ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the organizational death is a common occurrence—numerous organizations of all kinds and at any given time cease to operate permanently. Some are disbanded, and their main components are handed on to other organizations. The closure of workplaces entails unemployment for many of the former employees, a fact that further reduces the distance in the analogy between human and organizational life and death. A common feature in declining organizations seems to be that management's control over daily operations is diminishing. Evidence collected from various case studies repeatedly reveals a surprising increase in the productivity of employees during the countdown period, that is, shortly prior to the termination of the organization's operations and its final closure. The countdown effect might also be an outcome of a preventive attempt to halt the process of disbandment and closure of the workplace.
