While there is an extensive body of work on how organizational routines emerge and evolve over time, there is a scarcity of research on what happens when routines are disrupted or disbanded through the elimination of key individuals involved in them. This study is the first to theorize and...

Past studies indicate that investors perceive workforce downsizing negatively, as evidenced by negative short‐term stock returns around downsizing announcements. Impression management theory suggests that downsizing firms thus attempt to offset investors’ negative impressions by issuing...