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Is the boundaryless career an organisational benefit, liability or irrelevance? 

An investigation into boundaryless career competencies, career success and intention to 

leave. 

A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of 

Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Albany 

Charlotte Rebecca Boyd 

2009 



ABSTRACT 

This thesis asked whether contemporary organisations are faced with a paradox: 

are boundaryless career competencies linked to career success but also organisational 

turnover? Employees of a large New Zealand organisation (n= 568) were surveyed using 

an intranet based questionnaire. Through analysis using structural equation modelling, the 

best fit model showed that people who demonstrate a high level of investment in career 

competencies were also likely to show a high level of career success but, contrary to 

expectations, people who are successful in their careers are less likely to think about 

leaving the organisation. Therefore, contrary to boundaryless career theory, inter­

organisational movement is not necessarily the goal for contemporary career actors. It 

may be that people stay in an organisation despite, or even because, they are investing in 

boundaryless career competencies. Furthermore, people who see internal opportunities 

for mobility are less likely to consider leaving, while people who see external 

opportunities for mobility will have a higher intention to leave. Hence whether people 

with high career success stay or go may depend on whether the organisation allows for 

expression of career competencies. It may be that internal opportunities 'trump' external 

opportunities, or vice versa. This research is valuable in three key ways, providing: ( 1) 

the operationalisation of career competencies, tentatively shown to link to career success, 

for use in career management and further research (2) findings which question the key 

boundaryless career assumptions of mobility and the end of the organisational career (3) 

an interpretation of results suggesting non-significant effects of age and gender may be 

due to allowance for shifting priorities and context in the model. In light of these findings 

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the 'Chameleon Career' is suggested as an alternative metaphor to the boundaryless 

career, to reflect the need for the individual and the organisation to adapt to the changing 

environment. 

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

I would like to give my thanks to my supervisor Dr Stuart Carr for his patience, 

and to Dr Richard Fletcher for his assistance with the statistical analysis. I am grateful to 

Trisha McEwan for being a source of inspiration, as well as her support in carrying out 

the survey. I also thank my family and friends for their encouragement throughout this 

process. Special thanks to Shane for all the ways he has helped, and to Mum for 

proofreading and organising the final stages of thesis completion. 

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CONTENTS 

ABSTRACT .......... .... ......... ..... .. ... ... ............................................. .......... ...... ......... ... .. .... ..... 2 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .. .... ..... ..... .. .... ...... ...... ..... .... .............................. .. .. ..... ............ .. 4 

LIST OF TABLES .... .... ... ................ ... ...................... ... .... ... .. .. ........ ..... ..... ... ........ .. ........ ... .. 7 

LIST OF FIGURES ....... .... ... .... ....... ... .. ....... .... ............................................ ... ...... .. ....... ... .. 8 

THESIS 

Introduction ..... .. .... ......... .... .. ... .. .... ....... .. ......... ...... ............. .. .............. ...... ... ....... ..... 9 

Boundary less career competencies ..... .. .... ......... .... .. ....... ..... ... ...... ... ......... 18 

Career success .............. .................................................. .. .. .... ........ .. ......... 23 

Intention to leave ..... .... .. .. ........................ ......... .... .... ....... .. ... ........ ............ . 28 

Method ..... ........ .................... ......... .... ...... .. ... ..... ............ ...... .................................. 32 

Participants .... ........ ...... ....... ... ....................... .. ............. .... .. .... ........ .... ... .. ... 32 

Materials ................................................... ......... .. ..................................... 33 

Measures ........ ...... ....... ........ .... ...... ......... ......... ... .................... ........... .. ...... 34 

Procedure .............. ........ .. ... .... ... ................................... .. ..... .... ....... .. ... .. ... . 39 

Results ....... ...... .......... .... .... ... .... .... ... .... ... ..... .. ...... .. ................. ................... ... ....... .. 41 

Structural equation modelling .................. .......... ........ ... .... ... ... .... ..... ... ..... . 41 

Measurement models ... .... ... ..... ... .. ..... ... .... ..... ....... ... ...... ... ...... .... ... ......... .. 44 

The structural model ... .................... ................................... ... .. .... ....... .... ... 53 

Age and gender effects ........ ...................... ... ..... ...... ....... ........ ... ....... ... ...... 60 

Discussion .... ... ..... ...... ..... ........ .... .. ....... .. .. .... ...... ... ... ....... ... .. .......... .. ..... .... .... .. ... ... 65 

Summary of findings ...... ... ... ...... ..... ..... ........... ... ..... ............ ...................... 65 

Links to boundaryless career theory .... ................... ................. ........ ..... .. .. 66 

Implications and value of the research ...................................................... 77 

Limitations and suggestions for future research ..................... ........... ....... 80 

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CONCLUSION .............................................................. ......... .. .... ......... ... .... ... ... ............ .. 84 

REFERENCES ............. ... ................ .. .... ... .. .... ........... ........ .. ..................... ... ......... ............ 85 

APPENDICES ........ ... ... ....... ..... .. ... .. ......... .... ... ....................... ........................ .. ................ 95 

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LIST OFT ABLES 

Table I: Sample characteristics ....... ........ ......... ....... .. ... ..... ... ... ... ............ .. .... ....... ... ... ..... .. 33 

Table 2: Items for investment in ' three ways of knowing' ..... .. ... ... ... .... ..... ..... ...... .......... . 35 

Table 3: Initial pattern matrix for the career competencies scale, with items to be 
removed highlighted .... .... .... .... .. .......... .. ... .... ... ..... ..... ... ...... .... ........ ..... ....... .... .... ........... .. . 46 

Table 4: Fit stati stics and alpha levels for each of the first order measurement 
models ........... ... .... ............... .... .. ....... .. ...... .... .. ... ..... .. .... ... ...... ...... ... ........... .. .. ................. ... 53 

Table 5: Fit stati stics for each of the structural models .. ................................ ... .... ........... 57 

Table 6: Showing maximum-likelihood and bootstrap estimates for Model 3 
relationships ...... ................ .. .. ..... ......... ..... .... .. .... .. ...... ..... .... ....... .. ... ..................... ............. 58 

Table 7: Fit indexes for invariance tests for Model 3 ............. .... ....... ... .. .. .... .. .. .. ....... ..... .. 64 

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LIST OF AGURES 

Figure I: showing Model I hypothesised relationships between boundaryless career 
competencies, career success and intention to leave .. .... ...................... .. ..... ....... ... ...... ...... 17 

Figure 2: showing Model 2 hypothesised relationships between boundaryless career 
competencies, career success and intention to leave ..... ... ... ......... ....... ................... ... ........ 18 

Figure 3: AMOS diagram for career competency measurement model. ............... .. .. ....... .48 

Figure 4: AMOS diagram for career success measurement model... ........ ..... ....... ............ 50 

Figure 5: AMOS diagram for intention to leave measurement model... ............. .... .. .... .... 52 

Figure 6: AMOS diagram showing Model 1 ..................................................................... 55 

Figure 7: AMOS diagram showing Model 2 ......................... .. .................... .... ..... ... .. ........ 55 

Figure 8: AMOS diagram showing Model 3, including added 
paths .... .. .... ......................... .. ......... .. ........... .... .. ..... .. .... ... .. ...... ...... ....... ............................... 56 

Figure 9: AMOS diagram showing Model 4, including 
age ....................... .. ................................................ .... ... ........... .. ... ...... .. .............................. 60 

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