The crucial role of managers in enacting organizational justice in downsizing situations

David Patient and Marjo-Riitta Diehl

Chapter 7 in A Concise Guide to Corporate Downsizing, 2025, pp 226-256 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter draws attention to the linchpin role of managers in downsizing. It reviews research regarding the factors that influence when, how, and why managers enact justice during challenging organizational events such as layoffs. The focus of the review is on interactional justice, yet its interplay with distributive and procedural justice is also discussed. Arguments about managerial interpretation, behavior, and personal consequences while seeking to enact justice are presented using a cascade of deontic, relational, and instrumental motives. The authors highlight the potential tensions that managers may experience when trying to be just, not only among different justice motives but also in competing with other personal and organizational pressures. Implications for downsizing scholarship and practice are offered.

Keywords: Justice enactment; Justice motives; Managers; Downsizing implementation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035311002
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