Kranz, Olaf and Steger, Thomas (2013) The impact of the global financial crisis on employee participation - two German case studies. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANPOWER, 34 (3). pp. 252-270. ISSN 0143-7720,
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Purpose The article aims to explore the link between corporate crises and decisions about employee participation in the context of the global financial crisis (GFC). Design/methodology/approach - The authors complement Weick's sensemaking perspective with some distinctions taken from social systems theory. The paper examines the influence of a communicated corporate crisis on decisions regarding employee participation in two German companies over a two-year period immediately following the outbreak of the GFC. Findings - The meaning of a communicated and enacted corporate crisis sets a company in a state of alert and provokes some distinctive reactions. These include an accentuation of a traditional hierarchical style of decision making and an authoritarian leadership style, some distinctive key personnel changes, and a strong orientation towards senior management. Any reforms of immaterial employee participation are rejected and the institutions that represent employees engage in a passive co-management. Practical implications - The authors' findings highlight the importance for companies of introducing a formal crisis management system before a crisis occurs, which provides the chance to safeguard a balance of centralization and decentralization in the decision-making process during crises. Originality/value - The study offers some novel insights about the meaning of crisis and of employee participation as well as about how these meanings affect decision-making processes.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | INDUSTRIAL-RELATIONS; ENACTED SENSEMAKING; ORGANIZATIONS; MANAGEMENT; REPRESENTATION; CONSEQUENCES; PERSPECTIVE; WORKPLACE; DISASTER; Corporate crisis; Employees participation; Case studies; Sensemaking; Social system theory |
| Subjects: | 600 Technology > 650 Management & auxiliary services |
| Divisions: | Business, Economics and Information Systems > Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre > Lehrstuhl für Führung und Organisation (Prof. Dr. Thomas Steger) |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Apr 2020 13:43 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Apr 2020 13:43 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/17394 |
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