Research Prop on Lean Turnaroundmanagement

Introduction to desired research area

prepared for

The University of Surrey

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School of Business

An empirical investigative research to determine key challenges, success factors and concepts in strategy development and execution in crisis survival situations for medium-sized businesses

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Submitted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

Doctor of Business Administration

By

XXX

June 2011

Research Proposal

The general conditions for entrepreneurial and corporate acting have significantly changed in the last years. Examples are the often cited globalisation, advances in technology with shorter product life cycles, changes in customer needs, new market entrants, increased competition in more fragmented markets and higher capital expenditures for needed innovations (Friedmann 2006 and Cohen, Kotter 2005).

Companies adapting not consequently and slowly their strategy and operations to changed conditions are risking to get squeezed out of the market. Root causes are often found in insufficient management qualifications and processes (Pinkwart et al 2003). The majority of crisis are home made and could have been anticipated and even in an advanced crisis state been avoided (Scharb 1994).

How to overcome and develop turnaround strategies for medium-sized companies is widely ignored by academics and researchers. Clasen (1994) and Kück (1994) claimed accordingly “Praxis and Science would benefit from thinking about structured turnaround approaches for medium-sized companies” (p272). In consequence, the practical problems and challenges turnaround managers and CEOs in crisis situations are dealing with need to be converted into research problems.

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Figure 1-1 : The relationship between practical and research problems, (Booth 2003, p58)

Practical and research problems have in general the...