Strategic restructuring

• Published in: Human resource management Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 433 - 452
• Main Authors: Dalton, Gene W., Perry, Lee Tom, Younger, Jonathan C., Smallwood, W. Norman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 1996; John Wiley; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Chief executive officers; Cost control; Cost reduction; Decision making; Factories; Human resource management; Integrated approach; Manufacturing; Organizational change; Presidents; Productivity; Profitability; Strategic planning; United States > US
• ISSN: 0090-4848; 1099-050X
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-050X(199624)35:4<433::AID-HRM1>3.0.CO;2-X

Never before has there been so much organizational restructuring, in spite of consistently mixed results. This article argues that the reason organizational restructuring so often fails to increase productivity and profit is that it is not guided by business strategy. While most managers agree that structure should follow strategy, few have a process for moving from strategy to restructuring at the business level where most restructuring occurs. A number of businesses, however, have based restructuring decisions on a clear and well‐understood strategy. This article describes what is common to the processes these businesses have followed. Human resource managers, whose role and competence should include the alignment of change processes with business needs, have often abdicated responsibility for ensuring that restructuring efforts are strategic and are competently implemented. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.