The impact of downsizing strategies and processes on Ontario academic research libraries

grantor: University of TorontoThis study investigates the patterns of organizational downsizing activities in the academic research libraries in Ontario between 1993 and 1997. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the organizational downsizing strategies and processes academic research libraries use to downsize and the impact the downsizing has on organizational outcomes both at the individual level (attitudes towards the job) and organizational level (organizational climate). Data were collected by a mail questionnaire survey. The study population consists of the professional employees (excluding Chief Librarians) in nine academic research libraries in Ontario. The academic research libraries selected for this study belong to the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL). A total of 458 mail questionnaires were sent to the professional employees in the nine participating CARL member institutions. Three hundred and twenty-eight completed questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 72 percent. A general conclusion from this study is that the strategies used to downsize affect employee attitudes toward their jobs as well as the organizational climate. We found that a workforce reduction strategy that relied primarily on attrition, early retirements, and regular retirements had a negative impact on both employee attitudes toward the job and organizational climate. In contrast, a systemic change strategy, which focuses on changing the culture of the organization, had a positive impact on both employee attitudes toward the job and organizational climate. The findings also suggest that much of what management does during the downsizing process itself has implications for how successful the efforts to minimize the negative effects for survivors, and ultimately the organization, will be. Our analysis identified three management processes in which organizations could intervene to alleviate the negative effects of downsizing on employee attitudes toward the job and organizational climate. We found that participation, communication, and transformational leadership behaviours had a positive impact on both employee attitudes toward the job and organizational climate. These processes involve employee participation in the decision-making regarding downsizing, the presence of timely, accurate, and complete communication during downsizing, and the demonstration of senior management commitment and support of the changes made during the downsizing.Ph.D