Managerial support, work–family conflict and employee outcomes: an Australian study

Phuong Anh Tran,Sadia Mansoor,Muhammad Ali

doi:10.1108/ejmbe-03-2020-0056

Phuong Anh Tran, Sadia Mansoor + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/ejmbe-03-2020-0056

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Abstract

PurposeDerived from leader–member exchange theory, this study hypothesises the relationships between work–family related managerial support and affective commitment and job satisfaction, and advocates that these relationships are mediated by work–family conflict.Design/methodology/approachThe model was tested in an Australian manufacturing organisation using survey data from employees, using structural equation modelling in Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS).FindingsThe findings suggest that enhanced work–family related managerial support will decrease work–family conflict, eventually enhancing employees' affective commitment and job satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study provides important insights into the impact of managerial support on improvements in employees' work–family conflict, and, in turn, its impact on affective commitment and job satisfaction, in the Australian context.

Highlights

The conflict between work and family has been an important research field due to substantial changes in workforce demographics, such as dual-earner couples and increasing women’s workforce participation (Allen et al, 2000; Greenhaus et al, 2012; Odriozola and BaraibarDiez, 2018)
“Work–family conflict” (WFC), termed by Greenhaus and Beutell (1985, p. 77), refers to “a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect”
WFC has been found to be negatively associated with employee outcomes in the work domain, including job satisfaction (e.g. Allen et al, 2000; Frone et al, 1992; G€ozu€kara and Çolakoglu, 2016; Kossek et al, 2011), affective commitment (e.g. Cloninger and Selvarajan, 2015; Qureshi et al, 2019), and well-being (e.g. Chambel et al, 2017; Galletta et al, 2019; Karatepe and Karadas, 2016; Kinman et al, 2017; McDowell et al, 2019)

Summary

Introduction

The conflict between work and family has been an important research field due to substantial changes in workforce demographics, such as dual-earner couples and increasing women’s workforce participation (Allen et al, 2000; Greenhaus et al, 2012; Odriozola and BaraibarDiez, 2018). 77), refers to “a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect”. WFC can impose direct and indirect costs for an organisation. The former includes involvement and belonging (e.g. turnover, strike or slowdown) and industrial accidents, whereas the latter entails lower levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment as well as deteriorating the employer–employee relationship (Quick, 2013). WFC has been found to be negatively associated with employee outcomes in the work domain, including job satisfaction While job satisfaction refers to an individual’s enjoyment or positive emotion arising from an evaluation of his or her job and/or job experiences (Locke, 1976), affective commitment is ‘the relative strength of an

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