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There has been a long controversy in the literature on assessing the value of human capital – a long-sought but elusive and challenging task. The ability to quantify flexible human capital (FHC) has been a shortcoming in extant literature. We make a meaningful contribution by showing how real options (RO) methodology can be used to quantify FHC and we provide complementary case study evidence from Fortune 500 “best companies to work for” that the value of employee career development is higher in more volatile sectors in line with real options theory (ROT).

This article provides a prescriptive RO methodology for adopting a more flexible, staged SHRM organizational perspective suitable for uncertain environments, and explores its theoretical and empirical implications through the dual use of RO methodological modelling and multi-case study data involving ten Fortune 500 companies. The case study approach is aimed at creating managerially relevant knowledge. The relevance of our approach to managerial practice is shown through guidelines on how a company like Google might use the RO methodology to estimate the career development option value so as to inform its internal development program for employees to create and capture value.

Our focus is on the staging flexibility in HR as exemplified by the internal career development process. This process can be viewed as a multi-stage (compound) option involving various types of HC uncertainty, HC options, and HR practices. We model staging HR deployment via the option to promote staff employees to middle-level management, itself embedding the option to rise to the top management. To empirically validate our valuation approach, we present case study research that enables quantifying the option value of a career development program and allows assessing how much a mismatch exists in a sample of ten public U.S. companies.

The overall staging quantification idea is important as it offers guidance as to how to value HR as a sequential investment process under uncertain demand or skill conditions. The analysis is limited to the extent that staged career development might interact with other types of human capital (e.g. switch and learning) options and HR practices (e.g. training). Human resources may also interact with other organizational intangibles, such as brand equity. Our analysis also does not account for psychological considerations from the employees' perspective, such organizational commitment facilitating trust to enable reciprocal commitments, which remains a fruitful subject for future extensions.

ROT can provide useful guidance and tools for HR scholars and managers. By keeping tabs on HR-based flexibility value and focusing on the key input variables driving HR flexibility, HR managers can determine the flexibility value unleashed from staging the deployment of HC resources in the face of unanticipated demand and skills shifts.

This is the first paper that attempts to quantify the value of staged career development flexibility using the RO methodology. This article will be cited for its innovativeness in being the first to quantify the value of human capital's contribution to corporate value creation and provide objective evaluation in the context of organizational career-development programs. Besides providing useful insights to scholars, the article also demonstrates how the RO methodology can apply to actual companies and inform managerial practice offering guidelines of relevance to HR practitioners on how to quantify the value of staged HC development in an uncertain environment.

Examines interest in career options allowing greater flexibility but slower career advancement among women and men employed in a single large professional services firm. Reports on data which were collected by questionnaires completed anonymously. Women expressed significantly greater interest in such career options than did men. Women and men expressing greater interest in such options described the firm in more negative ways and reported both less job satisfaction and greater intention to quit. Women and men who were married, and who had children, were more interested in alternative career options. In addition, women who spent more time commuting to work, and women whose spouses worked more hours than they did, were also more interested in them. Men whose spouses were employed outside the home for pay also expressed greater interest in them as well. It seems that organizations might increase satisfaction and reduce turnover of some employees by providing such alternatives.

The present paper examines the effects of two decision‐framing inductions on young adults' set of career options: first, whether young adults use abilities or interests as the grounds for their vocational choices and, second, whether young adults approach the decision‐making task by including all career options to which they feel positively or by eliminating all career options to which they feel negatively.

A 2 × 2 experimental design was used to collect data from a diverse group of college undergraduates.

The results suggest that individuals who choose careers on the basis of skills and who use the inclusion decision‐making procedure are significantly more likely to narrow down their sets of career options.

The paper also suggests that Holland's model of vocational choice (RIASEC) may be differentially useful in guiding students to appropriate vocations for themselves. Students with a “social” profile, for example, have a much larger and more diffuse set of career options available to them than students with “realistic” or “investigative” profiles.

The findings here suggest that the prevalent practice of focusing students' attention on finding activities they like may be less successful in helping students identify appropriate careers than focusing students' attention on their skills and abilities.

The paper addresses a career decision‐making phenomenon that has received increasing attention in the press and among educators.

The direct selling industry is experiencing phenomenal growth in Malaysia. The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry projects that there will be a 20 percent increase in volume of direct sales growth to RM5.5 billion in 2010, RM6.2 billion in 2011 and RM7 billion in 2012. The Direct Selling Act 1993 has been reinforced to accord protection to potential consumers. With the real wages in Malaysia decreasing and increasing unemployment especially among fresh graduates there may be a greater incentive to explore multilevel marketing (MLM) to supplement their income and maintain their desired modern lifestyle. However, the perception of MLM has in the past been tainted by unscrupulous pyramid and Ponzi schemes which aims at quick profits and are not sustainable. This paper aims to investigate the influence of perception of MLM companies and agent attributes on the willingness to undertake MLM as a career among youth.

The sample of this study comprised 218 students pursuing business and management degrees at a private higher education institution in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Methodologically, this study developed statistically valid and reliable scales for all the constructs of this study namely perception of attributes of MLM companies (general, schemes and service) an agents (general and trust) as well as willingness to undertake MLM as a career option.

The findings indicate that all MLM company and agent attributes have a significant influence on the willingness to undertake MLM as a career option except MLM schemes. General agent attributes displayed a significant negative influence.

MLM companies need to make their schemes more understandable and transparent to solidify the legitimacy and sustainability as the employer of choice.

The paper shows that MLM remains a viable career option for youth and they need to be equipped with adequate training in personal selling, entrepreneurship and soft skills. MLM companies can tap and nurture this pool of young talent to meet their human resource needs for future growth of this industry in Malaysia.

PhD graduates are entering an increasing range of careers, but past research has highlighted a lack of preparation for these careers. This study aims to explore the reflections of PhD graduates from science and humanities and social science disciplines regarding support for career development (CD) during their study.

The authors used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design and collected 136 survey responses and interviewed 21 PhD graduates from two US and one New Zealand universities to investigate their career readiness. Using the lens of Cognitive Information Processing theory, the authors explored the development of self-knowledge and career options-knowledge, and how support at the macro (institutional), meso (departmental) and micro (supervisors) levels influenced CD.

During doctoral study, there was very poor engagement with CD activities. Graduates displayed limited self-knowledge and poor knowledge about career options. Graduates reported drawing mainly on their departments and supervisors for career guidance. Although there were pockets of good practice, some departments were perceived as promoting academia as the only successful outcome, neglecting to support other possible pathways. Some graduates reported excellent supervisor support for CD, but others described disinterest or a damaging response if students said they were not wanting to pursue academia.

The enabling aspects for developing self- and options-knowledge are collated into a conceptual model, which identifies key factors at institutional, departmental and supervisor levels, as well as for PhD students themselves.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the career preferences of real estate students and the predisposing factors influencing the choice of career. The study also analysed the gender and socioeconomic variations with respect to the career preferences and factors influencing the career choice of real estate students in an emergent market like Nigeria.

Closed-ended questionnaires were administered on final year real estate students in the three Federal universities offering real estate in Southwestern Nigeria. Data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, mean ranking, independent t-test, analysis of variance and correlation analysis.

The findings showed that the predominant individual factors influencing career choice of real estate students were personal career interest, the magnitude of initial salary, future financial prospects and job security. Furthermore, while intrinsic and economic/financial factors were the major themes influencing respondents’ career choice, the influence of a third party was less a likely determinant. Analysis of gender differences showed that there was a statistical difference between the male and female respondents with respect to the intrinsic and career exposure factors.

The study has implications for real estate students, career advisers/academic counsellors, organisations employing the services of real estate graduates, and educational institutions and policy stakeholders in the real estate sector. The study also has implication for real estate professional bodies in Nigeria and other emergent markets.

This is perhaps the first attempt that examined the factors influencing the career choice of real estate students in an emergent market like Nigeria, especially from the perspectives of gender and socioeconomic variations.

This study aims at addressing the impact of entrepreneurial education (EE) by highlighting career choice intentions (CCI) and entrepreneurial mindset (EM) as impact indicators, as well as unpacking the drivers and mediators in the formation of CCI among college students underpinned by social cognitive career theory (SCCT).

The hypotheses were tested on a survey sample of 1,198 students from 15 higher education institutions in China. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare the different effects of EE on CCI, which is a categorical variable with four types of options.

The results confirmed the effects of EE on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), entrepreneurial outcome expectations (EOE) and EM, as well as the heterogeneity of antecedent connections with students preferring one career choice to the others. The results also revealed the mediating role of ESE and EOE in the model.

The study implies that ESE and EM should be integrated into EE learning outcomes and educators should focus on multiple career choice intentions rather than just entrepreneurial intention for college students' sustainable development.

The research contributes to the literature by verifying CCI and EM as impact indicators of EE, to a nuanced understanding of the educational development of various options of career paths by comparing different career intentions in a mediating model and to the expansion of SCCT by integrating diverse factors in a coherent model within the context of higher education in China.

This exploratory research aims to utilize a unique dataset obtained from the China Project of “Global University Entrepreneurial Spirits Students Survey” (GUESSS) to assess Chinese students' career choice intentions in general and entrepreneurial intention in particular, the dynamics of changes in career choice intentions, and impacts of career motives, university environment and perceived barriers.

The research followed the survey instrument and protocol designed by the organizer of the international GUESSS project. The sample in the dataset contains data of about 850 students who participated in China and 450 overseas Chinese students who participated in other countries in the international GUESSS project.

The most preferred career choice option for Chinese students right after leaving university is to work in a large company and their intention to start an own company is low. However, in five years after graduation, founding an own company is identified as the most preferred option. The change appears to be primarily associated with students' perception of own maturity, confidence and improved financial position.

The results indicate that the support of graduate entrepreneurship at universities shows first positive impacts, the entrepreneurship programs however still need to be extended to bridge the gap to realization. The insights into Chinese students' entrepreneurial intention are therefore of great value for educators, policy makers, and future student generations.

GUESSS is the first study to explore the entrepreneurial spirit of Chinese students in great depth and to enable an international comparison of the findings.

Within the dynamic nature of labour markets, career systems have witnessed major changes in recent decades. This paper presents several career perspectives, to manifest a trend in career systems and their meaning and implications for individuals, organizations and society. This trend may be portrayed as a transition from what may be labelled “linear career system” into a “multidirectional career system”. Possible explanations to the phenomenon are presented, with suggested ideas for analysing and learning from the trend. The last section of the paper presents the academic career model as a prospective role model for future career systems, suggested as an intriguing idea and food for thought. Such a mental exercise of examining alternative career models, different from the traditional concept of careers, may be useful for both theory development and managerial practice.