This article explores how unions can influence employer decisions to downsize – a longstanding question that has been addressed through three waves of research. Although the literature has successively identified three types of factors that influence managerial decisions to downsize, it has not fully addressed the interactions of these factors, leading to inconsistencies. This article builds on and refines the existing work through a configurational approach which qualitatively evidences six downsizing configurations through a uniquely large number of cases ( n = 19). This research sheds new light on how factors combine to enhance union influence by theorizing four types of chemical-like factor interactions: catalysing, inhibiting, synthesizing and decomposing. By highlighting this interactive chemistry, this configurational approach revisits longstanding academic debates about the context–union strategy fit and the relative efficacy of union responses. From a practical perspective, it encourages unions to reject the idea that there is a single, optimal strategy for addressing downsizing.

中文翻译：

---

在裁员过程中叠加工会的影响：基于法国 19 个案例的配置方法


本文探讨了工会如何影响雇主裁员的决定——这是一个长期存在的问题，已经通过三波研究得到了解决。尽管文献相继确定了影响管理决策裁员的 3 种因素，但并未完全解决这些因素的相互作用，从而导致不一致。本文通过配置方法建立并完善了现有工作，该方法通过独特的大量案例 （n = 19） 定性地证明了六种缩小配置。这项研究通过理论化四种类型的化学样因子相互作用（催化、抑制、合成和分解），为因子如何结合以增强联合影响力提供了新的视角。通过强调这种互动化学反应，这种配置方法重新审视了长期以来关于环境-联合策略契合度和工会响应的相对有效性的学术争论。从实际角度来看，它鼓励工会拒绝认为有一个单一的最佳策略来解决裁员问题。