Managing the boundaries between work and home: a study with expatriates

Abstract

This study aims to understand the tactics that expatriates use to manage the interface between work and home. This qualitative study was performed using in-depth interviews later submitted to content analysis, with 64 male Brazilian expatriates. The results showed that expatriates manage the conflicts that may appear in relationships with social actors from the organizational (e.g., employers, customers, and suppliers) and home (spouse, children, and parents) domains by using boundary work tactics. The analysis revealed a list of tactics that allow the expatriates to integrate or segment the work and home domains. This study suggests how expatriates can actively interact with people from work and home domains in such a way that they can build and maintain better work and home relationships during the period they are living in other country. Additionally, companies should develop work-home policies that consider the preferences that an expatriate and his family have for integrating or segmenting work and home domains.

“The Exorcist”: a grounded theory on how individuals avoid unethical requests at work

“…The growing emphasis on the micro aspects of organizational behavior (Felix et al , 2018; Nóbrega and Felix, 2021) has led to growth in the literature on business ethics that considers individuals not mere passive beings, recipients of action, but rather active agents who are able to influence the construction of the social reality in which they are inserted (De Bakker et al , 2019; DeTienne et al , 2021). Given this context, it is relevant to shift the interest in the literature on business ethics to not only organizational actions for the promotion of ethics but also an agentic approach that considers the action of an individual relevant to the debate on work-related moral issues.…”

Occupational callings in a context of structural restrictions

“…Studies on this theme have gained strength in the last years, deepening the understanding of its antecedents and consequences. The wide variety of existing careers and the spread of the understanding that people can find meaning and purpose at work (Felix & Cavazotte, 2019), allied to the tyranny of freedom -pressure on the individual to "be whoever he/she wants" (Schwartz, 2000) -, have made individuals seek careers that meet their calling, thus providing greater satisfaction with life (Duffy et al, 2017;Nóbrega & Felix, 2021). However, several factors are decisive for an individual to be able to live a perceived calling.…”

Laços que Criam Nós: Como Trabalhadores de Aplicativos Coconstroem suas Identidades em Contextos Precários de Trabalho

“…Há algumas décadas, pesquisadores têm se dedicado a compreender como indivíduos constroem suas identidades no trabalho. A gestão da identidade, que se refere aos processos pelos quais indivíduos constroem, abandonam, revisam e aderem a identidades no trabalho (Nobrega & Felix, 2021;Watson, 2008), tem sido amplamente estudada. Tais estudos tradicionalmente direcionam a atenção para os processos culturais, normativos e de redes que estão envolvidos na definição de um 'quem sou' no ambiente de trabalho que levam o indivíduo a se inserir em seu contexto laboral, ao mesmo tempo que preserva sua identidade (Gomes & Felix, 2019;Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010;Rodrigues & Felix, 2021).…”