High-Tech Turnaround
Restoring Value to Underperforming
Technology Businesses
Management Briefings Executive Series


By Stuart Slater & Sebastian Nokes
Financial Times / Prentice Hall
May 2002
ISBN: 0-273-65947-2
192 Pages
$197.50 paper original


Following the high-technology bubble of the last few years we are now witnessing the massive collapse of such businesses, largely due to the failure of their business models. All over the world companies and investment firms have invested heavily in technology businesses. Much of this investment is now of questionable worth. The problem for executives responsible for such investments is how to prevent further loss and recover value.

Written by a world authority on corporate recovery and the management of high-tech businesses, this briefing offers a proven solution enabling you to salvage high-tech investments. It provides a practical guide to assessing the value of a high-tech company or division and whether it is worth saving, designing and implementing a strategic recovery plan and creating a viable business proposition.

CONTENTS: Why the high-technology firm is different. Defining the high-tech firm. Growth and the high-tech firm Forces driving fragility. Managing fragility. Decision making in the fragile firm. Summary. Product-market and competitive risk. Product development. Market development. Competition. Partnering strategies for product-market development. The problem of managing growth. Stages of growth. Typical growth problems. Loss of excitement. The standard recipe. Flexibility and stability. Successful growth. When growth stops or slows. The inevitable crisis. Causes of decline. Pressure for growth. Factors influencing causes of decline. The spiral of decline. Turnaround strategies. Appointment of new management. Tackling the cash crisis. Improving employee morale Regaining creditability with customers and suppliers. Change of business focus. Improved marketing. Manufacturing changes. Investment in focused product development. Financial characteristics of successful turnarounds. Factors determining successful recovery. Summary. The implementation challenge: managing the people. The high-tech employee. Job excitement, motivation and satisfaction. Company culture. Managing the functional boundaries. Leadership style. Summary.

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