What is your recession playbook?

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to examine how managers can respond to recessions and navigate their companies to success looking at the last two recessions in the US. Design/methodology/approach – The research identified those companies that substantially exceeded the performance of their peers in the last two recessions. News stories and publications on these companies were cross case analyzed to establish hypotheses of how managers can best manage through a recession. Findings – The research found those organizations that sustained their focus on revenue growth and market share, and where managers had broad mindset and considered a broad set of options for action were most likely to succeed, in contrast to those who did across the board staff and cost cuts. Originality/value – This examination of prior strategies offers managers guidelines for navigating recessions. There is little published research on this topic in strategy.