Sustainable Work Practices for Optimizing Work-Family Integration in India

Abstract

The symposium aims to problematize the concept of work-family (WF) integration specific to the Indian cultural context. A sizable amount of scientific discourse points to the relevance of more culture-specific insights on the issue in order to alleviate concerns of the working population. While researchers in India have recently been pursuing this objective by adopting an emic approach, research on WF integration is still scant, needs careful evaluation and streamlining to devise solutions and to create more sustainable, culturally aligned, and relevant work practices. To this end, the symposium includes four India specific studies and approaches the subject from an individual perspective (eg., factors affecting employees’ factual autonomy and role of resilience in dealing with work and family demands) as well as organizational policy (eg., empowering employees and leaders to set individual boundaries and the efficacy of telecommuting- the challenges and opportunities for employees and leaders). The studies discuss pertinent challenges in developing sustainable WF practices in India in order to instigate more debates, deliberations on the topic and propose pertinent future research directions and implications for employees and organizations. Are you free! Romance of the illusionary work-life integration and factual autonomy Presenter: Deepika Swain; XIMU Presenter: Lalatendu Kesari Jena; Xavier School of Human Resource Management, Xavier U. Bhubaneswar Presenter: Suchitra Pal; Associate Professor, School of HRM, XIM U., Bhubaneswar, India Intervene to Integrate: Policy Interventions for Work-Family Integration in Indian Context Presenter: Kedarnath Thakur; Doctoral Scholar, Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, India Presenter: Yasmin Kukul; MBA (HRM) School of Human Resource Management XIM U., Bhubaneswar, India Presenter: Lalatendu Kesari Jena; Xavier School of Human Resource Management, Xavier U. Bhubaneswar A closer look at demands, resources, and resilience on work-family conflict in the US and India Presenter: Tejinder Billing; Rowan U. Presenter: Rupashree Baral; IIT Madras Presenter: Nicholas J. Beutell; Iona College - LaPenta School of Business Telecommuting: Irks or works? Presenter: Manveen Kaur; Alumni, London School of Economics; Analyst, Deloitte India