Just four years ago, interest rates and inflation were at historic lows, company profits were strong and steady, Europe was at peace, and technology was changing with head-spinning speed, but, overall, it was a Goldilocks economy — not too hot, not too cold. Middle market companies were making the most of it, consistently growing one or two percentage points faster than big companies or small businesses.
That was then. The years since have delivered a flurry of disruptions — pandemic lockdowns, snarled supply chains, sudden and stubborn inflation, steeply rising interest rates, upended talent markets, major policy shifts, and a war — on top of ongoing disruption from technology, climate change, and other megatrends.
Disruption rains down on large, midsize, and small companies alike, but it affects them differently and they have different ways of coping with it. Since 2019, we have been tracking the causes and effects of disruption. The research…
This article was written by David Garfield and originally published on hbr.org