Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Attaining Work Life Balance is a Pressing Priority: A Theoretical Review


Affiliations
1 Phd Scholar, JDBIMS, SNDT Women’s University, Juhu Campus, Mumbai, India
2 Director, Professor (OB and HR), JDBIMS, SNDT Women’s University, Juhu Campus, Mumbai, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Work life balance has become a subject of high priority for employees and organisations all around the globe. Studies on work life balance have gained serious attention in the recent decades. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual understanding of work life balance. This paper reviews various traditional as well as contemporary literature related to work life balance. The article vividly elaborates a range of theoretical issues including meaning of work life balance, models/theories associated with work life balance, quantification of work life balance, various determinants affecting work life balance, the influence of work life initiatives on employees, organisations and the significance of work life balance in the present day context.

Keywords

Determinants, Models, Quantification, Theory, Work Life Balance,Work Life Conflict, Work Life Enrichment, Work Life Initiatives
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Back-Wiklund, M., Lippe, T.V.D., Dulk, L.D. & Doorne-Huiskes, A. (2011). “Quality of life and work in europe - Theory, Practice and Policy.” Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Bianchi, S.M., Milkie, M.A., Sayer, L.C. & Robinson, J.P. (2000). “Is anyone doing the housework? U.S. trends and gender differentials in domestic labor”, Soc. Forces, Vol. 79, pp. 191-228.
  • Bhargava, S. & Baral, R. (2009). “Antecedents and consequences of work-family enrichment among Indian managers”, Psychological Studies, Vol. 54, No. 3, id: 213.
  • Bisschoff, M., Koen, V. & Ryke, E.H. (2018). “Strategies for work-family balance in a South African context”, Community, Work & Family, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 319-337.
  • Clark, S.C. (2000). “Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/ family balance”, Sage Publications, Vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 747-770.
  • Deares, J., Mulvaney, R., Sher, M., Anderson, L. & Harvey, J. (2008). “A Framework for Conducting Work Life Return on Investment”, World at Work Journal, Vol. 3, pp. 21-30.
  • Drobnic, S. & Guillen, A. (2011), “Work - Life Balance in Europe - The Role of Job Quality”, Work and Welfare in Europe, Palgrave macmillan.
  • Edralin, D.M. (2012). “Innovative Work-Life Balance Strategies of Filipina Entrepreneurs: New Evidence from Survey and Case Research Approaches”, International Conference on Asia Pacific Business Innovation and Technology Management. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 57, pp. 201-208.
  • Edwards, J.R., & Rothbard, N.P. (2000). “Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25, pp. 178-199.
  • Fatima, N. and Sahibzada, S.A. (2012). “An Empirical Analysis of Factors Affecting Work Life Balance among University Teachers: the case of Pakistan”, Journal of International Academic Research, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp.16-29.
  • Frone, M.R. (2003). Work-family balance, In J. C. Quick & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 143-162.
  • Greenhaus, J.H., & Allen, T.D. (2011). Work-family balance: A review and extension of the literature. In: Tetrick, L., & Quick, J. C. (Eds), Handbook of Occupational Health Psychology, Washington, D.C., USA: American Psychological Association, pp. 165-183.
  • Greenhaus, J.H., & Powell, G.N. (2006). “When work and family are allies: A theory of work family enrichment, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 31, pp. 72-92.
  • Greenhaus, J.H. and Beutell, N.J. (1985). “Sources of conflict between work and family roles”, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 76-88.
  • Grzywacz, J.G. & Carlson, D.S. (2007). “Conceptualizing work family balance: implications for practice and research”, Advances in Developing Human Resources, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 455-471.
  • Grzywacz, J.G. & Marks, N.F. (2000). “Reconceptualizing the WorkFamily Interface: An Ecological Perspective on the Correlates of Positive and Negative Spillover between Work and Family”, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 5, No.1, pp. 111.
  • Halpern, D.F. (2005). “Psychology at the intersection of work and family: Recommendations for employers, working families, and policymakers”, American Psychology, Vol. 60 No. 5, pp. 397-409.
  • Hammer, L.B., & Zimmerman, K.L. (2011). Quality of work life, In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbooks in psychology®. APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 3. Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization (pp. 399-431), American Psychological Association
  • Impett, E., Gable, S., & Peplau, A. (2005). “Giving up and Giving in: The Cost and Benefits of Daily Sacrifice in Intimate Relationships”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 89, pp. 327-344.
  • Jayanthi, B. and Vanniarajan, T. (2012). “Work-life imbalance among executives: A gender focus”, Global Management Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 24-35.
  • Kofodimos, J.R. (1993). Balancing act, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Kossek, E.E., Baltes, B.B., & Matthews, R.A. (2011). “How work-family research can finally have an impact in organizations”, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 4, pp. 352-369.
  • Kossek, E.E., Valcour, M., & Lirio, P. (2014). The sustainable workforce: Organizational strategies for promoting work-life balance and wellbeing. In P. Y. Chen & C. L. Cooper (Eds.). Wellbeing: A complete reference guide. Work and wellbeing, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 295-318.
  • Lippe, T.V.D. (2007). “Dutch workers and time pressure: household and workplace characteristics”, Work Employment and Society, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 693-711.
  • Lyness, K.S., & Judiesch, M.K. (2014). “Gender egalitarianism and work-life balance for managers: Multisource perspectives in 36 countries”, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol. 63, No. 1, pp. 96-129.
  • MacDermid, S.M. (2005). (Re) considering conflict between work and family. In E. E. Kossek & S. J. Lambert (Eds.), LEA’s organization and management series. Work and life integration: Organizational, cultural, and individual perspectives, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. pp. 19-40.
  • Marks, S.R., & MacDermid, S.M. (1996). “Multiple roles and the self: A theory of role balance”, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 417-432.
  • Mathew, R.V. & Panchanatham, N. (2011). “An exploratory study on the work-life balance of women entrepreneurs in south India”, Asian Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 77-105.
  • McMillan, H.S., Morris, M.L., & Atchley, E.K. (2011). “Constructs of the work/life interface: A synthesis of the literature and introduction of the concept of work/life harmony”, Human Resource Development Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 6-25.
  • Nabavi, A., & Shahryari, M. (2012). “Linkage between worksite support with work role expectation, role ambiguity and its effects on workfamily conflict”, Canadian Social Science, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 112-119.
  • Oren, L. & Liron Levin, L. (2017). “Work-family conflict/enrichment: the role of personal resources”. International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 38, No. 8, pp. 1102-1113,
  • O’Driscoll, M. (1996). The interface between job and off-job roles: Enhancement and conflict. In C. L. Cooper, & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chichester: Wiley, pp. 279-306.
  • Padmasiri, M.K.D., Kailasapathy, P. & Jayawardana, A.K.L. (2019). “Development of the Person-Family Fit Construct: An Extension of Person-Environment Fit into the Family Domain”, South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 156-176.
  • Peiperl, M. & Jones, B. (2001). “Workaholics and over workers: productivity or pathology?” Group and Organisation Management, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 369-393.
  • Perry-Smith, J.E., & Blum, T.C. (2000). Work-family resource bundles and perceived organizational performance”, Academy of Management Journal, 43, 1107-1117.
  • Pheng, S.L. & Chua, B.K.Q. (2019). Work - Life Balance in Construction - Millennials in Singapore and South Korea, Management in the Built Environment, Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
  • Poelmans, S.A., Kalliath, T., & Brough, P. (2008). “Achieving worklife balance: Current theoretical and practices issues”, Journal of Management and Organization, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 227-238.
  • Rehman, S. & Roomi, M.A. (2012). “Gender and work-life balance: A phenomenological study of women entrepreneurs in Pakistan”, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 209-228.
  • Revathy, B. & Geetha, C. (2013). Career women and work life balance, A.P.H Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. pp. 1-166.
  • Robbins, L.R., & McFadden, J.R. (2003). “Single mothers: The impact of work on home and the impact of home on work”, Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences Education, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 1-10.
  • Singh, P. and Singhal, R. (2016). “Towards developing a framework of work-life balance among dual-career women”, IIMS Journal of Management Science, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 76-86.
  • Sirgy, M.J. & Lee, D. (2015). “Work-life balance: a quality-of-life model”, Applied Research Quality Life, Vol. 11, pp. 1059-1082.
  • Sjöberg, L. (2008). “Emotional intelligence and life adjustment, Emotional intelligence Perspectives on educational & positive psychology”, pp. 169-183.
  • Sturges, J. (2012). “Crafting a balance between work and home”, Human Relations, Vol. 65, No.12, pp. 1539-1559.
  • Thomas, L.T. & Ganster, D.C. (1995). “Impact of family-supportive work variables on work-family conflict and strain: a control perspective”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 80, No. 1, pp. 6-15.
  • Thompson, C.S., Beauvais L.L. & Lyness, K.S. (1999). “When workfamily benefits are not enough: The influence of work-family culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment, and work-family conflict”, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 54, pp. 392-415
  • Tiedje, L., Wortman, C.B., Downey, G., Emmons, C., Biernat, M., & Lang, E. (1990). Women with multiple roles: Role-compatibility perceptions, satisfaction, and mental health, Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 63-72.
  • Voydanoff, P. (2005). “Toward a Conceptualization of Perceived Work - Family Fit and Balance: A Demands and Resources Approach”, Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 67, No. 4, pp. 822-836.
  • Wajcman, J., Rose, E., Brown, J.E., & Bittman, M. (2010). “Enacting virtual connections between work and home”, Journal of Sociology, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 257-275.
  • Warren, T., Pascall, G., & Fox, E. (2009). “Innovative social policies for gender equality from europe: Implications for the work-life reconciliation of low waged women in England”, Gender, Work and Organization, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 126-150.
  • Zedeck, S. & Mosier, K.L. (1990). “Work in the Family and Employing Organization”, American Psychologist, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 240-251.
  • Zeng, C., Permyakova, T.M., Smolianina, E.A., & Morozova, I.S. (2020). “Exploring the Relationships between Employee Burnout, Organizational Dissent and Work-family Culture in Russian Organizations”, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 119-132.

Abstract Views: 338

PDF Views: 0




  • Attaining Work Life Balance is a Pressing Priority: A Theoretical Review

Abstract Views: 338  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Vani Kant Bharadwaj
Phd Scholar, JDBIMS, SNDT Women’s University, Juhu Campus, Mumbai, India
Meera Shanker
Director, Professor (OB and HR), JDBIMS, SNDT Women’s University, Juhu Campus, Mumbai, India

Abstract


Work life balance has become a subject of high priority for employees and organisations all around the globe. Studies on work life balance have gained serious attention in the recent decades. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual understanding of work life balance. This paper reviews various traditional as well as contemporary literature related to work life balance. The article vividly elaborates a range of theoretical issues including meaning of work life balance, models/theories associated with work life balance, quantification of work life balance, various determinants affecting work life balance, the influence of work life initiatives on employees, organisations and the significance of work life balance in the present day context.

Keywords


Determinants, Models, Quantification, Theory, Work Life Balance,Work Life Conflict, Work Life Enrichment, Work Life Initiatives

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.15410/aijm%2F2020%2Fv9i2%2F155634