To Bankruptcy and Back: Turnaround Strategies for Firm Emergence, Long-Term Survival, and Speed

Abstract

A neglected area of research in ODC is the turnaround of poorly performing firms such as those under bankruptcy protection. We researched 142 companies that attempted reorganization under bankruptcy protection between 1983 and 2003. Firms deployed one or more of four distinct strategies to turnaround: rationalizing existing resources, developing existing resources, generating new resources, and investing in future resources. Firms that generated new resources, and developed and rationalized existing resources, had the highest probability of emergence. Interestingly firms that sustained their turnaround post-emergence invested in future resources in addition to generating, developing, and rationalizing resources. Implications for ODC are discussed.

Citation

Tenkasi, R.(.V. and Kamel, Y. (2016), "To Bankruptcy and Back: Turnaround Strategies for Firm Emergence, Long-Term Survival, and Speed", Research in Organizational Change and Development (Research in Organizational Change and Development, Vol. 24), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 221-259. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0897-301620160000024009