Celebrating Integral Companies

Uncertainty is a crucial time to re-evaluate. Over the past six months, consumers have modified spending habits. The move to work-from-home has altered daily schedules. Restaurants have adapted to a carry-out model. Enterprises have fine-tuned expectations.

Globally, through periods of economic uncertainty, we re-evaluate which business and industries are integral to the world. Economic uncertainty forces us to identify businesses that drive everyday life.

It isn’t a factor of market capitalization. Apple, Netflix, and Walt Disney are far from irreplaceable despite their highly entertaining offerings. Even Amazon’s goliath e-commerce operation could be easily replaced by returning to mom-and-pop shops and brick-and-mortar retailers. Maslow stated that food and water are humans’ most essential basic needs, but that doesn’t mean the McDonald’s and Starbucks of the world are irreplaceable either. 

Whether it’s called “essential workers” or “too-big-to-fail,” some companies are, frankly, much more important than others, and periods of economic uncertainty make that unequivocally apparent.

We define a company as integral based on three factors:

• Dependency - The value provided by an integral company is irreplaceable, and economic uncertainty has a twisted way of making that incredibly apparent. At the onset of COVID-19, the world recognized the immense importance of our grocery stores. When consumers aren’t sure what tomorrow will bring, they don’t have the luxury of waiting for online orders with varying delivery times. They need the safety and security of food and water in their hands.
• Reach - The value of an integral company is far-reaching. Public accounting firms verify the accurate, independent reporting for every publicly traded company in the United States. They guarantee the integrity of the U.S. markets. They are the very foundation of capitalistic success. 
• Resiliency - An integral company persists. It has to because it is irreplaceable. That pressure forces integral companies to maintain a forward-looking, long-term strategy for resilience. Integral companies are data-driven. They were early cloud adopters. They are moments away from adopting the next breakthrough that your average company won’t hear about until 2025.

Explore this interactive display to analyze integral companies across these three factors.

To the integral companies of the world - Thank you. This month, we celebrate the enterprises that are essential to global stability, economic integrity, and national growth. The businesses we cannot live without. Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with this month’s celebration.