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Commitment without the organisation: Clients, collaborators and professional bodies as substitutes

Commitment without the organisation: Clients, collaborators and professional bodies as substitutes
Commitment without the organisation: Clients, collaborators and professional bodies as substitutes
Recent changes in the world of work not only challenge managers but also theories that are grounded in the assumptions of an employer-employee dyad (Ashford, George, & Blatt, 2007; Spreitzer, Cameron, & Garrett, 2017). Workplace commitment is one such theory (Klein, Molloy, & Brinsfield, 2012). In this paper we challenge the implicit field assumption that commitment is confined to employed individuals and organisations. Although commitment can be to multiple targets, it is overwhelmingly measured towards ‘the organisation’ (Becker, Klein, & Meyer, 2009; Meyer, 2009) despite this not being the reality for many. In the United Kingdom, for example, 15% of the workforce are self-employed (CRSE, 2017). We draw on 50 semi-structured interviews with independent consultants who are self-employed knowledge workers who use high levels of human capital and tacit knowledge to solve complex problems for multiple business clients. We used the critical incident technique (Chell, 2004) and participant pictures to investigate the targets and experience of commitment free of employment. Thematic coding (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to analyse the data and develop data structures in an abductive process that fused existing theory and empirical material (Alvesson & Kärreman, 2011). We use the context to reflect back and develop existing theory. In a situation where many of the usual targets do not apply, we outline three primary targets of commitment, clients, collaborators and professional bodies, and show how they substitute for and replace commitment to an organisation by acting as methods of gaining credibility and legitimacy, capacity and flexibility, and security. Furthermore we point to the increased importance of these targets in the management of and offerings for self-employed individuals.
Cross, David
a240c578-1f07-45d8-b2f5-a61d71ec061d
Swart, Juani
a9474956-09f1-4faf-a612-61c7670dcbc9
Kinnie, Nicholas
69836f4c-68e3-4736-901c-0db8dc2ed8be
Cross, David
a240c578-1f07-45d8-b2f5-a61d71ec061d
Swart, Juani
a9474956-09f1-4faf-a612-61c7670dcbc9
Kinnie, Nicholas
69836f4c-68e3-4736-901c-0db8dc2ed8be

Cross, David, Swart, Juani and Kinnie, Nicholas (2018) Commitment without the organisation: Clients, collaborators and professional bodies as substitutes. 11th People and Organizations Conference, Wharton School, Pennsylvania University, Philadelphia, United States. 28 - 29 Sep 2018. 3 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Recent changes in the world of work not only challenge managers but also theories that are grounded in the assumptions of an employer-employee dyad (Ashford, George, & Blatt, 2007; Spreitzer, Cameron, & Garrett, 2017). Workplace commitment is one such theory (Klein, Molloy, & Brinsfield, 2012). In this paper we challenge the implicit field assumption that commitment is confined to employed individuals and organisations. Although commitment can be to multiple targets, it is overwhelmingly measured towards ‘the organisation’ (Becker, Klein, & Meyer, 2009; Meyer, 2009) despite this not being the reality for many. In the United Kingdom, for example, 15% of the workforce are self-employed (CRSE, 2017). We draw on 50 semi-structured interviews with independent consultants who are self-employed knowledge workers who use high levels of human capital and tacit knowledge to solve complex problems for multiple business clients. We used the critical incident technique (Chell, 2004) and participant pictures to investigate the targets and experience of commitment free of employment. Thematic coding (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to analyse the data and develop data structures in an abductive process that fused existing theory and empirical material (Alvesson & Kärreman, 2011). We use the context to reflect back and develop existing theory. In a situation where many of the usual targets do not apply, we outline three primary targets of commitment, clients, collaborators and professional bodies, and show how they substitute for and replace commitment to an organisation by acting as methods of gaining credibility and legitimacy, capacity and flexibility, and security. Furthermore we point to the increased importance of these targets in the management of and offerings for self-employed individuals.

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Commitment without the Organisation. Wharton P&O Conference 2018.
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Published date: 28 September 2018
Venue - Dates: 11th People and Organizations Conference, Wharton School, Pennsylvania University, Philadelphia, United States, 2018-09-28 - 2018-09-29

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 423754
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/423754
PURE UUID: c03f1fd2-dea0-42cf-a501-0e9221e9517b
ORCID for David Cross: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7984-3718

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Date deposited: 01 Oct 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:38

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Contributors

Author: David Cross ORCID iD
Author: Juani Swart
Author: Nicholas Kinnie

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