Deloitte recently conducted a special mid-cycle version of our regular biennial survey of global cost management practices and transformation trends so we could gain insights into how companies are adapting to current pandemic circumstances. To be more relevant in the African context, we have analysed survey responses from emerging market companies relative to their global peers. In this report we highlight some of the differences.

The global survey evaluates the responses from 1089 organisations across the globe, with the emerging markets data representing just over a quarter of the organisations surveyed. In this report, we discuss the key survey findings using a three-stage framework (Respond- Recover-Thrive) to analyse companies’ actions and expectations as they cope with the pandemic and position themselves for the post-crisis world (the “next normal”).

The objective of the emerging markets thought piece is to draw insights into the actions, and objectives of similarly positioned organisations in order to understand which levers are available to embark on a successful strategic cost reduction endeavour within your own organisation. A critical insight from our global 2019 survey highlights that despite an increasing number of organisations undertaking cost reduction targets of more than 10%, 81% of respondents were unable to fully meet their cost reduction objectives. This trend continues through the pandemic, when emerging markets are targeting cost out even more aggressively. As the emerging market data emphasises, technology and automation will remain a key margin improvement lever but the most important short term survival lever is managing liquidity .

The Save-to-Thrive mindset will be crucial for the economies of emerging markets to gain stability in the current period in order to pull through to the “next normal” which emerging markets are confident about the prospects for.