After the downsizing: A case study of a commercial activities competition reorganization

Downsizing is the corporate attempt to trim costs and to gain efficiencies; and is a tool often used to bring an organization back to its core business. In the process of downsizing, non-core work is often outsourced to another entity. Outsourcing requires minimal internal commitment except to monitor the required deliverables as prescribed by the contract vehicle. During the past decade, downsizing has become the tool of choice for both public and private sector organizations. Due to a global marketplace and foreign workforce competition, public and private sector corporations are forced to continually assess their market share position. The expected outcome from downsizing initiatives is a leaner more efficient organization with improved profits resulting. Downsizing may be called by various different names and may be implemented using various strategies but the anticipated outcome is still the same: a leaner, more efficient organization that can still meet customer needs in a timely and cost effective manner. In addition to examining the downsizing trends as set forth in literature, this study will assess the downsizing strategies and their affects on employees and processes at a military installation in southern Maryland.