Smaller firms face the same shocks as large ones, with fewer people to absorb them

Global instability reaches an Egyptian business through its costs. Input cost inflation climbed to a three-month high in September, driven by pricier oil, metals, electricity, and transport, according to S&P Global’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (pdf). In May, supplier delivery times lengthened at their fastest pace in nearly four years as shipping disruptions spread, the May survey (pdf) found. For a firm that buys materials from abroad, that means a higher bill and a longer wait, often in the same month.

Large companies have buffers for this. Specialist teams track currency and supply risk, and financial reserves can cover a sudden rise in costs or a failed technology investment. A smaller firm depends on its owner and one or two senior managers to make those calls.

AI adds a second pressure. Small firms’ AI use more than doubled across OECD member countries between 2023 and 2025, while large firms moved faster and widened the gap, an OECD report (pdf) shows. The tools are now cheap enough to buy. The harder part is judgment: choosing the right tool and applying it to the firm’s own work. A wrong choice costs money and management time, and a small team is short on both.

That concentrates more decisions in fewer hands. AUC Onsi Sawiris School of Business Executive Education’s programs address both pressures. AI for Business trains managers to use AI for faster, better-informed decisions. Driving Strategy Execution for Measurable Results focuses on keeping strategy on track when market conditions change. The Restaurant Business Management Program covers operations in a sector where currency swings and import costs hit margins first.

Each engagement begins with a look at the business. The school’s Business Solutions team runs a training needs assessment, then builds the program around the challenges the firm faces and the people expected to handle them. A smaller firm might train its leadership team together, take an exclusive cohort, or send a few managers into an open-enrollment program.

To learn more about AUC Onsi Sawiris School of Business Executive Education’s programs, click here.