Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Downsizing

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

  • 62 Accesses

Synonyms

Downscaling; Rationalizing; Scale back

Definition

Downsizing comprises of a set of actions designed to improve the performance, efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness of the organizations. It also represents the strategies that affect the size of work force and work processes of the organization.

Introduction: What is Downsizing?

Downsizing has been an important and contentious trend within organizations since the beginning of 1980s. The prominent rationale for this trend is that the huge industrial firms are thick which is unnecessary as the required outputs can also be achieved with the fewer resources (Baumol et al. 2003). It is conceptualized as an attempt to improve the performance by reducing the organizational slack (Cyert and March 1963; Bourgeois 1981). Downsizing is the strategic exclusion of positions within the organizations. Organizational downsizing is defined as a deliberate reduction of its financial and human resources so as to increase the...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amabile TM, Conti R (1999) Changes in the work environment for creativity during downsizing. Acad Manag J 42:630–640

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumol WJ, Blinder AS, Wolff EN (2003) Downsizing in America: reality, causes and consequences. Russell Sage Foundation, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourgeois LJ (1981) On the measurement of organizational slack. Acad Manag Rev 6:29–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budros A (1999) A conceptual framework for analyzing why organizations downsize. Organ Sci 10(1):69–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron KS (1994) Strategies for successful organizational downsizing. Hum Resour Manag 33:189–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron KS, Freeman SJ, Mishra AK (1991) Best practices in white-collar downsizings: managing contradictions. Acad Manag Exec 5:57–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameron KS, Freeman SJ, Mishra AK (1993) Downsizing and redesigning organizations. In: Huber GP, Glick WH (eds) Organizational change and redesign: ideas and insights for improving performance. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 19–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaudhry NI, Shah I, Mahesar HA, Tariq U (2015) Impact of downsizing on employee commitment and turnover intentions in public and private sector: moderating role of social support

    Google Scholar 

  • Cyert RM, March JG (1963) A behavioral theory of the firm. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewitt R (1998) Firm, industry, and strategy influences on choice of downsizing approach. Strateg Manag J 19(1):59–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dumaine B (1991) How to manage in a recession. Fortune, 5 November 1990, 58–60, 64, 68, 72. See also All that Lean isn’t turning into green, Business Week, November 18, 39–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman DC, Leana C (1994) Better practices in managing layoffs. Hum Resour Manag 33(2):239–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman SJ (1994) Organizational downsizing as convergence or reorientation: implications for human resource management. Hum Resour Manag 33(2):213–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman SJ, Cameron KS (1993) Organizational downsizing: a convergence and reorientation framework. Organ Sci 4:10–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kets de Vries M, Balazs K (1997) The downsizing of downsizing. Hum Relat 50:11–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Krishnan HA, Park D (1998) Effects of top management team change on performance in downsized US companies. Manag Int Rev 38(4):303–319

    Google Scholar 

  • Labib N, Applebaum SH (1993) Strategic downsizing: a human resource perspective. Hum Resour Plan 16(4):69–83

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinley W, Sanchez CM, Schick AG (1995) Organizational downsizing: constraining, cloning, learning. Acad Manag Exec 9(3):32–42

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinley W, Mone MA, Barker VL (1998) Some ideological foundations of organizational downsizing. J Manag Inq 7(3):198–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinley W, Zhao J, Rust KG (2000) A Sociocognitive interpretation of organizational downsizing. Acad Manag Rev 25(1):227–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra KE, Spreitzer GM, Mishra AK (1998) Preserving employee morale during downsizing. Sloan Manag Rev 39(2):83–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson B (1997) The care of the un-downsized. Train Dev 51(4):40–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson DL, Burke RJ (1998) Lessons Learned. Canadian J Admin Sci 15(4):372–381

    Google Scholar 

  • Siyal S (2018) Does Leadership lessen turnover of public servants? Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ddu&AN=57FA62180E746CA0&site=ehost-live. Accessed 20 Apr 2020.

  • Siyal S, Peng X (2018) Does leadership lessen turnover? The moderated mediation effect of leader–member exchange and perspective taking on public servants. J Pub Affairs 18(4):e1830

    Google Scholar 

  • Roop K (1987) Downsizing strategies. Pers Adm 32(2):61–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Thurow LC (1984) Revitalizing American industry: managing in a competitive world economy. Calif Manag Rev 27(1):9–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomasko RM (1987) Downsizing: reshaping the corporation for the future. AMACOM, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Verity J (1989) A bold move in mainframes. Business weeks, May 27, 72–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Whetten AD (1980) Organizational decline: a neglected topic in organizational science. Acad Manag Rev 5:577–588

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis R (1987) What’s happening to America’s middle managers? Manag Rev 76(1):24–33

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Saeed Siyal

Authors
  1. Saeed Siyal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saeed Siyal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

    Ali Farazmand

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Siyal, S. (2020). Downsizing. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_325-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_325-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation