Why are quit rates lower among defense contractors?

"This paper presents empirical evidence of lower quit rates at small manufacturers with defense contracts and examines whether this is associated with differences in their human resource policies and organizational practices and strategies. We take advantage of an original data set to compare l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial relations (Berkeley) 2011-10, Vol.50 (4), p.573-590
Main Authors: WATKINS, TODD A., HYCLAK, THOMAS
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arbeit
Arbeitsbedingungen
Arbeitsplatzwechsel
Betriebliche Weiterbildung
Comparative analysis
Contracts
Defense contracts
Defense industry
Employee turnover
Fluktuation
H57 (Procurement)
Human Resources
J63 (Turnover
J63 (Turnover, Vacancies, Layoffs)
Klein- und Mittelbetrieb
Kündigung
Labour turnover
Layoffs
M12 (Personnel Management)
M54 (Labor Management)
Management
Militär
Occupational Structure
Organizational structure
Pennsylvania
Personalmanagement
Personalpolitik
Personnel management
Personnel policies
Produzierendes Gewerbe
Quote
Rüstungsindustrie
Skills
Small and medium sized enterprises
Small business
Strategies
Studies
Training
USA
Vacancies
Zufriedenheit
Zulieferbetrieb
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Summary:"This paper presents empirical evidence of lower quit rates at small manufacturers with defense contracts and examines whether this is associated with differences in their human resource policies and organizational practices and strategies. We take advantage of an original data set to compare labor quits, workforce skills, and occupational structure between defense-contracting and noncontracting small manufacturers in eastern Pennsylvania. We find that the remarkably large defense contractor advantage in quit rates - 7 percentage points - is almost totally explained by differences in skills, operational strategies, and workforce management and training practices, suggesting a mediation effect through these HR practices. Defense-contracting status emerges as an important overlooked variable in HRM studies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku). Die Untersuchung enthält quantitative Daten. Forschungsmethode: empirisch; Befragung. Die Untersuchung bezieht sich auf den Zeitraum 2003 bis 2003.
ISSN:1468-232X
0019-8676
1468-232X
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-232X.2011.00653.x