Christiana Ierodiakonou

Support for part-time work as a channel to female employment: the moderating effects of national gender empowerment and labour market conditions

Using a multi-source data set collected across eight European countries, this article examines how characteristics of both the organizational environment and the larger national context relate to the organizational-level variable of womens employment. Our study revealed that, in countries that were high in gender empowerment measure (GEM), establishments that were more supportive of part-time work options also employed a higher proportion of women. One reason for this relationship may be that in high-GEM countries offering part-time employment is a way for an organization to signal its support for work–life balance, something that makes it more attractive to women. In countries with low GEM, an establishments greater support for part-time work was associated with employing a greater proportion of women only when establishments experienced recruitment difficulties. Key differences in gender empowerment between countries are discussed.

Flexible Work Arrangements and Intentions of Unemployed Women in Cyprus: A Planned Behaviour Model

Drawing from the theory of planned behaviour, we use 18 focus groups with 113 unemployed women and 150 mail questionnaires to explore whether and how unemployed Cypriot womens subjective norms, attitudes, perceived behavioural control and job versus career aspirations influence their intentions to adopt employee- and employer-driven flexible work arrangements. To analyse the information gathered, we used a combination of content analysis, an external panel of practitioners and academics, principal components analysis, and regressions. Results show that womens positive attitudes towards child-caring and self-enhancement and their subjective norms of organizational inflexibility were positively related mainly with intentions to adopt employee-driven flexible work arrangements. Further, women who found childcare support and employer requirements limiting were more interested in telework; the latter were also more interested in temporary work. Finally, womens career aspirations were related with weekend work and telework, whilst their job aspirations were associated with temporary work. Results raise issues for employers and policy-makers in Cyprus, and possibly other southern European countries facing similar challenges, in supporting women to become fully integrated in the labour market.

Part time work, productivity and institutional policies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a multilevel framework for examining the links between part time work, productivity and institutional context. The authors emphasize the importance of integrating different theoretical perspectives to enrich the understanding of nonstandard work arrangements such as part time and organizational effectiveness such as productivity. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used data from 2,839 businesses in 21 OECD countries. At the firm level, primary data were collected from the 2008 to 2010 survey of the Cranet research network. At the national level, the authors used information from OECD and Botero et al. (2004). The authors analysed the data using hierarchical linear modelling. Findings – Firm use of part time work relates negatively to employment legislation but positively to gender empowerment. The relationship between part time work and productivity at firm level is moderated by employment legislation. Research limitations/impli...

Flexitime and employee turnover: the polycontextuality of regulation as cross-national institutional contingency

Abstract This paper introduces a multi-theoretical, multi-level framework to explore the role of national regulation as (a) an institutional pressure on use of flexitime in organisations, and (b) a contingency influencing the relationship between flexitime and employee turnover. Using data from 21 countries to capture diversity in regulatory frameworks, we empirically test this framework. Results show that state support in relation to childcare policies and the industrial relations system have a direct influence on flexitime usage, while working time legislation, social expenditure and the industrial relations system are significant contingencies on the relationship between flexitime use and turnover. This framework enriches scholarship on working time flexibility from an organizational perspective by capturing the regulatory conditions under which flexitime is most used and more likely to have an impact. Results suggest the complexity of regulatory frameworks, showing how the significance of different structures changes when examined together. Findings have implications for managers, policy-makers and researchers.

‘Rationalizing’ Organizational Support for Work-family Balance

This study uses multi-level data from firms across 21 countries to empirically test an integrative framework of work-family balance (WFB). This framework combines the resource-based view of the fir...

FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS AND INTENTIONS OF UNEMPLOYED WOMEN: TOWARDS A MODEL DEVELOPMENT.

This study uses the theory of planned behavior to explore the intentions of unemployed women towards flexible work arrangements (FWAs). We validate our conceptual framework through group interviews...