Title: Is HR a planned or unplanned career choice? An introspection of HR professionals in India using intuitionistic fuzzy force field analysis

Authors: Mainak Ranjan Chaki; Banhi Guha; Sanjib Biswas; Gautam Bandyopadhyay

Addresses: National Institute of Technology, Durgapur-713209, West Bengal, India ' Xavier Business School, Kolkata-700135, West Bengal, India ' Decision Sciences and Operations Management Area, Amity Business School, Amity University, Kolkata, New Town, West Bengal-700135, India ' Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur-713209, West Bengal, India

Abstract: The present work seeks to investigate what makes a HR professional to select their career. Is it a planned and thoughtful decision or is it selected in due course of life events? To this end, the current study applies an intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS)-based force field analysis (FFA). The forces have been identified through a primary focused group interview of 21 senior HR leaders and using the mixed theoretic lens of the socio-cognitive theory (SCT), Holland's theory of career choice (HTC) and Krumboltz's theory. The full consistency method (FUCOM) has been applied for the weighted aggregation of the opinions of the 423 HR professionals. It is observed that the selection of HR as a career has not been a planned or well thought of decision from the childhood. The findings of the current work shall provide an important direction for policymaking and career planning.

Keywords: bank performance; career selection; human resource management; intuitionistic fuzzy set; IFS; force field analysis; FFA; full consistency method; FUCOM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2026.154258

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2026 Vol.38 No.2, pp.156 - 180

Received: 16 Apr 2024
Accepted: 26 Apr 2024
Published online: 18 Jun 2026 *

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