Slash and burn or nip and tuck? Downsizing, innovation and human resources

Mellahi, Kamel; Wilkinson, Adrian

doi:10.1080/09585192.2010.516584

Cited by 38 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Some authors, considering the impact of downsizing on several organizational outcomes remains somewhat ambiguous, have studied the relation between downsizing and organizational innovativeness (Mellahi and Wilkinson, 2010b). Innovative ability is a crucial component of firms' competitive capacity (Dougherty and Bowman, 1995).…”

Section: Innovative Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving downsizing and innovative behaviors: a matter of organizational commitment

Marques

Galende

Cruz³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Manpower

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyse the simultaneous effects of perceived job insecurity and organizational commitment on the innovative behavior of workers in an announced downsizing environment. Design/methodology/approach -The authors suggest and empirically test a model using the case of a firm, an innovative high technology firm, in a downsizing process. Findings -The results show an indirect effect of job insecurity on innovative behavior, through organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications -First, the paper only examined one firm. Although the firm is a large multinational firm it may have a specific organizational culture and a track record that generates some idiosyncratic feelings in face of downsizing. Second, the context of knowledgeintensive firms limits the scope of the study, although it is reasonable to suggest that these firms are more dependent on employees' innovative efforts for competitive advantage. Practical implications -This study is a contribution to the HRM practitioners in a tense and delicate worldwide restructuring situation. The outcomes experienced by those who remainthe survivorsare important for the future competitive capabilities of firms post-downsizing. Social implications -Thus, it seems that organizational commitment directly and positively determines workers' innovative behavior and that organizational commitment is impacted by job insecurity in an announced downsizing environment. It is, essentially, an affective commitment and job insecurity is more affected by a perceived threat to one's total job. Originality/value -A downsizing strategy warrants that the full impact on firms' ability to innovate be assessed.

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Section: Innovative Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving downsizing and innovative behaviors: a matter of organizational commitment

Marques

Galende

Cruz³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Manpower

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This dual role can lead to potential conflicts of interest, causing middle managers to be reluctant to enact decisions which cause harm to lowerlevel organizational members. Moreover, these motives for these directives are often poorly communicated to managers, who are then left to face resulting challenges alone (Conway and Monks 2011) and often without proper training (e.g., Mellahi and Wilkinson 2010). The dissonance effects experienced by enactors may also be heightened by this resulting role ambiguity.…”

Section: Managerial Harm-doing Responsibility Attribution Modelmentioning

confidence: 94%

A Difficult Burden to Bear: The Managerial Process of Dissonance Resolution in the Face of Mandated Harm-Doing

Andiappan

Dufour

2015

J Bus Ethics

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This conceptual paper draws on cognitive theory and attribution theory to develop a process model of managerial dissonance and responsibility attribution after harmdoing. Although extant harm-doing literature assumes managerial backing for such decisions, this study suggests that there will, at times, be acts of organizationally mandated harm-doing (e.g., pay freezes) that managers believe are unnecessary. In these cases, it is proposed that managers will experience dissonance from enacting the harm-doing event, resulting in the externalization of responsibility to either the organization or the harm-doing target. This paper examines the challenges faced by the manager through each phase of the dissonance resolution process and possible outcomes of the process. This study concludes with the model's implications for moral theorizing.

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“…The most common use of the organizational death metaphor, either explicitly or implicitly, is when organizations layoff workers, downsize, or close workplaces and factories. Studies of downsizing often conceptualize those remaining at the organization as 'survivors' (Datta et al 2010;Mellahi and Wilkinson 2010;Van Dierendonck and Jacobs 2012) and those who are laid off as 'victims' (Brockner et al 1994;Clair and Dufresne 2004;Devine et al 2003, Pugh, Skarlicki, andPassell 2003). Although less common, those who are involved in carrying out layoffs are sometimes referred to as 'executioners' (Gandolfi and Hansson 2011;Kets DeVries and Balazs 1997;Stein 1997).…”

Section: Metaphors and Organizational Deathmentioning

confidence: 97%

Death metaphors and factory closure

Arman

2013

Culture and Organization

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This article seeks to further our understanding of the role of death metaphors in the context of factory closure. A closure is an example of what has been called an organizational death. This refers to a literal ending, but there is also a metaphorical meaning. In this case study, three root-metaphors of different kinds of death explain the actors' accounts of the enactments of the closure, changing over time. Firstly, employees have mainly described managers as responsible and the decision as illegitimate and deliberate (murder). However, managers and others have described the decision as strategic and inevitable (sacrificial killing). The beginning of the closure process was mostly described by employees as irresponsible. Later on, accounts were better explained using a palliative death metaphor. The metaphor analysis offered a contextualized, process-oriented, and agentic understanding of the closure which is relevant to other contexts where the types of death metaphors may vary.

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Slash and burn or nip and tuck? Downsizing, innovation and human resources

Cited by 38 publications

References 79 publications

Surviving downsizing and innovative behaviors: a matter of organizational commitment

Surviving downsizing and innovative behaviors: a matter of organizational commitment

A Difficult Burden to Bear: The Managerial Process of Dissonance Resolution in the Face of Mandated Harm-Doing

Death metaphors and factory closure

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