The Evolution of the Boundaryless Career Concept Examining Physical and Psychological Mobility free essay sample

Abstract Although there has been increased interest in the boundaryless career since the publication of Arthur and Rousseau’s book (1996), there is still some misunderstanding about what the concept means. This article examines the boundaryless career and presents a model that attempts to visually capture Arthur and Rousseau’s suggestion that the concept involves six underlying meanings. Rather than considering whether or not an individual has a boundaryless career, the model focuses on the degree of mobility reXected in a career along two continua: one psychological, one physical. Based on the model, we suggest Wve propositions and a series of directions for future research.  © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Career; Boundaryless; Protean; Women; Transitions; Mobility; Gender 1. Introduction There have been calls for greater clarity of terms and further conceptualization of the boundaryless career (e. g. , Inkson, 2002; Pringle Mallon, 2003; Sullivan, 1999) and its distinction from the concept of the protean career (Briscoe, Hall, DeMuth, 2006; Hall, 1996; Hall, Briscoe, Kram, 1997). We will write a custom essay sample on The Evolution of the Boundaryless Career Concept: Examining Physical and Psychological Mobility or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Some authors have considered the boundaryless career Thanks to Jon Briscoe, Madeline Crocitto, Tim Hall, Kerr Inkson, Sally Power, and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. * Corresponding author. Fax: +1 419 372 6057. E-mail addresses: [emailprotected] bgsu. edu (S. E. Sullivan), [emailprotected] edu (M. B. Arthur). 1 Fax: +1 617 994 4260. 0001-8791/$ see front matter  © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10. 1016/j. jvb. 2005. 09. 001 20 S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 s involving only physical changes in work arrangements. In contrast, other authors have considered the protean career concept as involving only psychological changes. However, this separation between physical (or objective) career changes and psychological (or subjective) career changes neglects the interdependence between the physical and psychological career worlds. The result is a body of work that lacks applicability for the individual, who needs to take both physical and psychological issues into account. Similarly, it lacks applicability for the practicing manager or career counselor who seeks to support the individual. While recent research has begun to recognize the links between physical and psychological career changes (e. g. , Marler, Barringer, Milkovich, 2002; Peiperl, Arthur, GoVee, Morris, 2000; Valcour Tolbert, 2003), there still remain rich opportunities for further research. In this article, we seek to stimulate new research by focusing on two questions. First, how can we further clarify and elaborate on the meaning of the boundaryless career? Second, how can we better explore the possible interaction of mobility across (a) physical and (b) psychological boundaries? We begin by examining Arthur and Rousseau’s (1996) deWnition of the boundaryless career as well as its subsequent interpretation and application. Next, we present a model to better illustrate the physical and psychological aspects of boundaryless careers. Using this model as a basis, we explore how career competencies, gender, culture, and individual diVerences inXuence individuals’ opportunities for physical and psychological mobility. Finally, we discuss the implications of these ideas for both practice and future research. 2. Mobility across physical and psychological boundaries Arthur and Rousseau’s 1996 book, The Boundaryless Career, encouraged researchers to rethink their ideas of what a career entails, and raised a number of new questions and lines of inquiry. In the book they detailed six diVerent meanings of boundaryless careers, involving careers: (1) like the stereotypical Silicon Valley career, that move across the boundaries of separate employers; (2) like those of academics or carpenters, that draw validation—and marketability— from outside the present employer; (3) like those of eal-estate agents, that are sustained by external networks or information; (4) that break traditional organizational assumptions about hierarchy and career advancement; (5) that involve an individual rejecting existing career opportunities for personal or family reasons; and (6) that are based on the interpretation of the career actor, who may perceive a boundaryless future regardless of structural constraints. Arthur and Rousseau (1996, p. 6) also stated that a common factor in all these deWnitions was â€Å"? ne of independence from, rather than dependence on, traditional organizational career arrangements. † However, it has subsequently been noted that there can be mobility across other kinds of boundaries—for example, occupational or cultural boundaries—which may also contribute to what we interpret to be boundaryless careers (Gunz, Evans, Jalland, 2000; Inkson, this issue; Sullivan Mainiero, 2000). S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 21 Since the publication of Arthur and Rousseau’s book, a number of researchers have focused on physical mobility across boundaries invoked by meanings 1 and 4. However, relatively few researchers have examined mobility across, or changes to, psychological boundaries described in meanings 2, 3, 5, and 6. For example, Sullivan’s (1999) review of the empirical careers literature found that sixteen studies examined the crossing of physical boundaries (e. g. , between occupations, Wrms, levels) whereas only three studies focused relationships across those boundaries. More recently, Arthur, Khapova, and Wilderom (2005) 11-year review of career success research reported that few of the 80 articles examined, conceptualized or operationalized success in ways that could add to our understanding of boundaryless careers. Only one-third of the articles recognized any two-way interdependence between objective and subjective career success, while a much lower fraction acknowledged the inXuence of either inter-organizational mobility or extra-organizational support on career success. Thus, scholars have emphasized physical mobility across boundaries at the cost of neglecting psychological mobility and its relationship to physical mobility. The possible reasons for this emphasis on physical mobility may be twofold. First, although there are two types of mobility—the physical, which is the transition across boundaries and the psychological, which is the perception of the capacity to make transitions—researchers appear to have viewed boundaryless careers as the Wrst type. They have focused on physical mobility between jobs, employers or industries. Researchers have been less interested in the second type of mobility, and in particular the perceived capacity for change that underlies Arthur and Rousseau’s (1996, p. 6) meaning 6, â€Å"? the interpretation of the career actor, who may perceive a boundaryless future regardless of structural constraints. † Second, researchers may Wnd it easier to measure physical mobility (e. g. , counting the number of times someone changed jobs, employers or occupations) than to measure perceptions about psychological mobility. It is perhaps not surprising that most studies have operationalized boundaryless careers in terms of physical mobility. Because of the emphasis on physical mobility, the versatility of the boundaryless career concept is not always acknowledged. Recognizing this versatility suggests that future conceptual and empirical research needs to question the potential diVerence between boundaryless careers characterized primarily by physical mobility (that is, actual movement between jobs, Wrms, occupations, and countries) versus boundaryless careers characterized primarily by psychological mobility (that is, the capacity to move as seen through the mind of the career actor). Moreover, as previously noted, it is relatively easy to measure physical mobility, but it is more diYcult to measure psychological mobility (see Briscoe et al. , 2006). For example, how could the complexities of the psychological mobility in the following situations be measured? John2 once saw himself as a manager seeking advancement within his present company (a traditional organizational career). Now at midlife, he has refused further promotions to spend more time with his children (Arthur and Rousseau’s meaning 5), accepting instead lateral transfers that permit reXective, on-the-job learning (Arthur and Rousseau’s meaning 4). Each of the examples given is based upon an individual the authors have encountered through other research or consulting projects. All names have been disguised. 2 22 S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 Suzanne is a middle manager seen by others as plateaued in her present organization. However, she anticipates a boundaryless future because she sees her skills as marketable (Arthur and Rousseau’s meaning 6). She has not yet crossed physical boundaries between organizations or occupations, but intends to do so. In addition to measuring complex physical and psychological mobility, how can career changes that represent varying combinations of physical and psychological mobility, and the interdependency between them be measured? Consider the following example: Cindy happily viewed herself as company accountant until she grew bored with her job. She turned to her professional association for validation of her abilities (Arthur and Rousseau’s meaning 2). This led to new opportunities to provide accounting services that she is now pursuing through a small home-based business. Freed from the constraints her employer once placed on her, she now has a substantial support system outside that employer (Arthur and Rousseau’s meaning 3). 3. A model of boundaryless careers The growing complexity of the contemporary career landscape, as well as the many inter-connected factors that can inXuence career decisions, make it increasingly challenging for researchers to capture diVerent types of boundaryless career mobility. To respond to this challenge, we suggest a deWnition of a boundaryless career as one that involves physical and/or psychological career mobility. Such a career can be then viewed as characterized by varying levels of physical and psychological mobility. Thus, boundaryless careers can be represented by the model depicted in Fig. 1, with physical High Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4 Psychological Mobility Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Low Low High Physical Mobility Fig. 1. Two dimensions of boundaryless careers. S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 23 mobility along the horizontal continuum and psychological mobility along the vertical continuum. According to the model, having a boundaryless career is not an â€Å"either or† proposition as suggested by some studies. Rather, a boundaryless career can be viewed and operationalized by the degree of mobility exhibited by the career actor along both the physical and psychological continua. Both physical and psychological mobility—and the interdependence between them—can thereby be recognized and subsequently measured. To facilitate discussion of the model, we focus on four â€Å"pure types† of careers, with these four types reXecting the four diVerent quadrants, as follows. 3. 1. Quadrant 1 Careers in this quadrant exhibit low levels of both physical and psychological mobility. In some circumstances this kind of career can appeal to both parties to an employment contract. Consider Alex, a long-tenured NASA engineer. Despite having an advanced education, his highly specialized knowledge may have low transferability because NASA is the only employer requiring this knowledge. Moreover, enjoying the job security and unique challenges of the job, he may have little desire to change employers. Both physical and psychological boundaries are likely to remain. However, unlike the career of the NASA engineer, other careers in this quadrant may not be so enduring. Consider Vicki who works in a bank and has a social life that relies heavily on her fellow workers. Mergers and acquisitions in the industry may not only threaten the stability of her social life, but also the opportunities for her Wnding similar employment elsewhere. Likewise, those lacking basic skills and training, as well as the chronically unemployed, may also have careers in this quadrant. 3. 2. Quadrant 2 Careers in this quadrant have high evels of physical mobility but low levels of psychological mobility. For instance, Colin, a young person bent on seeing the world, may oVer his skills as a waiter or bartender in a series of temporary jobs that provide the opportunity to travel. Helen, a schoolteacher, may change jobs at short notice to follow the geographically mobile career of her partner, but may not seek any psychological beneWt from such a job change. The common facto r in such careers is that they cross physical boundaries but psychological boundaries remain as they were. Some careers in this quadrant may become dysfunctional as they unfold. Consider Peter, a computer programmer seeking to maximize income by applying his existing programming skills. Those skills may remain in demand for some time, but only because programmers willing to work on older systems are in limited supply. As the number of these systems dwindles, Peter may Wnd fewer and fewer opportunities for further employment. 3. 3. Quadrant 3 Careers in this quadrant have low levels of physical mobility but high levels of psychological mobility. Individuals with these types of careers recognize and act on the potential for psychological career mobility. They sustain high expectations of their own employability—for example, as respected academics, experienced management consultants 24 S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 or skilled nurses—without changing employers. Other kinds of psychological mobility can occur when individuals seek personal growth outside the workplace (e. g. , by taking adult education classes or doing volunteer work), or by introducing new ideas into the workplace. However, psychological mobility can also cause problems. Sarah, a research chemist, felt psychologically boundaryless because of her conWdence in her own ability. Then Sarah’s employer assigned her work unrelated to her research specialization, making her unattractive to potential employers. Sarah’s extreme conWdence in her own abilities caused her to lose touch with developments in her Weld, making it diYcult for her to Wnd a more psychologically meaningful work situation. Similarly, Bob has advanced occupational skills but low emotional intelligence. Although he sustains a sense of psychological mobility, he fails to act on feedback to improve his interpersonal skills, and is unable to earn promotions or gain employment with other organizations. . 4. Quadrant 4 Careers in this quadrant exhibit both psychological and physical mobility. In these careers, individuals may make many physical changes (e. g. , changing jobs often), while also changing their psychological career orientation on a regular basis. One example might be Karl, a chef, who works for several diVerent restaurants. Each new job contributes to a larger body of exp ertise and self-conWdence, inside and outside the kitchen, that leads to the opening of his own restaurant. Another example might be Eileen, a self-employed management consultant, who seeks a variety of industry experiences before building the selfassurance to go into line management. Other careers in this quadrant may make sense only to the person. That is, the person’s subjective sense of career success may diVer from the expectations of employers, family, and friends, or society at large. Individuals may â€Å"get oV the fast track† to pursue less demanding work schedules that permit self-reXection and renewal. Spouses may work unattractive hours or accept lower paying positions if these complement their partners’ hours (e. g. one works days, the other nights, so that one of them is always home with preschool children or elderly dependents). Compulsive learners may make a series of lateral moves to experience diVerent roles through the world of work. In sum, the model depicted in Fig. 1 illustrates a range of combinations of psychological and physical mobility that can occur during the course of a career. Why, though, do some careers exhibit greater levels of physical and psychological mobility than others? 4. Some research propositions In this section, we suggest a number of research propositions based on the model previously described. These propositions cover diVerences in individuals’ career competencies, gender, culture, and individual characteristics. They are oVered as illustrative of a much larger body of research topics that might be pursued. 4. 1. Boundaryless careers and career competencies Two individuals may be in the same line of work, the same organization and the same industry but have very diVerent levels of physical and psychological mobility because of S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 25 their diVerent career competencies. Career competencies have been described to reXect three diVerent â€Å"ways of knowing† that can be applied and adapted to shifting career opportunities (DeFillippi Arthur, 1996). The three ways of knowing involve an individual’s motivation and identity (knowing-why), skills and expertise (knowing-how) and relationships and reputation (knowing-whom). Knowing-why competencies underlie the overall energy and identiWcation a person may bring to the tasks, projects, and employment cultures that he/she faces. Knowing-how competencies relate to the skills and knowledge, including tacit knowledge, needed for task or job performance. Knowing-whom competencies refer to relationships with colleagues, professional associations, and friends that provide needed visibility, access to new opportunity, and sources of information. The three ways of knowing are also interdependent. For example, when knowing-why motivation to gain fresh experience stimulates a search for new knowing-how job challenges that in turn bring about new knowing-whom connections. In this way, the accumulation of new career competencies in any of the three ways of knowing can trigger the pursuit of further competencies in the other two. The eVect of the accumulation of career competencies upon the boundaryless career has recently been examined by Eby, Butts, and Lockwood (2003). They found that those with greater levels of knowing-why competencies (proactive personality, openness to experience, and career insight), knowing-how competencies (career/job-related skills, career identity), and knowing-whom competencies (mentor, internal networks, and external networks) reported greater levels of perceived career success and internal and external marketability. Career theory and evidence therefore suggests: Proposition 1. Those with greater career competencies are more likely to have experienced more, and have more opportunities for, psychological and physical mobility than those with lower career competencies. Previous research (e. g. , Schein, 1978; Sullivan, Martin, Carden, Mainiero, 2004) suggests that as individuals gain experience and maturity, unless they are faced with a crisis, they make incremental career changes. In the circumstances of a job loss, a person may be obliged o take on both physical and psychological mobility at the same time. However, in other circumstances, the unfolding of physical and psychological mobility may be sequential rather than simultaneous. Someone in Quadrant 1 would be more likely to switch to psychological mobility (Quadrant 3) if Wrst persuaded, perhaps through career coaching sessions, that his/her skills were transferable. Once established in Quadrant 3, the person may subsequently seek and Wnd a new employer that takes better advantage of those skills. Proposition 2. Individuals, through enhancing career competencies, are more likely to increase their opportunities for either psychological or physical mobility than to increase both simultaneously. 4. 2. Gender Research indicates that men and women are likely to enact their careers diVerently because of social and psychological gender diVerences (Mainiero, 1994a, 1994b; Mainiero Sullivan, 2006; Powell Mainiero, 1992). Societal norms and expectations have often restricted women’s educational, occupational, and job choices (Powell, 1993, 1999). Research 26 S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 has found gender diVerences in relation to work/nonwork balance, mentoring, work outcomes (such as promotions, stress, and career satisfaction), work policies, and sexual harassment and discrimination (Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, Brinley, 2005; Konrad, Ritchie, Lieb, Corrigall, 2000; Nelson, 2000; Parasuraman Greenhaus, 1997). Women, in general, may have less freedom than men to engage in physical mobility. For instance, a woman may reject an opportunity than requires relocation or increased travel because her husband may be unable or unwilling to move, she is caring for an ill dependant, or there is a lack of quality childcare in the new locale. Similarly, men in general may have less freedom than women to engage in psychological mobility because social expectations may oblige them to conform to traditional work roles or to provide for their families (Mainiero Sullivan, 2005). Proposition 3. Men are more likely to have greater opportunities for physical mobility whereas women are more likely to have reater opportunities for psychological mobility. 4. 3. Cultural diVerences Cultural diVerences may also inXuence psychological and physical mobility. Hofstede (1980, 1984) has suggested that individualism-collectivism is a bipolar variable that diVerentiates cultures. Individualist cultures emphasize personal goals and equity-based rewards, social networking, and promotions. Collectivist c ultures emphasize group goals and rewards as well as job security. In collectivist cultures the individual is more likely to look to the existing group or organization for evidence of career success. Proposition 4. People in individualistic cultures are more likely to change work groups or organizations, and to exhibit physical mobility; in contrast, people in collectivist cultures are more likely to stay in their work groups or organizations, and to exhibit psychological mobility. 4. 4. Individual diVerences Ramamoorthy and Carroll (1998) have argued that the individualism-collectivism construct may also distinguish individual orientations. Thus, individuals with an individualistic orientation will prefer individually based human resource management systems (e. . , individual incentive schemes, merit-based hiring, and promotion) whereas individuals with collectivist orientations will prefer group-based human resource management systems (e. g. , jobs designed around group functions, group incentives). Proposition 5. People with individual orientations are more likely to recognize opportunities for and exhibit physical mobility; in contrast, people with collectivist orientations a re more likely to recognize opportunities for and exhibit psychological mobility 5. A future research agenda The Wve propositions we have presented illustrate some possible avenues for future research and may be extended to include other variables. In this section, we suggest that the boundaryless career concept can encourage an even larger research program, and detail three aspects of this agenda. S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 27 5. 1. Building upon the Wve propositions Propositions 1–5 may be extended to include propositions involving other independent variables, or other ombinations of variables, that space preclude us from discussing here. For example, beyond the extent of a person’s overall career competencies (Propositions 1 and 2) lay a number of questions about particular combinations of those competencies. A person with a high (knowing-why) need for security and a weak (knowing-whom) occupational network may be expected to be low on psychological mobility even if that person has strong and highly transferable (knowing-how) occupational skills. Further demographic variables, such as race, age, and socio-economic status may be anticipated to interact with gender (Proposition 3). Hypotheses about diVerences between national cultures (Proposition 4) may be reWned to also cover the organizational and/or occupational cultures in which a career is situated. Further demographic factors, such as race, age, and diVerences between generations (Proposition 3), and personality variables, such as the â€Å"big Wve† personality dimensions (Proposition 5), could also be examined. . 2. Going beyond organizational career samples Much previous research, especially concerning managerial careers, has been limited to a single organizational setting, thereby preventing the examination of boundaryless career phenomena (Arthur, Khapova, Wilderom, 2005; Sullivan, 1999). An instructive example based on an alternative sampling strategy is that of Eby and associates (2003). They studied 458 university alumni representing a range of diVerent or ganizations, occupations, industries, and employment situations. Similar to Eby and associates, Mainiero and Sullivan (2005) captured a variety of diVerent employment experiences, industries, and occupations. They used a multi-source approach, including the collection of data via: (a) an email survey of over 100 high achieving women belonging to a national association of female professionals; (b) an on-line survey of over 1000 men and women; and (c) a series of indepth online â€Å"conversations† with 27 men and women about their careers. By using both quantitative and qualitative methods, Mainiero and Sullivan’s study illustrates a strategy for obtaining richer information about individuals’ physical and psychological mobility. 5. 3. Using action research The boundaryless career model suggested by this article could be used as the foundation for action research. Initial diagnostic work could determine which area of the model best reXects a person’s career situation. Next, a series of interventions could be designed to assist each person’s transition between adjacent quadrants. Such passages could help individuals experiment with greater degrees of physical and psychological mobility—thereby potentially increasing the number of options in each individual’s future career. A series of research measures could be applied during the process to test the utility of the interventions used. This kind of action research design may help both individuals and their present employers to adapt existing employment arrangements to the uncertainties of the contemporary knowledge-driven economy. Similarly, such action research models may help scholars develop much needed measures of psychological mobility. The use of action research could be combined with eVorts to increase managerial eVectiveness. For instance, in the contemporary career world it is considered important for 28 S. E. Sullivan, M. B. Arthur / Journal of Vocational Behavior 69 (2006) 19–29 managers to hold â€Å"eVective career discussions† with their employees (Kidd, Hirsh, Jackson, 2004). These discussions are considered to help individuals to develop more accurate and more nuanced pictures of their career situations, including the situation inside the current organization. In less routine situations, such as downsizing or moving jobs oVshore, there is a greater sense of urgency in such exchanges. Although all employees will be aVected by such changes, individual reactions to the prospect of either physical and/or psychological mobility will vary. By using the model detailed in this article to anticipate and respond to these diVerent reactions, managers may be better able to assist their employees. Likewise, researchers observing these career discussions as they happen may gain a greater understanding of how careers unfold. In conclusion, the concept of the boundaryless career can be clariWed by viewing mobility as measured along two continua, one physical, one psychological. This portrayal of the boundaryless career invites scholars to bring greater precision to research endeavors concerned with such variables as career competencies, gender, culture, and individual diVerences. It also invites scholars to use a variety of data collection and research designs, including scholars partnering with managers to use action research to assist employees in their quest for more satisfactory careers. Attention to this future career research agenda should bring greater insights into today’s complex careers. References Arthur, M. B. , Khapova, S. N. , Wilderom, C. P. M. (2005). Career success in a boundaryless career world. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(2), 177–202. Arthur, M. B. , Rousseau, D. M. (Eds. ). (1996). The boundaryless career: A new employment principle for a new organizational era. 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