The selling-off of portions of A company, such as a division that is no longer profitable or which has distracted management from its core business, can greatly improve the company's balance sheet. Staff reductions are often accomplished partly through the selling or closing of unprofitable portions of the company and partly by consolidating or outsourcing parts of the company that perform redundant functions (such as payroll, human resources, and training) left over from old acquisitions that were never fully integrated into the parent organization.

Other characteristics of restructuring can include:

Changes in corporate management (usually with golden parachutes).
Retention of corporate management sometimes "stay bonus" payments or equity grants.
Sale of underutilized assets, such as patents or brands.
Outsourcing of operations such as payroll and technical support to a more efficient third party.
Moving of operations such as manufacturing to lower-cost locations.
Reorganization of functions such as sales, marketing, and distribution.
Renegotiation of labor contracts to reduce overhead.
Refinancing of corporate debt to reduce interest payments.
A major public relations campaign to reposition the company with consumers.
Forfeiture of all or part of the ownership share by pre restructuring stock holders (if the remainder represents only a fraction of the original firm, it is termed a stub).

As a result a company that has been restructured effectively will generally be leaner, more efficient, better organized, and better focused on its core business. If the restructured company was a leverage acquisition, the parent company will likely resell it at a profit when the restructuring has proven successful.