Necessary and sufficient factors in employee downsizing? A qualitative comparative analysis of lay‐offs in France and the UK, 2008–2013

Abstract

Embedded in the literature on financialization and institutional approaches, this study is an examination of the causal factors of employee downsizing in two institutionally dissimilar settings, France and the UK, using the fuzzy sets variant of Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The findings show that the roughly equivalent use of large-scale lay-offs in the two countries is coupled with strikingly different causal factors. Our argument suggests the importance of complex causation whereby employee downsizing reflects the growing influence of financial considerations in the governance of companies, but its diffusion across countries is shaped by different configurations of institutional arrangements.

Balancing tensions: Buffering the impact of organisational restructuring and downsizing on employee well‐being

“…Drawing on the logic of the JD‐R enables us to explore the dynamics of restructuring and downsizing in a systematic way, to examine how their implementation is perceived by employees and explore subsequent consequences for individual and job related outcomes. This serves to complement organisational and managerial studies on the nature of organisational restructuring and downsizing in the context of economic recession (Goyer et al, ; Roche & Teague, ). This approach also aligns with independent calls for a more process‐based understanding made across the restructuring (de Jong et al, ), downsizing (Datta et al, ), and HRM literatures (Boxall & Macky, ).…”

“…This research applies the job demands‐resources (JD‐R) model to explore how employee experiences of restructuring and downsizing impact well‐being in the context of the Irish economic recession. Although recent research has advanced our understanding of the impact of lay‐offs and restructuring during recession, it has focused more on macro institutional factors (Goyer, Clark, & Bhankaraully, ) or challenges for managers and HR professionals (Iverson & Zatzick, ; Teague & Roche, ). When employees are incorporated, this is often via narrow concepts such as psychological contract breach and managerial support (López‐Bohle et al, ), without a holistic lens of inquiry to illuminate key relationships.…”

“…When employees are incorporated, this is often via narrow concepts such as psychological contract breach and managerial support (López‐Bohle et al, ), without a holistic lens of inquiry to illuminate key relationships. Moreover, research tends to rely on secondary company data (Goyer et al, ; Norman, Butler, & Ranft, ) or explore particular contexts (e.g., Kawai, ; López‐Bohle et al, ; Parker, Chmiel, & Wall, ). The current paper provides a broader, systematic understanding by drawing on a nationally representative survey examining employees' workplace experiences in the Republic of Ireland during 2009.…”

The collective bargaining of flexicurity: A case for sector‐level analysis? The Italian chemical and metalworking sectors compared

“…Research into work and employment has increasingly explored the interplay between macrolevel dynamics and organisational practices. For example, recent studies of national systems have sought to explore the extent to which organisational practices are shaped by national‐level institutions (Björkman, Fey, & Park, ; Doellgast & Marsden, ; Goyer, Clark, & Bhankaraully, ). Similarly, critical human resource management (HRM) studies have become increasingly sensitive to the influence of national context and institutions on the approach firms take to HRM (Cooke, ; Kaufman, ).…”

“…organisational practices are shaped by national-level institutions (Björkman, Fey, & Park, 2007;Doellgast & Marsden, 2019;Goyer, Clark, & Bhankaraully, 2016). Similarly, critical human resource management (HRM) studies have become increasingly sensitive to the influence of national context and institutions on the approach firms take to HRM (Cooke, 2018;Kaufman, 2015).…”