7 Ways Forward

Illustration by Felix Sockwell

In mid-September 2008, as the credit collapse acceler­ated into full-scale economic meltdown, the world’s attention naturally turned to triage and recovery. Booz & Company, which publishes strategy+business, was the first major management consulting firm to respond.

The firm’s experts quickly developed a set of guides for businesses making their way through the downturn, be­ginning with an article by CEO Shumeet Banerji (“Navigating through the Financial Crisis”), published on the Web on October 3.

It was already apparent that not all companies were equally affected. As Banerji wrote, “These times, though unnerving for some, will create great opportunity for many companies. Industry structure is fundamentally reshaped by discontinuity.”

How, then, can a leader ensure that his or her company ends up among the winners? That’s the question answered in the essays that follow. Adapted from Booz & Company re­ports on the downturn, each assesses long-term growth prospects from the perspective of an industry, function, or region. Together, they add up to a comprehensive view of the emerging post-meltdown economic landscape.

—Art Kleiner
Editor-in-Chief

Reprint No. 09104