Ling, F Y Y and Lee, S Y (2012) Careers development in construction firms: Application of Sun Tzu's Art of War principles. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 19(2), pp. 173-191. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose - Career development involves how employees manage their career advancement. This study aims to investigate the relevance of Sun Tzu's Art of War to career development of construction professionals with the aim of suggesting strategies that may be adopted for career development. Design/methodology/approach - The data collection technique was in-depth interviews with 32 subjects who are Singapore-based construction professionals. The subjects were asked 13 open-ended questions which were developed based on the Art of War. Findings - The main findings on the effective career development strategies are: outperforming peers by developing deep job experience and delivering excellent performance; adopting a team member posture before moving on to a team leader stance; handling office politics and conflicts effectively; maintaining flexibility and manoeuvrability in one's career; networking; and acquiring foreknowledge. Research limitations/implications - The study is qualitative in nature, thus, the actual effectiveness of the recommendations for career development is not known. There may also be some more strategies undisclosed by interviewees as sharing them may cause them to lose their competitive advantage. Practical implications - The effective strategies for career development are found. Construction professionals may adopt some military strategies that may help them in their career development. Social implications - The relevance of military strategies to career development in construction firms suggests that career progression is akin to war, where winning is important and strategizing to win is necessary. Originality/value - In this paper military strategies are mapped onto career development, and relevant career advancement strategies are identified.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | career development; construction professionals; human resource management; literature; Singapore |
| Index terms: | competitive advantage, Singapore, sun, politics, war, construction professional, effectiveness, interview, strategy, networking, human resource management, construction firm, career, methodology |
| Subjects: | energy systems, communication, data collection methods, organization, political science, market analysis, conflict and crisis studies, Geography, professional development, management, research methods, performance management |
| Topics: | Governance, Sustainability, Information Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Human Resources, Quality Management, Digital Applications, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here