Introduction
Recession in economics refers to slump in economic activities or contraction in business cycles. This situation is exhibited through reduction in the Gross Domestic Product of a country, increased rate of unemployment, reduced spending, reduction in household income, fall in inflation, reduction in business profit and bankruptcies among others (Pearlman & Sandra 239).
The most recent recession that adversely affected the world was experienced in 2008. The recession affected strategic planning of companies, management and their ethical decision making process.
Strategic planning
It is important for businesses to have strategic plans to guide towards achieving their objectives. Managers in a business context are responsible for drafting and implementing these plans to ensure that their organizations achieve the set targets.
Strategic planning is concerned with strategies that a business uses to reach or achieve a certain goal. It guides in making of the right decision by considering various factors such as availability of resources and human capital, hence ensuring that a certain mission is achieved (Cheung et al. 123).
For instance, in strategic planning, the intention of an initiative must be defined, the benefits known and the steps required for achieving the set goals identified.
Recession and strategic planning
The recent recession affected strategic planning of many companies. Most companies had set their plans for seven years and therefore did not factor in the possibility of a recession occurring. It caught many of the companies unaware.
They had to revisit and readjust their plans. The recession affected the performance of economy negatively leading to reduction in GDP and unemployment. It affected the goals that organizations had earlier set.
Recession and direct/indirect interactive forces in the manager’s environment
Managers faced many challenges during the recession period. They had to employ their skills and expertise to ensure that their organizations survive the economic downfall. Managers form policies, implement and evaluate to see whether they work or not.
They ensure that all operations are running smoothly. One of the challenges faced by managers during recession concerned management of cash flow and working capital of their organizations. Sometimes, it was difficult for the managers to convince banks or lending institutions to supplement their cash shortfalls.
This was a challenge which many managers had to grapple with to ensure that their organizations proceeded with their functions.
The issue of labor also presented challenges. Due to inadequate finances, many organizations had to relinquish their human capital to sustain themselves and move on with their operations.
During the recession, business managers realized that they needed to carry out business risk analysis before developing a business case. For instance, it became apparent that many decisions were made that did not add value to the business.
Therefore, this was a wakeup call for businesses to ensure that any project was scrutinized before adoption. It also led to fierce competition between businesses.
Some managers thought that their workers had lost negation power because of reduction in the rate of movement of goods.
Recession and ethical decision-making
In business, various decisions are made concerning markets, profits, customer’s preferences and products among many others. Therefore, decisions are important in ensuring that a company achieves it goals and remains competitive in the market.
During a recession, many companies are faced with dilemma in making decisions concerning their businesses. Businesses are required to be ethical in the decisions they make. They should put into consideration the effects of their actions to third parties.
The actions should impact positively on the lives of the people or the society in which they operate. Most of the decisions that were made during the recession period impacted negatively on the society. For instance, many employees were laid off from their duties.
This affected their lives in a negative way since they could not afford to live comfortably due to economic downtown (Graham & Kristina 5). The amount of cash flow in the economy was less, making it hard for such people to afford basic needs and other essential goods.
The managers had no alternatives but to layoff some workers to enable the businesses to continue operating. This action was unethical in the normal circumstances because workers were not given enough time to prepare for the shock. It affected them psychologically and changed their life.
Many employees suffered stress and depression, which increased the rate of diseases and complications in their health. Therefore, due to this, many organizations recorded poor performance in terms of their level of profits.
Critique
Even though companies laid-off workers to recuperate from the recession, the procedure used was not appropriate. Some companies took this advantage to send their employees home in pretence that they were affected by the recession. This was unethical and unfair for such companies.
Companies failed to plan in advance after the sign of economic down fall began to manifest in 2007. They waited until the situation became worse in 2008, then began to put in mechanisms to solve it.
However, many organizations have managed to recuperate and are now recovering from the effects of the recession. Others have not yet recovered from the recession.
In order for the organizations to remain successful during such conditions, they need to revise or readjust their strategic plans to reflect short-term objectives.
The managers and important stakeholders should adjust their activities and employ the best strategies that will enable them win the approval of banks to help them with working capital (Cheung et al. 122).
Conclusion
Recession is a threat to the economy and business. However, with good policies in place and flexible strategic plans, managers can deal with the challenge amicably. Most companies were affected, leading to job loss and reduction in profits.
There is still hope that the economy can still go back to normalcy if concerned parties act appropriately. A business has a duty to the society and therefore, with the economic recession, they need to be ethical in their decision-making.
Recession, especially the recent one, should serve as a lesson to many corporations to be always prepared for unknown eventualities.
Works Cited
Cheung, Andrew, Eric Kutcher, and Dilip Wagle. Strategic planning in a crisis, McKinsey Quarterly, 3(2009): 122-123. Print.
Graham, Roger, and Kristina Frankenberger. The earnings effects of marketing communication expenditures during recessions, Journal of Advertising, 40. 2(2011):5-24. Print.
Pearlman, Eileen, and Sandra Steder. How to cope with the recession and still keep in balance. ETC. A Review of General Semantics, 49. 2(1992):39-246. Print.