March 19, 2024 
Workplace Change Project

Institute of Behavioral ScienceUniversity of Colorado - Boulder | University of Puget Sound


Publications:


Publications: The Impacts on Employees of Corporate Restructuring


Grunberg, L., Moore, S., & Greenberg, E. (2009). Minimizing the impact of layoffs on front-line managers: ensuring that layoffs are conducted fairly can help reduce negative feelings among managers who must give notice to workers. Journal of Employee Assistance 39(1), 19-22.

Online Article


Grunberg, L., Moore, S., Sikora, P., & Greenberg, E. (2008). The changing workplace and its effects: Employee attitudinal and behavioral responses over time at a large American company. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 44(2), 215-236.

Online Article

Abstract: The present study explores the multiple ways employees are affected by pervasive and complex organizational change. Across a 10-year period, the authors surveyed 525 white- and blue-collar workers on four separate occasions during which time the company experienced, for example, a difficult financial period, several large downsizing events, the implementation of new technologies, and a move toward a "flatter" managerial structure. At Time 4, shortly after the organization experienced a substantial economic turnaround, the authors found that most but not all of the job and organizational attitudes returned to Time 1 levels. Many of the measures of health and various indices of the work—family relationship however showed both positive and negative lasting effects. These findings are discussed in light of current thinking regarding worker engagement and the psychological contract between workers and organizations.


Sikora, P., Moore, S., Greenberg, E., & Grunberg, L. (2008). "Downsizing and alcohol use: A cross-lagged longitudinal examination of the spillover hypothesis". Work & Stress 22(1), 51-68.

Online Article

Abstract: An area of concern for investigators and practitioners is the possible linkage between stressful workplace events and alcohol use and abuse; however, work in this area, specifically testing a "spillover hypothesis," offers inconclusive evidence of a relationship between many work-based stressors and alcohol use. Using a three-wave panel sample (N=455) from a large US industrial firm that has undergone numerous downsizing events in the last decade, four alternative causal hypotheses using fully cross-lagged three-wave mediational latent factor models were compared via structural equation modelling. Separate models were analysed for layoff experience and job security perceptions; a motivational factor, escape reasons for drinking, was included in each model. We found large autoregressive effects for problem alcohol use in the stability models. One reason for weak support for spillover models may be that problem alcohol use is more stable over time than previously theorized. All alternative causal models fit the data well; however, the only model comparisons showing significant improvement over the stability models were those including reverse paths. Reverse causal models should be explicitly considered when examining the link between alcohol problems and the workplace. We suggest that, for some workers, problematic alcohol use may be antecedent to, rather than a consequence of, stressful workplace experiences.


Moore, S., Sikora, P. Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2007). Managerial Women and the Work-Home Interface: Does Age of Child Matter? Women in Management Review 22(7), 568-587.

Online Article

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore whether empirical support exists for two commonly held beliefs about the work-home interface: women, and particularly managerial women, are prone to “super-mother” or “super-manage” in an effort to balance both career and child-rearing, and these demands diminish markedly when children reach school age. Design/methodology/approach: Via a survey mailed to their home, 1,103 managerial and non-managerial men and women completed measures of work-home and home-work conflict, work-related stress and strain, and reported their number of work, domestic, and leisure hours per week. Findings: Somewhat consistent with the popular beliefs, the authors found that managerial women reported working significantly more in the home; measures of conflict and strain, however, while showing some effect were not impacted to the degree that managerial women's combined number of work and home hours per week might suggest. The authors also found that measures of hours, conflict, and strain did not diminish abruptly when children entered school, due perhaps in part to manager's increased work hours and managerial women's renewed work emphasis when children entered school. Measures of hours, conflict, and strain did show some reduction for parents of teenaged children, although they were still significantly higher than those of nonparents. Originality/value: Aside from being one of the few empirical papers to examine the impact of child rearing on managerial women, our data show how these demands are not confined to working parents of preschoolers.


Moore, S., Grunberg, L., Greenberg, E., & Sikora, P. (2007). Type of Job Loss and its Impact on Decision Control, Mastery, and Depression: Comparison of Employee and Company-Stated Reasons. Current Psychology 26(2), 71-85.

Online Article

Abstract: In the present study, we explore agreement between company versus self-reported reasons for job loss and the degree of perceived control employees report over the job loss, looking to see if either job loss type or perceived control is related to subsequent levels of mastery and depression. Two thousand two hundred seventy-nine of 3,700 (61%) employees responded to a survey at Time One; of these participants, 310 later lost their jobs and were mailed a Time Two survey. Comparison of self- versus company-reported reasons for the job loss from the 171 usable surveys (55% response rate) revealed relatively good agreement. Roughly one third of the former employees, however, categorized the job loss in more than one way. There was also a very strong tendency for employees to report that they had very high control over the decision to leave the company, and nearly all employees reported improvements to their levels of mastery and depression; exceptions to this pattern were observed for those losing their jobs due to “rule violation” or “involuntary layoff.” Control over the job loss was related to Time Two levels of mastery and depression, but only weakly related to changes in these outcomes moving from Time One to Time Two.


Moore, S., Sikora, P., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2007). "Work Stress and Alcohol Use: Examining the Tension-Reduction Model as a Function of Worker's Parent's Alcohol Use." Addictive Behaviors 32(12), 3114–3121.

Online Article

Abstract: In an effort to identify groups who may be more vulnerable to tension-reduction drinking [Frone, M. (2003). Predictors of overall and on-the-job substance use among young workers. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 8, 39–54.], we examine whether drinking alcohol in response to work stress varies as a function of whether workers were raised in homes where (a) both parents abstained from alcohol, (b) at least one parent drank nonproblematically, (c) at least one parent drank problematically, or (d) both parents drank problematically. Employees participating in a large, longitudinal study who reported using alcohol in the previous year (N=895) completed various measures of work stressors, alcohol use, and alcohol problems. We found few mean group differences for either the work stressor or alcohol measures, but we did find a greater number of significant and moderate correlations between work stressors and alcohol for those reporting that both parents drank alcohol problematically. Interestingly, a number of significant correlations were found for those reporting that both parents abstained from alcohol; few were found for the two groups reporting that at least one parent drank with or without alcohol problems. Results are interpreted in light of where and how alcohol expectancies and other coping methods are learned.


Moore, S., Sikora, P., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2007). "Expanding the Tension-Reduction Model of Work Stress and Alcohol Use: Comparison of Managerial and Nonmanagerial Men and Women." Journal of Management Studies 44(2), 261-283.

Online Article

Abstract: The tension-reduction model that links workplace stress to alcohol use and problems has received mixed support in previous investigations. Following recommendations that this model include moderated mediated relationships (Frone, 1999) using more specific forms of workplace stress, we examine the impact of gender ratio, generalized workplace abuse, and stereotype threat in an effort to predict alcohol use and problems particularly for managerial women. A total of 1410 (57 per cent response rate) employees completed a survey containing items on job stress, escapist reasons for drinking, and alcohol consumption and problems, and SEM analyses were conducted separately for managerial and non-managerial men and women. Results revealed that: (a) these three workplace stressors were differentially related to general workplace stress for the four groups; and (b) the contributions of the three stressors and of general work stress to the alcohol-related variables varied by group.


Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2006). Surviving repeated waves of organizational downsizing: The recency, duration, and order effects associated with different forms of layoff contact. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping 19(3), 309-329.

Online Article

Abstract: In this paper we examine: (1) recency and duration effects of layoff contact; and (2) the order effects associated with different types of layoff contact experiences. Workers employed by a large company engaged in repeated waves of downsizing completed questionnaires in 1997, 1999, and 2003. Using data only from workers who experienced indirect or direct layoff contact at each time period ( N =460), we found some evidence that recent direct experiences were associated with significant group differences for intent to quit and depression. There was also some evidence to suggest that a single direct layoff experience still affected workers' levels of job security, even when this experience occurred some 6 years prior to the Time 3 measurement. The largest within-group changes in scores over time were typically found among workers experiencing an indirect experience followed by a direct experience, suggesting that the order of events impacted worker job security, intent to quit, and depression. For workers experiencing back-to-back direct downsizing, the rate of decline slowed for depression. These findings are examined in light of the stress vulnerability and resiliency hypotheses.


Grunberg, Leon, Sarah Moore, and Edward S. Greenberg. (2006). "Managers' reactions to implementing layoffs: Relationship to health problems and withdrawal behaviors." Human Resource Management 45(2), 159-178.

Online Article

Abstract: In the present study, we investigate several outcome differences among 410 managers who either had or had not implemented layoffs (i.e., handing out warn notices) during one or more years between 2000 and (2003). Using survey data, our findings show that issuing warn notices significantly predicts increased self-reported health problems, seeking treatment for those health problems, sleep problems, feelings of depersonalization, and intent to quit. Emotional exhaustion fully mediates the relationship between issuing warn notices and health problems, depersonalization, and intent to quit, whereas it partially mediates the relationship to seeking treatment and sleep problems. A similar pattern was found for the mediating variable of job security. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Maki, Nancy, Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2005). "The Responses of Male and Female Managers to Workplace Stress and Downsizing." North American Journal of Psychology 7(2), 297-314.

Online Article

Abstract: As part of a longitudinal study examining the impact of downsizing on worker health, we interviewed managers and employees to identify possible questions for a data collection survey. This paper presents observation summaries of qualitative interviews with 19 managers from a large manufacturing organization. Participants were asked semi-structured questions on health behaviors, stress coping strategies, alcohol and substance use, job stress, and work overload with latitude to digress as different issues emerged. Responses from female managers and male managers revealed differences in judgments about work motivators, stressors, and coping strategies. For example, female managers displayed a greater tendency to use alcohol as a coping mechanism in response to stressful conditions. Gender differences also emerged regarding impressions of the treatment of women in the workplace. Men viewed relationships between genders as significantly improved from ten to twenty years ago. Women noted improvements over the same time frame, but gave numerous examples where men continue to dismiss the contributions of female workers. Insight into motivations underlying commonly identified stressors and coping methods for both women and men offers direction for future data collection


Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2005). "Are Female Supervisors Good for Employee Job Experiences, Health, and Well-Being?" Women and Management Review 20(2), 86-95.

Online Article

Abstract: Purpose: In the present study, we investigated managers’ reports of their job experiences, well-being, and health outcomes as a function of whether they had either a male or female supervisor.
Methodology: Self-report survey data were collected from male (n = 328) and female (n = 222) managers; these managers, in turn, had either a male or female supervisor. Findings: Consistent with our hypothesis, two (gender of participant) by two (gender of supervisor) analyses of covariance revealed that all managers with female supervisors reported significantly higher levels of mastery and social support at work, and lower levels of work to family conflict and depression. Women with female supervisors also reported significantly higher levels of job autonomy and work absences than did women with male supervisors or men with either male or female supervisors. In an effort to explain these outcomes, we explored the mediational role of work-based social support as well as the gender ratio of the subordinate’s work environment. Implications: Our findings suggest that, for both men and women, there are some modest benefits associated with having a female supervisor and with working in a more female-dominated environment. Limitations: he effect sizes are small; however, we agree with previous researchers who argue that small effects may translate into important benefits to workers and to organizations (Eagly et al., 2003).


Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2004). Repeated downsizing contact: The effects of similar and dissimilar layoff experiences on work and well-being outcomes. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 9(3), 247-257.

Online Article

Abstract: In this longitudinal study, the authors compared 1,244 white- and blue-collar workers who reported 0, 1, or 2 contacts with layoffs; all were employees of a large manufacturing company that had engaged in several mass waves of downsizing. Consistent with a stress-vulnerability model, workers with a greater number of exposures to both direct and indirect downsizing reported significantly lower levels of job security and higher levels of role ambiguity, intent to quit, depression, and health problems. Findings did not support the idea that workers became more resilient as they encountered more layoff events. The authors found only partial evidence that the similarity or dissimilarity of the type of repeated downsizing exposure played a role in how workers reported changes in these outcome variables.


Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2004). Development and validation of a scale to measure beliefs about women managers. Current Psychology 23(3), 245-256.

Online Article

Abstract: This paper presents preliminary evidence on the internal consistency and validity of a scale designed to measure the degree to which one believes women managers experience a greater number of obstacles and more critical judgments about their work performance as compared to managerial men (the Stereotype Beliefs about Women Managers scale; SBWMS). Survey data from 1,337 managerial and nonmanagerial men and women employed by a large manufacturing organization revealed that the 6-item scale possessed a single factor. Significant mean group differences and correlations between the SBWMS and a number of organizationally relevant measures provide good preliminary support for the scale's validity.


Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2003). "A longitudinal exploration of alcohol use and problems comparing managerial and non-managerial men and women." Addictive Behaviors 28(4), 687-703.

Online Article

Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to compare the job attitude and drinking context correlates of alcohol beliefs, consumption, and problems between managerial and non-managerial women and men. Using longitudinal, self-report data from 1,244 workers in a large manufacturing organization, the authors found that managerial women reported significantly higher levels of alcohol problems on a number of measures on both Time 1 and Time 2 surveys. Using partial correlations and controlling for Time 1 levels of the alcohol-related dependent variables, we found that few work attitudes predicted the outcomes of escape drinking reasons, alcohol consumption, and alcohol problems. However, those correlations that were significant reflected a differential pattern for managerial women as compared to managerial men and non-managerial women and men. Due to the small subsample size of managerial women, the authors regard these findings as suggestive only. They discuss the findings in terms of the stress-reduction hypothesis of alcohol consumption.


Anderson-Connolly, R., Grunberg, L., Greenberg, E., & Moore, S. (2002). "Is lean mean? Workplace transformation and employee well-being." Work, Employment & Society 16(3), 389-413.

Online Article

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between workplace transformation (or restructuring) and the well-being of employees, in terms of both psychological and physical health, at a large manufacturing corporation in the United States. While the previous literature has been largely divided over the issue-some researchers providing unqualified enthusiasm and others equally strong criticism of workplace changes-the authors found, after decomposing workplace transformation into five distinct dimensions of intensity, autonomy, team-work, skilling, and computing, that certain components were harmful, while others were beneficial to the employees. Furthermore, some effects of reengineering varied between managers and non-managers. Overall, increases in workplace intensity were associated with the largest increases in stress and symptoms of poor health. The data were produced by a longitudinal (two-wave) survey questionnaire of over 1,000 employees and were analyzed by means of a structural equations model.


Apperson, M., Schmidt, H., Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2002). "Women managers and the experience of work-family conflict." American Journal of Undergraduate Research 1(3), 9-15.

Online Article

Abstract: Gender and managerial status have previously been found to relate to work-family conflict, though the combination of gender and managerial status has received less attention. This study explores differences in levels of work-family conflict and related job attitude and health and coping variables among women managers, men managers, women non-managers, and men non-managers at a large organization. Women managers experienced higher levels of work-family conflict, work role overload, and problem drinking. However, the levels of work to family conflict were unexpectedly similar between women and men managers. Possible explanations for this are considered.


Grunberg, L., Moore, S., & Greenberg, E. (2001). "Differences in psychological and physical health among layoff survivors: The effect of layoff contact." Journal of occupational Health Psychology 6(1), 15-25.

Online Article

Abstract: This study examined health and well-being among workers who have experienced varying types of contact with layoffs in an organization undergoing downsizing. Using survey data from a large organization employing both white- and blue-collar workers (N=2,279), the authors argue that there are important differences among surviving workers as a function of their layoff experiences. Having any kind of personal contact with layoffs is found to be associated with less job security, more symptoms of poor health, depression, and eating changes as compared with having no layoff contact. Being laid off and rehired is associated with more work-related injuries and illnesses and missed work days due to such events than is receiving a "warn" notice, indirect contact (i.e., friends or coworkers laid off), or no contact with layoffs. Job security partially mediates the relationship between type of layoff contact experiences and health.


Grunberg, L., Anderson-Connolly, R., & Greenberg, E. (2000). "Surviving layoffs: The effects on organizational commitment and job performance." Work and Occupations 27(1), 7-31.

Online Article

Abstract: This article tests the hypotheses that the effects of layoffs on surviving employees' level of organizational commitment and job performance will vary according to (a) how close employees are in the layoffs, (b) their perceptions of the fairness of the layoffs, and (c) their position in the organizational hierarchy. Analyses were conducted on 1,900 respondents employed by a large U.S. company. Results indicated that although perceptions of layoff unfairness were associated with lower commitment regardless of employee position, close contact with layoffs was associated with the greater use of sick hours by surviving mangers and professionals, but with lower use of sick hours and higher work effort by employees in lower positions.


Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2000). "The relationships between alcohol problems and well-being, work attitudes, and performance: Are they monotonic?" Journal of Substance Abuse 11(2),183-204.

Online Article

Abstract: Purpose: Investigators who have examined the relationship between work characteristics and off-the-job alcohol consumption or problems have typically assumed a linear or monotonic relationship (e.g., as work pressures increase, so do alcohol consumption and problems) In the present study, the authors examine this monotonicity assumption by investigating the nature of the relationships between alcohol problems and multiple demographic, work attitude, well-being, and work performance variables. Method: Survey data and data from company records were collected from a large sample of blue- and white-collar employees (N = 2,279). Participation was voluntary, confidential, and compensated with a $20 payment. Results: Evidence for several different types of statistical relationships between alcohol problems and other variables were found through both analyses of variance (ANOVA) and covariance (ANCOVA). There were several variables that were linearly related to alcohol problems. There was also some support for a "threshold" effect where only the most problematic drinkers (2.6% of sample) showed declines on job attitude and general well-being indices. In some case, those who drank but report no alcohol problems showed significantly more positive job and life attitudes than either those who abstained or those who had relatively more alcohol problems. Implications: The authors conclude that strict linearly based relationships might not necessarily explain the work-to-drink relationship most effectively.


Grunberg, L., Moore, S., Anderson-Connolly, R., & Greenberg, E. (1999). "Work stress and self-reported alcohol use: The moderating role of escapist reasons for drinking." Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 4(1), 29-36.

Online Article

Abstract: This study examines the moderating role of escapist reasons for drinking alcohol in the job stress self-reported alcohol use and problems relationship. It was hypothesized that higher levels of job stress would be associated with higher levels of self-reported drinking (H1) and drinking problems (H2) only for those who endorsed escapist reasons for drinking. For those who did not hold such beliefs, higher levels of job stress were predicted to be associated with lower self-reported alcohol intake (H3) and problems (H4). Survey data from white- and blue-collar workers employed across all paycodes and positions were collected randomly at a large manufacturing organization (62% response rate). Participants responded to questions concerning work stress, reasons for drinking, alcohol intake, and alcohol problems. Using only nonabstainers with complete data (N = 1,645), results from regression analyses generally supported all hypotheses.


Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (1999). "Alcohol consumption, drinking patterns, and alcohol problems among managerial versus non-managerial women and men." Current Psychology: Developmental-Learning-Personality-Social 18(3), 272-286.

Online Article

Abstract: In the present study, the authors examined alcohol consumption and alcohol problems between managerial and non-managerial men and women. The authors also examine alcohol problems as a function of drinking context (i.e., when they drink and with whom they drink) for each of these four groups. Survey data and data from company records were collected from a large sample of blue and white collar employees (n=2,279). Participants completed a detailed questionnaire aimed at assessing many work-related attitudes, general mental and physical health-related perceptions, motivations for alcohol use, alcohol consumption indices, and alcohol problems. They found that several of the demographic variables differentially predicted alcohol consumption and problems for the four groups. In addition, drinking alone and immediately after work were associated with alcohol problems for women managers at a significantly higher rate than for other groups of employees. These results support the assertion that more complex models are needed to understand the linkages between work and alcohol use.


Grunberg, L., Moore, S., & Greenberg, E. (1998). "Work stress and problem alcohol behavior: A test of the spillover mode." Journal of Organizational Behavior 19(5), 487-502.

Online Article

Abstract: Although previous research has found weak support for the model of stressful work "spilling over" to negative coping responses during non-work hours, the authors argue that a variety of conceptual and methodological problems may partially explain the weak and inconsistent findings. Two important shortcomings are inadequately specified models and a failure to consider non-escapist responses to job-related stress. The authors therefore propose that there may be escapist (i.e., increased drinking, working through job dissatisfaction for those who believe that alcohol consumption is an effective means to reduce stress) and non-escapist (i.e., decreased drinking for those who are dissatisfied with their jobs but do not believe alcohol is an effective coping strategy) responses to work stress. These hypotheses were tested on a sample of 972 production workers in the Pacific Northwest. Results show moderate support for the existence of both escapist and non-escapist responses to job-related stresses.


Greenberg, E. & Grunberg, L.. (1995). "Work alienation and problem alcohol behavior." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 36(1), 83-102.

Online Article

Abstract: Using a sample of production workers from union, non-union, producer cooperative, and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) wood products mills in the Northwest, the authors test the general proposition that work alienation, defined as low job autonomy, low use of capacities, and lack of participation in decision-making in the workplace, is associated with heavy drinking and negative consequences from drinking. We find that the general proposition is supported, but that the pathways tend to be indirect rather than direct, mediated by feelings of job satisfaction and respondents' beliefs about the utility of drinking as a means of coping.


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