Turnover of highly educated R&D professionals: The role of pre‐entry cognitive style,work values and career orientation

Retention of key R&D experts has been recognized as a critical managerial challenge for many technology‐based companies. In this study, we propose that turnover of highly educated professional workers is meaningfully related to individual characteristics such as cognitive style, work values and career orientation. We tested the hypotheses using data collected from a sample of 132 R&D professionals with PhD degrees in engineering or natural science in a Korean electronics firm. The time‐dependent risk of turnover was estimated by survival analysis using a proportional hazards regression model. The results showed that over the 7‐year period after their organizational entry, R&D professionals with high levels of intrinsic values and cosmopolitan orientation were more likely to leave the organization than were their counterparts with low levels of intrinsic values and cosmopolitan orientation. The hazard function showed that the positive effect of intrinsic work values on turnover was particularly salient in the third and fourth year of R&D professionals' organizational tenure. We found that the positive effect of cosmopolitan orientation on turnover increased over time, introducing a greater risk of turnover with increasing tenure. The present findings have practical implications for the retention of highly educated R&D professionals in a corporate setting.     

Great Expectations – and What Comes of it: The Effects of Unmet Expectations on Work Motivation and Outcomes Among Newcomers

The present research focused on newcomers' socialization process in a three‐wave study among 1477 newcomers from seven Western (mainly European) countries. Based on previous research, we expected that unmet expectations regarding selected intrinsic work aspects would have adverse effects on work outcomes such as worker motivation for learning, effort, and turnover. Further, we expected that the strength of the effects of unmet expectations would vary as a function of the perceived importance of the work aspects in question. Structural equation modeling supported our expectations regarding the adverse effects of unmet expectations. However, the strength of these relationships did not depend on the importance attached to the work aspects. Instead, workers who attached much importance to particular work aspects reported higher levels of effort and a higher motivation for learning new behavior patterns. Further, newcomers tended to consider work aspects for which their expectations were not met as less important across time. We conclude that unmet expectations affect work outcomes both directly and indirectly, through the importance attached to particular work aspects.     

The unfolding effects of organizational commitment and anticipated job satisfaction on voluntary employee turnover

An evolving discontent with existing theories of voluntary turnover led to the postulation of an unfolding model for the effects of organizational commitment and anticipated job satisfaction on voluntary employee turnover. In particular, existing theory and research on voluntary turnover were judged to apply validly to only a very small number of organizational situations. That is, their ecological validities appear weak. As a result, the proposed model seeks to describe more of the organization's reality and to apply to more situations than do current theories. Thus, the proposed model seeks to increase ecological validity. Four decision paths are detailed and asserted to capture more of the evolutionary (hence the term unfolding) confluence of personal, situational, and accidental forces on the decision to leave an organization than current models. Research implications are discussed.We thank Bob Baron, Lee Beach, and Rick Mowday for their helpful comments on carlier drafts of this article.     

Predicting Employee Turnover From Communication Networks

This article investigates three social network models of employee turnover: a structural equivalence model, a social influence model, and an erosion model. It was predicted that structurally equivalent individuals would be more likely to behave similarly (i.e., leave or stay at their position). The rocial influence model predicted that employees with a greater percentage of direct communication links with leavers would be more likely to leave their job. The erosion model posited that individuals located on the periphery of a social network would be more likely to leave their job or “fall off” the edges of the social network. A total of 170 employees, a census of an organization, were administered a communication network questionnaire asking them to identify the people with whom they communicate at work. Network self-report data were analyzed using NEGOPY and UCINET software. Results provided support for all three models of turnover, with the erosion model explaining more of the variance than the other two models. Future research examining communication networks and employee turnover is proposed, on the basis of these results.     

Age and Trust as Moderators in the Relation between Procedural Justice and Turnover: A Large‐Scale Longitudinal Study

The current study investigated the moderating roles of age and trust in the relation of procedural justice with turnover. It was expected that the relation between procedural justice and turnover was weaker for older workers and those with high prior trust in their leader. Older workers are better at regulating their emotions, and focus more on positive aspects of their relationships with others, and therefore react less intensely to unfair treatment. Moreover, people with high trust are more likely to attribute unfair treatment to circumstances instead of deliberate intention than people with low trust. Finally, we expected a three‐way interaction between age, trust, and procedural justice in relation to turnover, where older workers with high trust would have less strong reactions than younger workers and older workers with low trust. Results from a three‐wave longitudinal survey among 1,597 Dutch employees indeed revealed significant interactions between trust and procedural justice in relation to turnover. Furthermore, the three‐way interaction was significant, with negative relations for younger workers, but a non‐significant relation was found for older workers with low trust. Contrary to expectations, negative relations were found between procedural justice and turnover for older workers with high trust.     

Building Capacity of State Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalitions to Implement Science-Based Approaches

A central question in adolescent reproductive health circles is how to effectively disseminate research to practitioners in a way that supports them in using the most scientifically sound and effective programming. In 2002, the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tackled this question by funding three national-level and five state-level organizations focused on adolescent pregnancy prevention to promote the use of science-based programs and approaches. Healthy Teen Network (HTN) and Education, Training and Research Associates (ETR), two national organizations, have partnered under this CDC funding to implement an effective model for capacity building. This paper provides an overview of the approaches used by HTN and ETR in capacity building using a seven-step process. We describe how we modified the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) for science-based innovations to apply to capacity-building for adolescent reproductive health (ARH) programs, and how we developed relevant, sustainable training and technical support. We conclude by reviewing some of the results of this training, and discuss the future work that will likely continue to advance the science behind effective dissemination of ARH research to practice.     

工作特征对工作者的影响——要求-控制模型与工作要求-资源模型的比较

工作特征是指与工作相关的因素或属性, 它对工作者的身心健康有重要影响。通过对比研究发现, 虽然要求-控制模型(Demand-Control Model, 简称DC模型)将工作特征分为相对具体的工作要求、工作控制和社会支持, 工作要求-资源模型(Job Demands-Resources Model, 简称JD-R模型)则将工作特征划分为更为概括的工作要求和工作资源两个维度, 但是它们关注的结果变量都包含个体身心健康和组织工作绩效, 都强调了工作特征对工作者的影响。在今后的研究中, 应深入探讨不同职业中起关键作用的工作特征和不同资源与要求组合的作用, 进一步研究工作特征模型对不同特点个体和我国民众群体的适用性, 并尝试将研究成果应用于工作再设计的实践, 以促进工作者的职业健康。     

Optimal experimental design for a class of bandit problems

Bandit problems are a class of sequential decision-making problems that are useful for studying human decision-making, especially in the context of understanding how people balance exploration with exploitation. A major goal of measuring people’s behavior using bandit problems is to distinguish between competing models of their decision-making. This raises a question of experimental design: How should a set of bandit problems be designed to maximize the ability to discriminate between models? We apply a previously developed design optimization framework to the problem of finding good bandit problem experiments, and develop computational sampling schemes for implementing the approach. We demonstrate the approach in a number of simple cases, varying the priors on parameters for some standard models. We also demonstrate the approach using empirical priors, inferred by hierarchical Bayesian analysis from human data, and show that optimally designed bandit problems significantly enhance the ability to discriminate between competing models.     

农民工的工作退缩行为：基于多重嵌入和身份压力的视角

2.9亿农民工的工作退缩行为——为减少工作和组织角色而有意采取的行为(回避工作和降低努力、迟到缺勤、离职等)影响重大。为此, 本研究以资源保存理论作为“伞”理论, 整合了多重嵌入和身份压力的视角, 构建了一个全面预测农民工的工作退缩行为的模型。在该模型中, 提出了同时包含隐性和显性的工作退缩行为的测量指标体系; 构建了农民工在城市和家乡的多重嵌入对不同工作退缩行为的预测关系, 以及“农村人”和“城市人”的双重身份压力经由农民工在城市的多重嵌入对工作退缩行为的间接预测效应。本研究基于农民工样本的特异性, 构建了一个“背景化”的全面预测工作退缩行为的理论模型, 不仅弥补了微观层面农民工研究的理论空白, 也丰富了身份、多重嵌入和工作退缩行为领域的理论和文献。     

Gendered Constructions of Professionals in Daycare

In The Netherlands the boys’ problem debate in education has expanded to daycare, concerning the children between 0 and 4 years of age. Women daycare workers are blamed by mainstream media for frustrating boys’ need for physical activity and adventure. In 2004 we conducted a study, involving 96 daycare workers in 36 daycare centers in a Dutch city. We addressed the research question whether the stereotypical representation of women’s daycare work in the media is an adequate picture of these professionals’ perceptions of their work in daycare. Findings indicate that the stereotypical images of women daycare workers in the media-debates do not resemble the personal qualities and professional characteristics that these daycare workers ascribe to themselves.     

Testing Models of Turnover Intentions with University Faculty1

Four models of turnover intentions were competitively tested for their effectiveness in predicting the intentions to search for alternative positions and intentions to resign from current positions among a sample of university faculty. Faculty at an upper Midwest university completed a survey developed to measure the components of the four models. All four models (intermediate linkages, expanded Mobley, reasoned action, and planned behavior) significantly predicted intentions to search and intentions to resign. The reasoned action model was found to be more effective and parsimonious than the other models. Attitude toward the turnover action and subjective norm concerning the turnover action appear to be the critical factors influencing the faculty members' turnover intentions. Implications of these findings for turnover research and related concepts such as organizational commitment are discussed.     

情绪劳动工作人员心理授权与离职意向的关系：工作倦怠的中介作用

本研究目的是考察心理授权、工作倦怠和离职意向的关系。研究以某大型通讯企业呼叫中心的309名客服代表为研究对象,采用问卷调查方式对客服代表的心理授权、工作倦怠和离职意向进行调查。结构方程模型的结果显示,心理授权对离职意向有负向影响,工作倦怠对离职意向有正向影响。其中,心理授权先影响情绪衰竭,再影响玩世不恭,最后对离职意向起负向预测作用。研究结果支持了工作倦怠在心理授权和离职意向之间的中介作用。     

Development of a global measure of job embeddedness and integration into a traditional model of voluntary turnover

Recent research on job embeddedness has found that both on- and off-the-job forces can act to bind people to their jobs. The present study extended this line of research by examining how job embeddedness may be integrated into a traditional model of voluntary turnover. This study also developed and tested a global, reflective measure of job embeddedness that overcomes important limitations and serves as a companion to the original composite measure. Results of this longitudinal study found that job embeddedness predicted voluntary turnover beyond job attitudes and core variables from traditional models of turnover. Results also found that job embeddedness interacted with job satisfaction to predict voluntary turnover, suggesting that the job embeddedness construct extends beyond the unfolding model of turnover (T. R. Mitchell & T. W. Lee, 2001) it originated from.     

Diversity in context: how organizational culture shapes reactions to workers with disabilities and others who are demographically different

Successfully integrating workers with disabilities into their organizations is both a challenge and an opportunity facing managers today. Despite laws and business practices prohibiting discrimination against those with disabilities, people with disabilities are consistently underutilized in organizations. This article applies theories of demographic diversity in organizations to assert that a richer understanding of organizational cultures and their implications for workers with disabilities may shed light on the question of how and why workers with disabilities may be excluded from mainstream work experiences and career progression. The article briefly reviews business arguments that support integration of workers with disabilities into organizations based on their contribution to the overall diversity within the organization, and reviews complications in the research on diversity to date that leave important questions of the potential gains or detriments from increasing this diversity unanswered. The article then goes on to introduce organizational culture as an underinvestigated but likely potent tool in explaining how and when workers who are demographically different, in general, and with disabilities, specifically, may be successfully integrated into an organization's work force. The article introduces three types of organizational culture: culture of differentiation, culture of unity, and culture of integration. Each is explained in terms of its content and its implications for managing diversity. A discussion of the implications of culture as a primary tool for managing the integration of workers with disabilities concludes the paper.     

The role of analogy in ontology alignment: A study on LISA

Ontologies are explicit specifications of concepts and their relationships. In the context of a semantic web of independently developed ontologies, overcoming interoperability and heterogeneity issues is of considerable importance. Many semantic web applications, such as matching of instances in social networks, reasoning over combined knowledge bases, and knowledge sharing among services, rely on ontology alignment. While existing research in this area has developed a wide range of different heuristics, in this paper we propose to look towards cognitive science, specifically analogical reasoning, to support ontology alignment. We investigate the question whether ontology alignment is rooted in the same cognitive process as analogical reasoning. We apply the LISA system, a cognitively-based model of human analogical reasoning, to ontology alignment and present a comprehensive experimental study to determine its performance on ontology alignment problems.     

An Assessment of Meyer and Allen's (1991) Three-Component Model of Organizational Commitment and Turnover Intentions

Propositions about the relationship between Meyer and Allen's (1991) model of organizational commitment and turnover intentions were tested via field research. Specifically, we assessed concurrent and longitudinal effects of affective, continuance, and normative commitment on turnover intentions. We tested main and interaction effects and also assessed the effects of two continuance commitment sub-dimensions—CC-hisac and CC-loalt—on turnover intentions. Two studies were conducted to test these relationships. Data were collected from a sample of engineering personnel working at an aerospace firm, and from university students employed full time in a variety of organizations. The results revealed that, (1) contrary to expectations, the three components of commitment differed in the significance of their effects on turnover intentions, and (2) the CC subdimensions differed in their effects on turnover intentions. The discussion of these results focuses on their implications for theoretical and practical issues in commitment research.     

Implications of an Emerging Integration of Universal and Culturally Specific Psychologies

ABSTRACT— Psychological researchers increasingly recognize that human behavior reflects a complex interplay of universal human capacities, cultural responses to unique histories and circumstances, and individual differences. Many psychological processes appear to reflect culturally specific instantiations of universal capacities. Current integrative research focuses on further clarifying definitions of universality and on refining methods for identifying universal and cultural components of psychological processes. In this article, we consider implications of this emerging integration. To illustrate possible implications for psychology, we apply it to the study of psychopathology. We report on formal models that explain why some cultures embrace dysfunction among members. We then use the integrative framework to describe methods for determining whether putative disorders bring universal or contextual life dysfunction and to clarify etiological models of three disorders. Models of psychopathology can be more informed and precise if they include careful consideration of both universal and cultural influences on behavior.     

Resign or carry-on? District and principal leadership as drivers of change in teacher turnover intentions during the COVID-19 crisis: A latent growth model examination

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers in the United States, an already at-risk occupation group, experienced new work-related stressors, safety concerns, and work-life challenges, magnifying on-going retention concerns. Integrating the crisis management literature with the unfolding model of turnover, we theorize that leader actions trigger initial employee responses but also set the stage for on-going crisis response that influence changes in teachers' turnover intentions. We apply latent growth curve modelling to test our hypotheses based on a sample of 617 K-12 teachers using nine waves of data, including a baseline survey at the start of the 2020–2021 school year and eight follow-up surveys (2-week lags) through the Fall 2020 semester. In terms of overall adaptation, teachers on average, experienced an increase in work-life balance and a decrease in turnover intentions over the course of the semester. Results also suggest that district and school leadership provide unique and complementary resources, but leader behaviours that shape initial crisis responses do not similarly affect employee responses during crisis, contrary to theory. Instead, teachers' adaptive crisis response trajectories were triggered by continued resource provision over the semester; increasing provision of valued resources (i.e., continued refinement of safety practices) and improvements in work-life balance prevented turnover intentions from spiralling throughout the crisis. Crisis management theory and research should continue to incorporate temporal dynamics and identify factors that contribute to crisis response trajectories, using designs and analyses that allow for examination as crises unfold in real time.     

The Three‐Component Model of Organisational Commitment: An Application to South Korea

We conducted two studies to determine whether the three‐component model of organisational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991) is generalisable to a non‐Western culture using data from South Korea. In Study 1, we found that when the 6‐item versions of the scales (Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993) were translated into Korean, the psychometric properties of the Affective Commitment Scale were similar to those found in North America, but problems were identified in the Continuance and Normative Commitment Scales. In Study 2, we found that these problems could be overcome by adopting a revised set of items written in North America. The new scales demonstrated good psychometric properties in terms of factorial validity, internal consistency, and criterion‐related validity with respect to turnover intention. We concluded that the three commitment constructs are likely to generalise to non‐Western cultures, but that there might be a need to refine the measures for cross‐cultural research.     

Underemployment: Consequences for the Health and Well-Being of Workers

This paper addresses the question of how the adequacy of a person's employment status influences their health. We draw on and extend the Labor Utilization Framework to distinguish between different forms of underemployment (hours, income, skills, and status) and test their relative effects on a range of physical health and psychological well-being outcomes. Using data drawn from a nationally representative sample (N=1,429) of adults of working age, we assess the concurrent effects of underemployment through a longitudinal design that controls for prior levels of health and well-being. The results indicate that underemployed workers do report lower levels of health and well-being than adequately employed workers. However, the relationship varies by both types of underemployment and indicator of health and well-being. We conclude by discussing future research to explore the relationship between underemployment and health and well-being.