Work-life balance

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Leadership and Human Resources - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,3, Ashcroft International Business School Cambridge (International Management), course: Undergraduate Major Project, language: English, abstract: Table of Contents Abstractiii List of Tablesiv List of Figuresv 1. Introduction1 1.1. Background to the study1 1.2. Objectives of the study4 1.3. Layout of the study5 1.4. Usefulness of the study5 2. Literature Review6 2.1. Introduction6 2.2. History of the term Work-life balance6 2.3. Defining the term Work-life balance7 2.4. The complexity of Work-life balance10 2.5. Reasons for the increasing popularity of Work-life balance11 2.6. Cultural Research on Work-life balance13 3. Research Methodology16 3.1. Introduction16 3.2. Research Objectives16 3.3. Research Design17 3.5. Reliability and Validity21 3.6. Data Analysis22 4. Findings and Results23 4.1. Introduction23 4.2. The results of the U.S. questionnaire23 4.3. German pilot study25 5. Analysis28 5.1. Introduction28 5.2. Change of society28 5.3. Demographic changes31 5.4. Business pressures33 5.5. Intercultural Work-life balance differences between Germany and the U.S.33 6. Conclusions and Recommendations37 6.1. Introduction37 6.2. Reasons for the popularity37 6.3. Cultural Differences38 6.4. Limitations of the study39 6.5. Future Research and Recommendations39 7. Referencesvi 8. Appendicesix The term 'Work-life balance' has become very popular over the past decades due to several reasons. For example, the demographic change and business pressure to be the 'employer of choice' in order to attract a decreasing number of skilled workforce cause companies all around the world to offer Work-life balance policies that aim at supporting their employees in creating a healthy and productive balance between their working and private life. Moreover, certain differences between cultures in terms of the employees' Work-life balances and the employers' approaches to it can be noticed. As this dissertation concentrated on the differences between the U.S. and German culture, it compared a questionnaire filled out by an American employee working for an American company to a pilot study of German companies. Differences were discovered in the attitude towards the Worklife balance of the leadership within a company. Also, the offerings of sport- and leisure facilities differed as well as family-friendly policies. Finally, the dissertation came to the conclusion that Work-life balance policies have to be customised to the respective culture of the employees in order to be really efficient.