Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring Career Anchors in Shared Service Centres

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Shared Services and Outsourcing: A Contemporary Outlook (Global Sourcing 2016)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 266))

Abstract

New ways of professional working associated with new organisational forms such as the shared service centre (SSC) are challenging the ways in which careers exist and are perceived by finance professionals. Schein’s original concept of career anchors has proved to be a helpful and robust framework for understanding career motivations over time, culture and context. Nonetheless, the theory is still largely based on career motivations and personal expectations prevailing in the 1970s and updated in 1990. Empirical testing of new anchors is rare and proposals for refreshing anchors tend to be conceptual. Using mixed methods this paper investigates the underlying constructs of career anchors for finance professionals in the contemporary SSC environment. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to explore a number of issues arising from interviews in a global multi-national organisation. The results suggest that a six-factor model, which blends traditional and new ideas about career motivations, can better represent career anchors in new organisational contexts than original theory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Cultural differences were acknowledged by the researcher, however the standardised nature of SSC work across the globe (in terms of type of work, structure of roles and the general operation)meant that these effects may have been lessened; the construct under study was professional work and careers not cultural factors, however this is an opportunity further research into SSCs. The researcher sought to reflect reality which in this case was a seamless global operation that did not distinguish work by the country in which it was completed.

  2. 2.

    Collectivism can broadly be defined as acting within a larger framework for the greater good of one’s society [67].

References

  1. Weber, M.: The Theory of Economic and Social Organization. Translated by A. M. Henderson & Talcott Parsons. The Free Press, NY (1947)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Arthur, M.B., Rousseau, D.M. (eds.): The Boundaryless Career. New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era. Oxford University Press (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Inkson, K., Gunz, H., Ganesh, S., Roper, J.: Boundaryless careers: Bringing back boundaries. Organ. Stud. 33(3), 323–340 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Baruch, Y.: Transforming careers: from linear to multidirectional career paths: organizational and individual perspectives. Career Dev. Int. 9(1), 58–73 (2004)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. Hall, D.T.: Long live the career. In: Hall, D.T. (ed.) The Career is Dead-Long Live the Career, pp. 1–12. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Lyons, S.T., Schweitzer, L., Ng, E.S.W.: How have careers changed? an investigation of changing career patterns across four generations. J. Manag. Psychol. 30(1), 8–21 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Clarke, M.: The organizational career: not dead but in need of redefinition. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manage. 24(4), 684–730 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Rothwell, A.T., Herbert, I.P., Seal, W.: Shared service centers and professional employability. J. Vocat. Behav. 79(1), 241–252 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Whyte, W.: The Organization Man. Simon and Schuster, New York (1956)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Lips-Wiersma, M., Hall, D.T.: Organizational career development is not dead: a case study on managing the new career during organizational change. J. Organ. Behav. 28(6), 771–792 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Granrose, C.S., Baccili, P.A.: Do psychological contracts include boundaryless or protean careers? Career Dev. Int. 11(2), 163–182 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Schein, E.H.: The individual, the organization and the career: a conceptual scheme. J. Appl. Behav. Sci. 7(4), 401–426 (1971)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Schein, E.H.: Career anchors and career paths: A panel study of Management school graduates. May, Technical report No.1, Sloan School of Management (1974). http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/1878/SWP-0707-02815445.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2011

  14. Schein, E.H.: Career Anchors: Discovering your Rent Values. University Associate Inc., San Diego (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Schein, E.H.: Career Anchors: Trainer’s Manual, revised edn. Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, MIT, Cambridge, MA (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Schein, E.H.: Career Anchors, 3rd edn. Pfeiffer (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Holland, J.L.: Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Careers. Prentice Hall (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Super, D.E.: A life-span, life-space approach to career development. J. Vocat. Behav. 16(3), 282–298 (1980)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Gubler, M., Arnold, J., Coombs, C.: Organizational boundaries and beyond: a new look at the components of a boundaryless career orientation. Career Dev. Int. 19(6), 641–667 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Danziger, N., Rachman-Moore, D., Valency R.: The construct validity of Schein’s career anchors orientation inventory. Career Dev. Int. 13(1), 7–19 (1986). Derr, C.B.: Five definitions of career success: implications for relationships. Applied (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Ituma, A., Simpson, R.: Moving beyond Schein’s typology: Individual career anchors in the context of Nigeria. Pers. Rev. 36(6), 978–995 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Marshall, V., Bonner, D.: Career anchors and the effects of downsizing: Implications for generations and cultures at work. a preliminary investigation. J. Eur. Ind. Training 27, 281–291 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Yarnall, J.: Career anchors: results of an organisational study in the UK. Career Dev. Int. 3(2), 56–61 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Feldman, D., Bolino, M.: Careers within careers: reconceptualizing the nature of career anchors and their consequences. Hum. Resour. Manag. Rev. 6(2), 89–112 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. CGMA. Chartered Global Management Accountant (2015). About CGMA. http://www.cgma.org/AboutCGMA/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed 15 Jan 2015

  26. Smedley, T.: New accountants seek happy balance. The Financial Times, 28 January 2015. http://www.ft.com. Accessed 14 April 2015

  27. Suutari, V., Taka, M.: Career anchors of managers with global careers. J. Manag. Dev. 23, 833–847 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Lazarova, M., Cerdin, J., Liao, Y.: The internationalism career anchor: a validation study. Int. Stud. Manag. Organ. 44(2), 9–33 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Larson, M.: The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis. University of California Express, Berkeley (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Covert, E.C.: Is nursing a profession? Am. J. Nurs. 18(2), 107–109 (1917)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Abbott, A.: The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labour. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Haug, M.: Deprofessionalization: An alternative hypothesis for the future. Sociol. Rev. Monogr. 20, 195–211 (1973)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Oppenheimer, M.: Proletarianization of the professional. In: Halmos, P. (ed.) Professionalization and Social Change, pp. 219–227. University of Keele, Keele, England (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Faulconbridge, J., Muzio, D.: Organizational professionalism in globalising law firms. Work Employ Soc. 22(1), 7–25 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Greenwood, R., Suddaby, R., Hinings, C.R.: Theorizing change: The role of professional associations in the transformation of institutionalized fields. Acad. Manag. J. 45(1), 58–80 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Suddaby, R., Viale, T.: Professionals and field-level change: Institutional work and the professional project. Curr. Sociol. 59(4), 423–442 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Muzio, D., Faulconbridge, J.: The global professional service firm: ‘One firm’ models versus (Italian) distant institutionalized practices. Organ. Stud. 34(7), 897–925 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Herbert, I.P., Seal, W.B.: Shared services as a new organisational form: Some implications for management accounting. Br. Acc. Rev. 44(2), 83–97 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Schulman, D.S., Dunleavy, J.R., Harmer, M.J., Lusk, J.S.: Shared services. Adding Value to the Business Unit. Wiley & Sons (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Quinn, B.E., Cooke, R.S., Kris, A.: Shared Services: Mining for Corporate Gold. Financial Times, Harlow (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Mohamed, E.K.A., Lashine, S.H.: Accounting knowledge and skills and the challenges of a global business environment. Manag. Financ. 29(7), 3–16 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Farndale, E., Paauwe, J., Hoeksema, L.: In-sourcing HR: shared service centres in the Netherlands. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manage. 20(3), 544–561 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Sekaran, U.: Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Petroni, A.: Strategic career development for R&D staff: a field research. Team Perform. Manag. 6, 52–61 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Accenture. Shared services location strategy: Asia Pacific perspectives (2015). https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-shared-services-location-strategy-asia-pacific-perspectives.aspx. Accessed 6 June 2015

  46. Sinkovics, R.R., Alfoldi, E.A.: Progressive focusing and trustworthiness in qualitative research: The enabling role of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). Manag. Int. Rev. 52(6), 817–845 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Weiler, A.: Information-seeking behaviour in generation Y students: Motivation, critical thinking, and learning theory. J. Acad. Librarianship 31(1), 46–53 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Nimon, S.: Generation Y and Higher Education: The Other Y2K. J. Inst. Res. 13(1), 24–41 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  49. Williams, A., Coupland, J., Folwell, A., Sparks, L.: Talking about generation X: defining them as they define themselves. J. Lang. Soc. Psychol. 16(3), 251–277 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Rodrigues, R., Guest, D., Budjanovcanin, A.: From anchors to orientations: towards a contemporary theory of career preferences. J. Vocat. Behav. 83(2), 142–152 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Pemberton, P., Herriot, C.: New Deals: Revolution in Managerial Careers. John Wiley and Sons (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  52. Locke, K., Golden-Biddle, K.: Constructing opportunities for contribution: structuring intertextual coherence and “problematizing” in organizational studies. Acad. Manag. J. 40(5), 1023–1062 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Alvesson, M., Sandberg, J.: Generating research questions through problematization. Acad. Manag. Rev. 36(2), 247–271 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Rummel, R.J.: Applied Factor Analysis. Northwestern University Press (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  55. Comrey, A.L., Lee, H.B.: A first course in factor analysis, 2nd edn. Erlbaum (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  56. Blaikie, N.: Approaches to social enquiry. Polity, Cambridge (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  57. Mulaik, S.A.: Blurring distinctions between component analysis and common factor analysis. Multivar. Behav. Res. 25(1), 53–59 (1990)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Hardin, J.R., Stocks, M.H., Graves, O.F.: The effect of match or mismatch between the career anchors and the job set tings of CPAs: An empirical analysis. Adv. Account. 18, 119–148 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Muzio, D., Brock, D.M., Suddaby, R.: Professions and institutional change: towards an institutionalist sociology of the professions. J. Manage. Stud. 50(5), 699–721 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Guest, D.E.: Perspectives on the study of work-life balance. Soc. Sci. Inf. 41(2), 255–279 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Presser, H.B.: Job, family and gender: determinants of nonstandard schedules among employed Americans in 1991. Demography 32, 577–595 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Lewis, S., Cooper, C.: The work–family research agenda in changing contexts. J. Occup. Health Psychol. 4(4), 382–393 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Mainiero, L.A., Sullivan, S.E.: Kaleidoscope careers: An alternative explanation of the “opt-out” revolution. Acad. Manag. Executive 19(1), 106–123 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  64. Igbaria, M., Greenhaus, J.H., Parasuraman, S.: Career orientations of MIS employees: an empirical analysis. MIS Q. 15(2), 151–169 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Derr, C.B.: Five definitions of career success: implications for relationships. Appl. Psychol. 35(3), 415–435 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Schein, E.H.: Organizational Culture and Leadership: A Dynamic View. Jossey-Bass (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  67. Hofstede, G.: Culture’s consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. SAGE (1980)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The project was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) General Charitable Trust and the School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Stephanie Lambert, Andrew Rothwell & Ian Herbert

Authors
  1. Stephanie Lambert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andrew Rothwell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ian Herbert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie Lambert .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Julia Kotlarsky

  2. Loughborough Universiry , Loughborough, United Kingdom

    Ilan Oshri

  3. London School of Economics , London, United Kingdom

    Leslie P. Willcocks

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Cite this paper

Lambert, S., Rothwell, A., Herbert, I. (2016). Exploring Career Anchors in Shared Service Centres. In: Kotlarsky, J., Oshri, I., Willcocks, L. (eds) Shared Services and Outsourcing: A Contemporary Outlook. Global Sourcing 2016. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 266. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47009-2_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47009-2_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47008-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47009-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation