Interim Management – Life at the Sharp End (Part 3)
Turnaround Management, is there a Recipe?
Ideally, what you would like to have is sort of a recipe, telling you what your ingredients are, how to stir them and finally at what temperature the oven should be set. Well, I cannot offer you quite that much and some readers might argue that we are not discussing a Jamie Oliver show but rather a more serious subject. But on the other hand, who dares to pretend cooking shows are not serious cooking? As a practitioner of interim management in financially distressed companies you do not want to spend a lot of time reading the learned opinions of academic experts on the subject. Besides, there is a plethora of books. Nevertheless, we need to spend a moment on the question “is there a generally applicable way to approach things?” Let me add a word of caution: There cannot be a universally applicable manual because legal systems are different from country to country. Hence, you will have to find the right manual for your coun-try and in your language. Helpful is a manual with lots of check-lists and practical advice, meaning feasible and doable. The good news is that there are such manuals but you will have to unearth them. For a short English introduction into the subject and a compilation of case studies see the books by Stuart Slatter. Continue reading
