ABSTRACT
The growth objectives of corporations today are astounding. After more than a decade of downsizing to improve productivity and efficiency, companies are determined to seize opportunities for substantial growth and to stake out an increased share of the markets of the future. The trend toward growth is liberating after the reductionist mid-1980s and 1990s, but the pace, complexity, unpredictability, and sheer aggression of the competitive environment are unprecedented (D’Aveni, 1994). The ability of corporations to grow in this turbulent and uncertain environment rests squarely on the ability of their human assets to carry out shifting and increasingly sophisticated organizational strategies. The balance of strategic leverage in organizations today has migrated from planning to execution. What corporations need are engaged, accountable, and skilled employees who understand the big picture strategy and are willing to invest the discretionary effort and energy to personalize it and make it happen. Yet, downsizing has taken an enormous toll on the intellectual and emotional energy that employees are willing to commit to their work. What employees hear is that they are the company’s most valuable resource; what they have learned is that they are the most expendable.
