THE INFLUENCE OF MATRIX STRUCTURE IN COMMITMENT TO CAREERS IN COMPARISON WITH TRADITIONAL STRUCTURE: A CASE STUDY AT EMATER-MG

Abstract

This article is the result of a research whose purpose was to verify the influence of the matrix structure -
part of the Management Integrated System-MIS of the Empresa Pública de Assistência Técnica e Extensão
Rural-EMATER-MG - on the career commitment of professionals who work as program and project
managers in comparison with professionals who remain in a traditional structure. Theoretical framework
was based on Loverlock and Wirtz (2008) and Pugh and Hickson (2004) in what comes to the organizational
structure and specifically the matrix structure, and on Hall (1996), Baruch (2004) and Carson and Bedeian
(1994) in relation to career and career commitment. The methodology used was quantitative and was
carried out by means of a descriptive case study. The used scales were statistically validated, i.e.: a section
about career commitment based on the scale proposed and validated by Carson e Bedeian (1994) and
revalidated by Rowe (2008) in his doctorate thesis, containing twelve items and three dimensions, and a
section about career values, made of ten items, elaborated by FUMEC University’s Organizational
Behavior, People and Career Management Group, coordinated by Professor Zélia Miranda Kilimnik,
contrasting traditional with modern or protean careers, based on the literature on this subject and on the
Schein Career Anchor Report (1993). The scores were then calculated using statistic tests to verify the
existence of significant differences between the two studied groups in relation to this construct. One of the
verified aspects in the results analysis is that the matrix structure houses the professionals with higher levels
of schooling, whose majority have a post-graduation degree. In what comes to the main goal of this
research, the results allow us to conclude that the matrix structure proved to be potentially capable of
generating a higher career commitment than the traditional one. The “Identity with Career” dimension was
the most evident characteristic of career commitment in relation to the researched professional group. We
also verified that the majority of the researched professionals identify themselves with protean career
regardless of the type of structure to which they are bound.