During the 1990s, many Canadian hospitals introduced quality improvement initiatives while radically reducing their work force. Yet, the incompatible nature of QM and organizational downsizing suggests that the success of one or both change management programs will be sacrificed when done concurrently. Results from a large sample of Canadian hospitals suggest that the implementation of a strong quality improvement initiative can mitigate the negative consequences of severe work force contractions on certain valued organizational performance objectives.
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This survey did not collect information on how management determined where to cut when making work force reductions, but a hospital survey done several months earlier collected information on how hospitals carried out their personnel cuts, and the practices they employed in making these work force reductions.
