How and When Downsizing leads to Interpersonal Conflict among Survivors?

This study introduces and empirically tests a theoretical model that explores how and when downsizing relates to interpersonal conflict among survivors by detailing the mediating role of workload and the moderating effect of organizational restructuring. Hypotheses were tested with the survey data collected from 462 white-collar employees. The results revealed that downsizing is positively related to interpersonal conflict (i.e., task, process, and relationship conflicts), and workload mediates the relationship of downsizing with task and process conflicts. Moreover, restructuring weakened the link between downsizing and workload, and the indirect relationship between downsizing and task and process conflicts via workload. This study pinpointed a key mechanism, workload, by which downsizing leads to interpersonal conflict, and the results highlighted that restructuring minimizes survivors' workload. Therefore, this study suggests that along with headcount reduction, organizations should bring changes in their structure and work processes to align them with the available workforce so that survivors' workload and interpersonal conflict could be minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]