Labor pains: change in organizational models and employee turnover in young, high-tech firms

Baron, J.N.; Hannan, M.T.; Burton, M.D.

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 mechanismemployee 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.

Citation

Baron, J., Hannan, M., & Burton, M. (2001). Labor pains: change in organizational models and employee turnover in young, high-tech firms. American Journal of Sociology, 106(4), 960-1012. https://doi.org/10.1086/320296

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2001-01
• Deposit Date: Jun 23, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 23, 2008
• Journal: American Journal of Sociology
• Print ISSN: 0002-9602
• Electronic ISSN: 1537-5390
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 106
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 960-1012
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/320296
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1580656
• Publisher URL: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJS/journal/issues/v106n4/040306/brief/040306.abstract.html