Downsizing and Stakeholder Orientation Among the Fortune 500: Does Family Ownership Matter?

While downsizing has been widely studied, its connection to firm ownership status and the reasons behind it are missing from extant research. We explore the relationship between downsizing and family ownership status among Fortune 500 firms. We␣propose that family firms downsize less than non-family...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Stavrou, Eleni (Author) ; Kassinis, George (Author) ; Filotheou, Alexis (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2007
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 2007, Volume: 72, Issue: 2, Pages: 149-162
Further subjects:B Stakeholder Orientation
B Downsizing
B Performance
B family business
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Summary:While downsizing has been widely studied, its connection to firm ownership status and the reasons behind it are missing from extant research. We explore the relationship between downsizing and family ownership status among Fortune 500 firms. We␣propose that family firms downsize less than non-family firms, irrespective of performance, because their relationship with employees is based on normative commitments rather than financial performance alone. We suggest that their actions are related to employee- and community-friendly policies. We find that family businesses do downsize less irrespective of financial performance considerations. However, their actions are not related to their employee- or community-friendly practices. The results raise issues related to the motivations of large multinationals to␣downsize and the drivers of their stakeholder management practices.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9162-x