Work

Labor Pains: Change in Organizational Models and Employee Turnover in Young, High‐Tech Firms

Year: 2001

Type: article

Abstract: Organizational theories, especially ecological perspectives, emphasize the disruptive effects of change. However, the mechanisms producing these effects are seldom examined explicitly. This article examines one such mechanism—employee turnover. Analyzing a sample of high‐technology start‐ups, we show that changes in the employment models or blueprints embraced by organizational leaders increase turnover, which in turn adversely affects subsequent organizational performance. Turnover associated with organizational change appears to be concentrated among the most senior employees, suggesting “old guard disenchantment” as the primary cause. The results are consistent with the claim of neoinstitutionalist scholars that founders impose cultural blueprints on nascent organizations and with the claim of organizational ecologists that altering such blueprints is disruptive and destabilizing.

Source: American Journal of Sociology

DOI: 10.1086/320296

Authors: James N. Baron, Michael T. Hannan, M. Diane Burton

Institutions: Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Management and Organizational Studies

Subfield: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

Funders: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business