A Model of Intra-Organizational Mobility

The mobility of personnel through an organization is important to both the organization and the individual. We present a model and nine related propositions that integrate research on this topic. The model shows environmental, organizational, and workforce characteristics as influencing opportunities, criteria for mobility, and actual mobility. These variables in turn influence perceptions of mobility, other attitudes such as satisfaction and commitment, and work behaviors. Research to date has examined only bivariate relationships; more work is needed to determine the combined and relative influence of the several independent variables on each dependent variable.