Corporate Executions: The Ugly Truth About Layoffs-How Corporate Greed Is Shattering Lives, Companies, and Communities

Alan Downs; Camille Stogner

ISBN 10: 0814403077 / ISBN 13: 9780814403075

Published by Amacom Books, 1995

About this Item

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.

Seller Inventory # G0814403077I4N00

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Corporate Executions: The Ugly Truth About Layoffs-How Corporate Greed Is Shattering Lives, Companies, and Communities
• Publisher: Amacom Books
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814403077
• ISBN 13: 9780814403075
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Weight: 1.14 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

"Layoffs are good for business." That's the myth that many of us have accepted as a grim business necessity. But Corporate Executions exposes, for the first time, the disturbing facts about this widespread and destructive practice. It demonstrates that in the long run, layoffs are not "good for business," measured by any means: company profitability, employee productivity, or national economic stability. In fact, most layoffs have proven to he ineffective for companies, not to mention disastrous for victims.
In chilling detail Alan Downs explains how a new "culture of corporate narcissism" supports the downsizing fad and undermines responsible planning and sound management. He reveals how greed, in many forms, is behind most layoff decisions. Bonus-hungry executives, Wall Street analysts, and investors all cry out for quick profit at any cost, craving the personal rewards that come when layoff announcements drive up stock prices. It's a vicious cycle that ultimately collapses because no company can function without a sufficient number of productive, motivated employees.
But Corporate Executions is not all bad news. It supplies positive strategies for avoiding layoffs or for carrying them out with minimal trauma, when absolutely necessary. It urges companies to seek "controlled growth," rather than short-term cost reduction, as the true road to competitive advantage. The book also proposes a "new social contract" between companies and employees. This enlightened approach takes into account today's realities - in business economics and in employee expectations. Finally, the book provides techniques (personal layoff protection) for individuals to use if they sense a layoff is imminent.

About the Author

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