An enterprise is seen by many as a field that needs the highest form of intellectual creation. Agility and the ability to adapt quickly to a fast-changing environment are the hallmarks of business. Entrepreneurs who cannot come up with a creative response could be left by the wayside. That is probably why an enterprise is called not just a business but a value creator.

The recent dynamics of the business world are proving how true the understanding is. Take ventilators. Even four months back when COVID-19 bared its fangs, India had a limited production capacity for ventilators. We were a net importer and when USAID promised a few hundred ventilators to support our fight against the pandemic, we clutched at it as the proverbial last straw.

Yet, now, when the US government tweeted about shipping 100 ventilators recently, we are already producing enough not only to support our own needs but also some extra to help others. The same was the story with the PPE or personal protective equipment. From being a net importer, India is going to be a net exporter. And now the world is looking up to us as a source for vaccine production once trials are successful.

In each of these instances and in many others, we are finding the truth about all that we have learnt from a distance.

An enterprise that was making luggage found its production stalled, as there were no outlets to sell or customers for its products. But soon it realised that with a little rejig the production line could churn out PPE kits without a hitch. And the company found a new market in the premier hospital segment.

This is the story across the spectrum in Indian business.

True, it doesn’t make for the full utilisation of the production capacity. But manufacturing units across the board are innovating to cater to a clutch of demands of the new normal. They are creating value that is fitting the market to a tee.

Right at this moment when survival is important, when the situation calls for weathering the storm, business is doing just that by creating value in a way that wouldn’t have made business sense even in March.

Agility, adaptability and creativity are coming to the fore in keeping the wheels of business running.