According to a survey by consulting firm PwC India, over 90 percent of Indian business leaders believe the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to improve crisis management skills. According to PwC’s Global Crisis Survey 2021- India Insights, about 59 percent of Indian companies admitted being adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The survey also found that over 80 percent of Indian business leaders have already invested in technology after the pandemic.

In India, business leaders are far more confident than global leaders about their ability to evaluate the lessons of the pandemic and act on them. “92 percent of Indian companies said they were ‘confident’, compared to just 75 percent of the world’s leading companies,” the survey said.

The responses from Indian business leaders were largely in line with the overall results of PwC’s Global Crisis Survey 2021, showing only minor areas of significant differences in views and insights.

About the survey, PwC said more than 2,800 business leaders around the world have shared corporate data and personal insights into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the future of corporate resilience.

“With 99 respondents representing Indian organizations, our report offers an analysis of how our business community is responding and how leaders are applying the lessons of that era to prepare for the next upheaval,” it says.

According to the survey, the top 5 priorities cited by business leaders for the future are: Accelerating transformations in organizational areas identified during the crisis (99 percent); Adaptation of the strategy in order to react flexibly to major interruptions and implement changes (96 percent); and implementing a post-action review process to assess responses to future incidents and crises (89 percent).

The other two are: Working actively to increase resilience in the near future (86 percent) and making changes to corporate strategy in response to the pandemic (51 percent).

Puneet Garkhel, Partner and Head, Forensics Services, PwC India, said operations and supply chain, finance and liquidity and people are the three areas where Indian companies have had “significant” or “critical” impacts due to the pandemic.

“Indian companies that have survived and even thrived have shared several significant core strengths during this period, the most important being a dedicated crisis response team with an appropriate response strategy aligned with the goals and purpose of their organization,” said Garchel.

Another focus for business leaders in all industries, according to the survey, was employee well-being – 90 percent agreed (58 percent strongly) that their response to the crisis took into account the physical and emotional needs of their employees.