Innovative Corporate Turnarounds - Pradip N. Khandwalla - Hardcover

"This is an unusual book in organizational studies - passionate and humane. Khandwalla does not just reverse the usual bloody prescriptions of the turnaround literature. He uses his analyses of turnarounds from all over the world to launch a general critique of Western management thought, which he characterizes as callous, over-technical and oblivious of its potential relevance to society as a whole¬. There [are] many grounds for recommending this book. First of all, Khandwalla provides a thought-provoking corrective to the heroic machismo of many turnaround treatments. This forms the basis for a stimulating critique of many of the traditional approaches to management taught in Western business schools today. In terms of research, Khandwalla's empirical material archieves a breadth of scope still unusual in organizational studies, embracing a wide range of countries as well as both public and private sectors. The book is remarkable too for its sensitivity to the social costs of managerial actions and to the potential of management techniques for the transformation of whole societies. Finally, Khandwalla writes with vigour and conviction, interweaving some unusual illustrations from around the world with a comprehensive but accessible statistical analysis. In sum, Innovative Corporate Turnarounds is a book that all teachers of organizational change and strategic management could profit from." --Organizational Studies International and cross-cultural, this exploration of failing companies examines the causes of their "sickness," the kinds of actions that characterize turnarounds, and the interrelationships among different turnaround actions. The author uses data from 65 corporate cases of recovery to show the consequences of "surgical" versus "non-surgical" turnarounds, participative versus technical and innovative versus conventional. Khandwalla highlights certain critical choices in turnaround management that have a bearing on the cost and speed of recovery and the magnitude of redemption. The conclusions of this study are startlingly contrary to the perceived wisdom that surgical turnarounds are fast and effective. Rich qualitative information and in-depth quantitative analysis combine to form a compelling study of this important topic. This volume will be of interest to academics, students, and practitioners in management. "Turnaround occurrences are not new. Academic attention to turnaround is. Khandwalla pioneered the search for the magic and came out with the musings. A good start and a great effort. It is for fellow-researchers to steal the initiative.... Another major contribution this study makes to the literature on turnaround concerns the procedure that Khandwalla developed to meticulously and objectively analyse 27 elements of turnaround that he identified from literature search.... Without doubt, this is a useful beginning towards developing theory and science in exploring organisational revival and rejuvenation. Kudos to the author." --Indian Journal of Industrial Relations "While most of the studies on the subject examine the various modes of turnarounds, none of them search for low-cost alternatives to solve the problem of corporate sickness. Herein lies the distinctive contribution of this book. What is more, in the process it comes out with some startling and contrary evidence for those who believe that an exit policy, privatisation of the public sector and adoption of other harsh modes of turnaround are the most suitable measures for reviving sick units.... Demonstrating that a catalytic element of surgical turnarounds is cost-cutting through retrenchment, Khandwalla establishes the superiority of non-surgical turnarounds, both in terms of time required for recovery as well as the rate of recovery of profitability.... The book paves the way for fresh thinking on various modes of dealing with corporate sickness.... The socio-econKhandwalla, Pradip N. is the author of 'Innovative Corporate Turnarounds - Pradip N. Khandwalla - Hardcover' with ISBN 9780803994263 and ISBN 0803994265.