Downsizing Announcements, Job Security Perceptions, and Worksite Performance

Friebel, Guido; Heinz, Matthias; Weller, Ingo und Zubanov, Nick (2021): Downsizing Announcements, Job Security Perceptions, and Worksite Performance. In: Polachek, Solomon W.; Tatsiramos, Konstantinos; Russo, Giovanni und Houten, Gijs van (Hrsg.): Workplace Productivity and Management Practices. Emerald Publishing Limited. S. 179-205

Abstract

Using data from a retail chain of 193 bakery shops that underwent downsizing, we study the effects of two types of downsizing announcements — closure or sale to another operator — on sales in the affected shops, and how these effects are moderated by job security perceptions. On average, sales in the affected shops go down by 26% after a closure announcement and by 7% after a sale announcement. Sales decline more sharply in shops where employees had higher job security perceptions before the announcement. Our findings are consistent with psychological contract theory: a breach of an implicit contract promising job security in exchange for work effort results in a reciprocal effort withdrawal. We rule out several alternative explanations to our findings.

• Dokumententyp: Buchbeitrag
• Fakultät: Betriebswirtschaft > Institute for Human Capital Management
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• ISBN: 978-1-80117-675-0; 978-1-80117-674-3
• Sprache: Englisch