Global cities, work and family collectivism and work-family conflict in India

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grishma Shah ◽  
Ujvala Rajadhyaksha

Purpose The authors observe the impact of certain aspects of globalization on the work-family interface in India. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of life in Tier 1 (more globalized) vs Tier 2 (less globalized) cities, family/work collectivism and gender on work-family conflict (WFC) – both work interfering with family (WIF) conflict as well as family interfering with work (FIW) conflict. Design/methodology/approach The study surveyed 628 young employees on cultural values of collectivism and WFC. Findings Results suggest a main effect of tier in which Tier 1 city individuals experience more of both forms of WFC than Tier 2 city individuals. However, two- and three-way interactions between family/work collectivism and tier greatly moderate the main effect. Interactions indicate that family collectivism decreased WIF more for Tier 1 as compared to Tier 2 cities and work collectivism decreased FIW more for Tier 2 as compared to Tier 1 cities. The results suggest that high family collectivism creates high conflict for those who are low on work collectivism and high family collectivism creates low conflict for those who are high on work collectivism. Research limitations/implications The paper provides great insight into globalization and WFC within the context of cultural values. The paper calls for further studies on globalization, work life enrichment and cultural values. Practical implications The results build a case for more paid and organizationally supported interventions for work-life balance in India. Originality/value Large scale institutional changes, such as globalization, call for a reexamination of cultural dynamics. This study heeds the call and examines WFC in the context of rapid economic and social transformation occurring in India by bridging globalization, cultural change and WIF/FIW.

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Maria Ferri ◽  
Matteo Pedrini ◽  
Egidio Riva

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the actual use of supports available from the state, organisations and families helps workers reduce perceived work–family conflict (WFC), explored from both works interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) perspectives. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a survey of 2,029 employees at six large Italian firms. To test hypotheses, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. Findings WFC should be explored considering its bi-directionality, as supports have different impacts on WIF and FIW. Workplace instrumental support elicits mixed effects on WFC, whereas workplace emotional support and familiar support reduce both FIW and WIF. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to the Italian national context, and data were collected in a single moment of time, which did not allow for observing changes in employees’ lives. Practical implications Human resource managers, as well as policy makers, will find this study’s results useful in designing effective work–life balance policies and supports, in which attention is devoted mainly to promoting workplace emotional supports and facilitating familiar support. Social implications The study highlights that by reducing pressures from work and family responsibilities that generate WFC conditions, organisational and familiar supports elicit different effects, which should be considered carefully when defining policies and interventions. Originality/value This study is one of the few that compare the role of supports provided by actors in different sectors on FIW and WIF, thereby allowing for an understanding of whether the bi-directionality of the conflicts is a relevant perspective.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neuza Ribeiro ◽  
Daniel Gomes ◽  
Ana Rita Oliveira ◽  
Ana Suzete Dias Semedo

Purpose The incompatibility between the sphere of work and the family is a reality that plagues many workers today. The difficult articulation of these two domains leads to the experience of the phenomenon called work–family conflict (WFC). This paper aims to assess the impact that WFC may have on employee engagement and performance, as well as on their turnover intention. It is also intended to test the mediating effect of engagement on the relationship between WFC and performance, and between WFC and the turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach One hundred and sixty-seven employees from various Portuguese organizations were surveyed. Respondents reported their perceptions of own WFC, engagement, performance and turnover intention. Findings The results revealed that employees who feel a higher WFC have lower levels of engagement and greater intention to leave the organization. The WFC showed no relation to performance. Engagement takes on the mediating role in the relationship between WFC and the turnover intention. Practical implications The relevance of this study is related to the implications that it may bring to companies in the context of implementing work–family balance strategies to reduce the referred conflict. Originality/value This study contributes to WFC literature by attempting to integrate in the same model four concepts in a single study to provide a model that depicts the chain of effects between WFC, engagement, individual performance and turnover intention, which has never been done in the Portuguese context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-440
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Yu ◽  
Xiaotong Meng ◽  
Gang Cao ◽  
Yingya Jia

Purpose Conflict between work and family is a significant issue for entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of entrepreneurial failure on both family–work conflict (FWC) and work–family conflict (WFC) and the moderating role of perceived control of time and organizational slack based on conservation of resources (COR) theory. Design/methodology/approach This study used a questionnaire to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial failure, FWC/WFC, perceived control of time and organizational slack. Data were collected from the Chinese context in 2018 and as a result received 318 valid questionnaires, obtaining a response rate of 63.6 per cent. Findings The study finds that entrepreneurial failure has a significant relationship with FWC but a nonsignificant relationship with WFC and that perceived control of time and organizational slack moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial failure and FWC/WFC. Originality/value This study aligns the field of family–work (work–family) conflict and entrepreneurial failure. It addresses a research gap in the conflict literature by introducing one form of resource loss: entrepreneurial failure as a source of conflict between work and family based on COR theory and the work–home resources model. The study also enriches the literature on the social cost of entrepreneurial failure by exploring the crossover effect of entrepreneurial failure on conflicts in the family domain. Furthermore, the study advances the understanding of managing conflict between work and family after entrepreneurial failure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 726-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tri Wulida Afrianty ◽  
John Burgess ◽  
Theodora Issa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of family-friendly programs at the workplace in the Indonesian higher education sector. The focus is the impact that these programs have on employees’ work family conflict. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of academic and non-academic staff from 30 higher education institutions across Indonesia participated in the research. A total of 159 completed questionnaires from 109 academic and 50 from non-academic staff are reported and statistically analysed using SPSS. Findings – Work and family experiences in Indonesia do not positively align with the findings reported in most academic literature pertaining to western societies where the use of family-friendly programs (i.e. flexible work options, specialized leave options and dependent care support) leads to a reduction in employees’ work family conflict. In fact, some of the programs were found to have the opposite effect in the Indonesian context. Research limitations/implications – The design of family-friendly support has to take into account the context in which the policies will operates; these policies are not transferable across countries in terms of their effectiveness. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies that has examined the operation and effectiveness of family-friendly support programs in an Indonesian context.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 554-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osman M. Karatepe ◽  
Georgiana Karadas

Purpose Using person–job fit, congruence and conservation of resources theories as the theoretical underpinnings, the purpose of this study is to propose and test a research model that investigates work-family conflict and family–work conflict as mediators of the impact of person–job fit on work engagement. The model also examines the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between conflicts in the work–family interface and life satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Data gathered from frontline hotel employees two weeks apart in three waves in Romania were utilized to assess the abovementioned relationships via structural equation modeling. Findings Two directions of conflict act as partial mediators between person–job fit and work engagement. Work engagement fully mediates the relationship between work–family conflict and life satisfaction, while it functions as a partial mediator of the effect of family–work conflict on life satisfaction. Originality/value This paper contributes to current knowledge by investigating the interrelationships of person–job fit, two directions of conflict, work engagement and life satisfaction.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 883-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhash C. Kundu ◽  
Rina S. Phogat ◽  
Saroj Kumar Datta ◽  
Neha Gahlawat

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of various workplace characteristics on work-family conflict among dual-career couples in India. Design/methodology/approach Primary data based on 393 employees belonging to dual-career couples were analyzed. Using multiple regression analysis, the study has attempted to find out the effects of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Findings The findings indicate that not all workplace characteristics effect work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Out of 13 characteristics, 8 workplace characteristics, namely, development and flexibility, co-worker support, supervisory support, job competence, self-employee control, practicing overtime, flexibility and discrimination, are found to have significant effects on work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Research limitations/implications As this study is limited to the dual-career couples employed mainly in organizations operating in India, these results may not be generalized to other areas such as traditional career couples, self-employed member of couples and in other national contexts. Practical implications It would be beneficial for organizations to understand and implicate that adoption of certain workplace characteristics provide appropriate choices, freedom and environment for dual-career employees, which further encourage them to build effective amalgamation of work and family roles suiting their individual circumstances. Originality/value This study is an important and almost first study on dual-career couples in India on such issues. As a very scant number of researches have examined the impact of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict on such extensive basis, it definitely contributes to HR literature.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
I.J. Hetty van Emmerik ◽  
Maria C.W. Peeters

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the crossover specificity of team‐level stressors to individual‐level work‐family conflict.Design/methodology/approachThe paper takes the form of a multilevel analyses with data from 428 employees of a Dutch municipality working in 49 teams.FindingsThe results indicate the expected crossover specificity of different types of work‐family conflicts. After controlling for individual‐level demands there is little evidence that team‐level work demands influence work‐family conflict (WFC) or family‐work conflict (FWC), but team‐level WFC and FWC do influence individual‐level WFC and FWC, respectively.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper distinguishes two types of WFC, but it did not distinguish between strain‐ and time‐based conflicts. Further, it did not pay attention to individual differences (e.g., susceptibility to distress of team members), although such differences may be important moderators of the crossover process.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first that empirically linked team‐level stressors and WFC to individual‐level WFC and that tested crossover specificity. Findings indicated the associations of team‐level WFC and FWC and focal employees' WFC and FWC respectively, thereby underscoring the importance of crossover specificity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Sahadev ◽  
Sudarshan Seshanna ◽  
Keyoor Purani

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of a competitive psychological climate on the levels of role conflict and work-family conflict in call center employees and their further impact on customer orientation. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model is developed through a review of literature and is then validated in the context of call center employees in India. A total of 281 responses were considered. The model is validated using a multi-group analysis in order to consider a possible influence of gender. Findings – The model is found to have a very good fit and four of the five hypothesized relationships are found to be significant. The study thus establishes the impact of a competitive psychological climate on the role conflict and work-life conflict in the case of service employees. Research limitations/implications – The study uses a self-reported measure of customer orientation as well as the sampling methodology is not random. These two aspects could limit the generalizability of the results. Practical implications – The paper gives empirical support against adoption of competition-based practices in service organizations. This is an important implication for practitioners. Originality/value – The study looks at the impact of competitive psychological climate in call centers, a construct hitherto not much analyzed. The analysis of the relationship between competitive psychological climate, role conflict and work-family conflict have also not been looked into in the previous literature.


2020 ◽  
Vol V (IV) ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
Zargham Ullah Khan ◽  
Gullam Muhyuldeen

Turnover intentions are to lose skilled workers. Job stress is the cause of the use of employee turnover. Work-Family Conflict (WFC) and Family Work Conflict (FWC) were considered to be intermediaries between the employees' Turnover Intentions. This study investigates the relationship between Job Stress and Turnover Intentions. It was studied by taking Work-Family Conflict (WFC) and Family Work Conflict (FWC) as mediator. Research is based on a quantitative approach. Data were collected from employees in the public and private sectors by means of a questionnaire distributed among 330 employees, and a total of 296 responses was received. An analysis was conducted on SPSS. The relationship was estimated through the association between Pearson and the gist of the variables determined by conducting regression analysis. It was designed to evaluate the impact of the WFC and FWC using the Hayes process. With the mediated influence of WFC and FWC, this study showed the significant positive impact of Job Stress and Turnover Intentions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 805-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inbar Kremer

Purpose – School has been neglected as a source of stress and strain resulting from its inevitable conflict with work and family role demands among married, working students. The meager research available has examined only work-school (not school-work) conflict among adolescents and college students and only three studies (two unpublished) have developed measures of conflict involving work, family, and school without studying its antecedents and consequences. The purpose of this paper is to examine all six school-work-family interrole conflicts and their effects on subjective stress and burnout. It was hypothesized that the greater the conflict between family, work, and school roles, the greater the subjective stress and burnout and that women experience more work-family-school conflicts than do men. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 100 working married adult students completed self-report demographic questionnaire, school-work-family conflict, subjective stress, and burnout scales. Findings – Regression results revealed that school-work (but not work-school) conflict was the only one of the six interrole conflicts examined that contributed to subjective stress and burnout. Women reported greater work-family conflict and family-work conflict. There were no differences between men and women involving school; where gender plays no role, it causes no conflict. Research limitations/implications – Scholars interested in interrole conflict involving family and work should expand the scope of their theories and research to include the school role. Originality/value – The present study was the first to examine all six school-work-family interrole conflicts and their effects on subjective stress and burnout.


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