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Playing the grim reaper: How employees experience carrying out a downsizing

Judith A. Clair

Organization Studies Department of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, clairju{at}bc.edu

Ronald L. Dufresne

Organization Studies Department of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, dufresnr{at}bc.edu

This article reports a qualitative study that explores how employees who are responsible for carrying out a downsizing - ‘downsizing agents’ - experience and react to their downsizing responsibilities. Our results demonstrate that, when the work of carrying out a downsizing becomes emotionally taxing, downsizing agents react by cognitively, emotionally, and physically distancing themselves from their roles. We explore forces that make carrying out a downsizing more taxing and the conditions under which distancing reactions become more likely.

Key Words: challenging work roles • downsizing agents • reactions

Human Relations, Vol. 57, No. 12, 1597-1625 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0018726704049991
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[Abstract] [PDF]