Professor Aarti Ramaswami, ESSEC Asia-Pacific, digs deep into the sensitive issue of downsizing to reveal the factors across countries that make it ethical and acceptable or unfairly unacceptable for stakeholders. 

Ethical Downsizing: A CoBS Research Pod

For those of us who have experienced it – as an employee losing a job, or as a manager with the task of implementing it – downsizing can be a bitter and painful pill to swallow. If seen as unjust, unethical or carrying hidden agendas, it will likely generate emotionally charged conflict and knock-on effects that not only cause lost operating revenues through industrial action but negatively impact the health and motivation of the organisation’s “survivors”. So how can companies make their downsizing procedures ethical, fair and clear for employees and the organisation?

Aarti Ramaswami, Professor of Management and Deputy Dean of ESSEC Business School Asia-Pacific draws on her research into why downsizing is viewed as justified, ethical or unethical to provide a fair and clear procedure for organisations, leaders, managers, the HR function, and employees. 10 ways for companies to implement fair and ethical streamlining procedures.

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Downsizing: Making a bitter recipe sweeter. The latest in an ongoing series of Council on Business & Society Research Pods – condensed learning capsules inspired from internationally published research in the fields of CSR, management & leadership, HR, sustainable finance & reporting, social enterprise, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and sustainable business practices.

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• Check out a related CoBS Research Pod: 3 steps to build an inclusive workplace for people with disabilities

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