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Factors Affecting the Intention to Leave Among White-Collar Employees in Turkey

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Transactions on Engineering Technologies

Abstract

Intention to leave refers to conscious and deliberate willfulness to leave the organization. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment are the two most important factors which play an important role in determining employees’ intention to leave their job. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of job satisfaction, organizational commitment’s components (affirmative, continuance, normative), perceived organizational support, and job stress on white-collar employees’ intention to leave in Turkey. A structural equation-modelling approach was applied to identify the variables that significantly affect the intention to leave. Using LISREL, data collected from 225 employees were used to test the proposed model. Results indicated that seventy two percentage of white-collar employees’ intention to leave is explained by job satisfaction, affective commitment, and normative commitment. Among them, job satisfaction has the strongest effect.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management Faculty, Industrial Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, Macka, 34367, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ecem Basak, Esin Ekmekci, Yagmur Bayram & Yasemin Bas

Authors
  1. Ecem Basak
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  2. Esin Ekmekci
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  3. Yagmur Bayram
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  4. Yasemin Bas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ecem Basak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computer & Communication, Catholic University of DaeGu, DaeGu, Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

    Haeng Kon Kim

  2. IAENG Secretariat, International Association of Engineers, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

    Sio-Iong Ao

  3. College of Engineering, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, USA

    Mahyar A. Amouzegar

Appendices

Appendix A

Latent variable

Reference

items

Intention to quit

[32]

If I have a good opportunity, I would like to find another job

I do not enjoy this job and have been searching for other positions

*I hope that I can find another job in the same industry

*Layoffs are a typical occurrence around here

*People often get fired from this organization without good reason

Organizational commitment

[33]

I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization

I really feel as if this organization’s problems are my own

I do not feel a strong sense of “belonging” to my organization (R)

I do not feel “emotionally attached” to this organization (R)

I do not feel like “part of the family” at my organization (R)

This organization has a great deal of personnel meaning for me

*Right now, staying with my organization is a matter of necessity as much as desire

It would be very hard for me to leave my organization right now, even I wanted to

Too much of my life would be disrupted if I decided I wanted to leave my organization right now

*I feel that I have too few options to consider leaving this organization

*If I had not already put so much of myself into this organization, I might consider working elsewhere

*One of the few negative consequences of leaving this organization would be the scarcity of available alternatives

*I do not feel any obligation to remain with my current employer (R)

Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel it would be right to leave my organization now

I would feel guilty if I left my organization

This organization deserves my loyalty

I would not leave my organization right now because I have a sense of obligation to the people in it

I owe a great deal to my organization

Job satisfaction

[34]

I consider my job pleasant

I feel fairly-well satisfied with my present job

I definitely like my work

My job is pretty interesting

I find real enjoyment in my work

Job stress

[4]

I feel emotionally drained by my job

I feel burned-out by my job

I feel frustrated at my job

I feel tense at my job

I lose my appetite because of my jobrelated problems

Job-related problems keep me awake at night

Job-related problems make my stomach upset

Perceived organizational support

[22]

The organization values my contribution to its well-being The organization fails to appreciate any extra effort from me (R) The organization disregards my best interests when it makes

decisions that affect me (R)

The organization really cares about my well-being

Even if I did the best job possible, the organization would fail to notice (R)

The organization cares about my general satisfaction at work

The organization shows very little concern for me (R)

The organization takes pride in my accomplishments at work

  1. (*) items extracted for structural model analysis
  2. (R) items reverse-coded

Appendix B

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Basak, E., Ekmekci, E., Bayram, Y., Bas, Y. (2014). Factors Affecting the Intention to Leave Among White-Collar Employees in Turkey. In: Kim, H., Ao, SI., Amouzegar, M. (eds) Transactions on Engineering Technologies. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9115-1_49

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9115-1_49

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  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9115-1

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