The effect of culture on the curvilinear relationship between performance and turnover.
Although researchers have theorized that there exists a curvilinear relationship between job performance and voluntary turnover, their research has been tested in the United States or culturally similar Switzerland. Through a study of the performance-turnover relationship from a multinational service-oriented organization in 24 countries, we demonstrate that the general relationship between performance and turnover is similar across countries but the details of that relationship change across countries. Using 4 cultural dimensions--in-group collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and performance orientation--we find that cultural factors alter the overall probability of voluntary turnover and influence the degree of curvilinearity in the performance-turnover relationship. Our findings have implications for research on the performance-turnover relationship, turnover research, and practice.
School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. mcs5@cornell.edu
Michael C
MC
Sturman
Lian
L
Shao
Jan H
JH
Katz
D000328:Adult; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D001315:Australia / Q000208:ethnology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009656:North America / Q000208:ethnology; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010563:Personnel Turnover; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012929:Psychological Distance; D011582:Psychological Theory; D013020:South America / Q000208:ethnology