Dear Colleague [apologies for cross posting]
Most Universities seem to be in the initial stages of designing cost
cutting programs. In the 1990's there was considerable academic work
on downsizing especially what worked and what did not. As well as an
extensive literature of the impact on individuals of job loss, there
was a literature on the implications for organizations themselves.
In the current crisis I would not want this information to be lost.
Accordingly here are links to three managerial articles I and my
colleagues wrote on downsizing. They may be useful to you and to the
administrators of your institutions.
They appeared in the Toronto Financial Post -- a paper that was
absorbed a few years ago into the National Post. The situation is a
bit more dire now so it may be more difficult to implement these
ideas. Some more scientific literature is also listed below
1. Alternatives to Downsizing (eg shorter hours, etc)
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~evans/teach/alts.htm
2. Different ways of carrying out downsizing
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~evans/teach/dwnfp4d.htm
3. Avoiding the perils of downsizing (it didn't work very well then,
but following these guidelines made for greater success)
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~evans/teach/mgrsknow.htm
Academic Literature
Cameron, Kim 1994 Strategies for Successful
Organizational Downsizing, Human Resources Management Journal, 33, 189-212.
Cameron, Kim S., Sarah J. Freeman, and Aneil K. Mishra
1991 Best Practices in White-Collar Downsizing: Managing
Contradictions, Academy of Management Executive, 5:3, 57-73.
Cascio, Wayne F. 1993 Downsizing: What Do We Know? What Have We
Learned? Academy of Management Executive, 7, 95-104.
DeWitt, Rocki-Lee 1993 The Structural Consequences of
Downsizing, Organizational Science, 4, 30-40.
Evans, Martin G., Hugh P. Gunz, and R. Michael Jalland
1997 Implications of Organizational Downsizing for Managerial Careers,
Canadian Journal of Administrative
Sciences, 14, 359-371.
Evans, Martin G., Hugh P. Gunz, and R. Michael Jalland 1999 Downsizing
and the Transformation of Organizational Career Systems, M@n@gement,
2: 3, 127-148.
Feldman, Daniel C. 1995 The Impact of Downsizing on
Organizational Career Development Activities and Employee Career
Development Opportunities, Human Resource Management Review, 5,
189-221.
Hoskisson, Robert E., and Michael A. Hitt 1994 Downscoping: How to
Tame the Diversified Firm, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Whetten, David A. 1980 Organizational Decline: A Neglected Topic in
Organizational Science, Academy of Management Review, 5, 577-588.
The Wyatt Company 1994 Best Practices in Corporate
Restructuring, Toronto, Ontario: The Wyatt Company.
I hope this material is useful