From Knowledge@Wharton conference at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1457
In a turnaround situation, speed and decisiveness are even more important, said Dick W. Boyce, a partner at Texas Pacific Group. In this kind of deal, fund executives are not looking out three to five years, but one year at most. To give managers the data they need to make quick decisions, TPG requires portfolio companies to file weekly flash reports on results and to pay close attention to cash management. Many companies that have not had to cope with the kind of leverage behind private equity investment pay little attention to cash management, Boyce noted. . . .
Boyce noted that TPG also tries to install reporting that focuses on the future. For example, when he was working on a turnaround at J. Crew, he learned that putting a catalog out in front of consumer panels before inventory was ordered allowed managers to predict top sellers 90% of the time. That prevented the company from running short on hot items and getting stuck with excess stock eight or nine months later when the clothes were in stores. "It's crucial to get managers to think about what's the better predictor, rather than being a person looking in the rear-view mirror," he said.
