Title: Exploring distressed venture decision-making during turnarounds

Authors: Maddy Brinkley; Marius Pretorius; Ingrid le Roux

Addresses: Department of Business Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa ' Department of Business Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa ' Department of Business Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract: Distressed decision-makers (business rescue practitioners or turnaround professionals) are confronted with multiple challenges to make the appropriate decisions at various stages of a distressed business event. Numerous variables may affect their decisions. Causal mapping was applied within a qualitative research design preceded by in-depth semi-structured interviews to create the priority matrix. Distressed decision makers do not have one specific decision-making process, and decision-making is largely situation dependent. The Companies Act, creditors, stakeholders, time, liability of data integrity, reasonable prospect, reputational risk, and experience were the most influential variables. Reasonable prospect judgement was found to govern the decision-making process. The distressed decision-making framework included awareness, causality, origin, severity, confidence, personal and external variables, and effectuation guiding decisions. Awareness and severity influence confidence to make decisions, as well as the personal and external variables, which are in turn influenced by causality and effectuation.

Keywords: business rescue; turnaround management; distress; decision-making; reasonable prospect.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBCRM.2026.152628

International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, 2026 Vol.16 No.1, pp.24 - 53

Received: 23 Oct 2024
Accepted: 08 Jul 2025
Published online: 31 Mar 2026 *

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