Data Architecture

8. Solutions that Cause Problems

Downsizing and Organizational Culture

While the average worker has become numb by the near daily accounts of new layoffs, a New York Times (1996) national survey finding is perhaps more telling: Since 1980, a family member in one-third of all U.S. households has been laid off. By some measures, downsizing or “rightsizing” has failed abjectly as a tool to achieve its principal goal: reduce costs. Downsizing for the sake of cost reduction alone is now being looked on as shortsighted. Considering downsizing from the perspective of increased global competition, changing technologies, and the changing nature of work provides an interesting insight. It is clear that downsizing can be seen both as a response to and as ...