Navigating External Impacts

Assessing and managing external events so your change initiatives keep thriving.

Author

Cliff Oguzie
November 11, 2024

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This past week has been pretty turbulent for global stock markets due to volatility following quarterly earnings reports from notable brands, interest rate cuts around the globe, and of course the US presidential elections proving to be the biggest catalyst.

A lot has happened, which got me thinking about the impact not just on stock prices of many public companies, but also on their strategic directions, risk appetite and of course, how they are shaping and adapting their change agenda. The same considerations apply to private companies and private sector organisations of all sizes.

Part of leading change initiatives and teams involves taking account of what goes on in the world around us. The macro economic events tend to directly or indirectly affect portfolios, programs and projects alike. This of course impacts the prioritisation and direction of changes within organisations and businesses from start ups to enterprises.

That’s why this newsletter edition focuses mainly on what a new US government could mean for companies when considering their investment in delivering products and services.

This post has no political deviations whatsoever. I’m just someone passionate about how we can stay ahead to deliver innovation in the most effective way, taking account for internal and external factors.

I’m going to summarise the potential impacts using a PESTLE approach, as this is a straightforward common method to assess external factors that can impact an organisation and of course, it’s change delivery agenda.

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PESTLE

Assume a fictional scenario of a global software company providing financial analysis software to fintechs and on line retailers.

Imagine you are a Product Manager responsible for a cluster of work to identify new emerging markets to deploy existing solutions, whilst also researching the possibilities of applying AI features to reduce the cost to serve your customers.

What are the considerations?

POLITICAL

  • Possible trade measures to protect the US economy, such as tariffs on imports, increasing those tariffs to a higher levy on nations that the US sees as a greater threat to its economy. This will seek to level the playing field for home grown businesses and employees.

  • Possible changes to immigration policies, which could affect on boarding international workers and the diverse skills they might bring.

  • Reduction in overall size of government spending, causing potential opportunities for private organisations to fill gaps.

ECONOMIC

  • More relaxed regulation of digital assets, such as cryptocurrency, which may create new opportunities in the finance industry and create new requirements from clients.

  • More relaxed regulations for US-based companies may be expected, enabling them to get more done at a great pace.

  • Potential for corporate tax cuts for US-based businesses, enabling them to invest more in growth opportunities.

SOCIAL

  • Increased political divides amongst the general population.

  • Cultural issues, such as gender identity and rights become increasingly topical and emotive.

TECHNOLOGICAL

  • Greater investment in advancing military technology capability.

  • Support for AI development, creating more opportunities to innovate in this area.

LEGAL

  • Potential for changes in data privacy regulations.

ENVIRONMENTAL

  • Possible reversal or adjustment to existing environmental commitments, resulting in changes to organisational priorities, targets and associated investment.

Next Actions

After conducting the analysis with the team, I would take the outcome of this analysis and start forming a delivery approach.

This could be at a strategic level through developing or updating an existing portfolio vision with a lean budget. Affected projects or streams of work will be involved to take necessary action where applicable to them.

In each case, I would document and actively manage any identified risks or opportunities to the work ahead.

Here are some other possible next steps.

Compliance strategies

  • Reassess current AI development practices and update to include any new changes caused by regulatory changes, before development of AI features.

  • Prepare for possible changes to data privacy laws and apply to existing solutions. New work may be required to initially investigate potential system and process changes relating to data privacy practices across the organisation.

Supply chain oversight

  • Assess impact of potential tariffs on hardware and component costs based on supplier regions.

  • Review operations in most affected global regions and consider diversifying supply chains.

Talent management

  • Review options and create strategies to retain international talent in case of immigration policy changes.

  • Consider recruitment approach for each international office, ensuring it applies with any new regulations.

Product development opportunities

  • Explore previous ideas around using AI. Which where paused due to regulatory concerns and which can be reconsidered?

  • Kick-off ideation and research around new uses of AI, factoring any new regulations. Candidates features can be explored in spikes (time-boxed discovery exercise to solve a problem) or added to backlogs.

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

  • Reinforce commitment to diversity and inclusion, especially for potentially vulnerable groups.

Government relations

  • Strengthen government relations team to navigate new political landscape.

  • Engage with industry associations to advocate for software sector interests.

Financial planning

  • Prepare for potential economic volatility. For example, review existing budget if it is fit for purpose given new information, or if it will even be granted in full.

  • Review tax approaches in anticipation of possible tax changes.

  • Seek guidance from Procurement team where necessary, to ensure any required changes to approach are adhered to.

Employee support

  • Develop initiatives to support employee wellbeing throughout any period of political and social tensions if they were to occur.

  • Review healthcare benefits to ensure comprehensive coverage for all employees in line with any revised or new regulations.

Market expansion

  • Review global market expansion targets to assess if they remain viable. Consider potential new markets that may now become viable under a new government.

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IN THE NEWS

Here’s what I’ve been reading this week, which really got me thinking about what types of change initiatives could be started in the near future.

Related Posts:

That’s it for this edition, for more delivery leadership insights, subscribe to the Change Leaders Playbook podcast series on Youtube, Spotify, Apple and Audible.

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