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What Companies Still Get Wrong About Layoffs
Organizational Development Digital ArticleMany cling to the idea that reducing staff is the fastest, easiest way to cut costs. But there are smarter, more humane approaches. -
Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleToday layoffs have become companies' default response to the challenges created by advances in technology and global competition. Yet research shows that... -
Downsizing Lost Its Bad Rap
Downsizing Magazine ArticleBig companies formerly took a reputational hit when they laid off massive numbers of workers. But according to E. Geoffrey Love and Matthew Kraatz, of the University of Illinois, U.S. business culture norms gradually changed from 1985 to 1994 as new ideas about boosting shareholder value took hold in executive suites and boardrooms. At the […] -
Prepare Your Workforce for the Automation Age
Analytics and data science Digital ArticleThe transition is coming sooner than you think. -
The Tricky Truth About Downsizing
Organizational Development Digital ArticleDownsizing has always been a popular practice in the corporate world - even for firms not in distress. But today, with many companies in distress, downsizing... -
How to Protect Your Job in a Recession
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleAs the economy softens, corporate downsizing appears almost inevitable. Don't panic yet, though. While layoff decisions might seem beyond your control,... -
Communication is Key
Communication VideoManagers can reduce tensions by treating people with respect and keeping everybody informed throughout the process. -
After the Layoffs, What Next? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleHarry Denton, the CEO in this fictional case study, has been caught off guard. As the head of Delarks, a venerable department-store chain in the Midwest,... -
What Can CEOs Do for Displaced Workers?
Human resource management Magazine ArticleIn 1978, before restructuring was a common boardroom term, Jewel sold its Turn-Style discount department store business to the May Department Store Company. Because May could not immediately use many of the Turn-Style stores outside metropolitan Chicago, Jewel closed them. This meant that almost 3,000 full-and part-time employees were no longer needed. We in Jewel’s […] -
Halting the Exodus After a Layoff
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleA new study shows that downsizing often prompts demoralized survivors to quit, which hinders efficiency and costs companies money. To add insult to irony,... -
The Hidden Risk in Cutting Retail Payroll
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleWhen retailers' sales slip, the biggest opportunity to boost profits comes from improving execution. To do that, research shows, managers may actually... -
How I Downsized Myself
Change management Digital ArticleI know, I know. There’s nothing more boring than when bloggers write about their own experiences as a way to make a broader point about life, work, or society. But I hope you’ll indulge me this one time, as I reflect on a small matter of personal improvement and ask what it might say about […] -
When Lean Isn't Mean
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleThe trend is to downsize corporate headquarters--but sometimes a bigger HQ is better. -
Honeywell's CEO on How He Avoided Layoffs
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleWhen Cote arrived at Honeywell, in 2002, the company had gone through three CEOs in four years. It had repeatedly missed earnings, and it had environmental... -
How “Neutral” Layoffs Disproportionately Affect Women and Minorities
Diversity and inclusion Digital ArticleResearch on downsizing, gender, and race. -
After the Layoffs, What Next? (HBR Case Study)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleHarry Denton, the CEO in this fictional case study, has been caught off guard. As the head of Delarks, a venerable department-store chain in the Midwest,... -
Gilded and Gelded: Hard-Won Lessons from the PR Wars
Communication Magazine ArticleA golden statue of a winged youth once perched on the roof of AT&T's old headquarters. But when AT&T lowered the 24-foot-high statue for regilding so... -
The Gentleman's "Three" (Commentary for HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleHow do you reduce headcount when almost everyone gets the same scores on performance reviews? HR vice president Nils Ekdahl confronts that question at... -
Hard Work of Being a Soft Manager (HBR Classic)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleSoft management does not mean weak management, says William Peace in this 1991 article. It means candor, openness, and vulnerability, but it also means... -
Hollow Ring of the Productivity Revival
Global Business Magazine ArticleThe U.S. economy has been on the upswing for more than four years. Inflation is low, corporate profits are up, and the stock market has risen beyond anyone's...
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WeaveTech: High Performance Change
Leadership & Managing People Case Study1.00View Details WeaveTech, formerly Johnson-Ware, is a clothing company that produces jackets, coats, overalls, coveralls, and fire-resistant clothing for the military.... -
Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream
Leadership & Managing People Case Study5.00View Details This case focuses on the necessity of developing a human resource strategy for downsizing Daktronics, Inc., a company that was founded in 1968 in Brookings,... -
Nokia's Bridge Program: Redesigning Layoffs (A)
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95View Details "Not another Bochum." Nokia Board Chairman Jorma Ollila was clear in the goals he set for the 2011 restructuring that Nokia's new CEO, Stephen Elop, had... -
Hyperion Power Module: Downsizing the Nuclear Renaissance?
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Since the early 2000s, nuclear power companies had been ramping up for what the industry optimistically spoke of as a "Nuclear Renaissance." Some in the... -
Ericsson: Leading in Times of Change
Leadership & Managing People Case Study12.00View Details After its dramatic corporate turnaround, the Swedish telecom infrastructure company Ericsson hires a new CEO to bring the former Swedish flagship company... -
Bradley Marquez: Reduction in Force (A)
Organizational Development Case Study8.95View Details The Bradley Marquez advertising agency had created a successful niche delivering ethnic markets to their clients, corporate giants like Compaq, Sprint,... -
Internal Branding at Yahoo!: Crafting the Employee Value Proposition
Organizational Development Case Study8.95View Details In 2001, Libby Sartain, chief people officer, arrived at Yahoo! to find a demoralized Internet company without a well-defined culture, a coordinated method... -
Webster Industries (A)
Organizational Development Case Study8.95View Details The manufacturing manager of Webster's largest division is told to cut his managerial payroll by 15%. Provides company background data and a description... -
Nokia's Bridge Program: Outcome and Results (B)
Sales & Marketing Case Study5.00View Details Nokia's leaders reflect on the Bridge program, lessons learned during its implementation, and the business benefits it brought to the company. Nokia's... -
FAG Kugelfischer - A German Restructuring
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details A large German manufacturer of ball bearings and precision machinery experiences severe financial difficulty brought on by poor management practices,... -
LiuGong: Integration Challenges in Poland (A)
Organizational Development Case Study8.95View Details This case series tells a story of post-merger integration, depicting a string of challenges faced by Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., Ltd. during its cross-border... -
Cambridge Cooling Systems: Global Operations Strategy
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details The chief operating officer (CEO) at Cambridge Cooling Systems (CCS), an industrial cooling system manufacturer, has been asked for his recommendations... -
Hexcel Turnaround--2001 (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details Hexcel's new CEO is faced with deciding how to "take out" $60 million in cash costs in fiscal 2002, as two of the company's end markets--electronics and... -
Overcome Career Hurdles
99.00View Details Feeling stuck in your career or rebounding from a setback? Treat career impasses, ruts, and uncertainties as opportunities to follow a more fulfilling... -
AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow
Organizational Development Case Study8.95View Details By the late 2000s, rapid changes in the telecommunications industry forced AT&T's management team to take on a task that CEO Randall Stephenson called... -
CONNECT: The Knowledge Network (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details In 1992, Maureen Clarry and Kelly Gilmore quit their jobs to start CONNECT: The Knowledge Network, an Information Technology Consulting company. Maureen... -
British Petroleum (A1): Organizing for Performance at BPX
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details In 1992-93, British Petroleum plc, Britain's fourth-largest of the great international integrated oil companies, faced a major crisis. The company was... -
British Petroleum (B): Focus on Learning
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details British Petroleum (BP) had very profitable years in 1996 and l997. However, CEO John Browne knew that BP could not rest on its laurels. In Browne's view,... -
Nick Fiore: Healer or Hitman? (A)
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details Many general managers face this predicament at one time or another: if I don't deliver the numbers, senior management won't invest in our growth. But... -
Vector (A): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details This series of three sequential cases recounts the story of labour negotiations. The Maxime Platform, France, built in 1916 to accommodate the increasing...
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What Companies Still Get Wrong About Layoffs
Organizational Development Digital ArticleMany cling to the idea that reducing staff is the fastest, easiest way to cut costs. But there are smarter, more humane approaches. -
Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleToday layoffs have become companies' default response to the challenges created by advances in technology and global competition. Yet research shows that... -
WeaveTech: High Performance Change
Leadership & Managing People Case Study1.00View Details WeaveTech, formerly Johnson-Ware, is a clothing company that produces jackets, coats, overalls, coveralls, and fire-resistant clothing for the military.... -
Downsizing Lost Its Bad Rap
Downsizing Magazine ArticleBig companies formerly took a reputational hit when they laid off massive numbers of workers. But according to E. Geoffrey Love and Matthew Kraatz, of the University of Illinois, U.S. business culture norms gradually changed from 1985 to 1994 as new ideas about boosting shareholder value took hold in executive suites and boardrooms. At the […] -
Prepare Your Workforce for the Automation Age
Analytics and data science Digital ArticleThe transition is coming sooner than you think. -
The Challenging Political Economy of Silicon Valley
Innovation & Leadership Audio20.18View Details Reid Hoffman dives deep into Silicon Valley's attitudes toward government, the role of the state in innovation, and maintaining techno-optimism. -
Preserving Employee Morale During Downsizing
Organizational Development Digital ArticleThis is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. As companies continue to downsize, they need to consider how to maintain their employees' morale to realize... -
The Tricky Truth About Downsizing
Organizational Development Digital ArticleDownsizing has always been a popular practice in the corporate world - even for firms not in distress. But today, with many companies in distress, downsizing... -
How to Protect Your Job in a Recession
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleAs the economy softens, corporate downsizing appears almost inevitable. Don't panic yet, though. While layoff decisions might seem beyond your control,... -
Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream
Leadership & Managing People Case Study5.00View Details This case focuses on the necessity of developing a human resource strategy for downsizing Daktronics, Inc., a company that was founded in 1968 in Brookings,...