Career events, communication activities, and working hours investment among research and development employees

Communication activities and the weekly working hour investment are analyzed for employees who experienced one of the following career events; reaching a career plateau, organizational entry, or internal job change. Using questionnaire data from a sample of 140 R and D professionals, new hires are found to be less well integrated into communication networks than job changers, who work longer hours than both plateaus and new hires. Career events frequently moderate relationships between studied behavioral variables and outcome variables. Findings are discussed in terms of personal needs and situational opportunities for communication activities coinciding with various career events, and the implications for effective R and D management.