Downsizing has been an important dimension of organisational restructuring across most OECD economies during the 1990s. Most research has focused on downsizing as an independent variable. Little research has examined downsizing as a dependent variable and even less has focused on the downsizing of occupational groups within organisations. This thesis focuses on the prevalence and causes of intensive occupational downsizing among professionals. Following a critique and development of a new measure of intensive occupational downing, two theoretical perspectives are examined. The first is an economic `costs' perspective that centres on key characteristics of firms and their environments. The second theoretical perspective comprises the new institutional approach that emphasises the legitimacy and diffusion of downsizing as a managerial fad or fashion. The thesis attempts to assess the explanatory weight of the two theoretical perspectives in relation to the decade of downsizing trends in Australia from 1990. The research undertaken has uniquely developed an original longitudinal dataset of over 4000 organisations. For each organisation, ten years of specific structural information is recorded. This thesis represents an empirical examination of the causes of organisational downsizing using a large longitudinal datasetThe results indicate that intensive occupational downsizing impacts on all occupational groups, consistent with international research. Moreover, the results indicate that conventional measures of downsizing have underestimated its prevalence, due primarily to limitations in its measurement. Focusing on professionals, the substantive results indicate that both economic and institutional factors play a role in causing downsizing among the firms examined. However, economic factors play a more significant role in the analysis

The focus of this study was to investigate the employment difficulties faced by individuals who had been retrenched from the insurance industry during the years 2000 to 2013 in order to develop an understanding of the continuity in the specialist type of work after their retrenchment. The study also aimed to investigate the actual and perceived barriers that need to be addressed in the South African small business environment and the specific soft skills and business skills of small business owners and non-small business owners. The research design of this exploratory study entailed a positivist research philosophy using a deductive research approach. This quantitative research was conducted by means of a survey questionnaire. A questionnaire was designed and used to determine the level of importance and the level of own skills for small business owners and non-small business owners respectively in terms of predetermined soft and business management skills. The answers provided on these questions were then analysed to determine whether there was a gap between the level of importance assigned to these skills and their own skill ratings. This research determined the barriers faced by small businesses in South Africa as well as the level of agreement regarding the predetermined actual and perceived barriers pertaining to the small business environment. Notable findings of this study include that there was a distinct lack of continuity in the specialist type of work by the small business owner respondents in the insurance industry. There was a marked difference between the level of portance and own skill ratings assigned to the predetermined soft skills and business management skills with non-small business owner respondents mostly rating themselves as better skilled than small business owners did. However, the fact that these non-small business owner respondents did not start their own small businesses points towards higher risk aversion. This study also found that small businesses in South Africa are facing pronounced barriers within the small business environment. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)