Life Beyond Downsizing

By Janice M. Spangenburg

Witnessing first hand how the federal government works from an active stint in the Navy and continuing it with federal service gave me the ability to see what was awry in each organization. At the 12 year mark, I saw so much that made me ponder what could be done differently in organizations. When I was an intern and went through downsizing it gave me a deep appreciation for how the people were treated and how management was at the forefront of decision making and outcomes for the people. That led me to one of the most important works of my life to look at downsizing and how it was handled in federal organizations.

When I started to research this organizational ailment I realized that even the Comptroller General, David Walker felt that there was a human capital crisis in the government. He said that it threatened national security (Walker, 2001; Voinovich, 2001). Unfortunately, the government and many other employers have all too often treated their employees as a cost to be cut rather than an asset to be valued (Walker, 2001). A U. S. General Accounting Office (GAO) (2000) study reported that many of the human capital problems that the Department of Defense (DOD) deals with today are the result of its approach to downsizing in the early 1990s (GAO). This outcome results in layoff survivors who possess an emotive outcome inherent with being a survivor, incurring layoff survivor sickness and being among the organizations walking wounded. As organizations change, downsizing will continue and management and leadership will play a crucial role in the future of downsizing and its impact on the relationships and behaviors of employees (leader and member) (ONeill & Lenn, 1995).

The federal government calls it a buzz word like transformation or rightsizing and management thinks that they have done something right. I often wondered how these managers could cut the organization support ranks to the bone and have no regard for how the private sector dealt with the outcome of these decisions that were not always the best. My passion for the way the government managed was sparked by a meeting and presentation by Dr. Paul Light, who informed me well about what the government was doing. After that, I was attending courses at the Defense Acquisition University at Ft Belvoir, I spent many hours in the library and did some research on this subject. One day I found an article that dealt with Leader Member Exchange (LMX), Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and Organizational Commitment (OC) written by an Air Force Major, Yolanda Truckenbrodt. This book extends the study by Dr. Yolanda Truckenbrodt (2000) who provided an implication on her empirical examination of the quality of the relationship of the leader-member exchange, organizational citizenship behavior, and organizational commitment constructs that a replication should be done on civilian federal workers. The study that I did extends further to include the population of federal survivors in a downsized organization. The ultimate goal was to examine the implications of downsizing by the federal government within a theoretical framework that focuses on civilians in the largest aspect of the federal workforce, the DOD who represent resilience and continuity.

The Problem with Downsizing

Allen, Freeman, Russell, Reizenstein, and Rentz (2001) studied 106 managers who experienced downsizing and provided data regarding organizational commitment, turnover intentions, job involvement, role clarity, role overload, satisfaction with top management, and satisfaction with job security at three different times. Although the results generally indicated that downsizing had a significant impact on work attitudes that the impact varied over time, and the initial impact was generally negative, also indicated that changes related to satisfaction with top management and job security were significantly related to changes in organizational commitment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 23, 2007
• ISBN: 9781469122731

Book preview

Copyright © 2007 by Janice M. Spangenburg, Ph.D.

ISBN 10:   Hardcover      1-4257-4660-8

                  Softcover      1-4257-4659-4

ISBN 13:   Hardcover      978-1-4257-4660-5

                  Softcover      978-1-4257-4659-9

                  ebook           978-1-4691-2273-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

38012

Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER 1  Introduction

The Problem with Downsizing

Survivor Syndrome

The Walking Wounded

Purpose of the book

The Questions that guided my work

Why this type of book?

What I looked for in the chosen organizations

Leader-Member Exchange

Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Organizational Commitment

CHAPTER 2  A History of the Work

Theoretical Framework

Great Man Theory

Trait Theory

Role Theory

Social Exchange Theory

Leader-Member Exchange

Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Organizational Commitment

Organizational Change

Institutional Theory

Downsizing

Effects of Downsizing

Survivor Syndrome

Layoff Survivor Sickness

The Walking Wounded

CHAPTER 3  Tackling the Downsizing Problem

Procedures

CHAPTER 4  What I Discovered

Control Group

The Questions in the Test of Two Organizations

What I found Out

CHAPTER 5  The Goal of this Book

Recommendations for Future Research

CHAPTER 6  The Final Analysis

REFERENCES

My greatest respect and dedication goes to my Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ, who has been with me my whole life and has carried me when the chips were down and journey too long. To my very dearest friend, Laurie Barnes,

I owe many thanks. Laurie was a true confidant and supporter of me throughout the trials and tribulations of life and the federal government She was also by my side the whole way

as I pursued my doctoral degree.

DEDICATION

I spent over 24 years in the federal government and saw so much downsizing and carving down of human capital in various organizations. For that reason, I want to thank those unsung heroes who have risen from the lower ranks of the government and who have never forgotten their humble beginnings despite years of change and uncertainty. The trials by fire we have encountered shattered neither our faith nor our determination and made us the leaders who truly serve the people in our respective organizations. We are the true survivors.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank LTCol Pam Garcia, USMC, retired, who was an advocate and friend while I was a lower graded federal employee. When she retired she became the Director of Distance Learning and she introduced me to Dr. Bruce Winston. This was the beginning of a strong and vital relationship because Dr. Winston mentored me well and chaired my dissertation. He believed in me as well as my committee members, Bramwell Osula and Robert Dyer. Your role in my life is priceless. Thank you once again.

I also want to thank friend and photographer, Aimee Foley, who provided the cover photograph for this book.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Witnessing first hand how the federal government works from an active stint in the Navy and continuing it with federal service gave me the ability to see what was awry in each organization. At the 12 year mark, I saw so much that made me ponder what could be done differently in organizations. When I was an intern and went through downsizing it gave me a deep appreciation for how the people were treated and how management was at the forefront of decision making and outcomes for the people That led me to one of the most important works of my life to look at downsizing and how it was handled in federal organizations.

When I started to research this organizational ailment I realized that even the Comptroller General, David Walker felt that there was a human capital crisis in the government. He said that it threatened national security (Walker, 2001; Voinovich, 2001) Unfortunately, the government and many other employers have all too often treated their employees as a cost to be cut rather than an asset to be valued (Walker, 2001). A U. S. General Accounting Office (GAO) (2000) study reported that many of the human capital problems that the Department of