brief the industries that may have made a kill from the situation .
Personal Hygiene and Healthcare
Whereas not all companies in this sector may have profited immensely from the impact of the pandemic , a majority experienced stretched production capacity due to the ballooned demand for items such as alcohol based sanitizers , hand washing soaps and surface germ killing products . Perhaps there is need for an indepth research to ascertain the absolute sales made by companies in Personal Hygiene during the pandemic onset and peak .
In the health care sector , manufacturers of Personal Protective Equipment such as face masks , face shields , surgical gloves , infrared thermo guns amongst others also seem to have made a booming business during the pandemic .
Data & Communication Technology Businesses
A majority of data and technology companies experienced exponential uptake of their services exacerbated by the need for social distancing and working from home approach as emphasized by the health policies during the pandemic . For instance , Zoom Communications founded by Eric Yuan experienced explosive growth during the pandemic .
What management lessons can we extract from the companies that experienced massive growth during the pandemic ? In the words of Roald Amundsen “ Victory awaits him who has everything in order - Luck people call it . Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time ; this is called bad luck ”.
However , the Holy book has wise counsel to the windfall tidings ; Ecclesiastes 9:11 says “ I have seen something else under the sun : the race is not to the swift , nor the battle to the strong , nor does food come to the wise , or wealth to the brilliant , or favor to the learned ; but time and chance happen to them all .
Vincent Oduor is the Chief Executive Officer of Star Cafe Limited in Uganda . You can commune with him on this or related matters via mail at : Vincecurter @ gmail . com