Copycat behaviour, says Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, who makes the bold and unorthodox claim that layoffs are mainly made not from prudent cost/benefit analysis, but through the reverse of the herd mentality which led to hyper growth in the first place - mimetically aping the behaviour of competitor organisations. It’s a mind virus in other words, the irrational contagiousness of which making the overall impact ever worse.
Interesting read, lots to think about.