The purpose economy.

For months now, there have been signs that a recession is well and truly on its way in Pakistan. But surprisingly still many economic indicators remain strong, thereby confusing the markets and investors. While most economists expect a deep recession this year, however, for me this slowdown seems very different from any previous ones for a reason that has gotten far too little attention: the economy itself over the last decade stands changed. Good or bad, but primarily owing to some discouraging policymaking by successive governments and uncalled: for and excessive taxation and in general needless departmental oversight drives have all made operations difficult to sustain; long gone is the once Pakistani romanticism with industry and manufacturing! Having spent years tracking the growing role of purpose in organisations, one has come to see that the businesses of today have shifted to a new era: the immediate purpose economy. More than ever, people seek short: term purpose in their work-and only companies that commit to quickly achieving such purposes seem to survive-the long haul seems not only out of fashion, but also risky-well, not so good but sadly the reality pointing to a dwindling investors' confidence in the Pak economy.

Nevertheless, there are some positives as well, mainly that in this rather peculiar environment, some companies learn very quickly how to swim, what in management terms refers to a 'fast company'. Essentially, what it means is that the pursuit of a targeted purpose can boost the financial performance of companies. One recent study from the HBS 2022 showed that public firms 'embracing a fast targeted approach' outperformed almost all the overall S and P 500 by a factor of eight over a decade, in terms of delivery outreach of public support programmes. Perhaps something for our public delivery institutions to ponder upon! And a report from EY and Harvard Business Review in the same year found that companies that 'most fully pursued a targeted purpose and near: term specific goals were more likely than other companies to report rapid growth' over three years. The fear of course is that as confidence wanes and as the belt tightens, some investors may only focus on short: term corporate purpose, more driven by what feel like immediate bottom: line issues and lose the long: term or bigger picture. We only have to take one look at our industrial history and it becomes obvious that Pakistani policymakers have made this...