Individual Career Management Research Articles

Skills for creative industries graduate success

PurposeAlthough there is increasing evidence that the creative industries are essential to national economic growth as well as social and cultural well‐being, creative graduates often find it difficult to become established professionally. This study aims to investigate the value of career management competence and intrinsic career motivations (as elements of “protean career orientation”) in predicting positive graduate outcomes.Design/methodology/approachSelf‐report surveys were administered to 208 creative industries graduates from two Australian universities at two points in time: at course completion, and one year later.FindingsThe paper finds that individual career management competence and intrinsic work motivations, measured at course completion, were significant predictors of early career success, using both subjective and objective measures, measured one year later.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that an emphasis on student development beyond the traditional “key” employability skills may well be worthwhile. The paper also suggests a broad learning and teaching approach by which universities can encourage the development of student career identity, and thus engender student intrinsic career motivations and career self management skills and behaviours.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to demonstrate empirically a link between a particular set of skills and graduate outcomes. In addition, it provides insights into the role of student career motivations in positive transitions to the world of work in the creative industries.

The Effects of Individual Career Management on Career Satisfaction and Commitment: For the Convention Center and Convention Hotel Employees

The Effects of Individual Career Management on Career Satisfaction and Commitment: For the Convention Center and Convention Hotel Employees

Self‐initiated foreign expatriates versus assigned expatriates

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the differences between assigned expatriates (AEs) and self‐initiated expatriates (SEs) in management and executive positions. The basic research question is how far SEs and AEs differ with respect to their reasons for working internationally and regarding their career aspirations and orientations, and in what way their individual career management differs.Design/methodology/approachA total of 159 expatriate managers completed an online questionnaire in German. The questionnaire covered psychological constructs and the participating managers' career histories.FindingsIt is shown that SEs start their international careers at a younger age, have a higher organizational mobility, and expect higher benefits from international experiences for their future careers. Moreover, career orientation remains relatively stable in SEs over different age groups, whereas it declines for AEs with increasing age.Research limitations/implicationsThe study design is cross‐sectional and based on self‐reports, which makes causal explanations of the results difficult and increases the risk of common method bias.Practical implicationsSpecific personnel management requirements regarding SEs in contrast to AEs are pointed out especially in the fields of recruitment, retention and career management, which can help support companies in building up a pool of global managers.Originality/valueThe paper adds valuable new insights to the literature on expatriate work and gives further evidence that SEs form a group that has been overlooked for a long time, even though it differs significantly from traditional expatriates who are sent abroad by their employing companies to return some years later.

Addressing Career Obstacles within a Changing Higher Education Work Environment: Perspectives of Academics

Many changes have occurred in Higher Education Institutions (HEI), which contribute to high levels of work stress among academic staff members and that impact on job satisfaction, job involvement and job engagement. Owing to these changes, academics attached to tertiary institutions are being confronted with specific career obstacles that impact negatively on their job satisfaction and productivity. Our purpose in this study was to determine, from the academic's point of view, the role that HEIs can play to address these obstacles. In terms of positive psychology, persons should not only become aware of their problems, but also come up with alternative solutions on how to address them. A sample of 93 academics from one university, representing the early, middle, and late career stages was selected. The data were obtained by means of the Delphi technique in order to enable respondents to reveal fully what they were experiencing. Respondents were requested to suggest specific actions that could be taken to address the career obstacles academics are confronted with. The most important solutions were related to better remuneration, more effective management of role overload, more effective performance management, more training and development opportunities, more support regarding individual career management, more effective general management, more support regarding research outputs, elimination of discrimination practices, transformation initiatives, encouraging of entrepreneurship, improvement of equipment and working conditions, creation of job security, and promotion of networking.

The Relationship Between Career-Related Antecedents and Graduates’ Anticipatory Psychological Contracts

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate career-related antecedents of graduates’ anticipatory psychological contracts. Design/Methodology/Approach A survey was filled out by a sample of 722 graduates addressing questions on career strategy, individual career management, work importance, and beliefs about employer and employee obligations. Findings Graduates with a high score on careerism, who are engaged in a high level of individual career management and with management ambitions, reported a higher level of employer obligations and a higher level of employee obligations related to flexibility and employability. Implications This study adds to the literature by addressing the initial stage of psychological contract formation, taking place in the anticipatory socialization stage. The obligations that are salient in graduates’ pre-employment beliefs are likely to affect their psychological contracts after organizational entry. Moreover, depending on their career goals and other career-related factors, graduates approach their future employment relationship with different beliefs about what they should contribute and what they will receive in return. Employers may use these findings when working out recruitment strategies for young graduates. They also provide input for actively managing the expectations of new hires. Originality/Value Most studies on psychological contracts addressed the relationship between employees’ psychological contract evaluations and subsequent attitudes and behaviors. Only recently scholars have started to address the topic of psychological contract formation. This study adds to this line of research by addressing the pre-employment stage. It also adds to the literature by addressing the relationship between career-related antecedents and psychological contracts.

To move or not to move?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore professional employees' career move preferences and the impact of both individual and organizational career management. Departing from theoretical work on the “new career”, different types of career moves employees can make on the internal labor market are discussed and related to the literature on both organizational and individual career management.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypotheses, a cross‐sectional survey of 472 professional employees from one company is presented.FindingsThe preferences for both vertical career moves and moves relating to job enrichment and temporary moves are significantly affected by individual career management, but not by organizational career management practices. The preference for making lateral moves could not be explained by our antecedent variables.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should involve a larger sample of organizations in order to collect empirical data about the extent to which OCM practices impact career preferences. Our results provide evidence for the relationship between individual career management and career move preferences and thereby adds to the literature on the “new career”.Practical implicationsThis study has a number of practical implications that relate to the ways in which organizations can stimulate different career moves among their employees through the enhancement of personal career initiatives.Originality/valueThe value of this paper is the contribution it makes to the career literature by relating to different streams of research, about career mobility on the one hand and individual and organizational career management on the other.

Spanning boundaries in pursuit of effective knowledge sharing within networks in the NHS

The purpose of this paper is to examine power asymmetries in the delivery of genetics healthcare that inhibit knowledge sharing across sector, organisational and professional boundaries. The paper is a longitudinal comparative case study approach, which encompasses semi-structured interviews and observation. The paper finds politics to be significant in its influence on knowledge sharing across sector, organisational and professional boundaries, but this can be mediated by attending to human and social aspects of the context in which knowledge sharing was expected to take place. The paper encourages research that evaluates the effect of increased emphasis on human and social aspects of organisational change in pursuit of the "dream" of spanning boundaries and improving knowledge sharing within the NHS. The paper shows that structural change appears to be of limited effect in promoting knowledge sharing. Organisational and individual development, career management and performance systems are worthy of attention for the purpose of managing knowledge. The paper exposes this assumption as managerialist. Policy-makers assume that professionals are willing and able to share knowledge when delivering healthcare through networks.

Where to from here? Evaluating employability during career transition

AbstractThis study explores attitudes towards employability among a small group of individuals who were in career transition as a result of taking voluntary redundancy. Contemporary models of career suggest that much of the responsibility for career and employability has been transferred from the organisation to the individual. This study indicated that, in general, mid-career individuals were yet to recognise this transfer and to take ownership of their employability. When moving from a stable career within a paternalistic organisation to an uncertain job market they were unsure what they had to offer an employer, how to approach job search or how to market their skills and experience. The majority did make a successful career transition but more in the absence of, rather than because of, individual career management strategies.

Where to from here? Evaluating employability during career transition

AbstractThis study explores attitudes towards employability among a small group of individuals who were in career transition as a result of taking voluntary redundancy. Contemporary models of career suggest that much of the responsibility for career and employability has been transferred from the organisation to the individual. This study indicated that, in general, mid-career individuals were yet to recognise this transfer and to take ownership of their employability. When moving from a stable career within a paternalistic organisation to an uncertain job market they were unsure what they had to offer an employer, how to approach job search or how to market their skills and experience. The majority did make a successful career transition but more in the absence of, rather than because of, individual career management strategies.

Managing the career deal: the psychological contract as a framework for understanding career management, organizational commitment and work behavior

AbstractThis paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the relationship between different kinds of career management activities, the psychological contract, and outcomes of psychological contract fulfillment. The study tested a series of linked hypotheses which propose that individual career management behavior is associated with the experience of organizational career management help, which is related to fulfillment of the psychological contract. Fulfillment of the psychological contract in turn is linked to organizational commitment and is associated with behaviors at work, including absenteeism, turnover, and independent ratings of job performance. The findings provide some support for these proposed links. As a result, the paper makes four contributions to the psychological contract and careers literature: first, it shows that both individual and organizational career management behaviors are linked to psychological contract fulfillment; second, organizational career management help is associated with affective commitment and job performance; third, psychological contract fulfillment plays a key role in mediating the relationship between career management help and such attitudes and behaviors; and fourth, organizational commitment may mediate between psychological contract fulfillment and individual career management behavior aimed at furthering the career outside the organization. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

What price career success?

The recent financial collapses of high profile US‐based corporations owing to legally‐questionable practices have led management theorists to search for answers as to how and why these ethical lapses were able to occur. This article examines the possibility that a company’s culture and internal control systems can have such a profound influence on middle managers and executives that they are willing to violate ethical and legal standards in the name of career success. This article reviews how career success is presently defined from an individual and an organizational standpoint and how this definition can be at odds with the realities of organizational culture and internal control systems. It also discusses how perspectives on the relationship between employers and employees can affect individual career management practices. Finally, the article presents ways for individuals to view career success and manage their careers to avoid the traps of an influential corporate culture.

Effects of concepts of career plateaus on performance, work satisfaction and commitment

The discussion on career plateaus is marked by a diversity of operationalizations. This paper focuses on the independence of three dimensions of career plateaus and the impact they have on outcome measures in three areas: performance, work satisfaction and commitment. Data from 165 university staff and 77 school teachers confirmed the independence of the concepts of career plateaus. Contrary to the general assumption that an extended period working at the same position has detrimental effects, outcome variables were not connected to position immobility. Results for most of the outcome measures showed the work‐content dimension to account for significantly more variance than the subjective structural dimension. Advances in work content can even moderate negative effects emanating from low expectations of hierarchical promotion. Specifically, the negative effects were most pronounced where the two subjective dimensions of career plateau coincided. These have implications for individual and organizational career management processes.

A longitudinal study of the relationship between career management and organizational commitment among graduates in the first ten years at work

AbstractThis paper reports the findings of a two‐wave longitudinal study investigating relationships between organizational and individual career management activities and organizational commitment in the early years of graduate careers. Several hypotheses are tested and receive mixed support. High organizational commitment predicts the practice of career management activities by graduates to further their career within the organization while low commitment is closely associated with behaviour aimed at furthering the career outside the organization. Graduates who manage their own careers also receive more career management help from their employer. This suggests that there may be the potential for employers to create a ‘virtuous circle’ of career management in which individual and organizational activities complement each other. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Career management in information technology: a case study

Examines career management, development and performance as proposed in the career management research by Noe, which was defined for studying individual career management. Reviews the organizational career management program and the outcomes of organizational development and performance. Applies the Noe model to measure outcomes and determine if there is a direct relationship between career management programs, performance and development. The study involved three different organizations in the IT sector and HRPs as the respondents. A questionnaire was developed using Burack’s career management audit, and selected measures from various sources for development and performance. The results do not prove that the relationships exist. However, recommendations for future study involve performance as a precursor to career management and development. Recommendations for organizations include a review of career paths, development moves, retirement planning, and a research oriented human resources database.

Career management of business expatriates from China

Chinese mainland business managers assigned to Hong Kong responded to a mail survey exploring issues on career management. The group of mainland managers was compared with a sample of Western expatriates, mostly from the US, France, and Britain. It was found that the Chinese expatriates had a significantly lower score than their Western counterparts on all the studied individual level career management variables: expatriate career preferences, meeting career goals within the corporation, career development fit, and right career move. Of the corporate level policy variables, corporate expatriate pool and separate expatriate careers also had lower scores for the Chinese than the Western managers. These findings support the behavioral process model of internationalization claiming that internationalization is a matter of learning. Implications of these results for internationalizing Chinese corporations are discussed.

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAREER MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN THE EARLY YEARS AT WORK.

This paper reports the findings of the first longitudinal study to investigate relationships between organisational and individual career management activities and organisational commitment in the ...

Who's in charge? Graduates' attitudes to and experiences of career management and their relationship with organizational commitment

This article reports the findings of a study of graduates' expectations and experiences of organizational and individual career management practices and of the relationships between organizational career management, career selfmanagement, and organizational commitment. It finds that, despite the prevailing rhetoric that individuals must take responsibility for their own careers, organizations are still heavily involved in the career management of their graduate recruits. Furthermore, organizational career management makes a positive contribution to graduates' organizational commitment, whereas most forms of career self-management do little to discourage it. However, graduates appear to benefit from different kinds of career management at different stages in their first 10 years in the organization.

The Effects of Organizational and Individual Career Management on Career Success

Examines the effects of organizational and individual career management on the career success of 120 supervisory managers. A special 35‐item Organization Career Management Scale was developed from a workshop held with ten personnel managers from organizations employing the participants. Significant correlations were obtained between organization career management, as perceived by the subjects, and indicators of career success. The correlations between individual career planning and tactics, and the same indicators of career success, were also significant. Finally, individual career planning and tactics added significantly to the amount of variation in career success explained by organization career management, supporting a “joint responsibility” perspective of career management in organizations. Develops implications of these findings for practice.

CAREER SYSTEMS AS A CONFIGURATION OF CAREER MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

Previous studies have investigated the career management field by describing individual career management activities in isolation rather than the configuration of these activities. Aims to bridge this gap by proposing a taxonomy of career systems. Based on a sample of 254 organizations, empirically derives three types of career system using cluster analysis, and validates this taxonomy against external variables not used in cluster analysis. Identifies and discusses these three types of career system.

From the invisible hand to the gladhand: Understanding a careerist orientation to work

AbstractThis article explores the concept of a careerist orientation to work, which is defined as the propensity to pursue career advancement through non‐performance‐based means. A scale is developed to measure this concept using a sample of 227 business school alumni. Exploratory empirical data suggest that careerism is associated with consistently more negative job attitudes, a greater desire to advance and to change jobs, and more frequent promotions. Implications of a careerist orientation to work for both individual career management and organizational career development are discussed.