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Innovation and crisis? Or maybe even innovation in a crisis? Whether globalization, individualization, health or mobility. Always in conjunction with the megatrend of innovation, these trends have developed over the past few years, influencing everyday life and business life. And enables future prognoses. But who wants to change when the future is suddenly so uncertain?
No economic researcher can currently predict the real effects of the corona crisis. We can already see that there will be serious consequences. Laying your hands in your lap and waiting for someone else or the state to fix it alone doesn't work. We have to take decisive steps ourselves to get out of the crisis quickly and safely. Innovative companies get through economically difficult times better.
I know many companies who have always known that research and development is the only life insurance policy in times of crisis. The measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic will undoubtedly lead to a recession. The already high pressure of competition and innovation will become even more intense. The strategy has to be - to differentiate oneself in terms of content and technology through quality and functionality. Innovation is and will remain the basis for this.
Companies don't have a choice: In order to remain competitive, investing in new ideas is essential. Due to a lack of liquidity, some companies naturally tend to invest less in research and development and postpone planned innovation activities. How can you prevent that? All government aid packages now serve for a short time to secure liquidity and survival. Research and development funding programs continue to run normally and bring hard cash into the company's cashbox and are doubly valuable in times of crisis.
Innovation booster Home office
Your own four walls as a creative forge? It is working. Numerous innovation plans were created during the lockdown phase. The run on innovation funding programs shows that many engineers and researchers had more time in the home office to take care of new projects and ideas. The crisis has made global economic dependencies aware of and brought companies and industries to increased cooperation.
Resilience and flexibility
What do we learn from the crisis? The most important coping mechanisms are resilience and flexibility. Resilience for companies means being able to act flexibly in times of crisis. A careful look into the crystal ball shows: “A lot is changing. And we have most of it in our own hands ”.
Innovation is life insurance for companies.