An empirical examination into the dynamics and processes that inform job crafting practices, by employees who span inter-organisational boundaries

Nayani, Rachel (2017) An empirical examination into the dynamics and processes that inform job crafting practices, by employees who span inter-organisational boundaries. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

In this thesis, I examine the role of boundary spanners’ job crafting in cross-boundary collective working, applying a longitudinal, multiple case study design and qualitative methods, comprising repeated semi-structured interviews, within the ontological position of critical realism.
Participants comprised seventeen boundary spanners across four case studies and six individual boundary spanners, totalling twenty-three participants. Data gathering comprised between two and six hour-long semi-structured interviews, repeated at two to four month intervals, totalling seventy-two interviews.
Within-case thematic analysis and cross-case comparison generated three findings, each supported by explanatory propositions and models. First, a dark and secretive side to job crafting, whereby organisational systems are circumnavigated, crafting is undertaken in self-interest at the expense of others and less desired activities are crafted to others. This finding challenges the positive view of job crafting in research to date.
Second, movement from individual to collective cross-boundary working comprises a three-stage progression that unfolds over time: from individual, through a hitherto unidentified form of job crafting, termed ‘complementary’, to collaborative crafting. The content and form of job crafting are dynamically inter-linked, such that crafted relational boundaries generate relational structures that hold potential for further crafting at the higher levels. This finding contributes to understanding of cross-level processes of job crafting, relational aspects of job design and the role of job crafting in the micro-foundations of inter-organisational working.
Third, adverse events intervene in job crafting, leading to a one-step degeneration of movement, from collective to individual working. In some cases, boundary spanners persist, while in others they disengage, indicating a goal-hierarchy aspect to job crafting. Furthermore, job crafting may be undertaken for the inherent enjoyment of the activity itself, or as a means of reaching a desired end state. This finding contributes to knowledge of the cognitive and motivational processes that underpin job crafting.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
Depositing User:	Zoe White
Date Deposited:	18 Jun 2025 15:20
Last Modified:	18 Jun 2025 15:22
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99638
DOI:

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