Journal of Management Research

  • Year: 2021
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue: 2

Theoretical Perspectives on Downsizing: Long-term Effect and Impact of Repeat Downsizing

  • Author:
  • Susel Arzuaga1, Franco Gandolfi2
  • Total Page Count: 10
  • DOI:
  • Page Number: 76 to 85

1Senior Lecturer, Marketing and School Director for Student Engagement at Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln, UK

2Professor of Business and Leadership at McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington DC, USA

Abstract

Current understanding of the long-term effect of downsizing and the effect of repeat downsizing is limited by the small number of empirical studies in the field and the conflicting evidence they provide. This article reviews the three theoretical perspectives found in the downsizing literature and concludes that downsizing does have a long-term effect on employees and organizations, that the type of downsizing contact and the order of that contact influence the outcome of repeat downsizing, and that employee vulnerability or resilience to repeat downsizing is dependent on the outcome under investigation.

Keywords

Downsizing, Repeat Downsizing, Long-term Effects of Downsizing