Investigating young professionals’ psychological contracts to advance human-centred human resources management strategies: A multi-method qualitative research

A shrinking labour market, political and economic uncertainty, technological digitalisation, the recent COVID-19 pandemic and, above all, demographic challenges are changing the future world of work. Notably, the youngest group of employees, referred to as Gen Z (born 1995–2010), bring a fresh set of attitudes, behaviours and values into the organisations. Thus, employers must invest in new avenues to attract, develop and maintain their young professionals and to create sustainable and resilient workplaces for their workforce. Here, contractual obligations move into the background, and implicit expectations with respect to working relations become more important. In turn, human resources management (HRM) departments have recognised that managing these unwritten reciprocal expectations, which can be studied through the concept of the psychological contract (PC), represents a critical challenge to organisational success. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to provide in-depth insights into the formation of young professionals’ PCs as a means to advance human-centred HRM strategies. Applying a social constructionism research philosophy, the subjective expectations and conversations of the research participants were explored to understand their initial experiences of the employee–employer relationship. A sequential multi-method research strategy was chosen. First, data were collected from 13 participants via video statements – an evolved qualitative video method – to identify guiding themes. Second, five focus groups, featuring 19 participants, provided a variety of different views that emerged during the discussion. Using reflexive thematic analysis, six themes were identified around the formation of the PC. The thesis shows that young professionals’ PCs differ from major types of PCs (relational, transactional and balanced) in terms of time, inclusion and external influence due to the training aspect. Furthermore, social and historical events impact the dynamics of the PC considerably, and general job expectations increase upon entry. To pursue a practical human-centred HRM strategy, this research recommends offering a target-orientated knowledge transfer and creating an appreciative work environment by implementing a human-centred integration process. This new approach entails a holistic and long-term perspective and complements existing preboarding and onboarding HR activities with a career-boarding process for young professionals. Overall, research on young professionals who are currently entering the labour market is at a nascent stage. This study provides evidence of the shortcomings of previous studies by presenting the contextual environmental influences on the formation of relationships between young professionals and organisations. As such, this contemporary thesis is one of the first studies to help both HR departments and managers understand the PC expectations of today’s newcomers. Notwithstanding the theoretical and practical contributions of this work, a new improved video method is introduced

Collecting qualitative data via video statements in the digital era

Qualitative research methods in organisational research, such as interviews, observation and focus groups, provide detailed insights into business phenomena. In the social sciences, new methods have emerged enabled by the digital era, such as video methods particularly suitable for capturing participant interaction and obtaining non-verbal cues. Slowly, video methods are also gaining recognition in organisational research, opening up innovative possibilities for applying them beyond the traditional focus purely on interaction. This research presents an alternative video method: video statements. This time- and cost-efficient data collection method is characterised by participants who self-record their experiences following a guideline to gather multimodal (visual, audio and textual) data. Hence, video statements can be collected remotely. In our sample study, the approach generates genuine impressions, providing insights into an emerging organisational phenomenon. The output is used as a form of data and a basis for follow-up discussion by participants to add meaning to the video representations. Overall, video statements offer an alternative approach to data collection, supporting researchers in providing richer knowledge for business and management

In Pursuit of Impact: How Psychological Contract Research Can Make the Work-World a Better Place

This paper is the result of the collective work undertaken by a group of Psychological Contract (PC) and Sustainability scholars from around the world, following the 2023 Bi-Annual PC Small Group Conference (Kedge Business School, Bordeaux, France). As part of the conference, scholars engaged in a workshop designed to generate expert guidance on how to aid the PC field to be better aligned with the needs of practice, and thus, impact the creation and maintenance of high-quality and sustainable exchange processes at work. In accordance with accreditation bodies for higher education, research impact is not limited to academic papers alone but also includes practitioners, policymakers, and students in its scope. This paper therefore incorporates elements from an impact measurement tool for higher education in management so as to explore how PC scholars can bolster the beneficial influence of PC knowledge on employment relationships through different stakeholders and means. Accordingly, our proposals for the pursuit of PC impact are organized in three parts: (1) research, (2) practice and society, and (3) students. Further, this paper contributes to the emerging debate on sustainable PCs by developing a construct definition and integrating PCs with an ‘ethics of care’ perspective

In pursuit of impact: how psychological contract research can make the work-world a better place

This paper is the result of the collective work undertaken by a group of Psychological Contract (PC) and Sustainability scholars from around the world, following the 2023 Bi-Annual PC Small Group Conference (Kedge Business School, Bordeaux, France). As part of the conference, scholars engaged in a workshop designed to generate expert guidance on how to aid the PC field to be better aligned with the needs of practice, and thus, impact the creation and maintenance of high-quality and sustainable exchange processes at work. In accordance with accreditation bodies for higher education, research impact is not limited to academic papers alone but also includes practitioners, policymakers, and students in its scope. This paper therefore incorporates elements from an impact measurement tool for higher education in management so as to explore how PC scholars can bolster the beneficial influence of PC knowledge on employment relationships through different stakeholders and means. Accordingly, our proposals for the pursuit of PC impact are organized in three parts: (1) research, (2) practice and society, and (3) students. Further, this paper contributes to the emerging debate on sustainable PCs by developing a construct definition and integrating PCs with an ‘ethics of care’ perspective

Connective tissue growth factor in tumor pathogenesis

Key roles for connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) are demonstrated in the wound repair process where it promotes myofibroblast differentiation and angiogenesis. Similar mechanisms are active in tumor-reactive stroma where CTGF is expressed. Other potential roles include prevention of hypoxia-induced apoptosis and promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transistion (EMT). CTGF expression in tumors has been associated to both tumor suppression and progression. For example, CTGF expression in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, breast, pancreas and gastric cancer correlates to worse prognosis whereas the opposite is true for colorectal, lung and ovarian cancer. This discrepancy is not yet understood