CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTIONThis research study is focused upon identifying the need and exploring the level of its
intensity for career development of employees and its inherent linkage with the success
of a business organization. It is a comparative study whereby the difference in attitude of
the organizations as whole towards career development of the individuals has been
studied. This study considers the difference in the significance and the commitment
attached to the individuals’ career development and its incorporation into the Human
Resource Processes and procedures by organizations following different types of
management styles. This study investigates such career related attitudes, values and
commitment in two different contexts, i.e., Learning Organization and Conventional
Organization.
The model of this study focuses on long-term strategy of organizational
development (OD) that could be achieved through the development of the individuals’
careers. In this respect two major strategies of OD have been studied that are considered
to be integral part of the processes going on in organizations that claim to qualify as
learning organizations. Based on this fact, this study assumes that practicing such
strategies causes the development of their staff.
This research analyzes the supportive role of Learning Organization towards the
individuals’ careers while itself moving towards the final stage of development. For this
purpose the impact of two of such OD strategies viz. Improvement of Quality of Output
and Human Resource Development for sustainability of Organization, have been selected
in the context of Learning Organization. These two strategies have been taken as
Independent Variables for the study. The relationship of these two variable strategies
with the dependent variable i.e. Career Development is considered to be direct, as these
contribute directly towards the process of career development of individuals.