IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/aosoci/v79y2019ics0361368219300546.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Deploying “connectors”: A control to manage employee turnover intentions?

Author

Listed:
  • Autrey, Romana L.
  • Bauer, Tim D.
  • Jackson, Kevin E.
  • Klevsky, Elena

Abstract

This paper investigates whether individuals that we identify as “connectors”—who possess a blend of innate traits and skills that predispose them to be personable, willing to relate to others, and able to influence others’ relationships—can serve as a catalyst for improving group outcomes. More specifically, we explore whether identifying connectors and placing them in work groups can serve as a control to help firms manage undesirable voluntary employee turnover by improving the group experience and reducing their fellow group members’ turnover intentions. We conduct an experiment to test our hypotheses that members in a group with a connector (versus without) have lower turnover intentions because their experiences are perceived as more positive, and that this turnover intention effect is more pronounced for group members who are demographically distinct from others in their group. Results are consistent with predictions, although the effect of connectors on lowering group members’ turnover intentions is driven by members who are distinct. Our findings broaden the understanding of who connectors are and how they affect group interactions, and further suggest that hiring and deploying connectors in work groups can be an effective component of a more comprehensive retention strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Autrey, Romana L. & Bauer, Tim D. & Jackson, Kevin E. & Klevsky, Elena, 2019. "Deploying “connectors”: A control to manage employee turnover intentions?," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:79:y:2019:i:c:s0361368219300546
    DOI: 10.1016/j.aos.2019.101059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361368219300546
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.aos.2019.101059?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hong Ren & Barbara Gray & David A. Harrison, 2015. "Triggering Faultline Effects in Teams: The Importance of Bridging Friendship Ties and Breaching Animosity Ties," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 390-404, April.
    2. Bullen, Maria Lombardi & Flamholtz, Eric G., 1985. "A theoretical and empirical investigation of job satisfaction and intended turnover in the large CPA firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 287-302, July.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:5:y:2010:i:5:p:411-419 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Chenhall, Robert H., 2003. "Management control systems design within its organizational context: findings from contingency-based research and directions for the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 127-168.
    5. Christopher D. Zatzick & Marta M. Elvira & Lisa E. Cohen, 2003. "When is More Better? The Effects of Racial Composition on Voluntary Turnover," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(5), pages 483-496, October.
    6. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Brownell, Peter, 1997. "Management control systems in research and development organizations: The role of accounting, behavior and personnel controls," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(3-4), pages 233-248.
    7. Birnberg, Jacob G. & Snodgrass, Coral, 1988. "Culture and control: A field study," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 447-464, August.
    8. van Knippenberg, Daan & Mell, Julija N., 2016. "Past, present, and potential future of team diversity research: From compositional diversity to emergent diversity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 135-145.
    9. Mundy, Julia, 2010. "Creating dynamic tensions through a balanced use of management control systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 499-523, July.
    10. van Knippenberg, Daan & van Ginkel, Wendy P. & Homan, Astrid C., 2013. "Diversity mindsets and the performance of diverse teams," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 183-193.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nur Diana & Maslichah & M. Basjir & Arrozi Adhikara, 2023. "Mentorship Function to Reduce Turnover Intention in Public Accounting Firm," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 12, September.
    2. Hennig, Jan C. & Ahrens, Carolin & Oehmichen, Jana & Wolff, Michael, 2023. "Employee stock ownership and firm exit decisions: A cross-country analysis of rank-and-file employees," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

    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. Cuguero-Escofet, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep M., 2012. "The just design and use of management control systems as requirements for goal congruence," IESE Research Papers D/949, IESE Business School.
    2. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2017. "Effects of management control mechanisms: towards a more comprehensive analysis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 185-219, February.
    3. Cugueró-Escofet, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep Maria, 2013. "Social Dynamics of Justice: How the Ex-Ante and Ex-Post Justice Interplay With Formal and Informal Elements of Management Control Systems," IESE Research Papers D/1073, IESE Business School.
    4. Gerdin, Jonas & Johansson, Tobias & Wennblom, Gabriella, 2019. "The contingent nature of complementarity between results and value-based controls for managing company-level profitability: A situational strength perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Chenhall, Robert H. & Moers, Frank, 2015. "The role of innovation in the evolution of management accounting and its integration into management control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-13.
    6. Cuguero, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep M., 2011. "The next generation of management control systems: Justice and fairness as antecedents for goal congruence," IESE Research Papers D/917, IESE Business School.
    7. Johansson, Tobias, 2018. "Testing for control system interdependence with structural equation modeling: Conceptual developments and evidence on the levers of control framework," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 47-62.
    8. Benjamin Benoit, 2014. "Is there a manager in the plane ? The remarquable absence of the manager in enabling control [Y a-t-il un manager dans l'avion ? Ou la relative absence du manager dans les approches capacitantes du," Post-Print hal-01899013, HAL.
    9. Andrea Fried, 2017. "Terminological distinctions of ‘control’: a review of the implications for management control research in the context of innovation," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 5-40, February.
    10. Emer Curtis & Breda Sweeney, 2017. "Managing different types of innovation: mutually reinforcing management control systems and the generation of dynamic tension," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(3), pages 313-343, April.
    11. Parulian Silaen & Robert Williams, 2009. "Management control systems: a model for R&D units," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(3), pages 262-274, November.
    12. Christoph Feichter & Isabella Grabner, 2020. "Empirische Forschung zu Management Control – Ein Überblick und neue Trends [Empirical Management Control Reserach—An Overview and Future Directions]," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 72(2), pages 149-181, June.
    13. Ossi Pesämaa, 2017. "Personnel- and action control in gazelle companies in Sweden," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 107-132, February.
    14. Gopalakrishnan, Mohan & Libby, Theresa & Samuels, Janet A. & Swenson, Dan, 2015. "The effect of cost goal specificity and new product development process on cost reduction performance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-11.
    15. Maurizio Massaro & Filippo Zanin & Roland Bardy, 2014. "Levers of control and knowledge sharing in alliances among Large Firms and Small Firms in the pharmaceutical industry," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(2), pages 121-142.
    16. Lill, Philipp A. & Wald, Andreas, 2021. "The agility-control-nexus: A levers of control approach on the consequences of agility in innovation projects," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    17. Müller-Stewens, Benedikt & Widener, Sally K. & Möller, Klaus & Steinmann, Jan-Christoph, 2020. "The role of diagnostic and interactive control uses in innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Gomez-Conde, Jacobo & Lopez-Valeiras, Ernesto & Ripoll-Feliú, Vicente M. & Gonzalez-Sanchez, María Beatriz, 2013. "El efecto mediador y moderador de la internacionalización en la relación entre los sistemas de control de gestión y el compromiso con la innovación," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 53-65.
    19. M. Frigotto & Graziano Coller & Paolo Collini, 2013. "The Strategy and Management Control Systems relationship as emerging dynamic process," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(3), pages 631-656, August.
    20. Cooper, Christine, 2015. "Entrepreneurs of the self: The development of management control since 1976," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 14-24.

    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:eee:aosoci:v:79:y:2019:i:c:s0361368219300546. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/aos .

    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.