Exploring the impact of downsizing on survivor's cognition, emotion and behaviour: A Malaysian context
Since the major economic turmoil in 1997 and 2008, organisational downsizing has been relatively common in Malaysia. The Human Resource Minister stated that 2015 recorded the highest number of corporate downsizings within a five-yearspan and the number is expected to rise due to the current...
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| Format: | thesis |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ir.upsi.edu.my/detailsg.php?det=5906 |
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| Summary: | Since the major economic turmoil in 1997 and 2008, organisational downsizing has been relatively common in Malaysia. The Human Resource Minister stated that 2015 recorded the highest number of corporate downsizings within a five-yearspan and the number is expected to rise due to the current economic uncertainty both globally and nationally (Mallow,2016). Given its popularity in Malaysia, surprisingly little attention has been given on downsizing, particularly on the remaining employees (the survivors). Downsizing often exacerbates survivor's mental and physical health while in reality, successful downsizing depends on them, as they areresponsible for carrying forward the new organisation's objectives (Schaeffer,2012). Predominantly, empirical studies and established frameworks on organisational change were derived from Western societies. Malaysian culture is blatantly different, and evidently, people's attitude, perception and receptive towards change vary by culture (Hofstede,2001). Guided by Colquitt et al. 's (2013) organisational justice framework, the primary aim of this study was to explore and understand Malaysian survivors cognitions, emotions and behavioural outcomes in relation to their personal organisational downsizing experiences. Whereby the secondary aim of the research was to identify personal factors that mayinfluence survivor's responses to such experiences.A sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach was adopted. The first study collected qualitative data from survivors through 20 sessions of in-depth semi-structured interviews. It aimed to examine the aims mentioned above.Through a thematic an alysis, the results of Study 1 yi elded organisational justicetheme (as expected from the interview guide questions), together with 8 other themes namely, psychological contract, perceived organisational support, negativeand positive emotions, locus of control, optimism, task performance, organisationalcitizenship behaviour (OCB), and counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). In all, mostparticipants recognised the extinction of cradle to grave employment. As the situation was perceived as something beyond the management's control, it eased them to get onboard with the downsizing efforts. However, what le the bad taste intheir mouth was the way it was handled. Overall, the results showed (a) mostparticipants disappointed with the lack of elimination criteria, the absence ofparticipation and limited communication regarding the downsizing, (b) negative emotionswere the most common reactions,(c) as a collectivist nation, participants inclined towards passive- aggr essive destructive behaviour for instance, by withdrawingthemselves from the situation through absenteeism, tardiness and focusing onnon-work interests and activities, and d) one's personal resources serve as a beaconof light in an unpleasant downsizing situations.Subsequently, preceded by qualitative findings in Study 1, eight hypotheses were formulated to clarify the relationship between survivors cognitions, emotions, behaviours and personal factors. By using an online survey, 244 self-reports and 125co-worker-reports were completed by the remaining employees at a large oil and gasorganisation in Malaysia. Overall, in both surveys, the findings showed that compared tothe social exchange variables, emotions predominantly explained therelationship between one's justice perception on one's work behaviours. Finally, in regards of moderated mediation model, onlyoptimism was found to have significant impact on the mediation relationship betweenorganisational justice and work behaviours either via social exchangevariables or emotions.In conclusion, results from Study 1 and Study 2 combined, show that survivorsperceptions of justice are a crucial factor to consider when implementing downsizing. Consideration must also be given to survivors emotional needs as it showedto be powerful in explaining the impact of justice perceptions on work behaviourswithin a Malaysian context. This thesis is also hoped to pave the way and providesrecommendations for a more culturally appropriate downsizing practice and also servea guide for future scholars that is interested in this field. |
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