Global cities, work and family collectivism and work-family conflict in India

Abstract

Purpose The authors observe the impact of certain aspects of globalization on the work-family interface in India. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of life in Tier 1 (more globalized) vs Tier 2 (less globalized) cities, family/work collectivism and gender on work-family conflict (WFC) – both work interfering with family (WIF) conflict as well as family interfering with work (FIW) conflict. Design/methodology/approach The study surveyed 628 young employees on cultural values of collectivism and WFC. Findings Results suggest a main effect of tier in which Tier 1 city individuals experience more of both forms of WFC than Tier 2 city individuals. However, two- and three-way interactions between family/work collectivism and tier greatly moderate the main effect. Interactions indicate that family collectivism decreased WIF more for Tier 1 as compared to Tier 2 cities and work collectivism decreased FIW more for Tier 2 as compared to Tier 1 cities. The results suggest that high family collectivism creates high conflict for those who are low on work collectivism and high family collectivism creates low conflict for those who are high on work collectivism. Research limitations/implications The paper provides great insight into globalization and WFC within the context of cultural values. The paper calls for further studies on globalization, work life enrichment and cultural values. Practical implications The results build a case for more paid and organizationally supported interventions for work-life balance in India. Originality/value Large scale institutional changes, such as globalization, call for a reexamination of cultural dynamics. This study heeds the call and examines WFC in the context of rapid economic and social transformation occurring in India by bridging globalization, cultural change and WIF/FIW.

Predictors and outcomes of work–family conflict among nurses

“…All these contextual elements are known to contribute to WFC in nurses. This result coincides with the study of Shah & Rajadhyaksha (2016) where workers in larger and urbanized areas experience a significant level of WFC than those in a less urbanized area.…”

Toward contextual understanding: antecedents of work-family interface in India

“…Among various cultural dimensions, WF scholars have paid more attention to individualismcollectivism (Allen et al, 2015), gender egalitarianism (Allen et al, 2015) and humane orientation (Ollo-L opez and Goñi-Legaz, 2017). A similar trend is observed in the Indian context, such that much research has examined how collectivistic values in India lead to perceptions about the importance of the family (Aycan, 2008;Chadda and Deb, 2013), or how high family collectivism leads to an experience of lesser work family conflict (Shah and Rajadhyaksha, 2016) and how collectivistic/traditional values are being preserved despite globalization and cultural shifts (Khare, 2011). Concerning gender egalitarianism, many studies in the Indian context have focused on gender differences in the experience of WF conflict (e.g.…”

Work–family interface of women entrepreneurs: evidence from India

“…This holds true in the present study as well, as the women experienced a high level of family support, possibly also as more than half of respondents lived in joint families. However, the possibility that women may be “self-mitigating” or reporting less conflict to justify their own choice to work by focussing not on the stress, but on the benefits it brings (Shah and Rajadhyaksha, 2016), needs to examined further.…”