Employed Under Different Rules: The Complexities of Working Across Organizational Boundaries

A major element of the transforming work debate is the spread of complex organizational forms. Hierarchical and strictly bounded employing organizations are said to be being replaced by fluid networks of organizations, working in partnership to achieve shared goals. Case studies of four co-production networks cast doubts on the extent to which employment hierarchies have lost salience. Inter-organizational relations are found to result not in the absence of hierarchies but in their overlapping, intertwining and fragmentation. These interactions raise problems of consistency and fairness within the employment relationship, particularly related to distributive justice, procedural justice and career development.

Keywords: hierarchy, networks, employment relationship, inter-organizational relations, careers, HRM consistency, D23, J30, M54, M55

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Marchington, Mick and Rubery, Jill and Grimshaw, Damian P. and Carroll, Marilyn and Pass, Sarah, Employed Under Different Rules: The Complexities of Working Across Organizational Boundaries (November 2009). Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Vol. 2, Issue 3, pp. 413-427, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1505184 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsp017