Organization and Strategy Seminar（2019-02）

Topic: You can’t go home again: Task-related assistance from and toward boomerang employees

Speaker: Gina Dokko, University of California, Davis

Time: Friday, 19 April, 13:30-15:00 pm

Location: Room 216, Guanghua Building 1

Abstract:

Understanding the portability of performance is critical in a world of boundaryless careers and unstable employment. While previous research has mainly focused on human and social capital as key factors in determining how well performance translates across firm boundaries, less attention has been paid toward psychological factors that influence the outcomes of mobility between employers. We study boomerangs, i.e. individuals who return to a former employer after working elsewhere, to focus on how identity affects the behavior of both returnees and incumbent former colleagues. We find that boomerangs are more likely to assist their former colleagues than new colleagues. By contrast, former colleagues are less likely to assist the boomerang, and the negative effect is exacerbated when the boomerang is a better performer than the former colleague.

Introduction:

Gina Dokko is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on the consequences of careers and job mobility for individuals and organizations, including effects on innovation, learning, performance, and social capital. She sits on the editorial review boards of theAcademy of Management Review, Academy of Management Discoveries, Organization Science, andStrategic Management Journal. Professor Dokko holds a Ph.D. in Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. of Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon GSIA, and a B.S. of Economics also from the Wharton School. Prior to her doctoral studies, she held various positions in marketing and strategy at firms such as 3M and American Express.

//gsm.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gina-dokko

Your participation is warmly welcomed!