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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Organizational downsizing – an ethical versus managerial viewpoint

subject

description

Since the 1980s downsizing has become popular in western companies. It is a pervasive and understudied phenomenon. Downsizing means a big change in the firm’s situation. Managing change has been much researched, but often only during a growth period. So, the question of management and leadership of downsizing is a relevant and an independent research issue. This article considers the experiences of four case‐ managers who have participated in managing staff reductions in big Finnish firms. As managing downsizing can be ethically demanding, even a problematic challenge for a manager, the managers’ experiences are described and interpreted from the ethical viewpoint. The study is designed to contribute to theory by generating some exploratory conceptual themes based on the in‐depth interviews. It tries to elicit from actors the ways in which they understand ethical concerns in their managerial work, and then proceeds to refine and clarify the concepts and build theory.