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The purpose of this study is to provide an insight into how individual and work factors are related to the attitudes of functional flexibility by using the willingness and ability to be flexible as dimensions of functional flexibility.

This study is conducted through a survey of workers and administrative staff of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan. Correlation and hierarchical regression techniques were used to find out the association of the dimensions of functional flexibility with the individual and work factors. Individual factors include demographic characteristics, work perception and personality traits, whereas work factors include trust in management, task formalization and autonomy.

Individual factors (i.e. general self-efficacy and initiative) and one of the work factors (i.e. trust in management) showed a positive relation, whereas task formalization was negatively related with the willingness to be flexible. General self-efficacy of workers and administrative staff was positively correlated with the ability to be flexible dimension of functional flexibility. It was concluded from the findings that the two dimensions of functional flexibility, willingness to be flexible and ability to be flexible, of employees depend on fair treatment and freedom provided by their organization.

The current study was conducted on the employees of SMEs in Pakistan. A similar study on employees of multi-national corporations (MNCs) and service sectors may be useful for comparison.

Management should improve the attitudes of employees toward functional flexibility in SMEs in Pakistan by creating a climate of trust, using lower degree of laid down and prescribed procedures and giving them opportunities for doing new tasks. Furthermore, providing them feedback on the performance and achievement of these new tasks would also help in this regard.

The SMEs of Pakistan are in the process of transformational change. This study highlights the key factors that would be helpful to enhance the functional flexibility of employees working in the SME sector in Pakistan.

Until now there has been surprisingly little research on the causes of and the remedies for skills obsolescence. This study tries to fill that gap to some extent by analysing the relation between risk factors and skills obsolescence. Moreover, the role remedies play to counter skills obsolescence is analysed. Four empirical analyses that relate skills obsolescence to risk factors and remedies are presented. We find that most risk factors identified in the literature can be validated empirically. The remedies for skills obsolescence are not effective in all situations: the results show that there is considerable variation in the effectiveness of the remedies across different types of skills obsolescence. Although current available data do not allow a comprehensive analysis, which also takes account of relations between the various types of skills obsolescence, the results obtained are plausible and offer a starting point for further research.

Intrinsic motivation is held as critical for employees' willingness to be flexible (WTBF). Yet empirical research suggests that employees who find work intrinsically satisfying could resist work changes. In this study, the authors examine if a curvilinear relationship exists between these variables.

The authors predict that the relationship between intrinsic motivation and employees' WTBF will become more positive as intrinsic motivation advances beyond moderate levels. They examine the role developmental supervisor support plays in generating the critical threshold of intrinsic motivation needed for it to be positively related with WTBF. They test their hypotheses with survey data collected in three substantially different employee samples.

Data support the hypothesized curvilinear relationship between intrinsic motivation and WTBF. Developmental supervisor support is found to influence employee flexibility indirectly through its linear effect on intrinsic motivation and, in turn, the quadratic effect of intrinsic motivation on WTBF.

The study provides insight into how and when intrinsic motivation increases employees' WTBF and into the degree of developmental support needed to facilitate a positive relationship between these variables.

This is the first study to the author’s knowledge that empirically examines the relationship between intrinsic motivation and employees' WTBF.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the manner in which HR system’s flexibility, in combination with employees’ individual flexibility (IF) and their positive character traits, such as: optimism, hope, resistance or self-efficacy (which comprise psychological capital (PsychCap)), allow to predict employees’ readiness to display innovative behaviors in the workplace.

A quantitative research methodology was adopted which resulted in the development of a both self-administered online survey instrument (n=166) and employees students in the postgraduate program at the Warsaw School of Economics (n=70). Using a national database of service companies, a random sample of 700 e-mail addresses was generated and respondents were invited to participate in the online survey. This resulted in the completion of 166 online surveys, representing a response rate of 26 percent. The second group of respondents consisted of 70 employees from different organizations in Poland.

On the basis of the analyses it was shown that HR flexibility (HRF) and IF are a generally weak predictor of innovative behaviors. However, in a situation when PsychCap is set to be a mediator, these variables allow to predict innovative work behavior.

Research on the relation of HRF to innovative behaviors has not been sufficiently clarified so far. The achieved results shed new light on the relations of these two variables and indicate that HRF does not translate directly into behaviors of the personnel. However, it should be noted that the relationship of these variables are of indirect nature.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of employability as it has evolved over time and to propose a new definition which reflects the critical variables that contribute to employability at an individual level. It also offers suggestions for how to manage employability and careers at both an individual and an organisational level.

The paper reviews the literature on employability. It considers why employability has become a topic of interest, examines how the concept has evolved over time, and seeks to develop a working definition. It suggests a range of practical strategies for individual and organisations to ensure that employability is managed successfully.

Employability is as dependent on context as on the individual. Therefore the current emphasis on individual responsibility for employability needs to be re‐examined and a greater emphasis placed on how organisations can support employees to manage careers and employability. This shift in emphasis will benefit organisations by creating a more employable labour force as well as contributing to attraction and retention within an increasingly tight labour market.

This paper challenges current definitions of employability by focusing on contextual factors as well as individual characteristics. It suggests a new definition and a range of strategies for managing employability within current career and labour market contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore individual approaches to career and employability through the career stories of a group of mid‐level to senior managers in career transition. Career patterns are identified and then compared with traditional, boundaryless and protean models of career. The study aims to consider the extent to which individuals in this group had adopted behaviours supportive of future employability as opposed to behaviours more in line with traditional careers.

The research adopted an interpretive and qualitative approach. In‐depth interviews were conducted with people currently going through a career transition program. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed, coded and analysed using NVivo, a qualitative research software tool.

Career patterns appeared to be shifting away from traditional careers and more towards protean and boundaryless models. There was evidence of increased responsibility for career self‐management and of behaviours supportive of ongoing employability. Self‐perceived employability could be linked to degree of job mobility and having a future career orientation.

Despite the small sample size and the subjective nature of self‐reported career histories the study provides insights into the relationship between career patterns and employability. Both organisations and individuals need to work towards developing attitudes and behaviours supportive of employability such as flexibility, adaptability and a future career orientation.

Individual level career management will need to focus more on the development of attitudes and behaviours appropriate to contemporary employment relationships than on the development of formal career plans. At an organizational level support can be provided by encouraging flexibility through activities such as job rotation, short‐term projects and opportunities for both internal and external networking.

The study provides empirical evidence of how careers are being managed within contemporary employment relationships.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and impact of effectual logic used by owner-managers of established micro firms when making buying decisions.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 owner-managers of micro firms, concerning their decision-making processes when selecting suppliers. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, then analysed thematically.

This study contributes to the literature in respect of effectuation by considering its use by a micro firm owner-manager to develop relationships with trusted suppliers. The findings suggest effectuation positively promotes flexibility and reduces loss potential, thus positively affecting the price that the owner-manager is willing to pay. Furthermore, it also appears to necessitate effectual selling, with an ongoing iterative process, in which effectual selling leads to effectual buying. In contrast to extant literature, this study suggests that application of effectual logic to buying and selling decisions, by a micro firm owner-manager can create, rather than reduce, uncertainty.

This study is based on single interviews with a sample of owner-managers of micro firms that operate within the same industry and within a single country. The subjective nature of qualitative research, homogeneity and size of sample may prevent generalisation of the findings.

Effectual buying and selling appears to provide a micro firm with the ability to engage with flexible suppliers so as to offer a heterogeneous array of products and services to its customers, thus promoting sales success. Yet, the lack of homogeneity of customer needs and need for supplier flexibility may lead to overall costs being greater than those that could be achieved if the micro firm specialised in a smaller range of products and services and developed internal resources to meet the needs of its customers.

In contrast to extant literature that states that effectuation is a way to reduce uncertainty to a level at which a decision can be made, this study suggests that continual use of effectual logic by owner-managers of micro firms when making buying and selling decisions can instead create more uncertainty in the longer term.

Public private partnerships (PPPs) are a relatively new policy that some governments now use to secure infrastructure assets. The objective of this paper is to document the construction and development of a Victorian state government hospital, Casey Hospital (CH), to identify the essential features of this contract and the relationship between the government and the private sector provider.

A case study approach is employed. The boundaries of the CH case study are limited to the identification of the service or program that was/is subjected to PPP, the reasons for adopting the PPP policy in this instance and what the criteria were that led to a successful/unsuccessful outcome for this project. Data collection methods included interviews with key participants and analysis of archival documentation.

The findings suggest that clear outcomes as specified in the contract specifications, previous experience in the hospital sector and a willingness to be flexible were key factors that resulted in a successful outcome. The government defines success for PPP projects as being built on time and within budget.

Given that governments in Australia and in many developed countries worldwide have now accepted the procurement model known as public private partnerships, further research is required to ensure that future projects meet defined objectives. This study provides an analysis of one case study and further research needs to be carried out for a thorough assessment of this policy.

Casey Hospital was the first hospital in Australia to be constructed and its ancillary facilities operated under the auspices of a PPP policy. This study is significant as public sector managers can use the findings of this report to help inform future decision making with respect to PPP projects.

The paper seeks to explain the differences in drawings (e.g. owner‐manager dividends and salary) strategies among small business managers to show that owner‐managers' personal work values impact on the strategic choices of firms. It also examines the relationships between owner‐managers' work values and the amount of dividends the entrepreneurs take out of the business in order to follow the chosen strategy.

This paper contributes to the existing knowledge of entrepreneurship and small business management. Legal constraints and strategic motivations are essential to drawings strategy. The paper analyses the owner‐managers' work‐related values as a potential determinant of the drawings strategy. The empirical data used to test the hypotheses were drawn from a mail survey and financial statements. The final drawings strategy scales were formed with the help of exploratory factor analysis.

The findings provided evidence that work values are related to drawings strategy factors, and the factors reflect entrepreneurs' attitudes to drawings taken out of the business. However, the authors could not find any relationship between the drawings strategy and how entrepreneurs behave when they actually take dividends.

The findings of this research surprisingly provided evidence that entrepreneurs are unaware of the peremptory provisions of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act. When entrepreneurs decide on the amount of dividends, tax legislation clearly dominates their decision making. This could lead to a situation where the entrepreneur takes more dividends than the solvency test of the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act allows.

This paper contributes to the existing knowledge of entrepreneurship and small business management.

This paper argues that a genuinely customer‐oriented organizational culture is a prerequisite if service firms are to excel in the marketplace. It presents several traits or values representing such a culture and discusses the importance of those values by linking them to unique features of the nature and delivery of services. The paper also addresses problems and prospects associated with developing a customer‐oriented culture, and it concludes with implications for services marketing practitioners and researchers.