International turnaround management: definition, purpose, symptoms and trends

Abstract

The term turnaround is nowadays often confused with ‘downsizing’ or ‘restructuring’. Although downsizing might be part of a turnaround plan, it does certainly not constitute a turnaround in itself. Even drastic downsizing cannot guarantee that a troubled company will survive and prosper. That requires — among other things — the company to develop a clear-cut competitive edge, sustainable over time, and a corporate strategy which is valid well beyond the acute turnaround period. Therefore one can seldom judge the ultimate success of a turnaround until three to five years later. (This is also the minimum time period used for the performance diagrams accompanying the six detailed turnaround cases in Part II.)