Oceans apart: work-life boundaries and the effects of an oversupply of segmentation
- 27 December 2018
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in The International Journal of Human Resource Management
- Vol. 32 (5), 1139-1170
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2018.1512513
Abstract
Employment trends see work and personal life domains becoming both more integrated (e.g. flexible working) and more segmented (e.g. global careers). Trends toward more extreme segmentation or integration may lead to a greater risk of misfit between employee preferences for and organizational supplies of integration/segmentation. This paper investigates the impact of organizational fit and misfit within a highly segmented occupational context: offshore work. With lengthy rotations away from home, followed by long periods away from work, limited inter-role communications and reduced day-to-day transitions between work and non-work roles, offshore work offers a segmented work-life interface. Fit and misfit of integration-segmentation preferences with perceptions of organizational integration-segmentation supply were examined among offshore employees, as well as their counterparts working traditional, office-based schedules. Using polynomial regression and response surface analysis, the impact of fit and misfit on work-life conflict, enrichment and organizational commitment was assessed. The data show that misfit resulting from an oversupply of segmentation may result in behavioral work-to-life conflict, associated with the reduced number of transitions between work and home roles, strain-based conflict, and a reduced transfer of resources from work to home resulting in less developmental work-life enrichment and organizational commitment. These findings contribute to existing literature by identifying the impact of misfit resulting from segmentation oversupply on individual and organizational outcomes, emphasizing the need for HR practitioners to recognize the potential for and impact of different forms of misfit within the changing landscape of their own organizational environments.Keywords
This publication has 46 references indexed in Scilit:
- The positive interaction of work and family rolesJournal of Managerial Psychology, 2009
- It's the nature of the work: Examining behavior-based sources of work-family conflict across occupations.Journal of Applied Psychology, 2008
- A multi‐level perspective on the synergies between work and familyJournal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 2007
- Consequences of work‐home segmentation or integration: a person‐environment fit perspectiveJournal of Organizational Behavior, 2006
- When Work And Family Are Allies: A Theory Of Work-Family EnrichmentAcademy of Management Review, 2006
- ‘LIVING TWO LIVES’Community, Work & Family, 2005
- ROLE CONFLICT AND FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS: THE EFFECTS ON APPLICANT ATTRACTIONPersonnel Psychology, 2002
- All in a Day'S Work: Boundaries and Micro Role TransitionsAcademy of Management Review, 2000
- Work and Family Stress and Well-Being: An Examination of Person-Environment Fit in the Work and Family DomainsOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1999
- Stress at sea: A review of working conditions in the offshore oil and fishing industriesWork & Stress, 1989