TABLE OF CONTENTS: Preface ix Chapter 1: Unlikely Rebels 1
Itinerant Experts 1
The Unraveling of Permanent Employment 9
The Legal Context of Contingent Work 12
Estimating the Size of the Contingent Workforce 16
Making Sense of Contingent Work 18
The Study 26
Organization of the Book 30
Part I: Setting the Stage Chapter 2: Clients 37
Why Do Clients Hire Contractors? 38
How Do Clients Hire Contractors? 49
Conclusion 51
Chapter 3: Contractors 53
Why Do Contractors Become Contractors? 55
What Kinds of Contractors Are There? 64
The Roles Contractors Play for Clients 67
Conclusion 72
Chapter 4: Agencies 73
Sales Culture and Technical Culture 74
What Types of Staffing Agencies Are There? 84
Conclusion 91
Part II: Life in the Market Chapter 5: The Information Game: Finding Deals 98
What Contractors Do 99
What Clients Do 108
What Staffing Agencies Do 114
Conclusion 133
Chapter 6: Making the Deal 136
Hiring Manager Evaluations 138
Negotiating the Terms of Employment 144
Closing Deals 161
Conclusion 166
Part III: Life on the Job Chapter 7: Contractors as Commodities 177
Maintaining a Task Orientation 177
Delegating Management Responsibilities 180
Creating Outsiders 183
Conclusion 187
Chapter 8: Contractors as Experts 188
Integration: Creating Team Members 188
Dependence 193
Conclusion 198
Chapter 9: Navigating between Respect and Resentment 199
Tales of Respect 199
Tales of Resentment 204
Forming an Identity 214
Part IV: Living the Cycle Chapter 10: Temporal Capital 223
The Temporal Patterns of Contracting 225
The Rhetoric and Reality of Flexibility 241
Chapter 11: Building and Maintaining Human Capital 244
The Danger of Obsolescence 244
The Risks of Learning 248
Strategies for Remaining Current 251
Conclusion 263
Chapter 12: Building and Maintaining Social Capital 264
Reach 266
Reputation and Occupational Circles 269
Reciprocity and Referral Cliques 273
Networking: Building and Maintaining Networks 276
Chapter 13: Itinerant Professionals in a Knowledge Economy 285
Itinerant Experts: The Contracting Life 286
The Ambiguities of Self-Reliance 289
Itinerant Experts and the Social Order 292
The Occupational Dimension 302
Supporting Itinerant Professionalism 311
Epilogue 317
References 321
Appendix: Cast of Characters 333
Index 337
Return to Book Description File created: 11/5/2009 | 
