Faculty Excellence

The strength of UW-Madison School of Business faculty in research has long been noted. The most recent nationwide study of business faculty research productivity found School of Business faculty ranked 14th in the U.S. overall, and two of its departments-- Management & Human Resources and Marketing --were ranked second in the nation. A separate study found research by marketing professors at the School of Business to have been the most influential in the United States in terms of the frequency with which their research findings were cited by other scholars. ( See below.)

"Ultimately, a great business school must contribute to the pool of ideas that shape how business is conducted. These objective measures of the contribution of ideas show that our faculty are among the best in the world," said Michael Knetter, dean of the School of Business. "These rankings reflect the long-tradition of outstanding research by School of Business faculty."

Marketing Faculty's Research Ranked #1

Marketing professors at the UW-Madison School of Business have been the most influential in the United States in terms of the frequency with which their research findings were cited by other scholars, a recent study has found.

Wisconsin's current marketing faculty members were the most frequently cited in a variety of top journals from 1990 to 1996 according to an article published this summer by the American Marketing Association in the publication, "Enhancing Knowledge Development in Marketing: 2003 AMA Educators' Proceedings." The analysis focused on articles from 1990-96.

Research Brief

Making Downsizing Less Painful Can Pay Off

Larry (Chip) Hunter

Consideration for employees' morale and welfare during downsizing can have major benefits according to recent research by Assistant Professor of Management Larry (Chip) Hunter.

Hunter co-authored an article examining the effects of downsizing to be published in Strategic Management Journal. Hunter and his coauthors found that handling downsizing humanely is positively related both to the perceived success of downsizing and to financial performance following layoffs.

They examined the effects of downsizing practices on the performance of hospitals. Among their findings: Advance notice of layoffs is positively related to subsequent financial performance, but providing extended insurance to laid-off employees is not.

"Despite the popularity of downsizing as a strategic initiative, the general consensus among researchers over the past two decades has been that organizational performance is as likely to suffer as to improve after downsizing," according to Hunter. "That's true even in the short term, and the long-term prospects associated with downsizing are decidedly negative when compared to alternatives such as targeting growth." He was interested in exploring whether how downsizing is handled could have a major impact on reducing or magnifying negative effects.

For their research, Hunter and his associates looked at a sample of hospitals that had downsized, combining results of original surveys with publicly available data on hospital characteristics and financial performance. They then compared, at the organizational level, the effects of different HR approaches taken during and after downsizings.

They focused on four aspects of how downsizings were handled:

• Whether practices that emphasized morale and welfare of employees during the process of downsizing were followed
• the extent to which firms offered employees advance notice of layoffs
• whether valuable economic benefits were provided to laid-off workers
• the extent to which downsizing was supported by careful analysis of jobs and organizational structures.

They found that -- as they had hypothesized -- consideration for employees' morale and welfare during downsizing events (more extensive communication, respectful treatment of laid-off employees, attention to survivors' concerns over job security) contributed to performance. They also found that advance notice of layoffs had a positive effect on performance.

However, providing benefits such as long-term insurance for laid-off workers had an adverse effect on performance. And, contrary to their expectations, a careful analysis of jobs and organizational structure prior to the downsizing did not reduce its negative effects.

Effects of Downsizing Practices on the Performance of Hospitals' is scheduled to appear in a forthcoming issue of Strategic Management Journal. Hunter's coauthors are Clint Chadwick of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Stephen L. Walston of Indiana University.