BGIE professors discuss some of the macroeconomic policies announced around the world to tackle the economic crisis resulting from the pandemic, including simple frameworks to understand the main objectives of these policies, real-time data and statistics, and the challenges and risks associated with monetary and fiscal announcement in both developed and developing countries.

Finance professors and panelists discuss government interventions to stabilize markets and how equity and fixed income markets are reacting to the pandemic, highlighting real-time data that are key indicators of market sentiment and functioning.

In this final session of the offering we will use the Chilean Mining Rescue case study to consider how the crisis response team confronted an unprecedented problem. What were the conditions at all three levels--senior executives, experts on the surface, and front-line workers trapped in the mine--that resulted in real-time problem solving. How do leaders confronted with the impossible present reality and give hope? The session will conclude with a discussion focused on what we have discovered through this series of conversations about identifying and managing novel risk and leading in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.

We will explore multiple different organizations' responses to novel risk in the midst of a crisis. Examples will include Ericsson’s and Nokia’s responses to Albuquerque fire, Nissan versus Toyota after Fukushima, Swissgrid, and Airbus. We will use these examples to consider a series of actions and their effectiveness both in the specific context of the case and, more importantly, in the context of the crisis presented by COVID-19.

Returning to the framework introduced in Session 1, we will delve into issues of process and workflow management in crisis situations. Through the consideration of the Columbia Shuttle case study we will ask and discuss the question of how to lead productive and problem-solving discussions in crisis situations and the importance of maintaining an emphasis on inquiry during these important group deliberations.

An effective response to a crisis requires access to resources and thoughtful allocation of those resources. Liquidity constraints can become binding very quickly as cash needs spread through supply chains and sources of revenue and funding vanish. In this session, we will discuss processes that organizations are using to evaluate their current liquidity needs and to make wise financial choices.

The current environment is like none that we have ever encountered before. After a discussion of the facts and characteristics that define the COVID-19 crisis we will consider the implications for leaders and discuss how the challenge is not one of execution but rather one of innovation. Through the introduction and discussion of a risk management framework, we will consider the central elements of this process for supporting leaders in identifying novel approaches to responding to the realities of this crisis.

Keynote Speaker Mr. Ken Chenault, CEO of General Catalyst, and HBS Senior Fellow Professor Karen Mills discuss how to unlock the collective potential of US businesses to catalyze action and bolster the public sector in response to COVID-19.

Professor Ashish Jha and Professor Rob Huckman discuss the clinical challenges of managing a pandemic and how the business and public health sectors need to work together.

Professor Juliette Kayyem and Professor Dutch Leonard detail what crisis management looks like in a COVID world, with unprecedented challenges, and how effective leadership can turn the tide to flatten the curve.

Professors Carmen Reinhart and Laura Alfaro discuss the impacts COVID-19 has on the local and global economy, comparing it's immediate effects to the Great Depression.

Professor Dani Rodrik and Professor Debora Spar discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Global Economy and Globalization, as a whole.

Flex CEO, Revathi Advaithi, and Professor Willy Shih discuss the company’s response to manufacturing disruptions due to coronavirus, lessons learned in China, and leading a global manufacturing company in this time of crisis.