The impact of boundaryless careers on organizational decision making: an analysis from the perspective of Luhmann's theory of social systems

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Authors

  • Kai Helge Becker
  • Axel Haunschild

External Research Organisations

  • Universität Hamburg
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)713-727
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Human Resource Management
Volume14
Issue number5
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2003
Externally publishedYes

Abstract

Research on careers has recently discovered the growing relevance of inter-organizational, boundaryless careers. The new paradigm of career studies that goes hand in hand with the concept of boundaryless careers, though, has not yet paid very much attention to the impact of new career patterns on how organizations function. To fill this gap, the paper analyses the effects of boundaryless careers on organizational decision making. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems, we elaborate how observing a (potential) employee's life in terms of career generally facilitates organizational decision making by what we call the evaluative capacity of career. Further, the paper shows in what respect employing this mode of observation is rendered more difficult by the emergence of boundaryless careers. Based on the theoretical framework developed, we finally deduce and apply a scheme of classification of possible reactions to the organizational problems caused by boundaryless careers. In sum, the paper provides a new theoretical approach to analysing different ways of how organizations can cope with the challenges of new career patterns.

Keywords

    Autopoiesis, Boundaryless career, De-paradoxization, Evaluative capacity of career, Organizational decision making, Theory of social systems

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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The impact of boundaryless careers on organizational decision making: an analysis from the perspective of Luhmann's theory of social systems. / Becker, Kai Helge; Haunschild, Axel.
In: International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 14, No. 5, 08.2003, p. 713-727.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

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