'I don't believe in the new normal'

John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express, talks about how the pandemic came as a boost to the logistics business, why his company focusses on people, and the way ahead for his company

While emphasising that the challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent geopolitical developments have boosted the logistics business, John Pearson, CEO of international logistics service provider DHL Express, sees a continued focus on digitalisation, sustainability, globalisation and e-commerce being critical to the company's future market strategy. In an exclusive interaction with Business Today's Manish Pant, the 60-year-old DHL veteran says that the company would maintain its laser-sharp focus on people-be it employees or customers to drive its quality of services and growth in India and the world. Edited excerpts:

Q: What's the new normal in this VUCA world?

A: I don't believe in the [term] 'new normal'. The world has changed a lot in terms of working from home and things like that. But when we talk about logistics and supply chain, things haven't changed much. Like, people now look at the Icelandic ash cloud crisis of 2010 as a weather thing. [But] it was a major logistical catastrophe, where no aircraft, including DHL, was flying over Europe for those 30-40 days. Everyone said they were going to change their supply chains... that they were going to bring them closer to where consumption was happening through nearshoring and reshoring. What happened? Nothing!