How to survive and thrive in a geopolitical storm

The business world has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. But chaos can bring opportunity if your board of directors is prepared for action, write Didier Cossin and Abraham Lu.

Witihin a span of mere weeks, the Russian invasion of Ukraine did more to remake global corporate and industrial activity than most of us can recall. Hundreds of companies, thousands of employees, and billions in corporate spending have been disrupted, with no clear view of what might become the new baseline. And, this upheaval began just as the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic entered a more manageable stage after nearly two years. 

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale School of Management professor, compiled a list of companies and responses to the war in Ukraine, initially noting different stages, from inaction to a complete divestment or sale of Russian assets and abandonment of the market. By May 2022, more than 1,000 corporations had taken steps to redefine their Russi…