Masterarbeit

Embeddedness and turnover of IT professionals

The IT workforce is quite diverse, ranging from software developers, database administrators and technical support staff to IT project managers, product owners, consultants, and IT entrepreneurs (Brooks et al. 2011). Since such IT professionals are in high demand across industries, companies struggle with a plethora of open positions. Since the beginning of the information systems discipline, research has developed theories and models to understand and predict how to attract, motivate, and retain IT professionals (Wiesche et al. 2019). Retaining IT professionals is an important topic as individual turnover is affected by many different factors including individual-level factors such as disposition and career expectations, group-level factors such as team dynamics, relationships to management and co-workers, and market-level factors such as job alternatives and career patterns (Joseph et al. 2007; Krackhardt and Porter 1986; Prommegger et al. 2019). This thesis will focus on understanding the interplay between embedding factors, shock events and turnover motivators in IT professionals’ career decisions.

The following questions may serve as guidance for potential focus areas. Other questions in this research area are welcome as well.

What are embedding factors that tie IT professionals to the team or organization they work in?
What is the relationship between organizational embeddedness and turnover intention of IT professionals?
How does a collaborative work environment affect individual turnover behavior and career decisions?
How does obsolescence, training, and life-long learning affect individual careers and organizational turnover mitigation strategies?

Requirements

This thesis can be conducted as conceptual work or as empirical study using qualitative or quantitative research methods. This thesis requires:

Interest in current research on the IT workforce, esp. turnover and careers
Experience in and willingness to conduct conceptual or empirical research
A structured, reliable, and self-motivated work style

References

Brooks, N. G., Riemenschneider, C. K., Hardgrave, B. C., and O'Leary-Kelly, A. M. 2011. "It Professional Identity: Needs, Perceptions, and Belonging," European Journal of Information Systems (20:1), pp. 87-102.
Joseph, D., Ng, K.-Y., Koh, C., and Ang, S. 2007. "Turnover of Information Technology Professionals: A Narrative Review, Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling, and Model Development," MIS Quarterly (31:3), pp. 547-577.
Krackhardt, D., and Porter, L. W. 1986. "The Snowball Effect: Turnover Embedded in Communication Networks," Journal of Applied Psychology (71:1), pp. 50-55.
Prommegger, B., Pflügler, C., Wiesche, M., and Krcmar, H. 2019. "Understanding It-Specific Job Embeddedness to Prevent Turnover of It Professionals," Academy of Management Conference, Boston, MA.
Wiesche, M., Joseph, D., Thatcher, J., Gu, B., and Krcmar, H. 2019. "IT Workforce," MIS Quarterly Research Curation.

Application

If you are interested in working on a thesis in this topic area, please send your application including motivation, CV and grade reports via e-mail to abschlussarbeit.dt.wiwitu-dortmundde

Location & approach

By car

The campus of TU Dortmund University is located close to interstate junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerlandlinie A 45 (Frankfurt-Dortmund) crosses the Ruhrschnellweg B 1 / A 40. The best interstate exit to take from A 45 is "Dortmund-Eichlinghofen" (closer to Campus Süd), and from B 1 / A 40 "Dortmund-Dorstfeld" (closer to Campus Nord). Signs for the university are located at both exits. Also, there is a new exit before you pass over the B 1-bridge leading into Dortmund.

To get from Campus North to Campus South by car, there is the connection via Vogelpothsweg/Baroper Straße. We recommend you leave your car on one of the parking lots at Campus North and use the H-Bahn (suspended monorail system), which conveniently connects the two campuses.

By bus, subway and train

TU Dortmund University has its own train station ("Dortmund Universität"). From there, suburban trains (S-Bahn) leave for Dortmund main station ("Dortmund Hauptbahnhof") and Düsseldorf main station via the "Düsseldorf Airport Train Station" (take S-Bahn number 1, which leaves every 20 or 30 minutes). The university is easily reached from Bochum, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Duisburg.

You can also take the bus or subway train from Dortmund city to the university: From Dortmund main station, you can take any train bound for the Station "Stadtgarten", usually lines U41, U45, U 47 and U49. At "Stadtgarten" you switch trains and get on line U42 towards "Hombruch". Look out for the Station "An der Palmweide". From the bus stop just across the road, busses bound for TU Dortmund University leave every ten minutes (445, 447 and 462). Another option is to take the subway routes U41, U45, U47 and U49 from Dortmund main station to the stop "Dortmund Kampstraße". From there, take U43 or U44 to the stop "Dortmund Wittener Straße". Switch to bus line 447 and get off at "Dortmund Universität S".

The H-Bahn (Suspended Monorail System)

The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on Campus Nord. One ("Dortmund Universität S") is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the "Technologiepark" and (via Campus Süd) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at Campus Nord and offers a direct connection to Campus Süd every five minutes.

By airplane

The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.

At Campus

The departments of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent "Technologiepark".