Expected Managerial Careers within Growing and Declining R&D Establishments

Abstract

Numerous studies using individual-level variables have sought to explain the tendency of scientists and engineers to aspire to managerial careers within R&D establishments. The present study, which concentrates on expected mobility to management, examines the interplay between structural and individual determinants of the phenomenon. Logit analyses indicate that the individual-level effects were remarkably consistent with the findings presented in the literature, lending construct validity to the dependent variable used in this study. Structural-level variables, most of which have not been examined previously in R&D establishments, greatly enhanced our understanding of expected managerial mobility. Different effects were found for growing and for declining organizations.