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The purpose of this paper is to explore if an expatriate’s career situation at the level of the couple (single career couple (SCC)/dual career couple (DCC)) is related to the expatriate’s work-to-personal-life conflict (WLC) and if the expatriate’s gender is related to WLC. The authors also investigate if the level of WLC is different for men and women in a DCC or SCC (interaction).

The study was conducted among 393 Finnish expatriates who were in a relationship and were working. A moderated hierarchical regression was utilized in the data analysis.

Gender or DCC/SCC status was not separately related to WLC but an interaction effect between gender and a couple’s career status on WLC was significant. In DCC couples, women experienced more WLC than men. In SCC couples, women experienced less WLC than men.

The findings indicate that organizations should develop practices to support both DCCs and SCCs, for instance, by providing mentors for expatriates and their family members, or through organizing family events for company employees. Couples should also negotiate their roles and responsibilities in both the personal life and work-life spheres before moving abroad and also during the time they live abroad, especially women involved in a DCC and men involved in an SCC.

This is the first study focusing on expatriates’ WLC that simultaneously takes account of how the gender and career situation of the couple are related to it.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the general and travel-specific job exhaustion of international business travelers (IBTs). The study employs a JD-R model to explain general and travel-specific job exhaustion (IBTExh) through international business travel as demand and leadership (LMX) as a resource buffering the demands of international business travel.

The study was conducted among Finnish service company employees who had taken at least one international business trip during the previous year. The data (N = 569), collected in 2015, were analyzed with path models.

The results suggest that a higher number of international business travel days is related to a higher level of job exhaustion, especially the exhaustion related to international business travel. Moreover, a high-quality LMX was found to be linked to lower levels of both types of exhaustion. Interestingly, for those IBTs' with a low-quality LMX, even a high number of long-haul international business travel days was not connected with IBTExh

The contribution of our study is threefold. First, this study contributes to JD-R theory and the ill-health process by focusing on a job-specific well-being indicator, IBTExh, in addition to general exhaustion. Second, specific job demands related to international business travel, particularly the duration of business travel spent in short-haul and long-haul destinations, contributes to the literature on global mobility. This study sheds light on the potential effects on IBTs of different types of business travel. Third, our study contributes to the leadership literature and the importance of acknowledging the context in which LMX occurs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the connections between organizational climate and well-being at work.

Connections between perceived organizational climate and well-being at work were studied through quantitative data gathered from 24 public day-care centers in Finland.

The unit-level analyses revealed that different types of organizational climates were connected to different types of job well-being in the unit. Organizational climate types were differentially connected to stress and cynicism, but were not connected to work engagement. Employees in units where work climate was collectively evaluated as particularly weak reported significantly lower well-being than those in units with better work climate. The most positive climates – “relaxed and friendly” and “encouraging and supportive of new ideas” – seemed to be more strongly connected to well-being than negative climates.

The study confirmed and clarified the link between organizational climate and job well-being and emphasized how different climate types have varying types of connection to well-being at work.

The purpose of this paper is to study well-being among the internationally mobile work force by exploring the relationships between international business traveling, work-family conflict (WFC), and health issues. In this study, these relationships are examined on the basis of the health impairment process of the job demands-resources model. More specifically, the study examines the role of WFC as a mediator between international business travel and sleep problems using a full panel design.

The data for this study are drawn from Finnish employees whose work involved international business travel (n=868) and who answered two surveys with a one-year time lag.

The results showed that international business travel in terms of the number of travel days per year, while not predicting sleep problems directly over time, did significantly increase WFC, which in turn increased sleep problems. Thus, WFC functioned as a mediator in the relationship between business travel and subsequent sleep problems.

The results indicate that family-friendly HR policies and practices might help international business travelers (IBTs) reduce levels of WFC, which could in turn protect them from harmful health effects, particularly sleep problems.

The study examines the understudied professional group of IBTs and contributes to the knowledge on their well-being and WFC issues.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and moderating effect of gender and parental status on the relationship between international business travel days and work-to-family conflict (WFC) among international business travellers (IBTs) on the basis of the conservation of resources theory.

The study was conducted among 1,366 Finnish people in jobs demanding international business travel and a moderated hierarchical regression was utilised in data analysis.

An increase in the number of international business travel days and being a parent is positively related to WFC. Women with dependent children experience a lower level of WFC than do men with dependent children. However, a significant interaction effect between international business travel days, parental status and gender was found that indicates that the volume of travel days increases the level of WFC for those women who have children more than it does for women who do not have children. For men, increased numbers of travel days raises levels of WFC, as does having children, but there is no interaction between travel days and parental status among men. An increased number of travel days was least critical for WFC among women without dependent children and most critical for WFC among women with dependent children However, women with dependent children were able to travel to a considerable extent before their levels of WFC overtook those of men with dependent children.

The findings indicate that organisations should pay particular attention to developing policies and practices that take account of the family status of the traveller. In addition, to assist IBTs to cope with their WFC, attention should be paid to the intensity of work-related travel. However, gender seemed not to play a particularly important role in WFC, indicating that organisations need not be wary of recruiting both men and women into roles involving international business travel.

This is the first study focusing on IBTs WFC that simultaneously takes account of how the intensity of business travel and both gender and parenthood are related to it.

The purpose of this paper is to document the outcome of a global three‐year long supply chain improvement initiative at a multi‐national producer of branded sporting goods that is transforming from a holding structure to an integrated company. The case company is comprised of seven internationally well‐known sport brands, which form a diverse set of independent sub‐cases, on which the same supply chain metrics and change project approach was applied to improve supply chain performance.

By using in‐depth case study and statistical analysis the paper analyzes across the brands how supply chain complexity (SKU count), supply chain type (make or buy) and seasonality affect completeness and punctuality of deliveries, and inventory as the change project progresses.

Results show that reduction in supply chain complexity improves delivery performance, but has no impact on inventory. Supply chain type has no impact on service level, but brands with in‐house production are better in improving inventory than those with outsourced production. Non‐seasonal business units improve service faster than seasonal ones, yet there is no impact on inventory.

The longitudinal data used for the analysis is biased with the general business trend, yet the rich data from different cases and three‐years of data collection enables generalizations to a certain level.

The in‐depth case study serves as an example for other companies on how to initiate a supply chain improvement project across business units with tangible results.

The seven sub‐cases with their different characteristics on which the same improvement initiative was applied sets a unique ground for longitudinal analysis to study supply chain complexity, type and seasonality.