Wither on the Vine: Explaining Intra-Organizational Career Inaction

The gap between career intentions and behaviors indicates that many people do not act on their desire for change. Based on non-rational decision theories, the theory of career inaction explains why individuals fail to act sufficiently on a desired change. More specifically, it proposes that characteristics of the desired change and social context contribute to career inaction. In this study, we take a configurational approach and investigate which configuration of conditions contribute to career inaction within the context of organizational careers. This context is relevant as their nature reflects more contemporary characteristics such as increased agency and less clear paths to pursue which might create difficulties to navigate them. We used a qualitative longitudinal prospective design in which 26 employees who expressed a desire to make an intra-organizational career transition at the start of the study were followed over the course of one year. The Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) analysis revealed three paths consisting of different combinations of the proposed conditions. This study contributes to further empirical grounding of career inaction theory. Next, we contribute to the organizational career literature by studying the potential lack of intra-organizational career transitions. Lastly, by taking a configurational approach, we contribute by capturing the inherent complexity of career decisions.