Correlates of turnover propensity of software professionals in small high tech companies

Abstract
The intent of this study is to shed some empirical light on the turnover propensity of software professionals in small software companies. Different sized firms were included to examine whether organizational size affected the relationships between the time the employees expected to stay in their present company, and a range of personal and organizational characteristics. A sample of 339 employees completed a questionnaire on their experience of and reactions to working in their current firm. None of the usual demographic indicators, e.g. age or tenure, was related to turnover propensity. The more time spent on programming, debugging or implementation, the shorter the time expected to stay. Satisfaction with both job and senior management was strongly related to expecting to stay longer, although satisfaction with project team or immediate boss showed virtually no relationship at all. The effect of organizational size occurred primarily with different company atmosphere qualities and certain work conditions. A warm atmosphere, fun and enjoyment, and friends in the company were important correlates only for the companies with below 50 people. Autonomy was a critical theme in the companies with 150–250 people, and recognition and advancement were important in the large company with approximately 2,000 employees. This suggests that the critical issues managers are confronted with would be different in organizations of different sizes.     

An Empirical Study of Student Willingness to Study Abroad

Companies wish for universities to provide business students with international education and awareness. Short- and long-term study-abroad programs are an effective method by which this is accomplished, but relatively few American students study abroad. In response to these facts, this study develops hypotheses that predict student willingness to study abroad and tests the hypotheses using a survey of over 300 primarily business undergraduate students at a public Midwestern university. Results indicate a significant difference between student willingness to study abroad short-term versus long-term. Results also show that personal, situational, and location variables influence students' willingness to study abroad, though completing an international business class had no effect. Implications for international business scholars are discussed.     

Can mergers ensure the survival of credit unions in the third millennium?

The survival of small financial institutions in the third millennium depends on their competitiveness against large bank rivals. Accordingly, credit unions in Australia and the United States have attempted to increase efficiency through mergers. Our paper uses the data envelopment analysis methodology to evaluate the post-merger gains in technical and scale efficiency achieved by 31 Australian credit union mergers in 1993/1994 and 1994/1995, relative to non-merging credit unions. When compared with the only US study of credit union mergers [Journal of Banking & Finance 23 (1999) 367–386], our findings suggests that mergers are not associated with improvements in efficiency superior to those achieved by internal growth.     

Career orientations of software developers in a sample of high tech companies

The career orientations of software developers in 11 high technology companies of different sizes were studied. It was found that the proportion wanting a managerial career was higher than might be expected (34%) and increased with organisational size. Approximately 25% wanted advancement in a technical career, and this remained the same in organisations of different sizes. The same proportion wanted to start up their own company, but this decreased substantially with organisational size. The group wanting a project-based career was the smallest, at 15%, and this varied slightly with organisational size. The four groups showed differences in their ideal job characteristics, organisational versus technical orientation and expected tenure. The extent to which they actually expected to satisfy their career preference varied dramatically, with the great majority of managerially-oriented expecting to actually be managers, but the majority wanting to start their own company not expecting to actually do so. The small high technology company has become an important, almost mythical, component of popular and academic folklore. As Beyer says, the “prevailing wisdom from both lay people and researchers who have been around them says that these firms are somehow different” (Beyer, 1985, p. 483). Within such organisations, the software developer or computer hack has similarly developed a particular aura. As one commentator puts it, “the stereotyped image of the community of programmers is … of a collection of single-minded nerds possessing no interest in life outside the digital realm” (Sandberg-Diment, 1986, p.C3). In spite of the interest in both the nature of such companies and such employees, there has been very little empirical data collected (Turbin and Rosse, 1988, p.17) to substantiate the folklore. In particular there has been an almost complete absence of rigorous academic enquiry into what the individuals choosing to work in this type of company are really like, or what their work needs actually are. The present paper is aimed at filling some of this gap, by addressing the issue of what type of career path software developers in high tech companies want.