Downsizing Impacts Oranizational Committment
Downsizing Impacts Organizational Commitment
The article, “Survivors and Victims, a Meta-analytical Review of Fairness and Organizational Commitment after Downsizing” by Dirk Van Dierendonck and Gabriele Jacobs, analyzes the effects of downsizing on employee commitment. The authors explain that downsizing has a serious effect on everyone involved, including the victims and survivors. Although downsizing provides a short term solution, it ultimately results in lowered organizational commitment of survivors. Organizational commitment can be broken down into three categories: affective, continuance, and normative. Affective commitment is the most common, and can be explained as “an emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization,” (Dierendonck, Jacobs, 2010). Downsizing has the potential to impact an employee’s affective commitment. This is detrimental because this type of commitment is essential to the organization’s performance following a downsizing (Dierendonck, Jacobs, 2010). If companies find it necessary to downsize, it should be for the right reasons. Severe downsizing strategies should be accompanied by “a redefinition of the organization’s strategy, mission, and structure,” (Freeman, 1994). “Although cost cutting may be the primary objective, management should link downsizing to organizational improvement,” (Freeman, 1994). In order to keep employees from losing all morale, a downsizing should be fair. The results of the study done by Dierendonck and Jacobs indicate that “explicit attention to fairness within the downsizing process is a vital driver of continued commitment in the crucial time following a downsizing operation.”
References
Freeman, S. J. (1994) Organizational Downsizing as Convergence or Reorientation: Implications for Human Resource Management. Human Resource Management, 33: 213-238.
Van Dierendonck, D., & Jacobs, G. (2010) Survivors and Victims, a Meta-analytical Review of Fairness
The article, “Survivors and Victims, a Meta-analytical Review of Fairness and Organizational Commitment after Downsizing” by Dirk Van Dierendonck and Gabriele Jacobs, analyzes the effects of downsizing on employee commitment. The authors explain that downsizing has a serious effect on everyone involved, including the victims and survivors. Although downsizing provides a short term solution, it ultimately results in lowered organizational commitment of survivors. Organizational commitment can be broken down into three categories: affective, continuance, and normative. Affective commitment is the most common, and can be explained as “an emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization,” (Dierendonck, Jacobs, 2010). Downsizing has the potential to impact an employee’s affective commitment. This is detrimental because this type of commitment is essential to the organization’s performance following a downsizing (Dierendonck, Jacobs, 2010). If companies find it necessary to downsize, it should be for the right reasons. Severe downsizing strategies should be accompanied by “a redefinition of the organization’s strategy, mission, and structure,” (Freeman, 1994). “Although cost cutting may be the primary objective, management should link downsizing to organizational improvement,” (Freeman, 1994). In order to keep employees from losing all morale, a downsizing should be fair. The results of the study done by Dierendonck and Jacobs indicate that “explicit attention to fairness within the downsizing process is a vital driver of continued commitment in the crucial time following a downsizing operation.”
References
Freeman, S. J. (1994) Organizational Downsizing as Convergence or Reorientation: Implications for Human Resource Management. Human Resource Management, 33: 213-238.
Van Dierendonck, D., & Jacobs, G. (2010) Survivors and Victims, a Meta-analytical Review of Fairness
References: Freeman, S. J. (1994) Organizational Downsizing as Convergence or Reorientation: Implications for Human Resource Management. Human Resource Management, 33: 213-238. Van Dierendonck, D., & Jacobs, G. (2010) Survivors and Victims, a Meta-analytical Review of Fairness and Organizational Commitment after Downsizing. British Journal of Management, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2010.00724.x