Extending Turnaround Process Research: Important Lessons From the U.S. Civil War

Although research has made progress in building our understanding of effective turnaround strategies, significant gaps remain in our knowledge about the strategic processes managers can employ to formulate and implement these strategies. Using a historical case of organizational turnaround employed by the U.S. government during the U.S. Civil War, the authors generate new insights into the turnaround process while confirming some previous findings. Through the turnaround actions of President Lincoln and his administration, the U.S. (Union) forces surmounted threats to the country's survival, turned around the war effort, and ultimately reunited the country while ending the institution of chattel slavery in the United States. The authors' review of extant turnaround research in tandem with results from this rich case history provides the basis for reexamining existing models of the turnaround process as well as developing propositions to guide future turnaround research, particularly in the areas of crisis reaction, organizational learning, and transformational leadership.