Conflicts of client commitment for independent consultants

As the world of work changes, individuals are able to form bonds of commitment to a range of increasingly diverse targets (Meyer, 2009). Committing to multiple targets and the interaction of these targets can be seen as conflicting, synergistic or compensatory (Johnson, Groff, & Taing, 2009). There are questions as to how these interactions arise, are experienced and can be resolved (Becker, 2016; Becker, Klein, & Meyer, 2009). Using the conceptualisation of Klein, Molloy, and Brinsfield (2012) we present the findings of a qualitative study of 50 independent consultants and freelance knowledge workers that used critical incidents to investigate interactions in client commitment. These individuals exist outside of an organisational employer-employee relationship and through the lens of liminality we see that the freedom of self-employment can create a conflict between the targets of commitment. We identify 3 main bases for the conflict and offer 4 ways of managing derived from our empirical material. This enables us to contribute to the literature on the dynamic interaction of commitment to multiple targets and extend commitment theory in a nonstandard but increasingly common context where theory on organisational commitment becomes 'muddled' and doesn't quite 'stack up' (Gallagher & McLean Parks, 2001)