Corporate Executions: The Ugly Truth About Downsizing - How Corporate Greed is Shattering Lives, Companies and Communities - Hardcover

An expose of the grim truth about downsizing, this book presents the evidence - financial, statistical and anecdotal - that layoffs are far more injurious than helpful to companies and ruinous to people and communities. It also offers hope, and shows how strategic planning can help manage costs without resorting to mass layoffs. The book also: provides dozens of examples of companies that are worse off after a mass layoff; examines the "anatomy of a layoff" in detail; reveals the "culture of corporate narcissism" that has caused the downsizing mania, that is, the fervently-held belief that any action is acceptable, as long as it's legal and makes money; and supplies personal stories of both victims and survivors, and features the real story of a particular high-performer and her struggle as a result of downsizing. Finally, the book presents ways to battle the downsizing epidemic, with: positive strategies for how to avoid layoffs altogether; or how to implement them with minimal suffering when absolutely necessary a "new social contract" between employers and employees personal layoff protection techniques.

Alan Downs, Ph.D. has taught courses in human resources management and industrial psychology at the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State.