Essentials of Contemporary Management 7th Edition by Gareth Jones,Jennifer George

Exercise 12

Suppose an organization is downsizing and laying off many of its middle managers. Some top managers charged with deciding whom to terminate might decide to keep the subordinates they like, and who are obedient to them, rather than the ones who are difficult or the best performers. They might also decide to lay off the most highly paid subordinates even if they are high performers. Think of the ethical issues involved in designing a hierarchy, and discuss the following issues.
What ethical rules (see Chapter 3) should managers use to decide which employees to terminate when redesigning their hierarchy?