Over the years much has been written about the organization life cycle, yet there has been remarkably little attention given to the underlying construct of a life-cycle stage. It is proposed in this study that each life-cycle stage consists of a unique configuration of variables related to organization context and structure. Cluster analysis is used to derive a taxonomy of growth stage configurations in a sample of 126 high-technology organizations. The derived configurations suggest a sequence of four growth stages.

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This study examines the relationships between production employee absenteeism and personal characteristics, job situation, and job satisfaction. The Steers and Rhodes hypothesized model of employee attendance suggests that these variables are major influences on absenteeism. The time-lost measure of absence was used for the dependent variable. Multiple regression and the general linear models approach to hypothesis testing were used in the analyses. The results indicate some statistically significant and some nonsignificant relationships between absence from work and this set of variables. Job satisfaction was not found to be a major influence on variation in absenteeism. Employee absenteeism is an important organizational problem. Replacing absent employees can lead to significant labor and training costs and financial problems. The occurrence of employee absenteeism needs to be understood more fully. Previous studies of absenteeism have been reviewed in the literature by Steers and Rhodes (1978), Muchinsky (1977), Nicholson, Brown, and Chadwick-Jones (1977), and Porter and Steers (1973). The reviews have covered many types of variables, including personal characteristics, facets of job satisfaction, and job situation. Steers and Rhodes (1978) developed a process model of employee attendance, presented here as Figure 1, that was based on previous research. The process model of attendance behavior (Steers & Rhodes, 1978) and theory suggested by Porter and Steers (1973), Morgan and Herman (1976), and Nicholson et al. (1977) form a part of the conceptual base of this study. Porter and Steers suggested that "met expectations" and "perceived equity" are important forces in the decision to be absent from work. Morgan and Herman suggested that employees decide whether or not to attend work based on the deterrent and motivating consequences of being absent. Nicholson et al. suggested that increasing levels of domestic responsibility and a need for increasing stability and regularity are conceptually linked to an inverse age-absence relationship. Personal characteristics have consistently been Requests for reprints should be sent to Collin J. Watson, who is now at the Department of Management,

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