1. Look ahead and adjust whenever necessary. For example, in the early days of the outbreak, anticipating hoarding and stock-outs, Kangshi shifted its focus from offline large retail channels to online, e-commerce and smaller stores. By constantly tracking retail store openings, it was also able to adjust its supply chain in a highly flexible manner. As a result, the company's supply chain recovered more than 50 percent within weeks of the outbreak.
2. Use a flexible and adaptive, bottom-up approach to complement top-down leadership. For example, Huazhu Group, which operates 6,000 hotels in China, set up a working group to issue daily top-down guidance to its hotel chain. The company also utilizes its internal information platform to ensure that franchisees receive timely information.
3. Proactively provide employees with a clear and safe working environment. For example, kitchenware maker Nepal has developed very specific operating guidelines and procedures for its employees, such as instructions on risk reduction when eating in the cafeteria. In addition, the company has been conducting health checks for employees and their families since the early days of the outbreak and purchasing protective equipment to be fully prepared for a timely return to work.
4. Flexible labor allocation for different activities. Instead of furloughs or layoffs in hard-hit industries such as restaurants, some creative Chinese companies assigned employees to new and valuable activities. For example, more than 40 restaurant, hotel and cinema chains optimized their staffing levels to release large numbers of employees. They then enjoyed those employees with Alibaba's Boxmart supermarket***. Boxmart is in dire need of delivery staff due to a surge in online shopping orders. Hungry, Meituan and Jingdong have followed suit.
5. Change the mix of sales channels. For example, during the epidemic, cosmetics company Lin Qingxuan was forced to close 40 percent of its stores. The company rearranged more than 100 beauty consultants in those stores to turn to online promotions, using WeChat and other methods to attract customers to increase online sales. As a result, its sales in Wuhan rose 200 percent from the previous year.
6. Leveraging social media platforms such as WeChat to coordinate employees and partners.
7. Preparing for a faster-than-expected recovery. Only six weeks after the outbreak, China seems to be recovering. Current traffic congestion levels are at 73 percent of 2019 levels, suggesting that the movement of people and goods is returning.
8. It is important to think about the different speeds of recovery in different sectors. During the first two weeks of the intensifying outbreak in China, stock prices fell across all sectors, but sectors such as software and medical devices recovered within a few days.
9. Look for opportunities in adversity. While the epidemic affected all sectors to some extent, demand in many specific areas increased. These include B2C e-commerce, B2B e-commerce, teleconferencing services, social media, hygiene products, and health insurance. Chinese companies are mobilizing quickly to address these needs.
10. Adjust recovery strategies based on location. Different local public **** health policies, disease dynamics, and administrative guidance vary from place to place, which means that developing a recovery strategy has to change based on location. This requires a flexible approach.
11. Innovate quickly around new needs. When faced with a crisis, many companies will tend to be conservative, but some Chinese companies boldly innovate when new opportunities arise. Anthem added free insurance related to the new coronavirus to its product. The move fulfills a customer need while increasing customer loyalty.
12. Discover new consumer habits. "The SARS crisis is often credited with accelerating the spread of e-commerce in China. It's too early to determine which new habits will last, but some of the trends that are likely include a shift from offline to online education, and a shift in healthcare services.