박사급 상사와 비정규직 석사급 연구원 간의 지시와 순응의 관계성: 교육분야 정부출연연구기관에 관한 질적사례연구

Based on the concepts of power in organization, this study aimed to explore the relationship of order and conformity between full-time researchers with doctoral degrees and their subordinates, the contract researchers with masters’ degrees, in government-funded educational research institutes. In method, we chose two institutes as the research site and then had face-to-face in-depth interviews with six contract researchers who voluntarily partook in this study. At the interview, they shared their own personal experiences and episodes with regard to the relationships with their boss. Consequently, the bipartite relationship of order and conformity was revealed under three thematic categories of motivation, expert power, and leadership behavior. Specifically, we identified three following motivators that make the contract researchers to comply with orders and instructions of their bosses, full-time researchers with doctoral degrees: 1) reward and psychological compensations; 2) expert power that their bosses, professional educational researchers, own; and 3) task and relationship-oriented leadership behaviors. Furthermore, we found that the relationship-oriented leadership behavior that boss has exerted upon subordinates had positive influences on more consolidating his/her expert power and even adding referent power. However, job insecurity of contract researchers needs to be considered a critical factor to explain the relationship of order and conformity between the two. Based on the findings, we discussed the implications to build effective human resource management of government-funded educational research institutes.