We examine how organizations manage the boundaries of the paradoxical poles to make progress toward turnaround. We conducted a single case study in a manufacturing firm in Turkey, collecting data through observations, semi-structured interviews, and archival sources over a period of three years. We build on the dynamic equilibrium model of the organization to illuminate the turnaround process, and in turn, our findings about effective turnaround management extend the dynamic equilibrium model of the organization. First, we find that multiple temporal foci, i.e., attention to past, present, and future time, perpetuate the opposite poles of change and stability in the turnaround process. We also show that the boundaries of the paradoxical poles are fluid and asymmetric, and in the turnaround context, this fluidity and asymmetry is constituted by multiple domains of change and domains of stability. This multiplicity helps managers adapt the organization to different conditions throughout the turnaround process by contracting or expanding the paradox boundaries without stopping change or stability as a whole.
