The effects of lotus of control on perceived intra-organisational mobility and the in-pact on future career planning

[摘要] A large portion of literature on organisational development is devoted to howorganisations have changed and the subsequent effect that these changeshave had on the human beings within them. Organisations are constantlytrying to change and develop themselves so that they are better equipped toface challenges that exist within the greater macro environment. Thesechanges affect all facets of the organisation and often have a life alteringimpact on the employees involved. One such impact that this fluctuatingcorporate environment has had on employees is that they are required todevelop themselves to safeguard against unexpected changes that mayjeopardise their job security. Employees are constantly trying to improvethemselves and their marketability so that they may progress in their careers.The major shift from previous decades is that employees are currently morecommitted to their careers than to their organisation (Cavanaugh & Noe,1999).Moving up the organisational hierarchy is one way to achieve careerdevelopment (Garavan, Collahan, 1996) and may be regarded as reward forthe self-development that one has worked so hard for. If employees do notsee an opportunity to further themselves and their careers, a possibleresponse would be to leave the organisation and look for other avenues toachieve this development. The present study aimed to explore this bydetermining how a personality construct effects ones perceptions of intraorganisationalmobility and the reactions that these perceptions generate. A large South African banking institution was used to sample employees for thestudy and being a service firm, all indications are that it is an extremely underresearchedorganisational form (Malos, Campion, 2000).The key strategic focus of the group is said to include among others, to focuson customer service, to improve transparency and to meet transformationgoals in line with the financial sector charter. This is in response to numerousrestructuring and change efforts that have taken place within the last twoyears. The organisation serves as an illustration of corporate life within SouthAfrica. The company is continually trying to change and develop to meet thechallenges of the greater macro environment. In doing so, the employees arerequired to respond proactively to the changes that take place and developthemselves accordingly. In light of this, the organisation provided a usefulbackdrop from which to analyse the relationship between locus of control,perceptions of intra-organisational mobility, satisfaction with promotionopportunities and future career planning.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand