A national engineering firm was experiencing declining market share and profitability. The CEO of its parent company issued an ultimatum: turn the situation around.

As they studied the company, senior management found that their root problems were lack of a consistent process for managing projects and inadequate training for project managers.

As they began to implement plans to address these issues, the president resigned. His replacement had his own solution: layoffs to stop the losses. He also halted the improvement initiative just as a company-wide team succeeded in providing the firm's first clear “road map” for this core management process. They gave up the initiative at the very time it would have begun to achieve measurable results.

These layoffs produced a downward spiral which led to decreased revenue and market share. Critical employees saw the handwriting on the wall and began to leave. Key clients experienced a loss of confidence and started to migrate to the competition. The company was eventually bought by one of its competitors.