Human resources profile in the virtual organization based on the career anchors of Edgar Schein.

Dumitrescu, Diana Mariana

1. INTRODUCTION

The concept of "virtual organization" represents a relatively new idea, combining a series of perspectives based on common considerations about computers and management, and lacking a universally accepted definition. If some authors concentrate on the separation between distinct types of activities when defining the concept: the virtual organization is a way of structuring, managing and operating, separating the abstract requirements from concrete satisfiers; the essence of virtual organization is the management of goal-oriented activity in a way that is independent of the means for its realization (Mowshowitz, 2002), others see it as a network of entities that act in a unitary fashion during a determined period of time, sharing the member's resources and capabilities based on information technology. Its network-like architecture contains hubs that represent research or innovative teams (Cotet et al., 2007). Generally, the virtual organization represents a flexible, dynamic structure of geographically dispersed entities, where communication is realised mostly or exclusively by electronic means, where tasks are divided according to member's specialization or competence. In the developing stages of a virtual organization, personal trust between partners is essential for a good and productive cooperation, in some cases being more important than a set of specific competences. (Dumitrescu et. al., 2008)

2. THE CAREER ANCHORS OF EDGAR SCHEIN

By the concept of internal career Schein understands the subjective sense of where one is going in his or her's work life, while the external career means the formal stages and roles that are defined by organizational policies and societal concepts of what an individual can expect in the occupational structure (Schein, 1978). No matter what changes take place in a person's external career at a certain time, that person will constantly have a formed self-concept of his internal career, meaning that he has a determined "career anchor".

As it represents the image about one's self, a certain career anchor reveals the inclination of a person towards a certain line of work, based on a combination between competences (talents), values and needs. (Vlasceanu, 2002). The "anchor" metaphor implies that each person has a set of core values that he will not give up when asked to make a choice, and which characterize him best. Edgar Schein, a professor specialised in social psihology, indexed eight career anchors since 1961: "Autonomy /Independence", "Security /Stability", "Technica--Functional Competence", "General Managerial Competence", "Entrepreneurial Creativity", "Service or Dedication to a Cause", "Pure Challenge", and "Life Style".

3. METHODOLOGY

In order to identify the dominant career anchor for people who work in a virtual organization, Edgar Schine's questionnaire was applied to a number of 14 persons who are members of such an organization from Romania: INPRO (National Research Network for Integrated Product and Process Engineering). Because we applied this questionnaire on a small scale it does not presume to have statistic relevance or generalization value. However, it can be seen as a starting point for a future detailed analisis. The article also contains references about a qualitative study conducted on the same organization in the year 2008 on matters concerning the key aspects of the virtual organization.

4. FINDINGS

The dominant career anchor identified among the respondents was that of "Lifestyle" (meaning disinclination to sacrifice life style solely for career advancement), followed closely by that of "Autonomy/Independence" (wanting to be self reliant).

The main characteristic of the persons fitting the career anchor of "Autonomy/Independence" is that of self-reliance. In the virtual organization, self reliance is crucial for task accomplishment. Individuals who fit this description prefere to accomplish work tasks in their own style and rhythm. They prefere flexible or part time work schedules and they search for a work area where autonomy is possible, such as research and development. Of course, much more people feel the need to be independent in their careers than those that actually accomplish this autonomy. But in order for career autonomy to be possible, a high degree of specialization is required.

Persons who have as a career anchor "Lifestyle" want to integrate their career into their personal life and usually have dual career situations, having to integrate two careers and two sets of personal and family concerns into a coherent overall pattern, best described as a particular life style (Schein, 1996). They prefer flexible work hours, working from home instead of coming to an office, and they seek a work environment that respects the importance of family and personal life. They value flexibility, but, unlike the persons anchored in "Autonomy", they accept working in an organization only if they are allowed to follow their own options, in time periods they consider acceptable. (Vlasceanu, 2002). These so-called non-standard work arrangements, with a flexibile work schedule can also bring disadvantages in the virtual organization context (at times members must take an extra time in order to meet deadlines). Many other times, because of the nature of the virtual work environment (available anywhere and at any time), the personal life of the the members can be invaded by work related activities. In a study conducted in 2008 on the same organization, the large majority of members stated that they spend between 2 and 6 hours of their personal time dealing with obligations towards the virtual organization, even if they weren't obligated by contract to do it. Partners know the internet can be accessed anytime and there can be no excuses of this kind for any delayes and therefore, everyone working in the virtual environment expects prompt answers to their demands. The members openly admitted that the introduction of the virtual communication in their organization lead to the shortning of member's personal time. The barier between professional and personal life becomes blurred. Admitting there is no fixed schedule in the virtual organization, a new task can appear at any time, once with receiving a new e-mail.

The third career anchor present in the studied group, but at a certain distance from the first two, was that of "Technical-Functional Competence". These persons have inclination towards a certain type of activity, search for jobs that require specialization and this is why they see themselves as extremely mobile. They are considered specialists in a certain field and they are motivated by the intrinsic nature of the work they do. Knowing that all the persons questioned in the present case study were engineers, and the organization that they belonged to was concentrated on activities of engineering profile, at first glance it can seem surprising that there were not more cases of this type of career anchor found. In the virtual organization, where knowledge and technology set the rules of the work process and where tasks are divided according to member's competence, members are mostly specialists, with high developed competences in the functional work they conduct. For the virtual organization it is vital to have specialists that are kept up to date with their skills and competences in the ever changing technological environment. This doesn't mean that the persons characterized by "Autonomy/Independence" and "Lifestyle" do not have a high degree of specialization. As stated before, a certain career anchor represents the most important values that a person would not give up in any given situation. If the need to fully use one's competences can be satisfied in other tipes of organizations, the need for autonomy and keeping the balance between professional and private life is best satisfied by the virtual organization.

5. CONCLUSION

The "Autonomy/Independence" and "Life Style" anchors fit best the work requirements in a virtual organization: there is no fixed schedule, people can work from any location of their choice, only needing a internet connection and a proper computer, they can work in their own rhythm because they are specialists in their own field of work and therefore they appreciate a high level of autonomy due to their high specialization (they do not need constant control or supervision in order to complete a certain task). The researchers are paid on contract basis (which could be interpreted as a meritocratic approach) and because of the determined character of their employment they have much more career flexibility in a long run. With the advance of virtual organization, contract labour will become the norm, and only the skilled will be able to count on continuing assignments enabling them to carry out their work on a regular basis. The ideal of permanent employment will give way to one of continual employment with smooth transitions between contracts (Mowshowitz, 2002). Contract employment affords flexibility to both workers and organizations. Organizational position and advancement is now determined by one's relevant knowledge and skills, therefore promotion in the virtual organization is no longer based on seniority or loyalty. In the information society, the knowledge worker is mobile and autonomous. As we have seen, persons adapted to this work model are highly independent and self-directed in what they do. The virtual environment worker is self-reliant, he has the capacity to constantly learn new things and to adjust to new tasks, and he has more responsibility for doing his work correctly and on time. A byproduct of this flexible work organization can be job insecurity, which can have a negative impact on employee loyalty and therefore, people having the need for stability and security cannot cope well within the dynamics of the virtual work environment. All these arguments could be also interpreted as leading to the creation of a "work elite", that is of the dominance of those who have the new required know-how in regard to the virtual work environment and who are sure of always finding an appreciated job offer. By using the concept of "career anchors" we can discover the internal motivation and the core values of people choosing to work in the virtual work environment. This is not an exhaustive personnel selection method but it can be a usefull tool for either self assessment for someone considering this line of work or for a human resourses manager in charge of selecting the best suited candidates. For example, a person best described by the career anchor "Security/Stability" would not be self satisfied by her work in the long run as she would not be in accordance with the basic characteristics of the virtual environment. Future research will focus on validating this selection model (application on a larger scale) and completing it with other human resources selection instruments.

Work culture and the way it is perceived by both employer and employee are changing. The limits between work hours and leisure time become blurred. Understanding the mechanisms of the internal career and the adaptation process between a person's needs and values and the organizational requirements is crucial for human resources management in any organization that wants to have the best suited employees.

6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is beneficiary of the project "Doctoral scholarships supporting research: Competitiveness, quality, and cooperation in the European Higher Education Area", co-funded by the European Union through the European Social Fund, Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013.

7. REFERENCES

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Dumitrescu, D.M.; Popa, C.L.; Nica, G.B. & Cotet, C.E. (2008). Competences Versus Trust in a Young Virtual Organization, Proceedings of The 19th International DAAAM SYMPOSIUM, Katalinic, B. (Ed.), pp. 453-454, ISBN 978-3-901509-68-1, Trnava, Slovakia, October, 2008, Published by DAAAM International, Vienna

Mowshowitz, A. (2002). Virtual Organization, Toward a Theory of Societal Transformation Stimulated by Information Technology, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 1-56720-501-1, USA

Schein, E.H. (1978). Career dynamics: Matching individual and organizational needs, Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., ISBN 0201068346, Reading, USA

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