HRM / OB Case Study

Midlife career: Career Stages and Managing Confusions

OR

Abstract:
Narrating illustrations of five Indian corporate executives, this case study deals with the various factors that influence one’s midlife career decisions and how those factors determine individuals’ ability to either turn it into an opportunity for new challenges and reinvention or create a crisis. Since every individual goes through this midlife transition at some point of his/her life, it needs to be identified and dealt with cautiously. For some, it is a period of frustration, confusion and alienation and for others, a time for self- discovery, new direction and fresh beginnings. The case study offers many intriguing issues to debate on: What is midlife transition? Why is it termed a crisis? Can it be an opportunity for inner growth and reassessment of life’s priorities? What are the implications of mid-career frustrations on individuals (personal and professional lives) and organisations? How can they preempt or overcome a crisis during mid-career?

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To identify the professional, personal and psychological driving forces associated with midlife career decisions
• To critically examine midlife crisis and career dilemmas associated with it
• To debate on whether midlife crisis is a sense of emptiness, unfulfilled dreams and depression or an opportunity for reinvention.

Keywords : Human Resource Management, Midlife Crisis, Middlescence, Career Stages, five-stage model of Career Development

Contents:

• Mid-career Dilemmas in Corporate Executives
• Career Stages of Executives