Change Communication in Public Sector Cutback Management

Genevieve Graaf (), Evelyn Hengeveld-Bidmon, Sarah Carnochan, Marianna Salomone and Michael J. Austin
Additional contact information
Genevieve Graaf: University of California, Berkeley
Evelyn Hengeveld-Bidmon: University of California, Berkeley
Sarah Carnochan: University of California, Berkeley
Marianna Salomone: University of California, Berkeley
Michael J. Austin: University of California, Berkeley

Public Organization Review, 2019, vol. 19, issue 4, No 2, 453-472

Abstract: Abstract Budget cuts in public sector organizations create additional strain for employees, often contributing to uncertainty, rumors, and low morale. This study examines the dynamics of communicating about organizational changes in public human service organizations during the cutbacks of the Great Recession from 2008 to 2013. Drawing from in-depth interviews of 45 senior managers in eleven San Francisco Bay Area county public human service agencies, the findings focus on perceived employee responses to change, specific change communication strategies utilized, and how these were shaped by internal and external factors. The study concludes with implications for future practice and research during significant budget reductions in public human service organizations.

Keywords: Cutback management; Retrenchment; Human service organization; Public sector; Organizational communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11115-018-0408-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:porgrv:v:19:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s11115-018-0408-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ce/journal/11115/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s11115-018-0408-8

Access Statistics for this article

Public Organization Review is currently edited by Ali Farazmand

More articles in Public Organization Review from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().