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The aim of this research is to examine the relationships among family-friendly organizational culture, job characteristics, supervisor support, meaningful work, and organizational commitment for female managers. It also investigates generational differences in these relationships.

Data for the study were analyzed using multi-group structural equation modeling to examine the moderating role of generational differences.

This study investigates the role of meaningful work as an agent in terms of how it influences organizational commitment for female managers. Empirical results confirm the effect of family-friendly culture on supervisor support and meaningful work, which in turn impacts organizational commitment. The findings also revealed generational differences among Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials in these relationships.

The findings highlight the significance of investigating meaningful work on organizational commitment by examining the relationships with organizational culture, supervisor support, and job characteristics across different generational groups.

The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship of work-life culture and organizational productivity and determine if it is mediated by the availability of work-life programs.

Quantitative data for the study were collected using three sources: an original survey completed by managers of 195 different companies, archival data from two databases, and archival data published in three national surveys. Hypotheses were tested using path analyses.

The data reveals that work-life culture has no direct effect on labor productivity but does have an indirect effect on it, through the availability of work-life programs.

One of the study’s limitations is that its design is cross-sectional. The authors suggest that future longitudinal studies examine the impact of work-life culture on organizational outcomes.

Practitioners should note the importance of promoting a favorable work-life culture and offering work-life programs as they enhance labor productivity.

The authors examine the impact of work-life culture on organizational productivity, a relatively understudied relationship at the organizational level.

The purpose of this study is to examine justice perceptions using potential employee conflict over provision of a work‐life benefit, and to link the findings to existing theory and research in organizational justice.

A total of 208 undergraduates at a liberal arts college responded to a version of the scenario. There were six versions, representing varied organizational conditions, with hypotheses based on both theory and previous empirical work.

Students were asked whether they preferred equity (contribution), equality or need as the allocation norm to be used in the scenario. Under all organizational conditions, equity is favored over the other two norms, but some differences emerge. Organizational conditions that are less empowering and more stressful lead to higher preference for equality and need than when organizations are seen as treating employees well. In contrast with some earlier findings, women are more likely than men to prefer equity as the basis for the decision; but women's choices differ significantly between the long hours and family‐friendly scenarios, with a pronounced shift to need as the allocation norm in the long hours condition.

Although some researchers have examined organizational justice norms in relation to work‐life benefits, little attention has been shown to the mechanisms involved in creating perceptions of unfairness relative to these benefits. The study demonstrates the importance of organizational context in determining when these benefits may be perceived as being fair, thereby averting the potential for conflict between employees.

Many employees do not use work-family practices to their full extent, even when they are in need of them. Drawing on the concept of psychological safety the authors propose a new construct: psychological accessibility– employees' sense of embracing the benefits of work-family practices without experiencing a fear of using them. The authors argue that the psychological accessibility of work-family practices could explain the variations in the utilization of work-family practices among employees with similar levels of family needs. Furthermore, the authors propose multilevel contextual factors that could affect the psychological accessibility of work-family practices.

The authors develop a theoretical multilevel framework for work-family practices that places psychological accessibility at its core and addresses accessibility of work-family practices from a macro level that includes institutions and the different attributes of the national culture, a meso level that includes work time norms in organizations, and a micro level, that includes the social context at the team level in organizations.

As part of the conceptual development the authors offer 10 propositions.

The authors' multilevel model of psychological accessibility could explain the variations in the utilization of work-family practices across different national, organizational and group contexts. This paper refocuses scholarly attention to the psychological antecedents of the utilization of work-family practices. The authors offer some practical recommendations to make the utilization of work-family practices a psychologically safe activity.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a shift in emphasis from gender differences to gender similarities in the explanations of the findings of future gender in management research. The results from a study in a major Australian bank help build the case. Such a focus on gender similarities (FGS) hopefully will bring about positive organizational change that might stimulate an increase in women's representation in senior management in the future.

To make a case for the proposed FGS approach the paper uses results from a survey of 178 senior managers and interviews with 14 executives in one Australian bank. The paper draws on the masculine culture and organizational silence literatures to explain how women and men in senior management can have similar work experiences and hold similar views of their organizations.

The paper finds that male and female respondents held similarly unfavorable views of the organization's culture, but men felt constrained in raising concerns. Most executives would welcome a change of culture.

The research study in banking is included specifically to show how the proposed FGS approach works in gender in management research. A limitation of the study is the small interview sample. The finding on men's silence is particularly pertinent to the argument for organizational change that benefits the whole organization, not just women.

The FGS approach broadens the appeal of change for organizations. For example, by applying the FGS approach to the study in banking, the principal message for organizations would be that there is widespread dissatisfaction with the outdated command‐and control management style, extremely long hours, and lack of work‐life balance. Organizations are more likely to address findings of “widespread dissatisfaction” than of dissatisfaction in a section of the workforce (e.g. women).

The recognition that a shift in the approach to the study of gender in management is needed to stimulate organizational change that might increase women's representation in senior management. The study shows how men will also benefit from this shift in emphasis, because the explanations and recommendations emanating from future research using the FGS approach will give men a much needed voice to raise issues that are similar to those raised by their female colleagues.

The authors aims to use stigma theory to predict and test a model wherein a person’s stage of pregnancy influences their workplace outcomes associated with pregnancy concealment behaviors.

The authors tested the model using two separate survey studies, examining these relationships from the perspectives of both the pregnant employees and their supervisors.

The authors find support for the model across both studies, showing that concealment of a pregnant identity predicts increased discrimination, but only for those in later stages of pregnancy.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine how one’s stage of pregnancy impacts identity management outcomes. This is important given that pregnancy is an inherently dynamic stigma that becomes increasingly visible over time.

The three preceding articles describe the complexity associated with researching part-time work arrangements. Taken together, they highlight the various constructs that must be considered and the complicated relationships among them. Building on Gallagher’s roadmap metaphor, we shift our focus in this article from the content of the roadmap to its use in guiding our future research. We highlight the decisions that must be made and the issues that must be considered while making these decisions.

With higher female labor force participation and the greater prevalence of dual-career families, family responsibilities ever more overlap work responsibilities. Companies have begun to respond to the changing nature of the workforce by offering family-friendly policies that are intended to help employees manage family responsibilities while remaining productive workers. Examples of family-friendly policies include child and dependent care, flexible leave polices, and time off for family emergencies (Daley, 1998; Folsom & Botsch, 1993; Greenfield, 1997; Ezra & Deckman, 1996). Some benefits frequently offered by employers are not considered family-friendly policies because they are not primarily directed toward the management of family responsibilities. Examples of those benefits are educational assistance for the employee, mortgage assistance, holidays, and employee wellness programs.

Drawing on existing literature and ongoing research in large corporations, examines the impact of employer work‐family policies on the career development of women. A summary of evaluation research of work‐family policies and programmes, focusing on work‐related outcomes, reveals that relatively few studies have been conducted. Further, the primary focus of existing research has been to examine such outcomes as recruitment, turnover, absenteeism, morale and job satisfaction; few studies have examined the impact of use of family‐friendly policies on career advancement. Existing data indicate there is widespread belief that use of certain work‐family policies, particularly non‐traditional work arrangements, is detrimental to career advancement. Summarizes findings regarding the validity of this belief and deems them inconclusive. Discusses the influence of supervisors and corporate culture on the work‐family interface, and presents recommendations for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to challenge the notion that culture change programmes will inevitably gain support from employees by exploring ways in which policy implementation is affected by and provokes shifts in organizational cultures.

Case studies investigated aspects of cultural change post‐implementation of family‐friendly policies. A grounded theory approach was adopted in the collection and analysis of the data, largely but not exclusively obtained through three sets of interviews, giving a limited longitudinal dimension to the study.

As both organizations had been sated with change, the idea that further adjustment was necessary to facilitate better work‐life balance for employees was potentially alienating to the very members most needing to be “brought on board”. Harnessing widely esteemed values and adopting the language of “cultural revitalisation” rather than cultural change appeared more effective in securing broader support of employees.

Studies began after policy implementation so there was significant dependence on participant recall to access perceptions of any shifts and HR managers determined sample composition. Both necessitated the use of a wide range of supplementary evidence (as befits case study research) and the latter the development of an “informal track” of participants.

Cultural change programmes must appreciate the importance of enduring values, correctly identifying those which appear most resonant for employees, ensuring that these feature prominently when promoting a “work‐life balance” agenda.

It is unusual for case studies to look in detail at processes of change. This paper refines notions of organizational culture change and considers how best to include employees most likely to be resistant to a “work‐life balance” agenda.