Abstract:
Grounded in the psychological contract theory and downsizing and strategy literature, this research examines the effect of temporal anchoring devices, or TADs, on employee productivity. By viewing employee downsizing practices as a violation of the psychological contracts of employees, productivity is hypothesized to decline. TADs are hypothesized to moderate these effects, as they can provide employees perspective and therefore positively affect post-downsizing productivity. After collecting financial data for an extensive list of firms that issued social plans between 2011 and 2017, a total of 74 firms were included in this research of which the needed data was available. Furthermore, the issued social plans were analyzed using a text extractor tool of which the output consisted of the number of times a TAD was used. Overall, the findings of this research revealed that firms are able to engage in downsizing practices and improve productivity simultaneously. Also, the findings indicate that firms should use TADs in social plans, of all three categories, if they intend to increase direct- and short-term productivity, with the present TADs category having the biggest effect overall. However, the findings regarding TADs lack a level of significance in order to be generalizable. The results of this research hold relevance for companies engaging in downsizing practices, as they are provided with perspective on the essence of temporal orientation and indications of which type of TADs to use to which ends.
