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Researchers have used different approaches to understand how individuals combine work with family, one being boundary and transition management. However, very few studies have focussed on empirically examining the role of individual boundary management style on work-family experience. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by examining the role of integration-segmentation on work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family enrichment (WFE). Two secondary purposes are to explore gender differences in work-family experiences and to examine the relationship between WFC and WFE.

The predictor variable in the primary study is integration (with two levels segmented and integrated). Different measures of WFC and WFE are criterion variables. Survey method was used to collect data from 156 life insurance professionals including 64 women employees in India. The average age of the sample is 35 years (SD=6.56). Boundary strategy of integration or segmentation between work and family is determined by measuring similarity in resource priority between work and family. Median split technique is used to delineate the groups.

The study has three key findings: employees with integrated boundary strategy report greater levels of both WFC and WFE; no gender differences exist in the experience of WFC and WFE; and WFC and WFE were found to be unrelated to each other.

The paper empirically studies the role of boundaries on WFC and WFE of insurance employees. It is a response to researchers’ call to integrate boundary theory with spillover theory and examine the role of integration-segmentation.

Posits that work‐family issues have received research attention during the last two decades. Discusses work‐family conflict stating this usually involves lack of job and family satisfaction, with more inner‐family conflicts. States a number of companies have shown promise on the work‐family challenge.

Purpose – While existing literature on work–family schemas has focused on white middle-class mothers, we examine how race, class, and gender shape black middle-class mothers’ work and family life.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon 31 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with mothers (and their husbands), this chapter utilizes an intersectional approach to explore distinct cultural schemas for work and family.Findings – We document two schemas that define conceivable and desirable roles for black motherhood, work, and family. Some black middle-class mothers interpreted work and family roles as contradictory following the schema of family devotion (Blair-Loy, 2003). However, most mothers interpreted work and family as complementary role-identities, following a schema we call work–family integration. They enacted dual roles of mother and worker, integrating them into a meaningful, multi-dimensional view of black womanhood.Research limitations/implications – The findings emphasize the need for a more intersectional approach to research on work and family. Given existing literature documenting racial variation in work–family conflict, it also suggests that this may be explained by racial variation in cultural schemas. However, because our sample was limited to black middle-class, heterosexual couples with children, we were unable to make comparisons or generalizations to other groups. We recommend future research that draws comparisons across race, class, sexuality, gender, and/or family structure.Originality/value – This chapter introduces a new cultural schema, work–family integration; provides empirical research on an underexplored group, black middle-class families; and adds further nuance to cultural theories of work and family.

The past few decades has seen the proliferation of “family-friendly” policies incorporated into the workplace to promote the recruitment and retention of women for whom time to take care of families and elders has been primary. Despite the increase of women in high-level professions, many organizations have cultures that still do not support work-life integration. We propose a paradigmatic shift from family-friendly policy development and solutions focused on compliance transactions – to what we call “strategic organizational development and transformational change.” We take the argument one step further and suggest three powerful organization intervention strategies to build the culture's capacity to accomplish the business strategy, while weaving work-life integration into the DNA of the 24/7 culture.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of boundary integration (BI) on innovative work behavior (IWB) of nursing staff. Furthermore, in order to understand the constructive role of BI, this study also examines the mediating role of work-to-family enrichment (WFE) and moderating role of co-worker and supervisor support.

Data were collected from 786 nurses and 144 doctors (nurse supervisors) through self-administered questionnaires from public sector hospitals in Pakistan. Descriptive statistics, correlation, Baron and Kenny approach (Causal steps approach), PROCESS Macro (Normal Test Theory) developed by Hayes and hierarchical regression approaches were used to analyze the collected data that provide several interesting results for the formulated hypotheses.

Results indicated that BI among nursing staff is positively related to doctors’ rating of innovative behaviors. Moreover, WFE mediates the relationship of BI and IWB. Furthermore, the results also confirmed that the relationship between BI and IWB is stronger among those nurses who frequently received support from co-workers and supervisors.

Employees’ involvement in innovative work is of crucial importance for organization’s strength, especially in health care sector. Although researchers have identified various antecedents of nurses’ IWB, however, it is still unclear how BI influences IWB. Moreover, this study focuses on another important element of workplace support and argues that nurses who can successfully manage work and family matters through the integration of boundaries have greater opportunities to achieve enrichment and respond more effectively to demonstrate IWB.

This study aims to propose a model based on boundary theory to provide information about how boundary integration (BI) promotes life satisfaction (LS) among female nursing staff. For the prediction of this relationship, this study also captures the mediation effect of family-to-work enrichment (FWE), work-to-family enrichment (WFE) and job satisfaction (JS).

Descriptive statistics, correlation, structural equation modelling (SEM), Baron and Kenny approach, PROCESS Macro and Sobel test approaches were used on a sample of 724 nurses.

The results of the study confirm the significant effects of BI on LS of female nursing staff. Moreover, the mediating roles of FWE, WFE and JS are also confirmed.

Work–family BI is essential for the enhancement of LS among nursing staff. Increasing the BI level along with WFE and FWE provides foundation for JS and LS. Moreover, the study in hand provides significant implications for nursing management; importantly, this study explores BI as an important predictor of FWE, WFE and JS in addressing the LS among nurses.

Nurses’ WFE and FWE are determined through various factors. In distinguishing from past studies in the relevant field, this study explores BI as an important predictor of WFE and FWE in addressing the JS and LS among female nursing staff.

Changing work/family dynamics and economic developments have made it more likely that an employee might work with a family member or spouse. Such working relationships offer a unique perspective by which to understand the work/family interface; however, relatively little research has explored the implications of working with family for employee stress and well-being. In this chapter, we review the existing research concerning stress associated with working with family. We integrate this research into broader demand/resource perspectives on employee stress and well-being, highlighting the manner in which working with family provides unique demands and resources through differences in work–family linking mechanisms. We conclude with suggestions for future research that might enhance our understanding of the work/family interface by considering the dynamics of working with family.

In this paper the authors aim to consider the impact of regulatory changes on work‐life integration outcomes. Using the cases of France and the UK they seek to explore changes in objective and subjective measures of work‐family conflict.

The authors use data from the European Foundation's European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) to analyse trends in employees' working time and work‐life integration outcomes.

The authors observe an increase in reported satisfaction with work‐life integration in the UK in contrast to a slight fall in France. The authors also find a reinforcement of the working time norms in France and something of a tentative re‐emergence in the UK. However, against these trends evidence is also found of an enhanced flexibility in the scheduling of hours in both countries with French employees more at risk of changeable schedules.

Downward trends in working time do not necessarily translate into satisfaction with work‐life integration and may create their own tensions and conflicts for employees where there is reduced autonomy. While regulatory change may help shape the working time experiences of employees, the underlying tension between employee and employer‐friendly flexibility highlights the challenges for working time regulation and work‐life integration in different societal contexts.

The paper makes a contribution to the analysis of work‐life integration outcomes by examining both objective and subjective measures using comparable data. The authors underline the need to contextualise the regulation and experiences of work‐life integration in different societal settings.

The purpose of this paper was to develop an indigenous understanding of work-family interface (WFI) that reflects the drastic changes and evolving social context in China over the past three decades and challenge the existing conceptualizations of WFI and identify societal impact of the changing nature of the WFI.

We conducted literature review, content and thematic analyses.

The core idea of prioritizing work for family (PWF) is that Chinese employees, especially Chinese male employees, tend to integrate work and family roles as well as deal with WFI issues at the family level. Thus, Chinese employees can be strongly committed to the family while simultaneously prioritizing work performance.

The proposed indigenous perspective of PWF may furnish a contextualized theory for future research. The proposed measurement approaches may help developing indigenous scales for the perspective of PWF for future empirical studies.

Although Chinese employees tend to be more tolerant of work-family conflict (WFC) than their Western counterparts, such tolerance may be combined with the expectation of long-term returns to their families. Managers may assist employees with career planning and realistic goal setting to compensate for their endurance of WFC.

As a cornerstone of the society, the family plays an important role in building a “harmonious society” promoted by the government. A perceived balance of work and family is a significant factor for family harmony. We bring to the attention of policy makers the changing nature of the Chinese employees' WFI. A corresponding policy may be formulated to help Chinese employees balance their lives.

We challenge the existing conceptualizations of WFI by proposing and elaborating a perspective of PWF for context-based conceptualization.

A core concept of work–home interface research is boundary permeability – the frequency with which elements from one domain cross, or permeate, the boundary of another domain. Yet, there remains ambiguity as to what these elements are and how these permeations impact important outcomes such as role satisfaction and role performance. The authors introduce a multidimensional perspective of work–home boundary permeability, identifying five forms of boundary permeation: task, psychological, role referencing, object, and people. Furthermore, based on the notion that employee control over boundary permeability behavior is the key to achieving role satisfaction and role performance, the authors examine how organizations’ HR practices, leadership, and norms impact employee control over boundary permeability in the work and home domains. The authors conclude with an agenda for future research.