Organizational Downsizing: A Convergence and Reorientation Framework

Sarah J. Freeman and Kim S. Cameron
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Sarah J. Freeman: School of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
Kim S. Cameron: School of Business Administration, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1234

Organization Science, 1993, vol. 4, issue 1, 10-29

Abstract: Organizational downsizing is becoming pervasive as a characteristic of modern organizations, yet little scholarly literature has addressed the processes and outcomes associated with this phenomenon at the organizational level. Downsizing has often mistakenly been confused operationally with concepts such as decline, layoffs, or nonadaptability, indicating that the definition of the concept remains imprecise. This paper offers a straightforward, operational definition of downsizing. Then the literature on organizational downsizing is used to build a theoretical framework of the process of effective downsizing and the organizational changes that may accompany it. Important organizational processes, characteristics, and outcomes associated with downsizing are identified.

Keywords: downsizing; organizational change; reorientation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1993
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