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From the invisible hand to the gladhand: Understanding a careerist orientation to work
Author(s) -
Feldman Daniel C.,
Weitz Barton A.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
human resource management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.888
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-050X
pISSN - 0090-4848
DOI - 10.1002/hrm.3930300206
Subject(s) - work (physics) , sample (material) , orientation (vector space) , psychology , scale (ratio) , exploratory research , empirical research , public relations , sociology , political science , social science , mechanical engineering , philosophy , chemistry , physics , geometry , mathematics , epistemology , chromatography , quantum mechanics , engineering
This article explores the concept of a careerist orientation to work, which is defined as the propensity to pursue career advancement through non‐performance‐based means. A scale is developed to measure this concept using a sample of 227 business school alumni. Exploratory empirical data suggest that careerism is associated with consistently more negative job attitudes, a greater desire to advance and to change jobs, and more frequent promotions. Implications of a careerist orientation to work for both individual career management and organizational career development are discussed.