Now that the economy is reopening, how do you assess the damage from the lockdown, and how has it altered the way we do business?

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated many trends that have been taking shape in the business world, such as nearshoring, home-office working, e-commerce – but above all the process of digitalisation. The increased reliance of business on digital solutions has placed a strain on the IT sector, with an increased demand for the skills of analysts, programmers and web developers. How has Sage’s IT hub in Poland been affected?

Covid-19 has appeared and turned our lives upside down, forcing us into lockdown. We find ourselves in survival mode – within a new set of constraints, we try to carry on as best we can. Our lives immediately reduced down to their simplest and most basic forms.  Those that that work from home do so.  With schools closed, working and childcare have to be juggled somehow. We start to rely on our local communities to support us.  Safety demands that we live our lives within a confined area, staying among those we trust.  

I have spent the last decade thinking about and working to improve the resilience of communities and cities across the world. How do you prepare for the worst and, once it’s happened – be it an earthquake, a typhoon, a drought or a flood – how do you recover from it so that you are stronger next time? There are many parallels that apply to this pandemic. And yet the magnitude of what we’re all living through now feels unique.

The coronavirus pandemic has created a situation, where we have had to undergo an intensive course of performing our duties outside the office over the past few months. The conclusions have turned out to be surprisingly optimistic – Poles have coped well with the transition to a new work mode, almost overnight. Research indicates that a significant number of us are able to work from home as efficiently as before. On the other hand, we still need an office, as it is a space where we can meet and exchange ideas, and that is what we miss the most.

“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be, it’s the way it is.” (Virginia Satir)

While observing economic conditions which followed the lifted restrictions, commercial real estate investors are wondering how the Covid-19 pandemic will impact their business. In uncertain times, one thing is sure – the scale of the impact will depend on the amount of time it takes for the economy to shake free of recession.

As Covid-19 restrictions are being gradually lifted, many employers are looking for solutions to enable workers to return safely to offices. However, the social distancing rules that are still in place are giving rise to many questions about protocols that should be introduced in the workplace.

The coronavirus pandemic has completely changed the profile of doing business in virtually all market sectors. The tobacco industry found itself in a special situation, where the main element of the sales chain – consisting of representatives' visits to retail outlets – virtually ceased to exist overnight. Action taken by Imperial Tobacco Polska S.A. proved that three days are enough to change the model of activity completely. 

Governments around the world, larger businesses and financial institutions such as banks will all have to play a part in helping to rebuild the global economy. That’s one of the main recommendations we make in our report Covid-19 Global Survey: The Road to Recovery.

What lessons have been learned by SMEs during the pandemic? It was a difficult experience for everyone and required great wisdom and resourcefulness from businesses. They had to quickly adapt to the new reality and change their plans realistically. Quick response was the key to success. Companies that have survived this stage have definitely emerged stronger for the experience. Now, as everything is returning to normal, we can ask business leaders – what they have learned during a pandemic?

What are the similarities between the Spanish-flu epidemic of 1918 and the current pandemic? The former claimed dozens of millions of lives, while the latter has claimed around 500,000 lives so far. However, both exerted a similar impact on human behaviour and mindsets about health.

We are all acutely aware that many sectors are suffering as a result of Covid-19, but the travel and hospitality sector will be hit more than most.

As the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has transformed the way we live and work, among its most immediate – and critical – impacts has been its effect on food supplies.

There are numerous IT systems on the market supposed to optimise and improve companies as well as facilitate their process management. However, most of those solutions are focused on supervision and the convenience of managers. Yet one of the key resources of a company is its employees, so isn’t focusing on managers’ needs the wrong way of looking at business processes? It is important for employees to feel that they are needed, to know what their duties are and what is expected of them. Companies that are aware of this become successful due to committed, efficient and satisfied staff.

You know that you are about to implement an ERP system in your company. But what's next? How to prepare for it? And what should you know before making a decision?

The Polish labour market as it was in January 2020 and the one that exists six months later are two different worlds.

Science has defined sound rules of ethical success which constitutes one goal of our business activities. Properly designed leadership development programmes can help us to achieve desired business results, regardless of the circumstances. They are a great method of enhancing our paradigm and achieving results through orderly and authentic thinking patterns, supported by positive emotional attractors.

On Friday 26 June we arranged our End of Year Ceremony on the final day of the academic year. In normal circumstances this would have been in an auditorium, packed to the rafters, with a miscellany of musical acts, drama performances, presentations, farewells and speeches. It would have been followed with a buffet and refreshments for the assembled community.