Abstract

This study explores the effect of personality characteristics on the turnover behavior of R & D professionals. The 132 PhDs employed at one of the largest electronics company in Korea between 1993 and 1996 were surveyed during the orientation program. The measured variables were age, prior work experience, and career orientations(cosmopolitan and local), which were used as control variables. At the same time, their personality characteristics were measured with 16PF test. The employment status data of each respondents as of December 2000 were collected form employee personnel records. About two thirds of them were voluntarily left the organization. To estimate the relationship between predictors and turnover behavior, we used the hierarchical logistic regression technique. Results indicated that turnover behavior was significantly influenced by age, career orientation and I factor(tough mindedness-tender mindedness) among 16 personality factors. Implications of these results for the high-tech R & D personnel management, and directions for future research are discussed.