Tether or Stepping Stone? The Relationship between Perceived External Reputation and Collective Voluntary Turnover Rates

Abstract

Signaling theory suggests that resources such as firm reputation can send multiple signals that create dual pressures on stakeholders. These tensions are apparent when examining the relationship between a firm’s reputation and the collective voluntary turnover rates it experiences. On the one hand, a favorable reputation may tether employees to the firm due to the perceived desirability of working for a reputable company, resulting in lower voluntary turnover rates. On the other hand, a favorable reputation may make employees believe they are more marketable and thus may serve as a stepping stone relating to higher voluntary turnover rates. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether and when reputation acts as a signal of desirability or a signal of ease of movement in predicting collective voluntary turnover rates. We find some evidence for an overall tethering effect for more reputable firms. In addition, our findings demonstrate that reputation is more likely to result in stepping stone effects in certain signaling environments including when firms are in more munificent industries, are younger, and have higher pay levels. Tethering effects are observed when firms are in less munificent industries, are older, and have lower pay levels.

Agile, Stage-Gate and their combination: Exploring how they relate to performance in software development

“…Finally, our results show the presence of significant interaction effects for two survey-based variables. Support for interaction is unlikely to be an artifact of single-respondent bias, as it is implausible that respondents will consciously theorize interaction effects when responding to a survey (Makarius, Stevens, & Tenhiälä, 2017). Based on the study design and these observational and statistical tests, we conclude that the probability of common method bias is minimal.…”

Moderating role of corporate reputation in the influence of external support on organisational resilience and performance

“…Third, it affects the trust and loyalty of investors (Helm, 2011), suppliers and other contractors (Potgieter, 2018). Fourth, it helps to attract adequate human resources from the labour market, has an impact on positive feelings of employees (Ali et al, 2019;Potgieter, 2018;Bieńkowska et al, 2020), and also reduces the voluntary turnover (Makarius et al, 2017). As a consequence, corporate reputation affects organisational performance (Bergh et al, 2010;Pradhan, 2016) and company value (Almeida & Coelho, 2019;Roberts, 2002).…”

Corporate reputation management: the role of the enterprise risk management, the reporting of corporate social responsibility and the cultural context

“…En este sentido, una buena reputación corporativa mejora la capacidad de atraer y retener clientes (Caminiti, 1992;Keh y Xie, 2009;Fombrun, 1996;Selnes, 1993) a la vez que incrementa su disposición a pagar precios superiores (Milgrom y Roberts, 1986a;Dowling, 2006a;Fombrun, 1996;Graham y Bansal, 2007;Klein y Leffler, 1981;Obloj y Obloj, 2006;Shapiro, 1983). Por otro lado, las empresas que poseen una buena reputación corporativa atraen a mejores candidatos para sus puestos de trabajo y cuentan con tasas inferiores de rotación del personal (Beatty y Ritter, 1986;Dowling, 2006a;Makarius et al, 2017;Turban y Cable, 2003). Asimismo, una buena reputación permite captar a proveedores y aliados en condiciones ventajosas (Chun et al, 2005), e influye positivamente en las decisiones de acreedores e inversores permitiendo a la empresa mejorar su capacidad de atracción de recursos financieros a menores costes (Beatty y Ritter, 1986;Dowling, 2006a;Milgrom y Roberts, 1986b).…”

“…Many managers consider corporate reputation to be one of the most important intangible assets a firm has (Chun, 2005;Hall, 1992Hall, , 1993, and empirical evidence has shown that a good reputation facilitates stakeholder cooperation with companies (e.g. Keh & Xie, 2009;Makarius et al, 2017;Walsh et al, 2009). Therefore, a good corporate reputation is considered a source of sustainable competitive advantages (e.g.…”

“…Good corporate reputation favors the relation of the company with its stakeholders. It attracts loyal customers who are willing to pay premium prices (Fombrun, 1996;Selnes, 1993;Villafañe, 2004;Walsh et al, 2009), attracts better job candidates and reduces turnover (Fombrun, 1996;Makarius et al, 2017;Roberts & Dowling, 2001;Stigler, 1962;Villafañe, 2004), and improves investors' loyalty and access to finance under better conditions (Beatty & Ritter, 1986;Dowling, 2006a;Milgrom & Roberts, 1986b). Consequently, corporate reputation can affect firm value Gregory, 1991;Roberts & Dowling, 2002).…”