PurposeThis study aims to explore the impact of the availability of work life balance (WLB) practices on organisational outcomes in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) mediated by the existence of a culture that supports WLB.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was performed with a sample of 229 SMEs representing the metal industry sector of Southeast Spain.FindingsThe findings show that a WLB supportive culture mediates the effect of the availability of WLB practices on organisational performance.Research limitations/implicationsAmong the limitations of this study the authors highlight the transverse nature of the research and the data collection based on self‐reports.Practical implicationsCompanies interested in increasing organisational outcomes should introduce WLB practices. Moreover, practitioners should enhance an organisational culture positive towards employees' balance, communicating their support towards WLB initiatives.Social implicationsThe availability of WLB initiatives in the organisations generates not only positive outcomes for employees (e.g. reduction of inter‐role conflict, higher satisfaction, etc.), but also increases the organisational results for employers.Originality/valueThis research focuses on SMEs and the results have implications for practitioners and academics.

PurposeSMEs may be trapped in a suboptimal stable equilibrium, as many overloaded managers are cutting back on their resources and may be over‐investing in the development of exploration and exploitation processes rather than investing in mechanisms to facilitate an unlearning context. This paper proposes an unlearning context to manage an appropriate balance between exploratory processes and exploitative processes.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines the relationship between and significance of two key factors of organisational learning (the exploration and exploitation of knowledge) within an unlearning context, and their effects on the improvement of the performance of SMEs. These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 229 SMEs in the Spanish metal sector.FindingsThe results indicate that the effects of exploration and exploitation of knowledge on organizational performance are mediated through an unlearning context.Originality/valueThe findings provide interesting insights into the drivers of organizational performance for SMEs using an unlearning context. SMEs need to provide for and support changes of perspective, of individual habits and in the framework for consolidating emergent understandings.

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PurposeThe issue of individual level conflict between work and life roles remains a feature of studies on the issue of work-life balance. However, few studies have examined gender differences in the work-to-life conflict (WLC) and the life-towork conflict (LWC) over a given time span in Spain. This paper addresses this gap in the literature. Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a two-wave (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) sample of employees with children working in an industrial sector in Spain. FindingsThe 2009 results showed no gender differences in WLC, however, women experienced LWC significantly more than men. Conversely, the 2014 results showed more men suffered WLC and no gender differences were found for LWC. Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation is that, although this study collects data from two time periods in the same sector of activity, it is not a longitudinal study. Findings may not be generalizable due to the over-representation of women in our samples when compared to women in the sector, or to differences with other countries or sectors of activities. Social implicationsOur findings are discussed in the context of the economic crisis, the labour market, and family co-responsibility in Spanish society. Originality/valueFew studies have explored gender differences in inter-role conflict at two time points.This study helps to identify some key findings in terms of co-responsibility. Duxbury, 1992). Additionally, with the changing pace of working life and the reliance on technology at work many employees are expected to be available to work both before and after the normal working day (Butts et al., 2015;Roy, 2016). This exacerbates the problem of conflict between the domains of work and home and is referred to as inter-role conflict; it is the difficulty of participating in one role due to simultaneous participation in another role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). This conflict is generally considered bidirectional: work interferes with life (work-life conflict: WLC) and life interferes with job (life-work conflict: LWC) (Ferri et al., 2018). The negative consequences of inter-role conflict have been well established (Cheng and McCarthy, 2013). Yet, the antecedents and effects of WLC and LWC are considered to differ in the literature. Whereas WLC is expected to lead to outcomes in the private and family domain (e.g. family or marital satisfaction), LWC influences labour outcomes (turnover intentions, absenteeism or professional strain). This research focuses on the negative aspects of the spillover effect. According to Lourel et al. (2009) work and life interferences constitute a primary source of psychological distress for employees, families and organisations. The importance of understanding conflict between work and private roles is emphasised in recent research which has highlighted that inter-role conflict might have a boomerang effect. For example, WLC can impact on organisational behavioural outcomes such as commitment, turnover intentions or job satisfaction, highlighti...

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