Reductions in Team Size 1 Running Head: ADAPTING TO REDUCTIONS IN TEAM SIZE

Research on downsizing in organizations has traditionally focused on the affective-based reactions of survivors or the reactions of financial markets to downsizing announcements. Very little research has examined how organizational units adapt to downsizing. This paper investigates three structural approaches to downsizing in teams and directly tests the general proposition that the appropriateness of a specific structural alternative can only be understood by considering certain team compositional factors. Results suggest that the conscientiousness, emotional stability and extraversion of team members moderate the relationship between these three structural alternatives and team performance. Reductions in Team Size 3 Downsizing is an important mechanism for organizations to cope with changes in the strategic, economic and competitive environment (Lee, 1997). This is true in business contexts as well as military contexts. Personnel and compensation costs make up 35 percent of the $402 billion Pentagon budget and at current rates, these costs will consum