Discussion and conclusion
Despite the steady managerial and academic interest in OCM, this field of study remains theoretically underdeveloped and empirically fragmented. Our systematic review of the research on the relationship between OCM practices and OCS addresses these issues by proposing a theoretical framework. Building on the results of the review, the OCM-OCS framework offers a comprehensive view of the theoretical reasons (why) and mechanisms (how) through which OCM practices affect career success, and it illustrates the circumstances (what) under which these relationships work. In addition, we formulated a set of propositions that provide useful guidelines for testing the framework and how it functions. As a first theoretical contribution, this framework advances and extends the embryonic career process that Rosenbaum (1984) proposed by illustrating the developmental, informational, and relational mechanisms through which OCM practices affect career success. Confirming the interdisciplinarity of career studies (e.g., Gunz & Peiperl, 2007), the OCM-OCS framework highlights which theories underpin the three mechanisms, showing that in some cases, more than one theory can explain why OCM practices favor the accumulation of competencies, the provision of information, or the creation of relationships. By grouping practices according to the main mechanisms to which they refer and considering the practices that have been tested empirically on OCS (Briner et al., 2009), we add to the studies in the career literature that have proposed a variety of classifications for OCM practices without grounding them theoretically (e.g., Baruch & Peiperl, 2000; De Vos et al., 2008; Eby et al., 2005). With respect to the studies on career systems (Gunz, 1989; Lepak & Snell, 1999; Sonnenfeld & Peiperl, 1988) that have suggested using any one OCM practice only in certain circumstances or with certain employees, we contribute to clarifying why and how these practices can result in individuals' success.
