Downsizing and Organizational Culture
Table of Contents
Chapter 1........................................................................................................................1
Chapter 2........................................................................................................................2
Organizational Culture Defined........................................................................2
Downsizing Defined............................................................................................3
Culture Change..................................................................................................4
Connecting the Literature..................................................................................7
Organizational Level Analysis...........................................................................7
Organizational/ Individual Level Analysis......................................................10
Downsizing’s Impact on Culture.....................................................................12
Chapter 3......................................................................................................................13
Downsizing And Organizational Culture
Introduction
A noted scholar recently assessed downsizing as "probably the most pervasive yet understudied phenomenon in the business world" 1. While we have become numbed by the near daily accounts of new layoffs, a New York Times national survey finding is perhaps more telling: since 1980, a family member in one-third of all U.S. households has been laid off 2. By some measures, downsizing has failed abjectly as a tool to achieve the main raison d’etre, reduced costs. According to a Wyatt Company survey covering the period between 1985 and 1990, 89 percent of organizations which engaged in downsizing reported expense reduction as their primary goal, while only 42 percent actually reduced expenses. Downsizing for the sake of cost reduction alone has been castigated intellectually as ...
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I feel like the premise of this movie was created from a couple of guys sitting at a pitch meeting and one of them said ‘Let’s create a movie about people becoming small and living a miniature paradise’. After almost a decade in development hell, by the time this idea was greenlit, the idea was watered it down to include condescending liberal commentary spoken through the avatar of an Asian immigrant stereotype that would have been deemed racist written by anyone right of Bernie Sanders and said “Let’s give it to Matt Damon!”. And this is how we got Downsizing.
Saunders, George. "The 400-pound CEO." Harper's Magazine Feb. 1993: 52. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Analyzing career theory is an important task, not only as an individual but also on a large scale. If everyone has the career they are best at and enjoy above all others, the world would be a much happier place. Imagine a world where each individual viewed work as not something they have to do, but as something they want to do. Productivity would increase at all levels. Charitable foundations and businesses would be abundant. Whereas this ideal may not be fathomable at this point, if each person used this information, it would be only a matter of time before we are moving in that harmonious direction.
Corning’s resource allocation process shows another ill fated effort towards an organized and objective budgeting and planning process. The inefficiencies and disorganized implementation of the plan that resulted plague company performance. The underlying problem of inadequate communication dissemination of Corning has led the managers, workers and committees to focus on different goals. The Resource Committee and Business Committee through the splitting of a previously larger group, which was believed to be slowing down innovation due to conflicts of interest between two subgroups (cost reduction and innovation). However, by just splitting the two groups, nothing was effectively put into place to arbitrate the issue, and once again the resource committee (known for having only accountants) focused mainly on cost reduction while the business plan focused on which projects had innovative ideas.
In summary, the idea of self-reliance will continue to bewilder the minds of our current and future generations. In fact, this is due to the lack of a definite answer to the question. Nevertheless, I am persuaded that whether an individual be a believer or non-believer in having control of their destiny, there are forces or uncontrollable factors in life that have the ability to control a minute percentage of one’s destiny.
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Layoffs are one means by which an organization can reduce expenses with the intent of improving its bottom line. Despite being typically performed as a last resort, layoffs often have a negative impact on the remaining workforce. As a manager, there are numerous areas for concern in managing the workforce going forward. The human costs related to downsizing are “immense and far-reaching” with one of the most profound being survivor syndrome according to Hanson (2015, p. 187). Also known as survivor’s guilt, this condition relates to the emotions felt by those still employed and some of the effects include decreased motivation, moral, and job satisfaction, as well as an increased proclivity to search for other employment. This volunteer turnover being another grave concern for managers, and retention of the remaining workforce is usually dependent on their existing perception of the organization and its culture (Sitlington & Marshall, 2011). Also relayed by
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Career change can be incorporated into the tran-theoretical model of change (TTM) to examine the lifespan and approaches to career development. “With the new paradigm of modern workers facing repeated career changes due to voluntary and involuntary turnover, a model outlining the change processes may contribute to more effective counseling strategies” (Barclay, 2010). Although, this model does not reflect the path of career changers, it offers an explanation of why people change careers when they leave
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