SUMMARY
This study analyses cost stickiness under the dilemma between current profitabilityand future sales increase. When activity decreases firms are faced tokeep profitability adjusting resources, while they should also consider long termconsequences and keep slack resources which allow building firms capacities toadapt to external challenges and take advantage of future opportunities. We findempirical evidence that changes in current firm profitability and one year aheadsales increase significantly influence resource adjustment in periods when salesdecrease. We find a significant moderating effect of changes in profitability, as wellas a significant stressing effect of one year ahead sales increase, on cost stickiness.