Work Role Transitions Research Articles

Fitting In or Making Jobs Fit: Factors Affecting Mode of Adjustment for New Hires

This study tested a theoretical framework of work role transitions by examining the impact of individual factors (personal need for control and need for feedback), job factors (job discretion and job novelty), and organizational factors (organizational socialization tactics) on two modes of adjustment for new hires. In this study, need for control and need for feedback had a significant impact on self change as a mode of adjustment but not on job change. Job novelty and job discretion had little impact on either mode of adjustment. Investiture-divestiture organizational socialization tactics had a significant impact on self change as a mode of adjustment and fixed-variable socialization tactics had a significant impact on changing ones' job as a mode of adjustment. In general, the results of this study suggest that variables hypothesized by past theoretical work may only be moderate predictors of changing self or job as modes of adjustment for new hires.

Crossing Internal Career Boundaries: The State of Research on Subjective Career Transitions

Today's dynamic and constantly changing business environment is a catalyst for change in the subjective career. These subjective career transitions are an important aspect of career development, and failure to manage them effectively carries profound consequences for both the individual and the organization. This review examines the current status of research on subjective career transitions, and seeks to encourage ongoing research by: (I) identifying gaps in current understandings of subjective career transitions; (2) integrating existing theory on work role transitions with a model of career stages as an illustration of theory-based research on subjective career transitions; and (3) developing research propositions based on this integration as a partial guide for future research.

Crossing internal career boundaries: The state of research on subjective career transitions

Today's dynamic and constantly changing business environment is a catalyst for change in the subjective career. These subjective career transitions are an important aspect of career development, and failure to manage them effectively carries profound consequences for both the individual and the organization. This review examines the current status of research on subjective career transitions, and seeks to encourage ongoing research by: (1) identifying gaps in current understandings of subjective career transitions; (2) integrating existing theory on work role transitions with a model of career stages as an illustration of theory-based research on subjective career transitions; and (3) developing research propositions based on this integration as a partial guide for future research.

Managerial job change: Reasons for leaving, choice determinants, and search processes

In a recent book on managerial job changes, Nicholson and West (1988) assert that "work role transitions are a relatively unexplored pri mary unit of analysis" (p. 8), and Wells and Muchinsky (1985) have stated that within the voluminous literature on employee turnover, managers have been rarely studied, usually because of data inaccess ibility due to problems with small sample sizes. (Note that when applied to managers, the authors have often chosen to use terms such as "change" or "transition" rather than "turnover"). The purpose of the present study is to expand the existing knowl edge on managerial job changes. Two major issues are examined: First, we focus on the reasons for managerial job transitions, that is, the mo tivational aspects of managerial job change. Second, we explore some of the structural characteristics of the managerial job change process; spe cifically, we ask what are the initial steps undertaken by managers once they have arrived at a personal decision to leave their current job and undergo a search process for an alternative managerial position. The issue of motivation for managerial job changes may be investi gated in several ways. In addition to inquiring about the general and specific reasons for wanting to leave a managerial position, we may also explore a complementary angle, namely, the desired features of an al ternative job that managers seek to attain. The rationale for a dual in quiry of both the reasons for leaving as well as the specific elements sought in the alternative, may be based in part on Mobley, Griffeth,

The Dual Meaning of Managerial Careers: Organizational and Individual Levels of Analysis

ABSTRACTA theoretical framework is proposed which brings out the duality of managerial careers by distinguishing between organizational and individual levels of analysis. At the organizational level, careers can be seen as part of a process of social reproduction, which points the way to linking organizational form and behaviour with comparatively stable career patterns characteristic of particular firms or kinds of firm. At the individual level careers are expressed as a sequence of work role transitions, representing choices between opportunities presented to managers by organizations. Each level of analysis illuminates a different aspect of managerial careers, but it is equally important that each should be seen in the light of the other.

Managerial Job Change: Men and Women in Transition.

Work role transitions are among the most significant yet least understood forms of social change, and how they affect individuals' careers, self-concepts and organizational adjustment is of great practical and theoretical importance. This book provides the first comprehensive, large-scale study of the causes, form and outcomes of job change. Focussing on one of the most influential segments of society - middle to senior managers - the book offers a new theoretical approach to the analysis and understanding of job change. The authors ask how much job change is taking place, assess who is most affected, and evaluate the psychological consequences for the individual manager. They discuss organizations' handling of job transitions, and provide a unique focus on women in management, evaluating how their experience of careers and job change differs from men's. This book presents important new findings to specialists in life-span development, careers, managerial performance and organizational behaviour. It also offers the non-specialist insights into wider questions, such as the relationship between social change and organizational life, and the individual's experience of changes in industrial society's structures, practices and values.

Organizational Logics of Managerial Careers

A theoretical model of managerial careers is presented which links two organizational characteristics (structure and growth) to the pattern of managerial careers within an organization. Different combinations of these characteristics give rise to different organizational career logics (OCLs), which are the rationalities an observer imputes to the pattern of work role transitions within a firm. Each OCL is associated with its own distinctive pattern of work role transition, and a framework for classifying these transitions is described which allows the differences to be made manifest. Three ideal-type OCLs are described, and the perspective is illustrated by reference to work role transition patterns in four large British manufacturing firms. Additional sources of variance are discussed: some are predicted by the OCL perspective and some arise as the result of choices made by individual managers within the overall framework of their firm's OCL. A simple two-dimensional model of individual choice is presented. Each OCL and its associated pattern of transitions is also likely to develop different skills and expertise in its managers; the paper concludes by discussing what these different forms of expertise might be.

Work Role Transitions: A Study of American Expatriate Managers in Japan

Throughout the course of a career, an individual must make numerous role transitions, instigated through such events as overseas transfers, domestic transfers, promotions, company reorganizations, and inter-company job changes. This paper examines the relationships between several variables and work role transition in the case of an overseas assignment to Japan. Role ambiguity and role discretion were found to influence work adjustment, while predeparture knowledge, association with local nationals, and family's adjustment were found to correlate with general adjustment of American expatriate managers in Japan.

Transitions into newly created jobs

The paper reports on a study of adjustment to change, a topic of fundamental importance in the development of individuals and organizations. The study, involving 2304 male and female British managers (extended longitudinally with 1100 of the original sample) reveals that between 34 and 50 per cent of job moves are into jobs for which there was no previous role incumbent. The character and outcomes of these job moves are related to Nicholson's (1984) theory of work role transitions and Van Maanen & Schein's (1979) theory of organizational socialization. The frequency, industrial contexts, main types, and role requirements of these moves are described. Satisfaction and personal change as outcome of moves into newly created jobs are related to role information sources, organizational culture, work characteristics, job characteristics, pre‐transition anxiety, self‐concept, work motivation and organizational commitment. These findings generally support Nicholson's predictions about how specific role requirements and personal characteristics will influence transition outcomes, but also suggest the need to refine some of the theory's constructs. The results further imply that proactive growth models of adjustment are more generally applicable to radical job change than reactive stress‐coping models. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the findings for organizational practice.New occasions teach new duties: Time makes ancient good uncouth …J. R. Lowell

A Theory of Work Role Transitions

Nigel Nicholson This paper presents a new theory of work role transitions, linking personal and organizational adjustment outcomes with the characteristics of the person, the role, and the organization. The need for theory is argued in a brief overview of the field, and a conceptual framework for analyzing modes of adjustment to transition is presented. The main body of the theory for predicting adjustment modes is set out, and the implications and predictions of the theory for changing patterns of adjustment over work histories and lifetime careers are discussed.

Work Role Transitions and Stress in Managers: Illustrations from the Clinic

Clinical case histories can contribute to our knowledge of the types of person‐situation interaction which produces managerial stress. Three case histories reveal similar interactions between a certain vulnerable personality and a specific type of work role transition. Common principles involved in these interactions are discussed.