Explaining organizational responsiveness to work‐life balance issues: The role of business strategy and high‐performance work systems

This article applies new insights into business strategies and high‐performance work systems (HPWSs) to examine why organizations adopt work‐life balance programs (WLBPs). Results indicate that a product leadership business strategy is positively related to the likelihood of adopting WLBPs, whereas a cost leadership business strategy is negatively related to the adoption of these programs. Moreover, our analyses establish a mediating role of HPWSs in the relationship between business strategies and the adoption of WLBPs. Our results also demonstrate that different industries vary in adoption of work‐life balance programs. This supports the institutional theory of organizational responsiveness to work‐life balance issues. We tested our hypotheses with two waves of the nationally representative Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey. Implications and specific suggestions for human resource practitioners are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Every flow has its ebb: The impact of flow on work–family conflict and adjustment in global careers

Despite an increase in research in psychology on the mental state of flow, little is known within the area of organisational studies about its “dark side.” Although prior organisational studies literature suggests that flow leads to generally positive work outcomes, we use conservation of resources theory to argue that expatriates in the state of flow can accumulate resources that lead to work adjustment but at the same time may experience unintended negative work–family conflict consequences. Specifically, we argue that being in the state of flow can improve expatriates' work adjustment because they can concentrate on the task at hand in an unencumbered way. Yet the exclusive concentration on work tasks and the distortion of time while in the state of flow may reduce psychological and time resources available to the family, resulting in work–family conflict. We explore whether flow theory needs to be altered to discover potentially negative work–family conflict outcomes inherent in the complex work regimes associated with global careers. Structural equation modelling analyses based on a sample of 230 expatriates in the United States and 169 expatriates in Brazil revealed that flow increased both work–family conflict and work adjustment.     

Servant leadership,organizational identification,and work‐to‐family enrichment: The moderating role of work climate for sharing family concerns

The present study investigates the impact of servant leadership as perceived by followers on their work‐to‐family enrichment (WFE) by focusing on the mediating role of organizational identification and the moderating role of work climate for sharing family concerns. The results from a field survey of 230 married managers in China provide full support for our hypotheses, indicating that perceived servant leadership is positively related to WFE; this relationship is also mediated by organizational identification. In addition, work climate for sharing family concerns attenuates the effects of servant leadership on organizational identification and WFE. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

“Handle with care”: The mediating role of schedule i‐deals in the relationship between supervisors' own caregiving responsibilities and employee outcomes

Drawing on theories of perspective‐taking and i‐deals, this study explores the impact of supervisors' own caregiving responsibilities for elders and parental status on subordinates' schedule i‐deals. Moreover, we investigate the extent to which schedule i‐deals mediate the relationship between supervisors' caregiving responsibilities and two employee outcomes: satisfaction with work–family balance and turnover intentions. Using a sample of 520 dyads involving 137 supervisors and 520 employees, the results of multilevel analysis show that supervisors' caregiving responsibilities for elders is positively related to schedule i‐deals, but their parental status is not. The findings also show that schedule i‐deals mediate the effect of supervisors' caregiving responsibilities for elders on subordinates' satisfaction with work–family balance and turnover intentions. This research contributes to the i‐deals' literature by focusing on the role of managers' own caregiving responsibilities in facilitating the provision of schedule i‐deals to their subordinates and by exploring the consequences of schedule i‐deals to gain an understanding of the mutually beneficial nature of such deals. From a practical point of view, supervisors and HR departments might utilise schedule i‐deals to drive desirable employee outcomes, in particular their caregiving responsibilities, and to engender a family‐supportive organisational culture.