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.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Career theory
2.1 Historical development
2.2 Relevant career models
2.2.1 Specialist career
2.2.2 Boundaryless career
2.2.3 Protean career
3 Agile organizations
3.1 Concept of agility
3.2 Cultural and structural characteristics
3.2.2 Cultural characteristics
3.2.2.1 Self-organized teams
3.2.2.2 Peer regulation
3.2.2.3 Incremental approach
3.2.2.4 Continuous learning
3.2.3 Structural characteristics
3.2.3.1 Co-existing layers
3.2.3.2 Interdisciplinary teams
3.2.3.3. Servant leadership
3.2.3.4 Dissolved staff functions
3.3 Different manifestations of agility
3.4 Scrum as an exemplatory agile method
4 Derivation of career factors – literary findings
4.1 Career appearance
4.2 Career management
4.3 Promotion frequency
4.4 Promotion criteria
4.5 Job title
4.6 Monetary incentivation
4.7 Career paths
4.8 Comprehensive overview
5 Research methodology
5.1 Qualitative study
5.2 Data collection
5.2.1 Interview design
5.2.2 Selection of interviewees
5.2.3 Interview execution
5.3 Data analysis and processing
6 Empirical findings
6.1 Urgency for action
6.2 Career appearance
6.3 Sections of the career process
6.3.1 Fragmented career process
6.3.2 Performance assessment
6.3.3 Promotion execution
6.3.3.1 Role change
6.3.3.2 Promotion frequency
6.3.3.3 Promotion criteria
6.3.3.4 Job title
6.3.3.5 Career paths
6.3.4 Monetary incentivation
6.3.5 Professional training
6.4 Works council
6.5 Agility and career
7 Discussion
7.1 Key findings
7.2 Decision-making bodies in the career process
7.3 Individual versus organizational career interpretation
7.4 Specialist, boundaryless and protean career elements
8 Conclusion
Research Objectives and Core Themes
The primary research objective of this thesis is to examine how the concept of career design is interpreted within agile organizations. By addressing the absence of traditional hierarchical structures and the transformation of HR functions, the study explores how employees navigate professional development and how organizations reconcile individual career ambitions with agile working frameworks.
- The interpretation of career progress in the absence of traditional hierarchical levels.
- The impact of self-organized teams and peer-based feedback on career advancement.
- The role of servant leadership and reduced HR functions in managing employee development.
- The prevalence of protean and boundaryless career attitudes within agile working environments.
- The conflict between individual interpretations of career and organizational recognition of advancement.
Excerpt from the Thesis
3.2.2.1 Self-organized teams
The human image prevalent in agile organizations is the one of an engaged and autonomous employee. It is assumed that individuals are not lazy, rather they see physical or mental activity as natural as rest. Humans wish to get involved, want to act self-directed towards meaningful goals and strive to take responsibility. The employees‘ primary motivator is understood to be the work itself and therefore is intrinsic. Furthermore, employees always strive to perform as well as possible. This human image is equivalent to McGregor’s Theory Y (Kasch, 2013; Maximini, 2018; Trost, 2018). McGregor (1960) states that organizations, living the Theory Y, distribute responsibility decentrally at employee level and have leaders solely acting as coaches instead of bosses. The assumption of responsibility by the employees in turn reinforces their engaged behaviour.
Consequently, the culture in agile organizations is characterized by trust. The employees are trusted to be able to solve the particular problem and are provided with the necessary resources and decision making power. Laloux (2014) expresses the control mechanisms in such a culture as follows: “When trust is extended, it breeds responsibility in return“ (p.81). In agile organizations all employees work in teams which are self-organized. This means that the the team manages the work on its own and that the team members decide collectively how they want to handle specific situations in future (Moran, 2015). Due to trust and authority given to the teams, the accountability for the work delivered also lies with them and not with the team leaders. Laloux (2014) sees the advantage of self-organized teams in the “collective intelligence of the system“ (p.85) and compares the constellation with the free market economy, which works through self-regulation much better than a centrally planned economy.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Introduces the research context of agile organizations in a VUCA world and outlines the research question regarding the interpretation of career design.
2 Career theory: Provides the theoretical foundation by discussing historical development and relevant models like the specialist, boundaryless, and protean career.
3 Agile organizations: Details the cultural and structural characteristics of agile environments, including self-organized teams, servant leadership, and Scrum methodologies.
4 Derivation of career factors – literary findings: Synthesizes academic literature to derive key factors that influence career design within agile organizational frameworks.
5 Research methodology: Describes the qualitative, nested case study approach used to explore career design through interviews with 19 representatives.
6 Empirical findings: Presents the gathered data, highlighting the fragmented nature of career processes and the tension between individual and organizational perceptions.
7 Discussion: Connects the empirical findings back to existing theory, focusing on decision-making bodies and the nature of individual versus organizational career interpretations.
8 Conclusion: Summarizes the key insights and suggests that organizations must align their career models with the subjective personal development needs of their employees.
Keywords
Agile Organizations, Career Design, Protean Career, Boundaryless Career, Self-organized Teams, Servant Leadership, Performance Assessment, Peer Regulation, Career Management, Scrum, Personal Development, Human Resources, Agile Transformation, Organizational Structure, Employee Retention
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this thesis?
This thesis investigates how career design is interpreted and executed within agile organizations, where traditional hierarchical career paths are often absent or significantly altered.
What are the central themes discussed in this work?
Key themes include the shift from hierarchical advancement to role-based development, the role of self-organized teams, the impact of servant leadership, and the emergence of subjective, protean career attitudes.
What is the primary research question?
The study examines the research question: "How is career design interpreted in agile organizations?"
Which scientific methodology was applied?
The author conducted a qualitative nested case study, involving 19 expert interviews with representatives from agile organizations and consultants, analyzed using template analysis.
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The main body covers the theoretical background of careers and agility, the derivation of career factors from literature, a detailed presentation of empirical findings, and a discussion of the practical implications.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
The study is characterized by terms such as Agile Organizations, Career Design, Protean Career, Self-organized Teams, and Peer Regulation.
How does agility change the role of traditional Human Resources in career management?
In many agile organizations, HR functions are reduced or dissolved, with many traditional responsibilities shifting to the teams themselves or to decentralized coordination processes.
What is the main finding regarding salary increases in agile organizations?
The research found that performance-based individual bonuses are largely absent, and while peer-based feedback is common, salary negotiation processes often remain linked to hierarchical levels rather than purely peer-determined mechanisms.
How do job titles lose significance in agile settings?
Job titles are often perceived as irrelevant inside the organization because work is driven by fluid roles and collective team responsibility, leading many agile firms to prioritize skills over formal hierarchical titles.
- Citation du texte
- Nadine Butzhammer (Auteur), 2019, Career design in agile organizations, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/538500
