IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v20y2009i1p51-68.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Gina Dokko

    (Department of Management and Organizations, Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012)

  • Steffanie L. Wilk

    (Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210)

  • Nancy P. Rothbard

    (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104)

Abstract

As individuals change jobs more frequently, it is increasingly important to understand what they carry from their prior work experience that affects their performance in a new organizational context. So far, explanations about the imperfect portability of experience have primarily been about firm specificity of knowledge and skill. We draw on psychological theory to propose additional sociocognitive factors that interfere with the transfer of knowledge and skill acquired from prior related work experience. As we hypothesized, we find that task-relevant knowledge and skill mediates the relationship between prior related experience and job performance and that it acts as suppressing mediator of a negative direct relationship between prior related experience and current job performance. We also find that the positive effect of prior related experience on task-relevant knowledge and skill is attenuated by higher levels of experience within the current firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Gina Dokko & Steffanie L. Wilk & Nancy P. Rothbard, 2009. "Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 51-68, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:20:y:2009:i:1:p:51-68
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1080.0357
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1080.0357
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.1080.0357?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McCall, Brian P, 1990. "Occupational Matching: A Test of Sorts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(1), pages 45-69, February.
    2. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Kane, Aimee A. & Argote, Linda & Levine, John M., 2005. "Knowledge transfer between groups via personnel rotation: Effects of social identity and knowledge quality," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 56-71, January.
    5. James L. Medoff & Katharine G. Abraham, 1981. "Are Those Paid More Really More Productive? The Case of Experience," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 16(2), pages 186-216.
    6. Cable, Daniel M. & Judge, Timothy A., 1996. "Person-Organization Fit, Job Choice Decisions, and Organizational Entry," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 294-311, September.
    7. Barth, Erling, 1997. "Firm-Specific Seniority and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages 495-506, July.
    8. Eric D. Darr & Linda Argote & Dennis Epple, 1995. "The Acquisition, Transfer, and Depreciation of Knowledge in Service Organizations: Productivity in Franchises," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(11), pages 1750-1762, November.
    9. Hall, Robert E, 1982. "The Importance of Lifetime Jobs in the U.S. Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(4), pages 716-724, September.
    10. Ray Reagans & Linda Argote & Daria Brooks, 2005. "Individual Experience and Experience Working Together: Predicting Learning Rates from Knowing Who Knows What and Knowing How to Work Together," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(6), pages 869-881, June.
    11. Thompson, Leigh & Gentner, Dedre & Loewenstein, Jeffrey, 2000. "Avoiding Missed Opportunities in Managerial Life: Analogical Training More Powerful Than Individual Case Training," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 60-75, May.
    12. Lori Rosenkopf & Paul Almeida, 2003. "Overcoming Local Search Through Alliances and Mobility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(6), pages 751-766, June.
    13. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    14. Robert S. Huckman & Gary P. Pisano, 2006. "The Firm Specificity of Individual Performance: Evidence from Cardiac Surgery," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(4), pages 473-488, April.
    15. Soon Ang & Sandra Slaughter & Kok Yee Ng, 2002. "Human Capital and Institutional Determinants of Information Technology Compensation: Modeling Multilevel and Cross-Level Interactions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(11), pages 1427-1445, November.
    16. Arthur H. Goldsmith & Jonathan R. Veum, 2002. "Wages and the Composition of Experience," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 69(2), pages 429-443, October.
    17. Jaeyong Song & Paul Almeida & Geraldine Wu, 2003. "Learning--by--Hiring: When Is Mobility More Likely to Facilitate Interfirm Knowledge Transfer?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 351-365, April.
    18. Beth A. Bechky, 2003. "Sharing Meaning Across Occupational Communities: The Transformation of Understanding on a Production Floor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 312-330, June.
    19. Melissa A. Schilling & Patricia Vidal & Robert E. Ployhart & Alexandre Marangoni, 2003. "Learning by Doing Something Else: Variation, Relatedness, and the Learning Curve," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(1), pages 39-56, January.
    20. Janice M. Beyer & David R. Hannah, 2002. "Building on the Past: Enacting Established Personal Identities in a New Work Setting," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(6), pages 636-652, December.
    21. Parent, Daniel, 2000. "Industry-Specific Capital and the Wage Profile: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 306-323, April.
    22. Cummins, J. David & Weiss, Mary A., 1993. "Measuring cost efficiency in the property-liability insurance industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2-3), pages 463-481, April.
    23. Linda Argote & Sara L. Beckman & Dennis Epple, 1990. "The Persistence and Transfer of Learning in Industrial Settings," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(2), pages 140-154, February.
    24. Almeida, Paul & Dokko, Gina & Rosenkopf, Lori, 2003. "Startup size and the mechanisms of external learning: increasing opportunity and decreasing ability?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 301-315, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Linda Argote & Sunkee Lee & Jisoo Park, 2021. "Organizational Learning Processes and Outcomes: Major Findings and Future Research Directions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(9), pages 5399-5429, September.
    2. Linda Argote & Ella Miron-Spektor, 2011. "Organizational Learning: From Experience to Knowledge," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1123-1137, October.
    3. Argote, Linda & Fahrenkopf, Erin, 2016. "Knowledge transfer in organizations: The roles of members, tasks, tools, and networks," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 146-159.
    4. Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats, 2008. "Variation in Experience and Team Familiarity: Addressing the Knowledge Acquisition-Application Problem," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-035, Harvard Business School.
    5. Robert S. Huckman & Gary P. Pisano, 2006. "The Firm Specificity of Individual Performance: Evidence from Cardiac Surgery," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(4), pages 473-488, April.
    6. Zsolt Csáfordi & László Lőrincz & Balázs Lengyel & Károly Miklós Kiss, 2020. "Productivity spillovers through labor flows: productivity gap, multinational experience and industry relatedness," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 86-121, February.
    7. Wai Fong Boh & Sandra A. Slaughter & J. Alberto Espinosa, 2007. "Learning from Experience in Software Development: A Multilevel Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(8), pages 1315-1331, August.
    8. Megan Lawrence, 2018. "Taking Stock of the Ability to Change: The Effect of Prior Experience," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 489-506, June.
    9. Jain, Amit, 2023. "How knowledge loss and network-structure jointly determine R&D productivity in the biotechnology industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    10. Eelke Wiersma, 2007. "Conditions That Shape the Learning Curve: Factors That Increase the Ability and Opportunity to Learn," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(12), pages 1903-1915, December.
    11. Matt Marx & Bram Timmermans, 2017. "Hiring Molecules, Not Atoms: Comobility and Wages," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(6), pages 1115-1133, December.
    12. Bryan Hong, 2020. "Power to the outsiders: External hiring and decision authority allocation within organizations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(9), pages 1628-1652, September.
    13. Zsolt Csafordi & Laszlo Lorincz & Balazs Lengyel & Karoly Miklos Kiss, 2016. "Productivity spillovers through labor flows: The effect of productivity gap, foreign-owned firms, and skill-relatedness," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1610, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    14. Matt Marx & Deborah Strumsky & Lee Fleming, 2009. "Mobility, Skills, and the Michigan Non-Compete Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(6), pages 875-889, June.
    15. Amit Jain, 2016. "Learning by hiring and change to organizational knowledge: Countering obsolescence as organizations age," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1667-1687, August.
    16. Stewart R. Miller & Douglas E. Thomas & Lorraine Eden & Michael Hitt, 2008. "Knee Deep in the Big Muddy: The Survival of Emerging Market Firms in Developed Markets," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 645-666, December.
    17. Jonathan R. Clark & Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats, 2013. "Learning from Customers: Individual and Organizational Effects in Outsourced Radiological Services," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1539-1557, October.
    18. Arroyabe, M. F. & Hussinger, Katrin & Hagedoorn, John, 2020. "Hiring new key inventors to improve firms' post-M&A inventive output," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-029, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. Marino, Marianna & Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Pozzoli, Dario, 2016. "Educational diversity and knowledge transfers via inter-firm labor mobility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 168-183.
    20. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2011. "Learning from the failures of others: The effects of post-exit knowledge spillovers on recipient firms," MPRA Paper 89223, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:20:y:2009:i:1:p:51-68. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.