Corporate business strategy, career management and recruitment: do Spanish firms adhere to a contingency model?

Abstract

This study attempts to examine career management from a contingency perspective while making specific provisions to the Spanish cultural context. The underlying assumption is that the career focus is contingent on both the broader context (corporate business policy) and the human resource policy, namely in its staffing considerations. Although the literature on career management, from an organizational perspective, seems to indicate the existence of different models and contingencies with certain organizational variables, this study failed to support the dominance of the contingency approach in Spanish organizations. Two models of careers were identified and a tendency toward the majority use of one of the career models was found. Respectively, the contingent character of one career model was partially confirmed. All in all, both career models do not seem to be explained through the contextual variables considered in this empirical investigation.