HR Blog

Weblog - baron Paul Buysse

The crisis we are currently experiencing is no ordinary financial or economic crisis but will accelerate something that has been waiting to emerge for some time – the total transformation of the business world on a global scale. As far as I'm aware this is the first time ever that businesses, experiencing a surge in growth, have had the opportunity to reinvent and reposition themselves.
Globalisation, as we are now discovering, is not a hollow phrase, but a definite reality. Our businesses have also been forced to look at these changes from a different point of view. Take Leo Leander Bekaert, a sexton who ran a small ironmonger's in 1880. Four generations later this shop is a hi-tech business with 22,000 employees. Bekaert was a visionary who saw that it was high time to move out of the church. By 1890 he was already exporting to England and France and he sent his sons to international universities. But other companies besides Bekaert also paved the way: InBev, Solvay, UCB, to name but a few. We should be proud of these businesses and cherish them. Belgium is too small a country not to export. With good local partners and clear arrangements, a huge amount can be achieved. There is definite interest in our market and our technology and we are open to their market and the opportunities available to us locally.
Too many Belgian businesses still lack a strategic plan. Sustainable, profitable growth – the most important byword in the business world in my view – is still not incorporated sufficiently in our businesses' strategic planning. In times when our world can change so radically in six months, this jeopardises the future of our companies. Innovation and product evaluation
are essential elements of such a strategy. Too many businesses still see their product as a constant.
We know that there is no future for coal, we have decimated our steel production and reduced the textile industry to a fraction of its former self. No one questions that. We know that there are huge shocks to come for the motor industry. And then what? Are we asking ourselves questions about mobility in this country? We don't need to have a great strategic vision, but we should be asking ourselves the question. A business is made up of people who make a product and receive money for doing so. After the wages have been paid, whatever money should be reinvested in the business. In the current situation, everything is up in the air.
Banks will have a hard time for years to come and will have to reinvent themselves. The government will have to encourage banks to lend or else the system could collapse. If the system breaks down, there will be no prosperity and if there is no prosperity, there is no democracy. We are now caught in this vicious circle.
Unfortunately, in the next few months, I expect a wave of economic purging. We are now going through a harsh economic process in which we hope that the European Central Bank will show the necessary clout and ensure that the financial system
can continue to evolve in a favourable direction. Businesses which have incurred debts are finding themselves forced to sell part of their company or to seek further funding, under completely different lending conditions. Money hasn't just
become scarcer and much more expensive; banks also have to see themselves develop. It is important for businesses to track their stock, creditors and debtors efficiently. Businesses that have made fully leveraged acquisitions are now paying the penalty for their weak financial structure and lack of long-term strategic vision. Often they can see no other option than to scale down with the associated redundancies. So the purge will continue for some time yet.

Let's learn from history. In its golden era, Antwerp took over trade from Bruges and emerged as a major port. Then along came Rubens with the Flemish School. Plantin decided to establish the cradle of the art of typography there. What can we learn from this? A richer community was born from astute trading and exporting possibilities and opportunities on an international scale. Anyone who strolls around the historic city centres of Bruges and Antwerp will soon grasp the importance of this. We are in the same situation today. We must now tell the Chinese that we are their best partner. We must say that they can't do anything in Europe without us because we are the best.
We must go back in history and play our trump card. We have a strong Indian community. Let's look for opportunities to work together. What should the government do? Facilitate and reassure. They have done this
brilliantly in recent months. Reassure consumers, or else the economy will never revive.
Are our corporate structures really suited to cope with this new world? A world in which we are swamped with Chinese influence, products , shareholders, capital, and so on ... The same applies to Russia, India, Brazil even ... Banks will not be the same, products will not be the same. Let's be prepared for this.
 

React

You can only reply to this post if you are logged in as a registered user.