A multilevel model for the successful turnaround of declining manufacturing organisations – an investigative study

Indian manufacturing organisations are under constant scrutiny. The entry of global supply chain and manufacturing players made it difficult for Indian manufacturers to establish themselves in the competitive market. This led to the continual decline of firms that were unable to cope with the competition. The decrease in a firm's performance further demoralises owners and stakeholders, thereby forcing them to sell the firm to global players. This study presents a two levelled model that divides the entire working of a manufacturing firm into six impact areas where firms must focus on improving their performance. The model consists of various reasons for an organisation's decline and presents suitable strategies to overcome these reasons. A survey was conducted based on the developments from the model from five manufacturing clusters to compare their stand against leading performers and to suggest areas of improvement with the help of the analytical hierarchy process and the Pugh matrix methodology. The comparison involved a biological method that birds use to differentiate their eggs from a cuckoo's egg. This method can be used for performance measurement and suggestions for performance improvement of any manufacturing firm among the identified clusters.