An experimental investigation of turnover intentions among new entrants in it

ABSTRACT

Although much research has focused on factors driving the turnover behaviors of information technology (IT) professionals once they are in an employment relationship, little is known about their ex ante intentions to stay when embarking on a new employment relationship. The present study investigates the effects of individual and situational factors on the turnover intentions of new entrants into the IT workforce. Arguably, the IT revolution of the past decade, both at its peak as well as its decline, has changed the expectations and values of this population of workers considerably. Adopting an interactionist perspective, we examine the interaction between individual preferences for organizational risk and variety, and the level of entrepreneurial risk inherent in the business model of a given employer together with the amount of variety that IT work with that employer offers. The posited relationships are tested in a policy capturing experiment with graduating information systems majors as subjects. The results provide support for the interactionist perspective, while at the same time questioning its basic premise.

REFERENCES

• 1: Ritu Agarwal , Prabuddha De , Thomas W. Ferratt, How long will they stay? Predicting an IT professional's preferred employment duration, Proceedings of the 2001 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research, p.132-138, April 2001, San Diego, California, United States [doi>10.1145/371209.371226]
• 2: Ritu Agarwal , Prabuddha De , Thomas W. Ferratt, Explaining an IT professional's preferred employment duration: empirical tests of a causal model of antecedents, Proceedings of the 2002 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research, May 14-16, 2002, Kristiansand, Norway [doi>10.1145/512360.512364]
• 3: Agarwal, R. and Ferratt, T.W. (1999). "Coping with Labor Scarcity in Information Technology: Strategies and Practices for Effective Recruitment and Retention, Cincinnati, OH: Pinnaflex.
• 4: Ritu Agarwal , Thomas W. Ferratt, Retention and the career motives of IT professionals, Proceedings of the 2000 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research, p.158-166, April 2000, Chicago, Illinois, United States [doi>10.1145/333334.333384]
• 5: Ritu Agarwal , Thomas W. Ferratt, Crafting an HR strategy to meet the need for IT workers, Communications of the ACM, v.44 n.7, p.58-64, July 2001 [doi>10.1145/379300.379314]
• 6: Ritu Agarwal , Thomas W. Ferratt, Enduring practices for managing IT professionals, Communications of the ACM, v.45 n.9, p.73-79, September 2002 [doi>10.1145/567498.567502]
• 7: Lynda M. Applegate, Corporate Information Strategy And Management: Text And Cases, Mcgraw-Hill College, 2005
• 8: Banks, M.H. and Henry, P. (1993). "Change and Stability in Employment Commitment," Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, Vol.66, No.2, pp. 177--184.
• 9: Barrick, M.R., Mount, M.K., and Gupta, R. (2003). "Meta-analysis of the Relationship Between the Five-factor Model of Personality and Holland's Occupational Types," Personnel Psychology, Vol.56, pp. 45--74.
• 10: Becker, G. (1983). Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• 11: Berloffa, G. and Simmons, P. (2003). "Unemployment Risk, Labor Force Participation, and Savings," Review of Economic Studies, Vol.70, pp. 521--539.
• 12: Anandhi S. Bharadwaj, A resource-based perspective on information technology capability and firm performance: an empirical investigation, MIS Quarterly, v.24 n.1, p.169-196, March 2000 [doi>10.2307/3250983]
• 13: Bowen, D.E. and Ostroff, C. (2004). "Understanding HRM-firm Performance Linkages: The Role of the "Strength" of the HRM System," Academy of Management Review, Vol.29, No.2, pp. 203--221.
• 14: Brandel, M. (2006). "Computerworld Special Report: 2006 100 Best Places to Work in IT," online version http://www.computerworks.com/specila_report/009/000/000/special_report_009000_primary_article.jsp#toc
• 15: James C. Brancheau , Brian D. Janz , James C. Wetherbe, Key issues in information systems management: 1994–95 SIM Delphi results, MIS Quarterly, v.20 n.2, p.225-236, June 1996 [doi>10.2307/249479]
• 16: Bretz, R.D., Jr. and Judge, T.A. (1994). "The Role of Human Resource Systems in Job Applicant Decision Processes," Journal of Management, Vol.20, No.3, pp. 531--551.
• 17: Cable, D.M. and Judge, T.A. (1996). Person-organization Fit, Job Choice Decisions and Organizational Entry," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol.67, pp. 294--311.
• 18: Cher, K.S. (2000). "Fatal Assumptions of Dotcoms," Business Times (Singapore), April 21.
• 19: J. Daniel Couger , Robert A. Zawacki, Motivating and Managing Computer Personnel, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1980
• 20: Dawis, R.V. (1991). "Vocational Interests, Values, and Preferences," in Dunnette, M.D., and Hough, L.M. (Eds.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, pp. 883--871.
• 21: Dulebohn, J.H. (2002). "An Investigation of the Determinants of Investment Risk Behavior in Employer-sponsored Retirement Plans," Journal of Management, Vol.28, No.1, pp. 3--26.
• 22: Feldman, D.C. and Weitz, B.A. (1991). "From the Invisible Hand to the Gladhand: Understanding a Careerist Orientation to Work," Human Resource Management, Vol.30, No.2, pp. 237--257.
• 23: Fridhandler, B.M. (1986). "Conceptual Note on State, Trait, and the State-trait Distinction," Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, Vol.50, No.1, pp. 169--174.
• 24: Gerhart, B. (1987). "How Important are Dispositional Factors as Determinants of Job Satisfaction? Implications for Job Design and Other Personnel Programs," Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.72, No.3, pp. 366--373.
• 25: Glynn, M.A. (1998). "Situational and Dispositional Determinants of Managers' Satisfaction," Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol.13, No.2, pp. 193--209.
• 26: Griffeth, R.W., Hom, P.W., and Gaertner, S. (2000). "A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents and Correlates of Employee Turnover: Update, Moderator Tests, and Research Implications for the Next Millennium," Journal of Management, Vol.26, No.3, pp. 463--488.
• 27: Griffin, M. (2001). "Dispositions and Work Reactions: A Multilevel Approach," Journal of Applied Psychology; Vol.86, No.6, pp. 1142--1151.
• 28: Hamblen, M. (2002). "Offer Access to Hot Technology," Computerworld, Vol.36, No.19, pp. 28--29.
• 29: Holland, J.L. (1985). Manual for the Self-directed Search, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
• 30: Holton, E.F., III and Russel, C.J. (1999). "Organizational Entry and Exit: An Exploratory Longitudinal Examination of Early Careers," Human Performance, Vol.12, No.3/4, pp. 311--341.
• 31: Maxwell K. Hsu , H. G. Chen , James J. Jiang , Gary Klein, Career satisfaction for managerial and technical anchored IS personnel in later career stages, ACM SIGMIS Database, v.34 n.4, p.64-72, Fall 2003 [doi>10.1145/957758.957766]
• 32: Maxwell K. Hsu , James J. Jiang , Gary Klein , Zaiyoung Tang, Perceived career incentives and intent to leave, Information and Management, v.40 n.5, p.361-369, May 2003 [doi>10.1016/S0378-7206(02)00018-6]
• 33: Hom, P.W., and Griffeth, R.W. (1995). Employee Turnover, Cincinnati: South-Western.
• 34: Magid Igbaria , Jeffrey H. Greenhaus, Determinants of MIS employees' turnover intentions: a structural equation model, Communications of the ACM, v.35 n.2, p.34-49, Feb. 1992 [doi>10.1145/129630.129631]
• 35: Magid Igbaria , Jeffrey H. Greenhaus , Saroj Parasuraman, Career orientations of MIS employees: an empirical analysis, MIS Quarterly, v.15 n.2, p.151-169, June 1991 [doi>10.2307/249376]
• 36: Inman, J. (2001). "The Role of Sensory-Specific Satiety in Attribute-Level Variety Seeking," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol.28, No.1, Vol.105--120.
• 37: Jiang, J.J. and Klein, G.A. (2002). "A Discrepancy Model of Information System Personnel Turnover," Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol.19, No.2, pp. 249--262.
• 38: Judge, T.A. and Bretz, R.D., Jr. (1992). "Effects of Work Values on Job Choice Decisions," Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.77, No.3, pp. 261--271.
• 39: Judge, T.A. and Cable, D.M. (1997). "Applicant Personality, Organizational Culture, and Organizational Attraction," Personnel Psychology, Vol.50, pp. 359--394.
• 40: Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., and Tversky, A. (1982). Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• 41: Kristof, A.L. (1996). "Person-organization Fit: An Integrative Review of Its Conceptualizations, Measurement, and Implications," Personnel Psychology, Vol.49, pp. 1--49.
• 42: Kristof-Brown, A.L. (2000). "Perceived Applicant Fit: Distinguishing Between Recruiters' Perceptions of Person-job and Person-organization Fit," Personnel Psychology, Vol.53, pp. 643--671.
• 43: Kristof-Brown, A.L., Zimmerman, R.D., and Johnson, E.C. (2005). "Consequences of Individuals' Fit at Work: A Meta-analysis of Person-job, Person-organization, Person-group, and Person-supervisor Fit, Personnel Psychology, Vol.58, pp. 281--342.
• 44: Lazear, E.P. (1995). "A Jobs-Based Analysis of Labor Markets," American Economic Review, Vol.85, No.2, pp. 260--265.
• 45: Luftman, J. (2005). "Key Issues for IT Executives 2004," MIS Quarterly Executive , Vol.4, No.2, pp. 269--285.
• 46: Luftman, J. and McLean, E.R. (2004). "Key Issues for IT Executives," MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 89--104.
• 47: March, J.G., and Simon, H.A. (1958). Organizations, New York: Wiley.
• 48: McCulloch, C.E. and Searle, S.R. (2001). Generalized, Linear, and Mixed Models, New York: John Wiley & Sons.
• 49: Meyer, J.P., Stanley, D.J., Herscovitch, L., and Topolnytsky, L. (2002). "Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to the Organization: A Meta-analysis of Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol.61, No.1, pp. 20--52.
• 50: Miller, K.D. and Reuer, J.J. (1996). "Measuring Organizational Downside Risk," Strategic Management Journal, Vol.17, No.9, pp. 671--691.
• 51: Mischel, W. (1997). "Personality Dispositions Revisited and Revised: A View after Three Decades," in Hogan, R., Johnson, J., and Briggs, S. (Eds.), Handbook of Personality Psychology, New York: Academic Press, pp. 113--132.
• 52: Mischel, W. (1977). "The Iteraction of Person and Situation," in Magnusson, D., and Endler, N.S. (Eds.), Personality at the crossroads: Current issues in interactional psychology, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., pp. 333--352.
• 53: Mobley, W.H., Griffeth, R.W., Hand, H.H., and Meglino, B.M. (1979). "Review and Conceptual Analysis of the Employee Turnover Process," Psychological Bulletin, Vol.86, pp. 493--522.
• 54: Newton, T. and Keenan, T. (1991). Further Analyses of the Dispositional Argument in Organizational Behavior.," Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.76, No.6, pp. 781--787.
• 55: O'Reilly, C.A. III, Chatman, J., and Caldwell, D.F. (1991). "People and Organizational Culture: A Profile Comparison Approach to Assessing Person-organization Fit," Academy of Management Journal, Vol.34, No.3, pp. 487--516.
• 56: Phillips, J.M. (1998). "Effects of Realistic Job Previews on Multiple Organizational Outcomes: A Meta-analysis," Academy of Management Journal, Vol.41, No.6, pp. 673--690.
• 57: Ratner, R.K. and Kahn, B.E. (2002). "The Impact of Private Versus Public Consumption on Variety-seeking Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol.29, No.2, pp. 246--257.
• 58: Rousseau, D.M. (1990). "New Hire Perceptions of the Their Own and Their Employer's Obligations: A Study of Psychological Contracts," Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol.11, pp. 389--400.
• 59: Rousseau, D.M. (1995). Psychological Contracts in Organizations: Understanding Written and Unwritten Agreements, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• 60: Saxenian, A. (1994). "Lessons from Silicon Valley," Technology Review, Vol.97, No.5, pp. 42--51.
• 61: Schneider, B. (1987). "The People Make the Place. Personnel Psychology, Vol.40, pp. 437--453.
• 62: Schneider, B., Goldstein, H.W., and Smith, D.B. (1995). "The ASA Framework: An Update," Personnel Psychology, Vol.48, pp. 747--773.
• 63: Sheridan, J.E. (1992). "Organizational Culture and Employee Retention," Academy of Management Journal, Vol.35, No.5, pp. 1036--1056.
• 64: Sandra Slaughter , Soon Ang, Internal labor market strategies and turnover of information technology professionals, Proceedings of the 2002 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research, May 14-16, 2002, Kristiansand, Norway [doi>10.1145/512360.512392]
• 65: Staw, B.M. and Ross, J. (1985). "Stability in the Midst of Change: A Dispositional Approach to Job Attitudes," Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.70, No.3, pp. 469--480.
• 66: Steel, R.P. and Rentsch, J.R. (1997). "The Dispositional Model of Job Attitudes Revisited: Findings of a 10-year Study," Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.82, No.6, pp. 873--879.
• 67: Thatcher, J.B., Stepina, L.P., and Boyle, R.J. (2002). "Turnover of Information Technology Workers: Examining Empirically the Influence of Attitudes, Job Characteristics, and External Markets," Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol.19, No.3, pp. 231--260.
• 68: Tice, D. (2000). "Irrational Exuberance," On Wall Street, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 52--53.
• 69: Topel, R.H. and Ward, M.P. (1992). "Job Mobility and the Careers of Young Men," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol.107, No.2, pp. 439--79.
• 70: Trivedi, M. (1999). "Using Variety-seeking-based Segmentation to Study Promotional Response," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol.27, No.1, pp. 37--49.
• 71: Turner, J.A. (Ed.) (2001). Compensation and Employment Risk in the United States and Canada, Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
• 72: United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "BLS Releases 2002-12 Employment Projections," http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecopro.pdf (accessed February 2004).
• 73: Wade, M. and Hulland, J. (2004). The Resource-based View and Information Systems Research: Review, Extension, and Suggestions for Future Research, MIS Quarterly, Vol.28, No.1, pp. 107--142.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
  K.7 THE COMPUTING PROFESSION
      K.7.1 Occupations
      K.7.2 Organizations

Keywords:
experimental approach, it professionals, new entrants, situational risk, situational variety, turnover intentions