Collaboration in Crisis- The Path to New, Next and All-time Normal
The article is written by Dr. Saji Kuriakose, Director- FIMS, Farook College
Senior Associate Consultant – ATBC
Crisis happens in every sphere of life. We all must have seen a crisis that happens in a family
maybe due to someone’s death, business loss, bankruptcy, chronic illness, accidents and so
on and the family members get totally shocked not knowing what to do. But later we see most
of such families come back to normalcy and even do much better than before through the
strength brought by the intervention of other family members, relatives, well wishers, etc through
such support of collaborative nature.
‘Crisis” is composed of two characters—one representing danger, the other opportunity. For
many, a crisis creates an opportunity for positive change. In the case of a family, the crisis is a time when all family members, relatives, well-wishers, and society, in general, pay attention to the family in crisis and look out for solutions and strategies to uplift the affected family. During a period of intense crisis, when usual methods of coping fail, families are often open to learning new problem-solving approaches. Once a crisis is resolved constructively, many families find themselves strengthened by the experience and better prepared for life’s next challenge. On the other hand, some families, without the support and resources to resolve crises constructively, risk a downward spiral in their functioning and may never fully recover.
Similar is the case with almost all businesses in the world due to the crisis brought by Covid 19.
As companies struggled to adapt to the fallout of the Covid-19 crisis, many turned to open innovation — a collaborative approach that plays to the strengths of all companies involved
and could produce creative, unexpected solutions.
Crises like the Covid-19 pandemic highlight the importance of effective collaboration for long-term commercial success. Particularly in a crisis, organizations need to pull together experts with unique, cross-functional perspectives to solve rapidly changing, complex problems that have long-term implications. The diversity of experience allows a group to see risks and opportunities from different angles so that it can generate new solutions and adapt dynamically to changing situations.
It’s a kind of collaboration that’s worth pursuing whether or not you’re in a crisis. Making it
work, however, requires that companies momentarily put aside traditional concerns to focus on other approaches to creating value, embrace new partners; and commit to the projects they pursue through open innovation to reap their benefits. This approach was found to be
extremely fruitful, and not just in the middle of a crisis.
Amidst the early months of the Covid-19 crisis, something surprisingly uplifting started to happen: Companies began to come together to work openly at an unprecedented level, putting the ability to create value.
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• We could see the result of ‘Collaboration’ in science, technology, and innovation in response to COVID-19, where national and international collaborative platforms could revolutionize vaccine design and production. We could also witness in a large level the Public-private partnerships in research in response to COVID-19, mobilizing public researchers, businesses, governments, and philanthropic organizations from around |
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• • • the world to work together on developing various countermeasures, notably vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. Heavy truck maker Scania and the Karolinska University Hospital have partnered. Scania not only converted trailers into mobile testing stations, but also directed some 20 highly skilled purchasing and logistics experts to locate, acquire, and deliver personal protective equipment to health care workers. Similarly, Ford worked together with the United Auto Workers, GE Healthcare, and 3M to build ventilators in Michigan using F-150 seat fans, portable battery packs, and 3D printed parts. |
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These are some of the examples, of how Collaboration produces huge benefits for companies — even though it’s often overlooked in normal circumstances. Failing to collaborate in crisis and emergency situations will increase the vulnerability of organizations and societies to potential disasters. When we consider the crisis in Kerala |
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had in the last few years in the form of two major floods, Nippa, etc raised many questions regarding our state’s preparedness and the capacity of its infrastructure to face such disasters and to understand the need to collaborate with various public/private agencies, individuals from various walks of life that make sense to address the crisis which further throws some questions like:- should people individually take all the responsibility to manage crises and emergencies in order to protect themselves and their belongings? Or do the governments join hands with other private organizations/ agencies/ Individuals? Or should governments explore collaboration from all possible external sources for facing the crisis.? Later in the Kerala contest referred here we could see the benefits of collaboration and its significance which leads to the conclusion that any kind of collaborative process leads to improved disaster risk reduction practices. Collaboration or Synergy works always positively in all situations:- Be it in ‘New Normal’, ‘Next to Normal’ or let’s say in ‘All-time Normal’!!! |
