The View | Brand Hong Kong could benefit from Umbrella Movement

With traffic flowing again through parts of the city formerly filled by protestors, it is timely to ask what next for Hong Kong Inc and, furthermore, where do we now stand on the pressing matter of Brand Hong Kong?

These questions should be approached in a more political manner but as Hong Kong prides itself on its no-nonsense business attitude, let’s look at this from a business perspective.

First up, is it even vaguely possible to conceive of the resumption of business as usual? Anyone even slightly tempted to answer in the affirmative most certainly has never run a business.

Out in the cruel world of business, the people who have to put things back together again understand that in the wake of a cataclysmic event priority needs to be given to assessing how and why it happened; even if this proves to be a painful process and causes heads to roll. If anyone tries to conduct a postmortem examination that largely consists of blaming everyone but themselves, they should be asked to leave the room ASAP. The exit door should also be held open for those who seriously believe that no mistakes were made and that the real solution lies in doing the same as before but more forcefully.

Secondly, remedial action needs to be rapid and well planned. Setting up endless task forces or similarly named committees does not solve problems. Leadership is required to take tough decisions that stand a reasonable chance of not reproducing the consequences that led to the original shattering event.

Thirdly, what is said and what is not said is very important at this stage of the game. This does not imply the need for some facile PR barrage, but careful thought needs to be given to creating the right mood for recovery.