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7 - Policy deployment across borders: a framework for work–life initiatives in multinational enterprises

from Part II - Policy design, implementation, and deployment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Paula Caligiuri
By
Anne Bardoel  and
Helen De Cieri
Edited by
Steven A. Y. Poelmans
Paula Caligiuri
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Anne Bardoel
Affiliation:
Associate Professor Monash University, Australia
Helen De Cieri
Affiliation:
Professor and Director Monash University, Australia
Steven A. Y. Poelmans
Affiliation:
IESE Business School, Barcelona
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Summary

The difficulties of balancing work and family life are experienced all over the world. For managers in multinational enterprises (MNEs), it is imperative to define a global work–life strategy that establishes shared principles and guidelines and also allows for local initiatives and differences. Although there are a number of common issues faced by working women and men and their families, a global work–life strategy needs to balance shared concerns with a course of action that is appropriate to each local environment. Global work–life needs assessments conducted by leading work–life consultants Shapiro and Noble (2001) have identified three surprisingly consistent themes in what employees from around the world identify as being important barriers to reconciling their work and personal lives. The three issues identified included a lack of flexible work policies and practices, the availability and affordability of dependent care, and the negative impact of work overload and long working hours.

Although such issues are increasingly recognized as important for employers and employees in the global context, there has been very little research focused on this area. The aims of this chapter are, first, to develop a framework that can be used to guide managers' decision-making to build a global work–life strategy, and second, to illustrate how this framework can be applied, by analyzing approaches to work–life strategy in several MNEs. We compare an MNE that is at an early stage of developing a work–life strategy with other firms that are well-advanced in this area.

Type
Chapter
Information
Harmonizing Work, Family, and Personal Life
From Policy to Practice
 , pp. 166 - 206
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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