Abstract
Contributing to emerging efforts to integrate the understudied career self-management (CSM) with person- environment fit research, this study aims to assess the unique effects of person-organization, person-coworkers and needs-supplies fits on employees’ deployment of career advancement strategies. A questionnaire was completed by 548 highly educated young Kuwaitis and self-initiated expatriates (Arab and South Asian) working in medium and large Kuwaiti organizations. The simultaneous effects of the three types of fits is assessed and the findings demonstrate that an increase in person-coworkers fit and decrease in person-organization and needs-supplies fits consistently encourage the deployment of career advancement strategies concerning accessing influential networks, self-promotion, competence building and psychological boundaryless. A relatively more robust effect of person-coworker fit has been detected. It is attributed to the Arab collectivistic culture and to the construct being a career competency and a contextual factor as per the “intelligent career” theory. Interventions should be mindful of the differential effects of different types of fit on CSM. Developing organizational ‘standards of fit’ and CSM skills are essential for individual career development and organizational success. The study provides unique information about the understudied constructs of CSM and person-environment fit in a traditional and high inequality Arab Middle Eastern country, and infers the causes of the inconsistent effects of contextual factors reported by previous studies. 
Highlights
Economic pressures are leading to shifts from corporate careers, where the corporation is the primary career driver, to protean careers where employees largely manage their own careers (Baruch, 2014)
Consistent with the calls of Parker and Collins (2010), this paper aims to contribute to the recent efforts to integrate the literature on career self-management (CSM) and fit by examining the effects of PO, PG and needs-supplies fit (N-S fit) on employees‟ deployment of career advancement strategies
Previous research has demonstrated the importance of contextual beliefs in predicting proactive career behavior (Briscoe et al, 2012; Lent & Brown, 2013; Ng et al, 2007) and calls were made for further examination of the influence of different types of P-E fit on CSM and extending CSM research to non-Western cultures (Gubler et al, 2014; Parker & Collins, 2010; Kostal & Wiernik. 2017)
Summary
Economic pressures are leading to shifts from corporate careers, where the corporation is the primary career driver, to protean careers where employees largely manage their own careers (Baruch, 2014). Due to the increase in new careers and the political nature of organizations, career self-management (CSM) is, more than ever, deemed to be a high-leverage concept for enhancing individuals‟ career success (Briscoe & Hall, 2006; De Vos & Soens, 2008; King, 2001). This study intends to examine the unique effects of three types of fit on motivating CSM of young professionals in Kuwait. It intends to examine the unique contributions of person-organization values congruence (PO fit), needs-supplies fit (N-S fit) and person-coworkers support fit (hereafter referred to as PG fit) on employees‟ deployment of career advancement strategies. Mainstream research in the last century focused largely on traditional careers, so it is important to recognize the new dynamics and turn the focus of research on the „new career,‟ in relation to its environment
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