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Walter Schroeder Library, Milwaukee School of Engineering
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Meshinesh, Khader.
Subjects
Downsizing of organizations
Organizational change -- Management
Reengineering (Management)
MSEM Thesis.
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Meshinesh, Khader.
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Alternatives to corp...
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Alternatives to corporate downsizing / by Khader Meshinesh.
by
Meshinesh, Khader.
Subjects
Downsizing of organizations
Organizational change -- Management
Reengineering (Management)
MSEM Thesis.
Description:
iv, 137 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.
Contents:
Advisor: Dr. William Gleason.
Committee members: Dr. Bruce Thompson, Roger Austria.
Introduction -- The organization: causes of the loss of profits -- The strategy of downsizing -- Alternatives to corporate downsizing -- Guidelines for selecting the appropriate strategy mix for a particular business -- The profitable, efficient organization -- Appendix: Design failure mode effect analysis.
In the business world, change has become the norm. The steady, predictable growth of the 1950's through the 1970's has given way to changes that have no historical precedent, such as global marketplace competition, radical innovations, limited natural resources, and major shifts in attitudes about work, employees, and leadership. Change is one of the foremost issues in today's business world. On the one hand, it represents growth, opportunity, and innovation. On the other hand, it represents threat, disorientation, and possible loss of business. Over the past few years, many firms have resorted to the strategy of downsizing to improve profits without addressing the fundamental issue of company inefficiency or exploring other viable alternatives to improve their company's profit.
This thesis demonstrates that there are alternative ways to reduce costs other than the downsizing strategy. It show how these alternatives are applied to a particular business to optimize efficiency and improve profit.
Chapter 2 identifies the factors that affect the organization and causes the loss of profits. These factors are explained in detail to lay down the foundation to formulate the right alternatives for a particular business problem.
With the foundations established, Chapters 3 and 4 deal specifically with business strategies to offset loss of profits. In Chapter 3, an overall description of the downsizing strategy is presented. This includes the positive effects of downsizing (economical and organizational benefits), negative effects (employee's morale, loyalty, and productivity), and the effect on the quality of service or product itself. Chapter 3 also shows how a firm can deal with such negative effects by improving communication and redefining the human resources function. For those firms who have to downsize, Chapter 3 presents the best methods to execute the downsizing strategy. This includes execution strategy, early retirement incentive, hiring freezes, voluntary temporary leave, and reduction in work hours. The chapter also discusses the limitations of the downsizing strategy.
In chapter 4, the different alternatives to downsizing are presented. The first portion of the chapter shows how the firms must rethink their business strategies relative to their market position. Execution strategies for market challengers and avoiders are identified and presented. In the second portion of chapter 4, the author defines the criteria of implementing alternatives to downsizing by presenting definitions of good business conditions (no crisis situation) and poor business conditions (crisis). The last portion of this chapter is designated as the introduction of the alternatives to downsizing and how they help the firm in terms of cutting cost and improving profits. These alternatives are : (1) re-engineering strategy (elimination of bureaucracy, work teams, core competencies, elimination of non-value added tasks and contracting out non-core activities), (2) use of Failure Mode and Effect Analysis method (FMEA), (3) Value Management Technique (VM), and (4) other strategies (centralization, use of information technology, suggestion plan, improvement of delivery service or product, improved productivity, flexible workplace, Total Quality Management, and continuous improvement strategy).
Companies are better off if one or a combination of these strategies can be implemented to improve quality, process efficiencies, and market share gains.
Once the alternatives to downsizing are identified, guidelines for selecting the appropriate strategy mix for a particular business is presented in Chapter 5. In this chapter, the author shows how alternatives identified in Chapter 4 can be applied to a particular business. For simplification, the author chose to describe and analyze existing practices of a company he is familiar with. To complement Chapter 5, a description of the profitable and efficient organation is given in Chapter 6 (profitable organization such as Xerox and unprofitable business such as Litton microwave). The efficient firm focuses on the customer, innovative products, flexibility, and cost containment techniques that help sustain profitability.
Finally, it is recognized that a great deal of further research is required to fully shed light on how firms can further enhance their profits in this era of change. In Chapter 7, three areas in particular are suggested for further investigation. These areas are: the psychological aspects involved in the strategy of downsizing and how it affects earnings, establishment of downsizing alternatives relative to company size, and research to identify factors that maximize company efficiency.
In summary, the thesis showed the limitations of downsizing strategy and identified viable alternatives to reduce cost, thus improving profits with minimum or no layoffs.
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Walter Schroeder Library
Master's Theses
AC805 .M47 1996
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