Gaining Insights into Work-Family Interface in South Asian Context

Special issue call for papers from South Asian Journal of Business Studies

Deadline: July 30th 2019

Guest Editors:

Tejinder K. Billing, Rowan University (billing@rowan.edu)

Nicholas J. Beutell, Iona College, (nbeutell@iona.edu)

The nature of the relationship between work and non-work life has dramatically changed over the last few decades. Work and family lives are now more integrated but also more distinct separated by time, space, and commitments (Conley, 2009; Moen, Lam, Ammons, & Kelly, 2013). The global interdependence of markets, changing institutional norms, increased performance expectations, and the changing workforce are intensifying demands on today’s workers (Moen et al., 2013). These higher work demands, coupled with new technological innovations, are allowing work to penetrate more deeply into non-work life (Duxbury, Lyons, & Higgins, 2008; Milliken & Dunn-Jensen, 2005; Perlow & Porter, 2009).

Research in the western context has explored how these changing dynamics have influenced the work-family interface (e.g. Bhave & Lefter, 2017; Bono, Glomb, Shen, Kim & Koch, 2017; Carlson, Grzywacz, Feguson, et al.,2011; Derks, Bakker, Peters & Van Wingerden, 2016; Dumas & Sanchez-Burks, 2015; Harris, Marett & Harris, 2011; Kelly, Moen & Tranby 2011).  However, very few studies have examined the impact of such changes in South Asia (in the last eight years, only a little over of 10% of the work-family studies published in the Asian Pacific context focus on South Asia). The economic, social, and legal contexts in South Asia provide an important setting for understanding the relationship between work and family lives of working individuals. For example, changing performance expectations in emerging economies, like India, have important ramifications for the way in which individuals deal with non-work expectations and responsibilities. Further, we need to know how work-life culture in these societies affects the meaning of both work and family. As such, South Asia provides a unique context since multigenerational families are still prevalent (e.g., in-laws live in the same household with their children). Do these family structures affect the work-family interface positively or negatively? How do the cultural values in these countries, such as vertical collectivism, gender roles, gender egalitarianism, and time orientation help us understand work-family interface?

We invite submissions that examine work-family interface in South Asian context. Our main goal is extending our understanding of how individuals in these societies deal with two important facets of their lives: work and family. We use work-family interface in a very broad manner; it encompasses all constructs focusing on the relationship between work and non-work life including but not limited to: work-family conflict, work-life balance, work to family conflict, work-family spillover, work-family enrichment, work-life enrichment, etc.

Proposed papers may deal with but not limited to the following topics:

•    How is changing nature of work shaping work-family culture in South Asian countries?
•    How do technological innovations such as internet-accessible smartphones affest work norms and behaviors? How do these new norms and behaviors affect the work-family interface?
•    What kind of work flexibility exists?  Does such flexibility help individuals deal with competing demands of work and non-work life?
•    What does work-life enrichment mean in South Asian context?
•    What role does culture play in terms of shared beliefs (e.g., group dynamics, gender ideologies, time orientation, individualism-collectivism) and how do such beliefs influence the work-family interface? 
•    What social practices are relevant for understanding work-family interface. How do these practices affect work-family interface?
•    How does family structure (e.g., nuclear family vs. extended households) affect the work-family interface?
•    How does social stratification in the South Asian context shape the work-family interface?
•    How do organization level policies (like extended maternity leaves or on-site childcare) help employees to deal with the demands of work and family?  How effective are these organizational policies?
•    Given the collectivistic context of South Asian societies, how effective are social resources, like emotional and social support, for dealing with work-family conflict?
•    How do South Asian supervisors help or hinder their workers’ work-family demands?
•    What meaning do individuals attribute to work and family? and how the centrality of these facets affect the experience of work-family conflict?
•    How do public policies (like family leave, parental leave) shape work-family interface?
•    Do public policies related to family affect organizational policies designed to help employees deal with family demands?

This call is open to papers using qualitative or quantitative methodologies examining the work-family interface in South Asia. Theoretical papers that further our understanding work-family issues in the South Asian context are also welcome.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be prepared in accordance with SAJBS’ style guide and submitted via ScholarOne by July 30th 2019.

Questions regarding special issue should be directed to special issue editors, Tejinder K. Billing (billing@rowan.edu) and Nicholas J. Beutell (nbeutell@iona.edu).

References

Bhave, D. P. and Lefter, A. M. (2017). The other side: Occupational interactional requirements and work-home enrichment. Academy of Management Journal, 61(1), 139-164.

Bono, J. E., Glomb, T. M., Shen, W., Kim, E., and Koch, A. J. (2012). Building positive resources: Effects of positive events and positive reflection on work stress and health. Academy of Management Journal, 56(6), 1601-1627.

Carlson, D. S., Ferguson, M., Kacmar, M., Grzywacz, J. G., and Whitten, D. (2010). Pay it forward: the positive crossover effects of supervisor work-family enrichment. Journal of Management, 37(3), 770-789.

Conley. D. (2009). Elsewhere, U.S.A.: How We Got from the Company Man, Family Dinners and the Affluent Society to the Home Office, BlackBerry Moms and Economic Anxiety. New York: Pantheon Books.

Derks, D., Bakker, A. B., Peters, P., and van Wingerden, P. (2016). Work-related smartphone use, work-family conflict and family role performance: The role of segmentation preference. Human Relations, 69(5), 1045-1068.

Dumas, T. L. and Sanchez-Burks, J. (2015). The professional, the personal, and the ideal worker: Pressures and objectives shaping the boundary between life domains. The Academy of Management Annals, 9(1), 803-843.

Duxbury, L., Lyons, S., and Higgins, C. (2008). Too much to do, and not enough time: An examination of role overload. In Lero, D., Korabik, K., Whitehead, D. (Eds.), Handbook of work-family integration: Research, theory and best practice (pp. 125-140). San Diego, CA: Elsevier

Greenhaus J. H., Allen T.D. (2011). Work-family balance: A review and extension of the literature. In Tetrick L, Quick JC (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology (2nd ed., pp. 165–183). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Greenhaus, J. H., & Beutell, N. J. (1985).  Sources of conflict between work and family roles.  Acdemy of Management Review, 10, 76-88.

Harris, K. J., Marett, K., and Harris, R. B. (2011). Technology-related pressure and work-family conflict: Main effects and an examination of moderating variables. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 41(9). 2077-2103.

Kelly, E. L., Moen, P., and Tranby, E. (2011). Changing workplaces to reduce work-family conflict: Schedule control in a white-collar organization. American Sociological Review, 76(2), 265-290.

Milliken, F. J., and Dunn-Jensen, L. M. (2005). The changing time demands of managerial and professional work: Implications for managing the work-life boundary. In Kossek, E. E., Lambert, S. J. (Eds.), Work and life integration: Organizational, cultural and individual perspectives (pp. 43-50). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Moen, P., Lam, J., Ammons, S. (2013). Time work by overworked professionals: Strategies in response to the stress of higher status, Work and Occupations. 40(2). 79-114.

Perlow, L. A., Porter, J. L. (2009). Making time off predictable—and required. Harvard Business Review, 87, 102-109