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Contemporary organizations are placing greater emphasis on team work in order to meet the challenges of an increasingly turbulent business environment. In this context, the relationship between team member proactivity and overall team performance has been the focus of growing interest among management scholars and practitioners alike. Whereas extant scholarship acknowledges that team member proactivity is different from other forms of proactivity (i.e., individual and organization member proactivity), there is still only limited understanding of the factors that predict team member proactivity. Therefore, this paper extends current scholarship by identifying the individual and contextual predictors of team member proactivity and explaining how, taken together, they jointly influence team member proactivity. Building on these findings, the paper also identifies gaps in the current literature and proposes a model of team member proactivity to be tested in future research.

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce this special issue about the “Impact of the Global Refugee Crisis on the Career Ecosystem” and summarise the key contributions of the included practitioner and scholarly papers which examine refugee business and labour market experiences. The paper also examines the impact of media reports to provide a broader understanding of the context within which the current refugee crisis is evolving. Design/methodology/approach: The authors begin with a delineation of the concept of a career ecosystem in the context of refugee crises. The authors then employ this framing as a backdrop to engage in a basic analysis of business media coverage of the most recent Syrian refugee crisis, and a summary of the practitioner and scholarly papers. Findings: The findings of the media analysis suggest major coverage differences between different groups of countries in the number of documents identified, the proposed aim of business engagement with refugees, and substance of the extracted statements generally. Research limitations/implications: The analysis of business media coverage is rudimentary and intended only as a prompt for further conversations about how contemporary media commentary impacts on career opportunities for refugees and relevant stakeholder practices. Practical implications: This paper demonstrates the importance of including broader considerations of refugee careers that explore the interaction and intersection with transnational and local ecosystem of labour markets while paying attention to the sociocultural and political refugee-host community dynamics. Originality/value: This paper presents a more systems-oriented perspective and provides both practice and scholarly perspectives on the composite and dynamic nature of the refugee crisis on career ecosystems more broadly.

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to theorize men’s experiences of work-life balance in male-dominated, high-performance industries. Design/methodology/approach: This study provides an in-depth qualitative study comprising interviews and informal conversations with male lawyers in Canada. Findings: This study highlights the socially constructed nature of male lawyers’ experiences of work-life balance and the recursive impact of industry, professional and societal expectations and norms. Research limitations/implications: A relatively small sample size, suggesting the need for further study with a larger and more diverse sample. The study was conducted in Canada – other national contexts may furnish different results. Practical implications: This study identifies the need for greater awareness of how institutional, professional and societal expectations and norms impact on men’s experiences of work-life balance in male-dominated, high-performance industries. Social implications: This paper indicates that greater attention needs to be paid to work-life balance among men in male-dominated, high-performance industries. Originality/value: This paper explores men’s experiences of work-life balance in a male-dominated industry within an interpretivist paradigm.

© 2019, Springer Nature B.V. The impact of contextual influences on human resource management and management more generally has been the focus of much scholarly interest. However, we still know very little about how context impacts on the practice of ethical HRM specifically. Therefore, drawing on 59 in-depth interviews with HR practitioners in Brazil, Colombia and the UK, this paper theorizes how they perceive the ethical dimensions of their roles within their respective national contexts and how the way they act in relation to them is informed, shaped and directed by the institutional context. In doing so it provides an important insight into three key themes: first, the views of HRM practitioners and managers about ethical HRM and how they articulate what it means to be ethical; second, how they respond to perceived ethical dilemmas; and third, how their responses are influenced by institutional forces and associated beliefs, values and scripts. In addition to providing an ‘emic’ perspective of this increasingly important topic and theorizing the experience and practice of ethical HRM, the paper answers calls for more international comparisons of ethical HRM practice in contemporary organizations.

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd This article examines how demotees and co-workers understand involuntary demotion decisions, using a social capital lens. Drawing on data based on semi-structured in-depth interviews from 23 demotees and 46 co-workers (two co-workers of each demoted worker), we find that the likelihood of being demoted is determined by several factors. The personal characteristics of the demotee influence three aspects of social capital: 1) the quality of the employee-management relationship, 2) the ability to socialise with other organizational members and 3) visibility in the organization. Our findings contribute to the relational embeddedness perspective of social capital as well the growing body of literature on the dark side of social capital in organizations by showing how a lack of social capital impacts on demotion decisions. Relevant implications for organizations and HR practitioners for utilizing demotion as a HR tool are discussed.

Contemporary organizations are placing greater emphasis on team work in order to meet the challenges of an increasingly turbulent business environment. In this context, the relationship between team member proactivity and overall team performance has been the focus of growing interest among management scholars and practitioners alike. Whereas extant scholarship acknowledges that team member proactivity is different from other forms of proactivity (i.e., individual and organization member proactivity), there is still only limited understanding of the factors that predict team member proactivity. Therefore, this paper extends current scholarship by identifying the individual and contextual predictors of team member proactivity and explaining how, taken together, they jointly influence team member proactivity. Building on these findings, the paper also identifies gaps in the current literature and proposes a model of team member proactivity to be tested in future research.

There have been widespread changes to working arrangements and employment relationships, including significant decreases in continuing/full-time employment contracts. This trend is particularly notable in academia, with more universities relying on the expertise of sessional, teaching-focused academics. This qualitative study extends understanding of this important group of professionals, identifying sessional work as a ‘double-edged sword’ and suggesting a typology of sessional academic careers to be tested in future research. It reports on the diversity among sessional academics, some enjoying the autonomy and flexibility of this working arrangement, others seeking more job security and greater alignment with continuing employment. It also identifies synergies and contradictions between sessional academic careers and key themes in the contemporary careers literature.

This paper argues that the study of work-life balance to date has, in the main, adopted a restricted conception of both “work” and “life”, which does not take account of recent developments in life worlds, working arrangements and employment relationships. “Life” has hitherto been viewed as largely comprising caring activities for dependent children, whereas “work” has been premised largely on a traditional model of work, characterised by full-time, permanent employment with one employer and a conventional understanding of what work involves. This means that extant research and theory only provides a partial view of the work-life needs and experiences of the workforce. In the paper, we propose extending conceptions of both work and life to incorporate different life worlds and social groups and different working arrangements and employment relationships.

This study guide, designed to help counselors prepare for the Virginia Professional Counselor License Application, provides a review of counseling techniques and procedures, evaluation and appraisal procedures, and group theories and techniques. Other topics reviewed in the materials include professional identity, function and ethics, and abnormal psychology. Texts are recommended as study aids; sample questions are given, including objective and essay questions. The materials are designed for either independent study or as a guide during group study sessions. (JAC)

This study guide, designed to help counselors prepare for the Virginia Professional Counselor License Examination, guides applicants through the licensing application process, with information on the written and oral parts of the examination. Recommended texts for studying for the exam are suggested, and sample questions are provided. Guidelines and examples are offered for preparing a work sample and writing a case study. In addition, members of the Virginia Board of Professional Counselors and guidelines for post-graduate degree supervision are listed. Examples of pertinent correspondance are also given. (JAC)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of pay in the relationship between employee ambition and taking charge behavior, and its subsequent effects on employee career satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: A two-wave quantitative investigation was conducted among alumni of a large public university in the Netherlands. Findings: The results show that taking charge behavior mediates the positive relationship between employee ambition and career satisfaction. They also show that pay positively moderates this mediation, such that the relationship between employee ambition and taking charge behavior is stronger when ambitious employees receive an increase in pay, leading to increased career satisfaction. Conversely, a decrease in pay does not moderate ambitious employees’ taking charge behavior and the impact on their career satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: The study draws on self-report data collected in one country: the Netherlands. Practical implications: The study highlights the importance of pay for higher job involvement, demonstrating its impact on taking charge behavior among employees with higher levels of ambition. Originality/value: This is the first empirical study to examine the impact of pay on employees’ taking charge behavior and the subsequent implications for career satisfaction.

Ultimately, the goal of this book is to help knowledge workers from architects to lawyers learn to work on their own terms and to assume ownership of work and career.

Scholarly interest in job search has grown significantly over the years and can be located in diverse research streams: namely, economics, sociology and industrial/organizational psychology. This paper reviews these bodies of literature and makes a case for integration by proposing a multidisciplinary approach to understanding job-seeking behaviors. To this end, the paper categorizes the respective literatures on the basis of common themes located in a conceptual multidisciplinary model of job search behaviors and outcomes. This model provides a more focused understanding of the job search literature and how it has developed in the related disciplines. Based on the review and conceptual model presented, the paper draws attention to several key areas for future research to advance the field further.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an ontological and methodological alternative to the functionalist paradigm which currently dominates study of the self-initiated expatriate (SIE). It argues conceptually, and with a practical example, that actor-network theory (ANT) offers an alternative way forward. While the functionalist study of SIE seeks to generate knowledge of value to organizations, ANT seeks to produce practical knowledge from the viewpoint of the SIE(s). Design/methodology/approach – The paper critiques the dominant functionalist approach to the study of SIE through ANT. A case history of a geographically mobile professional is offered to support the use of ANT as an ontological and methodological alternative in this field. Findings – By following the actors through their own stories of mobility the authors argue that it is possible to offer alternative ways of investigating and understanding mobility. In particular, actors enact mobility in unique ways as they move and are, therefore, not easily categorized and in singular classifications, such as the “SIE.” Originality/value – The study of SIE is an important emerging field of expatriate research. It is currently dominated by the functionalist paradigm. The paper offers an alternative ontological and methodological approach to the study of this field through the use of ANT. In this sense the authors challenge the developing dominant discourse of functionalism currently driving research on this topic.

This article examines the impact of large scale, ‘macro’ role transitions on professional identity. Drawing on in-depth interviews with two different groups of immigrant professionals, it theorizes how organizational outsiders with established professional identities respond to the institutional requirements and specifically to professional pre-entry scripts in their new host country. The study demonstrates how identity work evolves among each group as they navigate the permeable and impermeable pre-entry scripts in their respective professions. It identifies both barriers and facilitators to engagement with, and fulfillment of, local pre-entry scripts. These findings demonstrate how different professional domains and power structures create different opportunities for re-entry and as a result give rise to different forms of identity work – involving, for example, identity customization, identity shadowing, struggle and enrichment. Implications for policy makers in the field will be discussed, focusing on how different groups of professionals respond to unique forms of identity threat emerging from their respective professional institutions and structural barriers.