The Mediating Role of Updating Orientation in Linking Threat of Professional Obsolescence to Turnover/Turnaway Intentions

This study proposes that IT professionals’ behavioral orientation towards IT knowledge and skills updating demands can take on two contrasting forms: updating-as-play or updating-as-work. Drawing on threatrigidity theory (Staw, Sandelands, & Dutton, 1981), the authors hypothesize that IT professionals who feel threatened by professional obsolescence are more likely to approach updating-as-work more than as play. Results from a sample of IT professionals are consistent with threat-rigidity theory (Staw et al., 1981) in that the threat of professional obsolescence is negatively related to updating-as-play and is positively related to updating-as-work. The authors also find that updating-as-play is negatively related to turnaway intentions and that updating-as-work is positively related to turnover intentions; these findings are consistent with IT theories of job mobility. The authors conclude this study with a discussion of these results and propose future research directions. skills in the IT profession is estimated at about two years (Ang & Slaughter, 2000; Dubin, 1990). The IT professional is therefore subjected to a continuous threat of professional obsolescence (Tsai et al., 2007), and must update their knowledge and skills continuously to remain productive in the IT profession. Otherwise, their IT careers may stagnate, or even decline, in terms of employability, promotability, and compensation. DOI: 10.4018/ijsodit.2011100103 38 International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 1(4), 37-47, October-December 2011 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Despite the importance of updating behaviors associated with the IT profession, limited theoretical and empirical research exists on updating behaviors – be it its ontology, etiology, structure, or consequences. Hence, we begin a program of research by asking: how do IT professionals perceive and approach updating? We draw on the concept of play (Mainemelis & Ronson, 2006) to propose two distinct behavioral orientations towards updating: “updating-as-play” and “updating-as-work.” We examine how each updating orientation is affected by the threat of professional obsolescence and how it subsequently affects job mobility intentions. In doing so, this study responds to a recent call by Joseph, Ng, Koh, and Ang (2007, p. 555) to examine antecedents of job mobility that are particularly germane to the IT discipline. As noted by Joseph et al. (2007), prior IT research on the job mobility intentions are limited in their contributions as the antecedents examined are similar to those that have been identified in the general organizational behavior literature. Therefore, this study contributes to the IT discipline by proposing that updating orientation is associated with job mobility intentions of IT professionals. The study also contributes to existing theory on updating by examining the consequences of updating orientation on job mobility intentions. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION AND HYPOTHESES DEvELOPMENT Figure 1 presents the research model governing this study. It shows the hypotheses and the systems of relationships among the hypotheses. Threat of Professional Obsolescence and Updating Orientations Professional obsolescence is defined as the erosion of professional knowledge and skills required for successful performance (e.g., Dubin, 1990; Ferdinand, 1966; Glass, 2000). To manage the threat of professional obsolescence, IT professionals are constantly required to learn and stay up-to-date with the latest technologies in the IT field (Tsai et al., 2007). How IT professionals view and approach updating is not well-understood. To address this gap, we draw on the concept Figure 1. Research model International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 1(4), 37-47, October-December 2011 39 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. of play orientation (Mainemelis & Ronson, 2006) to propose two distinct ways by which IT professionals approach updating: updatingas-play or updating-as-work. Mainemelis and Ronson (2006, p. 85) define play as “a patterned behavioral orientation” (p. 85) towards performing any type of activity. A play orientation is characterized by five interdependent elements: positive affect; loose and flexible association between means and ends; freedom from external constraints; non-institutionalized boundaries of time and space; and a threshold experience. Updatingas-play is also expressive in nature in that updating is perceived as intrinsically rewarding. Because updating is seen as play with highly positive emotions such as “fun, relaxation, ecstatic joy, or emotional relief” (Mainemelis & Ronson, 2006, p. 91) updating is pursued as a goal in and of itself. When updating is seen as play, updating behaviors are driven not by efficiency or by specific goals – they are free from job constraints and can be undertaken at any time or place. In support of the updating-asplay concept, Pazy (1996, p. 1195) found that some technology professionals regard updating as “fun,” a break from routine, “rest and relaxation” and “a private pleasure” (p. 1195). By contrast, updating-as-work is instrumental and efficiency-oriented (Glynn, 1994). When updating is seen as work, updating is tightly coupled with task performance and is undertaken only when it is absolutely required for task completion. Thus, updating-as-work is a task-focused and needs-based endeavor that is seldom accompanied by positive emotions. Evidence of the updating-as-work orientation can also be found in Pazy (1996, p. 1176), where it was reported that some technology professionals update only in areas “directly relevant to current tasks” (p. 1176). The theory of threat-rigidity predicts how IT professionals would approach updating. The theory posits that a threat perceived by an individual elicits behavioral responses that tend to be less varied or more rigid (Staw et al., 1981). These responses are the result of restricting information processing and constricting control. In restricting information processing, individuals narrow their field of attention, reduce the sources of information, or depend on prior experiences. They narrow the scope of knowledge and information processing to their area of specialization at the expense of the broader scope of IT professional knowledge (Kozlowski & Farr, 1988; Pazy, 1994; Steiner & Farr, 1986). In constricting control, individuals shorten the time horizon to the present to alleviate the threat by perceiving a sense of security and protection within a temporarily unchanging bubble (Pazy, 1996). Therefore, the more IT professionals regard professional obsolescence as a threat, the greater their tendency to narrow their field of attention to current tasks and divert away from exploratory and scanning activities (Joseph & Ang, 2001). Moreover, perceptions of threat trigger psychological stress and anxiety that inhibit positive affect. Thus, we expect that perceptions of the threat of professional obsolescence will trigger a work orientation towards updating and hinder a play orientation towards updating. Hypothesis 1: The threat of professional obsolescence is H1(a) negatively related to updating-as-play; and H1(b)positively related to updating-as-work. Updating Orientation and their Consequent Job Mobility Intentions There is limited research extending concepts of play and threat-rigidity theory to the consequences of updating orientation. Therefore, this study provides us the opportunity to contribute to extant literature by linking the updating orientation of IT professionals with their subsequent job mobility intentions. In this paper, we examine two forms of job mobility intentions: a) turnover intentions – defined as individuals’ intentions of holding the same or similar jobs in different organizations; and b) turnaway intentions – defined as individuals’ intentions of changing one’s profession or occupation (Joseph, Boh, Ang, & Slaughter, in press). 40 International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 1(4), 37-47, October-December 2011 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Although updating-as-play is not goaldriven, it results in an improvement of domainrelevant skills (Mainemelis & Ronson, 2006). A play orientation towards updating broadens IT professionals’ repertoire of knowledge and skills, enables them to discover unnoticed variables and opportunities, explore taskrelated behaviors, and achieve continuously higher levels of mastery (Mainemelis & Ronson, 2006). Thus, updating-as-play maintains IT professionals’ currency of IT knowledge and skills. IT theories of job mobility (Joseph et al., 2007) have posited and concluded that skills development reduces turnover intentions by increasing IT professionals’ job satisfaction and embeddedness in the organization. In the same vein, we expect updating-as-play to reduce turnaway intentions by increasing IT professionals’ embeddedness within the IT profession (Joseph et al., in press). Hence, Hypothesis 2: Updating-as-play is negatively related to H2(a) turnover intentions; and H2(b) turnaway intentions. Following the arguments based on the concept of play (Mainemelis & Ronson, 2006), we postulate that IT professionals who “updateas-play” would do so continually. On the other hand, IT professionals who “update-as-work” would update more intermittently and, therefore, are less likely to be up-to-date in their IT knowledge and skills. Human capital theory (Becker, 1975) suggests that the lack of upto-date IT knowledge and skills would reduce levels of job performance. In turn, the lowered job performance of IT professionals has been related with reduced job satisfaction and thus, greater turnover intentions (Joseph et al., 2007). The lack of up-to-date IT knowledge and skills would also narrow the range of job alternatives within the IT profession (Joseph et al., 2007). As alternative jobs within IT become limited, IT professionals may seek a career change as a response to the threat of professional obsolescence (Pazy, 1990; Tsai et al., 2007). A career change reduces subsequent professional obsolescence as occupation-specific knowledge and skills in other non-IT professions erode less rapidly (Dubin, 1990). In addition, IT professionals who have turned away from the IT profession to non-IT line positions become valued “power-users” in these line functions (Reich & Kaarst-Brown, 1999, 2003). Hence, Hypothesis 3: Updating-as-work is positively related to H3(a) turnover intentions; and H3(b) turnaway intentions.