Work-Life Balance in distinct cultural settings

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Topic:

Work-Life Balance in distinct cultural settings

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A cross-cultural comparison among 23 European countries

Master Thesis

Faculty of Economics and Business

Master of Science International Business and Management

1st Supervisor: Dr. S. Stakhovych 2nd Supervisor Mr. H.C. Stek

Student : Michel Höftmann

Winschoterdiep 46 9723 AC Groningen Student Number: S1951645

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Abstract

This thesis tries to shed light in the role of national culture as a determinant of Work-Life Balance (WLB). Particularly, the promotion of WLB is used in the Human Resource Management as a tool to attract and sustain valuable employees or to increase the productivity of the workforce. In order to promote WLB most effectively, the antecedents of WLB need to be assessed. Therefore, two steps are followed in order to gain insights in this topic. First of all, WLB is measured through a factor analysis on a sample of 19,304 individuals by using the large-scale survey ESS-Round 2, covering 23 countries in Europe. In a second step, five variables on cultural dimensions by using Hofstede’s indices (Power Distance, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism) as well as the attitude towards time (polychronicity) are used, to test for the statistical relationship between WLB and culture. Moreover, two variables measuring the institutional influence (overtime limitations, maternity leave) are also included in the model. Subsequently, a linear multiple regression analysis is performed.

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1 Introduction

“Work-Life Balance is taking a bigger bite out of corporate profits than any other bottom line issue today. As a result it provides the biggest and easiest upside opportunity to immediately impact your business.” (Jim Bird, CEO of Worklifebalance.com, a leading provider of management training in the USA)

In business practice, companies are facing a quickly changing environment. Consequently, firms have to be able to adapt constantly in order to stay competitive and cope with the effects of globalization such as hyper-competition. Especially, multinational corporations (MNCs), which are operating in several countries around the globe, are confronted with these challenges. In order to be successful, the personnel plays a pivotal role. This implies that a Human Resource Management (HRM) has to be able to sustain and recruit its employees and at the same token ensure and enhance the productivity of the workforce. Particularly, the active promotion of Work-Life Balance (WLB) is used as a tool in the context of a Human Resource Management in order to achieve these objectives. To promote WLB most effectively, managers should be familiar with its determinants. To begin with, WLB is a subjective feeling of an individual which reflects the balance between work and private life. This is most likely to be influenced by norms, values and cultural beliefs. Therefore, culture might have a significant influence on the level of WLB in different countries. Although a scarce number of publications are addressing the effect of culture on WLB, there is a lack of quantitative approaches. It is consequently desirable to conduct a quantitative analysis to find out whether there is a statistically significant link between culture and WLB. Thus, this thesis will fill the research gap by examining the relationship between culture and WLB on a quantitative basis by using a large-scale survey including 23 different European countries.

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2 competitive advantages through the implementation of WLB measures. Furthermore, examining WLB issues across multiple countries provides information about universal and cultural-specific WLB experiences which may assist employers and employees to operate better in a diverse work environment (Yang et al., 2000). This would prevent the offering of unused WLB measures and therefore save costs for the company. Furthermore, increased efficiency can be achieved by having a “balanced” workforce. This will reveal the potential of WLB policies for the HRM in different cultural settings. Moreover, on a macro level, it might also provide guidelines for policy makers who are currently focusing on WLB issues in order to increase the low fertility rates and enhance the overall employees’ state of health in Western Europe, for instance (Prognos AG 2005b).

1.1 Background, problem statement and research question

Overall, manifold research has already been done in the field of WLB, ranging from different methods to achieve a balanced work–life relation to effects of an imbalanced work–life relation in psychological terms, leading to burnouts, stress and inefficiency. On the one hand, the “war for talents” in the high technology, pharmaceutical and other industries determines the success of those companies. Hence, MNCs which are able to recruit and sustain high qualified personnel have a competitive advantage. On the other hand, the productivity of the workforce is a crucial element in order to be successful. These are the starting points for Work-Life Balance (WLB). Companies that have a “balanced” workforce face higher productivity and are better able to recruit and sustain its valuable employees (Lero et al. 2009). In general, the term WLB gained more and more popularity in the last decades (Edwards & Wajcman, 2005; Eby et al. 2005). In addition, the pressure of work, for those who work, has been increasing in the last years due to the rising threat of unemployment and the fact that people are increasingly working overtime (Jones et al. 2006; Lee, 2007). The workforce of Western MNCs, operating in other countries, is often more than ever exposed to stressful work (Hsu et. al, 2001). Moreover, the increasing proportion of dual-earner couples which have to care for their children and elderly dependents, stresses the need for WLB support by their employers and on an institutional level (Neal & Hammer, 2007).

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3 Especially culture plays a crucial role when differences between groups of individuals occur and might also moderate WLB differences across nations. Therefore, examining WLB issues across multiple countries could reveal potential to gain competitive advantages for MNCs in the “war for talents”, especially in those countries that encounter a low level of WLB.

A vast majority of studies on WLB are on a national level and not comparative in nature, thus making it difficult to examine the differences in WLB across countries and cultures (Gelfand et al. 2002). However, only a handful of studies on Work-Family Balance compared more than two nations and only investigated one cultural dimension (Smith et al., 2008). Hence, the question on the determinants of WLB in different cultural settings does not provide a clear answer with the current state of research in this recently emerging field. This leads us to the following research question:

What is the influence of culture on WLB in distinct cultural settings among 23 European countries?

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2 Work-Life Balance (WLB) in the context of a Human Resource

Management

In the following chapter, the Work-Life Balance (WLB) topic will be introduced. First of all, the historical development will be shown. Secondly, the current debate as well as the meaning of WLB will be discussed. Thirdly, WLB will be defined and its objectives and promotion introduced. Finally, its manifold effects will be demonstrated and in this context the Win-Win theory will be presented, followed by its limitations.

2.1 Definition and meaning of WLB

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5 physical and mental health as well as the work-family relation has to be supported in order to reach a positive attitude towards work and subsequently a high job satisfaction (Cranny et al., 1992).

The WLB theme is a broad interdisciplinary academic field and discussed in sociology, psychology, political science, industrial organizational psychology, gender studies and finally in business studies in the context of the Human Resource Management (HRM) (Esslinger & Schobert, 2007). In the literature, vast quantities of WLB definitions are present, however, these definitions are mostly very general in nature and no consensus among researches exists (Resch, 2003). Guest, for instance, concentrates on the question what work and what private life is, how these two spheres can be distinguished and finally what a balance means in this context (Guest, 2002). In particular, he defines work as a paid employment whereas private life all activities outside the paid employment includes. In contrast, Clark (2000) defines WLB as the satisfaction and task fulfillment in terms of work and private life with a minimum of role conflict. Moreover, Kastner (2004) distinguishes between incriminatory and exonerating activities in both spheres and subsequently the balancing act between those. Generally speaking, WLB is a broad subject and can be differentiated between the two poles, namely work and life. However, the problem of a clear definition of the term balance occurs. In this context, it seems feasible to introduce a subjective as well as an objective understanding (Guest 2002). On the one hand, subjective indicators are related to the state of balance. This means that a balance is present when work and life are not in a conflict to each other. On the other hand, an objective WLB includes, the working time, free time activities and the family role of a person, for instance (Guest, 2002).

„It might be useful to consider whether in practice it is easier to define balance by its absence. In other words, people are more likely to be subjectively aware of their state when there is imbalance.” (Guest 2002, p. 264)

As this quote emphasizes, Guest circumvents the problem of a subjective awareness of a person’s balance by stressing the absence of balance. In conclusion, following Guest, in this thesis the term WLB will be defined as the

Absence of subjective and / or objective imbalance between the paid activity (employment) and the non-paid activities (life)

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this for him- or herself on purpose. This means that a painter is following his passion by dedicating as much time as possible to paint his pictures

subjective and objective WLB will not always be identical. each sphere implies certain obligations

obligations such as the working time, that are connected to work (M

the factor family obligations, other forms of unpaid labor and free time, which pursuing other interests and commitments as well as

(Haworth, 1997). The factor f

Consequently, WLB can be seen as a constant balance act between the two spheres which is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1, Work-Life-Balance, modified from Houston The above illustrated factors determine if

answer whether an individual encounters a work

objectively defined. Therefore, the constellation of factors that lead to a based imbalance are differently conceived by each individual

energy levels, attitudes toward

most likely to be dependent on an individual’s culture, which will be discussed later. In this context, the strain based work

asserts that the work life is influencing the priv

or herself on purpose. This means that a painter is following his passion by dedicating as much time as possible to paint his pictures, for instance

e WLB will not always be identical. To sum up, it can be stated that obligations. On the one hand, the work

the working time, commute time, extra hours and other responsibilities (McCann, 2007). On the other hand, the life sphere includes obligations, other forms of unpaid labor and free time, which

pursuing other interests and commitments as well as leisure time and passive behavio The factor family consists of elder, child and the care of relatives Consequently, WLB can be seen as a constant balance act between the two spheres

.

Balance, modified from Houston (Houston 2002, p. 248)

trated factors determine if a balance or an imbalance exists.

answer whether an individual encounters a work-life balance or imbalance can hardly objectively defined. Therefore, the constellation of factors that lead to a

differently conceived by each individual, owing attitudes towards work and life and consequently different p

most likely to be dependent on an individual’s culture, which will be discussed later. In this context, the strain based work-life imbalance can be referred to the spillover theory

asserts that the work life is influencing the private life and vice versa (Staines, 1998).

Life

Employment

6 or herself on purpose. This means that a painter is following his passion by for instance. Therefore, To sum up, it can be stated that . On the one hand, the work sphere consists of , extra hours and other responsibilities . On the other hand, the life sphere includes obligations, other forms of unpaid labor and free time, which thus includes leisure time and passive behavior of elder, child and the care of relatives. Consequently, WLB can be seen as a constant balance act between the two spheres

a balance or an imbalance exists. However, an balance or imbalance can hardly be objectively defined. Therefore, the constellation of factors that lead to a time or

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7 Particularly, positive and negative spillovers between both spheres are possible and are influencing each other. In other words, job dissatisfaction, tension at work, job-threat and over-tiredness could yield to a negative spillover on the private life (van Dijkhuizen, 1980). This means that it can create resentment and tension in the employee’s relationship at home and hence lead to a poor management of family obligations. At the same token, marital problems, difficulties with the children or other issues with relatives can cause reduced energy at work. In general, problems in one sphere can be so straining, that they interfere with the employee’s ability to concentrate or enjoy the other sphere (Gottlieb et al., 1998).

2.2 Objectives of WLB

Many companies promote WLB and support their employees to achieve a balance between the employment and their private life. As reasons, companies frequently state that they want to increase their employees’ job satisfaction, the retention and recruitment of high qualified personnel and cost savings due to lower sick leave and a higher productivity (Flüter-Hoffmann 2003; Messenger, 2007). As an example, the German Institute of Economics carried out a field study to investigate employers’ motives for the introduction of family-friendly measures in companies, illustrated in Table 1:

Motive Fraction of companies

Increasing the employees‘ job satisfaction 75.8% Retention and recruitment of qualified personnel 74.7% Cost savings due to lower fluctuation and lower sick leave 64.3%

Increase in employees‘ productivity 58.1%

Higher flexibilty for the employees 56.1%

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8 spite of the increasing competitive situation, they actively need to deal with the WLB issue regarding their own workforce (Glazinski, 2003). In this thesis, I will distinguish between two different WLB objectives, derived from the literature on Human Resource Management, namely classical and sustainability objectives.

2.2.1 Classical WLB objectives in the context of a strategic HRM

In order to define the classical WLB objectives, the “classical” objectives, which are manifested in the strategic HRM, will be discussed. To begin with, the intensification of competition has pushed firms to cut costs and increase quality at the same time, especially in the last years (Messenger, 2007). The pivot of a strategic HRM are the steps planning, implementation and control of personnel related to possible courses of action, namely the recruitment, retention, utilization and finally the layoff of personnel. In particular, the qualified personnel is the main focus of a strategic HRM (Müller-Christ, 2001). In the vast literature on strategic HRM no consistent and generally accepted definitions are present. However, Storey describes the strategic HRM as

„…a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques”. (Storey 1995, p.5)

Based on Storey’s quote, a strategic HRM is successful if competitive advantages can be built and sustained through a strategic personnel placement. Moreover, it is evident that this success is related to the organizational level. On the individual level, success implies the creation and sustainment of productivity and motivation of the workforce, on a high level (Ehnert, 2008b). Additionally, Drumm (2008) states that qualified personnel should only be strategically planned and processed if it is scarce. This reflects a short term utilization of human resources in order to achieve competitive advantages (Müller-Christ & Ehnert, 2006). Therefore, the success of a strategic HRM management can be defined as predominantly efficiency oriented.

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9 2.2.2 Sustainability objectives in the context of a sustainable HRM

The sustainable HRM gained increasing attention in the last years. The starting point of the sustainable HRM debate is that human resources are excessively exhausted and mostly only partial potential of the personnel is utilized by companies. Therefore, the rational usage of human resources is crucial for a sustainable HRM (Müller-Christ & Ehnert, 2006). Furthermore, it is important for companies to be featured with a suitable workforce, even in the future. Thus, this implies that companies have to cope with the problem of acquirement of new and suitable employees as well as the retention of the existing employees, even in the long-run (Ehnert, 2008a). Since the beginning of the 1990s, the labor market faces a deficiency of qualified personnel (Herman, 1993). Consequently, the challenge for companies to acquire and sustain qualified personnel, especially for multinational corporations (MNCs), in the so-called “war for talents”, arose (Ehnert, 2008a). In this harsh competition, companies are trying to appear as an “employer of choice”, in order to attract qualified personnel. However, to appear as an employer of choice, WLB can play an important role. Empirical evidence was provided by Dex & Scheibl (1999). They found out, that individuals who get an employment offer from two companies will always choose, under the same terms and conditions, the company that provides WLB support. Furthermore, Lero et al. (2009) state that companies which have a “balanced” workforce are more able to recruit and sustain its valuable employees.

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2.3 The promotion of WLB

WLB measures are aiming to facilitate a successful career under the consideration of private, social, cultural and health needs of employees (Prognos AG, 2005a). The following introduction of WLB measures which are offered in companies is just to provide an overview of the field and does not represent the full spectrum of WLB measures. Thus, the most discussed WLB measures in the literature will be presented briefly. First of all, the measures concerning the direct work environment will be examined, followed by the measures that go beyond the direct work environment.

2.3.1 WLB measures linked to the workplace Flexible work time

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11 Motive to introduce flexible time Fraction of companies

To enable employees to better combine work and family life or personal life

68% To make working hours more adaptable to the variations in workload

47%

To cope with commuting problems 22%

Table 2, Motives for the introduction of flexible time in Europe (Eurofond, 2006)

This table is based on the survey carried out by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. It emphasizes that about half of the managers in companies introduce flexible time in order to be able to adapt the working hours to the workload. Moreover, 68% state that flexible time was introduced in order to facilitate employees to better combine work and private life. However, it should be noted that the introduction of flexible working hours is a combination of benefits for the company as well as the employees. Hence, it is a win-win situation and not a solely altruistic move from the management (Eurofond, 2006).

Part time and Job-Sharing

“The term ‘part-time worker’ refers to an employee whose normal hours of work, calculated on a weekly basis or on average over a period of employment of up to one year, are less than the normal hours of work of a comparable full-time worker” (The Council of the European Union, 1998, p. 5)

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12 Telework

Telework is a transition to a flexible work location and can be accomplished via modern IT and communication technology. Telework has various forms, ranging from once a week to full-time. In this context, the alternating Telework, a hybrid form of the flexible work location, is widespread. This form features that the work is done in the office as well as at home or other locations (Hill et al., 2003). In brief, the shift of the job location offers the employees a more flexible design of their work and subsequently a time and cost saving owing to the cut of commuting (Hill et al., 2003; Gottlieb et al., 1998). Moreover, private and family obligations can also be easier managed. On the contrary, it reduces the social integration at work (Becker, 2003; Gottlieb et al., 1998).

Sabbaticals

A sabbatical is a longer rest of an employee from work while having a job guarantee. Various reasons from the viewpoint of an employee can play a role, such as further education, a stay abroad or the care of a relative (Esslinger & Schobert, 2007). The work release can be in paid or unpaid form, dependent on the agreement whereas the latter more common is. Especially in times of low demand, companies can make use of sabbaticals in order to reduce personnel costs without losing the employee (Prognos AG, 2005a). This is imaginable, particularly, in the current financial crisis. The benefits for an employee are obvious. The free time can be used for regeneration, family commitments or to fulfill a life’s dream.

2.3.2 WLB measures beyond the workplace Extension of maternity leave

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13 full-time work is limited in most countries across Europe, except Sweden (O’Reilly et al. 2000; Evans et al. 2001).

Child care

Support in terms of child care range from procurement of child care facilities to an in-house kindergarten. Especially for companies with a large workforce and thus a certain amount of children, the in-house kindergarten provides the best solution for parents. Additionally, introducing childcare is also dependent on the actual supply of public childcare facilities. Therefore, in countries with a poor childcare, the effect of introducing an in-house childcare facility on the WLB of the workforce will be more significant (Eurofond, 2006). On the contrary, small and medium enterprises prefer cooperative activities in order to set up a collaborative child care. As a result, child care supports the parents to find a decent childcare and moreover provides an opportunity to adapt the working time on the child care to achieve more suitable schedules for the employees (Schmitz, 2006).

Emergency care

Working parents usually have a certain care for their children arranged, such as a nanny, an au-pair or the grandparents. Nonetheless, an emergency situation can arise due to illness of them, for instance. As a backup solution, companies are offering a timely flexible and on short notice available emergency care. Consequently, the employees are able to cope with this situation and encounter a lower level of stress. (Quick et al., 1992; Prognos AG, 2005a)

Elder and relative care

Elder care concerns measures that support employees who have to cope with the care of their parents or their relatives. The service can range from seminars regarding better coping strategies, a psychological consultancy and procurement of support services to short-term rentals of rooms in homes for elderly or accommodation of sick children and relatives (Moss & Deven, 1999; OECD, 2001).

Workplace health promotion and prevention

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14 weight reduction, nutrition seminars and also amateur sports such as tennis, football or volleyball (Federal Centre for Health Education, 1985; Prognos AG, 2005a). Even though these opportunities are not offering time advantages, they enhance the ability to work under pressure, reduce stress or increase the ability to cope with it and improve the life expectancy.

2.4 The institutional promotion of WLB

In addition to the WLB support carried out by companies, the institutional promotion plays a vital role and has a major influence. First of all, the European Union (EU) provides a framework, namely 89/391 on health and safety at work (European Union Corrigendum to Council Directive, 1989). This general framework ensures the health issues at work. This means that the employers are legally obliged to ensure the safety and health of their employees. Even though work-related stress is included in the framework, it is not explicitly stated. Therefore, the European social partners’ autonomous agreement on work related stress (2004), which is represented by employers and trade unions, refers explicitly to this issue and is implemented in the EU member states. In particular, the 25 EU member states were obliged to implement measures such as trainings in coping strategies to prevent work related stress. Moreover, it can be seen as a catalyst for action and awareness to prevent and manage work-related stress across the EU countries (ETUC, Eurocadres CEC, Businesseurope (Unice), UEAPME, CEEP, 2004). On a national level, WLB promotion includes family and childcare, maternity leave and working time related rules and regulations (Crompton & Lyonette, 2006; Littlewood et al., 2004; Fox et al., 2009).

2.5 Benefits and effects of WLB

In this section, the manifold effects of WLB on the employees, the companies and the society will be demonstrated.

2.5.1 Effects of WLB measures on employees

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15 single or through the reduction of career ambitions (Abele, 2005). Companies can counteract this trend with the introduction of WLB measures and thus support the employees in order to achieve a long-term reconcilability in both spheres. Particularly, any form of time or location flexibility enables the employees to gain more personal responsibility and better alternatives to coordinate work and private obligations (Friedman, 1994, Solomon, 1994, Rost, 2004). At this point, the cut of commute time and costs has also to be mentioned (van der Lippe & Peters, 2007). Empirical studies confirm that flexible work arrangements reduce time pressure, job stress and role strain (van der Lippe & Peters, 2007; Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2004; Rodgers, 1992, Dunham et al. 1987) Especially, the reduction of stress, which can be achieved through flexible work arrangements, is important for employees (Kaiser, 2009). The effects of stress can be extreme, ranging from sleeping disorders, headaches to severe diseases such as burnouts, depression, cardiovascular diseases and ultimately death or suicide (Quick et al. 1992; Green & Baker, 1991). In general, a lower level of stress results in a better health condition of the employees and thus a higher quality of life. In addition, increased job satisfactions owing to flexible work arrangements were found by several researchers (Neuman et al., 1989; Harrick et al., 1986, Gottlieb et al. 1998). Care arrangements and facilities support the employee in the coordination process of family obligations and result in time savings and subsequently lower stress regarding this issue (Rost, 2004). Besides, health promotion and prevention programmes offered by companies can directly increase the employees’ health condition and replenish their energy levels (Green & Baker, 1991). To conclude, WLB measures have manifold effects on employees, ranging from a better management of work and life obligations, a higher job satisfaction to stress reduction and hence a better state of health (Steenbergen & Ellemers, 2009). As a result, some of these factors also have an impact on the organization’s performance. Therefore, the benefits of an increased WLB on companies will be outlined in the next section.

2.5.2 Effects on an organizational level

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between work-life balance measures offered by a company and the employee’s organizational commitment. Moreover, a higher WL

thus a cost decrease for the organization (Rodgers, 1992). recruitment of new personnel (Dex & Scheibl, 1999). employee retention and hence a lower employee t

up, manifold positive effects on are evident and are summarized in the following figure In order to provide a better overview, the effects are assigned to the efficiency and sustainability level with regard to the W

Figure 2: Effects of WLB on the organization 2.5.3 Social impacts of WLB

Social impacts of WLB are also evident. Owing to increasing opportunities of child and elder care, a growing number of parents, primarily women will

family life and thus lead to a higher supply of qualified personnel.

supply will occur especially among groups that are currently facing poor employment rates, such as women (in particular those with child

Moreover, a family-friendly work environment enable and thus counteract the low fertility rate in Europe. marginal, it can also encourage

an increased WLB of employees yields

population. Consequently, the whole public health system savings (Prognos AGa, 2005).

Efficiency level

• increased productivity and morale • reduced absenteeism

• less tardiness

• better resource utilization • cost savings

life balance measures offered by a company and the employee’s Moreover, a higher WLB leads to reduced absen

for the organization (Rodgers, 1992). Furthermore, new personnel (Dex & Scheibl, 1999). Additionally, it entails employee retention and hence a lower employee turnover (Glass & Riley, 1998).

up, manifold positive effects on are evident and are summarized in the following figure order to provide a better overview, the effects are assigned to the efficiency and

with regard to the WLB objectives.

the organization, compiled by the author of WLB

Social impacts of WLB are also evident. Owing to increasing opportunities of child and elder care, a growing number of parents, primarily women will be able to manage work and family life and thus lead to a higher supply of qualified personnel. The increased employee supply will occur especially among groups that are currently facing poor employment rates, such as women (in particular those with children) and elderly people (Eurofond, 2006).

friendly work environment enables dual-career couples to

and thus counteract the low fertility rate in Europe. Even though the direct effect might be marginal, it can also encourage the rest of the population regarding this issue.

increased WLB of employees yields to a healthier workforce and hence

the whole public health system will benefit from those cost .

increased productivity and morale

better resource utilization

Sustainability level

• higher commitment and loyalty • lower fluctuation

• better recruitment of personnel • employer of choice

16 life balance measures offered by a company and the employee’s B leads to reduced absenteeism and Furthermore, it improves the Additionally, it entails a better urnover (Glass & Riley, 1998). To sum up, manifold positive effects on are evident and are summarized in the following figure 2. order to provide a better overview, the effects are assigned to the efficiency and

Social impacts of WLB are also evident. Owing to increasing opportunities of child and be able to manage work and The increased employee supply will occur especially among groups that are currently facing poor employment rates, ren) and elderly people (Eurofond, 2006). career couples to have children Even though the direct effect might be the rest of the population regarding this issue. Additionally, orce and hence a healthier will benefit from those cost

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2.6 WLB as a Win-Win Situation and its limitations

To conclude, the promotion and successful implementation of WLB can be described as a win-win situation. In other words, employees and companies similarly benefit from a high WLB level (Gerlach et al., 2007; Eurofond, 2006). However, this desirable situation will not necessarily be achieved, owing to its limitations. Namely, high costs and time constraints impede companies to introduce WLB measures. Especially, most of the small and medium enterprises cannot cope with the financial and administrative efforts of WLB measures such as in-house childcare or an own gym (Buechel, 2003). Another constraint is the complex and distinct needs for the individual employees. Companies that introduce WLB measures won’t be able to meet all the employees’ individual needs and thus feelings of unequal treatment could arise among the workforce. Therefore, a constant feedback between managers and employees is crucial in order to adapt the WLB measures to the altering needs of the workforce. Moreover, the outcome of WLB measures might not be directly obvious. Especially, arguments for WLB measures such as a lower absenteeism might not be observable due to the fact that absenteeism is anyway at its lowest point, particularly in times of economic crisis and the threat of unemployment (Kastner, 2004). Additionally, young professionals, particularly those who have just graduated from university, have the mentality to put as much energy and effort as possible in their career and do not see any need in a WLB friendly work-environment. Hence, a certain number of employees would not make use of WLB measures in companies which would mitigate the overall effect (Buechel, 2003).

3 National culture

This chapter deals with the topic of national culture. First of all, culture will be defined and its meaning outlined. Afterwards, the different models that describe and measure cultural differences will be presented, followed by a critical appraisal.

3.1 Definition and meaning of culture

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18 (Stüdlein, 1997). Over 160 definitions of culture were found by Kroeber and Kluckholm (1985), cited by North and Hort (2002), for example. One, well-known anthropological definition is the following:

“Culture consists in patterned ways of thinking, felling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values”. (Kluckhohn, 1951, p. 86)

However, Schein’s work (1985) is one of the most popular and accepted theories on culture. He distinguishes between three perception levels of culture in his framework, as illustrated in figure 3:

Figure 3: Levels of Culture and Their Interaction, Schein, 1985 p. 14.

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19 essence of a culture. Once a culture is internalized, it remains persistent and can barely be changed (Phatak, 1992). Although every individual is biased by its culture, most individuals are not aware of the fact that it influences their daily behavior (Lane & DiStefano, 1992). Generally, culture fulfills a role of an orientation function for its members, facilitates them to get along with each other and enables the individuals to anticipate reactions and behavioral patterns in different situations (Phatak, 1992; Moran et al., 1993). Moreover, it gives them the opportunity to identify and integrate in a social group (Phatak, 1992). It should also be noted, that culture is learned through one’s social environment and is not inherited (Hofstede, 2001).

3.2 Models of national culture

A number of influential models on national culture are created by authors such as Hall (1976), Hofstede (1980, 1984); Schwartz (1994), Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1999) and GLOBE (2002). These milestones on national culture will be chronologically presented in the following section and partly used to operationalize culture in this thesis.

3.2.1 Hall’s key concepts of national culture

Hall’s works on cultural dimensions were the first major contributions on national culture. Therefore, he is regarded as one of the founders of intercultural studies (De Bono et al., 2008).

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20 The second dimension published in 1976 in his book called “Beyond Culture”, deals with the distinction between high and low context cultures. High vs. low context, in this sense, demonstrate two concepts of communication. A high context message describes a message in which most of the information is implicitly assumed by the sender and very little is explicitly transmitted to the receiver. This means that a major part of the message is transmitted via mimic or gesture, for instance. On the contrary, a low context message can be describes as exactly the opposite. Thus, a message in low context countries contains explicitly many details and is very precise. On the one hand, Hall describes the USA, Canada, Scandinavia, Germany, the Benelux and Great Britain as low context countries. On the other hand, Southern European, African, Latin American and many of the Asian countries are described as high context (Hall, 1976).

In 1983, Hall characterized cultures by their attitude towards time, namely polychronic and monochronic cultures. On the one hand, monochronic time is split up in segments, implying that a person does one thing at a time, does not like to be interrupted and sticks tightly to the schedule and appointments. Northern Europeans and Americans represent monochronic cultures. On the other hand, polychronic time cultures are characterized by doing multiple tasks at once with a high involvement of personal relationships. Time is seen as more flexible and people will more likely to be late for appointments rather than interrupting a personal conversation. Primarily, the Mediterranean, Latin American and Arabian people are known for being polychronic.

Finally, in 1990 Hall & Hall added another dimension to characterize cultural differences, namely, the speed of information flow. They state that information in low-context countries does not flow fast due to the fact that it is highly focused and controlled. Therefore, in high context countries, the information flows more freely and at a rapid pace through the society and business organizations.

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21 3.2.2 Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture

In this section, the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede will be demonstrated and the basis of his measurement to provide a deeper understanding will be briefly highlighted. Culture was extensively described in the literature but no actual measurement was present until Hofstede’s research revealed five dimensions of culture with a related index for each country. Hofstede’s work is the far most cited model in most of the cross-cultural management literature reviewed for this thesis. Harry (2004) and Leung (2006), state that Hofstede’s research was highly influential in the academic field and generated an extraordinary amount of further research. It is also classified as the most influential work in the study of cross-cultural management by Fang (2003) and will thus be used as the main measurement of national culture in this thesis. Hofstede defines culture as

“…the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.” (Hofstede, 2001, p.9).

He collected his data at the IBM Corporation, one of the largest multinationals worldwide at that time, between 1967 and 1973 in two survey rounds with a response of more than 116,000 questionnaires from 72 countries. Particularly, he focused on different employee values across countries and derived four dimensions from his survey results and calculated indices for 53 countries in total. Afterwards, he identified a fifth dimension, namely long vs. short-term orientation and measured it for 23 countries (Hofstede, 2001). Hofstede’s country values can be found in Appendix A.

Power distance

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22 superiors’ decision-making behaviors perceived by the subordinates as well as the decision-making style the subordinates prefer were measured through a four-point scale, namely (1) autocratic; (2) persuasive; (3) consultative and (4) democratic. When analyzing the data, he found a correlation between preferences for a consultative manager and “employee is not afraid”. This means that a particular value on the power relationship between superior and subordinate is present. Hence, Hofstede reasons that in cultures where superiors maintain a high power distance, subordinates prefer dependence or counterdependence. As a result, in a high power distant culture an autocratic, persuasive or democratic way of taking decisions is most likely to be existent. On the contrary, in low power distant countries, subordinates prefer the consultative decision style which can be interpreted with an interdependence of manager and subordinate. Consequently, he calculated his power distance index (PDI) on the basis of the country mean scores of the following items (Hofstede, 2001, p. 86):

1. Nonmanagerial employees’ perception that employees are afraid to disagree with their managers

2. Subordinates’ perception that their boss tends to take decisions in an (1) autocratic or (2) persuasive way

3. Subordinates’ preference for anything but a consultative style of decision making in their boss; that is, for an (1) autocratic, a (2) persuasive, or a (4) democratic style To sum up, a strong agreement to the first item in combination with an agreement on item two and three would lead to the result that a culture has a high power-distance.

Uncertainty avoidance

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23 as well as their religiosity. However, these ways of coping with uncertainty do not provide a complete certainty but it helps them to “sleep peacefully” (Hofstede, 2001).

As a consequence, Hofstede’s calculations on the uncertainty avoidance index were based on three questions on rule orientation, employment stability and stress. To begin with, the question on the item rule orientation was: “Company rules should not be broken, even if the employee thinks it is in the company’s best interest”. This question could have been answered on a five point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Thus, a disagreement reflects high uncertainty avoidance due to the fact that the rule is strictly followed. Secondly, the question on the employment stability was as follows: “How long do you think you will continue working for this company”. Possible answers were (1) 2 years at the most, (2) from 2 to 5 years, (3) more than 5 years and (4) until I retire. Hence, higher employment stability (answers (1) and (2)) are linked to larger uncertainty avoidance. Third, the stress question was carried out as follows: “How often do you feel nervous or tense at work?” with possible answers ranging from (1) I always feel this way to (5) I never feel this way. The stress question was included as an indicator because it turned out to be correlated with the other two questions. Moreover, the conceptual link between the three is the average level of anxiety in a country. If anxiety is higher, people feel more stress and subsequently search for more rule orientation and employment stability (Hofstede, 2001). The UAI was computed on the basis of the country mean scores of the following questions (Hofstede, 2001 p. 150):

1. Rule orientation: agreement with the statement “Company rules should not be broken – even when the employee thinks it is in the company’s best interest”

2. Employment stability: employees’ statement that they intend to continue with the company (1) for 2 years at the most, or (2) from 2 to 5 years; this, of course, taken with a negative sign.

3. Stress, as expressed in the mean answer to the question “How often do you feel nervous or tense at work?”

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24 Individualism and Collectivism

Hofstede labeled the third dimension as individualism and collectivism. Individualism and collectivism can be described as the degree to which individuals belong to a group. This means that people in a high collectivism country have strong ties to their large family and other cohesive groups in the society in which everyone tends to support and to take responsibility for the other. Thus, also employees feel more committed to an organization and their colleagues. On the contrary, people in a high individualism country predominantly care for themselves, tend to have a rather small family and elderly people are mostly sent to elderly homes. Moreover, employees in high individualism cultures feel less attached to their employer due to the priority of individual’s needs and rights (De Bono, 2008). Hofstede derived the individualism dimension and the masculinity dimension (explained in the next section) by using a factor analysis on 14 work goal related questions. He subsequently used the factor scores to calculate the individualism index which is mainly based on six work goal scores, namely personal time, freedom, challenge, use of skills, physical conditions and training. On the one hand, the indicators personal time and freedom imply the individual’s independence from the organization, whereas the item challenge the individuals’ involvement represents. The factors can also be characterized as individual and are positively related to individualism. On the other hand, the other three indicators with a negative loading, use of skills, physical conditions and training represent what the organization provides for the individuals. These factors can be thus called collective, which implies that these factors are related to dependence (Hofstede, 2001). To summarize, the first three factors (individual) show an individual’s independence from the organization; this means, the higher the independence, the higher the individualism score. The other three factors (collective) represent dependence from the organization; hence, the higher the dependence, the less individualistic the culture.

Masculinity and Femininity

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25 recognition and growth, whereas low masculine countries rather focus on people and quality of life (Hughes 1999, cited by Fu & Liu, 2005). Hofstede measured this dimension in the same way he measured individualism. He used the other 8 factors from the 14 questions on work goals, namely relationship with the manager, cooperation, desirable area, employment security, challenge, advancement, recognition and earnings. The first four indicators (relationship with the manager, cooperation, desirable area, employment security) can be labeled as social goals, whereas the latter four (challenge, advancement, recognition, earnings) are referring to ego-directed objectives. These indicators could clearly be referred to men and women and were therefore called femininity (social) and masculinity (ego-directed) because the respondents were mainly women, respectively men (Hofstede, 2001). The conclusion is trivial, high scores on femininity results in a lower masculinity index and high scores on masculinity to an increased masculinity index.

Long-term vs. short-term orientation

The fifth dimension Hofstede identified is long- vs. short-term orientation. This dimension was not derived from the IBM dataset and only includes 23 countries. Hofstede identified this dimension with the support of Michael Harris Bond, who carried out a field research, called Chinese Value Survey (CVS) in 1985. Owing to the fact that the IBM survey was composed by values from Western mindsets, the CVS included questions based on the Confucian teachings (approx. 500 BC). This implies persistence and thrift to personal stability and respect for tradition, subsequently called long-term orientation. In contrast, short-term orientation stands for fulfilling social obligations and the protection of one’s face (Hofstede, 2001). Even though this dimension has interesting aspects, it will not be further considered due to the fact that it mainly captures the differences between Western and the Asian culture whereas the focus of this research is on European countries (Fang, 2003). Moreover, this dimension is the most discussed, criticized and less clear compared to the other dimensions. Many researchers have problems to understand and apply this dimension to their research (Newman & Nollen, 1996; Yeh & Lawrence, 1995). To sum up, this dimension will be excluded in this thesis.

Critical appraisal

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26 additional instruments should be considered in future research. Secondly, the IBM survey might be outdated; however, Hofstede’s comparisons with other studies show no loss of validity (Hofstede, 2001). This can also be supported by the fact that cultures establish over centuries and are therefore relatively stable. This is in line with Oyserman et al. (2002) who concluded in their review that culture might be even more stable than Hofstede assumed. Besides, it should be noted that it is still worthwhile to empirically measure the cultural dimensions again in order identify possible changes. Third, capturing culture in four or five dimensions seems to be insufficient (Trompenaars, 1998). Nevertheless, all dimensions that were identified by other researchers showed statistical or conceptual similarities to Hofstede’s five dimensions. Fourth, Hofstede only investigated employed people working for one company. This might bias the results and hence not be representative for the whole population. Finally, cultural differences within countries are not considered in his investigation. In general, those subcultures can differ to a great extent, which can be shown by looking at the current host of the FIFA World Cup 2010, South Africa, for instance.

3.2.3 Schwartz’s value theory

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27 3.2.4 Trompenaars’ seven dimensions

After Hofstede’s bench breaking publication on cultural dimensions, Fons Trompenaars, who used to be a scholar of Hofstede for several years, published seven cultural dimensions (Trompenaars, 1998). His research covered 50 different countries with more than 30,000 respondents. 75% of the respondents were managers, whereas the remaining 25% worked as general administrative staff. Trompenaars labels his research as an extension and refinement of Hofstede’s work.

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28 In other words, in a specific culture, a hierarchy stays within the boundaries of work and none of the authority will be carried into other activities. This also means that a title is a “…specific label for a specific job in a specific place” (Trompenaars, 1998, p. 85). In a diffuse culture, however, most of the authority will diffuse into other relationships and people are also regarded in public by their job or title. Finally, the last dimension indentified by Trompenaars captures the human’s relation to nature. He distinguishes between internal and external control of the environment. Particularly, this describes the attitude of cultures towards the environment. This can be related to the publication by Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck (1961) who also examined the human-nature relationship in their work. On the one hand, an inner-directed attitude includes the assumption that a culture can and should control nature. This implies that nature is seen as a machine that follows the commands of its operators. On the other hand, external control means that humans are part of the nature and hence conform to its laws and forces. In this case, the organization itself is regarded as a product of nature which should be in an ecological balance (Trompenaars, 1998). To sum up, Trompenaars work cultural measurement will not be considered in this thesis due to the fact that it is mainly overlapping with former research.

3.2.5 The GLOBE study

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29 3.2.6 Critical appraisal

The academic debate on culture is rather complicated and contains two different standpoints, namely the Culturalists’ and the Universalists’ perspective (Stüdlein, 1997). On the one hand, the Culturalists, as advocates of cultural studies, claim that humans are culture bound which means that culture is influencing daily decisions and guiding every individual’s actions (Cray & Mallory, 1998). Furthermore, they predict a rising importance of intercultural competence in the future, owing to globalization and the fact that people are increasingly focusing on their own roots (Cray & Mallory, 1998). The investigations by several authors, as demonstrated in the previous sections, show significant correlations between culture and certain types of behavior which emphasizes the culture bound assumption. On the other hand, Universalists, as opponents of cultural studies, state that cultural differences do not matter. They claim that differences are rather influenced by social and structural circumstances, demographics, politics, or national wealth (Schwartz, 2004). Additionally, in their opinion, the globalization will lead to a worldwide standardization of production and management practices which will slowly vanish cultural diversity and thus make intercultural management dispensable (Köppel, 2002). However, due to the fact that culture is a complex phenomenon and moreover intertwined with the aforementioned factors, there is no clear answer to this question. As a conclusion, this thesis will follow the standpoint of the culture bound assumption as presented in the literature on national culture in the previous sections.

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30 cultural change is also an issue that must be considered, especially in times of globalization, emphasized through the worldwide spread of cultural artifacts, ranging from jeans to McDonalds. This means that this process is enduring and will continue to reshape the basic social, political and economic parameters in distinct cultures. Particularly, in metropolitan areas, native and foreign cultures are synthesizing which causes a revitalization of the native culture and a diffusion of these cultures across borders and hence create a spillover to other cultures (Berger & Huntington, 2002; Vinken & Ester, 2004). Last but not least, it should be noted that all approaches are treating nations as cultural units, although nations are rarely homogenous societies with a unified culture and within these societies there are also differences between generations (Trommsdorff et al., 2004). To conclude, as Hofstede (2004) emphasized with his quote

“Dimensions and culture in general are constructs, products of our minds that help us to simplify the overwhelming complexity of the real world, so as to understand and predict it. Different authors’ minds produce different sets of dimensions.” (Hofstede, 2004, p. 277)

4 Work-Life Balance in different cultural settings

In this chapter, the WLB theme will be linked to national cultural differences and the current state of research will be presented. Subsequently, hypotheses will be derived from the presented literature in Chapters 2 and 3.

4.1 WLB and national culture

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31 Up to now, research on WLB was mainly focused on work-overload, job role quality, job stressors, flexibility of work schedules, family demands and many more (Mortazavi et al., 2009). On the contrary, research concerning cross-cultural studies about WLB is extremely scarce and still in its infancy. Only a couple of studies include more than two countries in comparison. One of the most cited studies is the one of Aryee et al. (1999) who investigated the impact of individualism and collectivism on work-family conflict and found significant differences between Hong Kong and the USA. However, this study compared the collected data in one country (Hong Kong), with the results of an earlier study by Frone et al. from 1992 which implies a strong weakness of their investigation. A similar investigation was conducted by Yang et al. (2002) who compared China to the United States. Another and more recent empirical research was carried out by Hsieh & Lin (2009). They found evidence that a collectivistic culture, Taiwan, perceived fewer problems in balancing their work and personal life than the individualistic United States. A further investigation of the influence of individualism / collectivism on WLB was done by Hill et al. (2004). Contrarily, they found only weak evidence and claimed that the organizational culture might have played a more important role since their data was collected from only one MNC. On the whole, although different propositions have been made about cultural influences on WLB, the only dimension that has been investigated on a quantitative basis so far is individualism / collectivism (Smith et al., 2008).

4.2 Hypotheses

In this section, hypotheses will be derived from the previous discussed literature on WLB and culture. Moreover, a second category of hypotheses captures the institutional influence on WLB by formulating two additional hypotheses concerning public policies on overtime limitations and maternity leave.

4.2.1 WLB and Monochronic vs. Polychronic cultures

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32 contrast, polychronic cultures might even change important plans shortly before realization. As a result, polychronic cultures would be expected to have fluid boundaries between work and life (Hsieh and Lin 2009). This means that these cultures would encounter less stress due to their different attitude toward work. This is in line with similar findings by Arndt et al. (2006). They found empirical evidence that a polychronic orientation significantly correlates with a higher job satisfaction. This might consequently lead to a positive spillover from work into personal life, less strain and a higher WLB. Thus, I assume that a polychronic culture tends to have a higher WLB than monochronic cultures. This leads us to the first hypothesis:

H1: Polychronic cultures will perceive a higher WLB than monochronic cultures 4.2.2 WLB and Power Distance

This dimension refers to unequal power distribution, perceived by the less powerful person (Hofstede, 2001). Thus it represents inequality from a subordinates’ perspective. Hofstede (2001) measured power distance by capturing the fear of an employee to disagree with the boss. A high power distance implies that employees are more likely to be dissatisfied with their job owing to the fact that they cannot freely give their opinion, contribute less to their organization and overall behave submissively. This might create strain and subsequently lead to a negative spillover from work to private life and hence a lower WLB. Moreover, Hofstede (2001) outlined the key differences between high and low power distant cultures; a few examples are stated as follows in Table 3:

Low PDI High PDI

Children should enjoy leisure Children should work hard even if it is a burden

Managers satisfied with their career Managers dissatisfied with their career

Latent harmony between high and low power levels

Latent conflict between powerful and powerless

People feel less threatened and more prepared to trust people

Other people are a potential threat and can rarely be trusted

Table 3, Examples of key differences in Power Distance according to Hofstede (2001, p. 107f.)

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33 These characteristics are most likely to yield frustration, dissatisfaction, stress and hence a lower WLB. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 can be stated as follows:

H2: A low Power Distant culture will perceive a higher WLB than their high Power Distant counterparts

4.2.3 WLB and Uncertainty Avoidance

As aforementioned in section 3.2.2, Hofstede (2001) computed uncertainty by using three questions which included the employees’ strives for employment stability and their levels of stress. Therefore, Hofstede’s UAI implies that a high uncertainty is linked to a high level of stress and the intention of an employee to work for his company for a long time due to the threat of unemployment. Hence, a clear link can be drawn from the uncertainty avoidance dimension to the WLB of the individuals. This means that increased threats of unemployment as well as a high level of stress result in increased strain and thus a lower level of WLB. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that:

H3: Cultures with low uncertainty avoidance perceive a higher WLB than cultures with high uncertainty avoidance

4.2.4 WLB and Individualism vs. Collectivism

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34 lower level of distress due to care issues of relatives, especially in emergency situations, which yields in a higher WLB. Hence, collectivistic cultures will be more favorable to have a higher WLB than their individualistic counterparts. Therefore, Hypothesis 4 is formulated as follows:

H4: Collectivistic cultures will perceive a higher WLB than individualistic cultures 4.2.5 WLB and Masculinity

Masculine societies primarily value money and achievements whereas feminine societies are more focused on relationships and quality of life (Hughes, 1999 cited by Fu & Liu, 2005). Thus, a more feminine society most likely values WLB more than a masculine culture. This means that WLB in feminine cultures should be seen much more important than in masculine cultures. Hofstede (2001) also validated his MAS index results against data from other sources. He found a high validity for his research and summarized his findings in his connotations. The following Table 4 will highlight a few examples of the issues in societies related to the MAS dimension.

Low MAS High MAS

Quality of life important Performance important

Work to live Live to work

Lower job stress Higher job stress Private life protected from

employer

Employer may invade employees’ private lives Table 4, Connotations of Masculinity according to Hofstede (2001, p. 298f.)

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35 Finally, high job stress rather occurs in high MAS cultures and most probably leads to a negative spillover from work to life and hence a lower level of WLB. To sum up, Hypothesis 5 can be formulated as follows:

H5: Low masculinity cultures will perceive a higher WLB than high masculinity cultures 4.2.6 WLB and overtime limitations

Overtime refers to the hours that exceed the usual agreed working time. This issue is generally regulated by the law of each country and varies quite extensively in Europe. Since overtime hours are an extra burden for the workforce and cannot be predicted by most of the employees, it leads to time constraints. This is confirmed by Fagan (2007) who states that intense workloads reduce the compatibility of work and private life. Spurgeon also (2003) concluded a negative effect of long hours on the health of employees. In other words, it is more difficult for the employees to manage their time appropriately and hence their family and private commitments. Subsequently, Hypothesis 6 can be stated as follows:

H6: Countries with higher limitations regarding overtime hours will perceive a higher WLB than countries with low limitations of overtime hours.

4.2.7 WLB and Maternity policies

In order to facilitate the employees to cope with their family and work demands, governments are trying to support parents through maternity leave policies. Especially, the length of leave rights and the maternity benefits are implemented in different countries. This also most likely have an impact on the level of WLB owing to the fact that the employees are better able to manage their commitments. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that:

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36 4.2.8 Hypotheses overview

An overview of the derived hypotheses is illustrated as follows in Figure 4:

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37

5 Methodology

First of all, the conceptual model will be demonstrated in this chapter. Moreover, the variables used in this research will be examined. Afterwards, the data collection as well as the sample will be described and finally an explanation of the data analysis, used in this research, will be presented.

5.1 Conceptual model

Figure 5, Conceptual model, compiled by the author

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38 which increases the analytical power of the model. Second, based on the large dataset, it can be detected how much variance is shared by the dependent variable and the independent variables (Thomas, 2004). Additionally, it can be pointed out how powerful and significant possible relationships are. Third, based on those advantages of the multiple regression analysis, the research question will be answered and final conclusions will be drawn, if and how culture and the two institutional variables determine the WLB level in distinct countries.

5.2 Variables

This section outlines the variables used in this empirical analysis. Firstly, the operationalization process of WLB will be described. Secondly, the independent variables will be discussed.

5.2.1 Dependent variable

Work-Life Balance in distinct cultural settings