What could John have done differently?

        There are so many things that John could have done with change of strategy, other than the strategy which he was going to apply in shape of downsizing. The actual problem is that consumer demand was decreasing and company is facing financial issues, so John thinks that cutting the number of employees will solve the problem. But he should have looked for some evaluation of the situation and identified the actual root cause behind decrease in consumer demand, because it would have helped him to look for the real problem and its appropriate solution without discouraging and confusing employees. He should have shown some problem-solving skills to identify problem and come up with the most appropriate solution (Huitt 1992)

Generate alternatives of Decision Making

        If John had taken the situation differently than what he actually did, then he would have been able to find considerable alternatives to the decision of downsizing. For instance, he could have identified that any department such as marketing department or quality department is not doing enough, which is decreasing demand of customers, so he could have introduced new policy and targets for these departments. Moreover, he could have looked at pricing strategy whether the product is getting beyond the reach of customers. If it was true, then he could come up with new pricing strategy, which comes with new promotions and benefits for the customers so that they may increase their interest in the product. These could have been more considerable alternatives in this given situation, but it also must be kept in mind that various other alternatives can also be found in the similar situation.

References of John have done differently

Huitt, William G. 1992. "Problem Solving and Decision Making: Consideration of Individual Differences Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator." Journal of Psychological Type 24: 33-44.