A socio‐cognitive interpretation of the potential effects of downsizing on software quality performance
Authors: Ambrose, Paul J.; Chiravuri, Ananth
Journal: Information Systems Journal (2010)
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2575.2009.00332.x
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Organizational downsizing research indicates that downsizing does not always realize its strategic intent and may, in fact, have a detrimental impact on organizational performance. In this paper, we extend the notion that downsizing negatively impacts performance and argue that organizational downsizing can potentially be detrimental to software quality performance. Using social cognitive theory (SCT), we primarily interpret the negative impacts of downsizing on software quality performance by arguing that downsizing results in a realignment of social networks (environmental factors), thereby affecting the self‐efficacy and outcome expectations of a software professional (personal factors), which, in turn, affect software quality performance (outcome of behaviour undertaken). We synthesize relevant literature from the software quality, SCT and downsizing research streams and develop a conceptual model. Two major impacts of downsizing are hypothesized in the conceptual model. First, downsizing destroys formal and informal social networks in organizations, which, in turn, negatively impacts software developers' self‐efficacy and outcome expec…