"Task Interdependence, Work Group Composition and Turnover: A Longitudinal Study"

Abstract

How do workers in nationally homogeneous work groups respond to foreign nationals in the workplace? Does task interdependency moderate the relationship between change in national composition of work groups and turnover? The organizational demography literature tells us that turnover rates of same-race representation, for example, are inversely affected by increases in different-race representation in the workplace. While previous work uses race as one measure of group diversity, this paper uses nationality as a measure of group diversity. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether task interdependency within work groups modifies the relationship between group homogeneity and turnover. In this paper we argue, and empirically substantiate, the proposition that task interdependency within work groups moderates the effects of a change in the ratio of foreign to domestic coworkers on the turnover of employees within the work group. It has been difficult for previous researchers to empirically test this relationship because of the unavailability of quality data. The availability of registered panel data at the micro level allow us to revisit organizational demography and national segregation in the workplace through a more refined lens.