2.0 INTRODUCTION
The previous chapter gave the introduction to the core concepts, that is,
the concept of quality of work-life and the socio-psychological determinants of
the quality of work-life. This chapter discusses the origin and development of the
concept of QWL over the years and presents the review of the related studies
conducted in India and abroad in the field of quality of work life and its
correlates. It contains a parsimonious list of empirical research conducted in this
field. Studies have not been segregated into studies conducted in India and
studies conducted abroad. They are arranged in chronological order from the
latest to the oldest under year wise subheadings.
2.1 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF QWL
It was in the beginning of twentieth century, Taylor (1911), popularly
known as father of scientific management and prophet of efficiency
developed Principles of Scientific Management. His brilliant argument on
management as an exact discipline of study similar to natural sciences is still
debated. Even in 21st century, the assumptions underlying the principles of
scientific management form the basis of designing work in most of the
organizations all over the world. The classical approach to job design of
scientific management focused mainly on division of labor or work
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humanized jobs which can satisfy the workers higher level needs, employ their
higher level skills and make them better citizens, spouse and parents should be
developed (Tripathi, 2003). Jobs need to be excellent from the point of view of
technology and human needs. Traditional job designs should be replaced with
enriched job designs. This demand for redesigning of jobs has come to be known
as Quality of Work Life (QWL). It enjoins the management to treat the workers
as human resources that are to be developed rather than simply used (Tripathi,
2003). Enhancement of human dignity and all round development of employees
in work place leads to greater efficiency and effectiveness of an organization.
The concept of quality of work-life originated as the part of a movement
that began in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. The purpose was to
initiate dialogue and encourage the theoretical exploration of ways of making the
working environment a more humane situation for workers (Davis and Cherns,
1975; Levine, 1983; Considine and Callus, 2001; Huzzard, 2003). Concerns
about working conditions were triggered by rapid advancements in technology
which saw a greater de-skilling, dehumanization, alienation and objectification of
labor under Taylorist and Fordist influences (Davis and Cherns, 1975; Levine,
1983; Huzzard, 2003; Green, 2005).Slowly, but steadily, there were changes in
management practices in organizations, consequences of which was mobilization
and full use of people in organizations activities. The companies, instead of
investing directly in products and services, are investing in people who
understand, know how to create, develop and improve those products and
services. (Zanetti, 2002).
The term QWL was first used in the late 1960s, originating with General
Motors and the United Auto Workers, to describe the workers level of job
satisfaction. Irving Bluestone coined the term QWL, which began as a variable
expressing the level of worker satisfaction and development into an approach and
series of programs designed ultimately to increase worker productivity (Goode,
1989).
Labor-management
cooperation
guided
the
development
and
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He
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al., (2005), states that the quality of life at work includes broad aspects of the
work environment which affects the collaborator in its health and in its
performance. With technology available to everyone, companies started
investing on the transformation of the labor environment, trying to make it
suitable to the physical, mental and social needs of its workers, having in mind
that this is a way to impose its differential in face of the market (Timossi et al.,
2008). According to Frana (2004), when this vision is consolidated, the
businessman no longer looks at the money he applies in better conditions of life
at work as expenditure, but as an investment, that certainly will bring him in
return a virtuous circle, where the quality of life at work represents the quality of
his products, productivity and consequently higher competitiveness.
To conclude, it can be said that while technology is no more a differential
for companies, it is the stakeholders who are interested in it promotes the
companys image and success. Hence the concern for the well being of the
employees who are instrumental in taking the company to higher levels of
efficiency and productivity is justified.
2.2 REVIEW OF VARIOUS STUDIES CONDUCTED IN THE FIELD OF
QWL AND ITS CORRELATES
After discussing the origin and development of the concept of quality of
work-life, the review of related studies conducted in this field is taken up. As
mentioned above, a parsimonious list of the various studies conducted by
different authors and research workers in India and abroad is given below. The
list of studies comprises the various works carried out directly in QWL. It also
included
the
studies
conducted
in
the
area
of
socio-psychological
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which the employees experience in the organization. The study also revealed that
the prevailing perception of employees with regard to their quality of work life is
not satisfactory, though they are of the opinion that quality of work life is a major
contributor to employee satisfaction. Significant difference existed between the
perception of married and unmarried employees with regard to the leadership and
work culture dimensions of quality of work-life. Unmarried employees had better
perception on these two dimensions than married employees.
Preoccupation with tight work schedules, offering time bound business
solutions to varied and complex problems within deadlines etc. are typical woklife which is characteristic of IT professionals. Enhancing the strength of
individuals internal resource, especially hardiness personality, is assumed to act
as a shield while encountering stressful events in occupational life. The study
conducted by Gowri and Mariammal (2012), surveyed 378 IT professionals from
the top 10 companies in Chennai. The objective of the study was to find out the
relationship between hardiness personality and stress factors of the IT
professional in Chennai. The study revealed that the IT professionals have
hardiness personality on the dimensions, commitment, control and
challenge. Further, the sources of stress, namely, work demands, career
concerns, systems maintenance, role ambiguity and job induced tension
were significantly related to hardiness personality of IT professionals.
Administrative tasks and job dissatisfaction were negatively correlated to
hardiness personality. Relationship with others and intention to quit were not
significantly related to hardiness personality.
Employee attrition is of genuine concern in BPO industry because it
disrupts the normal operations and necessitates the costly selection and training
of replacements to regain the lost customer and supplier contacts (Kumar,
2012). He conducted a study to find out the present level of attrition in BPO
industry with special reference to Sutherland Global Services and its reasons,
the problems faced by organization due to attrition and suggest ways and means
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to prevent attrition. The sample of the study comprised 100 employees selected
on the basis of simple random sampling. The reasons for which the employees
leave the organization were ranked as follows: No flexible work schedule, stress
from overwork and work-life imbalances, lack of good working conditions, the
mismatch between the job and the person, monetary factors, organizations
concern which is more towards business and less towards employees, absence
of supportive colleagues, lack of trust in senior team leaders, too little coaching
and feedback. An effective and affordable recruitment strategy which would
enable the organizations to get the right talent at the right time and at the right
place is very important for the goal attainment of the organization, believes
Vinoth (2012). He studied the effectiveness of recruitment process in a BPO
company in Bangalore to identify and understand the general practices the
organization uses to recruit and select employees, to analyze various factors
which help in assessing the effectiveness of recruitment and to know the
differences in the opinion of the respondents on the recruitment process. The
study comprised 150 employees including the managers. It was found out that
13.5% of the respondents strongly agree, 46.2% neutral, 40.4% agree to the fact
that the satisfactory level of the lower level recruitment is good. 80.8% of the
respondents agree and 19.2% strongly agree to the fact that the productivity of
the new hires inside the organization is good. 44.2% of the respondents strongly
agree, 34.6% agree, 17.3% neutral, 3.8% disagree to the fact that the internal
recruitment is considered initially. 25% of the respondents strongly agree,
34.6% agree, 34.6% neutral, 5.8% disagree to the fact that the cost of the
replacement is mostly high. 11.5% of the respondents strongly agree, 59.6%
agree, 23.1% neutral, 5.8% disagree to the fact that the employees are given a
pay which matches the market.
India has always been well positioned to be a leader in the Human
Resource Outsourcing (HRO) space, says Ishwari (2012). Her study on
effectiveness of existing separation management process in Neeyamo Enterprise
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Solution (P) Ltd., has been undertaken primarily to (a) to study and analyze the
effectiveness of separation management process and (b) to study the reason for
employee exit and (c) to optimize the current process. The study was carried out
among three different categories. They were HR personnel, project managers and
team leaders and employees who have resigned and serving the notice period.
The data was collected through questionnaire method which included Likert type,
dichotomous and open ended. The sample size was 100. The findings of the
study revealed that 73.3% of the employees resigned due to the typical problems
faced in BPO companies like lack of time to spend with family and children,
health issues, lack of growth opportunities, and stress leading to burn out.
Malhotra and Chada (2012) conducted a research on the 300 employees working
in the call centres of the Mohali, Panchkula and Chandigarh. To conduct a survey
non-probability cum convenience sampling techniques is used. The results are
analysed with the help of descriptive, Pearsoncorrelation method. The result
reveals that salary, job task, colleagues, sense of purpose, career path
opportunity, work environment, autonomy and workload are the major variables
to introduce the stress among the employees. The paper also discusses the
relevance of the stress management programmes.
The term Quality of Work-Life (QWL) was initially introduced in the late
1960s as a way of focusing on the effects of employment on worker health and
general well being, and a way to enhance the quality of a persons on-the-job
experience. However, there are generally identified issues related to QWL like
pay and stability of employment, occupational stress, alternative work schedule,
recognition, participative management, grievance procedure etc. These measures
will affect organizational performance in terms of human resource management.
Organizations are expected to maintain high QWL in order to maintain high level
organizational performance. This study by Sabarirajan, et al., (2011) is an
attempt to investigate the extent to which the QWL among the employees of
Public and Private Banks in Dindigul influences the performance of Banks.
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individual are the environment as well as people with whom the individual lives.
Notion of self-concept is developing around peoples work and organizational
experiences. The individual, relational, and collective self-concepts refer to
whether the self is viewed as separate from others, linked to others through
relationships, or included in large groups, respectively. Researchers have
established that individuals differ in their orientations toward the three levels of
the self-concept. Also, self-concept in organizations could affect on social work
behaviors, organization-based role-set in workplace, career satisfaction, and
achievement. When managers have favorable attitudes toward themselves, they
are in a much better position to build positive and realistic self concept in their
employers. However, promoting high self-concept is important. Beheshtifar and
Rahimi Nezhad (2012) finally suggested that positive self concept was
considered and reinforced among employees.
Several Research Studies in the world have measured the Quality of Work
Life (QWL) of Employees in Industries, Universities, Schools, Government and
Non Government Organizations. This research study by Reena and Jayan (2012)
highlights the quality of work-life of engineering college teachers under various
dimensions. New Challenges can be faced with employees satisfaction,
commitment and involvement in achieving personal effectiveness. This study
helps the engineering college teachers to know the role of QWL on Job attitude
and Personal Effectiveness. Quality of Work-Life (QWL) is a philosophy, a set
of principles, which holds that people are the most important resource in an
organization, that they are trustworthy, responsible and capable of making
valuable contributions and that they should be treated with dignity and respect.
The Quality of Work-Life facilitates the employees job satisfaction,
performance and personal effectiveness. A better Quality of Work-Life improves
the well-being of the employees as well as the organizations growth. The sample
consisted of 457 engineering college teachers in Kerala State, who completed
Quality of Work life Questionnaire (Jayan, Reena, Susan & Rekha, 2010) and
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Job Attitude Scale (Jayan, 2004) and Personal Effectiveness Inventory (Andros,
1999). The collected data after being coded were analyzed using Statistical
Package for Social sciences Research (SPSS) and Bivariate correlation and Oneway Anova were used.
Aryeetey and Sanda (2012) explore employees perceptions of the
availability and functionality of work life indicators in organizations in Ghana.
The purpose is to identify quality of work-life indicators that enhance
employees performances and organizational productivity, based on the premise
that the attainment of competitive advantage by an organization is linked to the
attitudinal characteristics of employees shaped by their organizational
experiences. Using a survey approach, data was collected using selfadministering questionnaires from 150 employees sampled from both public and
private organizations in the finance, education, health, and communication
industries. Finally, 128 of the returned questionnaires with all sections fully
scored were used for the analysis. The results show that employees have insights
of available and non-available, as well as functional and non-functional worklife indicators that could be incorporated in the organizational design to support
the creation of positive organizational values to enhance employee-management
relationship in Ghanaian organizations. It is concluded that organizations could
use such employee insight and knowledge to identify quality of work-life
indicators whose incorporation in the functional organization system could
support the creation of positive organizational values, not only to enhance
employees commitment, job satisfaction and productivity, but also to create
good employee-management relationship towards increased organizational
performances. The relevance of such insight to organization is that it allows for
the identification of employees thinking about the quality of their organizational
life and well-beings, which issues has been important research topics in both the
fields of human resource and organizational design.
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leadership, quality of work life and job satisfaction, quality of work-life with
=0.60 has more portion in productivity.
The aim of the study by Taneja and Kumari (2012) is to find out the bank
employees perception towards their quality of work-life and demographic
variables. Survey was conducted and data were analyzed on the basis of
responses provided by 250 respondents. A well-structured questionnaire was
formulated, which was subjected to pilot testing and re-drafted. Data were
analyzed using factor analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test and (one way)
ANOVA. The Karl Pearson correlation was used to understand the relationship
between QWL and job satisfaction. The analysis showed that there is a
significant gap among the bank employees with demographic variables with
respect to various factors of QWL. The test indicated that there is positive and
direct relationship between QWL and job satisfaction. The results of this study
may have some practical significance for Human Resource Managers, of
especially of banks, in designing their retention policies.
Rajagopalan and Noyaline (2012) in their study aimed at exploring
various strategies adopted by the BPO personnel to overcome the stress, based on
their perception. Stress management warrants much attention nowadays,
particularly in the corporate sector, more so in the IT sector. While a minimum
level of stress is harmless, even necessary to bring out the best in human beings
at work, too much of stress will wear the employees out, upset his work life
balance and simply damage him totally. The study was based on primary data
collected by using pre-structured questionnaire. To evaluate the stress managing
strategies, t- test and F-test were used. First, reliability of the items in the scale
measuring the stress management was evaluated using Reliability/Item analysis
with Cronbachs Alpha Coefficient. Next, Principal Component Method of
Factor Analysis, with Varimax Rotation, was used to identify the major
characteristics underlying the stress management.
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Srivastava and Misra (2012) in their study proposed to explore the role of
career salience as a moderator for the relationship between job burnout and
organizational commitment. Two hundred and fifty middle level managers,
belonging to private sector organizations, were studied for the present work. The
variables were assessed through three validated instruments. The data were
analyzed through Descriptive Statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation,
Factor Analysis and Hierarchical Regression Analysis. It was inferred from the
results that job burnout was negatively related to organizational commitment and
career salience moderated the relationship between job burnout and
organizational commitment. By understanding the relationship between these
variables, organizations should try to provide a congenial environment and
conduct training programmes to actively manage their human capital which is
one of the strongest pillars for any organization.
A high quality of work-life is essential for organizations to continue to
attract and retain employees. QWL is a process in which organizations recognize
their responsibility to develop job and working conditions that are excellent for
the employee and organization. An effective leader influences the followers in a
desired manner to achieve goals. It is evident from the literature that different
leadership styles may affect organization effectiveness and performance. The
interventions of QWL will effectively utilize the employee potentials by ensuring
great
participation
and
involvement
of
workers.
This
paper
by
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Chavan and Potdar (2011) analysed the impact of the outsourcing industry
on the society and the individuals in India. Both positive and negative impacts
have been analyzed. They focused on the following few major aspects during this
study: health issues, societal issues, personal issues, benefits offered, strategies
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for work and work ethics. Based on a field survey, views of few employees and
employers of this industry have been captured and analyzed. Various health
issues that came to light are stress, sleeplessness, and headache, fatigue, sense of
exhaustion and lack of concentration. It was also found that a number of factors
like hindrance in personal life, physically tiring nature of work, for better salary,
lack of growth opportunity, non-conducive policies and procedures could be
some of the reasons for employees to leave the industry/company. Majority of
employees complained of headache and digestive disorders. Almost everyone
stressed on having provision for power naps of 10-15 minutes. Employees
accepted that they enjoy various facilities and benefits provided by the company
like Provident Fund, Gratuity, Personal Accidental Insurance; Company leased
accommodation, Recreational (like Cafeteria) and other facilities (like ATM,
Gym etc), Corporate credit card, Educational Benefits, Performance based
incentives, Regular get-together and other cultural programs, Employee Referral
Schemes and Maternity leave. Employees also accepted that their spending has
increased and much of the money is spent in lifestyle products, recreational
activities and to support the family. Employees dismissed the aspect of increased
professionalism being unique to the BPO industry and said professionalism is
pervasive in all sectors.
In the present day scenario, IT and BPO companies jobs are termed as
more competitive and stressful, says Lakshminarayana (2011). His study brought
out the general broad outline of causes of occupational stress at individual
employee level and at the corporate level. Also the study suggested some urgent
strategic planning needed to combat the alarming rise of disorder in the health of
the employee and the organization as a whole, in the present Indian context and
scenario. Given the Indian scenario of competitive market, over population and
scarcity of good jobs, run on the theory of Survival of the Fittest, no profession
is stress free. The degree and depth may vary from one another. Both employer
and employee must understand that work should be valued and not excessive.
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Work should not compromise on health and family life; rather offer happiness,
peace of mind, certainty, variety and flexibility. As a general rule, actions to
reduce job stress should be given top priority in the process of organizational
change to improve working conditions and to avert the situation of brain drain.
But even the most conscientious efforts to improve working conditions are
unlikely to eliminate stress completely for all workers.
Khattak et al., (2011) in their study examined the occupational stress and
professional burnout in the banking sector of Pakistan. A total of 237 bank
employees (74.3% male and 25.7% female) from different commercial banks
participated in the survey. In order to collect data on stress and burnout, a selfreported questionnaire was administered to bank employees. Descriptive,
correlation and regression statistical tools were used to analyze data. The results
identified that workload, working hours, technological problem at work,
inadequate salary, time for family and job worries at home are the significant
sources of stress in the banking sector. The significant symptoms of burnout as
revealed by the results are back pain, extreme tiredness, headache and sleep
disturbance. All stressors (organization, job, relationship at work, work
environment and family work interface) were significantly correlated to all
burnouts (physical, psychological and organizational). All the stress elements
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were surveyed to measure the level of their organizational stress. The impact of
stress on their morale was also assessed. Through statistical analysis of stress and
morale scores obtained from the respondents, the study sought to ascertain the
difference in the level of stress of entry level and middle level officers of public
and private sector banks and to examine the impact of the stress on their morale.
The study revealed that significant differences existing among the bank officers
of different levels.
The study conducted by Suri and Prasad (2011) added to the increasing
body of knowledge in the sphere of transformational leadership. Their study
empirically
established
the
relationship
between
self-awareness
and
through correlation and regression analysis. The results are likely to suggest that
leaders must have the ability to attract/influence their subordinates, be able to set
clear standards of performance to their peers and act as a best role model to the
subordinates. The subordinates expect that their achievements must be
recognized and rewarded either with monetary or with nonmonetary terms. The
Garretts score that gives the preferences of the Middle level managers and the
subordinates from among various leadership styles recommended the
transformational leadership style in both the public and in the private sector
enterprises. The results of correlation and regression analysis suggest that the
transformational leadership style has significant relationships with performance
outcomes; the study thus adds some additional knowledge for a better
understanding of the preferred leadership approach and appropriate style for use
with subordinates in various professional levels.
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. And a
leader is a person who guides and has the ability to direct individual
accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows
common people to attain uncommon results. With this in mind the role of a
leader is indispensable in the team. This article by Nirmala and Sharon (2011)
deals with the conduct of leaders and team members in the aspect of People and
Task Management Skills.
Human resource plays an important role in the success of any
organization, because most of the problems in organizations are human and
social rather than physical or technical. A good quality of work-life not only
attracts new talent but also retain the existing talent. Quality of work-life has
been defined as "the quality of relationship between employees and the total
working environment". This study by Jeyarathnam and Malarvizhi (2011)
attempts to evaluate the quality of work-life of sugar mill employees and analyze
the relationship between the productivity and quality of work-life. Data were
collected through questionnaire from a sample of 190 employees from sugar
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mills in Erode district in Tamilnadu. The results of the study showed the intensity
of working conditions and the behavioral aspects of the employees in the study
area. It concludes that the basic strategy for improving the quality of work life is
to identify employees important needs and to satisfy those needs. The study also
indicated that dissatisfaction might happen due to lack of recognition, tedious
work, unhealthy peer relations, poor working conditions, low self-esteem,
occupational stress, heavy work load, monotony, fatigue, time pressures, job
insecurity, instability of job.
Studies conducted in 2010
The study conducted by Kheradmand, Mohammadreza and Lotfi (2010),
contributes to the literature on QWL by testing the relationship between QWL
and job performance. A questionnaire was used to survey a sample of 35
employees in Dadevarz Jooya Company in Iran. The results indicated a
significant positive relationship between QWL and job performance. A two
factor model with correlated factors was postulated and supported. Analysis
showed that the two constructs are highly correlated.
Singh (2010), in her study on the perception of work-life balance policies
among software professionals, tried to find out their perceptions on work-life
balance policies. The sample size for this study was 133 respondents from two
organizations. The study provided the management an approach to assess the
awareness of WLB policies and to measure their perceived importance which
was a major contribution by the researcher.
Garg (2010) conducted a study to find out the relationship between
distress and quality of life. The study was conducted among the private sector
bank employees in Chandigarh city. The researcher found that there is significant
negative relationship between distress and quality of life. But after introducing
stress management techniques, the quality of life increased and distress level
significantly decreased as per the researchers findings.
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conflict and overload, which hurt their work or family domain. It makes intricacy
to fulfill ones role in response to fulfilling other role successfully.
Oladele and Mabe (2010) carried out a study to understand the job burnout
and coping strategies among extension officers in North West province, South
Africa.
officers to examine the incidence of job burnout and coping strategies. Data were
collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed using frequency counts,
percentages and multiple regression analysis. The results showed that majority of
the extension officers were male (52.5%) with the mean age of 42.5 years,
married (72.5%) and 82.5% were Christians. Eighty-five percent of the extension
officers had diploma as their educational qualification and a mean of 14 years as
working experience. The result revealed that extension officers experienced 29
out of the listed 44 job burnout symptoms, which include cynicism/negativism
(1.87) agitation (1.85) accident proneness (1.75) and loss of patience (1.72). The
most prominent coping strategy as indicated by extension officers were
maintaining an active personal social life outside of work (2.50), maintaining
healthy relationship with co-workers (2.47), development of structural and
personal support system (2.45) and maintaining healthy relationship with
superior officers (2.47). Significant determinants of job burnout were gender (t =
2.46), educational level (t = -3.02), studying for higher degree (t = -2.30) and
number of farmers covered (t = -2.20). The study recommended that extension
officers should be exposed to training and techniques to cope with job burnout.
Katsuro et al., (2010) in their study sought to assess the impact of
occupational health and safety (OHS) on productivity in the commercial food
industry. The objective of the study was to explore occupational health and safety
(OHS) problems of different work areas and their impact on productivity. The
research targeted production supervisors, shop floor employees and industrial
clinic nurses. Questionnaires, interviews and observations were used as research
instruments to collect data. The study found out that OHS related problems
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improve working conditions of the employees and their general welfare in order
to elicit job satisfaction and motivation for increased productivity.
The drivers of outsourcing emanate from organizational initiatives,
improvement focus, financial and cost objectives or growth objectives. Despite
the increasing practical significance of this phenomenon, the academic literature
is limited to a handful of studies concerned with the delegation of accounting
functions. There are different drives and phases in the process of outsourcing but
little is known on what drives accounting outsourcing and its process. Based on
an in-depth case study, Hamzah et al., (2010) tried to understand the drivers and
processes in accounting outsourcing. This study examined the mechanisms and
practices adopted in accounting outsourcing in a Malaysian company. Interviews
were conducted with vendor and client of the company studied. The findings
revealed that there is no firm basis used by the company studied for evaluating its
outsourcing decision.
Afzal et al., (2010) explored the experiences of mid-career professional
working mothers exercising integration among work, family and selves in the
context of the city of Faisalabad, Pakistan. It has been examined that the family
systems, joint and nuclear, affected them and their careers. The sample included
22 professional working mid-career mothers, ranging from 33 to 48 years of age,
having at least one independent child, living either in nuclear or joint family
system. The researchers used the interview technique for collecting the data.
Qualitative in-depth interviews were audio-taped. An interview inventory was
prepared beforehand and its validity was checked in consultation with the
research supervisor and other experts in the university. The study showed that the
professional working mothers were responsible in performing their domestic and
professional roles, besides self-care. The proper incorporation of both roles was
plausible with the stipulation of flexibility from both, work and family system,
joint or nuclear. All women had intense feelings of motherhood; their career was
also of high importance for them as they found it purposeful and satisfying. They
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felt they were now better able to balance their family, work and individual self as
compared to the start of their careers.
The aim of the study conducted by Arandelovi et al., (2010) was (1) to
test the possibilities of standardized questionnaires for burnout, quality of life,
and work ability in Serbia by investigating interactions of these phenomena in
food manufacturing workers in Serbia; and (2) to determine possible preventive
measures. The study enrolled 489 food manufacturing workers in the region of
Nis (Serbia) during the period from January 2008 to February 2009. Authors
included three standardized questionnaires: for burnout (CBI), quality of life
(ComQoL-A5), and the work ability index (WAI) in the Serbian language. The
results of the study indicated high scores in personal (60.0) and work burnout
(67.9), lower scores for objective (66.2%SM) and subjective quality of life in
enrolled subjects (69.2%SM), and an excellent work ability index in most
workers (65.8%). The questionnaires tested are reliable instruments in the
Serbian region. Burnout, quality of life, and work ability are significantly
interrelated categories in food manufacturing workers. There was a high degree
of work burnout that has not yet been accompanied with significant impairment
of quality of living and work ability in exposed workers. That is why a
salutogenic approach in the prevention of this phenomenon, by health-promotion
programs in the workplace, would be the method of choice for burnout
improvement.
In recent years, workaholism has become prevalent throughout
organizations and has captured the attention of organizational leaders as well as
the academic and scientific community, believes Adkins et al., (2010). Most
research in this area has focused on the negative consequences of work-holism,
specifically work-life imbalance. One area of research that has largely been
ignored is the potential influence of demographic variables on the relationship
between workaholism and work-life imbalance. Therefore, the current study
focused on how cultural origin might influence the intensity of this relationship.
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Indian BPO companies and their challenges. The analysis provides original and
useful information to both academicians and practitioners and opens avenues for
future research on the nature of HRM systems and practices in the Indian BPO
industry.
The purpose of the
The 15-item
measure of work intensity was found to have high internal consistency and
reliability. Work intensity was significantly related to respondents' organizational
level and work status. In addition, respondents indicating higher levels of work
intensity also reported working more hours, a higher workload, and greater job
stress. Work intensity was unrelated to organizational values supporting workpersonal life imbalance, three workaholism components, or to indicators of work
engagement. Factor analysis of the work intensity measured produced three
factors: emotional demands, job demands, and time demands; the first two were
fairly consistently related to other study variables, whereas time demands were
not. The study developed a work intensity measure and examined its properties
and correlates, something that is lacking in the literature.
Much attention has been given to the explosion in business process
outsourcing (BPO) operations in India. Little concern, however, has been paid to
the performance of Indian service workers in these fast-paced and sometimes
turbulent environments. Using a sample of 160 service workers from a privately
held BPO firm in India, Combs et al., (2010) examined the relationship between
Indian service workers' hope and their performance outcomes. Regression and
structural equation model analyses indicated a significant positive relationship
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between Indian service workers' levels of hope and their performance. These
promising results highlight the importance of measuring and managing employee
hope to maximize employee productivity and performance. By effectively
developing and managing levels of employee hope, Indian BPO firms can
effectively combat employee problems such as attrition, stress, and burnout that
have plagued the BPO industry.
Cross-national comparisons generally show large differences in life
satisfaction of individuals within and between European countries. The work
done by Drobnic et al., (2010) addresses the question of whether and how job
quality and working conditions contribute to the quality of life of employed
populations in nine strategically selected EU countries: Finland, Sweden, the UK,
the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Using data
from the European Quality of Life Survey 2003, they examined relationships
between working conditions and satisfaction with life, as well as whether
spillover or segmentation mechanisms better explain the link between work
domain and overall life satisfaction. Results showed that the level of life
satisfaction varies significantly across countries, with higher quality of life in
more affluent societies. However, the impact of working conditions on life
satisfaction is stronger in Southern and Eastern European countries. The study
suggested that the issue of security, such as security of employment and pay
which provides economic security, is the key element that in a straightforward
manner affects peoples quality of life. Other working conditions, such as
autonomy at work, good career prospects and an interesting job seem to translate
into high job satisfaction, which in turn increases life satisfaction indirectly. In
general, bad-quality jobs tend to be more effective in worsening workers
perception of their life conditions than good jobs are in improving their quality of
life. The authors discussed the differences in job-related determinants of life
satisfaction between the countries and considered theoretical and practical
implications of these findings.
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conflict, quality of work and non-work lives, and quality of life and has studied
the role of social support.
India is known as the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) capital of the
world, hence safeguarding health of millions of youngsters employed in this new
growing economy is an occupational health challenge, says Mishra et al., (2010).
The study conducted by them was with the objectives of assessing the prevalence
of tobacco use and for an understanding of the factors responsible for initiating
and continuing its use. The main aim, however, was to assess the effect of
different tobacco cessation intervention strategies, thus identifying effective
methods to assist these employees to quit tobacco. The study was
a 4-arm
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bound to play a critical role. The literature lacks studies offering insights into the
HR challenges involved and the ways in which they are addressed by KPOs. In
this context, the purpose of the study conducted by Raman et al., (2010) was to
attempt to fill this gap by presenting findings from an in-depth case study of a
KPO organization. To achieve the research objective the authors adopted an indepth case study approach. The research setting was that of a KPO organization
in India, which specializes in offering complex analytics, accounting and support
services to the real estate and financial services industries. The results of this
study highlighted the differences in the nature of work characteristics in such
organizations as compared to call centers. The study also highlighted some of the
key people management challenges that these organizations face like attracting
and retaining talent. The case company adopted formal, structured, transparent
and innovative human resource practices. The findings indicated that such
enlightened human resource practices stand on the foundations laid by an open
work environment and facilitative leadership.
The current generation of workers places greater attention on work-life
balance than the prior generation. The employee recruiting process in
professional services firms will have to take this into consideration if they are to
effectively compete in the marketplace for employees. The study of Smith and
Katherine (2010) examined research questions regarding work-life balance
perspectives of millennial job candidates. Results of the study indicated that
millennial regard work-life balance as important to a person's quality of work,
job performance, ethical decision-making, and long-term job satisfaction.
The issue of the quality of work-life has risen in popularity due to
concerns about the economic and social sustainability of European societies.
Throughout the continent, global competition, technological change and the
intensification of work are common developments which are seen to affect the
well-being of the workforce. Nevertheless, European countries differ
substantially in terms of job quality. According to earlier research, employees in
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Sweden and Denmark (and to lesser extent in Finland) report a higher quality of
work tasks than elsewhere in Europe. The aim of the work done by Hartikainen
et al., (2010) was to investigate, in a cross-national context using multivariate
techniques, whether job quality in Finland really is divergent from that of other
Nordic countries and rest of the Europe. Empirical analyses were based on the
fourth wave of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) collected in
2005. In this study the authors used data from the 25 member states of the
European Union and Norway (n=21,196 interviews). The results supported
earlier findings that Finland lags behind other Nordic countries in terms of work
discretion and the perceptions of being well paid. Instead, Finnish employees
were less worried about health issues. When comparing Finland to Scandinavia,
authors did not find major differences in the amount of highly skilled jobs,
insecurity nor the quantity of jobs requiring great effort. They also examined the
associations of the dimensions of job quality to job satisfaction. The results
indicated that the subjective aspects of job quality were more important
determinants of job satisfaction, and that there were only modest differences in
the determinants of job satisfaction between country clusters.
Studies conducted in 2009
Rajagopal and Abraham (2009) conducted an empirical research in the IT
sector to assess the prominence of higher order needs among eighty information
technology professionals in Bangalore. The respondents did not give much
importance to physiological and belonging needs but the higher order needs
were given much prominence as per the empirical evidences. The two major
hypotheses developed for the study were: (1) the need for physiological and
belongingness is low among the IT professionals and (2) the need for safety,
self-esteem and self actualization is high among IT professionals. The
hypotheses were supported and contradicted Maslows principles on need
hierarchy.
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employers with
personnel who are required to sit for long periods of time to perform their job
duties should take preventive measures that may reduce the risk of back pain.
The findings of the study revealed that fitness program helps to reduce the
symptoms of back pain in software professionals and increase the performance.
Hence she suggested that interventions like ergonomics and fitness programs can
prove to be beneficial in reducing the problem and increase the performance of
the workers. Thus a comprehensive fitness program was designed for the
workforce to ensure that both workers efficiency and productivity could be
sustained.
Many BPO employees acknowledged high levels of stress associated with
their jobs. Hence, BPOs need to consider measures that would alleviate some of
this stress. Ambitious performance targets, strict deadlines and close monitoring
may not be sustainable in the long-run and BPOs must review current practices
and build in measures to counter employee burnout. Several youth had indicated
recreational facilities as one of the best features of their BPOs and employees
need to be provided opportunities to use these facilities. This was revealed in the
study conducted by Vaid (2009) among unmarried young people working in the
BPO sector in Gurgaon. All the study participants had college education, most
were living away from their families, many reported that their families held nontraditional attitudes and that communication within the family was open. Of
course, all were earning well. In these respects, the sample of young people in
this study, particularly young women, is very different from youth in India more
in general.
The 10th National Economic and Social Developmental Plan of the
Government of Thailand considered quality of human beings. Quality of human
life is affected by quality of working life (QWL). Professional nurses had
responsibility for patients quality of life. Thus, professional nurses should have a
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quality of working life more effectively before they could help patients. Personal
factors have relationships with the quality of working life. Thus, the study
conducted by Boonrod (2009) was to describe the level of the QWL, to examine
the
relationships
between
job
characteristics,
organizational
climate,
organizational commitment, and job satisfaction with the QWL and to predict the
QWL among professional nurses at Phramongkutklao Hospital, Bangkok. Two
hundred and thirty-one professional nurses, who had worked for at least 3 years,
were selected by stratified random sampling from 12 departments at
Phramongkutklao Hospital. The questionnaires were developed, consisting of
personal factors, job characteristics, organizational climate and commitment, job
satisfaction and QWL. Content validity was examined by nine experts.
Reliability was obtained at 0.97 by means of Cronbachs alpha coefficient. The
overall mean score of the level of quality of working life among professional
nurses was at a moderate level (mean = 3.412, SD = 0.459). Personal factors like
age, marital status, education, position, experience, salary and wards had no
relationships with the QWL. Job satisfaction was positive and related at a high
level, while organizational commitment, organizational climate, and job
characteristics were positive and related at a moderate level to the QWL
significantly at 0.001 level (r = 0.724, 0.694, 0.640, and 0.334). Multiple
regression analysis factors affecting QWL indicated that professional nurses
associated negative factors with job characteristics and positive factors with job
satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational climate at 62.10
percent (R2 = 0.621). (QWL = 0.762 + 0.336 Job satisfaction + 0.265
Organizational climate + 0.250 Organizational commitment - 0.118 Job
characteristics). In order to develop the QWL among professional nurses at
Phramongkutklao hospital, it was suggested that nursing administrators should
promote their job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational
climate, and job characteristics. Professional nurses who have better QWL, are
more likely to stay in their positions and provide better nursing care.
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Since the 1980s there have been major changes in workplace organization
resulting from the application of new information and communications
technologies (ICTs). The study conducted by Hector et al., (2009) used a sample
of the working population to estimate the extent to which new technology has
affected the quality of working life in New Zealand. The study addressed a range
of questions relating to workplace satisfaction, from gains in the autonomy of
workers and job variety to the extent to which workers now feel more closely
monitored. It also addressed the relationship of new workplace structures
resulting from technology adoption to more flexible working arrangements such
as telecommuting. The findings of this survey largely disabused the extremists,
with no finding that overall workplace satisfaction is significantly higher or
lower as a result of new ICT. Those who hoped that new technology would give
workers greatly enhanced autonomy, and make work more challenging, fulfilling
and meaningful will find little support here. Neither is there any evidence of
significant telecommuting, though flexibility in working hours does appear to
have increased. Self-managing teams may have replaced line supervisors to some
extent. But teams have their own dynamics and impose very real expectations on
their members, so there is no incompatibility here with the apparent sense that
pressure is higher in the more technologized workplaces.
Azahan et al., (2009) opine that a citys quality of life is often linked with
its environment and the infrastructures provided in the city. There is an argument
that if a city has good quality of life, it is because of its environment and the
infrastructures are good, and of high standard. This study examined the quality of
life status of Seremban, one of the intermediate cities in Malaysia based on three
components i.e. urban dwellers readiness, urban environment and urban
accessibility. However, rather than assessment made through physical
perspective, this research used urban dwellers perspective to justify the quality of
life status. 550 respondents from various socioeconomic backgrounds
participated in this research. The results showed that all the three components are
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dissatisfied with their jobs and careers, were generally dissatisfied with working
conditions and control at work and reported that they are stressed at work.
Results provide evidence to support the use of the WRQoL psychometric
instrument as both a multi-dimensional and uni-dimensional measure to assess
the quality of working life of employees in higher education.
Fernandez, Rocha and Maria Da (2009) investigated the impact of
psychosocial aspects on the quality of life of teachers from municipal schools in
Natal, Brazil. In this descriptive study with a cross-sectional design, a sample of
242 elementary school teachers was included. The authors used the World Health
Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-brief) to assess the quality of life as
well as questions about the level of control and the psychological demand of
work from the Job Content Questionnaire. The overall evaluation of quality of
life showed that the physical and environmental domains had the lowest mean
scores. According to the psycho-social aspects, most of the subjects (67
individuals = 32.1%) were characterized as having active work (high demand and
control), followed by 54 teachers (25.8%) with demanding work (high demand
and little control). These two groups have shown to be more affected in the
assessment of physical (p < 0.001), psychological (p < 0.001), and environment
(p < 0.001) domains of quality of life. Teachers who had tasks characterized as
active and demanding were more affected in the quality of life domain. This
finding suggested the need for greater investment in health-promotion policies
among teachers.
The study carried out by Hunter, Banning and James (2009) examined
open-ended responses from 295 college students to questions regarding how they
define the construct of calling, how having a calling influences their career
development, and the extent to which the term "calling" may apply to areas of
life other than work. Results indicated that students perceived a calling as
originating from guiding forces, co-occurring with unique fit and well-being,
having altruistic features, and extending to multiple life roles. These results
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options on offer and perceptions of personal support outside of work were not
found to be positively correlated.
The aim of the study conducted by Merecz and Wojciech (2009) was to
indicate psycho-social stressors at work that significantly affect sickness absence
workers. Study subjects included a group of 233 randomly selected women
employed as post-office clerks. Sickness absence data covered the period of
2004-2006. The psycho-social factors were assessed by means of the Subjective
Work Characteristics Questionnaire. The hazard ratio (HR) of sickness absence
was analyzed using the Cox regression model, separately for short- (1-9 days)
medium- (10-29 days) and long-term (30 days and above) sickness absence. The
short term sickness absence risk was significantly related with the post-office
size-in the offices employing 8-12 workers, the risk was by 50% lower compared
to those employing a smaller number of workers (HR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.27-0.90)
and unpleasant working conditions (dirt), which contributed to the increased risk
(HR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.12-1.50). In the case of a 10-29-day absence, the risk was
slightly elevated by the demand of long-term vigilance, financial responsibility,
and strictly determined breaks at work. In the model of long-term sickness
absence, a significantly higher risk was noted when the number of employees
was 16-25 compared to a smaller number of employees (HR = 2.92; 95% CI:
1.09-7.82), non-occupational, self-assessed workload was high (HR = 2.97; 95%
CI: 1.34-6.62) or moderate (HR = 2.22; 95% CI: 1.11-4.44) compared to selfassessed low workload, and the work space was limited (HR = 1.21; 95% CI:
1.00-1.47). The analysis showed a significant effect of stressogenic work
conditions on the patterns of sickness absence. The findings may help in
developing programs intended to reduce sickness absence through limiting the
prevalence of unfavorable conditions at workplaces.
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The study conducted by Frain and Malachy (2009) did an initial analysis
of variables generally associated with empowerment towards perceived beliefs
concerning quality of work life domains for individuals with disabilities. The
model examined the domains of importance, satisfaction, control and degree of
interference of disability that an individual feels towards work. The internet
based study used results from 70 individuals with disabilities in varying aspects
of work. The variables composing empowerment that correlated strongly with the
work domains include: self-advocacy, self-efficacy, perceived stigma, and family
resiliency as measured through coping. Quality of Life concerning work was
measured through the DSC-C a domain specific QOL instrument.
The study of Lee, Singhapakdi and Sirgy (2009) further validates a needbased measure of quality of work life (QWL) developed by Sirgy et al. (Soc
Indic Res 55:4656, 2001). They conceptualized the QWL construct in terms of
employee satisfaction with two sets of major needs: lower- and higher-order
needs. Lower-order needs comprise health/safety needs and economic/family
needs. Higher-order needs involve social needs, esteem needs, self-actualization
needs, knowledge needs, and aesthetic needs. The results from a survey of
marketing professionals largely supported the construct validity and predictive
validity of the QWL measure. As expected, QWL has positive influence on esprit
de corps, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment among marketing
managers.
Studies conducted in 2008
Many factors determine the meaning of quality of work-life (QWL), one
of which is work environment. A group of workforces that is greatly affected in
QWL as a result of dynamic changes in work environment is information
technology (IT) professionals. The study conducted by Rethinam and Ismail
(2008) reviews the meaning of QWL, analyses constructs of QWL based on
models and past research from the perspective of IT professionals in many
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countries and in Malaysia. The constructs of QWL discussed were: health and
well-being, job security, job satisfaction, competency development, work and
non-work life balance. The study concludes that QWL from the perspective of IT
professionals is challenging both to the individuals and organizations.
The purpose of the research carried out by Dolan et al., (2008) was
to
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projects. The research approach was solution-oriented, seeking factors that can
promote concurrent improvements in both performance and the QWL.
Concerning the work, management and organizational practices, the findings
showed that comprehensive development of organization, i.e. implementation of
practices is associated with simultaneous improvement in performance and the
QWL. Second, concerning the nature of development method, the study showed
that employee participation in planning and implementation phase, close
collaboration during the process, the methods used by the experts and external
networking were related to simultaneous outcomes at workplaces.
Ongori and Evans (2008) conducted a study among the employees
working in public sector organizations in Botswana. They found that the stress at
work affects the employees in many ways leading to poor quality of work life
which was the main reason for employee turnover in most of the organisations.
The researchers suggested that managers should develop the appropriate
measures to minimize occupational stress.
Sen Gupta and Adhikari (2008) made a study on civil hospital nurses in
West Bengal on role stress among nurses. They measured ten types of role
stressors on 89 civil hospital nurses using a modified version of ORS scale
translated into their local language, Bengali. The prominent role stressors were
identified (role expectation conflict, inter-role distance and role overload) along
with their consequences and also recommendations were made to cope up with
the stress.
A survey was carried out by Bhuyar et al., (2008), in Pune and Mumbai to
find out the mental, physical and social health problems of call centre workers. In
their study they found majority of the workers facing sleep disturbances
associated with mental stress and anxiety, circadian rhythm disturbances due to
night shifts, physical problems like muscular-skeletal disorders, obesity, eye and
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hearing problems and psychosocial problems like family life disruption, use of
tobacco and alcohol and faulty eating habits.
Gupta (2008) in her study on stress among BPO employees discussed and
stated that because of immense pressure in dealing with their clients day and
night, the BPO employees could not balance their professional and personal
lives. She also found out that since
health, are adopting alternatives to lead a normal healthy life. The corporate and
in-house clinics are also working together to help the employees to combat stress
in the workplace.
The major objective of the study conducted by Saad et al., (2008) was to
find out the employees perception of their work-life quality in a private
university. Previous studies indicated that employees perception on work life
quality significantly influenced their job satisfaction. 251 employees in the
university participated in this study. Ten variables to measure Quality Work Life
(QWL) were examined namely support from organization, work-family conflict,
relationship with peers, self competence, impact on job, meaningfulness of job,
optimism on organizational change, autonomy, access to resources and time
control. All these variables were tested for their relationship with job satisfaction.
The test indicated that each of the QWL variables on its own is a salient predictor
of job satisfaction. However, 7 QWL variables are no longer significant
predictors for job satisfaction when all the 10 QWL variables were entered into
the regression equation. Using multiple linear regressions, only 3 QWL variables
(meaningfulness of job, optimism on organizational change and autonomy) were
found to be significantly related to job satisfaction. However, they only explained
28.8% of the variance in job satisfaction, F (10, 240) = 11.134, p<.05.
Noah (2008) carried out an investigation of the existing level of worker
participation in management decision making within Nigerian work environment.
The study involved a survey in which a total of two hundred and twenty seven
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(217) non management employees drawn from two work organizations in Lagos
(Flour Mills Nigeria Plc and Niger Insurance Plc) were used as subjects.
Interview schedule and in-depth interview were the main research techniques
adopted for data collection while percentage distribution and chi-square
statistical techniques were used to analyze the data collected for the study.
Results showed that employees in both organizations demonstrated high interest
in participation in the decision making process within their respective work
places. However, the actual level of involvement in management decision
making demonstrated by the employees was found to be relatively low. There
was significant relationship between education and employees involvement in
decision making at Flour Mills Nigeria Plc. In Niger Insurance Plc, there was
significant relationship between age and employees involvement in decision
making as well as between frequency of employees consultation and
organizational commitment. The study revealed a growing desire of nonmanagement employees in the Nigerian work environment to exercise greater
involvement in the decision making process of their enterprises.
Thavannoor and Rajagopal (2008) conducted a study to identify and
analyze the factors which contribute to work life imbalances among the middle
level executives of IT sector in Bangalore city. The study was conducted on 72
executives selected randomly. A well-designed questionnaire was used to collect
the desired information from the subjects. The study revealed that less time for
self and family, regularly doing office work at home, work delegating difficulty,
work more than 55 hours per week and week-end work were found to be
contributing to the work-life imbalance experienced by the employees. The
empirical evidences on the various factors related to work life imbalance
highlighted the magnitude of the problem faced by the IT professionals,
especially at the middle level, irrespective of gender, at the early stages of life.
The mobilization and full use of people in their activities have
consequently occurred by the changes in management practices that occurred in
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organizations, says Timossi et al., (2008). They conducted a study with the
objective of proposing an adaptation from the model of Walton (1975). The
criteria were transcribed in the interrogative form and the scale of answers was
converted into a Likert scale with five alternatives. The verification of the inner
consistency of the instrument was achieved from the Cronbachs alpha
coefficient (0.96). Such result guarantees a very high consistency to the
instrument adopted. It can be concluded that the adaptation from the Model of
Walton, proposed in their study, allows, through more clarified questions and a
more objective scale of answers, its application to people with low schooling
level, guarantying the obtaining of reliable results without changing criteria and
objectives of the original instrument.
According to Kalliath and Brough (2008), although the term workfamily
balance is widely employed, an agreed definition of this term has proved elusive.
After reviewing the current, somewhat confusing, array of definitions commonly
expressed within the literature, they opined that the current definitions of work
family balance are of limited value for both the theoretical advancement of the
construct and for practical human resource interventions. They reviewed six
conceptualizations of workfamily balance found in the literature: (1) multiple
roles; (2) equity across multiple roles; (3) satisfaction between multiple roles; (4)
fulfillment of role salience between multiple roles; (5) relationship between
conflict and facilitation; and (6) perceived control between multiple roles. Based
on this review they distilled the core meaning of workfamily balance as it has
evolved in the literature and proposed a new definition of workfamily balance.
Also they encourage further research to consider this new definition, specifically
in terms of the development and validation of a measure that taps the new
definition of workfamily balance.
In order to examine the antecedents of success of business process
outsourcing relationships, Daityari, Saini, and Gupta (2008) conducted an
empirical study of 124 business process outsourcing relationships in some of
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Indias most established BPO vendors. The hypothesis stated that the degree of
control and partnership quality would have a positive interactive association with
outsourcing success. This was tested using Hierarchical Regression Analysis and
Median Split Analysis. Results of both analysis indicated that while degree of
control does not have significant positive relationship with outsourcing success,
partnership quality nor its interaction with degree of control enjoyed any
relationship of significance with outsourcing success.
Approximately one fifth of workers are engaged in some kind of shift
work. The harmful effects of shift work on the health and work-life balance of
employees are well known. A range of organizational interventions has been
suggested to address these negative effects by.
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costs; more time for the family, social life, and domestic duties; increased
satisfaction with working hours; fewer handovers; and less overtime. No firm
conclusions can be drawn because of the partly contradictory results and the
methodological problems of many studies. However, caution is advised when
considering the introduction of extended work shifts, particularly where public
safety is at stake. A checklist is provided (concerning work load, breaks, staffing
level, systematic assessments of health and safety factors) to support decisions
for or against the use of extended work shifts.
The quality of work-life has been focused and defined by the European
Commission (EC). In the study conducted by Royuela et al., (2007) the authors
compared the EC definition with the academic one and tried to see how close
they are. They also analyzed the possibility of applying the institutional
definition to the Spanish case through the development of specific indicators.
The main conclusions were that QWL is increasingly important for policy
makers. In addition, it is essential to have objective indicators and to conduct
surveys in order to reliably measure QWL.
Quality of work-life (QWL) has been gaining increasing attention in
health care settings, says Sale et al (2007). According to them, no QWL data for
cancer centers have been published. A participatory approach was used to
develop a QWL survey that was administered to staff in Year 1 (Y1) and Year 2
(Y2) in a Canadian ambulatory cancer center. The findings revealed that overall
staff QWL scores were moderate in Y1 and Y2; however, there was considerable
variation among four main employee groups (physicians, nurses, physicists,
radiation therapists). The survey data provided a benchmark against which other
cancer centers could be compared.
The study carried out by Tamagawa et al., (2007) aimed to explore the
criteria for shift work tolerance and to investigate the relationships between
personality traits and states and shift work tolerance. Eighty-nine policemen and
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allowances, loans to facilities purchase of housing stands and cars. The study
highlighted the need to craft a responsive incentive package that addresses the
concerns of academic staff on issues related to job satisfaction and thus save
from international migration to other countries.
Quality of work-life includes some objective and subjective factors which
may condition operations and other inner aspects concerning the quality of
relationships and methods of management, says Argentero et al., (2007). They
conducted a study to analyze the quality of work-life indicators in a cohort of
Italian health workers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, to assess the
quality of work life through the identification of the most important indicators
and to evaluate the degree of satisfaction and the importance of each indicator.
112 health operators were interviewed. All workers belonged to the same local
health service in North West Italy. The results of the study pointed out some
macro areas which are relevant to define work life quality of the analyzed
sample: relationships with colleagues, work organization, taking care of patients,
professional ability and professional growth. The weekly number of patients
seemed to be important to determine the differences among the workers in the
quality perceived in their work life. The collected data contribute to define which
indicators must be taken into consideration in order to complete an evaluation of
the quality of health organizations; this includes also the subjective variables
connected to the quality of the work-life.
Cleveland et al., (2007) opine that smaller, more efficient workforce hotel
organizations are competing to retain highly valued managers. According to
them, work stress and burnout are often cited as precursors to work and family
stress, and together these factors influence employee intentions to leave an
organization. However, work and family issues have received little attention in
the hospitality and tourism literature. Using focus groups and semi-structured
interviews with three groups of participants (new entrants into the hotel industry,
hotel managers, and their spouses), the authors explored the connections among
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work characteristics, work stress, and the workfamily interface. Results of the
multisource qualitative research suggested that long, unpredictable hours created
individual and family-related stress. Furthermore, there was agreement among
the three sources regarding the stressors and benefits associated with working in
the hotel industry.
Studies conducted in 2006
Tsigilis, Zachopoulou and Grammatikopoulos (2006) examined the
perceived levels of burnout and job satisfaction of Greek early educators, across
public and private sector. One hundred and seventy eight childhood educators
participated in the study. 108 were working in the public sector, 67 in private
sector, whereas three did not respond. Participants were administered the
Employees Satisfaction Inventory (ESI, Koustelios and Bagiatis, 1997) and the
emotional exhaustion subscale of the Maslachs Burnout Inventory (MBI,
Maslach and Jackson, 1986). Results showed that early educators experienced
moderate levels of emotional exhaustion. Public sector early educators were
more satisfied from the job itself than their counterparts in the private sector.
Regression analysis showed that job satisfaction facets which contributed to early
educators burnout varied as a function of their workplace. In particular,
satisfaction from the nature of the job and working conditions negatively
contributed to the prediction of public sector early educators emotional
exhaustion levels. On the other hand, increased levels of satisfaction from the
nature of the job and immediate supervisor were associated with reduced private
sector early educators emotional exhaustion levels.
Though work-life balance is a European Union policy priority, within
Europe there are considerable variations in the nature & extent of supports that
national governments have offered to dual-earner families. In general, the Nordic
welfare states offer the highest level of supports, although other countries, such
as France, have historically offered extensive childcare supports to working
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nursing experience, and who held a position below assistant nurse manager. The
data were collected in 2000.
focus group participants. These were managing shift work within the demands of
family life; accommodation; support resources; and nurses' clinical ladder system
and salary system.
The relative lack of research on employees' reactions to performance
appraisal feedback is the primary impetus for the study of Jawahar (2006) which
advances this important, but neglected, research area by investigating potential
predictors and consequences of satisfaction with appraisal feedback. Survey
responses from 112 employees were matched with their performance ratings
from two different appraisal periods to test specific hypotheses. Results indicate
that satisfaction with rater and previous performance ratings influence
employees' satisfaction with appraisal feedback. Satisfaction with appraisal
feedback was positively related to job satisfaction and organizational
commitment and negatively related to turnover intentions. Supervisory status
moderated the relationship between satisfaction with appraisal feedback and
subsequent performance such that the relationship existed only for supervisory
employees who, in addition to receiving feedback about their own performance,
also provided feedback to their subordinates.
Occupational mental health research has been focusing on the relationship
between work stress and depression. However, the impacts of work stress on
anxiety disorders and of imbalance between work and family life on workers'
mental health have not been well studied. The study of Wang and Li (2006)
investigated the association between levels of perceived work stress and of
imbalance between work and family/personal lives and current mood/anxiety
disorders. It was a cross-sectional study using data from the Canadian
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142
143
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A job
proposed, particularly, the need for investigation into the key determinants of job
quality in the call centre context; an examination of how job quality may be
improved; and the impact of key job quality factors on employees and
organizations.
Werner (2006) studied about the work dysfunctions and their
consequences as experienced by call center agents using a focus group
methodology. The sample comprised of four different groups of randomly
selected call center agents with a total of twenty seven participants. The findings
of the study revealed that stress is the primary harbinger of other dysfunctions,
many exacerbated by the stressful nature of the shift work and the resultant worklife imbalance. Stress encountered due to ineffective systems and poor training
process. Work space ergonomic considerations were thought not to add to call
center dysfunction.
Research findings from several countries suggest that academic work has
become comparatively stressful, with potentially serious consequences for the
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workforce and the quality of higher education. Kinman, Jones and Fiona (2006)
examined work demands, work-life balance and well-being in UK academic
staff. Job demands and levels of psychological distress were high and working
during evenings and weekends was commonplace. Most academics surveyed,
however, were at least moderately satisfied with their jobs. Work-life balance
was generally poor and most respondents wished for more separation between
their work and home lives. Academics that reported more work-life conflict and
perceived a greater discrepancy between their present and ideal levels of worklife integration tended to be less healthy, less satisfied with their jobs, and more
likely to have seriously considered leaving academia. On the whole, academics
that perceived more control over their work, more schedule flexibility and more
support from their institutions had a better work-life balance. These factors,
however, failed to moderate the relationship between work demands and
perceptions of conflict between work and home.
The Brazilian army is worrying about the quality total in an increasing
form, observes Campos and Souza (2006). They conducted a study to determine
the preponderant variables in quality of working life by means of multivariate
analysis using Waltons (1973) criteria. A sample of 150 army personnel was
selected as the respondents from South Brazil. A 26 polar affirmation
questionnaire was developed using Waltons criteria. Data was analyzed using
factor analysis and cluster analysis. The multivariate analysis concluded that 26
variables can be reduced into an acceptable five factor model.
The human factor plays an important and crucial role in the development
of any country, says Jayamma and Naik (2006). They conducted a study among
the employees of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) of Kadapa division
in Andhra Pradesh. The objectives of this study were to examine the quality of
work life of employees in terms of economic and social aspects, to evaluate the
practices of quality of work life in LIC of India and to suggest measures to
improve the quality of working life of employees. The study revealed that most
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of the employees were satisfied in terms of salary and other benefits. Social and
affiliation needs were partially satisfied. The study suggested placing the right
person in the right job to utilize his/her abilities optimally and to improve the
working conditions and ambience of the work place.
Studies conducted in 2005
An issue of relationship between exposure to psycho-social factors and
health status of employees was presented by Dudek and Bodan (2005) in a
review of literature. It is difficult to find hard evidence that could reliably
confirm this relationship. Methodological difficulties encountered in measuring
psycho-social factors and health effects and designing research procedures are
responsible for equivocal study results, according to them. However, a huge
number of articles presenting the results of numerous studies made them
convinced that many human organs are targets of dangerous impact of stress
evoked by job conditions. Bearing in mind that work processes and working
conditions become more and more stressogenic, one can expect that in the near
future psycho-social factors will form a group of the most dangerous health
hazards. Therefore, it is an urgent challenge facing the occupational health
service (OHS) to adapt its system of prevention to the specificity of threats, and
thus better protect employees against harmful impact of the psycho-social
factors.
In recent years prominent companies have migrated call centre services to
India provoking much-publicized fears for the future of UK employment. The
study of Taylor and Bain (2005) challenges the widely-held assumption that offshoring voice services is a seamless undertaking, principally through an
investigation of the Indian call centre labor process. This enquiry is informed
initially by an analysis of the political-economic factors driving off-shoring and
shaping the forms of work organization to have emerged in India. A critical
review of literature on call centre work organization provided a conceptual
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framework, through which Indian developments are analyzed. Data comes from
fieldwork conducted in India and a complete audit of the Scottish industry,
through which UK trends can be evaluated. The authors concluded that the
Indian industry reproduces in exaggerated and culturally-distinctive forms, a
labor process that has proved problematical for employers and employees alike in
the UK and elsewhere.
The aim of the study of Li et al (2005) was to test the reliability and
validity of the Chinese version of the 23-item effort-reward imbalance (ERI)
questionnaire and to analyze its association with job dissatisfaction in a sample
of Chinese healthcare workers. A self-reported survey was conducted, in
university hospitals of China, among 192 male and 608 female healthcare
workers. Appropriate internal consistencies of the three scales: effort, reward,
and over commitment, were obtained. Exploratory factor analysis replicated the
theoretically assumed structure of the ERI construct in men and women.
Evidence of criterion validity was obtained from cross-correlations of the scales
and from their correlations with gender, education and job dissatisfaction.
Finally, all three scales were associated with an elevated odds ratio of job
dissatisfaction, and the effect was strongest for the ERI ratio as predicted by
theory. Based on the results of this study the Chinese version of the ERI
questionnaire is considered a reliable and valid instrument for measuring psychosocial stress at work. It is applicable to Chinese working populations and, in
particular, to the healthcare sector.
The work of Munozdebustillollorente et al., (2005), examined the relation
between the characteristics of the job performed and the level of subjective
satisfaction of workers. In other words: whether job satisfaction reflects the
characteristics of jobs, and therefore, can be used as an indicator of job quality.
Two different approaches were followed. First, using the International Social
Survey Program of 1997, authors explored whether differences between
countries in job satisfaction can be explained by variables usually considered to
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be related to job quality, such as working hours, wages, etc. Second, they studied
the relationship between certain objective measures of job quality and job
satisfaction in a given country, using Spain as a case study. In both cases the
results did not support the use of job satisfaction as a measure of job quality.
Quality-of-work-life includes broad aspects of the work environment that
affect employee learning and health. Canadian Health Care Organizations
(HCOs) are being encouraged to monitor QWL, expanding existing
occupational health surveillance capacities. In this context, Cole et al (2005)
conducted a study to investigate into the understanding, collection, diffusion and
use of QWL indicators in Canadian HCOs. Towards this purpose, they obtained
cooperation from six diverse public HCOs managing forty one (41) sites. They
reviewed documentation relevant to QWL and conducted fifty eight (58) focus
groups/team interviews with strategic, support and programme teams. Group
interviews were taped, reviewed and analyzed for themes using qualitative data
techniques. Indicators were classified by purpose and HCO level. Results
indicated that QWL indicators, as such, were relatively new to most HCOs, yet
the data managed by human resource and occupational health and safety support
teams were highly relevant to monitoring of employee wellbeing (119 of 209
mentioned indicators), e.g. sickness absence. Monitoring of working conditions
(62/209) was also important, e.g. indicators of employee workload. Uncommon
were indicators of bio-mechanical and psycho-social hazards at work, despite
their being important causes of morbidity among HCO employees. Although
imprecision in the definition of QWL indicators limited links with other HCO
performance measures and inadequate HCO resources for implementation were
common, most HCOs cited ways in which QWL indicators had influenced
planning and evaluation of prevention efforts. The suggestions included increase
in targeted HCO resources, inclusion of other QWL indicators and greater
integration with HCO management systems which could improve HCO decisionmakers access to information relevant to employee health.
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information,
working
conditions,
workstation,
health
aspects,
psychological factors, consumed items was used in the three call centers situated
in Bangalore, which had agreed to be a part of the study. In all, 176 call handlers
participated in the study. Majority of the respondents were in the age group of
21-30 yrs and were males. 119 (67.6%) had less than a year of experience
working in the call centers. 94 (54.3%) respondents had rotation shift duties and
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144 (81.8%) worked on an average for 8-12 hrs per day. 157 (89.2%) of the
respondents knew to adjust their work station. Hot-desking was not a popular
practice among the call handlers and 127 (72.2) of them had permanent
workstation. The respondents either got three or four breaks per shift of 30 to 45
minutes, which also included a meal break. Voice is an important tool of the call
handlers and more than 50% of the respondents had some problems related to
their vocal health. The call handlers use display screen equipment for 12 to 18
hours per day to aid them in their activities in the call centre and the most
common complaint was headache. More than 50% of the call handlers had no
personal headsets and 22 (12.5%) complained of problems related to their ears.
126 (71.6) of the respondents had musculoskeletal pain and the commonest
region being the neck and the back. 81 (47.36%) had their body mass index
(BMI) in the normal range. The symptoms related to gastrointestinal symptoms
include, gastritis 29 (16.5%) and change in the quality and quantity of food
noticed by more than 50% of the respondents. Respiratory symptoms like
common cold, dry cough or productive cough was less among the call handlers.
Call centre work had interfered with the call handlers interaction with family
members and social life. Unmarried respondents were found to be significantly
more under stress when compared to married respondents. There was significant
association between work experience and short temperedness, muscular- skeletal
disorders and sleep disturbance.
Studies conducted in 2004
Research carried out by Evandrou (2004) on family, work and quality of
life, explored changes in economic and social roles across four birth cohorts
passing through mid-life in Britain. The relationship between multiple role
responsibilities and a range of indicators of quality of life, including material
resources, health and engagement in social activities were investigated. The
research was based upon secondary analysis of four different surveys: the 2000
British Household Panel Study, the 199495 Family and Working Lives Survey,
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the 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000 General Household Surveys, and the
Longitudinal Retirement Survey (1988/89 and 1994). A particularly interesting
finding was that being caught in the middle, in terms of having simultaneous
care-giving responsibilities to dependent children and frail parents whilst in paid
work, has been atypical. Only one-in-nine British women, and one-in-ten British
men, aged 45-49 years (born in 1941-45) occupy all three roles concurrently, but
multiple role occupancy is increasing across cohorts, particularly the
combination of caring and paid work. Role occupancy significantly affects the
accumulation of pension entitlements (particularly second-tier pensions), with the
effect that many women who have fulfilled the important social roles of career
and parent will face a low income in old age. Where adverse health outcomes
were found, parental role in mid-life was most frequently associated with such
poor health, suggesting that continued parental demands in mid-life may have
negative health consequences.
The study of Lee et al., (2004) provides a meta-analysis on the
relationships between organizational tenure and three broad classes of job
behaviors: core-task behaviors, citizenship behaviors, and counterproductive
behaviors. Across 350 empirical studies with a cumulative sample size of
249,841, the authors found that longer tenured employees generally have greater
in-role performance and citizenship performance. It is interesting that
organizational tenure was also positively related to some counterproductive
behavior (e.g., aggressive behavior and non sickness absence). Most of these
relationships remain statistically significant even after controlling for the effects
of chronological age. The authors also observed that the tenure performance
relationship was stronger for younger workers, for women, for non-Caucasians,
and for college-educated workers. Finally, the authors found evidence of a
curvilinear relationship between organizational tenure and job performance.
Although the relationship of organizational tenure with job performance was
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and Meyer
(1990) was adopted in this study. Results of regression analysis indicated that
only two QWL factors, growth and development and pay and benefit, were
significant in explaining organizational commitment were also discussed.
America's work force has undergone a transformation over the past forty
years. The Census Bureau reported that in 1997 only 17% of all families
conformed to the 1950s model of a wage-earning dad, a stay-at-home mom, and
one or more children. Since the late 1950s, growing attention has focused on
families in which both partners work; these relationships are called dual-earner
marriages. Societal changes such as the number of women entering the
workforce and the economic need for two incomes to support a family have
impacted the American labor force. Married coupled families in which husband
and wife both work accounted for 53.2% of the workforce in 2000. These
workers face problems in balancing work responsibilities with home
commitment. Literature supports that work-life conflict poses problems to both
employees and business. Organizations look to their employees for productivity
and efficiency, which is compromised by work-life conflict in the form of
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strain was not affected by autonomy, whereas job strain experienced by non-IT
workers was affected by autonomy.
A Finnish participatory action research (PAR) case study was conducted
by Kalliola (2003) among home care workers for the elderly. The staff planned
and carried out an organizational change from hierarchy to semi-autonomous
group organization. The PAR process, following the ideas of socio-technical
thinking, provided the staff with space for learning by doing and for creating
organization cohesiveness. The case was part of a programmatic development of
municipal services, aimed at improving simultaneously the productivity of these
services and the quality of working life of the agency staff, thus addressing
current problems of the public sector from the viewpoint of organizational
assessment. According to the quality of working life performance measurements
used, the case was successful. The study provides evidence for the usefulness of
team-based service delivery and shows some significant aspects of the PAR
process from the viewpoints of the participants and the researcher.
The investigation carried out by Lund (2003) examined the relationship of
information adequacy to job satisfaction and organizational culture in a
healthcare organization with both office and field personnel. Information
adequacy was assessed in four areas: personal performance, organizational
policies, organizational performance, and organizational objectives. Comparisons
of field and office personnel indicated that they did not differ on information
adequacy or job satisfaction; they did, however, differ on several dimensions of
organizational culture. Also, the relationship of information inadequacy to job
satisfaction and organizational culture differed for employees depending on
whether they worked primarily in the field or primarily in the office. Implications
of the findings were drawn for organizations with a dispersed-network structure.
Call centers have been one of the few booming branches in recent years.
The main task of call centre operators is to interact with customers by telephone,
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usually supported by computer systems. It has been argued that call centre work
is a modern form of Taylorism, because it is characterized by routine tasks and
low level of control for the employees. Moreover, it has been suggested that there
is a high level of stress at work, both with regard to the work tasks and to the
interactions with customers. In the study conducted by Zapf et al (2003) a
sample of 375 call centre employees from eight different call centers was
compared with a sample of noncall centre workers (N=405) in terms of job
characteristics, job stressors, and emotional labor (emotion work). The results
showed that call centre workers had worse job characteristics, but were better off
with regard to most job stressors compared to representative comparison groups
of no-service workers, service workers, and workers in human services
respectively. Moreover, compared to the other groups, customer service
representatives (CSRs) had to express less negative emotions, but were most
frequently exposed to states of emotional dissonance. A comparison of the
working conditions of the eight call centers revealed that in most call centers the
working conditions could be substantially improved. In addition, various call
centre parameters such as inbound vs. outbound, or in-house vs. external service
centers were examined. The strongest effects were found for the percentage of
time spent on the telephone. With some exceptions, the results support the view
that the majority of call centers have been established to organize mass service
for customers that the work in the call centers is characterized by routine work
and low task control, and that call centre employees are required to suggest a
friendly smile when they are on the phone.
In the 1990s workers in Australia were increasingly subjected to negative
work pressures. Irregular work patterns, work intensification, and the
transformation of the notion of career, often in the name of flexibility, were
increasingly common. This period was also characterized by scant regard for the
quality of working life of young people in entry-level employment, which is
often portrayed as a transition stage prior to their admission into the full-time
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core workforce. The study by Roan and Diamond (2003) explored the
experiences of twenty-two young people at the beginning of their careers, in the
hospitality and retail industries, with reference to three quality of working life
(QWL) elements: hours flexibility, work-life balance and career potential.
Qualitative evidence revealed a variety of experiences but, on balance, suggested
a negative quality of working life and limited commitment to their current
industry. In conclusion, the research suggested that these industries must pay
more attention to QWL issues in order to attract and retain quality staff.
The rapid rise of the service sector, and in particular the call centre
industry has made the study of emotional labor increasingly important within the
area of occupational stress research. Lewig and Dollard (2003) examined the
emotional demands (emotional labor) of call centre work and their relationship to
the job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion in a sample of South Australian call
centre workers (N=98) within the theoretical frameworks of the job demand
control model, the effort reward imbalance model, and the job demands
resources model. Qualitatively the research confirmed the central role of
emotional labor variables in the experience of emotional exhaustion and
satisfaction at work. Specifically the research confirmed the pre-eminence of
emotional dissonance compared to a range of emotional demand variables in its
potency to account for variance in emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction.
Specifically, emotional dissonance mediated the effect of emotional labor
(positive emotions) on emotional exhaustion. Furthermore emotional dissonance
was found to be equal in its capacity to explain variance in the outcomes
compared to the most frequently researched demand measure in the work stress
literature (psycho-social demands). Finally, emotional dissonance was found to
exacerbate the level of emotional exhaustion at high levels of psycho-social
demands, indicating jobs combining high levels of both kinds of demands, are
much more risky.
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commitment,
job
involvement,
empowerment,
and
job
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160
patients
was
interviewed
and
responded
to
predetermined
161
the complexity of the construct, and places the individual stress experience
within a larger organizational context of people's relation to their work. Recently,
the work on burnout has expanded internationally and has led to new conceptual
models. The focus is on engagement, the positive antithesis of burnout and
promises to yield new perspectives on interventions to alleviate burnout. The
social focus of burnout, the solid research basis concerning the syndrome, and its
specific ties to the work domain make a distinct and valuable contribution to
people's health and well-being, they believe.
A new measure of QWL was developed, based on need satisfaction and
spillover theories by Sirgy et al., (2001). The measure was designed to capture
the extent to which the work environment, job requirements, supervisory
behavior, and ancillary programs in an organization are perceived to meet the
needs of an employee. The authors identified seven major needs, each having
several dimensions. These are: (a) health and safety needs (protection from ill
health and injury at work and outside of work, and enhancement of good health),
(b) economic and family needs (pay, job security, and other family needs), (c)
social needs (collegiality at work and leisure time off work), (d) esteem needs
(recognition and appreciation of work within the organization and outside the
organization), (e) actualization needs (realization of ones potential within the
organization and as a professional), (f) knowledge needs (learning to enhance job
and professional skills), and (g) aesthetic needs (creativity at work as well as
personal creativity and general aesthetics). The measures convergent and
discriminant validities were tested and the data provided support to the construct
validity of the QWL measure. Furthermore, the measures nomological
(predictive) validity was tested through hypotheses deduced from spillover
theory. Three studies were conducted; two studies using university employees
and the third using accounting firms. The results from the pooled sample
provided support for the hypotheses and thus lent some support to the
nomological validity to the new measure.
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development practices is at 69.71 per cent and 69.82 per cent among the
respondents of Indian and foreign MNC BPO firms respectively, both of which
constitute satisfied on the scale. Regression analysis, using a significance level
of 5 per cent, shows that three of the variables, namely, the variables of I have a
clearly established career path (p=.001), Viewing BPO sector as a long-term
career option (p=.000) and Having a dynamic career path is a must in order to
retain the outstanding and highly-performing employees (p=.018) are
significantly influencing the satisfaction of the respondents of Indian MNCs and
two of the variables, namely, the variables of I have a clearly established career
path (p=.000) and Having a dynamic career path is a must in order to retain the
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Quality of Life Scale (QLC). A total number of 107 chemical industry workers
participated in the study, of whom 56 worked in shifts and 51 worked in regular
hours. The results revealed that the average satisfaction with the present job and
financial status was lower in shift workers than in the non-shift workers (P <
0.05). The differences in the two predictors of life quality did not affect the
overall satisfaction with life in either group.
Studies conducted in 1998
The idea that R&D professionals typically spend a considerable amount of
their time working as members of teams makes sense. After all, plenty of
research indicates that the use of cross-functional teams improves the
effectiveness of product development efforts. However, the increasing use of
cross-functional teams raises an important question for researchers and R&D
practitioners: does the use of cross-functional teams improve the quality of work
life for Cordero? Di Tomaso (1998) addressed this question in study of 1,714
R&D professionals working on projects. They suggested that being a member of
a cross-functional team may be more demanding than working as a member of a
functional project group. On the other hand, they expect that working on a crossfunctional project team may be more rewarding than working in a functional
project group. Their study tested these hypotheses by examining the relationships
between measures of the extent to which respondents work on cross-functional
teams and five measures each of the participants' job demands and positive job
outcomes. The study identifies positive relationships between working on crossfunctional teams and the five positive job outcomes standard: job growth, job
security and membership in successful teams, earning money and job
satisfaction. The study found less consistent and weaker relationships between
working on cross-functional teams and the five job demands studied.
Specifically, the study identified positive relationships between working on
cross-functional teams and the following job demands: effort, job involvement,
and considering a lot of difference of opinion. The results of this study did not
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experience delineates that part of strain reactions that reaches the awareness of
the involved person. Next, three prominent theoretical concepts are introduced
termed
person-environment
fit,
demand-control,
and
effort-reward
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subjects from all sites were combined, employed patients displayed less
psychopathology and significant advantages in terms of objective and subjective
measures of income and well-being. They were also more likely to stress the
importance of work. The results suggest that work is associated with a markedly
better quality of life for people with schizophrenia, but the disability pension
programs in the United States might introduce work disincentives.
Studies conducted in 1997
The aim of the study carried out by Schoonwinkel and Klopper (1997)
was to describe guidelines for a personal and professional development
programme to facilitate the quality of work-life experienced by psychiatric
nurses in a hospital. An explorative and descriptive research design with a
qualitative research orientation was employed. The study was divided into three
phases. In phase one the needs, desires and expectations of psychiatric nursing in
a hospital nursing service were explored and described. In phase two the factors
in a nursing service which influence the quality work-life of nurses, were
explored and described. Consequently, the last phase of the study was conducted,
being inferred from data of phases one and two which lead to the conceptual
framework upon which the guidelines and programme are based. A personal and
professional development programme for psychiatric nurses to facilitate quality
of work-life experienced, consisting of three parts, was described to enclose
aspects of the psychiatric nurse's internal and external environments, as well as
patterns of interaction between the internal and external environments.
Organizations in Hong Kong were surveyed by Catherine and Chiu (1997)
to gauge how women-friendly they were and how their human resource managers
viewed the effect of women-friendly HRM policies and practices on employees'
quality of work life. It was found that only about half of the policies mentioned
in the questionnaire were practiced by less than 10 per cent of the organizations.
Principal component analysis conducted showed that organizational women-
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organizations and motivating staff to deliver high quality and low cost services.
The research work of Smith and Piland (1994) examined a case study of
transformational leadership as it relates to the quality of working life for nurses,
homemakers, and staff. The findings indicated that leader behavior is strongly
associated with homemakers', and to lesser extent staff members' job satisfaction,
job involvement, and propensity to remain with the organization. These job
attitudes have been shown to be related to higher job performance.
Studies conducted in 1992
From the additive models of overall quality of life, two hypotheses were
derived about the relationships among work-family conflict, work-leisure
conflict, job satisfaction, family satisfaction, leisure satisfaction and global life
satisfaction in the research carried out by Rice and Mc Farlin (1992). In
supporting these two hypotheses, path analyses of survey data from a national
probability sample of United States workers (n = 823) showed: (1) the direct
paths between work-non work conflict and global life satisfaction were nonsignificant; and (2) the indirect paths between work-non work conflict and global
life satisfaction, which are mediated by job satisfaction and non work
satisfaction, were all significant. Further analyses indicated that, in general, the
magnitude of these path coefficients was not significantly moderated by socio
demographic variables. Discussion considered the role of additive models as
conceptual frameworks for studies concerned with the effects of work
experiences on the overall quality of life.
The study carried out by Fields and Thacker (1992) examined changes in
union and organizational commitment after the implementation of a joint unionmanagement quality of work-life (QWL) program. The results indicated that
company commitment increased only when participants perceived the QWL
effort as successful, but union commitment increased irrespective of the
perception of QWL success. The purpose of the present investigation was to
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study of
whether the high success rates observed in a large survey of QWL evaluative
studies (N=231) can be substatially explained in terms of the lack of rigor of
research methodology and design as the literature critical of QWL often
proposes. The study found statistically significanl support for a positive-findings
bias hypothesis, but rigor explained less than 7% of the variance in outcomes.
This implies only modest support for the position that attractive QWL results can
be substantially accounted for by a positive-findings bias.
Studies conducted in 1989
Kraut, Dumais and Koch (1989) found out the impact of computerized
record system on the work lives of customer service representatives in a large
utility company. Computerization of even a small component of a job can have
profound effects on job effectiveness and employment quality, but these effects
do not conform to simple models. Authors have shown that after service
representatives began using a computerized record system, their work lives
changed. The changes associated with computerization were as large as any other
natural source of variation that they could identify in this setting. Moreover, the
methods allowed the researchers to conclude with reasonable certainty that the
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changes they found were the result of technology, broadly conceived, and were
not the result of methodological artefacts, pre-existing differences between
groups, or extraneous, historical factors. Researchers concentrated on solving
methodological problems in establishing the causal impact of technology,
because until they can distinguish causal impact from methodological artefact,
more sophisticated questions about the generality of effects, mediation of effects,
and direction of causation cannot be addressed at all.
In theory, QWL programs entail a cooperative mode of labor-management
relations that should enhance organizational productivity and employee
satisfaction. In practice, however, municipal QWL programs have been unstable
and often restricted in scope to relatively unimportant decisions. This article by
Accordino (1989) explores why municipal QWL programs are started and
sustained, yet why they fail to become more vital parts of organizational decision
making.
Krim and Arthur (1989) in their article quality of work life in city hall:
towards an integration of political and organizational realities, written with the
intention of offering general lessons for public sector QWL activities, concluded
that managers, not unlike the public-sector manager featured earlier, have lent
critical support to the QWL program at vital junctures. It was not always clear
that these managers understood QWL's possibilities for either the city or its
employees, but they did respond to the positive reinforcement of "good press"
and the negative reinforcement of possible "bad press." The leader of the major
municipal union that refused to cooperate, while still reluctant about QWL
efforts in the city, has subsequently been more flexible in other labourmanagement initiatives within the state. The leader of the participating municipal
union has reaffirmed a personal commitment to the QWL program since the
management facilitator crisis and has subsequently come to lend much stronger
vocal support for the program's possibilities. These people, along with others
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influential in the city program, have experienced the role of the media and how
through it the quality of work life program can affect their own political agendas.
Studies conducted in 1986
The study carried out by Williamson and Alexander (1986) attempted to
test the "central concept" of QWL by examining the relationship between
negotiated QWL-related issues and organizational productivity and employee
absenteeism. QWL is operationalized in this research to include only those
labour contract clauses which address the control of one's own life in the work
environment. (Glacer, 1976; Makarov, 1982; Walton, 1974) This research is not
a direct test of the impact of a QWL program. Rather, the test is distal in nature,
examining whether or not the inclusion of negotiated contact clauses relating to
control of one's own life in the work environment produces increases in
productivity and/or decreases in absenteeism.
Studies conducted in 1985
Steinberg initiated with twenty employees a semi-autonomous production
group in one of their depots in 1983. During the ten ensuing years, this group
exemplified one of the most interesting experiences in Quebec relating to the
quality of life at work. Pelletier (1985) followed the evolution of this project
from its birth to its completion in October 1983. He highlighted the results
obtained for the company as well as those concerned with the social welfare of
the employees. He described the problems encountered, the successes obtained
and the traps to look for when setting up programs on the quality of life at work
or in any other model of work organization.
Rice et al., (1985) developed a preliminary conceptual model for
examining the effects of organizational work on the perceived quality of life
(PQL) which defines PQL as affective beliefs (hot cognitions) concerning the
status of one's life. The potential influences of work on PQL are considered in
terms of effects mediated by the perceived quality of work-life versus those
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work, and (7) others which may emerge, and require satisfying, in the work
situation. Associated with these assumptions or axioms are certain values: (1)
Autonomy is preferable to dependence, (2) High levels of skill are preferable to
low, (3) Learning is good.(4) A high degree of self-investment in work is good,
provided the work itself and the work situation offer opportunities for growth and
self-realization.
2.3
CONCLUSION
This chapter narrated the origin and development of the concept of the
quality of work life over the years. This concept originated in the United States,
slowly spread in different parts of the world and became the hottest word in the
corporate lexicon.
The review of literature clearly shows that this concept is explored from different
angles by industrial psychologists, management theorists and academicians all
over the world and lots of research works have been taken up. Today quality of
work life is a more sophisticated industrial management tool in the hands of
managers to make the organizations a better place for working, learning and
living. It has been realized that for the successful running of any enterprise,
proper handling of human factor is of paramount importance. And this human
factor, according to Jucius, (1975) refers to a whole consisting of inter-related,
inter-dependent and interacting physiological, psychological, sociological and
ethical components. At the same time, it should be noted that this human aspect
of an organization is very often subjective, qualitative and dynamic, with ones
own aspirations and intentions. As Sheldon (1923) puts it, no industry can be
rendered efficient so long as the basic fact remains unrecognized, that is
principally human. It is not a mass of machines and technical process, but a body
of men. It is not a complex of matter but a complex of humanity. It fulfills its
function not by virtue of some impersonal force, but by human energy. Its body
is not an intricate maze of mechanical devices, but a magnified nervous system.
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The theoretical background of the study given in Chapter 1 and the review
of related studies given in Chapter 2 have led the researcher to throw certain
research questions. This further led researcher to make certain assumptions and
hypotheses. These are incorporated in the methodology which is given in the next
chapter, that is, Chapter 3.
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