Abstract
Although much research into turnaround strategies has been conducted since Schendel and Parton’s (1976) ground-breaking work on corporate stagnation and turnaround, none of that work has focused on the implementation of turnaround strategies in companies which are owned by the State or in which a Government has significant equity. This study, which sought to establish the determinants of a successful implementation of a turnaround strategy in African business, particularly in the aviation sector, and to develop a framework for the successful implementation of a turnaround strategy, followed the observation that not all turnaround strategies result in the desired success (Bibeault, 1999; Hopkins, 2008). Once developed and approved, some turnaround strategies are implemented and result in the desired or anticipated successful outcomes, while in other instances chosen turnaround strategies are implemented with equal vigour but fail to result in the desired outcomes. Qualitative in nature and using constructivism as a paradigm, this was a multiplecase study, with South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya Airways (KQ) as the primary units of study. The study adopted a constructivist paradigm, which accepts the existence of multiple realities and the need for interaction between the enquirer and the subject of one’s study, with the researcher as “a passionate participant” (Guba & Lincoln, 1994). Semi-structured interviews were the main form of gathering data, and purposive sampling was used to select interview participants. Three main theoretical propositions were used to guide and bound the research, namely: A supportive Shareholder that leaves a capable, empowered Management Team to run a company under the direction of a similarly supportive Board of Directors increases the chances of a company’s success in implementing turnaround strategies; Organisational stability at top leadership level increases the chances of success in implementing turnaround strategies; and Clarity on decision rights and accountability within an organisation increases the chances of success in implementing a company’s turnaround strategies. The study found that, through different ways and actions, the SAA Shareholder and the Board of Directors made it impossible for the airline to implement its turnaround strategy successfully, and that KQ had a much more conducive environment for the implementation of its turnaround strategy but was affected by a series of exogenous vi factors over which it had no control. SAA’s experiences gave rise to the anxious principal theory, which is described in this study. The study’s contribution to the body of knowledge lies in the developed framework for the successful implementation of a turnaround strategy and the identification of the devastating impact of political adventurism on SAA (and other State-owned companies) in South Africa, where the Government regarded SAA and other SOCs as strategic spoils of conquest which had to be repurposed and squeezed for maximum political – and sometimes personal – benefit. Successful implementation of a turnaround strategy refers to a situation where the implementation of the chosen strategy leads to the arrest and reversal of primarily financial decline. To the best of this researcher’s knowledge, the study constitutes the first authoritative work on the implementation of turnaround strategies at State-owned companies in more than one country in Africa.
Ph.D. (Business Management)