Job‐opportunity systems: the contrasting approaches of Chubb and Bear Stearns

The Chubb Group of insurance companies and Bear Stearns security company are among the large corporations that have, over the last decade, been gradually liberating their internal labor markets. The traditional system of management determining the employee’s career path has been replaced by a system in which employees are free to apply for, and move to, new vacant positions. Market principles, rather than command and control principles, govern the filling of vacancies. Employees are free to undertake any opportunities that fit their career goals, and managers have incentives to choose the best available candidate.