Leadership in times of organizational decline: a literature review of antecedents, consequences and moderators

Abstract

Purpose Despite the recent increase in scholarly interest on organizational decline, the theoretical and empirical inquiry into this topic remains largely disintegrated. Therefore, leaders in corporate settings who are confronted with critical strategic management challenges are ill equipped for orchestrating successful turnaround attempts to secure the revival of their organizations. The purpose of this paper is to bridge this gap in the organizational decline literature. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors undertake a systematic review of the specialized literature with the purpose of providing an updated account of the extant knowledge base and assisting top managers in their efforts of corporate recovery. Findings Drawing upon the insights from a number of prior literature reviews and the evidence provided in the sampled studies, this research framework offers an in-depth discussion of major antecedents, consequences and moderators of organizational decline. Originality/value The authors seek to make a discerned contribution to the field by advancing a multi-domain agenda for future research that may animate the continuous debate on the most effective strategies and leadership practices for surviving firm decline.