Abstract:
In a 1982 research by Bibeault, it was found that only 33% of the companies that embarked on a turnaround processes were successful. Kalwani, in his 2012 research found that 37% of the turned around companies managed to sustain the recovery. Another statistic from a 2016 research by Tenkasi & Kamel puts the rate of sustaining the recovery at 25%. These statistics suggest a perennial problem of a low rate of maintaining recovery which requires the attention of both academics and business. This problem persists despite a large interest in research on turnaround interventions. This study looks at what are the competencies which support a sustainable turnaround. It focuses on the competencies which will promote superior performance from a leader and the organisation.
The method of research adopted to conduct the study was qualitative and exploratory. A total of 14 in-depth semi-structured interviews formed part of the sample. Seven executives were from six organisations active in the Gold mining, Fixed and Mobile Telecommunications, and Food processing sectors and seven turnaround practitioners practising in the consulting sector. Thematic content analysis was conducted, using Atlas.ti to analyse the data. The analysis process was iterative generating 127 codes abstracted to 10 themes. The interview questions were formulated based on the literature from the turnaround field to confirm the context of turnaround and from behavioural sciences literature from where the critical competencies were drawn.
The findings highlighted the complexness of the turnaround process which impact on the strategies and the quality of decision made and thus the sustainability of the turnaround. The critical competencies suggested by the behavioural science researcher were found to apply to support the process of achieving a sustainable turnaround. The findings were processed to generate a Sustainability Path Model which will serve as a guide and a reference for executives, practitioners and academics involved with turnarounds.
