Jazzing Up The Psychological Contract

Abstract

Helping students and practitioners to understand and utilize the Psychological Contract is often a difficult task. Unlike fault-finding research, this paper presents the PC as a positive, vibrant and valuable tool. In an effort to make the concept less elusive, the paper draws upon the metaphor of jazz. The metaphor is an accepted tool of learning. Both jazz and the Psychological Contract build upon new themes and accept occasional dissonance and are able to benefit from creative tension.