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Conceptualising Organizational Restructuring in the 1990s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2015

Craig R. Littler  and
Thomas Bramble
Craig R. Littler
Affiliation:
Faculty of Business, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba Q 4350, Tel: 076 31 2441, Fax: 076 31 2811, Email: [email protected]
Thomas Bramble
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Management, University of Queensland, Brisbane Q 4072, Tel: 07 365 6233, Fax: 07 365 6988, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Organizational restructuring in Western economies has proceeded along different trajectories during the latter part of the 1980s and early 1990s. Traditional theories of organizational restructuring have inherent limitations associated with a ‘growth bias’. Various new concepts have been put forward, both prescriptively in order to shape organizational change, and analytically in order to capture the nature of those changes. By contrast, these concepts are premised on organizational workforce reduction. This article considers four widely diffused concepts of organisational restructuring - downsizing, delayering, lean production and re-engineering - and argues that the trajectories of change require a broader understanding than has been provided by existing concepts. Towards this end, an integrated model is put forward.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 45 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 1995

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