The document discusses career opportunities and boundaries for professionals in the Swiss energy industry. It presents a theoretical framework called "career politics" that views careers as mediated by contextual constraints. An ongoing case study at Berne University examines the career concepts of engineers, project managers, and energy traders at a major Swiss energy company. Interviews found largely hierarchical career paths favoring management, with few alternatives recognized. Technical professionals faced tensions between their identities and management roles. Those with versatile skills negotiated customized career plans. The study aims to understand how professionals cope with intersecting career boundaries in knowledge-intensive fields.

1. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Media&ng
with
intersected
career
boundaries.
Career
poli&cs
of
professionals
in
the
energy
supply
industry
in
Switzerland.
Dr.
Peter
Kels
Berne
University
of
Applied
Sciences
Competence
Centre
for
Corporate
&
Business
Development

2. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Aim
and
subject
of
the
ar@cle
Focusing
on
the
interplay
between
career
self-­‐
management
strategies
and
career
boundaries
by
1. Presen@ng
a
theore@cal
framework
(“career
poli@cs”)
&
reinven@ng
some
basis
assump@ons
of
career
theory
2. An
explora@on
of
the
complex
rela@onship
of
career
self-­‐
management
and
career
boundaries
based
on
an
company
case
study
located
in
the
Swiss
energy
supply
industry
3. Drawing
a
conclusion
for
the
debate
on
“boundaryless”
careers
and
career
boundaries
2

3. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Theore@cal
Framework:
The
concept
of
“career
poli@cs”
- Basic
assump&ons:
1. Context-­‐dependency:
The
acquisi@on
of
career
capital
is
bounded
to
different
work-­‐related
contexts
and
the
cri@cal
role
of
gatekeepers
(in
organiza@ons,
occupa@ons,
industries,
social
networks)
2. Social
embeddedness:
Careers
and
career
poli@cs
relate
to
social
rela@onships,
roles
and
iden@@es
in
work/outside
the
world
of
work.
- Careers
poli&cs
can
be
understood
as
reflexive
modes
coping
with
and
media&ng
constraints
and
boundaries
individuals
are
faced
with
in
their
career
field
and
life
situa@on
3

4. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Methodology
- Interim
results
taken
from
the
ongoing
research
project
MAPCA,
located
at
the
Berne
University
of
Applied
Sciences
(Managing
Professionals
Careers
in
knowledge-­‐based
companies)
- MAPCA
is
aimed
at
the
occupa@onal,
company-­‐specific
opportuni@es
for
career
advancement
as
well
as
the
career
concepts
and
strategies
of
professional
employees
in
knowledge
and
technology-­‐intensive
companies
(www.mapca.ch)
- 3
areas
of
knowledge-­‐based
work
examined:
engineering,
project
management
and
energy
trading
Organiza(onal
career
opportuni(es
and
Career
poli(cs
media(ng
with
organiza(onal
boundaries
career
boundaries
11
expert
interviews
with
HR
and
line
managers
15
problem-­‐centric
interviews
(Witzel
2000)
with
professionals
with
family
responsibili@es
Document
of
related
firm-­‐specific
documents
4

5. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Case
Study
DISCUSSION
OF
RESULTS
5

6. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Career
opportuni@es
and
boundaries
at
“Energy”
- Absence
of
alterna@ve,
officially
valued
career
tracks
beside
the
management
track
- Hierarchical
progression,
leadership
responsibili@es
and
pres@ge
as
prevalent
no@ons
of
an
organiza@onal
career
- “Post-­‐bureaucra@c”,
subjec@ve
career
concepts
play
a
vital
role
for
direc@ng
professional
biographies,
but
are
not
recognized
in
the
corporate
culture
- Careers
progression
s@ll
seem
subject
to
informal,
poli@cized
powerplays
and
intransparent
decisions
of
an
elite
of
male
execu@ves
- The
influence
of
HR
strategies
and
suppor@ng
infrastructure
on
individual
career
progression
seems
rela@vely
marginal
- Ques@on:
How
do
talents
in
knowledge-­‐intense
fields
cope
with
these
boundaries?
Are
they
able
to
trangress
them?
6

7. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Career
poli@cs
media@ng
with
intersected
career
boundaries.
Type
1:
Technical
Professionals
- Career
ra@onality
focused
on
gaining
and
expanding
their
professional
skills
and
experiences
in
technical
fields
- Professional
self-­‐concept:
being
an
engineer,
ideals
of
professional
communi@es
- Conflict:
cogni@ve
dissonance
between
career
progression
(management)
and
preserving
their
achieved
career
iden@ty
as
an
Technical
Professional:
“If
I
would
achieve
a
career
step,
then
I
will
automa@cally
take
away
my
own
technical
work.”
- Two
different
coping
strategies:
1. Refusing
leadership
responsibili@es
and
acquiring
a
cross-­‐company
reputa@on
as
a
Technical
expert
in
a
specific
professional
domain.
2. Moving
into
leadership
posi@ons
on
lower
levels
and
stay
near
to
their
“community
of
prac@ce”
7

8. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Career
poli@cs
media@ng
with
intersected
career
boundaries.
Type
2:
Versa@lists
- Career
ra@onality
focused
on
developing
a
polyvalent
porfolio
of
competencies
- Professional
self-­‐concept:
Intellectual
flexibility,
networking
competencies,
a
business
orienta@on
and
a
strong
affinity
to
conceptual,
entrepreneurial
tasks
- Career
orienta@on:
expansion
of
responsibili@es
in
the
field
of
project
management
and
business
development
- Career
Strategy:
nego@a@ng
career
opportuni@es
customized
to
individual
needs:
“If
energy
wants
to
retain
me,
they
have
to
plan
step
for
me
and
have
to
say,
okay,
we
will
support
you
on
your
way”.
- In
the
case
of
family
responsibili@es:
finding
a
good
compromise
between
own
career
ambi@ons,
career
opportuni@es
and
work-­‐life-­‐balance.
8

9. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Career
poli@cs
media@ng
with
intersected
career
boundaries.
Type
3:
Autonomy-­‐Seekers
- Career
ra@onality
focused
self-­‐determina@on
in
their
work
- Professional
self-­‐concept:
being
a
top-­‐talent
with
a
broad
range
of
capabili@es,
performing
in
an
excellent
way,
collaborate
with
other
high-­‐performers
- Career
ambi@ons
are
not
bound
to
specific
professions,
occupa@ons
or
organiza@ons
- Concept
of
subjec@ve
career
success:
using
opportuni@es
to
prove
themselves
in
changing
roles,
knowledge
areas,
and
working
iden@@es
(in
the
life
course)
- Career
strategy:
crea@ng
“privileged
rela@onships”
to
supervisors:
“I’m
in
a
posi@on
where
I
can
choose
which
problems
I
would
like
to
work
on
and
which
of
them
not.
I
have
a
rela@vely
privileged
rela@onship
with
my
boss,
because
he
knows
that
I’m
good
at
things
I
like.
Therefore,
he
gives
me
a
lot
of
freedom
to
perform
well,
and
that
is
in
his
and
my
interest.”
9

10. Berne University of Applied Sciences
Conclusion
- Evidence
of
a
coexistence
of
bounded
and
boundaryless
career
concepts
within
the
workforce
of
single
organiza@ons
- The
tradi&onal
culture/structures
of
corporate
careers
(hierarchical
progression,
undisrupted
career
moves,
gendered
careers,
posi@onal
power
of
management
elites)
persist
- No&ons
of
subjec&ve
career
success
(fulfilling
work,
professional
autonomy,
integra@on
of
work
and
life)
are
central
career
orienta&ons
in
the
field
of
knowledge-­‐based
work
- “Loose
coupling”
(Mayrhofer
et
al
2004)
between
organiza&onal
and
individual
career
poli&cs
- Transferable
career
competencies
don’t
lead
necessarily
to
“boundaryless
careers”:
they
are
ojen@mes
used
to
nego&ate
or
create
career
opportuni&es
within
the
organiza&onal
context
10