ncerned with aggressive growth strategies, while in the 1990s more companies have seen unprecedented resource retrenchment. Governments, universities, hospitals, and the service sector have been forced to join the trend as revenues dwindle and expenses multiply. In theory, streamlining operations is easy- analyze the numbers, benchmark the activities, identify waste and redundancy, fire employees, and accept credit for making the tough decisions. However, such slashing often leads to lower employee morale and declines in performance, customer services, and quality.
The American Management Association's June 1989 survey of corporate downsizing and outplacement found that a significant percentage of organizations had pared their workforces by an average of 10 percent, with nonexempt workers suffering the heaviest losses. For the third consecutive year, the AMA
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