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 CHAPTER 18: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND DESIGN

CHAPTER 18

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP AND CAREER DYNAMICS

CHAPTER OUTLINE 

I.                   THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT

A.    The psychological contract refers to the individual's beliefs about the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that person and another party.

B.     Types of psychological contracts

1.      Transactional contracts are primarily short-term economic exchanges. People hired in temporary positions and as consultants tend to have transactional contracts.

2.      Relational contracts are rather like marriages; they are long-term attachments that encompass a broad array of subjective mutual obligations.

C.     Psychological contracts across cultures are influenced by the social contexts in which the contracting process occurs.

D.    Trust and the psychological contract depends on a certain degree of trust between the parties.

1.      Institutional trust is the employee's trust of the organization's CEO and top management.

2.      Three types of trust each representing a different level and form of relationship.

a.       Calculus-based trust is a minimal level of trust that refers to an expected consistency of behavior based on deterrence.

b.      Knowledge-based trust is grounded on the other party's predictability.

c.       Identification-based trust is based on mutual understanding and emotional bond between the parties.

II.                TRENDS IN EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS

A.    From security to employability whereby employees must take responsibility for their own careers by continually developing new competencies for future work opportunities within and beyond the organization.

1.      Permanence of employability

a.       increasing turbulence in the business environment include global competition, deregulation, and information technologies.

b.      changing employee expectations.

c.       employees are more comfortable with career risks and opportunities.

B.     Contingent work is any job in which the individual does not have an explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment, or one in which the minimum hours of work can vary in a nonsystematic way.

1.      Types of contingent workers

a.       Those who have a high motivation but low ability to secure permanent employment.

b.      Free agents.

c.       Transients.

2.      Reasons for contingent work has become more common because it provides companies with greater numerical and skill flexibility.

3.      Contingent workforce issues.

4.      Minimizing contingent workforce problems.

III.             ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIALIZATION

A.    Organizational socialization refers to the process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization.

B.     Socialization as a learning process.

C.     Socialization as a change process.

IV.             STAGES OF SOCIALIZATION

A.    The organizational socialization process can be divided into three stages:

1.      Pre-employment socialization encompasses all of the learning and adjustment that occurs prior to the first day of work in a new position.

a.         Conflicts when exchanging information.

b.      Postdecisional justification

2.      Encounter

a.       Reality shock occurs when newcomers perceive discrepancies between their pre-employment expectations and on-the-job reality.

3.      Role management stage - employees settle in and they make the transition from newcomers to insiders.

V.                IMPROVING THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS

A.    Realistic job previews is a balance of positive and negative information about the job and work context.

B.     Socialization agents - co-workers, bosses, or maybe even friends who work for the company.

VI.             ORGANIZATIONAL CAREERS

A.    A career is a sequence of work-related experiences that people participate in over the span of their working lives.

B.     Holland's theory of occupational choice.

1.      Holland's six types of people and work environments:

a.       Realistic - work with hands, machines, or tools, focus on tangible results.

b.      Investigative - work involves discovering, collecting, and analyzing, solving problems.

c.       Artistic - work involves creation of new products or ideas, typically in an unstructured setting.

d.      Social - work involves serving or helping others, working in teams.

e.       Enterprising - work involves leading others, achieving goals through others in a results-oriented setting.

f.       Conventional - work involves systematic manipulation of data or information.

2.      Practical implications of Holland's theory.

C.     Lateral career development enables people to fulfill their personal needs in different jobs across the organization.

1.      Encouraging lateral career development.

D.    Boundaryless careers - the idea that careers operate across company and industry boundaries rather than just within a single organizational hierarchy.

1.      Reasons why people adopt boundaryless careers.

a.       Massive corporate downsizing over the past decade.

b.      Psychological contracts have shifted from job security to employability.

c.       Organizations can provide enough career opportunities within the organization to make external job-hopping unnecessary.

d.      Corporate leaders need to re-examine the drivers of organizational loyalty.

VII.          CAREER DEVELOPMENT: RULES FOR THE ROAD AHEAD

A.    Understand your needs and values.

B.     Understand your competencies.

C.     Set career goals.

D.    Maintain networks.

E.     Get a mentor.

VIII.       CAREERS AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

A.    Change embraces knowledge management.

B.     Organizations are the people in them.