In the never normal, readiness determines resilience The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical weaknesses in almost every Leaders should prepare business. Every crisis creates opportunities to be better prepared for for the Never Normal the future. Take a broader view of M&A across the entire ecosystem to recalibrate for resilient growth. What shape will ventures and alliances in your industry take? Consider how the COVID-19 crisis aftermath will cause industry structures to evolve. Then build the required resilience. Specifically, M&A, ventures and alliances can be used to reshape what is done Does the COVID-19 pandemic internally versus externally, to build a more flexible network of partners, to balance concentration reveal any important needs to risks, and to access new capabilities that will help propel growth coming out of the downturn. partner with a broader Include alliances in your expanded view to realign the company. Re-evaluate alliances and network? ecosystem partners to increase resilience. For example, prior to the pandemic cross-industry Are there non-traditional alliances and mergers were forming to transform the US healthcare model. Similarly, alliances partners that become central in the airline industry have been essential to establishing global networks. Coming out of the to how you will operate with crisis, the roles of such networks will evolve in many industries to solve weaknesses exposed by resilience going forward? the pandemic. Continuously revisit priorities and potential disruptors to reframe the M&A agenda. Each How will these new ventures business cycle brings new and unexpected challenges. Lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis and refined approaches to M&A will help companies position themselves better to leverage M&A for growth and resilience. Build a help ensure your resilient capability powered by analytics and AI to scan for potential risks and disruptors, conduct scenario growth? planning and identify potential candidates for M&A, ventures and alliances to proactively address any weaknesses. 10 COVID-19: Rebalance for resilience with M&A