Work-life interface of Portuguese international business travelers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the narratives of the work-life interface (WLI) of Portuguese international business travelers. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with 14 Portuguese international business travelers were conducted to expose the narratives of the WLI in terms of demands, resources, and coping and how these work-life events shape work-identity. Findings The findings show that: work-life events are interconnected and are sources of conflict and enrichment; work-life boundaries are personally managed and socially enacted; and WLI shapes work-identity. The analysis shows that occupational travel can be both a source of positive self-regard and fulfillment that entails high work-identity and low boundary control or a source of conflict and identity threat. In either case, work-life coping is devised to prompt self-worth. Originality/value Following the findings from this exploratory study, several research propositions are outlined for international business travelers, highlighting the interactions between work-life centrality, work-life boundary management and work-identity. In extending the work-life research to international business travelers this study reveals the extent to which the advancement of work-life research benefits from the theoretical and empirical contributions of the literature on work-identity.

COVID-19: prevalence of job-demands, stress, work–life difficulties and work–life balance among international business travelers

“…Furthermore, prior research (e.g. Westman et al, 2009;Pinto and Maia, 2015) have also documented that IBTs can proactively change their job tasks (e.g. by exerting control over travel patterns) to make their work more meaningful, which means that certain job-demands can be experienced as hindrance or challenge demands (Dimitrova et al, 2020) depending on the person and the job-context (Bakker and Demerouti, 2017;Ye and Xu, 2021).…”

“…The job demands during and after the trips absorbed them, which frequently undermined the time spent with the family and/or their social activities (Shaffer et al, 2012;M€ akel€ a et al, 2015a), which affected their WLB. IBTs frequently reported travel-related concerns regarding their (1) safety (Sheivachman, 2016); (2) stress (Ivancevich et al, 2003;Striker et al, 2000); (3) physical health (Demel and Mayrhofer, 2010;Rogers and Reilly, 2002) linked to sleeping deprivation, jet lag and unhealthy lifestyle (Harvey et al, 2010); (4) mental health and psychological disorders (Espino et al, 2002;Lirio, 2014), such as stress, depression, anxiety, burnout (Jensen, 2014), emotional exhaustion (Westman and Etzion, 2002) and substance misuse (Pinto et al, 2020) and ( 5) difficulties in managing their work-life interface (Pinto and Maia, 2015;Lirio, 2014), including relational (Harvey et al, 2010;Shaffer et al, 2012) and family problems (M€ akel€ a, et al, 2015a;Baker and Ciuk, 2015). These difficulties, however, were shown to be mediated by certain job-resources, such as IBTs control over the travel patterns that include the possibility to (1) plan the trips before and during travel and to (2) shorten business travel duration (Westman et al, 2009).…”

“…These difficulties, however, were shown to be mediated by certain job-resources, such as IBTs control over the travel patterns that include the possibility to (1) plan the trips before and during travel and to (2) shorten business travel duration (Westman et al, 2009). Furthermore, some IBTs experienced job-satisfaction and a sense of work-life accomplishment related to a cosmopolitan lifestyle (Pinto and Maia, 2015), while others experienced higher and continuous job-demands from traveling, including feelings of detachment from family and friends (Chen, 2017). The consequence is that the prevalence of work-life difficulties and WLB among IBTs varies with their subjective and personal experiences (Dimitrova et al, 2020).…”

The occupational stress in International Business Travellers of a multinational of the automotive sector

“…Travels seems to be harder for married employees and with children. In a study with Portuguese IBTs, some participants felt uncomfortable for being absent and/or suspending decisions to get married or have children due to their job (Pinto & Maia, 2015).…”

“…The travel implies planning, preparation and coordination at home, and sometimes negotiation with the spouse (Gustafson, 2014). A study developed with Portuguese IBTs indicates that's although the IBT has some control upon the work-family balance, the companies are determinants in the maintenance of this balance (Pinto & Maia, 2015).…”