Work-Life Balance and Affective Commitment: The Moderating Role of Collectivism

Ahmed Zaid

Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie, Department of Logistic Management, Palestine

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4982-0996

DOI: https://doi.org/10.61706/SBEXC12001

Keywords: Work-life balance, Affective commitment, Collectivism, Small and Medium Enterprises, Palestine


Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to examine the impact of work-life balance (WLB) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) employers and their employees’ affective commitment (AC), as well as the role of collectivism as a moderator between these constructs. A questionnaire was applied to collect data from 276 practitioners working in SMEs in Palestine. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The numerical results showed a substantial influence of WLB on AC and that collectivism also played a role as a moderator in the relationship between these constructs. Additionally, the study found that collectivism moderated the WLB – AC relationship. The implications of this research suggest that enhancing AC levels can promote workplace balance. This study contributes to an understudied association between WLB and AC in Palestinian SMEs, where the concept of collectivism is rarely utilized in relation to WLB and AC.


References

Alfoqahaa, S. (2018). Critical success factors of small and medium-sized enterprises in Palestine. Journal of research in marketing and entrepreneurship, 20(2), 170-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRME-05-2016-0014

Annink, A. (2017). From social support to capabilities for the work–life balance of independent professionals. Journal of Management & Organization, 23(2), 258-276. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2016.53

Boxer, I., & Rekettye, G. (2011). The relation between perceived service innovation, service value, emotional intelligence, customer commitment and loyalty in b2b. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 8(2), 222-256. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSOM.2011.038573

Cegarra‐Leiva, D., Sánchez‐Vidal, M. E., & Gabriel Cegarra‐Navarro, J. (2012). Understanding the link between work life balance practices and organisational outcomes in SMEs: The mediating effect of a supportive culture. Personnel review, 41(3), 359-379. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483481211212986

Clark, S. C. (2000). Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/family balance. Human relations, 53(6), 747-770. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726700536001

Delić, M., Slåtten, T., Milić, B., Marjanović, U., & Vulanović, S. (2017). Fostering learning organisation in transitional economy–the role of authentic leadership and employee affective commitment. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 9(3/4), 441-455. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-02-2017-0012

Duarte, I. P. (2017). Affective commitment to change and work-life balance: mediating factors (Doctoral dissertation).

Farh, J. L., Zhong, C. B., & Organ, D. W. (2004). Organizational citizenship behavior in the People’s Republic of China. Organization Science, 15(2), 241-253. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1030.0051

Fayyazi, M., & Aslani, F. (2015). The impact of work-life balance on employees’ job satisfaction and turnover intention; the moderating role of continuance commitment. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 51, 33-41. https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.51.33

Felfe, J., Yan, W., & Six, B. (2008). The impact of individual collectivism on commitment and its influence on organizational citizenship behaviour and turnover in three countries. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, 8(2), 211-237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595808091790

Ferguson, M. (2012). You cannot leave it at the office: Spillover and crossover of coworker incivility. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(4), 571-588. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.774

Foster, R. D. (2010). Resistance, justice, and commitment to change. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 21(1), 3-39. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.20035

Goyal, M., & Arora, S. (2012). Harnessing work: Family life balance among teachers of educational institutions. International Journal of Applied Services Marketing Perspectives, 1(2), 170.

Gulbahar, A. A., Kundi, G. M., Qureshi, Q. A., & Akhtar, R. (2014). Relationship between work-life balance & organizational Commitment. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(5), 1-7.

Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sinkovics, R. R. (2009). The use of partial least squares path modeling in international marketing. In New challenges to international marketing (Vol. 20, pp. 277-319). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1474-7979(2009)0000020014

Herscovitch, L., & Meyer, J. P. (2002). Commitment to organizational change: extension of a three-component model. Journal of applied psychology, 87(3), 474. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.3.474

Hofman, P. S., & Newman, A. (2014). The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on organizational commitment and the moderating role of collectivism and masculinity: Evidence from China. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(5), 631-652. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2013.792861

Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values, Beverley Hills, CA: Sage

Hongyu, N., Mingjian, Z., Qiang, L., & Liqun, W. (2012). Exploring relationship between authority leadership and organizational citizenship behavior in China: the role of collectivism. Chinese Management Studies, 6(2), 231-244. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506141211236677

Hong, J., Hou, B., Zhu, K., & Marinova, D. (2018). Exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation and employee creativity: The moderation of collectivism in Chinese context. Chinese Management Studies, 12(2), 268-286. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-11-2016-0228

Islam, T., Ahmed, I., & Ahmad, U. N. B. U. (2015). The influence of organizational learning culture and perceived organizational support on employees’ affective commitment and turnover intention. Nankai Business Review International, 6(4), 417-431. https://doi.org/10.1108/NBRI-01-2015-0002

Iverson, R. D., & Buttigieg, D. M. (1999). Affective, normative and continuance commitment: can the ‘right kind’of commitment be managed? Journal of Management Studies, 36(3), 307-333. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00138

Kirkman, B. L., Lowe, K. B., & Gibson, C. B. (2006). A quarter century of culture’s consequences: A review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede’s cultural values framework. Journal of international business studies, 37, 285-320. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400202

Kim, H. K. (2014). Work-life balance and employees’ performance: The mediating role of affective commitment. Global business and management research: An international journal, 6(1).

Li, J., Yuan, L., Ning, L., & Li-Ying, J. (2015). Knowledge sharing and affective commitment: the mediating role of psychological ownership. Journal of knowledge management, 19(6), 1146-1166. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-01-2015-0043

McDonald, P., Townsend, K., & Wharton, A. (2013). The legitimation and reproduction of discourse-practice gaps in work-life balance. Personnel Review, 42(2), 205-222. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483481311309384

Meyer, J. P., & Herscovitch, L. (2001). Commitment in the workplace: Toward a general model. Human Resource Management Review, 11(3), 299-326. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-4822(00)00053-X

Ning, J., & Jing, R. (2012). Commitment to change: Its role in the relationship between expectation of change outcome and emotional exhaustion. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 23(4), 461-485. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21149

Pasamar, S., & Cabrera, R. V. (2013). Work-life balance under challenging financial and economic conditions. International Journal of Manpower, 34(8), 961-974. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-07-2013-0172

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). (2018). Preliminary results of the general census of population, housing and establishments 2017. Ramallah: PCBS.

Pian, Q. Y., Jin, H., & Li, H. (2019). Linking knowledge sharing to innovative behavior: the moderating role of collectivism. Journal of Knowledge Management, 23(8), 1652-1672. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-12-2018-0753

Rafferty, A. E., & Restubog, S. L. D. (2010). The impact of change process and context on change reactions and turnover during a merger. Journal of management, 36(5), 1309-1338. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309341480

Rama Devi, V., & Nagini, A. (2014). Work-life balance and burnout as predictors of job satisfaction in private banking sector. Skyline Business Journal, 9, 50-53.

Rani, R., & Desiana, P. M. (2019). The impact of owners’ intrinsic motivation and work-life balance on SMEs’ performance: The mediating effect of affective commitment. International Journal of Business, 24(4), 393-411.

Ribeiro, N., Gomes, D., & Kurian, S. (2018). Authentic leadership and performance: the mediating role of employees’ affective commitment. Social Responsibility Journal, 14(1), 213-225. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-06-2017-0111

Saad, G., Cleveland, M., & Ho, L. (2015). Individualism–collectivism and the quantity versus quality dimensions of individual and group creative performance. Journal of business research, 68(3), 578-586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.09.004

Schoemmel, K., & S. Jønsson, T. (2014). Multiple affective commitments: quitting intentions and job performance. Employee Relations, 36(5), 516-534. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-08-2013-0116

Soomro, A. A., Breitenecker, R. J., & Shah, S. A. M. (2018). Relation of work-life balance, work-family conflict, and family-work conflict with the employee performance-moderating role of job satisfaction. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 7(1), 129-146. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-02-2017-0018

Sturges, J., & Guest, D. (2004). Working to live or living to work? Work/life balance early in the career. Human resource management journal, 14(4), 5-20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-8583.2004.tb00130.x

Swalhi, A., Zgoulli, S., & Hofaidhllaoui, M. (2017). The influence of organizational justice on job performance: The mediating effect of affective commitment. Journal of Management Development, 36(4), 542-559. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-11-2015-0162

Tambunan, T. (2007). Entrepreneurship development: SMES in Indonesia. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 12(01), 95-118. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1084946707000575

Van Hooft, E. A., & De Jong, M. (2009). Predicting job seeking for temporary employment using the theory of planned behaviour: The moderating role of individualism and collectivism. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 82(2), 295-316. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317908X325322

Vasumathi, A., & Prithi, S. (2018). Work life balance of women workers in tannery industry, Tamil Nadu-an empirical bivariate study. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 29(3), 420-438. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSOM.2018.089834

Vasumathi, A. (2018). Work life balance of women employees: a literature review. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 29(1), 100-146. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSOM.2018.088477

Wagner III, J. A. (1995). Studies of individualism-collectivism: Effects on cooperation in groups. Academy of Management journal, 38(1), 152-173. https://doi.org/10.2307/256731

Wong, S. C. K., & Ko, A. (2009). Exploratory study of understanding hotel employees’ perception on work–life balance issues. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(2), 195-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2008.07.001

Yang, L. Q., Spector, P. E., Sanchez, J. I., Allen, T. D., Poelmans, S., Cooper, C. L., … & Antoniou, A. S. (2012). Individualism–collectivism as a moderator of the work demands–strains relationship: A cross-level and cross-national examination. Journal of International Business Studies, 43(4), 424-443. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2011.58

Zhu, Y., Warner, M., & Sardana, D. (2020). Internationalization and destination selection of emerging market SMEs: Issues and challenges in a conceptual framework. Journal of General Management, 45(4), 206-216. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306307020903530