DOWNSIZING AND STRUCTURAL HOLES - THEIR IMPACT ON LAYOFF SURVIVORS PERCEPTIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHAOS AND OPENNESS TO CHANGE

Organizational downsizing places many strains on surviving employees. Despite the implicit relationship between changes to communication net works and employee responses, few studies examine downsizing-induced n etwork changes or the impact of these changes on employees. This longi tudinal investigation examined fluctuations in structural holes within a hospitality company's corporate headquarters resulting from the los s and gain of communication contacts. Building on Burt's treatise on s tructural holes, we tested a measurement of structural holes and its r elationship to layoff survivors' perceptions of organizational chaos a nd their willingness to participate in planned, postdownsizing changes . Although the downsizing had a modest impact on surviving employees' structural hole experiences overall, the structural hole index was a s ignificant predictor in longitudinal and within time period comparison s of employees' perceptions of chaos and openness to change.