Operational value creation in private equity: exploratory research gauging the divergence in perceived prioritization of private equity´s operational improvement measures in normal and recessionary economic conditions

Empirical research wasconducted detailing, ranking, and evaluatingoperational improvement measuresin Private Equity. Forty-two operational PE experts were surveyed, gaugingthe relative prioritization attributed to these measures in normal and recessionary conditions. Ranking these found a strong focus toward cash preserving strategies in economic down turns. Scatter plot analyses crossing evaluation metrics of Potential Money Multiple Uplift, Complexity, Delivery Risk, Senior Time Commitment found no clear conclusion on PE tendencies toward quick wins or larger plays. Additionally, an operational PE to traditional PE historical performance comparison was conducted finding quite consistent outperformance by operational PE funds from 2000 –2017.