The concept of work exhaustion (or job burnout) from the management and psychology research literature is examined in the context of technology professionals. Data were collected from 270 IT professionals and managers in various industries across the United States. Through structural equation modeling, work exhaustion was shown to partially mediate the effects of workplace factors on turnover intention. In addition, the results of the study revealed that: (1) technology professionals experiencing higher levels of exhaustion reported higher intentions to leave the job and, (2) of the variables expected to influence exhaus-1 Robert Zmud was the accepting senior editor for this paper. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1998 ACM SIGCPR Conference. tion (work overload, role ambiguity and conflict, lack of autonomy and lack of rewards), work overload was the strongest contributor to exhaustion in the technology workers. Moreover, exhausted IT professionals identified insufficient staff and resources as a primary cause of work overload and exhaustion. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

No abstract

No abstract

Increasingly, scholars and practitioners acknowledge that information technology (IT) human capital is a strategic resource and that its effective management represents a significant organizational capability. We use configurational theory to examine organizational practices related to the management of IT human capital. In contrast to much prior work in IT human resource management (HRM) that is focused at the individual level, our inquiry is focused at the organizational level of analysis. Building on strategic human resource management (SHRM) research in general and research on the management of IT professionals in particular, we examine the broad question: Are different configurations of IT HRM practices associated with different IT staff turnover rates? A multidimensional view of IT HRM practices is presented, based on prior IT and SHRM literature. We formalize hypotheses regarding the relationship of turnover with configurations of IT HRM practices grounded in prior theory and empirical research. Based on survey responses from 106 organizations, IT HRM dimensions and configurations are derived and the hypotheses are tested. A five-configuration solution, obtained via cluster analysis, includes two contrasting configurations consistent with two archetypes found in the prior literature. Specifically, the configuration with a human capital focus has lower turnover than the task-focused configuration, providing support for our first hypothesis. Although the hypothesis on intermediate configurations and their relationship with turnover is not supported, we discover and interpret three additional configurations that embody patterns of practices with unique emphases. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

No abstract