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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare knowledge employees' perceptions of contingent work with their managers' perceptions, highlighting potential differences in their respective psychological contracts which might produce dissonance in the employment relationship.Design/methodology/approachOriginal research using interviews and scalar data of both contingent knowledge workers and their managers are reported. The study sample consists of 32 contingent knowledge workers and 33 managers in five industries in Canada: two public sector and three private sector.FindingsThe results of this study indicate that differences exist between contingent knowledge workers and their managers with how contingent work affects career goals, promotion opportunities, and training and development opportunities. Additionally, differences occur in the constructs that mirror the traditional empirical measurements of the psychological contract. Two major themes are revealed: coping with uncertainty and integration with the organization on the part of contingent workers and managers.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on contingent employment as it compares manager and contingent knowledge worker responses in terms of the psychological contracts formed by each.

Purpose -The use of contingent knowledge workers may be an efficient means of investing in an organization's intellectual capital. However, exposing contingent workers to private, key competitive knowledge is considered risky. A study was undertaken to collect the costs, benefits and losses experienced by organizations that had contracted contingent knowledge workers to develop intellectual capital. Design/methodology/approach -A purposive cross-section of senior managers of knowledge-intensive organizations were interviewed regarding the tangible benefits, costs, perceived risks, and experienced losses from contingent knowledge worker arrangements. The constant comparison method of analysis was used. Findings -The data revealed perceived increases in flexibility, expertise, creative stimuli, and knowledge bank development. These benefits were believed to have bottom-line impact through product and process improvements and innovations, and operational efficiencies. The managers did not perceive much risk or experience material losses as a result of the contingent knowledge worker arrangements.Research limitations/implications -These findings are based on interviews with a small group of organizations. Although not generalizable, they present an interesting contrast to previous researchers' conclusions regarding the use of contingent knowledge workers. Further empirical work is needed to test the degree to which this study's findings can be generalized. Practical implications -Contrary to recent literature, this study suggests that contracting contingent knowledge workers to develop in-house intellectual capital is worth the risk. Originality/value -The study presents a divergent viewpoint on the contracting of contingent knowledge workers. It also initiates research on rational evaluation of investments in intellectual capital, which constitutes an important contribution to the area of knowledge management. It also contributes to the ongoing research on intellectual capital valuation.

While many online graduate students are gaining academic and scholarly knowledge, the opportunities for students to develop and hone professional skills essential for the workplace are lacking. Given the virtual environment of distance learning, graduate students are often expected to glean professional skills such as analytical thinking, self-awareness, flexibility, team-building, and problem-solving inherently through informal means (Cleveland-Innes & Ally, 2012). The goal of this study was to evaluate the experiences of online graduate students participating in synchronous online professional skills workshops. Students attended the sessions from the various graduate programs at an online Canadian university. The discussions from the focus group held at the end of the project were used to achieve the research goals. This paper used a phenomenological lens to accomplish its research goals. The participants reported that they experienced a "sense of community" and learned skills that were not included in their academic programs.