Our mission @ the R&R lab
In good times and bad, firms restructure themselves. Firms may re-align their organization structure with strategy and changed external circumstances, intervene to stimulate specific activities, or downsize during challenging times. Small and rapidly growing firms need to reshape, for instance after a period of sustained growth. Well-established or mature firms also frequently reshape themselves to address new challenges and seize new opportunities and at times need renewal efforts to sustain their long-term viability. Corporate restructuring is the strategically important yet vulnerable redesign of major parts of an organization and is a critical element in the overall corporate renewal effort. The Restructuring & Renewal (R&R) Lab: a Research Hub for Organizational Restructuring and Renewal studies how corporate restructuring (should) takes place, and how a company’s performance and innovative capacity are affected. A cross-Atlantic collaboration between Radboud University (Netherlands) and North Dakota State University (US), we provide the academic and business community with comparative, original and valuable insights into organizational restructuring, renewal process, and their effects on an organization’s economic, social, and/or innovative performance. Our R&R Lab strives to grow an active community of academics, and for-profit and not-for-profit managers to gather and share these insights. Insights relevant for the entire community are shared amongst all involved. Parties may also approach the R&R Lab should they seek more specific insights and advice.
Topics of research
Strategy and organization design issues are increasingly intertwined, particularly where they involve key activities, such as innovation. While reshaping firms (structure or size) is both important and frequent, it has also been relatively understudied. In addition, current research typically focuses on traditional outcomes (e.g., profits), placing less emphasis on long-term concerns, such as collaboration, knowledge creation, innovation, and transformation. A focus on the level of the organization as a whole needs to be complemented by an understanding of the individual and team levels. Thus, researchers related to the R&R Lab study and provide advice about antecedents, processes and consequences of organizational restructuring and renewal efforts. Current research at the R&R Lab involves the following areas:
- Organizational restructuring
- Organizational renewal
At the R&R Lab, we’re all about fostering a vibrant community of scholars, business leaders, and visionaries. Our goal? Sharing these invaluable insights that have the power to reshape the business landscape. We believe that knowledge is meant to be shared, so the entire community reaps the benefits.
A joint North Dakota State University / Radboud University initiative
Approach
We believe in the transformative power of knowledge. Research and insights, generated by our R&R Lab’s members, rely on, work with, and develop a diverse toolbox of theoretical and methodological approaches, targeting single or multiple organizational levels in studies of organizational restructuring and renewal. The R&R Lab works closely with her academic and business partners to ensure a close fit between current academic and business developments and needs. Partners the R&R Lab collaborates with to collect and analyze data, and to providing insights: EY, Philips, Climatools, and ING among others.
But that’s not all—we’re here to offer tailored guidance and wisdom. Whether you’re part of the academic world or the corporate realm, the R&R Lab is your partner on the journey to transformation. Reach out to us when you’re seeking specific insights and advice. We’re here to illuminate your path forward.
Some of our standing lab members
Behind every challenge lies an opportunity for collaboration. Tackling some of the most pressing issues on the corporate restructuring spectrum our platform trans-atlantically connects academics and practitioners, including some of the following:
Rick Aalbers, full professor Organization restructuring and Innovation, Radboud University
Chanchai Tangpong, full professor of Management, North Dakota State University
Jasper van Boven, PhD student at Wageningen University and Business Consultant at Proud Consultants
Matthijs van Essen, Consultant at Beaufort Corporate strategy
Arjan Groen, M&A advisor and former EY senior partner M&A practive
Damiaan van der Heijde, CEO and head of Strategy & Business Development at Climatools
Arthur van Midden, Partner at Beaufort
Killian McCarthy, associate professor of Strategy, Radboud University
Remco Neuteboom, Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Officer, Global Financial Services at Atos
Philippos Philippou, Management Consultant at KPMG Cyprus
Jasper de Valk, Head of Business at Booking.com // Director at TEDxAmsterdam
Chris Vialle, Partner at Monitor Deloitte | Deloitte Consulting
Step into the world of the Restructuring & Renewal (R&R) Lab, a dynamic Research Hub dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of corporate transformation. Our collaborative journey spans continents, uniting Radboud University (Netherlands) and North Dakota State University (US).
Here’s a glimpse into our recent and ongoing ventures, where we delve deep into the heart of corporate restructuring. Discover how it shapes the performance and innovation potential of companies:
Case studies and Current Lab Projects
Research Handbook on Turnaround Strategies
Recently Prof. Dr. Chanchai Tangpong, first hour Restructuring & Renewal (R&R) Lab member, published an excellent handbook on turnaroudn strategies – hence directly to the core theme of what we do here at the R&R Lab these days. Congratulations Chanchai!
Edited by Michael A. Abebe, Professor of Management, Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Chanchai Tangpong, Professor of Management, Department of Management and Marketing, North Dakota State University, USA, this Research Handbook presents a systematic review of the latest research on organizational decline and turnaround. Showcasing contributions from leading scholars across the globe, chapters critically assess methodological turnaround practices and highlight promising future directions for study.
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Publication Date: April 2025 ISBN: 978 1 03531 589 5 Extent: c 410 pp www.e-elgar.com |
Past projects:
New Publication: Navigating the Digital Shift
As members of the Restructuring & Renewal (R&R) Lab, we’re proud to announce the upcoming publication of our chapter titled Navigating the Digital Shift: Downsizing Magnitude and Its Timing Under Corporate Digitalization. Authored by Jasper van Boven and Rick Aalbers, this work will appear in the forthcoming book Concise Guide to Corporate Downsizing: Past, Present and Future, edited by R. DeWitt and S. House, and published by Edward Elgar in 2025.
The chapter explores how the scale and timing of downsizing efforts interact with corporate digitalization, offering fresh insights into navigating the challenges of restructuring in a rapidly digitizing world. We’re excited to contribute to this important volume and look forward to the discussions it will inspire!
Highlighted Research from the R&R Lab: Managing Downsizing in the Digital Age
Downsizing is a common strategy for organizational adaptation, but it often disrupts the routines and trust critical to high-tech firms. At the R&R Lab, our research highlights how layoffs can violate the psychological contract between employers and employees, undermining motivation and innovation.
Drawing on data from Dutch firms, we emphasize the importance of psychological contract repair—management efforts to rebuild trust and re-engage employees—as a key lever for recovery. Incorporating digitalization adds another layer of complexity, as it accelerates organizational changes yet remains underexplored in downsizing research. Our ongoing work bridges this gap, offering actionable insights for managers navigating the dual challenges of corporate restructuring and digital transformation.
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Prior events organized by the R&R crew:
Adding a behavioral note to transformation strategy
The flipside of the coin – to divest or not to divest, that’s the question
2023 continues under a turbulent macroenvironment, clearly shown by the Composite leading indicator (CLI) compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (as can be seen here). This negative financial development of the stock market challenges firms to stay ahead. Accordingly, Emilie Feldman, Professor of Management at Wharton University, takes this as a sign that 2023 could be the year of divestitures. In such circumstances firms have to prioritize and “focus in on key resources and key areas of business that are central to their strategy” as she told in her interview to CNBC. For every divestiture, there are 3-4 acquisitions. The deliberate choice, often made by management, to acquire instead of divest may be driven by the macroeconomic environment (as we experience it right now). In other words, both acquisitions (as established by research) and divestitures (less established) may occur cyclical.
Within this setup, we are thrilled to announce the launch of this new project. Perceiving acquisitions and divestitures as joint activities we, Jonas Geisen joined by Rick Aalbers and Killian McCarthy, each standing Lab members, are currently operating on a new and exciting Restructuring & Renewal Lab initiative, that addresses this relatively unchartered research area. Our focus: what was then is connected to what is now and influences what will be. In other words, we will zoom in on the cyclical nature of both acquisitions and divestments.
Focusing on the high-tech industries we will investigate longitudinal data to unravel their cyclical nature. Providing insights into how the strategic alignment of acquisitions and divestitures can look like, we hope to address both academics and professionals and change their perspective on corporate growth strategies.
More to follow soon!
Herding wolves? Lab members publish Harvard Business Review piece on how to navigate the modern M&A advisory arena
Acquisitions are central to corporate restructuring because they allow companies to acquire new assets, technologies, market share, and talent. This can help them streamline operations, increase profitability, and grow their business. However, acquisitions can also drive the failure rate of corporate restructuring because they can be complex and challenging to integrate. If not executed properly, they can lead to cultural conflicts, operational inefficiencies, and financial losses, all of which can harm the success of the restructuring effort.
Killian McCarthy, Rick Aalbers and Arjan Groen, all standing members of our Research Lab recently published on this phenomenon in the Harvard Business Review. In their study they outline how every year, companies pursuing M&A deals spend nearly $40 billion on advisors. These investment bankers, lawyers, and other professionals are hired to provide domain-specific expertise to the acquirer or acquiree, an independent “second opinion” for the board, or other services to help close a deal.
But do these advisors as external subject matter specialists actually add value to the mergers and acquisitions they’re meant to support? Or is some nuancing in place in terms of their alleged value added? The authoring team analyzed market reactions to more than 10,000 U.S.-based acquisitions and found that indeed, companies that announced the involvement of one advisor, on average, outperformed those that did not announce any. However, they also found that companies with two advisors performed worse than those with none, and every additional advisor after that led to even worse stock market reactions. So what drove this surprising effect? Check out the full answer here from the source.
Paying it forward: the R&R Lab heritage
Prof. Dr. Rick Aalbers, Co-director of the Research Hub for Organizational Restructuring and Renewal, has emphasized the Lab’s unwavering commitment to fostering academic exchange and collaboration among distinguished scholars and seasoned practitioners. In a significant milestone, the Lab recently hosted co-director and esteemed Professor of Management, Chanchai Tangpong, on its European turf. The agenda was a blend of strategizing the Lab’s future direction and engaging in a knowledge exchange on corporate turnarounds and publication strategies.
This exchange promises to be the birthplace of novel ideas, propelling the advancement of organizational behavior and strategic management research under the aegis of the newly minted Lab. The collaboration’s prospects have left the Lab’s team elated, and there are high hopes for strengthening the partnership, alongside enthusiastic Ph.D. students keen to explore this theme.
Nurturing Tomorrow’s Scholars
The collaboration didn’t stop at a mere exchange of research ideas. Prof. Tangpong generously conducted a Ph.D. workshop dedicated to publication strategies for budding researchers. The workshop unfolded the mysteries of identifying the right academic journals, navigating the peer-review process, and crafting persuasive research articles. With participation from Ph.D. students and early career researchers from diverse disciplines, the workshop garnered considerable interest.
“Welcome to The Restructuring & Renewal Lab. Our mission is to unlock the intricacies behind how restructuring takes place and how it influences a company’s performance, innovation, and resilience. As an independent think tank, we’re dedicated to generating original insights that bridge the gap between academia and the business community.“
Prof. dr. Rick Aalbers
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