We conducted a qualitative study of Nokia to understand its rapid downfall over the 2005–2010 period from its position as a world-dominant and innovative technology organization. We found that top ...

https://knowledge.insead.edu/sites/www.insead.edu/files/images/asq_2015_print_vuori_huy_distributed_attention_and_shared_emotions_in_innovation_process.pdf

Distributed Attention and Shared Emotions in the Innovation Process: How Nokia Lost the Smartphone Battle

Though varying in intensity with the ups and downs of economic cycles, voluntary turnover persists as an important concern for managers. One academic study reported that the total cost of employee withdrawal to organizations (including turnover, absence, lateness, and withholding of effort, as well as new hire recruiting, selecting and training costs) is 17% of pre-tax annual income (Sagie et al., 2002). Another study calculated the aggregate impact of turnover on American business to be as high as $11 billion annually (Abbasi and Hollman, 2000). Cascio (1991) has shown that the costs of turnover for technical, professional and managerial employees are especially high. Accenture, one of the world's largest management and IT consulting firms, estimated that when an experienced consultant leaves an organization, he or she takes away a value of over $1 million (Oz, 2002). In short, managers and researchers continue to be rightfully concerned about voluntary employee turnover. In reviews of the research on voluntary turnover (Maertz and Campion, 1998; Hom and Griffeth, 1995), scholars have agreed that one of the most promising new theories for understanding and describing turnover is the unfolding model (Lee and Mitchell, 1994). Two empirical studies providing support for its propositions have been published (Lee et al., 1996, 1999). One of the major contributions of the unfolding model is the notion of shocks. As defined by Lee and Mitchell, "A shock is a particular, jarring event that initiates the psychological analyses involved in quitting a job" (1999: 51). In a new study, Holtom et al. (2005) report that in more than 60 percent of voluntary turnover cases they examined across multiple industries, the immediate antecedent to leaving was a shock rather than accumulated job dissatisfaction (Holtom et al., 2005). Another recent theory that adds richness to the study of voluntary turnover is the job embeddedness model. Mitchell, Lee and colleagues call it a theory of staying (Mitchell, Holtom and Lee, 9001; Lee et al., 2004). Job embeddedness posits that the greater a person's connections to an organization and community, the more likely it is that he or she will remain in their organization. Mitchell and Lee (2001) call for integration of the unfolding model with the job embeddedness model. The purpose of this study is to do exactly that. More specifically, we aim to combine critical elements of the unfolding model with the job embeddedness model to expand understanding of the voluntary turnover process. First, we review the core elements of both the unfolding model and the job embeddedness model. Second, we develop logic linking the theories. Third, we report empirical results from a large national study of stayers and leavers across hundreds of employers. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings. Unfolding Model The work by Lee, Mitchell and colleagues (Lee and Mitchell, 1994; Lee et al., 1996, 1999) has demonstrated that many people leave their jobs not just because of negative affect (e.g., job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational commitment), but because of a variety of precipitating events. These events are known as shocks. Further, while individuals experience unique circumstances when they leave organizations, Lee and colleagues (1996, 1999) have found most people follow one of four psychological and behavioral paths when quitting. Three of the four paths are initiated by shocks. The following review will highlight the key components (shocks, scripts, job search, image violations, job dissatisfaction) used to categorize leavers into one of the four paths. Table 1 provides a comparison of the attributes for each of the paths. As can be seen in Table 1, decisions to leave can appear to be somewhat impulsive in nature as in Path 2 where an individual experiences a shock and quickly decides to leave without planning for the future. …

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Integrating the Unfolding Model and Job Embeddedness Model to Better Understand Voluntary Turnover

Purpose – The paper seeks to test empirically a variety of hypotheses related to human capital and organizational performance within software companies in Egypt.Design/methodology/approach – A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey of 38 software companies who are representative of the 107 members of the Software Industry Chamber of Egypt. A correlation analysis and stepwise regression were conducted to ascertain the validity of the hypotheses.Findings – Statistical support was found for six of the nine hypotheses tested.Research limitations/implications – One of the limitations of this study is that human capital metrics were based on CEO self‐reported scores. Thus, the ability to generalize is limited to this context.Practical implications – Of all the human capital metrics collected, the number of superstar developers seems to be the most critical variable in predicting export intensity. Superstar developers are those individuals whose productivity equals four times that of the othe...

Human capital and organizational performance: a study of Egyptian software companies

We developed and tested the conditions under which team member change results in flux in team coordination and consequently affects team performance. Results showed that team member change caused high levels of flux in coordination when a member changed to a more strategically core role, or there was low information transfer during the change. Furthermore, coupling strategic “core role holder” change with the relative cognitive ability of a new member was associated with even greater levels of flux in coordination.

/pdf/team-member-change-flux-in-coordination-and-performance-3zh2w9gjkw.pdf

Team member change, flux in coordination, and performance: Effects of strategic core roles, information transfer, and cognitive ability

Purpose: An ignorance of knowledge attrition caused by employee exits is considered as careless and can lead to considerable consequences regarding both a firm's financial capital and intellectual ...

Knowledge management and succession planning in SMEs

An enormous amount of information and knowledge resides in the minds    of key people, but this material is rarely organized in a fashion that allows for its transmission to others (Powell, 1998: 237) Just as the apprentice learns the tools of the trade from a master, businesses gain from the knowledge shared by mentors, supervisors, coworkers, project team members, and long-tenured employees Yet the business world is in the midst of an era characterized by the boundaryless career (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996)-- one where median employment tenure is just four and a half years, new job creation accounts for only one tenth of all career moves, and large firm decentralization is a regular occurrence "I know I can't stop people from walking out the door--but how do I stop them from taking their knowledge with them?" (Labarre, 1998:48) That is, when employees leave, companies lose not only human capital, but also accumulated knowledge This is a common problem firms face in the knowledge economy and the central issue addressed in this article As consulting, research, and information technology firms are realizing, their "whole business is pretty much locked away in the minds of employees" (Koudsi, 2000: 233), yet this knowledge is rarely shared, swapped, traced, and fertilized to ensure that it remains, at least in part, with the firm when employees leave The problem's significance is shown by the fact that many businesses are spending millions of dollars each to develop and purchase solutions to combat knowledge exodus (Koudsi, 2000; McCune, 1999) Companies, recognizing knowledge as a valuable asset, are busily devising ways to capture it, from narrative re-creations of past triumphs to rewards for in formation gleaned in exit interviews (Branch, 1998) Organizational knowledge and employee turnover have been studied extensively Our contribution is a link between the two, whereby social networks explicate the connection between employee turnover and tacit knowledge loss Closely related to social networks is the concept of social capital We adapt the meaning suggested by Tsai and Ghoshal (1998) in defining social capital as resources embedded in social relationships as well as the norms and values inherent in such relationships Others (eg, Dess and Shaw, 2001) have suggested that employee turnover can negatively affect firm performance through loss of social capital We expand this by taking into account the tacit knowledge that firms lose when employees leave In light of employee turnover, we focus on social network structures likely to lead to retention of the tacit knowledge embedded in employees' minds We offer propositions concerning the problem of tacit knowledge loss and encourage the development of solutions that take into account the social n etwork structure of organizations Specifically, we posit that 1) tacit knowledge can be preserved, in part, when firms promote employee interaction, collaboration, and diffusion of non-redundant tacit knowledge, and 2) characteristics of a firm's social network, including density and an optimal mix of weak and strong ties, promote interaction, collaboration, and non-redundant tacit knowledge diffusion This paper is divided into three major sections First, we introduce the general theoretical background, followed by more specific theoretical discussions of the tacit knowledge, knowledge-based view of the firm, and employee turnover literature Second, we frame our propositions in the context of a firm's social structure, highlighting the interplay among diffusion, interaction and collaboration, and non-redundant information Third, we provide a summary, implications, and future research directions BACKGROUND A major challenge facing organizations is uncovering the most effective methods of gathering and applying knowledge en route to economic value creation (Miles et al, 1998) In our technological, global society, this need for knowledge is more salient than ever before …

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/40604414.pdf

Scott B. Droege

Papers

Employee Turnover and Tacit Knowledge Diffusion: A Network Perspective