Attraction-Selection-Attrition Model

Rationale

The framework departs from organizations (not individuals) as the unit of analysis. It attempts to understand interorganizational differences through a focus on the attributes of people. Following the core assumptions, the outcome of the ASA cycle determines why organizations look and feel different from each other. People are attracted to, and prefer, matching types of organizations, organizations select matching types of individuals (who share many common psychological attributes, although they may differ on some competencies) to join the organization, and nonmatching individuals finally leave the organization by the attrition process. The people who become part of the organization and stay based on these processes, in turn, define the nature of the organization and its structure, processes, and culture. According to Schneider, it is, thus, the people who make the place rather than the place that makes the people. As dispositional attributes relevant to the ASA cycle, Schneider names personality, attitudes, and values. Since people who fit tend to enter and people who do not fit tend to leave, the people who remain will constitute a more homogeneous group than those who were initially attracted to the setting. Schneider calls this the homogeneity hypothesis. The downside of this within-organization homogeneity is that it can be detrimental to long-term organizational viability. Organizations can become so ingrown that they fail to adapt their processes and structure to environmental changes, endangering the organizational survival. According to the ASA model, homogeneity may produce positive consequences in its early stages but negative consequences in later stages.

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