The art of reviving a dying organisation

livemint.com:

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In a renewal, a company tries to find new growth opportunities with its existing products and business model, using rebranding and redesign to expand its market. In a revamp, a company reaches further, with new products and services, new markets, and new business models driving growth.

In a rebirth, a company remakes itself in a new business, perhaps very different from its original one. The Chinese saying 生, 老, 病, 死 (“you are born, get old, get sick, and die") is a reality check for human beings, but it is not exactly an uplifting calling, and it is no wonder that many look for an escape from its strictures. One option that almost every religion offers is the possibility of an afterlife, cleverly tied to how closely you follow that religion’s edicts.

For corporations approaching the end stages of their life cycle, this option is a nonstarter, since there is no corporate heaven (unless you count starring in a Harvard case study as heavenly) or hell (though bankruptcy court comes awfully close). The other option is the possibility of a rebirth or reincarnation, wherein you manage to redefine yourself. After all, I am uplifted by stories of people who have experienced that rebirth—athletes who transition to successful businesspeople or actors who become presidents.

On this count, corporations have an advantage over individuals, since they are legal entities that can reinvent themselves while holding on to their corporate identities. There are companies that have beaten the odds of the business life cycle, fought off decline, and been reborn as successful ventures. Two examples that come to mind are IBM, in its fall from glory in the 1980s and its subsequent rebirth as a healthy,