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Against a backdrop of continued weak economic conditions and with many firms experiencing declining financial performance, this paper presents a synthesis of the business turnaround literature. It aims to identify which turnaround and recovery strategies have been effective historically, based on the evidence provided by previous empirical research.

The authors review literature that includes 22 empirical studies, which investigated business turnarounds in previous recessionary environments. This literature was reviewed in its entirety, rather than as individual contributions, to synthesise the lessons available for businesses operating in today's challenging economic environment.

The literature review revealed convergence in the findings of the prior studies. In total, six effective turnaround strategies were consistently identified and four of these relate to the content of the turnaround, namely: cost efficiencies, asset retrenchment, a focus on the firm's core activities and building for the future and two relate to accompanying change processes required for implementation: reinvigoration of firm leadership and culture change.

The authors highlight areas where knowledge on business turnarounds remains limited and suggest potentially fruitful directions for future research.

The authors discuss the elements involved in each of the six effective turnaround strategies identified. The authors also provide a contemporary example to illustrate the application of these strategies in the current economic environment.

The paper offers practitioners an evidence‐based view on effective business turnaround and recovery strategies, in addition to providing researchers with an accessible review of the existing literature.

In this paper the aim is to concentrate on the impact that various types and combinations of knowledge can have on firms.

After a review of the literature the authors conceptually configure the extant understanding of knowledge over eight configurations. They illustrate each configuration with practical examples.

This configurational approach provides a basis for identifying potential complementarities and conflicts regarding the dynamics of organisational knowledge in competitive settings. It allows for a better understanding of knowledge in organisations and its link with competitive advantage.

The authors' argument can be used by managers to help them think of how knowledge is configured within their firm. By doing so they might better understand how this knowledge configuration might give them a competitive advantage.

This paper uses some traditional knowledge concepts but by proposing to take a configurational view of organisational knowledge, it proposes an original and meaningful way of examining the role of knowledge in the generation and sustainability of competitive advantage.