Exploring the psychological mechanisms linking work-related factors with work–family conflict and work–family facilitation among Taiwanese nurses

Based on the logic of the job demands-resources model, we argue that work-related factors that demand workers’ resources, such as job overload and organizational constraints, may lead to work–family conflict through emotional exhaustion. Other work-related factors that generate resources for workers, such as job autonomy and task significance, may lead to work–family facilitation through job satisfaction. Analyzing survey data collected from different sources among professional nurses in Taiwan, we use structural equation modeling technique to find support for our hypotheses. Our study complements the work and family literature by demonstrating the mechanisms through which work-related factors may demand or provide workers with resources that lead to work–family conflict and work–family facilitation, respectively.     

Relationships of work–family conflict with business and marriage outcomes in Taiwanese copreneurial women

This study used bidirectional interrole conflict measures to examine the permeability of work and family domains, and to further investigate the relationships of work–family conflict with business and marriage outcomes in copreneurial women. Analytical results from 202 Taiwanese copreneurial women were summarized as follows: (1) family boundaries were more permeable than work domains; (2) work–family conflict is negatively related to perceived business success and marriage satisfaction; and (3) work-to-family conflict predicts marriage satisfaction, whereas family-to-work conflict predicts perceived business success. The results were interpreted and implications were discussed in terms of consulting strategies of work–family management strategies and participative management techniques in family business.     

Dual sources of support for dual roles: how mentoring and work–family culture influence work–family conflict and job attitudes

This study examines the influence of mentoring support and perceptions of a supportive work–family culture on the level of work–family conflict (WFC), job satisfaction and affective commitment reported by employees in a Fortune 100 professional services organization. Main effects and interaction effects between mentoring and work–family culture were explored. Results indicate that the presence of a mentor is significantly related to affective commitment while a supportive work–family culture was associated with less WFC – both family interference with work and work interference with family – and greater job satisfaction and affective commitment. For both job satisfaction and affective commitment, there is an interaction effect that suggests a synergy between direct and contextual support. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

The relationships between multifoci workplace aggression and work–family conflict

This study examined the relationships between multifoci workplace aggression by supervisors, coworkers, and customers and employees’ work–family conflict (ranked by spouses or closest family members). Furthermore, this study explored how employees’ problem-focused coping levels moderate the relationship between multifoci workplace aggression and employees’ negative affect, which subsequently influences their work–family conflicts. Data from a sample of 457 working adults and their spouses (or their closest family members) and results showed the direct effects of multifoci workplace aggression on employees’ work–family conflict. This research also found that problem-focused coping would weaken the relationship between supervisor/coworker aggression and employees’ negative affect. Moreover, the results revealed that the effects of multifoci workplace aggression spilled over into employees’ family domain through negative affect and influenced their work–family conflicts (ranked by spouses or closest family members). Finally, a moderated-mediation model used in this study supported the hypothesis that negative affect mediates the interactive effects of multifoci workplace aggression and problem-focused coping on employees’ work–family conflicts. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Working sick and out of sorts: a cross-cultural approach on presenteeism climate,organizational justice and work–family conflict*

Abstract

A climate of presenteeism has important effects on employee well-being and the organization itself. Our study, based on surveys of health sector employees in six different countries (Brazil, Ecuador, Lebanon, Portugal, Russia and Spain) examines whether organizational justice plays a mediating role in the relationship between a presenteeism climate in the organization and work–family conflict (WFC). Our results indicate that the perception of organizational justice and the presenteeism climate do influence WFC. Moreover, higher levels of WFC were found in non-Latin countries. This study contributes to the work attendance and life balance field by providing cross-cultural empirical evidence corroborating the effect of justice and presenteeism climate on the WFC.     

Variations in adoption of workplace work–family arrangements in Europe: the influence of welfare-state regime and organizational characteristics

Using a unique data set of more than 2800 organizations in 19 countries, this article investigated the variations in adoption of workplace work–family arrangements and whether this variation can be explained either by differences in welfare-state contexts or by organization-related factors. Although the welfare-state context contributed significantly to the explanation of workplace work–family arrangements, the adoption of workplace arrangements was more strongly related to organizational conditions and characteristics. However, the results also show that when the development of work–family arrangements is mainly left to the market, as in the liberal context, employers do not fully make up for the absence of public provisions. The findings support the institutional argument that public provisions help to create a normative climate that gives rise to new social expectations and ‘a sense of entitlement’ regarding work–family support. The study supports the rational choice perspective where both employers' institutional environments and organizational factors are viewed as resources and constraints influencing employers' decision to adopt work–family arrangements.     

Predictors and processes of satisfaction with work–family balance: Examining the role of personal,work, and family resources and conflict and enrichment

Drawing from resource-based theories, we conduct two studies to investigate the unique and relative importance of personal (e.g., resilience, proactive health behaviors), work, and family resources (i.e., enriched job and family roles, work and family support) to balance satisfaction, and the mediating roles of conflict and enrichment. We test our hypotheses in Study 1 using a cross-sectional survey of 216 employees and in Study 2 using a time-lagged survey over 3 months with 220 employees. Across both studies, work and family resources (e.g., enriched job and family characteristics, work and family support) were positively related to balance satisfaction. In general, work resources were more relevant to balance satisfaction than were personal or family resources. In terms of processes, work resources relate to less work-to-family conflict and greater work-to-family enrichment which in turn, relate to greater balance. In contrast, the family-to-work directions of conflict and enrichment were just weakly related to balance. Across the two studies, findings regarding the role of personal resources were mixed. We discuss how these findings expand our understanding of work–family balance and the practical implications for human resource practitioners.     

Differences in work–family conflict: which individual and national factors explain them?

This paper contributes to cross-cultural literature on work–family relationships by testing not only hypotheses about the impact of work and family demands and gender at individual level on work–family conflict (WFC), but also at country level. Concretely, several theories commonly used in the literature (role conflict, boundary management and social support theory) are used to analyzed how national culture dimensions affects WFC. Using information about employee residents in each of the countries interviewed in the Second European Quality of Life Survey and also GLOBE dimensions of national culture, the paper shows that the relationship between work and family demands and WFC is universal and equal phenomenon throughout Europe. In line with gender role theory, demanding and stressing work have stronger effects on women’s WFC than on men’s. While opposite to it, household hours also have stronger effect on women’s WFC than on men’s. Moreover, the paper shows that national culture affects how people perceive work–family relationships. In line with integration/segmentation hypotheses derived from boundary management theory, uncertainty avoidance decreases WFC. Moreover, in line with social support, human orientation decreases the level of WFC, especially for men. Eastern Europe and Mediterranean countries have higher levels of WFC, while Scandinavian countries are those that have lower levels of WFC.     

Relationships among three facets of family-supportive work environments,work–family conflict and job satisfaction: a research in Greece

The purpose of the present study is to extend the line of current enquiry related to family-supportive work environments (FSWEs), and their relationships to work–family conflict (WFC) and job satisfaction. Three facets of a FSWE are examined: family (non-) supportive culture, family-supportive management (FSM) and the model of ideal worker. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey from 612 employees. The results indicate that among the three facets of a FSWE, FSM appears to better predict both WFC and job satisfaction. Furthermore, WFC was negatively related to job satisfaction. An intriguing result is that the ideal worker model – manifested via long hours of work, visibility, availability and the dominance of organisation's needs over the family ones – was found to be positively related to job satisfaction, whilst it has no impact on WFC. Finally, the implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

The role of affective commitment and political skill in the work interfering with family (WIF) conflict – voluntary turnover relationship

The present study explores how political skill affects an employee’s coping behavior in response to Work Interfering with Family (WIF) conflict. Applying Conservation of Resource theory, we argue that politically skilled individuals are more cognizant of the social embeddedness of WIF, and because of cross-domain resource (e.g. time, attention, energy) depletion, lack the resources to cope with its effects. As such, they leverage their political skill to more effectively turnover from the organization than less politically skilled individuals by detaching their identity and lowering their affective commitment to their organization. We tested the hypotheses using a sample of 181 individuals from a retail firm, and results support the hypothesized model. First, a test of indirect effects confirmed that affective commitment partially mediated the link between WIF and voluntary turnover (measured six months later). Second, a moderated-mediation test revealed, as hypothesized, that affective commitment only functioned as a mediator for individual with high levels of political skill. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Searching for a balance: work–family practices,work–team design,and organizational performance

The crucial impact of work–family issues on employee's well-being has been recognized and responded with a variety of research in field of organizational behavior. However, few studies examine the impact of how work–family practices affect productivity at firm-level. Following the research stream of strategic human resource management, we proposed that work–family may form the norm of reciprocity, which is a more sophisticated and more critical, internal social-structure component to enable organizational performance. We also examine the contingent effect, work–team structure – on the extent to which the work–family practices are appreciated by employees – and then create complementarities. We conduct a longitudinal study and utilize a data set of 204 Taiwanese public-traded firms to test our hypotheses. The results show that, contrary to our prediction, utilizing work–family practices does not have a significant positive impact on organizational productivity. However, the most important finding of this study is that there are synergies between work–family practices and work–team design on organizational productivity. Work–team design is an important situation in which the returns of work–family practices can be enhanced.     

High involvement work system,work–family conflict,and expatriate performance – examining Taiwanese expatriates in China

This study explores the effects of multinational companies (MNC) implementation of a high involvement work system (HIWS) for their expatriates on both expatriate work–family conflict (WFC) and their performance. We surveyed 174 Taiwanese expatriates stationed in China. Data were collected on: (1) perceived human resource management (HRM) practices concerning ‘high involvement work system’; (2) perceived work–family conflict; (3) job satisfaction; and (4) supervisor ratings of expatriate job performance. Structural modeling techniques helped us examine in one model the interdependent relationships among high involvement work system, work–family conflict, and expatriate performance in their host country. Our results show that a high involvement work system is positively related to expatriate satisfaction and performance. However, a high involvement work system is also positively related to expatriate work-family conflict, which in turn is negatively related to expatriate satisfaction and performance. Our findings remind managers that a high involvement work system may produce multiple effects on various dimensions of employee work life, and not all of these effects may be positive.     

The mediating influence of work–family conflict and the moderating influence of gender on employee outcomes

Finding a balance between work and home continues to be a challenge for many employees. The influence of work–family conflict both from work interfering with family (WIF) and from family interfering with work (FIW) on employee outcomes is not well understood. Although substantial empirical research supports the general view that work–family conflict results from employees having conflicting roles, many previous studies examine work–family conflict and outcomes in the same, or ‘matching’ domains. Some studies on work conflict also have found cross domain outcomes that are largely unexplained. This research addresses this gap in the field by developing and testing the hypothesis that cross domain relationships will be mediated by conflict in the matching domains. Specifically, this study proposes that WIF mediates the relationship between FIW and four employee work outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior and task performance), and that FIW mediates the relationship between WIF and life satisfaction. This research also examines the moderating role of gender on the relationships while controlling for age and family status. The results of this study using a sample of 435 full time employees in the US provide support for most of the hypothesized relationships. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The impact of organizational and leader–member support on expatriate commitment

Using data from expatriates at MNC subsidiaries in China, this paper investigates the relationships between parent company and local subsidiary perceived organizational support (POS), leader–member exchange (LMX) and affective commitment of expatriates. The study examines the moderating effect of LMX in the relationships between both parent company and local subsidiary POS and affective commitment. Results support the relationships between both parent company and local subsidiary POS, LMX and the expatriate affective commitment, and the moderating effect of LMX in the relationships between parent company POS and affective commitment.     

Effects of work–family and family–work conflicts on flexible work arrangements demand: a gender role perspective

In recent years, a growing number of firms have adopted flexible work arrangements (FWAs) to help managers balance their work–family demands. Based on a sample of 1336 married managers in Korea, we found that work–family conflict increased the FWAs demand more for female managers than for male managers. When facing work–family conflict, the absence of family-supportive supervision increased the demand for FWAs, particularly among female managers. No such effect was found for family–work conflict. In addition, having a female supervisor led to an increased demand for FWAs from company managers. These results suggest that firms should pay close attention to gender difference and supervisory roles in predicting the demand for FWAs to alleviate work–family conflicts.     

Negative work–family/family–work spillover and demand for flexible work arrangements: the moderating roles of parenthood and gender

In recent years, companies have increasingly adopted flexible work arrangements (FWAs) to help company managers address negative work–family/family–work spillover (inter-role conflicts between work and family roles). Accordingly, we investigate the effects of parenthood and gender on the relationship between negative work–family/family–work spillover and demand for FWAs. Based on a sample of 1577 managers (967 females and 610 males) of South Korean companies, the results show that parenthood has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between negative work–family/family–work spillover and the demand for FWAs, regardless of gender. The present study highlights the importance of parenthood not only in addressing negative work–family/family–work spillover but also in expressing a demand for FWAs.     

Work–family conflict and the commodification of women's employment in three Chinese airlines

In the East, where gender is mediated by different family structures, societal institutions and economic development, the work–family conflict (WFC) metaphor remains appropriate. This paper investigates Chinese women's experiences of WFC in the fastest growing commercial airline sector in the world. It finds that, in contrast to the West, work-to-family, rather than family-to-work, conflict dominates. Liberalization, competition and commercialization have also had a significant gendered impact on jobs. The latter resulting in the commodification of women's aesthetic and emotional labour, job segregation, employment insecurity, poor career opportunities and increased WFC. We explore reasons why HR policies and practices in airlines fail to address women's workplace concerns and find that occupational status and lack of organizational power, together with the prevalence of traditional gendered norms and attitudes, play important roles     

Knowledge sharing,work–family conflict and supervisor support: investigating a three-way effect

Despite the importance of knowledge sharing in competitive environments, there is a paucity of studies examining the relationship between employee knowledge sharing and work–family conflict. Drawing on insights from conservation of resources theory, this study investigated how employees may reduce their knowledge-sharing behaviors when they experience resources lost from work interference with family (WIF) or family interference with work (FIW). Furthermore, the role of supervisor support in the relationship among WIF, FIW and knowledge sharing was explored as a valuable resource. Using data collected from 159 employees in South Korea, we found support that WIF is negatively related to knowledge sharing. In addition, the role of supervisor support in the relationship among WIF, FIW and knowledge sharing was the strongest when WIF is low and FIW is high, thus supporting the hypothesized a three-way effect. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Work–family conflict/family–work conflict,job stress,burnout and intention to leave in the hotel industry in Quebec (Canada): moderating role of need for family friendly practices as “resource passageways”

Abstract

This study examines how the need for family friendly practices contribute in increasing the effects of work–family conflict (WFC) and family–work conflict (FWC) on job stress, burnout, and intention to leave in the hotel industry in Quebce (258 staff). The essential results indicate that the perception of a need for childcare moderates the relationship between FWC, job stress, and burnout. Also, employees wanting to have a compressed workweek and part time measures are exposed to more stress related to WFC/FWC. Finally, the four measures can constitute resources passageways in order to reduce the work-family interference, job stress, burnout and therefore the intention to leave. Theoretically, he results extend this line of theorizing by highlighting the importance of subjective needs for family friendly policies, as ‘resource caravan passageways’, in the work–family interface and job outcome processes. The perception of a desire or need for these measures offers a new understanding of these practices. Practically, identifying who is more sensitive to family friendly measures would enable organizations or employers to allocate supportive resources more adequately by targeting those employees who are most in need of such practices.     

The measurement of work–family culture in Spain and some applications to other economies

This investigation adapts the scales assessing work–family culture to consider several characteristics found in Spanish organizations (e.g. extended schedules and a high value attributed to working long hours). Organizational phenomena not included in other scales are integrated into a modified instrument (e.g. managers efforts to inform about the available work–family benefits, being considered more efficient when working many hours). Suggestions on the measurement of these new features in other economies are provided. Two studies are conducted: one to develop the scale and another to validate it. The resulting instrument comprehends three components: managerial support, career consequences and supervisor support.