Career Orientations and Work Outcomes Among Industrial R&D Professionals

Abstract

The competitive global marketplace and the need for technological leadership in achieving competitive advantage have made it necessary to understand the factors that influence the performance and work attitudes of research and development (R&D) professionals. Data obtained from 165 industrial R&D professionals in Singapore were used to examine the relationship between career orientations and selected work outcomes. Factor analysis revealed two factors that underlie career orientations—professional/scientific and managerial. Both career orientations showed a significant and negative relationship with turnover intentions. Zero-order and partial correlation analyses indicated managerial career orientation to be related to organization-based performance and professional/scientific career orientation to be related to scientific performance. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.