In 1946, Einstein had already taught us that “a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move towards higher levels“.
In times when markets are highly competitive and shaken by ongoing disruptions, the environment hosts a flood of information and thus becomes more complex. Internally, employees exert pressure with their requests for New Work approaches. Therefore, organizations need to apply a new way of thinking, as Einstein labels it, in order to survive in the predominant VUCA-world. Many organizations see agility as a panacea and thus, the term is currently on everyone’s lips in the business world.
New working conditions associated with agility, such as self-organization instead of managerial commands, constantly changing tasks instead of strictly imposed job descriptions and interdisciplinary networks instead of hierarchically structured job families, raise the question of how employees can pursue a career in such an organizational frame. Especially interesting in this context is the appearance of career steps as hierarchical levels increasingly disappear and employees have more decision-making power than their managers due to the new structures. Also the stakeholders regulating the career advancement of individual organizational members are of particular interest as agile organizations follow a servant leadership approach and contain only highly reduced Human Resouces (HR) functions.
This thesis aims to examine the research question of how career design is interpreted in agile organizations.
With regard to career research, new career models and attitudes appear in academic literature, such as the boundaryless and self-directed protean career, but so far no empirical studies have been carried out to show whether these are particularly prevalent in agile organizations. This thesis puts the topic center stage and aims to qualitatively examine and explore career design in agile organizations and to discuss it against the background of literary identified career design factors.
For this purpose 19 representatives of agile organizations as well as consultants were interviewed. The empirical study revealed interesting insights especially concerning the relevance of jobtitles, the subjective notion of career steps as well as the role of the works council in agile organizations. Also a pattern regarding the involvement of peer regulation in different sections of the career process could be derived.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Career theory
- Historical development
- Relevant career models
- Specialist career
- Boundaryless career
- Protean career
- Agile organizations
- Concept of agility
- Cultural and structural characteristics
- Cultural characteristics
- Self-organized teams
- Peer regulation
- Incremental approach
- Continuous learning
- Structural characteristics
- Co-existing layers
- Interdisciplinary teams
- Servant leadership
- Dissolved staff functions
- Cultural characteristics
- Different manifestations of agility
- Scrum as an exemplatory agile method
- Derivation of career factors - literary findings
- Career appearance
- Career management
- Promotion frequency
- Promotion criteria
- Job title
- Monetary incentivation
- Career paths
- Comprehensive overview
- Research methodology
- Qualitative study
- Data collection
- Interview design
- Selection of interviewees
- Interview execution
- Data analysis and processing
- Empirical findings
- Urgency for action
- Career appearance
- Sections of the career process
- Fragmented career process
- Performance assessment
- Promotion execution
- Role change
- Promotion frequency
- Promotion criteria
- Job title
- Career paths
- Monetary incentivation
- Professional training
- Works council
- Agility and career
- Discussion
- Key findings
- Decision-making bodies in the career process
- Individual versus organizational career interpretation
- Specialist, boundaryless and protean career elements
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This master's thesis aims to explore the interpretation of career design within agile organizations. The study delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by the shift towards agile working practices, specifically examining how career progression, performance assessments, and promotion processes function in such environments. It seeks to understand the relevance of traditional career models, such as the specialist, boundaryless, and protean careers, in the context of agile organizational structures and their evolving dynamics.
- The impact of agile organizational principles on career design and development.
- The role of traditional career models in agile environments, particularly the specialist, boundaryless, and protean career models.
- The significance of performance assessment, promotion criteria, and career path structures within agile organizations.
- The influence of self-organized teams, peer regulation, and servant leadership on career progression.
- The impact of agile principles on the role of human resource functions and the decision-making bodies involved in career decisions.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: This chapter sets the stage for the thesis by introducing the concept of agility and its increasing relevance in today's business environment. It explores the challenges and opportunities associated with agile working practices, particularly regarding career development. The chapter also highlights the research gap surrounding career design in agile organizations and outlines the thesis's key research question and objectives.
- Career theory: This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of career theory, tracing its historical development and exploring key career models, including the specialist, boundaryless, and protean careers. It discusses the theoretical foundations and characteristics of these models, laying the groundwork for analyzing their relevance within the context of agile organizations.
- Agile organizations: This chapter delves into the concept of agility, exploring its cultural and structural characteristics. It examines the values and principles underpinning agile organizations, focusing on aspects such as self-organization, peer regulation, incremental approach, continuous learning, co-existing layers, interdisciplinary teams, servant leadership, and dissolved staff functions. The chapter also discusses different manifestations of agility and highlights the importance of Scrum as an exemplary agile method.
- Derivation of career factors - literary findings: Based on existing research, this chapter analyzes various career factors relevant to agile organizations, including career appearance, career management, promotion frequency, promotion criteria, job titles, monetary incentives, and career paths. It provides a comprehensive overview of the literature related to these factors, establishing a theoretical framework for understanding career design in agile organizations.
- Research methodology: This chapter outlines the methodology employed in the research, detailing the qualitative approach adopted for data collection and analysis. It describes the design of the interviews conducted, the selection of interviewees, and the process of interview execution and data processing.
- Empirical findings: This chapter presents the results of the qualitative study, focusing on the key findings related to career design in agile organizations. It explores aspects such as the urgency for action, career appearance, fragmented career processes, performance assessment, promotion execution, monetary incentives, professional training, and the role of the works council.
- Discussion: This chapter discusses the key findings of the study, drawing connections between the empirical results and the theoretical framework established earlier. It explores the implications of the findings for career design in agile organizations, highlighting the significance of individual versus organizational career interpretations, the role of decision-making bodies, and the relevance of various career models.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This research focuses on the intersection of agile organizational principles and career design, exploring key concepts such as career appearance, promotion frequency, job titles, and career path structures. It examines the impact of agile values and principles, such as self-organization, peer regulation, servant leadership, and continuous learning, on career development and the role of traditional career models, including the specialist, boundaryless, and protean careers, in agile contexts.
- Quote paper
- Nadine Butzhammer (Author), 2019, Career design in agile organizations, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/538500
