ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights organizational research that has implicitly addresses idiosyncratic arrangements while ostensibly studying something else. It focuses on what can be learned about i-deals from research in areas as varied as work-family balance, idiosyncratic jobs, role theory, leader-member exchange, boundaryless careers, and psychological contracts. Research on work-family balance indicates that workers do initiate accommodations with and without their employer's permission in order to manage family responsibilities while at work. The role theory is particularly pertinent to understanding the processes surrounding the creation and implementation of i-deals affecting job content. The theory also helps to identify the parties an i-deal might affect. Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory focuses on the relationships between managers and individual subordinates, and the development of these relationships over time. LMX theory addresses how new ways of organizing work can emerge within a manager's span of control when a manager and his or her subordinate trust each other enough to construct their roles flexibly.
