By: Tom Strohl for Forbes Business Council
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While tariffs continue to dominate headlines, they represent a fraction of the policy changes impacting businesses. In the first 100 days of the current administration, over 140 executive actions have introduced regulatory changes across energy, environmental and labor sectors. Businesses are being challenged to respond with greater agility and foresight.
The challenge is not necessarily in the policy changes themselves but in how businesses respond. A siloed approach, where compliance, tax planning and workforce management operate independently, is no longer sustainable. In today’s environment, when tax departments make decisions without visibility into supply chain constraints, or operations leaders reconfigure production without accounting for workforce shortages, businesses could expose themselves to unnecessary risk and missed opportunity.
This environment of rapid change calls for integrated business planning (IBP), a strategic framework that connects portfolio management, demand planning and supply operations to provide a single, consistent source of truth. Agile scenario planning can help guide companies as they make decisions now and for the future.
Policy Changes And Industry Resets
Deregulation can force sectors to pivot. The automotive industry is one sector being disrupted right now. Under the Biden administration, electric vehicle (EV) targets and emissions regulations accelerated the shift toward electric vehicles, with a federal goal of 50% of new vehicles being battery powered by 2030. Now, the Trump administration has reversed this regulatory architecture, rolling back emissions standards and ending various incentives.
For automotive companies, this demands a comprehensive strategic restructuring. Supply chains and manufacturing plants designed for battery production, capital investments in EV infrastructure like charging stations and marketing strategies targeting incentive-driven consumers may need to be reconsidered. This reset can cascade across OEMs, suppliers, logistics partners and retail channels.
Across industries—from energy to finance to pharmaceuticals—deregulation can introduce both flexibility and uncertainty. The common thread is the need for planning that aligns long-term investment and operational execution with a shifting policy foundation.
Tax Incentives And Operational Costs
Trump has proposed reducing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, specifically for companies that manufacture domestically in the U.S. This could create a complex matrix of incentives and trade-offs for companies considering reshoring.
To qualify, companies may need to reconfigure supply chains, invest in U.S.-based facilities and ensure access to skilled labor—all of which carry investments in time, labor and infrastructure. Additionally, navigating regulatory compliance across multiple states adds further complexity. These factors could turn what appears to be a straightforward tax advantage into a multifaceted strategic decision.
The expiration of key provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) at the end of 2025 could also reshape both business and individual tax landscapes. If these expire without replacement or reform, business taxes could effectively increase, impacting cash flow, investment strategies and long-term planning. Companies must factor this uncertainty into their short-term planning cycles.
Tax strategy should be integrated with operational planning to ensure that tax-advantaged decisions don’t create unintended consequences in production, distribution or workforce strategy.
Talent Gaps
As companies respond to incentives for domestic manufacturing, they’re increasingly faced with constraints presented by labor and skills shortages. The manufacturing industry faces specific challenges with approximately 3.8 million new workers needed between 2024 and 2033, with half of these positions remaining unfilled due to skills gaps.
On top of that, labor costs in the U.S. remain higher than in many offshore manufacturing hubs. For companies that have long capitalized on low-cost labor abroad, reshoring upsends the financial logic that once justified offshoring. Domestic operations not only face persistent hiring challenges, but must absorb higher wages, elevated living costs and stricter labor regulations. All of these factors could erode the financial advantages of tax incentives, unless balanced by more strategic, long-term workforce planning.
To navigate this, I recommend companies adopt a more integrated approach: one that embeds workforce planning into core business strategy. This includes investing in upskilling, optimizing recruitment pipelines and aligning talent strategies with operational needs.
The Challenges Of Integrated Business Planning
In an environment defined by uncertainty, integrated business planning can help provide the structure and foresight businesses need to adapt. When companies unify critical functions across portfolio, demand and supply, they can gain a comprehensive view of the organization.
However, companies may face several common challenges when initiating integrated business planning. A primary struggle for many organizations is deploying their long-term business strategy and achieving sustainable growth. This often manifests as a failure to operationalize corporate strategy or to effectively cascade it throughout the organization to connect with business unit plans.
Additionally, companies may encounter difficulties in transforming their inventory management into a strategic advantage. Beyond specific processes, a broader challenge is achieving tangible results and truly transforming organizational performance, rather than just implementing better processes.
There can also be difficulties in ensuring that people, business processes and technology are fully aligned and integrated across the organization, and in fostering a sustainable culture of continuous improvement and innovation where people are empowered to drive change.
The Path Forward With IBP
Leadership teams should hold regular monthly and quarterly planning cycles to conduct “what-if” scenario planning analysis, anticipate regulatory or tax changes and reallocate resources proactively.
Additionally, companies must make sure their data is trustworthy—historical trends, current metrics, financial modeling and team insights all play a role in anticipating change.
To support strategic thinking, appoint a dedicated scenario management leader. From there, clearly defining roles and responsibilities ensures that key stakeholders can respond effectively. Alignment across the team strengthens organizational readiness for whatever the future may bring.
Crucially, leaders should aim to surface blind spots that siloed decision making often misses. Whether identifying looming talent shortfalls that could derail production, or revealing how tax-driven plant relocations could disrupt supply chain efficiency, leaders can use IBP to enable smarter, more connected decisions.
As policy volatility becomes the new normal, companies that adopt a holistic, integrated approach to planning could have a decisive advantage. I think the next generation of business leaders will be defined not by their size, but by their ability to adapt policy shifts into strategic advantage.
The information provided here is not investment, tax, or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.