McKinsey Global Economic Conditions Survey Finds 'New Normal'

The crisis—one year on: McKinsey Global Economic Conditions Survey results, September 2009:

Overall, the responses indicate that a “new normal” is settling in—for many companies, an environment less comfortable than the one they knew in the pre-crisis world. Most are still cutting costs, and a third of all respondents say that their companies are in crisis. What’s more, executives remain skeptical about the economic health of their countries; a majority say that governments should continue supporting economies in the near term.

***
The world in five years

Respondents from almost three-quarters of the companies expect them to be in a stronger competitive position five years from now than they were before September 2008. Respondents who expect their companies to be stronger in the long term are likelier than others to say that they are focusing on flexibility, new products, and long-term planning and that their industries will consolidate. One source of competitive advantage may therefore be the elimination of weaker competitors.

Read the entire article in the McKinsey Quarterly here.
(Silly free registration required to read whole article. I thought companies by now, especially a top tier consulting firm, understood that registrations are unnecessary transaction costs, deter readership, decrease goodwill and invade privacy.)