Amundson (2004) notes that corporate downsizing has become an important area of study due to the increasing impact on the American workforce. Most companies do little to prepare their employees for such negative measures. The majority of studies on this topic have focused on the victims of the layoffs; few have centered on the survivors. The studies that focused on survivors primarily used survey methods that assessed commitment, motivation, level of performance, job satisfaction, stress symptoms, and coping mechanisms and how these are related to self-affirmation, gender and organizational level, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and intent to leave the organization.

In Amundson's review of literature, he found only two related studies in which a semi-structured group interviewing format was used. Evans (1995) studied U.S. soldier

Nineteen survivors reported 31 negative incidents and 12 reported 18 positive incidents regarding fellow employees prior to the downsizing. The vast majority of negative incidents concerned grieving for laid-off peers. Survivors who were transferred away from their coworkers felt isolated and lonely and expressed guilt and envy. Positive incidents involved coworkers supporting each other through the uncertainty of the situation and seeking methods to communicate with one another after downsizing. Survivors also discussed the manner in which the organization treated their colleagues during the layoffs. Fair and sensitive treatment was reassuring to survivors; unfair or insensitive treatment resulted in resentment and anger.

s in the downsized military and Noer (1993) interviewed employees of a downsized private organization. Similar themes emerged from both of these studies: increased stress; decreased motivation; reduced performance with extra workload, distrust/withdrawal of management/leader; and experiencing the emotions of anger, sadness, guilt, insecurity, and fear. Research by Armstrong-Stassen (1998) used mail-in questionnaires to analyze the individual traits and support resources that helped 82 managers in a Canadian federal government department over a 2-year period cope with downsizing. Acknowledging that "reactions of the remaining employees will largely determine the effectiveness and quality of the services provided by the federal government in the future" (p. 310), she found managers reported a significant decrease in r job performance and commitment.

This study's results suggest the possibility of adding a dynamic element to the componential model of organizational creativity. Presently, the componential model is static and specifies relationships between the perceived work environment and creative behavior at any one point in time. It does not address the dynamics of change in the work environment or how events within organizations might lead individuals to perceive their work environments as creativity-supporting or creativity-undermining. What types of events give rise to such environments, and what sorts of events lead to change in those environments? If this is so, events may prove to have a particularly powerful effect on the work environment for creativity.

Participants were interviewed within six months of the completion of downsizing in their organization. Participants were asked to describe, in behavioral terms, the positive and negative incidents they experienced during the downsizing period. The interviews highlighted three major questions: (a) What recent changes have you experienced in the organization? (b) What helped you to adjust to these changes (the positive incidents)? and (c) What hindered your adjustment (the negative incidents)?

However, studies of creativity stress the role of an organization's environment in affecting creative behaviors. The componential model of creativity and innovation shows that five environmental component

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