Turnaround Tactics

Honeywell thrives under new culture

When David Cote took the reins at Honeywell in 2002, the company was still reeling from a series of unfortunate events. Having trained under GE’s Jack Welch, Cote began the task of forming a new Honeywell culture.

Moving from a push to a pull business

Smithfield Foods, a pork-packing plant, experienced the Great Recession like everyone else. “I thought the hole we were digging was so deep we should go into the swimming pool business,” says CEO Larry Pope. Here’s how Pope turned things around.

How P&G opened its doors to innovation

For generations, Procter & Gamble innovated from within. The giant consumer products company that makes Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste conducted research-and-development veiled in secrecy. Under A.J. Lafley, P&G’s now-retired CEO, the company’s closed innovation process began to open up.

Akio pushes Toyota closer to its 'gemba'

Despite the challenges of a global recession, massive recalls and a devastating disaster that all but halted production, Akio Toyoda has “re-­energized” the company, say ex­­perts familiar with Toyota. Here’s how Akio is turning things around.

Giving freebies builds a big business

In the early 1970s, Phil Romano owned restaurants in Florida. Amid a sputtering economy, he came up with an idea: He’d launch a club for professional women and give them a free dinner at the bar. He told them that men can network through many channels but women have fewer such opportunities ...

4 questions to lead change campaigns

Navigate change by first explaining the consequences of the status quo to your team. Help them understand the cost of not changing.

Thawing out GM's frozen middle

Chief executive Dan Akerson is making progress in steering GM toward a common vision and chipping away at the old bureaucracy, though observers had expected the company to be further along by now. Here’s how Akerson is trying to turn things around:

The team turnaround process: 6-step primer

How does a leader impact a turnaround? Over the past five years, authors Joe Frontiera and Dan Leidl spoke to both well-known and lesser-known turnaround masters, leaders who have altered the fortunes of their organizations. Remarkably, six distinct stages emerged:

The psychology of a turnaround

Standing in the business books section at a bookstore, Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels, discovered the book that would save his business. He found a bolt of inspiration in a book by midcentury psychologist Abraham Maslow, who said humans have five levels of needs ...

Do you know what's not going well?

Shortly after Alan Mulally joined Ford in 2006, he convened a staff meeting and asked, "Guys, is there anything that’s not going well?” He had given the signal that he wanted to hear the realities of the business, and with that, the company culture shifted. The CEO’s practice of having painful, reality-based conversations has paid off.

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