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Downsizing:Reshaping the Corporation for the Future was published by Amacom (American Management Association) in 1987: ISBN 0-8144-5907-2 An expanded and revised paperback edition was published by Amacom in 1990: ISBN 0-8144-7734-8 The book has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese. |
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Downsizing was the first book to address an issue that has confronted and confounded large organizations for over a quarter century. Downsizing has been a difficult process for many companies that have been through it. This has been especially true for those that have tried to balance the need for immediate cost reduction with a concern for long term effectiveness. And also for those who wanted to operate leanly, but without the need to treat their employees meanly in the process. This book tries to stake out a middle ground between hurriedly implemented, steamroller-like cutbacks, and lingering toleration of the high costs and other evils of corporate bureaucracy. Its title, "Downsizing," is incomplete without making some reference to the purpose of the streamlining: "Reshaping the Corporation for the Future." Its main message can be summed up in eight guidelines: - There's no quick fix. Overnight change tends not to last, gimmicky approaches to organization change can hurt more than they help (Chapters 1 and 2). - Build, don't destroy. Plan restructuring around sources of future competitive advantage, not just the elimination of today's internal problems (Chapter 3). - Manage staff like a business. Control the size and scope of overhead functions by creating an internal marketplace for their services (Chapters 4 and 5). - Flatten the pyramid, not the headcount. Focus on minimizing the number of management levels between chief executive and first line supervisor, not just on headcount elimination (Chapter 6). - Avoid layoffs by managing people flow. Wide scale involuntary terminations and unfocused early retirement windows have been overused as tools to cope with the talent surpluses that often result from downsizing. Instead give attention to tactics such as: targeted incentives for resignation, reemployment and redeployment programs, conversion of full-time to part-time and contractor-filled positions, temporary pay and hiring freezes, and surplus talent-based diversification (Chapter 7). - Anticipate downsizing's downside. Managing a sharply streamlined company is quite different from running one with many management layers and staff police. New rules and different tools frequently need to be applied (Chapter 8). - Stay streamlined. Eliminate the roots causes of excess bureaucracy: the tendency to own overhead and do everything in-house, corporate cultures based on mistrust, management-breeding compensation systems, and inabilities to share resources across organizational boundaries (Chapter 9). - Start before you have to. Act on your schedule, not that dictated by an aggressive competitor or junk bond fueled raider. All these guidelines all require a measure of lead time to be successfully implemented (Chapters 9 and 10). |
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"Required reading for all managers faced with restructuring their organizations. Tomasko's recommendations strike a balance of the strategic, the practical, and the humane. His points are ones more of us have to understand as we face the tougher competitive issues of the next decade."
"Bob Tomasko cites interesting, easy-to-read examples to espouse a management philosophy whose time has come. Downsizing is a book that should be in every executive's library."
"An important book on an important topic... [an] artful blending of formal, operational detail with the informal, cultural aspects of real life in an organization." Allan Kennedy, co-author Corporate Cultures; The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life
"Bob Tomasko, in the first book of its kind to my knowledge, shows succinctly how to [downsize] while simultaneously maintaining the momentum of the organization and its reputation for fairness. This simple, direct, and highly useful book is 'must' reading not only for those who must trim their organizations but also for those who wish to keep their organizations in fighting trim."
"An immensely practical, tough-minded, crystal clear, and original analysis of how to make corporate structure lean and effective, with ample illustrations and attention to differences among business environments. This is an exciting and important contribution for management everywhere."
"Robert Tomasko's new book persuasively makes the case for responsible downsizing that starts early, is applied selectively, and treat people fairly."
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Chapter 1. The Bulge In The Corporate Pyramid Too Much Management, Too Many Staff
Chapter 2. Demassing: A Blunt Response Large Scale Pruning
Chapter 3. Planned Downsizing: A Sustainable Alternative Five Lessons
Chapter 4. Pinpointing Excess Staff Corporate Staff, A New Endangered Species
Chapter 5. Managing Staff Strategically Staff Departments Do Have Competitors
Chapter 6. Flattening The Pyramid Attacking Excess Management
Chapter 7. Layoffs And Alternatives To Layoffs Push or Pull Strategies
Chapter 8. Running Lean Avoiding The Cut-Over Mentality
Chapter 9. Staying Streamlined Networks, Not Conglomerates
Chapter 10. Getting Started Putting these ideas to work
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