Determinants of MIS employees' turnover intentions: a structural equation model
Communications of the ACM
An examination of the correlates of burnout in information systems professionals
Information Resources Management Journal
Growth scenario of IT industries in India
Communications of the ACM
How to turn around `turnover culture' in IT
Communications of the ACM - Ontology: different ways of representing the same concept
Global Sourcing of Business and IT Services
Global Sourcing of Business and IT Services
An experimental investigation of turnover intentions among new entrants in it
ACM SIGMIS Database
Information Systems Research
A Discrepancy Model of Information System Personnel Turnover
Journal of Management Information Systems
Journal of Management Information Systems
Effects of Tasks, Salaries, and Shocks on Job Satisfaction Among MIS Professionals
Information Resources Management Journal
Proceedings of the 2010 Special Interest Group on Management Information System's 48th annual conference on Computer personnel research on Computer personnel research
Analyzing IT personnel's perception of job-related factors in good and bad times
Proceedings of the 2010 Special Interest Group on Management Information System's 48th annual conference on Computer personnel research on Computer personnel research
Antecedents to IT personnel's intentions to leave: A systematic literature review
Journal of Systems and Software
Proceedings of the 49th SIGMIS annual conference on Computer personnel research
Proceedings of the 50th annual conference on Computers and People Research
Exploring the role of mentoring in the IS profession: a cross-national comparison
Proceedings of the 50th annual conference on Computers and People Research
Information Resources Management Journal
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Knowledge based transactions and decision framing in Information Technology Outsourcing
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
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One of the major challenges facing the Indian IT services industry is the high rate of turnover among Indian IS professionals. Turnover rates have been reported as high as 100% annually. Despite the serious problem, we are unaware of any academic research that has studied the determinants of turnover among Indian IS professionals. We aim to contribute to the literature by understanding Turnover Intentions of Indian IS professionals. We developed an initial model of Turnover Intentions based on the IS and Organizational Behavior literatures. The most commonly identified determinants of Turnover Intentions in these literatures were Organizational Commitment (emotional attachment to an organization) and Job Satisfaction. However, the research that identified these determinants was primarily tested on Western workers. We assessed the applicability of this model by interviewing 25 Indian IS professionals. We found strong support that Job Satisfaction affects Turnover Intentions among Indian IS professionals. However, Organizational Commitment was found to be a troublesome construct. Many Indian participants did not relate to the concept of an emotional attachment to an organization. Instead, they talked in terms that better mapped to the construct Organizational Satisfaction. The interviews also uncovered another important determinant of Turnover Intention: Social Norms. Social Norms, as evidenced by significant family pressure to reside in the same city as the employee's family, emerged as a major reason for Turnover Intentions. Our revised model identifies Job Satisfaction, Organizational Satisfaction, and Social Norms as the main determinants of Turnover Intentions among Indian IS Professionals. We also identify four implications for practice. The most worrisome implication for Western clients is that Indian IS professionals do not like performing routine IT maintenance work or merely programming from predefined specifications--the bulk of work sent offshore. Indian IS professionals preferred client-facing activities, design and development work.