...Kerr Inkson Purpose This paper aims to offer a critique, from a career studies perspective, of the common term “human resource management.” Design/methodology/approach Provides a literature review and critique. Findings The term “human resource management” is a metaphor that presents...

...Theresa Smith‐Ruig Purpose The purpose of this article is to understand how participants make sense of career through the lens of a path metaphor. Inkson's three types of career paths are used as a framework to determine whether the participants followed either a traditional and/or boundaryless...

... of internationally mobile academics. Drawing on a qualitative study of academics, this paper evaluates the use of metaphor for understanding the “motivation to go” overseas and the “experience” of expatriation. It evaluates four metaphors which have emerged from the study for expatriating and four others...

... is a result of collaborative effort. The metaphor of a dance is used to characterise a learning conversation of this kind. An example is presented showing its dance‐like qualities and the broad implications for encouraging learning conversations in organisations are identified. The mentee...

...Frank J. Barrett Offers a model of leadership development based on the metaphor of jazz improvisation. Examines the meaning of improvisation as applied to jazz and shows how managers’ lives are similar to that faced by jazz improvisers in that they often face problems which are unstructured...

...Bill Phillips This article describes the way people unconsciously perceive their life and work experiences in metaphorical terms. Calling these Operating Metaphors (a trademark of Charles Faulkner), it gives examples of how these metaphors act like programmed instructions to control and limit our...