Exam 10: Downsizing and Restructuring

Perceptions of fairness and equity play a key role in understanding how survivors react to a downsizing.What type of justice is associated with the procedures or rules used to determine which employees will be downsized?

​ConocoPhillips The Canadian arm of ConocoPhillips is one of Canada's largest oil and gas exploration and production companies.ConocoPhillips cut 1 000 jobs early in 2015 and will be eliminating around 1 810 more positions by the end of 2015 due to company losses in the millions,the result of the low oil prices.The CEO stated that the company is eliminating 10 percent of its workforce this year.ConocoPhillips plans to eliminate more than 400 jobs and 100 contractors in Canada.The CEO further stated that the company needs to cut jobs to ensure that the company becomes more competitive. ConocoPhillips is preparing for a period of lower and more volatile oil prices and has cut back its spending forecasts.The company is also paring back its deep water exploration and Alberta oil sands projects.ConocoPhillips shares have fallen 41 percent over the last year,reaching their lowest price in five years. Throughout your case incident analysis,assume the role of a human resources consultant.Your task is to advise the organization on how it should align its strategic human resource planning with its organizational strategy.Begin by clearly and succinctly stating the problem and/or opportunity,its impact,and why it is important that these problems/opportunities are addressed.Analyze the causes of the problem/opportunity,identify solutions,and recommend a plan for implementation and justification.Please be specific about the approaches and methods you would recommend to facilitate the workforce downsizing process.

"High-involvement human resource management" deals with treating people as expenditures.

An organization is paring back services.What type of downsizing strategy is it implementing?

Many downsizing efforts fall short of meeting organizational objectives,and are carried out with little strategic planning or consideration of the costs to the individuals and the employer.

According to the textbook,what is the most common benefit provided to displaced workers?

​ConocoPhillips The Canadian arm of ConocoPhillips is one of Canada's largest oil and gas exploration and production companies.ConocoPhillips cut 1 000 jobs early in 2015 and will be eliminating around 1 810 more positions by the end of 2015 due to company losses in the millions,the result of the low oil prices.The CEO stated that the company is eliminating 10 percent of its workforce this year.ConocoPhillips plans to eliminate more than 400 jobs and 100 contractors in Canada.The CEO further stated that the company needs to cut jobs to ensure that the company becomes more competitive. ConocoPhillips is preparing for a period of lower and more volatile oil prices and has cut back its spending forecasts.The company is also paring back its deep water exploration and Alberta oil sands projects.ConocoPhillips shares have fallen 41 percent over the last year,reaching their lowest price in five years. ​ ConocoPhillips is NOT taking a career management approach that would be aimed at absorbing displaced workers into other divisions of the organization? What is ConocoPhillips NOT doing?

Why do organizations with high-involvement work practices suffer more from downsizing than those with fewer such practices?

In the Bowater Mersey downsizing in 2011,what was the most significant ethical departure,from the employees' perspective?

Work redesign is a short-term strategy,whereas workforce reduction is a medium-term strategy.

​ConocoPhillips The Canadian arm of ConocoPhillips is one of Canada's largest oil and gas exploration and production companies.ConocoPhillips cut 1 000 jobs early in 2015 and will be eliminating around 1 810 more positions by the end of 2015 due to company losses in the millions,the result of the low oil prices.The CEO stated that the company is eliminating 10 percent of its workforce this year.ConocoPhillips plans to eliminate more than 400 jobs and 100 contractors in Canada.The CEO further stated that the company needs to cut jobs to ensure that the company becomes more competitive. ConocoPhillips is preparing for a period of lower and more volatile oil prices and has cut back its spending forecasts.The company is also paring back its deep water exploration and Alberta oil sands projects.ConocoPhillips shares have fallen 41 percent over the last year,reaching their lowest price in five years. ​ ConocoPhillips is providing job referral services and job search assistance for workers who have been terminated.What is this organizational initiative called?

What is an essential component that is necessary for senior management prior to developing a downsizing strategy?

What do you call an employee who remains with an organization after a downsizing?

Perceptions of fairness and equity play a key role in understanding how survivors react to a downsizing.What type of justice is associated with the fairness of a downsizing decision?

Offshoring occurs when an organization moves work to foreign entities outside the company.

If employees believe that they will be rewarded for loyal service and feel protected by job security,what type of contract do they have?

Research evidence indicates that downsizing creates job insecurity and low job satisfaction,which are related to greater safety compliance because employees do not wish to be hurt on the job.

What is one HR program associated with embeddedness,given that downsizing is unavoidable?

Distributive justice refers to the rules used to determine which employees will be downsized.

Negative consequences of downsizing might be minimized with greater communication and employee participation.