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An experimental investigation of turnover intentions among new entrants in it

Published: 28 February 2007 Publication History

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.

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cover image ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems
ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems  Volume 38, Issue 1
February 2007
75 pages
ISSN:0095-0033
EISSN:1532-0936
DOI:10.1145/1216218
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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 28 February 2007
Published in SIGMIS Volume 38, Issue 1

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Author Tags

  1. experimental approach
  2. it professionals
  3. new entrants
  4. situational risk
  5. situational variety
  6. turnover intentions

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