Probably not what you want to spend time reading, but a big chunk of Private Equity literature covers this.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but also don't know much about it.

Where does one find such literature? Any specific recommendations?

Sadly not. It sprung to mind because my girlfriend is currently going through the training term at a PE (private equity) firm and I have been lightly flipping through her textbooks and training manuals.

PE is about buying under-performing companies, making them more valuable, and then re-selling them. So she's being trained in how to spot a particular type of under-performing which they're in a good position to improve. They have a couple different strategies they are comfortable with, including basic stuff like switching the management to fancier plays like buying one company in a new industry with the intent to use it as a platform to acquire lots of other companies in the same industry and turn on the economies of scale.