Cultural values and definitions of career success

This paper examines how national culture relates to the ways that individuals define career success. Data are drawn from interviews with 269 professional services employees in 15 countries. Interviews are content coded and linked with country‐level Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness measures of cultural values. We test our hypotheses using a multilevel multinomial logit model. The results demonstrate that the ways in which employees define career success vary across countries, due in part to differences in cultural values after controlling for gender, occupation, job level, and national economic development. We find that employees from countries high in future orientation, uncertainty avoidance, and performance orientation are more likely to define career success in terms of interpersonal outcomes, and those from countries high in collectivism (institutional and in‐group), humane orientation, and gender egalitarianism are more likely to prefer intrapersonal outcomes. We find that employees from countries that are high in assertiveness, uncertainty avoidance, and performance orientation are more likely to define career success in terms of achievement‐oriented outcomes. Finally, we find that employees from countries high in power distance report career success definitions in terms of safety and security outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of cultural differences in careers across countries.     

The family and medical leave act of 1993: Employee rights and responsibilities,employer rights and responsibilities

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law on February 5, 1993 after approximately eight years of controversial discussion in Congress. The FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for eligible employees for the birth or placement for adoption or foster care of a child, to care for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition, or for the employee’s own serious health condition. The Act is intended to help individuals balance their home obligations with their work obligations. This article highlights both employee rights and responsibilities afforded by the FMLA and employer rights and responsibilities under the Act.     

White‐collar reactions to job insecurity and the role of the psychological contract: Implications for human resource management

Are insecure employees actually less loyal to their companies, more concerned about their careers, and less willing to go the extra mile at work? Do employees who view job insecurity as a violation of their psychological contract have more severe reactions to being insecure? This article empirically examines these and other commonly held beliefs about the consequences of job insecurity among white‐collar employees. The critical role human resource professionals play in helping organizations to understand the consequences of actions that create job insecurity (i.e., restructuring) and finding ways to minimize negative outcomes is highlighted. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Effect of International Work Experience on the Career Success of Expatriates: A Comparison of Assigned and Self‐Initiated Expatriates

This article is one of the first to examine the long‐term effect of expatriation on careers, comparing the impact of international work experience on the career success of assigned and self‐initiated expatriates. Our sample consists of employees who were working abroad in 2004, and we examine their subjective and objective career success eight years later. Despite the “dark side of international careers” arguments associated with the repatriation literature, we find that the long‐term impacts of international work experience on career success are generally positive and mainly unrelated to whether the work experience was acquired as an assigned or self‐initiated expatriate. Companies recruit employees with international experience externally but are much more likely to offer further internal jobs to assigned expatriates. This reinforces the need for further research and for companies to see all those with international experience as important elements of the workforce. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Perceptions of HR practices,person–organisation fit,and affective commitment: The moderating role of career stage

In a three‐wave survey study among 487 Dutch university employees, we examined how and when employees' perceptions of high‐performance work practices (HPWP) affect employee affective commitment. We proposed that perceived person–organisation (PO) fit mediates this relationship and that the relationships among perceptions of HPWP, perceived PO fit, and affective commitment differ across career stages. Our results confirm that perceptions of HPWP enhance PO fit perceptions and, in turn, strengthen affective commitment. Moreover, the relationship between perceptions of HPWP and perceived PO fit is only significant among employees in the advancement stage of their careers; however, direct comparison across different career stages reveals no significant differences in the HPWP–PO fit relationship. Furthermore, career stage partly moderates the relationship between PO fit and affective commitment, which is only significant among employees in the maintenance career stage. These findings have important implications for the literature on strategic Human Resource Management and PO fit.     

Career coordination strategies among dual career expatriate couples

The combination of two trends common in working life – international work and a dual career situation – is challenging for both genders. In order to cope with the situation, international dual career couples have to be able to coordinate their careers. The purpose of this article is to identify how dual career expatriates view their career coordination strategies with their partners, and how these views differ between the genders. Semi-structured interviews were carried out among 39 expatriates on assignment who had a partner working, at least before the assignment. Our findings identify three career coordination strategies applied by dual career couples, and confirm gender plays an essential role in the formation of those strategies. Male expatriates predominated among the group adopting a hierarchical strategy and female expatriates predominated among the group adopting an egalitarian and a loose coordination strategy. Strategies also seemed prone to change over time. Companies should pay attention to both the career development of the partner and the relationship coping skills of the couple to maximize the chances of dual career expatriate assignments being successful.     

The impact of job embeddedness on innovation‐related behaviors

It has often been argued that low turnover leads to less innovation in organizations, not only because fewer job vacancies are available for outsiders with new ideas, but also because longer‐tenured employees might be more resistant to change. In this study, we propose that job embeddedness may actually strengthen employees' motivation to generate, spread, and implement innovative ideas in organizations. In a longitudinal study with a diverse sample, we found that job embeddedness was positively and significantly related to innovation‐related behaviors, even after controlling for demographic variables, the job attitudes, and the job perceptions that are frequently associated with job embeddedness. In addition, we found some support for the proposed moderating effects of career stage; that is, the relationship between job embeddedness and implementing innovative ideas was stronger for individuals in the mid‐ and late stages of their careers than for those in the early stage of their careers. This article concludes with directions for developing future theory. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Work‐To‐Life Conflict and Enrichment Among International Business Travelers: The Role of International Career Orientation

The present study examines the direct and moderating effects of an international career orientation in the relationship between frequency and duration of international business traveling and work‐to‐life conflict and enrichment. In addition, the effort‐reward imbalance that potentially features in the international business traveler's job was examined in relation to work‐to‐life conflict and enrichment. The study was conducted among 232 Finnish people in jobs requiring international business travel. A moderated hierarchical regression analysis shows that travel of considerable duration and a pronounced effort‐reward imbalance had direct links to work‐to‐life conflict. In contrast, low effort‐reward imbalance and a strong international career orientation had direct links to work‐to‐life enrichment. In addition, having a strong orientation to an international career decreases work‐to‐life conflict when a job requires very frequent traveling, but the moderation effect was not found in relation to duration of traveling. Our findings indicate that interventions aimed at reducing work‐to‐life conflict and increasing work‐to‐life enrichment among international business travelers should focus on fostering a balance between efforts and rewards at work. The extent of employees’ internationalism should also be considered when recruiting people into jobs involving international business travel. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Gender,family and career in the era of boundarylessness: determinants and effects of intra- and inter-organizational mobility

Changes in patterns of long-term employment make understanding the determinants of different career forms increasingly important to careers research. At the same time, the rise of dual-earner families demands greater attention to the ways in which gender and family characteristics shape careers than has been paid by traditional research. This paper addresses these issues, examining the determinants and consequences of intra-organizational and inter-organizational mobility, using a sample of employees from dual-earner couples. We find significant gender differences in these different types of career mobility, and in the effect of family relations on different forms of mobility. Women experience more inter-organizational mobility, while men experience more intraorganizational mobility. Having more children positively influences men's intra-organizational mobility, but increases inter-organizational mobility for women. Marital instability increases intra-organizational mobility among women, but has no effect among men. Each form of mobility has distinctive effects on objective and subjective indicators of career success for both men and women. Moving between organizations tends to depress earnings, but has no effect on how successful people feel in their careers. Job changes within an organization increase earnings, but have a negative effect on perceived success.     

专业技术人员职业倾向与职业成功关系实证研究

在目前专业技术人员流失率居高不下的背景下,管理专业技术人员职业倾向对有效发挥专业技术人员作用具有重要意义。本文围绕专业技术人员职业倾向与职业成功关系展开实证研究,发现专业技术人员呈现多样化的职业倾向,并不是以技能型及其相关的职业倾向为主导;同时发现专业技术人员的一些个人因素会影响其职业倾向和职业成功,不同的职业倾向会影响职业成功的不同方面。论文依据专业技术人员职业倾向特点及其对职业成功的不同影响,提出了保留和激励专业技术人员的建议。     

Perceptions of the mutual obligations between employees and employers: a comparative study of new generation IT professionals in China and the United States

This study examines the psychological contract from the perspective of new IT recruits that are located in the US and China. Psychological contract emphasizes the mutual exchange between employees and employers. Three hundred and ninety-five questionnaire responses from the graduating classes in the information technology discipline in the US and China (Shanghai and Beijing) were analysed. The results of this exploratory study reveal that new IT recruits from China and the US hold many similar beliefs on employer–employee obligations, such as employers' obligations to provide high pay, job autonomy, long-term job security, financial reward for obtaining IT certificates, exciting projects and opportunities to work on leading-edge technology, and employees' obligations to work extra hours when needed, to be loyal and to volunteer to do non-required tasks. Cross-cultural differences do exist however. US IT recruits as a whole place greater emphasis than their Chinese counterparts on rapid career advancement, having a motivating boss and completion of assignments on time, but less emphasis than their Chinese counterparts on receiving project milestone bonuses. Findings also suggest that, although employees can be from the same overarching culture such as the Chinese culture that emphasizes collectivism, there exist strong subculture differences even within the same country. New IT recruits in Shanghai tend to have beliefs that are at times closer to the US IT professionals than to their fellow IT new recruits in Beijing. The differences across cultures and subcultures are more extensive among female than male IT new recruits.     

A study of impending derailment and recovery of middle managers across career stages

Why do some fast‐track managers derail? Why do some recover and return to the fast track? This study investigates these questions by analyzing managerial skills and self‐awareness during different career stages. The results suggest that derailers have significantly lower skill profiles than do successful managers at all career stages. The study also identifies specific skills that managers need to be successful in their careers; furthermore, it reports that derailers overestimate their skills in comparison to successful managers at all career stages. The results imply that one can avoid derailment or recover from derailment by developing both self‐awareness and specific managerial skills. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The impact of international experience on objective and subjective career success in early careers

There is an ongoing debate in the literature on the long-term impact of international work experience on future career success. In this longitudinal study based on university graduates, we compare expatriates (n = 159), repatriates (n = 395) and domestic employees (n = 2697) with regard to their objective and subjective career success during the first five years of their careers. Results from propensity score matching and ordinary least-squares regressions show that expatriates and repatriates have a higher objective career success in terms of monthly wages. We further find a higher subjective career success for expatriates and male repatriates.     

知识型员工职业发展探析

文章首先对知识型员工在职业生涯各个阶段的特点进行了分析,然后对现在管理理论的一些新发展进行了分析和综述,接着阐述目前企业知识型员工职业发展管理中存在的主要问题和原因,并提出相应的改良措施,以科学引导知识型员工职业发展方向。     

Gender Roles and Organizational HR Practices: The Case of Women's Careers in Accountancy and Consultancy Firms in China

The Chinese finance industry has experienced significant expansion both within the state sector and into the private sector. Professional consultancy firms have also emerged as a result of the rising interest in the outsourcing of accounting and management services. However, the study of women's careers in the accountancy profession in contemporary China remains largely an uncharted territory. Drawing on data from 69 interviews with auditors in five firms, this article investigates the nature of work of external auditors in China and how women auditors view their work‐life choices and constraints. We explore the likely differences between male and female auditors in their career aspirations and the extent to which these self‐perceived differences are informed by social conventions of gender role, organizational practices, and personal preferences. The study has strong implications for human resource management in professional service firms in China, with particular reference to job design, work organization, career support, and work‐life balance initiatives. The study contributes to the debate on gender, employment, and career development in the accountancy profession in different parts of the world. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Expatriate success may depend on a “learning orientation”: Considerations for selection and training

To support globalization, managers increasingly are sent to live and work in other countries. An unsuccessful expatriate assignment is costly for the organization and damaging to the individual's career, yet few companies have adequate processes for selecting and training expatriate managers. The concept of “learning orientation” is proposed as a valuable dimension for assessment and training. Employees with weaker learning orientation tend to withdraw from situations that could result in low judgment of performance; those with stronger learning orientation adapt and continue. The described approach can benefit employees and their families and can increase the organization's chance for international success. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The effects of family-friendly practices and gender discrimination on job attitudes: the moderating role of supervisor support

This study examined the effects of family-friendly practices and gender discrimination on female employees' job attitudes and the moderating role of supervisor support. The results of our analysis, based on a sample of 1556 female employees in Korea, indicate that family-friendly practices and workplace environments reflecting gender discrimination are significantly related to their job satisfaction and workplace benefits stress. In addition, supervisor support moderated the effects of family-friendly practices and workplace environments reflecting gender discrimination on Korean female employees' job satisfaction and work stress. These results suggest that perceived organizational support has considerable influence on the job attitudes of Korean female employees through its interactions with supervisor support. Therefore, firms should consider the ‘fit’ between organizational support and supervisory roles to enhance Korean female employees' job satisfaction and to reduce their work stress.     

Is expatriation good for my career? The impact of expatriate assignments on perceived and actual career outcomes

This study examines the impact of expatriate assignments on career growth and the external marketability of US employees of a large professional services firm. We use survey and archival data to compare expatriates currently overseas, repatriates, and domestic US employees on compensation, recent promotions, and external recruiting contacts. We then examine how actual pay, promotions, and external recruiting influences anticipated salary growth within the firm and external employment opportunities. We find that despite little or no impact on their current careers, employees with overseas work experience perceived greater internal and external opportunities than domestic US employees. Implications for managers and researchers are discussed.     

How human resource practices can help plateaued managers succeed

As organizations downsize to increase their competitiveness, flatter hierarchies result in fewer promotional opportunities and more plateaued employees. The definition of career success needs to move away from “up is good,” yet plateauing is still shameful for many employees due to traditional assumptions about the causes and effects of plateauing. A study of 373 middle managers suggests how “successful plateauing” (effective job performance, satisfaction with the job and life in general) can be fostered. The article provides specific examples of how best practices and new approaches in several human resource areas can help plateaued employees succeed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Sorting of Female Careers after First Birth: A Competing Risks Analysis of Maternity Leave Duration

A number of contributions have found evidence that motherhood is a critical life event for women's employment careers. This study presents a detailed analysis for the duration of maternity leave in which young mothers can make a transition into different types of employment, unemployment as well as the next birth. We provide a comprehensive picture of the sorting mechanisms that lead to the differentiation of women's employment careers after birth. Our empirical evidence is derived from large‐linked administrative individual labour market data from Germany for a period of three decades. We obtain unprecedented insights into how women's skills, the quality of the previous job match, firm level characteristics, labour market conditions and leave legislation are related to the length of maternity duration. Expansionary leave policies, e.g. are found to be a key factor for the rising share of women who have their second child out of inactivity.