Managing company turnarounds: how to develop “destiny”

States that, despite the rhetoric in the literature concerning the importance of information in the market‐planning process, there is scant attention to the “life blood of the planning process” in the published work on company turnarounds. Addresses this problem through a study of companies undergoing turnaround in the mature engineering industry. Compares the practices in three companies which were successfully turned around with a company in which turnaround attempts did not come to fruition. Finds that successful turnaround managers go through an elaborate process, “destiny development”, to establish the foundations of a turnaround plan. The turnaround plan relies heavily on sound and innovatively generated information. Explores the destiny development concept for theoretical and practical purposes.