Individuals, organizations and careers : a relational perspective 9781845443498, 9780861769292

Citation preview

cdi_cover_(i).qxd

2/20/04

1:17 PM

Page 1

Volume 9 Number 1 2004

ISBN 0-86176-929-5

ISSN 1362-0436

Career Development International Individuals, organizations and careers: a relational perspective Guest Editors: Olympia Kyriakidou and Mustafa Özbilgin

www.emeraldinsight.com

Career Development International

ISSN 1362-0436 Volume 9 Number 1 2004

Individuals, organizations and careers: a relational perspective Guest Editors ¨ zbilgin Olympia Kyriakidou and Mustafa O

Access this journal online __________________________

3

Editorial advisory board ___________________________

4

Abstracts and keywords ___________________________

5

Guest editorial Individuals, organizations and careers: a relationship perspective ¨ zbilgin ___________________________ Olympia Kyriakidou and Mustafa O

7

Linking pre- and post-merger identities through the concept of career Lynne Millward and Olympia Kyriakidou ____________________________

12

Cynicism and disengagement among devalued employee groups: the need to ASPIRe Anne T. O’Brien, S. Alexander Haslam, Jolanda Jetten, Louise Humphrey, Lucy O’Sullivan, Tom Postmes, Rachael Eggins and Katherine J. Reynolds ________________________________________

28

Partnership-based approaches to learning in the context of restructuring: case studies from the European steel and metal sectors Emma Wallis and Mark Stuart ____________________________________

Access this journal electronically The current and past volumes of this journal are available at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm You can also search over 100 additional Emerald journals in Emerald Fulltext at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/ft See page following contents for full details of what your access includes.

45

CONTENTS

CONTENTS continued

Transforming careers: from linear to multidirectional career paths – organizational and individual perspectives Yehuda Baruch _________________________________________________

58

Union influence on career development – bringing in gender and ethnicity Harriet Bradley, Geraldine Healy and Nupur Mukherjee ________________

74

Book review_______________________________________

89

About the authors _________________________________

95

Note from the publisher ____________________________

99

www.emeraldinsight.com/cdi.htm As a subscriber to this journal, you can benefit from instant, electronic access to this title via Emerald Fulltext. Your access includes a variety of features that increase the value of your journal subscription.

How to access this journal electronically To benefit from electronic access to this journal you first need to register via the Internet. Registration is simple and full instructions are available online at www.emeraldinsight.com/ rpsv/librariantoolkit/emeraldadmin Once registration is completed, your institution will have instant access to all articles through the journal’s Table of Contents page at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm More information about the journal is also available at www.emeraldinsight.com/ cdi.htm Our liberal institution-wide licence allows everyone within your institution to access your journal electronically, making your subscription more cost effective. Our Web site has been designed to provide you with a comprehensive, simple system that needs only minimum administration. Access is available via IP authentication or username and password.

Key features of Emerald electronic journals Automatic permission to make up to 25 copies of individual articles This facility can be used for training purposes, course notes, seminars etc. This only applies to articles of which Emerald owns copyright. For further details visit www.emeraldinsight.com/ copyright Online publishing and archiving As well as current volumes of the journal, you can also gain access to past volumes on the internet via Emerald Fulltext. You can browse or search the database for relevant articles. Non-article content Material in our journals such as product information, industry trends, company news, conferences, etc. is available online and can be accessed by users. Key readings This feature provides abstracts of related articles chosen by the journal editor, selected to provide readers with current awareness of interesting articles from other publications in the field. Reference linking Direct links from the journal article references to abstracts of the most influential articles cited. Where possible, this link is to the full text of the article. E-mail an article Allows users to e-mail links to relevant and interesting articles to another computer for later use, reference or printing purposes.

Additional complementary services available Your access includes a variety of features that add to the functionality and value of your journal subscription: E-mail alert services These services allow you to be kept up to date with the latest additions to the journal via e-mail, as soon as new material enters the database. Further information about the services available can be found at www.emeraldinsight.com/usertoolkit/ emailalerts Emerald WIRE (World Independent Reviews) A fully searchable subject specific database, brought to you by Emerald Management Reviews, providing article reviews from the world’s top management journals. Research register A web-based research forum that provides insider information on research activity world-wide located at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister You can also register your research activity here. User services Comprehensive librarian and user toolkits have been created to help you get the most from your journal subscription. For further information about what is available visit www.emeraldinsight.com/usagetoolkit

Choice of access Electronic access to this journal is available via a number of channels. Our Web site www.emeraldinsight.com is the recommended means of electronic access, as it provides fully searchable and value added access to the complete content of the journal. However, you can also access and search the article content of this journal through the following journal delivery services: EBSCOHost Electronic Journals Service ejournals.ebsco.com Huber E-Journals e-journals.hanshuber.com/english/index.htm Ingenta www.ingenta.com Minerva Electronic Online Services www.minerva.at OCLC FirstSearch www.oclc.org/firstsearch SilverLinker www.ovid.com SwetsWise www.swetswise.com

Emerald Customer Support For customer support and technical help contact: E-mail [email protected] Web www.emeraldinsight.com/customercharter Tel +44 (0) 1274 785278 Fax +44 (0) 1274 785204

CDI 9,1

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

4

Professor Simon L. Dolan ESADE Business School, Spain

Professor Yochanan Altman London Metropolitan University, UK Professor Cary L. Cooper, CBE Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, UK

Professor Dr Marion Festing ESCP-EAP European School of Management, Berlin, Germany Dr Stephen Gibb Department of HRM, University of Strathclyde, UK Professor Douglas T. Hall Boston University, School of Management, USA Dr Beatrice van der Heijden Maastricht School of Management & University of Twente, The Netherlands

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 p. 4 # Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436

Dr Viki Holton Ashridge Business School, UK Professor Herminia Ibarra INSEAD, France Professor Kerr Inkson Massey University, New Zealand Professor Wolfgang Mayrhofer Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria Professor David Megginson Sheffield Hallam University, UK Douglas Renwick Sheffield University Management School, UK Professor Jan Selmer Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Professor Paul Sparrow Manchester Business School, UK

Dr Monica Higgins Harvard Business School, USA

Professor Stephen A. Stumpf Villanova University, USA

Dr Wendy Hirsh Institute for Employment, University of Sussex, UK

Dr Yoav Vardi Tel Aviv University, Israel

Individuals, organizations and careers: a relational perspective ¨ zbilgin Olympia Kyriakidou and Mustafa O Keywords Human resource management, Organizations, Career development The papers in this special edition were presented at the symposium, “Current developments in human resource management and organizational behaviour”, organized at the University of Surrey, School of Management on 22 May 2003. What emerged at this symposium was the significance of “relationships” both within and around organizations as well as between communities of academics, practitioners, and consultants in understanding the development of careers and career contexts such as organizational forms, institutional structures and networks. In order to map out a way to study careers and career contexts through an understanding of relationships, this editorial explores the relevance of relationships for each paper contribution. This special edition, therefore, is an implicit attempt at the formation of relational perspectives for the study of careers and career contexts.

Linking pre- and post-merger identities through the concept of career Lynne Millward and Olympia Kyriakidou Keywords Acquisitions and mergers, Personality, Multiskilling, Careers, Change management This paper looks at the challenges to identity at both individual and organizational levels of analysis, posed specifically by merger-induced change. Merger-induced change can seriously challenge processes of identification, by disrupting cognitive alignments and emotional attachments. An extensive literature review reveals that maintaining continuity of identity from pre- to post-merger is critical to successful cognitive and emotional adjustment to transformational change. Maintaining continuity is a multi-dimensional consideration contingent not just on issues of content (image, meaning) but at a more fundamental level of identity process (maintaining distinctiveness, esteem and efficacy). It is argued, therefore, that one way in which subjective permanence can be assured is to actively manage

individual careers. The literature consistently shows that for many employees, the new investment criterion (on which their contribution to an organization is predicated) is “opportunities for development”. This could be said to hold a key to maintaining and/or forging “relational” relationships in contemporary organizations. So long as employees feel that they are “developing” (e.g. learning new transferable skills, acquiring important knowledge, gaining personal credibility and confidence) and thereby increasing their employability, organisations can, to some extent, overcome employee concerns about future job insecurity by facilitating “subjective security” by furnishing maximum personal potential. In so doing, the organization can secure the human investment it needs to succeed in financial terms.

Cynicism and disengagement among devalued employee groups: the need to ASPIRe Anne T. O’Brien, S. Alexander Haslam, Jolanda Jetten, Louise Humphrey, Lucy O’Sullivan, Tom Postmes, Rachael Eggins and Katherine J. Reynolds Keywords Social roles, Corporate identity, Diversity management, Empowerment Despite a renewed interest in processes which help organizations to harness social capital, it is apparent that practical efforts to achieve this rarely focus on employees who are members of low status groups. In large part this is because such employees tend to be skeptical of, and to resist, engagement in intervention programs on the basis of previous adverse experience regarding the benefits achieved and lack of trust. This paper presents evidence that, among hospital staff, work groups who felt they were devalued displayed higher levels of cynicism regarding the potential efficacy of a stress intervention program. Within the organization, devalued groups were characterized by lower levels of organizational identification and members of these groups reported under-utilization of their skills by the organization. Thus, there is evidence that organizations are failing to realize the social capital of specific groups. The ASPIRe model of organizational development is discussed as an appropriate

Abstracts and keywords

5

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 Abstracts and keywords Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436

CDI 9,1

vehicle to provide devalued groups with genuine opportunities for development and empowerment. To the extent that such a program receives genuine institutional support, we argue that it has the potential to unlock key enclaves of social capital that tend otherwise to be overlooked.

6 Partnership-based approaches to learning in the context of restructuring: case studies from the European steel and metal sectors Emma Wallis and Mark Stuart Keywords Workplace learning, Metalworking industry, Skills, Career development, Europe The European steel and metal sectors have experienced processes of radical restructuring. Employers within the sector increasingly require employees to have a broader and deeper range of skills, although restructuring has also highlighted the need for workers to gain transferable skills in order to increase their employability. This paper, which draws on research conducted in seven European nations, describes how partnership-based approaches to learning involving public, private and voluntary sector organisations have emerged in order to meet these needs. It argues that while it may not be possible to develop a European model for partnershipbased approaches to learning, an examination of a number of particularly innovative and successful partnerships nevertheless facilitates the identification of the constituent elements of good practice with respect to partnership-based approaches to learning, which may themselves have wider applications.

Transforming careers: from linear to multidirectional career paths – organizational and individual perspectives Yehuda Baruch Keywords Career development, Human resource development Within the dynamic nature of labour markets, career systems have witnessed major changes

in recent decades. This paper presents several career perspectives, to manifest a trend in career systems and their meaning and implications for individuals, organizations and society. This trend may be portrayed as a transition from what may be labelled “linear career system” into a “multidirectional career system”. Possible explanations to the phenomenon are presented, with suggested ideas for analysing and learning from the trend. The last section of the paper presents the academic career model as a prospective role model for future career systems, suggested as an intriguing idea and food for thought. Such a mental exercise of examining alternative career models, different from the traditional concept of careers, may be useful for both theory development and managerial practice.

Union influence on career development – bringing in gender and ethnicity Harriet Bradley, Geraldine Healy and Nupur Mukherjee Keywords Careers, Trade unions, Gender, Ethnic groups The influence of trade unions and the cross-cutting of gender and ethnicity on career development is a neglected area of study. By drawing on research in four UK trade unions, this paper engages with the career impact of unions on black and minority ethnic women trade union activists. In particular, it explores the career impact of three key areas of analysis: the gendered and ethnicised order, union networks and the career indeterminacy of union women. The experience of the women in our study demonstrated how careers are constrained by a complex set of racist and gendered forms. Union networks are shown to be an important arena for union involvement and personal development. Such networks facilitate the development of personal resources to challenge injustice in the workplace but they also provide a range of knowledge and skills that provide greater degrees of freedom in the way that an individual’s career may unfold.

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

GUEST EDITORIAL

Individuals, organizations and careers: a relational perspective

Guest editorial

7

Olympia Kyriakidou and Mustafa O¨zbilgin School of Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK Keywords Human resource management, Organizations, Career development Abstract The papers in this special edition were presented at the symposium, “Current developments in human resource management and organizational behaviour”, organized at the University of Surrey, School of Management on 22 May 2003. What emerged at this symposium was the significance of “relationships” both within and around organizations as well as between communities of academics, practitioners, and consultants in understanding the development of careers and career contexts such as organizational forms, institutional structures and networks. In order to map out a way to study careers and career contexts through an understanding of relationships, this editorial explores the relevance of relationships for each paper contribution. This special edition, therefore, is an implicit attempt at the formation of relational perspectives for the study of careers and career contexts.

Rapid changes in the composition and functioning of organizational life witnessed the emergence of new forms of organizations and ways of organizing. The creation of informal and network-like organizations, the shifting configurations of networks among groups of actors, the blurring of boundaries of formal organizations as well as the changing employment relationship, shift our attention to the conceptualization of organizations as sets of dynamic relationships (Dukerich et al., 2002). Such an approach demands the emergence of a relational perspective overcoming the problems of reification so that organizing could be seen as it is – an individual and group sensemaking process taking place in a social context that is the product of constant and ongoing human production and interaction on organizational settings (Hosking and Morley, 1991). The aim of this special issue therefore is to build a language and a perspective which allows us to speak of individuals and organizations in terms which are commensurate. The theme does not simply address the individual and the organization in isolation from each other, as it focuses on the interdependence of individuals with their organizational environments and the relational processes that occur at the intersection of people and organizations. In this way, we hope to avoid the negative consequences of traditional approaches which theorize people and organizations as entities independent of each other. Such an approach misrepresents the qualities of relational processes and distorts the relationships between people and organizations.

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 7-11 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436 DOI 10.1108/13620430410518101

CDI 9,1

8

Such changes in our understanding of organizational forms and processes beget social scientists from various disciplines and perspectives to focus on how relations can change the way we conceptualize a number of phenomena as well as our research perspectives. A relational perspective has implications for the development of organization science as it helps to disentangle typological conceptions of organizational forms and to see other sets of possible configurations inviting cross-boundary organizational analysis and a critical reflection of what organizational boundaries are. In an attempt to introduce a relational perspective to the field of organization science in order to understand careers and career contexts, five papers will be presented in this special issue which address the following areas. A relational perspective on emergent and complex contexts The rise of post-modernistic thinking contributed to the modeling and conceptualization of organizations no longer as mere reflective activities existing independently of the action and sensemaking activities of individuals, but as proactive forces by which individuals shape organizations in the image of their collective understanding. According to social constructionist theory (Gergen, 1994), organizations behave in accordance with our mutual understanding and the way we share and communicate this understanding. This view and its implication for organizational practice is demonstrated by Millward and Kyriakidou in their paper on “Linking pre- and post-merger identities through the concept of career” as well as O’Brien and her colleagues in the paper on “Cynicism and disengagement among devalued employee groups: the need to ASPIRe”. Millward and Kyriakidou defend a social constructionist approach to conceptualizing and managing organizational change in the context of organizational mergers. This approach requires that more attention is paid to the relational qualities of ongoing interaction processes among the parties involved, as well as a conceptualization of individuals and organizations as inextricably linked rather than separate entities to be related. Specifically, they take the relationship as constructed by employees as the focus of analysis. An otherwise exclusive focus on macro-level approaches to change could result in the reification of the change process in organizations as a phenomenon that exists independently of the action and sensemaking activities of the actors. By conceptualizing the organization in this way, change becomes problematic, the natural response to its imposition without due respect to individuals, being change resistance and inertia. By contrast, a social constructionist approach focuses on the relationship and in particular the quality of the relations among the parties involved. In this reasoning, change is considered as an inherent and natural phenomenon, rather than a problem to overcome. The aim of this research then becomes not so much to create organizational knowledge, but to document the ongoing processes of knowing, and even further, to explore the role of personal accounts in the reflective activity of “knowing what is going

on”. In this way, the problem of reification can be overcome and the process of change could be seen for what it is – an individual and group sensemaking process taking place in a social context that is the product of constant and ongoing human production and interaction in organizational settings. Such a relational approach revealed the role of the concept of career and career development in the reflective activity of making sense of change. O’Brien and her colleagues argue for the need to reconceptualize organizations as proactive forces existing in close interdependence with individuals’ actions, collective understandings and sensemaking. In an attempt to develop a model which offers a viable alternative to individualistic or top-down approaches to organizing, Haslam et al. (2003) and Eggins et al. (2003) proposed the ASPIRe model of organizational development arguing that organizations are partly determined by the identity resources of their employees. The ASPIRe model provides a model for the development of “new industrial relations” enabling the emergence of organizations from a relational, constructionist and interactional perspective of interdependence. A relational perspective on learning Rapid changes in the functioning of organizational life and radical restructuring of many organizational sectors have witnessed the emergence of new ways of organizing. The paper by Wallis and Stuart examines a number of learning partnerships in the European steel and metal sectors involving public, private and voluntary sector organizations emerged as a result of radical restructurings in order to meet employees’ needs to acquire transferable skills. The partnerships that have been considered by this paper demonstrate the significance of a collaborative and interactive lifelong learning process enabling the development of employability and enhancement of career opportunities of individuals displaced through industrial restructuring. The contracted employment relationship A relational perspective to organization studies and employment relationships apart from addressing the problems of dualism of people and systems, provides a new lens for understanding the recent developments and changes in the business and labour market. These changes, characterized by continuous motion, flexibility, and fast adaptation, affect drastically the interrelatedness of individuals with their organizational environments and present organizational researchers and practitioners with new challenges for the development and application of appropriate knowledge, practices and policies. New work and employment arrangements, flexible working hours, fixed-term contracts, teleworking, labour mobility, division between core and peripheral work force, outsourcing and downsizing are some of the new labour market conditions we have to adjust to. These new conditions might look frightening as they take away some of the stability and security we are used to and have major implications for the way we conceptualize the employment relationship. These

Guest editorial

9

CDI 9,1

10

conditions also have significant implications for the development and trajectories of both organizational and individual careers. Transforming careers The paper by Baruch examines transforming models of career management, arguing that there is a general shift in career trajectories from linear to multidirectional trajectories. In this new model, workers’ experience of career development and progression transgresses organizational, functional and hierarchical conventions, as it does not follow a traditional linear model of moving up organizational hierarchies. The paper develops the notion of academic career model as a prototype for multidirectional trajectories of career. It is worth highlighting that the individual and organizational implications of the multidirectional career model, which is explored in the paper, relates to the theme of this special issue in an indirect yet significant way: as the individual career trajectories gain multiple direction and possibilities, workers are exposed to greater diversity of relationships, involving cross-functional, interand intra-organizational and multi-level encounters, which transform the landscape of relationships involved in career experiences. Trade Unions, careers and networks Drawing on policy research, documentary data collection and 55 in-depth interviews with minority ethnic women trade union activists, the paper by Bradley, Healy and Mukherjee examines the nature of racism and sexism as experienced by this group of workers, and their efforts to transform these negative career and life experiences through their involvement of trade union activities and structures. The paper identifies the significant impact of union networks and subgroups in terms of raising women activists’ awareness, providing support structures as well as offering instrumental personal development and career advancement opportunities. It is an interesting assertion of the paper that union involvement offer women career opportunities and resources that can transform the gendered and racialized disadvantages in their working lives. The findings of this paper also fits with the overall theme of this special edition in that it provides an understanding of work lives through an exploration of “relationships”, particularly as evidenced by union related networking activities. References Dukerich, J.M., Golden, B.R. and Shortell, S.M. (2002), “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: the impact of organizational identification, identity, and image on the cooperative behaviors of physicians”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 47, pp. 507-33. Eggins, R.A., Reynolds, K.J. and Haslam, S.A. (2003), “Working with identities: the ASPIRe model of organizational planning, negotiation and development”, in Haslam, S.A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, MLJ and Ellemers, N. (Eds), Social Identity at Work: Developing Theory for Organizational Practice, Psychology Press, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 241-57.

Gergen, K.J. (1994), Realities and Relationships, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Haslam, S.A., Eggins, R.A. and Reynolds, K.J. (2003), “The ASPIRe model: actualizing social and personal identity resources to enhance organizational outcomes”, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 76, pp. 83-113. Hosking, D.M. and Morley, I.E. (1991), A Social Psychology of Organizing, Harvester, Wheatsheaf. (Olympia Kyriakidou is a Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour in the School of Management at the University of Surrey, UK. Her research interests pursue a long-term interest in the application of psychology to organisational issues. Examples of her research are in the areas of organisational change and development, mental models and distributed cognition, the social psychology of networks, organisational culture and sensemaking, knowledge management and shared cognition as well as virtual teams and measurement of effectiveness. Olympia currently works for the DTI Industry Forum Adaptation Programme exploring issues of communication and employee retention in SMEs, SDO exploring issues of diffusion of innovation and QinetiQ exploring new conceptualisations of the digitized organisation. E-mail: [email protected] Mustafa O¨zbilgin is a Lecturer in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at the University of Surrey, School of Management, UK. Having completed his BA and MA degrees in Istanbul, he pursued a doctoral degree at the University of Bristol with a project titled “Cross-national comparative analysis of sex equality in the financial services sector in Turkey and Britain”. His research focuses on comparative and cross-national aspects of work, employment and careers, with particular focus on issues of equality, diversity and fairness. E-mail: [email protected])

Guest editorial

11

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

CDI 9,1

12

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

Linking pre- and post-merger identities through the concept of career Lynne Millward and Olympia Kyriakidou

University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK Received September 2003 Revised November 2003 Keywords Acquisitions and mergers, Personality, Multiskilling, Careers, Change management Accepted November 2003 Abstract This paper looks at the challenges to identity at both individual and organizational levels of analysis, posed specifically by merger-induced change. Merger-induced change can seriously challenge processes of identification, by disrupting cognitive alignments and emotional attachments. An extensive literature review reveals that maintaining continuity of identity from pre- to post-merger is critical to successful cognitive and emotional adjustment to transformational change. Maintaining continuity is a multi-dimensional consideration contingent not just on issues of content (image, meaning) but at a more fundamental level of identity process (maintaining distinctiveness, esteem and efficacy). It is argued, therefore, that one way in which subjective permanence can be assured is to actively manage individual careers. The literature consistently shows that for many employees, the new investment criterion (on which their contribution to an organization is predicated) is “opportunities for development”. This could be said to hold a key to maintaining and/or forging “relational” relationships in contemporary organizations. So long as employees feel that they are “developing” (e.g. learning new transferable skills, acquiring important knowledge, gaining personal credibility and confidence) and thereby increasing their employability, organisations can, to some extent, overcome employee concerns about future job insecurity by facilitating “subjective security” by furnishing maximum personal potential. In so doing, the organization can secure the human investment it needs to succeed in financial terms.

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 12-27 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436 DOI 10.1108/13620430410518110

Contemporary corporate strategies emphasizing increased organisational growth, flexibility and profitability through process improvements have been linked to a significant increase in merger and acquisition activity. Nevertheless, while there is a powerful strategic argument for partnering for competitiveness, the evidence suggests that this alone is an insufficient basis for achieving the synergistic potential of many otherwise promising organizational combinations. Over the last two decades, researchers have consistently argued that the way human capital is managed during a merger lies at the heart of whether financial synergy can be achieved (Buono et al., 1985; Buono and Bowditch, 1989; Marks and Mirvis, 2001). Although companies are cognizant of the detrimental effects of cultural misfit on employees, it is rarely addressed at a level in which the employees’ struggles involved in realising the new organisational paradigm are actively recognised and managed (Ericson, 2001). Merger-induced change requires often substantial, professional and personal re-adjustment that, if not managed well, can seriously undermine the change effort (Cartwright and Cooper, 1995; Lynch and Lind, 2002). Merger-induced personal readjustment

involves cognitive and emotional severance from the pre-merger organisation and a re-alignment of self with a new “unknown” organisational reality (Weick, 1995; Weick and Quinn, 1999; Kyriakidou, 2001). On an emotional level, the investment of an employee in the new organisation may be seriously thwarted if pre-existing investments are abused or betrayed (Herriot et al., 1998; Herriot, 2001). For example, in the contemporary UK National Health Service, there is an increased emphasis on functional flexibility. This involves multi-skilling. In practice this has meant that, for example, within a “merged” (emergency outreach service with first onset assessment) multi-disciplinary team of mental health care professionals comprising community psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, art therapists and social workers, roles have become functionally indistinguishable. Everyone and anyone should, in principle, be able to “assess” and treat the client or to refer them elsewhere. Previously distinctive team functions and professional roles have disappeared, and any sense of personal recognition or reputation for particular knowledge, skill or contribution has disappeared through constant staff turnover. Only the psychiatrists and psychologists retain any sense of specialist input congruent with their distinctive training and identities. Staff report feeling a lack of professional efficacy (ill-equipped to work in a multi-skilled environment), distinctiveness (hard earned identities have been seriously negated or undermined) or esteem (staff do not feel very positive about themselves or their team) either as a team or as individuals. It is altogether perhaps not surprising then that morale is low, sickness absence and turnover is high (Carolan, 2002). The above scenario demonstrates not only how employees have to adapt to imposed changes in work role, they also have to “come to terms with changes in their identity that these role changes imply” (Herriot, 2001, p. 2). These role changes occurred as a result of organizational merger designed to streamline social and health services underpinned not by a coherent rationale for achieving synergy across different groups of staff, but by an efficiency drive. This paper looks at the challenges to identity at both individual and organizational levels of analysis, posed specifically by merger-induced change. Merger-induced change can seriously challenge processes of identification, by disrupting cognitive alignments and emotional attachments (Rousseau, 1998). Research shows that maintaining continuity of identity from pre- to post-merger is critical to successful cognitive and emotional adjustment to transformational change (Jetten et al., 2002; Terry et al., 2001; van Knippenberg et al., 2002). Maintaining continuity is a multi-dimensional consideration contingent not just on issues of content (image, meaning) but at a more fundamental level of identity process (maintaining distinctiveness, esteem and efficacy) (Breakwell, 1986). This paper will argue that the key to bridging preand post-merger identities across both content and process dimensions is located in the concept of career.

Pre- and post-merger identities 13

CDI 9,1

14

Consistent with many lead commentators on the concept of contemporary careers (e.g. Arnold, 1997; Herriot, 2001; Herriot and Pemberton, 1995a; Herriot et al., 1998) we argue that careers have a subjective as well as an objective face, and that taken subjectively, a career is about the meaning of self in connection with the world of work, as well as a continual process of sense-making involving self-negotiation from past, present and into the future vis-a`-vis the world of work. A career is thus not only self-defining (providing an identity), it simultaneously expresses and protects the self in its attempt to achieve temporal continuity, coherence and positive evaluation or esteem. It is in thwarting this self-protective function that resistances can arise (Breakwell, 1986). Constructively harnessed, on the other hand, it could provide a crucial integrating mechanism in the effort to facilitate a positive connection with the new organisational paradigm. Thus, we will argue that by actively facilitating individual careers, organisations can, by definition, also facilitate the successful realisation of the merged entity in which identities are at stake. Identity driven sensemaking processes Weick (1979) has argued that it is employees who enact organisations and who make them real on a day-to-day basis. Integral to this, is a process of sensemaking and meaning creation. Sensemaking is filtered through cognitive (or interpretative) frameworks that are self-defining in that they pertain to how individuals locate themselves in the world vis-a`-vis others and the various organisations in which their lives are enacted across the life-span. Applying social identity to organisational contexts (Ashforth and Mael, 1989), organisational memberships (where individuals define themselves in terms of the organisation(s) in which they are members) give rise to identifications that operate as cognitive frameworks through which employees interpret and respond to organisational change (Albert and Whetten, 1985; Ashforth and Mael, 1989; Dutton et al., 1994). Organisational identification has perceptual, attitudinal and behaviour consequences that are congruent with the identity, making it likely that employees will think, feel and act protectively in the interests of the organisation (Dutton et al., 1994; Mael and Ashforth, 1995; Tyler, 1999). Organisational interests become coincidental with individual interests because of their implications for self-evaluation. It is this evaluative self-invested nature of organisational identification that can limit organisational action (Dutton and Dukerich, 1991; Fiol, 1991; Milliken, 1990). As a self-fulfilling system, identity defines what is appropriate for the organisation based on enduring and tacit assumptions orienting employees toward certain aspects of their organisation and the environment. As such, organisational identity can act as an inertial barrier impeding planned organisational change (Fiol and Huff, 1992). In particular, organisational changes will be perceived as unfavourable with limited chance of being incorporated into employees’ self-concept if they threaten valued features of the organisation’s identity (Zeitz, 1996).

The literature on self-concept and identity indicates that when people’s prevailing conceptions of their self are challenged and threatened they tend to reaffirm the self, thereby maintaining its stability and positive evaluation (Breakwell, 1986; Markus and Kunda, 1986; Millward, 1995; Swann, 1985). In a detailed theoretical analysis of threats to identity, Breakwell (1986, pp. 23-4) articulates the end points that are desirable for identity and towards which individuals will continually strive: distinctiveness, efficacy, continuity across time and situation and a feeling of personal worth or social value. This can mean that in the presence of a perceived threat or challenge to these identity end states, people will seek self-consistency rather than self-enhancement. In this sense, a strong and valued perceived organisational identity may induce employees to be reluctant to let go of old identifications in the name of self-preservation, thereby reducing the likelihood of achieving employee “buy-in” and thus real corporate synergy. In the case of merger, the combination of two organisations into one may involve a complete and rapid change of identity (Haunschild et al., 1994; Rousseau, 1998). It is common for employees to feel that the new organisation, despite incorporating their old organisation, is no longer theirs (Rousseau, 1998). This can be the case even for take-over scenarios where members of an acquiring (dominant) company whose visual identity (at least) is most likely to prevail in overt identity expression and claims (Marks and Mirvis, 2001). Not only may members of the acquired company feel that they have “lost” their identity, members of the acquiring company may also have fears that their distinctive positive reputation may be substantially diluted or even ruined by the assimilation of a “lower status” entity. In this sense, a merger signifies a major social change in which the meaning of an individual’s position is transformed independently of their involvement and employees may feel in some capacity threatened by the merger because of the discontinuity it implies. Breakwell (1986, pp. 40-1) argues that in response to such change “the principle of continuity . . . will resist any haphazard response to such fluctuations”. Identity can even be “barricaded against” the change such that “social changes are not acknowledged and mirrored in modified self-definition and evaluation”. To summarise, it can be assumed that merger-induced change will be highly personally relevant to the extent that the old organisation is self-defining. If, as is often the case, a potentially major revision of identity content and value is demanded involving a complete replacement of personally relevant organisational identities, strategies to resist change are likely to be called into play by holding onto the old organisational paradigm. Indeed, the integrity of all of the identity principles may be at stake during merger (threats to continuity, esteem, distinctiveness, efficacy or self-perceived competence), particularly if (as is commonly the case) job or role or even status changes are involved (Herriot, 2001; Marks and Mirvis, 2001).

Pre- and post-merger identities 15

CDI 9,1

16

Attractive future organisational identity Managing the self-protective integrity of the identity principles is unlikely in itself to be sufficient to initiate proactive change. It may lessen the likelihood of resistance to change, but will not necessarily prompt employees to reconstruct themselves in accordance with the new organisational paradigm. Identity process theory (Breakwell, 1986) and organisational identity theory (Mael and Ashforth, 1989, 1992) both highlight not just the self-protective (or self-defensive) nature of identity dynamics but also the drive towards self-enhancement along the same lines. Members need to give up previous identification with past attributes of the organisation, and divest themselves of the “old” perspectives associated with them. To facilitate member dissociation from old organisational attributes, these must be presented as unattractive relative to the new more positive merged identity. Assuming that the attractiveness of an identity is about whether it has the potential to fulfil particular identity needs, it is possible for individuals to contemplate a merged scenario that has substantial pulling power through its implicit promises not only in protection of self, but also for self-enhancement (Adler and Adler, 1987; Ashforth and Mael, 1989). Research has shown that people are strongly motivated to belong to groups that afford self-enhancement: people are drawn to organisations with prestigious, distinctive and attractive identities and to dissociate from those with potentially stigmatising or negative identities (Ashforth and Mael, 1989; Pratt, 1998). For instance, Tunstall’s (1986, p. 112) study of AT&T’s successful transformation shows how this was, in part, effected by the consistent communication by top managers, of the importance of “abandoning” the so-called “self-regulation mentality”. In addition, employees were informed of what they stood to lose personally by adhering to the old organisation. The new organisation paradigm then may create a complex push and pull dynamic in which the relative attractiveness of old and new identities is constantly being appraised. It is important to note however that complete destruction of old identities and a totally new construction are neither implied nor necessary or desirable in this instance. The maintenance of continuity at the very least will require that some attempt is made to hang onto the positive elements of old identities and to carry them forward into new forms (Bartunek, 1993). Weick and Quinn (1999) point out that accounts of successful revolutions have a tendency to emphasise a break with the past and to ignore that success may lie in its link to the past and the retrospective re-writing of the meaning of the past (see also Tunstall, 1986). Aspects of the past must in some way be depended on to persist for employees as a key source of anchorage within an otherwise dislocating situation and as a prerequisite to signing onto a new relatively “unknown” albeit potentially more positive identity. There is therefore some scope for contemplating a positive integration of the changes into identity by actively

managing the link between pre- and post-merger identities in both self-protective and self-enhancing terms. We further propose that the maintenance of a continuity of meaning is prerequisite to self-enhancement. Thus, self-enhancement in the context of organisationally-initiated change, is not possible unless at the very least, continuity of identity is assured. Moreover, continuity could – in this context – to some extent be predicated on self-enhancement opportunities. For example, continuity may depend on opportunities for self-enhancement on the efficacy principle. If, therefore, continuity is maintained at the organisational level but not at the level of the job or team, this could throw the principle out of kilter unless perhaps the new job or team provides enhanced efficacy, distinctiveness and/or esteem opportunities. As indicated earlier, there is mounting evidence pointing to “sense of continuity as the key to post-merger identification” (Terry et al., 2001; Jetten et al., 2002; van Knippenberg et al., 2002) assuming that post-merger identification is a valid indicator of the extent to which an employee is psychologically engaged with (i.e. has “signed onto”) the change. Thus, in this instance, the continuity principle may be the super-ordinate integrating mechanism. In theoretical terms then we propose that an attractive future organizational identity with potential to engage employees and to motivate them to sign on to it, is one that will: . Ensure self-continuity between past, present and future identities (self-protective). Tunstall (1986) found in his study that during transformation, management had to demonstrate that it would continue to foster the customer service value, historically the defining element of AT&T and its members, to release employees into contemplating new identifications. Persistence in upholding this value provided members with a crucial link to the past. . Enhance projected opportunities for distinctiveness, esteem and efficacy (self-enhancement). To summarise, employees are more likely to engage with the new organizational paradigm if it is perceived to be attractive in identity terms. In particular, it will be attractive to the extent that it maintains a sense of identity continuity and provides opportunities for self-enhancement through the principles of distinctiveness, efficacy and esteem. In practice, managing the continuity principle may be prerequisite to all other types of engagement with the change. An attractive future organisational identity will not only reduce reliance on the old identity as a means of self-protection and self-enhancement, it will “pull” employees towards it, inviting not just self realignment but active reconstruction of self consistent with the new paradigm (Kyriakidou, 2001; Weick and Quinn, 1999).

Pre- and post-merger identities 17

CDI 9,1

18

Disruption of continuity through violation of “contracts” Threats to continuity of identity are not just cognitive (i.e. disrupted perceptual alignments), they are fundamentally emotional (i.e. they threaten emotional attachments). In a high identification relationship, the employee-organization exchange is likely to involve socio-emotional investments of trust and commitment (Rousseau, 1998). An otherwise largely economic transaction (a transactional exchange relationship) is thus taken into a completely different emotional league (a relational exchange relationship) (Rousseau, 1998). Thus, in a relational exchange, “the emotional relationship” matters whereas in a transactional exchange, payment for services rendered is sufficient (Rousseau, 1989). In practice, most employment relationships involve both transactional and relational elements (Millward and Brewerton, 2000; Millward and Herriot, 2001), and some have convincingly argued that a relational exchange is predicated on satisfactory fulfilment of basic transactional needs (i.e. hygiene considerations like appropriate pay and conditions) (Herriot et al., 1997). The notion of exchange is central to what has become known as studies of the “psychological contract”. Psychological contracts refer to the way the contract of employment is interpreted, understood and enacted at the interface between employee and employer (Rousseau, 1989, 1995; Rousseau and Anton, 1991). In particular they denote perceived obligations of reciprocity involving considerations of equity (i.e. fair reward practices, fair procedures for allocating resources, balance in the exchange), trust (that certain conditions and expectations will be fulfilled) and emotional investment (extent of loyalty and long term commitment). Psychological contracts can be described in terms of content (the perceived exchange terms), process (how the deal was arrived at) and form (the relational or transactional character of the resultant deal) (Millward and Herriot, 2001). Minor breaches to the fulfilment of obligations are commonplace (Rousseau, 1995). Breaches can be inadvertent (e.g. well intentioned promises) and need not be fatal. Not all breaches are noticed and not all that are noticed are perceived as significant threats to the relationship. However, major breach in the fulfilment of exchange terms that seriously threaten the “emotional” basis of exchange, can induce feelings of violation giving rise to a sense of betrayal, feelings of anger or outrage (Rousseau, 1989). This may occur when a failure to keep a commitment injures or causes damage that the contract was designed to avoid (i.e. fundamental threats to identity caused by severance, major job change, new working terms and conditions, job expansion/deskilling, etc). Violation of this kind can seriously threaten the way the relationship is viewed (i.e. the form of the relationship) because of damage to identity as well as a basic sense of entitlement. A serious betrayal of trust attributable to organizational injustice is difficult to restore, and can lead to emotional, cognitive and/or actual withdrawal (Robinson and Morrison, 1995).

Mergers can seriously threaten continuity of identity by posing new working terms and conditions, job descriptions and management practices (Herriot and Pemberton, 1995b; Mottola et al., 1997; Terry et al., 1996). This can breach many or all existing terms of exchange, thwarting basic expectations of trust and good faith, and thereby bringing the form of the relationship into question. Few organisations make any systematic attempt at contract renegotiation in the effort to maintain good relations (by acting in good faith) or to systematically try to re-engage people with the new organizational form by ensuring continuity of at least some elements of the exchange relationships (Herriot et al., 1998; Turnley and Feldman, 2000). Threats to continuity of identity can thus occur on many different levels. It can threaten the basic sense of “who am I” in relation to this organization and job, as well as the fundamental emotional essence of a high identification exchange relationship based on assumptions of trust and good faith. Feelings of violation arising from contract breach and threats to the “relationship” itself, can lead to actual or psychological withdrawal from the organization. However, efforts to manage the “relationship” itself during merger-induced change (to harness pre-existing trust and commitment) despite some inevitable breach in the terms of the exchange can help maintain security and “good faith”. Employees who are less preoccupied with continuity issues (e.g. manifest in feelings of insecurity) and who “trust” their employer to act in their interests (e.g. for whom short term losses are rendered tolerable by future anticipated benefits), are more likely to sign onto the change than those who (for whatever reason) feel unable to put their faith in the future. Evidence suggests that feelings of violation induced by merger can be moderated by interpretations of the merged organizational form as maintaining continuity of identity, and as more “attractive” than the pre-merger entity in terms of what is offers for self-esteem, distinctiveness and self-efficacy (Kyriakidou and Millward, 2003). Two case studies of merger undertaken by the authors in recent years demonstrate that continuity of identity moderates the experience of change (reducing or eliminating feelings of contract violation), and that this substantially predicts whether they sign onto the new organizational form (by developing a relational contract). Employees who felt violated by the change, perceived the new organizational form to be unattractive relative to their pre-merger organization and were highly “transactional” in their interface with work. Violation was attributed to “feeling forgotten about” and a lack of proper reintegration (including training). Conversely, those who felt satisfied with new working terms and conditions, and in some case, entirely new jobs, saw this as affording them opportunity and growth. Thus, in principle, by actively managing the psychological contract, it is possible to instigate change in the terms of the exchange (e.g. from promotion prospects in exchange for loyalty and commitment, to personal development

Pre- and post-merger identities 19

CDI 9,1

20

opportunity in exchange for job transferability and flexibility) without jeopardising the form of the relationship (high identification, high trust) if psychological contracts are actively managed. Linking identities and careers through psychological contracts The attractiveness of the new organizational paradigm can be managed by linking identities and careers through psychological contracts. It is generally agreed that traditional objective concepts of career defined as “going up an organizational ladder” and which define success in financial and also status terms, are now inappropriate to contemporary times (Arnold, 1997). Organizational impermanence alone will militate against the “job for life” scenario in which a career can be “planned” through a series of upward promotions and enacted thus. In Arnold’s words: . . . careers are subjective as well as objective – they include people’s interpretation of what happens, as well as what can be observed objectively (Arnold, 1997, p. 1).

Specifically, Arnold (1997, p. 16) defines a “career as a sequence of employment related positions, roles, activities and experiences encountered by a person”. This definition carries with it the assumption that a career is owned by a person, is subjective (and thus a product of a particular way of seeing the world), that it is about a sequence of events over time, within a work context and the success of which can be gauged against potentially any subjective (e.g. satisfaction, life-work balance, efficacy, meaning) as well as objective criteria (e.g. status, position, financial recompense). Effectively then, a career links an individual both objectively and subjectively with the world of work, and can be played out in potentially any organizational context. It has long been recognised that careers are about how the self interfaces with work, addressing the fundamental question of “who am I” in terms of “what I can do”, “what I could do” and “what I would like to be able to do” in a work context (Levinson et al., 1962). While careers are not reducible to considerations of self and identity, it is nonetheless clear that careers do involve identities and are inextricably linked with a quest for personal meaning and significance (or value), as well as life-space concerns more generally (i.e. not just an organizational issue) (Herriot and Pemberton, 1995a; London and Mone, 1987; Schein, 1990). The inherent transcience and unpredictability of contemporary organizational life has eroded all foundations of traditional membership affording job security in exchange for loyalty and the prospect of a long-term “organizational career”. Hence, people are becoming more reliant on various efficacy (or “can-do”) based personal identifications emphasising skill, knowledge and learning capabilities that provide them with a sense of security and anchorage in the working world, rather than in association with particular organizations. Herriot and Pemberton (1995b) argue that while organizations can no longer guarantee or even offer careers in the objective

sense, they can nonetheless create opportunities for careers to be played out, facilitate career development and foster a sense of security through ensuring future marketability and employability, in exchange for which individuals may (by default) be willing to continue to invest cognitively and emotionally in the organization and its future. They argue that “career contracting” can enable reconciliation of individual and organizational interests through a continuous process of negotiation of mutual wants and offers. Here we argue that explicit re-negotiation of psychological contracts is especially critical at the point of transformational change involving major breaches in the fulfilment of perceived obligations. This renegotiation will involve explicit recognition of individual identity needs for continuity, esteem, distinctiveness and efficacy as well as more domain specific “career” needs, preferences, interests and goals that enable work-based identities to be played out in organizational contexts. Evidence suggests that the so-called new employment relationship comprises lower expectations of long-term employment, a greater sense of personal responsibility for career development (self-managed careers) and higher expectations of career development opportunity (Banaji and Prentice, 1994; Cavanaugh and Noe, 1999). Our own research within contemporary organizations (both public and private) confirms that “development opportunity” is consistently one of the strongest predictors of a relational psychological contract denoting a high-identification, high-trust relationship, especially in white-collar populations but also increasingly so among blue-collar employees too (Millward and Kyriakidou, 2003). Evidence also suggests that employees’ exploration of alternative future identities is facilitated, developed and maintained by opportunities to express and develop themselves in valued ways (Banaji and Prentice, 1994). Thus by supporting employee career development and by actively renegotiating career wants and offers to reconcile individual and organizational interests, identities can be constructively harnessed by new organizational forms that increase the likelihood of emotional and cognitive re-alignment with the future. Moreover, by developing employee skills, the organisation can capitalise on the prospect that employees will not only recognise change opportunities as development opportunities, but will also have the capacity and confidence to favourably interpret and to harness these opportunities (Mullins and Cummings, 1999; Leonard, 1997) even though in the process they may need to challenge core perceptions of their identities. Normative and individual “career contracts” There are two levels of consideration for the renegotiation of career contracts: normative and individual. Normative exchange considerations describe shared interests, concerns and preferences while individual exchange considerations are unique to one person (Rousseau, 1995). Individual contracts are nonetheless

Pre- and post-merger identities 21

CDI 9,1

22

evolved in the context of normative contracts and to some extent will thus comprise “shared elements” despite being fundamentally personal. These shared elements can arise from the demands of the job, the job environment and organizational factors as well as the type of people involved (people self-select themselves into particular jobs and organizations). Thus, to some extent the content of psychological contracts can be predicted from an assessment of shared concerns, and can be harnessed accordingly in the re-negotiation of new contracts. Desire for development is a good example of a key exchange issue in professional jobs and environments, and is heavily represented in individual contracts. However, “development opportunity” is not necessarily the only career anchor in professional environments, nor is it necessarily key to other types of job (Herriot et al., 1998). Schein (1985, 1993) identified eight different “career anchors” (a mix of interests, skills, needs and values: technical/functional (development and use of skills and expertise, enjoy challenge and to be rewarded for specialist expertise), general managerial (ambitious, seek status, income and responsibility, want recognition and promotion), autonomy/independence, security/stability, entrepreneurial creativity, service/dedication, pure challenge and life-style balance. In 1993, Schein argued that people become wedded to one anchor and that this guides their attitudes to work. Although this taxonomy has been criticised (e.g. it was built from small samples of white collar white male interviewees, is descriptive not explanatory, and remains untested), it does provide a useful starting point for looking at what “anchors” people in organizations broadly speaking and thus enables some consideration of how individual differences can be understood and managed without necessarily having to go into the detail of every single individual contract. Organizations can assess contracts at this level as a major source of leverage in attracting employees to new organizational forms. Sources of evidence for normative (as well as individual contracts) include development appraisals, employee surveys, leader/supervisor perceptions, and focus group interviews, for example. Recognition of diversity by “recognising, valuing, and utilising individual differences of all kinds” (Arnold, 1997, p. 200), is also fundamental to organizational survival. However, an understanding of normative or shared concerns is not in itself sufficient to sustain new psychological contracts. Individual contracts will evolve in a more local fashion, specific to a particular unit, department or team and in relation to different types of leader/manager or supervisor. It is the local leadership that has responsibility for grounding normative promises (e.g. for development) in reality and for negotiating uniquely personal terms and conditions (e.g. work/family balance considerations may be especially salient to a new parent for example). Herriot (1989) talks about the career management challenge as one of reconciling individual and organisational interests. This is, in many respects,

about developing an appropriate strategy, the strategy must be enacted and this happens locally through leaders, managers and other “organizational representatives”. Future, usually highly idealised, promises and claims about the future that attract employees at the fundamental level of basic identity needs, must become couched in reality if they are to be sustained as a source of motivation for change. Promises made and not delivered, can substantially worsen an already tenuous situation (Mintzberg, 1983). Thus, self-initiated identity change guided by future “idealised” identity claims that attract individuals on several levels must eventually become grounded in day-to-day reality if the momentum is to be maintained, and new identities are to become truly embedded (Schlenker, 1986). Summary Future organisational identities could provide a resource for sense-making that motivates behaviour consistent with the desired future identity and hence the upcoming change. To put it bluntly, employees may resist organisational change unless the corresponding future identity is perceived as attractive relative to existing identity. This “pull” towards the more attractive identity option can prompt employees to question core facets of their current organisational identities, impelling new iterations in their development and/or change consistent with the new paradigm. This means that the perceived future organisational paradigm should be desirable (self-protective if not self-enhancing on most if not all identity principles), and defensible (has at least some perceived legitimacy and validity) (Ashforth and Mael, 1996). Like Herriot and colleagues (Herriot and Pemberton, 1995a; Herriot et al., 1998) we argue that one way in which subjective permanence can be assured is to actively manage individual careers. The literature consistently shows that for many employees, the new investment criterion (on which their contribution to an organization is predicated) is “opportunities for development” (Cavanaugh and Noe, 1999). This could be said to hold a key to maintaining and/or forging “relational” relationships in contemporary organizations (Millward and Herriot, 2001). So long as employees feel that they are “developing” (e.g. learning new transferable skills, acquiring important knowledge, gaining personal credibility and confidence) and thereby increasing their employability, organisations can, to some extent, overcome employee concerns about future job insecurity by facilitating “subjective security” by furnishing maximum personal potential. In so doing, the organization can secure the human investment it needs to succeed in financial terms. Development may not however be the only “career anchor”. Others may also be relevant. The point is that human capital is an organisation’s crucial asset, yet it may remain untapped or ill-understood and never properly managed. It may thus be rapidly withdrawn by an otherwise good employee whose

Pre- and post-merger identities 23

CDI 9,1

24

perceives his or her return on investment to be poor, or whose job is inappropriately severed because of ill-thought out short-term financial imperatives. Companies must be willing to broaden their views on what constitutes a “saving” in the long-term by appreciating the need to invest more time, money and effort in the short-term in its human capital. We have argued that one way to do this is through the concept of career in its potential to link individual and organizational identities from past, present and into the future, through active management of the employment relationship. References Adler, P. and Adler, P.A. (1987), “Role conflict and identity salience: college athletics and the academic role”, Social Science Journal, Vol. 24, pp. 443-55. Albert, S. and Whetten, D.A. (1985), “Organizational identity”, in Cummings, L.L. and Staw, B.M. (Eds), Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 14, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 179-229. Arnold, J. (1997), “The psychological contract: a concept in need of closer scrutiny?”, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 5, pp. 511, 520. Ashforth, B.E. and Mael, F. (1989), “Social identity theory and the organization”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14, pp. 20-39. Ashforth, B.E. and Mael, F. (1996), “Organizational identity and strategy as a context for the individual”, in Baum, J.A.C. and Dutton, J.E. (Eds), Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 13, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 19-64. Banaji, M.R. and Prentice, D.A. (1994), “The self in social contexts”, in Porter, L.W. and Rosenzweig, M.R. (Eds), Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 45, Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, CA, pp. 297-332. Bartunek, J.M. (1993), “The multiple cognitions and conflicts associated with second order organizational change”, in Murnigham, J.K. (Ed.), Social Psychology in Organizations: Advances in Theory and Research, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 322-49. Breakwell, G.M. (1986), Coping with Threatened Identities, Methuen, London. Buono, A.F. and Bowditch, J.L. (1989), The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, CA. Buono, A.F., Bowditch, J.L. and Llewis, J.W. (1985), “When cultures collide: the anatomy of a merger”, Human Relations, Vol. 38, pp. 477-501. Carolan, M. (2002), “Stepping into the light: stakeholder impact on competitive adaptation”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 255-73. Cartwright, S. and Cooper, C.L. (1995), “The impact of mergers and acquisitions on people at work: existing research and issues”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 1, pp. 65-76. Cavanaugh, M.A. and Noe, R.A. (1999), “Antecedents and consequences of relational components of the new psychological contract”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 323-41. Dutton, J.E. and Dukerich, J.M. (1991), “Keeping an eye on the mirror: image and identity in organizational adaptation”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 34, pp. 517-54. Dutton, J.E., Dukerich, J.M. and Harquail, C.V. (1994), “Organizational images and member identification”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 39, pp. 239-63. Ericson, T. (2001), “Sensemaking in organisations – towards a conceptual framework for understanding strategic change”, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 17, pp. 109-31.

Fiol, C.M. (1991), “Managing culture as a competitive resource: an identity-based view of sustainable competitive advantage”, Journal of Management., Vol. 17, pp. 191-211. Fiol, C.M. and Huff, A.S. (1992), “Maps for managers: where are we? Where do we go from here?”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 29, pp. 267-85. Haunschild, P.R., Moreland, R.L. and Murrell, A.J. (1994), “Sources of resistance to mergers between groups”, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 24, pp. 1150-78. Herriot, P. (1989), “Selection as a social process”, in Smith, M. and Robertson, I. (Eds), Advances in Selection and Assessment, Wiley, London. Herriot, P. (2001), The Employment Relationship, Routledge, London. Herriot, P. and Pemberton, C. (1995a), “Contracting careers”, Human Relations, Vol. 49, pp. 757-90. Herriot, P. and Pemberton, C. (1995b), New Deals, Wiley, Chichester. Herriot, P., Hirsh, W. and Reilly, P. (1998), Trust and Transition: Managing Today’s Employment Relationship, Wiley, Chichester. Herriot, P., Manning, W.E.G. and Kidd, J.M. (1997), “The content of the psychological contract”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 8, pp. 151-62. Jetten, J., O’Brien, A. and Trindall, N. (2002), “Changing identity: predicting adjustment to organizational restructure as a function of subgroup and superordinate identification”, British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 41, pp. 281-97. Kyriakidou, O. (2001), “Organizational identity and change: the dynamics of organizational transformation”, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Surrey, Guildford. Kyriakidou, O. and Millward, L.J. (2003), “A network model of change interpretation”, paper presented at the European Conference on Work and Organisational Psychology, Lisbon, May. Leonard, D. (1997), “Co-ordinating change through continuous improvement”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 9, pp. 174-89. Levinson, H., Price, C.R., Munden, K.J., Mandl, H.J. and Solley, C.M. (1962), Men, Management and Mental Health, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. London, M. and Mone, E.M. (1987), Career Management and Survival in the Workplace, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Lynch, J.G. and Lind, B. (2002), “Escaping merger and acquisition madness”, Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 5-12. Mael, F. and Ashforth, B.E. (1989), “Social identity theory and the organization”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 20-40. Mael, F. and Ashforth, B.E. (1992), “Alumni and their alma matter: a partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 13, pp. 103-23. Mael, F. and Ashforth, B.E. (1995), “Loyal from day one: biodata, organizational identification, and turnover among newcomers”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 309-34. Marks, M.L. and Mirvis, P.H. (2001), “Making mergers and acquisitions work: strategic and psychological preparation”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 80-95. Markus, H. and Kunda, Z. (1986), “Stability and malleability of the self-concept”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 54, pp. 521-64. Milliken, F.J. (1990), “Perceiving and interpreting environmental change: an examination of college administrators’ interpretation of changing demographics”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 33, pp. 42-63.

Pre- and post-merger identities 25

CDI 9,1

26

Millward, J.L. (1995), “Corporate identity and risk: a self-categorisation perspective”, paper presented at the ESRC Conference on “Risk in organizational settings”, London. Millward, L.J. and Brewerton, P. (2000), “Employee relations for the 21st century: a psychological contract framework”, in Cooper, C. and Robertson, I. (Eds), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Longman, Harlow, pp. 1-61. Millward, L.J. and Herriot, P. (2000), “Psychological contracts in the UK”, in Rousseau, D. and Schalk, R. (Eds), Psychological Contracts in Employment: Cross-national Perspectives, Sage, New York, NY, pp. 231-49. Millward, L.J. and Kyriakidou, O. (2003), “Mergers, identity and psychological contracts”, paper presented at the European Conference on Work and Organisational Psychology, Lisbon, May. Mintzberg, H. (1983), Power In and Around Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Mottola, G.R., Bachman, B.A., Gaertner, S.L. and Davidio, J.F. (1997), “How groups merge: the effects of merger interaction patterns on anticipated commitment to the merger organization”, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 27, pp. 1335-58. Mullins, J.W. and Cummings, L.L. (1999), “Situational strength: a framework for understanding the role of individuals in initiating proactive strategic change”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 12 No. 6, pp. 462-79. Pratt, M.C. (1998), “To be or not to be? Central questions in organizational identification”, in Whetten, D.A. and Godfrey, P.C. (Eds), Identity in Organizations: Building Theory through Conversations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 171-207. Robinson, S.L. and Morrison, E.W. (1995), “Psychological contracts and OCB: the effect of unfulfilled obligations on civic virtue behavior”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 16, pp. 289-98. Robinson, S.L. and Morrison, E.W. (2000), “The development of psychological contract breach and violation: a longitudinal study”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 21, pp. 525-46. Rousseau, D.M. (1989), “New hire perceptions of their own and their employer’s obligations: study of psychological contracts”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 11, pp. 389-400. Rousseau, D.M. (1995), Psychological Contracts in Organizations: Understanding Written and Unwritten Agreements, Sage, Newbury Park, CA. Rousseau, D.M. (1998), “Why workers still identify with organizations”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 19, pp. 217-33. Rousseau, D.M. and Anton, R.J. (1991), “Fairness and implied contract obligations in job terminations”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 287-300. Schein, E.H. (1985), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Schein, E.H. (1990), Career Anchors, Pfeiffer, San Diego, CA. Schein, E.H. (1993), Career Survival: Strategic Job/Role Planning, Pfeiffer, San Diego, CA. Schlenker, B.R. (1986), “Self-identification: toward an integration of the private and public self”, in Baumeister, R.F. (Ed.), Public Self and Private Self, Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, pp. 21-62. Sparrow, P.R. (1996), “Transitions in the psychological contract in UK banking”, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 75-92. Swann, W.B. Jr (1985), “Identity negotiation: where two roads meet”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology., Vol. 53, pp. 1038-51. Terry, D.J., Carey, C.J. and Callan, V.J. (2001), “Employee adjustment to an organizational merger: an intergroup perspective”, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 27, pp. 267-90.

Terry, D.J., Callan, V.J. and Sartori, G. (1996), “Employee adjustment to an organizational merger: stress, coping and intergroup differences”, Stress Medicine, Vol. 12, pp. 105-22. Tannenbaum, B. (1976), “Some matters of life and death”, OD Practitioner, Vol. 8, pp. 1-7. Tunstall, W.B. (1986), “The break-up of the Bell system: a case study in cultural transformation”, California Management Review, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 110-24. Turnley, W.H. and Feldman, D.C. (2000), “Re-examining the effects of psychological contract violations: unmet expectations and job dissatisfaction as mediators”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 21, pp. 25-42. Tyler, T.R. (1999), “Why people co-operate with organizations: an identity-based perspective”, in Staw, B.M. and Sutton, R. (Eds), Research in Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 21, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 201-46. van Knippenberg, D. and van Schie, E.C.M. (2000), “Foci and correlates of organizational identification”, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 73, pp. 137-47. van Knippenberg, D., van Knippenberg, B., Moden, L. and de Lima, F. (2002), “Organizational identification after a merger: a social identity perspective”, British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 41, pp. 233-52. Weick, K. (1979), The Social Psychology of Organizing, 2nd ed., Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Weick, K.E. (1995), Sensemaking in Organizations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Weick, K.E. and Quinn, R.E. (1999), “Organizational change and development”, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 50, pp. 361-86. Zeitz, G. (1996), “Employee attitudes toward total quality management”, Administration and Society, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 120-43.

Pre- and post-merger identities 27

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

CDI 9,1

28 Received August 2003 Revised November 2003 Accepted November 2003

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

Cynicism and disengagement among devalued employee groups: the need to ASPIRe Anne T. O’Brien, S. Alexander Haslam, Jolanda Jetten, Louise Humphrey, Lucy O’Sullivan and Tom Postmes School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

Rachael Eggins and Katherine J. Reynolds School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Keywords Social roles, Corporate identity, Diversity management, Empowerment Abstract Despite a renewed interest in processes which help organizations to harness social capital, it is apparent that practical efforts to achieve this rarely focus on employees who are members of low status groups. In large part this is because such employees tend to be skeptical of, and to resist, engagement in intervention programs on the basis of previous adverse experience regarding the benefits achieved and lack of trust. This paper presents evidence that, among hospital staff, work groups who felt they were devalued displayed higher levels of cynicism regarding the potential efficacy of a stress intervention program. Within the organization, devalued groups were characterized by lower levels of organizational identification and members of these groups reported under-utilization of their skills by the organization. Thus, there is evidence that organizations are failing to realize the social capital of specific groups. The ASPIRe model of organizational development is discussed as an appropriate vehicle to provide devalued groups with genuine opportunities for development and empowerment. To the extent that such a program receives genuine institutional support, we argue that it has the potential to unlock key enclaves of social capital that tend otherwise to be overlooked.

Introduction: the resurgent interest in social capital Traditional approaches to organizational development have tended to focus on issues of economics with a view to maximizing financial return on employer investment. These can be traced back to the influential writings of Taylor (1911) in which strategies for optimising organizational outcomes focused on matters of recruitment, job design, and motivation based on financial incentive. Later, and in opposition to this economic school of thought, researchers in the human relations tradition (e.g. McGregor, 1957; Mayo, 1949) argued that the

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 28-44 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436 DOI 10.1108/13620430410518129

This research was funded by grants from the School of Psychology, University of Exeter, the University of Exeter Community Link Fund and the West Dorset General Hospitals Trust. The co-operation of employees at Dorset County Hospital – and, in particular, Elaine Maxwell and Ann Lambkin – is greatly appreciated. The authors are grateful to the constructive comments of Michelle Ryan, two anonymous reviewers and the editorial team on an earlier version of this manuscript.

mechanistic approach of Taylor and his followers was both flawed and unsustainable – largely because it neglected the group-based dynamics which contribute both to employees’ attitudes to work and to their output. Such views spawned a range of schemes in the 1950s and 1960s which focused not on reducing work to its bare elements (“hygienes”), but on enriching it by attending to social motivators in the context of personal and team development (e.g. Herzberg, 1966). In many ways, during the twentieth century, the evolution of organizational psychology (and management sciences more generally) charted the oscillation between these positions, with the ascendant view at any particular point in time being determined by the broader political context within which organizational theorizing was located. Thus during the 1980s and early 1990s the hard-line economic rationalist view was again in vogue (being consistent with the doctrines of “Reaganomics” and “Thatcherism”). But more recently this has again given way to rhetoric built around ideas of worker empowerment, self-determination, and the need to harness social, not just economic, capital (e.g. Burt, 1997; Leana and van Buren, 1999; Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). Illustrative of this move, in early 2003 the British government announced plans to use health and safety legislation to impose financial penalties on employers if they failed to take significant steps to reduce workplace stress caused, among other things, by non-involvement in decision making, social exclusion and lack of social support (e.g. see Haslam (in press); Mackie et al., 2001). This latest shift in emphasis seems warranted not only because employee participation programmes have the capacity to reduce stress and associated organizational costs (e.g. in absenteeism and turnover) but also because they bring about substantial benefits in their own right. At an organizational level, they can enhance employee cohesion, harmony, and creativity (e.g. Burke, 1993; Hunnicutt and MacMillan, 1983); at an economic level they have been found to increase productivity, performance, and safety (e.g. Cotton, 1993; Lawler et al., 1992). Paradoxically, then, advocates of more social approaches to management argue that economic goals are served best when they are a byproduct of labour organization rather than its primary goal (e.g. Haslam, 2001). Has anything really changed? Rosy as the above picture may be, critics argue that far from replacing classical Taylorism, “new-wave” human relations practices actually reinvent it in a more insidious form (e.g. Harley, 1999; Haslam, 2001; Kelly and Kelly, 1991; Micklethwait and Wooldridge, 1997; Parker, 1993). They argue that the reality of managerial control was readily apparent in traditional regimes and hence, when unjust, this was more easily challenged and resisted. In contrast, they contend that contemporary practices conceal this reality beneath a veneer of feigned interest in employee welfare. So while the managerial thesaurus routinely emphasises terms such as “growth”, “development” and

The need to ASPIRe

29

CDI 9,1

30

“empowerment”, employers’ actions are still fundamentally contingent on concern for the financial bottom line and the managerial prerogative (i.e. the manager’s “right to manage”). In support of this critique, researchers have garnered an impressive body of data which points to the fact that while the language of management has changed appreciably in the last 20 years, its practice has changed rather little (e.g. Harley, 1999; Parker, 1993). Parker (1993) notes, for example, that under Taylorism the organizational production line was under the control of managers but now control is in the hands of self-organized workgroups. Yet while this might appear to be a change for the better, what it means in practice is that workers have become instruments of their own exploitation – exerting pressure on each other to achieve increasingly demanding goals in a way that management never could (Barker, 1983; Sewell, 1998). A critical point here is that while the methods of organizations may have changed, they are still oriented towards the same goals, and these goals are set exclusively by managers rather than inclusively by employees themselves. In line with such evidence, Kelly and Kelly (1991) report that, for all the talk of progress in the sphere of industrial relations, there is no evidence that the “new industrial relations” techniques have led to any improvement in “them and us” (“management vs workers”) attitudes among employees. Furthermore, they argue that workers – particularly those who occupy low status positions in organizations – remain steadfastly cynical about the real dividends that such techniques can deliver. As a result, their engagement with development schemes tends to be instrumental rather than in any sense integrative. Rather than having confidence in the uplifting sales pitch of the plethora of programmes on offer, worker involvement is thus based simply on achieving a satisfactory answer to the question “What’s in this for me?” (Tyler and Blader, 2000). Kelly and Kelly (1991) identify four primary reasons for this enduring cynicism among members of low-status groups: (1) lack of real choice about whether or not (and how) one participates in development programmes; (2) lack of trust in the programmes and those who deliver them; (3) a sense of unequal status and power, and of unequal shares in the dividends that flow from the programmes; and (4) a lack of genuine institutional support for programme ideals. .

On this basis they conclude: The theoretical requirement for . . . attitude change is that the parties jointly choose to participate as equal-status partners in a mutually rewarding high-trust relationship underpinned by strong institutional support. In reality, management on both sides of the Atlantic have sought to guard their own authority, prerogatives and privileges against encroachment from below; they have claimed the lion’s share of the gains; and they have been

prepared to ditch . . . schemes that no longer suited their purpose or were failing to deliver the goods. (Kelly and Kelly, 1991, p. 44)

One consequence of this ongoing disaffection of low-status employees is that intervention programmes have continued to be (or have become increasingly) targeted at middle-managers in the workplace (Micklethwait and Wooldridge, 1997). In effect, what this means is that empowerment-focused activities have remained doggedly “middle-class”: they are taught, learned, and implemented by aspiring professionals and, equally, they are delivered to, and taken on board by, similarly upwardly-mobile groups. This makes sense, since a corollary of Kelly and Kelly’s (1991) analysis is that “playing the development game” should only appeal to “pyramid climbers” (Packard, 1962) who believe that personal advancement is possible within a given organizational system. Indeed, these patterns can be predicted on the basis of social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), which asserts that the perceived permeability of high-status group boundaries is a major determinant of people’s decisions to pursue personal development as a realistic goal. A large body of empirical evidence also supports this assertion that personal mobility strategies are most appealing to (and hence are tailored to suit) those who occupy mid-level positions in a given status hierarchy and who see compliance with the prescriptions of high-status groups as a path to personal self-enhancement and the power of the high-status groups as legitimate (e.g. see Ellemers, 1993; Haslam, 2001, Chapter 8). Overall, then, the picture that emerges points to the failure of many “new wave” human relations practices to effectively promote the development of organizations in ways that incorporate and reflect the goals of workgroups and teams. Furthermore, to the extent that such development is achieved, it tends to be limited to employees in middle management and to exclude low status groups. The cost of this is two-fold. First, it results in the organization being unable to fully realize its latent social capital. In other words, the organization will fail to unlock and harness all the potential knowledge, ideas, social support, goodwill, and trust that reside within individual employees and workgroups. Second, the process of marginalizing particular employee groups can lead to the development of isolated sub-cultures who perceive of themselves as devalued groups. As such, these groups are more likely to be immune to organizational and managerial goals – irrespective of their validity (Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999) and demonstrate a reluctance to contribute and engage in organizational activities beyond those that are explicitly required (i.e. they adopt a strategy of psychological exit; Reynolds and Platow, 2003). Evidence of cynicism and disengagement among devalued groups As outlined above, members of low status groups are more resistant to engagement in extra-organizational activities and more skeptical of the proposed value of participation in employee development programs (Kelly and Kelly, 1991; Reynolds and Platow, 2003). In this section we present some data that illustrates this resistance of low status groups, in particular those that feel

The need to ASPIRe

31

CDI 9,1

32

devalued, within an organizational context. The data has been collected from two studies that are currently being conducted in a medium-size county hospital in England which employs about 2,400 staff. The first examines the initial phase of a organizational project designed to identify and address issues relating to workplace stress. The second, conducted with a subset of hospital staff, is an ongoing project designed to enable the expression of relevant group goals while aligning group goals with those set by the organization. On the basis of the arguments presented above, we were interested in examining three questions: (1) Who are the staff groups who will report the highest levels of cynicism regarding the efficacy of an organizational program that is designed to improve levels of work place stress? (2) Are the groups who express most cynicism the least likely to engage in this program? (3) What are the distinctive characteristics of such groups relative to those groups who show less cynicism and higher levels of engagement? Which groups are the most cynical? In terms of items relevant to these questions, the following measures were obtained from a staff-wide survey designed to assess issues relevant to workplace stress. To ascertain how staff perceived the status of their workgroup in the organization, respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with two questions (My workgroup has a lot of status/influence in this organization, 0 ¼ strongly disagree, 4 ¼ strongly agree; a ¼ 0:78). Two items assessed the perceived public esteem of one’s workgroup, that is, the extent to which respondents thought their workgroup was held in high esteem by others within the hospital community (In general, others respect my workgroup/I feel my workgroup’s contribution is valued by the organization; a ¼ 0:79 adapted from Luhtanen and Crocker, 1992). Finally, a single item assessed the extent to which respondents believed in the utility of the organizational project (How effective do you think that this organization’s current attempts to deal with stress in the workplace will be? 0 ¼ not at all effective, 4 ¼ very effective). This item was reverse-scored so that high scores indicated high levels of cynicism. To assess the unique contribution of workgroup status and public esteem for one’s workgroup in predicting levels of cynicism in the organizational work-stress project, a regression analysis was carried out. Results showed that higher levels of cynicism were predicted by low levels of group public esteem, Fð2; 994Þ ¼ 45:23, p , 0:001, b ¼ 2 0.26, p , 0:001, not by perceived workgroup status. This relationship was further explored by comparing the regression results from four staff groups who represented different objective status positions (i.e. two higher status groups: medical/dental staff and senior managers, and two lower status groups: ancillary staff and nurses/midwives).

For both the higher status groups, the relationship between group public esteem and cynicism was not significant. In contrast, there was a strong negative relationship between group public esteem and cynicism for respondents from the two lower status groups (e.g. for nursing staff, Fð2; 367Þ ¼ 22:89, p , 0:001, b ¼ 20:32, p , 0:001).

The need to ASPIRe

33 Which groups disengage? In line with the above relationship between cynicism and perceptions of low workgroup public esteem for those staff from the lower status groups (i.e. devalued groups), these groups also showed the lowest levels of participation in the organization-wide survey. Table I presents the response rates for two of the higher status groups (medical/dental staff and senior managers), and two of the lower status groups (ancillary staff and nurses/midwives). The average response rate of staff from the two lower status groups (34 per cent) was significantly lower than that of staff from the two higher status groups (45 per cent), x2 ð1Þ ¼ 8:41, p , 0:001. Consistent findings have also emerged from a concurrent project that is working with four specific staff groups within the hospital, two groups of senior nurses (specialist nurses and ward sisters) and two groups of ancillary workers (porters and catering staff). In terms of objective status, the senior nurse groups occupy higher status positions within the hospital relative to the ancillary staff groups. In addition, senior nurses perceived their group to be held in higher public esteem (i.e. valued) than ancillary staff, who perceive their groups to be less valued, Fð1; 123Þ ¼ 16:95, p , 0:001. Furthermore, while interest and engagement in the organizational development project was relatively high from the senior nurse groups, resistance from the ancillary groups took the form of either low participation rates by the porters or a refusal by the catering employees to progress through the project’s stages unless explicit managerial support and commitment to change was given. Indeed, several of the ancillary workers interviewed in the early stages of our study made comments along these lines. As one member of the catering staff observed:

Staff groups High status groups Senior managers Doctors/dental staff Low status groups Nurses/midwives Ancillary staff

Number of respondents

Percent of staff group that responded

38 273

24 115

73 42

1,173 220

393 78

34 35

Total number of employees

Table I. Response rate to organization-wide survey from high and low status groups

CDI 9,1

34

This is going to be another one of those situations where you tell us how wonderful everything’s going to be, and we get all excited, but nothing ever happens and nothing changes except we get fewer staff and more shit to deal with.

In contrast, it was notable that senior nurse groups were generally very enthusiastic about the project and the opportunities for collective self-expression that it promised, largely because they were more confident that organization’s commitment to the process was authentic. What are the distinguishing characteristics of devalued groups? The findings presented above suggest that there are two important dimensions that characterize devalued groups: perceived low status and the perception that their group does not receive respect or worth from their organizational community (see Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999). Thus for employees in devalued groups, their group lacks both influence and recognition within the organization. Having established these patterns of perceived group status and public esteem, a critical question pertains to their bearing on employees’ identification both with their self-defined reference group and the organization as a whole. Data collected on the project with senior nursing and ancillary groups helps us to begin to examine this. Levels of reference group and organizational identification were each assessed with five items (e.g. I identify with my group/the organization; I feel strong ties with my group/the organization; This group/this organization is important to me; 1 ¼ not at all, 5 ¼ very much; as ¼ 0:94 and 0.84 respectively; after Doosje et al., 1995). Participants also responded to an additional item indicating the extent to which they felt their skills and abilities were used effectively by the hospital (1 ¼ not at all, 5 ¼ very much). Resulting means are presented in Table II. From this it can be seen that participants generally had much higher levels of identification with their reference group than with the organization as a whole (for related patterns, see van Knippenberg and van Schie, 2000). This was confirmed by two-way analysis of variance (group £ measure) which revealed a main effect for measure, Fð1; 121Þ ¼ 73:78, p , 0:01, but also a main effect for group, Fð3; 121Þ ¼ 7:85, p , 0:01. The latter effect reflected the fact that senior nurses tended to identify more strongly both with their reference group and with the organization than ancillary staff.

Measurea Table II. Perceptions of identification and skill utilization in two hospital groups

Senior nurses (N¼51)

Ancillary staff (N ¼ 80)

4.54b 3.81b 3.67b

3.99c 3.51c 2.49c

Identification with work group Identification with hospital Perceived utilization of skills by hospital Notes: aAll responses on five-point scales (1-5) b,c Values within a row followed by a different letter are

significantly different at p , 0:05

The results also point to significant between-group differences on the measure assessing perceived utilization of skills and abilities, tð128Þ ¼ 7:84, p , 0:001. Furthermore, while senior nurses responded significantly above the scale midpoint indicating that their skills were utilized (M ¼ 3:67; tð49Þ ¼ 5:89, p , 0:001), the ratings of ancillary staff were significantly below the midpoint, indicating disagreement (M ¼ 2:49; tð79Þ ¼ 25:37, p , 0:001). In line with previous work which has examined the psychology of devalued group membership (e.g. Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999), the above data thus point to a syndrome of perceived devaluation which is associated with lowered levels of organizational identification and a sense that one’s skills and abilities are under-recognized. Among these devalued low status groups it would thus appear that there is a particular need for development programmes which can create a genuine sense of group worth, communicate this sense of worth more generally to other groups in the organization (and the public at large), increase reference-group and organizational identification, and more effectively harness the skills and abilities which these employees feel are under-used. ASPIRe as a model for engaging devalued groups In an attempt to develop a model which offers a viable alternative to the plethora that utilize an individualistic and top-down approach, Haslam et al. (2003) and Eggins et al. (2003) recently proposed the ASPIRe model of organizational development (whose acronym stands for Actualizing Social and Personal Identity Resources). Based on insights from social identity and self-categorization theories (e.g. Tajfel and Turner, 1979; Turner et al., 1987), the model is informed by studies which suggest that an organization’s social capital is partly determined by the identity resources of its employees. In particular, it focuses on two distinct forms of resource: those associated with each employee’s sense of his or her unique personal identity and those associated with their shared social identity. The former relates to employees’ internalized definitions of themselves as individuals, the latter to their awareness that they are members of a common group (Tajfel, 1972; Turner, 1982). The model is underpinned by an assumption that social and personal identities make distinct contributions to organizational life and that opportunities for organizational success and sustainability are maximized when structures allow for the expression and development of concerns and interests associated with each. As such, it is consistent with the idea that in order to effectively harness the social capital of all employees, researchers and practitioners need to move beyond the view that social capital resides largely in the potential of individuals qua individuals and in behavior that is oriented primarily towards a singular set of prescribed organizational goals (e.g. Locke et al., 2001). Furthermore, the model suggests that optimal organizational outcomes will be achieved when employees come to define themselves, and are able to act, in terms of multiple self-relevant identities defined at different levels of abstraction. In particular, this conclusion is based on evidence from extensive

The need to ASPIRe

35

CDI 9,1

36

social psychological literatures on conflict management, diversity management and negotiation which suggest that these processes are most effective when parties define themselves, and act, in terms of group memberships defined at both superordinate and subgroup levels (e.g. Berry, 1991; Eggins et al., 2002; Gonza´lez and Brown, 2003; Hornsey and Hogg, 2000; Huo et al., 1996; Jetten et al., 2002). This state of multi-level identification – in which groups within an organization come to act both as members of a higher order identity that they share with other employees and as members of distinct subgroups – is one we refer to as organic pluralism. Such a state is characterized by an organizational identity that integrates and reflects the diversity and distinctiveness of the organizational subgroups that together constitute the organization. Thus identification at the subgroup level is congruent with, rather than in opposition to, organizational identity. Furthermore, while different subgroups are likely to have different goals, these would all be perceived to be part of, and consistent with, higher level organizational goals. The ASPIRe model is based on an assumption that because individual and social differences are an important feature of organizational life (e.g. see Jackson, 1992; Nkomo and Cox, 1996), a viable model also has to allow for the possibility of clashes of opinion at each of these levels. Thus, in order to harness the creative and innovative potential of such differences, successive phases of the ASPIRe process attempt to enable diversity (both at the individual and group level) to be organized into a more cohesive and focused pluralism. Building on work which examines the temporal sequencing of particular forms of individual and group activity (e.g. Douglas, 1957; Eggins et al., 2002; Olekalns et al., 1996), the ASPIRe model specifies four stages through which individuals and groups in an organization can be taken in order to increase the likelihood of their reaching, and contributing to, a state of organic pluralism. The four phases are represented schematically in Figure 1, but details of the model (and the research on which it is predicated) are presented elsewhere (Eggins et al., 2003; Haslam et al., 2003). As indicated in Figure 1, the initial stage of the model involves ascertaining the social identities that employees use to define themselves in the context of organizational life as a whole (AIRing). It then proceeds through two intermediate stages in which the subgroups identified during the AIRing phase meet first separately and then together in order to establish goals that are relevant to those identities (Sub-casing, Super-casing). In the final phase, organizational planning and goal-setting is informed by the outcomes of the previous two phases (Organising). Subsequent to this, employees’ satisfaction with, and commitment to, the outcomes of the process are monitored as well as the organization’s performance relative to emergent goals. The results of this then provide a basis for future iterations of the ASPIRe process. In relation to the issues that are the focus of the present paper, an obvious and rather fundamental question is why the ASPIRe model should be

The need to ASPIRe

37

Figure 1. The four phases of ASPIRe

considered more appropriate than any other approach as a means of engaging devalued groups in processes of organizational development. As outlined by Haslam et al. (2003) there are three core reasons why this is the case. ASPIRe makes no assumptions about the identities that are psychologically important for employees in devalued groups The theoretical rationale underpinning the ASPIRe model assumes that social identities are an important part of any employee’s self-concept. These social identities are derived from their membership in psychologically important groups, and are important predictors of employees’ goals and motivations in the workplace. Thus it follows that the essential first step in the ASPIRe process is to identify the social identities that are psychologically important for employees in relation to their work. However, it remains the case that most researchers and practitioners who address issues of workplace diversity and empowerment make prescriptive assumptions about what groups actually matter to employees. In particular, it is typically assumed that organizational groups can be categorized in terms of demographic (e.g. gender, age and ethnicity) or work role characteristics. While there are grounds for believing that in many organizational contexts, social demographics do indeed capture important group-based differences, it is also the case that such differences can either be irrelevant to employees or in fact be ones that they are actively trying to downplay, particularly for members of threatened or devalued groups (Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999).

CDI 9,1

38

As an example, one could think of a middle-aged Asian female who works as a hospital radiographer. In principle, it is possible for any one of these category memberships to play a role in structuring her work experience: for example, she may see herself as belonging primarily to a group defined on the basis of her gender, her ethnicity, her age or her profession. Clearly, then, in order to address issues associated with group membership in a meaningful and useful way, one needs to work with employees themselves in order to ascertain the subjective social topography of the organizational landscape. This is what the AIRing phase of the ASPIRe process attempts to do. It serves both to build up a map of the groups within a particular organization that matter to its employees and to establish the nature and character of intergroup relations. By deriving this information from employees’ own perceptions (rather than imposing them on the basis of externally-referenced criteria), the process is also likely to be perceived as more procedurally just and valid than traditional exercises of this form, a matter of particular importance to devalued groups (Smith et al., 2003; Tyler and Blader, 2000). ASPIRe gives members of devalued groups an opportunity to develop collective voice Having used AIRing to identify groups that are psychologically meaningful to employees, one of the defining features of the ASPIRe model is that it then moves to a second phase in which members of each group come together in order to caucus issues related to their collective work experience. This approach contrasts with alternative models (see Figure 2) which typically suggest either that employees attempt to downplay group memberships in the process of organizational development for fear that these create unwelcome levels of rivalry and conflict (i.e. an individuation approach), or move straight into activities which emphasize and promote the interests of the superordinate

Figure 2. Four approaches to identity development and management

organization in order to create a sense of commonality rather than difference (i.e. an assimilation approach). A key problem with both these approaches is that neither allows members of devalued groups to develop and articulate a shared position in relation to those issues that are of particular concern to them. Assimilation strategies tend to advance the interests of dominant high status groups at the expense of those of lower status since it is the high status group that tends to have a greater role in defining the organizational (superordinate) identity (Mummendey and Wenzel, 1999; Stephenson, 1981). Individuation approaches downplay the value of a group perspective altogether and, as a result, preclude opportunities for devalued groups to have a collective voice (Tajfel and Turner, 1979). In contrast, sub-casing gives devalued group members freedom to: . develop a sense of their own identity; . explore creative opportunities for personal and collective development (as recommended by Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999); and . identify (and attempt to correct) limitations of current organizational functioning without fear of personal reprisal or intimidation from organizational e´lites (Eggins et al., 2002). In addition, because it deals with issues that are associated with salient dimensions of employees’ self-concepts, those employees should again feel both more respected by the organization (Smith et al., 2003; Tyler and Blader, 2000) and more involved in the process as a whole (Ellemers et al., 1998; van Knippenberg and van Schie, 2000). ASPIRe allows members of devalued groups to set self-relevant goals We noted previously that one of the main reasons why employees have remained cynical about “new” industrial relations programs that promise greater involvement in organizational decision-making and development is that, at the end of the day, little change is evident in the decisions made, and the goals set, by the organization (Kelly and Kelly, 1991; Micklethwait and Wooldridge, 1997). In part, as noted above, this is because new decision-making and goal-setting structures still either ignore the input of groups, or serve to promote only those decisions and goals that are desired by dominant groups (e.g. senior management). In this regard, a key feature of the sub-casing and super-casing phases of the ASPIRe model is that they incorporate processes of participative group goal-setting (Wegge, 2000; Wegge and Haslam, 2003) in which groups defined at different levels are encouraged to develop self-relevant and self-defined goals that they see as important and realistic in the context of their contribution to the organization as a whole. In particular, in the sub-casing phase, groups identify issues that matter to them in the organization, specify work-related goals that they want to achieve, identify structural factors that are impeding

The need to ASPIRe

39

CDI 9,1

40

the achievement of these goals, and identify strategies that will help them overcome these impediments. In this way, the various phases of the ASPIRe process seek to empower employees by allowing them to act in terms of self-determined social identities (Reynolds and Platow, 2003). Moreover, we would argue that ASPIRe incorporates procedures that promise authentic rather than pseudo-empowerment of the form implicit in much contemporary organizational practice (Harley, 1999; Kelly and Kelly, 1991; Parker, 1993). Again, this is because the model encourages employees to work collectively to address issues that are relevant to them and to work towards goals that have meaning both at the work team and the organizational level. So, rather than reinforcing a top-down managerial view of the world which tells managers what they already know (and confirms prejudices that they already have), the model aims instead to promote bottom-up organizational input and creativity. Conclusion Although the value of social capital to organizations is undeniable, the arguments and data presented above suggest that organizations are likely to experience greater difficulty harnessing this among lower status employees, especially those that perceive themselves to be held in low public esteem (i.e. members of devalued groups). One simple reason for this is that such groups tend to have relatively low levels of organizational identification and this has been found to be a significant determinant of employees’ willingness to exert effort on behalf of the organization (Haslam, 2001; Haslam et al., 2000; Ouwerkerk et al., 1999; van Knippenberg, 2000). As Kelly and Kelly (1991) observe, it is also the case that the relative unwillingness of low status groups to deliver social capital to the organization has rational foundations: they sense that they are less likely to share in any material dividends, they sense that key decisions are not under their control, and, as a result, they are suspicious of management and its motives. In this paper we have suggested that the ASPIRe model has the potential to overcome resistance to organizational development by virtue of the fact that it is genuinely, rather than superficially, empowering for devalued groups. In particular, it allows them to develop subgroup identities that are subjectively meaningful and provides them with opportunities for collective voice in organizational goal-setting and decision-making processes. In contrast to assimilationist, individualistic or segregationist strategies, this means that the collective power of such groups to contribute to organizational change is neither diluted nor overlooked. Having said that, it remains the case that, in common with other models, implementation of ASPIRe is unlikely to achieve its objectives unless there is institutional support for this process and its outcomes. To the extent that this is not forthcoming, it is likely that devalued group members will perceive it as

“just another” in a long line of attempts to hoodwink them into exerting more energy for less reward (Harley, 1998; Kelly and Kelly, 1991). Moreover, it is likely that in many organizations (particularly those with a history of promoting intervention programs), members of devalued groups will approach the model’s implementation with a degree of cynicism borne of bitter experience. The data reported in this paper suggest that organizations have something of a mountain to climb if they want to engender such enthusiasm in devalued groups and engage them in processes of group and organizational development. Indeed, recognition of this fact may help to explain why, as we noted at the start of this paper, management science has remained stubbornly focused on developing the careers and social capital of middle- or high-status employees while leaving more lowly groups “well alone”. We would suggest that if researchers and practitioners are serious about harnessing social capital, this attentional bias needs to be overcome – not least because it is among devalued groups that the greatest ground needs to be made up. The ASPIRe model, we submit, provides a realistic starting point for such endeavour. References Ashforth, B.E. and Kreiner, G. (1999), “‘How can you do it?’: Dirty work and the dilemma of identity”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24, pp. 413-34. Barker, J.R. (1983), “Tightening the iron cage: Coercive control in self-managing teams”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 38, pp. 408-37. Berry, J.W. (1991), “Understanding and managing multiculturalism: some possible implications of research in Canada”, Psychology and Developing Societies, Vol. 3, pp. 17-49. Burke, R.J. (1993), “Organizational-level interventions to reduce occupational stressors”, Work and Stress, Vol. 7, pp. 77-87. Burt, R.S. (1997), “The contingent value of social capital”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 42, pp. 339-65. Cotton, J.L. (1993), Employee Involvement: Methods for Improving Performance and Work Attitudes, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA. Doosje, B., Ellemers, N. and Spears, R. (1995), “Perceived intragroup variability as a function of group status and identification”, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 31, pp. 410-36. Douglas, A. (1957), “The peaceful settlement of industrial intergroup disputes”, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 1, pp. 69-81. Eggins, R.A., Haslam, S.A. and Reynolds, K.J. (2002), “Social identity and negotiation: subgroup representation and superordinate consensus”, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 28, pp. 887-99. Eggins, R.A., Reynolds, K.J. and Haslam, S.A. (2003), “Working with identities: the ASPIRe model of organizational planning, negotiation and development”, in Haslam, S.A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M.J. and Ellemers, N. (Eds), Social Identity at Work: Developing Theory for Organizational Practice, Psychology Press, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 241-57. Ellemers, N. (1993), “The influence of socio-structural variables on identity enhancement strategies”, European Review of Social Psychology, Vol. 4, pp. 27-57.

The need to ASPIRe

41

CDI 9,1

42

Ellemers, N., De Gilder, D. and van den Heuvel, H. (1998), “Career-oriented versus team-oriented commitment and behavior at work”, Journal of Applied Psychology., Vol. 83, pp. 717-30. Gonza´lez, R. and Brown, R.J. (2003), “Generalization of positive attitude as a function of subgroup and superordinate group identifications in intergroup contact”, European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 33, pp. 195-214. Harley, B. (1999), “The myth of empowerment: work organization, hierarchy and employee autonomy in contemporary Australian workplaces”, Work, Employment and Society, Vol. 13, pp. 41-66. Haslam, S.A. (2001), Psychology in Organizations: The Social Identity Approach, Sage Publications, London. Haslam, S.A. (in press), Psychology in Organizations: The Social Identity Approach, 2nd ed., Sage Publications, London. Haslam, S.A., Eggins, R.A. and Reynolds, K.J. (2003), “The ASPIRe model: actualizing social and personal identity resources to enhance organizational outcomes”, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 76, pp. 83-113. Haslam, S.A., Powell, C. and Turner, J.C. (2000), “Social identity, self-categorization and work motivation: rethinking the contribution of the group to positive and sustainable organizational outcomes”, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol. 49, pp. 319-39. Herzberg, F. (1966), Work and the Nature of Man, World Publishing Co., Cleveland, OH. Hornsey, M.J. and Hogg, M.A. (2000), “Assimilation and diversity: an integrative model of subgroup relations”, Personality and Social Psychology Review, Vol. 4, pp. 143-56. Hunnicutt, A.W. and MacMillan, T.F. (1983), “Beating burn-out: findings from a three-year study”, Association of Mental Health Administrators Journal, Vol. 10, pp. 7-9. Huo, Y.J., Smith, H.J., Tyler, T.R. and Lind, E.A. (1996), “Superordinate identification, subgroup identification, and justice concerns: is separatism the problem? Is assimilation the answer?”, Psychological Science, Vol. 7, pp. 40-5. Jackson, S.E. (1992), “Team composition in organizational settings: issues in managing an increasingly diverse workforce”, in Worchel, S., Wood, W. and Simpson, J.A. (Eds), Group Processes and Productivity, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 136-80. Jetten, J., O’Brien, A. and Trindall, N. (2002), “Changing identity: predicting adjustment to organizational restructure as a function of subgroup and superordinate identification”, British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 41, pp. 281-97. Kelly, C. and Kelly, J. (1991), “‘Them and us’: social psychology and ‘the new industrial relations’”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 29, pp. 25-48. Lawler, E.E., Mohrman, S.A. and Ledford, G.E. (1992), Employee Involvement and Total Quality Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Leana, C.R. and van Buren, H.J. (1999), “Organizational social capital and employment practices”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24, pp. 538-55. Locke, E.A., Tirnauer, D., Roberson, Q., Goldman, B., Latham, M.E. and Weldon, E. (2001), “The importance of the individual in an age of groupism”, in Turner, M.E. (Ed.), Groups at Work: Advances in Theory and Research, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 501-28. Luhtanen, R. and Crocker, J. (1992), “A collective self-esteem scale: self-evaluation of one’s social identity”, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 18, pp. 302-18. McGregor, D. (1957), “The human side of enterprise. In adventures in thought and action”, Proceedings of the 5th anniversary of the School of Industrial Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.

Mackie, K.S., Holahan, C.K. and Gottlieb, N.H. (2001), “Employee involvement management practices, work stress, and depression in employees of a human services residential care facility”, Human Relations, Vol. 54, pp. 1065-92. Mayo, E. (1949), The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. Micklethwait, J. and Wooldridge, A. (1997), The Witch Doctors: What the Management Gurus are Saying, Why it Matters and How to Make Sense of It, Random House, London. Mummendey, A. and Wenzel, M. (1999), “Social discrimination and tolerance in intergroup relations: reactions to intergroup difference”, Personality and Social Psychology Review, Vol. 3, pp. 158-74. Nahapiet, J. and Ghoshal, S. (1998), “Social capital, intellectual capital and the intellectual advantage”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, pp. 242-66. Nkomo, S.M. and Cox, T. Jr (1996), “Diverse identities in organizations”, in Clegg, S.R., Hardy, C. and Nord, W.R. (Eds), Handbook of Organization Studies, Sage Publications, London, pp. 338-56. Olekalns, M., Smith, P.L. and Walsh, T. (1996), “The process of negotiating: strategy and timing as predictors of outcomes”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 68, pp. 68-77. Ouwerkerk, J.W., Ellemers, N. and De Gilder, D. (1999), “Group commitment and individual effort in experimental and organizational contexts”, in Ellemers, N., Spears, R. and Doosje, B. (Eds), Social Identity: Context, Commitment, Content, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 184-204. Packard, V. (1962), The Pyramid Climbers, Penguin, Harmondsworth. Parker, M. (1993), “Industrial relations myth and shop floor reality: the team concept in the auto industry”, in Lichtenstein, N. and Howell, J.H. (Eds), Industrial Democracy in America, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 249-74. Reynolds, K.J. and Platow, M.J. (2003), “On the social psychology of power and powerlessness. Social power as a symptom of organizational division”, in Haslam, S.A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M.J. and Ellemers, N. (Eds), Social Identity at Work: Developing Theory for Organizational Practice, Psychology Press, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 173-88. Sewell, G. (1998), “The discipline of teams: the control of team-based industrial work through electronic and peer surveillance”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 43, pp. 397-428. Smith, H.J., Tyler, T.R. and Huo, Y. (2003), “Interpersonal treatment, social identity and organizational behavior”, in Haslam, S.A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M.J. and Ellemers, N. (Eds), Social Identity at Work: Developing Theory for Organizational Practice, Psychology Press, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 155-71. Stephenson, G.M. (1981), “Intergroup bargaining and negotiation”, in Turner, J.C. and Giles, H. (Eds), Intergroup Behaviour, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 168-98. Tajfel, H. (1972), “La cate´gorisation sociale”, in Moscovici, S. (Ed.), Introduction a` la psychologie sociale (Social categorization), Larouse, Paris. Tajfel, H. and Turner, J.C. (1979), “An integrative theory of intergroup conflict”, in Austin, W.G. and Worchel, S. (Eds), The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, Brooks/Cole, Monterey, CA, pp. 33-47. Taylor, F.W. (1911), Principles of Scientific Management, Harper, New York, NY. Turner, J.C. (1982), “Towards a cognitive redefinition of the social group”, in Tajfel, H. (Ed.), Social Identity and Intergroup Relations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 15-40.

The need to ASPIRe

43

CDI 9,1

44

Turner, J.C., Hogg, M.A., Oakes, P.J., Reicher, S.D. and Wetherell, M.S. (1987), Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-categorization Theory, Blackwell, Oxford. Tyler, T.R. and Blader, S. (2000), Cooperation in Groups: Procedural Justice, Social Identity and Behavioural Engagement, Psychology Press, New York, NY. van Knippenberg, D. (2000), “Work motivation and performance: a social identity perspective”, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol. 49, pp. 357-71. van Knippenberg, D. and van Schie, E.C.M. (2000), “Foci and correlates of organizational identification”, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 73, pp. 137-47. Wegge, J. (2000), “Participation in group goal setting: some novel findings and a comprehensive model as a new ending to an old story”, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol. 49, pp. 497-515. Wegge, J. and Haslam, S.A. (2003), “Group goal-setting, social identity and self-categorization: engaging the collective self to enhance group performance and organizational outcomes”, in Haslam, S.A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M.J. and Ellemers, N. (Eds), Social Identity at Work: Developing Theory for Organizational Practice, Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 43-59.

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

Partnership-based approaches to learning in the context of restructuring Case studies from the European steel and metal sectors Emma Wallis and Mark Stuart Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

Partnershipbased approaches to learning 45 Received September 2003 Revised November 2003 Accepted November 2003

Keywords Workplace learning, Metalworking industry, Skills, Career development, Europe Abstract The European steel and metal sectors have experienced processes of radical restructuring. Employers within the sector increasingly require employees to have a broader and deeper range of skills, although restructuring has also highlighted the need for workers to gain transferable skills in order to increase their employability. This paper, which draws on research conducted in seven European nations, describes how partnership-based approaches to learning involving public, private and voluntary sector organisations have emerged in order to meet these needs. It argues that whileit may not be possible to develop a European model for partnership-based approaches to learning, an examination of a number of particularly innovative and successful partnerships nevertheless facilitates the identification of the constituent elements of good practice with respect to partnership-based approaches to learning, which may themselves have wider applications.

Introduction: learning, employability and partnership within Europe Restructuring and employability How are we to understand the concept of “career” against the backdrop of contemporary processes of industrial restructuring? For Sennett (1998, p. 9): Flexible capitalism has blocked the straight roadway of career, diverting employees suddenly from one kind of work to another.

Faced with rampant corporate downsizing and the denigration of formal institutions, careers are thus more difficult to forge as individuals, it is often argued, are expected to navigate, and take on board the risks of (Beck, 1992), a more uncertain world. Recent empirical evidence from the UK has helped to temper these depressing portraits and suggested that we are far from witnessing the “end of the career”’ (see Taylor, 2002). Nonetheless, the further decline of manufacturing industries across most developed countries has meant that a very real debate continues, particularly among policy makers, over how The support of the European Union Framework 5 grant, HPSE-CT2001-00049, is gratefully appreciated.

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 45-57 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436 DOI 10.1108/13620430410518138

CDI 9,1

46

best to “respond” to corporate restructuring and labour displacement. How, for example, are displaced workers to attain the necessary “employability” to gain new employment? Equally important, what types of support structures are needed to facilitate this? This paper considers these questions through an examination of the development of partnership-based approached to learning within the context of European steel and metal sector restructuring. The call for learning partnerships within the European Union The European Union has identified lifelong learning and employability as priority areas within its strategies for economic growth, employment and social inclusion. This is well documented in the Commission’s recent communication, which makes a powerful call for “Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality” (Commission of the European Communities, 2001). The rationale behind this intervention is all too familiar. In an era of rapid change, economic uncertainty and employment insecurity, organisational success is predicated on investment in human capital and an individual’s employment and broader social status is dependent on ongoing learning. Thus, for the European Commission: The objectives of a European area of lifelong learning must be both to empower citizens to meet the challenges of the knowledge-based society, moving freely between learning settings, jobs, regions and countries in pursuit of learning; and to meet the goals and ambitions of the European Union and the candidate countries to be more prosperous, inclusive, tolerant and democratic (Commission of the European Communities, 2001)

Realising this agenda is, of course, far from straightforward, and the Commission itself admits that only limited progress has been made in terms of the implementation of coherent and comprehensive lifelong learning strategies. To this end, a series of building blocks are suggested to aid the development and implementation of such strategies. Of relevance for this paper is the emphasis on partnership working, which reflects “the shared benefits of, and responsibility for, lifelong learning”, and can include partnerships between the social partners, local level bodies and broader multi-level governmental agencies. Little is known, however, about the factors and mechanisms most likely to make lifelong learning partnership efficient and sustainable. Against this backdrop, this paper examines how partnership-based approaches to learning – what we refer to as “learning partnerships” – have emerged in the steel and metal sector as a response to ongoing processes of restructuring. We consider how learning partnerships are shaped by different economic and regulatory framework and the extent to which they are triggered and defined by local, organisational level stimuli. The paper is split into four sections. The first section briefly outlines the nature of restructuring in steel and metal and explains how this can act as an impulse for learning partnerships. The next section identifies, and distinguishes between, three potential types of learning partnership. The next section presents a number of case studies of

learning partnerships and attempts to draw out some constituent elements of Partnershipgood practice. In conclusion, we reflect on the applicability of the learning based approaches partnerships identified for broader European practice. to learning Restructuring as an impulse for learning partnerships During the last 25 years the European steel and metal sectors have been transformed as a result of on-going restructuring processes, which must be seen within the context of global capitalist restructuring (Bradbury, 1985; Grahl, 1983). The internationalisation of the industries has intensified (Froebel et al., 1980), with increasing competition from newly industrialised countries, particularly in terms of the steel industry from the China and South Korea. In response, European companies have sought to restructure their product market strategies, operational processes and labour capacity (Aylen, 1998). Other manifestations of restructuring have included: changes to the labour process, with evidence that Fordist and Taylorist forms of work organisation, are being superseded by computer controlled integrated workflows, team-working and functional flexibility, organisational restructuring manifest both in international merger activity, and organisational decentralisation; changes in product market strategies, with an upsurge in the production of increasingly specialised, high value added products for niche markets (Aylen, 1988); and an increasing emphasis on non-price components such as customer service, quality control, and environmental issues (ILO, 1992a, b). Such developments have had significant implications for skill requirements, and therefore for learning, within the sectors. First, skills gaps have emerged as large numbers of workers have been removed from the sectors, with their tasks having to be performed by those that remain. Second, and relatedly, changing working practices have necessitated the development of a more holistic knowledge of productive operations (Moinov, 1990) in addition to skills related to team-working and problem solving (Blyton and Bacon, 1997; Bacon and Blyton, 1999). Organisational restructuring has resulted in increasing emphasis being placed on “soft” skills such as communication and interpersonal skills, foreign languages, and the ability to work within a multi-cultural environment, while advancements in product market strategy has increased the need for skills in areas such as customer care. Third, the mass redundancies associated with downsizing have also highlighted the need for workers within the sector to gain transferable skills in order to increase their employability, especially since processes of restructuring are likely to be ongoing. Restructuring within the steel and metal sectors has, then, provided a significant impulse for learning. It has also provided a stimulus for partnership-based approaches, and responses, to learning, because the social partners each have an interest in addressing the emergent needs in order to maintain business competitiveness in the face of increasingly fierce international competition. Other stakeholders within steel and metal producing regions have

47

CDI 9,1

48

similarly had an incentive to embrace partnership-based approaches to learning as part of their regeneration strategies. Different forms of partnerships The paper draws from research conducted in seven European nations (Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain, UK), as part of a European Commission Framework 5 funded project. In each country, teams of researchers were charged with investigating the extent and nature of leading-edge partnership-based approaches to learning that had emerged in relation to the restructuring of steel and metal. Extrapolating from this national level research, we are able to identify three forms of partnership-based approaches: institutional, responsive and reactive. Each type of “learning partnership” has different characteristics, different goals and results in different learning outcomes; which are shaped and conditioned by the national legacies of industrial relations and education and training systems, as well as the more locally specific exigencies of organisational restructuring. Institutional partnerships Institutional type partnerships are evident in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain and The Netherlands, although they are not apparent in the UK. Such partnerships are essentially extensions of existing social partnership arrangements and policy concertation that reflect the legal and institutional frameworks governing both industrial relations, and education and training in the countries in which they are apparent (Berger and Compston, 2002). Such partnerships tend, therefore, to be formal bi-partite or tri-partite arrangements, which can take two forms. First, they can be evident in the form of negotiations between trade union and employer federations and individual employers at national, sector and/or corporate level, that consider issues relating to training and learning, as is the case in Finland, Germany, Sweden, Norway and The Netherlands. Second, they can also be manifest within national education systems through tri-partite representation on government committees and advisory bodies, as is the case in Finland, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Norway. Institutional type partnerships result in the formulation of new legislation, and collective agreements in relation to learning and training, but the focus of such partnerships in terms of learning outcomes in relation to steel and metal, is primarily in the development of sector or firm specific skills and on the provision of training for those in work. As a consequence, issues relating to employability are seldom addressed, and transferable skills receive little emphasis. The Swedish Competence Development Agreement, the Spanish Third National Agreement on Continuous Training, The Finnish Study Leave Act, and Education Insurance System, and the Norwegian Basic Agreement and Work Environment Act are all examples of such bi-partite or tri-partite agreements that relate wholly, or in part, to training and learning, and which are applicable to steel and metal in the countries in which they have been developed. Such

arrangements can, therefore, be regarded as being generated by institutional Partnershiptype partnerships, as can the Metalektro Collective Agreement, a bi-partite based approaches sectoral level agreement relating to the metal sector in The Netherlands, and the to learning 1999 Employment Pact, a corporate level agreement developed by the social partners at Corus and applicable at plants within The Netherlands. The major strength of institutional type partnerships is that they result in 49 the formulation of new legislation and/or national, regional, sector and company level collective agreements in relation to learning. Such concrete agreements provide a procedural framework for the development of substantive measures to promote learning opportunities at workplace level. A major weakness of institutional type partnerships, however, is that when applied to the steel and metal sector, the agreements generated appear to place considerably more emphasis on measures that will facilitate the development of sectoral and firm specific skills, than on learning activities that will generate transferable skills. The research also suggests that the measures developed by institutional type partnerships are not always implemented at local level, and indeed there is evidence of this in Sweden and The Netherlands. Furthermore, in Germany and The Netherlands, some employers have actively sought to bypass collective agreements in relation to learning developed by such partnerships. This perhaps reflects the greatest weakness of institutional type partnerships: that the formation and effectiveness of such arrangements is dependent on the presence of an established culture of social partnership (see Berger and Compston, 2002). Although the social partnership model has remained resilient, it has nevertheless come under pressure throughout Europe in recent years (Ferner and Hyman, 1992, 1998), and indeed the absence of a tradition of social partnership largely explains why institutional type partnerships are absent in the UK (see Table I).

Country

Institutional

Type of partnership Responsivea

Reactiveb

Finland  Germany    The Netherlands   Norway    Spain    Sweden   UK  Notes: aThree case studies of responsive type partnerships were undertaken in Germany, three in Norway and one in Spain b One case study of a reactive type partnership was undertaken in each of the countries where this form of partnership was identified The case studies undertaken for this research are not intended to represent an exhaustive sample of responsive and reactive type partnerships, other examples of which may exist in the countries where these types of arrangements have been identified

Table I. The locus of institutional, responsive and reactive type partnerships

CDI 9,1

50

Responsive partnerships Responsive type partnerships, which are evident in Germany, Spain and Norway share many of the characteristics of institutional type partnerships, but differ in that they emerge independently of existing social partnership arrangements. Such partnerships are located at corporate or plant level, and are formal bi-partite or less commonly, multi-agency arrangements. Responsive partnerships develop within companies and plants where downsizing is not an immediate threat, and the objective of the measures developed by such arrangements is often to facilitate workforce up-skilling in order to smooth the introduction of new forms of work organisation, or working practices. In common with institutional type partnerships, then, the primary focus of such arrangements is the development of sector and firm specific skills. In Norway, some responsive partnerships have also been established in order to operationalise at local level agreements formulated by institutional partnerships. The major strength of responsive type partnerships is that they are flexible, and that the learning opportunities they facilitate can be tailored to meet the specific needs of particular companies and plants in relation to skills formation. Responsive type partnerships are, however, like institutional partnerships, primarily concerned with the development of sector and firm specific skills, and have a strong focus on improving business performance. Nevertheless, in some instances, the issue of employability has been indirectly addressed by measures introduced following the formation of partnership-based approaches to learning of this type. Reactive partnerships Reactive type partnerships, which have developed in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands and the UK, differ somewhat from both institutional and responsive type partnerships. Such partnerships are located at plant or community level, and are multi-agency arrangements that involve a wide range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations in addition to the social partners, including local authorities, educational institutions, local employment services, government departments and private training providers among others. Reactive partnerships are ad hoc arrangements developed independently of existing social partnership arrangements, that are established in closure situations, or when large-scale redundancies are announced. They have the objective of providing new opportunities for displaced workers, or those under immediate threat of redundancy to gain transferable skills in order to increase their employability in the labour market beyond the steel and metal sectors. The major strength of reactive type partnerships is that they aim to facilitate the development of transferable, rather than sector or firm specific skills. Furthermore, reactive type partnerships have a more inclusive approach to learning than institutional and responsive type partnerships because they aim to facilitate learning opportunities with a view to increasing the employability

of those exiting the steel and metal sector. Thus, responsive partnerships focus Partnershiplearning opportunities on those in danger of marginalisation within the labour based approaches market, rather than on those whose position is relatively secure. to learning There is significant evidence to suggest that reactive type partnerships have been extremely successful both in promoting learning, and in facilitating learning opportunities for displaced workers. Such arrangements have also 51 been successful in providing displaced workers with the transferable skills that have enabled them to return to the labour market following redundancy. For example, 55 per cent and 79 per cent of displaced workers aided by the Delta Plus and North Staffordshire Network Plus projects respectively, both of which were administered in the UK by Steel Partnership Training, re-entered the labour market after taking advantage of learning opportunities facilitated by that partnership (Wallis and Winterton, 2002, p. 510), while 45 per cent of displaced workers aided by the partnership-based approach to learning developed at the Fundia plant in Sweden gained alternative employment (Randle and Svensson, 2002). The major criticism that can be levelled at reactive type partnerships stems from the fact that they are reactive rather than pro-active, and therefore develop primarily in crisis situations. Learning partnerships: towards a European model of good practice? Partnership-based approaches to learning have developed within a variety of different contexts, and for a number of differing purposes, against a backdrop of tension between national and sectoral institutional arrangements and local circumstances and needs. The possibility has to be considered, therefore, that it is not possible to develop a single model of good practice with respect to learning partnerships that will be applicable throughout Europe. It is, however, possible to identify those characteristics that comprise the constituent elements of good practice with respect to learning partnerships, by way of the examination of four partnerships that have particularly innovative and positive features, and that have been particularly successful. Four cases of learning partnerships Kaco GmbH. The impulse for the establishment of a responsive type learning partnership within this German company came from increased competition combined with increased pressure from customers for more competitive prices and higher quality. Management and the Works Council within the company identified the lack of automation, and highly Taylorised working practices as barriers to reducing prices while maintaining quality, and the low level of skill and qualifications among the workforce as an obstacle to the introduction of changes within the labour process. For this reason it was jointly decided to link the restructuring of the labour process with a qualification process within the workforce. This partnership is particularly innovative because Kaco GmbH employees were able to gain qualifications that accredited their new competences, which

CDI 9,1

52

enabled them to increase their employability by demonstrating their ability to learn, arguably the most transferable skill of all, and indeed the re-qualification process was highly successful. A number of features of this partnership can arguably be identified as constituent elements of good practice with respect to learning partnerships. First, the social partners were prepared to adopt a pragmatic approach in order to achieve their objectives. This is demonstrated by the preparedness of the Works Council to concede a clause in the collective agreement stating that workers gaining qualifications should be re-graded to a higher wage level, even if the qualifications they obtained were not relevant for the particular job they were undertaking. Management, for its part, was prepared to enter into wage agreement with the Works Council with respect to teamwork, which did not differentiate between individual workers in terms of performance. Second, this particular partnership is characterised by a shared commitment to learning from the social partners, the employees of the company, and the other agencies involved within the partnership, including the local chamber of industry and commerce. Third, the partnership-based approach resulted in members of the workforce being given a stake within the restructuring process, not just through the acquisition of qualifications, but also by way of the introduction of flexible working arrangements that gave them more control over their working day. Finally, improvements in business performance and employability appear to have been regarded by this partnership as co-terminus rather than mutually exclusive concepts. The DRA project: partnership for the validation of informal learning. This responsive type Norwegian project was established in order to operationalise agreements made by institutional partnerships involving the social partners and the Norwegian government with respect to the documentation of informal and experiential learning. The project, which involved the social partners at national and sector level, and the State Regional Development Fund, led to the establishment of a data based tool similar to the Euro CV, for the documentation of informal learning, and also to the development of a standardised vocabulary for informally acquired skills. In addition it is likely that this project will feed into a national project, which aims to develop a national system for the validation of informal learning – a key concern of the Norwegian Competence Reform (see Skule et al., 2002). The innovative aspect of the project is that employers provide verification of the informal competences acquired by employees, thus augmenting their formally accredited competences, and increasing their employability. The features of this partnership that can be identified as comprising good practice with respect to learning partnerships include first, that the outcomes of the project are beneficial to all the stakeholders. The documentation of informally acquired skills gives employers a better overview of the actual competences of the workforce, and thus enables them to utilise previously unrecognised skills, to

improve business performance while identifying, and developing strategies to Partnershipaddress, any skills gaps which are highlighted. The trade union agenda with based approaches respect to learning is, however, also addressed since the documentation and to learning verification of informal learning can lead to the recognition of generic and transferable skills that can contribute to increased employability. The project has also benefited employees because many have become increasingly aware of their 53 own level of competence. For some employees this has led to a more positive appraisal of their own value and an increase in self-confidence, while others have recognised their need to acquire new skills, and indeed the evaluation of the project concluded that the documentation of informal learning had the potential to increase demand for learning. A second feature of the DRA project, that can arguably be identified as good practice, is that the same value is accorded to sector specific skills as to skills acquired outside the steel and metal sector. This suggests that improved business performance and increased employability are not regarded as being mutually exclusive, and can be addressed simultaneously within a genuine partnership-based approach to learning. Bildungswerk Witten Hattingen (BWH): a regional partnership. The BWH partnership was established in the Ruhr region of Germany in order to ameliorate the social effects of the closure of the Henrichshuette, a major employer in the region. Initially, the BWH focused on maintaining the training facilities at Henrichshuette, providing employment opportunities for displaced workers and developing as an independent vocational training centre with a particular focus on the SME sector. Over time, however, the BWH has developed into an organisation that has a major input into regional education and training policy, employment policy and regional economic development. In this respect, this learning partnership is particularly innovative, since it appears to have embarked on the process of evolving from a reactive type partnership into an arrangement with some of the features of responsive and institutional type partnerships. A number of factors have facilitated these developments. To begin with, the BWH has adopted an inclusive approach to partnership, and a large number of organisations, including many that are not numbered among the social partners, participate in these arrangements. The BWH has also actively sought to integrate into existing regional networks in order to be in a position to influence policy, and the establishment of an Advisory Board comprising experts from a number of different regional institutions has been significant within this context. The appointment of managers not associated with the parent company Henrichshuette, has also been a contributory factor in the success of the BWH, since this facilitated a cultural change within the organisation that now emphasises responsibility and initiative rather than hierarchical structures. Although the trade unions were instrumental in establishing the BWH, their influence has diminished over time, and now that the BWH is an independent

CDI 9,1

54

vocational training centre, they represent one of a number of stakeholders. This raises important questions about how the trade unions should maintain their influence, and continue to promote their agenda with respect to learning within evolving partnership arrangements. Steel Partnership Training. This network of reactive type partnerships developed within the UK in order to deliver opportunities for displaced workers and those under threat of redundancy to learn transferable skills that will increase their employability in the labour market beyond the steel and metal sectors. Steel Partnership Training has two particularly innovative features. First, the organisation comprises a network of partnership-based approaches to learning that exist at a number of different levels. Each separate partnership, moreover, is a multi-agency arrangement embracing a different set of stakeholders that reflect local circumstances and priorities. Second, and perhaps more remarkably, given the national context in which the organisation has developed, Steel Partnership Training is trade union led body[1]. It is an apparent paradox that a trade union has been able to achieve a dominant position within a partnership-based approach to learning in the country where the framework for their involvement in such arrangements is arguably most hostile of the seven that were considered. This is perhaps a manifestation of one of the features of Steel Partnership Training that represents good practice with respect to learning partnerships: all the stakeholders within the partnership network are committed to learning, and are prepared to act pragmatically in order to achieve their goals. To this end, stakeholders such as employers, local authorities and educational institutes have been prepared to take an auxiliary rather than a leading role within the partnerships, in recognition of the ability of the union both with respect to engaging steel and metal sector workers, and of accessing funding sources made available both by the UK government and the European Union to provide learning opportunities for displaced workers. Another characteristic of Steel Partnership Training that represents good practice is that all the learning opportunities developed by the partnership network are responsive to, and have been tailored to address, the particular needs of older adult learners. This has been of crucial importance given that the majority of workers exiting the steel and metal sectors have not been involved in learning activities since the end of full-time schooling (Fuller and Unwin, 1999), and indeed because of this approach, Steel Partnership Training has been able to engage large numbers of non-traditional learners. Although the learning opportunities facilitated by Steel Partnership Training are strongly focused on workers displaced by restructuring, the partnership has more recently sought to promote the concept of lifelong learning, particularly by way of the recruitment and training of Advocate Workers for Learning[2], arguably with a view to become more pro-active within the field of workplace learning than has previously been the case.

Partnership-based approaches to learning: summarising the constituent Partnershipelements of good practice based approaches An examination of Kaco GmbH, the DRA Project, BWH and Steel Partnership to learning Training, has revealed certain features and characteristics that arguably represent good practice with respect to learning partnerships. Some of these features relate to how organisations operate within partnership arrangements, 55 while others are concerned with how partnership-based approaches engage with the learning agenda. An inclusive approach to partnership, in which all the appropriate stakeholders are involved, is clearly one element of good practice, although this may serve to dilute the influence of individual stakeholders in some circumstances. It is, however, also important that learning partnerships deliver benefits for all the stakeholders, since this will serve to maintain their engagement, making it more likely that objectives are achieved. A pragmatic approach to working in partnership was also a significant feature of the partnerships that were considered, as were clear, well defined, shared objectives. With respect to the learning agenda, it is clearly good practice for all the stakeholders within learning partnerships to have a shared commitment to learning, however it is also important that partnership-based approaches to learning take into account all the perspectives on learning held by the various stakeholders. For this reason it is necessary for the stakeholders within learning partnerships to appreciate that learning designed to improve business performance, and learning which has the objective of increasing employability are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Given that learners drawn from the steel and metal sectors are primarily non-traditional learners, who in many cases have few qualifications, and have had little engagement with learning since the end of formal schooling, it is also important for such learning partnerships to facilitate learning opportunities that are both learner centred, and responsive to the particular needs of non-traditional learners. Similarly, it is important for the learners to be aware of the necessity of developing new skills, and the benefits that can be gained from this. It is significant to note that some of the most innovative partnership-based approaches to learning are reactive type partnerships, and that the reactive type partnerships have been highly successful in achieving their objectives. This raises important questions of how, and indeed whether, reactive type partnerships, which essentially represent responses to crises, can develop into arrangements that are more pro-active, or whether this model could be adapted for implementation in non-crisis situations. It is difficult to identify any prerequisite conditions that enable reactive partnerships to develop into more pro-active arrangements, not least because many of them clearly do not have this objective. Furthermore, those partnership-based arrangements that have sought to adopt a more pro-active approach to learning have utilised different strategies for this purpose. Thus, Steel Partnership Training has to some extent refocused its position with respect

CDI 9,1

56

to the learning agenda, by endeavouring to place more emphasis on promoting lifelong learning as a concept, rather than by facilitating an instrumental, goal-focused approach to learning. The BWH, by contrast, has adopted a more consciously political strategy, and has sought to be more pro-active with respect to learning by involvement within the regional policy arena. Conclusions Learning partnerships which address the emergent skills needs of the steel and metal sectors have been established in all the seven European nations participating in our study. Yet, while it is possible to identify a number of constituent elements of good practice with respect to such arrangements, it is arguably not possible to develop a single European model with respect to partnership-based approaches to learning, because a number of different forms of partnership have emerged, reflecting different national contexts. Furthermore, learning partnerships have developed in order to fulfil a number of different objectives that perhaps cannot all be addressed within a single model. The learning partnerships that have been considered by this paper nevertheless demonstrate that this can be a viable, and indeed sometimes extremely successful, approach to addressing the skills needs that have resulted from restructuring within the European steel and metal sector. This has particularly been the case with respect to partnerships that provide or facilitate opportunities for displaced workers to gain new skills that will increase their employability within the labour market beyond the sector. Such considerations are pertinent not only because restructuring is likely to be an on-going process within the sector, but also because partnership-based approaches to learning could be adopted in order to address the needs of the sector within eastern European countries where restructuring has yet to take place. Partnership-based approaches to learning, moreover, have the potential to be utilised in other sectors of the European economy. In terms of the European Commission’s agenda for “Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality”, (Commission of the European Communities, 2001) our paper has provided an insight into the extent to which learning partnerships can act as building blocks for the development and implementation of coherent learning strategies. They can act as important support structures for the development of the employability, and ultimately career opportunities, of those displaced through industrial restructuring. Much research remains to be done, however, in order to ascertain the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of such partnerships. Notes 1. Steel Partnership Training was conceived and established by the ISTC, the union representing the majority of organised steel process workers in the UK. 2. Trade union workplace learning representatives, who provide advice and guidance in relation to learning, and sometimes negotiate with employers in relation to this issue.

References Aylen, J. (1988), “Privatisation of the British Steel Corporation”, Fiscal Studies, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 1-25. Aylen, J. (1998), “Trends in the international steel market”, in Ranieri, R. and Aylen, J. (Eds), The Steel Industry in the New Millennium Vol 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Bacon, N. and Blyton, P. (1999), “Co-operation and conflict in industrial relations: what are the implications for employee and trade unions?”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 638-54. Beck, U. (1992), Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, Sage, London. Berger, S. and Compston, H. (2002), Policy Concertation and Social Partnership in Western Europe: Lessons for the 21st Century, Pergamon, Oxford. Blyton, P. and Bacon, N. (1997), “Re-casting the occupational culture in steel: some implications of changing from crews to teams in the UK steel industry”, Sociological Review, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 79-101. Bradbury, J.H. (1985), “Regional and industrial restructuring processes in the international division of labour”, Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 38-63. Commission of the European Communities (2001), Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality, 678 final, Brussels. Ferner, A. and Hyman, R. (Eds) (1992), Industrial Relations in the New Europe, Blackwell, Oxford. Ferner, A. and Hyman, R. (Eds) (1998), Changing Industrial Relations in Europe, Blackwell, Oxford. Froebel, F., Heinrichs, J. and Kreye, O. (1980), The New International Division of Labour, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (1999), “Credentialism, national targets, and the learning society: perspectives on educational attainment in the UK steel industry”, Journal of Education Policy, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 605-17. Grahl, J. (1983), “Restructuring in west European industry”, Capital and Class, Vol. 19, pp. 118-42. International Labour Organisation (1992a), Training in the Iron and Steel Industry, ILO, Geneva. International Labour Organisation (1992b), Recent Developments in the Iron and Steel Industry, ILO, Geneva. Moinov, S. (1990), Technological Change in the Iron and Steel Industry and its Effect on Employment and Training, ILO, Geneva. Randle, H. and Svensson, L. (2002), “Trade Unions, partnership and the learning agenda in Sweden”, Learning-in-Partnership Project Paper, University of Leeds, Leeds. Sennett, R. (1998), The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism, W.W. Norton, London. Skule, S., Stuart, M. and Nyen, T. (2002), “Training and development in Norway”, International Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 263-74. Taylor, R. (2002), Britain’s World of Work – Myths and Realities, Future of Work Commentary Series: Publication Three, ESRC, Swindon. Wallis, E. and Winterton, J. (2002), “A social partnership in steel? Community learning and union renewal in the UK steel and metal sector”, in Montanheiro, L., Berger, S. and Skomsoy, G. (Eds), Public and Private Sector Partnerships: Exploring Co-operation, Sheffield Hallam University Press, Sheffield.

Partnershipbased approaches to learning 57

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

CDI 9,1

58 Received October 2003 Revised October 2003 Accepted November 2003

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

Transforming careers: from linear to multidirectional career paths Organizational and individual perspectives Yehuda Baruch University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK Keywords Career development, Human resource development Abstract Within the dynamic nature of labour markets, career systems have witnessed major changes in recent decades. This paper presents several career perspectives, to manifest a trend in career systems and their meaning and implications for individuals, organizations and society. This trend may be portrayed as a transition from what may be labelled “linear career system” into a “multidirectional career system”. Possible explanations to the phenomenon are presented, with suggested ideas for analysing and learning from the trend. The last section of the paper presents the academic career model as a prospective role model for future career systems, suggested as an intriguing idea and food for thought. Such a mental exercise of examining alternative career models, different from the traditional concept of careers, may be useful for both theory development and managerial practice.

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 58-73 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436 DOI 10.1108/13620430410518147

Introduction Change has always been with us, but it seems that the pace of change is accelerating. Business firms, not-for-profit, public and private organizations – all experience a combination of fast developments in multiple areas – economy, technology, and society in general. These have wide implications for the management of people at work, and in particular the planning and managing of careers. Being a major constituency of society, organizations experience an accelerating pace of change. Ever-changing processes of restructuring, often accompanied by redundancies, have shattered traditional bureaucracies. Ashkenas et al. (1995) wrote about the phenomenon of boundaryless organization resulting from such changes. One major consequence of boundaryless organizations is the emergence of boundaryless careers, as DeFillippi and Arthur (1994) argued. The present generation witness the blurring of boundaries in many facets of life, and the implications for careers are that they become multidirectional. Early studies of careers looked at it in a wider context: Hughes (1937) defined career as: . . . the moving perspective in which persons orient themselves with reference to the social order, and of the typical sequences and concatenation of office.

A more modern definition looks at career as “a process of development of the employee along a path of experience and jobs in one or more organizations” (Baruch and Rosenstein, 1992). On one hand, careers are the “property” of individuals, but on the other hand, for employed people, it will be planned and managed by their organizations. In the past, career was seen as the major responsibility of the individual: Arthur et al. (1989) regard career as “an evolving sequence of person’s work experience over time”. Later, the focus of career development has shifted from the individual to the organization (Gutteridge et al., 1993). In the last turn, by the end of the 2000s, individuals had to take care of their careers again. Nevertheless, organizational structures, cultures and processes are essential inputs for career systems. Career is a major life constituency – it evolves around work, and work provides sense of purpose, challenge, self-fulfilment, and, of course, income. Moreover, work is a source of identity, creativity, life challenge, as well as status and access to social networking. Overall, one can see career as a life journey. Building on the metaphor of life journey, people can take the beaten path, or opt to navigate their own way in the open plains. The aim of this paper is to highlight the new emerging nature of career paths, as being multidirectional, dynamic and fluid. This will be contrasted with the traditional view of careers, which is more linear, static and rigid. The paper will conclude by offering different ways and an intriguing model, i.e. the academic career model, as a possible alternative for traditional career perspectives. Contemporary works put under focus the changing meaning of careers. Scholars point out a shift from the long-term-based career relationships, into transactional, short-term-based ones that evolved between individuals and their employing organizations (e.g. Adamson et al., 1998; Baruch, 2003). In the past, people expected to serve their organization for their entire working life. Even if this was not the actual case, this was the desirable development. Now people expect the organization to serve them, and the time span for the relationship to last could be easily reduced to very few years. The main shift is manifested in the change of psychological contracts. From the organizational point of view it is mostly moving from offering careers of secure employment for all, to “opportunities for development” (Rousseau, 1995, 1996; Herriot and Pemberton, 1995). From the individual perspective, it is a farewell to traditional commitment to the organization, moving to multiple commitments, which include merely a conditional commitment to the organization. Strong individualism is accompanied by social cognition and prominence of variety of life constituencies. This means that while people have less organizational commitment (Baruch, 1998), they may develop a set of multiple commitments. These refer to several levels of meaning: identification, association, and relationship. These relationships can also depend on the career stage a person experiences (Cohen, 1991). Within career context, Parker and Arthur (2000) offered the following list of commitments:

Transforming careers

59

CDI 9,1

. . . .

60

. .

. . . .

industry (sector); occupation and professional association; region (from local to national); ideology; religion; alumni (of school, university, army service or reserve forces when applied); support groups; family; virtual; and organization.

Even within the organization, the commitment need not be just general to the organization, but would usually be shared among different constituencies: organization, the leader and/or the mentor; the team; the department/unit; project (or product); peers/colleagues, even the trade union. Sullivan (1999) claims that traditional careers have dominated industrial employment because most organizational structures supported it. With the flattening of organizations and elimination of entire managerial layers, career paths have become blurred, we have different types of careers, and a wider meaning for career success. Moreover, new models of career systems are required, that will better fit these changes in both organizations and the wider environment. From past The nature and notion of traditional careers was based on a hierarchical, highly structured, and rigid structures. Past career models had a clear, uni-dimensional or linear direction of prescribed “advancement”: this meant promotion (Rosenbaum, 1979; Wilensky, 1964). The organizational hierarchy was the ladder to climb on. As a result, career success was evaluated via the rate of upward mobility and external indicators of achievement (e.g. salary and social status). Stability of structure and clarity of career ladders implied clear career paths, which were mostly “linear”. To future In contrast, by the end of the twentieth century, the nature and notion of careers has been altered significantly. With the boundaryless organization (Ashkenas et al., 1995), boundaryless careers emerged (DeFillippi and Arthur, 1994). Careers became transitional, flexible, and the dynamics of the re-structuring blur the tidy and firm former routes for success (forcing new perspective of what is success). The new models of careers comprises of a variety of options, many possible directions of development. People experience different ways of

defining career success: it can be a sideway move, change of direction, of organization, of aspiration. People can (or have to) choose across these options, and there is no single way for reaching success, hence the term “multi-directional” career paths. The multidirectionality does not stop in the actual career path undertaken, but also implies for the evaluation of career success: We now have multi-options criteria for assessing success in career. These can be inner satisfaction, life balance, autonomy and freedom, and other measures of self perception. All these have entered the formula, alongside the traditional external measures of income, rank and status. Landscape metaphors The linear career model can be depicted as a journey of mountain climbing. There is the summit, where all aspire to reach. People climb up as far as they can. Some find themselves on a plateau, and were considered a failure. Some occupations offered simpler, flatter ladders (e.g. nursing, teaching), but the dominating rule is of the hierarchy system. The linearity of the system in manifested by the existence of single direction for promotion, and rigidity of the system. The path is set for the climber, there is only one mountain you are expected to climb (your present organization), and there is a clear and set guidelines as well as definition of success for each member. Multi-directional career model takes into account the full scale of landscapes. You can choose. You can climb the mountain, you can opt for another mountain, take some hills instead, wander along the plains – a variety of options is accepted. You navigate your own career, creating a new path when and where you feel it is right, you select whichever direction you wish to pursue and feel capable in reaching personal development. Moreover, you define your success. Career change: the terminology DeFillippi and Arthur (1994) were one of the first to use the term “boundaryless career”. The blurring of boundaries demolished the previously clear and static career systems. New economic, technological and social realms transcend organizational and systems boundaries. Careers have become more open, more diverse, and less structured and controlled by employers. The management of such career requires individual qualities that differ considerably from those that were sufficient in the past. Arthur et al. (1995) suggested the phrase “intelligent careers” to manifest the elements necessitated for effective career management on the individual side. The “intelligence” meant the “know why” (values, attitudes, internal needs, identity, and life style); “know how” (career competencies: skills, expertise, capabilities; tacit and explicit knowledge); and “know whom” (networking, relationships, how to find the right people). To these Jones and DeFillippi (1996) added the “know what” (opportunities, threats, and requirements), “know where” (entering, training and advancing), and “know when” (timing of choices and activities).

Transforming careers

61

CDI 9,1

62

Indeed these qualities better fit an era where people navigate their own careers, opting to various choices, and not confined to a single employer. To these qualities Waterman et al. (1994) added the “career resilience”, where “thick skin” and pliability are qualities that support successful management of career, especially the survival. Two additional concepts were introduced later, one that focuses on the individual, and one on the general system. Hall’s idea of the Protean Career (Hall, 1996; Hall and Moss, 1998) manifested the different perspective of career direction, with focus on the individual as the one in charge. Peiperl and Baruch’s (1997) “Post-corporate career” concept shows in particular how the general system has changed, and as a result there is more complexity and flexibility. These two complementary perspectives will be further discussed later in this paper. All these recent contributions to career theory represent a major shift from what we used to know in the past, perhaps since the building of the pyramids and even before – whenever the organizational hierarchy structure was invented. Past concepts built on forms of rigid ladders on which people are climbing upward as long as they thrive. That was the basic building-stone for the management of people. Those days have long passed. It will not take even for a generation to pass before people will get used to the “new deal” (Herriot and Pemberton, 1995) and the new psychological contracts (Rousseau, 1995, 1996) which the new forms of career entail. People need to gain “Employability” (Ghoshal et al., 1999; Baruch, 2001) rather than “secure employment”. Employers can no longer provide secure jobs, and stopped even to pretend that such a commitment is manageable – instead they can help employees to improve their competence and ability to acquire employment in case they are made redundant or just decide to move on (Baruch, 2001). Resilience, intelligence, employability – these are essential survival tools in the struggle to endure the change. And the change can be called by many names – rationalising, delayering, downsizing, rightsizing, flattening, restructuring, and even shaping up for the future. The brutal reality beyond these labels is simple – jobs are scarce, and to gain competitiveness or improve market value (albeit it might be only for a short term), organizations lay off their employees on a large scale, unlike the convention and tradition. The development process Following the establishment of the industrial revolution, production organization flourished, and they applied the classical bureaucratic system for careers. This system was in place until the late stages of the twentieth century (Wilensky, 1964). Under such a system the playground was the open system of career structures, based on the tournament approach (Rosenbaum, 1979). Such an approach means that people compete for the few jobs at the top of the organization, and their ideal is to “win” by reaching for the highest possible promotion.

The old system had one direction – upwards, where, according to the Peter principle, people progress up the hierarchy as long as they perform to rule, until reaching their level of incompetence, and there their progress has stopped. The meaning of the new deals and new careers for the participants in the systems is that within the organization there are many options for development and progress, not merely of “up-the-ladder” type; and the world outside the organization is a plausible option, with so much to offer, and which no longer symbolises failure (see Figure 1). By the end of the 1970s it was clear that organizations needed new ways to manage people and their development across the system. Schein argued for a more advanced model, with better consequences for both individuals and their employer, a model that will involve cross-sectional and functional moves. Schein cone (Schein, 1978) depicted a concept with an additional dimension, namely cross-functional movement within the organization (see Figure 2). At that time, this concept represented a breakthrough, an innovative way of adding a career development dimension. The career path was no longer simply linear. It evolved into inclusion of possible spiral development, where people moved around different functions within the organization on their way up. This shift, however, was kept within the organizational frame (i.e. same organization, single employer, and generally upward progress). In the late 1990s Peiperl and Baruch (1997) offer a much richer perspective of the options and directions of career moves people can opt for, as opposed to options that the organization only can offer as a single employer. While

Transforming careers

63

Figure 1. Organizational vertical paths

CDI 9,1

64 Figure 2. From two-dimensional career paths charts to Schein cone

keeping in place (and bringing certain balance to the overall picture) of the role of organizational career systems, they pointed at a variety of career options, as depicted in Figure 3. As we move to the twenty-first century, we find that Peiperl and Baruch’s (1997) anticipation of the direction of career process was quite accurate. While “more-of-the-same” occur in the labour markets, new ways and options emerge, and there is a change in the role of both organizations and employees in

Figure 3. Contemporary careers: beyond organizational boundaries

managing careers. This model reinforces the fact that people need to abandon the nostalgia for the “good-old-days” of clear and stable systems, and turn on to navigate their own careers. The advantage is that being in charge they have multiple options to choose from, and as argued here, multi-directional careers emerge. Organizations need to be aware to the fact they are no longer the sole owner of career system and planning of career paths (Arthur et al., 1989; Hall, 1996). This awareness will lead to organizations being able to take advantage of the new system. For example, instead of laying people off they can outsource activities, enabling entire teams to form a new satellite firm or buy-out parts of the operation. They can employ former professional employees as consultants, they can offer alternative work arrangements (Peiperl and Baruch, 1997). The other side of the formula belongs to the individual, and here Hall’s (1976) protean career idea best manifests the changes people experience. The concept of protean career was first proposed some time ago (Hall, 1976), but at that time it did not capture the attention of either career scholars or HR practitioners. The protean career is a process which the person, not the organization, is managing. It consists of all the person’s varied experience in education, training, work in several organizations, changes in occupational field, etc. . . . The protean person’s own personal career choices and search for self-fulfillment are the unifying or integrative elements in his or her life (Hall, 1976, p. 201).

A total of 20 years later, time was ripe and the phenomenon Hall forecasted was mirrored in realities of careers. The protean career is a new form of career perspective, where the individual takes on the responsibility of planning and managing the career, changing him/herself according to his/her will and inclinations, and subsequently transforming their career path (Hall and Mirvis, 1996). The term protean was taken from the name of the Greek god Proteus, who could change his shape at will. In its essence, the protean career is the contract between one and the self, rather than a contract with the organization. This meant a decrease in the role organizations play in planning and managing careers. The two concepts of the post-corporate career for the society level and the protean career for the individual level are complementary. They fit well together to form a new map where careers are indeed multidirectional rather than linear, a map that reflects new and changing landscapes of careers era. Why? Challenges New patterns of production and consumption emerge, in particular with the rise of the service sector that characterizes economy and labour markets in the developed countries. Another influential element for future careers is the continuous technological progress – these developments call for new vocations, new paths and even restructures of the whole labour market. Two prominent examples are the emergence of the e-sector, and the establishment and flourishing of call centres.

Transforming careers

65

CDI 9,1

66

Moreover, these developments mean a strong growth of high skilled jobs. People can seek and gain a wide array of professional qualifications. Another perspective of labour market (again, mostly in the developed countries) is the increase of emotional labour – both in types of occupations and the scope of the need for them (Ashkanasy, 2003; Hochschild, 1983; Morris and Feldman, 1996; Rafaeli and Sutton, 1987). Alongside these expansions and modifications of labour markets we witness further diversity in the labour market, with implications for career options. Some of this diversity is conventional, such as gender and ethnic diversities, but new concerns emerge about hidden diversities (for example, sexual orientation). The gender and ethnic diversities mean that occupation, roles, and career trajectories that were once restricted to a single group (e.g. top managerial positions were filled almost exclusively by white males) are now open to many. Managing career will be involved not merely with filling in internal vacancies. The whole area of new alternative work arrangements (see Gottlieb et al., 1998) can encompass working time patterns, numerical and functional flexibility, as well as teleworking and virtual work. Baruch (2004) summarised the changes in Table I, to which this paper adds the last row, indicating the key contribution of the idea presented in this paper. The added value is the concept Aspect

Traditional deal

Transformed deal

Environment characteristic Career choice being made

Stability Ones, at an early career age Organization

Dynamism Repeated, sometimes cyclical, at different age stages Individual

One organization Long Incremental Loyalty and commitment

Several organizations Short Transformational Long time working hours

Job security

Investment in employability

Advance according to tenure

Advances according to results and knowledge Inner feeling of achievement

Main career responsibility lies with Career horizon (workplace) Career horizon (time) Scope of change Employer expect/employee give Employer give/employee expect Progress criteria Success means

Training Table I. The transition

Essence of career direction

Winning the tournament i.e. progress on the hierarchy ladder Formal programmes, generalist Linear

Source: Adapted from Baruch (2004) list row added

On-the-job, company specific Multidirectional

of looking at the traditional deal as linear whereas the transformed deal is labelled multidirectional. Managerial perspective For the people management in contemporary organizations, Baruch (2003) suggests applying career empowerment, to invest in people, develop a variety of multidirectional career paths based on flexibility, offering alternative work arrangements, and work-family policies. The new psychological contract will mean a true, open partnership. Instead of formal practices based on command and control there is a need for a support system that will take into account the wider context of career, and their multidirectionality. The organization should be able to provide people with options to gain career success, but the essence of career has changed, and so has the meaning of career success. Career success is different for various constituencies: . internal – how a person sees the development of own career in terms of inner values, goals, aspirations; . external – how career success is perceived by the external environment, such as in terms of status, hierarchy, income and power; . organizational – in terns of organizational power and influence – once measured by upgrading the career ladder, and now more in different ways; . society level – labour markets, professional development, globalization. A word of caution: Whyte’s (1956) Organization Man concept, although perceived outdated, is still valid, for men and women too. Many organizations still have a core structure based on bureaucracy and climbing frames to enable relatively clear hierarchical mobility, mostly for a core group of staff. However, many new forms evolved and even contradict the organization man as the prevailed concept. Arthur et al. (1999) depicted the new type of careers in their book The New Careers. It seems that unaccustomed qualities are needed for a sustainable post-modern career. Career metaphor: from marriage to conditional attachment Further managerial advice would be to explore the metaphor that the relationship between employers and employees has transformed, from marriage-like into conditional attachment. The metaphor of marriage, which was once very much analogous to employment relationship, is loosing its stand as a valid manifestation of employment relationships. This is reinforced as there is now a variety of socially accepted alternatives. In the past, employment relationships were usually formed early in life, with one organization, planned for, and most of the time indeed lasting, through (working) life time. Separation would have resembled a divorce, with all the pain and suffering involved, and the stigma that followed. Today’s

Transforming careers

67

CDI 9,1

68

employment relationships have become more of a conditional attachment Such a conditional attachment implies transactional relationships, flexibility, and calculative sharing of goals. Intriguingly, the strength of marriage and their existence as the only way to form relationships of couples have also changed, into a more flexible set of options, not all of which manifest strong commitment for life-long togetherness. Future career systems – multidirectional? What can be the face of future career system? One intriguing proposal came in through a special issue of M@n@gement (2002): “Basing career models on new science”, and in particular applying chaos theory as the foundation for understanding future careers. While an interesting and thought provoking approach, it is not of much use for management practice. The following section of this paper will offer a different perspective, originally suggested by Baruch and Hall (2003), as a different case, possible alternative for future career model. A case in hand – the academic career model Can the acadmic career model serve as a role model for future careers? Baruch and Hall (2003) proposed to look at this issue seriously. Their argument relies on the following premises. The academic career system has unique features, which, in the past, have made it significantly different from the traditional career model. The academic career model used to be just different, more of an exclusive and unique model. Now, with the changing nature of careers as described in this paper, organizations in both business and not-for-profit sectors explore alternative career models which they may adopt. Can the academic career model operate as a leading prototype, an indicator of direction and changes in the career systems in other sectors? The major features of the academic career model are: flat structure (but quite rigid), professionally based. Individually leads where lateral and even downwards movement are accepted (e.g. when a Dean returns to serve as a Professor, conducting research and teaching, it is not considered “demotion”). Upwards mobility is limited, even not desired (becoming a Dean might take scholars off the research route). Cross organizational moves (but not cross functional) have become the norm of career moves (i.e. scholars in biology can move around universities, but will not move within the university to a different section, say to sociology). Sabbaticals are part of the career. Perhaps more fundamental, the academic career model builds on networking within and across organizations. Before moving on with the argument, it will be right to indicate that the term “academic career model” reflect mostly the North American model of academic life, also to a large extent UK and many other countries that adopted it (from Hong Kong to Israel to The Netherlands). Other academic career systems operate in different ways and offer quite a distinct career model, which is different from the North American model – in particular the French and the

German models (see Altman and Bournois, 2003 and Harley et al., 2003, for detailed manifestation of these academic career models). Psychological contracts and career systems in universities resembled much of the new psychological contract as depicted by Rousseau (1995, 1996): they are built around professional challenge, learning environment, and professions, rather than institutional commitment. Social status and professional development are more important than a formal rank. Progress largely depends on merit, not on time in position (although minimal tenure period may be imposed). The source of job security, while still resembling the traditional tenure system and strongly unionized, is based mostly on employability at the individual level. Such employability relies on past achievements in terms of knowledge development and research leadership (plus possible teaching excellence). These features make the academic career model of new appeal for the general community. It is no longer the “stand-alone” model, fitting only for a very obscure (career-wise) sector. A few decades ago, Caplow and McGee (1958) examined the academic career model as a social phenomenon, which was a “fascinating specimen of social organization, remarkably unlike any other”. Now the picture has changed. DeFillippi and Arthur (1998) model of project-based organization was de facto found in academic life long before it was identified in the business world. Dual convergence? On the one hand, the corporate general management model has changed significantly, and in many aspects started to “move” into the direction of the academic model, including the career implications. On the other hand, it seems that the academic model is also changing, moving towards the corporate model. Kogan et al. (1994) identified changing forms of governance and a new academic mandate associated with greater flexibility in teaching methods. They suggest there is a move from collegial governance towards management model. Coupled together, these shifts mean convergence, but as Baruch and Hall (2003) argued, the convergence is caused more by the corporate model moving towards the academic model than vice versa. The analysis and metaphorical idea of depicting the career model as the model for future organizational career systems has a number of limitations. If we take the above argument literally, can the academic career model be a role model for organizational career systems? Will we have academic careers for all? The answer is, unfortunately, not really, or maybe not yet. Not all is so simple in the model, and many features of it do not resemble the modern futuristic model of career systems. It is certainly not an ideal type either: academic careers are still characterized by stability, long-term employment relationships (i.e. the tenure track), and rigid structure of hierarchy (albeit very flat). Within European context the sector is highly unionized, and subject to regulated pay structure. These limitations make the academic

Transforming careers

69

CDI 9,1

career model not being that likely an ideal contemporary flexible model of careers. Nevertheless, this idea can be taken as a mental and learning exercise. Moreover, organizations can examine the model and adopt at least parts of it into their career systems.

70

Individual implications People in a variety of occupations and industrial sectors can adopt elements of career planning and managing from the academic career model: the need to count on yourself, of serving as one’s own free agent, the essentiality of being resilient in accepting external changes. Being employable, applying the intelligent career approach. All these would make people’s career more manageable, and hopefully more satisfying. When you expect the unexpected you cannot be too surprised. Institutional implications In managing careers, organizations should start looking for different models. They need to realize that one should no longer act as if the old notion of organizational commitment and loyalty is valid and applicable. High awareness for the multiple commitments employees carry is necessary and especially the decreasing importance organizational commitment plays within this set of multiple commitments. As a result, organizations should try and give up control, provide support, and invest in people. If people live on their own accord, this is part of the new fair game, where open labour markets operate. The sooner organizations accept this, the better they can expect in terms of their people management. National implications The changing nature of society and economy will inevitably mean a transformation of labour markets and career systems. A variety of educational systems and qualification options should be offered to the public. There will be less stability, and financial implications for the future may be translated into practicalities such as the need for re-evaluation of future pension schemes in light of the fluidity of the system. And, like the academic labour markets, more and more occupations are becoming part of the global rather than local employment system. This needs to be reflected in national policy and strategy, as well as in the legal system. Final note This paper has pointed out recent developments in career systems, and argued that basically, we have a transition which was depicted as a change from linear into a multidirectional system. It will be useful to examine alternative career models, different from the traditional concept of careers, and the academic career model was presented as such an option. I hope that this paper will help to

promote individual, organizational and national responsiveness and proactivity towards managing careers in the future. References Adamson, S.J., Doherty, N. and Viney, C. (1998), “The meaning of career revisited: implications for theory and practice”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 251-9. Altman, Y. and Bournois, F. (2003), “The ‘coconut tree’ model of careers: the case of French academia systems”, Journal of Vocational Behavior. Arthur, M.B., Claman, P.H. and DeFillippi, R.J. (1995), “Intelligent enterprise, intelligent careers”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 7-22. Arthur, M.B., Hall, D.T. and Lawrence, B.S. (1989), “Generating new directions in career theory: the case for a transdisciplinary approach”, in Arthur, M.B., Hall, D.T. and Lawrence, B.S. (Eds), Handbook of Career Theory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 7-25. Arthur, M.B., Inkson, K. and Pringle, J.K. (1999), The New Careers: Individual Action and Economic Change, Sage, London. Ashkanasy, N.M. (2003), “Emotions in organizations: a multi-level perspective”, in Dansereau, F. and Yammarino, F.J. (Eds), Multi-level Issues in Organizational Behavior and Strategy, Vol. 2, JAI, Amsterdam, pp. 9-54. Ashkenas, R., Ulrich, D., Jick, T. and Kerr, S. (1995), The Boundaryless Organization, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Baruch, Y. (1998), “The rise and fall of organizational commitment”, Human System Management, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 135-43. Baruch, Y. (2001), “Employability – substitute to loyalty?”, Human Resource Development International, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 543-66. Baruch, Y. (2003), “Career systems in transition: a normative model for career practices”, Personnel Review, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 231-51. Baruch, Y. (2004), Managing Careers: Theory and Practice, Pearson, Harlow. Baruch, Y. and Hall, D.T. (2003), “Careers in academia as role model for career systems”, Journal of Vocational Behavior. Baruch, Y. and Rosenstein, E. (1992), “Career planning and managing in high tech organizations”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 477-96. Caplow, T. and McGee, R.J. (1958), The Academic Marketplace, Basic Books, New York, NY. Cohen, A. (1991), “Career stage as a moderator of the relationships between organizational commitment and its outcomes: a meta- analysis”, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 64, pp. 253-68. DeFillippi, R.J. and Arthur, M.B. (1994), “The boundaryless career: a competency-based prospective”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 307-24. DeFillippi, R.J. and Arthur, M.B. (1998), “Paradox in project-based enterprise: the case of film making”, California Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 2, pp. 125-39. Ghoshal, S., Bartlett, C.A. and Moran, P. (1999), “A new manifesto for management”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 9-22. Gottlieb, B.H., Kelloway, E.K. and Barham, E. (1998), Flexible Work Arrangements, Wiley, Chichester. Gutteridge, T.G., Leibowitz, Z.B. and Shore, J.E. (1993), Organizational Career Development, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Transforming careers

71

CDI 9,1

72

Hall, D.T. (1976), Careers in Organizations, Scott, Forseman, Glenview, IL. Hall, D.T. (1996), The Career is Dead – Long Live the Career, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Hall, D.T. and Mirvis, P.H. (1996), “The new protean career: psychological success and the path with a heart”, in Hall, D.T. (Ed.), The Career is Dead – Long Live the Career, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, pp. 15-45. Hall, D.T. and Moss, J.E. (1998), “The new protean career contract: helping organizations and employees adapt”, Organizational Dynamics, Winter, pp. 22-37. Harley, S., Muller-Camen, M. and Collin, A. (2003), “From academic communities to managed organisations: the implications for academic careers in UK and German universities”, Journal of Vocational Behavior. Herriot, P. and Pemberton, C. (1995), New Deals, John Wiley, Chichester. Hochschild, A.R. (1983), The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling, University of California Press, Berkekey, CA. Hughes, E.C. (1937), “Institutional Office and the Person”, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 43, pp. 404-13. Jones, C. and DeFillippi, R.J. (1996), “Back to the future in film: combining industry and self-knowledge to meet career challenges of the 21st century”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 10 No. 4. Kogan, M., Moses, I. and El-Khawas, E. (1994), Staffing Higher Education: Meeting New Challenges, Jessica Kingsley/OECD, London. M@n@gement (2002), “Career theory and the new science”, M@n@gement, Vol. 5 No. 1, Special issue. Morris, J.A. and Feldman, D.C. (1996), “The dimensions, antecedents, and consequences of emotional labor”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21, pp. 986-1010. Parker, P. and Arthur, M.B. (2000), “Careers, organizing and community”, in Peiperl, M.A., Arthur, M.B., Goffee, R. and Morris, T. (Eds), Career Frontiers: New Conceptions of Working Lives, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 99-121. Peiperl, M.A. and Baruch, Y. (1997), “Back to square zero: the post-corporate career”, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 7-22. Rafaeli, A. and Sutton, R.I. (1987), “Expression of emotion as part of the work role”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 12, pp. 23-37. Rosenbaum, J.L. (1979), “Tournament mobility: career patterns in a corporation”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 24, pp. 221-41. Rousseau, D.M. (1995), Psychological Contracts in Organizations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Rousseau, D.M. (1996), “Changing the deal while keeping the people”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 50-9. Schein, E.H. (1978), Career Dynamics: Matching Individual and Organizational Needs, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Sullivan, S.E. (1999), “The changing nature of careers: a review and research agenda”, Journal of Management, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 457-84. Waterman, R.H. Jr, Waterman, J.A. and Collard, B.A. (1994), “Toward a career-resilient workforce”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72 No. 4, pp. 87-95. Whyte, W.H. (1956), The Organization Man, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY. Wilensky, H.L. (1964), “The professionalization of everyone?”, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 70, pp. 137-58.

Further reading Baruch, Y. (1999), “Integrated career systems for the 2000s”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 20 No. 7, pp. 432-57. Gunz, H. (1989), “The dual meaning of managerial careers: organizational and individual levels of analysis”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 225-50. Hall, D.T. (1986), Career Development in Organizations, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, pp. 50-94. Holland, J.L. (1958), “A personality inventory employing occupational titles”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 336-42. Holland, J.L. (1959), “A theory of vocational choice”, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 6, pp. 35-45. Holland, J.L. (1985), Manual for the Vocational Preference Inventory, Psychological Assessment Resources, Odessa, FL. Kets de Vries, M.F.R. and Balazs, K. (1997), “The downsize of downsizing”, Human Relations, Vol. 50 No. 1, pp. 11-50. Levinson, D.J. (1978), The Seasons of Man’s Life, Knopf, New York, NY.

Transforming careers

73

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

CDI 9,1

74

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

Union influence on career development – bringing in gender and ethnicity Harriet Bradley

Received August 2003 Revised October 2003 Accepted November 2003

University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Geraldine Healy University of Hertfordshire, Hertford, UK, and

Nupur Mukherjee University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Keywords Careers, Trade unions, Gender, Ethnic groups Abstract The influence of trade unions and the cross-cutting of gender and ethnicity on career development is a neglected area of study. By drawing on research in four UK trade unions, this paper engages with the career impact of unions on black and minority ethnic women trade union activists. In particular, it explores the career impact of three key areas of analysis: the gendered and ethnicised order, union networks and the career indeterminacy of union women. The experience of the women in our study demonstrated how careers are constrained by a complex set of racist and gendered forms. Union networks are shown to be an important arena for union involvement and personal development. Such networks facilitate the development of personal resources to challenge injustice in the workplace but they also provide a range of knowledge and skills that provide greater degrees of freedom in the way that an individual’s career may unfold.

1. Introduction This article aims to uncover the relationships between career and multiple stakeholders in organisations. In particular it seeks to offer a better understanding of the link between experiences in the workplace and union careers of black and minority ethnic women union activists. It provides insight into the conditions that encourage women to engage with a union career, showing how union involvement may act to stunt or enable organisational career development or lead to alternative union career trajectories. This is an important area of analysis in contemporary developed societies where diverse workforces provide the human capital for organisations and where much evidence suggests that their labour market contribution is undervalued and under-utilised. The article is set in Britain and draws on the experience of the British labour movement, which has provided a recent impetus to challenge discriminatory behaviour. It is further set against a UK employment context, Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 74-88 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436 DOI 10.1108/13620430410518156

The authors are grateful to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Future of Work Programme, which funded this research project. In particular, they are indebted to the women who took part in the project.

which continues to be characterised by gender segregation and a resilient gender pay gap. The key areas of analysis with which the article will engage will be the career impact of: . the gendered and ethnicised order; . union networks; and . the career indeterminacy of union women. The chapter will utilise a dynamic approach to career which enables the complexity of union intervention in employment relations and both intended and unintended consequences for individual career development to be revealed. Our approach to career follows Sikes et al.’s (1985) view that the adult career is the outcome of a dialectical relationship between self and circumstances. Thus our use of the “career concept” does not focus on the vertical career common in the conventional wisdom of career discourse (see Hughes’ (1958) classic study), but also on the horizontal, temporal, individual, collective, gendered, ethnicised and dynamic aspects of career. Key actors emerge apart from the actors whose subjective career may be studied; thus the state, the employer and the trade unions also form part of the “circumstances” of careers as does a key feature of employment relations, the “asymmetrical nature of power” (Blyton and Turnbull, 1994; Bradley, 1999). The dynamic nature of career may be characterised as “career development”. From the work of, for example, Arnold (1997), Becker (1952), Dex (1984), Evetts (1992) and Sikes et al. (1985), it is evident that popular associations of the term “career” with promotion and material rewards will provide only partial insight. For Arnold (1997) the term, career development, may be seen as the “particular way that an individual’s career unfolds” (Arnold, 1997, p. 18) arguing that “development” may have positive, unwelcome and neutral overtones (Arnold, 1997, p. 19). We argue here that career developments, or unfolding work profiles, are shaped by the opportunities and constraints provided by the particular structural context as mediated by the particular actor and the available degrees of agency and involve vertical, horizontal, temporal and spatial movement including career curtailment. Thus, the interrelationship between self and circumstance provides a dynamic understanding to career. Yet “career development” in the literature is firmly placed in the unitary mode of management or as part of the individual’s own responsibility. It is the case that the individual has responsibility for their careers, but this is inevitably within a constrained context, within what Mouzelis (1989, p. 630) would call “variable degrees of freedom”. The circumstances for black women in any employment context therefore are shaped by the gendered and ethnicised relationships and structures they encounter. Their particular circumstances will also be fashioned by the employers’ enabling or constraining role in career development, which may of course be mediated by trade union involvement. While trade unions have traditionally aimed to protect and advance their members’ interests, in the past they have been more associated with the defence

Union influence on career development 75

CDI 9,1

76

of jobs and their equitable allocation rather than the advancement of individual members[1]. But in a climate of union modernisation, and greater sensitivity to members’ broader interests, this may be changing. Evetts (1992, p. 16) pointed to the influence of macro actors such as representatives of employers and governments, trade unions and professional associations in the interactions and negotiations of career structures. Yet at the level of the organisation, the literature tends to treat career as an individualistic process (e.g. Arnold, 1997; Donnelly, 1992), thus neglecting the value of collective insights. Exceptions to this include Waddington and Whitston’s (1996) study of union joining and bargaining preferences, which showed that white collar staff place great emphasis on union involvement in setting the parameters within which careers may be pursued. Similarly, Healy (1999a) demonstrated that unionised teachers recognised the union role in career development. It is well documented that women’s employment patterns are characterised by horizontal and vertical segregation. This is further complicated by the interrelationship between gender, ethnicity and class (Bradley, 1996). Walby (1997, p. 2) argues that diversity among women is a result not only of class and ethnicity, but also of changing forms of patriarchy, of gender regime, giving rise to significant generational differences. Younger women tend to have equal, and often better, educational resources than their male peers and their actions and motivations are informed by equality principles. For Acker (1990, p. 139), the relationship between gender and organisations is complex, but not neutral; we would add this complexity and partial nature is further augmented by ethnicity. Gender and racial discrimination in organisations is institutionalised at key stages in the employment process (recruitment and selection, reward systems, working time, equal treatment, training, promotion, redundancy), such that “personnel systems and procedures, as well as other structures and practices within organisations, embed barriers to the creation of equal opportunities” (Healy, 1993). This is manifested in complex and sometimes intangible ways that include unequal treatment through humour, harassment, visibility and language. For Hearn et al. (1989) it is difficult to overestimate the depth and complexity of the ways in which the dominant forms of sexuality and race are produced and reproduced, not just in the broad structuring of organisations, but also in their minutiae. With the discourse around the changing nature of work, the shift to atypical work and portfolio careers, and the contemporary mantra of flexibility, it may be tempting to suggest that the vertical career is no longer of relevance. However, Halford et al. (1997, p. 109) argue that the bureaucratic hierarchical meaning of career has been remarkably resilient to change and that this particular meaning has been socially sanctioned and constructed to convey material rewards, power and status to those who pursue it, as well as marginalising and disempowering those who do not, or cannot. Given the gendered nature of organisations, it is not surprising that Crompton with Le Feuvre (1996) conclude their study of women in banking and in pharmacy by stating that:

. . . many of the opportunities available to women in respect of paid employment are in practice open only to those who are prepared to behave as surrogate men.

Indeed, much research suggests that women who cannot or do not wish to adopt masculine practices, behaviours and values will be hampered if they seek senior promotions to senior posts (Wacjman, 1998; Marshall, 1995). The research reported in this paper suggests that similarly, black and Asian women, if they wish to succeed must behave as if they were white men. For black and minority ethnic women, the complex intersection of gender and race may create further constraints on career development. The careers of ethnic minority workers are now set against a national concern over racism in British society. This concern was highlighted in the Report on the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry (MacPherson, 1999). This Committee of Inquiry was set up following the matters arising from the death of Stephen Lawrence in order particularly to identify the lessons to be learned from the investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crimes. However the impact of the Inquiry was far wider than this. It stated unequivocally that “It is incumbent upon every institution to examine their policies and the outcome of their policies and practices to guard against disadvantaging any section of our communities”. Indeed the Inquiry recognised the pervasiveness and complexity of racism by drawing attention to the discriminatory impact of institutional racism, defined as: The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin which can be seen or detected in processes; attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people (MacPherson, 1999, paragraph 6.34).

The Stephen Lawrence Report influenced the setting up of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Stephen Lawrence Task Group (SLTG). This has been particularly influential in trade union initiatives in combating racism in unions and fighting racism in organisations. Nevertheless, there have been many initiatives by black workers over time in the trade union movement to challenge racism (see Lee and Loveridge (1987) and Virdee and Grint (1994)). Women’s involvement in trade unions is also an issue of contemporary concern with the decline in the heartland of unionism, while women’s recruitment has become an urgent matter linked to union survival and revival (Kirton and Healy, 1999). This is problematised by studies suggesting that women have a lesser belief in trade unions than do men (Sinclair, 1995, 1996), that unions are an often alienating environment for women (Cockburn, 1982; Colgan and Ledwith, 1996; Kirton and Healy, 1999) and that women activists may often be balancing work, union and home demands (Bradley et al., forthcoming; Cunnison, 1987; Ledwith et al., 1990; Wertheimer and Nelson, 1975). Despite the undoubted sincerity of the proponents of the various union equality initiatives, there is still a long way to go for unions to play a full role in protecting people and their careers at work regardless of gender or ethnicity. Nevertheless, it

Union influence on career development 77

CDI 9,1

78

is the case that pressure from trade unions and employees influence the direction of equal opportunities policies and the extent to which equal opportunities reach the bargaining agenda (Ball, 1990)[2]. Thus unions have an important part to play and, to be effective, their challenge is to ensure that equality issues are part of the bargaining agenda. Importantly, we suggest that equality policies are more likely to be influential where those who are most likely to be affected by such policies are active agents in their introduction and implementation. Women are more likely to be interested in equality initiatives than are men (Healy, 1997, 1999a) and where there are female or black trade union officials, equality bargaining will make the greatest progress, (Ball, 1990; Heery and Kelly, 1988; Labour Research, 1990). In order to explore the intersection between union involvement and careers, we shall first outline the research methods used. Second, we shall elaborate on the three themes of: (1) the gendered and ethnicised order; (2) union networks; and (3) the career indeterminacy of union women. 2. The research The research draws on case studies of four unions, the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), the Lecturers Union (NATFHE), the public sector union, UNISON, and the Union of Shops, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW). The four unions selected represent a range of occupational groupings from professionals to clerical workers to manual workers and have different gender compositions. The aim was to reflect the diversity of minority ethnic women’s employment experience in unions. It was important to include UNISON as, while already well researched (see for example, Colgan and Ledwith, 1996, 2000; McBride, 2001; Munro, 2001), it represents a benchmark for democratisation. NALGO, the union in the Virdee and Grint (1994) study, was one of the three unions that merged to make up UNISON. The gender and ethnic composition of the case study unions is set out in Table I alongside data on representation in conference and in the executive of the four unions. It is evident that in all the case study unions, women are not represented proportionally and that black women are not visible in this accounting.

Table I. Gender and ethnic membership of case-study unions

CWU Natfhe UNISON USDAW

Total membership

Female membership %

Black membership %

Women at conference %

Women in executive %

300,000 65,000 1,300,000 310,000

21 47 72 60

7 4 10 5

na na 58 44

6 25a 62 53

Notes: na=not available; a=approximate

Phase One of the project began in late 2000 and involved discussions with ten national union officers about policies on ethnicity and gender and union initiatives to improve representation and participation; and documentary data collection. Phase Two involved 55 transcribed in-depth interviews with minority women activists in London (36), South West (eight) and 11 elsewhere, undertaken in 2001-2002 to give insight into the potential experience of a “double disadvantage” of ethnicity and gender in their workplaces. Attendance at a number of black workers’ events (conferences, workshops and self-organised group (SOG) meetings) helped inform an understanding of the specific issues and problems that concern black and other ethnic minority workers. The methodological approach was primarily qualitative. The interviews were in-depth semi-structured with the intention of allowing the interviewees to give their views and stories in a minimally directed context. We defined “activist” in an open way. We wanted to allow for different degrees of activism and to recognise that people may come in and out of activist roles, a point that may be more apposite to women who may have different working patterns over the life cycle (Dex, 1984; Healy, 1999b). Thus we sought to interview women who could be described as “formal activists” and “informal activists”, i.e. women who had a formal lay union role at the time of the study, those who previously held such roles, and women who were less formally active (they attended union meetings, spoke up on issues, would stand on a picket line and so on). We therefore interviewed women who were full-time lay officials, including those seconded to the union, women who were shop stewards and women who participated in the union activities but held no formal roles. Our sample was identified in a number of ways: . by the case study unions; . by women who had already been interviewed (a snowballing effect); and . by approaching women at conference. We also actively sought to achieve a reasonable balance by ethnicity, particularly with respect to African-Caribbean and Asian members. In fact, despite our best efforts, the sample was skewed to African-Caribbean women. Although they portrayed their own ethnicity in a range of ways, we use a narrow categorisation which follows common sociological terminology in this chapter, namely: African (ten) African Caribbean/American (33) and Asian (12). 3. The gendered and ethnicised order The discussions above indicate that the dominant gendered and ethnicised order may impede the quality of working life, block women’s development and prevent their work being acknowledged at all levels in the organisation. It is appropriate to bring quality of working life into the picture since this draws attention to the concept of “treatment at work” which is central to our understanding of discrimination in the work place (Healy, 1993). While central to our understanding of discrimination, it is often neglected in the literature on careers, which may at

Union influence on career development 79

CDI 9,1

80

times present a sanitised view of organisational life. By contrast, organisational life for black women is complex, contradictory and often discriminatory. The context in which black women’s careers are shaped is therefore characterised by racism, sexism and vertical and horizontal segregation. The careers of the women in our study were set against a context of relentless forms of racism, which manifested itself in different forms of exclusion. From our study, three overlapping forms of racism emerge: everyday racism, overt racism and a more complex form of racism, that of grudging acceptance or inclusionary exclusion. These all encompass the “processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people” (MacPherson, 1999, paragraph 6.34); however we would suggest that in many cases these forms of racism are also the result of socially aware and deliberately exclusionary behaviours. In other words, those who adopt racist behaviour are also knowledgeable actors. Everyday racism has a relentless character, which results in the persistent use of thoughtless language, stereotypical assumptions and denigrations of black people (Bradley et al., 2002). Its relentless nature is also shaped by multi-directional impact: everyday racism in our study came from managers, co-workers, supervisors, customers and clients. When issues of everyday racism were confronted, the aggrieved person was often told that they did not have a sense of humour or there were promises to tackle the perpetrator and nothing would be done. Overt racism, like everyday racism, was manifested in different ways depending on the sector. Overt racism included physical assaults, verbal abuse and racial banter. The women in our study experienced gendered racism and racist sexism. The social isolation, emerging from comments such as “I’m not inviting you because you are black”, was profound. Like everyday racism, confronting overt racism in some organisational contexts was near impossible for an individual on their own. For example, one woman decided to retire early because of the social isolation she felt: . . . you can’t fight this sort of thing any more. If there were one or two other black women, I would have felt more comfortable.

The way that ethnicity cuts through any assumptions about an homogenous gender identity was challenged by the following woman: White women collude with structures which are disadvantageous to black women

Grudging acceptance came in the form of comments such as “You’re alright even though you are black” and “You behave like one of us”. These comments indicate the attribution of “otherness” to those from minority ethnic groups, which is characterised by a form of “inclusionary exclusion”. Asked about the impact of the Stephen Lawrence Report, one woman said:

I think people are just treading cautiously, after . . . Stephen Lawrence . . . I don’t think things are radically changing, everything is a slow process anyway, but the caution is there. People are now thinking twice about what they say and how they say it.

She then went on to comment about her own experience: I mean I haven’t come across major racism within my own place, but I’m not stupid, I’m not naı¨ve and you know, yes there is institutional racism.

For others, the racism had intensified over the years: I find it far more racist now that I did in the 60s.

Vertical and horizontal segregation are major constraints on black and minority ethnic women’s career development. In our study, we found entrenched segregation in the different sectors the case study unions represented. In the health services, we found: There is “only one black manager, the people in the canteen are black or Filipino. Clinic clerks are black and Asian. Sisters are all white”.

And it was added, as though it was inevitable, that of course: . . . the cleaners are going to be black

In retail, the picture was similar: . . . it’s predominantly black on the lower levels, but in terms of management it’s pure white . . . the store manager is white, the assistant manager is white, the whole of the personnel team which comprises 12 people is white.

That the critical gatekeepers (the personnel team) were all white is an important aspect in what Collinson et al. (1990) call vicious circles of job segregation, manifested by stages of reproduction (through practices of gatekeepers, informality, taken for granted beliefs and practices), rationalisation of practices (through partial truths that explain why conventional gender assumptions and practices retain a grip on critical gatekeepers, job seekers, employees and trade unionists alike; and through the undermining of attempts at formality) and resistance (which explores collective resistance to segregation; the dual nature of resistance which may both undermine and reinforce recruiters’ own discriminatory rationalisations). While Collinson et al. (1990) are writing about gender segregation, these circles of segregation are also manifest in segregation by ethnicity. In our study, gender segregation remained strong but it was overlaid with ethnicity with white women more likely to dent the segregation practices than black women. In the following example men were belittling women’s contribution in a very gendered way. Both men and women were working in very low paid work and it is arguable whether the reproduction of negative gendered relations in the workplace, reflected the low status of both women and men in this work. A woman who was undertaking an equality seminar stated:

Union influence on career development 81

CDI 9,1

82

I was just like amazed that people were still thinking in that way. And they were talking about, you know, um . . . oh yeah, well women, when they’re working, they start doing their finger nails. And you’re just like, come on, like! You’ve probably seen someone do it once, but the way that people were going on it was just like women were still put in a category of being like, you know, we wear make up, we spend all our time doing it, you know, we do it while we’re driving, we do it while we’re working, you know? . . . And it was like we don’t lift up bags, we don’t this, that and the other. And yet like we’re under the same conditions as the men. They’ve still got their 11 kilogram bags and everything else. But that’s it, you know, we don’t do anything.’

It is a paradox that sex discrimination and race discrimination may close one career door and open another, suggesting that the mechanisms that link self and circumstance may lead to both the reproduction or the transformation of circumstance. Watson (1988) has identified the importance of significant others and significant events as catalysts for greater union involvement. Building on Watson (1988), Kirton and Healy (1999) identified as the gendered nature of such others and events and used significant gendered others and significant gendered events as analytical constructs. Although more recently Kirton (2003) has argued that “significant experiences” may be a more all-embracing term that encompasses a time dimension. Women in our study were enabled to get involved by the influence of significant others. Male significant others were as important as women in some cases, for example, for the following woman: . . . but it was the branch officers in my branch that actually persuaded me you know, they said they couldn’t wave the magic wand for me and get rid of it all, but they said look, “hang on in there and we’ll do what we can”. And they were very, very supportive and they understood really what was going on.

It is clear that significant others and events can be ethnicised as well as gendered. For example, many women had been “brought on” by another black activist: many women became interested in the union in the first place because of an experience, their own or that of a friend, of racism or sexism they felt compelled to challenge. And as we shall see, many women became inspired into activism by attending a black-only event. 4. Union networks Union involvement creates significant networks both within the union and within the organisation including management. This can provide a more enabling environment which may facilitate (or some circumstances impede, see Calveley and Healy, 2003) career development. The following quotation provides an indication of the resources that flow from this involvement: The funny thing is when you join a union, you get to know more people in an organisation quite quickly . . . You get to know management and non-management people by actually being in the union. Also you get to know exactly what you can or cannot be asked to do at work, and find out what’s happening in the workplace.

Getting involved in unions offered women a range of power resources, such as access to information and data, contacts, the potential use of collective power and

access to positions (see Bradley, 1999, pp. 31-37 for a theoretical development of gendered power resources). Most of the women in our study were encouraged to get further involved in the union by the existence of black and ethnic minority networks. The importance of these cannot be overstated in the context of a perception that black peoples’ voices are not heard. Such events were described as “inspiring” and “eye opening”, for example: Just imagine you’re in the room and it was about 26 to 28 people, all black and Asian. You know and it was so intense because it was the first time that . . . they had ever had so many ethnic people.

Courses, conferences and black gatherings were often a way into more general union activism, and many women stated that racial issues were their main interest (Bradley et al., 2002). Bradley et al. (2002) go on to argue that union activism offered other resources apart from a desire to help minority “brothers and sisters”. It presented women who, in many ways, felt blocked and excluded in the workplace, with a new arena for their talents to flourish and a focus for self-development: I feel like I’ve grown. I’ve really grown. It’s amazing . . . I’ve really challenged myself as well. I have done certain things that I wouldn’t have done before and I’m like, people are coming up to me and I’m like reeling it out on the top of my tongue and I’m like standing back and thinking to myself, did I just say all that? You feel good within yourself (quoted in Bradley et al., 2002, p. 16).

The following woman was empowered by attendance at a Black Workers’ Conference: I found the conference very positive and it actually gave me the feeling of empowerment. I can see my future as progressing and developing towards management.

Black networks allow a reflexivity of thinking and a sense of being able to challenge and overcome constraints. This is particularly important in the light of the effect of a resilient institutionalised racism: It’s because of the system, people feel . . . even if I’ve got all these qualifications, I still won’t be able to get a good job . . . it’s something people have accepted as, you know, a way of life. That I cannot change anything because I’m black. I cannot change anything because I’m Asian, or you know, so I just have to sit back and watch. It doesn’t matter what happens, I’ve got to accept it. But what I’ve learnt from the conference that I went to in Birmingham is that you don’t have to accept that. You have to really push yourself forward and let them know what you are capable of doing, make them know you’ve got the qualities and you’re also equal with your white counterpart. Do you understand what I’m saying? And that is something that I’ve picked from that, a positive thing, you know.

This woman accepts that she can play a part in challenging constraining structures and enable a change. Union networks have made them more knowledgeable about how to manage their own careers and protect those of others. 5. The career indeterminacy of union women The way that career aspirations are shaped is complex but the role that unions play tends to be neglected, yet new avenues opened up for the women in our

Union influence on career development 83

CDI 9,1

study as a result of union involvement. Indeed the indeterminate nature of careers is particularly well illustrated by bringing unions into the discussion. I needed a change of career, and I always feel that this has landed in my lap because I wasn’t searching for it.

84

How the union involvement intersects with career development is well illustrated by the following woman when asked what her aspirations were in terms of work? I’ve always made it clear that I don’t want to be a team leader or a manager, because the company I work for, they work stupid hours. I’m sorry but life is for living. I don’t want to come to work at 6 o’clock in the morning and still be there at 6 o’clock at night. You’ve got a family. You’ve got a life. And I couldn’t do it and be able to do the union, do the politics, be a school governor, do the Commonwealth. I just couldn’t do any of those things. So yeah, it’s a price you have to pay.

This woman then went on to say that she had just posted an application to be a magistrate. In addition she said that what she would really like was to have a job with the union. Her life and her trade unionism were driven by challenging injustice and it is noteworthy that she attributed this to her Nigerian background and her personal circumstances: Because of that [losing her mother at the age of four] and the African upbringing, you’re always fighting for your corner. You’re brought up not to be selfish. You fight for everybody else’s standards. You’re a charity basically to everybody and fight for everybody.

Thus her career aspirations to work for a union were shaped by this desire to challenge injustice rather than sacrifice her time to a vertical career in a large retail store. Ironically, unions are acknowledged as time greedy organisations (Franzway, 2001) and therefore the time demand might be as great as in the retail organisation. The difference is in the perceived intrinsic value of the work. Concern with social justice may go hand in hand with the comparison between their experience of working in a particular organisation and a possible career in a union. A woman who had been seconded to her union for a time, when asked if the union might be an alternative career, responded in the following way: Yeah. I mean, yeah it would be good if I could stay within the [union] and continue it because there are so many problems within [my organisation], and the mind set of people working there.

There is little doubt that working for the union may well provide a better quality of life compared to some fields of work. A number of our interviewees who were working up the ladder of lay activism expressed a desire to become paid officers. For others, the union experience has given them skills and knowledge that enable them to widen their horizon and develop their aspirations. For example: I mean, my hope for a better future is to continue with my work. Be positive, be good in my job, develop my skills further and also a hope of a career development, as I was saying, maybe think of going into management. Probably not in this organisation, maybe somewhere

else, I can’t say because nobody knows what’s going to happen even in the next year or two years or three years. But I’ve got all these skills that I’ve developed over years, and I just need to make my move.

Widening horizons was not just about promotion and career change; it was also about a sense of empowerment about what could be achieved in their own careers and those of others. The powerlessness that may be caused by a racist culture was challenged by union involvement. The following woman began by indicating how many people feel: So it doesn’t matter what you do, you cannot change the system. There’s racism, there’s discrimination in the system. Well you can’t change anything, it’s just like that. You’re just wasting your time. But what I learnt from the conference is that – no, you can change the system. You have to work at it. If we all sit back, then we’re just allowing it to slip through our fingers, and it just goes on from one generation to the other because the children are there watching. Our children are watching. We are their role models.

The following woman expresses the difference that many of the woman in our study made to their own and others working careers and quality of life: I know I have made a difference to people. I have stopped people losing their job you know. I have stopped people getting into all sorts of difficulties. You think, I haven’t done anything really, all I’ve done is listen, but you know you have made a difference.

6. Conclusions There was little doubt that the women in our study experienced complex forms of discrimination in their careers resulting from the cross cutting impact of gender and ethnicity. Racism and sexism led to a sense of exclusion in their everyday lives as well as from the resources that may enable them to progress through the hierarchy of organisations. Black and minority ethnic women may be more likely to lack the power resources in all its complex forms (see Bradley, 1999) to break the circles of segregation (Collinson et al., 1990). Indeed our study demonstrated how the experience of discrimination can lead to disaffection and ultimately career curtailment. By examining the ethnicised and gendered order in organisations, this article reminds us of the importance of bringing gender and ethnicity into our understanding of careers. Our study indicates a resilience of gendered and racist practices, which despite much rhetoric, organisations are failing to address. Nevertheless, by examining the effects of union involvement and the impact of black networks, we are able to show how such involvement may provide the resources to empower and challenge racist and gendered practices. Union involvement and black networks provide personal and knowledge power resources that have enabled the women activist in our study to represent and defend the careers of union members. It also enabled them to reflect on their own situations and provide alternative strategies of action. The skills and knowledge gained in union roles, in some cases, provided the resources to enable the women to apply for development within their own or other organisations. What was also interesting was the way that union involvement provided opportunities for

Union influence on career development 85

CDI 9,1

86

alternative careers in the trade union movement opening a new set of options for women, many of whom were in the later stages of a working life. The unfolding nature of careers (Arnold, 1997) certainly emerged from our study, which also demonstrates the importance of the indeterminate nature of careers. By focusing on the dialectical relationship between self and circumstance (Sikes et al., 1985), we are able to show the negative effects of racism and sexism in women’s working lives, but also how women are active agents who seek to control and transform these negative circumstances. The women in our study were particularly strong and utilised the strength of black union networks and union resources. Such trade union resources are not available to all black and minority ethnic women. Notes 1. The trade union role in, for example, job grievances, disciplinary offences and redundancy issues, is taken for granted in the industrial relations and human resource management literature. 2. On average, the three critical aspects of policies – monitoring, positive action and discipline, were four times more likely to occur in union-agreed policies than in those which had been arbitrarily imposed by an employer; also where equal opportunities committees were established there appeared to be markedly more discussion of equality issues than in other unionised companies where no such committee existing. Furthermore, when workplace representatives are trained in equal opportunities matters, there is a positive effect on the “equality process” (Ball, 1990). References Acker, J. (1990), “Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: a theory of gendered organizations”, Gender and Society, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 139-58. Arnold, J. (1997), Managing Careers into the 21st Century, Paul Chapman Publishing, London. Ball, C. (1990), Trade Unions and Equal Opportunities Employers, Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union, London. Becker, H. (1952), “The career of the Chicago Public School teacher”, in Burgess, R.G. (Ed.), Howard Becker on Education, Open University, Milton Keynes. Blyton, P. and Turnbull, P. (1994), The Dynamics of Employee Relations, Macmillan, Basingstoke. Bradley, H. (1996), Fractured Identities, Polity, Cambridge. Bradley, H. (1999), Gender and Power in the Workplace, Palgrave, London. Bradley, H., Healy, G. and Mukherjee, N. (2002), “Inclusion, exclusion and separate organisation – black women activists in trade unions, ESRC Future of Work Working Paper No. 25. Bradley, H., Healy, G. and Mukherjee, N. (forthcoming), “Multiple burdens: problems of work/life balance for black and minority ethnic women in trade unions”, in Houston, D. (Ed.), The Future of Work Life Balance, Palgrave, London. Calveley, M. and Healy, G. (2003), “Political activism and workplace industrial relations in a UK ‘failing’ school”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 97-113. Cockburn, C. (1982), Brothers: Male Dominance and Technical Change, Pluto Press, London. Colgan, F. and Ledwith, S. (1996), “Sisters organising – women and their trade unions”, in Ledwith, S. and Colgan, F. (Eds), Women in Organisations – Challenging Gender Politics, Macmillan, Basingstoke.

Colgan, F. and Ledwith, S. (2000), “Diversity, identities and strategies of women trade union activists”, Gender, Work and Organization, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 242-57. Collinson, D., Knights, D. and Collinson, M. (1990), Managing to Discriminate, Routledge, London. Crompton, R. with Le Feuvre, N. (1996), “Paid employment and the changing system of gender relations: a cross national comparison”, Sociology, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 427-45. Cunnison, S. (1987), “Women’s three working lives and trade union participation”, in Allat, P., Keil, T., Bryman, A. and Bytheway, B. (Eds), Women and Life Cycle, Macmillan, Basingstoke. Dex, S. (1984), “Women’s work histories: an analysis of the ‘Women and Employment Survey’”, Department of Employment Research Paper No. 46, Department of Employment, Sheffield. Donnelly, J. (1992), Career Development for Teachers, Kogan Page, London. Evetts, J. (1992), “Dimensions of career: avoiding reification in the analysis of change”, Sociology, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 1-21. Franzway, S. (2001), Sexual Politics and Greedy Institutions, Pluto Press, Annandale. Halford, S. and Savage, M. et al. (1997), Gender, Careers and Organisations, Macmillan, Basingstoke. Healy, G. (1993), “Business and discrimination”, in Stacey, R. (Ed.), Strategic Thinking and the Management of Change: International Perspectives of Organisational Dynamics, Kogan Page, London, pp. 169-89. Healy, G. (1997), “Gender and unionisation of professional workers”, in Fitzpatrick, B. (Ed.), Bargaining in Diversity: Colour, Gender and Ethnicity, Oak Tree Press, Dublin. Healy, G. (1999a), “Trade unions and career development – a membership perspective”, Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 212-28. Healy, G. (1999b), “Structuring commitments in interrupted careers: the case of teachers”, Gender Work and Organisation, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 185-201. Hearn, J., Sheppard, D., Sherriff, P.T. and Burrell, G. (Eds) (1989), The Sexuality of Organisations, Sage, London. Heery, E. and Kelly, J. (1988), “Do female trade union representatives make a difference? Women full-time officials and trade union work”, Work Employment and Society, Vol. 2 No. 4. Hughes, E.C. (1958), Men and their Work, The Free Press, New York, NY. Kirton, G. (2003), “The structuring of women’s trade union education”, unpublished paper. Kirton, G. and Healy, G. (1999), “Transforming union women – the role of women trade union officials in union renewal”, Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 31-45. Labour Research (1990), Women’s Special Issue, Labour Research, Vol. 79 No. 3. Ledwith, S. and Colgan, F. et al. (1990), “The making of trade union leaders”, Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 112-25. Lee, G. and Loveridge, R. (1987), “Black members and their unions”, in, The Manufacture of Disadvantage, Open University Press, Buckingham. McBride, A. (2001), “Making it work: supporting group representation in a liberal democratic organization”, Gender Work and Organization, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 411-29. MacPherson, W. (1999), The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, The Stationery Office, London. Marshall, J. (1995), Women Managers: Moving On, Wiley, Chichester. Mouzelis, N. (1989), “Restructuring structuration theory”, Sociological Review, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 613-35.

Union influence on career development 87

CDI 9,1

88

Munro, A. (2001), “The feminist trade union agenda? The continued significance of class, gender and race”, Gender Work and Organization, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 454-71. Sikes, P. and Measor, L. et al. (1985), Teacher Careers Crises and Continuities, Falmer Press, Lewes. Sinclair, D. (1995), “The importance of sex for the propensity to unionise”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 173-90. Sinclair, D. (1996), “The importance of gender for participation in and attitudes to trade unionism”, Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 239-52. Virdee, S. and Grint, K. (1994), “Black self-organisation in trade unions”, The Sociological Review, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 222-6. Wacjman, J. (1998), Managing Like a Man: Women and Men in Corporate Management, Polity Press, Cambridge. Waddington, J. and Whitston, C. (1996), “Collectivism in a changing context: union joining and bargaining preferences among white collar staff”, in Leisink, P., Van Leemput, J. and Vilrokx, J. (Eds), The Challenges to Trade Unions in Europe: Innovation and Adaptation, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp. 153-67. Walby, S. (1997), Gender Transformations, Routledge, London. Watson, D. (1988), Managers of Discontent, Routledge, London. Wertheimer, B. and Nelson, A. (1975), Trade Union Women: A Study of Their Participation in New York City Locals, Praeger Publishers, New York, NY.

Book review Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change Patricia Shaw Routledge London and New York ISBN: 0-415-24914-7 Review DOI 10.1108/13620430410518165 This book describes a new approach to organisational change guided by complexity perspective which is laid out in the earlier volumes of the series titled “Complexity and emergence in organisations”. Complexity perspective (Stacey, 2001) provides a different way of understanding organisational phenomena in an age of knowledge economy where the effective use of human resources is stressed. Knowledge, which is co-created and shared by organisational actors, is now acknowledged as the driver of economic growth (Harris, 2001) leading to a new focus on the role of learning, sharing and participating in organisational performance. As stated in the series preface, complexity approach places emphasis on the reflexive nature of humans, the responsive and participative nature of human processes of relating in organisations. Drawing on her experiences in organisations as a consultant, Shaw contributes to this strand of thinking by questioning the conventional systemic approaches to organisational change which have dominated the previous literature. In this book, she seeks to convey the role of informal conversations in the course of daily organisational life in creating, sharing knowledge and yet co-created, open-ended, never complete activity of jointly constructing the future (p. 70). Flowing from this idea of change as an ongoing dynamic process, this book, in her own terms, is about “the way we humans organise ourselves conversationally” (p. 10). The founding assumption of the book is that the activity of conversation itself is the key process through which forms of organising are dynamically sustained and changed. Throughout the book, she suggests a number of ways, which are directed at practitioners i.e. consultants, managers and leaders, to understand the transformative nature of conversing in organisations. The book consists of seven chapters. In the first chapter, Shaw locates her work within the aforementioned complexity approach to change, drawing attention to the self-organising patterning of communicative action in complex responsive processes of human relating (see Stacey, 2001). She sets out her aim of “describing and illustrating conversation as a process of communicative

Book review

89

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 89-94 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436

CDI 9,1

90

action which has the intrinsic capacity to pattern itself” (p. 11). Building on this idea of conversational or dialogical practices that people use to co-ordinate everyday activities, Shaw highlights the importance of a different way of thinking about any kind of organisational practice that focuses on change. She notes that: The main focus of this book is practice, in other words, the way we make meaning of the activities of any of us who may be explicitly charged with “leading change”, “managing change”, “planning change” or “facilitating change”. This book is not about systematic change methodologies based on abstract models of organisation, rather it explores how we might make sense of our experiences of working with continuity and change day to day (p. 11).

In chapters 2 to 5, she takes up different aspects of the themes of complexity and emergence through stories or “practice narratives”, as she puts them, which show the kind of sense-making at work, as she works and reflects on her experiences of organisational change. Guided by social constructionist approach to studying organisational phenomena, she describes her position as being reflexive in the sense that she attempts to reflect on how she is thinking about what is going on and how this thinking is informed by her background. She defines her role as the author of this book as assisting the readers in forming their own understandings by shifting their attention to particular aspects of their experience in organisations. The second chapter deals with more informal processes of gathering, talking and dispersing at business meetings, workshops or conferences. She views these processes as emerging constantly in the conduct of everyday organisational life. This discussion is achieved through the stories of two organisations where she was invited as a consultant. In line with her concern on reflexive thinking and writing, she applies an interestingly different method of analysing the stories: she interviews herself and takes us through a number of issues emerging from the stories. The attention is drawn to the spontaneous nature of work in the organisations by using a metaphor of “drama”: I am suggesting that we could approach the work of organisational change as improvisational ensemble work of a narrative, conversational nature, a serious form of play or drama with an evolving number of scenes and episodes in which we all create our parts with one another. This does not mean that business models, tools and plans are not valuable, but my focus is more on how we devise them and make use of them as important props in the drama (p. 28).

Building on the second narrative of the second chapter, she elaborates on the transformative nature of conversations in the third chapter. Shaw resonates with Shotter’s (1993) rhetorical-responsive form of social constructionism, where he is mainly concerned with – as argued in another publication (Shotter and Cunliffe, 2003) – the creation of meanings in the spontaneously co-ordinated interplay of people’s responsive relations to each other (p. 17). Similar to Shotter’s writing, Shaw attempts to write as a participant sense-maker or participant-inquirer from within the movement of the social

sense-making process in this chapter. She views this as a movement into paradoxical known-unknown. She explains this by focusing on our past experiences informing our future and give it meaning and thereby the future being shaped by the sense-making of the past: . . . social process of learning our way forward is paradoxical because the past (our personally experienced histories of social relating) helps us to recognise the future and give it meaning, yet the future is also changing the meaning of the very past with which we can recognise the future (p. 46).

She notes that through this aforementioned series they have coined the term “living present” to describe a lived-in experience of presentness, to stimulate the understanding of the transformational qualities of conversation as communicative action in the living present: transformational of personal and social realities. The politics of the personal and social transformation is taken up in the fourth chapter. She draws attention to the socially-constructed nature of relating as mutual constraining embedded in webs of power relations. Underpinning the book is the notion that we are always in a process of becoming in our lives and these processes of becoming and yet change occur in a relational context. We are engaged in daily interactions with others in forming and being formed by the evolving situations which we experience as the sensible interweaving of our actions with one another. She takes this discussion forward by arguing that all relating can be understood as power relating. To sustain a relation to another person is to actively engage in a jointly-created process of mutual constraint that affords each of us opportunities while at the same time limiting us (p. 73).

Being informed, in large part, by the social constructionist view that social reality is socially constructed and that social interaction is an essential part of this process which unfolds culturally and historically (Berger and Luckmann, 1966), the power figurations that Shaw describes are historical, social, local communicative processes in which our activities simultaneously perpetuate and potentially transform the patterns which sustain and evolve our joint capacities to act in some ways rather than others. Therefore, the notion of organisational change as an emerging, social and political practice is informed by this perception of our participation as inevitable and inescapable political processes. She tells stories of her experiences of this kind of processes at work and one conclusion she draws is the view of the everydayness that is occurring all the time in very ordinary, everyday ways. Another conclusion can be her claim that: . . .to be apolitical in human affairs makes as little sense as to claim to be able to take up a position outside interaction (p. 95).

She sees the process of organisational change as the people’s efforts to have made a difference to the interpretation of situations and the evolution of meaning in the ordinary relating of everyday life in organisations.

Book review

91

CDI 9,1

92

Defining the word “practice” as “a knowingful doing”, she takes it to mean “an accepted knowingful doing” to describe professional practice in organisations. Focusing the collective qualities of such practice, she describes organisational change as ensemble improvisation in the fifth chapter. Through these professionalised ways of working which is sustained and evolves in the interaction of a shifting community of people, a core of repetitively sustained, habitual ways of relating, recounting and accounting are kept alive between the members of the community. A systematic practice discourse of word and deed emerges in the conduct of ongoing practice. Influenced by the linguistic turn in organisation and management studies which has been prompted largely by the increasing influence of social constructionist ideas about reality, knowledge, language and communication as argued by Holman and Thorpe (2003), she places emphasis on the value of such professional discourses that enable organisational actors to argue retrospectively about what has happened and why, and to argue prospectively for what we should do for other things to happen and why. Stimulated by two experiences, which include one occasion at the seminars of the theory and practice of organisational change where she was invited to work with members of a network of Swedish managers, management educators, and consultants, and the other experience an international storytelling festival, she illustrates how our sense-making evolves as we continue to talk together. She describes it as the movement of meaning as it is constructed among a group of people relating to each other. Her argument does not imply a unified single thread of meaning that emerges for all who participate but shows how conversations develop haphazardly as different contributions elicit further responses and how these responses allow the members of a group to develop enough confidence to improvise the next step in organisations. This is in tune with Shotter and Cunliffe (2003) who suggest that practical meanings occur between members of a community spontaneously in the living responses to each other and these responses, in Shaw’s understanding, give rise to creative becoming in organisations. Putting the activity of conversing at the centre of this creative becoming, she argues that such local communication between practitioners i.e. managers and consultants with diverse experiences takes place in specific action contexts and mutual recognition and differentiation occur creatively in the interaction of conversing, working together, evolving existing practices and spawning new ones (p. 117). It is this process that brings about innovative evolution of organisational practices. Moving the discussion of “practice” forward in Chapter 6, she illustrates the artificial divide between “theory” and “practice”. Her argument is centred on the notion of sense-making as Weick (1995) puts it. She suggests that theory is meant to map onto “practice” but map is not the territory. Provided we make sense in terms of our experiences and the experience is a continuous flow of rather unknowable kind, could we theorise differently so that we do not create

gaps to be bridged by thinking in the flow of experience itself? Thus, this view suggests that we are not making sense of experience; rather sense-making is part of the movement of our experiencing. As an organisational consultant, her “flow of experience” includes speaking, imagining, remembering, moving, feeling, designing, persuading, making connections, using tools, developing strategies, analysing situations, forming narratives, taking action in relation to others. The patterning of this experience is a part of the process of relating to one another and to aspects of the world we actively recognize. Through this communicative patterning, continuity and change are emerging simultaneously because the relating is always the relating of difference, of bodies with different histories of relating (p. 120). She builds her discussion in Chapters 7 and 8 on the nature and implications of that difference when working with organisational continuity and change. She comes up with some policy implications for the organisational practitioners. The policy implications, which seem to be of a particular value in the current age of knowledge economy, include the following: involving diverse and sometimes large numbers of people in intensive, “whole system” events around initiatives of concern to all involved, moving towards a practice of managing organisations as living systems, educating people in the art of dialogue and designing the social infrastructure to identify and nurture communities of practice. Taking further these themes of “getting the whole system in the room”, “organisations as living systems” and “the art of dialogue” in the last chapter she discusses what seems very similar in the kind of concerns and issues that practitioners advocating these approaches take up. At the same time, she draws a particular attention to how these practitioners account for or explain what they are doing in different ways. In her concluding coda, she takes us through the underlying ideas of the book: the movement of sense-making as an inevitable conflictual move emerging in webs of interconnected relating, the patterning of interaction, the strategic work as the living craft of participating and the notion of organisational practitioners as fellow improvisers in ensemble work, constantly constructing the future and our past in the daily activities as we join conversations. By describing her own work in terms of a different account of process consultation, she encourages anyone wanting to think about their participation in organisational life to draw some lessons from her story. This is an interesting book that contributes to our understanding of change in organisations. A particular strength is its questioning and challenging engagement with simplified typologies that characterise much of the literature on organisational change. My reading of her book is that she suggests we should focus on the situational, historical and political qualities of conversational processes of human organising in exploring change. I believe that her work relates to the emerging stream of what is called narrative knowledge in organisational theory (Czarniawska, 1998, 1999; O’Connor, 2000;

Book review

93

CDI 9,1

94

Watson, 1997, 2001a, b, 2002), though she does not have any references to that particular literature. Shaw’s book highlights the need for more work in this important area. Such works searching for ways to develop effective communication between organisational practitioners, consultants and academics would have much to offer both to industry and to academia and would be a welcome addition to the literature. ¨ zkan Mine Karatas-O Derbyshire Business School, University of Derby, Derby, UK References Berger, P. and Luckmann, T. (1966), The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge, Doubleday and Co, New York, NY. Czarniawska, B. (1998), A Narrative Approach in Organisation Studies, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Czarniawska, B. (1999), Writing Management, Organisation Theory as a Genre, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Harris, R.G. (2001), “The knowledge based economy: intellectual origins and new economic perspectives”, International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 21-40. Holman, D. and Thorpe, R. (2003), Management and Language, Sage, London. O’Connor, E. (2000), “Plotting the organisation. The embedded narrative as a construct for studying change”, Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 174-92. Shotter, J. (1993), Conversational Realities: Constructing Life Through Language, Sage, London. Shotter, J. and Cunliffe, A.L. (2003), “Managers as practical authors: everyday conversation for action”, in Holman, D. and Thorpe, R. (Eds), Management and Language, Sage, London, pp. 15-37. Stacey, R.D. (2001), Complex Responsive Processes in Organisations: Learning and Knowledge Creation, Routledge, London. Watson, T. (1997), “Theorizing managerial work: a pragmatic pluralist approach to interdisciplinary research”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 3-8. Watson, T. (2001a), In Search of Management, revised ed., Thomson Learning, London. Watson, T. (2001b), “Beyond managism: negotiated narratives and critical management education in practice”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 12, pp. 385-96. Watson, T. (2002), Organising and Managing Work: Organisational, Managerial and Strategic Behaviour in Theory and Practice, FT Prentice-Hall, Harlow. Weick, K. (1995), Sensemaking in Organisations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

About the authors Harriet Bradley Harriet Bradley is Professor of Sociology and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol. Her research interests include inequalities of gender, class and ethnicity; gender in trade unions; young people’s labour market position; and women’s work. As well as her current collaborations with Geraldine Healy, she is part of a team evaluating the Connexions programme (with the Universities of de Montfort and Derby) and with colleagues at Bristol is studying the work and family trajectories of young adults. E-mail: [email protected]

About the authors

95

Rachael Eggins Rachael Eggins is a lecturer in Social Psychology at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on intergroup relations, conflict and negotiation. Her most recent work investigates the use of group representative and participatory procedures in negotiation. This has been extended to the study of formal collective decision-making procedures in organizational settings, examining their role in planning and change. E-mail: [email protected] S. Alexander Haslam S. Alexander Haslam is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Exeter. A former Commonwealth Scholar at Macquarie University, Sydney and Jones Scholar at Emory University Atlanta, he has previously held positions at the University of Sydney and the Australian National University. He is a former associate editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology (1999-2001) and is currently editor of the European Journal of Social Psychology. At Exeter he works with a team of internationally-renown researchers investigating a range of core social and organizational topics – including leadership, motivation, communication, power, stereotyping, group conflict and prejudice. E-mail: [email protected] Geraldine Healy Geraldine Healy is Professor of Employment Relations and Director of the Centre for Research in Employment Studies, University of Hertfordshire. She has researched and published extensively on Gender, Careers and Industrial Relations. Her current research projects include Double Disadvantage: Minority Ethnic women in Trade Unions (an ESRC “Future of Work” Project with Bristol University), contemporary approaches to equality and careers in academia in Turkey (with Surrey University) and women in IT. ESF funded research projects starting in 2004 are “Young workers in traditional and high

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 95-98 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436 DOI [–please supply–]

CDI 9,1

technology industries” (with Bristol University) and “Occupational segregation in the health services”. E-mail: [email protected]

96

Louise Humphrey Louise Humphrey is currently a Masters student in the Social and Organizational Psychology program at the University of Exeter. Her research utilizes a social identity framework to investigate workplace bullying and organizational stress. E-mail: [email protected] Olympia Kyriakidou Olympia Kyriakidou is a lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at the University of Surrey. Her research interests focus on the application of psychology to organisational issues. Examples of her research are in the areas of organisational change and development, mental models and distributed cognition, the social psychology of networks, organisational culture and sensemaking, knowledge management and shared cognition as well as virtual teams and measurement of effectiveness. Olympia currently works for the DTI Industry Forum Adaptation Programme exploring issues of communication and employee retention in SMEs, SDO exploring issues of diffusion of innovation and QinetiQ exploring new conceptualisations of the digitized organisation. E-mail: [email protected] Jolanda Jetten Jolanda Jetten is currently a lecturer in social psychology at the University of Exeter and has conducted field and laboratory research on organizational identity change (e.g. organizational restructures and mergers). She has published widely on group processes and intergroup relations from a social identity perspective (in particular on peripheral or marginal group membership, intergroup discrimination, devalued group membership and stigmatization, normative influence, conformity, and deviance in groups). Jolanda obtained her PhD from the University of Amsterdam (1997) and was a postdoctoral fellow from 1998 to 2001 at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Queensland (Australia). E-mail: [email protected] Lynne Millward Lynne Millward is a senior lecturer in Organisational and Applied Psychology at the University of Surrey. Her research to date has focused on the application of psychology to organisational issues, with particular interest in conceptualising and managing the interface between the individual and group/team for organisation. Examples of her research include decision making under stress, group behaviour in emergencies, the psychological contract at work, leadership and stress, managing organisational change, corporate identity and its management, intervention evaluation, shared mental

models, virtual teams and the creation of virtual working environments, measures of team effectiveness including situational awareness, personal characteristics and team composition. E-mail: [email protected] Nupur Mukherjee Nupur Mukherjee graduated in Economics from Swansea University and completed an MA in Human Resource Management at Cardiff University. She was a researcher at Bristol University from 2001-2003 on the Double Disadvantage project, and has contributed to a number of papers on the project, including the article in this issue authored with Harriet Bradley and Geraldine Healy. Anne T. O’Brien Anne T. O’Brien is a research fellow at the University of Exeter and is part of a team of social psychologists utilizing a social identity perspective to work on inter-group issues that are relevant in community and organizational settings. Much of her research has been conducted in applied settings in both Australia and the UK working with public organizations such as hospitals and research and development organisations. At Exeter, Anne is part of a research team working on collaborative projects with organizations to examine issues such as workplace stress and effective ways of aligning team and organisational goals. E-mail: a.t.o’[email protected] Lucy O’Sullivan Lucy O’Sullivan is currently a Masters student in the Social and Organizational Psychology program at the University of Exeter. Her research examines the efficacy of group goal setting and factors impacting on employee well-being in organizational contexts. E-mail: [email protected] Tom Postmes Tom Postmes is a reader in Social Psychology at the University of Exeter, ESRC fellowship holder, and Associate Editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology. His research is concerned with small groups and larger social structures such as organizations and social categories. He is interested in the reciprocal interaction between the individual and the social, addressing such questions as when and how social norms or conventions exert their influence on individuals within groups, and how individuals establish or maintain social structures. These general questions are reflected in his research, examining among others communication in online groups, and commitment in organizations. E-mail: [email protected]

About the authors

97

CDI 9,1

98

Katherine J. Reynolds Katherine J. Reynolds is a senior lecturer in Social Psychology at the Australian National University. Her research has investigated prejudice, stereotyping, intergroup conflict and cooperation, and more recently, the interface between social and organizational psychology. Kate’s current work focuses on issues of prejudice, diversity management, leadership and organizational change. E-mail: [email protected] Mark Stuart Mark Stuart is a senior lecturer at Leeds Business School. His main research interests focus on the political economy of skill formation and contemporary industrial relations. His research to date has explored the impact of restructuring on skill formation in the UK printing industry, employee experiences of training and development, and emerging union bargaining strategies over training. Current research projects include an investigation of the linkages between training and development and the management of change, work reorganisation and emerging forms of social partnership in the aerospace industry; and the changing nature of interest representation in the UK television industry. E-mail: [email protected] Emma Wallis Emma Wallis is a research officer at Leeds Business School, UK. Her current research is concerned with the relationship between learning, skills and employability. She is currently working in collaboration with the Campaign for Learning, and a number of public and private sector organisations on a project that aims to identify the factors that raise demand for learning among workers with basic skills needs. Emma is also involved within the LEARNPARTNER project, www.leeds.ac.uk/learning-in-partnership/ which is exploring whether lifelong learning strategies, and partnership-based approaches to learning can be utilised in response to restructuring within the European steel and metal sector. E-mail: [email protected]

Note from the publisher During 2003 Emerald developed its corporate publishing philosophy. We did this through discussion with readers, contributors and editors and we would like to share it with you. We believe that our approach to quality makes us different and unique amongst scholarly publishers. It is based on six core principles, which together form our distinctive philosophy: (1) We put quality at the centre of our approach to scholarly publishing. All papers published by Emerald go through a quality-assured peer review system; in all but a few practitioner-focused journals this takes the form of double-blind peer review. All papers published by Emerald are expected to make, in some way, an explicit original contribution to the existing body of knowledge. All papers published by Emerald are accessible to a wide range of students, scholars and practitioners in the fields in which we publish. All papers published by Emerald are beneficial in some way – to researchers; practitioners, or both: . In 2001 we were audited and certified as “Committed to Excellence” following a European Foundation for Quality Management self-assessment exercise. . We retained our status as an ISO 9000 certified organisation, and our Investors in People (IIP) certification. . More than 30 Emerald journals are listed in the ISI Citation Index.

Note from the publisher

99

(2) Continuous improvement of reader, author and customer experience. We continue to invest in enabling technology to increase efficiency and effectiveness in content provision, customer service and management. We benchmark against others and against our own standards. We are as clear as possible in our policies, measures, targets and achievements and we do not hide shortfalls, but confront and learn from them: . Emerald papers go through a further post-publication “review” which assesses them on readability, originality, implications for further research and practice. We publish this information, and it can be used as search criterion, on the Emerald database. . In 2002 we were judged as providing Best Customer Support by the scholarly library publication, The Charleston Advisor. . We provide high levels of dissemination of our authors’ work – nearly 1 million papers per month are downloaded and read by subscribers to the Emerald on-line portfolio. . In 2004 we will be introducing an on-line submission and peer review system which will speed up the publication process. (3) Internationality. We operate in a trans-national world of scholarly ideas and we believe that this should be reflected within our publications. Working with our authors, we set targets for international representation of authors and editorial team members, and measure against them:

Career Development International Vol. 9 No. 1, 2004 pp. 99-100 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436

CDI 9,1

.

.

In the past six months we have published more than 50 themed issues with a specific international focus. In the first half of 2003, papers from 60 different countries were published.

(4) An interdisciplinary approach. We set targets, and ask for, papers and special

100

issues on interdisciplinary approaches, and new/emergent themes. This gives us better, stronger, and more vibrant journals, and a clear leadership position in our industry: . In the first half of 2003 we published more than 20 themed issues dealing with interdisciplinary approaches to a subject or industry . We encourage themed issues on leading edge and innovative research topics, and in the past six months published 35 such issues. (5) Supporting scholarly research: The Literati Club. We help remove the barriers to publication. We conduct workshops for researchers on publishing issues. We provide help and advice to new researchers. We offer a service for authors whose first language is not English. Our staff regularly present papers at conferences on scholarly publishing themes: . Our scholarly community Web site, the Literati Club, disseminates information about how to write for publication more successfully – we seek to make the process more transparent. . The Emerald Research Register, an online forum for the circulation of pre-publication information is designed to help researchers gain advanced recognition among their peers by publicising their research at the earliest opportunity. . Each year, we distribute grants to researchers working on improving the scholarly publishing dissemination process, and to encouraging scholarship in the developing world. . We conducted research workshops at 11 universities and conferences, had papers accepted at nine academic and other conferences, and supported six academic conferences worldwide. (6) Integration of theory and practice. We ask editors and review board members to focus where applicable on application, and beneficial implication for practice. We do so because this gives a clear message to our core supplier and consumer markets – the applied researcher, the reflective practitioner, the students of business and their teachers, the business and management school: . All of our journals will publish a majority of papers that have a direct application to the world of work. . More than 1,000 university libraries worldwide subscribe to the Emerald portfolio, including 97 per cent of the Financial Times Top 100 Business Schools. John Peters Director of Author Relations Emerald – October 2003